dguest-57663
Joined Oct 2022
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dguest-57663's rating
When a film loses your attention, your mind inevitably wanders. 'Parthenope' held off that fatal deficit for a while through the extraordinary beauty of Celeste Dalla Porta and her equally extraordinary smoking habit. But eventually I found myself fretting about other things, some of them not related to the film.
The title, which is also the name of Celeste's character, continued to bother me. It sounds Greek, as if it might have something to do with birth. At the child's birth, in the waters of the Bay of Naples, it is proclaimed as an obvious choice. Later, when a young mother-to-be tries to flatter Parthenope by saying that she may name her child after her, Parthenope merely demurs and an opportunity to shed light on the mystery is lost.
A search afterwards reveals that Parthenope is the name of the Greek colony that became, eventually, the city of Naples. This is so simple that I wondered whether I was supposed to know it. Or perhaps it had been mentioned in the opening minutes of the film and I hadn't noticed it.
Whichever, you're left with a slow-moving film that has little to recommend it beyond a very beautiful actress, some laboured symbolism and a lot of smoking. Admirers of David Hockney may enjoy it.
The title, which is also the name of Celeste's character, continued to bother me. It sounds Greek, as if it might have something to do with birth. At the child's birth, in the waters of the Bay of Naples, it is proclaimed as an obvious choice. Later, when a young mother-to-be tries to flatter Parthenope by saying that she may name her child after her, Parthenope merely demurs and an opportunity to shed light on the mystery is lost.
A search afterwards reveals that Parthenope is the name of the Greek colony that became, eventually, the city of Naples. This is so simple that I wondered whether I was supposed to know it. Or perhaps it had been mentioned in the opening minutes of the film and I hadn't noticed it.
Whichever, you're left with a slow-moving film that has little to recommend it beyond a very beautiful actress, some laboured symbolism and a lot of smoking. Admirers of David Hockney may enjoy it.
As an elderly white man I could hardly regard myself as the ideal audience for 'Saint Omer'. Still, it was disappointing to find the film challenging but only in a dreary way.
It is a courtroom drama. So far, so good. And it has a fiendish psychological twist: the defendant, a young Senegalese immigrant, confesses to having killed her baby but pleads 'Not guilty'. The court and the cinema-going public must decide whether she is a clever chancer gaming the system or a troubled soul harried by the supernatural.
It sounds so promising. But the pace is slow, often stationary, and several of the performances suggest dramatic reconstructions by actors.
Perhaps the writer and director, Alice Diop, sensed as much. But her attempts to elevate proceedings seem clumsy. The main character, Rama, who attends the trial with a view to writing a book about the case, serves only a symbolic purpose: she cites Medea, identifies with the defendant and purports to turn the particular into the general.
The town of Saint-Omer has a hyphen; the film does not. Sure enough, St Omer (originally called Audomar) is a patron saint of the blind.
It is a courtroom drama. So far, so good. And it has a fiendish psychological twist: the defendant, a young Senegalese immigrant, confesses to having killed her baby but pleads 'Not guilty'. The court and the cinema-going public must decide whether she is a clever chancer gaming the system or a troubled soul harried by the supernatural.
It sounds so promising. But the pace is slow, often stationary, and several of the performances suggest dramatic reconstructions by actors.
Perhaps the writer and director, Alice Diop, sensed as much. But her attempts to elevate proceedings seem clumsy. The main character, Rama, who attends the trial with a view to writing a book about the case, serves only a symbolic purpose: she cites Medea, identifies with the defendant and purports to turn the particular into the general.
The town of Saint-Omer has a hyphen; the film does not. Sure enough, St Omer (originally called Audomar) is a patron saint of the blind.
This is an outstanding film. Do not on any account let its length discourage you. Ignore any review that concentrates on hours or pace or that detects a contrast between the two halves. 'The Brutalist' is a rare piece of cinematic art and its dimensions are irrelevant.
It's a very fine film by conventional standards, but it sets out to do something more ambitious. The structure, imagery, soundtrack and even fine details like subtitles and titles all contribute as the film takes shape.
'The Brutalist' resolutely refuses to explain itself. Parts of the story are hinted at but left unexplored, and some scenes and sequences are included for no immediately obvious reason. It won't be hurried. The score delivers an occasional pummelling. Meanwhile a carefully constructed whole is being assembled. This is a wonderfully intelligent film, and 'Anora' must be truly remarkable to have beaten it to the Best Movie Oscar.
It's a very fine film by conventional standards, but it sets out to do something more ambitious. The structure, imagery, soundtrack and even fine details like subtitles and titles all contribute as the film takes shape.
'The Brutalist' resolutely refuses to explain itself. Parts of the story are hinted at but left unexplored, and some scenes and sequences are included for no immediately obvious reason. It won't be hurried. The score delivers an occasional pummelling. Meanwhile a carefully constructed whole is being assembled. This is a wonderfully intelligent film, and 'Anora' must be truly remarkable to have beaten it to the Best Movie Oscar.