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Reviews
Plaza Suite (1971)
Well that was flat...
I couldn't relate to that other review at all. We're talking about a seriously entertaining film here, I'm not sure exactly what was boring about it. The hilarity was pretty much non-stop, all the roles were delightfully impeccable, and I doubt that the writing could be flawed at all. I can see how the recommendation below points towards "The Royal Tenenbaums" too, obviously the comedy here-in takes a certain understanding to fully sink in. Not to mention the brilliant poignancy it leaves behind.
"Boring"... feh. That's someone who needs a good hard drink.
Joan of Arc (1999)
Forget what the critics want you to think...
... if you can't stand it like them, then that just goes to show how powerful 'Joan of Arc' really is. It isn't for the faint hearted, and over here 'Joan' didn't even go on general release, I guess the BBFC were too scared to know what a film of such magnitude would have on joe public.
But to be honest, if you aren't horrified by this dazzling, rough-around-the-edges epic, then there really must be something wrong with you. Likewise, if you see this film epecting to enjoy a 'gore-fest', then you must really have lax morals. Personally I came out of my seat five minutes after the credits because I could barely stand from the shock. Heck, we all know what happens in the end, no secret - but there's no 'Hollow-Wood' glamour, no 'Braveheart'-type sentimental twaddle. Death is death: "I must admit, you have a great imagination. Or maybe not great enough. Death is much more simple..."
I admit the comparisons came into my head, whilst imagining how Besson would handle the ending. So I cringed when Wallace got stretched, but I had to cover my eyes as Joan's fate befell her.
This is an incredible drama, a superb feeling of true-to-life history that is just as surreal as Joan's spectacular visions. Besson makes the visual atmosphere so intense throughout, encouraged superbly by his and Birkin's nigh-on-faultless script.
Jovovich fits neatly within the persona of the Saint, all her reactions and tantrums are so lovingly personal, notably her attempts to stave off the judgements of her own conscience (a role entirely posessed by Hoffman). Also strongly notable were Timothy West as the accuser with compassion and Richard Ridings as the eccentric La Hire, I just wonder what John Malkovich's dialect coach was teaching him!
This is what good films should be about, brilliance isn't associated with happy-endings, nor with box-office sell-outs. I just wish it would be possible for more people to know about, and see this film for the love and effort that went into it.