Solan Reviews

Aliens (1986)

Beautiful bughunt

[22 June 1999]

Aliens is a favourite. Despite top-notch sets and soundtrack, the biggest asset is convincing acting. You get the tension between the increasingly freaked-out Marines ("They're gonna get in here and they're gonna kill us!!" "SHUT UP!!"). Then there's the chilling Newt ("These marines are here to protect you." "It won't make any difference"). And of course, there's Ripley. Cameron almost makes it believable that she would willingly confront the aliens again - and that's quite a feat.

And Horner's music does A LOT for this movie. The creepy atmosphere when the marines enter the processing station is great, together with the adrenaline-pumping theme during Ripley's rescue.

Claustrophobia was one of the effects in the original Alien, but it's just as prominent here. "Six feet..five feet.." "They're almost on top of us!" Classic. El riesgo siempre vive.

The Party (1968)

This may be Peter Seller's finest hour.

[22 June 1999]

The Party is not a harmless comedy. It's got a lot of sting in it, against snobbishness and contempt for your fellow man - or woman, for that matter. But above all, it's Peter Sellers who shows his talent here. How an earlier reviewer manages to call this 'a dud' is beyond me.

So the movie loses its pace a bit at the end - maybe trying to underline too much what a nice fellow Bakshi is. But there's a lot of great scenes - the army attack, the parrot, the dinner and that incredible toilet scene. The increasingly drunken waiter (a convincing performance, who is that actor?). And through it all, Bakshi wanders around with that eternal smile on his face.

Sellers manages to combine The Pink Panther's slapstick with a sympathetic character of more depth. Great humour!

IP5: The Island of Pachyderms (1992)

A touching road-movie towards love, dreams and the Pyrrenees

[16 June 1999]

A boy, a youth and a seemingly crazy old man are on their way to the Pyrrenees. What are they really searching for? Life & Fulfillment, I guess. But Beineix pulls it off without getting pompous. This movie is mixed, both gentle and harsh at the same time. It's a lot more quiet than Beineix's "Betty Blue", without the same desperation - it's more about pent-up feelings and longing.

All the main characters are played well, especially Sall is incredibly good as the kid. That ending in the sunrise at the Pyrrenees is moving. No guarantee that Betty Blue-fans will like this - but it's really worth checking out!

Blade Runner (1982)

Futuristic Frankenstein

[16 June 1999]

The scene-stealer of Blade Runner may be the incredible set design and photography, but what really lifts this movie is the philosophical undertext: What is the essence of being human? And what responsibility does man have when he creates life? It's the old Frankenstein question.

Ironically, it seems like the philosophy was more of a by-product originally - Ridley Scott was preoccupied more with the look than the content. And to be honest, the acting isn't all that impressive - with the possible exception of Rutger Hauer.

I've read Philip K. Dick's novel, and it would have been interesting to see how a more faithful adaptation would have been. As it is, Blade Runner is a fascinating journey through what I sincerely hope isn't our future.

The Big Blue (1988)

Poetry in motion picture

[15 June 1999]

Le grand bleu is a love letter to the ocean. Luc Besson carries on this watery affair with Atlantis, a kind-of documentary hereby strongly recommended. What is it with this movie that hits you?? The characters aren't all that convincing, but the photography is pure poetry. And the mix of melancholy, hopeless love, and passion for the mysterious big blue, together with THAT music...wow. The ending may be downbeat, but who knows? He chooses to seize his real love, and we don't know what happens next. Maybe the fairy tale is true. The sea has a secret, you know...

La belle histoire (1992)

A great 2000-year trip through love and loss

[8/10 · 10 June 1999]

It sounds like a soppy idea: That we meet the people we love time and again through the ages. But it works - for over three hours. 'La belle histoire' switches between Judea 2000 years back (yep, the time and place of Christ) and the present day. We meet the same group of people then and now, with grand passion, bullfighting and Gipsy Kings thrown into the mix.

Being a French movie, there's a lot of pretty people here. And religious/Christian metaphors. This could have become a messy stew - instead, it's a very entertaining epic for the romanticists among us. Too bad it's so hard to get hold of.

Betty Blue (1986)

Great photo and passion that'll blow you away

[8/10 · 10 June 1999]

Right up from the start, this movie is something else. I've never seen another movie showing desperate passion/love (which is it, anyway??) like this. Beautiful photography, quirky characters (as you would expect in a French movie) and a shocker of an ending. That ending is maybe the one thing that went a bit over the top in my opinion, but else this is great stuff. Oh, and the music...

The Station (1990)

For lovers of romance, stormy nights and Italian railroad stations.

[9/10 · 9 June 1999]

This is a great movie for atmosphere, the story unfolding during a single night in a desolate Italian railroad station. The timid and lonely manager settles in for his night watch, when a beautiful woman enters, enquiring about a train connection... It sounds like a stage play, which it originally was. But it works beautifully on screen. The isolated station building in the rainstorm, the romantic undercurrents between the two leads - and the sudden turn to suspense two-thirds in the plot. Rubini does an impressive job as both director and actor, and the rest of the cast is also good. But the atmosphere and "train romanticism" (as seen in Runaway Train) is the truly great thing here.