Winduct Reviews

Goodbye, Children (1987)

Powerful and moving

[8/10 · 28 October 2013]

''Au Revoir Les Enfants'' is a very touching film about two children in a French boarding school who form a bond and share a dangerous secret. The film reflects the director's childhood life, Louis Malle, who as a kid witnessed three Jewish children and a priest being deported to Auschwitz during his stay in a boarding school. Deeply moving and realistic, ''Au Revoir Les Enfants'' is a film about friendship which challenges the viewer's emotions.

Malle directs the film with great care and makes sure that his characters go through their emotional journey without revealing themselves instantly. This gives great realism to the film as well as to its actors' performances. At 104 minutes, the film takes its time but by the end, we have witnessed an entire voyage of two children who despite their initial conflicts, come together and unveil their sensitive sides as children. Malle's direction does all that and the result is a film that doesn't force the audience to shed a tear like a melodrama rather than just tell us a powerful true story of bondage with realism.

Being a film where most of the characters are children, it would be very difficult to drain amazing performances from the leads. However, Louis Malle's meticulous direction allows the film to have a great emotional impact on the audience while guiding his young actors through the story. The two young protagonists (Gaspard Manesse, Raphaël Fejtö) give very natural performances which contribute very nicely to the film. They do not try to show off but they gradually expose themselves to the emotions and situations they find themselves in. What makes the children's performances so effective is that they portray authenticity . Their performances are raw and honest (At the end of the film, Manesse's performance leaves a very strong mark as he watches his best friend leaving with the Gestapo and waves at him while tearing silently, knowing that he will never see him again).

The film features no musical score (other than the children playing the piano in some parts of the film) but it proves not to be a weakness to the film's powerful story. Louis Malle's script is carefully written, clever and poignant.

If you are into films with a good, simple and moving story along with great performances, this is a recommend French classic that even after 26 years since its initial release, evokes strong emotions to its audience.

The Pawnbroker (1964)

A gripping character study

[8/10 · 20 October 2013]

''The Pawnbroker'' is a gripping and somewhat controversial for its time film about a Jewish genocide survivor struggling to adapt in society while facing his personal traumas. Directed by Sidney Lumet, the film is an outstanding character study with a magnificent performance from its lead.

Lumet's direction has been often criticized for incorporating a rapid flashback editing influenced from the French New Wave. This is true, as the film's editing proves to be very annoying with its sudden and unexpected cuts which somehow block the characters from developing their performances further as well distracting the audience from the film's force. Most scenes are cut short, or at least shorter than they should have been which limits the audience from immersing themselves into the characters' situations. It could be said that the experimental editing doesn't work out and chokes the film rather than letting the story progress. Despite the messy editing, Lumet directs the film meticulously and manages to bring to life a truly heartbreaking story with great realism and suspense.

Morton S. Fine and David Friedkin, who worked on the adaptation, do a very good job on capturing the original novel's essence, paying close attention to each character's development, meaning that all characters are very well written instead of being just ''creatures'' as Nazerman (Steiger) sees them.

Concerning the technical aspects, the film works very well with its minimalistic sets and decoration, giving the audience a firm representation of reality. As mentioned above, the editing is messy but the film's black and white cinematography (praise goes to Boris Kaufman) contributes essentially to the film by revealing the main protagonist's inner psychology (Nazerman is still imprisoned by his traumas which is implied by the shadows of the bars which fall on his face at the pawn shop). Quincy Jones' score, in short, is distracting and unfitting. He uses a jazzy score which seems out of place and kills the film's suspense. While the film itself succeeds in seizing the audience's attention, Jones' score does the exact opposite. It's not a bad musical score but certainly a strange and unfitting one for the film which turns out as a very bad selection.

Leaving the best for last, Steiger delivers one of the finest performances in cinematic history. Watching the film ,it's truly hard to believe that Steiger is actually acting since he is overwhelmingly believable and honest in everything he does: from his facial expressions to the way we walks, Steiger is spellbinding, making us feel the pain he has been bearing. From the first moment he appears on screen, he truly makes us believe that this character has been through a lot of difficulties and by the end of the film we've seen how much Steiger has transformed into this man who has lost everything and how far he has gone as an actor. It's one of those performances which make you shiver when you see him suffer because it's performed in such a realistic and sincere way. Simply a towering performance by Steiger in a career-turning role.

''The Pawnbroker'' is considered to be a rather significant film in American history, being the first to deal with the Jewish genocide from the viewpoint of a survivor. It serves as a deep examination of a character's psychology and tackles a very devastating and sensitive subject. But above all, it is Steiger's supreme performance which makes this film unforgettable.

Rush (I) (2013)

More than just a film about cars.

[7/10 · 25 September 2013]

''Rush'' is a very good film about the rivalry between two Formula 1 race car drivers and their lives behind it. Directed by Ron Howard, the film is a triumph concerning action sequences, film editing and sound. Despite it being a sports film about racing, ''Rush'' never fails to develop its characters, its story and its suspense thus delivering a deeply satisfying conclusion.

Beginning with the film's performances, one would expect to see little character development, acting and emotion but a whole lot of action. However, this is not the case. The film's performances are very good. Daniel Brühl gives an outstanding performance as Austrian Niki Lauda: from the character's personality, body movement, expressions and emotions to his speaking accent, Brühl manages to handle it more than well and deliver a very authentic and powerful performance. From his first appearance in the film, he stays a very powerful figure throughout the film and very memorable after it. He realizes the character's motives and feelings which enables him to fully portray his character. Despite his performances in films such as ''Thor'', ''Red Dawn'' and ''The Cabin in the Woods'', Chris Hemsworth gives a decent enough performance as James Hunt. He is far from outstanding but he portrays his character as he should be, never overacting nor underplaying his character, thus delivering a satisfying and believable performance as a race car driver. The rest of the cast doesn't have much screen time since the film mainly focuses on the two protagonists but their acting does not disappoint.

The film's exhilarating action sequences are probably the main reason people will go to see it and they will not be disappointed. With rapid but smooth editing, the renowned film editing duo (Daniel P. Hanley, Mike Hill) manages to ''tell'' the story rather clearly rather than just smothering it under its heavy action scenes. Other technical aspects such as sound editing, sound mixing and cinematography are superb. Sound, especially, plays a very important role in the film and luckily, the sound is clear, realistic and not bombastic as most Hollywood action films. The racing sequences are superb: we see them from every angle possible, never confusing nor annoying the viewer with their rapid cuts, instead keeping the viewer interested (especially during the final climatic race). As for the score, Hans Zimmer's fast paced music adds nicely to the film's racing sequences, turning the suspense meter way up without distracting the viewer. As with most of Zimmer's works, the film's score is very epic and memorable which captures the film's action.

What works very well in the film is the fact that it's not just a film full or car explosions, racing and trophies but a film which tells the story of two people who succeeded in the race tracks, a film which doesn't drown its characters under its impressive action sequences but allows them to breath.