rjkohn

Confidentially is truly one of the very best fun mysteries. Frankly,I don't quite understand how some do not seem to understand that this is just a wonderful way to pass a couple of hours. It certainly is not necessary to analyze each and every minute of the picture. I suppose that most of us have a few films, which we always remember and continually go back to contemplate. This is Confidentially. I have it on a quite old VHS and probably watch it at least once every few months. There are so many wonderful aspects. So very different from the run of the mill. I can watch over and over again the opening scene walking with the dog or the closing playing with the lens cap. What incredible music. Interesting, in another Truffaut film, the leg walking scene is vividly portrayed. Ardant is one of those very special French artists that never seem to change or for that matter, age. Twenty years after this film, she starred in Nathalie and Callas. She still is extremely beautiful. I sure would like to figure out just what is the French secret. Danielle Darrieux is still making pictures at 93. It has been more than 50 years since Jean Louis Trintignant became famous after his Brigitte Bardot film. BTW - there are so very many ever so interesting small pieces in Confidentially. One I really like is the one about the girl who comes to the office for a secretarial job interview. This picture is now 27 years old. Will we have to wait another 27 years for another perfectly coordinated and exquisitely designed film to appear?

Lives of Others - most certainly gives an excellent account of life in East Germany during the more than forty years of a communist dictatorship. It should be noted that the events shown in this film are still prevalent in a number of countries around the world and a similar movie could have been made with reference to Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and many more places. I resided in Venezuela during the iron fisted dictatorship of Marcos Perez Jimenez. Watching this film I kept thinking of the situations I personally witnessed. It was practically impossible to speak to anyone about anything, except maybe the weather forecast. Nothing to taxi drivers - waiters- hair dressers etc.. You even had to be extremely cautious with people you assumed were close friends. Just one word that wasn't acceptable and away you would go to one one the lovely prisons or if a foreigner out of the country on the next plane. The intellectual groups almost totally disappeared and were the very first to be silenced. We sure could use more pictures like this one that tell the real story.

A Very Long Engagement is most certainly a well crafted work of art. Of course there are some criticisms that can be made of all films. I, personally was not very convinced with the Hollywoodish type ending.

But that is just one man's opinion.

However it should be pointed out how important this movie is as one of the relatively few movies that highlight the absurdity and the ludicrous nature of human warfare.

Watching this film, I was drawn back almost fifty years to the making of Kubrick's masterpiece and probably Kirk Douglas's best role: Paths of Glory.

We can also reflect on: Grande Illusion, All Quiet on the Western Front (first version) and more recently the Russian Kukushka***. I can only wish that there were more such films and that the peoples of the world would wake up to reality. ***if you haven't seen Kukushka - Cuckoo - by all means don't miss a great film.***