Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

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Hauptkategorie: Arts and Entertainment

Kategorie: Movies

Geschrieben von Albert Moreno

Zugriffe: 331

British novelist's John Le Carré's spy novels have been turned into films on a somewhat regular basis since about 1965, when Richard Burton starred in an excellent version of The Spy Who Came In From The Cold. And all of the film versions of the novels I have seen have been highly enjoyable. So it is not a pleasure to report that the latest John Le Carré film adaptation, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy, is not only a disappointment, but an incoherent mess.

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The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

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Hauptkategorie: Arts and Entertainment

Kategorie: Movies

Geschrieben von Albert Moreno

Zugriffe: 698

Well, it has finally been released. The last of the three films based on Stieg Laarson's trilogy about antisocial, punklike-yet-sympathetic computer hacker Lisbeth Salander, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, has finally made it to U.S. theatres, and while not being strictly a "kick-ass" type of film, is a perfectly satisfying end to the complicated story.

More psychological and less action-driven than the first two films in the series, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Girl Who Played With Fire, this installment is the one film in the series that is a direct continuation of the previous one. While some time obviously passed between Dragon Tattoo and Played With Fire, the story of The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest begins immediately after the previous film. As before, Noomi Rapace and Michael Nyvkist return in the leading roles as Lisbeth Salander and her friend-lover Mikael, a journalist who has grown to truly care about her, and who wishes only to prove her innocent of a triple murder and to expose the huge conspiracy that he feels is responsible for making her life a living hell.

There have been some negative reviews of this film, and they are truly difficult to understand, not so much because these critics are faulting the movie, but because of the reasons for which they are faulting it. Yes, it is true that Lisbeth spends most of this film confined to a single room. Yes, it is true that she only gets into one physical fight in the film, as opposed to the several that she got into in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Girl who Played with Fire. Yes, it is true that many of the plot elements of the first two films are recounted. And yes, it is true that Lisbeth and Mikael don't have many scenes together in this film. But so what? Why does that make this a lesser film?

The trouble with the publicity surrounding the trilogy is that it has concentrated heavily on the "kick-ass" elements of Lisbeth as a symbolic emblem of all women who want to lash out at their oppressors. And so, some critics have gone into this film expecting to primarily see Lisbeth swing into action once again. From what I have read, it even seems as if some of them haven't even seen the first two installments of this trilogy. Scandalously, some have even stated that they are waiting for the inevitable Hollywood remake to see if an American director can "juice it up", not realizing (or perhaps caring) that the fact that what makes these three films so special is precisely the fact that they are not typical action films.

Most of the film leads up to Lisbeth's trial as Michael's associates gather the evidence needed to prove that Lisbeth was the object of a secretive group (known as The Section) who plotted systematically to protect her abusers and to silence her permanently. Who this group involved is something I cannot reveal, but the last forty minutes or so of the film consist of Lisbeth's trial, in which she has no choice but to recount all the sordid details of her life and to endure (once again) the memory of the horrendous rape that took place in the first film. Thankfully, this time director Daniel Alfredson does not visually show the rape, but he does let us hear it, and he does let us see the horrified reactions of those who see the videotape that Lisbeth made of it in case she ever needed actual evidence.

All of the acting is excellent, but as before, Noomi Rapace gives the performance of a lifetime as Lisbeth. It is impossible to imagine anyone else in the role, and she inhabits it so completely that when we see her in television interviews, we are taken aback at how beautiful, gracious, and normal she is. If, after her appearances in this trilogy, she is not nominated for an Academy Award for at least one of the films, then there is no justice in the Academy. It does not matter if this is a Swedish film with English subtitles - three actors, Sophia Loren, Roberto Benigni, and Marion Cotilliard have all won Oscars for their performances in foreign-language films, and Noomi Rapace ought to join them next year.

Eat Pray Love

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Hauptkategorie: Arts and Entertainment

Kategorie: Movies

Geschrieben von Albert Moreno

Zugriffe: 1131

First of all, let's clear up a few things. Yes, I have been to see Eat Pray Love, the film version of Elizabeth Gilbert's best seller, starring Julia Roberts as the author herself. No, I was not dragged there against my will. Yes, I liked the film very much. And no, I am not gay, and I don't think you have to be a gay male to like it. You only have to be an intelligent man or woman who can distinguish between two things:

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"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" and "The Girl Who Played with Fire"

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Hauptkategorie: Arts and Entertainment

Kategorie: Movies

Geschrieben von Albert Moreno

Zugriffe: 1261

This past week, I have seen two Swedish films which have become blockbusters in their own country. They are the first two installments of what has come to be known as the Millennium trilogy - The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, and The Girl who Played with Fire. The third film in the trilogy, The Girl who Kicked the Hornets' Nest, has been released in Sweden, but has not made it to the U.S. yet. I will be reviewing the first two films here because it is almost impossible to write about each one separately.

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