Recommended. Jordan Peele is a genius. The movie's shockingly brutal but no less meaningful. Disturbing shots of rabbits, a prison-laboratory - what are they? While in "Get Out" each scene had a double meaning, in "Us" each scene carries multiple interpretations, all true simultaneously. And the ending turns the whole storyline around. At face value, it combines the slasher genre with supernatural horror the way "Friday the 13th" did and even the son's name's Jason as well. The metaphoric layer requires in-depth knowledge and profound understanding of cinema and social phenomena since each scene, each line, each outfit, each choice of a music piece and all lyrics refer you to those. The script weaves into the film a number of current events in the US, history, other movies, music styles and lyrics, clothing, (Christian) religion, literature. One big game with the genre. There are potentially more twists of action (not just her). It's such a deep movie I'm going to watch it again. On return from the cinema, I spent 3.5 hours online browsing interpretations. There are so many Easter eggs that no one finds them all at first viewing. I'm proud to announce that in what I heard and read over those 3.5 hours no one caught "Friday the 13th" which was my first association - the house on the lake and original Jason drowned while the one in "Us" is wearing a "Jaws" T-shirt. Some references are very American though so it's worth googling them if you don't live there. The mention of citizens controlled through fluoride in water put there by the government reminds me of Flint whose citizens have consumed water unfit for drinking in the result of the authorities' apparent attempt at poisoning the deprived. The Tethered may be seen as shadows of the slavery past. Some blacks left the shadow earlier than others. In the film, the whites and blacks react to the intrusion differently. The white man's idea is of pizza delivery, he's not afraid. But the white folk are also treated differently by their Tethered. Even plentiful in this movie gore is not just blood. The red apple with syrup dripping from it when it starts raining is an appetiser for the bloodshed to follow. But it also resembles the trope from "Snow White" and possibly several other works of culture. Word choice matters: "They have the upper hand" carries at least a double meaning. "The Nutcracker" music by Tchaikovsky is no coincidence - the composer was white, also tin soldiers of kind appear but are more brutal (picture: gore). Michael Jackson's "Thriller" featured zombies and the singer was black and white at the same time. Red uniforms may refer to Jacko's famous red outfit (among other associations with the colour). The chain of people holding hands forms a red line dividing the country.
Right after the movie I went to the cinema toilet and saw two young long-haired blondes looking like sisters. Spooky, isn't it?
25. WIOSNA FILMOW (25TH FILM SPRING FESTIVAL)
SYNONYMES (SYNONYMS)
Walked out. Nothing's going on in the first hour. I was amicably informed by festival organizers that a lot happens in the last 10 minutes. However, I wasn't ready to endure it for another hour waiting for the 10 minutes.
WERK OHNE AUTOR (NEVER LOOK AWAY)
Recommended. About 30 years of the 20th-century German history (recreated through events, costumes and interiors) and finding your self throughout turmoils of history. Wonderfully shows various methods of coping with life in Nazi Germany. NSDAP membership worked only for true blue Nazis, not for those who compromised their own principles. Interesting art too. Even humour: the naked escape through the window and veiled references to it later. And a smart observation: "people don't like themselves in photographs but do in a painting."
寝ても覚めても (ASAKO I & II)
Watchable. Good-looking leads. Music scarce but good. A well-shot and acted love story and a drama about a girl who has to choose between two guys, also about building a relationship. Quiet, touching at times, warm. A bit too much focus on everyday life.
GREEN BOOK
Recommended again. Seen for the second time it's no longer tragic or sad. I revelled in the wonderfully recreated 1962 and superb acting by everyone in the movie. And I laughed at Tony Lip's reaction: "No shit. Must have been naughty kids." hearing the supposed kids on the "Orpheus" record cover were demons or whenever Tony spat out bones or a tomato and cheese sandwich. His lack of manners just delights. I noticed in the credits that only 1 piece of music was by actual Don Shirley.
DUMBO 3D
Watchable. Danny Elfman's music and Ben Davis' cinematography make it look and sound old-fashioned and sad even though it ends well. The baby elephant is cute. CGIs amaze you with his huge ears or with pink elephant bubbles and 3D, though not always vivid, at least once makes water splash right onto your face. Only dubbed in Poland, no subtitled version.
LE LIVRE D'IMAGE (THE IMAGE BOOK)
Watchable. Intellectual and philosophic art. Interesting since it's a motley set of images. Pictures and videos mix with narration and music (of sorts) with no order. Fascinating cinematography consisting of photographic experiments. Only blackouts were annoying in the first part. The whole thing is frustrating though because of its incomprehensibility.
AHLAT AGACI (THE WILD PEAR TREE)
Watchable. Slow life - pleasant but without a point. Excessive talking. I loved the pictures of the village.
25. WIOSNA FILMOW (25TH FILM SPRING FESTIVAL)
PETRA
Watchable. Slow-paced which is magnified by prolonged shots with ambient music and trivial conversations. A suicide enlivens things for a while and character psychology develops. Ends satisfactorily.
LA DERNIERE FOLIE DE CLAIRE DARLING (CLAIRE DARLING)
Watchable. About a peculiar way of saying farewell to life. Inspiring in terms of getting rid of your clutter. Nothing much happens, evokes no emotions but Catherine Deneuve and Alice Taglioni (as young Claire) look beautiful and Claire announces she's going to die so I waited to see if she does. The ending is picturesque. So are Claire's floral dresses.
The director Julie Bertuccelli learnt Russian a bit but decided it would be out of place if she started to speak Russian at the meeting in Poland. She's made both documentaries and feature films and says that writing the script of a feature takes about 2 years, then the making lasts 1 year and then promotion takes 1 more year. In this one, the director wanted to reflect the fact we remember with open eyes so the picture intertwines the present with the past. She's an atheist herself. To me, she appeared self-confident but she said she lacked that quality, was full of doubts and had problems with making choices that film-making requires and after the release was full of doubts all the more. At the same time, she's aware the movie can be difficult. Catherine Deneuve's house is in reality filled with bric-a-brac she collects. She's easy to direct, has an appetite for film, food, has curiosity. The book is set in Texas but the film moved the setting to France. The director's granny's house was used. The dream-like visions of women in white dresses, dressed up children and the butterfly are not in the book. A CGI butterfly would be expensive so she didn't use computer-generated images. The butterfly was bred, hatched (15 minutes in reality). Julie Bertuccelli mentioned also that as a female director she was obeyed less than a man.
LONG SHOT
Recommended. A romantic political comedy. Charlize Theron looks and acts amazing. Jokes are up to date: "since you've been such a good secretary" "of State". The president is after a more respectful job - in movies. Hints at "House of Cards", "Game of Thrones", selfies, viral videos. A Scandinavian politician's name is Minervudottir. I don't normally like gross but here even the gross bits were hilarious. I laughed to tears.
25. WIOSNA FILMOW (25TH FILM SPRING FESTIVAL)
YULI
Watchable. With and about ballet dancer Carlos Acosta. Sweeping views of La Habana and London and admirable muscles of dancing professionals. A complex story and history of Cubans. What detracts from this engaging movie is jumping to and fro in time. It creates confusion. I often lost the track of when and who, unsure of the sequence of events. The mention of 350 years of slave history and Cubans still remembering Yoruba gods makes an impression. Acoustics in the ruins is a local attraction I guess.
ROMEO AKBAR WALTER
Recommended. Excellent Bollywood songs from the beginning till the final credits. Surround sound - steps in the house sound as if someone opened a side door to the screening room and the steps move from the back to the front. While the sound is top-notch Atmos, which can be heard even in an ordinary 5.1 cinema, visually it resembles pictures from 1971/81 when the action takes place. The spy intrigue keeps you on the edge of the seat. The off-screen narration is by Abhishek Bachchan.
EXTREMELY WICKED, SHOCKINGLY EVIL AND VILE
Recommended again. Zac Efron exudes such charm it's easy to see why so many women would fall for Ted Bundy. An extremely well-researched movie.
25. WIOSNA FILMOW (25TH FILM SPRING FESTIVAL)
DAS SCHWEIGENDE KLASSENZIMMER (THE SILENT REVOLUTION)
From the subsequent meeting with historians: professor Włodzimierz Borodziej and PhD Raphael Utz I learnt there is a word in German: jein = ja + nein meaning yes and no. The radio station in the movie was Radio in the American Sector and it could be heard all over the country apart from Dresden which had no reception and was dubbed the Valley of the Clueless. The German scholar shed more light on the process of dealing with the Nazi past: "The grandparent generation didn't talk about anything emotionally important. It would have been impossible for a family to sit over dinner chatting: "When I was killing innocent civilians..."
KONA FER I STRID (WOMAN AT WAR)
Watchable. Engaging since she adopts warzone tactics in her plight. But details of her cause remain unknown and the music's weird. The best fragment is the scene with her sister in prison. The film made me nostalgic about Iceland, especially its hot springs.
IMI ESTE INDIFERENT DACA IN ISTORIE VOM INTRA CA BARBARI (I DO NOT CARE IF WE GO DOWN IN HISTORY AS BARBARIANS)
Walked out. Instead of a historical film about Nazi Romania, you see a woman who is shooting a movie, reading a book aloud, preparing a historical enactment, watching somebody else's movie, discussing it. So basically you get a cheap imitation of a film. I also don't know what that nude scene was for. The guy is ugly, fat, hairy. Seeing him naked resembled a perv sending his dick pictures to unsuspecting women.
Recommended. A riveting detective story with no murders but searching for a book author. Serious but with humorous bits, e.g.: "I'll go to the toilet and tell you later." "I'm coming with you!". I was knackered that day but the action was captivating, with lots of red herrings and a solution which makes total sense in the plot but which I could not predict.
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