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The Secret In Their Eyes

Started by non capisco, September 04, 2010, 11:08:05 PM

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non capisco

Bravura Argentinian crime thriller which won best foreign language film at this year's Oscars. Saw it today as the latter half of a double bill with the very mediocre 'The Girl Who Played With Fire' and immediately thought "this is more like it". There's a stunning extended one-take chase sequence, a lot of heart, an emotionally brutal scene towards the end and also more humour than I was expecting. In this exceptionally lean cinematic year this stands out as one of the best (along with 'A Prophet', 'Inception', 'Toy Story 3', 'Bad Lieutentant', 'The Disappearance Of Alice Creed' and 'Rec 2' at a push. Was 'Princess And The Frog' this year?). I recommend you go and see it if you haven't done already. If you've been to see a load of old fair-to-middling-to shite fodder recently this may restore your faith in going out and seeing films with an audience in a dark room.

Santa's Boyfriend

This won the Oscar, beating off A Prophet[nb]I really hope no Islamists read that sentence out of context[/nb] and other higher profile contenders.  I don't think it's as strong as A Prophet, which for me was the most powerful (and for the first half hour most unpleasant) cinema experience I've had since Pan's Labyrinth, but it is still one hell of a good film.

The extended
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shot is a masterpiece of cinema, and despite being well versed in cinematic effects I have no idea how it was done - it certainly wasn't CGI, and the only reason I know there was some camera trickery in there is because I know some of the limitations of camera work, and what that camera did was physically impossible.  Yet it had the effect of carrying you into the scene, not bringing you out of it to marvel at the moment.  In a way it's a shame there weren't more shots like that in the film.  It also has the most powerful
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scene I've ever seen, and a real punch in the stomach ending.  It may not be the greatest film ever, and I do think some things will be lost on an audience not familiar with Argentina's fascist era (I certainly felt I missed bits),  but it's well worth watching.

Vitalstatistix

I really hope to see this before it goes. Looks and sounds brill!

non capisco

Quote from: Santa's Boyfriend on September 05, 2010, 12:30:13 PM
The extended
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shot is a masterpiece of cinema, and despite being well versed in cinematic effects I have no idea how it was done

Yeah, I had the same reaction to the bit where
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as I did watching the childbirth scene in Children Of Men. How the hell was that done? That's a rhetorical question as I'd actually rather not know how those little bits of cinematic magic are achieved most of the time, I like having it as a mystery. The whole
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scene was the most exciting thing I've seen in the cinema in ages but then I am a sucker for audacious one-shot takes that drive the narrative along (unlike the one in 'Atonement' that just seems to be there to show off).

vrailaine

My brother went to it, said it was very good.

I, on the other hand, done my usual thing of getting fixated with a television series the guy done a few years beforehand instead. Apparently if you buy the Argentinian DVD, it's got English subtitles.