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Reviews
Sengoku jieitai (1979)
What is going on?
I have a pre-cert copy of this film, which is under the title 'time wars' and it runs at an even shorter time than the 110mins version mentioned here by other users. My copy barely hits 60 mins and the hacked editing shows in a very obvious way. There is little explanation of what is going on; the prostitute from the past seems to be still working at the brothel in the late 1970s; a Samurai appears riding a horse down the street in the 1970s for NO reason and while the ending is reminiscent of Macbeth there is a much a much stronger feeling of MacDuff to the whole finished product. I would like to see an unedited version of this in relation to what people are saying about it as my memory of it is as an instigator of Family arguments
BO!
Full Frontal (2002)
brilliant
I know that a lot of people dis-like this film but I have to admit I loved every moment of it. This is a fantastic look at both Hollywood as an institution and a post-modern look at how a contemporary audience reads cinema. His use of editing is similar to Godard (I'm thinking Breathless) and his camera work is fantastic. Just because a camera moves constantly does not bad cinematography make. In fact it could be argued the exact opposite. Just because it uses hand-held techniques and DV footage does not mean this film is any the less structured or designed ( just look at the scene where the Nazi officers are dancing in the background). I also found this film very funny. Fare enough it wasn't obvious Jackass, someone falling over funny, but it was funny. It makes the audience work for the jokes, they have to sometimes fill in what was said before they come into the scene (the dildo joke and the Jesus one are good examples of this) but that does not make it any less funny.
Steven Soderbergh is a director who is always trying to do something with his films and cinema, and he generally succeeds. This film is no exception. Would audiences really rather a director steal work from previous directors and them pass them off as their own (Quentin Tarantino for example) or would they want to see someone try something new and fresh. Maybe I am wrong and maybe audiences just don't care but if that's the case I would rather be the one who disagrees with them.
Hable con ella (2002)
Poetic and sublime film-making
Pedro Almodovar is King!!!
This film is nothing short of magic, from the surreal yet mesmerising opening dance scene to the moment the credits begin to roll.
Dance, Bull-fighting, cinema and talking are just a small handful of activities that are treated with respect and passion (even the killing of a snake has a balletic feel) but what seperates this film from anything else is the direction.
There is not one moment when every element does not gel perfectly, no two directions that things move in. It flows like a fairy-tale piece of cinema, making the audience feel warm, engaged, emotional and, above all else, wanted.
The use of colour is like nothing I have ever seen. Almodovar's favorite colours (Blue, Yellow, Green etc) are the only real colours used but their use is so subtle that it is easy not to notice. The best example of this can be seen in the shot where Lydia is walking past the camera in medium close-up with the reflecting water behind her. Genius. This shot is rival to Lean's Omar Sharif coming out of the desert in Lawrence of Arabia. In fact no, to suggest that they should rival each is stripping both of the respect they deserve. (But you can see what I am getting at)
Talk to Her seems to be what Almodovar has been building up to all his career. It has the emotion of All about my Mother, a diluted version of Women on the Verge's design and humour, Kika's controversy, and Matador's Bullfighting and Sexiness (as well as Live Flesh's )
For an experienced film-maker such as almodovar this is something to be tremendously proud of (not that he needs me to tell him that). This film could not be made by anyone else, although influence can be seen. If this had been made by a first-time director then they would have not been human, but a god...and I would have set up a church in their name