hanagomolakova Reviews

Little Fires Everywhere (2020)

Very angry show

[6/10 · 3 July 2020]

Just finished watching the series and the only feeling that resonates is that I am glad it is over. I basically forced-watched the last two episodes just to finish it and find out how it ends.

I don't think the main problem is Kerry Washington here. I have not read the book and I can't compare the character portrayal of Mia, but clearly, the series has way bigger problems. First of all, it fails to tell a nuanced story and manages to only move from one American cliché to another. Again, have not read the book so I don't know if there is anything else there but this series definitely doesn't offer any new perspectives or interesting angles. All of the characters are flat, their arch is predictable and boring to watch, with one exception and that is Izzy and the very character of Mia. I liked the energy between these two actresses, the development of their relationship was one of the few highlights that made the watch bearable. I actually also liked to watch the unraveling of Mia's character and the story behind. I think Washington's acting was in line with the rest of the tone of the series, it definitely did not strike me as the main reason why the series fails to impress.

The main reason behind this failure, I felt, was the overall monotone, dragging storytelling, which is basically just a lot of anger and hatred (covert and overt) patched together. Scene after scene, there is pain and anger or both, stemming from clichéd scenes and situations. There is no nuance, there is no breathing room for anything else. The preview scenes to every episode (with a few exceptions) seem forcefully added and the suspense is drowned in heaviness of each and every scene.

I started to watch this since I loved Big Little Lies (mainly Season 1, the second season was a lot weaker). I liked the slow unravelling of all of the characters background stories and motives and how it developed. The suspense was also carefully plotted, the actresses had room to give their characters 3D lives. The stories were interesting with a lot of grey areas which gave room for mystery. Every episode was surprising and the unraveling of the stories was nicely paced.

Not in this show. I feel the actors were given only a little wiggle room to give their characters a more nuanced screen life. Instead of that, we saw a lot of black&white performances. This, however, is not the fault of the actors but mainly the directors, who failed to give the series the desired quality.

Every Thing Will Be Fine (2015)

Cinematic portrayal of loneliness, guilt and pain

[7/10 · 25 January 2016]

It happens rarely that I disagree with the majority of the film critic reviews to such an extent as with this film. So, without repeating the plot here for the hundredth time, I'd like to jump straight into it: Contrary to the general feeling of slowness and flatness of the film, I feel that the story and the script called just for this sort of painfully slow, cinematic and gently nuanced filmmaking and Wenders is the master of this type of cinema. Yes, there are clichéd conversation exchanges including the somewhat melodramatic ending, however, the more alert viewer will have already been warned in advance that such will be the case in a scene right before the final sequence, so one is not surprised and can enjoy Tomas' agony to the very last second. Also, I very much enjoyed the cinematography and music, which is the best company to the lonely and painful journey Tomas is going through - a guilt and inner scar that is there to stay for life and one can only have little hope to get rid of such a stone ever. There was also a comment of one reviewer about the flatness and "lack of arc" of the female characters in the story. I disagree that this is the film's flaw - quite the contrary again - it is only very well crafted as such - as the women (actually, as well as Tomas' editor and father) only appear sort of "at the periphery" of his life, doomed never to fully understand his inner notions - a combination of a struggle as a lonely artist only topped by the tremendous guilt and pain he has to live with. The only meaningful connection he has - amazingly perverted, yet understandable at the same time - is with Kate, portrayed - yet again - so mesmerizingly by Gainsbourg, that can hardly breathe during their scenes together. The only flaw that I see in this film is the casting of Franco as Tomas. I don't really understand this choice because even though he is a great actor, this role, I feel could have been better fit to a less "boyish" actor, who could grasp all the weariness of Tomas' everyday grey and burdensome reality a bit better.. However, Franco does his best here and it shows he does get the thin line he has to walk on never to flip the character into too much melodramatic position. So, overall, quite an achievement again for Wenders and the whole crew for keeping this film balancing on the thin edge of the knife the film's tone depends on.

Garbage Prince (2011)

typical Finnish humour for youth

[7/10 · 1 June 2012]

saw this at the Zlín film festival, Czech Republic, and out of the six films I managed to see in two days, this was the strongest one. A prince/Cinderella story set in Finland's small town, the director managed to give the audience a picture of how people perceive the Helsinki "upper class". With humour and story-telling so familiar from the Kaurismaki movies, the film begins with little expectations but surprises at the end when everything wraps up just the perfect way. Emotions are also "second-hand", given to you only after you get to know the characters. Everything wraps up perfectly - Kaurismaki-style. A great film for the young audience.

Incendies (2010)

A Hall of Fame material

[10/10 · 17 July 2011]

The film opens at present day in Montreal with twins in their twenties, Jeanne and Simon Marwan, hearing the will of their mother Nawal Marwan, who has just passed away, from a notary Jean Lebel she'd worked for many years. Her last wish is for them to find their father and brother, to their bewilderment, because they thought their father dead and they never heard about having a brother.

At first, only Jeanne is willing to undertake the journey to an unnamed country in the Middle East (however, this clearly refers to Lebanon, where the author of the play himself was born at and escaped from) while Simon, questioning their mother's sanity, refuses to embark on such a crazy quest.

Simultaneously, their mother's story entwines with their research. An incredible story of a woman who is caught between the conflict of religious conflict between Muslims and Christians, especially the war in the country in the 1970s' and 80s'.

What gives the story an extraordinary strength is exactly this comparison between the perceptions Jeanne and Simon who grew up in a free country versus the life, habits and ways of a nation in the middle of a raging conflict in a country so distant from their lives, especially – and this is apparent during the entire film – because Nawal has shared nothing of her past with their children.

This is portrayed during the twins encounter with the local tradition, especially at one moment, when Jeanne meets the villagers who could have known her father and is told by an elderly woman that "she is looking for her father, but is her mother she knows nothing about". This exactly depicts the relation of the audience in the western world, who, unless they've lived in similar conditions, cannot relate to some of Nawal's later radical actions and the endurance with which she accepts the imprisonment that follows.

This endurance of Nawal through the atrocities she is faced with during her life before the final escape to Canada is mind-blowing. Death, abuse, inhumane conditions and life-lasting rage are emotions Villeneuve has captured with a divine skill.

All pieces to the puzzle are gradually served to the audience (depends of how quickly you pick up on the clues) and the moment you realize what actually happened just stops your heartbeat for a second.

Like many of the critics, I would have thought this film would win the Oscar for the best foreign film. It has everything a film should have to be more than welcomed to the Hall of Fame and a message that clearly, is immortal.

Attenberg (2010)

Very interesting piece of work

[7/10 · 11 July 2011]

I saw this film at a KVIFF screening and just had to sit down and write this bit about it. I think I've seen quite a bit of various films, but this was a real "cinema extraordinaire"… Like Dogtooth, which Tsangari co-produced, Attenberg is a clear criticism of contemporary Greece and the decay of values on a sample so precious to the Greek culture – a family.

Inspired by the BBC series studying the behavior of animals by David Attenborough, the film tries to do something similar, only the with people. Mispronunciation of the biologist's name provides the title to the film.

The plot is quite simple and easy to get. Marina, a 23 year old is only just starting to experiment with her sexuality at the background of a deserted factory, a remnant of industrial Greece of the last century. Her father, who's dying of cancer, only speaks of the procedure of having his body cremated elsewhere, as this is apparently a taboo in Greece. Marina's experimenting her first sexual experience with her best friend Bella, who has apparently had her share already. Enter "Engineer", a nameless character, who serves Marina almost like a human figurine for her first sexual experience.

Let the story begin. Hold on, but there's no story here. Tsangari is not interested in her characters and their journey of how they got being what they are or where they're going. Rather, she studies their character and she does so mercilessly.

She doesn't stop before anything including stripping her characters (and their protagonists) naked, literary. Its not just their bodies we see naked, but also all their secret thoughts and feelings, lets them express everything on the screen for the voyeur-predator sitting in the audience, serving them blood-dripping raw.

To even deepen the animal-like impression the audience gets when seeing the four lead characters, Tsangari lets them act like real animals, and uses these sequences as intermission, sort of, in her film, giving it an even more bizarre impression.

The colors are very simple as well, the general greyness interrupted only by images of the monstrous factory nearby. Camera bets everything on stills having the pattern interrupted only by a moment when Marina and Bella play tennis and tensions between them escalate.

Overall, a very interesting film more likely to shock and make your head spin rather than bore you.

Happythankyoumoreplease (2010)

A real pleasure to watch

[8/10 · 24 May 2011]

This definitely must be one of the best films I've ever seen. Storytelling just doesn't get any better than this.

Nominated for the Grand Jury Prize and winner of the Audience Award at Sundance last year, I had my eye on this flick for quite some time already. But the result was so much more than I expected! The story follows nine New York hipsters and opens with Sam (Josh Radnor), the loser-writer, on his way to an important meeting with a publisher when he crosses paths with young Rasheen, who gets separated from his foster family on subway.

While he struggles with the decision whether to "return" Rasheen to the system or not and suffer the legal consequences he meets Mississippi, a starting singer, whom he tries to have something deeper than the usual one-night stand.

The side story follows his friends Mary and Charlie, already in a serious relationship trying to figure out where they are at the moment, where they want to be as well as combat all the demons that go with it.

A brilliant connection between these two is Annie, Sam's best friend, whose ups and downs help to pull the story together and highlight some of the important messages of the plot.

Honestly, I just couldn't find any flaws in this picture. I can't for a second agree with the critics' complaints about it's excessive cheesiness, life doesn't work like that, the music's too much and so is the number of "high on emotion" scenes, where is the storyline, and other blah blah blah quasi-sophisticated film criticism. I don't buy that.

It was nice to see a film that tries to reflect what people my age go through, decisions they have to take as they see their moral standards collapse under the burden of the daily grayness – the only sure thing adult life has to offer.

Randor is a brilliant actor and, apparently, a very promising talent in screen writing and directing. Casting was brilliant and so were the sets, editing and camera.

With the last frame, I just couldn't help but exhale the usual "aaaah", a sound that only comes very rarely with exceptional films, which Randor's directorial debut Happythankyoumoreplease definitely is.

Ink (I) (2009)

Thumbs up for this superb film

[8/10 · 21 November 2009]

It is definitely not every day that a film like Ink is made. Not even every month and I dare to say there are few of this kind every year. But when I consider the approach of its creators, I must say I'm not that surprised.

After reading an article about the unusual tolerance – joy even – the filmmakers expressed about this movie being pirated, I just had to see it. It is very unusual for filmmakers to openly point out the struggle indy films experience on the market these days – even the problems with getting paid by the already established bigger distribution companies – and go out of their way to make their film available to those who films are actually for.

The film is a celebration of creativity, fantasy, a never-ending game of lights and film-making experimenting all wrapped into a story everyone understands and can relate to: When Emma, a little girl, is taken at night by a creature called Ink, into a different world that exists parallel to what we can see and comprehend, a fight between good and evil unfolds for the girl's life, a result of which largely depends on the path her father chooses.

Apart from some of the weaker performances by some of the actors and actresses and the little slow of the pace in the second half, the film is just one big spectacle of what I call a film-making art.

I was so reminded of Aronofsky's The Fountain and Requiem for a Dream from the first till the last shot, which, surprisingly, did not bother me at all. On the other hand. I enjoyed how the story was told and that there was just the right amount of that imagery not to disrupt the overall impression of the film.

A great achievement for such a little budget.

Thumbs up, in all aspects.

La cité des Roms (2009 TV Movie)

Eye-opening documentary from Bulgarian Roma ghetto

[9/10 · 15 October 2009]

This documentary depicts life of Sliven, one of the Romani ghettos in Bulgaria. The forced ghettoization of the Roma in one place away from the town, the life of its own that the town has and the effort the locals take to keep the Roma separate from the schools and work in the town.

As I found out, this is a controversial issue for many and the views on the Roma and their place in the society differ. Whose fault is it they can't adjust, do they want to adjust and should they be forced to do so, those and other questions are always present in countries of the former Eastern block in Europe especially.

This documentary is a great depiction of the efforts of one man and several children to get a better education than is offered to them and a real eye opener. Highly recommended to everyone who wishes to know more rather than repeat the clichés on the Roma repeated by the majority of the society.

Dispatches: Undercover in Tibet (2008) Season 22, Episode 12

Tibetan returns to Tibet after ten years in exile

[9/10 · 15 October 2009]

This film depicts a journey of Tash Despa, who returns to Tibet after 10 years to report on the terrible oppression of the region by China.

Always scared of the military presence, the film is a shot in extreme conditions – everything must be kept secret, the witnesses that agree to talk on the camera are either scared to death that the Chinese soldiers are going to come and kill them and their families or are in such a state that they almost seem nothing worse can happen to them than what the soldiers have already done.

There is 1 policeman per every 20 Tibetans. Many of the locals have undergone forced sterilizations and torture. Monasteries were shut down and the nomadic Tibetans forced to live in ghettos (here I was really wondering – many people in the hall sympathize with the Tibetans without realizing the resemblance to the restrictions forced onto the Roma in Europe over centuries and the inevitable outcome we see now.. amazing).

Tahs Despa was present at the screening of the film at the One World festival in Prague this spring and was so kind to answer questions after the screening. When asked what we can do to support Tibet, he thanked for all the efforts already done and suggested a boycott of Chinese products.

Crude (2009)

Brilliant documentary on a courageous battle

[10/10 · 15 October 2009]

This documentary about the Chevron-Texaso case and the struggle of a small law company trying to win a lawsuit against this oil giant and force them to take responsibility for the ecologic catastrophe they left behind when drilling oil in the Ecuador Amazon rainforest, leaving behind open or poorly sanitized oil pit holes, near or on top of – yes, you heard me, on top of – which people live and suffer from severe illnesses such as cancer, leukemia, or severe skin problems as a result.

Amazing documentary, amazing story, which has so much reminded me of the courageous fight of David against Goliath combined with a sprinkle of Erin Brockowich. Amazing how a few can move mountains to help total strangers at a country far away from their ordinary world...

Oblivion (2008)

Interesting point of view

[7/10 · 15 October 2009]

Film by a Peruvian director living in the Netherlands, which tells the story of the Peruvian changes of the political scene from an interesting point of view – the bar tenders and street entertainers. The story focuses mainly on the frequency with which the Peruvian presidents change and how it affects the country.

Corruption, assassinations, civil wars, poverty, and instability are the daily bread of Peruvians as well. Despite the film does not bring any major breakthroughs on views of the country and does not reveal anything of the country's political background it offers an interesting point of view from the country's "street folk".

Nothing But the Truth (I) (2008)

Great story, great tension, great film

[9/10 · 15 October 2009]

Kate Beckinsale, Vera Farmiga, Alan Alda, Matt Dilon. Such great cast alone was enough "quality stamp" for me to get me interested in this film. I must say Nothing But The Truth has exceeded my expectations many times over.

Based on a true story, the basic plot line has close focus on a reporter of a Washington D.C. major newspaper Rachel Armstrong (Kate Beckinsale) who after writing an article on the US president's actions revealing the identity of a secret CIA agent Erica Van Doren (Vera Farmiga) is being pressured to reveal her secret source by the government in such ways she could never have imagined.

The story flows flawlessly, picks up nicely and slowly drags you into a twist of controversial emotions, drawing the characters with all their pros and cons and letting you slowly get acquainted with their moral inner fights.

Beckinsale and Farmiga have a great energy between them that will have you forget you're watching a movie and catch your breath at the few scenes at which they confront each other. Alda, as usual is a brilliant defender of humanity and freedom. Dilon's take on the "hyenous prosecutor" is so tremendously real will all aspects of belief in his work it's simply scary.

Alik Sakharov great DoP work on this film shows every muscle moving on the actors' faces, which underlines the great work of the actors.

This film definitely proves Lurie knows what he's doing out there and I'll definitely have my eye on his future work.

Puisque nous sommes nés (2008)

Tough document on poorest kids of the world

[8/10 · 15 October 2009]

A great portrayal of life that kids living in the poorest conditions in Brazil have.

The film follows a story of two boys, who are stuck between two choices – to continue farming which really consists of having a little field and couple of farm animals to tend after or try to make it to the bigger world at the local gas station where they help out often just for small coins or some food. Often, they go hungry all day and just end up stealing leftovers at the gas station's fast food place.

The boys' biggest focus is to stay away from drugs and live a normal life making money to support themselves, while at the same time battling mood swings which often bring out the question of suicide. When you consider the boys being less than 15 years old, those are some tough thoughts to have and decisions to make at that age..

Ein Augenblick Freiheit (2008)

Rare portrayal of Iranian refugees

[10/10 · 4 October 2009]

One of the rare films that is made only once in a while, a unique combination of human suffering under a dictatorial regime, hope to escape and live in freedom, struggle to remain courageous, meaning of family, desire to find love, but most of all, lack of understanding and desire of the world outside to help those who have managed to escape a cruel regime and their only desire is to live in freedom.

The story evolves around a family of an Iranian political activist, his young wife and their son, two children and two friends who are trying to take them to their parents already in Austria, and an older and younger man.

All these stories follow the same fate of refugees from Iran via the mountains to Ankara, Turkey, where they are waiting for a UN refugee status. While they wait they live at a filthy pension always beware of the Iranian secret police and trying to cling to their hope.

What distinguishes this film from others is the sensitive portrayal of the characters and the range of the things that drive them, wittingly knitted together by a plot that combines the most serious moments with those that make you smile, all time keeping the story believable.

Swinki (2009)

Good, but not excellent

[7/10 · 4 October 2009]

The topic of child prostitution is one of the hardest to grasp on the camera and my admiration goes to every director who has taken a shot at the topic so far.

Swinki is a surprising portrayal of the industry and has a take on the subject which, unlike in other movies, shows the kids voluntarily slip in the industry for money and keep coming back for more before they discover it might be too late to leave.

The film portrays this development accordingly, with the young actors presenting just the right amount of professionalism and amateurism needed for their characters to be believable. The plot is easy to follow with several surprising and shocking moments that let you peak in how far things can go.

However, having said all that, I felt a topic such as this has much more potential to study in more depth than those Glinski shows on screen.

When compared to Lilja-4ever, a film which is one of those films that you will never forget and one of the best ones I've seen on the subject, Swinki is a only a nicely told tale with a good structure that is somehow afraid to dig deeper and show more layers to this horrible issue happening in our world every single day.

Angel at Sea (2009)

A diamond-like masterpiece, an excellent psychological study

[9/10 · 9 September 2009]

I saw Angel at Sea at the Karlovy Vary film festival this year and knew immediately this film should definitely be among the finalists for the Crystal Globe. So when the film took the prize in the end, I felt the jury chose the best picture adequately.

Set in sunny Morocco, the film tells a story about a family of an EU lawyer relocated there and especially focuses on the relationship of a twelve-year old boy Louis with his manic-depressive father. When the father tells Louis that he plans to commit suicide one day and makes the boy keep it secret between the two of them, a special relationship between them develops with Louis doing all he can not to let his father slip away while the rest of the family has trouble grasping what is going on.

Dumont shot this film partially based on his own experience with his father and that is indisputably one of the reasons why it feels to real and honest.

However, there is much more that makes the film an unforgettable and unnerving experience. From a wonderful photography, scenes that are so visually and artistically spot on in every frame, the right pace of the film that never lets you breath out during the entire film, and performances of all the actors, the film is a diamond-like masterpiece, an excellent psychological study where you can hardly find a weak spot.

An excellent directorial debut for Dumont, and I'm looking forward to see more from this promising director.

Sin Nombre (2009)

One of the best debut features of the year

[8/10 · 8 September 2009]

Directed by the young talent Cary Fukunaga, a winner of the Sundance Film Festival Directing award, the film focuses on a combination of issues in South America, from involvement of kids and teenagers in Mexican gangs to what it takes for those who decide to leave South and Central America and seek greener pastures in the U.S.

The story follows two main characters, Casper and Sayra, played by lesser-known actors Edgar Flores and Paulina Gaitan. While Casper is the member of the feared gang Mara Salvatrucha, his faith connects him with Sayra, a Honduran emigrant that travels with her father and uncle together with the other emigrants on a freight train to the U.S.

On this journey together, as Casper tries to escape his faith and Sayra to meet hers, the main characters are slowly blending together, complete each other through their diversity, while they have to face the rough side of life in today's Mexico.

As a result, the film has a gripping, disturbing, moving sour-sweet blend to it, and is exactly the type of the film where it's unpredictability, natural change of pace, and lots of eye candy in the scenery, makes you part of the story until the credits role, making you beg for more inside.

Fukunaga's film feels so real not only thanks to his time spent in Mexico and his first hand experience with both, emigrants and immigrants he met before and while shooting the film, his cast of actual members of the Mara gang, perfect editing and combination of locations and the effort he took while filming to get the best out of his actors ("apart from beating them", he joked at Vary), makes the film one of the best feature debuts I've ever seen.