quarrion Reviews

Szoba kiáltással (1990)

Aged care or aged scare?

[8/10 · 13 February 2005]

Plot summary: According to an interesting Hungarian aged care idea, a young couple agree to live with an elderly woman, care for her and ultimately inherit her house. They are inclined to hurry things along a bit, but who, exactly, are they up against here? What happened to the previous young couple? Things are not as they seem.

This wonderful black comedy (is it a comedy?) helped me to fall in love with Hungarian cinema, especially the little golden age just around the fall of Communism. It seems little known--the only movie I have found on IMDb without any details. This is a pity.

It was shown on SBS TV in Australia several years ago.

The Good Thief (2002)

Transplanted from more innocent times

[6/10 · 25 December 2004]

After enjoying the marvellous '27 Missing Kisses' I wanted to see what else Nutsa Kukhianidze could do. Answer: A lot, if only the scriptwriter would let her. I think we'll be seeing much more of her in coming years.

Why was I disappointed? The problem is that the role of Anne comes from a more chivalrous time, when a woman could be just an ornament. I haven't seen 'Bob' but I can imagine the original Anne, a stereotypical woman, who can switch from being a prostitute to a glamorous casino patron instantly because she is really just an appendage. Anne does not advance the plot. She is a passive recipient of patronage, luck, exploitation, protection and new clothes. We expect more of our female characters these days. We certainly want to see them causing their fair share of effects.

Neil Jordan's Anne is far too strong, intelligent and sane to be believable in her 'about to become a prostitute' situation. These days the real Anne would be more hard-bitten. She and Bob would have to work harder to earn each other's trust. It is a less innocent world in 2002.

This movie is a remake only half brought up to date. I felt as if I needed to have seen the original in order to understand it.

It is only the writing that lets the movie down. Performances are all terrific. As another reviewer has said, Nick Nolte is made for the role of Bob. And it is worth seeing just to hear the music.

Beneath Clouds (2002)

Tips for non-Australian viewers

[8/10 · 21 December 2003]

I have little to add to the excellent reviews above. Tarkovsky? Tykwer? No wonder I loved it. I shall go away and have a good think about those connections.

My contribution is a bit of information about Australian aboriginals that may help non-Australians appreciate this exquisite movie.

1. It is normal for Australian aboriginals to take a while to speak to each other (or anyone) if they are strangers. When thinking about this I compared the film to Eric Rohmer and to Iranian films about young people. Iranians and Rohmer characters chatter endlessly about trivia but the powerful effect of the movie creeps up on you in the same way.

2. It is easy to miss the moment in which Vaughan discovers that Lena is Aboriginal. This is an important turning point in the film. To avoid spoiling I'll only give you a tip. An older person is involved and there is no discussion. If you watch for it you will see it.

A Scene at the Sea (1991)

Like watching grass grow

[26 April 2003]

Don't get me wrong, folks. I LOVE the slow moving Japanese dramas we have been having, like Love Letters, Nabbies Love, Falling into the Evening, and the one about the jail-bird turned hairdresser (forgotten the name).

Like these, this film is slow moving, but here there is nothing to touch the heart. Don't young Japanese deaf people constantly chatter in sign language like their counterparts everywhere else? The young hearing-impaired people I have encountered are not blocks of wood as these two are. Regrettably, I watched the 90 minutes of their vacuous stares punctuated by surfing shots in case there was some point to it, but there wasn't. (Oops! Does that count as a spoiler?)

Not only is it boring, but the movie is so badly cut that one can't follow what little story there is.

Maybe this is really just a surf movie, with minimal story inserted between the lengthy surfing shots. As a movie with lots of surfing it is fine. If you want anything else, forget it.

Dokuritsu shônen gasshô-dan (2000)

Mishima formula film?

[14 January 2003]

I hope that an expert in Japanese literature can inform us here, but isn't this the classic Yukio Mishima formula? I expected to find that it was based on one of his novels, but it does not say this in the IMDB.

(Male) Plodder meets (male) Shining Star. Shining Star is physically beautiful male with Dream. Plodder befriends Shining Star and helps him with his Dream. Shining Star becomes more fanatical with Dream. Shining Star frustrated in Dream but won't compromise. Shining Star self-destructs. Plodder left with painful but inspiring memories of Shining Star.

If you like this kind of thing, then do see it. Ultimately not very human, but fanaticism never is.

On a musical note: If Japanese choirs really rehearse like this, with such discipline and dediction, then we need to take some lessons from them!