thenewbohemian Reviews

Antonio Gaudí (1984)

Great Gaudí

[5/10 · 1 April 2008]

As an unknowing college student boozing and chasing skirt, the world of depth and understanding of art and beauty was beyond my reach. On a post-graduation trip round Europe with friends back in 1999, I stumbled upon one of Antonio Gaudí's buildings while visiting Barcelona. Rounding what I thought was your average corner, unsuspecting, there it was. I was instantly attracted to him-it was love at first sight.

Seeing many of those same buildings in this document brought back some fond memories; but that's about all. I should add that I am a huge Teshigahara fan, and must further add that I find little that is cinematic about this experience. Everything is already there, ready made, you just have to go to Barcelona to see it. The angles and broad view with which we see some of the creations is well done, but it hardly warrants a major release. With so many great films needing re-release, I'm surprised Criterion chose this one.

The film does have a meditative quality about it, however, and granted, this may be seen as Teshigahara's silent homage to a fellow artist, but it is so minimalist and ordinary, that I'd have to say it comes out as simply average.

Piemule (1984)

Extraordinary, Raw, Bohemian Humanist Folk Art

[9/10 · 7 November 2007]

I can't believe I'm the first to vote/comment on this extraordinary minimalist docu-narrative which shows a village of expatriated Czechs living in the Roumanian highlands. Director Jana Sevcikova shoots in a rusty brown black and white variously interviewing and observing the folk songs, work, school and religious ceremonies of these isolated salt-of-the-earth peasants. Simple (not meant in a negative way) peasants express proverbial, fatalistic beliefs on God, life and death, Czech literature, repatriation to the Bohemian homeland... Being of third generation Bohemian immigrants to the U.S. myself, this film affected me in a powerful way. I highly recommend it to those interested in raw, humanist folk art of any kind.

Germany Year Zero (1948)

Dub Flub

[6/10 · 23 October 2007]

As a follower of the Itlaian Neo-Realists, I could have seen myself getting into this film if not for the terrible Italian dubbing over the supposed German. I had a hard time transporting myself into Germany (where the film was shot indeed) for this reason. There are some films of course where language dubbing is used to effect, as in several characters of Sergio Leone's. But I found this, coupled with the parallel that it's a very talky film, to be a major distraction throughout.

I'd also add that the brief running time barely allowed me to get into the story. I was just beginning to identify with our protagonist when he was walking around the abandoned buildings after murdering his father, and just as the boy leaps to his death. Other Neo-Realists movies, like DeSica's "Bicycle Thief" and "Shoeshine", even Fellini's "Nights of Cabiria", left me worn and tattered, as if accompanying the characters on a long journey. These films resonated with me for a long time after, and still do today. Perhaps the problem with "Germany, Year Zero" lies in my inability to get over these two difficulties as many others whose opinions I respect will attest to its greatness. I guess you'll have to decide for yourself.

Crisis (1946)

Solid, Unspectacular from the Swedish Master

[6/10 · 17 February 2006]

Though this film only hints at the psychological explorations Bergman will make into his future characters, it does, in some ways, predict the care and thoroughness to come in future masterpieces like "Wild Strawberries" and "The Seventh Seal". The themes of human desire for change, lost innocence, intense longing, and other existential themes are apparent at the surface, but do not reach the intense depths with which we can analyze the main characters from the films I just mentioned.

I found the character Jack, Jenny's boyfriend/lover to be the most interesting and think he is worthy of a more detailed analysis. Though we later learn that his words are completely contrived (he says the same thing to all women) we see that he has a talent of making women sympathize with him, and he possesses a special ability to say what women want to hear, thus revealing his unique understanding of the female psyche. He is something of a broke down Don Juan, if you will, but he is also the most deeply passionate and complex character in the film. Perhaps it would be easy to write his character off as a wolf who preys on women, but I think he reveals more about human desire and an intense longing for life that plays out in his lust for women and his joy in wooing them. Jack does not know where to direct his passions, and the pure, young and innocent Nelly is simply one of his targets in his misappropriated releases. Despite his selfishness and apparent callousness, he is eventually unveiled as a horribly tragic and lost figure, a man incapable of reconciling his passions with reality.

If you have not seen this film, there is no reason to enthusiastically run out and buy or rent a copy, but the simple fact that this is his directorial debut should hold enough curiosity for any Ingmar Bergman fan, or burgeoning fan, one of European cinema's great masters.

Swimming with Sharks (1994)

Ugggghhh!

[2/10 · 12 February 2006]

Yes, this review may contain spoilers, but you'll thank me for it. This is the worst film I've seen in quite some time. I came to this board expecting to see the same response I had, but inexplicably, there are several people who love this film and Spacey's performance in particular.

Some will chastise me for saying it, but I find Kevin Spacey's acting quite limited despite the world's admiration for him. I felt like I was watching a meaner version of Kevin's "American Beauty" role. His character in this film is ridiculously overacted, all the way down to his laughable insults he throws at his assistant.

There are all-world trite and boring scenes like when Spacey is tearing into Whaley about bringing him Equal instead of Sweat and Low. Somehow, I suspected this particular scene was supposed to be funny, but by this time I was ready to hit the stop button (this is approximately 20 minutes into the film).

What about the faux-homage to "Resevoir Dogs"? Whaley proclaims, "I think I saw this in a movie once," as if he's going to cut off Spacey's ear. But what does he use to cut him? An envelope! That's right, he's going to give him paper cuts! That has to be one of Hollywood's all-time worst scenes, and the fact that the actors and director tried to carry it out with a straight face makes it even more appalling.

I will admit that I didn't see the end of this film (my DVD mercifully locked up about a half hour before the end), but anyone who wishes to say so could spare me the line that I missed a great twist and everything would have made sense. Well, I don't care what happened in the end, because it could never make up for all that bad acting and relentlessly over-the-top dialogue. I even got the feeling that the actors themselves wanted to get out of this film as bad as I did.