All the low ratings are simply ridiculous. This is more authentically Dashiell Hammett than the Bogart era movies. A common complaint is that the plot is convoluted.
Yes. It's in the style of noir (1940s or so) detective novels and they aren't like modern ones. You don't get hand-held through the whole thing, and they are problems for which you hire a detective - or which they find themselves wrapped up in that doesn't take an afternoon to wrap up. Why are we watching if it's not convoluted.
The other complaint I cannot stand is that people had to read. The subtitles they mean. I just can't even in this day and age. Then: don't watch it. Just give up and relegate it to Not American Enough and ignore it. But others are able to even understand languages other than US English, or can read - or even keep captions on all the time to make sure we can get every nuance of dialogue in every show and are used to it. "It has subtitles" is not a valid criticism of the show, but of yourself.
This. Is. Great. I mean, I am conservative in my ratings and might up it to a 9 in future. Moody as all get out, and some of the use of light and shadow is textbook noir film style; they could have filed this in B&W.
Near perfect to my eye period correct. Great cars, great village scenes, etc. Firearms even! French produced WW2 movies have less accurate use of firearms than this. I mean crazy attention to detail.
Really cares about the period in the plot. "The War" is (mostly, sometimes it is ancient history, WW2 Resistance stuff) Algeria, which if you aren't steeped enough in history means you don't know what is going on and: good! I am delighted they didn't hand-hold us through this all.
Dialog is outstanding. I have been posting it to good-quotes forums. And while as I said it's more authentic than e.g. The Maltese Falcon, Clive Owen delivers several lines I could hear in Bogart's best worn out and tired of everyone's lies tone. Great stuff.
Yes. It's in the style of noir (1940s or so) detective novels and they aren't like modern ones. You don't get hand-held through the whole thing, and they are problems for which you hire a detective - or which they find themselves wrapped up in that doesn't take an afternoon to wrap up. Why are we watching if it's not convoluted.
The other complaint I cannot stand is that people had to read. The subtitles they mean. I just can't even in this day and age. Then: don't watch it. Just give up and relegate it to Not American Enough and ignore it. But others are able to even understand languages other than US English, or can read - or even keep captions on all the time to make sure we can get every nuance of dialogue in every show and are used to it. "It has subtitles" is not a valid criticism of the show, but of yourself.
This. Is. Great. I mean, I am conservative in my ratings and might up it to a 9 in future. Moody as all get out, and some of the use of light and shadow is textbook noir film style; they could have filed this in B&W.
Near perfect to my eye period correct. Great cars, great village scenes, etc. Firearms even! French produced WW2 movies have less accurate use of firearms than this. I mean crazy attention to detail.
Really cares about the period in the plot. "The War" is (mostly, sometimes it is ancient history, WW2 Resistance stuff) Algeria, which if you aren't steeped enough in history means you don't know what is going on and: good! I am delighted they didn't hand-hold us through this all.
Dialog is outstanding. I have been posting it to good-quotes forums. And while as I said it's more authentic than e.g. The Maltese Falcon, Clive Owen delivers several lines I could hear in Bogart's best worn out and tired of everyone's lies tone. Great stuff.