giannispalavos Reviews

Synecdoche, New York (2008)

Meet my friend, Paranoia

[9/10 · 20 September 2008]

"Synecdoche, New York" expands on the basic subject themes of all Kaufman's work, but mostly on "Adaptation". And it makes "Adaptation" look like an exercise for kids compared to this.

It's one of the best hypochondriac's film, one of the best films on struggling with paranoia and, in the end, being defeated. It brought in my mind some of Ingmar Bergman's characters and, of course, Woody Allen's, but without the liberating sense of humor. Liberating for the characters, that is. Here there is no salvation for the protagonist- just like in Bergman's case.

The film flirts with being a bit pretentious, although it surely pokes fun at nearly all the intellectual blah-blah and clichés one sees all around the art world. So, I guess it rather saves itself that accusation. If it only was 15 minutes shorter, then I wouldn't know what to nag about.

It seems that Charlie Kaufman was not afraid to challenge his hip followers, did a difficult to appreciate movie, dark, that really makes your stomach and your brain hurt with with over-activity.

It's a great film.

Nights of Cabiria (1957)

The "grandest finale" ever

[9/10 · 17 September 2003]

It's hard to tell which Fellini's film leads the way; "8 1/2", "La Dolce vita", "La strada", "Amarcord" and so many more, you just can't choose.

But, when it comes to this beautiful picture, things become clearer. It's not just the amazing perfomance by Giullietta Masina, it's not just the wonderful, semi-crazy characters wondering around the screen and emphasizing Kabiria's sad and lonely world, it's -and that's the film's greatest quality- this sense of optimism that Fellini wants the viewer to take with him/her as he/she is leaving the theater. The master takes everything from his heroin but at the end he wants to convey one simple, eassy-to-grip but so essential message: "Please, don't give up". The power of the film's last ten minutes is unpreceded in the world of movies and, sad to say, never again have we seen such an amazing finale. This is a must-see film, and, most important of all, a film so generous to its viewers that one time is not enough. A total 9/10

Little Otik (2000)

Kafka and Ionesco should have seen this one

[8/10 · 24 May 2003]

Well, this weird film from Chzech Republic is really interesting! It's something like a Kafka's short story, a much darker version of Pinocio, Ionesco's Amedaius and, of, course, Lynch's Eraserhead. It also has a compelling b-movie aesthetic and a Monty Python-like animation part, making it all very nice indeed. And it sure is much more accessible and "watchable" than the previous film this director had done (Called "Conspiracy of Pleasure"-that was totally absurd). The only problem with this one is that it runs a little bit too long at 2 hours. It's clever but at tthe end it really tires you up. I give it a 8 of 10!