Change Your Image
karl-mauk
Reviews
Basic Instinct 2 (2006)
A sequel that should have never been made!
In my book "Basic Instinct" was a perfect film. It had outstanding acting on the parts of Stone, Douglas and all the supporting actors to the tiniest role. It had marvelous photography, music and the noirest noir script ever. All of it adding up to a film that is as good as it will ever get!
This sequel is the exact opposite, it cannot possibly get worse, bad acting and a lame script, combined with totally inept direction, this is really bad, boring, annoying. The only thing that somewhat keeps you concentrated is the relatively short wait for the next scene that is an exact re-enacted copy of the original. These copies are so bad they make you laugh and I laughed a lot in spite of myself, because it was like watching the demolishing of a shining monument. The only thing that is good in this horrible mess are the excerpts of the Jerry Goldsmith score of BI1. Michael Caton-Jones and the half-wit responsible for the script even included the "There is no smoking in this room" dialog in the interrogation scene and yes she sends her attorney (who is now a solicitor) away!
I am sorry I have seen this awful film that should have never been made! It does damage to the original, so bad is it. The only redeeming value is the realization that cosmetic surgery (and I am sure Ms Stone afforded the best surgeon money can buy) can do a good job but can obviously not restore the perfection of the original. And what concerns the human body applies to film-making, too. There should be a law: Don't ever make a sequel to a perfect film!
Hierankl (2003)
Outstanding!
I really had a lot of expectations when I went to see this movie knowing Johanna Wokalek plays the leading role and it also has Barbara Sukowa in it, one of my favorite actresses of the Fassbinder era, and also Hans Simonischek, arguably one of the titans of German language theater. Normally, when expectations run high, the disappointment is big, but this movie really did deliver! The story is intense and very well scripted, acting is superb by the entire cast to the tiniest role. Director Hans Steinbichler, a first-timer, delivered a true masterpiece. Johanna Wokalek who has to carry his movie does it in a sovereign manner! Photography by Bella Hallen is amazing, this is a benchmark achievement and gives a new dimension to what is normally labeled as "Heimatfilm". The landscape, the mountains and hills of Upper Bavaria are photographed in a way that they always reflect the mood of the characters, thus enhancing the story and transport it on a superimposed visual level. Same goes for the music by Anton Gross. They all add up the enhance the increasingly unsettling atmosphere on the remote Hierankl manor and draw you in this story of love, longing, and utter betrayal. I have not seen a movie as good as this one in quite a while! I rated it 10 out of 10.
Maladolescenza (1977)
Outstanding movie, great photography and acting *WARNING SPOILERS*
I saw this movie at its theatrical release in 1977. It was so heavily cut that essential parts of the plot were missing. I just now saw the new DVD edition and I was smitten just how good this movie is! At its original theatrical release vilified as child pornography it didn't get the attention it deserved. And it couldn't get proper appreciation because the mutilated theatrical release version was a great nothing with most of the essential scenes
*SPOILER*
even the murder at the end
*END SPOILER*
having been cut out. When I saw it first in 1977 it practically left no impression on me whatsoever whereas the uncut version left me completely speechless and unsettled about just how evil it is. Even though it is beautifully photographed, has a fantastic score and is extremely well acted by the three young actors, it is by now means pleasant to watch. It is a movie that you will often think about long after you have seen it. This one will really haunt you, take my word for it! Just a word on the DVD edition that seems to be the only source for the integral version. The releasing company cannot be praised enough for making this film now accessible after 27 years but they could have done a better job with the anamorphic transfer. They could have cleaned the film of disturbing artefacts and they should have been more careful with the English subtitles for the original Italian version. Apparently they have translated the German dialog book because there are things translated in the subtitles that are not said and things that are said are not translated! It is a total mess! And at the end when Fabrizio sits silently on a rock in the cave
*SPOILER*
after just having murdered Sylvia and having sent Laura away, I repeat, sitting there in complete silence after having committed the murder, the subtitles translate the silence telling us that "it was a hot summer, the two girls were the first love I had and I have never seen them again"!!! The German version has a voice-over telling even more precisely that the murdered girl is now a high-school teacher! Such a complete nonsense, but clear if you know that the murder scene had been completely omitted in the theatrical release version and that this was the incredibly cheesy original theatrical ending with the voice over narration suggesting that they had just left for home after their vacation in the mountains!
*END SPOILER*
The releasing company should really have made the subtitles according to the spoken word and not according to the German dialog book! Anyway: This film is an absolute masterpiece and I can highly recommend it. I gave it 9/10 deducting one point for the obvious exploitation intention it was made with.