I love French films, and saw a good one this weekend called "Priceless".
It's a comedy starring Audrey Tautou and Gad Elmaleh (The Valet) and takes place on the Cote d'Azur. It's set in the glittering world of the super-rich... and the clever poor people trying to skim a little off the top.
It's got an 84% 'fresh' on the Tomato Meter - check out the reviews:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/priceless/
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
The Band's Visit
"The Band's Visit" is a culture-clash comedy about an Egyptian band's visit to Israel.
This is the film many people thought SHOULD have been the winner for Best Foreign Language Film, except for one problem - it is mostly in English. That's the only way the Egyptians and Israelis can communicate.
Subtle, touching and funny.
This is the film many people thought SHOULD have been the winner for Best Foreign Language Film, except for one problem - it is mostly in English. That's the only way the Egyptians and Israelis can communicate.
Subtle, touching and funny.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
The Counterfeiters
I have a good film from Austria to recommend.
"The Counterfeiters" is the true story about highly talented counterfeiters in a concentration camp, forced to trade their talents for small comforts, and caught up in a plot by the Nazis to bring down the financial foundations of England and America.
The story dramatically lays out the prisoner's struggle between compromising with evil and trying to stay alive.
It's the 2007 Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Language Film.
"The Counterfeiters" is the true story about highly talented counterfeiters in a concentration camp, forced to trade their talents for small comforts, and caught up in a plot by the Nazis to bring down the financial foundations of England and America.
The story dramatically lays out the prisoner's struggle between compromising with evil and trying to stay alive.
It's the 2007 Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Language Film.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, or "Le Scaphandre et le Papillon" in French, is a very interesting film. I really enjoyed its unique visual approach.
The film tells the story of Jean-Dominique Bauby, the French editor of Elle magazine, who suffered a stroke which led to a condition known as locked-in syndrome. After the stroke, even though his brain functioned well, he was completely immobile except for one eye, and his only means of communication was blinking that eye.
It's a very creative film, that manages to let us experience what Bauby experiences by taking his point of view for the first twenty minutes of the film.
Ronald Harwood was having trouble adapting a screenplay from Jean-Dominique Bauby's book when he recalled 1947 movie "Lady in the Lake". Directed by the actor Robert Montgomery, it tells the whole story from point of view of the lead character, Philip Marlowe.
But whereas "Lady in the Lake" is an experiment that didn't work "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" uses this first-person POV technique to great success.
While the filmmakers did an excellent job of technically giving us the Baubel’s physical perspective, they did not as well in the storytelling to give us his emotional perspective.
Bauby should have been an extremely easy person to make sympathetic. Failing this, the audience stops caring about him or the film.
Here's some more about the film from Web in France Magazine
For authenticity, Schnabel opted to learn French himself, to cast mostly French actors, to shoot at the seaside hospital where Bauby convalesced, and to involve the caregivers who actually knew him in the production.
"I didn’t speak French before I made the movie. It’s no harder than anything else. I translated the movie into French with each actor separately because I wanted to hear what they would say, what would come out of their mouths."
The director spoke a little French, having lived in France in 1987. "I thought to have English and American people make believe they were French, and then have French people read French subtitles in France, it just seemed ridiculous," Schnabel says.
"I have to be responsible for what I do if I’m the author of this movie, and I think it would have been compromised to go to a soundstage in Los Angeles."
Over all it's a good film. It has some flaws, but I recommend it.
The film tells the story of Jean-Dominique Bauby, the French editor of Elle magazine, who suffered a stroke which led to a condition known as locked-in syndrome. After the stroke, even though his brain functioned well, he was completely immobile except for one eye, and his only means of communication was blinking that eye.
It's a very creative film, that manages to let us experience what Bauby experiences by taking his point of view for the first twenty minutes of the film.
Ronald Harwood was having trouble adapting a screenplay from Jean-Dominique Bauby's book when he recalled 1947 movie "Lady in the Lake". Directed by the actor Robert Montgomery, it tells the whole story from point of view of the lead character, Philip Marlowe.
But whereas "Lady in the Lake" is an experiment that didn't work "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" uses this first-person POV technique to great success.
While the filmmakers did an excellent job of technically giving us the Baubel’s physical perspective, they did not as well in the storytelling to give us his emotional perspective.
Bauby should have been an extremely easy person to make sympathetic. Failing this, the audience stops caring about him or the film.
Here's some more about the film from Web in France Magazine
For authenticity, Schnabel opted to learn French himself, to cast mostly French actors, to shoot at the seaside hospital where Bauby convalesced, and to involve the caregivers who actually knew him in the production.
"I didn’t speak French before I made the movie. It’s no harder than anything else. I translated the movie into French with each actor separately because I wanted to hear what they would say, what would come out of their mouths."
The director spoke a little French, having lived in France in 1987. "I thought to have English and American people make believe they were French, and then have French people read French subtitles in France, it just seemed ridiculous," Schnabel says.
"I have to be responsible for what I do if I’m the author of this movie, and I think it would have been compromised to go to a soundstage in Los Angeles."
Over all it's a good film. It has some flaws, but I recommend it.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
"There Will Be Blood" on DVD
I just read that on on April 8th Paramount Home Video will release There Will Be Blood, with what sounds like some interesting extras features...
Friday, February 01, 2008
Persepolis
Persepolis is a wonderful 2D animated feature.
It's been nominated along with both Ratatouille and Surf's Up for Best Animation Oscar. Great company to be in.
Prsepolis tells the stroary of a young woman who grows up through the Iranian Islamic revolution, who had to learn to embrace her heritage while still rejecting the extremism of her government.
The beginning is especially effective, covering an imaginative childhood and a wonderful relationship with her colorful grandmother.
And the 2D style and black and white graphics are very effective.
It's been nominated along with both Ratatouille and Surf's Up for Best Animation Oscar. Great company to be in.
Prsepolis tells the stroary of a young woman who grows up through the Iranian Islamic revolution, who had to learn to embrace her heritage while still rejecting the extremism of her government.
The beginning is especially effective, covering an imaginative childhood and a wonderful relationship with her colorful grandmother.
And the 2D style and black and white graphics are very effective.
Friday, January 04, 2008
There Will Be Blood
This film, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, is a visual tour-de-force. The first half hour of the film is pure cinema, the story clearly told in pictures, with little dialogue.
And Daniel Day Lewis gives an intense, stunning performance as the character Daniel Plainview, a driven oil wildcatter from the early part of the 2oth century. We see him turn into a monster before out eyes.
It has a few problems. I'm still not sure about the ending. And, like the writing of Upton Sinclair, which it draws from, the film tends toward being a bit too strident, too black and white. Stories work better when they are more subtle.
But... I like it when a filmmaker has a strong point of view and something interesting to say.
And again, I loved the strong visual delivery. The cinematography is outstanding.
There Will Be Blood is absolutely worth seeing..
And Daniel Day Lewis gives an intense, stunning performance as the character Daniel Plainview, a driven oil wildcatter from the early part of the 2oth century. We see him turn into a monster before out eyes.
It has a few problems. I'm still not sure about the ending. And, like the writing of Upton Sinclair, which it draws from, the film tends toward being a bit too strident, too black and white. Stories work better when they are more subtle.
But... I like it when a filmmaker has a strong point of view and something interesting to say.
And again, I loved the strong visual delivery. The cinematography is outstanding.
There Will Be Blood is absolutely worth seeing..
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