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Reviews
Ikiru (1952)
A beautiful journey to find purpose and meaning
Staring death in the face is like a cold wind that blows all the unimportant away. The most painful regrets are those where little or nothing is left.
Ikiru follows one man's journey out of that pit, grasping here and there in despair not knowing what to do. The scene where the protagonist meets the stranger in the bar is perhaps the most powerful portrayal of human suffering, and compassion, in the history of film.
There is a part of the film which many will find rather tedious and slow. I believe this is the point. It is pointlessness ad neuseam all made more pathetic by its setting.
There are movies that are bad, then good, very good, and excellent. Ikiru goes beyond the excellent and represents the highest form of cinema.
Broken (2017)
Intense, beautiful, mastery
Very very few cinematic presentations would receive my "10 star" rating, but this is one. It is deeply human, deeply personal, and deals in the most intense and difficult aspects of being human.
The characters are all beautifully done, but Father Michael... His story is a deeply moving presentation devoid of any melodrama or the cliche. I'm not sure what else I can say other than the performance is simply magnificent.
I was raised Catholic and there is very little today in the church I can relate to. I can say, though, that Father Michael represents the best of what that church, and perhaps humanity, has to offer. He is no super hero. His humanity, his struggles so realistically portrayed, are an inspiration sorely needed.
It is intense. This isn't light viewing. It deals with many dark subjects and the quiet suffering away from the headlines. In the very end you will be uplifted, not in some cheap over the top way with soaring violins, but in a quiet way which makes it all the more powerful.
Many thanks to all that made this possible. It is truly the finest of what cinema has to offer.
Open (2021)
Refreshing authentic quality
So many movies fall short on content and to compensate stack on the gizmos: effects, violence, you know the standard fare..
That this movies takes place on the quiet of an empty golf course in the quiet of the day between two characters (and a third close by) and remains utterly captivating speaks to the beauty of its presentation and depth. Its real life, albiet real life at its very best: one of those magical rare moments of honesty and connection. The acting is spot on, the dialogue charming and well measured, the visual and setting as much a character as the actors themselves.
So many movies go full "Hollywood", that overblown over the top if one scoop of sugar or explosion is good then more must be better. If those are cheap fast food full of cheap ingredients, the "Open" is an organic salad. Its a beautiful story where technique dissolves and the viewer is allowed without distraction to step into the story itself. Like that salad, one is left feeling all the better for it.
Nomadland (2020)
Realistic and depressing
Depressingly realistic portrayal of a disturbingly increasing segment of our society. The human connections are quite beautiful, but the "economy" aspects are so disturbing that any lingering illusions of the "American Dream" will be hard to maintain.
The Midnight Sky (2020)
Absolutely beautiful
The production and acting in this film are top notch. I have to give a special nod to George Clooney who can sometimes come across a bit too, dunno, smug and swaggering, but his performance here is simply superb. Apart from a brief moment touching into a "I knew that was coming", the movie is otherwise devoid of the cliche , or worse, a human reaction which becomes so unbelievable that you loose compassion through the stupidity, like in a horror movie where you just shake your head as they go into the haunted house.
I have to give a nod to the soundtrack as one of the best I have experienced..and I worked in that field myself. It sets a perfect tone in both a subtle and very powerful way, tone that only fits the scene, but helps create it.
The point of the movie at first glance is not the typical button ending, but this is its beauty. Under the most horrible circumstances imaginable, each,in their own way, finds peace.
Perhaps watching at a time of great personal loss, I can not overestimate the power of this ending. Life does go on. That could mean moments, days, or years, but each is where they should be. This movie could have ended with a sense of utter loss or a sense of complete resolution, but its beauty is that it masterfully does both.