Throughout this third series of Torchwood, the familiar team members have turned in fantastic acting jobs, but the greatest props go to those playing the least sympathetic roles here: solid, estimable Susan Brown as the assistant to the central civil servant, who up till now has practically defined stiff upper lip, allowing her frosty exterior to crack at last; Nick Briggs and Deborah Finlay exhibiting equal parts ballsiness and shame as the Cabinet members most willing to say the unthinkable, eclipsing even Nicholas Farrell's oleaginous prime minister; and of course Peter Capaldi, as the aforementioned civil servant, whose habit, or instinct, or programming as "servant" leads him to betray civil principles.
Reviews
3 Reviews
Life Is a Miracle
(2004)
Way too whimsical and heartwarming
20 May 2004
Emir Kusturica has let his warm fuzzy side have the upper hand a bit too often in this one. The title is a dead giveaway: "La vie est un miracle/Life is a Miracle" is by turns whimsical, fey and heartwarming, so much so at times that one wants to reach for the insulin. The dark moments, and there are several (this IS Kusturica and it IS set in Bosnia, after all), come to feel like set-ups for more cloying sweetness - each time something truly awful seems to happen or be about to happen to one of the characters, the director chickens out with a "just kidding" scene. Nor is the story entirely convincing. Too bad - the actors are appealing and do a good job, and the Bosnian locations are gorgeous.
New York, N.Y.
(1986)
Praise for a neglected masterpiece
17 July 2003
How has this gem slipped under IMDb users' radar all these years, especially after winning a César for best documentary short subject? It is slow, succinct and absolutely riveting. With his photojournalist's eye, and simple but inspired camera work, Depardon plunges us into both the sounds and silences of a day and a night in the city. Further description would be superfluous; what the film doesn't do is as important as what it does. Kudos to distributor Marin Karmitz for resurrecting it.
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