Reviews
Troy (2004)
Silly soap about ancient Greece
Cannot quite understand why anyone would like to produce, direct or act in a film that does not even try to convey the world of Homer's epic. It feels more like a Hollywood Western - or a WW II blockbuster - with funny clothes and pompous dialogue. One of the biggest disappointments of the past couple of decades, considering the resources and talent put into the film. Not sure the director had any clue what he wanted to achieve.
Singel 39 (2019)
Cute but boring
As is often the case with Dutch films, this is a pedestrian, feelgood story of everyday life, its ups and downs, told at an even pace. There is no great drama, no deep thought, no visual fireworks. The characters are sympathetic, the story is speckled with cute moments, and the actors just manage to keep the story moving. It is half-hearted attempt at a quirky romcom, but simply fails to engage the viewer, and one does not really care how the film ends. Actually, with an obligatory party scene with sweeping camera shots of the cheerful cast, freezing into a group portrait.
The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
A masterpiece
Every time I watch this movie, I am struck by how it works on so many levels. As a spectacle, as a psychological thriller, and even as social commentary on our self-absorbed, hedonistic age. How would today's social media 'influencers' respond when their enablers tire of them and their lifestyle becomes threatened?
Signora Volpe (2022)
Pretty but poorly edited
Emilia Fox posing in holiday frocks and straw hats, sipping an espresso, wandering about in pretty postcard scenery of Tuscany, and getting involved in solving crimes that from time to time require her to morph into a hard-cooked action hero. Great potential for escapist fun but somehow the overcomplicated scripts and lazy editing keep the series from convincing. Emilia Fox as co-producer will have enjoyed the scenery.
Kung Liljekonvalje av dungen (2013)
Half-hearted effort
With all the interest for Scandinavian crime stories, why not visit the Grand Old Dame of Swedish mystery novels Maria Lang. Fair amount of attention has been paid to period detail in this installment, not just in the mad men suits for men, but even women's hair and make-up do not offend here, as they usually do in retro drama.
But then the production massively fails in the most unexpected place. Or rather, it takes place nowhere at all. There are no establishing shots, no feeling of location whatsoever. We could be in suburban Germany just as well.
Maria Lang has a great sense of place in her books, and a lot of her charm lies in the sense of small town Sweden getting upset by murder. Shame on the makers of this series for ignoring the soul of her work. And a pity for the potential viewers for being robbed the views of idyllic locations. Why on earth leave them out?
Allt om min buske (2007)
Male-female relations in present-day Sweden
A disturbing look at gender relations in today's Sweden. On the surface, a silly romp about two sisters - and an apparently emasculated brother, who is left unmentioned on the DVD box - living in an old house in an idyllic garden and whose lives are disrupted by the arrival of a young married couple next door. Without any apparent reason, the husband goes rampant in a violent, destructive manner. In the end, he is restrained by a rather silly parody in papier maché of a Niki de Saint-Phalle's Nana sculpture. Disguised as a harmless comedy, this movie poses serious questions about how polarised relationships have become between men and women in Sweden. With the Hollywood remake of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo being released around the world (whose original Swedish title reads: Men Who Hate Women), one cannot help wondering about the undercurrents of violence in Swedish culture that would produce such a malicious and spiteful view of men as depicted in this film. The acting is pedestrian, at best. The script and direction, genuinely sad.