Change Your Image
AK-16
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
Il silenzio dei prosciutti (1994)
The Maitre d's ball bearings
As bad as this film may be at least it's not a Wayans travesty. The movie seems to have its own rhythm where you think it's the worst thing ever made and then one line, or cameo, will redeem it and you're pulled back in. The summary line of this review is an example.
Yes, 'the lady in blue' line is incredibly lame and the visual gags, such as the orchestra playing the score, are clichéd but the film has a reckless charm and Dom DeLuise can't help but be great in anything he does.
I'd recommend this to no one in particular. Perhaps, if like me, you were ill in bed and the remote control was out of reach and you were too weak to call for help then watch this film.
AD/BC: A Rock Opera (2004)
Perhaps the most perfectly realised retelling of the nativity put to screen.
This extraordinary work, first shown on BBC 3 in 2004, is a dramatised narrative of a play originally hosted in the 1970s concerning the birth of Christ, from the oft-neglected viewpoint of the Inn Keeper who is struggling to make a living in the harsh economic climate prevalent at the time.
Through the medium of rock opera we witness the Inn Keeper's struggle, , "running an inn is just mumbo and jive" he tells himself, his struggle is not only economic in nature as there is rival motel owner who has designs on his wife. The motel owner is a devious man consumed with jealousy, he also wants the inn keeper's inn, or as he sees it his "slice of the pie". The inn keeper's wife can not resist the wealth and charismatic good-looks of the motel owner and leaves the inn keeper.
This struggle takes place against a parallel sub-plot concerning the birth of the Nazarene, Jesus. His father, Joseph Christ, opines the miraculous nature of his wife's impregnation in his opening salvo with the verse: "Christ I swear I never touched her". His confusion is obvious for all to see, however he still manages to escort his wife (who we never see presumably due to issues surrounding iconoclasm) to the inn where he meets the inn keeper who has just lost his wife.
Although Joe's wife is heavily pregnant and he is burdened with his own troubles he still has the emotional breadth to offer sympathy to the inn keeper and his unthankful task "It's a tuf-fuc-u-pay-shun in the nation". There is then a brief montage sequence detailing the role of bed-and-breakfast owners throughout time. I felt this lent a connection with the present day, it's all-too-easy to think of this story as having happened in another era but this simple technique marries the past with the present.
In the final act the ensemble gather to witness the birth of Jesus, an event so profound that it triggers a spontaneous epiphany in the protagonists. The motel owner tells the inn keeper's wife to return to the inn keeper; the inn keeper sees himself for what he is, or was, a hard-drinking and emotionally distant man and the inn keeper's wife rediscovers her love for the inn keeper.
The cast and chorus, who I must say were magnificent throughout the production, end on a very uplifting note singing the praises of "making love".
I am quite serious when I say this is one of the greatest things I have ever seen on the BBC. Although the wardrobe and sound quality sometimes make it feel dated the amazing cast raise the production above the obviously limited budget and present us with a unique angle on the greatest story ever told. The songs are also good.
In closing I would ask that a DVD release be made available, I am fed up and tired of telling people to see this when there is no actual means of doing so.
10/10