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johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies ... my own version (1930's) list
Notes: I have seen a few Soviet movies during the last months and they were usually all rather hard to digest. Indeed, with such Soviet propaganda features, the characters are not developed whatsoever, instead, they focus more on such concepts like, for example, the proletariat was/is a specific entity. However, this movie turned out to be even more difficult to decipher though. Seriously, even though I saw it just yesterday, I’m still not sure what it was all about. The best I can come up with was that they wanted to display the last years of the Russian empire and how WWI was basically the last drop launching the first revolts and basically the whole Russian revolution. As a result, you get a fairly negative view on WWI which was basically a useless war during which the Russian soldiers were fighting some poor German soldiers who had more in common with them than with the Tsar and aristocrats who sent them to this bloodbath. There were also interesting artistic choices. Indeed, even though there was some sound, it was never, let’s say, complete. For example, if someone would talk, that’s the only thing you would hear. Or when there would be some crowd scenes, you would hear only the clopping of the horses’ hooves. There were also some really unexpected funny moments when some characters would pull out their tongues or would wink at the camera.2 years, 4 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies Chosen By Johanlefourbe list
Notes: I have seen a few Soviet movies during the last months and they were usually all rather hard to digest. Indeed, with such Soviet propaganda features, the characters are not developed whatsoever, instead, they focus more on such concepts like, for example, the proletariat was/is a specific entity. However, this movie turned out to be even more difficult to decipher though. Seriously, even though I saw it just yesterday, I’m still not sure what it was all about. The best I can come up with was that they wanted to display the last years of the Russian empire and how WWI was basically the last drop launching the first revolts and basically the whole Russian revolution. As a result, you get a fairly negative view on WWI which was basically a useless war during which the Russian soldiers were fighting some poor German soldiers who had more in common with them than with the Tsar and aristocrats who sent them to this bloodbath. There were also interesting artistic choices. Indeed, even though there was some sound, it was never, let’s say, complete. For example, if someone would talk, that’s the only thing you would hear. Or when there would be some crowd scenes, you would hear only the clopping of the horses’ hooves. There were also some really unexpected funny moments when some characters would pull out their tongues or would wink at the camera.2 years, 4 months ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of Outskirts
“To be honest, I wasn’t sure what to expect from this movie but since it was included in the ‘They Shoot Pictures, Don’t They?’ list, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, I have seen a few Soviet movies during the last months and they were usually all rather hard to digest. Indeed, w” read more
2 years, 4 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to Ronny's Dutch Film Club list
chosen by Wilma
Notes: Since I’m a huge fan of ‘Oldboy’, I was just so eager to see this movie. First of all, I have to admit that it was rather tricky to watch a South-Korean movie with Dutch subtitles and, as a result, it took me a while to get a good grip on this rather complex story. Unfortunately, even though I did enjoy most of it, even though it turned out to be really intriguing, I never thought it was really fascinating though. Still, the damned thing was pretty good though. Indeed, I didn’t expect that, on top of being an entertaining detective story, it would be also such a romantic tale as well. It displayed that, solving the case and finding who’s guilty is not everything. As displayed in this movie, it can be so much more complex than what you usually get with the genre, especially when feelings might have a major impact on the proceedings. Concerning the two main characters, the Chinese woman was really complex and I really appreciated the depth they gave to this character. It was also thanks to Tang Wei who gave a really strong performance. On the other hand, I had more trouble to care about the South Korean investigator. I won’t blame Park Hae-il who did a fine job, it’s just that the guy was so clean and straight and, eventually, I never thought that his character was really interesting. The whole gimmick of the insomniac detective was also rather derivative but I have to admit that it did create a interesting surreal dreamy mood. Anyway, all in all, it was definitely another fine directing effort from Chan-Wook Park.
(Oct. 2022)2 years, 4 months ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of Light of My Life
“I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was starring Casey Affleck, I thought I might as well check it out. More than 10 years ago, Affleck’s directorial debut was the experimental and rather weird ‘I’m still Here’ starring his brother-in-law / best friend Joaquin ” read more
2 years, 4 months ago
johanlefourbe posted a video
2 years, 4 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies ... my own version (1930's) list
Notes: This movie is mostly famous for finally launching John Wayne’s career. In fact, Wayne had been around for quite a while already (he was already in his 30’s) but it was only after this movie that he became a massive movie star. It was also the real start of his partnership with John Ford, even if he did play in some minor parts in other movies directed by Ford before. This movie was also apparently a major inspiration for Orson Welles before he made ‘Citizen Kane’. Well, even though this movie is usually considered as a perfect example of textbook filmmaking, to be honest, I actually really struggled with the beginning scenes. Indeed, at a quick tempo, all the 9 characters were introduced and, to be honest, I had a hard time to figure out who was who and what the hell they were doing on this damned coach. Maybe it had to do with the fact that the version I saw on YouTube had some poor subtitles and maybe I should check it out again at some point. Anyway, from all the characters involved, even though I have to admit that John Wayne was indeed quite charismatic, I enjoyed above all Doc Boone played by a pitch-perfect Thomas Mitchell. Indeed, not only he was the most entertaining of the bunch, he was probably the most complex character as well.2 years, 4 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies Chosen By Johanlefourbe list
Notes: This movie is mostly famous for finally launching John Wayne’s career. In fact, Wayne had been around for quite a while already (he was already in his 30’s) but it was only after this movie that he became a massive movie star. It was also the real start of his partnership with John Ford, even if he did play in some minor parts in other movies directed by Ford before. This movie was also apparently a major inspiration for Orson Welles before he made ‘Citizen Kane’. Well, even though this movie is usually considered as a perfect example of textbook filmmaking, to be honest, I actually really struggled with the beginning scenes. Indeed, at a quick tempo, all the 9 characters were introduced and, to be honest, I had a hard time to figure out who was who and what the hell they were doing on this damned coach. Maybe it had to do with the fact that the version I saw on YouTube had some poor subtitles and maybe I should check it out again at some point. Anyway, from all the characters involved, even though I have to admit that John Wayne was indeed quite charismatic, I enjoyed above all Doc Boone played by a pitch-perfect Thomas Mitchell. Indeed, not only he was the most entertaining of the bunch, he was probably the most complex character as well.2 years, 4 months ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of Stagecoach (1939)
“I’m usually not a huge fan of such vintage Westerns but since this one has a really solid reputation, I was quite eager to check it out. This movie is mostly famous for finally launching John Wayne’s career. In fact, Wayne had been around for quite a while already (he was already in his 30’s) ” read more
2 years, 4 months ago
johanlefourbe posted a video
2 years, 4 months ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
“I was wondering for how long this movie was in my queue. Well, apparently, I did add it more than 4 years ago so it was really time to watch the damned thing. Well, it was definitely an interesting watch and, at least, this movie was really educational. Indeed, I had seen already a couple of movies ” read more
2 years, 4 months ago
