Aarkangel Reviews

Black Book (2006)

Europe meets America

[8/10 · 25 October 2006]

A really interesting mix of American movie - driven by a strong narrative, complete with car chases and tense thriller moments - and European film - multilingual, with strong sense of historical moment and complex characterisation. The lead performance by Carice van Houten is compelling and charismatic. Overall the film does not amount to a big emotional experience - the centre of the emotion, however, is subtle and focused on the scenes of Ellis (the Jewish heroine, undercover among the Nazis) and Muntze (the German officer) in bed together. A complex and believable love develops between them which is the heart of the film. Great to see Verhoeven back in Europe on a project of passion, bringing back some American know-how to a fairly large scale film, albeit for a pretty modest budget (c$20M I believe).

This Girl's Life (2003)

A bold, honest movie taking sex head on

[7/10 · 13 October 2006]

Refreshing for its full-on, unflinching exploration of issues around sexuality. Juliette Marquise is charismatic and well cast, as are most of the characters - the garage guy and the porn boss, for instance. James Woods' role is very exposed and difficult - he has to make himself ugly and without dignity - which he does in a brave way. The treatment of sex - given that it's a film about pornography - is admirably restrained and non-gratuitous. Ash has a very individual outlook not dissimilar from his cousin Sasha Baron Cohen - saying what people think but are afraid to say, asking the questions we want to ask but dare not.

The Da Vinci Code (2006)

Still haven't found what I'm looking for...

[2/10 · 20 May 2006]

If you're ever in London, don't ring the bell on a bus like Tom - you'll really upset the driver. And don't bother looking for Chelsea Library, you've as much chance of finding it as... the Holy Grail ...or anything remotely moving or illuminating or even fun in this very dreary two and a half hours. Now there are some things that look good in the movie: the Louvre pyramid at night, Audrey Tatou when she smiles (although she spends a lot of time sitting down looking shocked), the chapel at Roslin in Scotland, Ian McKellen camping it up, London around the Temple Church. And some things that look very bad, chief among them Tom's haircut. If you're ever in London, get a decent haircut before you land - you'll really upset the Fashion Police.