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Margaux
Reviews
El maestro de esgrima (1992)
Such a pity, such a bore
Nothing is more depressing than having a good story , and a couple of good actors and then fail miserably at attempting to make a good movie... It is indeed a pity to see that El Maestro de Esgrima (based on a story written by Spain's top-selling Pérez Reverte and with such actors as Omero Antonutti or Assumpta Serna) fails lamentably to raise any kind of interest.
In spite of all the efforts of the talented Ms Serna, the reputed Antonutti and the versatile Almeida, the film is not even remotely interesting. The filming is classic in the worst sense of the word: it is totally unimaginative and absolutely boring. So is unfortunately the acting (with the exception of 3 mentioned before), so stuck up and cliché, you'd think you were sitting at an amateur play. Even the sets and costumes look fake.
All that comes to your mind after a while is "Oh please"... Check what else is on on TV. At least it won't be that boring.
Achilles (1995)
An aesthetic delight
Achilles is probably one of the most fascinating animation short films ever to be seen. The film succintly tells the fate of Achilles and (boy)friend Patrocles, how they grow to love each other and how they die in the Trojan war. The film is most interesting not only because it portrays the story of the Greek warrior under a new light (that of homosexual love, offering a very plausible and well constructed version indeed), but also because it is a rare mix of genres: the animation film is featured as a Greek play, with symbolic props, masks, etc. The movement of the puppets is so close to true life, it is sometimes difficult to believe these are just... well... "puppets". The love scene between Achilles and Patrocles is amongst the most erotic and beautiful scenes ever to be seen.
"Achilles" is a true delight for the eyes, a masterpiece in both the form and the content. It is an original way of presenting the story of Achilles, the mythical Greek warrior, but more generally of telling the story of a man, tortured by a love he does not want to acknowledge until he can no longer hide from it. And in the end, isn't that what makes Achilles so human, and thus so everlasting, rather than his heroic deeds in battle? A must. Don't miss it.
El caso Almería (1984)
For history's sake
The value of El Caso Almería does not lie in its story-telling qualities. Far from it. Strictly from a "cinematographic" perspective, the story is boringly told, the acting is lousy and so is the direction.
The TRUE value of this film however is WHAT it dares tell and make public: the murder of three young people by the Spanish Military because they were suspected of being ETA terrorists, and how one judge tried to investigate the case. The film is all the more daring when one thinks that the film director was himself threatened while directing it, and found it extremely difficult to release it (I personally saw it many many years later in Belgium!). This clearly shows that the country still has difficulties confronting its infamous past and that alone is argument enough to see and diffuse this film as widely as possible. So that it may never happen again.
The Million Dollar Hotel (2000)
Too much cliché makes you blasé
It's always difficult to know what to expect with Wenders: it's either great or really bad. And the interesting part of it is, it's the very same kind of features and the way he chooses to tell a story that will keep you interested or bore you. Although not exactly a boring film, the Million Dollar Hotel gets caught in its maker's defects. The problem starts with the story. Written by rock-star Bono, the story is something like a rock ballad trying to be a movie. Worse, it tries to be a sort of "alternative moral" tale. This tender love-story between two marginals in a hotel full of sympathetic lunatics is so full of rock cliches, it ends up being a huge cliche in itself.
You watch it, you want to like the plot but oh, again that thing about the weirdos being better people because they are so much more poetic and "innocent" than normal people. You want to like the characters but oh, again we're supposed to fall for a delicate, innocent child-saint-whore woman. You want to like the performance of the actors but after a while, can't help thinking "people, let's get on with it, shall we?". You even want to make the effort of agreeing with that lovely universal message in the end : life can be so beautiful, pity we realise it too late but oh, haven't you read that somewhere already? Chinese cookie, was it??...
The Million Dollar Hotel tries so hard to be deep, it ends up being shallow. It tries so hard to be rich in thoughts, it ends up being cheap and pompous. It tries so hard to criticise "mainstream values" and self-righteousness, it ends up being mainstream and self-righteous. And you try so hard to like it... you really do... that you end up thinking : oooh pleeaaaase!
Roma (1972)
Whether you like or not, a masterpiece
You may or not like Fellini's extravagance ... and there's plenty to be had in "Roma". You may dislike the movie going back and forth in time, and around a period in history which you can't even relate to; you may dislike the lack of plot, the series of episodes from the director's past or fantasies. You may not share his vision of Rome, its women, its chaos, its fascist monuments and its hippies. You may not even be at all interested in Fellini's world and may find his movies, boring, or uninteresting. This one will be no exception, then. Well... After all, we did not all like Citizen Kane either.
For one thing is beyond doubt: Fellini's Roma is a true, genuine, masterpiece, one of the last gems coming out of the relentless, colourful imagination of an Italian director, who from La Strada to Amarcord, in some 15 years of movie-making, was able to concoct classic movies and nothing but. Fellini's Roma is a series of exaggerations (the characters, chaos, the brothels, the nights in Rome...) as Rome can be. It is an absolute tribute to a city one thousand times destroyed, one thousand times reborn, to the "city of illusions" as Gore Vidal puts is. It is above all a tribute to the Romans, who basically "could not care less whether you are alive or dead". And who better to capture this than Federico Fellini?
Il fornaretto di Venezia (1963)
Good plot, good acting... and Venice is so grand anyway!
It may not be a masterpiece but I find "Il Fornaretto di Venezia", a mix of thriller/romance/power and lust story set in 16th century Venice, to be one of those movies one likes to have at home and watch from time to time... Of course, you may find the props and costumes a bit 60esque (check the ladies' make-up and hairdos); some of the actors are a bit too emphatic; and the story would gain a lot if we would not get crap like "Il popolo ha innato il senso della giustizia" ("the people has an innate sense of justice", which, as history shows, is not quite true...). BUT on the whole the plot is good, concisely told, excellent music, some excellent acting too (check that young Jacques Perrin, too rarely seen in French cinema lately)... and Venice, as portrayed in the movie, ever so beautiful. It would be grand to have a newer version of it, with much of the original script, and a less moralistic and perhaps slightly more "daring" touch... I mean, we are talking about a story of love, lust, deceipt and power, so... what the hell, right?