Grimm

This film has a rather impressive billing, with the version I rented stated "siblings Jacob and Marie embark on a surreal, often night-marrish odyssey." The movie starts out Hansel and Gretel-esquire in that regard, but doesn't move much further. There is a journey to be had, if one is interested in following two characters whom they know little about through different cities where they meet different people. The meetings have very little value to them, however, and the characters often meet conflict that is unexplained. Furthermore, movement between locales is poorly motivated and a unified agenda never sets imposes itself. If these meetings were accompanied by the surrealism that the movie billing suggests, I could have still walked away happily, but unfortunately the surrealism in the meetings is itself limited because much of what could have made a scene eerie is left unaddressed. As far as the comedy, the movie fails to win stars in that department as well. There are two or three hilarious encounters, but most of the comedy is a sort of "why would anybody do that" type of humor. Suits some, obviously. On the whole, the film is built for people with short memory spans, as segments really don't have any connection to each other. This fact is acceptable for the first 40 minutes, but by the 41st, you will certainly ask yourself why you are still watching, hoping that something relevant will occur.

I cannot totally smash the movie, however, as the colors were quite vibrant and the journey itself is something that certain watchers might find interesting in its own right. Also, it must be said that Halina Reijn, the lead female, is exciting to watch. Her facial expressions, her candor in front of camera. Of course, she's beautiful. I should also mention that a greater understanding of the Brothers Grimm and their folk tales might lend itself to a greater appreciation of the film. It was clear that this was the case with the 2005 Matt Damon film, but with this one, it is less obvious whether a greater understanding of the tales would make Grimm better.

If you're going to watch it, make sure you school yourself on the back story (the Brother's Grimm tales).

This is about a passionate loving couple, being brother and sister. It is definitely incestous and rivals of different kinds are killed. It's absurd, it's a little Bunuel sometimes and mostly funny.

Probably this is supposed to be a modern Grimm tale, but including sex. There are no real human beings here, like in Grimm. Like Hansel and Gretl, the brother and sister are alone in the world, with no parents to lean on. They leave Holland and come to a strange dreamlike Spain, where they meet another brother and sister, evil and crazy.

There certainly are scenes here you will remember, but most of all you will remember the dark humour, which makes you laugh at totally wrong places.

At last we can see a movie that makes us Dutch folks laugh. It's based on a fairy tale of Grimm. It worth watching because I didn't see any better Dutch movie this year. Also I recommend De Noorderlingen en Kleine Teun.

You might propably not like this film at all. I think this is of these films that need the viewer to be open minded. You should not go and view it if you are stuck to reality, or too used to Hollywood blockbusters. If you are one of those who say: No, you cannot go from Holland to Spain with one tank of gasoline, you should never watch this film! However, if you feel that odd things might very well be possible in films, and you don't care about odd things in films, this might be the one for you!

I think viewing it requires a bit of knowledge about fairy tales. Yes, the ones by the GRIMM brothers. The same way as the Coen Brothers knew how to use an old existing story and place it in modern times without loosing the context, Alex van Warmerdam took a story and found how to remake it in a modern way. The same sense of absurd humor, but maybe a little less funny, than o brother were art thou. van Warmerdam, however knew very well how to keep the way of storytelling by the grimm brothers intact. The flickering way of storytelling, combined with a fine feeling of suspense, makes this into one of my best Dutch films recently.

As I continue to read more and more dedicated, intelligent graphic novels, I cannot help but think that perhaps director Alex van Warmerdam didn't read a couple prior to creating this film. From the opening sequences until the end of this film, you cannot help but feel a sense of whimsy, the fantastical, and enchantment. From our hopeless characters to the sporadic plot, Warmerdam has created a film in which the symbolic references and fairy tale connections isn't laid out in front of you, but instead deeply rooted within the chaos of Grimm for only those who are truly dedicated can find them. He buries them very deep within his work, but with some patience, a great eye, and a passion for the human genre element, you too will see the strength of Warmerdam's work. Grimm is not a masterpiece by far. In fact, it isn't one of the greatest films that I have seen, but it did burst from the seams with potential.

Warmerdam has quite the ability to build a very surreal world, place unknowing (and sometimes unwilling) characters into the mix, and give us bleak references to pop-children's culture. He shows us this with Grimm. For those of you die hard fairy tale fanatics, you may not like this story. It is not one that the average film viewer will enjoy. Grimm takes some time getting used to. It takes some time developing the characters, and it takes quite a bit of time giving us its story. It is never rushed (though sometimes we wish it were quicker), and eventually completes with a message of family, strength, and sibling love. Warmerdam does a great job of giving us two great navigators through his story with Jacob and Maria. Two completely different characters by nature, but both still have one passion in their eyes, to keep their friendship and family dynamic together. These two are the quintessential "Hansel & Gretel" as they voyage through the world of Spain to discover, not only themselves, but also how cruel the real world can be. While their interweaving stories could/should have been developed deeper with stronger bonds between them and the other characters in this film, Warmerdam has done a superb job of giving us their sole stories and emotions. If you solely watch just Jacob and Maria throughout this film, you will see such a strong human element and the sporadic events that occur to them as they continue their perilous journey. I applaud Warmerdam for his work on these two characters because they lead us through the story. We feel for them, we grow with them, we rally behind them near the end, so in essence, we enjoy these characters. Alas, his lacking story structure is the only hurdle that is tough to cross.

Warmerdam interweaves so many different fairy tale-esquire moments throughout the story that you begin to loose focus of the central themes. It reminded me of a third-grade story in which the young child forgot to do his homework and begins his report on "Hansel & Gretel" and inadvertently brings in moments from "Peter Pan", "Little Red Riding Hood", and "Jack & the Beanstalk" unknowingly. As the class laughs, you cannot help but think of how interesting a story like that would be. I think Warmerdam did his homework, brought several different childish stories together, but somehow never quite completed them. He would throw in segments of several different childhood genres that we, the audience, never had the opportunity to enjoy the one we were on. This is where Warmerdam lost me. I wanted to enjoy the different stories. I wanted to see how our not-so-young heroines would react to the different situations, but we never had that opportunity. He would begin a story, but never finish or at least create a strong enough segway to the next moment. Warmerdam had a great concept with this film, but never was able to pull his ideas together. Coupled with a horrible choice of music selection, Warmerdam never quite built the darkness surrounding Grimm. That is what ultimately hurt this picture.

Overall, Warmerdam did a decent job with overall final product of this film. Grimm is not a film for everyone, but for those that enjoy moments of David Lynch coupled with themes of childhood fairy tales. It is a dark story that never quite makes you laugh but instead attempts to use shocking cinematography to bring you this surreal world that we never quite believe exists. Warmerdam has created this mythological world that could be right in your backyard, but spooky enough to believe it came from your imagination. His characters were strong, but his story lacked decent connection. I found myself, like Jacob and Maria, lost during several of the scenes only to reconnect later during the film. I guess I just needed more breadcrumbs to guide me back…

Grade: **** out of *****