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Reviews
État de siège (1972)
One of the best political movies of all time.
This is Costa Gavra's finest film. Not only its message, and the brilliant actor's are world class. Also the cinematography, the script and the cut. Yves Montand's character is one of his strongest performances in his whole career. The whole cast is great. The guerrilla's as well as the secret police and the army generals. And of course the legend of German Cinema, O.E.Hasse as the intellectual journalist investigating the truths behind the kidnappings. State of Siege is probably not 100% objective but it shows the truth exactly. It's not speculative, naive or heroizing at all. a true intellectual film, but as exiting and riveting as a perfect Hollywood blockbuster. It's actually a quite cold blooded view at the history of that era. The story plays in an anonymous country in Latin America, and that's a great move by Costa Gavras because the events shown in the film did happen the same way not only in all countries of Latin America but also in many other countries all over the world. I had to leave Turkey after the coup d'etat in 1980 and I can tell you that the situation in Turkey then was exactly identical to the events that take place in this film. The dark atmosphere, the oppression and the violence are always the same. I watch this movie every time it's screened on German TV. And that's at least once a year. Z is another flawless masterpiece by Costa Gavras, and much more popular than State of Siege. But State of Siege has a melancholic atmosphere that I love so much. So it's not only a great experience for politically interested viewers. Also I want to mention that there's NO American movie in the same quality. and modern cinema is not able to produce such fantastic movies anymore.
Shoah (1985)
From Lanzeman...for generations to come.
I don't understand all of the "1 point voters". This was not made to entertain people. Iy you don't like it, don't vote please. It's a shame that Shoah has an average of not even "7"! There's no reason to vote on Shoah, if you don't like the format. Any other criticism on Shoah is totally ridiculous. Shoah is the, like some users mentioned, the ultimate documentary on the Holocaust. Take your time and watch Shoah. I've watched it in four parts on TV in two weeks. Ther's nothing comparable to Shoah. Lanzeman did a job for the whole world. Just have a deeper look at the interviewed people, the streets, the landscapes, the churches, the villages... It's so much more effective than any over motion picture.