pethr Reviews

Across the Universe (2007)

Movie The Beatles should have made

[9/10 · 28 March 2008]

One tale that tells the story of an entire generation. The Beatles anthology done in a very different way. A theatre-like musical on the big screen. Engaging, thought provoking, stunning, often breathtaking and heartbreaking (in a non-Hollywood kind of way) movie. All that and much much more is Across the Universe. I enjoyed the movie from start to the end of its colorful credits and it's definitely on my 2007 top5 list.

The only problem I had with the movie is the absence of drugs. They are there all the time but still are absent. It's funny and strange in the first encounter when the guys could blow their fingers off without anything actually held between them and gets pretty seamless as the movie progresses but I still consider it to be a betrayal of the spirit of the movie for PG-13 rating. The movie is a little less true to its message but it definitely didn't spoil it for me and most people won't even notice it.

If You Were Me (2003)

Disturbing but interesting

[7/10 · 7 June 2005]

Very disturbing collection of 6 short movies which are meant to be seen together. I found this movie to be more of a (fictional) social documentary than a comedy and drama as it is tagged. When non-Korean watches this movie it is all about compliance with western system of human rights standards. The question is whether Korea should comply with western values. On the other side it seems that many values are imported from Euro-American culture (such as the ideal of beauty and importance of low weight).

A quick google research shows that Korea is trying to make progress in becoming more open and tolerant society. This movie is obviously part of this movement (as it was made on request of Korean Human Rights Commission). Let's hope that this very modern country will make progress in accepting more equality and less cruel system of social control.

If you were me isn't perfect (some shorts are below average) but it's definitely worth watching.

Eraserhead (1977)

disappointing, strange, extremely hard to understand

[3/10 · 17 September 2002]

Probably the strangest movie I've ever seen and I'm sure that I'm not the only one with this opinion. I love movies which force me to think about them. I love to have my head full of ideas and thoughts while I'm leaving the cinema. No doubt that Eraserhead by David Lynch force people to think about it but there are many questions and not even one answer. I share the meaning of some that David Lynch wants people to be angry while the film is over (and probably long time before the end).

May be it's art, may be it's bull****, all-in-all it is not my cup of tea. I haven't found any possible reason why to rank it better than 3 (out of 10). It was hard to decide but there is nothing but some impressive moments and excellent actors performance.