Interesting style... makes one wish that the American West had been settled by Thai cowboys: they had much better dress sense and probably knew how to cook cattle-less meals. And just think what a Thai-American president could do for the country!
Reviews
5 Reviews
Un portrait
(2001)
Beautiful painterly light
23 November 2002
Paris, 1621. Franz Pourbus, master painter, charges his most talented pupil with the commission to paint the portrait of the Spanish Infante Marguerite Eleonor. The young painter has to paint the young princess in circumstances that are anything but relaxed: etiquette does not allow direct communication between the artist and the royal sitter, and there is always a courtier present, as well as the princess's lady-in-waiting. The tension that builds up between the two young people, as the portrait takes shape over the course of two--beautifully timed--weeks, revolves around the young girl's unease at being portraited by the painter, and the painter's difficulties in trying to express in paint the character and soul of a sitter with whom he can only communicate through the eyes.
The film was shot in the authentic Renaissance setting of the Castle of Gaasbeek, near Brussels in present-day Belgium. The light used is simply stunning. It made me think how much film making has evolved since Kubrick's revolutionary lighting in 'Barry Lyndon'(1975): I have always had doubts about the alleged naturalness of the lighting in that film. No such doubts for 'Le Portrait'.
The film was shot in the authentic Renaissance setting of the Castle of Gaasbeek, near Brussels in present-day Belgium. The light used is simply stunning. It made me think how much film making has evolved since Kubrick's revolutionary lighting in 'Barry Lyndon'(1975): I have always had doubts about the alleged naturalness of the lighting in that film. No such doubts for 'Le Portrait'.
Blissfully Yours
(2002)
This may very well be happiness
23 October 2002
This second feature of Apichatpong Weerasethakul is more an experience than a story-dependent film. Something strange happens to your feeling for time while watching this two-hour long film: time seems suspended, absent. When 45 minutes into the film the opening credits suddenly appear, they come as a bit of a shock, because by then you are irresistibly drawn into the non-story.
The way this film treats time is reminiscent of several films by Taiwanese director Tsai Ming-Liang: long, drawn-out scenes, in real-time or almost, and with little or no dialogue. Also the relationship between the main characters brings to mind Tsai's films, more in particular 'Aiqing Wansui' with its triangular relationship.
'Blissfully Yours' is an impressionist rendering of a lazy afternoon in the mountainous border region between Thailand and Myanmar. Min is an illegal immigrant from Myanmar, who takes his girlfriend Roong for a pick-nick. They are joined later by Orn, an older woman employed by Roong to take care of Min.
One of the main ingredients in impressionism is the sun, and the sun plays an important though discrete role in this film also. It is present everywhere in the second part of the film, softly filtered through the canopy of the jungle, but also as a threat to Min who has a skin disease and was told to stay out of the sun.
What also filters through in the film is the political issue of Myanmarese immigrants in northern Thailand. The first half hour shows the three main characters consulting a doctor about Min's skin condition. Min, who has no papers, doesn't speak - perhaps because the doctor would refuse to treat him if she knew her patient was an illegal alien and not a Thai. And the doctor's refusal to give Min a 'fit-to-work' certificate unless he can produce official papers is typical of the administrative vicious circle so many illegal immigrants are caught in all around the world.
This makes for a stark contrast between the first and second part of the film, between grim reality and a dreamy, lazy afternoon that is bathed in light.
American audiences may feel uneasy seeing sex scenes that are neither censored, clinical, beautified or violent. Not recommended for viewers who require car chases and shoot-outs, or for those who don't like ants.
The way this film treats time is reminiscent of several films by Taiwanese director Tsai Ming-Liang: long, drawn-out scenes, in real-time or almost, and with little or no dialogue. Also the relationship between the main characters brings to mind Tsai's films, more in particular 'Aiqing Wansui' with its triangular relationship.
'Blissfully Yours' is an impressionist rendering of a lazy afternoon in the mountainous border region between Thailand and Myanmar. Min is an illegal immigrant from Myanmar, who takes his girlfriend Roong for a pick-nick. They are joined later by Orn, an older woman employed by Roong to take care of Min.
One of the main ingredients in impressionism is the sun, and the sun plays an important though discrete role in this film also. It is present everywhere in the second part of the film, softly filtered through the canopy of the jungle, but also as a threat to Min who has a skin disease and was told to stay out of the sun.
What also filters through in the film is the political issue of Myanmarese immigrants in northern Thailand. The first half hour shows the three main characters consulting a doctor about Min's skin condition. Min, who has no papers, doesn't speak - perhaps because the doctor would refuse to treat him if she knew her patient was an illegal alien and not a Thai. And the doctor's refusal to give Min a 'fit-to-work' certificate unless he can produce official papers is typical of the administrative vicious circle so many illegal immigrants are caught in all around the world.
This makes for a stark contrast between the first and second part of the film, between grim reality and a dreamy, lazy afternoon that is bathed in light.
American audiences may feel uneasy seeing sex scenes that are neither censored, clinical, beautified or violent. Not recommended for viewers who require car chases and shoot-outs, or for those who don't like ants.
April, April!
(1935)
Douglas Sirk's debut is a Lubitsch
25 July 2002
A very pleasant surprise, this UFA-comedy and Sirk's first film. No surprises in the script--apart from the ones intended by the script writers--but a story that is cleverly constructed around the gap of knowledge between the viewer and the characters. The story's central formula (expected visitor does not come, replacement is found, both show up in the end and confusion follows) has been tested before: 'It's a boy' (1933) with Edward Everett Horton, uses a similar procedure with good effect, and there must be other films playing on such character switches. It's simple, but it works.
The acting is generally very good, also in the supporting parts. It is interesting to see some pre-talkies mannerisms, especially in the older actors. The Lampe family and their littleness recalls the Strabel family in Ernst Lubitsch' 'Heaven Can Wait' (1943), also aspiring to social recognition and nobility, and equally unable to disguise their 'industrial' background.
All in all, a very enjoyable film, which in no way announces Sirk's later melodrama's: flippant, light, formulaic perhaps, but fine cinema.
The acting is generally very good, also in the supporting parts. It is interesting to see some pre-talkies mannerisms, especially in the older actors. The Lampe family and their littleness recalls the Strabel family in Ernst Lubitsch' 'Heaven Can Wait' (1943), also aspiring to social recognition and nobility, and equally unable to disguise their 'industrial' background.
All in all, a very enjoyable film, which in no way announces Sirk's later melodrama's: flippant, light, formulaic perhaps, but fine cinema.
Lady for a Day
(1933)
"Ask them if they believe in fairy tales."
5 July 2002
Almost 70 years on, this film is as fresh as ever, with brilliant performances, great dialogue, and an irresistible story, even if you don't believe in fairy tales. Watch out for the butler's line, addressing Happy MacGuire, who talks in the not-so-grammatically-correct mob-lingo of the 1930s: "If I had a choice of weapon with you, Sir, I'd choose grammar." Definitely a must see!
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