jeanserge21 Reviews

Candy Candy (1976–1979)

A cartoon for the whole family

[9/10 · 26 November 2006]

Most people of my generation watched Candy Candy when they were still children. Howvr, I saw it recently for the first time. Even if I am now an adult, I agree with all the commentaries. Candy, Candy is indeed one of the vest cartoons ever made. I would like to emphasize something few people said. The soundtrack is beautiful and perfectly conveys the different moods and feelings. It was made by Takeo Watanabe.

The story is very beautiful too! A young girl orphan and her adventures in two family mainly, from her birth to her 18 year-old approximatively. The story focuses mainly on her two loves : Anthony, a fair-haired boy, who dies falling from his horse, and Terry, a brown young man. Of course living this love is made difficult by the events, some people (like Eliza) and so on... Th end is a little sad since some characters had died like Anthony, or Allister (Candy's friend whose plane is shot down during WWI) whereas Terry had to marry another girl. However, it is quite optimistic since Candy is still very young and has all her life forward.

There is also an alternative version, the Italian one; In Italy, the official ending was substituted by an Italian one, a happy end with Candy and Terry reuniting. So this is a cartoon for the whole family from 2 to 102.

Black Sunday (1960)

Interesting film

[7/10 · 26 September 2006]

This filM is clearly a myth among horror film. So it should be seen by those interested in this thematic... Many things can be said. When I first saw this film in 2006, I got disappointed. The pace is really too slow even during the key moments, underlined by a very slow although beautiful music... The acting is correct but not exceptionnal and sometimes it fails to convey a tragic feeling to the viewer... Moreover, I never felt troubled or frightened, which is very strange since it is a horror film.

However, I gave it 7 out of 10 because we cannot see it with modern eyes without thinking back in the sixties... This period was surely more soft : so some things could not be shown. Moreover, the film has great qualities : the picture is fantastic and Mario Bava plays very well with darkness and light. The music is great too... Some special effects were, I think, real exploit in this time, like regenerating the witch's skull.

Around the World with Willy Fog (1983)

One of my favorite cartoons

[9/10 · 25 August 2006]

This cartoon is one of my favorite one. I saw it when a child at the Spanish TV in the eighties. Of course, it is adapted from Jules Verne's novel with animals. Phileas Fog is a lion, his wife a nice female cat and so on. But the adaptation introduces new characters and in particular a gangster who will follow Willy Fog (Phileas Fog) to make him fail in his mission. We also find a new character as a little mouse, who is Rigodon's friend (Rigodon is Passe-Partout in the novel). This makes the cartoon even more interesting than the original novel. Indeed, when I read the book I was highly disappointed! Jules Verne should have seen the cartoon before writing his book. Moreover, the cartoon also introduces very nice songs during all the series. I heard these songs and the emotion is still the same.

Verano azul (1981–1982)

A good and mature family series

[9/10 · 16 August 2006]

I was born in 1979 and probably grew up watching this series many times since I watched Spanish TV while living in North Africa during 18 years. This is a classical series of TVE 1 (the Spanish television). It is worth seeing by children and youngsters to discover a pure vision of love, friendship and nice adventures. But adults will also enjoy seeing it. Indeed, even if the main protagonists are children or teenagers, very serious topics are evocated, in particular the death, with Chanquete'death at the end of the series... I remember how sad I felt when seeing the scene of the burial... But growing is also realizing that death exists... So we must see it. Moreover, it is now available in DVD...

The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (1970)

A great adaptation from a freat novel

[10/10 · 23 July 2006]

I first heard a radio adaptation from the Garden of the Finzi Contini and afer that read the book. I thought it would be difficult to make an adaptation to cinema. Indeed, the book is above all psychological (or romantic in the literary meaning of the 19th century)i.e the narrator describing his inner world and his sufferings...

However, Vittorio de Sica succeeded in expressing this without using monologue, without making a too slow picture... The music is very good too... the images are wonderful...

I must correct some commentaries Malnate, Micol's lover is not a fascist but a communist... There is also a difference with the book : in the book we do not know for sure that Micol and Malnate were lovers, it is an assumption whereas it is an evidence in the film...

In spite of this differences, this picture deserves a 10 out of 10!