First I wanna mention the music of TWG by Michael Kamen. I was shocked to find that he had passed away in 2003 from the Academy Awards "In Memoriam". He poetically and gracefully used the simple piano music in TWD, which led the audience go into the alienated world with warm spirit.
I have to admit that I bought this film because I'm a Rickman fan. I was just curious about his first & only film directing. It's adapted from the play by Sharman Macdonald, who also worked on the film script with Alan. In 1997's Chicago Film Festival,TWD even "beat" talented Ming-liang Tsai's "The River", awarded with the Golden Hugo.In my opinion, there's no such thing as "win " or "lose" in a film festival. But this fact also pushed me to see TWD.
I can't say there's nothing awkward in TWD. The way they edited the film, say, is not smooth enough; it just kept on reminding me that it's adapted from a play. But also, the off-screen voice was well-used in a few scenes. For instance, Alex told the girl Nita about the love between his Mom & Dad(after he found the house seemed to be "haunted"), overlapped with her mom Frances'(Emma Thompson) breakdown on the mountain.
They also perfecly made the opening scene of Mom & Daughter. Mom is walking and cleaning the house; the Daughter stays in the bathroom to keep herself away from Mom's nagging. They dialogued in this way. We can clearly see how they get along. Not too friendly, but caring for each other. You can find Frances grieve over sth, in her private space. Cinematographer Seamus McGarvey("The Hours", "The Wit") was so great that he captured some dignity or beauty of life in his long take. I particularly like the scene when Frances held her mother's hand to climb up the hill. Suddenly her mother revealed some part of her fragility. The wall that she supported with also rubbed her hand, along with her nagging and France's silence, this long-take would be such a memorable moment for this film. The high-angle shot of the bus in the field, what can I say, just tells what I mean of "dignity of life". Two old women took the bus to attend a funeral. You never knew where life is going to take you.
It's a story of "4 pairs of people". It's important to emphasize on this form the scriptwriters took. While too many films talked about the loneliness of modern people, TWD walked the other way to present life itself. People in TWD may not really be able to understand each other; at least they have a company to walk on the slippery road.
Being as a actor-turned-director(especially a British actor), Rickman gave lots of space for the cast. I hope he can direct more. Some places need to be improved, but still Bravo for Mr. Rickman's heart-warming debut.
I have to admit that I bought this film because I'm a Rickman fan. I was just curious about his first & only film directing. It's adapted from the play by Sharman Macdonald, who also worked on the film script with Alan. In 1997's Chicago Film Festival,TWD even "beat" talented Ming-liang Tsai's "The River", awarded with the Golden Hugo.In my opinion, there's no such thing as "win " or "lose" in a film festival. But this fact also pushed me to see TWD.
I can't say there's nothing awkward in TWD. The way they edited the film, say, is not smooth enough; it just kept on reminding me that it's adapted from a play. But also, the off-screen voice was well-used in a few scenes. For instance, Alex told the girl Nita about the love between his Mom & Dad(after he found the house seemed to be "haunted"), overlapped with her mom Frances'(Emma Thompson) breakdown on the mountain.
They also perfecly made the opening scene of Mom & Daughter. Mom is walking and cleaning the house; the Daughter stays in the bathroom to keep herself away from Mom's nagging. They dialogued in this way. We can clearly see how they get along. Not too friendly, but caring for each other. You can find Frances grieve over sth, in her private space. Cinematographer Seamus McGarvey("The Hours", "The Wit") was so great that he captured some dignity or beauty of life in his long take. I particularly like the scene when Frances held her mother's hand to climb up the hill. Suddenly her mother revealed some part of her fragility. The wall that she supported with also rubbed her hand, along with her nagging and France's silence, this long-take would be such a memorable moment for this film. The high-angle shot of the bus in the field, what can I say, just tells what I mean of "dignity of life". Two old women took the bus to attend a funeral. You never knew where life is going to take you.
It's a story of "4 pairs of people". It's important to emphasize on this form the scriptwriters took. While too many films talked about the loneliness of modern people, TWD walked the other way to present life itself. People in TWD may not really be able to understand each other; at least they have a company to walk on the slippery road.
Being as a actor-turned-director(especially a British actor), Rickman gave lots of space for the cast. I hope he can direct more. Some places need to be improved, but still Bravo for Mr. Rickman's heart-warming debut.