AlexV-4 Reviews

Elizabeth (1998)

Bit of a doughnut

[9/10 · 10 June 1999]

I thought the middle section of the film was a let-down. The opening (Mary's death, Norfolk's attempts to have E killed) was strong, as was the closing third, but the entire "who-shall-she-marry" sub-plot was badly handled and slipped into farce. The costumes and scenery were terrific, and the acting (the leading parts) was excellent, but Cantona was out of his depth and Vincent Cassel as Anjou was a joke. Fanny Ardant as Marie de Guise was splendid and they should have made more of her role.

Mrs. Brown (1997)

A perfectly-crafted human drama

[10 June 1999]

An absolute gem of a picture. Judi Dench's acting has never been finer, and Billy Connolly seems born to the role of the stout-hearted Brown. This is a gentle film, but a sharply-observed one, and the political sub-plot involving the debate over the monarch's constitutional role and the speculation over her private life is all too relevant today. The humor is gentle, and Antony Sher as Disraeli inevitably gets the best lines here, but we are never more than a step away from the tragedy of the recent past, or the unhappiness that the Queen feels at her position. Nonetheless, the film is not depressing, just a perfectly-crafted human drama.

True Blue (1996)

missed opportunity

[10 June 1999]

The real problem with this is that the full story--or whatever the book of "True Blue" purports to be--is already mind-bendingly complicated. There's no way this story was ever going to make it to film without being seriously mangled, and sadly, that's what happened. The script is plain awful, and the editing doesn't help.

Wallace & Gromit: A Close Shave (1995)

Each one better than the last

[10 June 1999]

Nick Park's work keeps getting better. You can see the improvements in technique with each film, and the writing gets stronger too. In "A Close Shave" he's confident enough to take digs at other films (notably "Terminator" here), and it's a credit to the writing and his comfortable, familiar characters that this film carries it off superbly. Peter Sallis as Wallace's voice, Gromit's exasperation and poker-faced exploits, and the innumerable visual puns make this a real treasure. I just wish he would keep making W&G films.

Mediterraneo (1991)

A funny, gentle story

[10 June 1999]

A squad of Italian soldiers arrives to occupy a remote Greek island during WW2, but soon goes native as the immediacy of the war slowly recedes from their island paradise. I enjoyed this film immensely. I hope this is only available in the original Italian with subtitles. The dialog among the soldiers is so quintessentially Italian and funny, that a dubbed version would lose almost everything in translation. The locations are terrific, the plot development is subtle but never boring, and it's a joy to watch a film that encourages you to lean forward and savor it, rather than one that pins you in your seat with technology and effects.

Witness (1985)

Terrific

[9/10 · 10 June 1999]

Peter Weir seems to have a fascination for fish-out-of-water stories (Year of Living Dangerously, Gallipoli, Green Card). This is terrific. You couldn't ask for a better portrayal of a hard-bitten urban cop totally out of his depth than Harrison Ford's work here. And by the end, he turns the unfamiliarity of the surroundings to his own advantage. Terrific scenes where the actors don't speak, and Maurice Jarre's music is excellent.

Diva (1981)

The perfect lifestyle accessory in the 1980s

[10 June 1999]

The plot's not central to this movie, but for what it's worth: a young postal worker with a serious fetish for an opera singer makes a bootleg recording of her in concert, and some local hoods notice him doing so. He goes on the run, meets up with precocious Asian girl and a mysterious underworld figure (Richard Bohringer - terrific), and hangs out in fancy stylish locations. The look of the film is what's important, as with other French movies of the 80s (Betty Blue, Subway...) and it doesn't disappoint. Some of the performances are a bit awkward, but the thugs are great, the music's terrific and it's all way cool.

Das Boot (1981)

Gripping, tense, realistic

[10 June 1999]

I was lucky enough to see the full-length TV series the first time around in the 1980s, and have seen several different cuts for TV since. No matter what version, this is one of the most accomplished war films ever made. The acting, the unbelievable camerawork and the fact that virtually the entire film was shot inside a mocked-up U-boat all make Das Boot an experience that even WW2 submariners say is as close to the real thing as anyone has yet achieved. The acting performances are sympathetic, but it is the atmosphere created by Petersen that draws you in to this film. One of my top ten.