suegrayson Reviews

The Elephant Man (1980)

Touching

[7/10 · 5 March 2006]

Great performances by Hopkins, Gielgud and Hurt. Also look out for small roles from some famous British faces, including a young Pauline Quirke!

Beautifully shot and a heart rendering tale that thankfully doesn't get too soppy or sentimental. A lot can be taken from the film about the way we treat people in general, not just the Elephant Man.

I wonder if anyone else saw a clear link between Merrick making a model of a cathedral and the story of Quasimodo in Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame? Was this intentional by Lynch or just a happy coincidence. Worth thinking about!

Double Indemnity (1944)

Well worth seeing

[8/10 · 5 March 2006]

After watching The Maltese Falcon, another famous film noir, and being hugely disappointed by it you can imagine the trepidation with which I approached Double Indemnity. However, within a few minutes my fears disappeared as I knew I would thoroughly enjoy this film.

Everything about this movie was great, from having the ending at the beginning, the voice-over, the cinematography, the plot, the twists, the tension. Even though Walter and Phyllis have done something wrong you still care about them and actually want them to succeed to be together. Note the high use of blind shadows which could be interpreted as prison bars to tell us that they wont get away with it, justice will prevail.

Although this is a great example of film noir I still think Sunset Boulevard, another of Billy Wilder's films, is the classic version.

The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981)

Worth seeing

[7/10 · 10 November 2005]

I had purchased this film from a charity shop a number of weeks ago. With the recent death of the author of the book this film was based on (John Fowles) I was inspired to watch his most famous work. I put it off for a few days fearing the film would be boring and unengaging but I was pleasantly surprised! I was in a state of confusion for the first few minutes of the movie, what on earth was going on?! Had they put the trailer at the start of the video, had I bought a behind the scenes tape by mistake? I was so shocked I had to stop the film and read some comments on here to clarify what was going on! When I found out there were two stories set in different eras going on simultaneously, I was eager to find out more and whether this device would work.

I thought the use of the two stories, one the plot between Sarah and Charles set in the 19th century and the other, the actors playing them, Anna and Mike was an interesting and original idea although one which I am not sure was entirely necessary. The use of modern appliances to emphasize when the film was in the 1980s also seemed a little brash.

However, the film really made me care for the characters and I was caught up in the emotion of it all. This was my first Meryl Streep film, and from her convincing performance in this, will certainly not be my last! Beautiful cinematography from Freddie Francis too. Although not an outstanding film, it is still one worth watching and one which deserved the praise and accolades it received.

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

~Get busy watching decent movies or get busy believin the hype~

[6/10 · 29 January 2003]

I'd heard so much about this film, everyone who told me about it, sang its praises. My ex boyfriend said he'd cried at the end. It's even ranked #2 in imdb's top 250 movies. So you can imagine that as I settled down to watch this film, I was expecting something out of the ordinary.

Unfortunately for me, it was *very* ordinary. Ok sure, there's some great twists and some parts keep you on the edge of your seat. But the pace was slow and dragged in parts, *SPOILER* just like Andy's possesions when he escapes. A few rare films I've watched, American Beauty for example, have made me go "wow" afterwards and stayed with me long after the film has finished. Due to all the hype, I was expecting to feel the same after watching "Shawshank" but all I feel is that most of the film is instantly forgettable and cheesy.

I suspect that most of the people who have rated this film a 9 or 10 haven't had the opportunity to see many films that haven't had the "Hollywood" conveyor belt behind them. My advice to them is to give smaller, low budget films a watch. You may be pleasantly surprised.