Lawless

This is what I was expecting from Michael Mann’s Public Enemies and I was disappointed. John Hillcoat and Nick Cave and a bunch of littleknown actors created a gangster film from the era of prohibition, where the goal is to portray the characters and their stories, rather than visual epicness (on the contrary, the visuals are rather dull and faded, for some incomprehensible reasons). A super bad villain, blood and brutality, friendship, brotherhood, black humor, feminine beauty and tenderness, and a final massacre. All of this blended together to create 100%-pure genre entertainment of a distinctive character. I vacillated between four and five stars, finally settling on five thanks to the festival atmosphere. [KVIFF] (04/07/2012)

Do you love Prohibition? Okay, then. Are you ready for some real bloody carnage? Okay, then. Are you interested in something more than just a bloody slaughter? Then you're in the wrong place. Of course, for those interested in a more comprehensive look at Prohibition, I recommend the series Boardwalk Empire. (08/02/2017)

At last, today marks the end of the ridiculous prohibition in this country. And so in my opinion there’s no better movie than this to close this glorious chapter in our history. The moonshine in the Bodurant brothers’ jelly jars were capable of turning you blind even back then. Hardy is again almost legendarily awesome ("Hmm..."), Shia is continuing in his career as far as possible from beg robots and I dare say this is the best possible direction, Guy Pearce is a disgustingly slippery swine, Oldman devilishly stylish and Jessica Chastain. Hillcoat superbly layers up the story and period atmosphere, adding just the right amount of rawness. Brass knuckles are now officially the weapon of the year. Cave delivered a superb screenplay and excellent music... simply a movie to warm the heart. (27/09/2012)

A lovable comic book movie that isn't based on a comic book. Wondering why it's a comic book movie? No? Let me tell you. For example, aside from the utterly Bond-esque mega-overacting of the über-villain Guy Pearce, the setting of the scenes (when Mia Wasikowska is there, the sun and gentle breeze caresses her face, while conversely all the Bondurant ranch scenes are shrouded in grey or snow, stroking Hardy's boxer all over the places on his body where it hurts), and the overall explicitness, it's especially the framing, which almost eliminates informative shots, for example. The dialogue sequences, too, virtually nowhere stoop to a shot/countershot scheme, and for the conflict sequences, these are dominated by framing containing both the attacker and his victim in the same frame. The stylized characters and their perfect casting keeps the attention even of those who might not give a shit about the fantastic detail and period fidelity of each film location, the legendary sound, the tame script with which Cave ungracefully buries the otherwise perfect Proposition, and the spectacular direction in the action scenes. After that, you don't even mind the severely mismanaged finale, where no one really knows what to do and they don't quite figure out how to hide it. (27/09/2012)

A slice of family history that only works in its two hours of runtime when it scores points with good actors and brutal violence, but also forgets the characters. Hardy just grunts and LaBeouf builds an empire out of nothing; it’s got the same feelings as Proposition, copying from everywhere, but with a beautiful signature. (26/09/2012)