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Reviews
Peter Pan (2003)
Brilliant
Starting with the introduction: a night sky, the chime of bells and the first lines of the narration, we meet with a magic creation, full of enchantment and nostalgia. A very thorough production, down to the last detail. Thanks to its imaginative wonderland scenery and its focus on an individual language for every character, this film has created a unique atmosphere. The storyline is witty and thankfully lacks the monotonous pattern of many fairy tale adaptations. Most important, throughout excellent acting – from an utterly convincing Peter Pan, to a refreshingly lifelike Captain Hook, and an admirably selfless Mr Darling – turns this film into an unforgettable experience.
No Country for Old Men (2007)
Logic to a fault
No music. The sound we can sometimes hear is like the pulsating of a gong. The impression it conveys is that of waves spreading in circles on a still water surface after it has been disturbed by an object. It is heard whenever the characters are confronted with the results of their past decisions – the waves' inexorable advance, often stirred far back in the past. Naturally, people try to influence this course, but the best they can do is confuse the pattern – in the end, the waves will hit the shore.. The symbol for this type of fate is Chigurh: "You've been putting it up – your whole live .. The coin has been traveling twenty-two years to get here." All who have to deal with him try to change the course of events but only manage to disrupt the pattern: Moss cunningly escapes several traps while sheriff Bell remains in constant pursuit, unable to catch up with his "ghost". We must accept that our decisions will have uncontrollable effects in the future – we are part of this world and we have not much influence on what is coming. Maybe Chigurh made his decision during the war which convinced him that mankind obeys its rules and morals only to its own convenience. "If the rule you followed brought you to this, of what use was the rule?" It seems that his logical conclusion is to leave the system of rights and responsibilities and to refuse the abstract world of human ideas and values which make our society work. What we can learn: think ahead of what might follow your actions and then make the right decision – you won't be able to correct your mistakes later. Don't even try to "get back what's been taken from you" – lingering in the past won't help, "you can't stop what's coming. Ain't all waiting on you ... That's vanity." Thankfully, this film leaves us the freedom to judge for ourselves: we perceive things close up, from the characters' points of view and no music guides and influences our perception of the events.
The Colour of Magic (2008)
"You see what you see, I see what I see", and I guess I see "what's really there, see?"
Until having seen "the Colour of Magic" a couple of days ago, it seemed impossible to me that the essence of a work of literature could successfully be transported into the plot-based medium of the film: this production, however, managed impressively to concentrate on the discworld novels' linguistics. The whole film is a glorious firework of puns, absurd dialogues, hilarious speeches and twisted theories, full of witty allusions to our real world's historical, philosophical, cultural, social, political, economic etc. realities, just like in the novels. The narrator's introductions sparkle playful rhetoric; the scene changes abound in funny little parallelisms; the plot follows with complete logic the discworld's crazy intrinsic reality; all characters are represented with convincing comedy, far from being ridiculed – a superb achievement especially among those "of the elderly persuasion"; thankfully, the audience is spared the usual trivial matters and unconvincing special effects; the most brilliant performance, of course, is Sir David Jason's magnificent characterisation of Rincewind in his countless dangerous confrontations from neck-romance to informal death, whose accomplishments mere words cannot describe adequately. Failing to understand the adverse criticism, I assume that many expected more loyalty towards the novels' details and maybe have not properly paid attention to the film as a whole: From hub to rim, all the important things have been preserved, the pathetic coward Rincewind, yet the only mentally sane person on the whole Disc; the ancient barbarian Cohen who has heroically survived his own legend; the frighteningly ambitious and maddening orderly wizard Trymon; the ingenuous tourist Twoflower, an expert in starting annoying discussions at precisely the wrong moments; his loyal luggage with its "homicidal attitude towards anyone who threatens its master"; and all the other peculiar personalities, officious magic devices, spells with speech impediments and curious disc dwellers carried through space on the majestic Great A'tuin... there is no reason to dwell on petty little details, when the adaptation has turned out to be the Best Film Ever. Hopefully, we will face another "near-Rincewind-experience" soon: it won't be long until he comes running past again, will it?