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williamr-2
Reviews
Hedd Wyn (1992)
Sadness and beauty combined
I have given this film a 9. Being a Welshman I already knew the story of Hedd Wyn and I was very impressed with how this piece of Welsh history was put to film.
Although the film does loose something in translation, overall I was quite impressed at the skill of the translators in managing to convey at least a little bit of this man's brilliance as a bard.
The sense of loss that this film conveys is very strong and when watching this film and pondering over the life of Hedd Wyn, I can't help thinking that somewhere in the world today many more valuable lives are being lost due to needless conflict.
Brazil (1985)
Superb, disturbing, my kind of film.
I first saw this film when it was shown on UK TV for the first time. I can't remember how old I was, but I was in my teens. I remember enjoying the cinematics and some of the humor. A few years later I saw it again and this time the disturbing nature of its storyline had a greater impact on me and I enjoyed it very much. Some time later, when I was at University, the film came up in conversation and as it happened, it was shortly to be shown on TV again. This time, I started following its sub-plots and various subtleties more closely and started uncovering the many layers that this film has. From that point forward I was a devoted fan of this superb film.
In 1993, after much searching, I eventually managed to obtain my own VHS copy of the film, which at the time was 'discontinued' by its distributors.
Several viewings later this film still leaves me with that 'disturbed' feeling as the credits roll, I can't think of another film (fiction) that is as thought provoking as Brazil.
I can understand why people can be fairly dismissive of this film at first viewing, it is incredibly black and can be confusing at times. Watch it more than once, I guarantee that you will end up being as much of a fan as I am.