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Reviews
Cándido López - Los campos de batalla (2005)
Awful!
Poor research, bad acting, sloppy editing and substantial historical inaccuracies are just a few of the many flaws of this virtually unbearable documentary. This Argentinian production does not do credit to their booming film industry, nor does it do justice to a serious and important topic of South American history: the War of the Triple Alliance (aka. Paraguayan War). The film has no plot, no purpose and is hardly informative. At best, it is a naive attempt at reconstructing the brutal reality of war. Even the camera work is sloppy and you often find yourself asking "what in heaven's name are they going on about?". The highlight of the film is a quick spot on a poor Paraguayan family that turns a mutt into a dalmatian by dying block dots on his white fur. Can you find a connection with a 19th century South American war? I didn't think so! Save your money and time!
Troy (2004)
Luke warm...
Regardless of the close to 200 million dollar production the movie falls short of expectations, at least mine. The acting was above par - superb in the case of the unsurpassable Peter O'toole -, and there is no doubting how outstandingly beautiful Diane Kruger really is (able to launch a thousand ships any day). However, certain choices regarding the screenplay, particularly the omission of the Gods as well as some rather unfortunate changes to Homer's masterpiece has seriously hampered this potentially epic film. The element of a true Greek tragedy is not present, which shifts the focus of the original story from tragic fate and its effects to a rather common love story. The battle scenes are not memorable and although it lacks any particularly damaging production error, Troy did not fulfill the potential that special effects and gigantic productions have generated for the filming of historical classics.
Moulin Rouge! (2001)
Something New?
It seems to have been a long time since a movie has broken the boring mold of Hollywood screenplays and cinematography and produced something as unique and exciting as 'Moulin Rouge'. A truly splendid movie that I think will mark its generation as much as 'Showboat' and 'Hair' marked theirs.