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nathalietomaszewski
Reviews
Melancholia (2011)
The Dance of death
"dance of death, also called danse macabre, medieval allegorical concept of the all-conquering and equalizing power of death, expressed in the drama, poetry, music, and visual arts of western Europe mainly in the late Middle Ages. Strictly speaking, it is a literary or pictorial representation of a procession or dance of both living and dead figures, the living arranged in order of their rank". Or as Von Sydow would say in Bergman's 7th Seal: " I met death today. We are playing chess." The Danish director Lars von Trier's latest jewel offers the most amazing images in cinema in recent time. A cinematographic tour de force but also a genuine question: how does one face mortality? Some people know they will die, some don't want to face it, some rather worry about their next milkshake, some pray and go to church before they kick the bucket, some fantasize about it day and night......some directors talk about it ( Woody Allen - a constant when younger) and seem to echo the existentialists ( life thanks to death is reduced to absurdity). The title: Melancholia is a trick from the director who knows we will fall in the trap with preconceived notions. What does it mean to be melancholic? depressed, crazy , ill, fearful or feeling something others don't ever feel? Kirsten Durnst is exceptional as one sister while Charlotte Gainsbourg , the other, for once holds her ground. Both are different yet intrinsically bounded to each other. The blond and the brunette will have to answer to those questions? Lars von Trier has kept his sense of humor and morbid longing to toy with us as in the great tradition of European directors. He throws at the two women ( and us ) a very large metaphor and let the women perform that dance of death and ranking. Any other clue would be a spoiler. Not like any other movie. Very entertaining and difficult to put it in a genre because Von Trier is each time redefining his own. In brief : stunning,deeply moving, haunting ( and so a propos next year!!!!!!!!!!!)and a great, great conversation piece to have with friends and a few ( or many) martinis. A+
Dans ma peau (2002)
The sums of her parts
Women's self mutilation has unfortunately because as common a subject as Hollywood hippest diet; in other words, a sad realization. The existentialist Simone de Beauvoir wrote that in order to gain power women needed to first define themselves because their reality had been defined by patriarchy and a male eye. It is therefore easy to understand why women would mutilate the body they have, since it is something that they have not yet learned to relate to as theirs. This gem of a movie has more tons to it that bears the eye. Beneath the bloody squirt of the skin pulled from the flesh and the muscle, lies the bone of the complexity of the part relating to the whole, the obsessive details our society feeds upon and the excruciating distance between food and its root. Filmed in a daring way, with repetitive and surrealistic close-ups, the films soaks in a Kafkaesque reality. The protagonist becomes the investigator, investigating herself desperately trying to grasp meaning of herself and our modern world, while flirting with madness. There is always one line or one word that sums up a good movie. For Chinatown, it was "get the girl", for Reservoir Dogs it was " we are professionals", and for In my Skins, the word is "details". Pay close attention.
Vozvrashchenie (2003)
the end of innocence
Films that can embody the modern aesthetic of realism are few. Some may be judged too "minimalist" because of the lack of shimmer they possess. However, just as in the case of Lost in Translation, such movies offer a much welcome relief in a world "filmed" with noise and magic tricks we call special effects.There is an audience for movies that welcome silence. The Return is real and could take place in Seattle. Same people, same landscape, same dreary, gloomy, silent decors. The wonder about it is that we find ourselves at the edge of our seat, biting our lips, anxiously waiting for something to happen; yet at every corner of a street, a gesture, a stare, there is nothing out of the ordinary.The movie plays us so well, it fills us with embarrassment at being so predictable. But we wait, and by the end of the movie the ax has fallen so surprisingly, we hold on to the act. By then we have become just like the two young protagonists: puzzled, wondering, fallen prey to our busying imagination and guilty of freudian fantasies.
Maria's Lovers (1984)
Savage Love
One reason to want to watch this movie is to see perform one of the most talented actresses of her generation, Nastassja Kinski. Others: Her traumatized husband coming back from WWII, a perfectly suited role for Mr John Savage. The plot is simple and misleading, The scenes full of suspense yet stealing our breath at the least expecting moment. This movie reminds us of what acting used to be and how subtlety creates miracles. Simple and excellent.
Straw Dogs (1971)
beauty in the eyes of the revolver
A typical plot that used to define men's basic instinct and values: the protection of family and honor. Yet Sam Peckinpah's little tale holds many folds and the explosion of violence splashes like fresh blood on the characters, alive or not, and us, the innocent viewers. And why us? because we followed, anxious and nervous, the plot as naively as the main character played by Hoffman; we refused to acknowledge situations opting instead for blind optimism ,and we watched in silent trepidation at the first blow ringing like a death toll, the uproar echoing the bell at a boxing game.
An amazing hommage to how futile and traumatic violence can be, and at times so beautiful the fighters simply dance.