lewianbra Reviews

Palazzina Laf (2023)

Ken Loach meets Federico Fellini

[9/10 · 17 January 2024]

Reading a short blurb and watching a 2 minutes preview, I expected something of an Italian version of a Ken Loach film, a realistic, gloomy, social commentary on working conditions and the ignorance of workers' rights by an evil company. I wasn't so wrong, but I got more than this. Director Riondino (who also plays the the main character in a very convincing way) for sure has watched his Fellini, and the film comes up with some poetic dream-like moments on top of the realism, some visually appealing, some absurd and intentionally ridiculous. These are integrated very well in the otherwise indeed gloomy and realist portrayal of the reaction of an Italian company in the 1990s to the opposition it faced among (unionist) workers to restructuration under new ownership and changing their contracts. I also had fun comparing the Italian interpretation of realist proletarian acting to the British one in Ken Loach's films. If you like this kind of acting, this is a film for you. Some characters to me seem to be very nicely on the borderline between still just realistic and somewhat satirically exaggerated, but at the end of the day I suspect that they may be firmer on the realistic side than I can imagine (never having had direct contact with the portrayed working culture in Italy).

What does "Palazzina LAF" mean, you may ask. You've got to see the film to find out. "LAF" means "Laminatoio a Freddo", in English apparently "cold rolling", some kind of production process, but this doesn't tell you anything about what to expect in the Palazzina LAF. Caterino, the main character, having been convinced by the company to spy on his co-workers in exchange for a promotion and a.company car, catches a glimpse on what goes on there and wants to go there, not really understanding what it means what he sees. The request is granted, so he finds out and so will you.

Gloomy social realism meets some felliniesque moments, and they go very well together, helped by an interesting hardly predictable if somewhat simple storyline. Excellent film.

Ex 2: Still Friends? (2011)

Light comedy, nothing great but fun to watch

[6/10 · 14 January 2024]

I watched this rather accidentally on TV and went through it as I'm a fan of Teresa Mannino's comedy. This is a light Italian romantic comedy with several parallel plots, all about finding and losing love and maybe finding it again. The film is full of comedian overacting, somewhat cliched with little credibility, and some twists of the plot are quite predictable. It does hold the odd surprise though. There is a bit of an attempt at deeper messages in the film, which is OK, not super convincing, but not annoying either. The strong point of the film is the ensemble of actors. I really liked to watch them go through the twists and turns, they got me to care for them and gave me a good number of laughs. Also you don't often have in such films besides more "normal" people a thing between a member of the European parliament and a Baltic prime minister. This is not normally my kind of film, and at the end of the day it's nothing great but fun to watch. Why not? 6.4 stars.

I saw this in the original Italian language, I doubt I'd enjoy this in a dubbed version.

Perfect Days (2023)

How to be happy as a toilet cleaner and some more

[8/10 · 28 December 2023]

I was sceptical when we decided to go to watch this one. I like a number of Wim Wenders films and I'm open to meditation, being in the here and now, and the general idea that happiness may be hidden in the most insignificant and even superficially annoying activities including a workday in a job nobody dreams of. I thought, yeah, for sure at some point there needs to be a film about a happy toilet cleaner showing really mostly his unexciting but happy life so that people can see that you can be happy with such a life indeed. I'm fine with that, but do I have to see it myself? I wasn't so sure. Treasuring the moment, the here and now, is better in the middle of the actual life, outside, be it in nature or at your work place, or maybe on public transport or your bike, but sitting in a cinema watching somebody else doing it isn't exactly as rewarding - or is it?

Was I right or wrong with my anticipation? Well, both, in certain ways. The film goes on for some time in the way I had expected. Not bad, nice actually, but not very surprising either. Some elements, however, are thrown in to disturb the day to day rituals of our toilet cleaner, with some potential to shake up his life, introducing also some interesting if only sparsely sketched other characters, a little bit of back story, some interaction, even some tension. There's for sure more to the film than a happy toilet cleaner and some hints about how to be happy. I once read a book by Fritz Riemann on Anxiety, and it mentioned two axes of anxiety, namely fear of change vs fear of standing still, and fear of being alone vs fear of the others. These elements and the tension between them, change vs a life that stands still and solitude vs interaction and connection with others, feature heavily in the film, turned into an optimistic vision here how a man with a positive attitude and a sense for beauty in the simplest things could face these challenges and enrich his life dealing with them.

There's some fun, great photography of Tokyo (don't miss the innovative architecture of the toilets), some celebration of literature and music, and many details that are probably symbols waiting to be decoded. So I say it's a rewarding and worthwhile film, even though it could be seen as cheating that so many transformative things happen in a few days in the life of the toilet cleaner that I'd suspect had been much more monotonous otherwise, and less appealing to a cinema audience. It's still a slow film with mostly subtle things happening, but it didn't feel as long as it was (at more than 2h). I stand by saying that you better make your own life happy by caring for the details of the moment than watching somebody else doing it in a film, but to its credit, the film gives us more than that.

Ingeborg Bachmann - Journey Into the Desert (2023)

Worthwhile but with flaws

[7/10 · 5 November 2023]

First of all this was an interesting film and I certainly don't regret having seen it. It's a serious psychological film. People who have an interest in Ingeborg Bachmann and Max Frisch of course have an advantage watching this. It's some kind of relationship study. Obviously the relationship is between two special persons (giants of literature), and the interaction between the relationship and the artistic production of the characters is an issue here. There is much food for thought, also regarding the changing roles of men and women, what people expect from love and relationships, how they deal with separation, and so on. Ronald Zehrfeld as Max Frisch is very convincing. I have more problems with Vicky Krieps as Ingeborg Bachmann. Her looks and gestures are fine (actually visual similarity to the real Bachmann and Frisch may have played a role casting these actors, though Krieps is maybe a bit too beautiful even when emotionally shattered), but I can't get rid of the impression "21st century actress" rather than "20th century poet" when she talks. Also in most (though not all) scenes after the separation, Krieps comes over as more positive and ebullient than I'd think Bachmann was at that time, according to what I know from Wikipedia and other sources. What is shown of the relationship between Bachmann and Frisch doesn't really make clear to me what tied them to each other apart from the initial attraction (but this happens often in films; it may be my personal issue actually); particularly of Frisch we see little that makes him a sympathetic character. But then maybe he just was like this. I regularly have the problem with fictional films about real events that it isn't clear, regarding many details, to what extent these are "true" to reality at least in some sense, and how legitimate it is to deviate. Anything that doesn't seem realistic can be justified by a sensible connection to the real events/characters, but as spectator I don't always know enough to assess this.

I have my issues with this one, but as said above, it was a worthwhile experience anyway.

Io Capitano (2023)

The tough journey of two young Senegalese going to Europe

[9/10 · 10 October 2023]

Seydou and Moussa from Senegal have saved some money to make their dream come true - go to Europe and hopefully become famous. We see a bit of their life in Dakar, and then their journey to Sicily, through the desert partly on foot, abandoned by traffickers who had promised to bring them to Libya, and then they cross the Mediterranean Sea with a rotting ship without any sailor who'd know how to steer it. The film makes you live the experience; this was what I came to see, and this is what I got. It is based on the experiences of at least one of the main actors (don't know for sure about others). The film has grim and sad moments, some suspense, some despicable behaviour, greedy and ruthless, but also some poetic dream sequences, heartwarming humanity, and even some inspiring optimism. It is a very tough and dangerous undertaking and nobody should be forced to put themselves through it. The acting was great and we get some impressive scenery and photography as well even though the protagonists are not there to enjoy it. Highly recommended, best film I saw this summer.

One aspect that made me think is that in the beginning the life of the two cousins in Dakar doesn't look all too gloomy, and furthermore some people give them very realistic warnings about what they are going to go through. They decide to leave their families and take on the "adventure" anyway, which can be seen as rather stupid or at least naive really, but given they are 16 years old and have some drive to distance themselves from their childhood, this has some credibility. Still already in the beginning we can think that even if they reach Europe, chances are their life there will be no better, and there will be a point at which they will regret this. Although the film conveys a lot of sympathy for them, and for what the refugees have to go through generally, it could also be used to argue that Europe should close borders more strictly and do what it can to stop people being attracted to Europe based on unrealistic hopes. Certainly the film makes no attempt to convince the spectators that the two protagonists suffer real hardship in their home country and need to go away to have a bearable life. Certainly there will be refugees like this, but is it a majority? I'd still imagine many of those who go have stronger reasons than these two. No criticism of the film as it is certainly credible, still I think we are better off having clearly in mind that not all of these stories are like this one.

The Young Montalbano (2012– )

Great for fans of the original if not quite up there

[7/10 · 5 September 2023]

I'm a big fan of the original Montalbano series. They did a prequel of it showing how Montalbano started his police job in Vigata, met his colleagues for the first time, and how his long love story with Livia begun. The way this is constructed is solid; the relation with the original "older" Montalbano works very well, and fans will appreciate the background they get. Also, I find the character development credible and at times intriguing. So when it comes to the development of the main roles and the interaction between them, and how this develops between the Young and original series, this is flawless. So ultimately the concept of these prequels works out well.

Of course it was difficult to cast this. Good actors were needed, but also the connection to the original Montalbano needed to be taken into account. The focus wasn't so much on physical similarity, but rather on a similar character and style. By and large they did well. They made me buy and connect to these actors as being earlier versions of the same persons despite obvious discrepancies in their looks.

Other than that it's again Italian whodunnits that show some interesting characters, a lot of Sicilian scenery and food, witty dialogues and some humour, and some social and humanistic commentary. It has basically all the same ingredients as the original Montalbano, and also the stories work in quite similar ways. Realism and credibility of the murder cases and the stories behind them are hit and miss, but always entertaining enough (I've seen much worse than the worst here, but the best aren't the pinnacles of crime cases either).

The problem here is that it is too clear that they wanted to appeal to fans of the original series; this is mostly more of the same. And then, well, the actors are well chosen for their character connection with the original Montalbano, but still the original ones are the originals and what we have here is some kind of copies, even if high quality copies. Still every role loses a bit of the original spark here, just being "reproduced" in one way or another. And the Young Montalbano himself is certainly credible and well played, but less fun than his forerunner (actually successor in fictional time) Luca Zingaetti. Similar things can be said about the others, all good, all not quite at the level of the original series.

So watch at least some of the original Montalbano first. If you love that, you'll appreciate this series as well, they are really well integrated with each other. Still, this one is (quality-wise) the original Montalbano minus ten percent.

Return to Seoul (2022)

A shot at an explanation of her behaviour

[8/10 · 31 August 2023]

I saw this film yesterday and I thought that it's an original and unique film, but somewhat difficult to enjoy. An issue that many people have is that they can't connect to Freddy, the main character, and I get why. Her behaviour is often erratic, and then at times repelling and harsh to others. As she really takes centre stage in this film, it can be hard even for the spectator to put up with her behaviour, even though it is nowhere near outright evil. I thought a bit more about this, and will share my view of it. I won't reveal any detail of the film that you can't find in any generic introduction, so no spoilers, however if you want to watch this and build your own understanding unaffected by my interpretation, you may not want to read on.

I actually know well a person in a similar situation to Freddy, somebody from outside Europe who was adopted to Europe at the age of half a year. There are clear parallels also in behaviour. Being abandoned is a primal experience for adopted children. In these cases an additional thing is that the environment can clearly see that the parents are not the biological parents, and some may think the child "doesn't belong" in the country to where it was adopted. This will add to their experience of being somewhat odd and maybe not really accepted, even though the adoptive parents themselves may not convey anything of that kind. What I see in Freddy is a very strong tendency to keep up and defend her own independence fiercely, particularly if somebody else gets closer. The biological parents have given her away, so it is hard to handle and accept for her if she meets them again and they want some closer contact. I think there is much fear of being abandoned again involved. She may also have tried extra hard to become a proper French person when growing up, potentially facing some prejudice but also encouragement there, and she may identify South Korea as a place that abandoned her, even though there is also curiosity and a certain feeling of connection that she has difficulties allowing for herself. So she develops this rather ambivalent relationship to South Korea and the people there, sometimes behaving extra strange, sometimes getting closer, then again wanting to run away when indeed somebody gets a bit closer. There may also be an element of trying to prove life wrong, trying to show to herself that ultimately she isn't rejected by South Korea and her biological parents, but with a lot of suspicion and self protection at the same time. So thinking about this a bit longer, ultimately her behaviour makes a lot of sense to me, even in its superficial inconsistency.

So after a day I think this is actually very well done and convincing, and I'll give it 8 stars, even though I hadn't felt like that yesterday when the film ended. Note, explanations are not normally given in the film. She does what she does but she really isn't communicative about her motives, so we can only speculate. But it makes all sense to me, given also my personal knowledge of such a person.

A Brighter Tomorrow (2023)

Moretti annoys, but in a funny way

[8/10 · 18 August 2023]

I found this film very enjoyable and funny. Of course it's not the first film about a director making a film, and I had only seen two of his films before so I can't tell to what extent this is "always the same Moretti stuff", but to me this film seemed rather unique and original. Nanni Moretti himself (called Giovanni in the film) is the main protagonist here, and he is mightily annoying, talking endlessly without listening properly to others including his wife, with a voice that reveals a clear sense for his own importance. This is however obviously ironic and self-deprecating (the Guardian reviewer, who slaughtered this film, apparently missed that, which is hard to believe but maybe something got lost in translation?) in an often very funny way. It helps to know such people in real life for appreciating his portrayal. Otherwise he is directing a film about Italian communists' reaction to the 1956 Hungarian uprising while the Italian communists host a Hungarian circus in Rome. He also deranges another film in which his wife participates lecturing the director on the "correct" use and non-use of violence in films. Meanwhile his very convincing down-to-earth wife prepares to separate from him (the audience can clearly see why she would want that) with a counsellor as on her own she apparently doesn't manage to take this step on her own. There is some surreal stuff with nods to Fellini and Godard in the film, and apart from Moretti's misbehaviour and the breaking down of his marriage there's some politics, feminism, and thought about cinema back then and now in the film. Moretti's general state resonates well with what goes on it the film he makes and how he directs it. Sometimes there is more than one layer of irony and it is not necessarily easy to get it all, but I for sure got enough out of it. There is a fine line between annoyance and fun in Moretti's ironic self-portrayal, but this came out on the right side for me, just about. Ultimately there is some development in his personality in a somewhat more pleasant direction; he can confess his own uncertainty and vulnerability, but will it last? I wasn't very keen on the end, but also this was ironically broken, which was well needed to make it acceptable for me. The film has its flaws, but I was well entertained, and I raise my hat to Moretti for his self-irony.

Pink Moon (2022)

Well done little film about an intriguing topic

[8/10 · 18 August 2023]

The official storyline of this film gives us a very clear idea of what to expect. Jan (74), apparently physically and mentally fit, tells his adult children that he wants to end his life after his next birthday because "I've got enough", and he wouldn't want to be a burden on the others later in life, or so he says. Iris, his daughter, is shocked and can't accept this, whereas her brother apparently adapts quite easily and business-like to the idea. Iris attempts to deal with the situation and the emotions she goes through are the center of the film. Julia Akkermans plays her character very well. Generally we see realistic and credible acting. The topic of the film is intriguing, well worth to be explored in this way, and the writing is realistic and credible as well. Also visually the film is well done if somewhat understated. So I recommend this film, even though I would have liked to see more development of the other characters and their way to deal with the situation. I call this "a well done little film" and I wouldn't have complained about it being a bit "bigger" in the sense of showing more than just the story of Iris. 7.5 stars rounded up.

The Cathedral (I) (2022)

One guy builds a cathedral

[8/10 · 31 July 2023]

I can only recommend this delightful and inspiring documentary. This is a true story, it's about the Cathedral that Justo Gallego Martinez built mainly on his own (he would accept some help and occasionally pay for day labourers) in his home town of Mejorada del Campo in Spain. He couldn't quite finish it, but what he achieved in 60 years working on it is impressive anyway.

Justo did this without any formal education as architect or even bricklayer, just powered by faith and 100% dedication. This incredible project is absolutely worth a film, and the film is well done. It gives us breathtaking views of Justo working on the cathedral, and shows some of his interesting attitude toward the materials (much of which is collected random stuff, and in general it was for free or as cheap as possible). Otherwise it shows what kind of person Justo is, how he interacts with others, and how they see him (we also get something to laugh). And then issues such as security, the legal status, and the future of the cathedral are explored. The security aspect alone is extremely fascinating; the guy reached age 96 apparently without any serious accidents. Looking at the stunts he did on a regular basis, this just beggars belief. He also seems to be quite competent regarding the security of the building for others, not from education, but from intuition, but the authorities of course have their issues with this. All of this is mostly explored through interviews with Justo himself and others more or less marginally involved (I was waiting for the question "What are your best tips for others who want to build their own cathedral" but this didn't happen - or Justo wouldn't respond).

Unfortunately the film could not follow Justo and the building chronologically through all 60 years; when people started to realise that this is worth a documentary, the project had already reached some maturity, and therefore we don't really see the cathedral grow, which is a pity, but this is of course not a complaint - it's just how it is and nothing else was possible.

Anyway, this will show you what one man with some proper determination and belief can do. And the cathedral is quite something.

Inside (I) (2023)

What's worthwhile here is the art

[5/10 · 25 July 2023]

I write this review to highlight one thing that is too rarely mentioned in other reviews, which is that the stars of this film really are the artworks in the penthouse in which Willem Dafoe is trapped. As his character is properly into art himself, he will in the film work with the available art and materials and create some himself, which is attractive to see and actually works quite well in my view. I love modern art and go to see it in museums regularly, so I should be happy about a film like this. Ultimately I think this is a nice idea, and as far as I know, quite original.

Dafoe's acting is fine as well.

However, I don't think the story works. As idea I accept this, but there is a good number of details that don't work. Furthermore, apart from the art not much is happening; pretty soon I had the feeling that story-wise this would be going nowhere, and apart from the art I lost the interest quickly. The main character's psychology didn't engage me much either.

Maybe a major reason why this film is weaker than I had hoped, despite the attractive way it deals with the artworks, is that the struggles of a super sophisticated art thief in an impossible situation aren't the right setup to connect the art to the viewers and their experience of life. OK, the main character has a bad time up there, and his own art resonates with what he is going through (which chances are very few of the audience will experience), but other than that the artworks are decoration, and their deeper meaning is hardly explored.

Ultimately I acknowledge the originality of the setup and for an art lover the film for sure has something to offer, but what I liked about it would've fit in much less time; as thriller or drama (which is how it is tagged) the thing is lost on me. Ultimately I hope that somebody makes a film where art takes center stage through some kind of thriller or drama in a way that allows me to properly connect to it, which is what the highly artificial scenario and character of Inside doesn't allow.

An interesting experiment, but ultimately failed.

Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000–2024)

Excellent but overdone

[7/10 · 24 October 2022]

I have read many reviews of this show and astonishingly none of them represents my view of it well, so I have to write my own one.

I do like the concept of the show with the neurotic, egoist, awkward, socially incompetent, impatient, annoying, but occasionally human and likeable Larry David getting from one social disaster into another. The improvisation gives it a realist touch indeed even if mostly Larry himself but occasionally also others overdo the shouting. The supporting characters are also fine, Jeff and Suzie are funny as characters and have some hilarious moments, and Cheryl, even though not having a very funny role, does a good job to put some contrast and balance into the show. And then there's good and clever Seinfeld-tested twisted storyline writing, bringing seemingly unrelated scenes together in surprising ways. I had for sure much to laugh here and the CYE-look on the human condition also has some depth.

That said, even having made some positive remarks about the supporting actors, one thing that keeps my rating below Seinfeld standard is that while Larry David can match Seinfeld's George, the others don't reach the level of Jerry, Elaine, and Kramer, and ultimately Larry has to carry too much weight of this show. (Although of course Seinfeld is unrivalled in this respect, so a show not being able to rival it can still be excellent.)

And then the big issue for me - they did too many series and episodes for the concept. It becomes repetitive. It is kind of nice to spot, even in later series, with how many new ideas to spice up the format they can still come up, so I wouldn't exactly say stop watching after 2 or say 4 series, however at the end of every series I had the feeling that I need to wait for quite some time before I can enjoy the next one, as the basic structure is always the same, and at some point I get enough of it.

So I'm somewhat surprised that the vast majority of reviewers either love the show from beginning to end (or maybe end minus one series), or they hate the show from the beginning. I think it's a very good show, and had they done three series of their best level, it could've been 9-10/10, but their basic setup was not enough for the number of series they did, so it becomes tiresome at some point.

The Catholic School (2021)

Well done and interesting if predictable

[7/10 · 8 September 2022]

I think that this is a solid and largely well done film. The acting is fine and the exposition of the family, school, and social life of the students who ultimately committed the Massacro del Circeo gives some food for thought. Some historical facts are missing so that the story told by the film may give a slightly biased impression, but this is normal for films of this kind that are based on real events but do not attempt to be documentaries, still somewhat problematic. I wouldn't rate the film as outstanding; if you read even just the official announcements about the film in advance, you will know where things are going (although I hadn't studied the story enough to know everything in advance, there was the odd little surprise), and the "rigid catholic school and disfunctional families bring forth disturbed characters" theme wasn't exactly done for the first time, but anyway, I could get something out of this. 7/10.

America Latina (2021)

This is not a thriller in the first place

[7/10 · 16 August 2022]

After having read some negative reviews I was quite skeptical about this film, but ultimately I don't regret having watched it.

I think the problem with this film has to do with wrong expectations. Many who watch it may expect a thriller, and as such it misses some features that a good thriller should have. The storyline is not very intriguing for a thriller, it isn't logically very sharp, and we see quite a number of things that don't contribute to the thriller element.

The key to this film is that we experience the perception of the main actor, which is clearly disturbed. We may think that we can reconstruct a real story from this perception, but in my view this is rather a film about mental illness, inspired by the concept of "The Father", and as such it works pretty well. As in "The Father", the audience is left with some open questions, although we may be slightly less confused about what really happened, and instead the psychological background is less clear. However I am willing to buy into this, particularly because I am familiar with some of the psychological symbolism (the secret in the basement; the rising water) from my own dreams, so this resonates with me. This is not a film for those who want to understand everything (even though I'm never sure whether others could understand what I can't), rather for those curious about the experience to get into the head of a disturbed and confused character. We can interpret, but the help we get is limited.

The photography is particularly good, and I don't have complaints about the performance of the actors. The film suffers a bit from trying to keep the hope alive that it could be a thriller, but ultimately it captured me and gave me food for thought.

The Order of Things (2017)

Intelligent and credible

[8/10 · 28 December 2020]

The film is centered around Corrado Rinaldi (Paolo Pierobon), who travels to Libya together with two partners in a mission for the Italian government to negotiate arrangements to stop immigrants from getting into Italy and the EU. We see the team inspecting a camp in which refugees are potentially mistreated. He insists that human rights ought to be respected, but this might just be demanded in a superficial and ultimately inefficient way in order to tick a box. A major event in the plot is when Corrado gets into contact with Swada, a Somalian refugee who asks him for help. Corrado is a well-to-do and loving father and husband, ex-police officer and high level fencer, and portraying the contrast between his family life and what he sees in Libya (in which his family takes some interest) is a core theme of the film.

The story of the film is rather simple, and much is made of elaborating the complex background with negotiations and interviews involving local Libyan actors (I mean actors not actors;-), Libyan authorities, the Italian government and EU representatives. Another major focus of observation is Corrado's character and his way of dealing with the difficult situation in interplay with his team, particularly the tension between what his mission ought to be and his human impulse to help somebody in trouble.

Ultimately this is an intelligent and credible film, showing basic dilemmas without presenting easy solutions. The spectator gets some good food for thought, and the humanistic message of the film is conveyed without simplifying and over-dramatising.

The acting and visuals are good; Paolo Pierobon in particular manages to bring together the different sides of Corrado, the official negotiator with integrity and distance, the sharp martial artist and ex-cop, the loving family man, and the dealings with his emotional dilemma, in a very convincing way.

I have little to criticise about this film, so why do I not give it even more stars? Of course 8/10 means I think it's a very good film that I recommend warmly. The only issue I have is that although the film has an emotional aspect, I find it more intelligent than moving. It comes over as a rather slow character and situation study rather than something that has you glued to your seat from the first to the last minute. The film sticks to its credibility by avoiding melodrama and also all too shocking images (what we see is at most mildly disturbing), and this can be seen as a quality. It is fine for what it is, even if this is at the cost of some entertainment of which more would've been possible in other ways.

Chevalier (2015)

Original, thought provoking, and witty

[8/10 · 24 July 2016]

This film has the six men on a diving and fishing trip in the Greek islands (accompanied by three, later two, staff on the boat) getting into a competition game about finding out who is the "best in general" among them. While they do some specific competitions, in principle all their behavior down to the tiniest detail is up for rating by the others. We see them taking notes about each other all the time, and most conversations somehow circle around their game; but because the game involves everything, whatever they talk about is by definition part of the game. Besides the interactions and communication, we get some very well done cinematography both of the wonderful setting and the men and their boat that at times can be read as comment on what goes on between them.

The idea of the film is original and fascinating, and the comedy and more serious aspects here work very well together. This is one of the films where humour comes from precise observation of the characteristics and psychology of the protagonists, their conflicts, and from realizing how ridiculous human interaction can be, while at the same time trying to be credible and even deep (different viewers may have different ideas about how realistic and credible all this is but my life experience doesn't make it seem all too outlandish; certainly the temptation of rating and competition on just about anything is very familiar to me).

The film can make you think about competition, masculinity, the obsession of the postmodern society with quantification and rating and its impact, what "criteria" one can think of to rate a person, the role of sexuality, how different protagonists take different aspects of the game seriously, how hard it is to stay outside when things become really tense, and the meaning of the impact the game has on the boat staff.

My quibble with the realism of all this is probably that irony and sarcasm are largely left to the director and the audience but are in critically short supply among the protagonists (which is a problem in many films; from the distance of a director's chair it seems to be very difficult to imagine how people are at times able to observe an ironical distance from themselves). I can in fact easily imagine things to become as tense as they do in the film, but I'd expect the men to at least attempt/pretend to take things in a more light and bantery manner while they get there; although there's obviously a comic effect for the audience in their seriousness.

Apart from this I was fine with the acting, and I had certainly enough to laugh, given that the film has plenty of qualities apart from humour. This is a pretty good and (as far as I know) unique film and I recommend it to everyone who likes the combination of wit, psychology and food for thought that we get here.

This is my first review and already I find myself dithering about whether I should rate this 8 or 9, I say 8.5 rounded up.