perrote Reviews

Utomlennye solntsem 2 (2011)

A decent conclusion for this ill-conceived project

[22 July 2011]

After the massive disappointment of the second installment, Mikhalkov manages to give a decent conclusion for his ill-conceived project; still miles away from the engaging original but still more coherent than the previous one.

I'm quite sure that the overwhelming negative response to Predstoyanie's bizarre mixture of naturalism, pathos, slapstick and religious overtones forced some changes in the editing of Tsitadel and the film it's all the better for it.

In the end, I remain most intrigued by this strange, monumental movie, a Heaven's Gate-like fiasco that nevertheless has some memorable passages. In fact, I will certainly check Mikhalkov's longer cut (intended as TV series) when it gets available.

As for the mighty Nikita Mikhalkov, maybe he failed, but his body of work remains outstanding nevertheless!

Caligula (1979)

...and therefore I´m God!

[14 December 2002]

This movie have all the elements to be great: fascinating caracter (the most notorius crazy roman emperor), great cast (sweet McDowell), lavish production (Donati´s sets!)... and who´s the guy designed to do the job: Tinto Brass (one of the worst directors ever. A man who doesn´t learn about camera movements and just zoom in and out. Even Sergio Leone´s usual, remarkable editor Nino Baragli can do nothing about the crap he filmed.

It´s a shame cause some lines that still remains in this mess are very interesting . In another level it´s still very enjoyable if you like weird films. If you´re among them try Pasolini´s `Saló´, Fassbinder´s `Querelle´, and Fellini´s `Casanova´.