Long! Long faces. Long scenes. Long, long shots. I understand that this story has historical and religious significance. I understand that it is based on a true story that is dramatic and compelling. This movie is not.
We quickly see that these are French monks at a monastery in Algeria. But do we really need scene after scene of the Catholic liturgy, with Gregorian chants, that go on from start to finish? After the first one, they add nothing to the story, or our understanding of the characters, other than to make you pray... pray the scene will soon be over.
Do we really need repeated long shots of a car driving on a barren road, starting at one edge of the screen, and driving slowly, slowly, toward the other edge, until it finally clears the shot? I know. Let action clear the edge of the screen before you cut. But this was not action. It was molasses flowing.
And it is not the fault of the actors, who are clearly good at their craft. But it seems as if the director pointed the camera at each one of them and told them to emote. And they did. And the director said, "That's it. Keep on emoting. Emote more. More..." And when the director was done with that actor he turned to the next and said, "Emote. Keep emoting. More. More..." Seriously, there is one scene where that is exactly what they do. With all eight monks. In fact, they may have gone around the table twice. I lost track.
There are a handful of tense scenes (a small handful, believe me) with the terrorists, and with the army. But these were poorly developed, and remarkably un-tense considering the events.
And yet you stick with it because of the high ratings. You think, "This has to get better. The film won awards. People rave about it." Don't think that. If you don't love this film from the beginning, you will not love it at the end. It never gets better.
These "film makers" never learned that it is plot and character that drive a movie... Not how long you can hold your finger on the camera's shutter release before yelling "Cut!"
We quickly see that these are French monks at a monastery in Algeria. But do we really need scene after scene of the Catholic liturgy, with Gregorian chants, that go on from start to finish? After the first one, they add nothing to the story, or our understanding of the characters, other than to make you pray... pray the scene will soon be over.
Do we really need repeated long shots of a car driving on a barren road, starting at one edge of the screen, and driving slowly, slowly, toward the other edge, until it finally clears the shot? I know. Let action clear the edge of the screen before you cut. But this was not action. It was molasses flowing.
And it is not the fault of the actors, who are clearly good at their craft. But it seems as if the director pointed the camera at each one of them and told them to emote. And they did. And the director said, "That's it. Keep on emoting. Emote more. More..." And when the director was done with that actor he turned to the next and said, "Emote. Keep emoting. More. More..." Seriously, there is one scene where that is exactly what they do. With all eight monks. In fact, they may have gone around the table twice. I lost track.
There are a handful of tense scenes (a small handful, believe me) with the terrorists, and with the army. But these were poorly developed, and remarkably un-tense considering the events.
And yet you stick with it because of the high ratings. You think, "This has to get better. The film won awards. People rave about it." Don't think that. If you don't love this film from the beginning, you will not love it at the end. It never gets better.
These "film makers" never learned that it is plot and character that drive a movie... Not how long you can hold your finger on the camera's shutter release before yelling "Cut!"