This is not a film you think too much about, it's a film that makes you feel. Though, a few things can be said about how it makes you feel. The story is very simple; a man living in poverty during post-war Italy gets a job hanging up posters. For this he needs a bicycle, something that in itself is a big investment for his family due to their economic situation. Unfortunately his bike is stolen on his first day. This leads to several smaller incidents where the man in his son walks around in the city to search for the bike and the thief who stole it. What makes this film is its simplicity. It's concentrated depiction of a hopeless situation. This is one of those films that will really make you feel the desperation of our protagonists. It's empathetic and gives a certain insight of humans situated in a desperate setting.
Reviews
4 Reviews
The Big Lebowski
(1998)
What makes this film so brilliant?
20 July 2017
Warning: Spoilers
If someone would ever pitch this film to me in a universe where I had not seen this film, I would've probably thought of it like a small, peculiar little film, that probably would've had my interest, but with not much more going for it. Never would I have conscidered a film like that be that kind of a film I would conscider one of my personal top ten favorite films of all time. So what is it that makes it so lovable? To be honest, I didn't truly get it the first time I saw it, that can be because how young I was the first time I saw it. I have though grown very fond of it later on, for now to be conscidered one of my all time favorites, and I think it has all to do with the deliverance. The acting is great, the scenario is ridiculous and the plot is overly complicated, yet that's the reason the film works that well. I am the type of person who loves roundedness in storytelling, where conflicts are resolved in a peculiar manner. This film offers this in a sense, yet also not at all. I was very confused about the ending the first time I saw the film because there are several story lines that are never further explored as the credits roll. I didn't really like this way to end the film the first time I saw it, but I have realized over the time how brilliant it really is. First of all because of our main character, Jeffrey "The Dude" Lebowski. We are following his story, yet as all of our stories, it will include the story of others. Throughout the film we meet sorts of different people, whom The Dude has something to do with, we get a glimpse of their stories, but not the resolution of them, this may be because it's not something The Dude actually cares about, because the rest of those stories are not something that involves him. To quote the dude, quoting Lenin; "You look for the person who will benefit, and, uh, you know what I'm trying to say."
Pather Panchali
(1955)
A great watch
30 May 2014
The film follows a relative poor family through their up's and downs somewhere in India early in the 20th century. The family consists of a father who's a writer who has been in debt for years, without much success in paying it down. A mother filled with responsibility for the house and her rather careless daughter that the neighbors keeps making complaints about. Then we have Apu, the younger brother and the protagonist. What I personally found the most appealing in the film was the natural setting and feel to it. It's by far a more simplistic world, yet very authentic. In some way it also gave me a glimpse of nostalgia, just not my own.
I Stand Alone
(1998)
Vauge summary of my thoughts revolving the film.
29 May 2014
Warning: Spoilers
This is the 3rd Noe film I've seen, and like it's earlier films it left me with this bitter, depraving, yet fascinated impression. It's an intense film, stylistically shot, filled with inner dialog of the protagonist all the way through. The interesting part to me is the way the protagonist was like most of the time. A good story doesn't need a likable protagonist. this man is a misogynist, homophobic, racist, aggressive being. Pretty much what goes as not likable in my book, but at the same time I had my moments of pure empathy. That's what art should be about,people being people. And that's the greatest beauty of the film. SPOILER: The ending of the film really stirs it all up pretty well. Where we go from one of his "Taxi Driver esque" fantasies where he kills his daughter and himself, a very shocking film in itself, to a truly heartbreaking scene where he tells how much he loves his daughter. Then I get reminded of the incest part, leaving me off real confused of what to make of it. I will also draw another line with the killing of the baby earlier in the film and fantasies of killing his daughter later in the film. "Living is a selfish act. Surviving is a genetic law."
Tell Your Friends