Week 34 in film

A lot of films this week, a selection:

Roma (Federico Fellini, 1972)
After visiting the Fellini exposition in EYE Amsterdam I had to watch something of the Italian master. Roma shows fragments of Rome how it was in Fellini's early adolescence and how it is in the early seventies. I am usually not very excited about the fragmented and plotless approach, in this case it works partly (in fragments ;-)). The priest fashion show is by far the best scene of this film and shows how good Fellini can be. The observant viewer notices how Fellini criticizes 'modern' Rome, not in the last place in how he portrays it. Nevertheless, I prefer his earlier work (50's and 60's) above what he made in the 70's so far.  7/10


Spoorloos [The Vanishing] (George Sluizer, 1988)
Solid and for Dutch standards good film after Tim Krabbe's book (obligatory in high school). Having most of the dialogue in French and most of the events in France feels ' undutch' most of the time. I like how the ending 'disappoints'.  7.5/10

Ginger & Rosa (Sally Potter, 2012)
Wow. Elle Fanning delivers a stellar performance as the young Ginger in the roaring sixties. The world is about to be bombed, her father is an influential writer 'impressing' her best friend Rosa while Ginger already has a hard time dealing with growing up. This beautiful stylized coming-of-age story will rank as one of the best of the year.  8.5/10


Salo, or the 120 days of Sodom (Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1975)
Yeah, well. I had to watch this according to some of the critics and their toplists. After more than two hours I haven't learned much except some nazi's were really sick, which isn't exactly a brilliant insight. As disgusting as the film is it managed to interest me for maybe half an hour, the remainder felt repetitive. I think the point of the film was made clear.  4.5/10

Idi i Smotri [Come and See] (Elem Klimov, 1985)
If there is one specific type of film I am avoiding it is anything confronting me with the horrors of WWII. I guess I use film mainly to escape from reality not to be confronted with one of the worst periods of human history. I heard about this film a couple of years ago already and wasn't reluctant to watch it. Somehow now I found myself in the right mood, knowing what to expect. Horrible imagery, but being a Russian film I was hoping for some cinematic poetry as well, this film delivers both. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, and I will probably not watch it again soon. It is, however a stunning film, which left me silent and impressed on multiple levels, all in all I am happy to have found the guts to finally watch it.  9/10


Playtime (Jacques Tati, 1967)
Considered classic and I can see why. Tati creates some intelligent jokes through smart cinematography. The chaotic situations in the highly stylized and symmetrical sets work but this film consumes your energy fast. There is hardly any audible dialogue and so much going on. Nevertheless I can appreciate Tati's, who clearly critizes modern society, style but 90 minutes would have been sufficient.  7.5/10

The Age of Innocence (Martin Scorsese, 1993)
The story (from Edith Wharton's novel) is pretty standard with a lawyer in upper class New York in the late 19th century who is married but has a weak spot for the unconventional and scandalous countess Ellen. Not very special maybe but this film is made by Martin Scorsese and has Daniel Day-Lewis. This is a combination that lifts the film to a higher level, the cinematography, sets, editing and acting are all above average and a beautiful wrap on a powerful story about romance and life choices.  8/10

Le Passé (Asghar Farhadi, 2013)

Not as compelling as A Separation but the Iranian director shows that he masters the drama genre. Every emotion and nuance can be felt and therefore Farhadi and his perfect actors (the kid is awesome!) deserve credit. Hollywood can only dream of portraying so many emotional layers and motivations so skillful. I do believe that this film tries to incorporate too many characters and therefore lacks the focus and impact of its predecessor, which was a masterpiece, of course.  7.5/10

Week 33 in film

Pain & Gain (Michael Bay, 2013)
One of Bay's best performances. Pain & Gain tries to be satirical and succeeds most of the time. Bay's high speed lets-blow-something-up-style is still visible here and still disturbing at times. I laughed a lot, nevertheless, I believe this script would have been better off with a different director with a better sense of satire. Fitness as a metaphor for the American dream and its disappointing result could have been done better.  6.5/10



Behind the Candelabra (Steven Soderbergh, 2013)
Of course, most of the credits go to Michael Douglas, who is simply great, but I believe Matt Damon's performance is just as impressive but in the shadow of his partner, which is exactly his role in this film. Besides performances a solid biopic from Soderbergh, who stops making films (again)? And how cool was Rob Lowe in this film.  7.5/10

The Bling Ring (Sofia Coppola, 2013)
Not as great as Coppola's earlier work. Her style feels extremely uneven and boring at times. I can't imagine this is on purpose regarding its thematics, which is in itself interesting enough to keep this film going. 6.5/10

The Lone Ranger (Gore Verbinski, 2013)
Just another Depp-does-his-thing-formula. I went in with low expectations and found myself having a good time. Should do this more often when I go to the cinema ;-).  6/10

The Boondock Saints (Troy Duffy, 1999)
Almost shockingly disappointing. The directing is simply horrible, this film wants to be everything it is not! Tarantino and Guy Ritchie are looking really good compared to this work of crap. I am not going to rate it a 1 because Willem Dafoe did have one or two fun scenes in this, he could have never saved it, though. 3/10

Pacific Rim (Guillermo del Toro, 2013)
Power Rangers on steroids and in 3D. I guess it is pretty good when you're into the genre. For me it felt boring and compulsory (fighting partners have to compatible bla bla) most of the times. Have to give it credits for the production design and visuals. 5.5/10



Shadows of Our Forgotten Ancestors (Sergei Parajanov, 1965)
Beautiful love story with stunning images and cinematography, which is not uncommon in Russian cinema. Unfortunately I did feel at arms length most of the time, probably because I didn't get all the symbolism (lot of Christian and Paganism) and perhaps it pays off to study a bit of history on this one. Nevertheless I believe that a movie should be good enough on its own, which this one is, don't get me wrong. Recommended.  8/10

Ballad of Narayama (Keisuke Kinoshita, 1958)
More or less the same as for Parajanov's film holds for this one. Beautifully shot at times but I couldn't really feel the emotional built up and couldn't feel with the characters. In fact, I did read up on ubasute (carrying your elder to a mountain top to die there). It helped me in understanding some of the motivations but I can't say it really grabbed me.  7/10

Week 32 in film

The Grandmaster (Wong Kar Wai, 2013)
As stated before, I am nog a big fan of Wong Kar Wai. Somehow, I don't like his way of storytelling. On the other hand I do appreciate his visual style and The Grandmaster is definitely a visual treat. Even if you're not into Kung fu, go watch this film for some amazing choreography and cinematography. Downside is, again, the story the director tells us. A film like this should have ended on a high, unfortunately Wai made a different choice and the whole feels unbalanced.  7.5/10




Post Tenebras Lux (Carlos Reygadas, 2012)
I was really looking forward to this film as it is compared to the work of Terrence Malick for instance. I can see this from the beautiful openingtake but it doesn't hold very long. Some individual scenes (mostly posed as dreams or memories, which usually really works for me) are fascinating but some are exhausting and too far from the core of the film, if there is one, and at the end of the film I believe to have found one. A unique piece of work, but too fragmented and distant too get me really excited. The lack of non-diegetic music doesn't help much. 7/10

The Quiet American (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1958)
Every minute of this film felt mediocre and lacks the suspense I was hoping for. Hopefully my first encounter with this director isn't representative for the rest of his oeuvre. 6/10

Blood Work (Clint Eastwood, 2002)
Not a good film. I won't 'spoil' why it isn't. But when Clint is chasing a serial killer who leaves codes, takes relics from his victims and keeps both Clint and the viewer puzzling it entertains me sufficiently. Every minute after the mystery is solved is redundant.  6/10

Week 31 in film

The Wire - Season 1 (David Simon, 2002)

Usually I try to 'avoid' series. I am simply too sensitive to addiction and loyal so it always becomes very time consuming. With The Wire I couldn't resist and had to watch the pilot. I was hooked instantly. Firstly, the activity of a police unit versus an advanced criminal organisation is exactly what I like in a series and I am reading and hearing nothing but praise about how it is done here. It took me 3 days to watch the first season, which is proving my addictive nature (or lack of better things to do) and is a confirmation of the suspenseful quality of this series. But there is so much more. The numerous characters are all made interesting, multi-dimensional and most of their motivations are very insightful. The writing and dialogue is so damn realistic I wouldn't dare to cross the street in Baltimore (Omar's coming...). Good to know that there are 4 seasons to come for me, I will find time, because I absolutely love this. Has everything I would ask of a series that keeps me up at night and constantly makes me want to continue watching. Brilliant.  9.5/10

The Call (Brad Anderson, 2013)
The director of The Machinist (remember, a 45 kg Christian Bale...) made a pretty great first hour in this thriller where Halle Berry is talking a young girl through a kidnapping on the phone. As soon as the phone call ends the film goes down to an almost ridiculous level. Fun maybe, but totally unseemly.  6/10

Summer with Monika (Ingmar Bergman, 1953)
Early Bergman is somewhat mediocre and has less to say than some of his later work. But an 'ok' Bergman is still pretty good. 7.5/10

Absolute Power (Clint Eastwood, 1997)
A 'middle' nineties American action thriller involving the president as a bad guy. Very cliche, but I am filled with nostalghia since this is exactly the kind of movie I grew up with. And with good old Clint in the lead it is not hard rooting for the good guy, is it?  6.5/10

Margot at the Wedding (Noah Baumbach, 2007)
Portraying somewhat troubled and unpleasant characters is Baumbachs trademark it seems. Most of the cast of this film fits this suit perfectly, but unlike in his Frances Ha I couldn't care about them much. Feels almost just as unbalanced as their characters. 5.5/10