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Reviews
Romper Stomper (1992)
A violent film that makes you think
Russel Crowe is superb as the leader of a white supremacist gang. The best thing about this film is that the director manages to show that the issue of racism is not as one sided (or at least as simple) as is often portrayed on film. At the end we still conclude that racism is evil. It is the journey towards that conclusion that sets this film apart. At first we see the racists as strong and with a genuine grievance. As the film gets more and more violent this feeling is intensified. The violence comes to a climax with the racists pitted against a massive asian gang who out number them massively and we are still not sure who to side with. The quieter second half of the film is where the real substance of the film lies. Gradually we see human emotions appearing, expressing themselves, at first inarticulately and then with full force as Crowe's best friend falls in love with the girl and eventually begins to struggle against the life that he has choosen. Despite leaving the gang he finds that it is impossible to escape the clutches of Crowe and has to resort to violence again. This is a different kind of violence because he is now on a different side.
Nuit et jour (1991)
a disappointing experience
I was looking forward to watching this film and was therefore extremely disappointed when I found it to be complete and utter rubbish. Akerman's direction is both heavy handed and cliched (how much more cliched can you get than Paris at night?). The male cast seems to have been chosen entirely for their resemberlance to Egon Schiele's angst ridden self portraits. Yet the themes of jealousy and betrayal which should have been the primary focus of a film of this type are left virtually unexplored. What is left is a turgid melodrama which takes an age to get started and even longer to finish. The only advantage with this sort of film is that it makes you realise how good Goddard and Truffaut really are.
Le dernier métro (1980)
disquieting wartime theatrical study
This strangely quiet film manages, at the same time, to portray, with great sensitivity, the surreal tensions of life in occupied war time Paris. Catherene DeNeuve exudes sex while Gerard Depardieu provides some fantastically understated support.