sps-70659
Joined Oct 2016
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sps-70659's rating
In the Denis Johnson canon, indeed anyone else's canon, there's nothing quite like Train Dreams (2002), a short and matchless piece of pure Americana. His other masterpiece, Tree of Smoke, is totally different, a black-as-night Vietnam War epic. He also wrote terrific noir.
There's plenty of Terrence Malick in sophomore director Bentley's portrayals of the American wilds, but it might have taken an oracle at Malick's level, maybe a better cinematographer, to fully capture the sweeping universality of the workman Grainier's uniquely American travails as he marches alongside (rather than inside) its 20th century history.
The thoughtful Australian Joel Edgerton, long embedded in US, and in US cinema, thrives on roles like this. English actress Felicity Jones does the job, as his loved and lamented wife.
But do read Train Dreams, you won't forget it. Also, I dare some genius to film Tree of Smoke. Done properly, it might make Apocalypse Now look like a walk in the park.
There's plenty of Terrence Malick in sophomore director Bentley's portrayals of the American wilds, but it might have taken an oracle at Malick's level, maybe a better cinematographer, to fully capture the sweeping universality of the workman Grainier's uniquely American travails as he marches alongside (rather than inside) its 20th century history.
The thoughtful Australian Joel Edgerton, long embedded in US, and in US cinema, thrives on roles like this. English actress Felicity Jones does the job, as his loved and lamented wife.
But do read Train Dreams, you won't forget it. Also, I dare some genius to film Tree of Smoke. Done properly, it might make Apocalypse Now look like a walk in the park.
I only know Romania from its movies, but how good are they, one of the most assertive and instantly recognisable cinema styles of Europe.
This is terrific for a debut feature, assured script, well-cast, beautifully filmed, and getting in and out of the way in a brisk 90 minutes.
The director starts cold, in the middle of things, with a proud but seemingly aimless old guy scrabbling around with detritus in a wreck of a house. Once a Romanian movie gets much outside of Bucharest, the village life usually looks rather rustic or pre-modern, not at all spiffy, with the local bar or supermarket often the centre of things, not forgetting the church, school, and local government.
Only gradually, and with all the time in the world, are the bits and pieces filled in, the flood, the loss of his wife, his relief accommodation, his land that the local council wants to buy, and most surprising of all, his semi-estranged son who turns up unannounced with a Japanese wife and son.
The scenes where father and son get the hang of each other again, and the father comes to know his unexpected grandson and daughter in law, are terse but effective.
It would be lame to call the closing scene a happy ending, but there is real growth and real hope, and none of it cheaply earned by this thoughtful and humane director.
Curiously, he only appears to have one other feature-length movie, "And They May Still be Alive Today". One to look for on CinePub.
This is terrific for a debut feature, assured script, well-cast, beautifully filmed, and getting in and out of the way in a brisk 90 minutes.
The director starts cold, in the middle of things, with a proud but seemingly aimless old guy scrabbling around with detritus in a wreck of a house. Once a Romanian movie gets much outside of Bucharest, the village life usually looks rather rustic or pre-modern, not at all spiffy, with the local bar or supermarket often the centre of things, not forgetting the church, school, and local government.
Only gradually, and with all the time in the world, are the bits and pieces filled in, the flood, the loss of his wife, his relief accommodation, his land that the local council wants to buy, and most surprising of all, his semi-estranged son who turns up unannounced with a Japanese wife and son.
The scenes where father and son get the hang of each other again, and the father comes to know his unexpected grandson and daughter in law, are terse but effective.
It would be lame to call the closing scene a happy ending, but there is real growth and real hope, and none of it cheaply earned by this thoughtful and humane director.
Curiously, he only appears to have one other feature-length movie, "And They May Still be Alive Today". One to look for on CinePub.
Medical drama, medical tragedy, ho hum, how can you possibly make it new again.
Other correspondent is right, "Second Victims" is inapt, "Secondary Victims" is closer to the true sense in English.
Who cares. The point is, the director has done all this serious research with real people who've suffered real heartbreak, and brought it to life with a fine movie that makes few missteps.
The cast, the script, the production, the length, are all apt. When the emotional dilemmas arrive, they are real, heartfelt, and carry you along, instead of you rolling your eyes, boring, another medical-drama trope.
Even the senior surgeon who is the neurologist's nemesis, but also helps her get through it, is a nice role, with neat lines. That "guilty" red staircase the neurologist walks up and down, up and down, you remember it.
Still not sure, about the very final scene. Again, who cares, it's a success for Elkington.
Other correspondent is right, "Second Victims" is inapt, "Secondary Victims" is closer to the true sense in English.
Who cares. The point is, the director has done all this serious research with real people who've suffered real heartbreak, and brought it to life with a fine movie that makes few missteps.
The cast, the script, the production, the length, are all apt. When the emotional dilemmas arrive, they are real, heartfelt, and carry you along, instead of you rolling your eyes, boring, another medical-drama trope.
Even the senior surgeon who is the neurologist's nemesis, but also helps her get through it, is a nice role, with neat lines. That "guilty" red staircase the neurologist walks up and down, up and down, you remember it.
Still not sure, about the very final scene. Again, who cares, it's a success for Elkington.