actually_jesus
Nov. 2004 ist beigetreten
Willkommen auf neuen Profil
Unsere Aktualisierungen befinden sich noch in der Entwicklung. Die vorherige Version Profils ist zwar nicht mehr zugänglich, aber wir arbeiten aktiv an Verbesserungen und einige der fehlenden Funktionen werden bald wieder verfügbar sein! Bleibe dran, bis sie wieder verfügbar sind. In der Zwischenzeit ist Bewertungsanalyse weiterhin in unseren iOS- und Android-Apps verfügbar, die auf deiner Profilseite findest. Damit deine Bewertungsverteilung nach Jahr und Genre angezeigt wird, beziehe dich bitte auf unsere neue Hilfeleitfaden.
Abzeichen2
Wie du dir Kennzeichnungen verdienen kannst, erfährst du unter Hilfeseite für Kennzeichnungen.
Rezensionen3
Bewertung von actually_jesus
This documentary by Jon Blair (whose storied career has won his an Oscar, Bafta and 2 Emmys) is a thoroughly engrossing in depth look at the ongoing battle between Rio de Janeiro's drug traffickers and its police. It covers similar ground to films like "Elite Squad" (Tropa de Elite) which focused mainly on the police and "City of God" (Cidade de Deus) which was more about the favelas and the traffickers. Dancing with the Devil ties the two factions together and presents an intimate portrait of the fairly miserable lives of soldiers on the front line, presenting the complex reality of human life without merely resorting to "good guy/bad guy" clichés.
The film focuses on three main protagonists: Pastor Dione, an ex-trafficker turned evangelist preacher whose mission is to save the souls of the young men in the drugs trade; "Spiderman", the charismatic leader of one of Rio's main drug gangs; and Inspector Leonardo "GI Joe" Torres, a muscle bound, cigar chomping mean machine of a drug cop.
It's Pastor Dione that adds a new dimension to the story. Evangelical protestantism has been sweeping through the streets of Brazil over the past few years and so it seems fitting that a man like Dione should play such a key role in the film. It's through him that the film-makers were able to cut through the tough guy gangster facade and get to the real heart of characters like Spiderman, who pleads that he wants to get out of drugs but doesn't know how - but he hopes Jesus will show him the way eventually.
Rio is a city full of contradictions and Dancing with the Devil highlights them well. It's an unbiased portrait of an urban sprawl at boiling point, where drug lords run benevolent dictatorships and cops are locked into a seemingly endless (and arguably pointless) cycle of violence that only begets further violence. It's a city where everyone says that they don't want to fight, but every day they lock and load and head once more into the breach.
Dancing with the Devil is a gripping 100 minutes and well worth seeking out on the Channel 4 on demand service in the UK or trying to find on DVD.
The film focuses on three main protagonists: Pastor Dione, an ex-trafficker turned evangelist preacher whose mission is to save the souls of the young men in the drugs trade; "Spiderman", the charismatic leader of one of Rio's main drug gangs; and Inspector Leonardo "GI Joe" Torres, a muscle bound, cigar chomping mean machine of a drug cop.
It's Pastor Dione that adds a new dimension to the story. Evangelical protestantism has been sweeping through the streets of Brazil over the past few years and so it seems fitting that a man like Dione should play such a key role in the film. It's through him that the film-makers were able to cut through the tough guy gangster facade and get to the real heart of characters like Spiderman, who pleads that he wants to get out of drugs but doesn't know how - but he hopes Jesus will show him the way eventually.
Rio is a city full of contradictions and Dancing with the Devil highlights them well. It's an unbiased portrait of an urban sprawl at boiling point, where drug lords run benevolent dictatorships and cops are locked into a seemingly endless (and arguably pointless) cycle of violence that only begets further violence. It's a city where everyone says that they don't want to fight, but every day they lock and load and head once more into the breach.
Dancing with the Devil is a gripping 100 minutes and well worth seeking out on the Channel 4 on demand service in the UK or trying to find on DVD.
Saw this at Frightfest in London a few days ago.
Director Federico Zampaglione comes across as a really nice guy, the film seemed like a bit of a labour of love for him (he even got his old dad who helped with the script up on stage for the Q&A which was quite sweet) and he's obviously a real genre fan. That's the good news...
However, on the bad side... the story is horribly confused, the direction is all over the place - but the music isn't too bad (Zampaglione is the singer of an Italian pop-rock band) There are a few fairly gruesome moments, but there's all too much boring, nonsensical build up, with badly drawn characters running around in the woods before the "horror" bits kick in. There's also a good deal of needless mountain biking (a passion of the director) which makes the film feel like someone's switched onto an extreme sports channel for 5 mins before we can get back to the film! As I say, there are moments of promise but as an overall film it just doesn't work. I don't think that Zampaglione is really ready to be writing and helming his own films at this stage... it's a far cry from a 3 minute music promo.
Hopefully for his sake he'll maybe try and work with an outside influence who might be able to give his next project a little bit more focus. In a way you have to salute Zampaglione for making exactly the kind of film he wanted to make - but unfortunately that doesn't make it something that other people will want to watch.
One to avoid.
Director Federico Zampaglione comes across as a really nice guy, the film seemed like a bit of a labour of love for him (he even got his old dad who helped with the script up on stage for the Q&A which was quite sweet) and he's obviously a real genre fan. That's the good news...
However, on the bad side... the story is horribly confused, the direction is all over the place - but the music isn't too bad (Zampaglione is the singer of an Italian pop-rock band) There are a few fairly gruesome moments, but there's all too much boring, nonsensical build up, with badly drawn characters running around in the woods before the "horror" bits kick in. There's also a good deal of needless mountain biking (a passion of the director) which makes the film feel like someone's switched onto an extreme sports channel for 5 mins before we can get back to the film! As I say, there are moments of promise but as an overall film it just doesn't work. I don't think that Zampaglione is really ready to be writing and helming his own films at this stage... it's a far cry from a 3 minute music promo.
Hopefully for his sake he'll maybe try and work with an outside influence who might be able to give his next project a little bit more focus. In a way you have to salute Zampaglione for making exactly the kind of film he wanted to make - but unfortunately that doesn't make it something that other people will want to watch.
One to avoid.
I saw this film at Frightfest in London and it was by far and away the worst film that I saw over the weekend. Everyone that I spoke to at the festival agreed that it was a stinker so I'm not sure who posted on here giving it 10/10 and saying it was awesome?! Can you spell PR agent? On the plus side the effects were good, the direction wasn't bad and the acting was generally sufficient (given what they had to work with).
On the down side was everything else. The plot was clichéd, hokey, difficult to follow and incredibly boring! The dialogue was amateurish at times and generally cringe worthy throughout. Worst of all (and this is clearly the cardinal sin of a horror film) it wasn't remotely scary. Even the occasional BOO! would have been appreciated... but no.
The director is young and seemed like an affable young chap who I'm sure will progress in the industry. He will look back on this with embarrassment (if it ever gets released, fingers crossed not). He did seem like he'd had budget and studio constraints as evidenced by the fact that when I asked him the likely rating of the film in the Q&A after the screening he replied, "y'know... PG-13... gotta keep it marketable".
That summed up the extreme rubbishness of this film. Billed as a supernatural thriller it's preternaturally dull. If you want to see a half decent film of this type check out something like "Skeleton Key"... and if anyone thought that was bad (which I didn't, but I know it has its critics) then woo... really don't go and see 'The Marsh'!
On the down side was everything else. The plot was clichéd, hokey, difficult to follow and incredibly boring! The dialogue was amateurish at times and generally cringe worthy throughout. Worst of all (and this is clearly the cardinal sin of a horror film) it wasn't remotely scary. Even the occasional BOO! would have been appreciated... but no.
The director is young and seemed like an affable young chap who I'm sure will progress in the industry. He will look back on this with embarrassment (if it ever gets released, fingers crossed not). He did seem like he'd had budget and studio constraints as evidenced by the fact that when I asked him the likely rating of the film in the Q&A after the screening he replied, "y'know... PG-13... gotta keep it marketable".
That summed up the extreme rubbishness of this film. Billed as a supernatural thriller it's preternaturally dull. If you want to see a half decent film of this type check out something like "Skeleton Key"... and if anyone thought that was bad (which I didn't, but I know it has its critics) then woo... really don't go and see 'The Marsh'!