Film Reviews by DW

One reviewer likened the location & its inhabitants as similar to County Roscommon, Eire. I'm never likely to visit Iceland so County Roscommon, I'm on my way to you!

A film of 2 hours duration is just right for me so this 80 minutes entertainment felt too short. Another 20 minutes or so filling out the backgrounds to the characters would have altered the dynamics nicely. Whilst the characters were fictionalised for comedic effect the same is not true of the beautiful horses & terrific countryside: they were both just as nature intended. Finding so many suitable actors who are totally at ease with horses was a major achievement. Hats off to the camera men who captured some wonderful scenes of non-domesticated horses., in full majestic flight.

The beauty of this entirely relatable film is that its credibility is absolute; this really could happen & probably does.

Blood ties & the family responsibility of an only son comes into conflict with his lustful love for a self-absorbed woman: a totally engaging "blood thicker than water" guessing game............right up to the final scenes! The hub around which the push-and-pull of allegiances dance backwards & forwards is the matriarchal mother whose subtlety of touch in human relationships is faultless & a joy to watch.

I suppose the affluent life styles of the wealthy middle classes are the same the world over but I was fascinated to be shown this Danish version, even though it's fictionalised.

If you've got this far then I know that you share my admiration of the films of modern World Cinema: this one is superb.

Two Japanese "chalk & cheese" families who have only one thing in common with each other are drawn into a deep & darkly emotional embrace.

About two thirds of the way through it, the wider significance of the films title becomes clear: blink & you might miss it so no comfort breaks!

Unsurprisingly, the finale is open-ended but even I (a non-parent) could see the way things were going to go in the future for these two contrasting families.

"Brilliant" is an understatement: watching alone, I was transfixed so I imagined the pleasure for a family-film-night involving grandparents, their children & their children's children. There's something for everyone is this lovely on-location film. The classroom scenes are slow & drawn-out with effective silences: other scenes are very much faster & shorter though significantly relevant to the central themes.

I saw the true-to-life story as a relative lull between two storms: a far-reaching tragedy preceded the film whilst the ending pointed towards more incoming storm clouds. It's another World Cinema film that has a make-your-own-mind-up type of ending that invariably sets me thinking. In my imaginary 3-generation family mentioned above, I bet each person would have their own idea of what happened next.

Call me cynical if you like but if this came from money-grabbing Hollywood I reckon there'd be at least one sequel then possibly a prequel. As it is, it's a stand-alone gem & I'm glad I found it (or vice versa).

You're in for a treat, it's a cracking film. Might be best to read the resume so that you know the background to this extended family gathering before settling down to some top entertainment, educational too.

I watch a film most evenings, increasing often they're sub-titled World Cinema films so I'm slowly getting to know & admire the genre. I know I won't be distracted by background music, that the ending is unlikely to be fully or even partially conclusive & it's likely to occur suddenly even though I think the plot has more to show. This time I spotted an occasional trait; there isn't always a stand-out central character that the script allows to hog the limelight. Instead, there are scenes that don't include the "star" but which add context to the overall content of this slow-moving on location film. (That wouldn't go down well with some of our more ego-conscious British "lovies")!

The realism level is high so it's fascinating to see the inner workings of sub-urban Japanese life. I felt like an uninvited but welcome stranger on the outer circle of this annual gathering. The external shots of the neighbourhood were educational too though I'm not naive enough to believe that in every Japanese small town road there's a little old lady slowly sweeping the road with a broom & long-handled dustpan, stopping only to respectfully bow to her near neighbours of many years. The things you learn whilst enjoying yourself, who'd have thought it?

Watch it if you can, I'm sorry if you can't.

The opening credits promised a fictionalised dramatisation loosely based on a true story: ok so far, I thought.

Too much was expected of the four children in the central roles: not surprisingly, they struggled to deliver but failed.

Those behind the camera elected to shoot in a pseudo-documentary format, intending perhaps to authenticate the fact that four siblings had indeed been abandoned in Tokyo by their mother. Watching overly long repeats of the same daily scenes from exactly the same camera position soon gets extremely tiresome. I like slow but if the "action" was any slower it would go into reverse.

Why did I hang on to the end? Because I hoped the closing credits would tell me what actually happened to these four children & their mother. Fat chance of that, not a word of explanation.

This is a joy to watch, especially the clear & concise subtitles. It tells a single theme story that moves forward at a steady pace without flashbacks or back stories to cause diversions. Most unusually, the main characters are all in happy, stress-flee marriages: makes a change!

I suppose politics & journalism are pretty much the same throughout the developed world but this had a most enjoyable uniqueness for me. A great watch.

I fully agree with all that reviewer BE has already said. Disbelieve us at your peril!

This is the first of very manly modern French films I've watched that has disappointed me.

Apparently this Category 12 film is based on a BBC radio play: the transfer to film has failed miserably.

I've got sympathy for the reviewers who hoped for more of Lowry the artist: all they got was often-repeated images of Lowry the devoted but frustrated son. I can do without an interpretive sound track intended to help us know how we should feel about certain scenes: British film makers seem unable to dig their way out of the rut of perpetual mediocrity. Tiresome flashbacks, no thank you. The scenes of playfulness with groups of local children jarred a bit with me but I've now found out that the old boy did in fact have a humorous side to his personality.

Made on the cheap I would think so the financial backers didn't have to dig too deep. Even unlucky 12 year old viewers would have noticed that in one external scene the distant railway viaduct & passing steam train were both hastily made from cardboard!

One star is half a star too generous. I suggest Timothy Spall might want to leave this one off his CV.

In the last week or so I've watched 4 French films & found each one to be wonderful entertainment. All 4 had an uncomplicated story-line which contrived to become wider & deeper than at first thought. Short lines of dialogue create viewer-friendly subtitles. Directors, it seems, are unafraid to show long intervals of silence during which, wait for it, some real acting takes place "before your very eyes".

Being inquisitive, I've massively enjoyed seeing how ordinary French people live in previously unpublicized parts of the country; what we used to call "kitchen sink drama" but somehow the French sinks are far more interesting!

More please.

Faultless from start to finish, thought provoking, so totally realistic that I expected to see "Based on a true story" in the credits.

A beautiful depiction of an elderly French couple's tragic journey through experiences never previously encountered. 100% realism.

I'm becoming a convert to World Cinema sub-titled films: their pace is often slow & dialogue is in short speeches so the sub-titles work splendidly.

Silent scenes call for the actors to "speak" via facial expressions or bodily movements & I enjoy interpreting their meaning.

Despite the scenario "Ship is held to ransom by Somali pirates", there's no comic book hero to carry us through to a predictable conclusion. The atmosphere is fully realistic, especially the filming in the very restricted spaces on board: the camera man (or woman) must be extremely small!

With some solid acting & a sectioned, sequential story line (no flashbacks, bloody or otherwise) this is a fine World Cinema watch albeit with a soft-propaganda message (clarified over the closing credits, in case we missed it).

I think I know how the British justice system works but I was fascinated to watch the section of this film devoted to German courtroom procedures which were the most enjoyable bits for me, quite an eye-opener. A few of the "you don't want to miss a word" courtroom speeches were both longish & fast & I felt the otherwise excellent sub-title function couldn't keep up; just me being picky, I suppose. See what you think.

Modern slow-moving films intended for International distribution invariably have minimal dialogue in order to make them entirely compatible with sub-titles: good news for me because I can now enjoy a wide range of non-British films. (Consequently, it's become clear to me that "same old, same old" British films are being left behind in terms of entertainment value).

Minimal dialogue leans heavily on the need for more expressive & interpretive acting: this film is a strong example. From the audience's point of view, we're required to "understand" the film by closely watching the actors (rather than listening to them) & make our own judgements as to the message we're being given. A most enjoyable experience.

The ending felt like the end of a chapter but not the end of the book so I was happy to be left with my own ideas of what subsequently happened to who, when, why & how: a sort of thought provoking after-film guessing game.