rad111 Reviews

Enemy at the Gates (2001)

A decent movie with so much more potential...

[12 July 2002]

Enemy at the Gates is an intriguing film, as much for its concept

as for the product that has been turned out. It's a look at World War

II that tries to be purely Russian, looking at the European conflict

without any participation by or even any mention of American

involvement.

However, I don't think the film went as far with this unique

perspective as it could have. It tries to represent the Russian point

of view, but its view of Russian culture is so blatantly non-Russian

that it fails to be truly convincing. The story of the Russian

resistance is unique to World War II, and the reasons for it are

complex. The reasons for the communist struggle, the desire for a

truly classless society, the magnitude of change that had to be

implemented for Stalin's government to exist at all could have

been effectively portrayed by a couple conversations between Jude

Law's shepherd boy-turned sniper and Joseph Fienne's intellectual propaganda minister. Their friendship is an unlikely

one created by war, and a couple of conversations on the insanity

they're involved in could have been really illuminating and

contributed to the atmosphere of the film. I'm not asking for a

treatise on Marxism, but most non-Russian audiences are about

as ignorant of the workings of WWII-era Russian society as Jude

Law's character probably was. A little bit of political

chitchat/argument would've been interesting.

A lot of people have argued against the integration of the romantic

subplot into the story. Again, I feel it's something that could have

been more effective if it had been depicted more completely. The

Russian army was the only one (as far as I know) to routinely have

female soldiers working alongside men within the ranks. This

again was reflective of the Communist government's posturings of

equality, and could have been addressed. An environment where

women worked, fought, and were killed on equal terms with men

would have had a strong effect on male/female relationships, and

would have been fascinating to explore a little more deeply. The

fact that Joseph Fiennes and Rachel Wiecz's characters were both

Jewish, while Jude Law's was not, could also have added an

extra, interesting dimension to the love triangle portrayed, but this

element is ignored. Law is better looking, more simplistic in his

approach to the war, and is easier to understand. Therefore

Wiecz's character falls for him. He's the guy most of the female

audience will root for anyway, he's the hero, so it's kinda a

no-brainer that he'll get the girl, at least for a while. But the journey

towards this event could've been a lot more interesting.

On the whole it's the performances that end up making this movie

work for me. Jude Law is a phenomenal, incredibly natural actor,

and the rest of the cast backs him up quite well. I can sit back and

enjoy the movie for what it is, decent escapist warfare drama, but I

can't help but be constantly aware of how much better it could have

been.

The Rapture (1991)

Thought-provoking, good performances

[3 June 2002]

A lot of people might be put off by the plot of this movie, mistakenly

thinking that it's supposed to accurately depict a specific Christian

denomination and its beliefs. I don't think that's the point--the point

instead is to tell the story of a fictional situation in which the rapture

is actually on its way, and many people, both saved and not, are

sensing that its coming.

Both Mimi Rogers and David Duchovny do very well in this movie

and make the most of their scenes together in a very realistic way.

It puzzles me, b/c most of Duchovny's films after this one have

been just awful, as have been his performances. He shows

himself capable of a decent performance in this movie, but maybe

his long stint w/the X-Files has killed his spontaneity. Or maybe he

just needs a better agent.

Anyway. Back to the movie--the pacing is well put together, the

mood is brilliantly constructed, from the emptiness of Sharon's

(Rogers) struggle to find meaning and happiness in a loose life

"full of sin" in the beginning to her joy in embracing a faith, to her

distress when it is tested and eventually shattered. A fascinating

allegory of faith and love, guaranteed to raise questions,

regardless of the viewer's beliefs.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

One hell of a ride

[8 January 2002]

So many people have delivered the same glowing praise of this movie that I'll restrain myself from gushing too much. I don't think this is the greatest film of all time, but it hits a nerve with me that no other movie has. In 3rd grade when I was sick w/the chicken pox my mom sat on the couch and read me The Hobbit over the course of a week. The next 2 years were occupied w/reading the LOTR trilogy, chapter by chapter, night by night, w/breaks in-between each book. It was a wonderful experience, and when my family went to see it together, it was a terrific bonding moment, as well as a well-acted, beautifully realized movie. Not flawless...but a terrific interpretation. Does anyone else out there think Dominic Monahan (Merry) did a fantastic job? Everyone is wonderful, and Sean Astin is also a pleasant surprise, but Monahan has such an intelligent and expressive face. Truly wonderful to watch. I agree w/those who say that 12 months will be a long time to wait for the second installment. At least we'll be able to get the DVD of FOTR before then, to tide us over.

The Competition (1980)

A flawed movie with moments of greatness

[10 August 2001]

First the flaws: the extraneous characters of the various competitors are pretty blatant stereotypes, not offensive, but not particularly compelling either. The time spent on them would have been better spent on further development of the relationship between Paul (Richard Dreyfuss) and Heidi (Amy Irving) two pianists facing off in the same competition who fall in love while preparing for it. Secondly, the "contemporary" music...it was released in 1980, but all you hear in bars and at parties is disco music. It makes everything seem a little too quaint and cute to be real.

Moments of greatness: The clashes and arguments that ensue between Paul and Heidi make it obvious why they fall in love, but it happens very quickly. Which is fine in a standard romance, but that isn't what this movie is. These two people are complex individuals with various insecurities and desires that make the love story so great, so interesting and so real. But the ending feels strange...a lot happens before the film's resolution, and leaves me feeling that the characters haven't been explored enough. The movie's shining moment is during the second half of the competition, when Paul has already played and Heidi proceeds to blow him out of the water. Irving's performance onstage is totally convincing, and Dreyfuss conveys an incredible amount of emotion and intelligence simply in his reactions to the piece.

The tension here is incredible, and very, very real. A good movie--one that dares to show its characters in an unglamorous, real way few movies have

Sayonara (1957)

Not bad for 1957

[31 July 2001]

There's no doubt that this is a dated film. But there are certain advantages to that. It's definitely a film of its time, and as such is very revealing. Although some of the dialogue and characterizations (not to mention the music) inspire giggles, there's a fair amount to be admired here. I was pleasantly surprised by how frank the film is in its portrayal of institutionalized racism and its effects on the rank-and-file soldiers and the buracracy that controls their lives. Red Buttons and the woman who played his wife both won Oscars for their roles, and deservedly so. They are not the main characters of the film, but they embody the film's message and its spirit as well, and are the most naturally written characters in the movie.

Red Buttons's display of rage when his wife attempts to disguise her ethnicity is amazingly genuine and moving.

Yes, the women are portrayed in a derogatory fashion, as a previous reviewer has observed. But this was 1957, after all, and on top of that the film takes place in a military setting. Add to that the fact that Japan at that time was at least as bad as the West in its treatment of women and it's hardly a surprise that the gender dynamic is what it is. The most ironic thing, I found, was the fact that although Hollywood was comfortable casting Asian women in the film, the one speaking role by a Japanese male character (who has a subtly romantic role in relation to an American woman) was given to Ricardo Monalban. It was okay to have miscegenation portrayed with some frankness, as long as it involved Japanese women, not Japanese men. Sad,