franbelle10 Reviews

Hans Staden (1999)

A better version than the 1971 one

[7/10 · 2 April 2024]

A less nudist, less caricatured, less funny and darker version, but just as anthropological as 'Qu'il était bon, mon petit Français! (1971)", which was more of a comedy than a documentary.

Both versions are interesting, but "Hans Staden" wins by a narrow margin overall, the 1971 version being more Voltaire-like philosophical entertainment.

Both versions reflect on the nature of man, civilisation and barbarism.

The nudity is omnipresent but less heavy-handed and more natural in this version, which I prefer.

As I have not read Hans Staden's travelogues, I cannot comment on the accuracy of either version, except for the finale, which is much more faithful in this version..

How Tasty Was My Little Frenchman (1971)

More comedy than documentary

[7/10 · 2 April 2024]

This is an unusual film, taking a true story and turning it into a philosophical comedy about the nature of man, civilisation and barbarism. For the purposes of philosophical demonstration, the conclusion diverges sharply from the experience as recounted by the navigator Hans Staden. The moral lesson is pleasant thanks to this, despite the occasional length. Clearly this film leans more towards comedy than documentary.

The same subject was dealt with in a less nudist, less caricatured, less amusing and darker way in 1999, but just as anthropologically under the title "Hans Staden", which I prefer by a narrow margin.

Abbé Pierre: A Century of Devotion (2023)

A pointless, voyeuristic reboot

[6/10 · 27 February 2024]

"Hiver 54, l'abbé Pierre (1989)" had one unavoidable flaw: it was filmed before his death. At least it respected the man in all his complexity and intimacy.

This time, we have the opposite flaw: it's as if Abbé Pierre's death authorised a misplaced voyeurism of certain intimate and objectively uninteresting aspects of his life.

In the end, his immense work is diminished by this unhealthy display.

We also regret the director's lack of consideration for the spiritual roots of Abbé Pierre's commitment. The spiritual doubts experienced by all believers do not justify ignoring this essential facet of his biography.

Moreover, legitimate objections to some of Abbé Pierre's ideological positions are only raised to be dismissed out of hand. Honesty would have justified a more balanced treatment of these subjects. At some point, one can feel unease at what is a form of propaganda.

Finally, the film operates in a fairly binary mode: the good guys of Emmaus versus the bad society. The historical reality is more complex; Abbé Pierre's life took place during a period of major societal transformation and the advent of a welfare state, despite all its imperfections. The subject of worsening poverty in a welfare state would certainly merit a film exposé in its own right, but it cannot be totally ignored in the biography of a man who played a direct part in the birth of such a state.

All in all, I see no reason to prefer this version to the 1989 one, which stick more closely to the fact. If you want to dig into philosophical matters, great. But do it properly or refrain.

De sable et de feu (2019)

All the characters you are about to see existed ...

[7/10 · 8 February 2024]

"All the characters you are about to see existed "... Yes, and that's the problem. The tagline is misleading. All the characters existed, but there is no proof that they all met, and even less that they acted as this fiction claims - particularly as regards the two main protagonists, Domingo Badia y Leblich and Esther Stanhope, known as 'The Queen of Palmyra', who very probably never crossed paths.

The production is successful, the actors credible, the landscapes and settings splendid and the historiographical details sumptuous. The film has a certain romantic power, well served by a score that isn't particularly memorable but is powerful and well used, if not memorable. In short, it's a treat for the senses and a great cinematic experience, offering an interesting perspective on the fascination that the Arab and Maghreb world held for Westerners in the early 19th century.

But you have to bear in mind that the whole thing is essentially a novel, and that the script writers have twisted reality violently to achieve their ends. A quick trip to wikipedia on leaving the cinema is most beneficial.

Forgotten Experiment (2023)

Under-rated Russian cerebral science ficti

[7/10 · 26 January 2024]

Granted, the film suffers from a lack of budget and the voice dubbing (at least the French version) is of mediocre quality (but you get used to that in the end). The script often lacks credibility (for example, when a character is hit from behind, and gets up without trying to find out who hit him...). The background to the story isn't entirely original, and some of the plot elements are hackneyed. OK, OK. But if you make the effort to follow the first 45 minutes (i.e. With your smartphone switched off - this isn't a Facebook-compatible flick), the film gradually gains in depth and interest grows exponentially. It's an atypical science fiction film, or rather a typically Eastern European one, in the vein of the Polish or Russian science fiction writers of the 50s and 60s. Cerebral writing tinged with poetry, lyricism and romanticism.

Despite all its faults, which I don't dispute, I had a much more enjoyable and satisfying time watching it than I did watching The Rise of Skywalker. Not difficult, you might say. True, but ...

Coppelia (2021)

Pleasing to the eye, detestable to the ears.

[6/10 · 7 January 2024]

There's nothing wrong with the staging, and the video overlay process is a great success. Not being a dance specialist, I can't comment on the quality of the choreography or the quality of the performance. In any case, the dancers seem to be giving it their all. It's all very pleasing to the eye. The big problem with this production is the musical adaptation. Why have the subtle and dynamic melodies of Léo Delibes been replaced by flat, expressionless music? And why break the unity of the ballet by jumping from one musical style to another? It's like a potpourri of styles. A pity, it could have been a success.

Yuku and the Flower of the Himalayas (2022)

Lovely

[8/10 · 20 December 2023]

A charming tale for children aged 5 to 10, with a beautiful pseudo 2D pictorial technique and gentle, understandable songs that are well integrated into the story. Endearing characters, a linear story that's easy to follow, no violence, villains who are more nice than mean - but one main theme, death, requires the presence of an adult ready to answer questions from young viewers.

A cartoon for children whose parents are looking to develop their artistic, interpersonal and introspective skills.

This is a world away from the noisy, exciting, manichaean productions based on tiresome humour of the big names in animation.

The Creator (2023)

Beautiful computer-generated images, but too implausible scenario

[6/10 · 1 December 2023]

The film looks a bit like a video game, with beautiful computer-generated sequences and a variety of natural and artificial settings and environments, rather like a space opera. The action is fast-paced, with no downtime. On the whole, it's good entertainment, but it's nothing more than entertainment. There are too many implausibilities in the overall plot and in the details for the story to hold your attention. Does a war machine capable of sending missiles with remote-controlled warheads really need to send bombs that move on two legs???? Seriously, the film is only enjoyable if your brain switches off.

Missing (1982)

Totally over-rated

[5/10 · 4 September 2023]

This film is totally over-rated. The fact that this film won the Palme d'Or at Cannes is only understandable given its political content. As for the rest, the direction is slow (a 20-minute short would have sufficed). The music by Vangelis is ....... flat and predictable. The shots are classic. The colours and film stock are banal. The dialogue is conventional and the digressions boring. Whether you're on the right or the left, this film, less exciting than a Wikipedia page, has absolutely nothing to please. It's a waste of time. I refuse to believe that Missing was the pinnacle of the 1982 film year.

Titina (2022)

Mixed experience

[5/10 · 18 July 2023]

This cartoon is not lacking in quality, with a successful mix of documentary film footage and fictional animated sequences.

The graphic style is original and suits the theme of the film, which takes place in vast stretches of desert.

However, the script mixes humour, biography, history and anti-fascist morality in a way that detracts from the charm of the whole.

The farcical sequences featuring the leaders of the time break the unity of the whole, and complicate a film mainly aimed at pre-adolescents.

The implicit attack on the Pope, presented as a senile old man and collaborator, is totally gratuitous, unecessary to the script, and historically unfair, as if the screenwriter had wanted to give free rein to a personal vendetta.

Delta Space Mission (1984)

Not lacking in charm

[7/10 · 24 March 2023]

This film, with its simple script, does not lack charm. The graphic design is a little above the achievements of the Japanese series of the time, but clearly below Disney's standards. The atmosphere is somewhat dreamlike and childlike.

The story, linear, has some slowness, unnecessary repetitions and also some brutal accelerations of the scenarios. It borrows from Star Wars, 2001, The Space Odyssey, The Time Masters, ... all this in a gravity proper to the Russian anticipation cinema and on a very contemporary theme of Artificial Intelligence.

A curiosity for an evening that does not require intellectual overwork. 6.5/10.

L'été de la révolution (1989 TV Movie)

Didactic but biased

[7/10 · 16 March 2023]

The film covers a fairly short period of the French Revolution, up to the Declaration of the Rights of Man.

But this allows the director to dissect the mechanism of this period in some details: the king's procrastination, external factors, agitation and revolutionary tactics, etc.

The acting and costumes are credible, helped by the absence of large-scale scenes in a film that primarily exposes the alcoves of power.

The main flaw is the following: a bias exclusively in favour of the Revolution: the only philosophical arguments presented are those of the Revolution's supporters; the word of the conservative party is reduced to considerations of maintaining social order, and is therefore by nature approached on a systematically inferior level of argument.

Az po usi v mechu (2015)

For whom ?

[6/10 · 7 February 2023]

The animators certainly had fun making this film in stop-motion. The puppets, the sets, and especially the lighting and the shots are top notch - especially the use of blur.

But who did they want to please?

The film is not pleasant or funny for the little ones; in fact, it is rather frightening.

And too childish for the older ones.

The problem is accentuated by the first few minutes of the film, featuring rather ugly characters - even if they don't turn out to be so unsympathetic in the end.

If the scriptwriter had started with a view of the two most anthropomorphic characters the result would have been different.

It's a pity: there was potential and talent, reduced to nothing.

Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)

The art of making a boring 2h19 movie out of thin air

[4/10 · 29 September 2022]

So basically they managed to do a bad 2h19 movie out of a never-seen-before plot (people need to spend time with and take care of each others) and a never-seen-before cinematic trick (going back and forth from one universe to the other) that could have do a good 12 minutes short ... in 1970.

Don't waste your time, there are far superior philosophical digests on the same, that you can read on half the time you would spent to watch this.

Apart the cuts and speed are nauseating, music is balancing from good to ugly without warning, and nearly 90 % of this stuff is shot in dark places at night, which was probably a deliberate decision to mask deffects.

The Last Duel (2021)

Could have been great but goes the easy way

[6/10 · 9 December 2021]

Ridely Scott's staging of France's latest judicial ordeal is powerful and visually impeccable BUT it does not escape several problems that severely undercut the score:

• the triple narrative process is heavy, boring ;
• the characters are somewhat caricatured and thin;
• as in many fantasised Middle Ages, the sky is never, ever, ever blue. It is permanent winter.

• There is no courtly love, just thick brutes. It is a politically correct feminist retelling of the period.

• the church is referred to as a sex-criminal rammis, how easy.

• There was a time when violence could be powerfully suggested without being shown. It seems Ridley Scott has lost that power.

It's a pity; it just missed being a masterpiece.

The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967)

They were joyfull in that time

[8/10 · 8 December 2021]

A horror comedy, a parody film about vampire films, with all the clichés of the genre and the scathing humour to boot.

Great art, fresh but claustrophobic, joyful but scary, ending well but maybe not really.

A testament to an era when filmmakers knew how to have fun - and Sharon Tate is a beautiful girl to chew on.

A good moment of cinematographic humour to share in the dark ... but maybe not so dark.

The Rose Maker (2020)

Spoiled by political correctness

[6/10 · 13 November 2021]

What could have been a fine French comedy is weighed down to the point of nausea by an avalanche of clichés and politically correct remarks about genders, feminism and so on. Soooo 2021 ... A pity.

Dune (2021)

Lushness missing

[7/10 · 27 October 2021]

Am I the only one who misses the lushness of the Dune universe? I mean, the lushness of the universe that transpires in the novel - and that the 1984 version rendered imperfectly but still better than this new version? Certainly, the 2021 version is more adequate, more introverted, more developed, and better overall. But it is unfortunate that Villeneuve has confused desert with austerity. If this had not been the case, we would have had a masterpiece. Here, we are obliged to wait for the sequel before being able to pronounce on the global quality of the adaptation.

Spirit Untamed (2021)

Depending on what you are expecting

[7/10 · 7 September 2021]

So OK this is NOT near close to the 2002 version.

But animation, despite 3D, is top.

Story, despite being predictable, is good.

Characters are well defined.

And the overall spectacle is pleasant for the young ones (9-13 years) and even the whole family.

The Great Man (2014)

A great man maybe but a small movie

[6/10 · 25 May 2021]

This a very slow and poor movie, dealing with post-war trauma recovery, friendship and the difficulty to be a real, great man in complex situation. Not bad, could have been interesting but simply dul.

Twelve Hours to Live (1950)

Too light

[6/10 · 7 January 2021]

A light comedy, very light, too light. The moral is saved, but mishandled.None of the actors is perfectly convincing in his role; the characters never go through with their engagements except the main protagonist - and even then he does so in an annoyance that is transmitted to the spectator.

The Two Popes (2019)

A totally biased and superficial panygérique

[4/10 · 23 December 2020]

Bergioglio, presented as a holy man who has overcome his shadows with humility; the remaining 20% shows Benedict XVI caricatured as a cold and insensitive intellectual, with the sole purpose of further enhancing the aura of the former. Even an atheist can sense this after a few minutes. Moreover, we are far from any theological debate. No substantive subject is seriously discussed except in brief, caricatural flashes.The intellectual approach of the film is more or less limited to this: charisma is better than truth. Have you read this review? You have learned in ten lines everything that this film as thick as a sheet of cigarette paper could teach you. Do yourself a favour: save two hours of your precious life and take a good book instead.

The Confession (2016)

Superior to the 1961 version

[9/10 · 13 October 2020]

Léon Morin, prêtre (1961) was a very good movie, with a strong Belmondo playing as a priest. This remake is even slightly better. Romain Duris and Marine Vacth are both excellent players. The scenario is tighter in this new version, tighter on the central theme of spirit and flesh.

Novitiate (2017)

Pure fiction presented as reality

[3/10 · 3 October 2020]

The problem of this movie is that it somehow pretend to present real life in a real convent while it is mostly pure invention. Is it for catholic bashing or by pure ignorance of conventual life ? I don't know. But I would have prefer a real, honnest reflexion on vocation difficulties.

Anton Chekhov 1890 (2015)

A little boring. Lack of quotes.

[6/10 · 24 March 2020]

This movie's a little long. The cut is awkward: we start a scene that stops abruptly; another one starts without much more interest. Above all, it is delivered to us only a small handful of texts from the writings of Chekov himself. In the end, we leave the session with a mixed desire to read more. As a film, it has intrinsic qualities, especially aesthetic ones. But as a biography whose subject is a writer, it's a failure.