Change Your Image
eckleind
Reviews
The Madonna's Secret (1946)
Good acting, but plot has a big hole - could have been filled with a better twist
I second the acting and mood ratings others have given for the film. but no one has mentioned the plot flaw represented in the very end of the film. We are led to believe that the artist was so out of it that he did not notice his mother doing away with those women while out with them. Even if it happened off-camera after the the women returned home from dates (all in a motorboat!), how would the old lady transport her victims back to the water where their bodies were found? A better ending would have the slick drama critic (who knew the artist and the first victim in Paris) turn out to do the killing. In fact, I somewhat anticipated that twist, but not what developed. If the mother was so possessive of her artist son, why would she set things up such that he would get the blame and maybe the chair? It doesn't make sense, but then I don't write mysteries.
Germania anno zero (1948)
Exploitation of misery by "artist"
"Germany Year Zero" is just one notch above a snuff film. Why an acclaimed cinematic artist would revel in depicting and amplifying the misery of people is beyond me. The posing of any child murdering his father is contrary to natural behavior even under stress, according to my wife, a pediatric psychiatrist. Yet this child is built up before the act as a normal boy, even exemplary in his familial relationships. A totally disgusting display of Rossellini's twisted soul.