24th Hall of Fame

Yeah, those are some good points.

Overall, I agree that the time jumps result in a lot of things falling by the wayside, but I also think it serves to drive the point of how time passes by. In a way, I think that disconnect with how some things got from A to B was intentional, but it does hinders some of the effects.

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The Sea Inside (2004)


Sometimes you come across a film and you understand the cynical nature of the film industry. The Sea Inside tells the story of a quadriplegic in Javier Bardem that wants to die. 90% of this film is about a guy talking and philosophizing with other people. Bardem gives a very strong performance which while he didn't receive major awards likely led to him winning an Oscar for one of his next roles.


The film is well written you never feel the length of the film and score is fantastic. It was very reminiscent of the great Almodovar scores from earlier years. We also have a pretty good idea of all the characters which is very important with foreign language films. Bardem's character arc is also well done as well as with certain supporting characters. You have a number of very good scenes in this film that actually deal with the ramifications of being bed ridden for your life.


But onto the negatives....I often criticize CGI in that your brain can often tell when something isn't real. The age continuity in this film is horrible, Bardem has always looked 40 but the flashbacks have him portraying a teenage version of himself and they are just bad. The actors are also not cast to be relative to Bardem his brother looks like he should be his father...the makeup does not age him well and it's noticeable. It's very jarring when you have actors that are age appropriate working with ones that aren't. It really sucks when the special effects take you out of a film and this isn't the sort of film that should have even been on the table for.


All and all it's a good film...glad I watched it again and it's a good nomination.

I agree. I think that the time jumps were a really bold stylistic choice, but not without some drawbacks.

Have you read the book Station Eleven?

No, but I just read what it's about and it sounds interesting.

There were some thematic and plot overlaps between Aniara and Station Eleven, some of which I preferred in the book. It is a real page-turner and I highly, highly recommend it. (But quick content warning that the plot does revolve around a pandemic-related apocalypse type event).

May want to start hating on Tarantino with me now

I haven't really heard from Agrippinax so everyone may want to hold off on The Deer Hunter just in case.

Too late

Whether we decide to keep it in or not, you all should still watch it. It's a classic.

I just like to warn people who could have potential time constraints.

Shame, 1968

Some films get a ton of different parts of your brain firing, and that is definitely what happened with me as I watched Shame.

A couple named Ava (Liv Ullmann) and Jan (Max von Sydow) live on a farm in the countryside of an unspecified country. A war wages on, unseen by them at first. Then one days jets fly overhead and paratroopers arrive. Despite their relatively neutral status, they come under siege from both sides. As they endure one trial after another, an irreparable rift begins to form between Eva and Jan.

Something that grew on me the more I watched the film was the was that visually it speaks to both the past and a vague futuristic post-apocalypse. You know when you watch a movie and a visual from it resonates incredibly strongly in your mind and you realize it's because it reminds you of another film? Several times during Shame I was reminded of certain shots from The Road.


We've had a few conversations in this thread about what it means for a movie to be anti-war. I think that Shame is a film that can unhesitatingly be given that label. We are never given to understand why the war is even happening, aside from a phrase here and there like "revolution" and "liberation." But these words are stripped of their potentially benevolent meetings. After the paratroopers threaten Eva and Jan, they shove a trembling Eva in front of a camera as "testimony" of their liberation. Later this footage is used in an accusation against Eva and Jan of collaboration with the enemy. Both sides seem to regard Eva and Jan only for what they can take from them and how they can use them. If Eva and Jan ("the people") are meant to benefit from the revolution or the resistance or the liberation, that certainly doesn't seem to be the case.

At a character level, the film is also a damning look at what it means to be brought to the point of just wanting to survive. In the beginning of the film, Jan can't bring himself to shoot or otherwise kill the couple's chickens. By the halfway point of the film, he is willing to commit indirect or even direct actions that kill others. Eva is a ball of frustration. She wants children, but knows that she cannot in good conscience bring them into this world of violence. She is the more forceful of the two (running out of the house to help a stranded paratrooper who is caught in a tree), and although she maintains more of her humanity and empathy, she falls into a more visceral despair.

I've said this before about a movie, but this is the kind of film where I find myself wanting to simply describe things that happened in it ("And then there's this scene where . . . ") as opposed to necessarily analyzing it. I think that this is largely because my response to it was so much on an emotional level, and that can be harder to articulate in a review.

This is definitely one of the more bleak (LOL, I've used that word a lot this month!) films I've seen from Bergman. The imagery it contains of both violence and the aftermath of violence is some of the stronger things in his filmography. Strangely, though I'm sure I've heard of this film before, neither the title nor the plot were familiar to me. I'm incredibly glad that it was recommended to me.

Everyone just read Takoma's review of Shame and add a half star. That's where I'm at. Thank you.

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Letterboxd

Lol. Yeah, violence is weird for me lately. Tarantino's come in such bursts, that doesn't seem to bother me as much. The end of Hollywood was rough though. Did you watch it yet?

I won't read it till I see it. Very excited though.

Still a blind spot for me somehow. Hopefully I'll like it.

I do hate on Tarantino quite a bit but you also have to remember that I love Jackie Brown.

I think you will like Hollywood...if you skip the last half hour.

Nobody hates on Tarantino more than me

Darn, I was looking forward to that one

Come back, Agrippinax!

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IMDb
Letterboxd

B...b... but... that's the point of the story

It is, but really it's a hangout movie to that point. I don't think if Tarantino had decided not to go the fantasy route this time I would have felt different. There's a lot of dark comedy in that finale too. I don't dislike the ending. I just think Rauldc will.

The final act to OUaTiH is the most emotionally powerful thing I've ever seen Tarantino do. I think OUaTiH is not only one of the best films of the year, but one of the best films of the decade.