gudaulin

Over the past 12 months, this was my strongest cinematic experience alongside the animated movie Persepolis, and is all the more pleasant because it was practically unexpected. A great screenplay, interesting casting, excellent performances, and very well-written dialogues, not only for its genre, where several excellent quotes appear that have the chance to gain cult status. It is a film that clearly distinguishes itself from the genre mainstream while still being appealing to the audience. Black humor, several exciting duels, and unexpected twists. This film was much more attractive to me than the much more discussed American Gangster. I have practically no objections to it. Overall impression: 100%. The purely European atmosphere of an ancient city full of monuments, weary tourists, and small-town mentality also plays a role.

The first reactions to Frank Darabont's new adaptation of Stephen King's literary source were enthusiastic and caused a great deal of anticipation among horror fans. Then followed somewhat mixed reactions, so I was curious about the result. The Mist is a typical example of a film where the creator balances between trying to shoot a psychological drama of a group of people surviving in extreme conditions and trying to please the mass audience and shoot a sci-fi horror in the style of Alien. Naturally, the few avid intellectuals will not be pleased with the presence of typical B-movie props such as giant mutated spiders or gigantic polyps, while a larger group of horror fans will miss some of the clichés they love, as well as greater plot dynamism and a lack of intense action. Many will rightly criticize The Mist for its somewhat outdated special effects, which can be done more professionally and with better results today. Despite all this, it is a significantly above-average genre movie that has a strong story with a very decent dramatic culmination and several strong scenes. However, I can't help but feel that more could have been extracted from this material, and the encounter with extraterrestrial life could have been much more imaginative. Why does the author think that the same forms of life live in the distant universe, only significantly larger than here? Overall impression: 85%.

This Pier Paolo Pasolini film was met with irritated and dismissive reactions in its time, and it still has a reputation as a scandalous and spicy work. To put it soberly, an average film fan raised on contemporary commercial films will yawn with boredom at Pasolini's film, and what used to evoke passion 40 years ago now seems almost banal. This little film is made for projection in a small closed society of future philosophers and is essentially unpalatable to the average moviegoer. It's practically impossible to talk about the story; the director made this film for himself and film critics. Throughout, I struggled with boredom and drowsiness. The acting performances are decent, although I suspect that the majority of the actors had no idea what they were supposed to do. Pasolini worked with his favorite actors who were able to accommodate the director. Several decent dialogues and film images do not save this self-centered spectacle. Overall impression: 20%.

The documentary is powerful in its theme - North Korea has the most bizarre political system and the highest degree of repression after the fall of the Taliban. The creators have gone quite far considering the circumstances, and some shots and motifs are interesting. There is also a high level of objectivity in the American documentary - for example, in the case of the nuclear program, they break the usual clichés and let the voice of an independent expert be heard, questioning the actions of the American government. Overall impression 70%.

Indiana Jones is back after many years. Expectations were huge and it was practically impossible to please everyone, but the fourth installment of the famous series maintains its style and is not a disappointment. All the ingredients that made this film character famous, namely exaggeration, fast pace, gags, and casual style, are present. The typical musical motif and Indiana's essential hat are also there. In the exact style of American film productions, the hero's physique has not suffered any serious injuries over the years, so Indiana delivers precise blows to all sides and effortlessly jumps over obstacles with his necessary whip. The long hiatus is evident in his film partner, expertly played by Karen Allen. This change, where another partner of Indiana is not the usual sexy kitten, but a mature woman, is appealing. Although I am not familiar with how much she got paid, it was certainly a decent retirement guarantee. Hollywood is very ungrateful toward older actresses. The impressive setting of the Latin American jungle provided plenty of opportunities for action, and in some scenes, the film returns to the origins of the series, such as a wild chase along a rocky wall of a deep canyon resembling a similar scene in the first installment. The film loses a bit of momentum in the last ten minutes, where it seems to draw from a different genre and tries to imitate The X-Files, but I forgive it for that. Overall impression: 90%. Still a highly above-average adventure film within the genre.

One of the films where a strong theme and average execution stand opposed. The division of one city and nation and on a human level, even individual families, naturally evokes a great deal of emotions and works perfectly. For the final commentary and tragic culmination of the story, I can't give less than three stars. On the other hand, the direction is certainly not innovative, the script is only average, and especially the supporting characters are very flat. In some cases, they are simplified into unwanted caricatures, especially the representatives of East German state power. The acting performances fit into typical German television productions, meaning they are not terrible, but definitely not captivating. Overall impression: 50%.

In the case of Quiet Days in Clichy, there's hardly any plot to speak of = the story, if one could call it strong, is absent. However, Chabrol's film is potent in its depiction of the decadent atmosphere of Parisian brothels and dives in the 1930s, the local bohemians, and the revelries of the social elite. Erotic films usually aren't worth much, whether in terms of direction or casting, but here we can see leading European actresses in nude scenes with erotic content. Overall impression: 70%.

This pleasant slapstick, with its short duration and series of gags, continues the tradition of pre-war American slapstick while giving it a more civil European face. The film served as a rehearsal for the feature-length The Big Day and features various sarcastic attacks against the rationalization rituals of modern life - a favorite theme of Jacques Tati. The motto of the film's postmen is: "With or without a letter, I cross my limit." Overall impression 65%.

Shot according to the eponymous novel by Boris Lavrenov, from which the plot and tragic ending practically do not deviate. For its time, it is filmed sensitively, with very decent direction, as Grigory Chukhray was one of the talents of the 50s. However, in my eyes, this intimate drama about the clash of romantic feelings and military duty has a certain propagandistic dimension, so it won't account for more than a 50% overall impression.

This film is well-written, well-shot, and well-acted, but it lacks a greater distance from its subject matter. It's too apparent that the creators sympathize with the political convictions of their protagonists, making the film more of a tribute to the labor movement of that era than an artistic statement about a particular court drama and a contentious time. While it's hard to fault the individual components of the film, Sacco and Vanzetti as a whole certainly won't leave viewers ecstatic. Much more could have been extracted from this theme. Overall impression: 60%.