Reviews

The first two, maybe three episodes looked promising, then we started to get bored with all the rehash and blurring of the individual stories which all end up with loose ends. Such a pity, the acting is outstanding as you would expect from Firth, Collette and Stuhlbarg and all the rest of the cast, the "children", all absolutely fabulous. But great acting does not make a good story. In the end it was a waste of time. I gave it a rating of 5 only for the actors.

How is it possible to go back to normal after two years of unimaginable suffering, after the vicious murder of all 80 members of your extended family, after you have ended up sick and weighing 40 kg at barely 20 years of age? Watching these two Holocaust survivors in their 90s, Lea and Mira, tell their stories to an unseen interviewer, or talking to each other about the horrors of the past, about hopes, beliefs, love and family is above all inspiring. Sad and grating, but also refreshing. Lea's health still allows her to give witness accounts at schools. You might think: Oh, another Holocaust witness, haven't we had enough of that? No we haven't. We need them, as many as we can get hold of, to go on telling their stories before they are gone forever. We and the generation of our children and grandchildren will become the repositories of their memories, and we are obliged to speak out whenever necessary and say loud and clear: I saw them, I heard it from their own mouths, it happened to them. In testimonies like this the hardest job is editing. You have hours and hours of reel, what has to go, what stays…? Kudos to the editor, he or she did a perfect job. I wish this documentary all the success it deserves and hope that governments all over the American continent will acquire copies for every school.

And it should get the Oscar for best screenplay, too, Matt Ross for best director and Viggo Mortensen for best actor, playing a devoted father with the best of intentions that sometimes might not be the right thing for everyone. And every one of those fantastic kid actors deserves one too. While treating serious and difficult issues, the movie is extraordinarily honest and funny. There is no false move or tone throughout it, it never keels over to the weepy side or gives out blows below the belt. Add to that the Northern Pacific landscape to gorge on… A smart movie that will set you thinking about your own upbringing and how you raise or raised your kids, about education and values and hopefully it will trigger many discussions like it did among the crowd that walked out of the theater here in Buenos Aires.

I have seen only two episodes so far of season 1, but already it looks like this female detectives duo is the among the best, definitely the best of the season. The chaotic private lives of DI's Janet Scott and Rachel Bailey and the solving of the cases are presented in a perfect mix. An especially good point: we are off dead bodies and CSI-like gore (at least for the first two episodes). They still exist, of course, but off-screen. The details are related to us in indirect ways, through the cops' case meetings, the questioning of suspects, conversations in cars, and walk-with-me talks. What we do see instead are the consequences of the crimes committed: We see them in the faces of wonderful hugely talented actors that fill even the tiniest role. It makes up more than enough for the only grievance I have: spoiled by the lavish period production of Inspector George Gently I was hoping to see more of the Yorkshire landscape.

Don't be fooled by the first 10 minutes, don't zap away – you are in for a surprisingly good psycho-thriller ride which keeps you guessing again and again – and you might be quite wrong! – and keeps giving the screw one more turn. Just don't ask for credibility. The script provides too little background on one of the leading characters – but then credibility is not what you necessarily are looking for in a psycho thriller made for TV. The story shows us the life of a wealthy British-Indian family. Daughter Anjika has just finished her studies in Cambridge and her father has selected an appropriate groom for her. But Anjika has a secret boyfriend, Alex – penniless, of course! – and doesn't want an arranged marriage. And there is the chauffeur, Flowers, who doesn't only drive the family members, but seems to be the keeper of everybody's secrets. He has been in love with Anjika for a long time….. It is difficult to say more or put in some criticism without giving too much away. The script is uneven and full of cracks, some of the dialog is trite, but you will be rewarded with great performances by Ray "Sexy Beast" Winstone and Parminder Nagra.

As big Viggo fans, we desperately wanted to love the movie. And it has a lot going for it: a flawless production (rarely a given in Argentine films) which is perfect on atmosphere, beautiful camera work in every single frame, and impressive acting all around. I strongly disagree with Buenos Aires Herald critic Julio Nakamurakare's statement that Viggo Mortensen is "light years away from his sterling performances…." He should give it another viewing and look harder. Viggo Mortensen is actually playing three characters, Pedro the lowlife from the Tigre Delta, his twin brother Agustin, a prestigious pediatrician and – Agustin pretending to be Pedro. He pulls off a fabulous job, offering an array of subtle nuances which give each character its own distinctive shading. Soledad Villamil (of The Secret in Their Eyes fame) is wonderful as Agustin's wife Claudia, but her character kind of falls to the wayside much too soon. Daniel Fanego is predictably great as the bad guy and Sofia Gala Castiglione is the big surprise as the tough gal from the swamps. These are the good points in this story (and the reason why I give it 7 points) that starts out as a thriller (a murder in the Delta), continues as an intimate character study (a man's midlife crises – maybe, though that's open to interpretation), then slides into an off-and-on suspenseful tale of swapped identities, botched plans, some more character study and a rather far-fetched slapped-on love story, all of it sustained by some brilliant scenes and brought down by many mediocre ones. Unfortunately, all this does not come to a satisfying end. Instead, we came down with a thud at the end, confused, irritated and full of questions about loose ends. This movie is not Dogma or Nouvelle Vague or some indie experiment, it is classical story-telling, but for that there is just not enough on motive and background. So sorry, Ana Piterbarg! Luckily you will have the chance to get it right next time. And the time after. Hopefully. Anyway, judging from the post-show ladies room comments, people do love the movie! And yes, Viggo rocks!

Andreas Dresen has given us the most memorable movie in a long time. Great actors in front of a patient camera that either stands still to let action evolve or focuses on the faces. There is hardly any dialog in the first half of the film, character development occurs through the camera. It's the cinematic language that brings to mind Mike Leigh's films. As to the buzz about "old sex" - it's true, Mr. Dresen has broken into new realms showing elderly people making love good and proper, with lots of detail but never once overstepping limits of good taste. This movie concerns every one of us. Especially those over 60 will come out of the show and not be able to stop talking about it for hours, as it happened in Buenos Aires when strangers started lively discussions while walking out into the bright late afternoon. Don't miss it! It will shake you, but not break you, and certainly stay with you for a long time.

As a life-long fan of Johnny Cash I had to see this movie no matter what, so the day it premiered in B.A. there I was sitting in the theater trying, for the sake of neutrality, not to think of the Golden Globe Awards. I came out dancing and 5 days later went to see it again! After seeing every nominated movie except "Transamerica", this was the most rewarding and exhilarating experience of the season! James Mangold of such diverse gems as "Copland" and "Girl, Interrupted" has given us his masterpiece: a beautifully shot movie (there must have been something special about the camera or the lenses – the feel of the period is so special!), based on a tight script that takes you up and away from the first minute and never lets up. The way he takes us through Mr. Cash's childhood and the trauma that caused the never-healing scar is so delicate, so unobtrusive, so without melodrama, it could not have been done more sparingly. All the more we are reminded throughout the film of the consequences of it. That Mr. Mangold did not milk the drama for all its worth, makes all the difference. Mr. Mangold shows us how less can be so much more. How a film can be unabashedly romantic without ever getting corny. How restricting the story to the two conflicts, the brother trauma and the family life versus show business, and building it around the love story (with the music thrown in for good measure in a totally unglamorous way!) makes for the best movie in a long time!! It is maybe unfair to make comparisons with last year's "Ray", but in my opinion WTL wins because the script is better. There are of course the wonderful flawless performances by both leads. Amazing to watch the transformation of the gawkish and shy young man into a seasoned performer. But I never expected less from Joaquin Phoenix since I saw him in To Die For and Quills! The big surprise turned out to be Reese Witherspoon who shows a wider range of acting chops than she had the chance to show so far. And above all: Hats off to both of them for taking the risk to do the singing themselves, given the fact that the real life person was an all-American legend who passed away only 2 and a half years ago. What a daring thing to do – what a wonderful result! What a homage to Johnny Cash!! I have been a fan for a lifetime, but I am going to buy the soundtrack without feeling like an iconoclast. Some of my friends, serious R&B and Rock musicians, maintain that Mr. Phoenix' singing is better than Johnny Cash's….. Let's not forget a crucial figure in the story: the chilling portrait of Ray Cash by Robert Patrick, the irascible father who blames his younger son for the death of his favorite one ("Where have you been?" – "God took the wrong son…!"). He needs only a few appearances to make us feel the full weight of the trauma on Johnny Cash's life. In the end, for him, too, there is redemption through the love of his grandchildren…. There is only one small flaw, and my finger points at the production team: in a guitar store in 1952 post-war Germany no German "Volksmusik" would have sounded from the speakers. At that time all things American were adored and revered, and most certainly its music which had been banned in Nazi times. Probably some Big band or country music would have been on, coming from the AFN Radio station, precisely the place where Mr. Cash works while in service in Germany…. I hope the film takes the Oscar for Best Film at the Academy Awards on March 5!!!

Who is this Aleksandr Buravsky who gets all those wonderful actors to work for him?? And not only in this one, also in a couple of other of his ill-conceived movies. The story here starts out quite promising and soon collapses. The characters are not likable, except for tragic Deborah, the historical errors are many, some situations laughable. And I was looking forward to seeing Keith Carradine in a leading role, after how long....Just wasted my time. Why are there so many bad movies lately which dabble in the Holocaust instead of using history's lessons wisely and weave them into a good story??? There are hundreds of good true stories out there - why don't scriptwriters and directors pick them up and use them???

After 13 years I've seen the movie again on TV. Great Tv night!! This picture has not lost any of its splendour over the years!! It definitely IS the groundbreaking masterpiece in depicting the American natives' lives from a different viewpoint and still deserves all the Oscars it got at the time. My only objection is that Kevin Costner puts himself in the frame just a bit too often and for too long. As for the rest, the performances are impressive, the story heartwarming and heartbreaking, totally believable, the production design just awesome and the direction, though sagging at times,as good as it can get. Kevin Costner should stick to direction, here he shows a wonderful talent. Did he exhaust himself in the realization of this project, which had been his great dream for a long time, or whatever happened to his directing skills after this movie??

I caught this movie by chance 5 minutes into the beginning, and I stayed because of beautiful Lorraine Bracco's impeccable passionate performance. She is one of many underappreciated actors in Hollywood. I expected the same of Martin Donovan. Throughout the movie I kept waiting for him to reveal something more than this strangely lacklustre, almost wooden performance, especially because he had made such a drastic move by turning his wife out of their house literally overnight. His performance did not give me any clues to his personality, but knowing and liking Mr.Donovan, I kept waiting till the end. The script did not provide anything and in the end it just peters out. It's a pity because it's such an everyday issue, most of us have been in that place at some point of our lives, but only one of the scenes with the children was really outstanding. I gave it 5 points only for Ms.Bracco!

So many years after "Hollow Reed", also by talented director Angela Pope, I stumbled over this movie on cable tv. I could not believe what I was watching: such a precise and scathing description of what happens to you in a situation like this. The movie puts you into the heads of the two leading caracters and takes you with them through 3 nerve-racking days of waiting for test results. All this without hitting below the belt, with some stunning camera work, and Liam Neeson and Miranda Richardson glow with talent! Thanks to cable tv this wonderful small film will find its audience here in Argentina, as it should, because Liam Neeson's caracter teaches a class on the Argentinian dictatorship which then plays an important role in reaction to his personal tragedy...

I work with Holocaust survivors on a daily basis as a legal counsellor, and I thought one more movie would just be one more survivor's story. I came out shaken to the depth of my being and full of admiration and thankfulness for Mr. Polanski and this unique actor Adrien Brody. Thank you for crafting this master piece as an example for all those tragic destinies whose survivors are still among us! Malke Schmiedeberg

I discovered the "Midsomer Murders" 2 years ago. In Argentina they are shown on Hallmark Channel, and in this case I don't mind their repetitive programming, because I've become so totally addicted to the episodes that I watch them every time they are on, twice , four, five times....(middle age is creeping up on me, so sometimes I tend to forget who dunit) Wonderful entertainment, great actors down to the smallest role (remember Phyllida Law and John Nettles getting high on pot cookies??? Hilarious!!!) - which goes to show that the British are unsurpassed in the art of solid ,tasteful and funny TV crime fare. I hope we get new episodes like the ones last year and that Hallmark keeps showing them, like other British crime series, too. Malke Schmiedeberg