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Reviews
Charlie (2004)
Hypocrisy.
'Charlie' (Malcolm Needs, 2004)
What irritates me the most about 'Charlie' is the hypocrisy of its argument. The makers of the film fawningly present Richardson as a good decent and innocent man. Why, then, do they revel in showing his vicious criminal activity? The message of this film gets lost in the midst of pretentious formal tics and the most embarrassing courtroom scenes committed to celluloid. For English film culture, all this film represents is sad proof that for every Sam Mendes, there's a Malcolm Needs.
Come on Blighty, we can do better than this!
Dogville (2003)
A-list experiment.
'Dogville' (Lars von Trier, 2004)
Only a director like von Trier could have pulled this off: a Brechtian experiment with an A-list cast. For the most part the film is a winner, although it does get lost somewhere toward the end.
This film is far from perfect, and certainly won't appeal to all tastes. Those who give it a chance will be surprised and leave the cinema thinking. Surely a rare feat in the age of the digital blockbuster?