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All of Us Strangers (2023)
Intimate love story and family drama
An intimate portray of a grown man who struggles with the loss of his parents during a car crash. Besides the protagonist, it shows that he falls in love with his neighbour, who also has a struggling family story. It is a very deep and subtle love story between two guys who fall in love with each other. Although I liked the intimate scenes a lot which were also very sexy. It seemed a bit forced, that his partner/neighbour also died in the end. I did like the beginning especially, the confusion of him seeing his young parents and him having fever dreams and often switching between his real life and his imagination.
But apart from that it did not have something original in it or unexpecting. I would have wished for a better ending.
Léon (1994)
Some thoughts to the characters
I lost myself in this movie completely, wanted to watch the other half in the morning, but I had to stay up. I was absolutely consumed by it, especially by the great actress Natalie Portman and the character's desperate life situation. Some of the characters seemed at some points a bit one dimensional, especially, the the psychopatic killer, who felt joy while killing, especially those who love their life. I liked the scenes with the close camera work for example where Mathilda painfully sobbed at the door asking for help, when her savior after a short tense moment finally opened it. I think some scenes could have been made shorter or left out like the sexualizing parts of the dressing scene or some of the action scenes and instead focus more on showing the characters story and how they got to the point in their life's, where they are now (not only with Mathilda).
I would have appreciated a closer elaboration of the background story from Léon. Why is he illiterate for example or how did he became a killer? They only touch on his past love story in the end.
Although I could really feel the love, connection and at the same time the uncomfortable akwardness between that intergenerational team/partners. I wish that he would reject more confidently that romantic approach to their relationship and be a father figure more instead. (although I have to say that the actess of Mathilda made a great job at bringing Léon in very uncomfortable situations and he really brought across this shameful feeling.)
Overall I liked it a lot, morally not very well thought through, but very fast paced and entertaining. This one hour and 50 minutes felt like twenty minutes.
Verdens verste menneske (2021)
Explorative messiness of life
Although there happened a lot and the story was packed full with new experiences. It did not feel like an overload, it rather lead to the 2 hour movie passing by in a blink. I liked the structure in different chapters of the protagonist's life.
The childish and curious exploring of Julie's world within her 20ies was such an entertainment to watch. I was getting the message of exploring life being presented as something that is not only legitimate, but maybe even the best way to live life. I enjoyed it a lot, one of my favourite movies, it was funny, romantic, artistic and sad. The music was great and felt very harmonious and suitable to the mood of the scenes and chapters. The end felt a bit forced in order to bring in more depth with the Story of her ex boyfriend getting cancer. But overall I enjoyed it a lot.
Aftersun (2022)
Creative experiment
I had high expectations, since I have seen Paul Mescal on normal people. I found that with time I understood his character more and liked it better, when understanding his difficulties, but it never fully showed clearly what in his life went wrong or why. I like the recorder as a stylistic device within the movie and the camera sometimes not being put directly to the characters but seing them in the background or through a reflection through the TV made me feel almost as if I would have looked at them in real life not in a movie. It was very creative and nice to watch. Also their communication was often rather through subtleties than saying something directly. Like the scene being more tense, when they talked about something uncomfortable, which was shown for example through Sophie scratching her fingers or Calum trying opening his plaster hand.
Also I am sure there was a lot of symbols, some I was getting but some I did not understand at all. What I was missing was background information and the idea where the movie wanted to go and what it wanted to tell. It felt more like an experiment, which was successful, but could have been a lot better with a little bit more structure behind.
Overall the vibe of the movie was very nice and relaxing and it finally lead to a overflowing of emotions on a deep level, but without clear storyline or organization I unfortunately cannot give this rather good movie a higher rating.