I usually write about movies two by two…but this being a new year let’s make a change! I have accumulated my movie impressions and now have five to write about.
The first movie I saw was “The Producers” with Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick and Uma Thurman. A Broadway producer and a naïve accountant team up to produce a flop in the hopes of collecting the extra budget. But against all hopes, the show is a success…I enjoyed it, but then I enjoy musicals…It reminded me of the old movies I used to watch as a kid and the musicals I have seen both here and in New York City.
Next I saw “Syriana”, with George Clooney, Matt Damon and Amanda Peet, I have to confess that I did not understand this one. It deals with espionage, and the CIA and energy sources…
Then I followed up with “Casanova” with Heath Ledger, Sienna Miller and Jeremy Irons. The famous seducer meets his match in a lovely Venetian beauty. I had chosen to see this film because of the costumes and sets…They were nice but not enough to keep me awake…I dozed through parts of it….
Yesterday I chose to see “Brokeback mountain” with: Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger. Everyone has heard about it by now. It is about the relationship between two cowboys in rural and homophobic America. My decision to see this movie was prompted by the very good critics and the Oscar hopes… Although I found the opening scenes very picturesque, the rest of the film was disappointing. The story was too repetitive; the actors had a limited register of facial expressions…This film did not live up to my expectations.
Finally tonight, I went to see “Gabrielle” a French film with Isabelle Huppert and Pascal Greggory. This is a gem of a film, reminiscent of Bergman films but without subtitles…It is the story of a well to do socialite couple in (what I think is) the Victorian era. Parts of the film are in black and white and the rest is all subdued colors, plays between shade and light…there are a lot of close ups and you can almost feel the texture of the skin of the actors…even if most of the film is calm and almost soothing, there are some intense moments. The rhythm is unpredictable and keeps you alert…. This is by far my favorite of the five!