Impulsive people, instead of introspection, tend to find their grapes sour. The beauty of this film lies in a way this downside to Sabine's personality is explored - not only from her own perspective but also thru the lens of her close friend and a few other people. Despite her smugness and deserved undesirable end to her pursuit, Rohmer massages us into feeling compassion for his subject.
Reviews
12 Reviews
A Good Marriage
(1982)
Making someone love you is difficult but it's impossible if you're impulsive
26 January 2022
A Big Little Murder
(2019 TV Special)
What a load of merde...!
31 December 2021
Warning: Spoilers
What a load of s*** both as a documentary and as actual investigation! Since I'm reviewing the movie here and not the mess this investigation was, I must say this is such a badly made documentary. Sugar, spice and everything that virtue signals seems to be the tagline here. We know kids are gullible - they lie, the groupthink is inevitable - those interviews are useless. The adults want to rush to a decision - they want an answer and would bite at anything that comes there way first. Bholu's parents are driven towards their own cause and Pradyuman's to theirs. We saw how desperate even the unrelated adults were - so impatient that the police felt the need to manufacture a result ASAP! We have an ex-principal who did not govern the school in such a bad way as it was being governed after she left (OFCOURSE, the successors are incompetent). Then you have the virtue signaling media and cliched psychiatrist behaving as the know-all, moral authority trying to pour as many "words" as they can to pin it on imaginative sex-ratio of 700, oh yeah, and prescribing a diagnosis "based on the school mates interviews" respectively!
Love Battles
(2013)
Movies strive towards sophistication, Mes séances de lutte aces in the opposite direction!
23 December 2021
Buoyed by bucolic setting and exceptional acting, this rare work of art successfully aspires for primal unsophistication, a journey that only uninhibited filmmakers can undertake. It begins with our characters finding themselves in a conundrum and ends in a euphoric bacchanalian courtship. Thanks to their means that manifest in all sorts of ways: Ethereal, corporeal and empyreal yet vicious, veracious and vivacious!
Bhumika
(1977)
Benegal's detailed exploration of 40s filmmaking was intriguing!
8 December 2021
Artistically, Bhumika is Benegal's seminal work. Storytelling is convincing, locations play a part and chronology is color coded. It's hailed as a study of feminism and 'male gaze', it's rather a character study of our impulsive protagonist, done impressively by Patil, surrounded by a pool of stereotypical antagonists who, for the length of the film, could have been used a bit better than mere shallow devices. 7/10!
The Aviator's Wife
(1981)
The subjectivity of love!
16 November 2021
The "proverb" of this film doesn't get consummated till the very end when we come to know that our philosopher hero, Francois, is arrested by his insecurities, suspicions, restlessness and LOVE. His mind always chooses the path of alienation which shapes the lonely tragedy of his love. Likewise, Anne's style of love is dictated by her own personality and Lucie's lure is by hers. It's a good Rohmerian character study!
Ashes
(II) (2012)
A so-called experimental!
12 November 2021
Absolutely loved the "dreamy" shots, but the dream fell short, and not because it wasn't film-worthy. You don't call something experimental because it's unusual but because there's something new being practiced. This experiment has already been done more aesthetically. Picking every 15th shot from a grainy 35mm could make you calm and give you all those words but gluing those for 20 minutes won't make a 'drama'.
Operation Varsity Blues
(2021)
Half a story, half a sensation.
20 September 2021
This is supposed to be a story of the Operation Varsity Blues and it fails to deliver. Approximately half of the runtime is used to document the Operation, its perpetrators and its workings, which is not done very satisfactorily. The other half is just some disapproving article writers at questionable publications spewing their judgements about those involved. They tell us how the participants must have acquired a cheating mindset and that they would like to see them punished. They giggle along the way and tell us it's about time...
The Best Offer
(2013)
To get the film, you need to be neutral and appreciative of beauty.
25 January 2015
Easily the best film I've seen in a while. But to my amazement, it has unnaturally lame reviews I've read and heard. People have problems with austerity this film depicts - they need to come out of their jam-packed Michael bay sort of extravagance.
It's not your regular drama film where logic has to be intelligently improvised (which as a matter of fact, it does too) - try changing your lenses and you will realize that it's a piece of art writhed with stern world of disorders - you need other scales to judge it. Yes there were some less than perfect film making moments but that doesn't take away the passion of it. From performances to design and music, this film ambushed my senses.
It's not your regular drama film where logic has to be intelligently improvised (which as a matter of fact, it does too) - try changing your lenses and you will realize that it's a piece of art writhed with stern world of disorders - you need other scales to judge it. Yes there were some less than perfect film making moments but that doesn't take away the passion of it. From performances to design and music, this film ambushed my senses.
Mystery Road
(2013)
Australia has the potential
20 January 2015
There is a class of film lovers who want to concede and live the eras of film making. Even though they were born in situations separated by time and space, they feel nostalgic about the early and subsequent industrial era diffusion (and its effects) brought in thru history, literature and cinema: The periods when homesteaders entered Dodge City, when London started getting crawled in by villagers or when families from a big city relocated to newly planned adjoining suburbs. If you identify with this description, you've probably got a treasure here.
19th century Wild West lives in 21st century Bush! Not that it's uncreative; the history of filmography is etched in this 2 hours intelligent crime story. Referencing the classic westerns to earliest neo-noirs to recent crime features, the unknown director theoretically beautifies the Film making.
The score is as quiet as the life itself while as intriguing as its characters. Unbelievably well photographed! Aerial shots and silhouette wides suit the mood of terror in an uncivil, dusty town with principal actors having a gem to showcase their worth. Screen writing concerned me a bit but that doesn't stop me from saying that if given a worldwide interest, I'm sure Australia will unbland the perceptions of Australianness and allow us into new realms of cinematic and cultural entertainment.
19th century Wild West lives in 21st century Bush! Not that it's uncreative; the history of filmography is etched in this 2 hours intelligent crime story. Referencing the classic westerns to earliest neo-noirs to recent crime features, the unknown director theoretically beautifies the Film making.
The score is as quiet as the life itself while as intriguing as its characters. Unbelievably well photographed! Aerial shots and silhouette wides suit the mood of terror in an uncivil, dusty town with principal actors having a gem to showcase their worth. Screen writing concerned me a bit but that doesn't stop me from saying that if given a worldwide interest, I'm sure Australia will unbland the perceptions of Australianness and allow us into new realms of cinematic and cultural entertainment.
Un chien andalou
(1929)
Why did Bunuel and Dali make this film?
19 August 2014
Someone complained to me that she had a "misfortune of watching this film today". She felt disgusted, bored and disturbed. I explained surrealism and post world war 1 Europe to her and she finally raised her IMDb score of this film six points to 7. I don't know about others but I'll mention some things that explain it well and try to make sense of this "nonsensical" film.
It was 1928, lost generation maturated. The lives were dull; You can imagine their situation by eliminating literally everything that you make use of for living or for fun be it Rubik's Cube, French Fries, casual sex or Martin Scorsese. The young people were "lost" (or directionless, because their teenage was spent in destructed Europe) and society was not modern. People who went to cinema were old and habitual of this fortnightly entertainment. Bunuel and Dali were two young flagrant guys who hated much of the society and wanted to bring a change in norms. So, this movie was conceptualized in the hope of administering a revolutionary shock to society. The sole purpose was to astonish and disgust most of the viewers. Bunuel wrote: "Although the surrealists didn't consider themselves terrorists, they were constantly fighting a society they despised. Their principal weapon wasn't guns, of course; it was scandal." And how did they decide what to include and what not to? Well, they opened all doors to irrationality and their dreams took care of that. Bunuel has claimed that he stood behind the screens to throw stones at the viewers, in case they wanted to leave in the middle of it. Why would they leave the theater? Because Un Chien Andalou is an independent film (only studios financed films in those days), has no plot and is full of absurdity and gore (of course they didn't know about Cronenberg and David Lynch). The only value that it was made to dissipate, and that it did successfully, was 'shock' and you don't get shocked when you see normal things.
It was 1928, lost generation maturated. The lives were dull; You can imagine their situation by eliminating literally everything that you make use of for living or for fun be it Rubik's Cube, French Fries, casual sex or Martin Scorsese. The young people were "lost" (or directionless, because their teenage was spent in destructed Europe) and society was not modern. People who went to cinema were old and habitual of this fortnightly entertainment. Bunuel and Dali were two young flagrant guys who hated much of the society and wanted to bring a change in norms. So, this movie was conceptualized in the hope of administering a revolutionary shock to society. The sole purpose was to astonish and disgust most of the viewers. Bunuel wrote: "Although the surrealists didn't consider themselves terrorists, they were constantly fighting a society they despised. Their principal weapon wasn't guns, of course; it was scandal." And how did they decide what to include and what not to? Well, they opened all doors to irrationality and their dreams took care of that. Bunuel has claimed that he stood behind the screens to throw stones at the viewers, in case they wanted to leave in the middle of it. Why would they leave the theater? Because Un Chien Andalou is an independent film (only studios financed films in those days), has no plot and is full of absurdity and gore (of course they didn't know about Cronenberg and David Lynch). The only value that it was made to dissipate, and that it did successfully, was 'shock' and you don't get shocked when you see normal things.
Thief
(1981)
Highly stylized, rare, out of the box thriller.
18 August 2014
You don't get to see new noir stories even in the pure days. This was very noir, very thematic; this was the treat.
Thief is not about heart throbbing moments that are the ingredients of films with diamonds, sex and power as their MacGuffins. It's something else. James Caan plays a highly talented thief who wants to leave his talents behind but equally magnetic people like Robert Prosky and Willie Nelson provide lucrative and nostalgic links to the past respectively.
With a very fine and pulsing Tangerine Dream score, Michael Mann gets a justified excuse to continuously set high and low expectations for the viewers. The score did feel a bit asynchronous with the scenes but that was all part of the unexpected style of this film. To hell with AllMusic and to hell with the Raspberry Awards.
And what a glorious poster!
Thief is not about heart throbbing moments that are the ingredients of films with diamonds, sex and power as their MacGuffins. It's something else. James Caan plays a highly talented thief who wants to leave his talents behind but equally magnetic people like Robert Prosky and Willie Nelson provide lucrative and nostalgic links to the past respectively.
With a very fine and pulsing Tangerine Dream score, Michael Mann gets a justified excuse to continuously set high and low expectations for the viewers. The score did feel a bit asynchronous with the scenes but that was all part of the unexpected style of this film. To hell with AllMusic and to hell with the Raspberry Awards.
And what a glorious poster!
The Broken Circle Breakdown
(2012)
Makes you dissolve in thought!
9 November 2013
Powerful depiction of a dissimilar couple who faces softest and hardest moments of life. The little effect that leaves-by everyday when one's heart don't gets what is needed is counted on in the viewers' mind, culminating up to the extreme levels which require a faintest of pokes to fell down.
Everything in this movie is a piece of art. It will make you laugh as well as sob if you're alone. For drama lovers, it's a masterpiece; just pick it if you liked Paris, Texas or The English Patient, Bonnie and Clyde or Wild at Heart..
An Oscar deserving film, cleverly edited, acted and directed.
Everything in this movie is a piece of art. It will make you laugh as well as sob if you're alone. For drama lovers, it's a masterpiece; just pick it if you liked Paris, Texas or The English Patient, Bonnie and Clyde or Wild at Heart..
An Oscar deserving film, cleverly edited, acted and directed.
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