Simone-6 Reviews

Succession (2018–2023)

Sophisticated with Great Depth

[9/10 · 28 February 2022]

A show that ostensibly is about the race for money and power when the real driving force is the endless quest for the approval from Daddy. The humor is terrific, but can deteriorate into the gallows since it is often based on the characters' pain. There is so much to write and talk about here that it could be the show that launched a thousand theses.

I have quibbles about the show: its use of sex employs tired stereotypes to further character development. My other concern is the audience. Somehow the show attracts an audience that is very unsophisticated. That has not stopped the writers from forging ahead, but it does mean that important themes such as child abuse, antisemitism, fascism, and even the Holocaust become lost as the audience focuses solely on who's backstabbing whom. Unfortunately, the dollar will force the show to keep its current model rather than get rid of the lesser viewers by attrition. But those of us in the know will still get great enjoyment from Succession.

Finding Nemo (2003)

I was just so bored ...

[1/10 · 26 December 2007]

Judging from the reviews I just read of Finding Nemo, it looks like there are two kinds of reviewers: those who want a film that mirrors and idealizes their lives, no questions asked, and those who want a film that raises interesting questions. I'm in the latter category and as such, I have to say that this was perhaps the most boring and vapid film I have ever watched. For me, watching replicas of family, school life, dentists' offices, etc. without some sort of commentary just isn't interesting. And no, beautiful animation is not enough. So maybe we need to revisit the eighteenth century, when people -- Americans included -- were proud to think, question, and use reason in their everyday existence. Maybe that would produce an animated film that would allow Nemo and his dad to move beyond platitudes, tell the audience something new, and actually be funny (jokes in the Eisenhower era were funnier than this film). "Sapere Aude!" Thank you, Immanuel Kant.

A Letter Without Words (1998)

Wonderful reconstruction of a family's history

[10/10 · 17 May 2001]

Lisa Lewenz does a wonderful job of reconstructing her family's history. Just as an historian tries to recreate a time and place with whatever evidence s/he can gather, so does Lewenz attempt to piece together her family's life in pre-World War II Berlin through her grandmother's silent film footage and diary, as well as through interviews with the surviving children.

Unlike many documentary filmmakers, Lisa Lewenz does not try to portray her version of history as the final word on the subject. She cuts back and forth from seemingly unrelated shots in order to make the viewer more aware of the sources she is using, the limitations of these sources, and how she has chosen to interpret them in this particular work of film. As such, the documentary is not so much fragmented as it is intentionally thought-provoking. I highly recommend this film for anyone who is interested in German-Jewish identity before and after National Socialism and the Shoah.