Change Your Image
NL1971
Reviews
Whole New Thing (2005)
Thank God for video clubs!
I loved this movie - it's a good, simple, both touching and amusing story - very Canadian (that's a good thing in my book, even though I'm a separatist!). It's also great to see plots taking place outside of the usual larger cities. Cudos to all involved. But... once more, it makes me think of how frustrating it is that Canadian movies almost never make it to Québec's movie screens (I'm writing from Montréal). I once complained about this in writing to our former Ministre du Patrimoine Sheila Copps - after watching the Genies one night, not having seen any of the Canadian films in competition, as they hadn't been distributed in Québec yet! One would think that the federal government, always out to promote Canadian culture and unity, might want to do something about this! We, in Québec, are so proud of our cinema and often look down upon the R.O.C.'s production - but that's so wrong! Canada has great movie makers - but poor distribution and promotion methods and means, sadly!
Villa paranoia (2004)
Art to cure the soul
Being from Canada, I cannot say whether this film is original in the context of Danish cinema - unfortunately, we, here, do not get to see many Danish films in a year! I also cannot comment on Clausen's acting in the context of his other roles - I personally found him quite believable - a touching monstrosity of a man, this Jorgen! As for the actor who played Kenneth - why would his participation in a TV show rule him out as an actor - aren't we over such elitist attitudes? International viewers unaware of his Big Brother participation will find him a fair actor.
In spite of the movie's faults (the writing could have been subtler in some instances), I do subscribe to what one could call the 'message' of the film - namely art's essential role in everyday life, art as healing force. Art, as Nietzsche said, sanctifies the lie ('Kunst heiligt die Luege') - it is a holy lie: the wedding scene is fabulous in this sense - a theatrical, not religious, wedding, celebrating love and life as play...