Reviews

How was it possible for Edgar Pera to make this horrible piece of filmmaking. He is an interesting director, responsible for A JANELA (MARYALVA MIX) or O BARÃO and here he is like a fish out of water. It is a dull film, full of stereotypes, with a ridiculous argument, a bad lighting and television rhythm. Even MORANGOS COM AÇUCAR must be better. VIRADOS DO AVESSO is similar to a television product, in the worst sense. It takes the soap opera actors, technicians and producers and vomit a low cost movie, for quick consuming. What was supposed to be a comedy of manners, a popular movie, has become a tragedy. What a pity!

What a pity that Asia Argento and Franco Nero had squandered his talent in this incomprehensible and boring movie. From the middle of it, we only want to end that anguish and stop the martyrdom of the viewer. As Luis Miguel Oliveira said, a movie where everyone anguishes much without the film give substance to that anxieties, obsessions and passions. A failure without remission. A movie that, I think, want to wager more in form rather than content, but the director does not have nails to play that guitar. An unsuccessful attempt of Fanny Ardant to enter the auteur cinema, putting aesthetics far ahead of the story. But that is not enough to accomplish the task.

A very own adaptation of a novel by Patricia Highsmith, where Wim Wenders mixes the American thriller with a European existential universe. The film can even be considered a tribute to Hollywood cinema, though others see a veiled criticism of Americanization of Germany and Europe.

The film shows us a very different Ripley and is more focused on the action antagonist, Jonathan. A strong feature of the film is the existence of rich characters and realistic human relationships and abrupt changes of the action energy.

But the film is also an intelligent psychological study, cleverly presenting fear, envy, selfishness and friendship, which define the relationship between the two men, each of them, in a different manner, doomed by fate. And that is one more approach to film noir. The wonderful camera work of Robby Muller and the subtly pressuring soundtrack by Jurgen Knieper contribute to the atmosphere of suspense and paranoia that we feel throughout the movie. Finally, highlight for the wonderful sequence of Jonathan's escape from the subway, seen through the battery of televisions that broadcast images from the security cameras.

An out of date movie. A kind of mix between The Birds, The Village of the Damned and Verano Azul. However, a pleasant discovery. The director, Narciso Ibáñez Serrador, created a famous TV show (1,2,3) that appeared on television all along Europe. Becoming the children in our society an increasingly scarce good and becoming the same children more selfish each succeeding generation, we can expect that this cycle will tend to escalate in the future something we may also call the generational conflict, but that will have nothing in common with the conflicts that we had known in the past, because the dispute is no longer about values, as happened in May 68, but will be about the well-being of each of the generations estranged.

If we have to choose a director that changed the cinema in a decisive way, for nearly forty years, that is without a shadow of a doubt Alfred Hitchcock. He directed more than fifty movies and is still today inspirational for directors and an enchantment for movie lovers all around the world. His movies are timeless and classics such as Vertigo or North by Northwest will always be remembered. Alfred Hitchcock is one of the few directors that never made a bad movie. Perhaps he is joined only by Coppolla or Scorsese here. The Man Who Knew Too Much is the only remake that Hitchcock directed. And it's a remake of a movie he directed in England in the thirties. And why did he did it? I think he knew that the screenplay was one of the best he ever had. And I suppose he thought that the movie with Leslie Banks and Peter Lorre was not perfect and could be improved. One of the improvements was James Stewart. He can play any part making us identify with him as the "common man". And Doris Day is here very well, with a face that passes to us all the drama of a mother fearing for her son's life. Since the beginning, the tension will rise slowly but inexorably, without being to intrusive or obvious, till it be suffocating in the Albert Hall scene, with the tremendous help of the music by Bernard Hermann.

A great scientist, victim of an attempt against him, is dying because of a brain coagul. His American colleagues decide to risk on a surgery from the interior of his body, thanks to a revolutionary process. A medical team on board of a submarine is miniaturized till microscopic dimensions and injected in the jugular of the wounded. Through the veins and arteries, passing by the lungs and heart, the small submarine has to arrive in brain to execute the mission with success. But there is a problem. In the submarine is a saboteur who will try everything to blow the operation off. Fantastic Voyage is one of the most famous science fiction movies of the sixties and created enormous sensation for his visual effects (won an Oscar). Today, these effects are laughable, but we have to think that they were made in a time where there were no computers. The film is an inspired fantasy of a journey to the interior of a human body. A nice movie from director Richard Fleischer with the presence of Stepen Boyd and the beauty Raquel Welch.

We have here the reinvention of a french tradition in cinema, known by the work of Jacques Demy in Les Parapluies de Cherbourg (1964) and Les Demoiselles de Rochefort (1967). The movie is a pleasure to see. We have 8 wonderful french actresses, since the eldest Danielle Darrieux to the young Ludovine Sagnier. We have a game of emotions, false accomplicities and little plot subtleties. The movie goes as a theater play, with one single scenery. But this simplicity is counterbalanced by the chromatic explosion, the musical numbers, the extreme make-ups and wardrobes. The movie is tragically amusing. It's a film about women. Eight men could never face such a plot. It's all about women, their wild competition, their affections for men and for themselves. The movie has a fabulous cast, musical numbers kitschy enough, excellent dialogs and a plot that paints in warmly colors the little individual tragedies. Besides that, we have a marvelous evocation of Agatha Christie.

The cinema of Lars Von Trier continues to be adored by ones and hated by others. This important figure of European cinema loves to collate his own fears, anguishes and revolts through his movies. The world of Von Trier is rough and wild, where we can never be comfortable and where is no redemption. There are no happy endings to soften the public. The reality is tremendous and unbearable, when we go down to the purgatory of human nature. As we follow Selma, a Czechoslovakian immigrant in the United States, we see a woman who fights daily to give her son the life that she can never have, while she is loosing sight until total blindness. The cause is a genetic disease that could be stopped with a surgery. But the surgery is expensive and she can only save for one. As the time passes she depletes herself in the factory where she works and dreams about musicals. In a way, is like her rough life could change into a everlasting all-singing and all-dancing number on some Hollywood classic musical. It's this passion that makes Selma's life bearable and that guides her in the worst times to the fantasy of a world where people sing and dance and where the joy never ends. When she returns to reality, the love for her child is the only thing that keeps her moving, working till exhaustion, even when her sight is almost gone. And when we think that this sacrifice will be rewarded, the life of this martyr is invaded with treason and deceit, beyond our worst thoughts. Since Dryer's The Passion of Joan of Arc that we couldn't see an expression so full of suffering. Bjork is the Falconetti of our time.

In an apartment at Kensington, London, live two sisters. Carol, the youngest, works as manicure at a cosmetic center. From the beginning she presents signs of possible mental disturbances. When the sister and her lover go on holidays, Carol begins to get more and more imprisoned in her own psychosis. The young Carol, in an entrancing performance by Catherine Deneuve, is menaced by his own beauty and lives a silent hatred for the male gender, from whom she is simultaneously attracted and repelled. This sexual repression takes enormous proportions when Carol is compelled to resist to the onslaughts of a young passionate and of a lust landlord, who tries to take advantage of her apparent vulnerability. Roman Polanski directs this film as a disturbing essay on the shaken mind of a human being in a destructive path. The journey for the waken nightmare of Carol is filmed by Polanski in a vertiginous manner, with a virtuous game of shadows that swallow bodies and hide terrible secrets. The movie is full of references to Carol's amputated sexuality, metaphors to the possible rape, whose origin and perpetrator are unknown and only suggested: the breaches on the walls, the hands that appear on the corridor to caress and corrupt her. One of the most well-known images is that of the rabbit, which was prepared for dinner but never cooked. The rabbit sits in the corner of the room throughout the film. As the film progresses the rabbit begins to rot while first maggots and then flies feed on the carcass. The deteriorating state of the rabbit parallels that of our protagonist. Repulsion is the first of Polanski's "apartment trilogy", the other two being Rosemary's Baby and The Tenant. Like in those movies, the horrors are not external threats, but rather the horrors that lie within the minds of the protagonists.

Paul Wegener was one of the greatest German actors of the beginning of the 20th century. And if he is not known today, as Emil Jannings or Conrad Veidt, is because his preferred medium was theater and not cinema. Anyway he's one of the faces of German expressionism. Directed, produced and starring by Paul Wegener, "Der Golem" is a masterpiece of the so called German Expressionism. It's a disturbing and polemic movie, precursor of all the man-made creatures and monsters movies. The story goes around a Jewish community, in old Prague, threatened by exodus by the Emperor. The leader of the inhabitants of the Jewish ghetto build a enormous man of stone and clay and through magic gives him life, to help finishing the oppression they are victims. He becomes their frightful protector. The Golem is a mythic being, associated to the Jewish tradition, eventually the cabala. This movie is symbolic in all his essential elements and premonitory in the persecution to the Jews that Nazism will transform in the Holocaust. The film has the three basic elements of expressionism: distorted and claustrophobic scenarios, contrasted illumination suggesting shadows and a narrative that don't need words to be of a notable effectiveness in the management of fears.

From the idea that common birds could attack people for no reason, the suspense master Hitchcock created a classic thriller. From ancient times, Men dominated birds, caged and embalmed them as trophies. What would happen if, suddenly, all the birds joined together and rebelled against us? The answer is given on the movie: we wouldn't have a chance of surviving. The movie is based on a story by Daphne Du Maurier. The difficulties of carrying out this task were enormous. The special effects were huge for that time, when there were no computers. Ubi Werk won a nomination to the Oscar for Best Visual Effects, but lost the prize to Cleopatra. Hitchcock used several kind of birds to simulate the attacks: real birds, trained birds, mechanical birds and even embalmed ones. In the beginning, The Birds is like a romantic movie, with the casual encounter of Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren) and Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor) in a pet store. But when Melanie travels to Bodega Bay to surprise him with two love-birds, the movie twist the mood. A seagull attacks Melanie and, suddenly, the birds start to attack people everywhere. The blood becomes visible, the destruction and the dead appear in all Bodega Bay area. Hitchcock appeals to successive and quick big plans to show the victims of this mysterious evil. The visual horror is combined with silence, only interrupted by the sound made by the birds. Robert Boyle, who was responsible for the scenarios, said that he was inspired by the painting The Scream by Edvard Munch, for the feeling of desolation and madness in a kind of inner solitude. One of the mythic scenes of the film is when, near the school, Tippi Hedren, dressed with the green tailleur she wore during the all film, is seated in a bench smoking a cigarette. We hear the children singing in school and, slowly, the crows begin to join behind her. A little later, there are hundreds of crows, quiet, waiting to attack. It's interesting that the director who always approached the theme of guilt, and how this guilt affected people, made a movie where the evil appears, in a pure state, and where the guilt isn't there.

One of the greatest works of German Expressionism. In the near future, the world is divided in two: the thinkers, those that do the planning and know nothing about the real functioning of things; and the workers, who reach objectives, but do not have global understanding and know nothing about planning. Alone they are nothing but together they make a strong ensemble. This super-production for the time, with scenarios of an entrancing architectonic grandeur, Metropolis is a pessimistic utopia on the future, that only love can redeem. It's a metaphor on the struggle of classes, a renewed vision of the parabola of Babel, Metropolis is smashing in its scenarios but in the same way, is dramatically emotional and human. The excellent restored copy I saw, allowed me to see the brilliant cinematography, all the games of light, the dark - bright fluctuations. I think that the limitations imposed to filmmakers by the nonexistence of sound and color, sharpened its ability to take the maximum from light effects and from the facial expressions of the actors. Seeing Metropolis today is not the same of seeing it at that time, because the technique evolved immensely. But for that time, it was brilliant. And the movie became a eternal and the android female figure of Metropolis, Maria, is now a symbol of science fiction cinema. While some criticize Fritz Lang , saying that the film is an apology of capitalism and even Nazism, he said: "I was convoked by Goebbels (...) to know, for my great surprise, that the Minister of the Propaganda of the III Reich had been charged by Hitler to offer me the direction of all the German cinema. The Fuhrer saw Metropolis and said that this was the man who will create national-socialist cinema. In that same night I left Germany".

DUNE is a sci-fi movie, directed by David Lynch in 1984, based on the novel by Frank Herbert, published in 1965. The novel is considered as one of the greatest works of science fiction of all times. The story happens on a distant future, in a feudal intergalactic empire, where the planetary feuds are controlled by noble houses who owe obedience to the Emperor. The hero of the film is the young Paul Atreides, heir of the Ducado Atreides, responsible for the exploitation of the spice melange, in the planet Arrakis. In a story that explores the complex interactions between politics, religion, ecology and technology, the fate of Paul, its family, of Arrakis and its native inhabitants, as well as the fate of Emperor Padishah, of the powerful Space Corporation and of the mysterious female order of the Bene Gesserit, all finish linked in a confrontation that will change the course of the humanity. Frank Herbert made a great innovation in DUNE, upon using psychological, religious, philosophical and ecological elements, that were up to that time rarely used in science fiction. One of the most interesting characteristics of DUNE is the feudal atmosphere. The noble houses rule the stellar systems, its feuds. There are no robots or computers. All technology is analogical or biological. It has thus a valuation of the human figure and of the political and social intrigues. The film includes Kyle MacLachlan as Paul Atreides and a series of well known European and American actors in the supporting roles, like Francesca Annis, Sting, Jose Ferrer, Virginia Madsen, Pretty Hunt, Patrick Stewart, Max von Sydow and Jürgen Prochnow. David Lynch was chosen by producer Raffaella di Laurentiis, after she had seen The Elephant Man. At that time, Lynch was receiving several invitations, including oner for directing The Return of the Jedi. The filmings began in 1983 with a budget of more than 40 millions dollars. The first version had more than 4 hours and the final version approved by Lynch lasted around 3 hours. But Universal Pictures wanted a cut only two hours long, that could be more apellative to the public. Thus, the producers Dino di Laurentiis and Raffaella di Laurentiis and the director David Lynch had to remove several scenes and simplify sequences. The film premiered in the 3rd of December of 1984 and the expectations were great. In the first place, it was the adaptation for cinema of one of the most popular novels of science fiction. On the other hand, the director David Lynch, had several successes, as Eraserhead or The Elephant Man. The movie was was not well received by the critic and by the public, generating an income well below what was expected.

Even David Lynch, in a certain way, denied the film, saying that the final cut was not of his responsibility and that the producers restrained him from having the artistic control of the production. He said: "I began selling me with DUNE. Looking backwards, I should admit that the fault was mine. Probably, I never should have done this film, but I saw so much possibilities. I could create an entire world. But I received immense indications from Raffaella and Dino di Laurentiis about what kind of film they expected and I could not make the final cut". The movie only obtained 27 millions of dollars in the box office. Given the total costs of 42 millions, it was considered as a finantial flop. As a result of the commercial failure and of the bad reviews, the foreseen sequels were cancelled. The critic was very hard with the film. For example, Roger Ebert wrote "This movie is a real mess, an incomprehensible, ugly, unstructured, pointless excursion into the murkier realms of one of the most confusing screenplays of all time". And added that it was the worst film of the year However, with the elapse of the time, the film has been looked in another way, becoming a cult film and being praised by many new critics. Perhaps the noir and baroque approach by David Lynch is more to the current taste.

The Black Arrow tells the story of Richard Shelton during the War of the Roses in England. It's an animation movie based on the famous novel by Robert Louis Stevenson.

The story is somewhat similar to Robin Hood, full of action, adventure and fights with swords. It has also romance and treason. The sequence of the battle in the snow is interesting.

The animation is nothing special and made me remember the series I watched in the seventies when I was a child, before the invasion of the Japanese animation.

The director is Leif Gram who directed also The Gentlemen of Titipu.

Anyway, it's worth watching and you can do it on YouTube.

This is a trick film, directed by Edwin Porter for the Edison Company. It follows the pioneering work of French filmmaker Georges Méliès, who developed special camera effects to achieve magical results. These effects included stop motion, dissolves, and multiple exposures. The novelty of motion pictures in the early days made these effects extraordinarily entertaining. But this movie is miles away from the ones directed by Meliès. It is not funny, the tricks are bad and the people who saw it and liked it, in the beginning of the 20th century, never had the chance of seeing a film by the Great Magician Georges Méliès.

This version of Anna Karenina has little resemblance with Tolstoi novel. In the first place, for it's simplicity. While Tolstoi novel is a complex portrait of Russian society in the end of the nineteenth century, the movie is a rather simple melodrama, in which the complex and dense characters of the novel, Levin, Kitty, Dolly and Stiva are mere extras. Anyway, I think that is impossible to make a film of 2 or 3 hours about Anna Karenina. Only on a mini format we can show the whole complexity of the plot and the emotional variations of the characters. Having that in mind, we can say that the film is very acceptable. It is not a master piece, but considering it's old age of 70 years, we can see it we some pleasure (I voted a 6). The director, Clarence Brown, begins the movie in the best way. The plan of the feast table, tracked by the camera, in which the table seems to be endless is excellent. Also, the ball is magnificent, showing all the luxury and lavishness in which the Russian high society lived those days. To all this magnificent MGM production is not minor the role of David O'Selznick. On the other hand, Greta Garbo does one more of her equal performances of alike characters. Can someone see any difference between Mata Hari, Queen Christine, Marguerite Gauthier or Anna Karenina? Only in the scenes with Freddie Bartholomew, in which she untie herself and smile, we can see that if she was allowed, she could have made other kind of characters, becoming a more versatile actress and getting a higher level on her actress career. The choice of Fredric March as Vronsky seems to me a enormous casting error. His Vronsky could nor enchant a woman and much lesser make her abandon house, husband, son and be a society pariah for the rest of her life. The performances of the supporting actors are very good, with an highlight for the young Freddie Bartholomew, for Basil Rathbone as Karenin and for May Robson as Vronsky's mother.

On winning the Palm d'Or of the Cannes Festival, UNDERGROUND was the film that made the Bosnian director Emir Kusturica known worldwide and celebrated as one of the most prominent creators of the contemporary European cinema. After some works more or less known as TIME OF THE GYPSIES (1988) and ARIZONA DREAM (1993), Kusturica saw his work finally recognized all over the world with UNDERGROUND, a poetic fable about the stormy and bloody history of his country, Yugoslavia. It's a film that amuses himself with the history of Yugoslavia, who plays with the unique characteristics of a people who made the connection between the west and the east, but who at the same time shows a enormous respect for that same people and that history. Kusturica films the disintegration of his country as a giant farce. A proof of love for a country, for a culture and for a people. Besides that the soundtrack is fabulous.

The film tells the story of General George Armstrong Custer, since his entry on West Point military academy till his heroic death in Little Big Horn Battle, by the hands of the Indian chiefs Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse. In the middle we can see his achievements during the American Civil War. Custer is presented to us as an romantic hero, sacrificed by the dirty deals between politics and business men. When I started to see the movie, I thought the choose of Errol Flynn to the role of Custer was a casting mistake. But in the end, I have to agree that Flynn is very well in the role, very much convincing. Obviously, this is a very romanced version of Custer's life but as an entertainment is very much acceptable. It is curious that Anthony Quinn did during his life as an actor, all kind of non American roles, more or less exotic: Indian, Hawaiian, Mexican, Chinese, Mongol, Arab, Italian, Greek, Eskimo and even Quasimodo and the Pope.

This is one of the worst movies I've ever seen. It's not a B series movie, but a C or D series. Maybe a Z series! The plot is copied from n movies, the acting is laughable and the action is badly filmed. At the same time, I laughed so much seeing it that I spent a not so bad time. If you'll see the movie, notice how bad is the acting. Don't miss the fight in prison (notice how they stop for a little time between each kick, like they were preparing themselves for the next one). When the two mobsters try to get Tara with the car, they almost stop the car, so she can climb over. The movie is full of stuff like. It's really a laughable movie.