ocorreiodojoao Reviews

The Price of Life (1987)

The most incompetent review ever

[22 October 2013]

Forgive me Lord for I am biased...

Like most people, I first contacted this "object" back in the days of its first appearance on TV. I was just a kid, and it had the most profound impact on me. Gradually forgot about it until, years later, while studying cinema, was asked what were my first audiovisual recollections... and it all came back to me. Finally found it... finished watching it a couple of minutes ago.

(I've been here - he thinks - feels like grandmas attic)

I have noticed that the more formal a film/video is, the most enduring is its impression on me. This is not one of those cases. And yet...

The dystopian world portrayed re-got me by the hemispheres... sure, it poses some issues for the contemporary viewer, as the production values are obviously not on a par with the potential of this universe. The script (thought for 40 mn) and casting also come short, and it has become very dated... so, in order not to make "anachronic" judgments, please remember the TV budgets and general technological conditions at the time.

I will not go on describing it any more, for am afraid of killing something fragile that apparently subsisted within.

There Will Be Blood (2007)

A film that will endure the test of time?

[10/10 · 22 October 2013]

I think so - he said, answering his own question.

This seems to be one of the most polemic review sections I've encountered. I just had to drop in...

Apparently that's because we expect different things from a film, like:

How should the characters be constructed? What propels them and to what end?

When do we pick up the main characters and where should we leave them?

How is time suggested in each scene, each shot. Why does this even matter to the "filmic experience"?

What is the function of the soundtrack and the relevance of the "extra diegetic" sound?

Etc,etc...

I don't expect us to agree on "what is cinema" and "what cinema is" (and it's purpouse) nor would I like to go the academic road here, but some of these reviews seem to be frivolously addressed to the shallowest of depths... and it saddens me to read how easily people praise or dismiss films, purely on actor performance, character motivation, good/bad-world... above all, it seems to not make justice to the wholeness I believe was achieved with this particular work.

In my opinion this is a solid unity of cinematic form and content, strongly binded by some "creative choices" that, being far from industry standard (hence most of the visceral reactions, from both sides), are used here for more than just wow or wtf factors.

These choices, when successfully combined, are the magical glue that converts mere entertainment items (technically "perfect" by all dogmas)... into something else, that goes both deeper and beyond.

Bottom line? I truly believe this to be a very bold film (a rare Hollywood bastard) that will surely continue to be a powerful transforming experience for cinephiles of decades to come.