Movie reviews

SCRIPT FIESTA

This year's Fiesta takes place fully online. It's commenced today. All the events, except for movies, are staying on thinkfilm.pl for 2 weeks.

DIALOG NA 100%. WYKLAD MICHALA OLESZCZYKA NA TEMAT TRYLOGII RICHARDA LINKLATERA 

The Polish-only lecture by Michał Oleszczyk on Richard Linklater's trilogy focuses on dialogue. The lines are often spot on, e.g. "I want to keep talking to you." is the sentence that persuades the woman to get off the train hence allowing the relationship to start. They introduce themselves to each other by names only once they got off the train which is so realistic - I can recall similar situations from my own life - the movies are organic. The lecture makes you appreciate the structure and the use of book titles or song lyrics or subtle imaging or pacing the movie with dialogue. 

BEFORE MIDNIGHT (2013)

Switched off. The last part of Linklater's trilogy, strangely screened first, is awfully mundane and feels lengthy. It depicts a couple so ordinary there's no need to switch on a movie to see and hear such people. OK, I know what Michał Oleszczyk meant. The couple have an exchange about breaking up, next a happy old couple is seen at their destination. Then the lead protagonist is talking about a protagonist experiencing constant déjà vu, mentions sitting next to someone, himself sitting on the shore is discussing movie "On the Waterfront" - the dialogue is smart but not cracking and certainly didn't make me curious about what's going to happen later. And it is overtalked.

With the screening volume awfully low and subtitles (Polish only) white and small, it was additionally difficult to watch.

BEFORE SUNRISE (1995)

Recommended. The first part of the trilogy. The opening credits feature wonderful classical music, I suppose Viennese since this city plays the first violin in this picture. Jesse's mention of "the poetry of everyday life" is what later proves the driving force of the whole franchise. Jesse's idea for a reality show reflects 1995 - the decade of the rise of this kind of entertainment. Luckily his vision sounds more inventive than what we have been able to see on telly since then - 365 places and their inhabitants from round the world shown over a year is about one reality show even I would follow. Also the couple move places, even inside the train, or the places move when they sit still, e.g. landscapes out the window keep passing by. The way of his getting her off the train is truly funny and creative - I'd have fallen for it myself. Jokes continue when they encounter two guys on their path shortly after: "Do you speak English?" "Do you speak German, for a change?" Ethan Hawke wonderfully acts the smart, self-confident, playful young man, Julie Delpy is gentle, sometimes cheeky, once even masculine - in the mock phone conversation. The dialogue is cracking and natural at the same time. The reincarnation question is one I asked myself. But I found an answer, a different to the one Jesse suggests. The ever-changing vistas of Vienna from dusk to dawn form an attractive backdrop completing the amiable tale.

The trilogy must have lost its momentum since the third part was nothing like the first: still camera, silly dialogue, boring people. 

The screening volume was better, you could do without the subtitles - Polish only, still white and small. I watched most of it from a distance, missed some lines but the fading ones didn't seem to matter.