Lembranças Vivas

After you see this movie, anything I might say may well be understatement! I was captivated from start to finish. Superb acting, incredible script and a genius of a director. The story unfolds in a truly inspired manner and hold your interest right to the end. I loved this movie. 10/10!

I caught this movie on TV yesterday. I had a certain curiosity about it, being that it was directed by Emilio Estevez and starring him and his real-life Dad, Martin Sheen. I love to see a movie about a father-son relationship that involves a real-life father and son. Naturally, there's an instant chemistry between Sheen and Estevez, and their scenes of conflict are even more intense, knowing that they're actually related. Of course, it helps that the two of them are both terrific actors. I've seen Martin Sheen in intense roles before, but I think this is Emilio's most intense role--being that I mostly recall him from the "Mighty Ducks" series--and I was very impressed. Talent REALLY does run in that family. And Kathy Bates steals the movie in an Oscar-worthy performance. She tugged at my heartstrings with every word of dialogue. Kimberly Williams--the beautiful actress from the "Father of the Bride" movies--is also very good, holding her own among a group of talented veteran actors.

The movie is a bit stagey, with dialogue that's obviously geared for the stage, but that didn't bother me. This is not meant to be an action movie; this is a character study. And for a film that's based on a play, it never gets too claustrophobic. When Emilio's character, Jeremy, reminisces to his days in Vietnam, we actually see his harrowing memories brought to life.

The film is extremely powerful and realistic, without being sentimental. At the end, I expected all the conflicts to be resolved and the family would become hunky-dory, but that's not how it turned out. The ending made me cry, without resorting to standard Hollywood melodrama. That proves reality is much more gripping than anything Hollywood can conjure up.

If you're in the mood for a beautiful, powerful drama with extremely wonderful performances that will knock your socks off...please check out this underrated gem. Hopefully, one day Martin and Emilio will unite with Charlie, and they will all make a great film together.

My score: 9 (out of 10)

The connection with James Dean?In a short plan ,we see Emilio Estevez toying with a teddy bear(remember the first scene of Ray's "rebel without a cause").Moreover,the main conflict is Estevez versus Sheen,father against son,as in "East of Eden".The soldier has come home,and nobody has been able to communicate with him, even his sister (a psychology student,what a derision).The mother,a crude matron (a superb Kathy Bates),gets bogged down in nougatine ,she 's not able to understand that her values (religion,family) have become a thing of the past,specially for someone like his son whose innocence was betrayed. The father ,an irresolute man ,under his wife's thumb,although he tries hard to play the macho,wanted to make up for the mediocrity of his life .So he saved his "honor" by forcing his son to do his duty.The scene in which Estevez's hatred for his father explodes is very intense.The actor-director gives a restrained performance,interiorized,as Lee Strasberg's students used to do,and his final burst of anger is increased tenfold so.

Not being a movie aficionado, I am not familiar with the names of leading Directors, Scriptwriters, Producers and the like, but I can tell an outstanding movie when I see one.

The makers of this fine movie could well be now at the top of their fields, or may well get there pretty soon. I know that the actors are already there.

It takes talent closer to genius to show with such realism how a national tragedy like Vietnam has impacted the everyday life of a typically average American family, and make us see at close range why there are so many homeless Vietnam veterans.

Without getting into gratuitous scenes of gore and bloodshed, it makes us understand why so many youg men had flashbacks of what they had been thru.

The dialog is particularly gripping, and gives us an idea of what went on in so many families in the aftermath of Vietnam.

I wish there were more good movies like this one, not just about Vietnam, but about other social conditions as well.

I have seen only a few films which I thought were powerful. The War at Home is at the top of the list. Emilio Estevez (The Breakfast Club, Young Guns) stars as a Vietnam vet who just recently returned home. He is haunted by his memories. Added to this is a family that can't understand why he doesn't just forget about it and continue living. Besides this they each have their own problems which they sort of take out on him to add to his grief. His mom played by Kathy Bates (Misery, Dolores Claiborne) is always trying to be extra cheerful, but she doesn't understand why he doesn't want to talk to her or play the piano. His dad played by Estevez's real life dad Martin Sheen (The American President, Wall Street) is very dominant demanding that everyone stay by his rules in his house. Finally his younger sister played by Kimberly Williams (Father of the Bride 1 & 2) doesn't see what the big deal about Vietnam was and doesn't like spending time with the family. All of this pushes Estevez farther and farther towards losing it. Kimberly Williams is good as the sister. Kathy Bates and Martin Sheen are both excellent as the parents. Finally Emilio Estevez gives an extremely powerful performance that should have received a lot more attention and praise. This film was great. It was one of the best movies I've seen in a while, which makes me wonder why it didn't get much of a release. I highly recommend it.