Heaven
Some day I will go back to posting extensively about the evil that is the main campus library (although ILL there is always efficient, if sometimes cranky) and literature, but as long as I'm T.A.-ing film, which is completely new to me outside of the well-it-sucked and well-it-had-Owen-Wilson-in-it-so-I-saw-it comments, you're stuck with my posts about feeeelm. I'm fascinated and contemplating leaving grad school for film school. I would direct, K. would be my editor, and we'd see if Owen Wilson would help out with writing scripts. Lord knows, I can't write. Together we would make cool, cool movies.
Last night after entry three in the Polish animation series at the Cinematheque Ontario, some of which was good and most of which I can live without, I was sucked into watching Heaven with Cate Blanchett and Giovanni Ribisi. The back story of the film is that Krzysztof Kieslowski wrote the script before he died and Tom Twyker of Run Lola Run fame then made the film. It felt like a Kieslowski script, but there was no weight to the film. While the title Heaven suggests that this lack was intended, I was reminded of the private viola instructors and youth symphony conductors of my past, who insisted that even the quietest most ethereal pianissimo required a solid core. There was no core to Twyker's movie.
What was missing? I don't know. Part of the problem may have been Giovanni Ribisi (Filippo). Superficially, his eyes are too close together so all of the intense staring he did during the opening of the film made him look specially abled instead of ardent. Also, although I am fairly certain that he is a fine actor, he is burdened with being the punk adopted kid from Davis Rules, which was rather funny until he appeared. That is a hard thing to overcome. A definite problem was the use of non-diegetic music. By placing emotional cues outside of the film's narrative, it feels as though Twyker sucked the soul of out the story. Everytime Arvo Part's music started up, I disengaged myself from the film. In light of the fact that Part's music is playing almost constantly, I wasn't engaged for about three-quarters of the film.
On the good side, the cinematography is gorgeous. Of course when one is filming in Tuscany there isn't much one can do to hurt it. All of the urban and interior shots were beautifully composed, however. The take that forced me to sit down and watch the rest of the film was of Blanchett's character descending on an escalator in the foreground while an elevator attached to the outside of an office building ascends in the background. Separating them is a large concrete square. I watched that take again this morning. Remo Girone was also excellent as Filippo's father. In fact, we watched the deleted scenes between Filippo and his father and although we understood why they had been cut, we still wished that they had been included.
Overall, it's a beautiful film and while not wholly satisfying, it is more rewarding than nine-tenths of the garbage Hollywood attempts to pawn off on us. -Zh.
Last night after entry three in the Polish animation series at the Cinematheque Ontario, some of which was good and most of which I can live without, I was sucked into watching Heaven with Cate Blanchett and Giovanni Ribisi. The back story of the film is that Krzysztof Kieslowski wrote the script before he died and Tom Twyker of Run Lola Run fame then made the film. It felt like a Kieslowski script, but there was no weight to the film. While the title Heaven suggests that this lack was intended, I was reminded of the private viola instructors and youth symphony conductors of my past, who insisted that even the quietest most ethereal pianissimo required a solid core. There was no core to Twyker's movie.
What was missing? I don't know. Part of the problem may have been Giovanni Ribisi (Filippo). Superficially, his eyes are too close together so all of the intense staring he did during the opening of the film made him look specially abled instead of ardent. Also, although I am fairly certain that he is a fine actor, he is burdened with being the punk adopted kid from Davis Rules, which was rather funny until he appeared. That is a hard thing to overcome. A definite problem was the use of non-diegetic music. By placing emotional cues outside of the film's narrative, it feels as though Twyker sucked the soul of out the story. Everytime Arvo Part's music started up, I disengaged myself from the film. In light of the fact that Part's music is playing almost constantly, I wasn't engaged for about three-quarters of the film.
On the good side, the cinematography is gorgeous. Of course when one is filming in Tuscany there isn't much one can do to hurt it. All of the urban and interior shots were beautifully composed, however. The take that forced me to sit down and watch the rest of the film was of Blanchett's character descending on an escalator in the foreground while an elevator attached to the outside of an office building ascends in the background. Separating them is a large concrete square. I watched that take again this morning. Remo Girone was also excellent as Filippo's father. In fact, we watched the deleted scenes between Filippo and his father and although we understood why they had been cut, we still wished that they had been included.
Overall, it's a beautiful film and while not wholly satisfying, it is more rewarding than nine-tenths of the garbage Hollywood attempts to pawn off on us. -Zh.
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