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Reviews
Così ridevano (1998)
A great disappointment
After seeing Lamerica by the same director, I was hoping to see a much better film. It is the story of two Sicilian brothers who go to Turin, in northern Italy, in the early 60's. Their condition is miserable, poverty is rampant, prejudice against the southerners is high, but the older brother, motivated by great love and undying faith in his younger brother, is determined to send him to school and works under unbearable conditions to support him and see that he becomes a teacher. The younger one, however, is not particularly fond of school and resents his brother's attention and expectations. The acting is simply awful, consisting mostly of heavy breathing when the emotions run high. The younger brother displays one or two expressions throughout the movie. The plot is underdeveloped, showing disconnected events in chronological order. The characters are underdeveloped: there is no explanation for the unexpected role reversal that takes place in the second half of the film. I suppose the movie wants to show how the big, industrial city, (portrayed as constantly dark, rainy and cold, although it is not so in reality) currupts the simple, good hearted Sicilians, but it does not do a good job of it. At one point, while the movie is focusing on the younger one, the older brother suddenly becomes a powerful mafia boss Why? No explanation. He later leaves the good-hearted prostitute he was living with (and whose child he was supporting) to marry the daughter of a wealthy "Torinese", an act symbolic of his total moral degradation. In the course of his criminal dealings we see him kill someone, and we later find out that the younger brother went to prison for his crime. What happened? We are not told. I could not find anything redeeming in the film. A great disappointment!
Così ridevano (1998)
A great disappointment
After seeing Lamerica by the same director, I was hoping to see a much better film. It is the story of two Sicilian brothers who go to Turin, in northern Italy, in the early 60's. Their condition is miserable, poverty is rampant, prejudice against the southerners is high, but the older brother, motivated by great love and undying faith in his younger brother, is determined to send him to school and works under unbearable conditions to support him and see that he becomes a teacher. The younger one, however, is not particularly fond of school and resents his brother's attention and expectations. The acting is simply awful, consisting mostly of heavy breathing when the emotions run high. The younger brother displays one or two expressions throughout the movie. The plot is underdeveloped, showing disconnected events in chronological order. The characters are underdeveloped: there is no explanation for the unexpected role reversal that takes place in the second half of the film. I suppose the movie wants to show how the big, industrial city, (portrayed as constantly dark, rainy and cold, although it is not so in reality) currupts the simple, good hearted Sicilians, but it does not do a good job of it. At one point, while the movie is focusing on the younger one, the older brother suddenly becomes a powerful mafia boss Why? No explanation. He later leaves the good-hearted prostitute he was living with (and whose child he was supporting) to marry the daughter of a wealthy "Torinese", an act symbolic of his total moral degradation. In the course of his criminal dealings we see him kill someone, and we later find out that the younger brother went to prison for his crime. What happened? We are not told. I could not find anything redeeming in the film. A great disappointment!
Artemisia (1997)
Beautiful but inaccurate
Like many European movies, Artemisia is a feast for the eyes. But beware about the content! Just a bit of research into the trial documentation, which is still available today, would have resulted in a different story. Artemisia's revenge: Tassi is hardly known today, while she is enjoying a new found celebrity. But what about the self-proclaimed art lovers who wrote? They speak about Renaissance and Middle Ages. This is the Baroque period, the 17th Century. And Tassi was not a "great" painter either.
La stanza del figlio (2001)
A Psychiatrist's Notes on Loss and Grief
I found the movie a bit flat and disappointing. Of course I did not expect (or want) action, as in Hollywood productions, but this is more like a documentary of sort, a psychiatrist's research paper on loss and grief, and it left me cold. I dare say that this is not what film-making is all about.
The symbolism was all on the surface and rather obvious, I think, but no one mentioned the ending, when the family accompanies the two hitch-hikers and cross the border to France, indicating they crossed somehow the boundary of their grief and arrived at a new stage.
For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943)
Marvelous
I have an emotional attachment to this movie. Perhaps the two main actors are miscast, but so what, they are beautiful and their acting is great. The supporting cast is marvelous, the sceneries are terrific. A must see.
Roozi ke zan shodam (2000)
Great movie
On the surface this film tells three simple stories, but its simplicity is deceiving. Each story tells an episode in the life of a woman but as the woman ages the stories become more and more surreal. In so doing Marzieh Meshkini is making a parallel with the life of Iranian women.
The Patriot (2000)
Awful
One of the worst movies I have seen. So full of clichés, stereotypical situations and characters, improbable happenings, bad acting, gratuitous violence, that it's embarrassing to watch. Personally, I could not stay till the end. It could have been made into a palatable PG movie, acceptable for its patriotic content, but instead it is a pretentious piece of trash.