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emil_bohman
Reviews
Gnomes & Trolls: The Secret Chamber (2009)
Warm movie!
I found this movie pretty entertaining, and I bet will become a favorite among the children. The plot is simple and the characters are fun and interesting. I especially enjoyed the trolls in this movie. They are very funny with their charming stupidity, and I think the animations of the trolls look better than those of the gnomes...
The overall animations do, understandably, not match the productions of Pixar and Dreamworks, but that doesn't really bother me much. There's a warm fuzzy feeling about this movie that just can't be ignored. It exudes of joy and happiness! Definitely a good debut by Swedish producers White Shark.
Go watch it with your kids, they will surely love it! 8/10
Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003)
Excellent making of the characters, still a bit uneventful.
Sixteen years old Griet's family has been suffering of economical crisis since her father became blind and could no longer paint tiles. Therefore, their daughter Griet starts working as a maid at the painter Vermeer to provide the family. Her daily chores in the big, child-rich household mainly consists of laundering and child-minding, but she has also been assigned the duty of cleaning the painter's studio without moving a single object in his meticulously constructed scenarios.
As Griet develops her relationship with the family Vermeer, some kind of spiritual sympathy between Griet and Johannes is being increasingly felt. Vermeer teaches her to see things with an artist's eyes. Her creativity slowly rouses and creates an eccentric link between the two of them.
When Vermeer's rich merchant Van Ruijven takes a liking to the cute maid and insists that Vermeer should paint her, the excitement intensifies. Rumors and gossips in Delft amplify the pressure, and when the painting is finished a dramatic scene erupts.
Outwardly this seems like an incredibly dull and trivial book about a single painting, though inwardly the book is a compelling and penetrative insight into art, relationships and a 15th century Delft. I think the Chevalier uses a beautiful language and possesses the rare but marvelous ability to create realistic and mesmerizing relationships. Still the book isn't as convincing in terms of eventfulness. It actually didn't happen much in the book. Griet came to the house, got a few friends and enemies, and then left. I think it would be even more interesting if Chevalier evolved the last event and its consequences even more, and thus put several relationships to the test. And instead of casually mentioning that Vermeer has died I would like to have an almost exaggerating description of Griet's reaction and other consequences, but instead the story is abruptly cut off, as if she didn't have time and stamina to continue. I think that's very sad considering what a beautiful novel this actually is. Then, did this book live up to expectations? Well, I had almost no expectations at all before setting about this novel, so it's hard to say. But let me say that it was interesting in a way to read about relationships, but I miss events! I'll read one more book of this genre some other time to find out if these kinds of books are this uneventful (don't think so though). I don't want to leave you with a bad impression of the book, since the book is good. But if you're needy of eventful stories and don't find relationships and art interesting at all, this book isn't much for you.