An example of a film based on a book, which since its origin blends various art forms to tell the unhappy life and the ephemeral loves with dancers and models of Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, the painter of the late nineteenth century that a childhood accident had rendered deformed. The plot therefore should be loneliness and alcohol. But art is transfiguration, and that is where the masterpiece was born. So entertainment is, and entertainment at its best! Imagination and originality in a movie that breaks down the barriers of space and time: the life goes on the stage and merges with the art, the rock songs of the last thirty years bend to the whim of the characters giving voice to their passions. Music, simply used as a means of narrative, out of time and out of context, but for this reason even more powerful, is put at the service of art ... art, in turn, which, with the magnificence of the scenes and the extreme colors of the characters, surprises and strikes deep with his message of love, perhaps a bit Utopian compared to the gray cynicism of these days... Where "Shakespeare in Love" has failed miserably.
Reviews
4 Reviews
Nosferatu
(1922)
Outstanding adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula
29 August 2014
Any critic would elect this movie the masterpiece of expressionist cinema. Beyond the definitions, any viewer can not help but consider it a series of pictures at an exhibition, harbingers of horrific suggestions beyond the capabilities of Friederich and Munch. Max Schreck will probably be remembered as the Nosferatu closer to the figure of the vampire that has ever appeared on the screens, so as to suggest (to some) that Murnau had a real vampire playing the role. It seems then that Schreck was his real last name, curious twist of fate, since it means "Terror" in German! Although the names of the characters from the novel "Dracula" by Bram Stoker were all changed, the director was sued by Stoker's heirs and lost the lawsuit. Returning to the movie, even if seen in a cut version (missing half an hour) it is a timeless masterpiece, and I think that instead of staying here to hear me talk about it you should go and see it!
Elegiya dorogi
(2001)
A tale by images
4 October 2013
It is hard to classify an artwork like this, neither documentary nor movie, at least not in the classic definition. It has not any definite and describable plot, nor a linear story of any kind. It's more a fireside tale, some friend telling you stories in a cold night. The viewer himself finds out to be the traveller, maybe better wanderer, and the mesmerizing voice of the author leads him to a plane in which the need of a logical sequence of events is definitely blown away, in a kind of dream where images are offered and much more are suggested, so that the beholder ends up to be the traveller of his own thoughts. Like during the "Faust" of Sokurov, I found myself hypnotized by the crafty art of visual representation, with no more resistance to this strange way of filming without any rule. I cannot say of having seen a "movie", but surely I've been left richer.
The Night of the Hunter
(1955)
An underrated masterpiece
25 August 2013
This movie is truly a little masterpiece. In spite of the basic style of storytelling it deals with the great paradoxes of our world, violence, religious fanaticism, faulty judicial system, displaying and ridiculing all the worst flaws of our society system. And what a wonderful technical expertise for a director at his first work! You could classify this movie as a horror picture, as Laughton has learned the lesson of expressionist movies and makes every second of nighttime filming a world of shadows and thrilling. What a pity this one was his only movie! However, this jewel stands through time, and gives different hints for reflection on human nature and different reading levels, together with a great lesson of filming art.
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