Change Your Image
ZivileZab
Reviews
Tian yu (1998)
Sacrifice
Eastern people are very strange. For my European mind. But my post-sovietic mind can understand the absurd of communism. People are going where the system sends them and think they are doing something very appreciable for others. Well, mostly things like it are useful for those in highest chairs.
A little girl goes to the countryside to help people. She's so innocent and her plaits are a symbol for it. When she's sent to prairies to live with horses breeder Lao Jin for six months she's so shy and afraid he can do something bad to her. But he can't long time ago his manhood has been sliced off.
After the time she had to go back she's still with Lao in the fields. But she wants go home. And suddenly a man comes and says he can help her. And gives her an apple (symbolic, right?). The next time he comes he wants something from her. And his friends wants the same. They say that's the only one way to go home. Yeah, right...
Lao Jin sees and understands everything, but Xiu doesn't want to hear anything from him. But when surprisingly" she becomes pregnant Lao is only one who helps her. And in the end the only one who frees her. When she's back to her innocence and plaits.
It's a sad story. And very eastern. Gee, this really could have happened! Stupid system and dickbrained men.
V for Vendetta (2005)
Freedom
Freedom. Everyone wants freedom. Everybody wants to be free to do whatever he or she wants. And nobody wants to live when he or she is told what to do or even what to think. Because they know the difference. If you have lived all your life in a society like in "V for vendetta" (or twenty years ago in SSRS) it seems to be the way it should be. But there you go one man comes and says that it's not the right way to live and begins to fight.
I've heard from my parents what it's like to live on the red side of the Berlin's wall. And, of course, I've heard about Nazis. So here you go, you see British people living like Germany seventy years ago. And it's OK to them. But! A masked man (Zoro? Batman?) comes and says NO! to the system. It's heroic but
Not true and too true.
The girl, Evey (sound like V, wonder why
) doesn't do anything against the system even if it has taken her parents. Until V shows. He opens her eyes and teach not to fear the system. And finally the girl understands who and what is real. Dances, laugh, old movies. Things which are forbidden. People are afraid of the system, but system is more afraid of people's consciousness.
V wakes the people, wakes Evey, but die in the end. This is very heroic. He frees the society and leaves, doesn't become a leader like the one he killed. It's good. The movie is also good. I can't help myself not to think about the country I'm living, Lithuania, twenty years ago. But the movie is really good.
And, just one more rhetorical question. What happened to the society when it got its freedom back? Did it know how to use it? Anyway, it's lot more easy to get the freedom back than to know the limits of using it.
Twilight (2008)
Surprise
For my friends it took a month to convince me to watch this movie. For me first it was just another happy ending love story. Well, that's what it is. But still, horror movie? It is written so in description. But I don't see any horror in "Twilight". Of course, if you don't count Kristen Stewart's face. No, I don't mean she is ugly or something. She just doesn't feel what her face is doing and that she shows no emotion in it! OK, I have the same problem, but sorry, I'm not in the movies... After watching it like most of the girls I began dreaming to find some totally gorgeous vampire. And I wanted to read the books. I'm one of those who love Harry Potter, so I had feeling that there's something left on the pages that wasn't screened.
And what a surprise! not much things left only for the readers. The movie isn't something you would count as an art, the book also isn't as good as Rowling's, but the script... No, not the story in it is good (that would make movie good, too) but the adaptation is just great! Almost EVERYTHING what was in the book, was in the movie. Not just exactly how it was written, but still. I'm amazed... Steve Klove can learn something from Rosenberg. Last two movies about Harry were a disaster. If you have read the books.
Let's get back to "Twilight". Probably most waited movie of the year 2008. Because of the popular book which has an interesting story, but not good writing. A movie with that same story, beautiful, but not great actors. Maybe somebody waited to see Robert Pattison (He's handsome? Well, if you put enough makeup on him...). Still it's just a story for teenagers. "The top movie". And others are going be just as, if not more, waited as "Twilight". Nothing to be proud you watch or read this, but I'm still going to watch "New moon" and other films. To see that Rosenberg is still a great adapter. And... Well, I'm just a girl with dreams.
Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
Probably the best film of the year 2008
The film of the year. Good story you would cry watching. And just like the director, Danny Boyle has said in "Making of", it's sad it's not a true story. That would be so nice, to know that it's really enough to be good to be lucky. But
The story is wonderful you know everything about Jamel's life just in two hours. And it's so unbelievably hurting to watch all the slums and to know it IS a life like this in India. This really could be a true story. I bet that the biggest part, of course, not the winning 20 billion rupees, but the life of homeless kids is true. I guess that this film could be shown by UN or some organization like it to show the rich people who they can help. Well, that's what I would do if I had money.
I heard that India's government didn't like this film. And there's no surprise what a poor and corrupted country India is shown in it. Well, maybe they should do something about it? So, the story is great, cinematography is good, talks the film recalled loud. Actors
. Not professional, but more true you could ever find. This was what those kids are living. Some chance for them. Good.
The ending... Some of my friends and my lecturer said that it would be more great if a train would have hit Jamel or Latika. But
I think that that Bollywood style ending was great. Well, it's still India, still the happy ending
A thing people in India are going to watch it's very hard for a film without a little part of Bollywood in it.
Conclusion. I haven't seen other nominated films, but I don't think any of them could have won when a film like this with a story, directing, filming and acting like this was competing. Not the best film ever, but probably the best the Academy had seen.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)
Running
I just watched "Harry Potter and Goblet of Fire" for the second time. Ans just yesterday once again finished reading the book. The first time I watched this film, I almost liked it, but it was almost a year after I read the book. So now my opinion has changed.
Not only because of the man who is supposed to be Dumbledore. it seems that he is bigger Harry's enemy than Voldemort when I see them both. Its really sad Dumbledore from first two movies died... He was made to be Dumbledore from the books.
So, this is "Harry Potter and Goblet of Fire"? I really doubt... I would rather call this running through the pages of Rowling's masterpiece. I always cry in the graveyard scene when I read. And now, when I watched the film... Sorry, but I had no time to understand what a tragedy has come - Cedric killed and Voldemort's back. There was no tension. No feeling what all the characters feel. It seems that director and author of the script decided just show everyone what's in the book because it would be about 4 or 5 hours long film. But, I guess, all those who love Harry would still watch it. Or, it was possible to make two movies, how its done with "Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows". Not just this... I'm really disappointed and I'm sure I'm not the only one. Now its just running the marathon in time for sprint...
And the saddest thing about the film is that for a long time there won't be actors like these we have now - Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson and Robbie Coltrain who seems to be born to be Harry, Ron, Hermione and Hagrid. Oh, and the Phelps twins, they are the perfect ones for Fred and George.