Serras thriller is visually exuberant as it is subtle and minimalist in terms of plot. Making good on its lead motto that 'politics is like a nightclub', for almost three hours the viewer sees barely more than Benoît Magimel in his role as bon vivant politician De Moller philandering around the island of French Polynesia, lending an ear to its manifold inhabitants, drinking, feasting, and preaching about his limited administrative role in the grand order of things, interrupted only by stunning episodes of visual allegories on geopolitics. Yet, I found watching De Moller in his ambiguous social interactions infinitely charming and astonishingly engrossing. On its allegorical level I found this movie truly mesmerizing - and I am not easily mesmerized. It is a gloomy thriller about nuclear balance of power, about ants in a battle of elephants, but only behind the curtain and only the abstract. It will therefore appear slow and uneventful to the ones who are looking for some concrete down-to-earth action.
Reviews
21 Reviews
Clever, Provocative Whackiness, That Could Have Been an Even Greater Achievement
12 May 2021
'Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn' is an unorthodox, provocative, scathing piece of moviemaking that due to its low crowd-pleasing coefficient will likely not be for everyone. Since I have no problem with significant amounts of in-your-face-attitude on the director's side, I quite liked it.
Architecturally, the movies borrows from some examples of French Nouvelle Vague Cinema - if I had a better memory, I could tell you exactly which ones - in that the camera frequently and in its center piece completely deviates from the dealings of its protagonists. In this way, a film that starts off with a story about an instance of accidental pornography widens its scope dramatically to become nothing less than a satirical portrait of a pornographic (Romanian, but just Romanian?) society. Using 'pornography' as an abstract (anti-)moral topos reminded me of Samuel Maoz' 'Foxtrot'.
While I think that the dramaturgic fundamentals of the movie are well thought through, I also think the movie could have been even better. Especially in the third part, the discussion of the matter at hand meanders quite a bit, can be tedious, and will probably not escape all charges of weisenheimery.
Bottom line is, that most viewers will probably switch it off at one point in complacent disgust. If you make it to the end, though, you will not see its explosive, weapons-grade finale coming, which is again well in line with its subversive intentions.
Architecturally, the movies borrows from some examples of French Nouvelle Vague Cinema - if I had a better memory, I could tell you exactly which ones - in that the camera frequently and in its center piece completely deviates from the dealings of its protagonists. In this way, a film that starts off with a story about an instance of accidental pornography widens its scope dramatically to become nothing less than a satirical portrait of a pornographic (Romanian, but just Romanian?) society. Using 'pornography' as an abstract (anti-)moral topos reminded me of Samuel Maoz' 'Foxtrot'.
While I think that the dramaturgic fundamentals of the movie are well thought through, I also think the movie could have been even better. Especially in the third part, the discussion of the matter at hand meanders quite a bit, can be tedious, and will probably not escape all charges of weisenheimery.
Bottom line is, that most viewers will probably switch it off at one point in complacent disgust. If you make it to the end, though, you will not see its explosive, weapons-grade finale coming, which is again well in line with its subversive intentions.
Tribes of Europa
(2021)
Below Average Result, with Potential
2 March 2021
I would have liked to like this German sci-fi production. Moreover, I don't want to trash it completely. Very often it's quite beautifully shot. It always warms my heart to see large ruins of civilisation covered with vegetation and the savage, blood thirsty leftovers of humanity on the screen.
The problem is that they open their mouths all the time! Out comes some generic bogus story and some anglified pidgin German so common among allegedly hip, adolescent cosmopolitans that makes you wonder what that has to do with anything, especially the postapocalypse.
The story of a future Europe full of marauding tribes has (or did have) a great potential for political allegory. My recommendation would be to completely rethink, then rewrite, then eventually remake this series.
The problem is that they open their mouths all the time! Out comes some generic bogus story and some anglified pidgin German so common among allegedly hip, adolescent cosmopolitans that makes you wonder what that has to do with anything, especially the postapocalypse.
The story of a future Europe full of marauding tribes has (or did have) a great potential for political allegory. My recommendation would be to completely rethink, then rewrite, then eventually remake this series.
One Night in Miami...
(2020)
Great Personnel, Less Personality!
17 January 2021
This movie has a lot going for it. A decent script, strong lead performances, good direction and cinematography, last but not least, the looming shadow of history.
Still 'One Night in Miami' is a bit like an Avengers movie. It is packed with superheroes, whose superpowers you already know from other comic books and who are so larger than life, that in sharing the center of one single movie, they seem cramped together even on the big screen. Despite your knowledge that Malcolm X is gonna preach, Mohammed Ali is gonna throw witty punchlines, Sam Cooke's gonna sing...watching their communion and them fighting that one Great Evil together (in their minds) can be fun, but can also cause oversaturation.
Still 'One Night in Miami' is a bit like an Avengers movie. It is packed with superheroes, whose superpowers you already know from other comic books and who are so larger than life, that in sharing the center of one single movie, they seem cramped together even on the big screen. Despite your knowledge that Malcolm X is gonna preach, Mohammed Ali is gonna throw witty punchlines, Sam Cooke's gonna sing...watching their communion and them fighting that one Great Evil together (in their minds) can be fun, but can also cause oversaturation.
Tenet
(2020)
Mind-bending Sci-Fi-Action
4 December 2020
Christopher Nolan's latest movie 'Tenet', with a series of heists and a get-the-girl-subplot as its pillars is organized like an intertemporal James-Bond-thriller. It has a clever idea at its core, contains a decent amount of fizzy dialogue, and is often visually stunning, thus basically watchable.
Since its core idea - colliding objects and, last but not least, humans, moving in opposite directions through time - is radically counterintuitive, to put it mildly, I found myself frequently highly skeptical that I even know what's happening on the screen on the most basic physical level, never quite sure whether I'm played for a fool by pseudoscientists or mocked because of my profane inability to engage fully in a genius physicist's thought experiment. Some of the principles of reversed-time-causality presented to the viewer seemed intuitive, many less so. Thus, I felt like being confronted with a 2,5h time-mechanical conundrum that, after the time had passed in my unreversed environment, left me with a slight headache.
Since its core idea - colliding objects and, last but not least, humans, moving in opposite directions through time - is radically counterintuitive, to put it mildly, I found myself frequently highly skeptical that I even know what's happening on the screen on the most basic physical level, never quite sure whether I'm played for a fool by pseudoscientists or mocked because of my profane inability to engage fully in a genius physicist's thought experiment. Some of the principles of reversed-time-causality presented to the viewer seemed intuitive, many less so. Thus, I felt like being confronted with a 2,5h time-mechanical conundrum that, after the time had passed in my unreversed environment, left me with a slight headache.
Tokyo Tribe
(2014)
Flamboyant Extravaganza! Must See!
12 September 2020
If you wanna know what this movie is about, think of 'The Warriors' only as a manga comic or think of 'West Side Story' only as a Japanese rap opera. Think of it as an amalgam of the two, only as if the story was instead conceived during a fever dream, pumped full of crack cocaine, overdosing on metamphetamine, before then getting totally blown out of proportion.
It's like Asian Snoop Dog and Far East Satan had a child that through pondering the value of big dicks, accepts conversion to Christianity by Feminist Jiu-Jitsu-Buddha. It's a Menippean satire that based on the holy principles of hip hop invents its own reality, then cuts it into pieces with the help of samurai swords, gattling guns, and razor blade ventilators, before letting it rise again by the power of bass-laden words from the Battle Rap Bible.
I dare say: if you haven't seen it, you have never seen anything like it!
It's like Asian Snoop Dog and Far East Satan had a child that through pondering the value of big dicks, accepts conversion to Christianity by Feminist Jiu-Jitsu-Buddha. It's a Menippean satire that based on the holy principles of hip hop invents its own reality, then cuts it into pieces with the help of samurai swords, gattling guns, and razor blade ventilators, before letting it rise again by the power of bass-laden words from the Battle Rap Bible.
I dare say: if you haven't seen it, you have never seen anything like it!
Russian Ark
(2002)
Sometimes interesting history lesson
6 July 2020
Half of the time this movie is interesting and filled with sharp analysis of Russian politics over the last 200 years, as well as (art) historical detail. It seemed to me the other half is just about showing off the palace decoration and crowds in pompous costumes. I found that other half significantly less enjoyable, hence, would have preferred more sharp analysis and dialogue, as it would have compensated the viewer for the lack of a story, except, of course, for that one BIG (hi)story.
Da 5 Bloods
(2020)
Failed attempt at documentary-dramedy-crossover!
29 June 2020
Spike Lee is a great director. Some of his movies like 'Do the Right Thing', 'Get on the Bus' or 'Chi-Raq' are true masterpieces.
This is not one of them.
Lee always has been a moralist, which is to a large extent an understandable stance for an African-American director preoccupied with slavery and the black cause in the United States, and often this stance is not detrimental to Lee's overall artistic conception. Still, I believe it is fair to say that there must be a point when the urgent moral message 1) becomes just too cheap or redundant to not play the viewer for a fool and 2) becomes the altar reasonable storytelling and character development can be sacrificed on. This is unfortunately the case in his latest work 'Da 5 Bloods'.
One the one hand, the movies tries to be a quasi-documentary about the crucial role of black soldiers in the Vietnam war. While this might by an important one, this is certainly not a new piece of history, i.e. a piece of history that you wouldn't know if you just knew a little bit about the war vis-à-vis e.g. the well known story of Muhammed Alis conscientious objection.
On the other hand, there is the drama of four retired soldiers trying to recover a sack of gold and the body of their lost comrade from the Vietnam jungle. This is an interesting idea for a plot. However, the end result is miserable. There's not a single character in this film that disposes of non-stereotypical traits and thus rises above the level of types and transportation vehicles for moral or political sound bites. Most of the dialogues seem artifical and inanimate. The further the story advances, the more frequently it edges ludicrously on farce. First, I thought this might have been a simple lapse by the director. But it might've been the director's intention to take this humorous turn. In either case, this artistic choice is for me as intelligible as a slapstick comedy about Auschwitz - and as unfunny.
The fact remains, as with Lee's previous, likewise astronomically overrated movie 'Blackkklansman' that I come not even close to fathom how many critics arrived at their assessment of this film. Has this something to do with the politically difficult times (wink, wink, wink, wink!) we live in? If it does, I can only say that in my opinion the importance of movements like Black Lives Matter and social justice in America are no good justification to confabulate reasons for a chorus of praise for every single movie made by a black filmmaker
This is not one of them.
Lee always has been a moralist, which is to a large extent an understandable stance for an African-American director preoccupied with slavery and the black cause in the United States, and often this stance is not detrimental to Lee's overall artistic conception. Still, I believe it is fair to say that there must be a point when the urgent moral message 1) becomes just too cheap or redundant to not play the viewer for a fool and 2) becomes the altar reasonable storytelling and character development can be sacrificed on. This is unfortunately the case in his latest work 'Da 5 Bloods'.
One the one hand, the movies tries to be a quasi-documentary about the crucial role of black soldiers in the Vietnam war. While this might by an important one, this is certainly not a new piece of history, i.e. a piece of history that you wouldn't know if you just knew a little bit about the war vis-à-vis e.g. the well known story of Muhammed Alis conscientious objection.
On the other hand, there is the drama of four retired soldiers trying to recover a sack of gold and the body of their lost comrade from the Vietnam jungle. This is an interesting idea for a plot. However, the end result is miserable. There's not a single character in this film that disposes of non-stereotypical traits and thus rises above the level of types and transportation vehicles for moral or political sound bites. Most of the dialogues seem artifical and inanimate. The further the story advances, the more frequently it edges ludicrously on farce. First, I thought this might have been a simple lapse by the director. But it might've been the director's intention to take this humorous turn. In either case, this artistic choice is for me as intelligible as a slapstick comedy about Auschwitz - and as unfunny.
The fact remains, as with Lee's previous, likewise astronomically overrated movie 'Blackkklansman' that I come not even close to fathom how many critics arrived at their assessment of this film. Has this something to do with the politically difficult times (wink, wink, wink, wink!) we live in? If it does, I can only say that in my opinion the importance of movements like Black Lives Matter and social justice in America are no good justification to confabulate reasons for a chorus of praise for every single movie made by a black filmmaker
My American Uncle
(1980)
Brilliant, Formal Experiment in Drama & Neurobiology
7 June 2020
Resnais' 'Mon Oncle D'Amerique' can be described as an attempt to bring the eternal shadow agents of human interaction to the forefront of cinema. A classic tale of three intersecting human lives marked by success, failure, heartbreak, and deceit is juxtaposed with, on the one hand, in-depth commentary by neurobiologist Henri Laborit about evolutionary biology and behaviorist psychology and, on the other hand, short sequences extracted from classical hollywood movies.
The fascinating result is that said shadow agents of human interaction (and a forteriori of all stage drama), namely our rat-like neural pathways and memes from popular (hollywood) culture, become in a way protagonists in this mixture of drama and science documentary, which arguably sets it apart from all others movies that at least I have ever seen.
One may, however ask -- or could have asked Resnais until a few years ago -- whether revelling for 125min. in our rodent primitivity in this way does not give too little credit to the ability to perceive, reflect, criticize that we can at least sometimes observe in fellow members of our species and whether it is not true that the change through enlightenment towards a less violent, less hierarchical society that H. Laborit hopes for (demands?) at the end of the movie would be impossible if there was nothing over and above the grim reality of neural and primal determinism...
One may, however ask -- or could have asked Resnais until a few years ago -- whether revelling for 125min. in our rodent primitivity in this way does not give too little credit to the ability to perceive, reflect, criticize that we can at least sometimes observe in fellow members of our species and whether it is not true that the change through enlightenment towards a less violent, less hierarchical society that H. Laborit hopes for (demands?) at the end of the movie would be impossible if there was nothing over and above the grim reality of neural and primal determinism...
The Long Goodbye
(1973)
Metamystery with a subtext of cats and dogs
10 May 2020
At it's surface the film is a decently entertaining murder mystery with Marlowe, a laconic, socraticely contemplative, stoically desire free, knightly private eye at its centre, who's out to uncover a great (and multi-faceted) story of betrayal.
This makes the movie watchable enough.
Additionally, there are about two subtexts. One is about the pitfalls of romantic love, namely aggression, jealousy, resignation, and murder and the question what in the world makes us prefer it over owning a cat or a dog, respectively.
The other subtext is a commentary on the film noir and detective genre, Los Angeles, the Hollywood industry in the early 70s, and the craft of writing. Here, the movie is certainly far from self-explanatory, except for maybe the portrait of the playwright as a suicidal lunatic and abusive alcoholic, who couldn't make it to the next day without his psychiatrist. For the rest, you'd probably have to do some serious research to understand. At least, I don't, i.e. I haven't. For the ones who like me lack the appropriate background knowledge and do not wish to spend hours to acquire it, the movie might loose some of its appeal.
This makes the movie watchable enough.
Additionally, there are about two subtexts. One is about the pitfalls of romantic love, namely aggression, jealousy, resignation, and murder and the question what in the world makes us prefer it over owning a cat or a dog, respectively.
The other subtext is a commentary on the film noir and detective genre, Los Angeles, the Hollywood industry in the early 70s, and the craft of writing. Here, the movie is certainly far from self-explanatory, except for maybe the portrait of the playwright as a suicidal lunatic and abusive alcoholic, who couldn't make it to the next day without his psychiatrist. For the rest, you'd probably have to do some serious research to understand. At least, I don't, i.e. I haven't. For the ones who like me lack the appropriate background knowledge and do not wish to spend hours to acquire it, the movie might loose some of its appeal.
Las Sandinistas!
(2018)
Important Document on the Nicaraguan Revolution!
6 March 2020
This movie, while in a technical respect probably somewhat less than perfect, still succeeds in shedding new light on the contribution of the leading female characters or, if you will, the secret female leaders of the Nicaraguan Revolution.
I believe it does also a tremendous job in exposing the cheapness of a common argument according to which most decidedly socialist movemens in Latin America and elsewhere in the world are ultimately no better than there authoritarian predecessors. For the picture makes a strong case for the view that in Nicaragua the revolution ended up being hijacked by the wrong (Ortega's) people, whereas at the grassroots there was and still is and active strive for both general welfare AND equal civil & political rights. This is important, since historically speaking the latter have too often been fatally disregarded by socialist-reformist movements.
I believe it does also a tremendous job in exposing the cheapness of a common argument according to which most decidedly socialist movemens in Latin America and elsewhere in the world are ultimately no better than there authoritarian predecessors. For the picture makes a strong case for the view that in Nicaragua the revolution ended up being hijacked by the wrong (Ortega's) people, whereas at the grassroots there was and still is and active strive for both general welfare AND equal civil & political rights. This is important, since historically speaking the latter have too often been fatally disregarded by socialist-reformist movements.
The Great Ziegfeld
(1936)
Great American Movie!
2 December 2019
The Great Ziegfeld is a great drama of capitalism, with all its glamor, hubris, deceptions, and steep declines. On the way, we are presented with tons of witty dialogue, that nearly a century later do not feel outdated. For fans of the musical and the varieté there a numerous lavish stage scenes. But the greatest asset of the film are its very lovable characters, first and foremost the talented and compassionate Anna Held, a French singer with looming and ludicrous borderline personality disorder, and the official competing show producer and secret friend Frank Billings, who can never keep up with Florenz's self-dealing shenanigans, but does not take it the wrong way, since his philosophy tells him that life is nothing more than a friendly game of poker. And ultimately the charismatic, womanizing, ever-sweetalking Great Ziegfeld himself.
As the mischievous strive for fame, money, and greatness of the latter is so enjoyable to watch, one cannot really accuse the movie of much more than that it doesn't let you look that far behind the facades as to be let to doubt whether a much less sparkling economic reality and the ruthless promotion of the American Dream will really leave true love, friendship and humaneness forever untouched.
The Other Side of the Wind
(2018)
Worth seeing, if you like O.W. a bit and aren't afraid of nonconventional movie-making.
18 November 2019
So I reckon this film is sorta Orson Welles' version of Fellini's '8 1/2', a self-portrait, aiming at tearing down the facade in front of the man in favor of a multi-faceted, multi-personal panopticum, which might just be another facade.
In comparison to Fellinis movie, 'The Other Side of the Wind' is equally carnvalesque, more deconstructivist - individual roles seem to disolve or fade into each other in the more - more prone to abandon narrative structure, less cheerful, but ultimately more bitter. Whereas Fellini -- through Mastroianni -- seems to comment his own shortfalls as an artist and his faustian, sexual desire with a mischievous, but upbeat wink in the end, the narrator's final epigramm as well as the title of Welles' last movie seems to suggest a more macbethian philosophy: it was all a story full of sound and fury, signifying nothing, and the acclaimed director is nothing but the other side of the wind, blowing in a conversation.
In comparison to Fellinis movie, 'The Other Side of the Wind' is equally carnvalesque, more deconstructivist - individual roles seem to disolve or fade into each other in the more - more prone to abandon narrative structure, less cheerful, but ultimately more bitter. Whereas Fellini -- through Mastroianni -- seems to comment his own shortfalls as an artist and his faustian, sexual desire with a mischievous, but upbeat wink in the end, the narrator's final epigramm as well as the title of Welles' last movie seems to suggest a more macbethian philosophy: it was all a story full of sound and fury, signifying nothing, and the acclaimed director is nothing but the other side of the wind, blowing in a conversation.
Love Exposure
(2008)
Watch this movie, please!
15 September 2019
How is love possible, if individuals are torn between sexual obsession, religious fanaticism and some serious instances of bad education?
The answer: Through intrigues, violence, various bouts of madness, and only penultimately: understanding!
This answer is slowly developed in an otherwise fast-paced, hilarious, always thoroughly entertaining movie by Sono, for which one could probably invent the category of 'grotesque realism' or something like that.
I thought, like some of the protagonists, I would have to fight myself through the 4 hours of this movie. I didn't. I was engrossed from the beginning to the end.
Don't get scared away by the length of this movie. This is one of the top ten Asian movies from the 2000s. If you have to, watch it in two parts, rather than not watching it at all!
The answer: Through intrigues, violence, various bouts of madness, and only penultimately: understanding!
This answer is slowly developed in an otherwise fast-paced, hilarious, always thoroughly entertaining movie by Sono, for which one could probably invent the category of 'grotesque realism' or something like that.
I thought, like some of the protagonists, I would have to fight myself through the 4 hours of this movie. I didn't. I was engrossed from the beginning to the end.
Don't get scared away by the length of this movie. This is one of the top ten Asian movies from the 2000s. If you have to, watch it in two parts, rather than not watching it at all!
Intolerance
(1916)
I give Griffiths some credit, but not too much.
15 September 2019
Let me say that I'm certainly happy I finally watched this 3h epic from one of the early giants of American cinema.I did enjoy espcially the more tumultous parts of the movie. Just the attempt to show various examples of 'intolerance' from roughly 2500 years of human history deserves quite a bit of respect- Also, the coulisse from the Babylonian episode can be considered something like the stage setting equivalent of the Gizeh pyramides in my opinion.
The main issue I take with this movie, however, is that Griffith succumbs to a major case of conceptual imprecision in lumping together quite heterogenous types of moral hazard like betrayal, jealously, bigotry, wrongful imprisonment, zealous puritanism, lust for political power under the vague catch phrase of 'intolerance'. I don't see how this sort of label contributes in anyway to moral clarity nor how it could help overcome the main kinds of intolerance, i.e. intolerance of the religious and racial kind. In my point of view, the only paradigmatic case of intolerance in the whole movie is displayed in the French episode. This one, however, is the second shortest part of the movie. This is why I suspect quite a bit that ultimately Griffith was very ready to turn his attention to the pomp, adventure, and exoticism of Babylon rather than getting to the philosophical bottom of intolerance, which could have been achieved with with a focus on France and Jerusalem. Trying to make up for the racism perceived in 'Birth of a Nation', Griffiths was undoubtedly well-intentioned, but not much more.
The main issue I take with this movie, however, is that Griffith succumbs to a major case of conceptual imprecision in lumping together quite heterogenous types of moral hazard like betrayal, jealously, bigotry, wrongful imprisonment, zealous puritanism, lust for political power under the vague catch phrase of 'intolerance'. I don't see how this sort of label contributes in anyway to moral clarity nor how it could help overcome the main kinds of intolerance, i.e. intolerance of the religious and racial kind. In my point of view, the only paradigmatic case of intolerance in the whole movie is displayed in the French episode. This one, however, is the second shortest part of the movie. This is why I suspect quite a bit that ultimately Griffith was very ready to turn his attention to the pomp, adventure, and exoticism of Babylon rather than getting to the philosophical bottom of intolerance, which could have been achieved with with a focus on France and Jerusalem. Trying to make up for the racism perceived in 'Birth of a Nation', Griffiths was undoubtedly well-intentioned, but not much more.
The Band Wagon
(1953)
Better to go for West Side Story!
8 August 2019
There is that display of the White America's 1950's idea of racial harmony, when that black dude can't help but enjoy himself, when kneeling in front of the protagonist, shining his shoes.
There is that wilful political and philosophical ignorance, when the Faust plot - which is not about eternal damnation but about eternal deliverance by the way - is discarded in favor of often not merely figuratively, but literally infantile slapstick comedy, that upfront demand to the viewer not to think critically, because it is 'too depressing', that consumist, lifestyle appeasement.
There is the utter superficiality of the main characters' interactions.
In total, this movie reminded me of all the reasons, why I generally, with a few exceptions hate musicals. Leave it to the La La Land community.
There is that wilful political and philosophical ignorance, when the Faust plot - which is not about eternal damnation but about eternal deliverance by the way - is discarded in favor of often not merely figuratively, but literally infantile slapstick comedy, that upfront demand to the viewer not to think critically, because it is 'too depressing', that consumist, lifestyle appeasement.
There is the utter superficiality of the main characters' interactions.
In total, this movie reminded me of all the reasons, why I generally, with a few exceptions hate musicals. Leave it to the La La Land community.
King Kong
(1933)
Timeless Adventure of the Eternal Battle Man Against Nature
4 August 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Over 80 years old 'King Kong' features still adventure, thrill, and one of the best plots in movie history that ultimately expresses the multi-leveled battle of man against nature, as well as the existential dilemma of romantic love. A movie director ventures with his crew to a secret island in the pacific, essentially to make a movie about the ancient, savage history of mankind. On the island, the only (quite attractive) woman on the ship is captured by a gigantic ape, King Kong. After the woman is freed by the crew, respectively the sailor she fell in love with (and vice versa) on the boat, King Kong himself becomes a captive of Man, is shipped to New York, the temple of modern civilization, where he is ultimately killed by modern war machines (air planes) during the attempt of reuniting with his female beauty. But it wasn't the air planes that killed that beast, says the film director at the end, "beauty killed the beast"! Thus, 'King Kong' becomes a symbol of
1) the battle of man against nature as a whole, with the penultimate violent suppression of the latter through human civilization with all its ambivalences. Here, Kong could be seen as a representative of all extinct and endangered species on the planet. 2) Kong is not arational, dull nature per se, but sentient, with awakening rationality, a rationality though that is still enslaved by savage, violent desires. In love with the woman, Kong's old 'self' and 'nature' (!) has to die so that his new self can live in a bond with the woman of his choice. Here, the movie displays the connection of the death of primitive (male) nature and love. 3) Beauty killed the beast, i.e. 'beauty' -- since Plato standardly defined as 'enjoyment without interest' -- is the path for the individual to overcome his base, selfish desires and gain an understanding of other being's needs and moral principles, thus killing the beast (nature again) within himself.
1) the battle of man against nature as a whole, with the penultimate violent suppression of the latter through human civilization with all its ambivalences. Here, Kong could be seen as a representative of all extinct and endangered species on the planet. 2) Kong is not arational, dull nature per se, but sentient, with awakening rationality, a rationality though that is still enslaved by savage, violent desires. In love with the woman, Kong's old 'self' and 'nature' (!) has to die so that his new self can live in a bond with the woman of his choice. Here, the movie displays the connection of the death of primitive (male) nature and love. 3) Beauty killed the beast, i.e. 'beauty' -- since Plato standardly defined as 'enjoyment without interest' -- is the path for the individual to overcome his base, selfish desires and gain an understanding of other being's needs and moral principles, thus killing the beast (nature again) within himself.
Vice
(I) (2018)
Great Actors, muddled Storytelling
18 March 2019
So to start with the positive, I must say the performances of Christian Bale and Sam Rockwell as Cheney and Bush are simply astonishing. The movie as a whole, however, feels like an incoherent mess, like you had a large corpus of information and thoughts that you had no idea how to patch together. And whats up with the narrator popping onto the screen in the most unlikely moments and with different identities? Also, even if you share with the makers some views about the recent international history, I'm still not sure that it serves a purpose if you mix fact and fiction in this way, when it comes to a both highly controversial and living person like Dick Cheney.
The Cleaners
(2018)
Important document about the collective irrationality of Social Media
26 January 2019
While this film does probably not much in terms of artistic innovation, I believe it is a highly important contribution to a crucial political topic of the present day. It does a tremendous job at highlighting how near impossible a reasonable navigation between user safety and censorship has become in an age, where the work of competent and deliberate newspaper editors has been delegated - in an intransparent, dispersed-around-the-globe sort of way - to an anonymous crowd of half-competent and often politically, religiously, and economically biased 'content managers', who are forced to capture decency and enlightenment in terms of rules that can be applied in under 8 seconds.
A Star Is Born
(2018)
Mediocre, Metacritically Overrated Lady Gaga Commercial
13 October 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Tell Your Friends