ScarletLion's Movie Log

Absolutely phenomenal film. Terrific villain performance from Robert Mitchum. Amazing that this was the only ever film directed by Charles Laughton. The battle between right and wrong, shown by how far a man will go to get what he wants, juxtaposed by the innocence of childhood. What a film.

But the cinematography..........just wow. I'd go so far as to say it's one of the best looking movies I've seen. Too many individual scenes to mention so here's a few:

My first venture into the Dardenne brothers filmography. Quite a bleak tale that reminded me of Agnes Varda's 'Vagabond'. It almost looks like it's part of the Dogme movement as it is so plainly shot. That does have drawbacks though - the camera movement was so erratic that I found it to be a distraction, especially in the first half of the film. But perhaps that was the point - to put us in the shoes of this poor girl whose life is just a whirlwind of misery, poverty and struggle. I enjoyed it for what it was (especially the central performance from Émilie Dequenne) but don't think I'll revisit it that soon.

6.5/10

Rosetta sounds interesting. You had me at "bleak." She looks gorgeous, that girl in the screenshot. I assume that's Dequenne.

Rated it slightly higher than you. About as miserable a film as it gets. You should try Two Days,One Night. I think you'd enjoy it.

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Too weird to live, and too rare to die.

Yes, that's her. I've got no qualms objectifying her. Very pretty lady.

I think after watching 'The War Zone' and 'Nothing bad can happen' my eyes have been desensitized somewhat. I plan to check out all their others, 'The Unknown Girl' is rated quite highly by some.

Wow, where to start with this. Ki Duk Kim has always been a divisive director, with his films showing slow burning, very natural, almost spiritual human traits. This though is like a magnified version of a Ki Duk Kim film. It's low budget, set in a single location, stunningly beautiful, very gruesome in parts, explicit and controversial. It centres around a lonely woman (Hee Jin) who delivers bait to tourist fisherman. What we see unfold is a symbolism heavy ride into a twisted / tumultuous relationship between Hee Jin and a visitor. It's full of breathtaking cinematography, sparse dialogue and one of the most stomach churning suicide attempts I've ever seen on screen. As usual with Ki Duk Kim, water as a symbol is featured heavily, and so are animals and nature. Quite why certain little creatures are sacrificed on screen I'm not sure though. A warning to anyone who is easily offended by animal cruelty - don't watch this movie.

What does it all mean in the end? I'm torn between it being an entire metaphor for how difficult relationships can be / an exploration into gender roles or a simple descent into madness tale. Maybe all 3. It is a heck of an experience though. Think of a Pedro Almodóvar movie mixed with a bit of Takashi Miike, maybe with a bit of Haneke in there too, and you may get the picture.

It's beautiful yet gruesome. I have to take a mark off for the animal cruelty, as it is bordering on unacceptable levels at times, but it still gets a 7.5/10

Nice review Scarlet, I'll definitely be bumping this up the watch list.

Thanks for the reminder as I've been meaning to watch Night of the Hunter again. I wasn't crazy about it the first time, but I suspect I'll love it the next time.

Agree with your thoughts on The War Zone. Damn.

I LOVED IT! Rosetta's actually my favourite Dardenne feature. But yeah, I as well would recommend Two Days, One Night. It is much more enjoyable for sure, while also keeping a similar tone of "miserableness". The Unknown Girl is just as great, but from what I remember, it is the most different in their filmography, though this difference is pretty loose.

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"A film has to be a dialogue, not a monologue — a dialogue to provoke in the viewer his own thoughts, his own feelings. And if a film is a dialogue, then it’s a good film; if it’s not a dialogue, it’s a bad film."

- Michael "Gloomy Old Fart" Haneke

I went into this movie completely blind. Had no idea what it was about - and very glad I did. Right from the off, the Scandinavian landscape sets the tone with some gorgeous looking photography and very intriguing opening. Thelma is clearly a repressed character with her over bearing parents mollycoddling her at every step. As she goes to college she starts to experience strange thoughts / feelings / emotions and episodes. We see her utterly confused as to why she is having the thoughts she does and the feelings of guilt that ensue.

At it's heart, this is a coming of age / sexual awakening story. But it's also much more than that. It reminded me of both 'Raw' and 'Personal Shopper' in the sense that there are religious / supernatural / horror / societal conformity elements to the story. And it is very well done. There are some flaws - I think the metaphorical elemnts to it do go a bit over the top at times, and there are some elemsnts that are a touch fantastical, but the viewer can easily let that slip as it doesn't affect the overall experience too much.



The performances are also fantastic. The two leads played by Eili Harboe and Kaya Wilkins are a product of some superb casting, and they didn't put a foot wrong in the whole movie. Joachim Trier's direction is more than adequate, and as mentioned beofre, the cinematography by Jakob Ihre is superb throughout - one beautifully filmed scene in particular (set on a lake) will live long in the memory.

Overall I'd give this at least 7.5 / 10 - maybe more.

Watched for the Foreign Language Hall of Fame

"Thelma" is deffinitelly on my watch list, as "Oslo, 31 August" is outstanding in my opinion, so I won't pass opportunity to watch "Thelma". I like that Tier makes moves so seldom. I thinkg, thanks to this, his movesi are planned in every detail.

Oslo is on my watchlist after watching Thelma. I think Thelma was one of those films that could easily have got away from the Director, in teams of over complicating the plot, but he just pulled it out of the bag I think. A very interesting Director.

I t looks like he hadn't full control of all this project? Did understand you correctly?
That would be not similar to Oslo, where there is no unnecessary picture, word, gesture and so on. I definitely have to watch Thelma

No, I don't mean he didn't have full control. I mean that in the last third of the film it had the feeling that it could become too convoluted, too clever for it's own good, too many metaphors.....but I think Trier just pulled back a little from making it go full crazy and did a good job in the end.

Quite good fun, very funny in parts. I couldn't believe how much it felt like a vanity project from Steven Soderbergh though - like a homage to his own films (Oceans eleven etc). Maybe that was the point. The cast were good - apart from Seth McFarlane - who's character I thought was dreadful and annoying. Not bad popcorn viewing but not tearing up any trees.

6.5/10

Daniela Vega gives a very strong performance as the lead transgender woman (Marina) who struggles to cope with persecution and prejudice while trying to mourn the loss of her partner. It will obviously draw comparisons to Sean Baker's 'Tangerine' in terms of LGBT themes. The film is not without flaws, and there are a couple of sub-plots that don't really develop well enough, and therefore seemed a bit misplaced.

Having said that, Marina's struggles to live a normal life in modern day Chile are brilliantly conveyed. Director Sebastián Lelio does a very good job of showing Marina's confusion and hurt but at the same time doesn't go overboard when trying to show how strong a person she is. The lack of dignity she is shown by those that should be caring for her the most is heartbreaking, and on top of that she has a burden of grief to carry. The film was produced by Pablo Larrain (Jackie, The Club), so there are clearly some neat Chilean collaborations going on.

There are some lovely dream like sequences in nightclubs and on the streets, and the film has a really touching pay off / conclusion. I can see why it won the Foreign Language Oscar in 2018, although I do think other nominees were more deserving (Loveless, The Square). Lelio clearly has a big talent though, and I'm eager to see what he does next

7.2/10

I'm a fan of Clio Barnard's 'The Selfish Giant', it was a very tender look at Northern English working class culture. This is another attempt and makes a good companion piece to 'The Levelling' and 'God's own Country', as agriculture plays such a huge role in the films.

'Dark River' though, doesn't quite match up to those two films, mainly because it's a bit twee throughout, has some less than convincing performancs and also has a weak third act. At some points it feels like a made for TV drama. The ending just doesn't resonate unfortunately, as it's more melodramatic than the rest of the film's tone - which is a shame as the rest of the film is more than adequate.

6.5/10

This Scottish film just won awards at the Edinburgh film festival. It's about a lads hunting trip that goes awry. It has some moments of real tension. And the Highlands of Scotland look gorgeous. The 2 leads are pretty great and so is Tony Curran as the village alpha male. There are ridiculous plotholes, especially towards the end, but it was just what I was after for some Friday night Film fodder.


A lonely depressed parking attendant convicnes himself he has superpowers. It's not as bad as it sounds and has some touching moments. Michael Rappaport is Michael Rappaport, he plays Les the lead who has all sorts of delusions. It's a heartfelt take on mental health and has a swipe at the pharmaceutical industry as well. I imagine films like 'Brigsby Bear' perhaps learnt a bit from a film like this. The third act suffers from a lack of inspiration somewhat. But worth watching

I seem to have watched a different film to many of the critics. I'm a fan of Sebastian Lelio but the script, the performances and the general feel of the movie, the plot, the ending just didn't work for me. At times, the acting was like a made for TV movie. It picked up in the third act with some tension cranked up. But this is a misstep from Lelio, and not even a hugely erotic scene between Rachel Weisz and Rachel McAdams could save it. Disappointing. 5/10