I don't think that the cinematography in a film has ever made me feel sick before. Today was a first.
In the Italian saga I am Love. the steadicam roars around the vast millionaire mansion villa of the Recchi family in a nausea inducing homage to the museum scene in Brian de Palma's Dressed to Kill....so much so in fact that I literally had the urge to vomit, which I am sure is not quite the effect that director Luca Guadagnino was looking for.
Having said this, Guadagnino has crafted a stylish, almost Hitchcockian family saga which centres around a doomed love affair of the rather controlled matriarch, Russian ex pat Emma, (Tilda Swinton)....the camera swoons around her sketchily drawn family like a swallow around a field, and I found the cinematic themes of passion and food (the scene where Swinton eats a prawn has to be seen to be believed!) interesting but all rather cold and with characters devoid of any warmth.
I gave it 7/10
Our second film of the day, as it turned out, was not a bag-of-laughs either!The Headless Woman (La Mujer sin Cabeza) is an odd unsettling little film about denial, guilt and I suspect concussion!
In it , a wealthy middle aged dentist Veronica (Maria Onetto) runs "something" over on an Argentinian back dirt road. In the accident she strikes her head on the windscreen, and enters a slightly opaque, ever-so-quiet-senseless world where nothing may be what it seems.
Veronica may or may not have killed a child (a ghostly handprint on her car's window is left chillingly just in view) but any concrete clue of what indeed did happen is quietly camoflagued by subtle confusion which mirrors that hard smile paranoia exhibited by those with a head injury.
It is not an easy film to sit through and for me it is far too long, but it is a film that provokes thought and discussion........Having said that, I don't think it is the masterpiece that some in the artistic press would have us believe....it is just not that clever
7/10
Hazel and I felt a little wrung out after our movie double bill....... we agreed next time we would see something a little more uplifting next time......two challenging, slightly depressing movies in one day is a little too much!!!
Sigh.... when the cat's away, the mice get disgusted at the cinema. Too bad. I hope you went and had a nice drink afterward, at the least.
ReplyDeleteBummer!
Oh, I can't watch movies where the camera is like on the front of a roller-coaster, a car speeding around curves and that sort of thing, I look for a bag or the powder room. Erp!
I think Sharon is had the right idea... sounds like a good glass or two of merlot were in order after your shows :O)
ReplyDeletePS
ReplyDeleteI have no idea why I typed "is had" LOL...OOPS
give me Bambi any day :)
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Helloooo friend! Just caught up on your past posts. Love the photo of you and Meg. You're right, she & Hootie are twins!! He's had his hairs cut now though, so a diff.look. Thanks for the update on your bros. I just adore the closeness of your family. Patrick's is the same way. (Wish I could say that of my 2 siblings...ahh well, can't have it all I guess.) Be well. x-c
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised you found I AM LOVE "cold." What I liked was the transition from the chilly opening sequences in the mansion to the warm, colourful middle section in the countryside. Beautifully done.
ReplyDeleteWhat is happening at the end?
humm an easy cop
ReplyDeleteout Alex!
carefree Russian going back to her bearded chef to live her chosen life!!!
whats with the sudden Russian conversation with the son before his death?
There seemed to be the suggestion that she was re-engaging with her ancestry after losing her identity in this sterile marriage. I thought the relationships with the son and, in particular, the daughter were interesting, in that both characters were catalysts for the mother's rebellion in a way ...
ReplyDeleteDid you like La Swinton's performance?
personally I would have had at least a glass or two of something after the first movie...
ReplyDeleteGive me a comedy any day.
i agree polly!
ReplyDeleteAlex.... I found most of the metaphores very heavy handed (the bird "trapped" in the belltower, Emma's symbolic "cutting of her hair" (mirroring her lesbian daughter's haircut and strive for individuality!).......the shedding of the shoes at the funeral.....the return to her native tongue etc etc
all very cliche!
I think it's the kind of heightened, melodramatic film you either give yourself over to or you don't, quite honestly.
ReplyDeleteAs for ROBIN HOOD ... Eew. Boycott it and re-watch the 1938 version.
I didn't find I Am Love cold either, controlled yes to reflect the buttoned-up family. If I may answer Alex's question to you, Tilda Swinton was hypnotic and superb, I couldn't take my eyes off her. I can't say I found the camera movements bothersome either, although there was a lot of out of focus. Surely the end was the resurrection from the tomb, the re-awakening after the death of both the marriage and her Russian name and identity. I thought the film was terrific and how nice to find John Adams joining the minimalist composers being used by film makers. Not just Hitchcock echoes in the film either, also just about every major post-war Italian director.
ReplyDeleteYes, Swinton is amazing, I agree. Have you seen JULIA? Another incredible performance by her in that. Here are my thoughts on I AM LOVE: http://boycottingtrends.blogspot.com/2010/04/i-am-love-2009.html
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