Reviews

This film stayed in my head for days afterwards. It had such an original feel to it with some knock-out stunningly original sequences. The quality of a nightmare is how I would choose to describe the movie. The sequences where she lures them to their doom into the liquid had such a powerful sense of dread and the underwater sequences was equally disturbing. Each turn and route the film chose was unpredictable and fresh and therefore incredibly engaging and thought provoking. I would certainly rather spend time in the more than capable hands of Glazer than countless other directors. A highly original interpretation of a novel. I haven't seen anything that made me think about it for this long for quite some time.

A film about a man literally wandering through his life, a life without a map, without direction. The main character Vincent is slowly withdrawing from the responsibilities of life, a thing that we as a society never talk about. Who ever tells us what we are supposed to do and how we are supposed to do things. Yet gradually as we become older we assume the roles shown to us and simply fit in. The film to me is about how life is banal is many ways, the way we live, how we structure our days. The great sadness is that Vincent has a loving family and he cannot see it, he cannot feel it. It is as though he is going through the motions of being a father, a husband, a son, a man. He is not able to look at himself, and address his problems. He is almost childlike in this way, peering in through the glass at an adult world he does not comprehend. Forced by convention to live in a certain way. In the wonderful final scene one can see his concentration drifting as the job is explained to him. A job he also does not understand, with a purpose he cannot fathom. It's such a brilliantly realised film and speaks volumes about what society expects of us and how those expectations can become bars around us. We see it in the news; 'Banker shoots his family and burns down house'. These are realities that we turn away from. This film is a scathing glimpse of a man who doesn't understand the world, a somnambulist going through the motions of being a man. There is a beautiful sequence where he follows some businessmen into a company building, up the lift and onto an upper floor looking into their world of order and purpose, of security and financial stability. He tags onto their group as though invisible with the obligatory briefcase and mackintosh. He wants to belong. It is as though he has read a manual of how to be an 'employee'. He looks the part externally but is a charlatan. It's a wonderful sequence and an extremely simple one yet in its simplicity it is extremely uncomfortable. I saw this when it was first released years ago and I just watched it recently. My favourite film of the last ten years? It's certainly up there.

A captivating experiment and one that delivers on all counts. The relationship between the two directors sparks off a challenge instigated by Von Trier for Leth to remake his 1967 short with a variety of obstructions. What then transpires is a glimpse into a creative mind left to re-cycle an old film and the results are fabulous. Easily the best two are the Cuban film and the Miami segment. They are the two with the most restrictions and the two which Leth fears producing the most. He confronts these fears head on and produces two dazzling films. The film explores the nature of creativity, the genesis and the complexity of it. How much can one control in film-making? Von Trier admits he likes to control everything. Leth says that there is always something that you cannot control once you have set up, and that he likes not being in total control. This reveals a man who likes to confront his demons, who likes to be in an uncomfortable place more than he admits. Von Trier wants Leth to make a film that leaves a mark on him, a scar but Leth is beyond this I believe. He turns in films that show just how creative he is. How he is able to remodel the narrative each time in a fresh way. It is Von Trier who ends up with egg on his face although I am inclined to think Von Trier knew exactly what he was doing. This is a consummate filmmaker and having generated this project once more he is the puppet master.

An impressive and stylish film. Rizzo as Geremia the main character is marvellous. He dominates every scene. His simian style shuffle from side to side, his carrier bag swinging gently from side to side hanging from his bad arm. It is through his eyes we see the world and so the criticism of the female flesh on display seems a bit naieve. It's a stylish film shot through with Sorrentino's flamboyant flourishes of camera movement and against the grain cutting, almost too abrupt sometimes. I enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed the Consequences of Love and I recommend both of them. There are moments of revelatory dialogue on the nature of existence which doesn't offend or get tied up in long soliliquay's and quite odd scenes offering a glimpse of darkness in this man's tarnished, cynical world where everything, even a kitsch figurine, has a price. It's an icy film and I did come away from it not really sure what I had learned about the characters or what it was trying to say. I was a little disappointed with the end but that said it's offbeat in so many ways I forgive it it's flaws.

This is a haunting picture with images that appear to me now and then, a reminder of the beauty of the film amidst the dark backdrop of war. It presents the idea that we are inextricably drawn to war as a race on this planet. The beauty of nature that surrounds us must ultimately become destroyed through our action, our own greed. It's a bleak picture with glimpses of what could have been for one of the characters. His vision that there is another world, a better world is mocked by Penn's character throughout. This idea is raised I think about three times between the two characters and in the final scene you almost think Penn is starting to believe his friend who seems at peace with himself. Sure enough however it is Penn who visits his friend's grave, and is left to mourn alone. Is it better to be the victor or the vanquished? Neither is the answer here. We kill a part of ourselves with the hate and anger that we allow to drive us to war. So not a happy film. The final shot seems to offer hope of nature's resolve, of it's ability to rise above mankind and after we are all long gone it will still be here in its infinite glory. The music by Hans Zimmer is superb and the piece 'Journey to the Line' is a sound I find so stirring it moves me to the very core. This was worth the wait.

I found the film an extremely moving account of the various brief lives that ended on the stunning monument that is the Golden Gate bridge. I don't buy the view that the filmmakers could have done more. It just doesn't wash. They were on speed dial to the crew that patrol the bridge on suicide watch and if they called them every time someone stopped to look down they would have been thousands a day. I have done the same thing on the GG.

What the film did reveal albeit in a small way is that people who have the intention of killing themselves will find a method and a means of ending their lives. People around them can do so much but the person has to want to help themselves. Sometimes they are unable to do this due to severe mental illness which is where the problems multiply. It's a dark place and the film shows this juxtaposition of how we share our day with other people well. This is demonstrated with the comment made by one of boarders who were having a fantastic morning surfing whilst at the same a man quietly and without fanfare in less than five seconds climbed over and jumped. Each person sharing that same moment in the same area a few hundred yards from each other but very different mental states. Also the interviewee who was a friend of Gene's says some very insightful comments about our perception of people with depression.

The footage of the jumpers is chilling, literally chilling to watch. It's not easy. It is remarkable the way, with such simplicity they climb over and jump but you just know that they have thought about this moment for days before finally getting this point.

And the setting itself, the Golden Gate bridge, embodies the beauty and the sadness all at once. That such a wonderful picturesque place should be where some people are sharing the most joyous points in their lives whereas other isolated people are at their lowest ebb with no place to go but over the edge. As the friend of Gene says tomorrow is another day for most of us and the sun comes out but for these people their hope was lost. A remarkable engrossing film.

A wonderful gem of a film that makes for an engaging and at times alarmingly realistic portrait of the pain that runs through the lives of a cross-section of LA residents. There is little to fault and even though the film runs at quite considerable length it moves along in a tight way some movies half its length fail to do. The acting is top rate thanks to Altman's usual eclectic bunch of misfits that only someone such as he could assemble, and pull off. The slow zooms that Altman puts into every scene add to a growing menace creeping up on you. It's a subtle thing. It works.

My favourite narrative has to be the couple played by Lily Tomlin and Tom Waits. I just love them. I love the look on Tom Waits face when he says 'with a broke yoke'. The unease of Anne Archer's face when she realises how long her husband left the body underwater whilst continuing to fish. This in itself is a horrifying revelation about how our priorities become distorted. The way Andie MacDowell hugs Lori Singer after he son has died and the way she reacts. Her body literally taking on board the sadness and loss. But there are many moments of hilarity and the craziness and spontaneity of life. The dog on the side of the bike. The mixing of photos. More than anything the film is a wonderful mixed bag. You see many stories and some you take away and some you leave behind. All are very much insightful about our lives. Spend time with this film.

A mesmerising film that spoke to me on so many levels. The opening sequence (after the deaf children) which kick starts the several narrative strands is such a brilliantly filmed sequence.

An admittedly wrong act by a youngster (how often do we see that) which is responded to by a passer-by thus setting in motion a chain of events that touch the lives of various people. The sub-heading of the film 'Incomplete tales of several journeys' reminded me of '71 fragments....'. Life is incomplete, unfinished and things are not resolved. What Haneke is taking on board here is the responsibility as a filmmaker to present the fiction as honestly as possible. This is perhaps why he is interested in using the fixed camera approach. A sort of anti-Hollywood (if you like) shooting style. By minimising the shots and dispensing with editing within a sequence he is presenting something in real time and with the intent I imagine of being more honest and less manipulative. That said I think in a work of fiction it is still possible to present a narrative using a variety of shots to engage the

viewer. As a filmmaker you are manipulating time but who said a filmmaker had to be true to the viewer. Film is fiction, even documentary. It could even be argued that documentary is less honest than fiction. What is truth? Or is film really the truth 24 times a second. We know who said that. So as a filmmaker just by presenting a narrative we are presenting fiction, however we show it for we are giving our interpretation of events, that we have written. Haneke is trying to straddle a fundamental problem here. One of truth. I think he fails in being honest but succeeds in making a superb piece of cinema.

The acting is beyond reproach. Binoche excels herself in a scene which is a rehearsal for a film within the film. It is a fixed video camera filming her as she reacts to the direction given her by the director off camera. It is a wonderful scene. Another powerful scene is when Binoche is on the metro and is pestered by two youths. She moves seat but is confronted again. It is a brilliant example of how we are unable to break out of our rigid class system and confront what is happening around us. Afraid of the world around us. Tied to a rigid system of behaviour. Mute.

The big bad city is all around us and it will chew us up and spit us out, whatever path we choose. We are slaves to its rules. I suppose Haneke is saying this is the route we are going down. He is also saying that often the route is out of our control. Meaning our lives are out of our control. We are at the mercy of chance encounters, brief moments that we pass by without acknowledging. These small instances are what really govern all our destinies and the incomplete time we spend here.

This is a prophetic film about the US government quashing any kind of dissent against what it considers its moral codes of the day. Putting those accused in front of a farcical panel that represents the establishment or is supposed to speak for the masses and condemns them to be incarcerated or face possible freedom by going through the terrain of Punishment Park and if succeeding to eventual freedom. The fact that the band of 'kids' have to traverse over 50 miles in impossible desert heat with no water with armed police in pursuit is an indication of their certain fate.

This is a film that boils the blood. It made me angry. It made me feel sick. It made me think. I could not believe it was made such a long time ago. It seems to reflect exactly what is going on right now in Cuba with those prisoners who still have not been charged. What the hell is going on and how can they do that? Totally contravene international law on human rights. This film covers so many themes and issues about society and how we treat anyone questioning the status quo. The film shows a tipping in the balance of power. The point where the state runs amok and is allowed to carry out its ultimate goal of simply removing dissenter from the equation. Surely diversity is the essence of humanity?

What is particularly sad is that Peter Watkins himself is not given carte blanche by some British television channel to make what he wishes as this is clearly a man who has something to say. In this age of dumbed down television with anodine members of the public exposing their flesh, constantly effete presenters and vacuous woman designers, don't we deserve to aim somewhat higher in what we produce and send out to the masses. Don't we want to dream anymore?

A film that holds a mirror up to society. One that says we are all interconnected. We can all play a part. We can all help. The film left me saddened. Sad for the victim. Sad for the perpetrator. Sad for the family. Sad for the partner. I did not feel sadness for the filmmaker. I felt he was not there for Stevie. If the references to him being 'big brother' were removed from the film I would not have realised they had any history together such was their negative body language together. Sometimes it made me squirm it was so awkward when they were in the same scenes together. I felt for Stevie. His circumstances were awful. He seemed destined to fall. At one point I felt a glimmer of hope but it was short-lived. There were some standout scenes. Where Stevie and his partner go to Chicago and visit her friend who was sexually abused as a child talking about the effect on her life of the assault. The scene where Stevie goes back to visit his foster parents reveals a different side of his personality that springs from somewhere deep inside him as though it had been locked away for years. The moment his mother hugs him after he goes into prison is something she should have done many years ago, perhaps when he was a young boy instead of hitting him in the face. What goes around comes around. I felt the filmmaker could have offered or at least been seen to offer more advice to Stevie. To try and have a more open conversation with him. Maybe he tried but he comes across badly in my mind. Overall the film makes me despair at the way we live our lives and the fragility of the human condition. It leaves me feeling there is no hope.

I had delayed seeing this as I have had problems with certain Bergman films like Persona, yet enjoyed films like Wild Strawberries very much. This is in a league of its own. The family is so well realised that when the rape occurs it is almost unbelievable to think anyone could defile the girl herself. The pacing of the film is well judged and the acting just spot on. The remarkable scene where the mother is handed the garments of her dead daughter, is one of great understatement yet it overflows with emotion. The boy staring up at the night sky wondering his fate and the nightmares to come. The simple direction gets to the heart of the matter. It captures something very well. It captures the surging emotions beneath the surface. The invisible. Nature is close in this film. You can almost touch it. The woods that hide mystery. The water that flows from the point of death. A simple idea. A simple story. Beautifully and superbly executed.

A stunning cinematic work that leaves one ultimately feeling elated having shared time with such a character as Mr. Watanabe. I had heard about the scene on the swing prior to seeing the film. It is a beautiful transcendental scene all the more moving as we know he has already passed away. I think it is this reconnection with his character after learning of his death that causes the scene to have such emotional weight. That and the fact that he finally achieved something with his life, finally found some purpose. It could be crushingly sentimental in the wrong hands but Kurosawa floats the camera along past the climbing frame as the snow falls gracefully over Watanabe as he sings to himself in this fleeting moment of happiness.

The film has many wonderful scenes but it is the actor Takashi Shimura who steals the show. He is such a presence throughout and dominates every scene. I love the way he moves. We can feel his anxiety, his stress, his illness.

I had waited a long time to see this film. It went beyond my expectations. Due to a personal experience I connected with the plight of Watanabe and this made it all the more emotional. Quite beautiful. Interesting that Kurosawa ends the film in a negative way by saying that those who take the place of Watanabe simply fall back into their bureaucratic roles and fail to continue as he had done. They say something along the lines of his death should not be in vain, but by their inaction it is. He dies in vain but it makes Watanabe all the greater as being the one person who decided to change his dull life by doing something more. Stepping outside and seeing the day differently , the sunset, the city, nothing is the same to him. His impending death finally gives his life meaning so he no longer just simply exists. We are all guilty to some extent of this. He stops to smell the flowers and how wonderful they look and how sweet they smell.

I saw this film last night and I found it very inspirational. I adore Haneke and the subject matter he chooses. For me this was completely gripping from the beginning. I loved the clarity of the scenes and the honest depiction of the various characters was chilling in parts. There is so much packed in this film I came away full of ideas. Two scenes stick in my head. The first is a scene at a kitchen table where a man tells a woman he loves her. I found it very realistic and its portrayal of this married couple was for me brutal but unflinching in its directness about the lives that we lead and the cages we build for ourselves. The second scene is an amazing shot of a character playing table tennis against an automatic opponent. It's a great shot. It's a shot that says so much. As it continues we as a viewer concentrate more on the character's face and what is written on it. Pain, anguish, fear and despair. A man so locked onto a path that he realises (perhaps in this scene) he is no longer able to return to normality. I waited for him to become exhausted but he never does and Haneke cuts the scene with him still playing, hoping perhaps the machine will break but not able to control what now controls him. As far as I know he may have gone on for hours more. A superb insight into a character's psyche encapsulated in one shot. A shocking ending rounds off a well constructed film that tries to explain why some of these events happen and does so in a thought-provoking way. There is never a dull moment in this film and I would recommend it to anyone as essential viewing. The film speaks for itself.