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Reviews
Mies vailla menneisyyttä (2002)
A weird, but astonishing and silently funny film
Whoever has seen any of Aki Kaurismäki's films might agree that they are all but mainstream. Nevertheless, the story itself doesn't have to be too complicated. In this case, a man completely loses his past in a shockingly violent way, and he rediscovers life again in an environment of bums who sleep in containers. The good thing I found about this movie was: No romanticism of misery, no enlightenment of the tortured hero, no sob-stuff love story, no superfluous, aloof intellectualism at all. At least not in an obtrusive or overly serious way. But in a way that it sometimes shocked me , sometimes made me laugh, sometimes grin. I was never bored. And as I made it to Finland for the first time in my life a few weeks after seeing this movie - I found everything to be amazingly authentic.
A remarkable film that definitely moves into my shrine of the best 50!
Mies vailla menneisyyttä (2002)
A weird, but astonishing and silently funny film
Whoever has seen any of Aki Kaurismäki's films might agree that they are all but mainstream. Nevertheless, the story itself doesn't have to be too complicated. In this case, a man completely loses his past in a shockingly violent way, and he rediscovers life again in an environment of bums who sleep in containers. The good thing I found about this movie was: No romanticism of misery, no enlightenment of the tortured hero, no sob-stuff love story, no superfluous, aloof intellectualism at all. At least not in an obtrusive or overly serious way. But in a way that it sometimes shocked me , sometimes made me laugh, sometimes grin. I was never bored. And as I made it to Finland for the first time in my life a few weeks after seeing this movie - I found everything to be amazingly authentic.
A remarkable film that definitely moves into my shrine of the best 50!
High Fidelity (2000)
A little disappointing...
I saw the movie right away at the movies when it came out first. The story seemed very appealing, I knew the book had been a smash although I never read it. What I was expecting was a story of a thirtysomething who had not quite found his place in life and who is escaping into his music whenever possible. Some person that is somewhat awkward, but not too geeky. Actually, someone like me. When I saw it for the first time I thought: well that's okay but not too great. But I expected it to be better than my perception had been so I rented it from the local video store. But again: The music wasn't that great and it didn't seem to be very much in the middle of the film like one would expect. The ex-girlfriends-stories were kinda flat. It was not pointed out by the story why he was left by Laura, and it wasn't even clear why she came back (maybe because Tim Robbins was such a lame esoteric). I couldn't even laugh about most of the apparent jokes. The movie seemed short and empty to me. See, I didn't read the book, but I expect it to be a whole lot richer.
Hi Fidelity is nice but that's it.
Man on the Moon (1999)
This is just a great movie for people who like odd humor!
When I saw the trailer for this movie, I was instantly enthusiastic about Carrey's performance. I never heard of Andy Kaufman though, since he wasn't very well known in Germany in his time.
This movie is a "must-see" for people who like extremely odd humor!!
Kaufman's intention is to deceive and manipulate the audience. He enjoys himself most when they get really really angry with him for doing absolutely controversial things on stage - like beating up women, teasing elderly people until they get a heart attack or just standing there performing silence for minutes.
Once the audience grasps that the show is just a show, he either has the next shocker ready for them or already left the stage with a quick "good-bye"!
Also, Jim Carrey is brilliant playing Kaufman. He is just the right person. I do not know how much of Kaufman is really Kaufman and how much was added by Carrey. Neither do I know if the biographic part of this movie is absolutely correct. But even if this movie is absolutely fictitious, is great!
Pi (1998)
Everything around us can be explained thru numbers
This movie was quite what I expected it to be - dark, fast switching pictures, psychedelic music and a fascinating content. You probably need to have interest in the topic itself: Numbers and problems that humans cannot grasp. Also, you need to be able to cope with a movie that is kind of nervous, more or less impersonal concerning its characters and - all in all - very, very exhausting to watch. If so, you will be rewarded with a wealth of theories that make you think for a while, plus a stirring presentation of a man who begins losing his mind while trying to find the solution.
I would not say that there's no happy ending, but not one that the number-greedy spectator wishes to see. That lies in the nature of the topic.
The fascination of this movie originates from its perfect composition of pictures, topic and a brilliant soundtrack.
Alice et Martin (1998)
I would be very sad if French cinema was always that shallow
For me, it was mandatory to watch this movie. On the one side, I like Binoche, and on the other, I like to see French movies. Now, this movie is an exception and an enormous disappointment! Dialogs between Alice and Martin are as flat as one can imagine, the dramatic content of the movie reduces to that of a daily soap opera. Then, on top of that, or maybe just because the maker of the movie himself felt that things are kind of slow-going, just concentrated on showing Binoche in scenes like from the fashion magazine (for the ones who saw it: that scene before she entered the psychic clinic). All in all, Binoches excellent appearance is reduced to a farce, and not even the more natural acting of Matthieu Almaric as Benjamin could save this movie going under like the big old Titanic.
I was glad when this movie was over; only the delighted memories of "The English Patient" or "the Unbearable Lightness of being" remain.