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Reviews
The Black Pimpernel (2007)
An important story of courage for our times
The Black Pimpernel was a surprise to me because it is a rare (and true) story of political courage. An unconventional and savvy Swedish ambassador driven by a sense of justice seeks to save lives during the fascist coup in Chile that replaces Salvador Allende with Augusto Pinochet. The ambassador places the Cuban embassy under the protection of the Swedish embassy, gives refuge to hundreds of people, helps some get out of the country, and falls in love with a female revolutionary. He takes risks no ordinary diplomatic functionary would take, uses his diplomatic immunity to smuggle people to safety, enters dangerous zones controlled by soldiers and challenges them, risking his own life. Ambassador Edelstam seemed to know exactly what to do in dealing with the new fascist regime. His unwavering courage and allegiance to human rights and decency is comparable to that of William Wiburforce, the abolitionist in the movie Amazing Grace. The Black Pimpernel was perfectly believable and kept my partner and I on the edge of our seats.
Junebug (2005)
No transformation, a thoroughly frustrating film
I was deeply disappointed by this film. I knew it was set in North Carolina and knew there would be tension and conflict between a sophisticated art dealer from Chicago and her small-town, Southern mother-in-law. But I expected there to be some resolution to the tension and conflict, some transformation. This is the traditional formula for drama, after all. But it was as if the entire film was the introduction that set up the conflicts - of which there were many - and at the end, the viewer was left to imagine how the conflicts could be resolved. We were left in a swamp of unspoken and unresolved emotional tensions. This seemed unfair. I wondered what the point was in making such a movie. Most movie lovers are familiar with dysfunctional families in which members are emotionally repressed and inarticulate, cut off from each other and themselves, while being told ad nauseam that "family is important." What we want to see is a cure, a transformation in the pattern -- proof of why family is important. Unfortunately, this film did not provide it. True to the pattern of conventional, small-town, small-minded families, the film exemplifies stasis rather than dynamism. Nothing really happens. The only two charming, lively characters in the film, Madeleine and Ashley, are misunderstood, squelched, and/or abandoned. Who needs to sit through that?