manuel-nascimento

I originally read the book circa 2003 when I was at college, commuting to and fro. I was constantly fascinated by everything about the story and the cultural "lore" it provided of the time, but, most particularly, the human stories of each character - so touching.

All this stayed with me, and I have watched the Depardieu TV series and also the 2002 American movie, all were great. This new movie brings all of it into a new dimension, and from a French production no less.

It is good that is close to 3h in length, you cannot do it justice otherwise. This movie takes its time to develop the meaning in every scene and you can truly feel the weight of a lifetime of feeling in every character. For the observer it's an exploration of what matters most to the characters.

It is also an exploration of the subject of "revenge" - what lengths you will go to chasing it and what it means for your life and your soul. With all that is presented, you really wonder what matters in life.

All this is presented with a grandeur seldom witnessed in cinema nowadays, where instant gratification is the common theme. And yet, is the Count's life better than just letting go as soon as you can?

That is the beauty of the story, questioning all of this. And now I'm writing this in 2025, some 200y later than when the story takes place, and I don't think I'm any wiser than characters from the story.

We need more productions like this, bringing classic literature to life in the movie format. This is a monumental achievement in cinema.

This one surprised me.

From what I can gather, Sydney Sweeney gets a bad rep on the movies, something about being just a pretty girl and having big boobs. "It's not really cinema" people would say.

Actually, this movie is a hell of a ride down in darkness, through some of the desires we all know we are tempted about but are too scared to talk about openly.

It ended up being way more deep and, dare I say "enjoyable", than your run-of-the-mill "kinky" movie.

It kept me engrossed all throughout, which is more than one could say of many a movie.

This is definitely one to admire in quiet and always keep in mind to remember and not fall down the same path.

Any movie that elicits these kinds of thoughts and words surely means it did a good job.

Watch it.

You can be forgiven to dismiss the "Rurouni Kenshin" anime (knows as Samurai X in the West), from 1996 onwards as just kind of a "Dragon Ball" but with "Samurai Swords".

However, this dismisses the fact that "Rurouni Kenshin" is actually set during and after the "Meiji Restoration" turmoil period of Japan, circa 1868. No to go into the necessary depth here, but it was a massive change from the older "Samurai/Shogun" era of Japan to the "modern / international" Japan we eventually know.

The thing is, this anime mini-series in particular manages to capture some of that time-period and also manages to capture the story of one particular special individual, very idealistic in his views, and also a major romance and intimate story - which both blend their individual stories with the societal turmoil of what you can expect from an era of "Revolution" from an older/medieval regime to a new one.

All this, with impeccable characters, anime flair, music, voice-acting - the works.

I was 15 when I saw this first time, I still never forgot it as a high point in fictional work around the time period, even after other work (live-action or not).

It's also concise, 4 episodes of gripping intimate stuff, with no fluff or "keep tuned" antics.

I raises to the level of "classic" and "poetry" when depicting the time-period and characters you understand it immortalises and inspires them for many generations to come.

"The Last Samurai" movie with Tom Cruise inspired to somewhat live in the same era and message, but it falls far short to this. The contrast is obvious and shows why we need autochthonous work - such as this anime mini-series - to really touch into the intimacy of such stories.