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Reviews
Behind Her Eyes (2021)
Time bomb
It's slow - perhaps too slow. Maybe it didn't need six episodes to develop the plot and characters. But my goodness - the twist is tremendous, and when you get to the end, you know now why this person said that, why that person acted like he did, what the significance was of that scene, etc. Two days later and I'm still in wonder at the cleverness of it all.
It's also beautiful to look at, and the cast is uniformly good - but a shout-out to Simona Browne as Louise and Robert Aramayo as Rob, who both generate well a sympathy that will add extra layers to the power of the twist when it hits.
Really enjoyable.
Columbo: Last Salute to the Commodore (1976)
Misses all the targets
A very poor episode of this otherwise terrific series. The committing and solving of the crime is handled in a very boring way, it's slow, and Columbo is unrecognizable - not physically but rather in his approach to the crime and the deduction. There's a jocular tone throughout which is just not 'Columbo'. And there are great swathes of time spent on meaningless scenes, notably about five minutes on the deck of a yacht with Columbo trying to get into the lotus position ... for some reason. All of this must be down to the writers, the director (Patrick Magoohan) and Peter Falk himself, who should have had more self-awareness. A stain on the series, I'm afraid.
Fantasy Island: The Case Against Mr. Roarke/Save Sherlock Holmes (1982)
Great fun
Fantasy Island was silly, of course, but this episode shows how it also had a warming charm. The two stories are well developed, and there are some great cameos (one of the pleasures of watching FI is to spot actors in their autumn years, and stars-to-be). Donald O'Connor and Ron Ely show-off their comic skills in the Sherlock Holmes story (Peter Lawford, in his penultimate appearance, doesn't look well), while in the romantic story, a young Nicole Eggert is effective as a fatherless girl and is good at crying on cue. And at the centre, the majestic Ricardo Montalban as Mr Roarke, taking it all super-seriously and adding essential gravitas. Yep - great fun indeed.
Bugambilia (1945)
Simplistic but powerful
Bugambilia is a simple tale of impossible love and honour in a small Mexican town in the late 19th century. Dolores de Rio is wonderful as the coquettish Amalia, the only child of the local nobleman (shades of Scarlett in 'Gone With The Wind'). She has many suitors but none of them have that certain something ... until she meets by chance The One, the charismatic Ricardo Robles (Pedro Amendáriz). Of course, it's love at first sight, but it's an impossible love because of the class divide ... and tragedy ensues.
There are some marvellous scenes in this (the squeaky shoes in the church, the duel in the dead of night, the gift of a cockerel and what it does to Amalia's favourite hen ...). The photography and soundtrack are very good, the acting too (very melodramatic, but fitting for the theme).
It's my first taste of Mexican cinema but I'll be seeking out more after this.
The Mentalist: The Red Mile (2011)
Fun and moving
This is perhaps one of the weakest episodes in terms of plot (the motive for the murder is rather contrived and frivolous), but it has one of the most beautiful endings in this or any series. That final scene, packed with subtext ("Do you have any tea?", the coin trick) and beautifully acted, is so underplayed and sensitively done that it stands out a little from the weak 'whodunnit' part, but it makes the episode worth watching just for that. Also revealed is an important piece of information about Van Pelt's fiancé O'Laughlin, with more frustration and sacrifice for the stand-up guy that is Rigsby. And there's a re-visiting of criticism of the moneyed class. But the jewel in the crown of the episode really is that ending.
Have some Kleenex handy.
Prime Suspect (1991)
Magisterial Mirren
Prime Suspect has its faults - it has plot holes and many instances of deus-ex-machina-like convenience, it's sometimes clichéd, it's at times melodramatic - but it's utterly gripping, and that's mainly thanks to Helen Mirren, who takes a brilliantly written character, full of complexity, unpredictability, weaknesses yet inner strength, and makes it her masterpiece. She's spellbinding, from Episode 1.1 to 7.2 (I binge-watched the lot during a week's holiday). And some of the secondary performances are equally superb (even if there is the odd bit of over-acting); a special note for the late, great Tom Bell, who shines in the early episodes and re-emerges for 7.1 - a dignified epitaph for a wonderful actor.
The Outfit (1973)
Excellent
A terrific post-heist, hoodlum v mob, revenge flick that resembles in plot 'Point Blank'.
As other reviewers have said, the performances are all really fine, the music perfectly understated, and (here I disagree with Ricky Grove - top review as at 17/07/16) each scene is as tight as a drum.
From the hit on Macklin's brother early on, to Karen Black's phone call home (notice the truck reflected in the phone booth, the logo on the side of it forming a target on Karen's face - foreshadowing her death a scene or two later), to Joe Don Baker getting a visit from the hit men at his diner (notice the low camera angles - built-in tension right there), to the purchase in the car of hot weaponry, to the negotiations between Roberts Duvall and Ryan at a horse auction with a ball game going on in the background, to the purchase of a getaway car from rednecks (one of the most eventful sequences in cinema - how many stories are told within the space of about five minutes!?).
It's fine craftsmanship from director (and writer) John Flynn, who can only be faulted for an extremely disappointing ending. If it had been something like the ending of 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid', that might have worked, but it's a poor 'meh' moment at the end of a brilliant, brilliant film.
9/10
Douro, Faina Fluvial (1931)
Beautiful document
Manoel de Oliveira's first film is a briskly cut summary of a day in the working lives of riverside folk on the banks of the Douro River.
It's an early signpost to later technique, notably his capturing and framing of aesthetically pleasing shots. This is one of the appeals of 'Douro' - it's ravishing to look at - but it's also a valuable document of working practices, and it shows (a little self-consciously, it must be said) the arrival of the technology that would change the face of the river banks around the Ponte de D. Luís, in Porto.
One false and unnecessary note is the introduction of a little fictional vignette of a story - a worker is 'trampled' by oxen, to the great dismay of his sweetheart. But this doesn't take much away from a never-less-than-interesting little film.
Swallows (2014)
Neat slice of life
A very nicely developed little story about emigration and the search for self-improvement, always confronted with obstacles - in this case initial failure to follow your chosen line, instead forced to do a thankless job to pay the bills. Meanwhile, home and the people you've left behind - and the 'saudades' you feel for them - keep pulling on you to go back.
The film will chime especially with the Portuguese, who have been doing this en masse for generations. In fact, emigration from Portugal, especially among skilled workers, has spiked in recent years due to the crisis ... and crass encouragement from a centre-right Prime Minister. Which makes 'Swallows' particularly topical.
The film is well put together by Sofia Bost, and Tian Tsering's cinematography is top notch. In the main role, Teresa Tavares does a very good job of showing the frustrations and doubts inherent in taking the step. Is it worth it, after all?
Time Out of Mind (2014)
Justifiably slow ...
A really very good evocation of what being on the streets must be like. The film drags and meanders - just as Richard Gere's character does. The aesthetic is very distinctive - the city's bustle by day and neon glare by night as a backdrop to the drab plight of the scruffy, direction-less Gere, while some of the framing is absolutely exquisite.
I do think that Gere's good looks and charisma as an actor shine through a little too boldly - someone like John C. Reilly, for example, might have been a better choice for the main role - and there's the feeling that the ending, while heart-warming, might be a bit of a cop-out. But all in all, it's a very involving, eye-opening study.
Ils (2006)
Tight and tense
A fine European thriller. The opening over the titles is gripping enough, and it never really lets go.
For the first half hour, I had Hitchcock at the back of my mind:
"Let's suppose that there is a bomb underneath this table between us. Nothing happens, and then all of a sudden, "Boom!" There is an explosion. The public is surprised, but prior to this surprise, it has seen an absolutely ordinary scene, of no special consequence. Now, let us take a suspense situation. The bomb is underneath the table and the public knows it, probably because they have seen the anarchist place it there. The public is aware the bomb is going to explode at one o'clock and there is a clock in the decor. The public can see that it is a quarter to one. In these conditions, the same innocuous conversation becomes fascinating because the public is participating in the scene. The audience is longing to warn the characters on the screen: "You shouldn't be talking about such trivial matters. There is a bomb beneath you and it is about to explode!" "
We know of the 'bomb' from the word go, and yet Moureau and Palud refrain from showing it and hold it back ... then hold it back some more until the string is at its very tautest. In fact, as is often the case with this kind of film, less is better than more ... but the 'more' part - when we get to actually see the threat - is still excellently handled. And the downbeat ending is the very best way it could have gone.
Really good stuff.
7/10
O Milagre segundo Salomé (2004)
Portuguese cinema at its best
With the Portuguese virtually force-fed American product, Portuguese cinema gets a bad press locally. It gets hardly any at all internationally, apart perhaps for Manoel de Oliveira, much loved on the art-house circuit.
So it's refreshing to be able to recommend a Portuguese film now and then. In the last couple of years there have been quite a few as the Portuguese film-makers begin to realize that there's an audience out there wanting films that entertain.
'Salomé' is just such a film. Set in the early 20th Century, it centres on Judite, a warm-hearted prostitute, played by the lovely Margarida Miranda, who gets a bit of luck and a chance to get out of the (very well depicted) brothel she 'works' in when banker Nicolau Breyner (excellent!) takes a shine to her.
Her life then begins a headlong rush towards a tragic finale that takes in political shenanigans and the Fátima apparitions along the way, suggesting an intriguing theory for the latter story.
It's all beautifully designed, the performances are uniformly good and the story is coherent and touching. This is Portuguese cinema at its best, and while it may not tempt too many Portuguese away from their staple diet of Hollywood blockbusters, it certainly deserves to, and is a massive step in the right direction.
Maria E as Outras (2004)
A gentle comedy with a heart
A very nice Portuguese film that makes you smile and laugh, with very good production values (except the Portuguese blight - the sound). It's rare to find a Portuguese film that dares to be low key, but this one does and gets away with it nicely. There's a coherence to it, too, and a well rounded off resolution.
And there are some lovely performances, notably from the hilarious Ana Brito e Cunha as Isilda and the very lovely Isabel Abreu as Joana. Along with the stunning Catarina Furtado as the Maria of the title, these are three friends who just can't seem to get their relationships right, but we have a couple of hours' fun (with the occasional moist eye) watching them try.