gudaulin

In my review of Three Colours: Red, I wrote that it is the most sympathetic and probably the best part of the trilogy. However, when it comes to Blue, the substance is thematically closest to me. Kieslowski conceived the discourse on freedom as a problem of emotional and familial relations. They tie us with invisible but strong emotional bonds. The main protagonist loses her family in a car accident and deals with the problem of to what extent she can free herself from her memories and feelings. Her neighbor works in the erotic industry and feels satisfied with it until her father shows up at her performance and she confronts feelings of guilt because she is not liberated from her past and family affiliation. To free oneself can mean to isolate oneself, and it is always just a question of compromise between independence and solitude. At the age of 18, I lost my father and I was dealing with a similar dilemma as the protagonist of the film. Kieslowski is, as always, intimate, delivering his story at a slow pace with an emphasis on the inner psyche of his characters. Overall impression: 75%.

What is characteristic of this film is the year it was made, i.e., 2007, when the economic boom and the price of oil and natural gas, which form the backbone of the Russian budget, soared to a maximum. Film production corresponded to this, as both the number of films produced per year climbed to an impressive hundred, and respectable budgets were evident in the films. The Sovereign's Servant is a historical costume epic that, rather than resembling American films, reminds us of French historical films of the past. The fact that the story begins in Versailles is no coincidence. The inspiration from films that once made Jean Marais famous is clear. It does indeed feature exciting sword fights, battles, brawls, beautiful women, and decorations and costumes. It's not something profound, just a typical commercial film that can still entertain decently. Overall impression: 65%.

The film definitely cannot deny its theatrical roots. It has a significant TV film dimension, whether it is the fact that dialogues carry it from the beginning to the end, or the poor set design and static nature of the plot, which takes place practically entirely in one recreational cottage. Paradoxically, the film was somewhat hurt in my eyes by the fact that I had seen the play and the theatrical performance set a high bar for me, which surprisingly the well-known American actors failed to overcome... The idea of showing the transformations of society and modern American history through regular meetings of two lovers is good, but the comedic and dramatic potential was certainly greater, and in the second half of the film, more and more sentimentality creeps into it. Overall impression: 40%.

The Cave Woman fits perfectly into the series of episodes of the popular TV show about the boorish investigator Dalziel and his police team. The key to success lies in the distinct attractive nature of the main character and the quality script of each episode. At the time The Cave Woman was made the series celebrated its 10th anniversary, and the actors playing the main roles were perfectly in sync with their characters. A certain problem of the series is the length of individual cases, as some episodes contained so much filler that they had to be divided into several parts. The Cave Woman managed to avoid this and fit into one full-length TV movie. As usual, the attention of the viewers will be drawn to the thunderous performance of Warren Clarke in the lead role, and this time he will have to deal with his human failure... Overall impression: 70%.

The peak of Kusturica's work for me so far is Black Cat, White Cat and after watching Life is a Miracle, that won't change. Kusturica is a very talented filmmaker and Life is a Miracle confirms that. In the film are plenty of gems, excellent shots, and clever scenes, but it's all a bit cluttered, chaotic, and dragged out considering its runtime. It needed some editing and, especially in the first half, to mercilessly cut out the Balkan "folklore motifs." It's a bit Fellini or Jakubisko-like, in the style of magical realism, and sometimes it slips into slapstick. Kusturica tried to portray the Balkan Civil War somewhat fancifully, with humorous detachment and without depicting the horrors of war. In the first half, Kusturica's portrayal of a confused time in his country was completely lost due to the multitude of characters and motifs, and I even considered only giving it three stars, but the romantic storyline of the Serbian railwayman and the young Muslim girl in the second half made up for everything. With a sense of perspective, this film can be described as the story of a modern-day Romeo and Juliet with a happy ending presented grotesquely. Overall impression: 80%.

Many films about the Holocaust and the world of concentration camps during World War II have already been made, including big-budget, visually stunning horror shows, and audiences are already sufficiently satiated by such sights. Coming up with something new is difficult, but Stefan Ruzowitzky succeeded. If anything can be criticized about The Counterfeiters, it is the small, typically European budget that does not allow for any grandly filmed crowd scenes, panoramic shots, or visual orgies. It is a small film that relies on a strong story, interestingly outlined characters, quality acting, and, last but not least, the fact that it is based on a true event, and the creators faithfully stuck to reality. The story of a group of prisoners who produced counterfeit money at a Nazi extermination camp in strict isolation and maximum secrecy offers plenty of absurd moments, such as the class differences between a professional criminal and a banker who meet in the same cell to carry out a shared task of devaluing currency. An excellent move was not making the main protagonist an idealistic political prisoner, but a cynical member of the underworld trained to survive in extreme conditions, who has a very unique sense of honor. A strange psychological battle for survival and the most dignified reconciliation with their role in working for the Nazis unfolds between the counterfeiter Sorwitsch, the young communist sabotaging production, and the SS officer supervising the counterfeit workshop. Overall impression: 90%.

In a certain sense, Ševčík's Normal reminds me of the works of director F.A. Brabec - at the very least in terms of how the form strongly outweighs the banal content and how the director revels in depicting the most clichéd of clichés. Normal is pretentious, impressively filmed, meticulously scored, and adequately performed pseudo-artistic boredom. The dialogues are full of clichés, and the screenplay is uninspired and lacks tension. I experience more excitement watching a children's bedtime story... Overall impression: 40%.

Some movies are difficult to write about because capturing their essence and value in a few sentences is almost impossible. This little-known film by Claude Berri belongs to this category. Its categorization into a specific genre is a tricky puzzle. It is a psychological drama, a political film, a tragicomedy with a love story, and one can find elements from various genres within it. Uranus is a surprising and provocative film that forces contemplation and breaks established stereotypes. Berri introduces several extraordinarily interesting characters on the screen and attempts to capture the complexity of the post-war period directly when people were greatly frustrated by the suffering of war, feeling guilt, and effectively repressed through the relentless pursuit of those who have (seemingly) more to answer for. The film does not have one protagonist, as Berri presents a whole group of equal characters and confronts their attitudes. A French fascist facing execution hides with the family of a middle-class liberal who suffers from a guilty conscience for not lifting a finger against the occupation and fascism out of fear of the consequences. He deals with his failure through cynicism and by trying to redeem himself by protecting his opponent from death. The local communist organization includes profiteers, radical embittered fanatics, as well as idealists. In the town, inevitably, there are both greater and lesser collaborators, sycophants, professional informers, and generally "people of small minds." The police are afraid to act against those who hold or could hold political power - they can be blackmailed, after all, these policemen already served under Pétain... Some of the "heroes" carry elements of self-parody, which is one of the problematic aspects of the film - the line between comedy and drama is sometimes blurry, lacking the balance between comedy and tragedy that we know, for example, from Larks on a String. Uranus lacks that. The innkeeper Leopold, brilliantly portrayed by Gérard Depardieu, is a character who is a swaggering braggart with great comedic potential. It is precisely with this character that the viewer will probably identify the most and the director, contrary to the viewer's expectations, prepares for him a bitter fate. Some characters and motifs are underutilized, as is the case with the teacher played by Philippe Noiret. All in all, it's worth an honest four-star rating. Overall impression: 80%. The final confrontation when the communist resistance fighter decides whether to denounce the fascist, who probably would not have betrayed his political rival during the occupation is excellent... No character is black and white, not even Noiret's laid-back character, they are all painted in different shades of gray. The character played by the well-known comedian M. Galabru is perhaps the most repulsive he has ever played in his career...

Faun's Labyrinth meets all the requirements of a quality film - a strong story, the appropriate budget, an experienced director, and a solid cast. It is exactly the kind of fantasy that I like because it doesn't trample on the most cheaply stolen motifs from Tolkien in a thousand ways, but goes its own way and combines a classic fairy tale story with a realistically conceived war drama. It is original, emotional, tense, and artistically elaborate with excellent cinematography, and the director is not afraid of even naturalistic bloody scenes and ventures into the realm of pure horror. Overall impression: 90%. The pinnacle of Guillermo del Toro's work so far, which will be difficult for the director to surpass...

In many respects, an exceptional film that can be considered a political timeless manifesto of liberal and democratic values, freedom of speech, and association. This intimate drama deliberately devoid of any potentially disruptive entertaining elements subordinates everything to the impression of period authenticity and the content of the message. The director attempts to create a timeless allegory of the eternal conflict between abstract democratic ideals and the down-to-earth exercise of political influence exposed to the temptation to abuse concentrated power, through the conflict between a courageous journalist and a populist politician of one era. The film is in black and white, it is measured and has civil acting without star mannerisms, and attempts to capture the atmosphere in a documentary way. The film is dialogue-based and requires an attentive viewer. Overall impression: 95%.