gudaulin

When Lourdes appeared in the lineup of the French Film Festival, I strongly considered going to the movie theater to see it - mainly because of Sylvie Testud, a charismatic actress who, since Fear and Trembling, has repeatedly proven that her films are worth watching and that beneath the appearance of a gray mouse lies a wide artistic talent. However, even then, my instinct and experience warned me that this time there would be too little of Sylvia in Lourdes and too many delays, meditation, and prayers. For the most part, I was mistaken because in Lourdes there was ultimately too much of only the former. On the other hand, there was remarkably little of everything else, including human sadness, pain, and hope. A runtime of 96 minutes may seem reasonable in a time when two-hour action movies have become the norm, but the problem is what it is, or rather what it isn't, filled with. The content and message of Lourdes could easily fit into a 50-minute medium-length film. The rest is filler caused by Jessica Hausner's unwillingness to edit. With this lady, you can count on the fact that when she plays a karaoke song for you, you will enjoy it to the last note, and when lunch is served, you can also eat it and finish it with the film characters. Lourdes is very static and slow. To such an extent that films about permanently paralyzed lives that take place in a bed or on a chair (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The Sea Inside) are explosions of excitement and dynamism compared to it. Jessica Hausner takes the position of a (seemingly) impartial observer who casually records the events surrounding a pilgrimage to a famous site. We see the hopes and doubts of its participants and we can root for the main character to make her moment of happiness last as long as possible. However, this interesting and undoubtedly powerful film falls apart due to the aforementioned "watering down" of the subject. It is exactly the kind of film that, due to the director's self-centeredness, subjectively feels twice as long as it actually is. Overall impression: 40%.

A bit of an animated version of Inception, slightly mixed with Cronenberg's eXistenZ. While both of the mentioned titles thrilled me equally despite their different style and content, I remained indifferent to Paprika. Only a few East Asian films appeal to me and tune into me correctly emotionally. I simply come from a different cultural circle and I feel things differently. Paprika has a fairly simple theme - the plot revolves around a stolen device for researching human dreams, but it has heavy and confused processing, which emphasizes the visually overloaded abundance of glaring colors. This one star is only for the film's potential, which in my opinion could be used much more effectively and with incomparably greater impact. Overall impression: 25%.

A standard and therefore unsurprising purely American film about how when you hit rock bottom, you can always grit your teeth, get back up, and move on. It is characteristic of this film to overlook, or rather dismiss with a short scene at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, the truly interesting critical stages of battling addiction, which primarily reach the psychological level. Otis Blake was once a big star in the country scene, selling out big halls and releasing successful records. But today, at the age of 57, he is barely functional and there isn't much left of his former glory. What little remains only angers him with reminders of the times of abundance. Because Blake never thought about saving money, his income dissipated in a bohemian lifestyle, lawyer fees, and in the pockets of ex-wives. His body, exposed to the long-term effects of a destructive lifestyle, begins to fail him and his motivation to achieve new professional and life goals is nonexistent. At that moment, a sympathetic, interesting lonely woman with a small child comes into his life. What will happen? Jeff Bridges is a reliable actor who suits this type of role, and since Secretary, Maggie Gyllenhaal has been developing into a unique and noticeable type of actress who stands out from the stereotypes of genre films. Crazy Heart is a slightly above-average romance with a highly above-average cast, which serves you a proper dose of country music as a treat. Overall impression: 60%.

Mogadishu Welcome can't hide that it appears as a TV film, which stands out especially when compared to The Baader Meinhof Complex. Nevertheless, it effortlessly surpasses that untidy and financially deprived film production. The strength of the title lies in the subject matter, in the incredibly dramatic situation of the hijacking of an airplane and its risky journey through several countries' airports. The film captures both the conflicts inside the airplane with a gradually intensifying atmosphere full of fear, as well as scenes from Chancellor Schmidt's staff, on whose shoulders rested political responsibility and the weight of decisions, and last but not least, it also focuses on the preparation of the task force team for the raid. The film provides a comprehensive picture of events that once significantly influenced the domestic political situation in Germany, the world's perception of terrorism, and aviation security standards. The film evenly distributes its attention among all the players involved, allowing the viewer to have a vivid overview of all ongoing events. Overall impression: 80%.

Woody Allen, the author of the famous bon mot that the brain is his second favorite organ, once expressed his attitude toward the sexual revolution by directing a playful episodic film called Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex * But Were Afraid to Ask. He looked at sexuality from a comedic, lighthearted perspective. The authors of this film approach the topic from the other side and depict a world of dark sexual fantasies somehow associated with violence and full of negative human emotions, ranging from fear, and desire for revenge, to the lowest form of hatred. I relegate many well-known and successful horror titles to the cinematic basement, but this morbid journey beyond the generally tolerated and known world surprisingly resonates with me, even though none of the stories are without their flaws - there is always something missing, or moved a bit further, compared to how I would imagine the stories' points. In the end, it is still quite an entertaining and original plaything, though with the warning that it truly isn't for everyone, and I can easily imagine its categorical rejection. I can say that as a dog lover, I appreciated the third story the most, about a peculiar cute friend and dog teeth in action. Overall impression: 70%.

A sensitively directed and acted drama is hidden under the somewhat confusing title about the role that the factor of time and distance plays in our lives and relationships. The young married couple, played by Gael Garcia Bernal and Michelle Williams, have every reason to feel happy and secure. They are financially secure, have good jobs and prospects, and are additionally bonded by the strongest tie - a child. However, demanding work leads to a lack of communication and when Gael's character has to travel on a business trip to faraway Thailand, an unexpected love affair occurs. Although the momentary infatuation ends with the new start of the plane and return home, it serves as a reminder of the risk that anyone who undergoes long-term separation is exposed to. Members of various professions could tell stories about it. The film tells us that what happens between partners is beautiful but fragile and may not last long. It is often limited by time and space. In this case, the losses were not so great and painful, but it may not always turn out that way. Overall impression: 80%.

I could say that this is a horror comedy, but that would mean that fear would have to mix with laughter, and that is not true in this case. It is actually a crazy comedy with a popular zombie theme. At first, it feels quite fresh and funny, but soon the ideas run out and in the second half, the film falls into tiresome stereotypes. Overall impression: 45%. If you are a fan of trashy horror productions, you can give it any number of stars you want. The screenwriter knew exactly what he was doing.

After the commendation of The Unfaithful Wife by film critics and the favorable reactions of the audience, Chabrol decided to return to the proven cast, genre, and subject. Michel Bouquet may have been born as a murderer, and he was perfectly suited for roles of unsympathetic men; but here, the script prescribed him a psychologically demanding role of a man who cannot cope with a guilty conscience. One uncontrolled outburst of emotions will forever change his life and condemn him to the role of a mental wreck tormented by doubts. Traditionally cold and psychologically convincing, Chabrol enriched the film with a grotesque dimension and ingeniously conceived social criticism, which we know, for example, from Buñuel's films. The feeling of guilt leads Masson to confession, which, however, as soon becomes apparent, those around him do not care about at all. In the eyes of his loved ones, a social scandal is apparently less acceptable than murder. It is not important what things objectively are, but how they appear on the surface. Where another director would have made a crime drama, Chabrol presents a psychological study of traditional middle-class values, where the moral dilemma of the (anti)hero clashes with the tough pragmatism and the feignedness taken to a pathological dimension. Overall impression: 75%.

I really like British costume conversational comedies cast with proven actors like Colin Firth or Stephen Fry. In this case, my expectations were too high, and accordingly, disappointment followed. I understand that not every author can write dialogues as brilliantly crafted as the king of bon mots, Oscar Wilde, but this is seriously a level that would fit into a Czech operetta from the 1930s. I don't know if the level of the theatrical source, the work of the screenwriter, or even the director himself had a greater impact on this. The result is an ordinary and forgettable title that simply lacks the stamp of quality that I am used to from British works. Overall impression: 45%.

Three times is enough. I revived the slogan of uncompromising morality followers who, after the 3rd crime, are willing to send pickpockets to life imprisonment, and applied it to a series of classic Bond films. I told myself that if any old Bond title has a chance of success with me, it will be Goldfinger, which features a truly charismatic villain and is based on a book that I read as a teenager, so I should feel at least some nostalgia for it. However, I definitively verified the fact that the phenomenon of Bond films only started to become at least partially interesting to me with GoldenEye. This is unattractive, and outdated, with a long-expired warranty, but surprisingly still has a great reputation. The power of the brand does a lot. Overall impression: 40%.