Foreign Language Hall of Fame

As previously stated before, (in my review possibly) my first time watching it was of the same effect. Completely ready and loving the fantastical journey and didn't care for the war part.
Though after repeat viewings, and I think, because I was much more aware of the two worlds instead of just one, I've really come to enjoy and love the mix.

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What I actually said to win MovieGal's heart:
- I might not be a real King of Kinkiness, but I make good pancakes

~Mr Minio

I personally thought the mix was a genius juxtaposition of childhood innocence, and the terrors of the real world. It also just makes it all the more powerful when it's never really addressed if the fantasy world was real, or just something she conjured up in her head to escape the reality.

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.

Good nomination by Siddon. Thanks.

That's exactly what I think.

I didn't have an issue with the contrast between the two stories of Pan's Labyrinth, I just didn't think they were that special nor interesting :/

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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

Pan's Labyrinth (2006) - Guillermo del Toro





It's strange look to this film now and then look to the most recent films by Del Toro. In Pan's Laby, he shows a stable use of camera and a good domain among the actors. In his three last films, all of this was lost, Crimson Peak and Pacific Rim are atrocitys, it looks that he doesn't even cared about the final product. There are so many bad cuts, bad use of camera, and terrible crafted scenes.

Fortunally, Pan's Laby was maded in another time, it's house of some very good acting -- the young and beauty Ivana Baquero was so damn good at her role, also Sergi López as the main villain.

Del Toro always had a problem in creating suspense, just take a look at CRONOS (1993), that film seem to cry for some suspense that never comes. In Pan's Laby, at least he creates some very good suspenseful moments - like the "Pale Man" scene - but he fails during the conclusion of this same moment. It's almost cheesy.

The film also suffer for lack of bonds, we almost don't know about the soldiers in the woods, I can't care less for Mercedes (Maribel Verdú), the death of Doctor Ferreiro also doesn't brings any emotions.

The beauty thing about Pan's Labyrinth, it's that all the fantasy can be seen as a escape from the reality. As a child I used to travel inside my mind in difficult times. The reality of Ofelia, it's a cruel, raw and violent, and even in his fantasy world, she's surrounded by violence. It's something that she can't escape.


★★★

I actually kind of love Pacific Rim, in a guilty pleasure type way. It's really bad, but it's also quite entertaining if you're just looking for a dumb action flick to watch haha. But yeah, it definitely lacks the creative imagery found in del Toro's other films. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Crimson Peak had some nice aesthetics, but I found it to be incredibly boring.

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I'm still looking for:
Phoenix
The Belier Family
The Leopard

If anyone has links to these (with English subs), please let me know. Thank you!

OK, I look for you. Give me a bit to see what I can find.

Phoenix (2014) - Christian Petzold


Like Depp and Burton (not the best comparision, I know), in Germany we have Nina Hoss and Christian Petzold, they worked together in Barbara (2012), Yella (2007), Wolfsburg (2003)... In Phoenix Petzold shows again the great domain of camera that he is know for. No useless cuts, no unecessary close-ups, and as usual, straigh to the point.

The film is set a later time after the war. We see Berlin devastated by bombs, with wreckage everywhere and a population forced to live with the American occupation at the same time as it has to deal with its past wounds. Survivor of a concentration camp, her whole head bandaged for her face being disfigured, she tries to survive. Physically and psychologically.

Petzold surroundes his main character in a very realistic and uncompromising environment. In the face of the dark environment, it is no wonder that dark photography and somber tone reign during much of the film, and little by little the colors gain space.

Phoenix is ​​a movie full of contained emotions that are crazy to explode - partly because of the reality of the moment, partly because of the cultural issues of the German people. The downside is Ronald Zehrfeld as Johnny. Hence, there is an intention to generate the contrast between beauty and absence, as well as an unnecessary whim that divert the focus from the main theme of the story. Still, the presentation of a work in the construction of the landscape and the climate is not necessary. The climax is a slap in the face, very well directed.


★★★

La Haine probably would have been last place on my list unless it got dramatically better on a second watch.

Yeah, it's weird for me because the first time I saw La Haine, I thought it was fantastic, fast-forward a year later when I re-watched it, I thought it was so obnoxious I couldn't even finish it. It would've been interesting to see how I would feel about it nowadays, but whatever.

Thinking about Phoenix now, its ending alone elevated it from an overall good film, to a fantastic one. Though, I'm not sure that's as good of a compliment as I think it is...

There is now only one month left until the deadline.

This is where everyone currently stands:

@Citizen Rules - 1 film left
@cricket - 6 films left
@edarsenal - 5 films left
@Luis - 6 films left
@MijaFrost - 6 films left
@MovieMad16 - 8 films left
@Nemanja - 6 films left
@Okay - 5 films left
@ScarletLion - 7 films left
@Siddon - 3 films left
@Thursday Next - 1 film left
@Ultraviolence - 3 films left

If you do not think you can watch the remaining nominations within the next 4 weeks, please inform me immediately. A simple "I'm out" will do.

Going to be tackling two this week!

I won't be rewatching my own or Umbrellas of Cherbourg since I already love them. That'll leave me with 4 left.

I actually already re-watched Benny's Video during the time of this HOF, but I decided to do that write-up last, since I'm gonna end up re-watching it again anyway.

As for the other 4 films, I have Assassination, The Leopard, and The Saragossa Manuscript ready and set, so I'm probably going to be done with all of them before this month is over.

Cool.

Do you have a pre-existing review or semi-detailed post about either that you wanted me to link with the other reviews?

I'll see if I can find anything

I finished Phoenix last night - LOVED the ending. Will be hopefully watching The Saragossa Manuscript this weekend.