Alright, here's how it is. Main review takes up a huge chunk of the blog. However, if you're looking for a quick synopsis of what I think, the bottom paragraph and mark out of 5 should suffice. Enjoy the review, or better yet: go see the film and enjoy that!
When Andrew Beckett (Tom Hanks) contracts AID’s and is promptly fired by his conservative law firm, he sets out to prove that he was fired because of his sexual orientation with the help of a homophobic small time lawyer.
Philadelphia starts out quite well. Everything seems happy, and generally, the mood is quite similar. Generally, there’s a positive atmosphere. We get to meet Mr Beckett, played to perfection (as ever) by Tom Hanks. Everything seems pretty perfect. But then suddenly, we find out that Beckett has AID’s. and about the same time he is revealed to have AID’s, he’s revealed to have been fired from a job he obviously excels at (he stays up working ‘till 10 fer chrissakes!) Obviously, something isn’t right.
Getting straight to the point: this film is now officially a period piece. I know that some people are still homophobic, but Philadelphia deals with homophobia in the early 90’s and the crisis of AID’s which just about everyone is now completely aware is very bad.
So, Beckett thinks he has a case, but because he’s dying of AID’s and everyone in the early 90’s was scared to death of anyone with this disease (or at least that’s what the film is trying to portray) he can’t get a lawyer. Naturally, he’s going to go to the token black lawyer Joe Miller (Denzel Washington) last. There’s this really fantastic scene where Beckett goes to Millers office and he has to say the words “I have AID’s…” That one moment in the entire film is completely priceless as both Hanks and Washington’s reactions are spot on.
Naturally, Miller is just as scared as everyone else is so he says no and this gives us the chance to explore a few other examples of prejudice. It’s only when Miller is thinks about the prejudice he throws towards Beckett that he realises, being black, he’s likely to be judged in exactly the same way. The best scene in the film is set in a library when Miller realises how the librarian feels about him as he walks past. And in the very same scene, is the most accurate portrayal of prejudice against gays when Beckett is asked if he’d ‘feel more comfortable’ in a private reading room. Once again, Hanks plays the role to perfection and the whole scene is incredibly awkward.
Everything plays out perfectly up until the trial. The scenes are interesting and the performances are great. But when the trial begins, the film unfortunately begins to fall apart.
Don’t get me wrong, the trial scenes are superb. They really strengthen my idea of Washington as a great actor. But because the film is about Beckett, and he really isn’t in a position to be saying much throughout the trial scenes, he has a lot of scenes devoted solely to him towards the end. In the early 90’s, seeing that a gay man was the same as any other individual would have been a great move to make, and would have put the film-makers in the gay rights activists good books. But it really does feel in these scenes like they’ve tried to hard. Tom Hanks cannot perform badly, but generally when not in court, the films writing seems shoddy. The screenplay is commendable only for the issues it raises because other than that, it feels a little bland. On top of that the direction doesn’t seem to exist. It almost feels as if everyone on set knew what they were doing and so director Jonathan Demme just sat back and watched them do it.
Despite this, the scenes with Beckett’s family are delightful and you almost feel as if you’re being welcomed into the family’s home thanks to the clever plot device of looking at things from the perspective of a handheld camera.
The opera scene is also very powerful and a very unconventional method of throwing in lighting to reflect the actors moods as opposed to what would be realistic really makes the scene strong.
Generally, the themes throughout the film are very strong and the entire cast (primary and supporting) are beyond perfect. It just seems to be let down slightly by the writing and direction.
Worth seeing for the performances, or if you want what I can only assume was a vaguely accurate portrayal of prejudice towards homosexuality and AID’s victims, but suffers as a film.
3/5
Friday 13 April 2007
The Deer Hunter (1978)
Alright, here's how it is. Main review takes up a huge chunk of the blog. However, if you're looking for a quick synopsis of what I think, the bottom paragraph and mark out of 5 should suffice. Enjoy the review, or better yet: go see the film and enjoy that!
The Deer Hunter is a dark tale following the lives of a group of friends through their lives from marriage, to war, to death. Showing a grim and far more horrifying side to the Vietnam War than most others, this is a film that takes the violence and embraces it as an inevitable part of life.
Knowing that The Deer Hunter was a film about the war in Vietnam, the opening is surprising. It begins on a cold blue morning and shows some men working in a factory. There is no glamour put to their work. It’s a factory where the men work for their money. As a group of men leave the factory, they say their goodbyes to their colleagues and wander of down to the bar for a drink. The following 40 minutes are some of the strangest ever committed to celluloid. Put simply, it’s a wedding and an after party. But considering it’s a film that is about Vietnam, it feels remarkably out of place. It is more than likely just my expectations getting the better of me.
When looked at in its own right, the wedding is superbly played out. It’s apparent from the start that the town is quite a small one and this feeling of cosiness is emphasised superbly by some establishing shots showing everyone is focused on the wedding. Generally, the point is that it works.
When the after party kicks in, the film starts to seem more like a comedy than anything. Short of a scuffle between a couple of characters, it really is quite funny. Whilst watching the after-party and wedding scenes, it quite frankly does seem a little aimless. It feels almost as if it’s about to start dragging but when this happens, it suddenly manages to kick out something new to set somebody giggling.
Despite the feeling of aimlessness, the extended use of such a celebratory event does manage to grab hold of the audience and whether you like it or not, you start to care for the characters. That and any film that has Robert De Niro running down a street in just his underpants is destined for greatness.
As a slight interlude from the wedding there’s a few examples of genius location scouting. The mountains, for the titled Deer Hunt, are sheer awesomeness. The scenery is beautiful and it is very nearly difficult to keep track of the plot with such a fantastical locale constantly grabbing your attention.
There are few scenes in the film with really great dialogue because the film itself is generally such a realistic example of the Vietnam War. But there is one scene that is thoroughly believable up in the mountains with, what will forever be pondered as the greatest line in the movie: “Stanley, see this? This is this. This ain't something else. This is this. From now on, you're on your own.”
On paper, it’s a ridiculous line, but with De Niro speaking, it’s foolproof.
Michael Cimino thoroughly deserved his Best Director Oscar for this film as well. The aforementioned scene is just one example of perfect tension building, a convention of film which is relied upon heavily in this film and never fails to actually thrill the audience. Hell, it doesn’t thrill you, it actually scares you.
When Vietnam finally appears on screen, it doesn’t disappoint. Moments in, it shows exactly what the Americans where facing when a Vietnamese soldier finds a family in a hole and drops a grenade in there before running off. There’s no preparation for it and is so harsh it really grasps the audience. When you then see Michael Vronosky (Robert De Niro) torch the soldier alive, it really is visually powerful. It’s shocking partially because the film shows the brutality of the death so well, but mostly because for the past hour the audience has gotten used to Michael being a fun drunken fool, not a killing machine. The juxtaposition is completely undeniable and very hard to watch.
The tension is really built up throughout the Russian Roulette scenes. Quite simply, it has got to be up among the most disturbing pieces of cinema ever. That tension that Cimino knows how to drive up is pushed into over-drive. It really makes you wonder whether the real horror within the war was even within the conflict.
Christopher Walken is remarkable in The Deer Hunter. Even if you hadn’t felt anything throughout the film, his scenes really force you to feel something. The man oozes potential and he exploits that to an unbelievably stunning effect. It’s really no wonder that he’s one of the most respected actors in Hollywood today having put films such as this under his belt.
A deep theme within The Deer Hunter is the effect of the war on the soldiers as they return home. Whether it was handled well and how hard it must be to return straight to the comfort of one’s home after all the horror of the fighting. How as much as somebody might want things to be normal, people change their opinions of them and how everything would change.
In terms of film-making, the lighting throughout it superb to the extent that I was wondering if Candy Suxx was going to burst in with a machine gun and a rocket launcher strapped to her back. The music had a very unconventional approach and it certainly felt as if less was more. The music had a power to it which was that it took a back seat to the emotion of the characters.
The final scenes are nothing short of incredible as a brief look at the seedy side of Vietnam outside of the war and a climax to be remembered for decades to come. It really is quite harrowing and is actually an unpleasant experience to sit through.
Finally there is the ending which although unnecessary provides a real ending. It’s quiet and it’s painful, but there’s a raw happiness to it.
Harrowing and painful tale about the effects of the Vietnam War on people, as well as an honest look at the lives of people from before the war right through to their ways of coping upon returning home. Unbelievably powerful, if not a little long at the beginning. Worth seeing, but only for those who can stomach some real unpleasantness.
4/5
The Deer Hunter is a dark tale following the lives of a group of friends through their lives from marriage, to war, to death. Showing a grim and far more horrifying side to the Vietnam War than most others, this is a film that takes the violence and embraces it as an inevitable part of life.
Knowing that The Deer Hunter was a film about the war in Vietnam, the opening is surprising. It begins on a cold blue morning and shows some men working in a factory. There is no glamour put to their work. It’s a factory where the men work for their money. As a group of men leave the factory, they say their goodbyes to their colleagues and wander of down to the bar for a drink. The following 40 minutes are some of the strangest ever committed to celluloid. Put simply, it’s a wedding and an after party. But considering it’s a film that is about Vietnam, it feels remarkably out of place. It is more than likely just my expectations getting the better of me.
When looked at in its own right, the wedding is superbly played out. It’s apparent from the start that the town is quite a small one and this feeling of cosiness is emphasised superbly by some establishing shots showing everyone is focused on the wedding. Generally, the point is that it works.
When the after party kicks in, the film starts to seem more like a comedy than anything. Short of a scuffle between a couple of characters, it really is quite funny. Whilst watching the after-party and wedding scenes, it quite frankly does seem a little aimless. It feels almost as if it’s about to start dragging but when this happens, it suddenly manages to kick out something new to set somebody giggling.
Despite the feeling of aimlessness, the extended use of such a celebratory event does manage to grab hold of the audience and whether you like it or not, you start to care for the characters. That and any film that has Robert De Niro running down a street in just his underpants is destined for greatness.
As a slight interlude from the wedding there’s a few examples of genius location scouting. The mountains, for the titled Deer Hunt, are sheer awesomeness. The scenery is beautiful and it is very nearly difficult to keep track of the plot with such a fantastical locale constantly grabbing your attention.
There are few scenes in the film with really great dialogue because the film itself is generally such a realistic example of the Vietnam War. But there is one scene that is thoroughly believable up in the mountains with, what will forever be pondered as the greatest line in the movie: “Stanley, see this? This is this. This ain't something else. This is this. From now on, you're on your own.”
On paper, it’s a ridiculous line, but with De Niro speaking, it’s foolproof.
Michael Cimino thoroughly deserved his Best Director Oscar for this film as well. The aforementioned scene is just one example of perfect tension building, a convention of film which is relied upon heavily in this film and never fails to actually thrill the audience. Hell, it doesn’t thrill you, it actually scares you.
When Vietnam finally appears on screen, it doesn’t disappoint. Moments in, it shows exactly what the Americans where facing when a Vietnamese soldier finds a family in a hole and drops a grenade in there before running off. There’s no preparation for it and is so harsh it really grasps the audience. When you then see Michael Vronosky (Robert De Niro) torch the soldier alive, it really is visually powerful. It’s shocking partially because the film shows the brutality of the death so well, but mostly because for the past hour the audience has gotten used to Michael being a fun drunken fool, not a killing machine. The juxtaposition is completely undeniable and very hard to watch.
The tension is really built up throughout the Russian Roulette scenes. Quite simply, it has got to be up among the most disturbing pieces of cinema ever. That tension that Cimino knows how to drive up is pushed into over-drive. It really makes you wonder whether the real horror within the war was even within the conflict.
Christopher Walken is remarkable in The Deer Hunter. Even if you hadn’t felt anything throughout the film, his scenes really force you to feel something. The man oozes potential and he exploits that to an unbelievably stunning effect. It’s really no wonder that he’s one of the most respected actors in Hollywood today having put films such as this under his belt.
A deep theme within The Deer Hunter is the effect of the war on the soldiers as they return home. Whether it was handled well and how hard it must be to return straight to the comfort of one’s home after all the horror of the fighting. How as much as somebody might want things to be normal, people change their opinions of them and how everything would change.
In terms of film-making, the lighting throughout it superb to the extent that I was wondering if Candy Suxx was going to burst in with a machine gun and a rocket launcher strapped to her back. The music had a very unconventional approach and it certainly felt as if less was more. The music had a power to it which was that it took a back seat to the emotion of the characters.
The final scenes are nothing short of incredible as a brief look at the seedy side of Vietnam outside of the war and a climax to be remembered for decades to come. It really is quite harrowing and is actually an unpleasant experience to sit through.
Finally there is the ending which although unnecessary provides a real ending. It’s quiet and it’s painful, but there’s a raw happiness to it.
Harrowing and painful tale about the effects of the Vietnam War on people, as well as an honest look at the lives of people from before the war right through to their ways of coping upon returning home. Unbelievably powerful, if not a little long at the beginning. Worth seeing, but only for those who can stomach some real unpleasantness.
4/5
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
