| Overall Grade: |
B |
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| Story: |
B |
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| Acting: |
A |
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| Direction: |
B |
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| Visuals: |
A |
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Great Movie, but I cannot recommend it.
by Calvin (movies profile)
Oct 27, 2007
2
of
5 people found this review helpful
I enjoyed the movie very much, emotionally, intellectually, and visually. It contains no violence or sex or drugs or special effects, and doesn't need them one bit, holding my attention the entire time with the visuals, story, and interspersed words of wisdom.
However:
[1] Some of the foreign language accents made the dialog difficult to hear & understand -- it made me think I was missing an important artistic secret, and I wanted to acquire every pith of understanding that the character (and writer) possessed.
[2] There is unnecessary overuse of swearing (especially the F-word, which is the only reason this movie was rated R) -- the vernacular gives it a real and personal-level feel, but in my opinion it went too far. (One of the things I hear people say is how sensitive this movie is, but it is not sensitive when it comes to the language: Hearing the great mentor call his apprentice a "little sh-t" is both endearing AND harsh, for people can do sh--ty things without becoming a sh-t). Sticking to the limits of 3 or 4 F-words that Motion Picture Association allows would have saved the movie from the R-rating and still would have allowed for its earthy feel.
[3] The movie is balanced with humor and emotion, but most of the emotion that holds you throughout the film, except the final resolution last minutes, is unpleasant due to the exaggerated long-lasting dysfunctional reaction of some of the characters to loss, living in the depths of bitterness and depression for too long -- I felt anxious through most of the movie.
[4] I cannot recommend this movie because of 5-seconds of background narration, which did not add one bit to the side-character it applied to, or the film -- it only stuck in my brain through the whole movie and afterward, and I wonder why it was included: the main character's mother of German ancestry, when watching old WWII movies, "secretly roots for the Germans." I didn't take it as an anti-Semitic remark; it just seemed to be carelessly and casually inserted into the movie with no reason. I just don't get it. Because of those 5-seconds, I can not recommend it to many people I know, who are artists even, and I think they would really enjoy this movie, except for those 5-seconds, and if I were to recommend it to them, I would never hear the end of it.
Points 1, 2, & 3 are just normal and perhaps even desirable reactions and impressions, are part of even the finest movies, and are petty concerns in contrast to the greatness of the rest of the film. If it were not for point 4, this would be a truly outstanding film; but point 4 can not be ignored. It seems to have slipped by most of the audience because of the rest of the film's magnificence. But deep inside there is a nagging suppressed question mark; and as soon as you bring it out of the subconscious, you are left with a huge 5-second black mark. Erase it, and the entire canvas becomes pure.
Imagine: 5-seconds spoil the entire film, because there would be no "local color" or art or "free and open self expression" if the Germans won the war. |
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