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Reviews
Sandcastles (2004)
After watching Sandcastles and Dustclouds...
Sandcastles has a flow to it that I appreciate in a good work of art. someone wrote a comment on IMDb regarding this film: "All together, a beautiful film... if you have the patience for it. 10 out of 10."
My response to that person who obviously liked it as much as I did, that if you have to think about patience then forget about these damned fine films here at the Tik and just subscribe to HBO or something and keep watching the crapola Hollywood keeps belching out.
Sandcastles has a pace. A decidedly slow one. But deliberate. Not linear but diffuse and yet focused at the same time. We are left wondering if the main character Getz has become "unstuck in time" or is having visions of the future or past - your guess is as good as mine.
Is there a grand scheme that has brought Getz to this point of not knowing who he was. We are given hints throughout the film such as his first? meeting with the enigmatic Karina in the book shop. She suggest things that had me believing she knows something about his current situation or possibly is playing a part in forming them.
But the film does not let you off easy here. It could be a mystery, or a drama, a love story suspense, thriller. It isn't. We do not know what part his search through the pages of books play in his future encounters because Getz believes at some point that he might be acting out somehow these fragments of stories he reads or that somehow these pages have imposed themselves onto his life.
There are moments in the basement? dwelling that are absurd or symbolic or something else. The man who wears the blast helmet to keep out the light. the piles of books the flooded floor & the bathroom scenes.
You can think this one to death and be miserable or just let it flow and enjoy the artistry of Filip Jan Rymsza and let is just pass by you. And I don't mean pass you by as in you don't get it. More like a passing train means a train has just passed by. Thinking about it won't change that fact. Take it in instead of pausing to contemplate.
So, I will watch this again in the future and then I will dissect and consider. The first time was poetic without over analyzing it.
Dustclouds (2007)
After watching Sandcastles and Dustclouds...
I just watched Dustclouds... after watching Sandcastles earlier in the day. Well this has been the movie highlight of the decade for me. So I ask myself (of course knowing full well the answer - but I'm stupid and keep asking) I ask myself why isn't Filip Jan Rymsza being hailed from coast to coast as a genius in film making? If "Insert name of generic Hollywood film part 3" is making hundreds of millions of $$$ then this guy should have enough money to buy his own island. Of course the world doesn't work that way.
I wish I could say more but I'm pretty dumbfounded by the experience. Normally I'll mentally pick a film apart during or after viewing. Dustclouds was way too smooth for this - I didn't want to and ruin it.
I watch many films and it's rare that I really get into one this much. To be honest I haven't had this reaction while watching Bergman's films and they always blow me away.