I first have to say that i'm not a professional critic. It is very hard for me to find the right words to describe any form of art.
43 is my age and maybe i have seen many movies in my life. The movies i saw the day before 'R' were 'The good, the bad, the weird' and 'I saw the devil'. The first was very good fun and the latter from the same director gave me a feeling of: I don't want to witness this. I'm getting to old for this kind of excitement.
So with that feeling in mind I red the summary of 'R'. I had also seen 'un prophete' (great movie btw). Comparisons here. Masterpiece there. etc etc. I had to see it.
The feeling of not want to witness this stayed until the opening scenes with the shady music, and Rune going up the stairs. And stayed with me until the end. After seeing this movie a week ago I still want to cry. I now realise that the director bathed me 99 minutes in powerlessness.
This movie literally gave me, besides a sadness that stretches and stretches, a genuine fear for the prison system in my own socially secured country.
Musically this is a movie that won't disappear in the shadows of more stylistic films like 'The deer hunter', 'Once upon a time in the west' and more recently 'There will be blood'. All with their masterpiece defining music scores.
In the prison the camera captures the non existing distance of stares: of guards, inmates, grandmothers, Rashid and Rune. And what this did to me emotionally, was something i never experienced so profound before.
A movie that makes your heart cry is one thing, but to go beyond that and mix the acting with this kind of realism is very special.
The last fifteen minutes with Rashid played with my sympathy for the main character and was a big switch but made also clear that the story doesn't stop. And with that last zoom out the fridge door closes again.
Can you compare Radiohead with The Beatles. 'R' is in my opinion emotionally in a league of it's own.
But keep in mind my age. Maybe i'm just approaching a midlife crisis where crying gets easier, and tears just trouble my judgement.
43 is my age and maybe i have seen many movies in my life. The movies i saw the day before 'R' were 'The good, the bad, the weird' and 'I saw the devil'. The first was very good fun and the latter from the same director gave me a feeling of: I don't want to witness this. I'm getting to old for this kind of excitement.
So with that feeling in mind I red the summary of 'R'. I had also seen 'un prophete' (great movie btw). Comparisons here. Masterpiece there. etc etc. I had to see it.
The feeling of not want to witness this stayed until the opening scenes with the shady music, and Rune going up the stairs. And stayed with me until the end. After seeing this movie a week ago I still want to cry. I now realise that the director bathed me 99 minutes in powerlessness.
This movie literally gave me, besides a sadness that stretches and stretches, a genuine fear for the prison system in my own socially secured country.
Musically this is a movie that won't disappear in the shadows of more stylistic films like 'The deer hunter', 'Once upon a time in the west' and more recently 'There will be blood'. All with their masterpiece defining music scores.
In the prison the camera captures the non existing distance of stares: of guards, inmates, grandmothers, Rashid and Rune. And what this did to me emotionally, was something i never experienced so profound before.
A movie that makes your heart cry is one thing, but to go beyond that and mix the acting with this kind of realism is very special.
The last fifteen minutes with Rashid played with my sympathy for the main character and was a big switch but made also clear that the story doesn't stop. And with that last zoom out the fridge door closes again.
Can you compare Radiohead with The Beatles. 'R' is in my opinion emotionally in a league of it's own.
But keep in mind my age. Maybe i'm just approaching a midlife crisis where crying gets easier, and tears just trouble my judgement.