What an absolutely splendid satire this is. Perhaps, seeing the reviews, not for snobby Trump loving Americans. Maybe it comes to close to the fake world they think is real with them as inhabitants, but to me it does nail the world we live in to its corparate fake core. A bridge full of actors pretending to be the crew, with the real, more blue colory crew in the belly of the ship. A play of pretences sandpapering your soul with the uneasyness of mirroring reality.. Really fantastic.!! And a well casted Hugh Laurie Where is Genius doctor-act fits better then the series he got famous in.
Reviews
7 Reviews
The Snow Maiden
(1952)
The Snow-maiden, daughter of king winter and the spring fairy, is aloud to live in a human village. Her heart can't inflame in love. She would melt if it did.
10 July 2012
A animated version of the Rimski Korsakov opera. For the opera lover is especially the palace in the animation interesting it based on the original stage design. The voices & music is one of the most delicate versions I know. In the early fifties in which it was recorded the understanding of the opera was much more suiting the romantic/esoteric character of the opera, then todays practice.
As an opera it isn't much played.
For the ones not familiar to opera it's a nice introduction. Following the fairytale of the snow-maiden, the story it's more interesting and richer of content then the average opera. Rimsky Korsav's and his libretto writer made a few changes to the fairytale that brought the esoteric content of the opera much more to the surface.
The animation, in a beautiful early 50's Russian fairytale style, in the one hand keeps the static style of the opera intact, while on the other hand much more focusing on the story the opera is bases on, and telling it as a fairytale should be told, while it's dynamic is still the dynamic of the opera. It's not degraded into a Disney comedy animation, killing the deeper layers of the story.
That at the time it was made the ideology of social realism was (often)leading in animation, so a lot of "rotoscoping" is used, helped to keep it a very dignified adaptation of the opera. While at the same time keeping the dialog spoken, and cutting some elements of the first act make it much more accessible. Although I think the role of Kupava and the role of Lel and perhaps the parents get a bit cut too much. I understand it's a director's choice where to cut to keep the animation around 1 hour long, but I would have left more of the 1st act intact.
The version of the animation in circulation, by the way, has a very abrupt cut in Lel's first aria in the first act. a part of the aria is missing, in a way that makes you think there is a piece of film missing there too.
All in all there is a good balance between respect for the basic material and adapting it to an animation idiom.
As an opera it isn't much played.
For the ones not familiar to opera it's a nice introduction. Following the fairytale of the snow-maiden, the story it's more interesting and richer of content then the average opera. Rimsky Korsav's and his libretto writer made a few changes to the fairytale that brought the esoteric content of the opera much more to the surface.
The animation, in a beautiful early 50's Russian fairytale style, in the one hand keeps the static style of the opera intact, while on the other hand much more focusing on the story the opera is bases on, and telling it as a fairytale should be told, while it's dynamic is still the dynamic of the opera. It's not degraded into a Disney comedy animation, killing the deeper layers of the story.
That at the time it was made the ideology of social realism was (often)leading in animation, so a lot of "rotoscoping" is used, helped to keep it a very dignified adaptation of the opera. While at the same time keeping the dialog spoken, and cutting some elements of the first act make it much more accessible. Although I think the role of Kupava and the role of Lel and perhaps the parents get a bit cut too much. I understand it's a director's choice where to cut to keep the animation around 1 hour long, but I would have left more of the 1st act intact.
The version of the animation in circulation, by the way, has a very abrupt cut in Lel's first aria in the first act. a part of the aria is missing, in a way that makes you think there is a piece of film missing there too.
All in all there is a good balance between respect for the basic material and adapting it to an animation idiom.
Geese-Swans
(1949)
Left in charge of her little brother as her parents go out, Mashenka leaves him alone for a little while. He get's abducted by geese-swans in service of the witch Baba-Yaga
10 July 2012
One of the greatest fairytale animations of it's era. In a classic fairytale structure, somewhere in between the Grimm fairy tales "Hansl & Gretl" ( Witch wanting to eat the brother) and "Frau Holle" (Girl getting rewarded for helping an oven, an apple-tree etc.)
Left in charge of her little brother as her parents go to town, Mashenka leaves him alone for a little while to play with her friends. The little boy get's abducted by a group of geese-swans in service of the witch Baba-Yaga Mashenka set's out to free him, and receives help from an oven, a brook, an apple-tree and later a hedgehog
The IMDb wrongly credits Ivan Ivanov-Vano for the co-direction, but it's co-directed by Albert Ivanov, next to Alexandra Snezhko-Blotskaya. Unfortunately the IMDb is very incomplete and unreliable for Russian animation. Ivan was working at " The stranger's voice" at the time.
See http://www.animator.ru/db/?ver=eng&p=show_film&fid=2982. for the correct credits.
Left in charge of her little brother as her parents go to town, Mashenka leaves him alone for a little while to play with her friends. The little boy get's abducted by a group of geese-swans in service of the witch Baba-Yaga Mashenka set's out to free him, and receives help from an oven, a brook, an apple-tree and later a hedgehog
The IMDb wrongly credits Ivan Ivanov-Vano for the co-direction, but it's co-directed by Albert Ivanov, next to Alexandra Snezhko-Blotskaya. Unfortunately the IMDb is very incomplete and unreliable for Russian animation. Ivan was working at " The stranger's voice" at the time.
See http://www.animator.ru/db/?ver=eng&p=show_film&fid=2982. for the correct credits.
Like a Dream
(2009)
After the death of his cat, Max has a repeated dream in which he meets a mourning girl. He is convinced she is real, and meets a look-alike, who is too.
15 July 2010
The reviews on the film are mixed. The ethereal, romantic character is beautifully filmed, in a controlled pace, that reminds of a Bach piece made into a ballet. Almost every element, be it a setting, dialog, plot element, scene, music piece, is repeated a couple of times in the film in one or more variations, or developments, or contra-points but still recognizingly the same element, as a musical composition with variations would be made like. In the end they come together in 1 sad, romantic and yet hopeful finale.
For some that finale is too much. It all comes too neatly together. Personally I loved it. It is not often such truly romantic films get made.It's by now means cardboard romantic, far from it. No need of a handkerchief, no unbiased happy end, but there is sadness, mixed with sparkles of humor and joy, and a the most truly gripping kissing scene i've seen in years. No sex, no sensation, but stylish feelings, ballet like scenes, and admirably intense acting, put together in a tasteful timeless piece.
For some that finale is too much. It all comes too neatly together. Personally I loved it. It is not often such truly romantic films get made.It's by now means cardboard romantic, far from it. No need of a handkerchief, no unbiased happy end, but there is sadness, mixed with sparkles of humor and joy, and a the most truly gripping kissing scene i've seen in years. No sex, no sensation, but stylish feelings, ballet like scenes, and admirably intense acting, put together in a tasteful timeless piece.
Joy
(I) (2010)
Underrated pearl
1 July 2010
The film had almost no publicity at it's debut. When it was picked up by the major Dutch talk show "Pauw & Wittenman" because of his merits, and the story of the the debuting leading roll player Samira Maas, it had already almost disappeared from rotation. I saw that show, wanted to see the film and had only the choice between Saturday morning 11.00u., Sunday morning 11.00u.and Wednesday at 12.00u. after which it disappeared from rotation. I sat in the movie theater at Saturday morning with 1 other viewer at an unchristian time when one should hate going to a movie, but I never regretted it. In fact I am browsing the internet at this moment to see if the DVD isn't out yet, because I want to see the film again.
The movie has two great assets: The performance of Samira Maas & the intense colors it is filmed in.
Samira plays a foster child curious to find her mother. She is not a professional actress, but in fact a foster child herself, who is studying law school and volunteering at an organization who informs about & supports the rights of foster children. The under-cooled "anger against society" that she ventilates in her roll sparkle from her eyes & jump down from the screen. Yet it's a roll & not her character, nor her personal life experience. Although her job probably prepared her richly for it and made per the perfect fit for the roll, she nevertheless shows an amazing natural talent in acting and has a mesmerizing fresh & brutal screen-presence.
The second great asset of the film is the way light is used. By over-lightning, the colors get a bleak but immensely bright character, that brilliantly fit the content & the atmosphere of the story: young women on the verge of adulthood, with inner pain & need of attention, struggling to get their life rolling and finding closure on their past of being abandoned and having to grow up in an institute for foster children, but nevertheless going firmly forward.
Joy is a small film constantly breathing in the neck of it's actors, and thus concentrating on their mindset and psychological development, rather then on a big story or beautiful sets. No murders, crimes, guns, just a natural psychological development, dramatized in a human story dealing with the anger issues that belong to the pain of abandonment, in it's own sort of controlled, fruitful way.
The plot is simple but effective: Young girl determent to find her mother, yet afraid to contact the person who she thinks is her mother, starts spying on her to discover who she herself is.
The movie has two great assets: The performance of Samira Maas & the intense colors it is filmed in.
Samira plays a foster child curious to find her mother. She is not a professional actress, but in fact a foster child herself, who is studying law school and volunteering at an organization who informs about & supports the rights of foster children. The under-cooled "anger against society" that she ventilates in her roll sparkle from her eyes & jump down from the screen. Yet it's a roll & not her character, nor her personal life experience. Although her job probably prepared her richly for it and made per the perfect fit for the roll, she nevertheless shows an amazing natural talent in acting and has a mesmerizing fresh & brutal screen-presence.
The second great asset of the film is the way light is used. By over-lightning, the colors get a bleak but immensely bright character, that brilliantly fit the content & the atmosphere of the story: young women on the verge of adulthood, with inner pain & need of attention, struggling to get their life rolling and finding closure on their past of being abandoned and having to grow up in an institute for foster children, but nevertheless going firmly forward.
Joy is a small film constantly breathing in the neck of it's actors, and thus concentrating on their mindset and psychological development, rather then on a big story or beautiful sets. No murders, crimes, guns, just a natural psychological development, dramatized in a human story dealing with the anger issues that belong to the pain of abandonment, in it's own sort of controlled, fruitful way.
The plot is simple but effective: Young girl determent to find her mother, yet afraid to contact the person who she thinks is her mother, starts spying on her to discover who she herself is.
Toppuresu
(2008)
Lively, sensitive, true to life, happy little film
29 March 2010
The ever-lively and upbeat Natsuko tries to mend a broken heart by carrying on with a string of short-lived affairs after her break-up with Tomomi. But when Tomomi announces her plans to marry - a man - Natsuko becomes inconsolable. While all this is taking place, Natsuko's straight male roommate is grappling with his own feelings for her, and a young high school girl comes to Tokyo searching for the mother that long ago left her for a female lover. Each character - queer, straight, male, female, young, old, and in-between - struggles to make peace with him/herself as all their lives overlap. This story captures the power of young love, and the web of the city.
I didn't know what to expect when I got it, the sleeves looks like a pinkish movie, but the story on the sleeves sounds more serious. After watching it I was really glad I did. I didn't know the director, and I wondered..is it a she? Feels like a she, but it's a he: the writer is a she, and a lesbian: They worked closely together. But as a director he has a real nice touch of approaching the subject. Mending your life, coming to terms with you feelings, coming to terms with the way you are, who you are, a little lesbo-emancipation mixed in to it. And no pinkness involved. Lovely little film all in all. A real life story, opening your eyes for Japanese Lesbian life, told with liveliness and wit, with serious undertones without disturbing the feel good touch
I didn't know what to expect when I got it, the sleeves looks like a pinkish movie, but the story on the sleeves sounds more serious. After watching it I was really glad I did. I didn't know the director, and I wondered..is it a she? Feels like a she, but it's a he: the writer is a she, and a lesbian: They worked closely together. But as a director he has a real nice touch of approaching the subject. Mending your life, coming to terms with you feelings, coming to terms with the way you are, who you are, a little lesbo-emancipation mixed in to it. And no pinkness involved. Lovely little film all in all. A real life story, opening your eyes for Japanese Lesbian life, told with liveliness and wit, with serious undertones without disturbing the feel good touch
Oppai barê
(2009)
Perfect lightheartedness
9 January 2010
Perfect lightheartedness. The basic concept of a young teacher stumbling clumsily into a promise of flashing her boobs to the schools looser volleyball team if they will win, turns like a frog into a prince by a delicate script, sensitive directing and an Audrey Hepburn/Audrey Tautou kind of lead actress. The film doesn't lie about it's simplicity, but it deals with it in admirably good taste. It's by no means a American pie-(or worse)-clone, or even "ecchi", and has even a sort of 50'ish feel to it, which is quite an accomplishment given scene's like: A group of pupils are running uphill behind a bicycling teacher with a whistle, while yelling " tits,tits" as encouragement song. It's a warm hearted feel good comedy. Nothing more, nothing less, but very well done. The only minus point would be that beside the lead actress the other roles stay sketchy: Having an Audrey Hepburn, it misses a Cary Grant. Not as a romantic angle, the film doesn't have nor need that. It's about how to inspire adolescents in a teacher- pupil relationship, and having the heart in the right place.The lather is something the teacher needs to trust more as her core virtue, but she doesn't discover that by counter play based on character development in her pupils, her co-teacher,her ex boy-friend or, her principal, but by a side story about her past. In itself very sweet, but dramaturgically it keeps the film light and nostalgic, where it could have gained some depth. Neverteless it's an truly enjoyable movie. Such a pity that films like that often get underrated.
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