jgcorrea

The title, Weapons, is the first misleading factor. There isn't any. The only weapon here, I guess, is the timing used against the viewers. All the people giving this movie 8's and 10's were obviously paid to do so. Everyone in the cinema burst into laughter when they saw the ending. Literally nothing scary happens, and the plot is so confusing! Nothing is explained in the ending - a final blow. It was ridiculous and unsatisfying, written by some Hollywood freak hyping up his or her own strange ideas without realizing how poor they actually were.

I didn't find the main plot line to be particularly novel or compelling, and I never truly connected with any of the main characters, although I did have empathy for the family as a whole. The story is a family saga that is far from unique but the filming style is unique. Visconti never describes the characters, he uses dialogue as a primary strategy, thus allowing the reader to draw their own pictures of the villagers and their surroundings. It is anyway a rare chance for those spectators who want to feel themselves immersed in Southern Italy. The story takes place in a small fishing village in Trezza, Sicily. It follows the decline and struggle of the Malavoglia family. I enjoyed it. For me, what made the film special wasn't the plot (which was fairly simple), but rather the rich description of the setting that is achieved primarily through dialogue. Although the plot centers around one family, it is really the story of the village that struggles economically and socially to adapt to the changing times. Visconti's lyrical realist style makes you feel as if you're walking through the cobblestone streets in this village.

Overall enjoyable and worth show but falls on the uneven side of French cinema. But worth watching nonetheless. Its interest lies mainly in the differences from the original Balzac novella (in which a man seduces a young girl who is zealously guarded by her family, the girl makes him dress up in women's clothing and calls him by a woman's name when they make love, he returns to her the next night vowing to kill her for it but discovers she has already been murdered by her other lover, who just happens to be his long lost half sister!)