victor9000 Reviews

Vivre sa vie (1962)

God-ard

[9/10 · 23 March 2000]

Brilliantly shot story of an aspiring actresses' descent into prostitution and beyond. The frame compositions are always starling and provocative, Karina is marvelous and there's one heck of a great discussion on silence vs. speech. Broken into 12 chapters, you are often left a little confused as to how much time has passed and what exactly has transpired, but that makes each segment so interesting. One of the most ironically named films I've seen, My Live to Live is a seminal work >

Ro.Go.Pa.G. (1963)

Four Rooms it's not...

[8/10 · 8 March 2000]

Four short films by three Italians and one Jean-Luc Godard on our "new" era still seem fresh (especially Gregoretti's segment) after nearly thirty years. They all share the pessimistic thread that the world is becoming worse and individuals no longer control the course of their own lives. Each part is engrossing, yet The Range-Grown Chicken (Part IV) is particularly brilliant. Structuring a film on consumerism from the perspectives of a commercially bombarded father and a capitalist professor sets up a great division between consumerism and free will. Overall, interesting and worth seeing.

Magnolia (1999)

Why American film is still worth watching

[9/10 · 12 January 2000]

P.T. Anderson's Magnolia is a visual symphony of emotion, reflection and brilliant characters, orchestrated by a script that makes you forget normal conceptions of time. The film ranges from symbolically interpretable to beautiful clarity, but never ventures into the blatant. Anderson seems to really care for and understand each of the characters, yet avoids heavy handed judgement or swelling violins to get his thoughts across. Insightful, provocative and compelling, Magnolia brings art to the American cinema.