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DenSpade
Reviews
The Fare (2018)
A master piece of a romance
A masterfully written romance, superbly acted. The production demonstrates a high level of skill by using minimalist means to guide the multi-layered plot through the bittersweet arc of suspense.
It is structured like a play as a dialog between the two actors. The action takes place in a cab. There is an invisible voice from off-screen, the enigmatic dispatcher, for whom the audience and protagonists first develop mild sympathy, then creepy feelings. There is the skillful stylistic alternation between black and white and color. The tension is built up without any action. The play is carried with great acting by Brinna Kelly, who also wrote the short story for the script, Gino Anthony Peso. The story itself would also be suitable as a stage play.
Great cinematic art! I love it!
The Battle of the Sexes (1960)
A nasty piece of misogyny
Like a rancid old sock, the old male customs stink. The film culminates not with a tally but with a cynical bouquet of forget-me-nots that the character assassin gives to the protagonist. She should just not recover from your trauma and probably be finally trampled. One of the worst roles of Peter Sellers. The only justification of this piece is that of a historical evidence for the contempt of women in the 60s.
Outside the Wire (2021)
Promising story but terrible production
The actually beautiful script on the exciting topic of humans versus artificial intelligence is ruined by a terrible production. The ending with its patriotism seems silly and lacks harmony. The protagonists give a passable acting performance. Especially Damson Idris convincing act of a young nerd with this rebellious behavior, who is torn by ethical scruples of his actions, is very authentic.
However, the stage designer has really missed the mark with his idiotic Americanized distorted image of Ukraine. When video screens with American hamburger advertisements run in the market and American flags are hung up, this completely destroys the tension built up until then and leaves the audience stunned. Ukrainian patriots hang up Ukrainian flags! And when suddenly the flashing Chevrolet Escalade appeared, my hair stood on end. In the Ukraine!
Not even the great location of the Art Deco control room helps, a well-known technical artifact in Ukraine, which is not accessible to the public. The rest of the film destroys this chosen impression! What remains in this film is the disappointment about the missed opportunity of a better production!
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
What a delightfull reminiscence of old times
A touching movie with well developed characters and a great script played by excellent actors. Very well spiced with drama and humor. Photography, stage and tricks are those of a great movie. The many quotes to the grand old days are perhaps even better understood for someone who grew up in Europe. A wonderful realization of an inspiration by Stephan Zweig.
The Pledge (2001)
Remake of a subtle story
Friedrich Dürrenmatt has written the subtle story in the Fifties. It was used first for the film "Es geschah am hellichten Tag" (USA: "It Happened in Broad Daylight") in 1958 with Ladislao Vajda as Director, Heinz Rühman as police officer and Gerd Froebes as pedophile criminal, both in extraordinary performance.
The story was discovered again in 1994 for a remake "In the Cold Light of Day", directed by Rudolf van den Berg.
In 1997 another remake was produced in German directed by Nico Hofmann.
"The pledge" builds up the plot promising in the beginning. But the end shows an absolute collapse of the fantasy of screenplay. It looks like Dürrenmatt's plot was to complicate to understand and the surrender was maniac and burned car.