vertigoandstrangelove Reviews

The Pianist (2002)

Long Time Coming

[9/10 · 12 March 2003]

This is what you wait for if you're a movie buff. An eagerly anticipated film that gets great reviews and a number of awards across the Northern Hemisphere...that is actually worth waiting for. And if said film happens to be made by a personal favourite director ('Rosemary's Baby,' 'Chinatown' & 'Repulsion') fallen on hard times ('Pirates,' 'Frantic' & ugh 'Bitter Moon') so much the better.

What I really liked about this film was the wonderful simplicity with which Polanski tells the story, while at the same time displaying his mastery of cinematic technique. Much like the pianist of the title, he hits the right notes throughout; from the opening scene where Germans bomb the radio station where he is performing, through the tribulations of his Jewish family, to the 'Schindler's List'-esque Warsaw ghetto scenes and on to the final grim struggle for survival, this is a tour-de-force for the aging director.

The plot builds steadily to the final section of the film, where the pianist wanders, frightened and shaking, among the ruins of a bombed and burning Warsaw, still trying to dodge the few retreating Germans still in the city. He is finally caught by one, a general, in the ruins of a formerly grand house...a scene that is sure to go down as a classic.

I saw this film on the day it opened in Australia and the cinema was packed. There were the usual packed-cinema sounds; coughing, munching of chips, slurping of drinks, muted conversation. By the time the film had reached it's devastating conclusion, the cinema was silent...high praise for any film.

Solaris (2002)

Chestnut

[7/10 · 10 March 2003]

SPOILER!! This movie presents that well worn chestnut of a storyline: boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy finds girl again in the heart of a weird pink planet in deep space. I mean how many times have we seen that? It's practically a genre in itself.

Adaptation. (2002)

Adapt your viewing sensibilities

[9/10 · 22 December 2002]

There is not much that can be said about "Adaptation" that hasn't been said already. The press coverage generated, for an arthouse movie, has been extraordinary.

Even so, everyone has their favourites; wonderful, brilliant, dazzling, mind-boggling, unique. Some people would also add; self-indulgent, masturbatory, dull and too-clever-for-it's-own-good.

Nevertheless, there is so much going on in this film that any kind of chronological analysis is virtually impossible. Every scene and practically every line is bulging with smart comments, irony, red herrings, clues, subterfuge, mind games and puzzles.

The overall effect is heady, although not everyone is going to be a fan of a movie like this. For those who are, multiple viewings will be necessary.

Black Cat, White Cat (1998)

The Sounds of Music

[9/10 · 10 December 2002]

Emir Kusturica's films all pulsate wildly to the wonderful sounds of authentic gypsy music. Guitars, fiddles, accordians and all manor of horns are as much a part of their lives as eating and sleeping.

Song and dance feature heavily in "Black Cat, White Cat," Kustruica's finest and most complete film to date. The music isn't really a soundtrack, but is largely, physically written into each scene (performed with gusto by musicians who often follow the characters around). Indeed, the 'bad-guy' character of Dadan scarcely has a scene where he isn't swinging or dancing along to something (even a bizarre pop/rock song makes a comic cameo). But the other characters have their musical moments as well.

"Black Cat, White Cat" has a large cast and a sprawling storyline, largely resolving around two gangsters - Dadan and the hapless Marko - and their attempts to outwit each other. Things come to a head when Dadan tries to force Marko's son to marry his spinster sister as a repayment for one of his father's debts.

But the plot is largely unimportant in a film of this type. The viewer is simply swept away in a good natured deluge of funny lines, inventive slap-stick, unusual settings and colourful supporting characters (a particular favourite: the old man who continually re-watches the last two minutes of "Casablanca"). All you need to do is sit back and enjoy. Oh...and listen to the music.