Change Your Image
netochka
Reviews
Queen of the Damned (2002)
look sharp and act vaguely menacing, life for a vampire is a is not much more than a snappy editing and effects, a change of wardrobe, and usually an irksome accent
the mystery of the spoken language of the egyptians has been SOLVED, rejoice! they sounded as ALL vamps since Bela Lugosi, HUNGARIAN! it's in the blood, one must assume.
early in the film, we were treated to a bit of a video, shot in a style reminiscent of the expressionistic german film, "Das Kabinett des Doktor Caligari" which gave me high hopes for a visually stimulating night out. eh. you can only go so far with flashy MTV type editing, flash, and racket, if you saw the preview, that's as deep as it gets here.
many of the scenes were awkward enough for the audience to laugh out loud, and this wasn't the effect in most cases. Aaliyah Haughton succeeded in her role, which consisted of keeping her wig on and softly undulating in bronze bodypaint. there was little more required of the actors, looking good visually and possessing a vaguely badass attitude was enough in most cases, as it is in most music videos. life for a vamp is burdened by a never ending change of wardrobe and usually an irksome accent. not a lot of introspection here, which you would think a 400+ yr vampire would have had some opportunity for.
the other plot possibility was the "meddling kid" talamasca, a bit thin on the characterization, and somewhat unbelievable. one character followed her obsession to request full knowledge of the experience of a vamp. this woman, who we are to believe is DRIVEN for knowledge, rapidly backpedaled when offered the opportunity to become a vamp after a demonstration of "a light snack in the park after dark". this woman was an EXPERT, having studied lestat from his own DIARY, did she think he drank slim fast to stay looking so thin and chic? the fans of the Anne Rice books will be disappointed, as the story is further diluted by the direction and the choice to make this as flash as possible.
roland s. howard and hugo race were featured in the film. look QUICKLY, as their role in the BAR band consists of a quick tracking shot in the "admiral's arms" and one fleeting close up reaction shot before he and the rest of the barflies buy the farm. go rent "der Himmel über Berlin" one more time if you want more than this. (which i DO!)
A Song to Remember (1945)
a hollywood history better forgotten
I must say, I was greatly disappointed. The story of two icons of the Romantic era has become something rather unattractive and uninteresting in this Hollywood refit. Chopin, herein a tall strapping Pole with a fab hairstyle courtesy of America 1945, hardly shows any signs of the wasting ailment that claimed him at age 39. Strike that, after Sand mentions in the later portion of the film that he is not well, he sports a bit of shadow in his cheekbones courtesy the makeup crew. George Sand is reduced to the most simple of possibilities, portrayed as a baleful sphinx rather than a woman sympathetic to a fellow artist and more importantly, her lover. Her face shows little emotion as she moves through the scenes in improbable ensembles (a pumpkin frock with sequins while writing in the country home? Please.) The passion evident in her novels and in her biographical records should have lent itself to a fleshier scripting of her character, and not this wooden `dragon lady' cliché.
Instead, we are given the character of his teacher, symbolic of his beloved Poland and the life he lead there. Thickly accented, he is a typically comedic boob, pathetic in his displacement in Paris and out of Chopin's life. Sorry, but I didn't feel it made up for the lack of a cohesive storyline, the frightful design, and the awkwardly black and white acting. I would have forgiven the storyline inaccuracies if the film moved me, made me laugh, or perhaps swoon with escapist delight as other Hollywood films of this period do. A more modern film, "Impromptu" (1991), comes highly recommended by this writer, as most of the infirmities of this film are remedied; thus resulting in a much more entertaining and thoughtful bit of cinema stemming from the same source, Sand and Chopin and the cast of personalities that shared their era.