zoni4316
Joined May 2000
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zoni4316's rating
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zoni4316's rating
The photography, costumes, and the music in this movie were great. But style is where the brilliance of this movie ends. The film presents a highly skewed view of historical events, oversimplified and tailored to fit the biases of George Clooney.
Joe McCarthy is shown only in newsreel footage making him a 2 dimensional character. This really diminishes the impact. He certainly isn't the ugly threatening villain the filmmakers would like us to believe in. There is tragedy in the story of McCarthy. He played a high-stakes political game and self-destructed in public. Why that sort of real human drama is completely missing from this film is beyond me.
There is no attempt to explain the real reason for anti-communist paranoia, and that makes the film historically unbalanced. The Clooney clan didn't know how to put the McCarthy era in context. Younger generations and the masses who don't read history will wonder what all the fuss was about. With tens of millions of people dying in the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin paranoia was impossible to avoid. The horror of Stalin's party purges make the politics portrayed in this movie look like something from the Sunday comics.
OK, I get the idea that Clooney likes "smooth jazz" music. The music is great, and this, unfortunately, is also one of the films biggest problems. That music was not widely popular in the 1950's. The pop charts were full of light vocal and musical show tunes, and this would spell box office disaster today. The real pop music of the 1950's made the rise of Rock and Roll inevitable! A dramatic orchestral score could have heightened the impact and would not have drawn undue attention away from the story, as does the music in this film.
Controversy always has more than one side. If Clooney were a good filmmaker he would have given the film the type of dramatic tension that could turn it into serious entertainment. The unintentional paradox is that while presenting the story of a "neutral" journalist, Clooney shows a distorted view of the surrounding historical events. I guess it is just too bad for us that the real world is so out of touch with George Clooney.
Joe McCarthy is shown only in newsreel footage making him a 2 dimensional character. This really diminishes the impact. He certainly isn't the ugly threatening villain the filmmakers would like us to believe in. There is tragedy in the story of McCarthy. He played a high-stakes political game and self-destructed in public. Why that sort of real human drama is completely missing from this film is beyond me.
There is no attempt to explain the real reason for anti-communist paranoia, and that makes the film historically unbalanced. The Clooney clan didn't know how to put the McCarthy era in context. Younger generations and the masses who don't read history will wonder what all the fuss was about. With tens of millions of people dying in the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin paranoia was impossible to avoid. The horror of Stalin's party purges make the politics portrayed in this movie look like something from the Sunday comics.
OK, I get the idea that Clooney likes "smooth jazz" music. The music is great, and this, unfortunately, is also one of the films biggest problems. That music was not widely popular in the 1950's. The pop charts were full of light vocal and musical show tunes, and this would spell box office disaster today. The real pop music of the 1950's made the rise of Rock and Roll inevitable! A dramatic orchestral score could have heightened the impact and would not have drawn undue attention away from the story, as does the music in this film.
Controversy always has more than one side. If Clooney were a good filmmaker he would have given the film the type of dramatic tension that could turn it into serious entertainment. The unintentional paradox is that while presenting the story of a "neutral" journalist, Clooney shows a distorted view of the surrounding historical events. I guess it is just too bad for us that the real world is so out of touch with George Clooney.
I first saw this as part of a Massimo Troisi film festival right after Il Postino became a success in the US. It was my favorite of the 5 films shown. I am still amazed at how few people know if this film considering that it has a big name Italian director and 2 of the biggest Italian stars of all time.
This movie does have some similarities to Cinema Paradiso which was released at about the same time. That could explain why Splendor did not find a larger audience. But regardless, this is certainly is a magical and touching film that stands on its own.
The film was re-issued in Europe on Blu-Ray and DVD in 2013. Unlike the earlier DVD release the new version does have English subtitles! If you are a fan of Italian film you really need to see this! Highly recommended!
This movie does have some similarities to Cinema Paradiso which was released at about the same time. That could explain why Splendor did not find a larger audience. But regardless, this is certainly is a magical and touching film that stands on its own.
The film was re-issued in Europe on Blu-Ray and DVD in 2013. Unlike the earlier DVD release the new version does have English subtitles! If you are a fan of Italian film you really need to see this! Highly recommended!
This is without a doubt one of the most air headed movies to hit the big screen in recent years. It tries to be a very serious message movie and a fun lighthearted one at the same time. Better to take it as a bad joke of a movie than as a serious one. It really fails on both levels. The sophomoric sledgehammer metaphors really sunk this one for me.
The conflict is a modern 90's, sexually aware, colorful, liberal pop culture (good) against a 50's style uptight, repressed, black and white, conservative town (evil). Both sides are portrayed in stereotypes so narrow they look like they were written by a 12 year old. Gee, where have I seen a them like that before? The "black and white" people are conservative ugly racists, while the good liberal "colorful" people are wonderful because they get to be true to themselves and become sexually aware because they masturbate.
Perhaps the most ridiculous scene is where the girlfriend picks a red apple from a tree and hands it to the hero. The film plays with many religious and moral issues but doesn't have a single thought provoking thing to say about them. Anyone who wants a film with religious messages can surely find better ones than this!
The best part of the film is Reese Witherspoon's performance. She plays a "good" character who has an ugly side of her own. She can't save the film on her own though because the characters are nothing more than cardboard cut-outs. This film is full of the kind of dumbed down politically correct drivel that is very popular these days. Those who think that Al Gore is a hero will probably think that Tobey Maguire's character in this film is one also. Too bad there is no room for either character to come to an understanding of REAL adults.
The conflict is a modern 90's, sexually aware, colorful, liberal pop culture (good) against a 50's style uptight, repressed, black and white, conservative town (evil). Both sides are portrayed in stereotypes so narrow they look like they were written by a 12 year old. Gee, where have I seen a them like that before? The "black and white" people are conservative ugly racists, while the good liberal "colorful" people are wonderful because they get to be true to themselves and become sexually aware because they masturbate.
Perhaps the most ridiculous scene is where the girlfriend picks a red apple from a tree and hands it to the hero. The film plays with many religious and moral issues but doesn't have a single thought provoking thing to say about them. Anyone who wants a film with religious messages can surely find better ones than this!
The best part of the film is Reese Witherspoon's performance. She plays a "good" character who has an ugly side of her own. She can't save the film on her own though because the characters are nothing more than cardboard cut-outs. This film is full of the kind of dumbed down politically correct drivel that is very popular these days. Those who think that Al Gore is a hero will probably think that Tobey Maguire's character in this film is one also. Too bad there is no room for either character to come to an understanding of REAL adults.
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