I was a Brando late bloomer, as I only became aware of his genius within the last few years after watching him in the Godfather (what I consider to be the best acting, ever). Needless to say, I was curious to see this movie as it was the role that made him completely world-reknown ....within one film. Watching Marlon Brando act is like watching Tchaikovsky conduct the Nutcracker , and my eyes never left him in any frame of this movie - he is truly a superb actor. His dialogue is timeless and accessible because it is common, everyday people speech, unlike the pretentious dialogue that Blanche DuBois chatters continuously. The movie feels very old....black and white films by nature feel less lively, the poor and inappropriate soundtrack that should have been used for a high school play, the cheezy directional effects (like the rinings of voices in Blanche's head), and the EXTREMELY theatrical writing ("my, in all heavens, daylight has never exposed such a lie").....who talks like that, really? This film is far from being the masterpiece that many film critics claim it is- and the plot and the progression feels very unsatisfying....This movie, in my opinion, is only worth watching if you either a) have an appreciation for B-theatre (this does not feel like a film but a play with a super8) or b)an enthusiastic Brando fan (like me). Otherwise, you will probably feel the same disappointment I did. At least the users have agreed it does not deserve to be in the top 250- 6.5 out of 10.
Reviews
3 Reviews
Fargo
(1996)
A masterpiece of Shakesperean proportions
11 November 2004
I've always thought Fargo would make a great Shakesperean play; you could alter the modern elements and still have created a buzz 400 years ago in suburban England. Indeed, the plot is similar to Hamlet's, in that they both have characters we root for who create zany plans than end up spinning wildly out of control into bloodshed. Many people seem to like Fargo for its humorous qualities, its characterization of the Minnesotan culture and Frances McDormand- not me. I love Fargo for its brilliant writing, its tragic musical score, its tragic plot, William H Macy, Harve Presnell and Steve Buscemi, its ignorance of political correctness (how many movies can you remember when the only two minority characters were both revealed to be creeps).I want to draw attention to an overlooked reason why the film works so well - how well the music suits the visuals in this movie. Each murder scene is scored superbly, and other audio clues really add to the effect (for instance, notice how when the police officer asks Carl Showalter "What's this?" in reference to the abductee, a disquieting guitar sound is immediately played that has an instantaneous psychological effect on how you interpret the scene). I have seen this film over, well, an embarrassing number of times and have committed its screenplay, from start to finish, by memory. Fargo is the ultimate Coen Brothers movie, a brilliant tragedy, and restores my faith in Roger Ebert as he places this movie in as his fourth favorite movie of the '90s.
The most disappointing, for me, of the three
16 February 2004
Warning: Spoilers
A few minor spoilers, nothing big
When I walked out of Fellowship, I was not disappointed in any way. Every single frame of that movie was perfect and could not have been better. When I walked out of Two Towers, I was disappointed that they cut the Shelob scene from the books, but I felt that every single scene that was transcibed was done perfectly. When I walked out of ROTK, I did feel disappointed. Many people like this movie the best of the three because it has the most memorable story plots- ie Pellenor Fields, Mt. Doom, Shelob. It's true. It has the best and most iconic parts of the book in the movie. What makes me disappointed was how POOR the translation of these great scenes was. Although the Two Towers was lacking in memorable scenes, every single scene that was in there was done to the best it could be. In ROTK, there are great plot stories but it is n ot done to the best. Here are a few of the things that made me feel disappointed:
The poor use of music- The makers decide to play Shire music with the flute on the foot steps of Mt. Doom. I know its trying to conjure some of that brotherly comradery, but it seriously misued and a darker music should have been used.
Mt. Doom sequence- In FOTR, we get to see Ring vision where the world flutters about wildly- something that looked great. How come there was nothing like that when Frodo puts on the ring at the climax of the books?
No ending narration- This I don't understand. At the beginning of FOTR, there was a great prologue. In the Two Towers, 1/2 way through there was a great sort of Galadriel voice over. Why not detail the fate of the fellowship? That would have been a much better way to tie up the loose ends of the project than the lingering ending
The ending- Well, so much has been said about how this movie keeps dragging on I will not bother to go into this.
Shelob- Call me crazy, but I felt the Watcher from FOTR was a hell of a lot scarier than this bug. I wish PJ would have emphasized the fact that Frodo blinded it more. If PJ put 1/2 the amount of creativity into Shelob that he put into desigining the superb Balrog or Watcher, we would have had a much scarier climax.
Witch King Confrontation- Poorly done, I got no emotion from watching that. It felt terrible
Smeagol Deagol murder- I thought the transformation of Smeagol to Gollum was, but the Smeagol Deagol murder was so poorly executed. PJ makes the two hobbits look like Teletubby idiots. Why doesn't he make it more serious, more solemn, with some of that great Prologue charisma?
Anyways, I could go on and on about how disappointed I was. Will I buy this movie? Hell yes. Is this a good movie? Hell yes. But in terms of being "better than the 1st two movies combined" - Elijah Wood, or being 'the crown of the trilogy', I believe these people mistake memorable scenes for being good than actually reviewing at how well these memorable plots were translated. I say its the worst because it was poorly translated.
When I walked out of Fellowship, I was not disappointed in any way. Every single frame of that movie was perfect and could not have been better. When I walked out of Two Towers, I was disappointed that they cut the Shelob scene from the books, but I felt that every single scene that was transcibed was done perfectly. When I walked out of ROTK, I did feel disappointed. Many people like this movie the best of the three because it has the most memorable story plots- ie Pellenor Fields, Mt. Doom, Shelob. It's true. It has the best and most iconic parts of the book in the movie. What makes me disappointed was how POOR the translation of these great scenes was. Although the Two Towers was lacking in memorable scenes, every single scene that was in there was done to the best it could be. In ROTK, there are great plot stories but it is n ot done to the best. Here are a few of the things that made me feel disappointed:
The poor use of music- The makers decide to play Shire music with the flute on the foot steps of Mt. Doom. I know its trying to conjure some of that brotherly comradery, but it seriously misued and a darker music should have been used.
Mt. Doom sequence- In FOTR, we get to see Ring vision where the world flutters about wildly- something that looked great. How come there was nothing like that when Frodo puts on the ring at the climax of the books?
No ending narration- This I don't understand. At the beginning of FOTR, there was a great prologue. In the Two Towers, 1/2 way through there was a great sort of Galadriel voice over. Why not detail the fate of the fellowship? That would have been a much better way to tie up the loose ends of the project than the lingering ending
The ending- Well, so much has been said about how this movie keeps dragging on I will not bother to go into this.
Shelob- Call me crazy, but I felt the Watcher from FOTR was a hell of a lot scarier than this bug. I wish PJ would have emphasized the fact that Frodo blinded it more. If PJ put 1/2 the amount of creativity into Shelob that he put into desigining the superb Balrog or Watcher, we would have had a much scarier climax.
Witch King Confrontation- Poorly done, I got no emotion from watching that. It felt terrible
Smeagol Deagol murder- I thought the transformation of Smeagol to Gollum was, but the Smeagol Deagol murder was so poorly executed. PJ makes the two hobbits look like Teletubby idiots. Why doesn't he make it more serious, more solemn, with some of that great Prologue charisma?
Anyways, I could go on and on about how disappointed I was. Will I buy this movie? Hell yes. Is this a good movie? Hell yes. But in terms of being "better than the 1st two movies combined" - Elijah Wood, or being 'the crown of the trilogy', I believe these people mistake memorable scenes for being good than actually reviewing at how well these memorable plots were translated. I say its the worst because it was poorly translated.
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