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Reviews
Welt am Draht (1973)
Visionary and highly intelligent sci-fi classic
51 years after its release, this two-part movie remains a significant piece of art and a pivotal entry in the history of science fiction films. It stands as a precursor to works like The Matrix and is arguably the most important German science-fiction film since Metropolis. Yet, Welt am Draht is by far not as well-known as it should be.
While its visual style is firmly rooted in the 70s, the questions it poses and the ideas it conveys are timeless, delving into philosophical inquiries about reality, our existence, human identity and the human mind. The film brilliantly captures the panic and paranoia that ensue when a person loses the certainties around their identity. The film actually refers to Descartes and (indirectly) to Plato's allegory of the cave, which shows its philosophical underpinnings.
Watching the movie nowadays and considering in what year it was made and what the state of technology was back then, it is astonishing how visionary the director and writers were. Welt am Draht stands as one of the earliest depictions of simulated reality in film history. Computing power then was far away from making possible anything remotely resembling the film's simulated reality. They envisioned a virtual world in great detail when nothing comparable existed. Some characters even act just like video game NPCs.
This is intelligent science-fiction, with little action but a lot of wits and depth. Presumably, the cameo appearance of Eddie Constantine is a nod to Alphaville (1965), a similar kind of science-fiction movie.
The camerawork is exceptional, especially the recurring use of mirrors and glass is remarkable and interlaces the cinematography with the central question of "What is real"? The soundtrack further enhances the movie's somewhat alienating atmosphere.
Fortunately, contrary to what earlier reviewers had to endure, the movie is now widely accessible for purchase and streaming. Incredibly, the Criterion Collection version can be watched in high quality for free on YouTube. I highly recommend this movie to anyone interested in science-fiction or who liked The Matrix. It stands as an essential milestone in the history of the genre.
Einstein and the Bomb (2024)
Einstein's life in his own words, little about the bomb
This documentary combines archive footage and acted scenes to show parts of Albert Einstein's life and thinking, using his own words. This is the part I liked most about this film: in the acted scenes and the voice-overs, exclusively verbatim quotes by Einstein are being used. No invented dramatizations. The documentary does a good job in using Einstein's quotes to show his beautiful and exceptionally intelligent mind and to paint a coherent image of the his pacifist and internationalist convictions.
However, you might be disappointed if you are expecting more insights into Einstein's connection to the development of the atomic bomb. Contrary to what the title promises, there is very little content on that matter, beyond a reference to the Einstein-Szilard letter, his motives for signing said letter and his posterior regrets. Actually, only the last third of the film even touches upon these questions. For the larger part, it shows Einstein's life in the 20s and 30s, interlaced with the rise of the Nazis and World War II. It does not contain more insights on the development of the atomic bomb and Manhattan Project than does Oppenheimer and it does not show his private life in the way season 1 of Genius does.
The acted scenes mostly take part in Roughton, Norfolk, where Einstein was offered refuge in September 1933 by MP Oliver Locker-Lampson after fleeing Germany. The reason for focusing on that relatively minor episode of his life may be that this is a British production which wished to highlight the one relevant connection of Einstein with the UK.
In some scenes, Einstein seems oddly mute, which presumably has to do with the decision to only use documented quotes, so no small talk is possible. As in other documentaries, such as in Genius, the producers (annoyingly) decided to let the acted Einstein speak only English (with German accent), even when he speaks to other Germans, rather than have him also speak his native German language.
The film ends on a strong note, with two message to us contemporary viewers. "The fate of mankind hinges entirely on man's moral development." - "Dear posterity, if you have not become more just or peaceful and generally more rational than we are or were, then may the devil take you."
La sociedad de la nieve (2023)
Goes under the skin
If you get the chance, I'd recommend watching this film in a movie theater. It is an intense and beautifully shot movie about the Uruguayan flight that crashed in the Andes in 1972. Due to the actors' great performance and the very good production value, you seem to feel the despair that the survivors must have felt and sometimes even the cold they must have felt. You get to understand how hard and horrendous the decision must have been to eat the deceased in order to get a chance to survive.
The cinematography is great and the beautiful shots of the Andes contrast sharply with the forlorn situation the survivors find themselves in. The flight crash was very well executed and seemed quite realistic.
This movie might be uncomfortable to watch and some people might feel at unease with the some of the depicted events, but other than that I recommend this movie to anyone interested in the specific event and/or human resilience when faced with adverse circumstance and low odds of survival.
Black Mirror: Demon 79 (2023)
Supernatural demon instructs woman to kill people - Is this Black Mirror?
This episode is overall entertaining. It is well-produced, acting is superb, it has thrilling moments and contains a good depiction of everyday racism in 1970s England. However, it departs from the essence of Black Mirror: the exploration of the impacts of conceivable future technologies. Here, we have a supernatural demon speaking through a talisman to a young woman, telling her she has to kill three people as a sacrifice in order to avoid apocalypse. No one but the woman can actually see or hear this demon and it is mentioned the woman's mother suffered from mental illness, so we don't know if the episode is actually an exploration of schizophrenia. Until the end of the episode, when we see the apocalypse happening, presumably because the woman failed to commit the three killings, implying the woman was right and the demon was "real". So, although the episode is good, I was rather disappointed that the plot is about an unrealistic fantasy creature and not about possible impacts of technology. If you are not looking for that in Black Mirror, then the episode, by all means, is good entertainment. If you expect something along the lines of what made Black Mirror successful, then this episode may be a letdown.
Vikings: A King's Ransom (2013)
Good episode with major flaw
This is an entertaining episode, as always with great visuals and dynamic battle scenes. We also see the first direct interaction between Ragnar Lothbrok and King Aelle of Northumbria which is quite rewarding. A major letdown however that spoilt this episode for me was the Vikings' nightly stealth attack against the Saxon's camp, which seemed to have no one at all on guard duty to alert the camp in the case of an attack, even though the knew the Vikings' camp was nearby. So they could just walk in to find everybody sleeping and wipe out the whole camp with no losses at all - very unbelievable.