Reviews

100/100

"The end of the world is coming in a deluge of rain that is turning the world into a muddy wasteland that mirrors the spiritual condition of its inhabitants."

Bela Tarr collaborates with László Krasznahorkai to create another existential, nihilistic and sociopolitical oeuvre. This Hungarian masterwork has everything, from its experimental and expressive storytelling techniques to its breathtaking and sublime cinematography.

'Satantango' is a poetic and dark fresco, so dark one could feel suffocated by this painting of a humanity dispossessed of its free will, at the mercy of a mysterious determinism, like dead leaves carried away by gusts of wind. The way we see these lost characters evolve, through these intensely long sequence shots, the way the looks are captured by the camera, the dialogues, the movements, all these elements hypnotises the spectator in a "state of disorientation" much like the characters, lost in their lives, drowning in alcohol, walking, giving themselves the illusion of knowing where they are going.

A twelve long and fascinating chapters that don't tell any particular story, but show the man in most total perdition and 'damnation'. A dark atmosphere weighed down by the incessant autumn rains, mud and wind. "Satantango" is an extraordinary cinematic experience, a true monument of the seventh art.

Very intriguing and absolutely fascinating work from Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid.

"Meshes of the Afternoon" criticizes male domination in the mid-20th century and can be considered as a feminist work. It's the story of a woman, forced to stay at home and dreaming of her own escape or 'salvation'. The first few shots focuses only on the young woman's shadow, expressing her current state "being only a shadow of herself". The recurrence of the knife symbolizes the character's desire for death (suicide). This is what many passages show us throughout the film (where the key turns into a knife and vice versa). The key symbolizes the discovery of another world, which becomes a knife, presenting death as the only possible way of escape and deliverance.

A couple's escape to a portion of paradise and their painful return to reality.

Between the raw realism of desire and the incommunicability of feelings, this film shows the dream of youthful passion lived out by Monika and Harry, and their brief rejection of the Swedish society. A piece of remarkable freshness and vitality, crossed with a melancholic and bitter vision.

'Summer with Monika' is an important breakthrough in Swedish and European cinema of the 1950s, being a major source of inspiration for some key filmmaker of the 'French New Wave' like François Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard (with his 1960 'Breathless'), not the strongest work in Ingmar's catalogue (Persona, Cries and Whispers, Fanny and Alexander...) but still a great kicking start for Bergman.

In 'Chungking Express' we find the themes explored in other Wong Kar-Wai films, urban loneliness and complex love. With two bittersweet love stories, Wong Kar-Wai breaks free from the usual narrative structures, using two distinct parts to bring a unique and surreal atmosphere, with many humorous and poetic dialogues that sometimes reaches heights of lyricism. 'Chungking Express' is also supported by a very talented set of cast and an equally surprising and timeless soundtrack that suits perfectly with its well paced editing. In terms of the artistic approach applied, if you are familiar with Wong Kar-Wai's work this film is no exception. A beautiful combination between soft and blurry focus, rhythmic camera movement, neon lighting, framing, and incredible visual aesthetics.

Chungking Express is an incredible piece, filled with rare emotional strength.

Another horror gem from French cinema.

Eyes Without a Face or 'les yeux sans visage' offers an extremely successful mix between expressionism and realism. The expressionism is found in its quality work of the lighting, with its very unique and clever use of contrasts (black contrast of the exteriors opposed to the clean whiteness of the clothes and the faces), we can also notice that the expressionism touche is included even in the story, giving this oeuvre a strange and abnormal ambience.

The film switches several times between a narrative and descriptive style of writing, providing the film with a "Docu-fiction" nature and offering the most terrifying sequences, with a more cold and clinical description of horror. One of the important aspects behind the success of the film is its suggestive power. With its uneasy atmosphere, the admirable performances of its actors, its cold cinematography and its distressing music composed by Maurice Jarre, "Eyes Without a Face" is simply a little marvel of black poetry delivered by a dedicated and passionate filmmaker.

Taking up similar themes explored previously in 'Au Hasard Balthazar', in a vague rural setting, Mouchette describes the "habitual" daily hell of a little girl who has the weight of her heavy existence on her little shoulders. With Bresson, the dialogue is not the major focus, the image is sufficient on its own, therefore he's a filmmaker of the purity whose quest for the truth takes on its full meaning here, as he touches the depths of the human soul, bringing its most terrifying aspects to the screen.

A heartbreaking film that examines the twists and turns of the human soul, Mouchette is the embodiment of silent pain, misery and loneliness.

What is life? How to embrace reality and find happiness in little things?

Satyajit Ray examines and explores all these questions with the first part of his humanitarian trilogy 'Pather Panchali'. A film that reflects the social and political aspects of the society.

The first and second act of the film focus on the struggles and the misfortunes that plague the family while also giving the audience a shred of hope with some small beautiful moments. In doing so, Satyajit Ray gave to this story a unique bittersweet taste. But even with all the suffering and misery, in the third act Satyajit Ray decides to end the first chapter of his trilogy with more bitterness, by showing the harsh reality of life, in the end, nothing changes and life seem repetitive for the main characters, making them fall into the absurdity of life. (A reference to the Sisyphus myth perhaps.)

A masterpiece, I am very eager to finish the rest of the trilogy.

Shortly after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, inspired by the release of the 1933 American classic "King Kong", Ishiro Honda transposed the nuclear trauma of an entire nation through this film. This "classic" Godzilla embodies all the suffering and horror of a nuclear weapon and the rich black and white aesthetic as well as the unforgettable main theme (soundtrack) only reinforces the blackness of the storyline.

In contrast with its multiple sequels, this first "Godzilla" is unique by the standards of its time, and rich in metaphors and innuendos that denounce the use of nuclear power and the selfishness of man.

A classic piece.

"Seven Samurai" is a true monument of the seventh art.

With this oeuvre Kurosawa reveals a narrative filled with emotional density, richness and intense depth, with most of the humorous lines delivered at the right moment. He also tried to cover the most important themes to the Japanese culture, the senses of honor and duty, respect for traditions, and the values of solidarity. The mise en scène and cinematography are spectacular and extremely precise, expertly mixing lyricism with symbolism. The very high quality of the music and the perfect acting performances (special mention to Toshiro Mifune) only added more to the pleasure to this eternal film.

Here with "Rashomon" Kurosawa examines a universal problem. The human knowledge of the truth very often rests on the trust that we place in testimonies. And then inevitably bring into question the authenticity and the credibility of the one who testifies. Kurosawa here illustrates and demonstrate the problem in a context that dramatizes it to the extreme (that of human justice). How to judge the responsibility of people, relative to a crime, when their testimonies contradict each other? How in such a situation can you establish the truth of the facts? Even if Kurosawa concludes his film on an optimistic note of hope, he still crafted the whole piece to cruelly reveal the limit of all human justice.

With everything being said about Kurosawa's narrative structure, in the technical department, the cinematography was naked and pure combining between intense close ups and long sequences to bring the perspective of each story to the viewer. Also the slow paced editing helped us observe the nuances of each character and build up the tension. The acting performances were exceptional, especially from Toshiro Mifune and Takashi Shimura.

Overall, Rashomon is one of the major works in Japanese art and culture, and It had a huge impact not only on Japanese cinema but on world cinema.

Michelangelo Antonioni continues with his dark and nihilist themes, but experiments with a style different than usual. You can feel in "Blow-up" the mood and also the touch borrowed from some films of the French new wave (Early Godard).

After concluding his "Trilogy of decadence", Antonioni moved to examine and focus more on the angst of the younger generation, showing their fear and incertitude surrounding the new world order and by contrast revealing their ennui, recklessness and self-indulgent habits. More importantly, Blow-up built a relationship between fiction and reality, and this was shown through the different points of view presented in the film (Thomas, his camera, the spectator, and Antonioni). The focal point in this film is not whether the crime took place or not, but to question our own perception of what's real and what's unreal.

Based on an obscure novel by William Makepeace, Kubrick delivered with elegance the story of the rise and fall of Barry Lyndon. In this great piece we follow the chronicle of the Anglo-Irish Redmond Barry a soldier, gambler, dueller and social climber.

Kubrick really manages to make his main character 'Barry' fascinating while it is only an upstart that we will follow in a two parts story, the first before his marriage to Lady Lyndon and the second after, centered around his perpetual desertions, whether it be from the authorities or himself, his rise in society and his downfall. And Kubrick's storytelling techniques and the way he appropriates the narrative made the main character's arc more captivating.

Also "Barry Lyndon" showed us how the cinematography can elevate a film and complement its storytelling by using fluid camera movements, magnificent visuals and mise en scène. And Kubrick perfectionist as he is, made great use of all these elements to give this film its aesthetic appeal. In Short this great film has many memorable scenes with some very well written dialogues, not to mention a sublime soundtrack with the iconic "Sarabande" by Handel.

Stanley Kubrick followed his adaptation of 2001: A Space Odyssey with another one, this time from Anthony Burgess' book where he takes us to a near enough future where ultra-violence and sex rule.

A Clockwork Orange breaks down into two or three more or less distinct parts. The first one throws us in the world of this young Alex and his "gang" where an obsession with sex, violence and voyeurism reigns. The second part tells us about his stay in prison and then the final part arrives to deliver this film's conclusion, what we did with Alex, the new Alex, and what has become of him. Under all these "harsh" aspects of the film, Kubrick created this unique aesthetic and will opt for this simple but effective mise en scene. Also a great casting with Malcolm McDowell in front, his "innocent" eyes, his mischievous humor, and his ominous gaze Kept the viewer focused on screen to witness this incredible social and contemporary satire.

The title Clockwork Orange represents here the result of the Ludovico experiment on the character of Alex and also a way of criticizing and ridiculing the government and the psychological science.

This film does not have the same impact on today's generation as it did on those targeted in the early 70s. Back then it was interpreted as a film with unhealthy or gratuitous violence, but today, ironically we seem to live in the same ultra-violent world as Alex. In short, A Clockwork Orange is a reflection on 'man', 'punishment' and 'social morality'.

This is "2001: A Space Odyssey" Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece and arguably the greatest American film of all time, It's the oeuvre that defines with sublimity the word 'humanity.

"2001" is not a work that is made to be analyzed or theorized, it's a film that is made to be experienced. This film gives a reflection on humanity, from its dawn (symbolized in "the primates" segment) to its future (symbolized in the fetus sequence). With their the common point being the black monolith, the main object that draws the curiosity and attention of everyone. Kubrick gives also an importance to the relationship between man and machine expressed in the HAL 9000's sequences. In that segment, not only he examines the benefits and risks of artificial intelligence, but he also shows the fact that machines can possibly demonstrate more humanity than humans themselves. The cinematography in this masterwork is special, made up of long descriptive shots, mainly used to show the ridiculous place of Man (us) in the universe, not to forget one of the greatest cuts in cinema (from bone to satellite cut). I rarely say this, but the special effects are more emphasized than the actors, the visuals were just ahead of time.

Well constructed and brilliantly done. On Dr. Strangelove, Stanley Kubrick jumped on the dark comedy theme for the first time and he delivered. Between the dialogues that hit the mark and the hilarious situations, the humor in this film is for sure caustic and omnipresent. The casting in this film was of course a huge part of its success, with a special mention to the GREAT Peter Sellers for his triple performance. Along side "Barry Lyndon" this is undoubtedly one of Kubrick's most committed films, denouncing the stupidity and uselessness of the war between the two blocs, and criticizing the nuclear cataclysm. The cinematography is ideal and the use of black and white accentuates perfectly the dark side of the film.

An essential work that most definitely marked American cinema of the sixties.

Kubrick steps once again as a true virtuoso, in "Lolita" he offers a perfect mise en scène, marked by the exceptional interpretations, James Mason brilliantly embodies the possessive lover, Sue Lyon interprets the character of Lolita magnificently, and above all, Peter Sellers is interesting as a manipulative and mysterious playwright. Kubrick's well written screenplay made this adaptation a success by giving it this disturbing and captivating feel.

A fascinating work, delicate, daring, disturbing and tragic.

Nicolas Cage SCREAMING in the background is the one and only highlight in this disaster.

Even without watching the original, anyone could see the various issues this film suffers from. A tasteless direction, and a convoluted scenario, giving an hour and a half of empty subplots and disorienting narratives in order to force a last ten minutes rushed twist.

Very superficial, one of the poorest remakes.

Stanley Kubrick takes on the theme of war for the first time, and once again, it was perfectly mastered and totally successful. While with "Full Metal Jacket", Stanley demonstrated the absurdity of war by focusing on all the traumas of those who live it, with "Paths of Glory" he denounces the politics of those who lead it. He presented in this film an authentic and scandalous incident that occurred within the French army during the First World War, and he served it with a powerful, cold and horrifying realism. Also the absence of the enemy (we didn't see any Germans) was uncustomary at the time. For the technical aspect, the work of cinematography had a huge impact on this picture, the Camera movements made the story more dynamic on the battlefield sequences and more static in the headquarters sequences. We can also add the very successful cast of this film, led by Kirk Douglas' huge performance.

We can see why this great film was long banned in France, this film shows the absurdity and truth behind certain fights in the war. A perfect masterwork, strong, intelligent, and terrifying with an effective anti-militarist message.

I can't believe what I just saw, and I can't wait to watch someone watching The room for the first time. The most appropriate part in this whole masterpiece is the first thirty seconds of the opening credits. Ladies and gentlemen, here is the film that challenged all the foundations of cinema and will stand the test of time.

This piece is concluded with one of the most heartbreaking quotes that I've seen. "I've lost him, but I still have you, right? Right? Mark".

Once again Antonioni explores another complex female character with Monica Vitti in the lead. This time Michelangelo tells the story of an illusion, that of being happy, a happiness that is commonly expressed through "lasting love". Can happiness be achieved with so many obstructions? Antonioni attempted to answer this question by presenting this complex relationship between Vittoria and Piero. When one is more direct and more materialistic, the other is undetermined, melancholic and more pessimistic. When the two characters first meet, we felt that it wouldn't work out between these two, even with all the glamor and charm put on the screen, they seem too different to understand each other. And with no real conclusion to the film, Antonioni offered one his most innovative and poetic endings, that gave to the audience the sense of total alienation. L'Avventura, La notte and L'Eclisse all these three films share a common idea, "illusion leads to disillusion"

L'Eclisse is a great directorial film, brilliantly constructed and properly written.

Following "L'Avventura" the master Michelangelo Antonioni made his second opus, this time circled around the theme of incommunicability. In "La notte" we find the characters of Lidia (played by the remarkable Jeanne Moreau) and Giovanni (portrayed by non other than Marcello Mastroianni), and throughout this film we pursue the delicate and disturbed situation of this couple. Having intellectuals in crisis, evocative silences, this story is almost devoid of radical changes, but rather centered around the inner journey of the characters. This is how Antonioni pictured the heart of his trilogy that is initiated with "L'Avventura" and concluded with "l'éclipse". Here, Antonioni captures with excellence and subtlety the boredom, frustration, and loneliness of modern man in a contemporary society. We also got Antonioni's critic of the elite class, demonstrated by the cruel portrait of the bourgeoisie that we face in the second half of the film. By combining Antonioni's fantastic narrative and dialogues with the excellent technical and aesthetic work of this film, La notte becomes a classic piece.

L'Avventura is an absolute masterpiece and a major key in Antonioni's catalogue. It revolutionizes not only the traditional way of storytelling, but cinema as a whole. Instead of using habitual storytelling techniques with a subjective point of view (following the main character wherever he is), Antonioni introduced a radical innovation. We'll never know what has become of Anna and the camera will no longer be attached to her, by contrast the focus of the film will move towards the duo formed by her former lover and her best friend. It's an overwhelming experience, that introduces a dark reflection on identity, the emptiness of life and the fragility of human feelings. This film also presents great qualities in mise en scène and directing and great acting performances from both Monica Vitti and Gabriele Ferzetti.

An exceptional way to start this trilogy of decadence.

This film is a special reminder of how grand and extraordinary Anthony Hopkins is as an actor.

I've seen many films that examines from different angles the subject of mental deterioration such as alzheimer's, but I think that this film portrays with harsh realism the essence of dementia, and how it can damage, hurt and torture a person on a daily basis. And how it can impact his surrounding. Florian Zeller combined his directorial skills and artistic vision with Ben Smithard' steady work of cinematography to bring the senses of confusion and ignorance to the viewer, so that we would feel gradually a pure and sincere connection with the main character. Putting Anthony Hopkins' performance aside, the whole cast from Olivia Colman to Rufus Sewell did a brilliant job.

A truly fantastic work that deserves all its awards and nominations this year.

First of all, what a performance from Laura Dern. Following his two previous successful titles Lost Highway and Mulholland Drive, David Lynch closed strongly his unofficial "Hollywood trilogy" with this experimental piece "Inland Empire". In this film, we sink in a dense atmosphere with an actress that thrives in a world that confuses her perception of reality, this world is cinema. And throughout the film, we follow in different worlds the inner struggles of the actress, struggles that she must overcome to resolve her internal dilemma and thus release herself (and possibly another person). In short, I think that Inland Empire can be more enjoyable if you see its story thematically rather than literally and without trying to decipher every little detail on screen. Because in the end and as we all know, Lynch's work has many interpretations.

It's all about the feeling of the experience and adventure.

"A man's attitude determines, to a large extent, how his life will be."

I consider this as Lynch's Masterpiece for many reasons, first of all it has an exceptional score and sound design, an impressive work of cinematography that enhanced the story and gave the film its distinctive mood and look, and finally David Lynch's unique artistic vision. In Mulholland Drive, Lynch put together a tragic and twisted story set in a typical Hollywood atmosphere in which he explores in a non-straightforward narrative the themes of darkness, horror, fame, love and tragedy. And by using many distorted and hypnotizing sequences to shift between dreams and reality, Lynch sublimely crafted one of his most unique and outstanding storylines.

Mulholland Dr. Will always be an astonishing and extraordinary piece of work.