The only limit here is TV production. Scuzzy visuals and a comedically underwhelming final fight scene get in the way of what is otherwise one of the most fascinating Macbeth's ever. Béla Tarr, the mad man, takes the Bard's three hour tragedy, condenses it to sixty-two minutes and films it in two takes.
Two takes? So, about half an hour each, then? No. After a five minute prologue sequence that takes us up to Macbeth heading home after being crowned…
Space is important. As in gaps, as in narrative space. The space between Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars is an important time for Obi-Wan Kenobi (the character), it is important because it is time. Because it is space.
Obi-Wan Kenobi (the show) is interested in the wrong kind of space. It is interested in that final frontier, in filling it with adventure and incident. That gap is filled with content now, an important space replaced with space stuff.…
A detective story, based on a Georges Simenon book (the writer of the Mairgret novels) filmed in high contrast black and white. This is the most conventional that Béla Tarr and Agnes Hrantizky's filmmaking gets, or the closest to genre. This falls into the neo-noir category, taking the mood and some of the tropes of the wider genre but doing something very different with it.
What is especially interesting is how little the filmmakers care for the story here. It…
I always love when films realise the past lives alongside the present. We live in our heads, forever subjective, so decades back can be Only Yesterday. The visual presentation of the past is wonderful here, with unfinished edges and a distinct colour palette.
In fact, visually, the whole film is excellent. This is in how it frames images not just due to the art style itself. Compositions have such artistry and this film says the most when the characters don’t…
As an English Literature teacher who has taught Shakespeare’s Macbeth for seven years, my perspective on adaptations will differ to most. While I understand that Joel Coen’s turn is a striking piece of cinema full of good actors saying pretty words, and certainly is cinematic (on a visual level), it is a lukewarm adaptation that is often at odds with the strength of the source material. Coen’s Macbeth feels like what people think Shakespeare is: an arch, arty thing to…
The Twin Geeks Review
Usually, it's easy to review a Wes Anderson film. Really, it's as simple as employing a flow-chart: do you like Wes Anderson films? If yes, you will like this one, now read on for a breakdown of what flavour of Wes this is; if no, you will not like this movie. This time, it is not so simple. You see, I love Wes Anderson films. I've seen them all and have found things to love in…
