Archive for the ‘drama’ Tag
The Kautokeino Rebellion
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Kautokeino opprøret is a Norwegian movie based on a XIX century event in northern Norway, when a conflict between the Sami people and the Norwegian government representatives occurred. It all starts from the first appearance of alcohol, and a powerful merchant’s self-interest. It is an excellent movie, with superb acting and a pleasure to see the to me unknown landscapes and life, although the shameless pact between the church and local authorities has made me quite angry before half of the movie has been through.
Sarkar Raj
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I saw Sarkar Raj listed on mininova the other day and downloaded it not knowing what to expect. It’s a Hindi movie, and I haven’t seen one ever, I think. So I was eager to see it. The story bored me a bit at first. It’s about a powerful family, minister of the Maharashtra region and his son (on the poster), who has “in only two or three years achieved even more”, whatever that means exactly. They’re asked to support a project of building a large power plant. In the short term, 40,000 people will need to move. But the long term benefit is the development of the whole region, a dream that gets clouded quickly by political games, bribery and violence. I enjoyed it mostly for the atmosphere which feels somewhat new to me, with a different culture portrayed in a unique directing style and intense soundtrack.
The Mist
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The Mist is a movie based on Stephen King’s novel, portraiting a small town community trapped inside a supermarket surrounded by a mysterious and unnatural mist out of which oversized animals and insects occasionally attack them. Besides having lots of blood & gore, this is a very strong psychological thriller showing us well-developed characters, and the behaviour of a small community in extreme conditions of fear and danger.
There’s not much more to say without unnecessarily revealing the plot. I didn’t love the movie, that would be quite hard for me given the genre, and I do think that the ending is against basic biological instincts. However, it has made a powerful impression on me and I recommend it.
My Blueberry Nights
My Blueberry Nights is a wonderful movie about love, coping with loss, search of personality, being bold to let go of the old and explore a new life, the paths to which it can lead, communication between people, the unsaid but expressed in silence.
Some facts from Wikipedia:
My Blueberry Nights is a film directed by Wong Kar Wai, starring Norah Jones and Jude Law. It also features Rachel Weisz, Natalie Portman, David Strathairn and Cat Power. The director describes it as “a story of a woman who takes the long route instead of the short one to meet up with the man she loves.”
I haven’t seen any of Wai’s movies before, and I’ve read that some people call this one of his weaker works, however I have enjoyed the entire film and particularly how the important moments are emphasised with slight slow motion, touching music and realistic silence. Extra credit for Cat Power songs during the movie.
view trailer or visit the imdb page
Sweeney Todd
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is a movie directed by Tim Burton, starring Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter in lead roles. It is an adaptation of a musical, on an old theme around a barber revenging for his wife, believed to have poisoned herself after being raped, and a stolen child, all of which happened while he was falsely accused and sentenced. So he slits his clients’ throats etc. The story does not go into much depth, it is about the drama and action, it is a musical after all, and is supposed to be amusing. In the end, it is. The movie is satisfying solely for the atmosphere and excellent goth esthetics. Depp proves once again how good actor he is, I was totally drawn into his Todd persona. Carter on the other hand, is an iconic human meat pie-baker and a woman with her desires and tricks. As for the tunes, there are times when I thought that they’re singing just for the sake of it, without a clear melody. But some are very good, and the best repeat by the end, for instance I feel you Joanna (or so I believe the title is).
Control
Control is a movie (not a documentary) about the late, great, Ian Curtis, directed by Anton Corbjin, who turns out to be a famous photographer. This does show in the movie which is made completely in black and white, and does often show some captivating esthetics.
The main actor, Sam Riley, is fantastic. After you’ve watched the movie, just compare to the original, that is if you haven’t seen much of Joy Division before. (I haven’t at least, although I do own and occasionally enjoy Unknown Pleasures and Closer.) The focus is much less on the band – mostly on Ian’s relationship with his wife (they married as very young) and another girl he has fallen in love with later, which is fair I think because the main reasons for his suicide come from there. The details I will leave to you, however I will say that the movie has managed to bring me close to his mind. I think that I understand him, despite quite minimal dialogue throughout it. Don’t let the line about “coolness” make you believe that this is a romanticized portrait of a troubled musician – Ian is shown in flesh and blood here. Ultimately he felt that he was losing control of his actions, feelings, even body – with strong disappointment and without anything beyond what he has already discovered in the world which would make him feel the life worth living.
But she expressed herself in many different ways
Until she lost control again
And walked upon the edge of no escape and laughed
I’ve lost control
No Country For Old Men
No Country For Old Men has won four Oscars the other day. So now it should be considered as the best thing from Hollywood recently. It’s quite weak in my view, but that’s probably not a coincidence. I wish I could find the original novel though, as it just has to be a better experience.
The movie does feature a some good scene views, a vivid portrait of a (dull) Texas life where it seems very few individuals have not ever shot at another human. The hunting psycho (the big shadow on the poster) who seriously considers killing practically everyone he encounters, has a few interesting tricks (small gas-pump as a lethal weapon), but he quickly became totally predictive to me and actually before half of the movie through I knew that in the end pretty much everyone will be either dead or at least left disillusioned on the burned soil in a depressing, life-has-almost-no-point conclusion which otherwise means just a short break from more senseless violence.
I see many people comment how the movie being so tense, with a deep meaning questioning fatalism, man fighting destiny, facing the death etc. But, you know, here in Europe we’ve seen much better movies (which unfortunetely often do not appear as torrents)… or maybe it’s just that I didn’t happen to like this rendering of nihilism, which btw seems to be very nicely ideologically aligned with the orchestrated mainstream.
No matter how it ends, no matter how it starts
Michael Clayton
So who is Michael Clayton? A “fixer” or a “janitor” in a large law firm. Someone who specializes in resolving difficult situations, when an “important” person is in legal danger after committing a certain crime in affect. The movie itself pictures the time when he is in a tough life and financial situation, revealing that his firm’s leading attorney, who has just broke down mentally, has been building up a case against their own client, a biochemical giga-corp selling chemicals which causes cancer – which they are perfectly aware of, and have even written a memorandum about it.
It is quite interesting and captivating, and probably one of the best movies that have come out of Hollywood in 2007. However the bottom line that I feel is that it is sad that this is the kind of a society that we are creating.
Into the Wild
A fascinating movie about Christopher McCandless, a man who, after graduating from college, “abandoned his possessions, gave his entire $24,000 savings account to charity and hitchhiked to Alaska to live in the wilderness. Along the way, Christopher encountered a series of characters that shaped his life.” I really admire this person, and I kind of regret that the movies strongly portraits his parents, and not that much the modern human society as the cause and motive for his actions. At the end of the movie, he writes the most memorable words in one of many classic books he always kept with himself:
happiness only real when shared
We Own the Night
We Own the Night is both a captivating crime movie and a family drama involving sons of a veteran cop (Robert Duvall), one (Joaquin Phoenix) running a night club where drug business begins to emerge and another being in the police (Mark Wahlberg). With beautiful Eva Mendes. Even if you’re not generally into these kind of stories, I think that you should see it. Acting is excellent, especially by Phoenix. I completely agree with the following comment on rotten tomatoes:
The always charismatic Phoenix is the highlight; he carries the film, rising above the occasionally uninspired dialogue and plotting to give a powerhouse turn as a man caught between ambition and duty.
