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Gavagai (2016)
A testament to blind movie critics
It isn't uncommon to encounter a film that is insultingly bad. What is rarer, is to watch something comically bad, almost a parody of itself. Supposedly taking pride in long shots, this film doesn't mind if those long shots are completely meaningless and unexplained. Anything inarticulate will be scooped up by a (supposed) theme of human inability to communicate. Perhaps also bad acting and horrible dialog? Or sappy music and obligatory few seconds too many on the tail of every shot... yes, all this made me laugh!
But the top comical place is reserved for the camerawork: I've never seen such almost purposely bad operating, with camera that seems unable to find a level horizon, always lags behind the actor's movement, and keeps undecidedly correcting the frame even though nothing is changing within it! Even the light and color correction could be done better by anyone on the first year of a film school. There are few (long) full body shots where camera operator can't decide whether to include the actor's shoes and chop off his forehead, or the other way around. Yes, a genuine comedy.
Gerald's Game (2017)
Insultingly bad.
Insultingly idiotic dialogue and bad taste on every step, with a touch of ignorant misogyny, cheesy lack of realism, and trying to fill the screen time with the character's formulaic shallow "problem past". Polished visuals that sacrifice realism for their own gain don't help.
Serena (2014)
Strong and remarkable
I usually write a review only when my opinion drastically differentiates from what I find already contributed - when there's a dire need to tip the scale. And there is one here, to save this incredible film from the lynch mob.
This atmospheric dark period romance set in an unusual stage has a lot of human drama to offer. And this is what S. Bier is known at excelling. And pouring it on, which obviously irritates some part of the audience. But it is all done with a lot of taste for timing, with a good and fresh modern editing which disposes of most needless parts of the action and instead rather reserves that time for us to think about it all during the breaks of foggy Smoky Mountains scenery. (Obfuscation plays a leading role here, and this landscape couldn't be a better choice.)
Film is layered with appropriately somber music used/mixed with subtlety, and likewise its gorgeous photography has been wonderfully appreciated by the edit which understands its visual potential. This is one of those rare instances where a pattern of hand-held closeups doesn't seem gratuitous, but does manage to bring us closer to the characters. Beside this being the result of the strong characters themselves, it is also a combination of a slower, not-frenetic pace, with a lot of static masters too.
While there might be some unbelievable decisions the characters make in this story, we need to remind ourselves that instead of treating this as a negative, these are the emotional extremes we should be welcoming, in an emotional rawness which needs appreciation. At the end, it is an emotional and symbolic theater in which all the elements and symbols have and live to deliver their wonderfully intertwined meanings.
San xia hao ren (2006)
Only the location
This was shot on a most incredible location ever to be filmed at. Which alone could make the film, not just visually, but by its deep surreal meaning - and it did. However, anything director tried to do only clumsily messed it up in several occasions, not showing a feeling for the whole, let alone a command of the film language.
Guiding the flow in such slow tempo usually demands absolute scrutiny of every shot, since audience has a lot of time to devote to it. Here I am under impression that there's a lot of ordinary, ballast newscast like footage mixed in with some meaningful and emotional imagery. If realism was the goal, then what's the purpose of 2 isolated appearances of UFOs? (Please!)
Film is divided into 4 "chapters" (cigarettes, liquor, tea, sweets) - which really don't mark anything in the story flow and are imposed by some packaging obsession. The meaning of these 4 things (explained in an interview) isn't readable not only to most international audience, but, I suspect, even some domestic viewers.
All in all, a very powerful location. Too powerful for Zhang Ke Jia's weakness, pretentiousness, and scattered mind not able to put its concepts on screen.
Old Joy (2006)
Lazy and inarticulate
No, this is not an example of a subtle film-making. It is an attempt to mask all the film-making idleness with pretense of meaning that exists everywhere but inside those sad 76 minutes (barely over the minimum for a feature).
And that time span is mostly filled with a meaningless b-roll, something that can easily be mystified into "thinking space for audience" - but unfortunately does little more than to show the incompetence for using those moments creatively. The rest (which could easily fit into a 20-30 min short, and would probably end up as such if edited by anybody other than director herself) consists of dialogs without any duty to really say anything. Little that we know about the characters isn't conveyed here either. The dialog only states their miscommunication.
I was left puzzled after watching, by the utmost absence of any kind of comment, or statement, or even a direction of thinking. So I went to hear what filmmakers have to say in the commentary bonus track on the DVD. To my further shocking disappointment, they have to say - nothing. I felt nobody there cared to say anything, nor did they say anything of any substance, and the "commentary" track runs quiet for 95% of the runtime.
Not only can I strongly state that reading the plot of this film here on IMDb will give you more than actually watching this film, but I have an equally definite and disturbing impression that the creators of this make-believe artifact never were nor will be able of making anything substantial or meaningful. Sorry.
The only thing bringing that 2nd star on are few interesting visual moments (things happen even in the boredom of the dentist waiting room), due to some nice camera compositions. Certainly not enough to sustain the interest and meaning more than 2 minutes in total.
The Passion of the Christ (2004)
Unimaginative show off of violence, by a religious extremist.
A sad and shallow depiction of something so well known that it needs not to be rehashed without a serious point of view. The fact that Mel Gibson attempts it with such a reverie makes him more of a religious fanatic than a filmmaker.
This is obvious by the form of the film itself, which is appropriately bland and unimaginative, succumbing to the usual mannerisms of the bored craftsmanship without any backbone to hold onto. Thus all visual intrigue here is simply a result of talented crewmembers trying to suggest expressive moments, laid around in discord, without a conductor to offer a point of view.
One thing that he doesn't realize is a capital misconception of the philosophy behind Christ by the organized religion: instead of love, this film (and masses throughout the millennia) are attracted only to hatred and violence: as if that without putting up a show of gore there's just no way to get any attention.
The plain fact that the only memory of this film is hatred, ridicules not only the one of the biggest world religions, but also the ethics of any human being capable of common sense. A thoughtful person could perhaps use this radical idea for a seriously good movie... Too bad that it never got even close to crossing Gibson's mind.
Unagi (1997)
abhorable perfection
Synchronicity of form with the content has been an undeniable goal of art since it's conception. In film, that is where real magic starts and there is no master of medium that hasn't mastered this essence. That is visible here as well. Unfortunately, content, if we mean intriguing story, never made it in. What we have is a sorry collection of characters unable to think, act or express themselves - (shall I be guessing) oppressed by their culture? And this is where synchronicity starts: because all the form is just equally inept, unable, clumsy, luke warm, unwilling, closed-off, just as the world it portrays. Credits to the master whose work in its success leaves me nauseated. Shame to the west, whose taste is ignorant to all above, unbearably fake ingredients, cheesy pathos of music - final signature of the Imamura's baton. Not to mention insulting ethics that disturb even a sworn anti-feminist. Thank you very much.