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Reviews
W.R. - Misterije organizma (1971)
a film to forget
I have seen this film with my sister in law. She is 22 and studies Audio-visual Communication at the University. At the same time, she enrolled 2 years ago in the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. She wants to become a dramatist. I recognised that she's got a brilliant future as professional. Friends, family, teachers and I admire her talent, but I feel certain reluctance to her tendency to consider good films (or novels, or whatever)only those which are full of vacuous symbolism, outdated contra-cultural plots (when not completely plot less), without regarding the minimal care of the style, the elegance, a well pace,...
All this you can find it in this horrible pastiche called W.R. - Misterije Organizma. The first part of the film is o.k. The director tried to make a documentary about W.R., but all of the sudden, changed his mind, and includes footage of another fictional film. The rest of the film is an endless irritable succession of naive sex scenes, dulled speeches, pretentious and clumsy dialogs,...: In just one word a completely absurdity. I wish I could be scandalised at least!!. But it doesn't provoke anything to me but a headache!! Directors like Luis Buñuel (La Edad de Oro), David Lynch (Lost Highway, etc.), Bergman, Dreyer, Lars von Trier, Jean Cocteau, Alain Resnais (The last year in Marienbad and Hiroshima mon amour)etc., show more cinema and more elegance and taste in just one photo-gram of their films than in all this distasteful film. A perfect torture, which lasted around 90 minutes, but fortunately they weren't enough to cause a collective suicide in the movie theatre.
Finally, I could stand that my sister in law preferred this sort of films to Billy Wilder's films.
Well, no comment...
In the Cut (2003)
A vain attempt of a singular thriller
I don't generally like Jane Campion films. She is, technically and visually speaking, an excellent director, but her films are usually: affected, pretentious and phoney. I couldn't help it, but after 40 minutes screening I was yawning. Even the torrid sex scenes didn't make me hold any interest in the film! Jane Campion treat her actors to perform ridicule scenes which don't get to stimulate the spectators in any moment. who, a sound mind or not, would be able to embrace efussively (and for hours!) the bloodily cut head of her savagely killed and 'disarticulated' sister!
In short: a film to forget.
Bitter Victory (1957)
More than cinema
Before entering the cinema theater I read a review of the film made by Godard in Cahiers du Cinéma. He defined this movie 'more than cinema' and a pure reflection of life. The miserable and coward behaviour of the character (played superbly by Curd Júrgens), a bewildered Richard Burton when futilely carries over his shoulder a dying soldier through the desert until he realizes his death: 'I kill the living and save the dead! or the moment when Ruth Roman looks for "Jimmy" among the survivors of the expedition, and many more... are all beautiful pieces of life, probably bigger than life... How easy is killing!? I also wanted to emphasize the brilliant expressionist photography used in the film. Especially in the nocturnal sequences.
Rojo y negro (1942)
A fascist movie forbidden by Franco
Rojo y Negro are the colors (black and red) of the Falange's flag (Fascist Spanish Party). This movie was considered lost for a long time and a copy was discovered a few years ago.It was restored and screened in Filmoteca Española in Madrid. The main roles are Conchita Montenegro as Luisa, and Ismael Merlo as Miguel. 1921: Luis and Miguel are friends since childhood. At the beginning of the film, their families with other Spanish citizens attend in Madrid to a parade of Spanish troops ready to send to the colonial war in North Africa (Morocco). Miguel's father criticizes the decision of the Spanish government. The attitude of Luisa's family is different and a little Luisa affirms than the soldiers must revenge the dead. Years later, Miguel y Luisa are engaged but there are some difficulties in their relationship: They have different political views. Miguel belongs to a extreme left party and Luisa is falangista (militant of the Fascist Party). The Civil War breaks out and Madrid is surrounded by Franco's Troops. Conchita is an agent against the Republican Government. One night she is arrested at home by a militia group and caged with other political prisoners ready to be executed at dawn. Miguel is a militia member of this prison. Lately, he is doubtful about his ideals and argues with his militia mates about the convenience of the death penalty. Luisa's mother informs him about the situation of her daughter and Miguel desperately tries to avoid her execution..., finally, the end of the film represents a new dawn of the nation. Conchita Montenegro and Ismael Merlo are really splendid. Carlos Árevalo directs masterly this propaganda film. The suspense sequences, especially when the militia comes to arrest Luisa and the superb ending makes this film one of the best propaganda Spanish (and maybe European)fiction movies ever made. Two weeks after the premier the film was removed from the movie theaters due to the pressure of high members of the military hierarchy. The reason was the conciliatory tone (in my opinion very lightly) at the end of the film. 'Rojo y Negro' is, ideologically, a more fascist film than 'Raza' as well as a superior quality film. Until the end of 1942 the Spanish film industry was totally under the control of Falange. When the Germans were clearly loosing the war Franco nationalized the film industry by a decree. Of course, I don't share the political point of view of this film but I have to recognized its high cinematographic values.