robertclark-1
Joined Jun 2005
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Reviews6
robertclark-1's rating
Not a foot wrong in a powerful film. We see an American soldier being stopped from raping a French woman - wishing she were more grateful for her liberation. The Napalm dropped on St Malo is denied, and Miller's photo of it not published, but none of what the allies did is allowed to get in the way of the full horror of the German atrocities.
From the beginning of the film showing the recreation of the famous photo depicting a few of Europe's creative avant garde to the hell of Dachau we see the full sweep of Europe's destruction by fascist ideology, and mass participation, and we see an assertive Miller deciding who she wants to have sex with, drinking and taking great photos. A fine start to a feisty portrayal. The power of Winslet's acting makes her the perfect actress to play Miller.
No sentimentality, no intrusive platitudes in the scenes of Jewish concentration camp dead, makes for compelling viewing. It's astonishing how even great war correspondents were blocked at almost every step by male authority if they were women. It is also clear how women suffered and were abused in a very male war. The scene where Miller photographs the head-shaving of a young woman who slept with a German reveals exactly the asymmetry of war, and can provoke questions about all the many tens of thousands of French men who collaborated with the enemy, and sent Jews to their death, and ask why they were not similarly ritually humiliated.
The direction and script are excellent and the cinematography exceptional. The working of the framing device is also subtle and unexpected. A great testament to a brave and talented woman.
From the beginning of the film showing the recreation of the famous photo depicting a few of Europe's creative avant garde to the hell of Dachau we see the full sweep of Europe's destruction by fascist ideology, and mass participation, and we see an assertive Miller deciding who she wants to have sex with, drinking and taking great photos. A fine start to a feisty portrayal. The power of Winslet's acting makes her the perfect actress to play Miller.
No sentimentality, no intrusive platitudes in the scenes of Jewish concentration camp dead, makes for compelling viewing. It's astonishing how even great war correspondents were blocked at almost every step by male authority if they were women. It is also clear how women suffered and were abused in a very male war. The scene where Miller photographs the head-shaving of a young woman who slept with a German reveals exactly the asymmetry of war, and can provoke questions about all the many tens of thousands of French men who collaborated with the enemy, and sent Jews to their death, and ask why they were not similarly ritually humiliated.
The direction and script are excellent and the cinematography exceptional. The working of the framing device is also subtle and unexpected. A great testament to a brave and talented woman.
Sick, serial killer genre, which diverts the viewer from the discovery of the murderer by showing him acting in a way that implies he is not guilty - therefore it being impossible to guess. This breaks even the most basic rules of the genre and is deeply frustrating.
The plot has more holes than a colander, the acting is woodentop level, we are expected to believe that the aging lead is a Lothario who has young women desperate to be sexually abused by him at every opportunity. It is painful to watch the unfolding, incoherent nonsense. How this sort of rubbish manages to get funding is beyond me, and is an offence to filmwatchers.
The plot has more holes than a colander, the acting is woodentop level, we are expected to believe that the aging lead is a Lothario who has young women desperate to be sexually abused by him at every opportunity. It is painful to watch the unfolding, incoherent nonsense. How this sort of rubbish manages to get funding is beyond me, and is an offence to filmwatchers.
This film is dressed up as something profoundly ingenious and inventive, yet it is so poorly thought-through and lacking in any coherence that it is painful to watch. Rarely have I seen such a poorly directed film; each scene was awkwardly put together, poorly coordinated, and unintelligible, from the opening attack at the Kiev opera, to the nonsensical ending with soldiers running about shooting at the air like headless chickens.
The acting from Washington was abysmal. Wooden and awkward, and most of the dialogue from all the cast was as spoken as if being read from the script. Even Branagh, who at least put a little energy into his sadistic and nihilistic villain, couldn't do much with such a cardboard cut-out character.
The scene with Michael Caine, who even as old as Methuselah, would still out act the rest if his scene wasn't both irrelevant and hurried through, was wasted. Again, direction woeful, or was Nolan handing scenes over to assistants?
A film for die-hard numpties who believe that incoherence is the sign of a master.
The acting from Washington was abysmal. Wooden and awkward, and most of the dialogue from all the cast was as spoken as if being read from the script. Even Branagh, who at least put a little energy into his sadistic and nihilistic villain, couldn't do much with such a cardboard cut-out character.
The scene with Michael Caine, who even as old as Methuselah, would still out act the rest if his scene wasn't both irrelevant and hurried through, was wasted. Again, direction woeful, or was Nolan handing scenes over to assistants?
A film for die-hard numpties who believe that incoherence is the sign of a master.