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greg_machlin
Reviews
The PianoTuner of EarthQuakes (2004)
Astonishing, dazzling, and surprisingly coherent
"The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes" is a strange and wonderful dark fairy tale about a piano tuner sent to a mysterious island to assist a malevolent conductor who's keeping an opera singer captive; the conductor wants the tuner to fine tune and repair several large, mechanical, complex Joseph-Cornell like boxes. But the boxes are not what they seem
I agree with those who felt "Institute Benjamenta" (the brothers' first full-length film) was boring--it is--but The Brothers Quay have improved by leaps and bounds with this film. The narrative is significantly easier to follow & figure out than, say, "Mulholland Drive"; in fact, I'd even say it's more straightforward than executive producer Terry Gilliam's own "12 Monkeys" (for a start, it's linear). Everything said about the images is true; Nic Knowland's cinematography and the Quay Brothers' own production design is superb.
So don't be put off by the reviews saying "Piano Tuner" doesn't make any sense; this is in fact a straightforward movie if you're paying close enough attention. Anyone who likes David Lynch, Gilliam, or Jeunet & Caro needs to see it. It's also one of the best films of the year.
Caligola (1979)
ought to be a cult classic
The cinematography is gorgeous, along with the scoring. The production captures both the glory and barbarity of mankind in Rome. MacDowell's portrayal of the mad Emperor is convincing and O'Toole never disappoints. For a movie so controversial to be made in it's time, only Penthouse would have supplied the budget, and, so there was gratuitous sex. So what? Truthfully, it was a small price to pay for such funding. The nudity was certainly well within reason in the costuming. The dialogue covering the orgy scenes was very insightful into the dramatic viewpoints of the characters. Bizarre, but true. Much of the movie is to tear either at your stomach or your heart. No. It is not bad. It makes everyone who watches it feel too much and think too many things to be bad. I agree, it is difficult to take. I do, however, highly recommend this film to anyone who has a strong stomach for mankind and likes a challenge.