gurkpeter Reviews

Ex Machina (2014)

Not very well thought through plot

[4/10 · 21 January 2022]

The rough idea of the film is not bad: a human tests a humanoid robot to determine if... what exactly actually? The inventor is "big tech founder" type of guy who gets one of his "talented" employees to a distant site for testing the latest version of his humanoid robots. They speak about the Turing test - in a painfully simplified manner. Then the employee (Caleb) at some point starts to wonder if he is also a humanoid - and tests it by hurting himself to see blood. Not sure whether this was really necessary but for sure not well integrated into the plot. Then the ending is even more confusing: the main robot (Ava) figured out to hack the power system. Cool. Her (it) aim is to escape and "see people" (i.e. Learn, as learning is rewarding, why is this topic not explored further?). Ava manages to escape and here the whole story breaks down: if she needs electricity how can she get away from the single source that the audience should assume exists only in the building where such robots are prototyped? If the designer (Nathan) is such a genius, how come he forgot to include safety switches that could have prevented a robot attacking him? If he is such a genius and the robot is constantly under surveillance, how come he could not correlate the hack to the robot's behaviour?

For me the film is a failed attempt to present a problem and put an interesting story around it, not worth watching.

In Silico (2020)

Touching journey with a dubious person

[9/10 · 7 June 2021]

The documentary is an exceptional 10 year long story showing a scientist Henry Markram and his team of scientists who won the lottery of 1Bn EUR for their scam project.

The film was a very captivating experience for me depicting not just pure rationality (science) but persons and some emotion of the characters. The documentary may be most interesting to scientists but is certainly a recommendable for the general audience.

The reason I cannot give 10 stars to this great film is that I feel the authors were a bit too forgiving to their 'hero'. They mostly fail to touch the question: "how could he make such a scam happen", what sort of political meddling is part of the system that allows so much money being so much mistargeted. They avoid the question of responsibility. Maybe because so many scientist were involved who wanted to have the bits falling off the table? It would have been interesting to ask a few politicians, EU bureaucrats: how could they fail to spot the scam? This would show how little most politicians cared and care ever since. Well, at least the completely mishandled COVID crisis shows how difficult it is to understand science and relate it to actual problems of our society.

The Unknown Saint (2019)

Keeping faith vs revenge the world

[8/10 · 19 October 2019]

This film is not fitting at all into most of today's movie styles. The story is quite simple and this simplicity renders the film into a powerful piece of art. The story is told in a dry manner - dry like the desert people try to survive. There is nothing to live on, except their faith. Three main characters present how faith can empower people: faith in material resurrection (thief getting "his" hidden money), faith in keeping the traditions (the guard) and faith in getting back to old state of the world (father hoping for rain in the desert). There are many elements in the film that makes it very much worth watching, indeed not just once. There are no spectacular elements in the whole movie, just the accurate but still compassionate depiction of what motivates three people in a hopeless village in the desert. The creator humbly presents the reality most human beings have to face, far away from the busy centres of economic and cultural life. Watch it and make the effort to internalise the message.

Who's Singin' Over There? (1980)

Eternal depiction of people on the Balkans

[9/10 · 25 September 2015]

As others wrote: this movie is a must if you go to the Balkans. Although I am not sure whether you can acquire the sense of sarcasm needed to understand the communication of people in the region. Unfortunately, today's movie standards are too focused on action and excitement that could explain why this movie faded out from cinema. I truly appreciate that the movie is simple and does not involve unnecessary motives. The good example is the two gypsy singers: their songs deliver very little new information but as they keep reappearing, their strange performance gets a higher-level meaning that burns into the viewer's memory.

The Somme: From Defeat to Victory (2006 TV Movie)

Read about Somme rather than watch this film

[3/10 · 19 December 2009]

This film tries to give a documentary reconstruction of the battle of Somme. Though details are laid out quite well about how the first days of the battle happened, these are actually not very informative. Yes, battles are truly terrible but there are better films to watch to get this experience. A documentary should focus much more on the context, causes and outcomes. Also, the memories of soldiers are not very informative and only give a generic feeling of "how terrible war is". I think this film only gives a rather constrained view on the whole Somme battle. Watch Kubrick's Paths of Glory or any other fiction films about the First World War to get an idea of the nightmare. And if you want to see a good documentary (about France in World War II) watch "Le chagrin et la pitie".

The Lives of Others (2006)

Valid story from the Communist era

[7/10 · 12 August 2009]

The story presents an era of total surveillance where anything not in line with the will of the party leaders is punished. Arguments do not exist, just the use of power. I think the story is valid. However it only reflects how people from the West can imagine, interpret and understand life in East Germany. During watching this film I had ambivalent feelings. Ulrich Mühe's performance really gives an authentic example of a Stasi officer and gives us a real feeling what the totalitarian system means. However I think the film lacks authenticity in some sense. Only those feel this subtle lack who have lived in an Easter European country. As a verification I guessed which actor has grown up in East Germany and which not. Then I checked their biographies that 90% confirmed my guesses. Those who have not grown up in East Germany only act. Those who lived in the totalitarian system really give us the authenticity. In summary, I think this is a very good film and the only I know of that exposes the surveillance of totalitarian systems. The performance of Ulrich Mühe as Hauptmann Gerd Wiesler alone make this film worth seeing. For those who might be interested in the topic I recommend reading the book Celestial Harmonies: A Novel from Péter Esterházy and its second part (Celestial Harmonies: A Novel (P.S.)). In film you could watch any film from Krzysztof Kieslowski, Péter Gothár or Péter Bacsó.

Idö van (1986)

A complex view on the Easter European society right before the fall of the Soviet Union

[10/10 · 27 July 2008]

Peter Gothar films give a sharp, uncensored view of the society. This film is no different. The plot is rather simple: a family goes to vacation with the usual stress. Then on the vacation the wife gets a strange kind of sickness and they go back to Budapest for a cure. While the wife is in the hospital, the husband visits his family. This is quite banal. However the scenario was written by Peter Esterhazy, one of the most influential contemporary writers in Hungary. His style uses a lot of surrealism but in a way that profoundly illuminates the reality. In this film, the reality is an atomized society where the so-called communist ideals are nowhere so everyday people are fully disoriented. This situation is depicted by the main character, the husband. As a typical example, he is not really capable of coping with the responsibility of a family, we see every now and then his suppressed sexual desires, etc. There is no message in this film, it just depicts a generation without ideals, without aims. The husband is just adrift with any impulse he gets from his surroundings, just as the whole society in Hungary - even today. This is not an easy film to watch though it is very entertaining if you are familiar with Peter Esterhazy's style. Non Hungarians can also enjoy the film provided they have some basic knowledge of Easter European societies.

Se7en (1995)

Excellent craft work but not art

[3/10 · 28 August 2007]

Watching how the two detectives (a beginner and an experienced one) are pursuing a very intelligent serial killer is extremely well played and directed. Alone their interactions during the investigation is worth seeing the movie. The whole film is very much a male-type story except the character of the wife of the young detective. The appearance of the feminine character gives a human flavor to the work of the detectives transforming their male-like competition into elderly-young cooperation. Why I rate only 3 out of 10? Because the authors do not seem to understand the fundamental concept of the film, the 7 cardinal sins. The 7 cardinal sins are not actually sins themselves but are the source of other sins. Example: a married man seeing a pretty woman can feel desire to have her, but this is because men are biologically designed like this. If he acts to have the woman despite being married then he commits sins, but this sin is called adultery. So, in fact, there is one voluntary sinner in the film: the serial killer. The others - as the senior detective explains - just fail to work towards a balanced life, towards being able to love. The conclusion, that "life is ugly but let's work to make it better" is therefore flawed and makes the film a technically excellent work without the spirit that distinguishes craft work from true art.

Finding Neverland (2004)

Ladies perform superbly, Depp destroys the movie

[6/10 · 7 April 2006]

Not being a fan of Peter Pan I can say that I did not have any prejudices for this film - except the I expected nice performance from Kate Winslet. In my opinion the Depp just could not handle his role. The interaction between the ladies is a story full of drama and a good reflection of motivations in society. And they seem to understand it and play wonderfully. The boys are acting okay, not very good, not very bad. Why writing about actors not the story? For me the story about Neverland was not interesting at all. However the play of the three ladies is a very strong point of the film justifying to go to see it once in a life.

The Sorrow and the Pity (1969)

Clear your mind from all the messed-up history books

[10/10 · 20 February 2006]

For me, this film gave a clear picture of how really it has been those times. Still there is a tremendous bias in public opinion to consider fascism much worse than Communism. Well, as this film as tells: for many people, fascism was adopted as product (fear of) of communism. The film brings up both sides with extremely exciting interviews. You see how some horrible events were wiped from the memories, and you also see other people who have deeply reflected on their experiences, learned from them. The problem is today, that we are again witnessing a "do this to prevent that from happening" instead of paying attention to and addressing real problems. Well, learn from the past and watch the film. Or you will re-experience the past.