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kaypaulo
Reviews
East (2011)
A thoroughly enjoyable little indie film.
This is a charming, warm-hearted little indie film about a young girl named Elva who takes her little sister Sammy and heads 'East' - on a journey to try and find her estranged mother, but finds a new and completely different relationship along the way.
'Tristant' is the lone, 47 year old recently widower-ed Frenchman they bump into, who becomes their travelling companion, guardian, and more...
These three characters make up virtually the whole cast (with just a couple of other very minor credited roles), and the whole film revolves around their interactions. Such good fortune then, that the 3 main performances are all very strong, and the on-screen chemistry between them very tangible. Credit to all three actors (and the director) for this, and I sincerely hope to see each of them in other roles in the future.
The story of the film is simple, but not lacking, as the film gently engages you with the relationship between the three characters - ultimately what the film is about. One of the most impressive things are the conversations and little moments between the characters, which are often very natural and have the feel of real life, not of a movie (which says a lot for the acting, script and direction). As a backdrop to this are several stunning locations that the characters make their way through (obviously deciding to travel by the most scenic route possible), beautifully shot; and also a simple but lovely soundtrack song, that fits and sets the mood of the film perfectly throughout, in this reviewer's humble opinion.
If I were to have one criticism it would be the film's vagueness over the main character Elva's age - a question that the film seemingly decided not to answer, but in my book is an important detail to omit - a 16 year old is not the same as an 18 year old, is not the same as a 20 year old... But that's a minor complaint. All in all the film was very moving and enjoyable, including one particularly poignant, powerful and spectacular scene involving a guitar that I can only hope finds its way onto youtube...
8/10
Caché (2005)
A film about haunting guilt - no follow through in terms of story
A film with a vaguely interesting premise: a TV personality receives anonymous, creepy videotapes of his movements and postcards with haunting images, that awaken the guilt and horror of secret events in his childhood...
You, like I was, might be willing to give the film a chance on such a premise. But if you expect any unravelling of interesting plot or sensible backstory then you'll be in for a disappointment. The fact is the film focuses to the end on its look at the man's haunting guilt. Major plot details are left unexplained (completely!), the backstory offered has little depth and doesn't really fit the promising dramatic flashbacks our protagonist has at the beginning, seeming plot developments turn out to be mere tangents, and main characters who you think *must* turn out to be interesting - well, their actions only make sense from the perspective of making the protagonist feel guilty. Why they might be obsessed with making the protagonist guilty is not explained.
And that sums up the whole film. It's all about tormenting the protagonist by poking him with a big, haunty guilt-stick, and watching his reaction. Don't expect anything like an examination of who's holding the stick, or what their motives are.
Redeeming features - Juliette Binnoche is hot.