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Rebecca (2020)
A terrible mongrel halfway between "Crimson Peak" and "The Great Gatsby"
I have to acknowledge that I absolutely love both the novel by Daphne du Maurier on which this movie is based and the original film adaptation by Alfred Hitchcock. So I already had misgivings upon finding out that a remake was going to be made... and starring no other than Lily James and Armie Hammer! To me, that was no incentive to watch the new version. That being said, I decided to give it an opportunity. But to no avail.
First of all, like I just said, I find that Armie Hammer and Lily James are completely miscast as Mr. and Mrs. de Winter. I don't really like Lily James as I find most of her performances (e.g. in "War and Peace", "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" or "Cinderella") rather insipid. Still, I think that she can do a good job if given some specific kind of characters, like Lady Rose in "Downton Abbey". As for Armie Hammer, he is not one of my favorite actors either, but the problem for me remains the same: he just does not fit into this role! His looks, age and acting style just make him unsuitable. Of course, it would be really difficult to find two actors who would equal Joan Fontaine's and Laurence Olivier's performances, but I think the casting team was simply looking for two popular young actors. Hence the miscasting and the lack of chemistry between them. However, I must concede that Kristin Scott Thomas was a good choice for Mrs. Danvers. I wouldn't have thought of Sam Riley as Jack Favell, but he is not bad either.
However, the cast is only one of the many issues with this film. Almost everything, from photography and special effects to music or costumes (Mrs. de Winter wearing trousers? Come on!), seemed so absurd and out of place to me - to say nothing about the film pace (at some points, especially at the beginning, I felt like I was watching a trailer rather than an actual movie) and simply the way the story is told, its tone and aesthetic. Starting with the scenes at Montecarlo where Mrs. Van Hopper hysterically makes fun of the protagonist because of the way she behaves with Maxim and that sex scene at the beach (really... WTF? It felt like a perfume commercial), followed by Maxim's sleepwalking, the Manderley ball, that melodramatic murder trial and everything else... Many important details of the story were poorly explained, and I could not help but laugh at the way some of the original movie's capital scenes (Mrs. Danvers encouraging Mrs. de Winter to commit suicide, Mrs. de Winter showing her frock for the ball...) were copied.
To conclude: I am a millennial who loves both classic and contemporary cinema. I am not particularly conservative in my taste and I always feel curious about remakes. And still, this is not worth watching. 2/10.
The Hours (2002)
An interesting revision on Woolf's life
"The hours" is a drama based upon British writer Virginia Woolf's life and how her novel "Mrs Dalloway" (1925) leads to a tourning point in the lives of two women in the 1950s and the 2000s.
The film begins with Woolf's suicide towards the end of World War II, when, sick and tired of having to struggle constantly with frail mental health, childhood traumas and a difficult relationship with her husband, she lets herself drown in a river near her house. About a decade later, a depressed pregnant American housewife trapped in an unhappy marriage tries to cope with everyday problems and fins solace in reading Woolf's novel, with whose protagonist she can identify. However, far from helping her, the weird book contributes to destabilise her, and, after a brief sexual encounter with a female neighbour, she realises she needs to follow the steps of her role model and break free. Almost half a century later, a successful businesswoman from New York is planning to throw a party for an old friend and ex-lover, a writer ill with AIDS who has just won an acclaimed book prize. In spite of all her efforts, things will not run smoothly and tragedy will quickly erupt into her life.
One of the main strengths of this film is the magnificent performances given by the three main actresses: Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore and Meryl Streep. Streep's old-school talent and Moore's psychological insight into her character will not come as a surprise to many, given their previous critically acclaimed works. Nonetheless, it is Kidman's powerful and surprisingly moving performance that constitutes the main asset of the film. Even if not bearing a physical ressemblance to the real Woolf, Kidman manages to come out of her comfort zone and offers a credible personification of the tragic writer, which deservedly got her the Academy Award for Best Actress.
Finally, we must acknowledge other minor, albeit good aspects of the film. The trio's achievements were backed by the supporting characters' work and the compelling soundtrack, which enhances many of the film's capital scenes.