onetwothreefour
Bluelight Crew
- Joined
- Oct 13, 2002
- Messages
- 14,382
spoilers ahead 
despite it feeling a little too disjointed in the second half, i thought this was an excellent film. i'm somewhat prone to going a little ott when a film with such dramatic occurrences actually downplays the drama, but i think that most times it's quite warranted. this film does it perfectly - it's a war-time drama (focusing on the czechoslovakian and british efforts in world war ii), and of course, though there are many deaths and emotional moments, the film actually allows for the audience's intelligence - dramatic moments are left with their inherent values, as opposed to the typical hollywood approach of "moving" scores, close-up after close-up and big teary moments.
i really feel that the closer to 'real' (the less dramatic direction) that a scene is shot, the more it actually tends to resonate. don't get me wrong - some films utilise dramatic scoring, scripting, direction and editing to great effect, but it's so often totally unneccessary. this film gets its emotional resonance from the reality of its situations and characters, rather than relying on cheesy direction or plot devices.
basically, i think the best thing about this film was how it messed with my expectations - karel's death (heh, assuming that scene at the end was metaphorical, but perhaps i'm just dumb) wasn't (again) overly dramatic - in fact, we saw his plane hit the water, but rather than usual sentimental drowning scene, that's all we got. i prefer this, personally. and the love story that wasn't - all three of the potentially romantic relationships end badly. i guess i'm biased, being a pessimist; i like to see the world represented how i think it really exists, but i still feel as if a movie that doesn't necessarily follow the conventions set by all before it (as long as it's coupled with all the other basic tenets - good acting, a good script, good cinematography - of what makes a good film) is generally going to be far better than one that's "by the numbers".
i don't really feel like giving a full review of this film, instead, i thought it best to comment on what i felt where its strong points - i really enjoyed it; one of the best war films i've ever seen.
despite it feeling a little too disjointed in the second half, i thought this was an excellent film. i'm somewhat prone to going a little ott when a film with such dramatic occurrences actually downplays the drama, but i think that most times it's quite warranted. this film does it perfectly - it's a war-time drama (focusing on the czechoslovakian and british efforts in world war ii), and of course, though there are many deaths and emotional moments, the film actually allows for the audience's intelligence - dramatic moments are left with their inherent values, as opposed to the typical hollywood approach of "moving" scores, close-up after close-up and big teary moments.
i really feel that the closer to 'real' (the less dramatic direction) that a scene is shot, the more it actually tends to resonate. don't get me wrong - some films utilise dramatic scoring, scripting, direction and editing to great effect, but it's so often totally unneccessary. this film gets its emotional resonance from the reality of its situations and characters, rather than relying on cheesy direction or plot devices.
basically, i think the best thing about this film was how it messed with my expectations - karel's death (heh, assuming that scene at the end was metaphorical, but perhaps i'm just dumb
) wasn't (again) overly dramatic - in fact, we saw his plane hit the water, but rather than usual sentimental drowning scene, that's all we got. i prefer this, personally. and the love story that wasn't - all three of the potentially romantic relationships end badly. i guess i'm biased, being a pessimist; i like to see the world represented how i think it really exists, but i still feel as if a movie that doesn't necessarily follow the conventions set by all before it (as long as it's coupled with all the other basic tenets - good acting, a good script, good cinematography - of what makes a good film) is generally going to be far better than one that's "by the numbers".i don't really feel like giving a full review of this film, instead, i thought it best to comment on what i felt where its strong points - i really enjoyed it; one of the best war films i've ever seen.