greene-1
Joined Feb 2003
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Reviews14
greene-1's rating
For those of you who go to movies with the expectation of being 'entertained' you may come away disappointed. As others have indicated, the themes in this work are repetitive, disengaged and monolithic.
What this film does do is point to the nature of Spirit. And how man's ideological impositions are, in the words of Shakespeare, "a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing".
What we witness is the huffing and puffing of Christian zealots attempting to 'support the faith' in Japan. Apparently, without any real understanding of the nature of the established religion, Buddhism, and by extension, no great depth of appreciation of the core of their own faith.
The remorseless churning by way of persecution of the non-apostates is in itself a message of consistency. And those of you who have practiced any kind of meditative system will appreciate the value of repetition for its power to disengage the mind from quotidian vicissitudes.
Thus was the experience of this reviewer. Om tat sat.
What this film does do is point to the nature of Spirit. And how man's ideological impositions are, in the words of Shakespeare, "a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing".
What we witness is the huffing and puffing of Christian zealots attempting to 'support the faith' in Japan. Apparently, without any real understanding of the nature of the established religion, Buddhism, and by extension, no great depth of appreciation of the core of their own faith.
The remorseless churning by way of persecution of the non-apostates is in itself a message of consistency. And those of you who have practiced any kind of meditative system will appreciate the value of repetition for its power to disengage the mind from quotidian vicissitudes.
Thus was the experience of this reviewer. Om tat sat.
As a British guy I am glad to report that this 'chick-flick' made me laugh out loud several times in the normally reserved arena that is the London film circuit. Understated performances by the ensemble cast really bring out the humour and largely avoid the in-your-face obvious gags which can be a let down to a sophisticated audience. Not that this film is without elements of quite medieval grossness, but these are played straight which actually adds to the comedic element and furthermore they do not dominate the film. Wisely they have avoided stereotyping the characters and you actually come to care for them warts and all, this has the added bonus of sustaining interest during the 'serious' moments also. Bridesmaids has a multi layered comedic approach which will appeal on many levels. There are a few weak scenes but these are more than compensated for by the overall work. In conclusion this film manages to wrap up a meditation on the nature of friendship and love whilst ladling out the laughs, go see!
Most detractors of this film seem to focus on how they've been deceived by the promotional material, which lead them to believe they were going to see a re-hash of Land of Narnia (or something like that).
Critising something simply because 'it wasn't what was expected' simply exposes the prejudices of the observer, and indicates that the reviewer's objectivity is compromised.
Where this film scores highly is that it portrays children's worlds in a very immediate and powerful way without being mawkish or sentimental. It deals with real issues, such as bereavement, bullying and family life very directly. More importantly, however, it goes on to show how these issues and their associated difficulties can be transcended, by reaching for higher causes and considering the welfare of others.
The other great thing about this film is that it encourages consideration of art, imagination, and philosophy. It ponders the nature of life and divinity in a simple, inquisitive and ultimately positive way. Furthermore, it deprecates the practise of excessive TV viewing, which is to be applauded.
The performances reflect pure emotions not only because children's emotions are generally purer than adults, but also many of the actors do an outstanding job.
I heartily recommend this film to all children between the ages of 6-106. And to those detractors I say "open your mind" (see film for details)
Critising something simply because 'it wasn't what was expected' simply exposes the prejudices of the observer, and indicates that the reviewer's objectivity is compromised.
Where this film scores highly is that it portrays children's worlds in a very immediate and powerful way without being mawkish or sentimental. It deals with real issues, such as bereavement, bullying and family life very directly. More importantly, however, it goes on to show how these issues and their associated difficulties can be transcended, by reaching for higher causes and considering the welfare of others.
The other great thing about this film is that it encourages consideration of art, imagination, and philosophy. It ponders the nature of life and divinity in a simple, inquisitive and ultimately positive way. Furthermore, it deprecates the practise of excessive TV viewing, which is to be applauded.
The performances reflect pure emotions not only because children's emotions are generally purer than adults, but also many of the actors do an outstanding job.
I heartily recommend this film to all children between the ages of 6-106. And to those detractors I say "open your mind" (see film for details)