A quirky family in the Ukrainian Village neighborhood in Chicago awaits and survives the arrival of the Great Aunt from the old country. The grandfather, mother, two sisters, and brother all live under the same roof, while a chorus of women keep an eye on what's going on. Magical realism plays a role as the flowers move and members of the family talk to them. It's an odd film which almost feels more like a play at times, both in the staging and in the acting, which gave it a bit of the feel of a student film. A very good student film, don't get me wrong. The story is engaging, as are most of the actors. The camera work isn't all that sophisticated, and it's the combination of this plus the music that give it away as an independent film. It lacks the high gloss quality of a big studio production. Again, that's not a criticism, just an observation. I liked the music. It was thematic. Every time we were in the church we heard church music. There was a lot of cello and clarinet. Sometimes the cello was a bit too obvious. Sometimes the music was WAY too obvious in foreshadowing what would happen next. But the film engaged me for the 1h40 or so that it runs, and it made me think a bit afterwards, and I appreciate that.
Reviews
3 Reviews
No News from God
(2001)
Four languages!
8 March 2003
Amusing film which is in four languages! Do your best to get an original copy, not a dubbed one. The language of hell is English, the language of heaven is French, the angels communicate to each other in Latin, and the language of Earth is Spanish. It's worth it just for that. Good acting, creative story and filming.
Minority Report
(2002)
Average
7 October 2002
What a disappointment. After all the rave reviews, I left fairly empty.
The feel and lighting reminded me of the superficial A.I. The chase was too long. The use of previously written music, i.e., Shubert, Tchikovsky, Bach, did not help the story. The idea that we'll have any of the technology shown there in 52 years is, for the most part, preposterous.
I think I would have enjoyed the film more if the chase hadn't been so long that I got bored and picked apart the movie during the chase. I went for human or societal commentary, which is what good science fiction is good at. Whereas there was certainly some, the way the story was presented did not pull me with it. A shame, because it had potential.
The feel and lighting reminded me of the superficial A.I. The chase was too long. The use of previously written music, i.e., Shubert, Tchikovsky, Bach, did not help the story. The idea that we'll have any of the technology shown there in 52 years is, for the most part, preposterous.
I think I would have enjoyed the film more if the chase hadn't been so long that I got bored and picked apart the movie during the chase. I went for human or societal commentary, which is what good science fiction is good at. Whereas there was certainly some, the way the story was presented did not pull me with it. A shame, because it had potential.
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