The Frame » film-1988

The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Jandy — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 17:12:12 +0000

Milan Kundera’s novel was one of my favorite reads last year, and I knew any film version was going to have a lot to live up to, especially given the self-conscious, postmodern, meandering narrative technique (which was one of my favorite things about the book). The film doesn’t quite make it, though it gives it a fighting try. It does a great job with the segment about the Czech uprising, and Lena Olin is an absolute revelation. But the beauty of the book is its expression of internalization, and as much as I love film, that’s one thing it can’t match. I did love the characters as I watched the film, but I honestly don’t think I would have if I didn’t already love them from the book. I sort of wish I had watched it before reading the book to see what my reaction would have been coming in blind. Because it is a beautiful film at times, mysterious and entrancing. Just not as much as the book.
Well Above Average

Rain Man

Jandy — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 19:52:11 +0000

I’ve been half-meaning to watch this Oscar-winner (Picture and Dustin Hoffman for Actor) for a while, but I sort of put it off because it seemed like a film about an autistic savant and his greedy brother would just be depressing. Well, it isn’t. It’s funny, and sweet, and warm. Dustin Hoffman does an incredible job as the savant, able to calculate enormous math problems and memorize amazing detail (like, the phone book), yet unable to make it through the day without his set routines. Tom Cruise also does right by the part of the ambitious brother, who learns about Hoffman’s existence only when their father dies and leaves all his money to the autistic brother. Best picture of the year might be a bit much (Oscar, I’m looking at you), but it’s a very good film.
Well Above Average

Powaqqatsi

Jandy — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 23:27:43 +0000

Godfrey Reggio’s first “-qatsi” film was Koyaanisqatsi: Life Out of Balance, a dazzling display of images and music (by Philip Glass) comparing the quiet beauty of nature with the hectic pace of modern life. Powaqqatsi: Life in Transformation takes the theme a bit further, again using only images and music to show the effect of western modernization on developing nations, specifically in terms of the mechanization of work (the “cog in the wheel” mentality). It doesn’t work nearly so well as Koyaanisqatsi. The earlier film was beautiful, whether or not you agreed with its implicit message or even if you could discern the message in it. Powaqqatsi is not really beautiful (though it does have its moments) and its point is incoherent. The third film in the series, Nagoyqatsi, is about the nature of war, I think, but with the falloff of quality between Koyaanisquatsi and Powaqqatsi, I’m not terribly excited about it.
Below Average

Grave of the Fireflies

Jandy — Wed, 29 Mar 2006 04:50:49 +0000

Every time I watch an anime film, I have to put myself in “anime mindset.” You know, where you accept the overblown facial expressions and exaggerated voice acting as stylistic choices and proceed to enjoy the movie as it is. Every time I want to really like one not just as an anime film, but just as a film. Finally, I found one that is not just a great anime, but is a great film, full stop. For once the animation is understated, as is the voice acting. The story is simple (two Japanese children are orphaned by air raids in WWII and make their own way in the unwelcoming world as best they can, for as long as they can), and truly moving. Swear to God, I cried for the last half. I completely forgot I was watching animation. Everything–animation, voices, music–works together to make this one of the most beautiful, most heartbreaking films I’ve ever seen. It really doesn’t take a stand on the war as such, but merely portrays the effect that war has on innocents, no matter what country they’re from or who the aggressors happen to be.
Superior