halopes

I'm not a huge fan of the vampires and werewolves universes. Though, every once in a while, I can enjoy a vampire or werewolf vs. human picture, particularly when there's a siege situation. Not being a fan of the myths, it's easy for me to identify with the fellows in trouble. If the approach to these legendary themes is easy or mockingly I can let myself go without major tribulations. UNDERWORLD takes itself too serious for its own good.

My main problem with this movie is that it is a story about vampires and werewolves, nothing more, a battle between both clans. There's nothing here for people who don't love vampires and werewolves. Although the special effects are pretty impressive and Len Wiseman's direction is technically flawless, it came a point in the movie where I couldn't identify with any character, thus the movie became boring and extremely overlong. The action sequences weren't enough to lift up the movie because I just couldn't care about the story. Therefore, the special effects and fight sequences had a void, meaningless effect in me. The same is true for the nice, dark cinematography and the rich, gothic set design.

Maybe it's just me, since I can even recognize this movie had a good premise: a legendary battle between vampires and werewolves. But if it weren't for the gorgeous Kate Beckinsale, in non-sexy mode here, probably I wouldn't have paid half the attention I did to this movie.

Sofia Coppola's latest movie, LOST IN TRANSLATION, is an astonishing piece of sublime film-making. There is not one thing that is left behind in detriment of something else. Everything works in perfection, from the cast to the editing. Ultimately, this movie is a great lesson of film-making. It magnifies the importance of such things as musical score, songs and chosen locations. Not everything is storytelling in cinema; visual composition and music are also utterly important. LOST IN TRANSLATION is the most remarkable example of that. The city of Tokyo, colorful and technologically advanced, is as important as the characters themselves, or the story, and grants supremacy to this wonderful film. The same is valid for the superb score and carefully picked up songs. I could go on talking about cinematography, costume design, etc.

I found the chemistry between the dry, ironic Bill Murray and the sweet, innocent Scarlett Johansson just fabulous. Murray couldn't be a better choice to play the man lost in his life, alienated from the mundane realities of modern times; a man who eventually have learned to accept life's small frustrations and a loveless long-time marriage without carrying a burden. Johansson, on the other hand, has to be the sexiest actress of her generation. Her eyes can have the deepest, touching look. She glows sweetness and innocence from her entire body and she couldn't also be a better choice to play the young, married girl already `lost' in life but who still has some hope.

Sofia's approach to the main characters' relationship is extremely subtle. This is not a movie about a one-night-stand between two people who meet in a foreign country hotel. It is a movie about two people who meet and the things that are left unsaid. Eventually, it's also a movie about the clash of different cultures but ultimately, this is a movie about a relationship between two lost and lonely people. The city of Tokyo becomes the personification of alienation, thus allowing both characters to be themselves; they don't try to impress each other. The consequence is a natural, honest, deprived of second intentions relationship; a relationship where both people try to find comfort, being surrounded by a strange environment.

LOST IN TRANSLATION has beauty written all over the place. The movie becomes magical and the bitter sweetness of its tone is what makes it so powerful. Unlike the dozens of Hollywood films we watch during the year, here not everything needs to be explained, not everything needs to be verbalized. The chemistry, the looks, the touches, the expressions speak for themselves and what is not said is agonizingly powerful. After THE VIRGIN SUICIDES, with this movie Sofia Coppola defines herself without a shadow of doubt as a sensitive filmmaker who, in a subtle yet very efficient way, cares about the complexity of human relationships and understands the potential of cinema as a way to evoke deep emotions.

As far as I can understand, TIW WATCHER is the first work of a young director. My doubt is if this is the work of a regular guy who happens to love films or if this is the work of a cinema student, since there is a reference to Oporto School of Arts in the final credits.

Nevertheless, director Ricardo Pinho demonstrates with this movie a total unawareness of some basic notions about cinema. What is a movie? How to tell a story? It doesn't matter, for the novice director. One of the first things you learn in school when you're studying cinema is how to tell a story. You learn that, just like in novels, in movies you should also construct your story in three acts: the introduction, the development and the conclusion. You learn that your story should have a protagonist and an antagonist and that there should be a climax. You learn this is valid for a 3-hour-epic, for the regular movie, for a short film and even, believe it or not, for a 30-second commercial. You also learn there can be levels of subtleness in your approach to the academic structure and that, ultimately, you can even deconstruct it.

In rough terms, TIM WATCHER introduces us its main character and then, the movie ends - the whole movie sounds like the introduction of the characters in Jeunet's AMÉLIE. There are no second or third acts in TIM WATCHER. This is not a parody or an art film, thus you can't even try to justify the disrespect for the academic structure. You are expecting to be told a story, and it doesn't happen. Worst than that, TIM WATCHER defines itself as a warning; and one with no real purpose. It doesn't make a point, or at least, not a valid one. Its point is childish, with a sense of vengeance. The situations portrayed are utterly simple and its approach is Manichaean.

I was expecting a lot more from this short. The movie opens with a rather good-looking credits sequence and you quickly realize you are watching something with better production values than the regular Portuguese short film. I don't know the budget for this movie, but judging for the thanks-list in the end credits, merit must go to the production team for such good connections in a country where's difficult to have doors opened to young filmmakers.

TIM WATCHER seems to be an exercise in style, color and carefully chosen plans, combined with a fine score. That's all. There's nothing else. There's no plot. And that's a shame because it feels like a waste of production values. Hardly, you can see in the regular Portuguese short such diversity of locations and so many available extras to enrich a story.

As absurd as the comparison may sound, I must refer the BMW shorts as a fine example of how you can tell a good story in a very short film severely conditioned to product placement and over-the-top stylish cinematography.