On the part of one of the only two characters in this movie to borrow from the present to bring back to life a loved one from the past. At least that is how I imagine lyrics of a favorite old Carlos Gardel song to a highly abstract vision in the mind of an older man, attempting to execute in a portrait the persona of a younger man he once knew. As such it comes across as technically as a truly fine piece of cinema. But in terms of a filmed narrative it drags along at a snail's pace from one improbable scene to another. At twenty minutes in the viewer may regard it as just another creepy psychodrama of a rather mundane gay sort. Then very slowly it becomes alternately less about that and more of a "Death in Venice" type of thing. Centering on a theme of aging gone all tragic. Alternating clever use of two languages, English and Spanish, livens everything up nicely. As noted, this is not at all a trashy film, just slow and confusing. Likeable one minute, then implausible the next. For all its faults, I rather enjoyed it.
Reviews
240 Reviews
The Prince
(2019)
Predictable
29 October 2023
Warning: Spoilers
This is a film that pretends to be daring and new but calls all the shots before they occur. A review begs to merit spoilers right from the start. A fluffy domestic cat in a violent men's prison? Give me a break. Ditto the cozy if repulsive cell, and an immediate descent into sweaty groping. A flashback at the start left hanging until the end confuses the issue, as do several minor players appearing and reappearing at random. If I were to find something positively appealing it would be solely development of the main character as exhibited in intense personal close-ups, irrespective of mere pornographic elements, and certainly of any presumed political background. I could not, however, sit through it again.
Punch
(I) (2022)
Just OK
9 July 2023
A predictable story line once all the loose ends are tied up following an interesting start. Too bad about the script. The dialogue is very thin and a good editing is needed to condense elements of character in the two main protagonists right from the start. Photography excels, as does sound recording, but with New Zealand as a backdrop that is almost a given. For a relatively low budget film it feels quite professional. A red Pontiac convertible from the early 70's played a role. Was it intended?
I respect comments already made here by others who were puzzled by how a small town could host a major boxing match. The last third of the film resorted to this plot trope straight out of the 1950's. Finally, knowing the locale as I do, I had a hard time picturing Conan as a traditional Maori.
I respect comments already made here by others who were puzzled by how a small town could host a major boxing match. The last third of the film resorted to this plot trope straight out of the 1950's. Finally, knowing the locale as I do, I had a hard time picturing Conan as a traditional Maori.
Mansfield Park
(1999)
Revisionism
17 June 2023
It seems even a minor novel written 200 years ago can be subject to a heavy interpretation belonging solely to the present. But this start and stop script is related only superficially to its apparent source. On another level scenery and sets are only so-so when compared to an abundance of other films set in that time and place (think Merchant-Ivory). Nothing relieves a tale in which characters are inconsistent as to development from one episode to the next, so unlike an original Jane Austen cohesion. "Clunky" is the word that comes to mind as one character grows old and another stays rigidly the same in either physical appearance or costume. And, finally, in one scene we see a ship at Portsmouth flying a Spanish flag in the wrong place, on a mainmast. Details matter.
The White Lotus
(2021–2025)
Second thoughts
28 February 2023
Originally I was bowled over by the superb production values and artistic sense of this series. In hindsight, however, and after viewing all episodes of the second season, I have to admit experiencing buyer's remorse. Lovely as it all is, and given license to cast some rather good actors, I have come to dislike both scripts intensely. It is not only that you have far too many loathsome principals, but also that they are made to play cardboard cutouts, turning into improbable and forced events. The end result is nothing more than soap opera. It is not enough to make good guys bad and vice versa, but instead to show believable character development along the way.
The Power of the Dog
(2021)
Morose
11 February 2022
All about feelings with little cohesive plot or character development. I am puzzled by all the hype this film has received. Perhaps it is one of those productions whose reputation as a different take on an old theme has preceded it.
Of course the whole thing is spoiled by portraying New Zealand as Montana. I spotted that at once, even without the opening credit. I have been to both places many times and thus know the difference intimately. Nice try, however.
As to 1925, period appearances are spot on. I did not, however, like the plangent musical score. With regard to voices and acting, it is as well a mishmash. Poor Benedict shifted all over in an attempt to be two concomitant personalities in one. I had admired him immensely in his first few films, but now he seems to have become famous and affected. The role of Phil requires both a much older and more authentically American actor. And this film script could not have been written by your average middle-aged male teller of tall tales. I'll bet the original novel (which reminds me, in a secondary way, of stories written by Cormac McCarthy) pulls fewer punches.
I can think of no single scene in this film that really stands out. Not even the marginally titillating ones. Sorry.
Of course the whole thing is spoiled by portraying New Zealand as Montana. I spotted that at once, even without the opening credit. I have been to both places many times and thus know the difference intimately. Nice try, however.
As to 1925, period appearances are spot on. I did not, however, like the plangent musical score. With regard to voices and acting, it is as well a mishmash. Poor Benedict shifted all over in an attempt to be two concomitant personalities in one. I had admired him immensely in his first few films, but now he seems to have become famous and affected. The role of Phil requires both a much older and more authentically American actor. And this film script could not have been written by your average middle-aged male teller of tall tales. I'll bet the original novel (which reminds me, in a secondary way, of stories written by Cormac McCarthy) pulls fewer punches.
I can think of no single scene in this film that really stands out. Not even the marginally titillating ones. Sorry.
Bad Buddy
(2021–2022)
Just Before the Final Episode
20 January 2022
Warning: Spoilers
As of 20 January 2022, this series is about to conclude. Waiting to see which of apparently three suggested endings is employed, a viewer is tasked with evaluating preceding episodes objectively, not knowing how it will end. My own view is it's already a winner, hands down.
First, it succeeds as a talented technical production, directed and edited much better than most coming out of Thailand. The musical score is superb, worth listening to on its own. The storyline, which starts out like some take-off on Romeo and Juliet, quickly morphs into a far more complex love story, wherein the two lovers opt not to die for each other but to mature in stages from one to another. Friendship moves logically into more than mere friendship. Consummation does not occur until the penultimate episode.
I read that 4,300,000 have watched this so far on you tube or in some other way. One critic went so far as to say a scene in Episode 5 "broke the internet." I assume it has been shown on commercial Thai TV as well.
It remains to be seen what the future holds for these two main stars and their imaginative director. I think at this point the sky's the limit.
First, it succeeds as a talented technical production, directed and edited much better than most coming out of Thailand. The musical score is superb, worth listening to on its own. The storyline, which starts out like some take-off on Romeo and Juliet, quickly morphs into a far more complex love story, wherein the two lovers opt not to die for each other but to mature in stages from one to another. Friendship moves logically into more than mere friendship. Consummation does not occur until the penultimate episode.
I read that 4,300,000 have watched this so far on you tube or in some other way. One critic went so far as to say a scene in Episode 5 "broke the internet." I assume it has been shown on commercial Thai TV as well.
It remains to be seen what the future holds for these two main stars and their imaginative director. I think at this point the sky's the limit.
Firebird
(I) (2021)
Solid piece of work
8 January 2022
The temptation to find fault with otherwise genuine attempts to portray a story based on real events and people is always risky. There is in fact nothing radically wrong with this film. It is a straightforward tale with a beginning, a middle, and an end. Moreover it is technically about as good as possible for films made in a small country with an international cast speaking several languages at once with the aid of some dubbing. Editing and score are good, the sites and settings basically accurate.
Although the story jumps around a bit, and there are some blanks in the narrative, I found both major and minor actors quite good. Most of all, it's a film with a heart, profoundly in tune with its place and time in history.
Although the story jumps around a bit, and there are some blanks in the narrative, I found both major and minor actors quite good. Most of all, it's a film with a heart, profoundly in tune with its place and time in history.
The Man with the Answers
(2021)
Expert filming, weak storyline
5 October 2021
This could have been a much better road trip narrative if only it displayed better continuity and more skill in probing the depth of the two main characters and their respective backgrounds. As it is, greater attention is given geography and atmosphere than providing the viewer with a believable plot or development of a complete human relationship before trailing off into more roads and tunnels.
I still enjoyed most of it. Although there was scant use of close-ups and many voiced expressions in all four languages frequently got lost in the action, the transformation of a confused and disillusioned Victoras from drudge into mature acceptance of the good things in his life saved the film from being just another mediocrity.
Also, the world forgets all too often that a small slice of the German-speaking Tyrol became nearly extinct between two world wars, and this film shows it in all its renascent glory. Of course, it's not Munich as portrayed in the final scenes, but we can believe the beautiful Tyrol is where the story is appropriately winding up.
I still enjoyed most of it. Although there was scant use of close-ups and many voiced expressions in all four languages frequently got lost in the action, the transformation of a confused and disillusioned Victoras from drudge into mature acceptance of the good things in his life saved the film from being just another mediocrity.
Also, the world forgets all too often that a small slice of the German-speaking Tyrol became nearly extinct between two world wars, and this film shows it in all its renascent glory. Of course, it's not Munich as portrayed in the final scenes, but we can believe the beautiful Tyrol is where the story is appropriately winding up.
Departure
(III) (2015)
A carrot, not a peach
4 September 2021
This is one of those dreary films you wander into, often set in France or Italy, quickly noticing similarities to other films, then worrying suddenly and embarrassingly if you have in fact already seen it. Then, when the carrot comes into play, you realize that was not the case.
But I am unkind. Even though I fell asleep twice before the end and had to reorient my bearings as to where it was going, I did appreciate its production values and the quality of the acting. The narrative, such as it is, involves a teenager dealing going through a problematic puberty and his childishly dysfunctional parents. Add to the mix an older teen from Paris who is himself careless about his feelings and you wind up with a brief moment of catharsis long overdue.
Long story short, all the previous films like this involving Yanks or Brits finding gorgeous farmhouses tucked away in bucolic locales of southern Europe are by now far too cliché to be taken seriously.
But I am unkind. Even though I fell asleep twice before the end and had to reorient my bearings as to where it was going, I did appreciate its production values and the quality of the acting. The narrative, such as it is, involves a teenager dealing going through a problematic puberty and his childishly dysfunctional parents. Add to the mix an older teen from Paris who is himself careless about his feelings and you wind up with a brief moment of catharsis long overdue.
Long story short, all the previous films like this involving Yanks or Brits finding gorgeous farmhouses tucked away in bucolic locales of southern Europe are by now far too cliché to be taken seriously.
Young Royals
(2021–2024)
Highly Entertaining
4 July 2021
Very reminiscent of other well-produced serial dramas on Netflix centered on teen-age angst in a private school setting. Also suggestive of many so-called "BL" films from Thailand and other Asian countries. This one is of course from Sweden so the local scenery changing with the seasons is almost a character in itself. It's always interesting to see how such a universal theme plays out in many different cultures and nationalities. Many of these young actors will go on to more complex films in the future.
Someone Has to Die
(2020)
Maybe the film itself?
26 February 2021
A story about a wealthy but dystopian family in Spain in the years after World War II. Nicely filmed. Acceptable English dubbing. Correct automobiles and wardrobe for the period. Generally good production values all around.
But the script is nothing but a pastiche of implausible events, narrative threads that go nowhere, amateurish speechifying, and an underlying political screed aimed at the abuses of the Franco dictatorship. And as in many films I have seen from Spain, a lot of one-liners insulting Mexico. None of it makes much sense. We have seen many of these actors before, their talents wasted on this predictable mélange of one stereotype after another: the strict father; the frustrated wife, the gay son, the rigid class structure, the violence and brutality of the period, the obligatory nude scenes.
Because it is a series that comes to an abrupt ending after only three longish episodes, one gets the feeling it was intended originally to be either an extended series or a full movie, winding up without much of it actually making it to the cutting room floor where it belonged.
Kanarie
(2018)
Sounds of History
18 November 2020
The male canary is known for its song, a lyrical and happy sound that can end suddenly in a poisonous environment, hence its use in coal mines of the past to detect danger from toxic fumes. Take us then to South Africa in the 1980's, and begin a story told in Afrikaans that is at times bizarre, occasionally jolly but at its heart historically portentous of evil. The main character of the story is a closeted small town boy learning, after his conscription, how to be true to himself while under the control of a military state just a decade shy of its dissolution.
To be sure, this is not a political screed. There is only one scene overtly connected to the evil of racism. Yet that evil lies constantly beneath the surface as the narrative peels back one prejudice after another in Afrikaner society, using Johan's own life parable contrasted with frequent biblical references and lines from pop tunes as context. It is a tale of opposites clashing even as they move inexorably closer together into historical destiny.
As a student of a broader history, I appreciate small things like one character saying to another. "your grandparents put my grandparents in concentration camps" to the one English-speaking recruit, a reminder of a time a hundred years earlier when South Africa was engaged in a violent civil war. For an audience in the 21st century unfamiliar with South African history, those kinds of comments should send people running to their Wikipedia.
So this funny little movie in an oddly strange yet familiar language can be an opening to more than just an afternoon at the local cinema.
Perry Mason
(2020–2023)
Rhys Sauvage
11 August 2020
I concur with all the viewers who like the "new" Perry Mason. It should not be compared unfavorably with the "old."
For starters, this latest incarnation of Erle Stanley Gardner's erstwhile detective turned lawyer is probably closer in tone and personality to the author's original creation than Burr's otherwise excellent portrayal on television in the 1950's. Although Gardner was an avowed fan of Burr, his first written appearance of Perry Mason in the 1930's sits well in that earlier time and place. In fact, one can easily imagine a young and gritty Perry as played by Rhys evolving into the mature one twenty years later.
In its own right the Rhys version is, contrary to opinion based on a sentimental attachment to Burr, quite substantial. Moreover the production values are to my mind monumental in an age where films of that time distort the twentieth century mercilessly, much to the chagrin of those of us who actually lived through it. The subdued lighting, the merging of old photographs with the new, the actual recorded music of the time, the mode of dress, the many solidly black Model T's and A's form one brilliant tableau vivant after another. Of course it's not entirely without error, but the rule is proven by exceptions. One of these is inevitable: a script tuned into 21st century vernacular, which dissonance can be heard only by a fine ear accustomed to hearing the echo of actual voices from those years. Watch an original old crime drama and you'll get the idea.
In short, Rhys has outlived his sweetly sentimental portrayals of the past, and is now a mettlesome new voice.
For starters, this latest incarnation of Erle Stanley Gardner's erstwhile detective turned lawyer is probably closer in tone and personality to the author's original creation than Burr's otherwise excellent portrayal on television in the 1950's. Although Gardner was an avowed fan of Burr, his first written appearance of Perry Mason in the 1930's sits well in that earlier time and place. In fact, one can easily imagine a young and gritty Perry as played by Rhys evolving into the mature one twenty years later.
In its own right the Rhys version is, contrary to opinion based on a sentimental attachment to Burr, quite substantial. Moreover the production values are to my mind monumental in an age where films of that time distort the twentieth century mercilessly, much to the chagrin of those of us who actually lived through it. The subdued lighting, the merging of old photographs with the new, the actual recorded music of the time, the mode of dress, the many solidly black Model T's and A's form one brilliant tableau vivant after another. Of course it's not entirely without error, but the rule is proven by exceptions. One of these is inevitable: a script tuned into 21st century vernacular, which dissonance can be heard only by a fine ear accustomed to hearing the echo of actual voices from those years. Watch an original old crime drama and you'll get the idea.
In short, Rhys has outlived his sweetly sentimental portrayals of the past, and is now a mettlesome new voice.
Addicted
(2016– )
Like a rough draft of an unfinished symphony
3 August 2020
I make no pretense of knowing how this series plays in its own country other than through additional critical sources appearing on You Tube, where I found it with English subtitles. Nor do I think it likely ever to reach a large audience outside places where Mandarin Chinese is a native language. That is a pity, because it holds universal appeal in both story and visual authenticity.
That is not to say it is without faults. I had to watch it twice to make sure I got all the dramatic nuances and cultural elements just right. For example, the title in English is "Addicted (Heroin)" a very confusing construction that does not become transparent until late in the game when a casual conversation reveals that the Chinese equivalent of "heroin" can result from combining two literal configurations of the names of the two main fictional characters, thus establishing the premise that they have become "addicted" to each other. A bilingual viewer would presumably know that immediately.
Briefly, the plot centers on two high school students in Beijing falling gradually in love with each other over a period of several winter months. An element of suspense is created by having one of the students resistant at first to the advances of the other, then gradually finding that both are able to slough off earlier love affairs and interruptions in their daily lives to come together in the end. A partly original, partly borrowed musical score accentuates the story.
So much for that. What makes this series unique, however, is the critical and political firestorm it created. Originally conceived from a popular novel, a planned eighteen-part drama was cut short by official censors who presumably found its sexual content objectionable (though by Western standards no more than a likely PG rating). Nevertheless, the fifteen episodes that made it through to the internet have found an appreciative audience in the tens of millions across much of East Asia and into places where films from mainland China normally consist of flashy acrobatics and graphic violence.
As noted, viewers depending on English subtitles may have to juggle their controls a bit to jump smoothly from one episode to the next, but I think the result will justify the effort. This is a heart-warming narrative that, in my judgment , goes far in humanizing ordinary life in China, which makes it all the more ironic that the Chinese government so determined to present a favorable face to the world would have chosen to ignore its virtues.
Incidentally, if the two main characters seem a bit old to be high school students, at least one speaks of having completed his military obligation. I will leave it to others to ferret out bits of trivia.
That is not to say it is without faults. I had to watch it twice to make sure I got all the dramatic nuances and cultural elements just right. For example, the title in English is "Addicted (Heroin)" a very confusing construction that does not become transparent until late in the game when a casual conversation reveals that the Chinese equivalent of "heroin" can result from combining two literal configurations of the names of the two main fictional characters, thus establishing the premise that they have become "addicted" to each other. A bilingual viewer would presumably know that immediately.
Briefly, the plot centers on two high school students in Beijing falling gradually in love with each other over a period of several winter months. An element of suspense is created by having one of the students resistant at first to the advances of the other, then gradually finding that both are able to slough off earlier love affairs and interruptions in their daily lives to come together in the end. A partly original, partly borrowed musical score accentuates the story.
So much for that. What makes this series unique, however, is the critical and political firestorm it created. Originally conceived from a popular novel, a planned eighteen-part drama was cut short by official censors who presumably found its sexual content objectionable (though by Western standards no more than a likely PG rating). Nevertheless, the fifteen episodes that made it through to the internet have found an appreciative audience in the tens of millions across much of East Asia and into places where films from mainland China normally consist of flashy acrobatics and graphic violence.
As noted, viewers depending on English subtitles may have to juggle their controls a bit to jump smoothly from one episode to the next, but I think the result will justify the effort. This is a heart-warming narrative that, in my judgment , goes far in humanizing ordinary life in China, which makes it all the more ironic that the Chinese government so determined to present a favorable face to the world would have chosen to ignore its virtues.
Incidentally, if the two main characters seem a bit old to be high school students, at least one speaks of having completed his military obligation. I will leave it to others to ferret out bits of trivia.
Hollywood
(2020)
Skip this one
5 May 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Entertainment pretending to be historical is a minefield. Movies about George Washington, for example, cannot move too far from myths surrounding his real life without outraging public sentiment and failing at the box office. Facts get in the way of colorful lies, or, in the present instance, misrepresentations of events from seventy-odd years ago remembered personally by still living viewers, fictional copies which carry no value or purpose except to satiate the lusts of a paying and ignorant 2020 audience. The notion of "willing suspension of disbelief" is an impossible stretch. Memories are often too painful. One era of hypocrisy has been replaced by another, a countervailing successor made up of equal parts gratuitous vulgarity and political correctness. Not a pretty sight.
Quick summary of this short series called, unoriginally, Hollywood. (Spoiler Alert) First off, fictional caricatures (I do not call them characters) are interspersed in a field of real historical persons with little regard for how they fit together given what is already known about the latter. The series begins with a few fictional main caricatures who remain with the story throughout all seven episodes, inviting the viewer to identify with this one or that one. Because this series is to be a happy experience all the good guys will measure up to adversity and win in the end. But it will be a rocky road. Come to think of it, this faux drama could actually make a great musical! The bad guys are lawyers and cops, and what seem to be bad guys at the beginning turn out to be sweethearts at the end.
Along the way, real names of stars are dropped all over the place, and one in particular...Rock Hudson...is actually brought into the fictional melange as a marginally clueless gay neophyte who acts as a foil for both worthy and unworthy accomplices of two (or three) different racial backgrounds. Instead of becoming a big star, however, he just gets the 1947 version of a dental implant and grins his way to the end.
One of the few decent acting jobs is that of Rob Reiner, who does a great studio boss. His role in my estimation might even win him a real Oscar. Another standout is Joe Mantello as one of the studio executives. Jim Parsons is excellent as a sleazy agent right up to episode 7, where he undergoes a less than convincing transformation into a wuss.
What renders this series a complete flop is its reliance on two weak and illogical story lines involving race and sex. In the first of these, the Oscars of 1947 are made out to be a breakthrough for racial minorities, which amounts to a complete canard. The other failure is its dependence on sexual activity in a leering, panting way to advance the authenticity of a weak and scattered plot.
Minor comments: Why are museum-quality cars used in so many period films like this one? For someone of my generation (80+) it would make sense to throw in some real Model A's and 5-window coupes most of which were black and dented...even in Hollywood. One more gripe: I was a teenager in that decade and never, ever, heard so much gutter language in the presence of working people...even though I lived on the other side of L.A. in what was then white, middle class Alhambra. If I want to relive the 40's, there are dozens of documentaries on the internet that do a way better job of it for me. And finally, I knew at least two people who were fairly high up the food chain in Hollywood at the time, who, together with many other hangers-on of that type, would cringe at this glossy pastiche masquerading as an original step forward in cinematic art.
Quick summary of this short series called, unoriginally, Hollywood. (Spoiler Alert) First off, fictional caricatures (I do not call them characters) are interspersed in a field of real historical persons with little regard for how they fit together given what is already known about the latter. The series begins with a few fictional main caricatures who remain with the story throughout all seven episodes, inviting the viewer to identify with this one or that one. Because this series is to be a happy experience all the good guys will measure up to adversity and win in the end. But it will be a rocky road. Come to think of it, this faux drama could actually make a great musical! The bad guys are lawyers and cops, and what seem to be bad guys at the beginning turn out to be sweethearts at the end.
Along the way, real names of stars are dropped all over the place, and one in particular...Rock Hudson...is actually brought into the fictional melange as a marginally clueless gay neophyte who acts as a foil for both worthy and unworthy accomplices of two (or three) different racial backgrounds. Instead of becoming a big star, however, he just gets the 1947 version of a dental implant and grins his way to the end.
One of the few decent acting jobs is that of Rob Reiner, who does a great studio boss. His role in my estimation might even win him a real Oscar. Another standout is Joe Mantello as one of the studio executives. Jim Parsons is excellent as a sleazy agent right up to episode 7, where he undergoes a less than convincing transformation into a wuss.
What renders this series a complete flop is its reliance on two weak and illogical story lines involving race and sex. In the first of these, the Oscars of 1947 are made out to be a breakthrough for racial minorities, which amounts to a complete canard. The other failure is its dependence on sexual activity in a leering, panting way to advance the authenticity of a weak and scattered plot.
Minor comments: Why are museum-quality cars used in so many period films like this one? For someone of my generation (80+) it would make sense to throw in some real Model A's and 5-window coupes most of which were black and dented...even in Hollywood. One more gripe: I was a teenager in that decade and never, ever, heard so much gutter language in the presence of working people...even though I lived on the other side of L.A. in what was then white, middle class Alhambra. If I want to relive the 40's, there are dozens of documentaries on the internet that do a way better job of it for me. And finally, I knew at least two people who were fairly high up the food chain in Hollywood at the time, who, together with many other hangers-on of that type, would cringe at this glossy pastiche masquerading as an original step forward in cinematic art.
Fair Haven
(2016)
Casting Against Type
23 December 2019
A simple and straightforward low-budget film like this one, made on location within a short time span, can excel on its own when a good script is backed up by accomplished actors whose talent shines through each and every scene. That talent is accentuated when main characters like the psychologist, the father, and the two leads in this film are effectively cast against type, managing to heighten dramatic impact over and above a modest narrative. Although there are moments that drag on a bit long, and flashbacks can be confusing, I find no fault with the overall production. Look for Harrison to be a smug reactionary, Wopat a downbeat parent, Green to be serious and deep, and Grant to show unexpected real musical ability. A big win all around.
The Road to Calvary
(2017)
Unesennye vetrom (or words to that effect)
6 August 2019
I think that phrase corresponds in latinized Russian to Gone With The Wind, the book and film based on events of the American Civil War. I mention it as a way of describing The Road to Calvary with a few words more familiar to English-speaking viewers. Obviously there are very great differences between the two stories, but I like the analogy as a quick introduction to my take on the latter film. This is a very big production in every way.
Not knowing Russian, I have to assume subtitles in English are accurate and true to the original script. If so, I find no fault with it it on either technical or artistic grounds. It is a massive mini-series beautifully staged and produced with great skill.
Given a dozen main characters within the context of very real historical events in the old Russian empire after the fall of the tsar, taking place amid a hundred million inhabitants in the geographically largest country in the world, the story is however a gallimaufry of odd personal coincidences involving those characters. It makes one's head spin to see how they keep meeting, parting, meeting again, and generally stumbling over each other in what is clearly a fictional fantasy. You can predict with ease each of these overlapping events.
That is the single objection I have with the film, which is otherwise an engrossing and memorable addition to international cinema.
Sometimes longer is in fact better.
Charité
(2017– )
Persistence
4 July 2019
On first viewing the promos for this series, I was determined not to watch it, fearing that...like so many German films in recent past...it would be filled with sensationalist and graphic wartime atrocities. When at the urging of a colleague I did give it a chance, I was pleasantly rewarded by its technical brilliance and occasional emotional depth. The medical scenes are nowhere as good as those of British or American hospital soaps, but they are in any case subordinate to a riveting drama framed by actual historical data from World War 2. The main characters are in fact based on real people, and the events more or less accurately in harmony with contemporary events.
As usual, subtitles are inferior to dubbing. Simultaneous verbal and visual effects are needed to avoid losing a great deal of dramatic impact. Many subtle or ironic phrases in German go flying right past translation, especially in a rapid fire interchange like many in this story.
Another minor fault is that, as in many fictional accounts of the war, too many small gratuitous references and characters from history keep popping up to impede the main narrative. But that in no way diminishes the central theme of ordinary people, non-combatants, coping with the traumatic impact of atrocities occurring all around them.
Are there other lessons to be learned from witnessing a sympathetic and righteous population taken over by a cult leader in challenging times? I think so.
Dynasty
(2017–2022)
We're Not In Denver Anymore
18 June 2019
This copycat series proves that, no matter how much money is spent trying to improve on the original, it's just a case of adding too much and too many ingredients to a proven recipe. All the new socially acceptable vulgarisms and politically correct characters overpower an already thin tale of how the rich make their money and are corrupted by it. Which means it's just like many new films or series I have seen lately that fall flat of their own extravagant weight.
In order for such a story to have dramatic effect, there must be at least a few characters or situations able to excite the passions of and suspend the disbelief of an audience made up of ordinary people, not just a few servants and hangers-on as represented here. Even the eye candy of the earlier Carringtons was superior to this mismatched bunch.
Do yourself a favor and find a copy of the one with real actors back in the 80's.
Tales of the City
(2019)
Excessive
10 June 2019
Overstaying one's visit always leads to embarrassing moments. This series purports to extend the life of Maupin's clever and entertaining novels and films about San Francisco well into the 21st century after an absence of the better part of three decades. As such, it fails to deliver much of anything...with one or two exclusions. Laura Linney was one of those. She is a class act irrespective of a weak script. Another small gem is the relation of an historical fulfillment of the character called Anna Madrigal.
Beyond that I found myself wondering how Armistead Maupin could bring himself to produce and appear briefly in this desperate attempt to follow his previous successes. Whoever was responsible for writing and editing here was trying too hard to cram every possible scrap of millennial dialogue or blatant vulgarism onto a story that fit best in its own earlier time.
I was so put off by a cast that simply rambled through their lines (except for Linney) that after the first few episodes I turned off the sound and relied on subtitles for most of what remained. In summary, the series could easily be cut by half and still tell the story fully.
Unauthorized Living
(2018–2020)
Decent acting and sets for the most part
1 May 2019
Warning: Spoilers
At least half this series produced for Spanish TV is worth watching, especially if you have the time as I did to follow it in short order through its entire first season. The basic plot centers on an aging crime boss who learns he is a victim of progressive Alzheimer's disease. Efforts to wind down his business in favor of consolidating emotional links to family members before his ultimate demise turns into a complex narrative in which the worst elements of each of the main characters is displayed as they react to his failures to connect. Even the "good guys" come off as flawed in one way or another. Gratuitous slams at Mexicans and gays make it especially unpalatable, as does a cynical concluding scene in which police come off as wimpy tools of corrupt international cabals. I cannot see much virtue or moral range in this production, only evil of the most obvious kind. I rate it high in production values and acting...little else.
The Cakemaker
(2017)
Well-crafted film spoiled by absurd ending
9 December 2018
Warning: Spoilers
No need to reprise the plot. It has already been told to death from a number of different points of view. It deserves a high rating for the first hour and half and a big question mark for the remainder. It is somewhat reminiscent of an Italian film fro 2001 called Le Fate Ignoranti, in which an apparently straight married man falls in love with another man and is later killed in a car accident, leaving his wife emotionally bereft. The surviving wife in this film, unlike the one in the earlier situation who immediately begins to track down her husband's boyfriend, passively allows the husband's lover into her life in a series of totally implausible events that end mysteriously in a return to the status quo ante.
I disagree with those reviewers who accept the last few scenes of this film as a potential fulfillment of an actual love affair between the wife and the boyfriend. The cathartic moment using flashbacks after the critical reveal shows instead the wife laughing almost comically following a clumsy attempt at lovemaking in the kitchen, reinforced by her likely telling her brother-in-law to kick the poor German schmuck out of the country. Her own trip to Berlin in the final scenes represent her victory lap as a spurned Israeli woman who has overcome all her self-doubts. Heavy irony informs her views of ruined parts of the city and the Siegesallee. The cakemaker is left to pedal his little bicycle back home.
The earlier Italian movie has basically the same ending with the wife victorious.
Not Bad
20 September 2018
Easy to find fault with visual representations of California in the 50's, but that is beside the point. Likewise an element of disbelief (that professional women with ongoing security restraints demanded by their respective governments) could operate so freely and independently as detectives. But then, this TV series is really about something else, namely, raising social consciousness in telling the larger story of women after World War 11 in both Great Britain (I prefer that title) and the United States.
Each of the female characters here is purposely superior to male counterparts, reflecting an ongoing levelling effect of the war on social structures within these two basically democratic nations. In the course of telling individual life stories that are just OK, that is the recurrent theme. Additionally, a 21st century audience is made aware of bare beginnings at that time identifying retrograde attitudes of racism, machismo, homophobia, and political corruption.
As noted, I do not mind a few anachronisms or verbal slips. The old cars are actually very like what I remember, except for some odd aftermarket colors.
Grenseland
(2017)
Where is this going?
12 March 2018
Warning: Spoilers
One hardly knows what to say at the end of viewing this eight-part series. The filming is technically superb. The soundtrack complements the action reasonably well. The acting is good, not great. But the plot is complicated by leaving too many loose ends at its conclusion. English dubbing seems OK, though the Norwegian and Swedish original must have nuances that escape the senses of an Anglophone. Is it a mini-series for TV yet to be concluded or is it intended as a stand-alone film? Or is that left to the imagination of the viewer? If no continuation is foreseen, then one must be mildly disappointed in spite of all the good things Borderliner has going for it.
Briefly stated, the main detective character as played by Tobias Santelmann is caught up in what is either a sting operation involving drug smuggling or a set of personal circumstances surrounding multiple deaths among family and other acquaintances that call into question both his professional ethics and his moral compass. The viewer is never quite sure where the center of this drama is leading. As an individual, his character is fascinating. But one's sympathies are never fully engaged because the plot keeps letting him down, either by too much diversion or too little internal resolution.
In a way, I hope there is more to come, because as I have pointed out it is a good overall production...just inconclusive.
Briefly stated, the main detective character as played by Tobias Santelmann is caught up in what is either a sting operation involving drug smuggling or a set of personal circumstances surrounding multiple deaths among family and other acquaintances that call into question both his professional ethics and his moral compass. The viewer is never quite sure where the center of this drama is leading. As an individual, his character is fascinating. But one's sympathies are never fully engaged because the plot keeps letting him down, either by too much diversion or too little internal resolution.
In a way, I hope there is more to come, because as I have pointed out it is a good overall production...just inconclusive.
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