gudaulin

Because I read all the praising positive reviews, I have to admit that my experience with Bílá was considerably weaker, even though the film undoubtedly contains several brilliantly crafted scenes. Kieslowski deserves a monument for his older films, such as A Short Film About Killing, A Short Film About Love, or Dekalog, which I found much more cohesive and functional. In Kieslowski's late work from the 90s, in my view, form prevails over content. I simply have a problem with the screenplay, which resolves many motifs and plot points in a fairytale-like manner, and they just come from wherever they come from. I don't mind that Kieslowski reveals only the minimum about many of his characters (such as Mikolaj). I consider that part of the director's game with the audience. However, I do mind that the characters undergo an implausible development. Karel, who is completely helpless, weak, and incapable of coping with his Parisian stay at the beginning of the story, magically transforms into a capable manipulator and successful businessman with the wave of a magic wand, even though he is just a trained hairdresser. The motive of revenge against his ex-wife, although it required tremendous effort and finances from the main character, is also overly complicated and ineffective. Kieslowski knows how to choose actors, knows how to direct them, and some of his views on Polish society in the early 90s are truly charming, but despite all of this, I am very uncertain about the film as a whole. Overall impression: 55%.

Red Dragon, of course, cannot compare to the precise and visually impressive The Silence of the Lambs. It is still a decent bit of filmmaking, but Ratner is an average director, simply an ordinary film craftsman who follows in the footsteps of his more famous colleagues. There is a lack of impressive original scenes here, the delicate game with the viewer that allowed the widest audience to navigate an ethically problematic subject where the main protagonist is a brutal serial killer. I have no issues with the cast, and Ralph Fiennes particularly enjoys his role as a psychopath. Overall impression: 60%.

Robert Wise tried to take a "serious" approach to the material and created a sobering spectacle of what a deadly epidemic of the future could look like. He relied on contemporary scientific theories, and his greatest desire was clearly the believability and rationality of the story. He consciously abandoned the usual genre clichés, which is commendable, but in the end, a somewhat sterile spectacle was created, suffering to some extent from excessive length, exaggerated emphasis on dialogues, and that it is overall static. It's worth a decent three stars, but it's not a film that I would feel any desire to revisit. Overall impression: 60%.

An artistically highly stylized studio spectacle, drawing from multiple sources, mainly from the well-known story of Little Red Riding Hood, from folk myths influenced by the perspective of the church, from 19th-century romanticism, and ultimately also from modern horrors of the present. The result is a horror fairytale for adults, similar to movies such as Sleepy Hollow or other fairytale films. The most valuable aspect is precisely the visual concept, as this is exactly how I imagined as a boy a spooky forest full of giant mushrooms, forest giants with massive twisted roots, with plenty of dark corners full of cobwebs and glowing eyes. The director mixes bloody red with the white color of milk, plays with slow-motion shots of shattering glass, and with various details of toys or living creatures, which together create a mysterious atmosphere full of increasing tension and, not least, also eroticism. Just as the erotic motif is used in old vampire films, here the werewolf motif is used in terms of primal sensuality, as there is a piece of a predator hidden within every man and woman. Overall impression: 85%.

Regarding this pseudo-comedy, it is clearly visible how reviewers are influenced by the well-known and highly valued name of the director. If an unknown director had made a similar film, it would certainly have a rating of less than 50% and possibly hover around 40%. It is, indeed, by far the weakest film I have seen from Bergman so far. The comedy has a promising theme, but the execution is decidedly weak. Simply put, it is not funny. If the funniest part is supposed to be the sentence that a cellist must primarily be able to spread her legs, then it's a disaster. The film attempts to imitate classical French farce and American slapstick, but it all falls flat. It is influenced by theatrical mannerisms, the dialogues lack creativity, and where there should be wit, there is only awkwardness. Overall impression: 25%.

Michael Haneke does not make pleasant and beautiful films, but rather unsettling dramas that injure and leave behind a strange aftertaste. However, or perhaps precisely because of this, it is not a bad film. It portrays a possibly not widely spread, yet realistically existing world of sexual deviances of people distorted by constant pretending, secrecy, and unfulfilled desires. It is definitely a more realistic view of a certain aspect of eroticism and interpersonal relationships than Shortbus, which I recently watched. Moreover, the film has excellent performances, led by Isabelle Huppert. She excels in her role as a psychopathic teacher. If something bothers me about the film, it is the excessively long duration. Some scenes are unnecessary and others are drawn out. Overall impression: 80%.

This film is evidence of the outstanding level of comedic production by American studios in the early 60s. It was a great opportunity for Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine. A conversation film that will bring you joy even after several viewings. Overall impression: 90%.

Jan Švankmajer conceived the famous story of the horror fiction classic by Edgar Allan Poe in his own way as a highly stylized animated play without live characters. At the beginning of the film, a large gloomy house appears, and then the camera dives into a labyrinth of corridors and rooms where a coffin moves, and the atmosphere of decay of a human abode is expressed through the movement of matter, the crumbling of walls, a view of a swamp, and last but not least, an artistic color scheme in dark shades of gray and brown. It is accompanied by commentary from Petr Čepek. It is a noticeably sensory film with a ballad-like atmosphere. Overall impression: 90%.

A cult horror film that, despite decent direction by John Carpenter, never managed to entice me simply because I completely miss the point of these kinds of slasher films thematically. Few subgenres are filled with as many clichés and foolishness as this one. Only Scream and Scream 2 caught my attention in this field because of the ironic perspectives. On the other hand, if there has to be a slasher film, it should be in Carpenter's style. His followers often simply plagiarized him. Overall impression: 45%.

A refined, quality script allows creators to constantly surprise and play with the viewer like a cat with a mouse. Until the last shot, the viewers don't know what is actually happening, and thanks to the film's originality and cleverness, a famous thriller emerged that is often stolen from and referenced in other films and series. Overall impression: 95%.