Amazon.com

Imagine a Cheech and Chong pothead comedy, only instead of two scruffylowlifes, the movie is about an aimless Scottish gardener and a middle-agedBritish widow with a green thumb. Grace (Brenda Blethyn of Secrets andLies and Little Voice) has just discovered that her recently deceasedhusband has left her with an enormous debt when her gardener Matthew (CraigFerguson, The Big Tease) asks her to help him tend to his small,personal-use marijuana crop. Grace soon realizes that they can turn her greenhouse into a hydroponics laboratory and turn out a profitable crop--if only theycan keep the local constables at bay and then find a dealer to actually sell thestuff. Saving Grace has well-developed characters, intelligent dialogue,a charming and capable cast, and clean, clear direction. But at heart it's stilla marijuana comedy, with most of its funniest moments coming from the silly,stoned behavior of elderly ladies and other stuffy Brits. Nothing wrong withthat, and Blethyn and Ferguson give the film a strong anchor. The ending goes alittle over-the-top, but most of the movie is well-grounded in genuine humanbehavior. A subplot about Matthew's girlfriend's pregnancy is treated withrespect and integrity. Sweet, silly, and sincere. --Bret Fetzer ... Read more

Reviews (55)

Quaint, entertaining and enjoyable
This droll English comedy kept me enchanted and amused throughout. Grace Trevethyn (Brenda Blethyn) is widowed by her husband when he takes a flying leap out of an airplane without a parachute. Upon putting their affairs in order, she discovers that he spent all their money and mortgaged the estate leaving her penniless and steeply in debt. In a last ditch effort to save the estate, she hits upon the idea of using her hothouse and her considerable skills with plants to grow and sell high quality marijuana. Thus, the formerly wealthy widow collaborates with her gardener to grow and process the weed and attempt to bring it to market. The results are often hilarious, especially her negotiations with the drug kingpin and the reactions of the local residents.

The film is well directed and written with numerous funny situations throughout. Director Nigel Cole keeps the pace brisk and works well with the actors to produce a good deal of physical comedy laced with comical reaction scenes by various characters. He also treats us to some terrific locations that show off the wonderful English countryside. The acting is excellent, especially by Brenda Blethyn, who is quite humorous as the fish out of water determined to make her way in the drug culture. She has a quality that makes her equally believable as a proper English aristocrat and a common conniver. Craig Ferguson is also good as her partner in crime, a hapless fellow whose harebrained ideas are always getting him into trouble.

The story is not very original, the film having thematic similarities to numerous British comedies of the recent past ("Waking Ned Devine", "The Full Monty"), however one can do worse than imitate the success of these films. I rated it an 8/10. Overall, it is quaint, entertaining and enjoyable. For those looking for a light film that will tickle them, this is an excellent choice.

Charming and Quirky
I first saw Saving Grace on a Virgin Atlantic flight in July, coming home from Scotland. I never heard of the movie, but was quickly drawn in by the characters setting and plot. When it finally opened in the U.S., I became a one-man PR firm, talking the film up and getting people to go see it. Brenda Blethyn is one of my favorite actresses, back from when she played the mother in "A River Runs Through It." She plays Grace with dignity, warmth, and just a touch of desperation. Craig Ferguson is nothing like the character he plays on Drew Carey. His Matthew is sweet, concerned, and a little irresponsible, but trying hard to do the best he can. The supporting cast is wonderful too, adding a richness to the village in Cornwall that makes you care about what is happening, and believe it to be possible. Martin Clunes as Dr. Bamford, and Valerie Edmond as Matthew's girlfriend, Nicky, provide a sense of whimsy and groundedness to the events that unfold. Combine the performances with a good soundtrack and the beautiful setting on the Cornish coast and you have a great "little" film in which you will discover new things with each viewing.

Pass the dutchie, Grace
I loved Brenda Blethyn so much in "Secrets and Lies" that picking up "Saving Grace" was a no-brainer for me. Grace Trevethyn (Blethyn) is devestated by her husband's sudden suicide, but even more astonished at what apparently brought it on- he mortgaged everything they own and the bank is ready to foreclose. As Grace brainstorms how to get the dosh to keep her home, her gardner and loyal friend Matthew ("Drew Carey"s Craig Ferguson), whose girlfriend is unexpectedly pregnant, offers Grace a solution that will solve their prospective money woes: use Grace's horticulture know-how and ample greenhouse to nurse and multiply his marijuana plant to sell to a dealer. The humor sometimes slips into Benny Hill mode as Matthew and his doctor friend Martin (played by "British Men Behaving Badly"'s Martin Clunes, who is also the voice of the children's cartoon "Kipper")help Grace fend off the bank and the cops, not to mention the stodgy residents who all know what Grace is up to, but don't discuss it. One of the films funniest moments comes when two old ladies (one of whom is played by Emma Thompson's Mum Phyllida Law) stumble upon Grace's stash and think it's tea. They brew up a cuppa and get seriously stoned. Then, the film takes a more ridiculous approach as Grace and her husband's mistress enter a seedy London club to find a dealer to sell the stuff to. Still, this little ripple isn't enough to bring "Saving Grace" down to 4 stars for me. All around jolly good fun!

It'll sneak up on you
This charming, amusing film starts out fairly quiet and unassuming. When the recently widowed Grace Trevethyn (Brenda Blethyn) finds that her husband left her with a pile of debt, she slowly realizes that if she doesn't find a way to increase her income dramatically, she would lose her house. Her gardener Matthew Stewart (Craig Ferguson) encourages her to help him with his struggling pot plants. She takes this to her greenhouse and is hit by an idea on how to make money. All this is encouraged by her doctor Martin Bamford (Martin Clunes). Watching the remaining sequence of events unfold will leave you laughing.

Cornwall is not in Scotland or Northern England..?
Contrary to some really bad reviewers on this site [Shashank Tripathi on "'WEED"ING OUT MONEY TROUBLES IN A CORNWALL SETTING" and Ante Soda on "Grace saved herself"] Cornwall is not in Scotland or Northern England..? Some of this film's harshest reviewers have no idea about the setting of this work. Were they stoned when they watched the show, or wrote their reviews? Either way, don't take their word for it because they are obviously clueless about this motion picture which is outstandingly charming. British comedy fans won't be disappointed with "Saving Grace" either... ... Read more

Amazon.com

Amores Perros roughly translates to "Love's a bitch," and it's an apt summation of this remarkable film's exploration of passion, loss, and the fragility of our lives. In telling three stories connected by one traumatic incident, Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu uses an intricate screenplay by novelist Guillermo Arriaga to make three movies in close orbit, expressing the notion that we are defined by what we lose--from our loves to our family, our innocence, or even our lives. These interwoven tales--about a young man in love with his brother's pregnant wife, a perfume spokeswoman and her married lover, and a scruffy vagrant who sidelines as a paid killer--are united by a devastating car crash that provides the film's narrative nexus, and by the many dogs that the characters own or care for. There is graphic violence, prompting a disclaimer that controversial dog-fight scenes were harmless and carefully supervised, but what emerges from Amores Perros is a uniquely conceptual portrait of people whom we come to know through their relationship with dogs. The film is simultaneously bleak, cynical, insightful, and compassionate, with layers of meaning that are sure to reward multiple viewings. --Jeff Shannon ... Read more

Reviews (149)

"If you want to make God laugh . . . tell Him your plans."
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's "Amores Perros" is a noble attempt to restore some much-needed vitality and energy to the film medium. However, it is a muddled piece of work that ultimately proves to be both dynamic and lacking.

The events of three different stories are woven together. "Octavio and Susana" revolves around a forbidden love affair and a frenzied car chase in which one of the cars is carrying a severely wounded dog. The chase eventually ends in a horrific car crash. "Daniel and Valeria" is a tale about a television producer (Alvaro Guerrero) who leaves his family for a model and actress (Goya Toledo). Their romantic bliss is disrupted by the disappearance of the woman's dog and her involvement in the car crash from the previous story. "El Chivo and Maru" is about a mysterious man (Emilio Echevarria) who is much more dangerous than his run-down appearance would suggest.

"Amores Perros" is just too long and too disjointed. It is ambitious filmmaking in the sense that it abandons all pretenses at conventional storytelling, but the loose connections between the separate stories are just too loose to create a solid, satisfying narrative tapestry. Its morally-ambiguous characters are a welcome departure from the goody-goody stock characterizations that occupy too many Hollywood productions these days, but they do not exist to further any coherent theme or story. Rather, they are there merely to produce sensation. "Amores Perros" is admirable for capturing the stark nature and feel of the darker aspects of the world we live in and for its unflinching and sometimes dazzling filmmaking craftsmanship. However, the film does not come together when all is said and done and fails to leave behind any kind of lasting impression.

Feverish And Driven.
"Amores Perros" comes as a roaring sigh in this era of commercial filmmaking over-flowing the market. It is a masterwork done with passion, intelligence and absolute brilliance. With this film director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu has announced his genius to the world and his status as a new major player in the directing game. He comes flying in like Oliver Stone and Martin Scorsese with their first films. What makes this such a great movie is how it vibrates it feeling and realism, we can relate to the characters because they feel real. The film is divided into three stories within Mexico City (but they could take place anywhere else), the first, "Octavio And Susana" is a tale of forbidden lust when Octavio (played by the now popular Gael Garcia Bernal) falls for his hard-edged brother's wife and uses his dog for dogfighting as a way to get some money in a scheme to run off with Susana. This is the story that takes us into the bowels of Mexican culture, into the dark corners of any city, with rich characters and deliciously bloody, violent scenarios that remind us of Arturo Ripstein, who's "Deep Crimson" was another great macabre work of Mexican cinema, or there are also traces of "Los Olvidados" by the great Luis Bunuel, surely the most influential director to work in Mexico (while in exile from Spain). The next story, "Daniel And Valeria" is a darkly comic tale of superficial ways of life being crushed by the realities OF life. Daniel works in a fashion magazine and leaves his wife and children for a beautiful supermodel who loses her leg in a horrible car accident. Here we see some of the film's strongest acting as the emotions boil and ultimately explode. The last tale is "El Chivo And Maru" about an ex-guerrilla hired by a businessman to kill his brother. This story too has great elements of dark comedy injected into the tense drama but the real heart of the story is the surprising truths behind the identity of El Chivo. "Amores Perros" is sure to be an influential film among new young directors, and yet it is so good because it is obvious Inarritu knows the works of the greats like Scorsese and Bunuel and knows what to borrow and how to polish what he borrows to a gloss. Obviously this is the kind of movie that makes reputations, consider that cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto, who brings a rich, gritty look to the movie, has already been hired by Oliver Stone for his epic "Alexander." And Inarritu recently participated in a September 11 film composed of 11 films by 11 directors. "Amores Perros" is real, vibrant cinema, just look at the opening chase scene that completely grips us. It is a visceral work that should be watched by all who appreciate good movies and want something new and fresh.

Love and Dogs
Emilio Echevarria makes one of the most powerful Mexican films to be viewed in US American cinemas to date. This three-part film follows three stories and the interwoven themes of love and dogs. The first story, "Octavio and Susana" features the at once grittily violent and tragically romantic story of Octavio and his sister-in-law, Susana. Octavio chooses dog fighting as his path to liberate his love Susana and himself from their destitute state of servitude to Octavio's family. The story ends with a bloody crash that brings us to the next story of "Daniel and Valeria," and we are harshly jolted by the contrast between this beautiful model and her apartment overlooking her billboard and where we left off in Octavio and Susana's bloody lives. Echevarria even foreshadows this contrast earlier in the film when Valeria appears in the background on a television talkshow in the livingroom of Ocatvio's friend prior to a final dogfight. However, Echevarria cleverly turns our concerns on their head, and the most superficially perfect of lives becomes the most sad. We are left feeling empty and helpless when "El Chivo and Maru" ties all three stories together, by at once showing dogs as our loves, our enemies, our weaknesses. This film is gritty and real; the cinematography is at once documentarylike, and beautifully crafted. The shift in time and space suggests the ties between love and dogs, a theme that carries us through the end of the film. You will not be able to see this film once; multiple viewings are required in order to capture all of the beauty and pain.

"Amores Perros" certainly lives up to its name
There have been many movies where it seems obvious that the director has been inspired Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction" but few of those films live up to that standard as well as Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's 2000 film "Amores Perros." The title translates as "Love's a Bitch" and there is an intentional irony in that because dogs are a crucial element in each of the interwoven stories. However, saying this is "Pulp Fiction" with dogs misses the point.

"Amores Perros" begins with a frantic car chase in which two men with a founded dog in the back seat of an old car are being pursued by guys with guns in a souped up pick up truck through the streets of the city. The prologue ends with a scene that is the nexus for the three stories written by Guillermo Arriaga, although we will not know that until we return for the second of three visits to this particular moment.

The first story is about "Octavio and Susana." He (Gael García) is a young man who is love with the teenage bride (Vanessa Bauche) of his brother Ramiro (Marco Perez), who is a thug. Octavio has dreams of taking Susana far away and when an opportunity comes to make money off of the family pet Cofi in dog fights, he takes advantage of it. Of course his complex plan comes down to one last big chance to score, which is just another way for Fate to play with him.

"Daniel and Valeria" is about a television producer (Alvaro Guerrero) who has left his wife and children for the young and beautiful Valeria (Goya Toledo). Their happy home starts to fall apart when a small part of their living room floor gives way and Valeria's little dog end up underneath the floorboards.

In the final segment we finally find out about a bearded, scruffy looking street person that we have seen throughout the film. In the final segment, "El Chivo and Maru," we find out that El Chivo, "The Goat" (Emilio Echevarria) is living in an abandoned building and is a hit man for hire. In addition to ending up taking care for one of the main characters from the first story, El Chivo is hired by a man who wants to have his business partner killed. However, El Chivo discovers one interesting fact about his victim that makes him decide to play out this job a little differently.

"Amores Perros" is two-and-a-half hours long, which is a long time to read subtitles, but worth it. Arriaga creates characters with substantial depth and first time director Inarritu invests the stories with flair. The result is a compelling combination of visceral violence and passion, neither of which comes across as being gratuitous. The violence here matters, as compared to the bloodfest in "Cidade de Deus," where all the killing is just a constant waste of lives. Granted, Kátia Lund and Fernando Meirelles are making a much more political point in their film, but I am still struck by the artist range of how violence can be used in such films where the goal is more than to make money and give adolescents cheap thrills.

Translation: These films made "south of the border" reflect a better appreciation for the reality of violence then what is coming out of Hollywood.

Final Note: The DVD for "Amores Perros" has a several music vidoes, which seems strange given the subject matter, but proves to be rather interesting. You would think the film's subject matter would not lend itself to such promotions, but, again, I think we are coming up against some significant cultural differences worth noting.

Really should get 2.5 stars...
This isn't a horrible movie necessarily; if I saw it on TV or something like that, I would probably be satisfied. Unfortunately, it does not live up to expectations.

I haven't seen "21 Grams", so I can't comment on how this compares. What I can say is there are some great parts: the car crash is insanely great and so is the dogfighting element of the film. Unfortunately, the pluses stop at the superficial level; the plot isn't all there and the actors aren't stellar.

Not bad, but I wouldn't go out of my way to see it. Find something else to feel artsy. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Quite simply a great movie, one whose implacable portrait of ruthless greed and insane ambition becomes more pertinent every year. The astonishing Klaus Kinski plays Don Lope de Aguirre, a brutal conquistador who leads his soldiers into the Amazon jungle in an obsessive quest for gold. The story is of the expedition's relentless degeneration into brutality and despair, but the movie is much more than its plot. Director Werner Herzog strove, whenever possible, to replicate the historical circumstances of the conquistadors, and the sheer human effort of traveling through the dense mountains and valleys of Brazil in armor creates a palpable sense of struggle and derangement. This sense of reality, combined with Kinski's intensely furious performance, makes Aguirre, the Wrath of God a riveting film. Its unique emotional power is matched only by other Herzog-Kinski collaborations like Fitzcarraldo and Woyzek. --Bret Fetzer ... Read more

Reviews (76)

Herzog's visionary film is one of the greats!!
Werner Herzog's Aguirre, The Wrath of God is one of the great achievements of the incredible New German Cinema movement of the 1970's. The film's "story" has been discussed elsewhere on this page so I won't bother to repeat it. But really, this is no plot to speak of. This is a mood piece, a dream of a film. It is a study of power and delusions and if that sounds boring, believe me its NOT. The visuals are extraordinary (typical of a Herzog film). From the films incredible opening shot of a long line of men as they snake thier way down a mountain to the final shot, which is one of the most memorable in cinema, of a mad Aguirre on a raft surrounded by corpses and small monkeys floating down the river. Adding to the dreamlike effect is the eerie music of Popol Vuh. Aguirre is a memorable film experience that you should'nt miss. I commend Anchor Bay for releasing Herzog's entire output on DVD, this a definitely one for your personal library at home. Very highly recommeded!

Entertaining but eerie.
This film has always been a sentimental favorite of mine, although it is definitely not a mainstream movie with mass appeal. It chronicles the eerie, haunting, and morbid journey of a group of fifteenth century Spanish conquistadores who break off from Pizzaro's group and head into the deepest parts of the Amazon jungle in search of gold. They are swallowed up, one by one, by unseen natural forces in the jungle, and also by the paranoia and insanity of their leader Aguirre (Kinski). It is well deserving of its reputation as a cult classic, and it is one of Kinski's signature pieces. Showcasing his ability to create a bizzare, twisted and disturbing persona. Since the conquistadores are eventually lead to destruction by Aguirres lust for power and riches it is almost a metaphore of the entire history of the Spanish conquests of South America. The film is actually shot in several languages (including English), then DUBBED into GERMAN, and then SUBTITLED back into English again; which gives the whole thing a rather strange appearance. Kinski's daughter Nastashia is also in the film, playing Aguirre's daughter. Her character is not well developed, and she is only there to show that there IS actually something in the world that Aguirre cares about besides gold. Nevertheless, it is a novelty to see her in her movie debut, before she became famous in her own right. I recommend the movie to those who like offbeat 'artistic' films, and cult classics, but not to those who are looking for light entertainment or an adventure movie.

The doomed quest for El Dorado
I am new to Warner Herzog, and "Aguirre: The Wrath of God" is the 2nd of his films that I have seen. Like many directors with strong artistic visions, I have found his style a bit hard to adapt to but I am appreciating it more and more. The grotesque colors he uses are particularly noteworthy, lending a feeling of unreality that contrasts with the naked realism of his films. The visual images are haunting, and linger after the film is over. The Wrath of God and 400 little monkeys...

"Aguirre: The Wrath of God" is by no means an easy film to get into. The characters are brutal and uninviting, and it is impossible to sympathize with their plight, the conquest of the native peoples. Like the river they travel on, the armored conquistadors move slowly but relentlessly forward, pieces of their humanity and sanity falling off along the way. At one scene in particular, the soldiers dispassionately watch their fellows trapped in a river eddy, discussion whether or not they should attempt a rescue with no more urgency or care than wondering if they should have coffee or tea. The peruvian natives are equally unsympathetic, picking off the soldiers slowly from the jungle, invisible and dangerous. One can see the influence it must have had on"Apocalypse Now."

People call this film dreamlike, and that maybe, but it is also brutally realistic, dirty and harsh. There is a sense that this is exactly what it would be like. There is a definite sense that animals were harmed during the filming, and that people were harmed as well. No camera trickery or artistic license is taken. All deaths are ignoble. Klaus Kinski, as Aguirre, is an uncharismatic Richard III,. slightly hunchbacked and ugly, leading his followers down a mad path that can have only one destination.

Herzog and Kinski's Vision of Manifested Madness
On the eastern slopes of the Andes during the Spanish expedition , Gonzalo Pizarro urges his men to continue through the thick Amazon forests despite the dangers within the dark and humid jungle. The tale of Pizarro's venture begins with an ominous warning as it is revealed to the audience that the only surviving evidence of the expedition is a journal kept by Brother Gaspar de Carvajal, a monk who travels to spread the gospel of Christianity. This bleak foreshadowing induces an inching uneasiness into the mind of the audience. This is enhanced by further looming incidents such as native slaves dying like flies from simple colds and food shortage. The low supply of food leads to a decision to split the group where one group should return for provisions and the other should continue searching for a gold shimmering city. This tale then follows the ill-fated who continue the journey for the legendary city as they are drawn deeper into the cruel world of the Amazon. Deaths of several men forebode the grim future of the expedition, which the leadership wants to call off and return to the safety of civilization. However, Aguirre (Klaus Kinski), a high ranking soldier, commands a rise against the leadership based on a proud vision of greatness and worldly riches beyond imagination that drives him to thrust deeper into the unexplored rainforest. Aguirre's vision draws the expedition into a personal realm of madness and destruction, which leads to only one certain fate.

Aguirre: The Wrath of God has a lingering effect on the audience as the eerie atmosphere created by Herzog persists from the initial shot to the final scene. There are several components that generate this bizarre ambiance of the story such as cinematography, idiosyncrasies, mise-en-scene, and performances by the cast. The cinematography is simple and sometimes documentary-like, which produces a real feeling. This real feeling together with the uncanny knowledge of the unavoidable doom enhances the extraordinary atmosphere of the venture. The complete portrait of the character Aguirre by Klaus Kinski is nothing but spectacular. Herzog's choice of mise-en-scene is delicately chosen as all the items had to be transported by the expedition. Each item within each frame displays a significant symbolism such as the horse and raft, which adds new layers to the unnatural atmosphere. Lastly, the performances by the cast are outstanding as it is not the dialogue that drives the story forward, but the visual manifestation of their being that elevates the outlandish impression of each scene. When Herzog combined all the aspects of film-making in Aguirre: The Wrath of God he left the world a brilliantly eerie cinematic experience that will leave several notions in reflecting minds.

Herzog and Kinski go Tarkovsky.
Wraith of God was actually made in 1972 in German and got its US debut in 1977 and provided Coppola's Apocalypse Now (1979) with a vision. The film is pure art through and through using the Amazon River as a backdrop for the epic tale of Spanish conquistadors finding themselves abandoned in South America on a quest to find the legendary city of gold 'El Dorado'. Set a few decades after the Inca Empire has fallen in the 16th century, these troops of Spanish explorers have been selected by the head explorer for the region, and founder of Mexico - Pizarro, to find the lost gold. Within a few days of being on the Amazon the conquistadors are split on the rapids. Soon there is a mutiny, murder, revenge and betrayal as the dreams of vast wealth and power drive all of them to their doom.

The combination of Kinski and Herzog is electric. Here, on a shoe-string budget, they make mountains out of nothing as Tarkovsky did on 'Stalker'. The costumes and sets are all obviously mostly made by the actors and whatever film crew that would actually risk hanging around Herzog and Kinski for the gung-ho shoot. This is kino-art's rendition of Hearts of Darkness. The actual suffering of the film crew (and some cruelty to animals - several horse falling scenes, the pillaging of a village with an attack on pigs and a monkey being thrown aside) is clearly visible in the narrative which borders on extreme adlibbing most of the time as well as hard labour (moving a cannon on a small wagon around the jungle, building rafts with a toilet on board and living off the land). The improvisation though is classic in every sense of the word making Herzog and Kinski instant important additions to the world of high profile art film makers. The cinematography is spot on. The majority of it is hand-held but the images of the jungle are striking and the final shots of the circling raft are sublime. Seeing Kinski chasing monkeys around the raft is also some of the most memorising and breathtakingly remarkable scenes in cinema. The film is one of the most unusual you have ever seen and becomes psychotic towards the final stages showing the craziness of our characters search for the gold - a reflection of the exertions of the crew and actors. Kinski is outstanding as the deranged Don Lope de Aguirre who trying to follow in Pizarro's footsteps even manages to take his family into hell with him. There is an excellent plot element involving a mock trial with a monk as a judge and the crowning of a pseudo-king that will have you in disbelief. The film is so lucidly insane that it will captivate you within the first few minutes. By the time the credits role you will have experienced an epic completed with a few actors, a raft, some animals and natives and yet have witness something as grand and epic as 'Spartacus'. Herzog is a crazed genius and the world is his strange colloid laboratory.

'Aguirre' is up there with the ranks of 'Andre Rublev' and 'Apocalypse Now' however Kinski and Herzog did go one better when they made 'Fitzcarraldo'(they tow a steam ship up a mountain... really!). The aspect ratio of this film is 1.37:1 meaning that it is not in widescreen or letterbox, but it was originally filmed as a square almost (fitting television perfectly). The transfer is extremely good although I believe that this is not a new transfer and was probably encoded from a very good master video tape (Beta SP) for German television broadcast and not from a 35mm film print. No one is complaining though because the quality is extremely good. The extras (documentaries, commentaries) are a must. By the way you can get the Kinski/Herzog box set of 6 films for a few quid extra than this stand alone DVD. Go look for it. ... Read more

Description

Our tale begins in a vintage clothing shop where a strangely seductive dress shows up for sale and leads us on a journey of sizzling sexual intrigue. Unaware of how this dress has played a role in each of their lives, a group of friends recounts in hilarious detail their own adventure while wearing this provocative playsuit! Missy describes her explosive encounter with a charming cad...Shanna McCollugh reveals her searing seduction of an uptight beau...and Gina Rome confesses her dressing room tryst with a randy salesman! Nina Hartley unravels her racy run-in with Missy’s deceptive cad, and Melissa Hill’s casting couch audition with a hunky hopeful is both funny and stirring! With lots of unexpected twists and turns in Candida Royalle’s most sensually explicit movie yet, ONE SIZE FITS ALL proves that sex and humor are a wantonly winning combination! ... Read more

Description

An intriguing and entertaining study in characters going through varying levels of crisis and introspection. This psychological drama leads you in several different directions, weaving and intersecting various subplots and characters, from a brilliant Tom Cruise, as a self-proclaimed pied-piper, to a child forced to go on a TV game show and the pressures he faces from a ruthless father. ... Read more

Reviews (653)

Brilliant!
Magnolia is a hard film for many people to watch. The reason for this is that Magnolia is a film about what we watch movies to escape from... real life. That's what its about; forget the sprawling plot, Magnolia is about the trials and tribulations of modern life. It's about coping with regrets and fixing our mistakes. This makes for a very depressing film. It also makes for a very real film.

Filled with many different characters, its easy to find someone to identify with. Whether it be Frank TJ Mackey, a womanizing motivational speaker who refuses to come to terms with his father, or Jim Curring, a cop who's trying to find love while doing the right thing, you're sure to find someone who you love.

Stellar performances are turned in across the board, but that's no surprise looking at the cast. You stop seeing William H. Macy, you start seeing Quiz Kid Donnie Smith. The only weak link is Julianne Moore as Linda Partridge. She's way over the top, but its forgiveable if not dismissable.

Magnolia is one very smart film. It is filled with themes of redemption, courage, freak accidents, and God. Director Paul Thomas Anderson does not dumb these down for us; he does not insult his audience. He knows we are smart, capable people and leaves it all up for our own interpretation. It may be a little overwhelming, but that's why this is a great DVD to purchase. You can watch it repeatedly and pick up on all the little things you may have missed that make a big difference. On the suplemental disk is an interesting documentary about the making of Magnolia that offers much insight into PT Anderson and the way he works. The only thing that's missing is a commentary track by Anderson; he thinks the film speaks for itself. He may be a little off base there, but Magnolia is nonetheless a very satisfying purchase.

Best of the Year
I know "Magnolia" technically came out in 1999, but it's wide release was in 2000, and with this year not even half-over, I can honestly say that this movie is one of the best I've ever seen. With few and relatively minor flaws (such as trying to tackle 10 different storylines; some of them not resolved well enough by the 3-hour period)P.T.Anderson beautifully uses the camera to convey moods parallel to the characters that he writes. There are some surreal moments that are just flat-out cool, ie. the whole singing thing (that's being labeled as stupid, but aren't you supposed to leave reality at the door?) A great soundtrack that makes this movie as amazing as it is and a brilliant ensemble performance with stand-outs by Julianne Moore and John Reily (who plays the most damn convincing cop I ever seen). But I agree with the last review: Anderson should have focused on 3 or 4 storylines and explored them more. Even so, one has to admire it's gutsiness to take on themes like desperation and lonliness and do so with such conviction-

(There are also symbols in this film, which at times can be confusing-but after you see this, read Exodus:8 from the bible and some of your questions will be answered.)

Just for the record. . .
It really does rain frogs, though it is a rare occurance. I always get a bit peeved when people complain about that aspect of this wonderful film.

Do a little research. It shouldn't take you long to find a dozen or so newspaper articles documenting frog storms.

". . .but it did happen."

Original Artistic Masterpiece
This movie is a must see for anyone who appreciates artistic well thought out movies. If you are dumb then I don't recommend it as you will be unable to comprehend it's brilliance, most of the time these people will dimiss it with negative reviews just because they don't get it.
.... And I quote Bob Dylan ' Don't criticize what you can't understand'
A unique film run with fantastic acting and an undercurrent of genius. The music, Starring Aimee Man's Beautiful voice captures the atmosphere of the movie with insane accuracy as does the superb camera work. Well Done!

Powerful, impacting movie
This is not a perfect movie but I think it comes across powerfully. The acting is superb. Tom Cruise's character suits him well and Julianne Moore plays her part so daringly that I ended up hating her and then pitying her. The other actors/actresses all do a great job. The film is fast-paced, a good thing considering it lasts about 3 hours. There is a coming together of several seemingly unrelated stories. A common thread that I picked up is the severe pains caused by personal, self-serving decisions that hurt loved ones. The message of the movie is powerful and compensates for some of what I consider the movie's shortcomings--such as the seemingly constant yelling and cursing--much usage of the f-word (just like in real life) and several scenes drowned out by loud music and an odd even of the sky raining bullfrogs, an event that plays an integral part in the climactic ends to the several stories. ... Read more

Amazon.com

There is at least one certifiable masterpiece in Rainer Werner Fassbinder's BRD Trilogy, and one could argue thatall three films qualify for that honor. Conceived as a series of sociopolitical melodramas set during West Germany's "economic miracle" of post-war recovery (roughly 1947-60), these exquisitely crafted films found the prolific Fassbinder (1945-82) near the end of his astounding career and at the height of his creative powers, depicting post-war Germany as a land of repressed memory and surging capitalism, repressively avoiding any connection to the horrors of its Nazi past. Women were Fassbinder's conduit to analyzing the BDR (Bundesrepublik Deutchland) and its effect on the German character, resulting in three of the most remarkable female characters ever committed to film.

As noted in an affectionate commentary track by Fassbinder's friend and fellow director Wim Wenders, The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979) is Fassbinder's undisputed masterwork, a critical and box-office triumph that fulfilled Fassbinder's goal of creating a "German Hollywood melodrama" in the tradition of his director-hero, Douglas Sirk. Beautifully shot by Michael Ballhaus (who advanced to brilliant collaborations with Martin Scorsese), it stars Hanna Schygulla in her signature role as a newlywed whose missing husband returns in the mid-'50s, just as she's reinventing herself through opportunism, seduction, and blind ambition--a woman, like Germany, determined to forget her miserable past, with explosively tragic results. "BRD 2" is the wickedly satirical Veronika Voss (1982), filmed in black and white (a stylistic nod to German'y's post-war thrillers) and starring Rosel Zech as a faded film star-turned-morphine addict making futile attempts to revive her career. Set in 1957, Lola ("BRD 3," 1981) is Fassbinder's homage to Josef von Sternberg's The Blue Angel, and stars Barbara Sukowa as a cabaret singer and prostitute who, like Maria Braun, is for sale to the highest bidder--in this case a straight-laced official (Armin Mueller-Stahl) who discovers the high cost of ignorance.

Taken together, these films form an impressively coherent vision, compassionate and yet brutally honest, unsentimental, and provocatively critical of post-war Germany. In the established tradition of the Criterion Collection, extensive supplements explore the depth of Fassbinder's achievement. Three commentaries, each with their own uniquely personal and/or critical perspective, are among the finest Criterion has ever recorded. Interviews with Schygulla, Zech, Sukowa, and many of Fassbinder's closest collaborators pay latter-day tribute to Fassbinder and his extended family of on- and off-screen talent, while the 96-minute German TV documentary I Don't Just Want You to Love Me explores Fassbinder's tragically curtailed life and work through abundant film clips and interviews. A filmed 1978 interview with Fassbinder himself--at 49 minutes, the longest ever recorded--offers further insight into the psychology and chain-smoking intensity of a man who burned out from drugs and exhaustion at the age of 37. Along with the collected Adventures of Antoine Doinel, the BRD Trilogy is one of the most impressive DVD sets ever released, and a sparkling jewel in Criterion's crown. --Jeff Shannon ... Read more

Reviews (5)

The german tragic epic
Since I watched this movie in 1980 I became a real admirer of the genius of Mr. Fassbinder.
All the story is a full circle. It's a untired fight against the fate and the search for the bliss not only of Maria Braun, but Germany in final instance, because the metaphor is brutally clear.
The sense of loss, the hope (altough no matter what),the intelligent and proactive personality of Maria, the spirit of to achieve the goal, the huge tension carried under the body of Maria Braun, just for love. Twelve years are lived in this tale from 1942 to 1954. This personal epic is so really described for Fassbinder without exploring but living and suffering in silence the pain and the anguish. Fassbinder made several true gems for all the eternity, but this film in particular has a strange enchantment, so convincent and so human that in my personal view (it constitutes not only the most sincere statement of Fassbinder for ejecting the inner demons of the Germany of the postwar) one of the most perfect examples of the supreme perfection in the germany cinema together with The bridge (Rowicki), the wrath of God (Herzog),the american friend (Wenders), the tin drum (Schlondorff) and Das Boot (Petersen).
Don't miss

A Stunning Trilogy
Fassbinder's BRD trilogy is not a trilogy in the sense of being one continuous story spread over three films. Each film is separate and self-contained with different characters. Moreover all three films have a very different style. The link between the films is that they are all set in the period just after World War II and tell the story of the Federal Republic of Germany (BRD) and its recovery from the wreckage of defeat. Each film has as a central character a woman struggling to live in the new Germany. Fassbinder uses these women's lives to comment upon the history of the forties and fifties and especially to critique Germany's "Economic Miracle." The films however, are not politically heavy handed. Fassbinder may be critical of aspects of post-war German society, but his points arise naturally from the nature of the stories the films tell. He clearly saw that his first task as a filmmaker was to make films with strong stories, which were both intellectually and emotionally involving. He succeeds with the three films in the trilogy. One of the reasons for the success of these narratives is the acting. The performances, especially from the three main actresses, are superb. Furthermore these films show that Fassbinder did not forget that his audience should be able to comprehend his ideas. He avoids being cryptic or obscure.

The prints on the Criterion DVDs are very good. The films are presented in their original aspect ratios and look great. This is important especially for Lola with its unusual colour palette and for Veronika Voss with its stark black and white photography. Criterion also does very well in providing good subtitles to these films. Fassbinder often uses multiple layers of dialogue with, for example, characters talking while a radio plays one of Adenauer's speeches in the background. The difficult task of subtitling such scenes is carried out well.

This box set contains a huge amount of extras. Each film has a commentary and in addition there are over five hours of documentaries and interviews with the people involved in making the films. There is finally a fifty-page booklet about the trilogy. These DVDs are a great introduction to the work of Rainer Werner Fassbinder. The films are enjoyable and thought provoking and essential for anyone interested in post-war German culture.

Now this is chunky.
I dont know if the films really deserve such extreme fawning (they are "small" films with an extremely independent feel) and my personal favourite of Fassbinder's of those I've seen, I must admit, is Criterions' "Ali..". Now that at least deserved a commentary. Still, every Fassbinder addicts' dream. The films themselves vary in quality; the first two "...Maria Braun" and "Veronika Voss" are the best, while Lola is the weakest of the lot (dramatically and conceptually). The real beef here is a lengthy documentary on the bonus disk. This is worth the proverbial 'price of admission', and rounds off a trilogy of nice "little" films.

For more quality German stuff check out "The American Friend" by Wim Wenders. It's really cool.

Not region 1
This DVD-set can't be with region 1 code, because my DVD-player is with region code 2 and plays this DVD-set complete. It must have region code 0.

No real euphoria...
God bless Criterion for finally releasing Rainer Werner Fassbinder's most popular films on disc. The great underappreciated little madman of the New German Cinema and certainly the most ignored genius in film history, Fassbinder's trilogy of films are set in the fifties of the Federal Republic, where the beautifully detailed characters are tortured by post-war burns on society. In The Marriage of Maria Braun, the title heroine loses her husband to war after spending half a day and one night with him, only to have him return and demand from her the weight of obligation. In Lola, an idealist reconstructionist falls in love with a brothel singer and sacrifices his innocence to his obsession. And Veronika Voss tells the story of a former actress whose involvement in a murder plot leads to her undoing.

Featuring outstanding work by actors such as Hanna Schygulla and Armin Mueller-Stahl, gorgeously photographed by Michael Ballhaus and Xaver Schwarzenberger, the BRD Trilogy is an outstanding follow-up to Criterion's recently released Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (my personal favorite Fassbinder - pick it up if you haven't already). Fassbinder's agonized desire for art through life led to an independent revolution of absolute brilliance. Fourteen years, forty-four films and not one of them bad: the proof is right here in this amazing trio of brutally dark and romantic cinema. ... Read more

Reviews (73)

A Beautiful Vacation
In this 1996 film, Liv Tyler makes her stunning debut. Set to a soundtrack that is a good mix of quintessentially '90's music (a la Portishead and Liz Phair) and retro classics (like "My Baby Just Cares For Me" and "I'll Be Seeing You,"), this film takes both Liv's character, Lucy, as well as the viewer, on a journey into mystery and enchantment. Lucy embarks on her journey to Italy after the death of her mother, a famous poet and artist. She travels there in search of greater knowledge about her mother, who spent a brief few weeks there one summer. But what Lucy really uncovers in Tuscany are the answers to secrets in her past. And, as the film goes on, she discovers more and more about herself, and the woman she is to become. This film is a great, slowly paced meditation on sex, love, art and self-awareness. When Lucy finds out that she was "conceived" in the olive groves of the artists' villa there, her curiosity deepens and the search for her birth father becomes one of the main goals in her journey. Faced with the loss of a future with her mother, Lucy is looking towards the past for information about those she loves, for knowledge about herself and where she came from, and for hints about where this might lead her as she takes on the life of an adult.

The film begins with shots of Lucy sleeping on the train on her way to Tuscany. There is even one devilish strategic close-up shot of her jeans which is perhaps explained later in the film when it is revealed in a comical exchange between Lucy and Jeremy Irons' character that the beautiful 19 year old Lucy is a virgin. Unbeknownst to Lucy, she was being taped on her journey by a fellow passenger on the train. But he gives her "beauty" back to her in the form of the videotape. Her fate is still in her hands. From there, the film follows several slow, melodic plot lines, one of which is the attempt to find the perfect first sexual partner for the young and much-loved Lucy.

Liv plays a perfect beauty here. She is innocent, touching, bright, curious, and passionate, and as the film goes on, she takes a cue from the artists at the villa and becomes and more free in her expression, more comfortable in her own skin. But she is also careful. She wants her passion to be shared with someone worthy of it, someone who gives as well as takes. It takes a while for her to find out who that perfect catch is, but as in life, the story is what happens while she is waiting for the "pay-off."

Her curious habit of striking a match to each finished poem and burning it up seems to say that she is not yet confident in her artistic abilities, that she wants to keep some things sacred, private. She is cautiously awaiting sharing herself on a deeper level with those whom she grows to love.

Jeremy Irons' character, a man struck by illness in the most beautiful of places, is a nice offset to the virginal beauty of Tyler. Together, they bring the film full circle from youth and glowing health to the natural course of death and dying. The attention they pay to one another is mutual. Lucy in this way is wise as well as youthful.

The countryside in this film is magical. The vineyards of Tuscany, with the glowing sun above, are lovingly captured by Bertolucci. The film is as much an ode to youth and innocence, and the inevitable loss of it (which I think Bertolucci is saying can also be beautiful) as it is to the Italian countryside.

Others in the film who have gone on to receive wide acclaim and appear in such movies as Shakespeare in Love, Elizabeth, Swept From the Sea, and The Mummy are the two British actors Joseph Fiennes and Rachael Weisz.

gorgeous at every turn
If you watch this film for nothing else, soak in the beauty of the setting.
While I enjoy this film for both its plot and its artistic/aesthetic qualities, I have to admit that it is at its most stunning best when it comes to its cinematography. what a gorgeous backdrop for a virgin coming-of-age story! the plot may be a bit tired, and the characters too well known, but the twists that are supplied are enough to make it engaging. Liv Tyler is, of course, gorgeous and mesmorizing. The Italian and British actors that flank her almost eclipse her, but as her debut film, she does truly shine.
There are several scenes that are physically intriguing, but I most enjoyed the entire "party" sequence.... some odd, yet stunning filming.
Let's face it, everyone in this film is beautiful to look at (even Jeremy Irons as a dying man). You begin to lose interest in Lucy's (Tyler) quest at some point, but once the answer is revealed it is still somewhat satisfying.
I can highly reccommend this film to anyone that is into gorgeous scenery, lovely and easy story lines, and has and eye for the pleasing aesthetic so many films lack these days. Nothing earth-moving... but a VERY pleasant movie experience!

it's my favorite, but not for everyone
you may not, but i love this movie. the characters are solidly interesting and well-played, the storyline is simple but itriguing, and it has simply beautiful scenery.

Good movie but needs subtitles in parts
I really like this movie. The scenery is beautiful and the movie's focus on the interactions between a variety of characters in the Italian countryside is interesting. I would rate it higher except for one thing- quite a bit of the movie is in Italian and there are no subtitles for this dialogue. This really doesn't make sense, especially considering the vhs copy that I use to own did have them. The parts in Italian aren't just snippets of dialogue either- some are entire conversations. If you've seen this many times with subtitles (and know what they're saying in Italian) I would definitely buy it. If not, it's still a good purchase but be aware that you're missing quite a bit of the movie.

What about "no stars"?
As an Italian (who teaches Italian in HS and college in the U.S.) I really looked forward to a good film after one of my students recommended this one to me.

As a professor, I can sit through a lot of boring stuff, but this movie was so awful I couldn't even finish it. The scenery is nice but after watching this film for over an hour I found it to be pointless. ... Read more

Amazon.com

The life of St. Thérèse de Lisieux, a young Carmelite nun who died oftuberculosis, is the inspiration for this spare, sincere French film. Theobsessively religious Thérèse (Catherine Mouchet) fights to be allowed to jointhe rigorous order of nuns, taking her petition all the way to the Pope himself.After becoming part of the sisterhood, Thérèse takes joy in the strict ritualsand devotions, until she develops tuberculosis and her inner connection with Godsuddenly leaves her; despite this, she never loses faith, and writes a private diary (which, whenpublished after her death, became hugely popular). The settings of every sceneare depicted only by furniture; the neutral background puts all the focus on therich performances of the actors, including Hélène Alexandridis as a young nunwho falls in love with Thérèse. An elegant film, perhaps best appreciated byCatholics. --Bret Fetzer ... Read more

Reviews (10)

Not for Everyone
Keep in mind that the director of this film was an atheist, and that one of his primary purposes in filming it was to experiment with a new/different cinematic style. Therefore, no fancy sets or backgrounds, just a concentration on the life of a very devout, simple, and loving young girl. Not her whole life, only bits and pieces of how she thought, what she said and did, and what life in a Cloistered Convent was like. l've seen this movie several times, and not once did l see any overt or obvious act of the so-called lesbianism. See it for its spititual message, and keep in mind that after this movie was released there was a solid increase in applications to Carmelite Convents and a more solid interest in the life of St. Therese of Lisieux, also known as the Little Flower.

A sweet film about a girl with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
The film is good, it's french and it's minimal. I saw it when I was in the seminary years ago.

If one reads the memoirs of nuns who actually had to live with this eventual saint, none of them really liked her. Short of counting every step she made throughout the day, or avoiding cracks lest she break her mother's back, she was so driven by obsessively compulsive disarray that she HAD to become a saint. She was consumed with the most minor infractions (silly, nonsense sins) that she drove everyone around her crazy.

Is that really a "saint," or is that someone who could have just been helped out a whole lot with a little Zoloft or Prozac? So you think a mean thought of someone who annoys you...well, this woman made mountains out of those inconsequential thoughts, yet she's viewed as special.

Well, she was special. Her neurosis was olympic, and she made others suffer for that. But we didn't have to live with her, so we think she's spectacular.

This film does not deal with her psychological self-induced trauma. This film, like time, makes this woman stand out as a saint.

Fantasy and fond memory beats the heck out of truth and reality.

Mike

seeing a saint from the outside
This intimate, intense little film shows the making of a saint 'from the outside.' When I first saw it, I was so impressed by the portrait of young Therese Martin that I learned all I could about the icon she became to the Roman Catholic World. The after-death publication of her stubby-pencil autobiography "The Story of a Soul" captured the attention of the devout. She rapidly came to be known as 'The Little Flower' or "St. Therese of Lisieux" and was canonized in 1927, becoming co-patroness of France with St. Joan of Arc, and a "doctor of the church". The film shows us this giant figure of the faith as she appeared within the hermitically sealed world of a Carmelite convent-a little girl with quietly extraordinary qualities. No music or heavenly light announces her holiness. The scenes are barren, the light is directional and shadowed, as in a Caravaggio painting. The film presents a series of vignettes, as though on as shallow stage. Within each one, she seems to seek to hide, not allowing herself to dramatize even her own illness and approaching death. But the reactions of other sisters reveal her. An elderly nun chooses her as confessor, surrendering to her the one private possession she has retained, against the rules, for 50 years. A confused and unhappy young sister responds to her clear-eyed and loving compassion. A crabby older sister showers her with flowers and asks her for the relic of a fingernail clipping, astonished that she is unable to withhold her homage. Most important, her Mother Superior, who alone knows her secret desire to become a great saint, requires that she write down the thoughts of her heart, knowing that they will be important. Believers will be moved, the merely curious may find themselves breathless.
One vignette in particular, stays with me as a beautifully rendered cinematic explication of her character. I have never in all my researches on St. Therese encountered a narrative that 'validates' the scene, but it has a haunting truthfulness. Therese is working in the kitchen with another sister. A box is delivered. When opened, it proves to contain a huge, live lobster. Therese boldly lifts it, though she is clearly frightened and awed by its claws and its repulsive appearance. But it is too large for her hand, and falls heavily to the floor, writhing and snapping on its back. She bends over, rights the thing, and picks it up. As she bends, blood streams from her mouth-a hemorrhage from the lungs, and the first sign we see in the film of the tuberculosis that will painfully kill her. She smiles radiantly to her companion sister, wiping the blood away, and saying that she 'bit her tongue.' Thus, Therese faces death. I am struck by this scene because it reflects another painful scene in Dostoevsky's novel, The Idiot. A tubercular young student recounts a nightmare in which he is trapped in a room with a huge scorpion he knows he cannot escape. His terror and horror at this entrapment by inexorable death contrast strongly with Therese's outward reaction, though we later learn that she, too, is afraid. The difference? She boldly asserts her fear as a test of her faith, and continues to give herself to the God she no longer can see.
I see that some reviewers have been unnecessarily disturbed by the young nun who is so attached to Therese. This isn't a sick modern-day attempt to introduce'lesbianism' into the convent. It illustrates that one of the great difficulties religious must face is the inevitable temptation to form special attachment to another individual. Such special, individual love IS a problem for those trying to focus all love on an invisible God. Watch closely. You will see that Therese knows her fellow sister is troubled. Clear-sightedly, but lovingly, she refuses to participate in that exclusivity. The disturbing scene in which this sister eats sputum Therese has coughed up from her dying lungs is clearly based in the girl's attempt to emulate the actions of St. Catherine of Siena, who drank water used to wash a leper's skin. This action is 'perverse' only to those who do not understand it as an attempt to participate sacrificially in another's human suffering. Where the young sister is 'wrong' is that she would do such an action 'for Therese' but probably not for a stranger who is, as Mother Teresa of Calcutta would put it "Jesus in a distressing disguise." Therese herself costantly reveals less self-dramatizing sacrifices in her 'Story of a Soul.' To some, she appears extremely neurotic. To me, her 'craziness' appears the insanity conferred by divine love. Such madness for love of God will always look bizarre to non-participants.

disgusted and appalled
I purchased the VHS version of this movie five years ago. I had difficulty watching this trash as it obviously pandered to every twisted, sick stereotype of Cloistered Catholic Nuns that I have ever heard of (lesbianism, S&M, etc...)! I was so thoroughly disgusted by this poor excuse for a movie that I threw in it the garbage, where it belongs, immediately after forcing myself to watch it in the vain hope that I could unearth at least a single redeeming quality in it. I could not. It is garbage. I only gave it one star because it is a required field. It does not deserve even one!

Strange little movie
I love St. Therese and have read her autobiography, letters, and poems. Unfortunately, this movie does not do justice to Therese. At times, the movie is kind of creepy, paying undue attention to a lesbian nun in love with Therese. This nun is almost the co-star of the movie. It seems to me that the film maker is critical of Therese and the Carmelites. This is not a movie for children in particular, because it would only confuse them. Actually, it would probably confuse anyone. What a shame. The movie gets 1 star only because of good acting by the woman who plays Therese. The movie has other faults, but I'll not dwell on them because its really not worth it. ... Read more

Reviews (71)

A sensuous, erotic and touching love story
"The Lover" is a gorgeously sensuous and erotic film about a young girl's awakening to love and her own sexuality. Whover categorized this movie as soft porn needs to wash his or her mind out with Lysol. It is, quite simply, a love story. Jane March plays "the young girl", a French adolescent in colonial Vietnam living with her widowed mother and two brothers. Her mother barely makes ends meet by teaching, her younger brother, with whom she has a relationship both protective and erotic, is weak and passive, and her older brother is brutally antisocial, stealing the family's few funds to support his opium habit and bullying his younger siblings through violence. The girl attends a lycee in Saigon where she and her friend are the only Caucasian pupils. On a trip from her home back to school she meets "the Chinaman" played by Tony Leung, and their encounter sets off sparks. Leung is the son of a rich overseas Chinese, engaged to marry the Chinese girl picked out by his father, who spends his own days in an opium haze; his feelings for the young girl are at first purely sexual but ripen into a love so deep it confuses and frightens him. It's a love that is doomed from the start; his father will not hear of him marrying a non-Chinese, and her family, although the equivalent of white trash, still considers themselves better than the Asians they live among. When the word of her affair with the Chinaman gets out, she becomes an outcast among her schoolmates. The young girl tries to cope with the social and emotional conflicts by convincing herself and telling him that she doesn't love him; he knows she's kidding herself and so do we, and toward the movie's end, when she has lost him forever through his marriage to the woman chosen for him by his father and her own repatriation to France, she herself realizes she is in love with him. Jane March is incredible in the role of the young girl; she brings out all her character's innocence, sexuality and adolescent confusion. Tony Leung is just right as the pampered son of a rich family who is hamstrung by the mores and traditions of his family and society; and Frederique Meininger is especially effective as the mother, who dotes on her worthless older son (the more venal she knows he is, the more she dotes on him, helpless to deal with the reality of what he is, and worse, what he will become), and condemns her daughter's relationship with a Chinese on the one hand while she has no problem taking her daughter's lover's money on the other. The cinematography is beautiful and conveys all the heat and languor of colonial Vietnam. This is no film for children; the sex scenes are as explicit as can be shown in any film not rated X. At the film's end (Jeanne Moreau does an excellent voice-over throughout the movie), when the Chinaman after decades of silence telephones the girl who is now a middle-aged woman and tells her he has never forgotten her and will love her until death, we realize how strong was the love between these two. It's a beautiful film of two people who were just right, even while they were all wrong, for each other.

From Lust to Love
This is a physically beautiful film, set in an exotic locale (Vietnam) and inhabited by very attractive actors who know their trade. It starts as a lustful adventure for the wastrel son of a Chinese merchant and a bored teenage girl who finds her all-girls academy to be quite stifling. It ends as a true and tragic love story as the protagonists find that their sexual affair leads to real caring.

Many professional critics disliked this movie, but my wife and I both found it quite involving. This director (Jean-Jacques Annaud) also created "Quest For Fire", which I think met a similar fate among the critics. And again, both my wife and I found that very unusual film to be quite impressive.

I do hope that movie-lovers will give this one a chance. It was meant to be a film of quality, and in spite of its frank sexuality it is by no means to be considered soft-core pornography. It is perhaps in the same genre as "Sirens", a little Australian movie that combines a rather complete view of Elle MacPherson with a clever, well-photographed story.

Let me say that if you're looking for a good "date" movie, here's your answer. This is a love story that both sexes will enjoy. Warm up the DVD player, and lower the lights.

The Lover - A Passionate Love Story
For those who think this movie is only carnal, I extend my deepest sympathies for your apparent ignorance. This is a romeo and juliet parallel not to be missed.

This is one of, if not the best, love story ever written. It tells of a young woman, barely 17, whose life is already a tragedy. Her family was thrown from wealth and good standing, to poverty and squalor, scraping by to make ends meet in French occupied Vietnam. She is all but shakespearean in her suffering, without the guidance of a father, and the love of a weak and unscrupulous mother and drug addicted brother. There is much tenderness in the cannonization of the youngest brother, as a living saint, the one pure thing in her life.

The lover, played by Tony Leung Kai Fai, is himself, a tragic hero. Educated in France, he longs to shirk the burden of his chinese culture, buck tradition and marry for love. He is consumed by the forced arranged marriage, and pursues the young Jane March with the guile of an experienced and wealthy man, but with the tenderness and respect of a true lover.

The two make an arrangement to meet in his bachelor pad, which according to chinese tradition, is a "practice area" for marriage. Jane March's young virgin surrenders to passion and experience, while remaining emotionally detatched from her chinese lover, for he tells her that they can "never be married" as it is "not allowed", and he would be disowned and poverty stricken if he went against the wishes of his family. Seemingly, Jane March's character cares little for the potential of this toxic relationship, revelling only in the sexual experience and conversation that they share in their secret room, away from the rest of the world. He is her escape, as surreal as the life she escapes from.

The scenes are intimate and touching, full of tenderness and imagery that conveys the worship like reverence with which they experience each other. He, worshiping her sexual innocence, while she worships his sexual experience. A powerful and erotic culmination.

Truly as story continues, you believe each of the characters less and less, as they joke about how they would not fit in to each others world. They do a wonderful job trying to convince each other that the affair means nothing. It becomes less believable, as you see them fall deeper and deeper into love, and examples of arguments where they truly hurt each other, in the way that only two people in love can wound.

A truly touching ending that had me in tears, as her ship pulls away from the harbour and he is there, in his car, watching her leave.

Highly recommend this movie as a measure to restore your faith in the very real power and strength of love, even when there is no "story book" ending.(...)

Visually stunning, well-told story
I'll admit it, I first watched The Lover for the erotic scenes with Jane March, who I happen to think is gorgeous. But the more I watched it, the more the direction (Annaud) and the story (Duras) shone through. I recently bought my own copy, and I watch it more frequently than I would have thought. If it were only the sex, there are more efficient films, although the sex is quite good and again Jane March is truly a hottie.

The story, which is based on Duras' own life, talks about a young girl living at school, a 1-day trip away from her dissociative family in French Indochina in the 1930s. One day, returning to school from a visit with her family, the 15 year-old meets a Chinese man, who offers her a ride. They begin an affair, based on her curiosity and his desire for love. Needless to say, this causes scandals on both sides of the relationship. As their intimacy deepens, the Chinese man's arranged marriage looms closer, until he has to leave her for his new wife. Shortly after, the French girl and her family leave for France. As we see, the relationship was stronger than either one suspected it had become, but by that point it's too late.

The physical beauty of the film, which owes much to both Annaud's direction and the Vietnamese countryside, is amazing. I find myself watching it over and over just to see the cars driving through incongruous fields, bridges and streets. The subtext of foreigners (French, Chinese) in a foreign land (Indochina) governed by foreigners (French) reinforces the story's quality of isolation, as do the locales: there are rarely more than a handful of people in any scene, and the exceptions are telling, as well.

This is definitely one of the best films of the decade and deserves to be seen over and over.

Diffrentiating Between Sex and Love
This movie has one thinking what sex and love is. Can sex and love go hand in hand? That is the question of what the movie brought to my attention. I saw this movie on an independent film channel and the character, a young girl, has an affair with an older Chinese man. Her family struggles financially. The mother is a widowed schoolteacher and her brothers are obnoxious and want to get into her personal life. She does introduce her lover to her family and he does treat them to dinner. However, what was puzzling was their relationship. Did they actually have real feelings toward one another? He was arranged to be married and there would have never been anything more between them.
This movie diffrentiates between sex and love. Is it possible to have a sex only relationship? If so, how can it last? Do emotional feelings get in the way of their relationship?
Duras was experimenting sex for the first time. It was an experience that she would carry through her adult life. ... Read more

Amazon.com

No one uses color like Chinese director Zhang Yimou--movies like Raise the Red Lantern or Hero, though different in tone and subject matter, are drenched in rich, luscious shades of red, blue, yellow, and green. House of Flying Daggers is no exception; if they weren't choreographed with such vigorous imagination, the spectacular action sequences would seem little more than an excuse for vivid hues rippling across the screen. Government officers Leo and Jin (Asian superstars Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro) set out to destroy an underground rebellion called the House of Flying Daggers (named for their weapon of choice, a curved blade that swoops through the air like a boomerang). Their only chance to find the rebels is a blind women named Mei (Ziyi Zhang, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) who has some lethal kung fu moves of her own. In the guise of an aspiring rebel, Jin escorts Mei through gorgeous forests and fields that become bloody battlegrounds as soldiers try to kill them both. While arrows and spears of bamboo fly through the air, Mei, Jin, and Leo turn against each other in surprising ways, driven by passion and honor. Zhang's previous action/art film, Hero, sometimes sacrificed momentum for sheer visual beauty; House of Flying Daggers finds a more muscular balance of aesthetic splendor and dazzling swordplay. --Bret Fetzer ... Read more

Reviews (153)

DO NOT buy this crap!
OK! Who the hell gave this movie 4 stars??!! Poor story, poor dialog, poor EVERYTHING!!! This movie sucked. Get stabbed by a dagger and the girl stays alive until the unnecessary long fight between two bad actors is over??!! Come on! This movie is worse than the Hindi crap that comes out of Bollywood. Wish I could give it zero stars, but I can't. Amazon, will you please see that movies of this low quality get zero stars?

Technically breathtaking, but left this viewer a little cold
Zhang Yimou's HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS continues where the director's HERO left off: it is a film of immense visual beauty and amazing choreography, supporting a plot with melodramatic elements to it. But whereas HERO could conceivably, amidst the dazzling imagistic pageantry and big emotions, be interpreted as a political statement (the film ends with a ruler having to sacrifice a hero for what he considers the greater cause of unifying feudal China), HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS is content to be romantic melodrama, plain and simple.

Personally, I kinda prefer the extra intellectual and thematic stimulation offered by HERO. At the end of that film, you really had something to think about; at the end of HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS...well, the story is over (and a song sung in English by soprano Kathleen Battle plays over the closing credits). Nothing of great consequence, I felt, had really happened in this film; it is basically one ravishing image and one amazing fight sequence following another, interspersed with (admittedly well-acted) moments of intimacy or high drama. If Zhang Yimou was aiming for thematic subtlety in HERO, here he goes for operatic emotions and visual spectacle. And for all its technical brilliance, the whole thing ultimately left me a little cold---maybe a bit too melodramatic and soapy for my taste.

That is a very personal reaction, of course. The technical brilliance Zhang Yimou brings to HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS is not to be denied; these are some of the most breathtaking (and breathtakingly filmed) fight sequences seen since the last notable "wuxia" film, Ang Lee's CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON. And the actors bring as much conviction as possible to their basically two-dimensional characters: certainly, as House of Flying Daggers member Mei, Ziyi Zhang brings convincing passion to her role, as do Takeshi Kaneshiro and Andy Lau as, respectively Jin and Leo, two police deputies who rescue Mei from prison and try to trick her into bringing them to the House of Flying Daggers to stop their rebelliousness once and for all.

Perhaps the best way to appreciate HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS is to look at it as a cinematic opera. Zhang Yimou is clearly not afraid to work on a big canvas, and he brings all the big emotions and spectacular sights he can to tell his melodramatic story. Those who go into this film expecting to be dazzled will most likely be satisfied; it is a genuine technical marvel. For me, though, I was expecting more substance to the film than it delivered. HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS may be more purely enjoyable than HERO, but the latter, to me, is a much more interesting movie than this one.

Super Cool Movie!!!
The action and special effects sequences in this movie are incredibly fun to watch.Zhang Ziyi is flawless as usual, and her perfomance and beauty justifies buying this DVD in itself.

Great cinematography, weak story
Genre: Foreign, Martial Arts, Romance

Genre Grade: B+

Final Grade: A-

This was another great film from Chinese director Yimou Zhang. Although not even close to comparing to his last film, Hero, it still was a great movie. Zhang is an artist, it is as simple as that. His locations are perfect, the colors are vibrant, and the characters are passionate. This is much more a love story than anything. It offers some good surprises concerning the characters and keeps the mystery of the "House of Flying Daggers" a secret to even the viewers. Actress Ziyi Zhang should learn to speak English because she could be a huge star in the United States.

I recommend this film to anyone who enjoyed Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon or Hero. It is dubbed in English so you don't have to read subtitles if you don't want to.

stunning
Yimou is a true artist of cinema. Hero and House of Flying Daggers are beautiful and spiritual adventures in Asian cinema. Both films are remarkable acheivments that are lost on the reviewer who gave this film one star. True art is often missunderstood by the masses. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Some movies can only be described as delicious. In Babette's Feast,a woman flees the French civil war and lands in a small seacoast villagein Denmark, where she comes to work for two spinsters, devout daughters ofa puritan minister.After many years, Babette unexpectedly wins alottery, and decides to create a real French dinner--which leads thesisters to fear for their souls. Joining them for the meal will be aDanish general who, as a young soldier, courted one of the sisters, butshe turned him away because of her religion. The village elders allresolve not to enjoy the meal, but can their moral fiber resist thesensual pleasure of Babette's cooking? Babette's Feast deservedlywon the 1987 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. This lovelymovie is impeccably simple, yet its slender narrative contains a wealth ofhumor, melancholy, and hope. --Bret Fetzer ... Read more

Reviews (81)

5-Star Meal, 5-Star Cinema
The feast of the title doesn't take place until well into the film. In fact, the majority of the film is spent telling the story of 2 godly sisters and the choices they made in life. Both sisters passed up true love and the promise of success in order to remain faithful to their religious beliefs. Instead they pass their lives assisting their minister father and carry on his work after his death. They continue their quiet lives past mid-life until one of the sisters' former suitors sends them a Parisian refugee, Babette. Babette spends 14 years with the sisters as cook, her only link to her former life being a lottery ticket that a friend in Paris renews for her every year. One day she wins the lottery and decides to use the money to prepare a sumptous dinner for the sisters and their small congregation. More than just an epicurean delight the feast is an outpouring of Babette's gratitude.

If the plot sounds thin, be assured it's anything but. The story is as rich and satisfying as the feast Babette prepares. We see the delicate romances that develop for each sister and understand their reasons for turning their suitors away. We see the lives the sisters, and their men, have led after making their decision. The feast comes at a time when the sisters are asking themselves questions that they never voice: Did they make the right decision all those years ago? Was it worth it? Reassurance comes in an unexpected and exquisitely romanitc way.

This film is such a wonderful example of what happens when filmmakers are interested in telling a good story and telling it well. It doesn't follow a 'formula' or cater to a demographic and is a perfect example of why independent and foreign films are so much more satisfying than Hollywood movies.