reney-96617
Joined Mar 2020
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Ratings7
reney-96617's rating
Reviews4
reney-96617's rating
This movie has the potential to ruin friendships, to break up longstanding movie clubs. It could set in motion such thought-provoking and justifiable, yet completely conflicting, interpretations, that one could argue for weeks on end. It is marvellous.
Luce tackles a myriad of issues - race relations, privilege, mental health, parenting - but does not give easy answers, or any answers at all. It simply creates a backdrop for you to wander into, pokes you from all sides, but, more importantly, unsettles you all the way through.
Poor Luce, seen as either a monster or a saint, gets pressure from all sides - his white parents wanting him to be okay, his black teacher wanting him not to be a black stereotype, and his friend telling him he is their Obama. Luce questions the difference between working towards being the token black boy that does well, and running away from a black stereotype. In the meantime, he maintains an eerie facade in front of everyone, perhaps even himself.
Through brilliant performances, characters turning either good or bad at the drop of a hat, a spine-tingling soundtrack and a plot that keeps you guessing, Luce has a sustained menace that will creep out the strongest among us. It is eerie from start to finish. You don't know who to believe, or who to like. Apparently, nobody.
There is one particularly poignant scene, where Miss Wilson's mentally ill sister, Rosemary, shows up at the school. She ends up stripping down and hitting her own naked body. Two police officers taser this fragile, female, black body, and Rosemary contorts into an almost beautiful ballet-type pose before collapsing and being dragged out of the school. I was awestruck.
Teenage Luce is suffocated by all the expectations, expectations he did not ask for; and how he reacts to it you will have to see for yourself.
Luce tackles a myriad of issues - race relations, privilege, mental health, parenting - but does not give easy answers, or any answers at all. It simply creates a backdrop for you to wander into, pokes you from all sides, but, more importantly, unsettles you all the way through.
Poor Luce, seen as either a monster or a saint, gets pressure from all sides - his white parents wanting him to be okay, his black teacher wanting him not to be a black stereotype, and his friend telling him he is their Obama. Luce questions the difference between working towards being the token black boy that does well, and running away from a black stereotype. In the meantime, he maintains an eerie facade in front of everyone, perhaps even himself.
Through brilliant performances, characters turning either good or bad at the drop of a hat, a spine-tingling soundtrack and a plot that keeps you guessing, Luce has a sustained menace that will creep out the strongest among us. It is eerie from start to finish. You don't know who to believe, or who to like. Apparently, nobody.
There is one particularly poignant scene, where Miss Wilson's mentally ill sister, Rosemary, shows up at the school. She ends up stripping down and hitting her own naked body. Two police officers taser this fragile, female, black body, and Rosemary contorts into an almost beautiful ballet-type pose before collapsing and being dragged out of the school. I was awestruck.
Teenage Luce is suffocated by all the expectations, expectations he did not ask for; and how he reacts to it you will have to see for yourself.
"An old man, fated to collect souls for eternity, seeks atonement after trading his daughter's soul."
In the opening sequence of this "South African horror story", you see an old man lying in bed. His overdramatic make-up, surely applied in excess to indicate that he is dying, did not bode well for the rest of the film. Styling is key, and we have the talent in South Africa.
The biggest problem with 8 is the script, though - the dialogue and story. Both feel staged and weirdly out of place. You could see the experienced/acclaimed actors struggling to deliver their convoluted lines, lines which are supposed to be profound, but end up just being silly ("We come in peace", "Life is death and death is life", etc).
The horror tropes abound. A family arrives at a spooky house in the middle of the night. The electricity is off. There is something in the shadows. A pigeon flying out of a window scares everyone. There is the stranger, the other. The house creaks. Someone has made a deal with the devil; someone else has nightmares.
Where I completely gave up, not that I was very intrigued from the start, was when William visits the local village to introduce himself as the new neighbour, the accountant-turned-farmer. When he does not receive the welcome he expects, he dashes off to the Mercedes and grabs a pistol from the cubby. One, the threat the villagers pose by asking him to leave does not demand a weapon. Two, it does not make sense for this mild-mannered pen-pusher to have a pistol, or for him to hold it behind his back.
You must commend the South African film industry, where budgets are small, for attempting genres other than slapstick or drama, slightly more commercially viable options. That said, we still need to produce remarkable films. The highly anticipated Poppie Nongena, releasing in January, will be the new standard for South African film.
In the opening sequence of this "South African horror story", you see an old man lying in bed. His overdramatic make-up, surely applied in excess to indicate that he is dying, did not bode well for the rest of the film. Styling is key, and we have the talent in South Africa.
The biggest problem with 8 is the script, though - the dialogue and story. Both feel staged and weirdly out of place. You could see the experienced/acclaimed actors struggling to deliver their convoluted lines, lines which are supposed to be profound, but end up just being silly ("We come in peace", "Life is death and death is life", etc).
The horror tropes abound. A family arrives at a spooky house in the middle of the night. The electricity is off. There is something in the shadows. A pigeon flying out of a window scares everyone. There is the stranger, the other. The house creaks. Someone has made a deal with the devil; someone else has nightmares.
Where I completely gave up, not that I was very intrigued from the start, was when William visits the local village to introduce himself as the new neighbour, the accountant-turned-farmer. When he does not receive the welcome he expects, he dashes off to the Mercedes and grabs a pistol from the cubby. One, the threat the villagers pose by asking him to leave does not demand a weapon. Two, it does not make sense for this mild-mannered pen-pusher to have a pistol, or for him to hold it behind his back.
You must commend the South African film industry, where budgets are small, for attempting genres other than slapstick or drama, slightly more commercially viable options. That said, we still need to produce remarkable films. The highly anticipated Poppie Nongena, releasing in January, will be the new standard for South African film.
This is the Rotten Tomatoes consensus on Dark waters: "Dark waters powerfully relays a real-life tale of infuriating malfeasance, honouring the victims and laying blame squarely at the feet of the perpetrators." Sure, it is an incredible real-life tale; it does honour the countless victims and does blame the horribly guilty parties. But, geez, it was quite a dull ride.
Sure, a film such as Erin Brockovich is sensationalist - a bit cheesy, but it was a hoot to watch, and I am still referring to it 20 years on. I bet, five years from now, when faced with someone else's Teflon pan and the evil legacy of the coating - the subject of Dark waters - I will be squinting and frowning, trying to recall even the name of this film.
Take The big short as another example. It also told a real-life tale, also honoured the victims and pointed out the guilty, and dealt with very serious subject matter to boot. It was a thrill ride from beginning to end, with larger-than-life characters and quirky interviews. It also broke down very complex information into totally understandable bits of information.
The miniseries Chernobyl was slow-paced and rather heavy, but riveting to watch, even though you knew what the outcome would be. You still hoped it wouldn't be so. In other words, you can go various routes when telling a real-life tale: you can be funny, you can be serious, you can be quirky, if you are entertaining.
Perhaps this is not director Todd Haynes's forte, the real-life tale told in a straightforward manner. The man has quite the Rotten Tomatoes CV. In between Far from heaven (2003) and Certain women (2016), there are quite a few fresh tomatoes thrown in. Let's face it, the fact that he did not win an Oscar for Carol was an affront to mankind. I cannot quite explain what went wrong with Dark waters. I mean, even Mark Ruffalo was rather bland in this. And when was Anne Hathaway relegated to playing a teeny-weeny part as the boring wife? The only interesting character was Bill Camp as Wilbur Tennant, and he doesn't feature a hell of a lot.
It is a fascinating story of corporate greed and environmental disaster. I did not feel the outrage.
Sure, a film such as Erin Brockovich is sensationalist - a bit cheesy, but it was a hoot to watch, and I am still referring to it 20 years on. I bet, five years from now, when faced with someone else's Teflon pan and the evil legacy of the coating - the subject of Dark waters - I will be squinting and frowning, trying to recall even the name of this film.
Take The big short as another example. It also told a real-life tale, also honoured the victims and pointed out the guilty, and dealt with very serious subject matter to boot. It was a thrill ride from beginning to end, with larger-than-life characters and quirky interviews. It also broke down very complex information into totally understandable bits of information.
The miniseries Chernobyl was slow-paced and rather heavy, but riveting to watch, even though you knew what the outcome would be. You still hoped it wouldn't be so. In other words, you can go various routes when telling a real-life tale: you can be funny, you can be serious, you can be quirky, if you are entertaining.
Perhaps this is not director Todd Haynes's forte, the real-life tale told in a straightforward manner. The man has quite the Rotten Tomatoes CV. In between Far from heaven (2003) and Certain women (2016), there are quite a few fresh tomatoes thrown in. Let's face it, the fact that he did not win an Oscar for Carol was an affront to mankind. I cannot quite explain what went wrong with Dark waters. I mean, even Mark Ruffalo was rather bland in this. And when was Anne Hathaway relegated to playing a teeny-weeny part as the boring wife? The only interesting character was Bill Camp as Wilbur Tennant, and he doesn't feature a hell of a lot.
It is a fascinating story of corporate greed and environmental disaster. I did not feel the outrage.