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Les Misérables (2012)
Simply perfect! But you'll probably hate it, if you don't know the musical...
I saw the musical some time ago in London and back then bought the soundtrack. Listening to it quite often, I know the soundtrack by heart. Going to a Swiss preview, I was very excited to see how the stage musical was transformed into a musical adaptation for the screen. As well I nearly expected to be disappointed. Far from that: I was touched in every single scene and even moved to tears in some scenes, what happens very rarely to me... The cast is excellent as well as their singing. The choice of actors and actresses is very convincing. The mood of Paris in the 19th century seems to be very accurate or at least how we expect it to be. A true gem among filmed musicals! Although it was a pity that Gavroches 'Little people' was cut short.
One drawback: I think people who don't know/like the musical will not like the movie because it's in general the stage version brought on the screen.
We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011)
Good adaptation of book but probably unsatisfying movie if you haven't read the book
I had read the book and was eagerly awaiting the movie, partly also because of Tilda Swinton who I think one of the most prolific actresses of our time. Her performance is outstanding as always, a blink of an eye, an almost invisible twitch on her front saying more than a whole dialogue could. Ezra Miller as Kevin is superb (as are Rock and Jasper). He shows an arrogance towards his fellow human beings (i.e. his parents) it's almost unbearable. The nightmare of any parent: an arrogance you cannot really fight against because on the surface there is nothing to fight against.
The interaction between Tilda Swinton and John C. Reilly is very subtle and portraits very nicely the somehow uneven couple they are. Although perhaps not knowing the book makes it not as obvious, they could just seem odd. A lot more topics, I don't want to list here, are probably not easy to understand - if not confusing - not having read the book.
Generally the adaptation succeeded. I definitely didn't like the overpowering use of the colour red. For red is in my country associated with rage and passion but not with guilt. Apart from that I found it exaggerated tinting everything red even if not necessary for the context (like a usually green exit sign being red, posters on a wall, people's cloths). Do people get what happened in the school without knowing the book? The scene is very well done not showing explicitly what Kevin does behind locked doors, but then also you don't get his motivation which is obvious in the book. A further detail I really didn't like in the movie is the emphasis on the mother's faults making her look more guilty than the father who on his side is always downplaying Kevin's behaviour whenever Eva brings up the issue and so nurtures Kevin's ego, he taking advantage of it shamelessly.
Das Ende ist mein Anfang (2010)
A great Bruno Ganz in a mediocre movie
About Bruno Ganz you can say that even a boring film is worth being watched just because of his acting. Which is so true once again. His acting is great, even if in the beginning it feels sometimes overacted. Why do I think it a boring film? I haven't read the book, but I'm convinced it's very interesting and moving at the same time. You probably can imagine every scene being told by Tiziano in all its colours. In the movie this doesn't work because you see those beautiful sceneries of Tuscany not letting room for your own fantasy to develop pictures in your mind. Somehow the movie feels like the pages just being filmed one by one. A pity the film wasn't done in Italian, it would have been so much more authentic. In addition, obviously Elio Germano (Folco) spoke his text in Italian being dubbed over in German which kind of feels strange because his lips speak the Italian words which don't match the German text in movement. If you like Bruno Ganz and the not worn out pictures of Tuscany go and watch the movie, if not, go for some other movie.
Music and Lyrics (2007)
Hilarious comedy for thirty-somethings
We hardly couldn't stop laughing. Even during the more serious scenes we started giggling just remembering previous scenes. The movie probably is not half as funny for younger viewers who don't know the era when hair-gel was new on the market and people wore strange combinations of clothes in the wildest colours and patterns. Just like the spirit of that decade provides a lot of funny scenes, also a lot of the jokes refer to real-life 80's Has-beens who are completely unknown to people born after the 70's. I.e. Frankie Goes to Hollywood or Debbie Gibson and Tiffany who were the Britney & X-tina of that time and alternated in being on the covers of youth magazines for quite a while. The chemistry between Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore works well, because the (real-life) age gap exists also in the portrayed characters. Even if the character of the big sister seems to be a little over the top, we could identify with her very much. All our teenage-year idols are virtually Has-beens now, but if we would face them today, we would probably faint, just by reviving the feelings we had then.
Sunduk predkov (2005)
Lovely story in a beautiful, unknown country
In the breathtaking landscape of rural Kyrgyzstan, Isabelle a Parisian woman has to fight against prejudices of her fiancé's relatives and neighbours who welcome her warmly thinking she's just an acquaintance Aidar brought as a guest to the wedding taking place in the village. Isabelle soon gets accustomed to the different lifestyle, respecting the people and their lives, eventually making friends. But there are still some obstacles to overcome to keep the love of Aidar.
A very nice example of the clash of cultures and that you can be understood without knowing a word in the foreign language by really 'listening' to people.
Heist (2001)
unfitting ending
A movie with a certain cleverness, that occasionally has got its surprises although it is made of a very predictable construction. There's only one very sad thing to say about it: why must a film, beginning clever and funny turn into a gunfighting action movie?
The Mexican (2001)
What was it about?
To many parallel stories not completed destroyed much of the movie. The title-giving gun is just like the red line through the film, but not really the main topic. I won't write more about it not to act as a spoiler.
Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts are a couple you wouldn't match in the first place, but they're somehow nice to see together.
I best loved the photography with its wonderful Mexican scenery and the opposite artificial light of Vegas.
Merci pour le chocolat (2000)
Bad piano scenes
A nice quiet movie with a lot of piano music (if you like Liszt). Though it's a pity the piano-playing scenes look so fake when the actors are visible. Why can actors not try to move like a pianoplayer really would? On the other hand the hands visible playing the piano are so obviously not belonging to the actors.... It kind of spoils the musical scenes.