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stevekettel
Reviews
Anatomie d'une chute (2023)
Brilliant performances, real and nuanced
I've just finished watching Anatomy of a Fall. What a great film, and I do mean "great".
The acting first: thoroughly believable, emotive whilst restrained. The performances don't lead you by the hand: there isn't any scene stealing, or character cues to suggest how we should feel about the characters, just realism. The characters can be quite cold, but this isn't the place for flamboyance - this is an inside look at eloquent intelligent people, dealing with an ambiguous situation.
And the ambiguity is maintained by the Direction and pacing. We're not spoon fed narrative and drama, or told how we should be reacting, we're taken on a journey through a series of realistic scenarios, each valid and informing the whole, and each fascinating as the story unravels and the personalities are developed.
Not that the sometimes coldness of the characters and the realistic scenarios make this less cinematic - there is enough going on here to analyse and consider, enough artistic decisions made, to feel that there is a strong purpose behind the film, one that in different hands wouldn't have had the same strength of humanity, or tension in the courtroom.
Some people complain re: the pacing of the film. I couldn't look away. Others complain about the ambiguity. In real life, and especially in criminal cases there is often ambiguity. It is not the job or the intention of the film to explain itself, or to satisfy a need for Hollywood endings. It is the record of, an anatomy of a particular situation, not a conventional "thriller" with twists, turns, set pieces and a bow at the end. And it is all the more compelling for it.
Only given 9 stars not 10, as 10 stars are thrown away on reviews. This film has earned every one of the marks I have given it, and now I feel churlish not to have fully endorsed it!
Squid Game: The Challenge (2023)
Hilarious that people think this is series 2!
It's a reality tv show, you get that, right?! And as such it's pretty decent. There's the annoying characters, the ones you laugh at despite yourself, well put together to show developing relationships, and done with a budget large enough to sell the concept. It's a show that was ripe for this sort of spin off, and to be honest, it's done pretty well. If you like reality tv challenge shows, and liked Squid Game, you'll like this. I loved Squid game, can take or leave reality shows, but found enough here to enjoy the series. Strange that people give 1 star because they thought it was going to be something else; is that how ratings work??!!!