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LeMort
Reviews
Gymnaslærer Pedersen (2006)
Blind love makes Pedersen the last standing communist
A bit hard to review this one. As a reaction to USAs involvement in Vietnam, growing capitalism and a rather naive belief in "Power to the people", the Norwegian party AKP-ML was started in 1972. (Loosely translated it means "the Workers CommunistParty - MarxistLeninism ,WCP-ML) They believed all people should be equal and the path to that goal would be achieved through Armed Forces.
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This movie is about high-school teacher Pedersen and his arrival to a small Norwegian industrial town. The movie starts about him telling us that he was here to achieve his goal: A wife, a child and a home.
This is of course not enough for him. After getting married and moving into his dream home he is drawn to communism through one of his students. When the student moves away to study at the university, Pedersen loses his lighthouse; very soon to be replaced, and led, by another, even brighter star: Nina Skaatoey. They are almost immediately drawn into a very intense love-affair.
After a while he has lost both his wife and Nina. And this is what the movie is about. His intense dream and wishes of getting together again, with the love of his life Nina, makes Pedersen the last standing communist. And he was (in my view) never even a real one.
The movie, almost two hours long, is boring at first. The intense love-scenes and how were told, again and again, that Pedersen gets communist propaganda visions, each time he is involved with these people, is way to over-told. It's when things starts to fail, and the naivety of AKP-MLs dreams overshadows the reality (and pure logic) this movie starts to get interesting.
The last part, where the whole thing is smoldering apart, is clearly the best. (And what makes my score justified).Nina is falling apart and Ane Dahl Torp is acting this breakdown in such a painful way, its hard to witness. Pedersens loyalty is just as well drawn out by Kristoffer Joner. This is also excellent done.
All in all, if you can make it through the first half, this is a movie well worth seeing.
King Kong (2005)
Why does people like this movie?
"everyone" loves this movie. It gets top score all over the world. But it sucks. Big Time. It is a great example of overkill. To much effects, to much irrelevance. The story halts *completely* for ages several times. This film is nothing else than a CG show off. How "great" a film can be visually. Its boring. A long yawn. Ann should have died at least 10 times during this movie. She isn't even injured.
I love fantasy-films. But even them, no matter what, should have elements of realism in "all the madness" to make it believable. King Kong isn't even trying to have realism. Its just plain stupid. And those moments Peter Jackson suddenly remembers that King Kong actually is a Love Story, he is totally overdoing that too. KingKong dancing a la Bambi with Ann on the ice? How stupid is that?
Dear Peter Jackson. You're a great filmmaker. Please do not make rubbish like this again. I thought you, of all the directors out there, knew how important a story is to move a film forward. But you obviously don't. The only thing that matters to you is seemingly to make a movie 3 hours long. This one could have been cut in half. Then it could have been a great movie. But its not
MortenF
Full Metal Jacket (1987)
Vietnam movie, better than many others but fails on some points
This is truly a strange movie. Split in two parts it is somewhat hard to judge it as one movie. The first half focuses on the recruit training on "The Island". This is the movies best part. The lack of music, the long dwelling scenes and the actors makes this a painful view on how to make a soldier and what happens in the recruits mind. The second half (The Vietnam part) is not that good, but it absolutely has its moments. What makes the Vietnam part good is the reality that is shown. If someone saves another guys butt, there is no hugging "thank you, I owe you big time" kind of s**t, they act as soldiers are trained to behave. But after all, the second part of this movie lacks the intensity of part 1. But the film is probably worth watching. Kubrick, however, have made better movies. (Shining, 2001, Clockwork Orange, Lolita)
The Others (2001)
Scary Movie with more than a twist to lean on....
Nicole Kidman has turned out to be an excellent actor, above most of the rest. Kidman plays the role of a single mother, trapped in a big mansion because of her two children's sensitive and allergic problems with sunlight. Suddenly ghosts are hunting the house. Kidman, her kids and the servants are disturbed by this and the movie shows us the fight on how they try to solve the problem. But the movie is deeper. It is about trust and believing. It is about what the past, present and maybe even the future can tell us. What is present anyway? It's all relative. > Kidman's son in the movie is really convincing and makes your hair raise on your arms and your head. Really worth watching. Lightning, music and photo is excellent, so is also the directing. A movie not worth missing.
Elling (2001)
Impressive stuff about madness many of us are familiar with..
When I first saw this movie, I did not like it to much. That's because I had read all 4 books about the main character and somehow felt connected to him. 2nd time I saw this movie I changed my opinion. This movie is really good. Characters you have to love, struggling with all the inner demons most of us, at one time or another, are slightly familiar with. Elling & Kjell Bjarne are 2 people outside the world most of us live in, and they are struggling to get inside. And what a joyful struggle. I cheer the main characters, director, photo & music. Some flaws are present, but they are not big enough to ruin this movie. You should see it. The casting is so good that I have to question the fact that Hollywood are planning on making an american (sigh!) version. They can't do it, I know that for a fact already. These actors in the original movie ARE the characters. Impressive stuff.