Change Your Image
MrsHenry
Reviews
A Bigger Splash (2015)
Dull and pointless
A dull and pointless film about dull and pointless people. Who cares about any of these characters? The film making shows occasional touches of interest - but nothing original or stylish. Ralph Fiennes I found unconvincing. You can see him acting - he never convinces as a real person. Tilda Swinton is not too bad. Matthias Schoenaerts I quite often couldn't hear properly. There were hints of Antonioni but to be reminded of his great films really didn't help any appreciation of this one. I think the fact that the critics ludicrously overpraised Guadagnino's 'I am love' means that they are stuck having to continue to rate his subseqent films. I do wonder if today's critics and audiences have any idea what a good film is?
The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
A very bad film
This is a terrible film: simply 3 hours of shouting. It's repetitive; lacking in narrative or plot; no drama; no character development; no wit; no light and shade; no insights - in short nothing at all to recommend it. It's true that DiCaprio gives a good performance, but the totality of the film is so bad it's not worth watching just to see him. The great puzzle is how director Martin Scorsese with his track record could come up with this rubbish? The fact that it gets good reviews just confirms to me that people get dazzled by star names and directors, and lose their sense of judgement. I can't see any other explanation for an 8.2 IMDb rating.
Wake in Fright (1971)
Puzzingly over-praised
I am utterly perplexed by the high praise lavished on the re-issue of this film in 2014. The cinematography is not bad at times - the bar scenes, the gambling and the kangaroo hunt are all quite well done; and the music is effective. Otherwise this film is marred by bad acting, unconvincing episodes, overlong and repetitive scenes and, above all, the lack of interesting or engaging characters. Do we really care what happens to John Grant? Are we allowed any insights into his character, or any of the other stereotypes he meets? Most puzzling is the lack of tension or threat. Wake in fright? - fright of what? At no time is John Grant in any real jeopardy. In sum: of interest as a portrayal of boorish and drunken male culture in 1970s Australia, but of very little value otherwise.
Soshite chichi ni naru (2013)
A superb film by a great director
What does it mean to be a parent? Are father/son relationships based on DNA or love? In exploring these issues Koreeda produces a sublime, indeed I would say a perfect, film - perfect in every aspect: narrative, characters, acting, filming, soundtrack. All this is achieved in a relatively low key way - no histrionics in terms of story, acting or film making, but this is not to say that the film is unemotional: quite the contrary. Some scenes are devastatingly powerful. The contrast between the two families is brilliantly drawn, and all the characters have depth. Koreeda gives us some wonderful shots - particularly the journeys between the two homes. The scene at the river, where the two families share a picnic at a pivotal moment, is truly great. Father and son sit on the stony shore as the man tries to explain why the boy must leave, while behind them in the river stands an enormous boulder, unmoving yet constantly washed and imperceptibly eroded by the flowing water. The image is obscure but powerful. In sum, it is impossible to overpraise Koreeda who wrote, directed and edited this film.