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artistico7
Reviews
Band of Brothers (2001)
The next best thing to actually having been there...
I had heard a lot about Band of Brothers (BoB) before actually seeing a single episode. I had heard the typical DVD buffs proclaiming it as great, I'd seen the IMDB rating, which still hangs in at 9.5 as it did back then (is that the highest rating anything has in here, by the way?)
I missed the showing of the series the first time it appeared on television here, but it's been on several channels since, and one night I happened to channel hop right onto an episode of it, immediately understanding that the desaturated unsentimental images of actual war I saw had to be Band of Brothers.
I noticed in some comment here that it would be unfair to compare it to Saving Private Ryan, and that's true. Saving Private Ryan would come off really bad if we did. Band of Brothers is a superior narrative of wartime events by far.
Interestingly, showing events as they happened, words actually said, situations endured, but without glamour, sentiment, glorification and the annoying waving of American flags and inspired speeches that seem to be too numerous in war films, the emotional impact of BoB is a lot stronger than anything I've seen before.
Watching this, the viewer becomes part of Easy Company, as the characters grow on you, and the experience is the next best thing to actually having been there, to share in that brotherhood, the bond, and the overlaid meaninglessness that there is in war.
And it has those key moments when the sum of impressions just fill you up and comes rushing at you with goosebumps and even the most cynical viewer getting a tear in the corner of their eye.
For me, as it was the first episode I partly saw, the first such key moment was at the end of it back in England after the D-Day push when someone goes to pick up their laundry, and the laundry lady asking if a certain Lieutenant is going to pick up his, being with the same company, after all, and goes on to list several others whose laundry hasn't been picked up. Seeing it for the first time, and only part of the episode, the names didn't mean anything to me, but the significance of the situation makes for a very powerful image that touched me greatly, and it was then I knew I had to get BoB on DVD.
Visual effects are wonderfully made. At no point in the series do you think of them as visual effects, CGI or otherwise. It looks real, it feels real, as if someone was running around with a camera back then and the footage just showed up in impeccable condition a few years ago for the producers to put together into the series.
Also I particularly noted how the bullet sounds were more real than I've noticed in any movie before. Most production teams concentrate on the sound of gunfire, for some reason, but the sound of a bullet is something very special, and, which I'm sure few really think about, you hear it long before the sound of the corresponding gunfire as it travels at several times the speed of sound (that's why guns sound so loud, the bang coming as the bullet breaks the sound barrier a few times over), and in BoB it sounded like they had recorded the sound from bullets actually fired rather than making the run-of-the-mill whistling sound of a budget sound effects team.
With that attention to detail put into the entire production, this is one to see over and over and over again. In war, there might be no equal to the efforts and achievements of Easy Company, and now Tom, Steven and their band of filmmaking brothers might have made the cinematic equivalent of those efforts, truly honouring the memory of the people, spirit and events that marked the beginning of the end of the war. Currahee!
La double vie de Véronique (1991)
The Movie & the Music
Only a few of the previous comments on this movie has mentioned the use of music. Just like in Trois Couleurs Bleu, the music of La Double vie de Véronique is very indivisible from the film: the visual and the auditive form a united whole and also elements of it are directly part of the story. And when it comes to music made for film, Zbigniew Preisner's powerful score for this one is as good as it gets.
When there is little dialogue, it is not just the images and expressions on Irène Jacob's face that tells the story, but also the powerful strains of music intermingled with it.
Even with just these elements in place, it would be a movie worth seeing, though obviously a narrative based in little extent on dialogue and with less emphasis on a clear-cut story than your average American movie is unfortunately lost on some of the earlier commentators.
And even this seemingly sparingly laid out narrative reveals itself to the careful watcher to be a rich tapestry of symbols, metaphors and hidden meanings. Kiéslowski, just as in his other movies, demands participation of the viewer, and the one who expects passive entertainment has found the wrong film to watch.
Krzysztof never liked discussing meaning when it came to his movies, but liked keeping that up to the viewers, and few other directors have ever been able to lay out more food for thought and fruitful interpretation than him.
I saw the Three Colours trilogy before seeing Véronique, and the many similarities, both musical and in visual narrative, makes it feel like it almost belongs together with those three to form a quartet. In some ways it has more in common with Blue than Red and White do.
Had Juliette Binoche also been cast in the role of Véronique, as I understand that Krzysztof originally had intended, the similarities had been even greater. She was, however, occupied with shooting Les Amants du Pont-Neuf at the time I believe, and so Krzysztof opted for the less experienced Irène. I don't think the film is any worse for it: she is brilliant, and not just a pretty face as some people put it, but a very intelligent and aware actress as anyone who has seen her interview for the Red DVD release should discover if they haven't already.
In short: a wonderful film, wonderful music, great acting. But not a movie for everyone.
Kjærlighetens kjøtere (1995)
Rare pearl of ice
As usual, I went to see this movie having heard nothing of it, which normally works best since then I am able to see it on its own premises rather than being affected by reviews or previews, and even so I was quite surprised.
This film is nothing less than a well-played, well-shot psychological action/drama/thriller, and what's more, a Norwegian one even. Everything is highly believable, and the psychological development of the main character is a bit reminiscent of Espen Arnakke in Aksel Sandemose's Misery Harbour.
In "Misery Harbour", however, it is a development you are made aware of and pointed to look for, whereas in "Kjærlighetens Kjøtere", it gradually dawns on you what you are seeing, which makes this a much more powerful psychological narrative.
All in all, this is a rare pearl of ice, a gem of filmmaking that should not be left in its oyster, but held up to the light to be viewed in all its beauty by everyone who enjoy good movies.
12 Angry Men (1997)
Thoroughly Enjoyable
I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of this all-star-cast movie feast. The plot is nothing short of brilliant, and I can understand why someone would want to shoot a remake of a film with such a good script as this. I have not seen the original and can therefore unfortunately not say how they compare, and the script seems like something that might have started out as a stage play, for which it would also work brilliantly.
The idea of a film including only the discussion between jurors of a small and seemingly insignificant trial, might seem a boring one at first glance. But, no, this turns out to be a film spanning the foundations of justice, and browsing on important subjects of prejudice due to race and age, as well as containing a critique of a society where impatience has become all too common, and the life of a single person as well as the conscience of all hangs in the balance.
I'd recommend this film for its brilliant cast and acting alone, but it has a story that really grips you, and you cannot watch this for long without starting to feel you are also there in that room, a part of the discussion, and not just watching a movie.
Fawlty Towers (1975)
A comedy classic
Fawlty Towers is a comic feast for all fans of British comedy in general, and John Cleese in particular, as most of the comic situations revolve around him and his inimitable funny antics. His interaction with a host of memorable characters is brilliant, in particular his wife, played by Prunella Scales, Andrew Sachs as the linguistically challenged Spanish porter, and hotel maid and co-writer Connie Booth.
Definitely in the top five of the funniest sitcoms ever along with Blackadder, Yes Minister, Mr Bean, and Futurama.
~Håkon