Drama > 5 GBP to 10 GBP Drama > BAFTA

If you see one film in your life...this is it

Advantages: Gritty, dark and realistic.. you feel like you are there
Disadvantages: It is one of the few films I wished that could have been longer than three hours

There are some things in life you will always remember and I think this film is one of those things. I went to see it originally in the opening week of its cinematic release. I had heard about this film and was very interested to see it because I have a huge interest in the holocaust and what led to it happening. I knew before I went who some of the actors cast were and I also knew that it was a film lasting for three hours. The film gripped me lice ...
...lit...to it gradually changing into black and white. I was absorbed with the power of the nazis and the futility of existence for the Jews. What this film portrays so well is the need in capitalism for exploitation. The nazis, although intent on killing every jew, still believe that they should get the most out of them before they die. they feed them minimal calories and expect them to work round the clock, you hear them talking about this at different ...

excelsior81 31.07.2009 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Schindler's List (DVD)

Almodóvar‘s Masterpiece

Advantages: Powerful. poignant, moving, funny
Disadvantages: None that I could find

...but promises to tell him all when they get home. However, as Huma leaves the theatre and Esteban runs after her for an autograph he is tragically and shockingly run over and killed. Manuela is devastated and she reads in Esteban’s notebook how much he wanted to know his father. So Manuela sets off to Barcelona to find Esteban’s father and tell him about the son he never knew. On arrival in Barcelona Manuela chances upon an old friend Agrado (Antonia ...
...not acting as mothers. Nearly all of the characters in the film are women, except Esteban who dies early in the film and Agrado and Lola who act and behave like women. Without men to interfere Almodovar freely explores the interactions between this fascinating set of “females”. The result is a highly emotional and richly woven tapestry. The performances are masterful. Cecilia Roth is excellent as the strong willed Manuela who though devastated by ...

buzios 20.09.2004 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of All About My Mother (DVD)

Growing up in Wartime France

Advantages: Excellent direction; very moving
Disadvantages: Perhaps a little slow at first

It is January 1944 and Julien Quentin (Gaspard Manesse), a young teenage boy, is reluctantly returning to his Catholic boarding school in rural France. The bed next to his in the dormitory is allocated to a new pupil known as Jean Bonnet (Raphael Fejto). Julien has until then been the brightest student of his class, but Jean provides him with strong competition. Their relationship is initially full of rivalry, but it gradually grows stronger. One ...
...real surname is Keppelstein; he is in fact one of three Jewish boys who have been offered a hiding place at the school by Father Jean (Philippe Morier-Genoud), since the school was supposedly immune from searches by the Nazis. Written and directed by Louis Malle in 1987, 'Au Revoir Les Enfants' ('Goodbye Children') is basically auto-biographical. It provides a fascinating picture of life in a boys' boarding school in wartime France. Set in the middle ...

denella 24.01.2009 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Au Revoir Les Enfants (DVD)

Babbling on...

Advantages: Somre very strong performances.
Disadvantages: Some wishy-washy characterisation and lack of plot.

When an American tourist is accidentally shot in the Moroccan desert, the events have repercussions around the world. The holidaying couple struggle to survive in a country where few speak their language. A Mexican nanny is forced to take two American children over the border illegally. Two young boys get involved in a crime they didn’t intend to commit and a deaf teenage Japanese rebel discovers her father is being sought by the Tokyo police. Circumstance ...
...of loss and isolation. Separated by culture, language and a lack of understanding of their surroundings and themselves, they all struggle to connect with the world. Like Robert Altman before him, director Alejandro González Iñárritu is fixated on the multi-strand narrative format that links several stories through a single event. It can be a very effective storytelling tool but it can fall flat on its face. This particular example is moderately ...

afy9mab 08.08.2007 · Read full review
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Review of Babel (HD-DVD)

Lewd and Lurid in Barcelona

Advantages: Fab cinematography, great performances from Cruz, Bardam and Rebecca Hall
Disadvantages: All a bit lewd and lurid

...very seductive indeed. Vicky (Rebecca Hall), is a sensible young girl, engaged to Doug (Chris Messina), who has an air of practicality about him but at the same time is hazardous. Vicky is a student studying Catalan culture so when she gets an invite to visit Barcelona from her rich friend Judy (Patricia Clarkson) and her spouse, Mark (Kevin Dunn) she jumps at the opportunity as she thinks the visit will help with her M A thesis. Vicky takes along ...
...art, gastronomy and sex. Prudent Vicky rebukes him but Cristina mocks her for her beliefs and accepts. And so the main questions in the film are : Is it better to behave like Vicky, loving one man and believing in marriage or like Cristina who is lustful and just out for excitement and adventure? In Woody Allen's film, both these female characters are doomed. Allen seems to portray women as easy targets, negative, fickle and capable of making mistakes ...

Praski 08.11.2009 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Vicky Cristina Barcelona (DVD)