tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2801886505610086313.post3519565742809001674..comments2024-03-25T22:27:53.324-07:00Comments on Boycotting Trends.: GenovaAlex Ramonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13563545792136227647noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2801886505610086313.post-78046218585599861962009-10-05T20:58:25.108-07:002009-10-05T20:58:25.108-07:00Word's good on his work in A Single Man as wel...Word's good on his work in A Single Man as well ...<br /><br />http://movie-critics.ew.com/2009/09/18/toronto-a-single-man/Alex Ramonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13563545792136227647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2801886505610086313.post-62473087409328921412009-10-04T07:54:28.481-07:002009-10-04T07:54:28.481-07:00I know what you mean, John. I'm no big Fan of ...I know what you mean, John. I'm no big Fan of Firth myself generally (just saw his miserable performance in Stephan Elliot's miserable Easy Virtue). But for me his performance in Genova was one of his best.Alex Ramonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13563545792136227647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2801886505610086313.post-81604407290332810092009-10-02T10:55:43.502-07:002009-10-02T10:55:43.502-07:00Interesting comments....but I was underwhelmed wit...Interesting comments....but I was underwhelmed with Firth's performance, and that spoilt the whole film for me. There was a coldness in his actingJohn Going Gentlyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14958171262765033946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2801886505610086313.post-64621209360570983832009-10-02T03:57:37.884-07:002009-10-02T03:57:37.884-07:00Thanks, Michal, for your thoughtful comment.
Did...Thanks, Michal, for your thoughtful comment. <br /><br />Did the movie go down well in Poland? I seem to remember that it was screening in a few places in Krakow when I was there this summer. Here it was hardly seen - and not much liked where it was seen. <br /><br />An interesting piece on Winterbottom here:<br /><br />http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/aug/30/michael-winterbottom-british-cinema <br /><br />What did you think of 9 Songs, btw?Alex Ramonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13563545792136227647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2801886505610086313.post-78717540406743200632009-09-30T22:30:11.002-07:002009-09-30T22:30:11.002-07:00I love this movie, but in a different way I loved ...I love this movie, but in a different way I loved WONDERLAND. Somehow, I think that its matter-of-fact surface hides a very wide and very incisive narration about how secular we all have become and how difficult it is to let a religious impulse into our lives - how we sanitize it with cultural studies blabber Colin Firth's character is so swift at using. The younger sister definitely feels something of a religious longing for the immortality of an individual soul, as promised by Christianity (Catherine Keener's character says to her: people live as long as the memory of them, which is a secular version of the same belief).<br /><br />What I find most telling is that Colin Firth's classes in the movie are so utterly devoid of any scholarly *meaning*. He discusses the students' identities idly and without consequence. At the very end, he says something to the effect of: "Oh, well, you have to hand in your paper, but it's the end of class so you don't have to make an effort". He doesn't really teach them anything, and it certainly doesn't seem like he understands the centuries-long cultural climate of Genova.<br /><br />I found it a splendid account of our secular world suddenly hitting a wall. I place it second in Winterbottom's ouevre, right after the magnificent A COCK AND BULL STORY.MichaĆ Oleszczykhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11521760881710382872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2801886505610086313.post-7580878113996186742009-09-30T03:22:52.041-07:002009-09-30T03:22:52.041-07:00Oh well, at least you saw it. That must make about...Oh well, at least you saw it. That must make about five of us.Alex Ramonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13563545792136227647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2801886505610086313.post-6526822179031619642009-09-29T14:06:15.398-07:002009-09-29T14:06:15.398-07:00interesting review....I hated itinteresting review....I hated itJohn Going Gentlyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14958171262765033946noreply@blogger.com