First of all, this is an excellent movie. Being a fan of alternatives to the US box office cinema culture , i was blessed with discovering some awesome pieces of modern Asian cinema art, and this is definitely one of them. Most of the average movie watchers are not going to like this , I promise ( man, I sound like a movie snob ), but there is always the Hollywood remake! It is slow paced , carefully built, and unlike other horror movies , the characters are well analyzed and the director made a huge effort to tell a story , and not to make a compilation of scary scenes. And that even made me think that it is not really a horror movie , more of a human , social drama in which the director uses the supernatural element to put the spotlight on the main theme of the movie ( at least in my opinion ) - the love of a parent for his child. I mean , come on , it is so simple , the end of the movie ( even though soooooo masterfully crafted to make you think ) says it all - the final line that is. I usually do not this but now i am forced - SPOILERS :first , another apology for writing this , movies were invented for people to see them and not to read about them - so ONLY FOR PEOPLE WHO SAW THE FILM AND Didn't UNDERSTAND IT WELL; second, the film is supposed to make you think and make your own conclusions , so be free to disagree with me; and now my view - she left with the ghost girl for only one reason - to protect her own child. People , I am tired of comments like she was obsessed with the ghost girl and loved her more then her own, you now that explanation sucks! She was INTERESTED about what happened to the girl that drowned because she was in this situation in her life where her own daughter was everything she had - her worries about her own child created a model in her mind of a little girl that needs to be taken care of, and guess who fits in that model! So , knowing that the ghost girl wouldn't leave them alone , she sacrificed herself for her daughter , so she can go on with her life free of these scary things that were happening to them. She made the right decision , didn't she ? Anyway , go see the film. I don't know about the remake, but i know about this one - watch it with open mind and think about it - you will be surprised. And at the end ,only to congratulate Mr. Nakata for the thing he has accomplished - he used a ghost story to paint a strong emotional picture ( or a I like to say - he used the dark water to paint the waterfall of life ) and created a go-and -see movie.
Reviews
3 Reviews
Fight Club
(1999)
Fight on
29 July 2005
Every once in a while, the giant Hollywood production companies manage to produce something beyond a box office , money making, trend setting and "watch me everybody" movie - they produce a piece of art. And if this piece of art can speak to people openly, if it can make them think freely and create a emotional turn-on every single time their senses unite with it, it becomes a Cult. How else can you describe Fight Club but a cult movie? I got one - a cry for revolution movie. It goes in open war with everything we accept for a material reality. It FIGHTS the big lie of the modern society that is all around us. It hates every single cell of the organism of todays life - even itself ( a hit motion picture). Yeah, my friends, prepare for the fight, it is about to begin.How do you start a revolution? You begin with yourself - you must free yourself first. You must lose the chains and get back to the origin , to your nature. Then you find out that other people feel exactly the same. Their energy is also spent on things that are not important, day after day. They too , deep inside, have the urge to FIGHT. They , however , do not know how to define this instinct , the burning sensation in every single molecule of their bodies. You teach them, help them to break free and then lead them. Where? To anarchy? No. To God. To the place they want to be. To the higher source of energy that the human being can become one with. Forget about everything you now think is a priority. It is not. Come on , it is not that hard. Just close your eyes. Do you feel angry? Think you are waisting your life , and I mean every second of it? Something tells you that this can be it, I can spend the rest of my life like this? I know you do. One of the greatest powers of the man is the ability to make a choice. Make yours. This movie does not suggest you should go out and fight other people, you know that. It suggest you to FIGHT, and fight your way. Wake up, go out and fight. Join the revolution. Open your mind and think. After all , it is your life. Start living it. Your way.
We laugh and cry at the same time in the Balkan
1 June 2005
Being from Macedonia, a former Yugoslavian republic, I know that my perspective on this movie (and on the entire Yugoslavian cinematography )is slightly different from the perspective of a viewer that doesn't come from this part of the world. The environment in which the movie is located, the same environment that produced the director, the actors and the movie itself is very familiar to me.Perhaps that means that my views on this movie are biased, one sided and influenced by local traditions in film-making and life traditions in general.Nevertheless,in the next few lines I will express those views, because I really want to share with you, my friends, the pleasure that this movie brought to me. One more thing - people that don't speak Serbian can not experience the full flavor of the movie, for there is no translator that can transform the real meanings of some lines in the movie in any other languages. The movie itself is a bitter - sweet story of a free spirit a man can possess no matter how the society can try to put chains on him. Or vice-versa? How the society can put chains on a man , no matter how free spirited he is? Indeed, this idea of the authors is realized in a form of a brilliant con-texture of hilarious comical( satirical)scenes that honestly will make you roll on the flour laughing. There are characters in this movie that deserve to have special movies dedicated to them (as leads)- and I especially mean MILE- played by Gordan Diklic- a character that I would recommend to Adam Sandler, Chris Rock and Jim Carrey to gather one evening and watch and learn from. If there is a national cinematography that can paint humor on a movie screen while telling a sad or perhaps a tragic story( and this comes from a fan of the British black humor )it is the former Yugoslavian one.The strong artistic essence of the movie comes from the power of the entire crew did NOT CARE IF THE MOVIE WOULD BE A SUCCESS, meaning they did their job because they loved what they were doing.I guess that means that people in this part of the world and in this period of time had HEARTS, my friends, and I mean hearts the size of a mountain.The positive spirit is in the air all along the "ride" , even though we all know how the "ride" finished. Mixed emotions does indeed this film bring, but I guess we , the people of the Balkan, can laugh and cry at the same time. And it is not a easy thing to do, my friends. Watch the movie, experience one rich culture , one way of life that is so vivid in this movie. It can touch your soul.Really.
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