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Reviews
Quartet (2001)
A film like an air-to-air-missile: Fire and forget
I grasped an opportunity and bought the Japanese DVD. Naturally, the film prominently features Hisaishi's music. I love his film music, especially for Kitano, so I was curious about his first work as director. To sum it up, he should stick to his job as a composer. The story itself is about four young Japanese musicians forming a string quartet and their long way to fame enduring all kinds of setbacks and quarrels. You have seen it all before and Hisaishi doesn't add anything new. Technically there are no flaws, but on the other hand there is nothing spectacular or even interesting about the camera-work, his direction, the actors, not even the film music is up to his usual standards. All in all: Hisaishi's director's debut is nothing memorable. The moment you eject the DVD you also forget the film...
Un divan à New York (1996)
Akerman fails as a director of comedies
I really tried hard to like it... but the film simply is boring. In spite of a charming Binoche and a promising story, Akerman fails to create any true atmosphere. She manages to create some funny scenes, but a couple of funny scenes do not make a comedy. Neither does the viewer care about Hurt and his psychoanalyst nor do we feel any warmth and human feelings in his beginning relationship with Binoche. No romantic sparks flying, at least I didn't see any. The dialogue is also not funny. This is the second film by Akerman I viewed, the other being The Captive, which also fails for the same reasons. Akerman may have delivered nuanced portraits of persons, especially women, in earlier films, but Un divan in New York lacks everything a comedy needs.