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barryneuman
Reviews
(A)Torzija (2003)
Disney-like depiction of war
(A) Torzija is a well made film if you consider only the most superficial aspects of movie making and its well polished TV-like style left me absolutely cold. Instead of depicting the complexity and ambiguity of human beings under extreme pressure, the director chooses to cram as much easy (or cheesy) emotion as possible into the short narrative and has no insight to offer other than an overstated and heavy handed "art relieves suffering" motif as the choir's singing drowns out the sound of the bombs.
I know nothing of the director and his background and it's possible he has first hand experience with living through war and bombing. But sadly this would make the film even more disappointing. We can only hope that there are other new directors from the former Yugoslavia area that are philosophically and artistically equipped to depict the complex situation they have lived through and which continue to shape their lives.
Befrielsesbilleder (1982)
Von Trier steals from the best -
Von Triers graduation film is the work of a young director with a vision and a firm grip of his medium. Even though every other scene (or individual shot for that matter) has been lifted from Tarkovsky's films or Bertolucci's "The Conformist" the film has a gripping mood and qualities that cannot be ignored - the lesson of this must be: if you steal, steal from the best. Von Trier would later develop this style into his fascinating and original "Europa", before he with "Breaking the Waves" abandoned all this for Cassavettes style hand held camera and more conventional, naturalistic performances. A pity.
La jetée (1962)
Perfect form, perfect story, perfect film.
This is truly one of the masterpieces of cinema and one of the very few truly perfect films. There are few other films where a whole new technique has been invented to tell a story, and what is all the more striking is that the form he has found (still photos with one brief moment of movement) express the themes and atmosphere of the film perfectly. Without revealing too much I must also say that the cyclic structure of the film provides one of the most satisfying resolutions I've ever seen in a film. It might seem like a contradiction, but "La Jetee" is an avante garde film which is at the same time one of the most moving and touching films you will ever see.
This is sadly the only work of (pure) fiction by Marker, but you should also check out "Sans Soleil" - again a completely original film, but oriented more towards the documentary form this time. In a beautiful sequence Marker revisits "La Jetee" and acknowledges his debt to Hitchcock and "Vertigo". Another must-see by one of the most original Nouvelle Vague directors.
Mi-temps (2002)
Boring and predictable. Good actress only strong point.
Another boring and predictable french social realist movie. Hadn't it been for the actress Julie Durand, who does what she can with the stereotyped script, I wouldn't have been able to watch this through until its predictable ending. Why is it that it seems like so many young french directors place the action of their films in the "lower classes of society" when they want to hide that they have nothing to say and not even an original way of saying it? Where is the new young french cinema that is formally daring and philosophically interesting? Sadly, not in this film.
Une étreinte (2003)
A beautiful, haunting film. Powerful cinema.
"Une étreinte" grabs your attention from the first haunting image. From the shocking opening scene onwards you have no choice but to follow the films magical, dreamlike logic until it reaches its touching climax. The film gives us no explanation as to the behavior of the characters, but present us instead with images and actions that in strange ways correspond with our own repressed impulses and deepest fears. It is a precise, haunting film that manages to be extremely suspenseful while at the same time creating a poetic ambiguity that will make sure the film stays with the spectator long after he has left the cinema... A cruel and beautiful film.
Procter (2002)
A philosophical thriller - A MUST SEE!!!
It isn't often you see a short film that is a pure masterpiece. I myself can think of only two. "La Jetée" by Chris Marker, and "Procter" by Joachim Trier. I happened upon "Procter" during the Edinburgh Film festival (where it - quite deservedly - won all the prizes) thinking I was going to fall victim to another clumsy British kitchen sink drama, but what I found instead was no less than a revelation. The young Trier has made a near-perfect film, the spectator is at the edge of his seat enthralled by the directors masterful Hitchcock-like use of suspense, but at the same time the film gives us a philosophical depth that I have only seen in some films by Bresson or Tarkovsky. The film's precise framings and use of space made me think of Antonioni and the colors and lighting of "Le Samurai" by Melville. But forgive all these comparisons with 60s classics by an old film critic, and let them not obscure the fact that "Procter" is an utterly modern, compelling and entertaining thriller --- A MUST SEE!!