Reviews

A group of prisoners of war escape from a Russian Gulag during the second world war and trek thousands of miles through hostile terrain into freedom. Sounds like a great movie, and it is.

At first the viewer is introduced to the characters inside the prison. The harsh and brutal reality is well portrayed. The actual escape is not shown and they don't seem to be followed. Which seems strange.

The trek through the snow, the mountains and then the deserts is very captivating and dramatic as some of the escapees die. I am not sure where this has been filmed, but I don't think it has been filmed in the real locations. Some visual effects are poorly made (sometimes you can see that they are sitting in a studio, and not in the mountains). This takes away a little of the feeling that the viewer is involved.

Also, some of the actors are not Russian but speak with a Russian accent which at times is appalling. I acknowledge that having some stars in the movie is quite appealing but the accents are dodgy.

All in all, this is a great movie that fits in very well with Peter Weirs previous work.

A happily married couple is followed over the changing seasons. The portray is that of harmony, love and togetherness. This is as perfect as it gets. Then we get introduced to their friends who are frequently invited for dinner and drinks. They all have something in common : Broken marriages, alcoholism and self denial. The contrast couldn't be more surreal. Especially Mary, who is longing for love and friendship. Her emotional hurt is tangible.

This movie is not about the couple or anything else, it is about Mary and her shambolic life, the pain that she derives from loneliness and her utter failure to get her life back together. Brilliantly and stunningly directed by Leigh, this is a masterpiece of portraying a character that will be, strikingly and tragically, all too familiar with most of us.

Shaun and Daz have been friends since School. Now, in their adulthood, Daz is terminally ill and wheelchair bound. Shaun himself is unemployed and full of frustration and anger about his life. The movie works very well with the flashbacks to their youth when they were tearing around the local neighbourhood and, sometimes, getting into trouble. Shaun develops huge problems by not being able to cope with Dyslexia and the viewer sees his life falling apart. There is also a strong sense that society (and the authorities) are letting Shaun down. This social drama has many facets but it mainly draws on the perceptions that are out there about Dyslexia and its associated problems. The performances, both by Carlyle and Evets are outstanding, the photography sublime and the screenplay is as real as it gets. Highly underrated in my humble opinion.

I was looking forward to seeing Dustin Hofmann in this movie (me being a big fan of Rain Man) and wasn't disappointed by his performance. He did act a little bit like he did in Rain Man; a little bit clumsy and embarrassing at times. And his life seems to go from bad to worse. I haven't seen much of Emma Thompson in the past but I was impressed with her performance. She plays a middle aged single woman who is trying to find a partner. The script is a little predictable and there are some bits that are inconclusive but there are still a few funny moments and some exciting twists. Like his speech at the reception. All in all, good entertaining but nothing special.

I always wanted to know what Monasteries are like. Quiet, Peaceful places of Contemplation and Compassion? And in today's time where almost everybody writes a book about almost everything, it shouldn't be a problem to find out. But I had no luck so far; until I have seen this movie (it's really a documentary).

This movie was shot on a single small camera (I'm no expert) using the light that was available at location. Some of the shots are very grainy (see above, I'm no expert), those make a very dramatic effect. And apparently, it took 16 years for the monks to grant the filmmaker permission to film. And even then, only on his own, no artificial lights.

The film has almost no dialogue (no need to learn Latin to understand the movie) and is almost 3 hours long. The camera freezes on a certain scene (like somebody in prayer) and stays there for a few minutes and then it goes to a different scene. I was especially impressed by the recording of the changes in the seasons. The beautiful location somewhere in France is highly suitable for that type of movie. Large amounts of snow followed by birdsong and lots of greenery in summer. Combine that with a tremendous ability by the filmmaker to compose the pictures and you are in for sensational treat.

But it doesn't stop there, for the film takes you into the Monastery,i doesn't look in from the outside, it tries to look in from the inside. This is not a documentary telling us "How to be a Monk in 10 easy to follow steps". It rather explores the silence and the solitude. One of the repeated shots is of a red candle flickering inside a glass, no noises whatsoever, just the red glow using a tele lens. Other shots are of monks in deep prayer or engaged in their other activities.

The film doesn't explain why these people choose to live a life like that. Nor does it explain the level of self-sufficiency. But what it does explain is the material sacrifice and the related spiritual freedom.

I know that I am not the only one in today's society to suffer from the stresses of 21-first century life and the constant noises of our cities. And probably from the breakdown of moral and ethical values in our society. I admire the monks that they are able and committed to that kind of life. It certainly appears to be a lot more difficult than to choose which TV channel to switch on (or other mundane tasks).

I always considered going into monastery as a step too far. Not anymore now, but I fear it is still a step too big for me.

A final note: this movie lasts for about 3 hours, and it is a very encouraging way to assess your levels of patience and consideration, and several people walked out when I watched it. But the reward is exceptional, I came out a slightly different person. And even if you are not interested in Religion or Monasteries, the photographic value of this movie is more than anything I have ever seen before. The shot selection and composition is outstanding !

The movie started fairly predictably with a scene of a river floating slowly by. Thick-leaved branches hanging over and into the water create an atmosphere of serene, natural beauty. Then one of the next shots depicts some dark plume coming from a chimney of some industrial installation. Al Gore speaks fluently and authoritatively about issues of Global Warming. His slide show and graphs would look impressive if you are in the real audience, seeing them on the big screen. It doesn't quite work in cinema. He also gets the points across quite impressively and comprehensibly which is quite good for those who don't know what Global Warming is. However, I thought that the movie is not strongly enough concerned with the fact that Economic Growth invariably adds to Global Warming and that if we want to change anything than we must change our consumerist attitude towards life. Only by reducing consumption can we reduce Greenhouse Gases. By changing resources (ie. from Oil to Biofuel) we will just create another problem with solving the first one. It was, in my opinion, fairly apparent that Al Gore would not go into the Economic details because he would probably not make as much impact on the viewers as otherwise.

Global Warming cannot be halted unless we dramatically change our attitudes towards consumption. Katrina was just the beginning. Fasten your seat belts. Good Night and Good Luck !

This was certainly one of the best movies I have ever watched. The mood was excellent, especially the fact that there was no music at all made it even more atmospheric. There was a real unease about the tapes. I wasn't quite sure what was a tape and what was real. I prefer movies that have long sequences (like this one) where apparently nothing happens. It gives this movie the tension. However, I didn't notice anything going on at the end. So, I have no idea who recorded the tapes. That will be a mystery for me. It also was quite interesting to see others jumping out of their seats when "that particular" scene came.

I was tempted to give this 10 out of 10.