Reviews

"It's precisely when you give up hope that good things happen."

Both Mimi and Madame Rosa have gone through so much pain. Most of the characters were outcasts. Momo, the orphan and protagonist who learns to grow as a person though understanding Madame Rosa. Madame Rosa the Aushwitz survivor who is living as a migrant in Italy. Iosif, who never gave up hope on his mother coming back for him. Lola, the transgender woman who exudes femininity and warm hearted energy through caring about Madame Rosa and the children she takes care of.

I cried so much when Momo snuck Rosa out of the hospital and took her to her safe place, her "refuge". When the police were looking for her and she was reliving her trauma of hiding, Momo was there to comfort her and relive her fear and pain. This made me cry so much.

Also, when he was crying that Iosif left that made me very sad because he lied to Iosif saying he wouldn't miss him. Momo holds in a lot of his feelings and for him to let them out when no one around is looking made me learn a part of myself that does the same. Madame Rosa came along after and comforted him.

Iosif showed the power of hope, faith and prayer. He did not lose faith or trust in his own belief which was inspiring. He had empathy for Madame Rosa and prayed for her. He was an angel in the film, keeping hope in times of uncertainty where one could easily feel lost and give up.

Overall, it made me very emotional but there was also parts of the film that I didn't care much for.

Through the camera lens we can see Beths life. She is alone most of the time. Although she has friends, is known globally, had a 2nd mother for a couple of years, she always seemed to be alone. I think she was looking for motherly love, and love in general. But through her character, I think it was hard for her to even comprehend what motherly love is, what a fatherly figure is (although Ep. 6 shows some of those feelings when she went to Mr. Shaibels basement chess room after his passing), and what it is like to show love. This is expressed through her natural dry and blunt, yet approachable character. She was open to receiving love through Alma but it also did not feel like a natural love because of Beths natural character, the inherent situation at hand, and Almas suppressed form of self (taking on the role of a housewife).

Almas character was interesting, and the way Beth saw her was interesting. In my opinion, the Piano was a very important object for Alma, for Beth, and for the 1950/60s theme. The Piano can symbolize Almas potential maybe ? or Almas passions, hopes, and aspirations to be something more than the role of a wife spread thin by her condescending husband, society, and her small paranoia of the uncertainty through her dependent funnel of money (although this led her to produce amazing budgeting skills; which reminded me of Nora from the play "Dolls House"). Almas dreams of playing piano which could've been seeds to a thought of I don't know maybe; being a renounced Piano player one day, were crushed. Alma could have been like Beth, but like Beth said; she was "stuck".

8 hours of moving art, the design, the sets, the outfits, the music, the acting, the actors, the story, EVERYTHING! very high quality mini TV series. It felt like a very long movie, and a movie that has been well made. I usually don't like watching TV series because a lot of TV series have the same reactions, very expected plots, and overall feel repetitive. TV reminds me of fast fashion, but this is not fast fashion. I cherished the scenes. I felt sympathy for Beths suffering, all of those flashbacks she had from her real Mother years and years ago were very dark. It took her so long to dig that out of her brain and let it rest at ease, and not wash it out with drugs, and such. I can't imagine those grueling years with those type of memories, the scenes where the memories were replayed were a great add to the story and definitely added a depth that impressively did not take multiple seasons.

The scene where Susanna (Winona Ryder) is in the tub while she is disrespecting Valerie the nurse right in front of her (for her race, socioeconomic status, her "welfare" nursing education that supposedly makes her not as smart as susanna and does not give valerie the potential to diagnose susanna, etc) was a great scene and moved me. Susanna was horrible, but also showed her privilege. Does she have BPD? I think so, but like Valerie said "you are a lazy self indulgent little girl that is driving herself crazy". Valerie said she's not crazy like the rest, but I think Valeries wrong. Susanna is crazy, but that's only because she can afford to be crazy. At the end of the scene, Susanna in a mocking voice said "But you's ain't no doctor miss Valerie, yous aint nothing but a black nurse Maid", and Valerie replies "and you're just throwing it away". Well, yes because she rich and CAN. My favorite character was Valerie; humble, controlled, well spoken, respectful to the patients but hard when she needed to be, well mannered. I'm tired of tumblr and the youth (i'm 19 and part of the youth too haha) romanticizing Angelina Jolie in this movie. Is she charming ? Yes she is, but her looks don't fool me. She's a sociopath and why does this society find her menacing, evil, practices onto others as alluring and attractive ? Cmon, get over her looks and look at her character.