Jack

Original Name: Jack

Country: USA

Direction: Francis Ford Coppola

Script: James DeMonaco and Gary Nadeau

Genre: Drama

Length: 113 minutes

Year: 1996

In the movie "Jack", we see that bullying is part of the routine of every school student. The subject is approached in a natural way, by showing the timidity of Jack (Robin Williams) and the estrangement of children in relation to this "new being" that presents to their eyes.

Vampires Suck

Original Name: Vampires Suck

Country: USA

Direction: Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer

Script: Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer

Genre: Comedy

Length: 77 minutes

Year: 2010

You must be thinking, "after writing about Psyco and Séraphine, how she had the courage to write about Vampires Suck?". I confess that I received some critics when I wrote a review about the movie Eye of The Beast.

Superman - The Movie

Original Name: Superman - The Movie

Country: USA

Direction: Richard Donner

Script: Mario Puzo, David Newman, Leslie Newman, Robert Benton and Tom Mankiewicz

Genre: Science Fiction, Adventure

Length: 143 minutes

Year: 1978

The first minutes of the film are responsible for telling a brief story of how Superman came. Everything begins on Krypton Planet and ends in the journalistic enterprise known as Daily Planet, where Clark Kent meets Lois Lane, that later found the "other side" of her colleague: Super-hero Kal-El.

Blending comedy, science fiction, police drama, romance and adventure, all with the endless and exhausting routine of journalists as the backdrop, the script shows it has been well made, presenting arguments that support it in a scientific way, yet the facts are fictitious.

"Superman - The Movie" also goes beyond time and space, showing an ideal to be achieved by boys and girls of all generations. I consider this as a fairy tale that pleases both sexes, because who's the man who one day wouldn't be like Kal-El, and what woman never wanted to be a Lois Lane?

Moreover, this superhero is quite similar to Jesus Christ, because his main precept is to sacrifice his life for the well-being of men. Other christian ideals are also reinforced, such as family, friendship and good will always overlapping the evil.

The film has many similarities with "Superman Returns", the last movie of the superhero, released in 2006. In both films, Lex and his gang steal a piece of kryptonite and seek to profit money by selling land. Read a part of the script of the first Superman movie and the next time you watch the film of 2006, compare:

LEX LUTHOR

Ms. Teschmacher, when I was six my father said...

EVE TESCHMACHER

Get out?

Lex laughs.

LEX LUTHOR

Before that, he said, "Son, stocks rise and fall, utilities and transportation systems may collapse and people worth nothing, but they always will need land and will pay dearly to buy it. Remember what your father said: 'land, land'"

---

Note: Despite the similarities, the first film's cast excels the cast of "Superman Returns". Marlon Brando (Jor El), Gene Hackman (Lex Luthor) Margot Kidder (Lois Lane) and the unforgettable Christopher Reeve (Clark Kent) began this story with a gold key and its characters, even if compatible with other Hollywood actors, lose part of their effect without the magic that emanates from the unmistakable talent that this cast has.

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Match Point

Original Name: Match Point

Country: UK, US and Luxembourg

Direction: Woody Allen

Script: Woody Allen

Genre: Drama

Length: 124 minutes

Year: 2005

One day, I heard a phrase that said "the more you study, the more luck you have". Chris Wilton (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), despite belonging to the lower-class of Irish, is highly educated and therefore shrewd. Apart from luck, Chris got help from his intellect.

After watching the movie, notice how the attitudes of Wilton are meticulously thought out, always looking for a particular good. When he says to Tom Hewett (Matthew Goode) that he doesn't want a ride because he wanted to go to a music store to buy CDs of opera, Chris knows very well that Tom belongs to the upper class and therefore is very likely to enjoy opera. Saying, then, he likes this style of music would be a possible beginning of friendship.

However, something that has escaped from his wisdom was Nola Rice (Scarlett Johansson), a confident woman who excels in high society in London for being an american that wants to be an actress. Chris Wilton falls for her at the very moment they meet, seeking Nola throughout the movie, perhaps as an escape from the affluent family he now belongs, and, over time, makes his life boring and claustrophobic.

The film also uses as support the structuralist theory, which posits that all human relationships are conducted on behalf of a self-interest. Allied to this, Nietzsche also makes his contribution with the theory of Superman (or, in the original language of the german philosopher, "ubermensch"), which appears almost personified in the character of Rhys Meyers.

In "Match Point", we can clearly see a reflection of the book Crime and Punishment of Dostoevsky. In this work, the russian writer speaks of Raskolnikov, a poor young man who has great desire to not die before doing something important.

After struggling with his conscience, he decides to kill a loan shark. When escaping, Raskolnikov kills also the sister of the victim, who appears unexpectedly at the place. The young man also stole some jewelry, but eventually burying them under a rock.

Dostoevsky's story looks a lot like the movie, without mention the two references that the film makes about the writer. The first happens at 3:52 minutes, when Chris appears to be reading two books: Crime and Punishment and Collection of Cambridge, both of Dostoevsky.

The other moment is when, in a conversation between Chloe Hewett (Emily Mortimer) and her parents, Alec (Brian Cox), Chloe's father, says that a few days ago he had an interesting conversation with Wilton about Dostoevsky.

Besides this movie, Woody Allen also uses the influence of the russian novelist in "Cassandra's Dream" and "Crimes and Misdemeanors".

Click here to see the review of Cinéma Par Fleur about "Rope", a film by Alfred Hitchcock, who also uses the ideas of the novelist mentioned above.

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Prizzi's Honor

Original Name: Prizzi's Honor
Country: USA
Direction: John Huston
Script: Janet Roach and Richard Condon
Genre: Comedy
Length: 130 minutes
Year: 1985

In a recent interview with brazilian journalist Marília Gabriela, humorist Danilo Gentili, also brazilian, said that "every joke has a target". In "Prizzi's Honor", the "target" are the sicilians.

Jack Nicholson, through slight inclinations with his head, dialogues with the mouth ajar and an italian accent little apparent, failed to resemble a sicilian, but contributed greatly to the comic plot.

Kathleen Turner is also great. The feelings of her character overflows, making her performance look like exaggerated interpretations observed in theater, something that is also very funny.

Angelica Huston, in turn, is an authentic sicilian to our eyes. The accent is perfect and its physical characteristics, such as large nose and her long black hair, give an italian side to her character.

Both she and her father, John Huston, are unique professionals in what they do. In addition to "Prizzi's Honor", John has directed over 40 films throughout his life and also participated in dozens of other films as actor, writer or narrator.

Click here to read Cinéma par Fleur's review about the movie "The Battle of San Pietro" (1945), also directed by John Huston.

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Don't go to Film School by Timothy Swaan

Paranormal Activity

Original Name: Paranormal Activity

Country: USA

Direction: Oren Peli

Script: There isn't

Genre: Terror

Length: 90 minutes

Year: 2009

I remember that when this film opened, I was fascinated by it. I wanted to study it, dissect it and learn the deepest secrets that led Oren Peli to create this masterpiece. Today, I realize that the film's success is due to the fact that everyone thought it was a true story.

The film itself shows this. Fast fadeouts, aligned with a small clock at the bottom of the video, give the illusion that everything really happened. And, you know what? The bottom line is that it doesn't matter. The idea for the film to make the entire story as truthfully as possible was great and deserves the reputation it has received.

Congratulations to Oren Peli, rookie director who overcame many cinematic masters with a single communicative attribute: the false advertising.

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Zuzu Angel

Original Name: Zuzu Angel

Country: Brazil

Direction: Sérgio Rezende

Script: Sérgio Rezende e Marcos Bernstein

Genre: Drama

Length: 100 minutes

Year: 2006

This is one of the best Brazilian films that exist. The anachronistic script works very well with the clear and subjective photography, which beautifully captures the tropical heat from here.

The Battle of San Pietro

Original Name: The Battle of San Pietro

Country: USA

Direction: John Huston

Script: John Huston

Genre: Documentary

Length: 40 minutes

Year: 1945

As evidenced in the title, this film portrays the struggle between the Western Allies and the Axis Powers in San Pietro Infine, Italian municipality that is located at the entrance to the Liri valley. This area was very strategic, because the fastest way to reach Rome was crossing this location.

Séraphine

Original Name: Séraphine

Country: France, Belgium

Direction: Martin Provost

Script: Marc Abdelnour and Martin Provost

Genre: Drama

Length: 125 minutes

Year: 2008

 

The actress who plays Séraphine (Yolande Moreau) doesn't have the beauty of Penélope Cruz, or the Oscars that Meryl Streep has, and is far away of having the charisma of Sandra Bullock. She is not skinny and her face is already tarnished by time. Still, her performance is admirable and enchanting.

Silence, understood as the absence of music or lack of words, translates into hope. Séraphine's look reflects an inconformity with her life, while the sound of the wind playing with the trees, the roar of rushing waters and the restless voice of birds show happiness as the main background of this story.

The thing I liked most about this movie was it. The work is not content to show the life of a domestic worker who loved painting. Moreover, the film ends with the paradigm that all poor people are unhappy (when you think of a maid, you think of happiness?), showing the conversations between Séraphine and the sisters of a convent, the help and company that she gets of a close friend, the deep affection that she develops by a collector of paintings and the long hours that she passes under a tree, listening quietly to nature that surrounds her.

The poverty is not sensationalized. This movie shows a side of poorness that few filmmakers seek to explore, perhaps because they don't even believe that there is: dreams.

In descriptions of what is painting, we see clearly that it is a painted dream. In the film, Wilhelm Uhde (Ulrich Tukur) says that "a collection [of paintings] is the interpretation of the spiritual formation of those who did. It can't be dispersed with impunity". In another scene, Séraphine confesses that "when we paint, we love differently. And often I see [the only love of her life] from within or through other faces. And... I imagine that, if I still think about him, he might still think of me".

In my opinion, all art forms are ways we find to externalize our dreams and deepest secrets. And, although I don't believe that painting has evolved over the years (for me, it reached its majestude in the Renaissance), it's still one of the arts more effective when it comes to subjectivity. It is, without doubt, the most subjective art that exists.

Note: Instead of putting the movie's poster, I decided to put a piece of Séraphine of Senlis. In it, I believe, lies the soul of the film.

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Synecdoche, New York

Original Name: Synecdoche, New York
Country: USA
Direction: Charlie Kaufman
Script: Charlie Kaufman
Genre: Drama
Length: 124 minutes
Year: 2008

I read some reviews on internet and couldn't understand why movie critics think this film so complicated. The script is actually quite complex and tiring, but it doesn't makes the story difficult to follow.

The film talks about Caden Cotard, a theater director who is played by my third favorite actor (Ian McKellen is the first and the second is Anthony Hopkins), Philip Seymour Hoffman. The character is visibly frustrated with his life, yet passively accepted the events which it derives.

After his wife Adele (Catherine Keener) decides to separate from him for some time to travel to Berlin with their daughter, Olive (Sadie Goldstein), Caden seeks a way to recover the two throughout the film.

Concomitant to this, Caden works in a play, which will have the backdrop as his life. To make the story seem true, he forces the actors to "transform" themselves into the characters, living every second as if they were part of a play.

Although the plot is not that complicated, it is very sad and gloomy. The script explores thoroughly all the pain in the life of Caden, so that every time some light of happiness appears, something greater suffocates the joy witnessed.

Actually, I do not remember a single moment of the movie that I felt happy for watching it. He's so effective in his melancholy that takes the viewer to feel miserable for a few hours.

If you're having a bad day and desperately needs a reason to smile, do not watch "Synecdoche, New York". It is a great incentive for suicide.

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Edward Scissorhands

The Brazilian writer Guimarães Rosa once said that "the beautiful in the world is that people are not finished". Tim Burton also said that when he directed "Edward Scissorhands". The famous quote from Edward in which he says "I'm not finished" and the scene where he and Kim (Winona Ryder) embrace, show that imperfection is completed with love gestures.

An old inventor wanted to create a perfect man. A gentleman. At first, he did Edward with scissor hands, to later replace them by human hands. However, when he went to finish his great work, he died.

Throughout the film, there is a need to create a sense of existence for Edward. His remarkable ability to prune trees, turning them into beautiful sculptures, made everyone love him. Later, is revealed his ability to cut beautifully women's hair. Finally, he finds himself able to awaken passion in someone who used to see anything other than what presented itself to her eyes.

"Edward Scissorhands" is a unique Tim Burton's work. The film shows the beauty that exists in human imperfections and the benefits gained when we recognize our weaknesses and when we know how to use them as best as possible.

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Beach Party

Original Name: Beach Party

Country: USA

Direction: William Asher

Script: Lou Rusoff

Genre: Musical

Length: 101 minutes

Year: 1963

In "Beach Party", fun is everything. The stereotype that all teenage arranges confusion is discarded in this movie. Everybody are good people, having everything they want and with a main goal of having a good time.

Despite being a musical, "Beach Party" has songs that aren't too long and dialogues not sung (it doesn't happens the same thing in "Moulin Rouge" and some Disney teenage musicals, for example), besides the fact that all songs reflect the joyful spirit of surf music of 60s.

Easy Virtue

Original Name: Easy Virtue

Country: United Kingdom

Direction: Stephan Elliott

Script: Stephan Elliott and Sheridan Jobbins

Genre: Comedy

Length: 93 minutes

Year: 2008

"Easy Virtue" speaks of Larita (Jessica Biel), a divorced woman who, after marrying again, will meet the family of her husband in the UK. The reception is not good, due to the shock of a conservative culture with the modernism of the new guest.

A good reason to watch this film is Colin Firth. His character (Jim Whitaker), an imposing man, serious, very elegant and charming, overlaps in the cast. Jim is a survivor of the First World War, which, like any veteran, carries scars left by the deaths he witnessed and guilt for not having saved enough lives. Returning home after the war, he becomes oblivious to his relatives. If we could compare this film with "Schindler's List", Colin Firth would be the girl in red and all other actors would be in black and white.

It reminds me of the costume. In "Easy Virtue", we can see a trend of art directions in current of using neutral colors and bright light locations. In this film, although there is a predominance of neutral colors, there is also the use of dark shades of red. Larita's clothes, although reflecting the fashion of the 1920s, are the closest to the current fashion than the clothes of other characters, perhaps because the character of Larita is revolutionary in relation to others involved in the story.

In fact, the film does not address more than that. Depending on your point of view, "Easy Virtue" does a critic for or against the resistance that Europe has in relation to the influence that North American culture tends to have on other countries of the globe. In my opinion, I believe they are two different cultures and there is no need for acculturation when every one in particular has so much to offer. The secret is that we must keep the common aspects of each country and learn to exalt them in the best possible way.

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