daan_drumz Reviews

The House of Small Cubes (2008)

Nostalgia for Love

[9/10 · 9 November 2009]

Today I watched a wonderful little animation, upon which I accidentally stumbled. La Maison en Petit Cubes managed to make a dent in the otherwise so rigid structure of my daily pattern.

The theme here is about keeping a grip on your own life adventure; in this case in a very physical way through the stacking of houses over time. The setting is one where (through climate change probably) the world's water level is continuously increasing. As a result of this, people are forced to build on top of their own houses to 'keep their head above the water'. The beautiful thing depicted here is that one's house tells their life story. The old man, while moving his possessions on floor higher for the umpteenth time, dives down into his own memory. As he floats through the old spaces, their stories start to unfold before his eyes. He sees the development in reverse order, starting with grandchildren and ending with the relationship with the love of his life.

On a less joyful note: I couldn't help but seeing similarities with the theme in the Pixar animation 'Up' - which makes me doubt the originality of the latter.

Short as this story may be, it gave me a wonderful insight into the nostalgia that spaces of a home can give, and how brilliant it would be if we would live in a new space every so often, thereby preserving the previous one as a ready-made personal history book.

4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007)

Ceaucescu's bareness

[8/10 · 15 June 2008]

This movie came to my attention after looking through the notable appearances on the Cannes festival. I was quite curious to see the atmosphere of the movie, since it was set in Ceaucescu's regime. A large part of what image the western world has of Romania is formed by the effects of this communist rulership.

I was surprises how the communist city setting of the film was not a direct part of the story. You'll find often in films that the given of communist oppression is the main theme; here it is just the guiding element that set the overall mood. Obviously, the fact of abortion being illegal does have to do with the story. But scenes where Otilia was traveling through the city were so strong in displaying her mood. And I thought the bareness of the direct environment (hotel room, student dorms) was enormously strong in setting the atmosphere. It was not per se derelict, just very, very bare.

Eagle vs Shark (2007)

Socially awkward and nerdy.... fun!

[7/10 · 8 December 2007]

I think there is a certain interest for the comedy of social awkwardness required for linking this movie. The story that in itself is not challenging or controverse, is giving it's interesting edge because the whole thing is dispersed with the atmosphere of misunderstanding, social inaptitude, and awkward silences. It is this feature that also made this movie interesting for me. Every scene contains this tension between characters, a lot of the time between the two main characters. But also the rest of the family are each caricatures of people who do not have the social (or physical) ability to make it in society.

Of course the comparison with Napoleon Dynamite is inevitable, as is also seen in a lot of comments on Eagle vs Shark. In that sense I see an important difference that puts the portrayed social atmosphere in both films in a different daylight: in Napoleon Dynamite there is a constant relation of the socially awkward people to the 'normal' high school kids, like jocks and all that. In Eagle vs Shark this relation is not really present (perhaps at the end when Jarod fights the jock (again) Eric form high school), so the viewer gets used to this social atmosphere.

All in all I think Taika Waititi achieved to portray this non-communicative, twisted atmosphere that is present in the family of Jarod and between Jarod and Lily in a very good way. Sure, there is a different touch to it than in Napoleon Dynamite, and I feel that the latter is portraying this image in a stronger way through the introduction of regular successful persons, but Eagle vs Shark is nevertheless interesting and fun to see.

The Triplets of Belleville (2003)

Beautiful details and atmosphere

[8/10 · 25 November 2007]

I did not know what I was about to see as I set out to see this movie. On this Sunday afternoon I felt like an animation movie, and put Triplettes De Belleville on. As I was watching the beginning, I was already charmed by the consideration for detail in the atmosphere created in the old house.

Throughout the whole movie I kept this enthusiasm. Little scenes like the ocean steamer being chased by a water cycle with and old lady and a fat dog did not make me laugh, as this description would imply, but I was actually chasing the big boat too, wanting to catch up and make things right.

What struck me as most special, was the depth of the details; so many small things were present, like the different types of frogs when the triplets catch and eat them, but all those details add to the big picture of the movie. Really Nice.

Rabbits (2002)

David Lynch wonderful ability to make people think about movies

[9/10 · 21 June 2007]

When I read the comments on the David Lynch works, it's always remarkable to see the division of people into two groups; one admiring the hint of deeper meaning in his works, and one disliking the lack of an obvious statement. I always start to think about the fact whether (David Lynch's) movies should carry out a more clear message... Fact of course is, that it is very interesting to see what people make of the movies. I think that the openness of Lynch's work allows everyone who watches it to think freely about the content. And that is what I think is a great thing about Lynch's work.

This especially goes for Rabbits; the total lack of plot or explanation of the dialog made me wonder what it was actually about. I saw in the eerie house room a reflection of a domestic scene of some period of regression. There is shabby furniture, and a classical situation where the husband goes out from time to time (to work), the wife stays at home to iron clothes and what I assume is the kid is sitting on the couch reading.

I got the feeling of a family situation that had experienced something horrific in the outside world, which is never shown. It came pretty close though when the door opened and a scream and flickering light suggested some bad events that happened on the outside, and were discussed through the weird dialog.

All in all I very much like the way Lynch is making subtle suggestions and lets everybody free to wonder about the true meaning of his movies. Very inspiring.