For an action thriller it's a very good film. Plot is solid. Characters are developed well. All actors play well. Personally, I was stuck to my seat. Albeit in some points I couldn't catch the routine, for example about the American passport. I didn't get how Jason or Heather managed to get the passport. Even considering some intervals that had slow pace, I don't understand why some people say it's a bad film. I think it's a good sequel to the original trilogy too. The only regret I have is that Nicky is dead and we won't see Julia Stiles anymore in the next Bourne films. The only reason I don't give it a 10 is that some sequences and characters can be omitted, while some necessary information are not given.
Reviews
9 Reviews
"If you like this film" call a psychologist
15 August 2016
This film(?) is very bitter and depressive. The writer tries to imitate "Sin City" to show Iran is completely corrupted. I wonder positive reviews, because there is no plot in this movie whatsoever. On top of that, as a devout Muslim I was offended to see that this film ridiculed Hijab and showed the main negative character (vampire) wears black robe that is generally worn by Muslim women in Iran, and even worse, in a poster visible in one scene, we could read "If you look like this, call ... (telephone number of a psychologist)". This movie could have been summarized in a 15-minute short. I think the story pace was very slow. The film maker should train more, and try not to offend anyone.
A Serbian Film
(2010)
A Special Film just for Special Audience
31 March 2016
Warning: Spoilers
1- If you are a porn-offender don't watch this film and don't leave a review. 2- If you are easily disturbed (by films like Salo, Cannibal Holocaust, ...) don't watch this film and don't leave a review. Take my advice serious, because what you see will stick to your mind for a long time. 3- What are you expecting from a sociological film that concentrates on a defect (in this case, pornography) ? 4- All actors did their best. 5- It's very well-directed. 6- The ending is somewhat surprising. I expected a nice apology by Milos and returning to normal family life. But suddenly... What was his son's sin? 7-Yes! This is cinema !! 8- In my opinion, the weakest point of this film is that the movie which was made by Vukmir doesn't have a real plot and its scenes have no logical connection.
In the Realm of the Senses
(1976)
A bad combination of sick eroticism and weak drama
14 May 2015
1- Drama and porn are two completely distinct genres of cinema that should not be combined. If you want to show love-making, you have to simulate it and not to dive into details, because it diverts audience's attention and corrupts the logical conjunction of scenes. 2- The romantic(?) relationship shown in this film, as the characters confess, is an "obsession", not a true love. This kind of passion was disgusting to me. Love is supposed to adorn our lives. Acts like oral sex or inserting a dildo or an egg(!) into a vagina are not arisen from a healthy mind. They are just sadistic and non-appropriate for drama. 3- The scene depicting nude children was questionable. What was director's purpose? It just slowed down the progress of plot, because it had no relation to the story. Also, there is a general rule: Do not use children in erotic scenes. It's meaningless. 4- The rain scene was childish. Why would someone be afraid of an umbrella and think it is a ghost?! Is this funny? Does it help the audience to strengthen their emotional relationships with the characters? I don't think so. 5- The ending is ambiguous. What happens to Saba after being arrested for murdering her lover? The narrator should have been explained it.
Maid in Sweden
(1971)
Weak
13 May 2015
Unfortunately I wasted my time downloading (by Iranian Internet with 60 KB/s of speed and using VPN) and watching this film (?). First of all, the plot is very awkward and simple. Sex scenes are artificial and boring and long. You cannot replace story with scenes of a girl undressing or taking a bath. Also, the ending is pointless. I discovered something ridiculous: Every time a man wants to rape the girl, she resists at first, but suddenly she submits herself! This is not "credible" or "logical", which is the main condition of a standard scene in professional cinema. Only if you are a voyeur, I would recommend it to you.
Caligula
(1979)
Real sex, fake story
4 December 2013
It's better to read Caligula's biography in Wikipedia. He wasn't evil in his first years of reign. He was wise and people loved him. But after some time he became insane and he did some unrighteous deeds. But this movie is too exaggerative. Excessive insist on sex (which most of them were not based on truth) harmed the drama and lowered it to a B-movie, in spite of famous actors. For me, it was a waste of time. I don't recommend it to anyone. But be careful! The sex scenes are really done and explicitly shown. Porn offenders must not watch this. Instead they can watch the R-rated 90-min version and you miss nothing, because sexual scenes have nothing to do with the main plot.
Island of Death
(1976)
Typical B movie
21 November 2013
Yes. It's a B-movie. The plot is weak and it's only nude scenes that keep most people on their seats. The ending is disappointing and trivial. The so-called gore and violent scenes are too artificial and amateurishly produced. If you are looking for erotic material, this is not your film, because it does not show too much. If you are looking for violence, this is not yours, because the murder scenes are childish. If you are looking for a great drama, this is not yours, because of the awful story. All in all, if you're rich enough, yet buying its DVD is not recommended, because you'll regret your wasted money. If you download the pirated version, make sure your Internet bandwidth is not consumed !
The Past
(2013)
Satisfied
26 June 2013
As an Iranian, I have respect for Farhadi and I expected a marvelous film, and it was! He once again proved that a film can be watchable even without visual arts, thrilling action scenes or sexual materials. The structure of the story is somewhat similar to A Separation: two parallel stories of two families. Several twists and surprises convince you to stick to your seat to the end. There's no excessive dialog. You have to listen carefully and memorize all the details. It has a very interesting ending; even when the cast was shown I was watching what would happen next(!) and the audience were leaving the cinema while talking about the open ending. I have planned to watch this masterpiece several times. I give it 10 stars because it deserves this.
A Separation
(2011)
Timeless Tragedy
25 January 2012
A Separation is so deeply moving, so human, that it feels downright blasphemous to be enthusiastic about it. I wish I could write a review with just the words "go see this movie" in it. But since I can't do that, you should consider the rest of this review as nothing but context.
A Separation is an Iranian movie with three large female roles. It's the sort of description that might make you think it's a political allegory, or at least a movie with some pretty hefty subtext. Nothing could be further from the truth. None of the characters in the movie worry about politics. They have their own problems to deal with. This might have become hypocritical in an Iranian movie, but it actually works as a strong point. The characters don't represent their gender, social class or religion. They just represent themselves, and are plenty busy with that. It makes the outcome of the movie purely based on the actions of persons, not on the side of any one issue the filmmaker wants to impose on us. Let's not forget, after all, that even some of the most repressed people in the world still have to find their own ways to get along with one another. A government can only set the conditions under which people have to live. With what kind of misery the citizens fill in the blanks is up to them. Nader and Termeh return home one day to find the old man alone in the house. He has fallen from his bed and is tied to the bedstand. He doesn't seem to be breathing. Termeh loses it, while Nader quickly puts him back on the bed. He is still alive. Razieh sneaks into the house. Nader flips out. He throws Razieh and her daughter out the door and slams it shut. He walks back to his father, but then hears noises outside and checks what is happening. Razieh has fallen down the stairs, and some neighbors are helping her up. Nader returns to his father. Later that day, Simin calls him. He rings at her mothers door, who looks at him with a look of ill-hidden contempt. Nader tries to start talking, but Simin cuts him off and tells him that Raziehs husband had called and insulted her. She asks him to explain himself. He says he doesn't know what she is talking about. She tells him Razieh is in the hospital. They rush there. Razieh has had a miscarriage.
At this point we've finally reached the central conflict of the rest of the movie. Was it or was it not Nader's fault? It might sound like a simple question of guilt, but everyone involved views the situation differently. Nader wants to protect Termeh. Simin doesn't know whether to trust Nader anymore and wants to find out the truth. Razieh is heartbroken at the loss of her child. Raziehs husband is unemployed, depressed and ill-tempered, and the loss of his son feels like a final draw to him. Each one of them tries to handle the situation as well as they can, but how well can a situation like this be handled anyway? Morality is a lot more complicated when the future of your family is at stake. The lives of people who just want to be left in peace to sort out their personal problems get entangled further and further. Even the judge seems to find the situation exasperating. Although the atmosphere of A Separation is something I've never seen on the screen, it still felt familiar. I've seen it in other places; At the family dining table during my parents divorce. In restaurants where couples at other tables got into a fight. In the company of old people who recount the tales of woe from their lives. A Separation snubs the melodramatic for something a lot more direct: the truth. It doesn't rely on the sort of tension that gets you to the edge of your seat. It works by means of different kind of tension. The sort that slowly builds in your shoulders during a time of stress, the sort you don't even notice until it's too late. The kind of tension that can simmer in you for days, months, even years, before making you explode. The tension of life.
You have read over a thousand words at this point, and I have written and scraped many more. And there is so much more that can be said about the movie. How good the screenplay is, and how great the acting. How beautiful the Farsi dialogues sounded. How much the movie resonated with me personally. But all of that is secondary. The main thing is that this movie works because it's real. Go see it. It will stay with you for the rest of your life.
A Separation is an Iranian movie with three large female roles. It's the sort of description that might make you think it's a political allegory, or at least a movie with some pretty hefty subtext. Nothing could be further from the truth. None of the characters in the movie worry about politics. They have their own problems to deal with. This might have become hypocritical in an Iranian movie, but it actually works as a strong point. The characters don't represent their gender, social class or religion. They just represent themselves, and are plenty busy with that. It makes the outcome of the movie purely based on the actions of persons, not on the side of any one issue the filmmaker wants to impose on us. Let's not forget, after all, that even some of the most repressed people in the world still have to find their own ways to get along with one another. A government can only set the conditions under which people have to live. With what kind of misery the citizens fill in the blanks is up to them. Nader and Termeh return home one day to find the old man alone in the house. He has fallen from his bed and is tied to the bedstand. He doesn't seem to be breathing. Termeh loses it, while Nader quickly puts him back on the bed. He is still alive. Razieh sneaks into the house. Nader flips out. He throws Razieh and her daughter out the door and slams it shut. He walks back to his father, but then hears noises outside and checks what is happening. Razieh has fallen down the stairs, and some neighbors are helping her up. Nader returns to his father. Later that day, Simin calls him. He rings at her mothers door, who looks at him with a look of ill-hidden contempt. Nader tries to start talking, but Simin cuts him off and tells him that Raziehs husband had called and insulted her. She asks him to explain himself. He says he doesn't know what she is talking about. She tells him Razieh is in the hospital. They rush there. Razieh has had a miscarriage.
At this point we've finally reached the central conflict of the rest of the movie. Was it or was it not Nader's fault? It might sound like a simple question of guilt, but everyone involved views the situation differently. Nader wants to protect Termeh. Simin doesn't know whether to trust Nader anymore and wants to find out the truth. Razieh is heartbroken at the loss of her child. Raziehs husband is unemployed, depressed and ill-tempered, and the loss of his son feels like a final draw to him. Each one of them tries to handle the situation as well as they can, but how well can a situation like this be handled anyway? Morality is a lot more complicated when the future of your family is at stake. The lives of people who just want to be left in peace to sort out their personal problems get entangled further and further. Even the judge seems to find the situation exasperating. Although the atmosphere of A Separation is something I've never seen on the screen, it still felt familiar. I've seen it in other places; At the family dining table during my parents divorce. In restaurants where couples at other tables got into a fight. In the company of old people who recount the tales of woe from their lives. A Separation snubs the melodramatic for something a lot more direct: the truth. It doesn't rely on the sort of tension that gets you to the edge of your seat. It works by means of different kind of tension. The sort that slowly builds in your shoulders during a time of stress, the sort you don't even notice until it's too late. The kind of tension that can simmer in you for days, months, even years, before making you explode. The tension of life.
You have read over a thousand words at this point, and I have written and scraped many more. And there is so much more that can be said about the movie. How good the screenplay is, and how great the acting. How beautiful the Farsi dialogues sounded. How much the movie resonated with me personally. But all of that is secondary. The main thing is that this movie works because it's real. Go see it. It will stay with you for the rest of your life.
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