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De Poolse bruid (1998)
A beautiful time capsule
I love this movie, but for slightly different reasons than mentioned here. I'm from the Netherlands, and I grew up in a village in the eastern part of Friesland, which is very similar to the countryside of Groningen.
Halfway during the movie I noticed there were tears in my eyes. Oddly enough, it wasn't during an emotional scene between the main characters. It was a shot of the countryside of Groningen. The scenery wasn't extraordinarily beautiful or anything. Yet somehow, it had managed to perfectly capture the feeling the Dutch countryside gives me whenever I'm visiting my parents.
And then I realized it wasn't just the scenery, it also was the slow pace of the movie, the lack of dialogue between the two main characters, or the lack of much happening at all during most of the movie. The solitude of the farmer's life, the gentle moments between the main characters, the two of them being all alone in their own little world.
That one of the characters was a Polish woman on the run from pimps is just a McGuffin, this movie really isn't about that. It's about the feeling of living on the north-eastern Dutch countryside. If cinematography feels a little odd now and then, it's because it's completely focused on capturing the feeling of being on a Dutch farm, the story and it's characters being less important.
People are remembered. Exciting events are remembered. What movie is about remembering the feeling of living at a certain place at a certain time? OK, and what if we're not talking about someone's memories of growing up? Yeah, those kind of movies are rare, aren't they? This movie is one of them, and one of the best.
When people are going to watch this movie in a couple of decades, if they're still capable of investing themselves into a slow paced, technically inferior movie with an unexciting storyline compared to whatever they'll be used to by then, they're going to experience what it's like to live the the sobering, lonely yet somehow also magical and sometimes beautiful life of a Dutch farmer and his Polish bride.
Life of Brian (1979)
The first time I watched Life of Brian I hardly laughed at all
The first time I watched Life of Brian I hardly laughed at all. Why? Certainly not because it wasn't funny. The problem was that the most absurd and hilarious moments in the movie are actually painfully real, only exaggerated a little bit. If the messenger hadn't been so funny the message would have really depressed me. Which is why it's such a great movie, I suppose. It's hilarious, and at the same time it's actually about something that matters, and is really depressing at that.
Personally I don't think it's blasphemous in any way. It conveys its message in a way that's probably offensive to some people, but it doesn't mock God or Jesus, it doesn't even lash out against religion as a whole. It merely points out the absurdity of people who are too lazy or too stupid to think for themselves, and desperately cling to anybody willing to lead them. Or even unwilling to lead them. You can almost feel the anger and frustration of the writers in some scenes, as if they want to scream "God/Evolution/Whatever you believe in gave you a mind to think with on your own. USE IT!" to the viewer.
All in all, I'd say this is the best of the Python movies and in general one of the greatest movies of all time.
Karakter (1997)
This movie is a showcase of the most extreme father-son relationship one can think of.
It's not the only good thing about this movie, but it definately is what makes it stand out.
The son (Katadreufe), who wants to be independant of his father, to have nothing to do with him. Yet, and this is a paradox (in the sense of the "looks like a contradiction but actually isn't"), his motivation for this is to show his father he can stand up against him, trying to make his father proud of him, getting acceptance.
And at the same time his father (Dreverhaven) wants to make his son strong, and this is also a paradox, he does this by opposing him. "I'll strangle him for 9/10ths, that 1/10th of him that survives will become stronger of it". The son will only be worthy of his pride, will only be accepted once he can stand up against him. But what's the price of all this? What will be left for the father, who made his son hate him to get him where he is?
Nietsche might get credit for the "that which does not kill makes you stronger" philosophy, but I think it's actually a very basic male instinct; just about every father/son will recognize it (I don't say it's an instinct to be proud of, though). Maybe that's why males give this film significantly higher votes? Because they can relate better to the material? But I digress.
The movie starts in a such way that it makes you choose the "side" of the son. It's only natural, since the father takes on the role of a tyrant. So according to the classic stereotypes, he must be evil, which implies that the son must be the good guy. But as the movie progresses, as you get to see more and more of the personalities and the motivations of the characters, you will start to doubt those assumptions. And when it ends, when the whole story is told, no plothole is left and everything makes perfect sense... you'll still be left wondering.
There are only two "flaws" this movie has. The first is that that it'll probably be lost on those who aren't through their growing pains yet. Father-son relationships aren't even fully understood by those who have been both, let alone by those who are still struggling with their own personality. The second "flaw" is it requires its viewer to think (and I mean THINK) about its the story and characters. If you don't do the latter the slow pace will bore you to death. But if that's not a problem for you, it's actually a boon, and you'll greatly enjoy the movie. A masterpiece (Especially for Dutch standards. Granted, those are quite low).
Astérix & Obélix : Mission Cléopâtre (2002)
It'll never be as good as the comics, but it was still fun to watch
The above line sums it up pretty good. The best assets of the comics are it's visual gags and word-jokes (the latter of which are almost impossible to translate, which is why the comics are at their best in their original language).
Both are quite hard to capture in film, which is why those will never be as good as the comics. Movies are simply a different medium than comics. With that in mind, this movie does surprisingly well in capturing the fun of the comic.
The word gags are bearable, and sometimes even funny (Debouze does an Amelie reference!). I have to mention that I watched the french version. If you don't watch the french version or your lack of understanding of the french language limits you to the subtitles, the word jokes will probably suck.
The slapstick is okay as well; it's a very simple form of humor, and not really funny when you're older than twelve, but it captures the spirit of the comicbooks. The other visual jokes are the movie's saving grace for the older audience, as their often quite funny.
The acting is totally over the top, but again, that's not annoying at all as it captures the spirit of the comicbooks. Only Depardieu and Clavier don't really overact, which might be the reason some people think they didn't enjoy their roles (I didn't notice a thing). On the other hand Jamel Debouze and especially Claude Rich turn overacting into an artform. It's actually fun to watch. Again, I fear it wouldn't be nearly as funny when the voices are dubbed.
Overall not a bad movie at all, much better than the previous one. It's not a classic and it doesn't dethrone The Twelve Tasks of Asterix as my favourite Asterix movie, but it's still worth seeing. The french version, that is. 7/10