The Burning Plain (2008)

Written by: Guillermo Arriaga

Directed by: Guillermo Arriaga.

If you liked Babel, you'll like this one. Amazing acting and interesting story structure.

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This is it (2009)

Nahh. I love Michael Jackson's music and scene performances. But this? It's not enough. It was definitely not it.

Twelve Angry Men (1957)

Written by: Reginald Rose

Directed by: Sidney Lumet

It was long since I saw a brilliant movie, but this film went straight into my top ten. The whole story more or less settled in one room, Twelve Angry Men portrays how one man fights against eleven others not to send an accused into death penalty without sure proof.

Twelve Angry Men has something that is rare nowadays - a message that builds up. Acting and cinematography are at master level, but I would say how the story is written impresses me most. Even if some elements would be criticized by scholars today, this script has everything that a great screenplay ought to have - a catching start, an "unsolvable" conflict, interesting characters, a redeeming resolution and several layers of life. But what makes Twelve Angry Men into something more than just a good story is how it carries a strong message of good values without preaching.

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Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

Written by: Robert Bolt and Michael Wilson

Directed by: David Lean

Lawrence of Arabia, made by the director of The Bridge on the River Kwai, in my opinion is carried foremost by one thing - Peter O'Toole's portrayal of Lawrence. This figure is defintely interesting with all his contradictory traits; Englishman and Arabic in soul, strategic and impulsive, strong and weak, mercyful and cruel.

The story may or may not have depicted the real Lawrence correctly; in my opinion it doesn't really matter, I want to see a great story that is beliavable in itself.

Even if O'Tooles acting is great and if I enjoy seeing films that mix cultures, I finished the film with the sense that someting was missing. I even dare to think that Lawrence of Arabia film could have been improved on several points. The first thing is the plot - it could be more focused, building up tension towards a climax. The film has several ups and lows, but it lacks consistency in its structure.

Furthermore, some of the mass scenes are simply not believable when it comes to the number of extras. This might have to do with having seen all the modern films where CGI fills in all the thousands of people. But it doesn't make sense when whole nations are in battle and then you see about 200 people fighting.

But I guess the main thing with a film is personal, do you connect to it or not? Do you care about the characters? With Lawrence of Arabia I didn't.

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The Sixth Sense (1999)

Written and directed by: M Night Shyamalan

The Sixth Sense is the rare thing of being a really scary thriller, a very intelligent story and a great piece of movie art. This is a must-see for movie lovers, especially those who like the "artsy" style of directors like David Lynch and Roman Polanski. The story is multi-layered, the dialogue is really interesting and every scene is intense and most of them unpredictable.
Also the acting is great; Bruce Willis and Toni Collette do a superb job, but most breathtaking is the young actor Haley Joel Osment. I do wonder though what happens inside a kid when doing this kind of movie.

The only thing that disturbed me was the ending. Sure it’s a twisty and kind of logical one when you've seen it, but I felt it gave the film a feeling over being overdone. But that doesn’t take away the fact that M Night Shyamalan created a masterpiece in this film.

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My Sister's Keeper (2009)

Written by: Jeremy Leven and Nick Cassavetes.
Directed by: Nick Cassavetes

Interesting to see that 95% of the audience were women. Where are all brave men? My Sister’s Keeper is based on the novel with the same title by Jodi Picoult. What starts out as a pretty unbelievable comedy-drama ends in a a cresciendo of sentimental tears (in the audience), all while watching Abigail Breslin, Sofia Vassilieva and Cameron Diaz acting really well.

Around 2/3 into the the movie it seemed that that they had failed in structuring the story, but then a superb twist appeared and during the last act it was all neatly tied together. Certainly worth watching, especially if you want to be reminded of what a family is. Handkerchief recommended.

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Men Who Hate Women (2009)

Written by: Rasmus Heisterberg and Nicolaj Arcel
Directed by: Nils Arden Oplev

Men Who Hate Women is the first in the bestselling "Milennium" book series by Swedish author Stieg Larsson. This is a well-made thriller directed by Nils Arden Oplev, who formerly directed the Danish TV crime series The Eagle. What lifts this film up above other contemporary Swedish films in the genre is the depth of the characters. Almost every character is original, interesting and peculiar. If this has to do with the massive input form Danish film professionals I don’t know. I just know that Danish films often have good character casts. Sure, in this film the protagonist Mikael Blomqvist could be made into something more than just another cookie-cut Michael Nyqvist character, but it works well enough.

The story also is very well structured. I haven’t read the book, but I am sure the scriptwriters have done an amazingly good job here. Especially the editing of all the still pictures used to find the murderer in the story are well put together and partly resembles the style of the classic JFK.

Since this is just the first of three in a series, the whole picture will come when having seen all three, but as a stand-alone film Men Who Hate Women works well enough.
The camerawork is excellent and the acting is good for being a Swedish film, which otherwise often tend to have "stage" acting. When will we see a Swedish film where the characters speak like normal people? Anyway, this film is above the standards we have been used to in many areas. It’s a clear four-P in this forum.

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Spirited Away (2005)

Written and Directed by: Hayao Miyazaki

Sprited Away is a 2-hour animated Japanese feature film. This is a touching story about Chihiro, a 10-year old Japanese girl that is taken to a fantasy land and faces challenges of spirits, magical beings and the ruler and sorceress Yubaba. Step by step the shy and scared Chihiro learns how to deal with impossible problems and grows in maturity.

The power of Spirited Away lies in the strong story anatomy and our total dentification with the weak little Chihiro in her struggles. There is also a sense of childish freedom in the variety of figures and characters. Due to many horrid scenes this film should probably not be seen by small children, and it is good that it is rated at 12 years. I you want to see something completely different, watch Spirited Away.

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Under the Tuscan Sun (2003)

Written and Directed by: Audrey Wells

Touching and entertaining American romantic comedy set mainly in Italy. All the Italian cliches are there, but since they are commented by the characters they kind of enrich. Not so few scenes have a shallow and low-budget feeling over them, and Italy and Italians are portrayed in a very stereotype, exterior way, but the greater heart and joy of the story embraces us and makes us forgive the faults. Under the Tuscan Sun is a soul-rich film about hope and meaning that is brave enough to include also life’s difficulties.

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The Milk of Sorrow (2009)

Written by: Claudia Llosa
Directed by:Claudia Llosa

Peruvian drama about a young native-Indian woman in Lima that suffers from “scared breast”; the consequences of being the child of a raped woman. Thanks to both brilliant acting/directing and good camerawork this is a very beautiful film, and there is a lot of held-back pain being portrayed here. But somehow the story never reaches its possible potential. It didn’t really touch me nor did it release the possible energy it could have. Probably a script issue.

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Mid-August Lunch (2008)

Written by: Simone Riccardini & Gianni Di Gregorio
Directed by: Gianni Di Gregorio

An Italian bachelor sees himself forced to take care of four old women. So good to see a film portraying old people. If you are looking for lots of gags or action, see something else. This film is calm and doesn’t really have much of a plot, but it has a lot of heart and is worthwile just because of the warmth towards older people it leaves in you.

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300 (2007)

Written by: Zack Snyder, Kurt Johnstad and Michael B. Gordon
Directed by: Zack Snyder

Fictive historical action-adventure drama about the Spartans. The film is a mix between live-action and animations. This film is visually well-made, but the extremely graphic violence makes it partly unenjoyable. Further, it is not only the shown violence, it is how they show it. This film overtly glorifies violence. It is cut with slow-motion effects and rock music when people cut and butcher each other. What could have been an interesting historical drama instead was made as a conscience-void slaughter-glorifying computer-game-generation product. I am afraid what this film does in the hearts of young people with few healthy male role models.

The Three Monkeys (2008)

Directed by: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Written by: Ebru Ceylan, Nuri Bilge Ceylan and Ercan Kesal.

Very interesting to see a Turkish feature film. Eyup is a driver for Servet, a politician. One day his boss hits a person deadly with his car. Servet flees and instead of reporting to the police he asks Eyup to assume the guilt if he receives an amount of money when he comes out.

This is the start of a beautifully shot but very dark little tale about family break-down, deception and the vast consequences of bad choices.

The three monkeys, in spite of its horrible and misleading title (if you don’t know the tale about the monkeys), is a very well-knit drama, extremely well-played and beatifully filmed. The small draw-backs of believability in the story are totally compensated by the professionalism of acting, cinematography, décor, lighting and – substance. Many films in the current flow appear superficial in comparison. This is fictional realism at its best.

Also, it’s always relieving to leave the theatre with the feeling that the film wasn’t made to gain money firsthand, but to express and say something worthful.

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The Illusionist (2006)

Directed by: Neil Burger
Written by: Neil Burger and Steven Millhauser.

A brilliant film that captured me during its whole running time. Very well directed and a masterpiece of story. Little sad that the whole film was colorised in a cliché sepia, but, well, that’s a minor thing. This film will probably be appreciated by a broad audience, and the final twist is one of the best I’ve seen.

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Trainspotting (1996)

Directed by: Danny Boyle

It was with curiosity sat down to see this well-known film by the director of Slumdog Millionaire. This is a film about drug addiction, written by established writer John Hodge, who also wrote Shallow Grave and The Seeker - The Dark is Rising. This farse isn’t that bad as a story, and the directing and acting is at top level. But the content? Well, maybe it edifies somebody else, but not me.

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Napoleon Dynamite (2004)

Directed by: Jared Hess

Don’t know what more to say than, this is a cult movie. See it and have fun.

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Nacho Libre (2006)

Directed by: Jared Hess

For those of you who liked Napoleon Dynamite. Same director, same style, same humor. Some rememberable scenes.

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Man tänker sitt / Burrowing (2009)

Screenplay and directors: Fredrik Wenzel and Henrik Hellström

International title: Burrowing

A middle class block during summer. A boy wanders around in his own world, sometimes corrected by his mother. A father of a small child ignores sense and future and puts all his attention to his little son in his arms. A solitary young man paddles towards a diffuse goal after having been wrestled down by his father.

Man tänker sitt is a portrait of a middle class residential district in Sweden, focusing on a boy and two grown-up men. These are people who lack direction and live closed into a world of themselves. But they also seem to live naked; they were never clothed with love. Ignorantly they hunger for it and can neither see nor give to others.

Man tänker sitt is accompanied by sacred choir music and a boy’s voice reading Thoreau texts. It is a very poetic film that lingers in the moment and explores people in close-up, mainly without words and leaving a lot open for one’s own interpretations.

There is a strong melancholy over Man tänker sitt that brings the thoughts to Ingmar Bergman's works. It can be seen as an attempt to sketch Man when he lacks God, left out to an existence without God, an existence lacking goal and meaning; a world where he stumbles in mud without hope. What we also see are people unable to see others. Neither does the film present solutions.

The personal expression of Man tänker sitt is admirable. It is nice to see that Swedish film financiers still support artistic expressions in fiction feature films. But I have a sense that this film could be so much more. Isn’t cinema also about communication? If a speaker talks too unclear, even the most poetic speech becomes hard to appreciate. The recognition and inspiration disappears.

In conclusion; a compliment to the authors for a free expression of things that are a little too blurred by... the expression.

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Flickan (The Girl, 2009)

Screenplay by: Karin Arrhenius
Directed by: Fredrik Edfeldt

When a ten-year-old girl's parents go to Africa to work with poor children, our little girl is left with her aunt the whole summer. Her aunt shows out to be quite egocentric and the girl manages to lure her away so that she can be alone. In a senstitive way we then follow the girl in her solitude and in her encounters with other girls, a boy and the neighbours. It’s a time of meeting grown-up life and herself.

Scriptwriter Karin Arrhenius has written a slow, sensitive and mature piece of film and Fredrik Edfeldt with cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema, production designer Lars Strömsten and others have succeeded marvellously to bring her story to life on the screen. Also the music by Dan Berridge raises the experience and is a relevant part of this work.

In The Girl we see a story that is not based in a typical plot, that is, in a dramatic confrontation with the evil, or in a goal that is to be reached in spite of bad odds. Hollywood story structure has been thrown away this time and the film is a travel along a person, period. And it's enough. The film is very emotional, even if uncomfortably, and has a strong presence that leaves something more than just the candy in the gut.

Sure, one could argue that certain humor or hopeful solutions could be added to the story to give it more energy. But sometimes a story should be listened to just because the teller wants to tell something. This is such a case.

On the surface The Girl is about a child's experiences (and lack thereof) during a summer, but below that this film is about parenting. It's about a girl that has the right to so much more. A child is an island of rights. The right to belong and to be seen. The right to be embraced and loved. The right to be encoraged and stimulated. The Girl makes a strong statement about all children in the world. Do we really see them?

The Girl also asks another question. Is it our task to love the needy far away or the ones close? Something Karin Arrhenius makes us think about.

Blanca Engström is totally amazing in her part, I have never seen anything alike. Most of the other acting is also good and believable.

Do you want to see a feel-good movie, see something else. But if you want to see a piece of life, even if it hurts, go see The Girl.

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Broken Embraces (2009)

Directed by: Pedro Almodóvar

Mateo is a blind ex-film director who has fallen into solitude and bitterness. One day a young man visits him with a screenplay idea. It turns out this man had a major influence in Mateo’s life until now. From here a drama unfolds where José Luis Gómez and Penélope Cruz portray an elderly millionaire and his mistress. It happens that the Cruz character, Lena, gets a job as an actress in one of Mateo’s films, and a love story between the two starts. Ernesto, the millionaire, is extremely jelous and sends his son to spy on her.

The story of Broken embraces is complex and involves time jumps and stories within stories. The complexity is thrilling but also takes a way some of the emotional power of this film.

Aesthetically Broken Embraces is a masterpiece; in acting, cinematography and décor. Pedro Almodovar is an accomplished artist in his work, a Picasso on the screen, even comparable to Shakespeare in intricate drama writing. And due to its complexity, some of his work might even function better on the stage.

In spite of some overdoing in the dramatic structure of this film, the grade cannot be anything else than a full five. There are many famous film directors out there that are not even close to Almodovar’s mastering of film art.

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Flashdance (1983)

Directed by: Adrian Lyne

I decided to watch a modern classic. And it was worth it. This film shows the typical structure of a Hollywood film (and classic fairy tales): a three-act story about the poor girl who wants the impossible. And although so cliché, it evokes both sincere laughter and tears. And that's what films are all about.

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Mama Mia (2008)

Directed by: Phyllida Lloyd

A bunch of smiles and a bunch of Abba songs in Mediterrean setting. And a clear sense of...emptiness. The songs saved this film.

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Twilight (2008)

Directed by: Catherine Hardwicke

Vampire film in modern shape. Less blood, less clichés (and following the book?). I also ejoyed wondering if Edward would bite Bella. But around half into the film it becomes boring. The clichés set in and the film turns into an uninteresting fight between the good and the bad while trying to hang up the film on Robert Pattinson's face. The story probably worked in the book, but the screen version lost me somewhere in the twilight.

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Gomorra (2008)

Directed by: Matteo Garrone

Interesting film about the Camorra mafia in Naples, Italy. Very, very well acted, shot in documentary style. The locations are extremely real. There are five stories shown paralel. Way to much to get a hold of what's going on. Concentrating on one or two of them would be better. Believable-wise it's top, and it is certaintly a theme worth telling about - this film matters. But sorry, films are about telling stories and stories have to be well structured.

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District 9 (2009)

Directed by: Neill Blomkamp

This film tries to be a different sci fi. I appreciate the attempt, but for me it didn't work. Yeah, keeping aliens in a district is new. But what's new about a giant hovering space ship. What's new about aliens running around looking like shrimps, talking weird language. What's new about parts of alien material taking place in somebodys' body. What's new about filming hand-held.

The only new thing was the mockumentary attempt (in this kind of film). That I liked.

I didn't care about the characters. The ending was lame. Sorry, but this film not only disgusted me, it left me totally empty.

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Inglourious basterds (2009)

Directed by: Quentin Tarantino

This film is a promotion film for revenge. That I don't like.

What I did like was the storytelling. Tarantino kept me interested through every scene, something very rare. The acting of Cristoph Waltz was marvellous. Brad Pitt wasn't that convincing. But cinematically and storywise it's a masterpiece.

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La Luna (1979)

Directed by: Bernardo Bertolucci

This film tells the story about the American opera singer Caterina and her son Joe. After her husband's death, Caterina and Joe move to Italy, where they also were when Joe was a little child. Joe's and Caterina's relationship is complex and while Caterina tries to win back her son's love stepping over healthy boundaries, Joe set into drugs. The film subtly but powerfully portrays an unhealthy mother-son relationship.

Jill Claybury's acting as Caterina is extraordinary, but also Matthew Barry as Joe is quite real in his part. The film is very sensual and has a beautiful visual simplicity. I found it hard though to really identify with the characters, maybe due to the very visual storytelling style. I also had a vague feeling that the story didn't really finish.

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Mammoth (2009)

Strong Swedish drama (English-speaking) about family values. Well done, Lukas! Message takes over the characters a little though. Michelle Williams was amazing in her "play-it-down" acting. Gael Garcia... I don't know, something was missing there. Not even close to "Amores Perros".

Love to see more Swedish films on the international arena!

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Public Enemies (2009)

Directed by Michael Mann.

Johnny Depp contributing to raising glamour around crime. First two hours not even exciting. Partly well shot, but too many close-ups. I liked the partial absence of action music though. Best was Christian Bale, very believable in his non-acting. But honestly, who cares about these characters?

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Red Desert (1964)

Directed by: Michelangelo Antonioni

Original title: Il deserto rosso

Can a beautiful poetic film be set in an absurd world of grey industry? Yes it can. This film is very slow, very poetic and very filled with the "angst" of existentialism. Monica Witti (especially) and Richard Harris (yes, the American) are quite good in this film that in its style resembles Polanski's The Knife in the Water.

Plot? There isn't any. And why must there be one?

Nowadays I get happy just by seeing a film that wasn't made to make money, to entertain or even to teach. Why must a film be made to entertain? This is a true piece of film art. A film that just expresses.

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