Change Your Image
TheOmnislash
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Lists
An error has ocurred. Please try againReviews
Marketa Lazarová (1967)
Stunning medieval tale about the contrast of two religions
Marketa Lazarová left me with mixed feelings, although I believe negative impressions were more significant right after the experience. The chaotic and, for me, unsystematic imagery and camera movement made me uncomfortable, however, as the story's grim and dark tone elucidate the visuals, I had to admit that these concerns of mine assist the intentions Mr. Vlacil had in mind after all. On the other hand, the depiction of Kozlik and his men, which was mine primary objection against the imagery, was a bit frugal and uninteresting. The barbaric and primitive behavior as well as their appearance was for me too poorly written and depicted in a sense that I could not really distinguish those people. Consequently, nor Mikolás' nor Alexandra's character could grab my attention or at least create an emotional thread, thus I felt no catharsis whatsoever.
What I need to highlight when I talk about my concerns, are the stereotypical and unnecessary tools by which medieval world was expressed. The Gregorian chants were, in my opinion, overused and unfortunately unpleasant to listen to. The beastly manner and sexuality is on one hand well-founded, on the other, it is needlessly stressful and visually obnoxious - this prudery might seem too conservative and casuistic, still I believe some acts should not be depicted on film.
The passion and unfortunate fate Marketa had to face also seemed, if I may, boring since her identity and characteristics were hidden throughout the film - this might not be a crucial problem, only I did not feel anything towards her and thus, as mentioned, I did not really felt anything at all after the film has ended.
Shift from paganism to Christianity was well-depicted and the presence of mythical and prelogical thinking, as Lévy-Bruhl puts, was equally dominant in both the pagan and medieval souls - the siege scene expresses this perfectly which is why this might be my favorite moment. Radical and extreme thinking is also a mentionable aspect which I felt in every dialogue as well as in the grotesque and uneasy score. The spectacular and unforgettable shots were probably the reason why I concluded that I liked Marketa Lazarová at last.
The Shape of Water (2017)
Is Del Toro actually a spectacular director?
Director Guillermo Del Toro's skills and excellent filming techniques have been frequently questioned by many after releasing his two last films: Pacific Rim and Crimson Peak. Del Toro has always been a quite controversial director due to his unique style, however, it is agreed that his best film was The Pan's Labyrinth which caught attention and has an impact on some other directors. The question is whether he is able to make such masterpieces like Pan's Labyrinth or whether he is just an average director who had one spectacularly great film. His new film, The Shape of Water has definitely answered the question although this opinion probably won't be popular or widely held.
The Shape of Water was released in 2017 and got four Oscars including the Best motion picture of the year and the best achievement in directing. These awards may suggest that Del Toro's new film is spotless, in fact, the Academy Awards has lately become rather a show which tries to be as politically correct as possible than awarding actually great and splendid works such as mother!, Phantom Thread or Dunkirk.
The film takes place in the early 50's, 60's in the USA during the Cold War era. Sally Hawkins (Elisa Esposito) is a deaf and shy woman who works at a research facility as a janitor when a strange sea creature is captured and is held as a prisoner in this facility. Sally falls in love with this creature because they are both suffering from discrimination and she decides to rescue him.
Del Toro's most powerful tool in order to make his films astonishing is the colorful and unique world he creates. The costumes and the scenery are prominently beautiful and thus the whole atmosphere is just amazing and is on point. Visually and cinematographically The Shape of Water is immaculate and the music score and the soundtracks are also mentionable elements. On the other hand the film has some terrible mistakes and aspects that made me become disenchanted with the directing of Del Toro since I had high expectations due to the eleven Oscar nominations and my admiration towards the director. The film is full of poor dialogues and inappropriate scenes especially the ones that try to make the film more naturalistic and sincere but only making it unnecessary and unpleasant. I've lost count the number of times how many clichés were in the film moreover the whole point of the film is just a boring and frequently discussed cliché: only inner beauty can generate true love. The problem is not with the message itself but the way the film tries to depict it. It is clear that Del Toro wanted to make sure everybody understands and embraces the essence of his film for the very meaning of The Shape of Water was said by Sally in the film world by world. Del Toro doesn't even want to make people think he wants to make sure everybody can understand this simple piece of wisdom. There is no need for interpretations or deeper thoughts the goal was unambiguously to win the desired Oscar award by being politically correct and to express an extremely simple message. This is the mockery of the art of motion picture. One of the characters is depicted as homosexual although it isn't dramaturgically reasonable since there is nothing to do with his sexuality. Almost every single male character is either a bad person or a weak one. These are the most important elements that show the impact of feminism and ultra liberalism on the film industry. Politics should not affect art or sports and that is the reason why I completely dislike Del Toro's film.
In light of the above, the answer to the question is that Guillermo Del Toro may have some nice ideas and has a great fantasy; however, he is not an incredibly memorable or fantastic director after all. The Shape of Water is not worth watching although visually it is pretty well-done.
Silence (2016)
Another masterpiece by Martin Scorsese
In 1988 the film directed by Martin Scorsese, titled The last temptation of Christ, was known as a quite scandalous movie due to the outrage among Christian communities. Almost thirty years have passed since then and Martin Scorsese made another religion-related film which focuses on faith as well. A Japanese novel called Silence was written by Shusaku Endo in 1969 and has the same title as the adaption. Silence was nominated for one Oscar and was first released in the Vatican. The film is set in the seventeenth century in Japan where two Jesuit priests are attempting to find their mentor who is rumored to have committed apostasy. The mission however is quite dangerous since Japanese inquisitors are looking for Christians to slaughter or to force them to refuse their faith. Rodrigues, one of the two priests is the main character portrayed by Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge, 99 homes). Although Martin Scorsese has already received probably the best awards that a director can be awarded, he is still able to astonish people. The main questions are quite extraneous for people in the twenty-first century: where is the line between the practice of the faith and idolatry? Is there someone listening to the prayers? Is our conviction more important than rationality? These questions are old-fashioned and long-ago forgotten ones however they perfectly reflect on an age when morality and conviction were important, whilst these values are not precious nowadays. Andrew Garfield(Father Rodrigues) is overwhelmingly authentic and amazing as a loyal believer who has to go through hard physical and mental trials such as not betraying the Lord or being closed away from civilization for long weeks. Moreover, he needs to deal with these circumstances without hearing any answers from his God. This grinding silence is torturing him until he starts to doubt. He compares his passion to the passion of Jesus as he becomes the prisoner of a well-known inquisitor and believes the only way of escaping is martyrdom. The most interesting scene is the meeting with Father Ferreira(Liam Neeson) when he gets the answers and recognizes the fact that he had been seeking them the wrong way. The main reason what makes this film amazing is the remarkable acting and the great dialogues. Cinematography and sound editing are also remarkable components of this great masterpiece. I would recommend this movie for those who appreciate slowly evolving films and for those who like Martin Scorsese's movies.