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zoroastre
Reviews
La passion de Jeanne d'Arc (1928)
best acting I ever saw
I was introduced to this film in a cinema class as one of the greatest films of all times, so I watched it...
WOW! OK everything about this film is incredibly close to perfection: the shots, the montage, all the supporting cast (of note: Eugene Sylvain as Cauchon and Antonin Artaud), etc.
Yet it's all dwarfed by Renée-Jeanne (Maria) Falconetti interpretation which I say with confidence is one the top 5 thespian performance ever... I don't have words to describe her intensity, we were a few people watching it and everybody was staggered.
A must for all cinema lovers, immediately after I checked her filmography, unfortunately her life was plagued with misfortunes and she died too early, leaving only a few other smaller performances.
Reality Bites (1994)
that scene bewildered me
-- SPOILER -- When Lelaine comes back angry and disappointed from the "premier" of her show and Troy declares his love and they have sex, I had an uneasy feeling, the scene is presented as romantic with romantic lighting, romantic guitar, etc. (and I bet many people probably taught "how sweet"), but basically this is a scene where a person in a momentary state of weakness is emotionally pushed to do something.
Now I don't say this scene depicts a full fledge SA, neither that the Troy character is "bad" (you don't have to have "bad" intentions to do regrettable things), nor that this kind of situation is not realistic (cause it is)... what bothered me the most I think was the choice of music, it should probably have been more dissonant, not some mellow mushy guitar.
am I the only one ill-at-ease with this scene? Sorry for any misspell, English is my second language.
American Virgin (2009)
what a waste of time
I give a 2: the image is focus, sounds match lips and lighting OK.
Other than that it's a TOTAL WASTE OF TIME, one of the worst movie I ever saw!! (and I don't use that often), even if you can see it for free (wich was my case, I won't get in the details) the investment is too high!
- It's suppose to be a comedy: didn't laugh once; - the scenario is... plain stupid and sooo predictable; - the characters are... walking stereotypes; - the "message" is... ridiculously presented;
what else? boobs, basically this looks to me like an exploitation film.
Hollywood as lost all creativity when exec approve such projects.
Land of the Dead (2005)
class warfare amidst civilization clash
OK this may be a little of the wall for some people, but since I didn't saw any review explaining this, I feel compelled to write.
Precision: I'm no fan of horror/zombies movies so I won't rate and this review is not about the quality of the movie. I've watched it because I heard it was a representation of "class warfare" (Weber, Engel, etc.) and "civilization clash" (mostly Samuel Huntington), and indeed it is!
Civilization clash:
The zombies: illustration of the the "barbarians" of Samuel Huntington, at first hypnotized by the fireworks (the glitter of civilization, for example the biggest export of the US is it's cultural industry (Hollywood films)), but then they become more and more resentful to have there land pillaged and become more and more organized "they are learning" and violent and invade "civilization" (the city). In the end Romero has some sympathy for them when the hero says to to the girl about to shoot "No, they're just looking for a place to go... just like we do".
Just to clarify: I'm personally not an adherent to Huntington's theory, I think civilization clash is a self fulfilling prophecy but that's a whole other discussion...
Then class warfare:
I'll pass quickly the low classes: they try to survive, totally disposable, etc. Some who achieve "class consciousness" try to mobilize them but there voice is lost amongst the peddlers of faith (the "opiate of the masses"), at the end they get their chance to build a new civilization (witch the hero doesn't join, see later)
In the tower (below top level) you have the "petite bourgeoisie" sunken in consumerism, they are the "poster child" for the lower classes and are necessary to maintain the system with their "petty authority" otherwise the "emperor would be naked" (top class), but when trouble arrives, they are disposable too.
Then there is the character of John Leguizamo (Cholo): the man who thinks he can move to the tower (become a bourgeois) if he abides to the top class and do their dirty jobs, just to realize that he's been used like the rest (people are locked in their social class yet the system must maintain the illusion of class mobility: that if you work hard enough, you can succeed (become rich, respected, etc.)) and, even though he totally scorn them, when he revolts he cannot avoid becoming a zombie (a "barbarian") why? because of his lack of virtue: he's totally selfish, so when he leave's civilization nothing can prevent him from falling in the chaos.
Of course the top class is represented by Kaufman, a paternalistic figure "the responsibilities are all mine, it was my ingenuity that took an old world and turn it into something new..." that wants to perpetuate the system and sees any release of privilege as dangerous "we don't negotiate with terrorists". He also knows the old adage "panem et circenses": "I keep people off the streets by giving them games and vices witch cost me money" (television anyone?). There would be more stuff to say but one last interesting point (that I won't explain, too long, for details see the book "How Mussolini triumphed" & other) : like most top classes he also deals with/use to his end the underworld (the "Lumpenproletariat": Chihuahua & co.).
The hero is somewhere in the middle, he doesn't believe in the system and tries to quit it (the city) yet he avoids becoming a zombie; he's virtuous; a freeman who respects others/help them, therefore he walks the thin line between civilization an chaos. This is the big twist since this way he also represents some aspect of America's founding myth: at the end the small group quits the "old regime" (the "city" (America?) now corrupt, they go to Canada: the new frontier, like the pilgrims on the Mayflower who wanted to quit the "corrupt Old World" and create a new society of freemen).
There would be some stuff to say about secondary characters, but I have enough...
If anyone from sociology/political sciences/philo/history/... as anything to add (or to correct), i'd be glad to hear about it.
Hope this is informative to some, ciao,
Jean-Pierre:
monsanto.is.evil@nospam@gmail.com
Les invasions barbares (2003)
You have to see the prequel to understand this one
"Les invasions barbares" is the sequel of a movie Denys Arcand made about 18 years ago called "Le declin de l'empire américain". It's better for the understanding of this one if you have seen the first one, which I humbly think is better than the sequel.
Denys Arcand is himself an historian, he earned is master degree from the University of Montréal in Quebec (not France). I think in these 2 movies he tries to depict the fact that every civilization when it become rich and powerful, it become inevitably corrupt, because power and riches attract greedy men (or the greedy side of every man) and progressively when the citizens become more and more interested in their own selfish pleasure and less and less interested in the affairs of the "state" the fall of the civilization is irreversible...
the prequel is definitly a must-see
tchao JP