Change Your Image
Harbert1
Reviews
Viaggio con Anita (1979)
Lovers and Liars - and Lame
Knew nothing of this film when I put it in the player, except that Goldie Hawn was central to it. I see the original film ran over 120 minutes, my disc says 96. It should have been even less. The plot is predictable - Italian male professional, married with family has to leave town because of a family crisis. When he can't persuade a woman with whom he had an affair a year previously to come with him on his trip, he takes in her place an American woman (played by Hawn) who happens to be staying with the first woman. The story is an attempt to develop the relationship between Hawn and Giannini.
Some of the element of unbelievability comes from the unbelievable boorishness of the latter. Some of it is contributed by the jumps in continuity. And the poor color control of my disc did not help. Oh, and did I mention the dubbing? There were some interesting insights into Italian family life, and there were some revelations in the last quarter of the movie that in a better director's hands would have portrayed some aspects of Italian family life to much greater effect. The funeral becomes a very interesting occasion.
There is brief nudity near the start and near the end of the film.
River Queen (2005)
A troublingly good film, trying too hard
I grew up in New Zealand, and have some knowledge of the land wars there of the mid-1800's, which continue in different ways right up to the present. I have also been on the Whanganui river, a mysterious and beautiful place. These are the historic and geographic backgrounds for this tantalizing film. Last nite I watched the Brazilian release of the film with English subtitles and language track. The plot issue of the film is simple: in the midst of the Maori/British conflict over land use in the late 1850's, a young Pakeha (in this case Irish) woman (Samantha Morton) becomes pregnant by a young Maori. The growing boy is, in turn, kidnapped by his Maori grandfather. (the boy's father has been killed). The central issue of the film is the mother's search for her son, and whether she will stay and live with him in Maoritanga, or be able to return with him to her British world. Morton (who plays Sarah) has the difficult task of acting out her conflictedness between her Pakeha world and the Maori world of her son. Many reviewers have been critical of her "limited" emotional portrayal, forgetting that not all women live with their emotions on the outside of their life. She is, after all, the daughter of a military surgeon, who has herself become a healer which requires her to suck it up and do what has to be done. Keifer Sutherland (who plays the Irish soldier Doyle)plays a limited part in the film. He appears to have been included as the star-magnet for production finance and audience appeal. Director Vincent Ward gives us great location shots from the central North Island area of New Zealand - mostly long-lens river shots, a few gorgeous aerial shots, supported by action shots in the battle scenes. This film is a period-piece, and has to be seen from that perspective. e.g. it may seem strange that Sarah could find a bridal dress in good condition in a hut the middle of nowhere, unless it is remembered that in that period,such an item would have been the treasured possession of the woman of that hut. (I thought it would have been in a trunk and not hanging up.) Or, again, the chief having intercourse during a battle would not have been symbolic; such an interpretation has lost sight of the period of the film. The film is rushed and disjointed in places, but at 114 minutes long, Ward may have felt he was working against the clock. In spite of that, Ward has captured the anguish of a mother who has a terrible decision to make. He has also drawn attention to the difficult ambivalence of the Maori's themselves who had to decide which side of the land war conflict they were going to be on; which resulted in Maori fighting Maori. In spite of its weaknesses, I found this to be a film that captured much of the difficulty of its period, and many of the choices that had to be made.
Scoop (2006)
Woody Allen - Light
Some films require that viewers suspend their attachment to reality, to be drawn into a place of intrigue or enchantment. Or both - which is what this film signals to the potential viewer; a comedy, mystery thriller no less.
For me this film asked too much. Johnsson behaves as if she is a naive 17-year old. Jackman behaves as if he is smitten by this young woman who he has just rescued, but I never got the sense that his heart was in it. Allen is a curmudgeon, but age has slowed him, and his behavior slows the film. Perhaps the script would have stolen the show. There are unexpected twists in the story and some interesting interweaving editing in several sections but a script needs actors to bring it to life, and there is little life here - except where death is supposed to be real. The figure of Death was the most real figure of all in this film - and Death wasn't talking, wouldn't even take a bribe.
I place this film near the bottom of Allen's creations.
National Lampoon's Repli-Kate (2002)
Ali Landry is gorgeous
I watched this movie because I had seen the bar-room scene on YouTube. It was all about Ali Landry. Forget the science that supplies the basic premise for the film, it is all hokey (though the book Landry is reading when we first meet her is a currently important text), but if you go along with the impossible premise of the story, it raises some questions that my wife and I enjoyed talking about. I wondered if some of the guys in our society would understand that this film is about them, but they don't get it, just as Landry - thinking like a man - does not get it. The film is full of stereotypes, but they are all fairly enjoyable, and together they make something that is greater than the sum of the parts. But above all - it is Landry who shines as she plays two different roles to the hilt.
Volver a empezar (1982)
A wonderful film for anyone wishing to better understand mortality
I stumbled upon this film, and was tempted not to watch it when the first minutes were so quiet. However, I was slowly drawn into the life of the characters and the reasons why Antonio had returned to his home town. There was a sensitive balance between what was being communicated in words, and what was being said through the cinematography. This is a film that some will not enjoy. It is a gentle film, where matters of the heart are more important than the acts that made Antonio the remarkable person he is. It is a film full of understatement, with so much being said in so many small ways. The exception is the role of Agustin Gonzalez whose has to be over the top in an old world way and who plays his part to perfection. Have we not all met people like him - obsequious, yet trying so hard to be the perfect concierge? Elena, played by Encarna Paso enters the film out of nowhere for the viewer, but we learn she has been with Antonio for many years, out of sight but not out of mind. Again, playing an understated role to perfection. This is a film for anyone who is in a relationship, and who has a heart for the future.
The End of the Golden Weather (1991)
A 12 year old boy in New Zealand, his struggles to do right.
While this is a very New Zealand film, the characterizations of the boy and his family were sustained right to the end. We could have had a "feel-good" ending, but Mason, rightly, chose not to give us that.
I grew up in NZ, and the "feel" of the family's characters are captured very nicely, as were the eccentricities and insensitivies of some of the characters. An excellent family film.
Vigil (1984)
A moody, arresting piece filled with the unexpected.
Vincent Ward's work in this film reminded me of the use of images by Bergman in his early films. Rough country, silhouetted figures, unexpected angles and movement, an avoidance of bright colour.
We have to struggle to get to know the characters a little, and that is what I found was drawing myself in to the film. Ward could be accused of not telling the story fully enough. I found that his style kept me wondering what might happen next.