Pedro-72 Reviews

It All Starts Today (1999)

Very good social commentary

[7/10 · 9 June 2000]

This film is an excellent commentary of the sheer difficulties in trying to improve a bad situation when the whole system - from the families involved to the political authorities - are effectively working against you. It shows that it is vital to persevere because to give up would be awful. Its ultimately optimistic about the strength of the human spirit but scathing about the corrupting and degrading influence of the system.

The only criticisms are that the camera technique was very fluid which meant that the picture was always moving up and down, in and out of focus. This was interesting but quite taxing on the eyes. Also, it was perhaps half an hour longer than it could have been so it dragged somewhat in places. But a very good film. 4/5

Dobermann (1997)

A criticism of an awful movie

[3/10 · 2 June 2000]

Don't misunderstand me. Dobermann has excellent cinematography and camera work. The special effects are great. But I want to comment on the sheer awfulness of the script, the plot and the characters. I watched this film with about ten people and we were all laughing at it. Its so incredibly naive and it beggars belief how anybody can watch this and not find the script absolutely appalling. For a while I thought it might be irony and taking the mickey out of itself. - But it CAN'T be. You would have to be an absolute genius to create such irony.

The characters all have idiosyncracies and enigmatic lines which are obviously supposed to contribute towards their depth and character development. But they just look childlishly ridiculous - we were laughing with incredulity that any film company could release such poor film-making.

If you like lots of guns and violence then fair enough; and at least seeing this movie will make you laugh. But I certainly wouldn't waste money buying it.

Trust (1990)

I wish more people could see it

[10/10 · 18 January 2000]

I've never written a comment for a film before and this was the first Hal Hartley film I've seen. I was absolutely blown away by how good it was. It was a very distinctive style and the dialogue was unrealistic but this was intentional and completely added to the film. The accompanying soundtrack was absolutely perfect and the whole thing fitted together seamlessly. Although it dealt with telling almost a fairytale story, there were also much wider issues about the banality and conformity of life in the city. In this sense, it was very acerbic and would hopefully make people think if only it could be shown to a wider audience. It is a tragedy that the only people who will watch this movie are a few independent movie buffs because there is so much that is good about it.