It's an interesting movie that shows the fall of the samurai culture. The so much worshipped "honor" turns out to be mostly fake in the house. The samurai turn out to be liars pretending to be ill to avoid committing suicide. The young guy who is portrayed as dishonored and humiliated in the beginning actually turns out to be a brave one. And the fact that the father was able to fight a dozen of well-trained and well-fed samurais at the end really shows that the concept was not as authentic and romantic as we might perceive it nowadays.
Overall, it's a good movie but I felt it was a bit too long.
Reviews
4 Reviews
Aquarela
(I) (2018)
Nice idea but boring execution
29 January 2019
Saw it at Sundance 2019. There is no plot, and it's all about water in different aspects. I don't have anything against plotless films, as long as they are engaging and interesting. This film definitely has beautiful cinematography and some interesting scenes, but there is too many similar frames with water, so that after some point it becomes boring. Some narration or story would help. It started with scenes on Lake Baikal that involved humans and some stories. That part was great. But then it dies out and transforms into pure water scenes.
Free Solo
(2018)
Life is not about happiness, it's about performance
23 January 2019
It's a great movie. I usually rate 10/10 only a couple movies per year. This is one of them. It's just mind-blowing how dangerous and hard what's he's done. And what's important, it's not one of the things that seems hard for outsiders, but is actually not hard when you have a lot of experience in the subject. This achievement is unbelieveably hard even for the best professional climbers, as you can hear from Alex's friend's words, who is one of the best climbers in the world.
But I wouldn't rate it 10 just for climbing achievement. I was impressed by the Alex's general attitude to life. His passage about happiness in life is remarkable. "Nothing great is achieved when people are happy and cozy. Life is not about happiness, it's about performance." I feel this is so wise and true.
The movie itself is beautifully shot. The cinematography is amazing. It gives a very pleasant feeling when you see the gorgeous views of Yosemite, especially when you live in San Francisco and actually go to Yosemite a few times a year.
The pace of the movie is nice, and it gains more and more suspense over time. When you watch Alex actually climbing El Capitan free solo, you're on the edge of the seat. You see how small the holds are and the feeling of excitement and anxiety overwhelms you (some people were even lightly moaning in the theater). You already know the outcome, but you still can't believe he will make it.
But he does.
Roma
(2018)
Nice movie about real life
18 January 2019
Warning: Spoilers
It is a nice movie that made me think about what my life is about, whether I made wrong turns or not, and so forth. It's good if a movie makes you think like that. Some movies just blow your mind (like Fight Club), and this movie is more calm and slow, even though it provokes emotions too.
I found the following topics/ideas in the movie:
1. Life of the rich vs life of the poor. The family had 4 kids whereas Cleo couldn't have one. That could have been caused by her carrying heavy luggage while pregnant. Yes, she was part of the family, and even saved 2 kids. Still it was their life being lived, not hers.
2. Some things are common regardless of wealth. A man left the wife just like Fermin left Cleo. "We, women, are always alone, no matter what they tell us".
3. The revolution scene, especially the moment when women holds a dead body of her man, shows that life goes on. People are born and killed, and that's sad. But regardless of how painful and unfortunate your situation might seem, somebody's love one has been just killed on a street.
The movie doesn't have any pathos. It just portrays real life. And it does that beautifully.
The movie doesn't have any pathos. It just portrays real life. And it does that beautifully.
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