mnoo Blog

Under discussion:

Sideways  (2004)

Finally a film that was exactly what I thought it would be. A funny, moving, and at times painful glimpse of ordinary life and human emotion. Paul Giamatti was certainly the perfect choice for the role of Miles, a failed writer and a wine buff. He gets you to feel sad with him, be happy for him and to laugh at him.

There are definitely a lot of laughs to be had in the course of the road trip that Miles and, his soon-to-be-married friend, Jack are on – quite a few of them bittersweet. In a funny way, as different as this movie was to Irréversible, it somehow leaves you with a similar sad feeling. Of how small and inconsequential we really are, and how life can break you if you don't fight back hard. And yet, most of the time it's all out of your hands anyways.

Under discussion:

Oldboy  (2005)

Oldboy is in so many people's Top 10 and I've heard so much praise and been pestered to see it forever. So, needless to say, the expectations were perhaps very much too high going in. I did rather enjoy the first half. The plot was certainly original to start with, and the cinematography definitely ranks quite high on the visually gorgeous side of things.

My problem is that I usually have an annoying talent of spotting where the plot is going quite early on (yes, I'm one of those 'I bet he killed her' people, which annoys others who might have wanted to stay in suspense until the final showdown. :P), and with this plot it was just glaringly obvious to me where it was going. So for most of the film I was just waiting for the plot to catch up and put me out of my misery.

I also think that after showing so much promise at the start, and having gone to all the trouble of trying to confuse the watcher, the actual underlining story was way too simplistic and insipid. I was desperately hoping that I would get surprised at the end, which didn't happen. Having said that, I can certainly see why people rank Oldboy so high. It's definitely head and shoulders above the standard of a stereotypical Hollywood production. And it does look very good indeed. I think it suffers from building up too big expectations without delivering the depth of a masterpiece that it aspires to be.

Under discussion:

The New World  (2006)

I would be lying if I said I didn't originally want to see this purely for Colin Farrell. Even having heard all the warnings about the length and boringness of it, I'm very pleased I did take the plunge. There is no denying that this is some of the most beautiful cinematography I've ever seen.

The first hour, where the Europeans are settling in Virginia - and where Colin's Captain Smith is spending time with the natives and falling in love with Pocahontas - is such a relaxing and enchanting joy to watch that you feel like you're almost drifting through a dream. Every frame is gorgeous and everything looks so tactile… it's almost like you can feel the grass underneath your bare feet or the wind on your face or the water lapping at your skin. Just gorgeous. As is Colin. But especially Q'Orianka Kilcher as Pocahontas. She is beautiful beyond words and without even too much talking conveys everything she's feeling with sublime grace.

The first half of the movie evoked such beauty to all the senses that I could have died happy just then. However, an hour and half in and you start feeling the length. Especially when you find yourself detesting the advances Christian Bales's John Rolfe is making on Pocahontas, despite his gentle ways and good nature. As the director intended, your heart, as hers, is still in the depths of the woods with Captain Smith. Especially grueling is the return to England, the cold grey light, the way Pocahontas has been transformed into a lady… it all makes you feel cold and constrained and anxious, wanting for the scenes to pass quicker, yearning to return to the nature and 'reality'.

The bittersweet ending leaves you somehow sad but also optimistic, like it is possible to grow and it is possible to learn to love again. As almost painfully long as the film was I can't think of anything I'd want to cut from it. Not even - or especially - the long lingering nature shots of fields and forests and water... What a beautiful piece of cinema. But definitely not one to take your action-film-loving-boyfriend to. It's like the perfect poem in cinematic form.