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Yoidore tenshi (1948)
The recurring theme of this movie is great
The theme that is shown in the movie is that people sacrifice things for stupid reasons even when they know the consequences of those sacrifices are deep.
* Please note that there are some spoilers in this quick review *
There are several instances of this during the movie Drunken Angel.
The main character ( Tishiro Mifune ) continually decides to sacrifice his life by not acknowledging his condition. He also sacrifices himself somewhat to his former boss who just got released from jail. He introduced his girlfriend at the time, to open the door for the new boss's approval, yet sealing his own fate by doing so. All of this is settled by a beautiful climax at the end, wonderfully choreographed by Kurosawa and his crew, and well acted by actors. Particularly the scene when the door opens to the sun.
Other characters displayed pointless sacrifices as well. Such as the Doctor who mentioned he was careless as a younger student, for such things as women. His Treating of gangsters, which somewhat goes against what he believes in as well. But he is at a point where he contrasts those past mistakes by the good natured sacrifices he makes during the movie, one such was standing up for his friend.
Nanou, the girlfriend of the Gangster, made a decision based on gangster politics, to better herself. This may also be seen as a part of the story which adds to the overall theme.
Even the friend of the Doctor out of fear wishes to greet the released gangster, even though she has been abused by him before.
The theme itself is directly mentioned a few times ( Why do we continue to sacrifice ourselves for silly things? ) by the Leading character ( doctor ), who also gave a great performance in Ikiru.
I hope viewers of this movie appreciate Kurosawa's message here as much as I did.
Mystic River (2003)
Had potential, but see passed hype
I heard of this movie being good, and to be honest it is better than most other movies out there , that are generally overblown ie) Lord of the rings.
Coming out of this movie, one had to wonder many things :
**SPOILER**
As mentioned in many reviews below this, I agree that there was an unsatisfying ending. The directing of the scene with suddenly joining a parade, while we are left with questions and emotions of injustice, was unbearable. I kept asking myself,what was the whole point of the parade? Was it supposed to make me feel that there is a positive ending ? The audience doesn't feel like there is a reason for the injustice of Kevin Bacon doing Sean Penn a favour.
Bacon is set up as a cop who wants to do the right thing, that is the whole purpose of the patching up with his estranged wife. However, if you think about it, what was the point of his wife anyway? being silent, and obscure? It throws off the audience in thinking there is so much more to his character and his wife that meets the eye. The wife had NO impact on the story whatsoever. And shakespearean comforting wife ( Sean Penn's wife ) was OUT OF LEFT FIELD ! what can I say? That was incredibly disappointing, so much so that it was disappointing while the scene unfolded. It would have been more satisfying if Sean Penn's wife had a purpose to her action, but there is none, other than to better herself by having a strong husband.
As mentioned below, how believable and ambiguous were the two possible scene of the crime ? The first reason for the murder was possible, however the second one that Kevin Bacon explained is impossible, since it would be TOO much of a coincidence, that the brother had an issue, and that they were playing with a gun that just so happened to..
Also Robbins' wife telling the story to the person who would most likely kill Dave, instead of going straight to the cops. What can go through her mind ? ( I hope he will just talk to Dave and resolve the issue , and not blow his brains out , and I love him thats why im arousing suspicion and basically signing his death warrant! )
Only because Penn gives an oscar performance, was the pain believable. However, setting the tone with a scene with father/daughter for 3 minutes is not enough to make the audience feel sympathetic toward the character. Simply put, it could have been done a lot better, and that is one of the major things that lacks in this movie.
I felt this movie was good, because there arent any other good movies out lately. Also, I just wanted to point out the flaws of the movie because most people only base movies on emotions, and not direction or story telling. Bottom line is that if the script was patched up, and the directing of the ending redone, this would have definitely been one of the more memorable movies for me.