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Les couloirs du temps: Les visiteurs II (1998)
What were they thinking?
Les Visiteurs, the first movie about the medieval time travelers was actually funny. I like Jean Reno as an actor, but there was more. There were unexpected twists, funny situations and of course plain absurdness, that would remind you a little bit of Louis de Funes.
Now this sequel has the same characters, the same actors in great part and the same time traveling. The plot changes a little, since the characters now are supposed to be experienced time travelers. So they jump up and down in history, without paying any attention to the fact that it keeps getting absurder as you advance in the movie. The duke, Jean Reno, tries to keep the whole thing together with his playing, but his character has been emptied, so there's not a lot he can do to save the film.
Now the duke's slave/helper, he has really all the attention. The movie is merely about him and his being clumsy / annoying / stupid or whatever he was supposed to be. Fact is; this character tries to produce the laughter from the audience, but he does not succeed. It is as if someone was telling you a really very very bad joke, you already know, but he insists on telling that joke till the end, adding details, to make your suffering a little longer.
If you liked Les Visiteurs, do not spoil the taste in your mouth with the sequel. If you didn't like Les Visiteurs, you would never consider seeing the sequel. If you liked this sequel... well, I suppose you still need to see a lot of movies.
De tasjesdief (1995)
Crime does not pay off
I came across this film by coincidence. Never heard of it before, although it's a movie produced in my own country. And it is not so, that the Dutch produce a thousand films a year...
The main actors in this film are children, except for the grandmother, all grown-ups are merely support roles. Maybe it's because of the language being equal to my mother tongue, but the acting seems a little fake to me. Maybe it's done on purpose in this way, to make the film available to all ages. The main character gets beaten up every once in a while, but (luckily) there's never done any mayor harm. Maybe I'm just too spoiled by high-end effects and CGI of mainstream films, and that's why this movie seemed as harmless to me as it did.
But then, what it did produce was a genuine feeling of hatred against the 2 brothers harassing our main character. I was practically urging 'Alex' to stand up for himself and show those chaps a lesson. On the other hand, I also felt sorry for the two brothers since their home situation was not to send a letter home about.
So concluding, if you watch past the artificial acting, this film will get to you and therefor stay in your memory.
La aldea maldita (1930)
A story about poverty, honour and forgiving
A story about poverty, honour and forgiving in a small village in deep Castilla (Spain). In a time that women had no rights at all to live their own life, without the protection of men. To understand this movie, you'll have to transport your mind-set to the values of the 1920's 1930's.
A dramatic experience of the capabilities of the human mind in a time that the concept of honour was completely determined by the grade of submission of your wife. I personally had quite a hard time trying to not hate the main male character.
The runtime of just under 1 hour is sufficient to tell this story, although you'll find some scenes not really fitting into the sequence of the story-telling.
Solas (1999)
Never give up hope
A very touching movie. During the movie you almost start wondering if there are only sad people around. But even the saddest ones (and they now, because they have had a fight about who the saddest one was) can shift to a better life.
Juana la Loca (2001)
Excellent for your knowledge of Spanish history
Although the viewer might not like the cruelty of the king in matters of being faithful, the movie gives a realistic idea of what life has been like in the 15th century in Spain.