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Griselda (2024)
Griselda - or how psychopaths become famous
I did not intend to write a review of this film, as I am against the romanticized portrayal of the great killers in human history. I went on the principle, dust and oblivion be damned to their memory and not to follow up their remembrance. But today I was on the subway and saw posters advertising this film. It's a box-office hit and I find it creepy how a crime movie is gaining in popularity. On the poster a sexy Sofie Vergara, not at all like the real one, who looked like a fat cook figure from the communal canteen. Sofie's character seems capable of murder, so mysterious and full of nastiness. But in the film the real murderer is romanticized, you really feel sorry for the woman left without three children, that were murdered by hitmen, especially since it's not clear from the film that she killed 200 people, directly or on command, as happened in reality. There are films that make you empathise with the killer and I realised that the problem is not me empathising, because I am still human, it is normal to have feelings of compassion for a person who loses their children, for example, but it is the fault of the film that it melodramatizes an evil character and pulls at the heartstrings of the viewer. You forget with each episode that you're actually watching a woman stained with blood. Narcos, on the other hand, set out to tell Pablo Escobar's story in a somewhat honest way (I don't think I have the guts to watch season three about the Cali cartel anymore) and, as a viewer, you find yourself identifying with cops or members of paramilitary organizations in the annihilation of that killer, you kind of forget your humanity, and you don't stop watching the gruesome episodes, you keep going, because, right, you want to see Escobar taken down.
My point is that these shows do nothing but pull you into a range of feelings that are damaging to your psyche, and that there is a risk that any romanticization of a murderous story (oh, how the pedal is pressed as a staunch family man, Escobar's loving husband and father!) will make you accept evil as natural and justified, because, you see, those heinous crimes were committed by people who were helpless and loving at their core. Nothing more mystifying, these beings, Griselda, Escobar, all cartel members, can be called anything, only human beings not, they lived in a different register, they are anomalies of human nature and that's why I think it's better to dust them off and forget their names.
Tata muta muntii (2021)
The father moves the mountains and the mountain moves him.
A rare Romanian film, i.e. Direction, image, sound, editing (not that I know anything about it, but it got a nomination for that), acting beyond reproach etc. Inspired by the reality, I think the inspiration only stops at the fact that two young people got lost in the mountains, hence the director and screenwriter (same person) weave around the subject and weave it well. I read somewhere that the facts really were like that and no gesture is exaggerated fiction, but reality. It is a film about redemption, the redemption of a soul at a terrible price. No parent deserves the punishment of losing their child no matter how bad and unworthy they are as a parent. And yet this terrible event in a man's life can take him not only out of his path of life but also out of his character, out of his psychological construction. And if the latter is defective, more is the chance to change it for the better. This is how the painful change of a man corrupted by power and selfishness must be, I would even say salvation - surrounded by love, and learning to love till the end, to humble himself and give help. The film is about a rescue, but not of the son, but of the father.
Some criticize the ending, that it remains in the fish tail? Does it?
Maybe they should have put a note at the end on the film credits, like the Americans do, found them in the spring, so everyone would be happy? Did it really not feel how desperate that man is in the film?, who, though pragmatic to his fingertips and almost without moral conscience, feels overwhelmed by fatality and helplessness? What else was there to go on in that film?, every shovel stroke was a cry, an attempt to accept the fatality and helplessness, the loss of his beloved son, as much as he could love. Did anyone think that a person like him, a former security guard, intelligent and authoritative, in control all his life, didn't have the mind to understand that it was all over? With each shovel stroke he was mourning his child, nothing more. No whimpering, no taunting on the ground, but hitting the mountain with the hatred with which the mountain had hit him, an absurd, blind force that takes its payment when it is not respected- Truism, but nothing more true! Bravo to Titieni, because he is a not good but exceptional actor! And there is another fantastic character - the mountain, the Bucegi mountains that remind us once again how beautiful Romania is.
The Green Knight (2021)
An excellent film adaptation of a 14th century epic poem
Two merry things that blend harmoniously at the start of the year, the horror fantasy, The Green Knight, and the bilingual edition, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
The Green Knight is a horror fantasy that I watched, while I was doing some chores, on TV (HBO), until I put it all aside and started enjoying the film. What a shame though, that missing the beginning took me a while to unravel not necessarily what it all started from, but what was at stake in that attempt. And the film gets quite complicated, where towards the end it all unfolds in a backwards from the future "what if" kind of way. You're not dealing with just any story that just wants to surprise you, but has a message for you. But even without understanding, the atmosphere created, the fantastic story, the captivating images keep you breathless.
I bought a book at the book fair in the summer, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, bilingual, in Romanian, and I was to discover, a medieval English, or rather a dialect from the border of England and Scotland, from where I pick up from time to time familiar words of modern English. Most of the words are short, harsh, but, I sense, beautiful, and blend harmoniously into verses that know alliteration, and the translator, a maestro in his own right, tries and succeeds to be faithful to this stylistic procedure.
And today when I have started reading the book, captivated by the story itself, I find out who were the Green Knight and the hero who went looking for him, only to have his head cut off after a bet. Already going into spoiler alert, I say no more, I enjoy reading an alert epic poem, flawless in poetic language, and I have seen/will see again an excellent movie, which goes far beyond the horror genre, and brings before your eyes the fantastical beings, which you dream of when you read the poem and which the hero meets on his way to fulfill his destiny. A horror movie about honor and courage. Does anyone else think that horror is an easy genre that only taps into primal emotions?
David Lowery, a director who apparently specializes in the fantasy genre, also a talented screenwriter, an exceptional cast, Dev Patel, Alicia Vikander, Joel Edgerton etc, great visual effects make this film a joy not only for horror genre enthusiasts but also for any self-respecting cinephile.
Alias Grace (2017)
Clever, mysterious, captivating
There you go. A recital of acting, but mostly of clever dialogues. It's like reading a story while watching a movie, naturally if the script is supervised by the famous writer Margaret Atwood, the winner of the Booker Prize in 2000. I find out that her novel Alias Grace was also nominated for the same award. I go looking for the book as soon as possible.
Inspired by a real event - the double murder of unparalleled violence that shook Canada in 1843 - the classic but captivating film presents, starting from some psychological evaluation sessions, the destiny of one of the most enigmatic and famous women of the 19th century, accused of an abominable crime committed when she was only sixteen. Grace Marks is acquitted of capital punishment and sentenced to life imprisonment. I still haven't finished watching all the episodes and I keep asking: is Grace actually guilty or innocent? Amnesiac or just cunning? Was Grace a real killer or, on the contrary, just a helpless victim of a violent accomplice?
Very good actors: Sarah Gadon (Grace), Anna Paquin (Oscar winner at only 9 years old) (Nancy), Edward Holocroft (Dr. Jordan), Kerr Logan (James) etc. Are just a few of the film's irreproachable cast that got into the skin of the characters and the atmosphere of 19th century Canada. By the way, this is among the few films that show in detail how people, and especially women, managed with daily chores in old past times, and it really made me wonder how I would have managed as a woman in those times without running water, especially with personal hygiene. The one I am now who enjoys all the urban amenities, I find it impossible to have survived back then.
All the Light We Cannot See (2023)
When the light shines inside
Another movie about Nazis, but made in a different key. Good exists on the other side of the barricade, and it is embodied by a blond, cute and very young German. Seriously, it's a light-hearted series that tells a story with a hint of magical realism and captures acts of humanity, when light still shines, almost unseen, in humanity's dark times. Hugh Laurie in the role we've become obsessed with, a tough guy with a big heart! I've liked Mark Ruffalo for a while now, so I loved seeing him in this miniseries as well. From what I understand, the main character of the girl is played by a real blind young woman. It's a good choice because she doesn't have that blank stare we were used to seeing in movies with blind characters. At times, I thought she couldn't play a blind person because her eyes were so expressive.
On Netflix, I recommend.
Nyad (2023)
A movie inspired by a fantastic true story
I didn't think I'd like a movie where a woman swims from start to finish. And yet... and the two are phenomenal, not for nothing do they have Oscar nominations (Bening) and awards (Foster) to their credit.
The film is about overcoming your limits, about not letting your prejudices get you down and following your dream, not least it's about friendship and the power of a personality to instil her enthusiasm in others, it's about leadership and teamwork. It's much more than any motivation book or life coach training. I recommend it for anyone who takes society's norms for granted and justifies their whole comfortable life and no longer dares to pursue their dreams.
Breaking Bad (2008)
When a Netflix series catch you entirely
5 seasons recovered in one week. I didn't think I was going to get caught up in a series of drug dealers, but it did. Because it is tough, has a lot of black humor and above all, it makes you think about the miserable world of sociopaths and psychopaths, no matter how flamboyant it may seem at one point. A real revelation for me was the actor Aaron Paul as Jesse Pinkman character, a very good actor from the young generation. I'm looking forward to seeing him in follow-up film, El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie.
The Nun (2018)
When horror is a cliche
That movie took some awards: Best Horror Poster and Worst Film of the Year. Right in every aspect. It seems that all the clichés from horror movies with religious flavor have found their place here. This horror distorts the idea of classical horror and/or gore film. This is my feeling: too explicitly, not any suspense, you could imagine easily what happens next. I hope not to sound ironically, but I did like the character of the horrifying nun. I checked that behind the makeup there is an expressive actress, Bonnie Aarons, who played in "I know who killed me" (2007) and "Mulholland Drive" (2001). Talented and skillful. Good for her!
The Haunting of Hill House (2018)
Masterpiece
This serial is a masterpiece. It brings the horror movie to another level. Far for being easy and entertaining, it arises a lot of questions about human nature and existence. Well dosed, actually, the horror is just a canvas on which a family saga takes place. Everything is magical and pathological in the same time, in a story about the fears of a disfunctional family, where all its members has mental/emotional disorders which have to be confronted with. Yet, there is a hope. As we think that everything is meant to fall apart, as we are the witnesses of the dissolution of a family all way long each episode, at the end of the day we find out that there is a solution for not happening that. Love is the solution. This serial is about love and its strenghth, only by love and through love one can keep or recover his humanity. Isn't curious that an horror movie gives a lesson of love for the viewers? The answer is, yes, and that is the magic, the depth, the beauty of this serial!
Joker (2019)
Joker, as it meant to be
I saw it and I don't think it's going to happen for two actors to take the Oscar for the same Joker. Sorry for this. Phoenix is fantastic, not that I'm dying for him, he succeeded a character who doesn't emulate any kind of empathy or sympathy, at least not in me, though the public can figure out the mechanisms that made him a monster. Ledger felt good in Joker's skin and made him likeable, while Phoenix is a Joker whom he hates and identifies with his own hatred, creating a self-destructive sociopath. Hmm, will this be the sociopath who deliberately wants his own evil? The film went beyond the filming of comics and entertainment, not much left to entertain, it makes us think and creates controversy - good in every aspect.
Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)
Nothing could be more magical
I spent two hours and something remembering Queen. Nothing could be more magical.
A movie that turns the viewer inside out and which recalls for us a beautiful and profound Freddie until the last moment. A well-done biopic, with no emphasis on the tabloid aspects, but on complexity of Freddie's personality, beyond all the appearances. The movie ended in the note which was supposed to be, in a climax of Queen's performance, leaving an image of a Freddie full of energy and satisfied by the way things carry on. We all know what's the turmoil he faced in his life till the end, but even in the last moments of his life he continued working and be defined by his music. As final words, I just want to point out that on my behalf the Oscar goes to Rami Malek. Well done, young talented actor!
Mr. Nobody (2009)
Too much of everything
Too much of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Vanilla Sky, too much of science for the masses, too much of jumping for one time to another, too much length of actions, actuallly too much of everything, except Jared Leto. Nothing is too much when's with Jared Leto.
The Shape of Water (2017)
Back to water
Guillermo del Toro is a great director and a good story-teller. Another story, of magic realism, was presented to viewer's eyes, in a captivating and mysterious cinematographic image. I enjoyed watching this movie and few clues remembered me of something: the speechless etherical woman, her attraction to water, how she was found on the riverbank when she was a baby, the signs on her neck and not the least her love story with that half human, half fish creature. Few minutes after the end of the movie I knew: she resembles the little mermaid who sacrificed her voice, long hair, her immortal life etc. for coming in the human world just for a prince's sake, losing almost everything. This time another little mermaid chose to live in the human world, in a humble and mostly inward way. She was turned back to life and taken away to the sea by a man of her kind. Back to the sea, the justice was done and finally the little mermaid found her peace and true love.
Snowtown (2011)
A realistic nightmarish movie
Until this movie and after, absolutely all the movies with psychopaths are a joke. Hollywood movies, horrors, gore films, psychological thrillers and so on are pitiful. None can surprise the reality of a psychopath, more frightening than any fiction, like this movie. Now, I only want to miss this nightmare, although I am proud to have healed myself from any pseudo- psychological understanding of the psychopath. I recommend it the ones less weakest heart in order just to get rid of the same delusions as mine, about the 'humanity of psychopath' - the oxymoron that creates the illusion that you can deal with a psychopath untouched of psychic traumas if you are lucky enough not to be killed by him from pure pleasure.