Reviews

At satire, a coming-of-age story, and ecological fable... The Animal Kingdom is all that at the same time. It is also a drama and a comedy, a love story, a father-son story... A hybrid film of crazy ambition, which unfolds gradually to end up as nothing less than a redefinition of our relationship to the world and to nature. Without grandiloquent speeches but with great intelligence in the distillation of its story elements and a great sense of imagery. Because above all else, The Animal Kingdom is a real, big fantasy film, which makes the most of its average French film budget to show creatures and shots never seen before, ones that we'll never forget. Without saying too much, the way in which one specific creature returns in the film and causes a shift in the perception of the characters and the audience simply by the way it is filmed demonstrates an acute science of cinematographic art. It might now work for some people, but I am convinced that for others this film can be a truly foundational experience. People will decide to make films after seeing this film, people will change their lives. I saw it 4 days ago and in moments of doubt or sadness, I think about it and it's like a balm. To be honest, I don't really know how to explain it. There is something magical about this film.

Supported by a daring visual touch with strong acid lively colors , "Calamity" offers a subtle script that goes deeper than the simple hollow messages like "be yourself" that can be found in a lot of films aimed at children... Instead, "Calamity" shows the different levels of oppression in a society through the archetypes of the American West, with authority figures and victimes often taking turns, one becoming the other... Martha Jane/Calamity being the anomaly in the machine, subverting social codes : when the whole world is governed by codes and uniforms, why not go on your own code and invent your own personal identity ? This way, the film gives a strong empowering look on life and identities, a good message for girls and boys alike.

Euros Lyn impresses with his focused directing style, quite different from the kinetic and messy style of Tom Hooper. Betting on tension and suspense, he gets the most of the scenes and the budget never feels too thin, as he manages to find the little details in each scene to "sell" the moment (like Lee's gauges agitating in the final scene). Quite a feat, supported by an ace screenplay mostly focused on Bolvangar, which doesn't dilute the tension during the episode with other stories on the side. My only regret would be that it's apprently the only episode directed by Lyn, really !

Not a masterpiece, not a disaster, The man who killed Don Quixote has the qualities and faults of what it is, that is to say, basically, a film for one spectator only : Terry Gilliam himself. Announcing its legend in the opening credits, the film takes pleasure in referring quite openly to the misadventures of Lost in La Mancha, most often through lines put in the mouth of the producer played by Stellan Skarsgard. These winks would be at best anecdotic, at worst narcissistic, if we didn't realize little by little that, we are in the presence of a true cinematic exorcism. Exorcism of this damned project, certainly. Exorcism also, through the character of Toby, of what Gilliam could have become if he had listened to the sirens of advertising and had become a soulless hack. Exorcism finally, and this is the most touching, of what Gilliam is afraid of becoming (and that he may have already become for some), that is to say an old fool who no longer interests anyone, an old dreamer in a materialistic world, a relic from another time, mocked and ridiculed. Thus, despite all its failures (problems of rhythm, lack of breath due to lack of money, episodic structure that works randomly and unfortunately makes Quixote disappear many times), we can only admire this film which bears on its face its testamentary dimension. Transmission, summary of a life, return on his youth, everything is there. Gilliam is Quixote, Gilliam is Toby, Gilliam will die but Gilliam is immortal since his dreams are forever with us on film. This is the bittersweet and somewhat crazy statement of The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, a film about films, a story about stories, an endless dream.