paul-1541 Reviews

Read You Like a Book (2006)

A little gem of peoples lives touching

[8/10 · 11 January 2016]

Wonderful movie where ordinary lives meet, entangle, get twisted, get resolved, meet, wonder. It's just a bookshop you might know and walk in regularly and meet your fellow human beings. The story is not important I believe in this movie. It's the interaction of lives.

Also the book is not that important, it is merely a means of touching people and let their lives progress. But this story is also about daring to be courageous and defy presumed higher authorities. It's about doing good, being good, sometimes in spite of the consequences.

It's just a little gem with true, believable characters which is a lot more than I can say of most US blockbuster movies. So the acting is maybe accordingly quite ordinary, i.e. very good, because if you are able to portray a genuine flesh and blood person, wow, you are good.

Still Life (I) (2013)

The large touching effect of a minimalistic approach

[9/10 · 16 January 2015]

Absolutely brilliant little film that holds on to the small things in life in every aspect with superb subdued acting, colours and sound. Almost as a mime John May shows his compassion with his fellow human begins, no matter who they are, or rather were. There are several superb surprises along the way, among them fascinating encounters with relations to the deceased. For me as a Dutch Anglofile it is wonderful to see and recognize so many aspects of British life, London, brickwork, the sea, fish & chip shops, trains and many more. Just for that it is a joy to watch. For me it has an impact that couldn't be greater thanks to so many little gems. Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant!