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dennis70
Reviews
Ginga-tetsudô no yoru (1985)
A true masterpiece
Gisaburo Sugii sure has had a eclectic career, starting out with children's fare like Jack and The Beanstalk. Here he takes Kenji Miyazawa's children's story and creates a living atmosphere. While highly detailed backgrounds are nothing new for anime, "Night on the Galactic Railroad" combines its finely crafted images with a brilliant use of frame shots, pacing, and audio montage to create a surreal and ethereal viewing experience.
If I tell you that this is the same guy who did Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie you wouldn't believe it, right? Well it is the same person. But this is without any doubt his best film. I have never had such an experience with an animated movie before (I particularly dislike most of anime) but this was enlightening. A must see.
Dellamorte dellamore (1994)
Great and unique
Michelle Soavi's Dellamorte, Dellamore (1994) is one of the greatest of all horror films, but has never received the attention it deserves because of its lack of the proper trappings. Many ''great movies'' are by "great directors", but Soavi directed only a few this one film, since he has been usually overshadowed by his master Dario Argento, who took him as a protégée. Many great movies are realistic, but ''Dellamorte Dellamore'' is an expressionistic oddity, telling its chilling story through dashing visual fantasy, a dark sense of humor and the absurd. People usually don't know how to categorize it, so they leave it off their lists. But this is one of a kind. It is full of images you will never forget.
Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma (1975)
A necessary evil
This is a tough one. Pasolini was a very complicated man. He was murdered in still-unexplained circumstances shortly after the film was completed. I was 10 years old when this movie was finished, but I only saw it now. Despite being almost 30 years old, Salo is probably the most cruel and repulsive film ever made, not just here in Italy but in the whole world. It depicts the worse atrocities inflicted to humans by humans. The true dark side of human nature: When evil is born out of simple boredom, when it comes naturally. It is a film that I don't want to see ever again, but at the same time I'm glad it was made. I thought hated it at first, but I now I realized is not true. Of course I don't love it either. I can't decide how to judge it. I don't like the cinematography or the acting. But it was definitely one of the most profound emotional experiences of revulsion I've had in a film. It is a necessary evil if you can endure it.
La sindrome di Stendhal (1996)
Pretty solid
Regarded as one of Argento's lesser works, I find this one much more plausible than any of his early films. Let's face it, Argento doesn't care much about plot or even acting. His films are probably the frustrating I've ever seen: There are things I love, and things I hate about them. I grew up watching much of his films mutilated by Italian Television. I was a kid back then, and strangely enough his films never scared me when they were supposed to. They were really over the top. But I loved the colours, the pictures and once in a while I found myself humming Claudio Simonetti's electronic scores.
Now with this film Argento has Morricone, who is definitely a master and he does a great job here. Anna's character is really intriguing. Some people dismiss Asia's acting style, but I think it goes very well with her father's aesthetics. You wont find the crazy colours here. Everything is more restrained. The opening for example scene is great. But the film looses interest towards the end. Still I think is one of Argento's most solid pieces. The idea is truly interesting and Anna's relationship with the killer is fascinating. The hallucinations scenes of Anna going into the paintings are masterfully done.
After the huge disappointment of Il Cartaio, I hope he truly returns to form, and start doing what he's good at: Going crazy with film. La Sindrome Di Stendhal is a pretty good step.
Tystnaden (1963)
Igmar at his most cinematic
This film marked a turn for Igmar Bergman's career. While always great, most of his films from the fifties are always plagued with an excess of theatricality and long parliaments. However this 1963 film he creates a strange world with very little dialogue and surreal imagery a la Bunuel (See the scene with the dwarfs)
For the time the film was also very shocking because of the sexually explicit scenes. The film starts with two sisters and a boy (the son of one of them), travelling by train into a strange country in the verge of war. They decide to stay in an almost empty hotel, where most of the film takes place.
The film involves themes like, incest, lesbians, alienation and the impossibility to communicate in general. Not to be missed.
10/10
Red Cockroaches (2003)
Brilliant
While certainly not for mainstream tastes, this feature debut by Miguel Coyula is outstanding from almost every point of view. Forget the $2000 budget. I really don't care when filmmakers say "Oh I had a very small budget, so please excuse the poor quality of my film" Not the case here. The filmmaker has created a strange menacing cinematic world saturated with lurid colours and moody soundtrack.
Of course, this alone wouldn't be enough to sustain a movie. The story deals with a convoluted case of incest. It is essentially a movie that manages to turn a disturbing story into a fascinating (and even erotic) study of the human psyche. The influence of David Lynch is obvious as it is full of moments of "high weirdness" but Coyula's vision and sensibilities are unique. I'm sure he'll make great films in the future (that is if he's not seduced by Hollywood).
A must see if you are into "strange" films. Many will leave the theatre wondering what the hell happened but I can assure you it wont leave you indifferent.
Network (1976)
Interesting but overrated
...And ultimately disappointing. What starts out as a great premise it's not carried to it's maximum consequences. The dialogue is quite frequently heavy handed, and the affair between William Holden and Faye Dunaway it is not very realistic. Some of Dunaway's and Holden's scenes are completely unrealistic, c'mon people just don't talk that way. Here , characters are just tools for the overall message of the screenwriter.
However Peter Finch' famous scream "I'm mad as hell and I can't take it anymore!" and hundreds of people screaming out of their windows will stay with you forever.
Overall it's an interesting film. But it is flawed because it's radical ideas are not carried along all the way. Maybe its a product of its time. But in todays world, many aspects are dated. Natural Born Killers dealt with similar television issues in a more effective and radical way.