'Eastern Promises' 2007
'Tormented' 2009
'Garden State' 2004 - Director Zach Braff's ability to hand-pick a soundtrack so fitting.
'Good Burger' 1997
Thursday 24 June 2010
Comments on 'Goodbye Lenin!'
'Goodbye Lenin!' tells the story of how a major political change can affect individuals and families. In this case, how it affects teenager Alexander, his mother, Christiane, and sister, Ariane.
The filmmaker manages to capture the emotion and circumstances that can have an impact on personal life brilliantly, from political issues to having a teenage crush (as displayed by Alex and his passion for Lara, a nurse). This is also applied through the major political changes going at the time: the protests towards the East German border and the rising stance of capitalism. The doctors tell Alex that any inch of excitement could cause his mother to have another heart attack (she had been in a coma for eight months) and put her life in danger. The valiant efforts that Alex goes through are shown with such precision and desperation that he has to capture the events of the past in an almost armature fashion, but this looks extremely professional.
Another factor I enjoyed about this film was the transition between shots of real historical events, clearly shown by a lower screening quality to the current film shots. This helps us to identify the differences. The same goes for the home movie footage, displayed at the start of the film.
The filmmaker manages to capture the emotion and circumstances that can have an impact on personal life brilliantly, from political issues to having a teenage crush (as displayed by Alex and his passion for Lara, a nurse). This is also applied through the major political changes going at the time: the protests towards the East German border and the rising stance of capitalism. The doctors tell Alex that any inch of excitement could cause his mother to have another heart attack (she had been in a coma for eight months) and put her life in danger. The valiant efforts that Alex goes through are shown with such precision and desperation that he has to capture the events of the past in an almost armature fashion, but this looks extremely professional.
Another factor I enjoyed about this film was the transition between shots of real historical events, clearly shown by a lower screening quality to the current film shots. This helps us to identify the differences. The same goes for the home movie footage, displayed at the start of the film.
Friday 18 June 2010
Comments on 'Run Lola Run'
Positives
This is defiantly one of the most bizarre films I have ever seen. This was due to the intensity and confusion caused by the frequent, over the top shots of running and real life to animation switch overs. The soundtrack, which contained a large number of highly synthetic dance beats helped me to stay on edge for the duration of the film. I also especially enjoyed the 'what if?' scenarios created by the end of each run to the super-market, it was as if the filmmaker was exploring the different possibilities of a situation if the slightest little thing changes, such as with the animated dog near the start of each run, can have massive effects on the overall outcome. Actress Franka Potente (Lola) was not allowed to wash her hair for several weeks during filming as the colour of hair would fade with each wash (imdb.com).
Negatives
As I stated above, the frequent shots of running from many different angles, was over the top. Whilst this added to the impact the film had on me, this did become tedious after a while. Lola's screams were also ear-piercingly loud, something that made me cringe slightly. The fact that this is not a US or UK film means we do not think of star factor as highly as we would normally - This isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's just that if people use star factor as a way into viewing a film, then it could be hard to get them to see this one.
This is defiantly one of the most bizarre films I have ever seen. This was due to the intensity and confusion caused by the frequent, over the top shots of running and real life to animation switch overs. The soundtrack, which contained a large number of highly synthetic dance beats helped me to stay on edge for the duration of the film. I also especially enjoyed the 'what if?' scenarios created by the end of each run to the super-market, it was as if the filmmaker was exploring the different possibilities of a situation if the slightest little thing changes, such as with the animated dog near the start of each run, can have massive effects on the overall outcome. Actress Franka Potente (Lola) was not allowed to wash her hair for several weeks during filming as the colour of hair would fade with each wash (imdb.com).
Negatives
As I stated above, the frequent shots of running from many different angles, was over the top. Whilst this added to the impact the film had on me, this did become tedious after a while. Lola's screams were also ear-piercingly loud, something that made me cringe slightly. The fact that this is not a US or UK film means we do not think of star factor as highly as we would normally - This isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's just that if people use star factor as a way into viewing a film, then it could be hard to get them to see this one.
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