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Reviews
A Stolen Life (1946)
Breath of fresh sea air
I was surprised that I liked this movie as much as I did. As an artist and someone who has worked with machinery, I found the budding relationship between artist Kate and lighthouse engineer Bill easy-going and authentic, plus I loved the scenes of sailing, boating, and the lighthouse in fog on a rocky island. I'm glad I stumbled upon it on broadcast TV one late night. The message that we should be true to ourselves was very hopeful. No movie plot with one actress playing identical twins will ever be plausible, but it makes for good fiction and is an interesting illustration of the actors' ability to stretch into unusual roles.
Welcome to this House (2015)
Disappointed by lack of poetry content
I was hoping to see a movie about the poet Elizabeth Bishop: her poetry, who and what influenced her, how she influenced others, the greatness of her work and how she evolved as a poet and a person. I expected biographical details that would fill out the arc of her life. But this film is exactly what the tag line says it is, "a feature documentary film on the homes and loves of poet Elizabeth Bishop." It is literally about the houses that she lived in, and her lovers. Her homes were beautiful and her lovers interesting. I can't fault the movie for not being a rich and in-depth biographical documentary of a great poet. It did deliver what it said it would, but not what I wanted to see.
Tagebuch einer Verlorenen (1929)
Lost relationships
I love this film because the authenticity of emotion comes through virtually all the characters. I first saw it on the big screen when I was 22, about the same age that Louise Brooks was when she starred in the film. There was something so simple about it that really reached the emotional core of the story--the loss of the relationship between a father and daughter. I easily identified with the daughter character--and who wouldn't want to identify with the most beautiful woman you'd ever seen (I still think that). The injustice she endured changed her from a vulnerable happy-go-lucky girl into a hardhearted survivor. My life followed a similar course and at the time I first saw it, I was a heavy drinker and drug user, plus it was the beginning of the end of my relationship with my dad. If you have father-child issues this movie may be as cathartic for you as it was for me. One caveat when watching silent films--you have to remember how long ago they were made; they may seem laughable because they're so different, and some of the acting is exaggerated because not long before film began, all acting was done on the stage and had to be "read" at the back of the house. I admit there are some corny overtones, but on the whole it's a great work of art and gorgeous to look at--just like Louise.