christophe92300

Ang Lee really managed to grasp the moods, torments, emotions of this gallery of characters and this basically is the greatest satisfaction of The Ice Storm. But what this movie lacks is a real plot and a clearer direction, indeed the scenario resembles a patchwork of disconnected, rather uneven scenes and story lines that are not that productive. There is also too many characters which induces a inevitable dilution of the story, not to mention that the common denominator, the sexual liberation in the 70's, is not the most interesting. Ultimately, the only thing that really stands out in this movie, whose cinematography is excellent by the way, is its genuine sensibility.

Sure the fight against mafia gangrene, corruption, the « one against all » sympbolic are appealing subjects but the treatment the story had is too timid. The dramatic progression is rather mediocre, the narration lacks grip, tension, it is too linear, too predictable and too slow to captivate the viewer's attention from end to end. The actors are bland, a vast majority of people by the way even consider Marlon Brando's performance as one of his best when his acting is just dreadfully inexpressive. As for the cinematography, which is also often highly regarded, it's more than OK but very academic, and often badly served by a deafening, too grandiloquent soundtrack. With 8 Oscars and a solid reputation, On The Waterfront appeared like a true masterpiece but ultimately the movie could very well be part of the overrated classics category.

The second movie of Terrence Malick's filmography, Days of Heaven depicts a dreadfully boring love triangle on a Texas farm. Once the base of the story is set, the plot could not unfold slower, there is almost nothing going on and the few things happening are not engaging at all. The scenario does not take the time to develop the characters who therefore seem completely superficial, cold or even creepy, the narrative structure is plain bad, the scenes follow each other without much coherence because of the mediocre editing with all those brutal cuts (often to the landscape) or puzzling ellipses (hard to situate the events on a timeline). The voice over weighs down even more this soulless, passionless, incomprehensibly highly regarded production.