Jaye (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
jayes_musings) wrote2009-01-12 08:46 am
jayes_musings) wrote2009-01-12 08:46 am
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3 Movie Reviews
First the reviews of the three films I've seen recently.
Valkyrie
Saw this a couple of weeks ago, and I was looking forward to it as I do like good WWII movies, despite Tom Cruise being the main lead. I know this has received mix reviews, and Cruise has been very much criticized, mainly from what I can see his lack of a German accent -- however, all the other non-German actors (mostly Brits) didn't have accents -- but I actually didn't mind him in this. Even though Von Stauffenberg was a lot older. And really, how many other war movies that depict Germans don't do the accent, unless they are German actors?
Despite knowing the outcome, it was still suspenseful, and it was good seeing how the plan to assassinate Hitler was formed and then how it went to pieces. It raised some good questions, such as was the government in waiting doing this for the noble cause of freeing Germany and Europe from the Nazis and ending the way, or just to have power for themselves? From what I could tell it was, for a Hollywood movie pretty accurate and it wasn't spoiled by having a love interest. Yes, Stauffenberg was married, but while he cared for his wife and children, he didn't appear overly affectionate, which was quite fitting for the period. Cruise was okay, and the other actors, especially Tom Wilkinson and Bill Nighy were very good. I enjoyed seeing Thomas Kretschmann as the poor Major who is essentially played by the plotters into arresting SS officers, and the scene between him and Goebels was one of the best.
In all, I enjoyed it.
Downfall
This arrived from Netflix a few days after seeing Valkyrie, so it was a good continuation of the WWII theme. Excellent! It is really compelling viewing.
A German movie about the last days of Hitler, and obviously very sensitive subject for Germans to tackle. But like Das Boot, it is one of the best films about that period made. The events are more or less seen through the eyes of Hitler's secretary, Traudl Junge, it is the last few days of the war with the Russians moving into Berlin and Hitler is holed up in his bunker with many of his top officers as well as Eva Braun and the Goebels. In it, you can see a man, already mad, spiralling further into madness and paranoia as Hitler refuses to acknowledge that the war is lost. He gives orders to move non-existant battalions to repel the Russians, he is abandoned by key advisors and top Nazi party officials such as Himmler, Goering, and Speer, and he particularly does not care at all for the fate of the German people, blaming them for losing the war.
Bruno Ganz who plays Hitler is scarily convincing, mostly for the fact that he is not portrayed as a caricature or monster, but just a man descending into madness. The human side of him is shown in his concern for his secretary's well-being, affection for Goebels' children, and for his dog. This adds realism and makes the point that such a man was just human, which makes the evil that he did commit even more horrific.
One of the best WW2 films.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Oh, I had so been looking forward to seeing this film, and I got the chance yesterday. Months ago, I saw a quick preview for it, and the premise absolutely intrigued me. So much that I even bought the short story it's based on by F. Scott Fitzgerald. And that was just brilliant and blew me away. The idea of one person living backwards and how that would mold his life just touches on so many themes that interest me.
Then there was the movie.
Now, I didn't mind that they updated the movie. FSF wrote it in 1923, and Button was born before the Civil War. In many ways, for a modern audience, it made sense to make it more current, especially with all the changes that the twentieth century saw. However, they changed so many other things about the story, that aside from the basic premise of this man being born old and growing younger, it bore little or no resemblence to the book.
Visually the film is stunning, and the special affects both aging and 'younging' Brad Pitt (and Cate Blanchett) were astonishing. And it was moving, especially towards the end as Benjamin becomes a child and forgets everything as he regresses. If I hadn't had read the story, I might have enjoyed it more than I did. Now, I did like it, but I was also very disappointed by it.
This film is, in my mind, a Disney-fied version of the short story. It is, basically a love story between Benjamin and Cate Blanchett's character and how their lives keep intersecting, the build up of UST only to be dashed again until they finally hook up. Yes, he leaves her because he does want her looking after him as a child as she becomes an old woman, but as the final scenes show, the love is still there.
The entire tone is different. This is a story of living life to the fullest and opportunities, even those that are missed...as the film repeatedly hits the viewer over the head with the message. The theme that I got from the short story, is quite different. That is about tolerance and how we, as people, treat those different from us horrendously, even those we should love the most. In the film, Benjamin's father abandoned him because he was so 'deformed', but instead he is raised by a loving woman in a house full of old people, where he is accepted. And this is how it is throughout the film...Benjamin is just a little odd. Indeed, the fact that he's growing younger is noted more as an off-the-cuff remark than what it should be a unique ability(?) which should be a physical impossibility. In the short story, he is treated like a freak. People do not like him, at least not when they find out what's happening to him. He goes tries to go to college as an old man, rejoin the army as a Colonel when he appears in his twenties. Those contradictions were missing in the film.
And two points, aside from all these changes, that really annoyed me: The 'current' timeline with the dying Cate Blanchett takes place during Hurricane Katrina and really I can see no need for that. It's like that New Orleans can only now ever be associated with that storm. And moreso, Benjamin is working in Murmansk, USSR when he hears that Pearl Harbour's been bombed. The problem is that he's been there for a while and there's been no sign there's a war on. Hello, America...WW2 started two years before then! Never mind the fact that Russia had been invaded by the Germans and Murmansk was the only seaport open to allied convoys...one of the most dangerous routes in the war. Then, all of a surprise...'oh there's a war on? We'd better bugger off and help out America.' I might be exaggerating a bit, but not too much.
In all, very disappointing. And I wanted to like it!!
Valkyrie
Saw this a couple of weeks ago, and I was looking forward to it as I do like good WWII movies, despite Tom Cruise being the main lead. I know this has received mix reviews, and Cruise has been very much criticized, mainly from what I can see his lack of a German accent -- however, all the other non-German actors (mostly Brits) didn't have accents -- but I actually didn't mind him in this. Even though Von Stauffenberg was a lot older. And really, how many other war movies that depict Germans don't do the accent, unless they are German actors?
Despite knowing the outcome, it was still suspenseful, and it was good seeing how the plan to assassinate Hitler was formed and then how it went to pieces. It raised some good questions, such as was the government in waiting doing this for the noble cause of freeing Germany and Europe from the Nazis and ending the way, or just to have power for themselves? From what I could tell it was, for a Hollywood movie pretty accurate and it wasn't spoiled by having a love interest. Yes, Stauffenberg was married, but while he cared for his wife and children, he didn't appear overly affectionate, which was quite fitting for the period. Cruise was okay, and the other actors, especially Tom Wilkinson and Bill Nighy were very good. I enjoyed seeing Thomas Kretschmann as the poor Major who is essentially played by the plotters into arresting SS officers, and the scene between him and Goebels was one of the best.
In all, I enjoyed it.
Downfall
This arrived from Netflix a few days after seeing Valkyrie, so it was a good continuation of the WWII theme. Excellent! It is really compelling viewing.
A German movie about the last days of Hitler, and obviously very sensitive subject for Germans to tackle. But like Das Boot, it is one of the best films about that period made. The events are more or less seen through the eyes of Hitler's secretary, Traudl Junge, it is the last few days of the war with the Russians moving into Berlin and Hitler is holed up in his bunker with many of his top officers as well as Eva Braun and the Goebels. In it, you can see a man, already mad, spiralling further into madness and paranoia as Hitler refuses to acknowledge that the war is lost. He gives orders to move non-existant battalions to repel the Russians, he is abandoned by key advisors and top Nazi party officials such as Himmler, Goering, and Speer, and he particularly does not care at all for the fate of the German people, blaming them for losing the war.
Bruno Ganz who plays Hitler is scarily convincing, mostly for the fact that he is not portrayed as a caricature or monster, but just a man descending into madness. The human side of him is shown in his concern for his secretary's well-being, affection for Goebels' children, and for his dog. This adds realism and makes the point that such a man was just human, which makes the evil that he did commit even more horrific.
One of the best WW2 films.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Oh, I had so been looking forward to seeing this film, and I got the chance yesterday. Months ago, I saw a quick preview for it, and the premise absolutely intrigued me. So much that I even bought the short story it's based on by F. Scott Fitzgerald. And that was just brilliant and blew me away. The idea of one person living backwards and how that would mold his life just touches on so many themes that interest me.
Then there was the movie.
Now, I didn't mind that they updated the movie. FSF wrote it in 1923, and Button was born before the Civil War. In many ways, for a modern audience, it made sense to make it more current, especially with all the changes that the twentieth century saw. However, they changed so many other things about the story, that aside from the basic premise of this man being born old and growing younger, it bore little or no resemblence to the book.
Visually the film is stunning, and the special affects both aging and 'younging' Brad Pitt (and Cate Blanchett) were astonishing. And it was moving, especially towards the end as Benjamin becomes a child and forgets everything as he regresses. If I hadn't had read the story, I might have enjoyed it more than I did. Now, I did like it, but I was also very disappointed by it.
This film is, in my mind, a Disney-fied version of the short story. It is, basically a love story between Benjamin and Cate Blanchett's character and how their lives keep intersecting, the build up of UST only to be dashed again until they finally hook up. Yes, he leaves her because he does want her looking after him as a child as she becomes an old woman, but as the final scenes show, the love is still there.
The entire tone is different. This is a story of living life to the fullest and opportunities, even those that are missed...as the film repeatedly hits the viewer over the head with the message. The theme that I got from the short story, is quite different. That is about tolerance and how we, as people, treat those different from us horrendously, even those we should love the most. In the film, Benjamin's father abandoned him because he was so 'deformed', but instead he is raised by a loving woman in a house full of old people, where he is accepted. And this is how it is throughout the film...Benjamin is just a little odd. Indeed, the fact that he's growing younger is noted more as an off-the-cuff remark than what it should be a unique ability(?) which should be a physical impossibility. In the short story, he is treated like a freak. People do not like him, at least not when they find out what's happening to him. He goes tries to go to college as an old man, rejoin the army as a Colonel when he appears in his twenties. Those contradictions were missing in the film.
And two points, aside from all these changes, that really annoyed me: The 'current' timeline with the dying Cate Blanchett takes place during Hurricane Katrina and really I can see no need for that. It's like that New Orleans can only now ever be associated with that storm. And moreso, Benjamin is working in Murmansk, USSR when he hears that Pearl Harbour's been bombed. The problem is that he's been there for a while and there's been no sign there's a war on. Hello, America...WW2 started two years before then! Never mind the fact that Russia had been invaded by the Germans and Murmansk was the only seaport open to allied convoys...one of the most dangerous routes in the war. Then, all of a surprise...'oh there's a war on? We'd better bugger off and help out America.' I might be exaggerating a bit, but not too much.
In all, very disappointing. And I wanted to like it!!