Change Your Image
johndunbar
Reviews
Enemy at the Gates (2001)
Truly one of the great WW II films.
Because of the titanic significance of WW II to the history of our century and because of the true heroism (in the meaningful sense of the word) shown by so many people who gave their all to defeat this century's antichrist, the moral prerequisite of any film about the subject is authenticity. We owe it to all those who gave so much to tell their stories as close to the way it was as far as we can determine(not necessarily about real incidents but about what it was like). Saving Private Ryan earned the accolades of veterans for that reason and Enemy at the Gates follows suit. `Enemy' adds the extra whollup of biography: there was just such a hero in the battle of Stalingrad. The producers and directors also get credit for making the contributions of the Russians to winning the war as their subject matter. As some historians have pointed out, this contribution is often overlooked because of the seedy history of Stalinist communism and the chronic, postwar, anticommunistic hysteria of Americans. With that preparation, Annauld gives us a bone-chilling account of the kinds of horrific sacrifices the Russians made. The battle scenes are equally horrific in their realism to those in `Ryan'. Like `Ryan', it thereby reminds us continuously of the nature of the heroism: that ordinary, peace-loving, sensitive people could apply themselves to this hateful work, contrary to their inclinations and preferences. All the other elements that are required to support this presentation (production values, acting, directing, etc.) are first class in this film. This is one of the all time greats. See it and be sure your kids see it so they understand what all these people did for them.
The Green Man (1990)
A real `doozer'
Everything that Albert Finney `touches' turns to movie gold and he was the perfect choice for the lead role in this highly original ghost story. The mixing of his alcoholic delusions with the supposedly `objective' presentation of the ghost part gave the whole thing an usual screen credibility. One didn't know half the time what was what, glossing over the delusional to the phantasmagoric. The injection of uniquely English, character based humor, lent an important significance to the otherwise just scary (alebeit very scary) story line. Then there was the contrast of pagan hedonism with the contemporary gloss of civilized, sophisticated hedonism (the elaborate meals and wines all being eagerly consummed by mostly boorsish clients), all this being reflected in the conflicted sexual content of the ghost and his `victims'. One could go on and on about the rich fabric of this jewel. Thank God for the Brits !
Johns (1996)
A movie worth a second look.
Reading the various user comments by viewers makes me wonder if there is more than one movie called `Johns' with the same cast. I can't help but think that the negative reviewers never really watched the movie, or did so without any experiential background that would help them tune in to the movie's pathos. While I never was a hustler myself, I've known many and seen something of this world in Toronto. The point is that everyone on the street is looking for something in the wrong place and hence, not suprisingly, they never find it. Hustlers are looking for the sense of personal worth (reflected through others), for respect, for love, for pride of accomplishment and, most of all, for all these things to happen in a real community of folk, some of whom accept, love or reject their presentations. This movie brilliantly and realistically captures this pathos of impossible efforts to achieve normalcy. It is no wonder that Donner, brilliantly played by Lukas Haas, considers himself an `entertainer'. He knows that what others see in him in not a human being to relate to but an object of amusement. Oddly, and realistically, enough he does not realize that his efforts to attach to another in this context are equally futile. His desired object of attachement is unreceptive in this street world. His `love buddy' only wants to act out his fantasy of normalcy by spending Christmas (the quintessential time of naive, childhood joy) in a fancy hotel room. There are many things to admire in this movie but one cannot brand it `phony'. Bringing a portrayal of this kind of futile world populated by largely unfulfilled people requires a deft directorial hand, an understated script and some sensitive acting. We get all these things in `Johns'.