amylil Reviews

'O re (1989)

Good historical fun

[10/10 · 30 August 2004]

I've been a big fan of Giancarlo Giannini ever since I first saw him in the original "Swept Away" (a movie Madonna later murdered). He is quite possibly one of the greatest actors Italy has produced in the last 50 years. In this movie, he plays the very gentle last King of the Two Sicilies, who seems resigned to his exile. His wife, played by one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen, is not so content, and devotes a lot of her time to forming plots to get them back on their former throne. Running in the background to the main story, are their obsessions with the heir that was never born, a political mistake, according to her, while he's convinced it's haunting him.

It plays a little like a period movie, but has more heart and character than most, and sometimes feels like we're getting an intimate look at these historical people in a soap opera kind of way. All in all, a great movie for those who love period movies, Italian history, or a great story.

Burnt Offerings (1976)

BIG FAN

[9/10 · 30 August 2004]

I've been a big fan of this movie for years, ever since I was about 12. And I've watched as time and time again people have complained about this movie, and I just didn't get it. Now I'm grown up and I see the flaws, but I still don't care. I love Oliver Reed and Karen Black and don't think it could have been acted better. Watching her grow more an more attached to the house is very interesting. The best part I thought was when she surprises her son who drops a crystal bowl that smashes on the floor, and she kneels there, holding the fragments in her hands, sobbing hysterically, almost like a child had died. The boy, Lee Montgomery, I've never had a problem with. The kid from the Shining, now HE was annoying. hehe. And above all, I LOVE how the movie ends. Although it's predictable, it was VERY welcome. Movies with sad, creepy endings that leave you with a shiver always work for me.

Ein Unbekannter rechnet ab (1974)

Standing up for movie

[10/10 · 30 August 2004]

I just wanted to stand up for this version of the movie. I've read the book 'Ten little indians' and while it's set on an island and this 1974 movie is set in a desert, I feel that it is the closest to the feel of the book out of the four (?) versions I've seen. The 1945 and the 1960's movies were too light-hearted, too fluffy. This is a scary situation, with people trapped somewhere they can't leave, and one of them is taking a perverse delight in murdering them one by one. There is no room for humour in a movie like this. The 1974 movie is dark, with no needless humour injected, and this makes it feel a lot like the book did. My only grievance with the movie, is that, like all the others, it doesn't finish in the same way as the book. I'd really like to see a version that does. Oh, and Elke Sommers clothing is hideous, but that's the passage of time, more than anything. :)