Film Reviews by YR

Some of the reviewers of this movie seem angry because this isn't their style of comedy. To each, their own. Personally, I enjoyed this a lot because it was so unpredictable. It's a dry black comedy, full of uncomfortable situations. Our protagonist is a man named Christian who has reached the top of the art world in Sweden, as head curator of a very prestigious art gallery in Stockholm. Despite his high position, he's a mess... acting recklessly, needlessly damaging his own career and personal life. Early in the film, he appears to be a victim of a scam. In response, he goes about tackling the scam in such an incompetent way that he ends up making a further mess. Beyond the shenanigans of Christian, this is also a satire of the upper crust of the art world. I'm not a member of that world, but I could appreciate some of the jokes. Some of the targets include (1) incomprehensible art-writing, (2) the aggrandisement of poorly-made art which pretends to be socially conscious, (3) the desire to be provocative for its own sake, and (4) the vacuity of performance art. In regards to performance art, there is an incredible sequence where a man (very accurately) behaves like a chimpanzee during a prestigious banquet. That sequence alone is worth the price of admission. Indeed, I believe this whole film is a piece of performance art. It's not just a satire and a comedy about a loser, but I think the filmmaker is deliberately messing with the audience. We want our protagonist to be a hero and he isn't. We want the mystery to be solved, but it isn't. We want the film to make sense, but it doesn't! Perhaps there's a lot of deeper meanings that I missed, but that's why I'll watch it a second time.

I totally disagree with the other reviewer. I really enjoyed these short films. They are all so different from each other, but so well done. There's one or two well-known actors in here (Judi Dench, Tim Healy, Tom Hiddleston, Matt Holness...), but most of the actors were new to me. What I love about short films is that they create a whole universe within just a few minutes of running time. These six films had scenes of beauty, moments of comedy, drama, adventure, horror... I was totally engrossed. I watched them all in one sitting, but that did lead to a lot of abrupt changes in mood during the viewing experience. You could also watch all six films at different times if you don't want to quickly change your mood with every film. Overall, I would highly recommended this collection of six films... especially if you appreciate the beauty of short films.

I'm a big fan of silent comedy and a big fan of Orson Welles. However, I found "Too Much Johnson" to be somewhat tedious. It's not Orson Welles's fault. When he created "Too Much Johnson," it wasn't meant to be shown in the cinema. In fact, it was meant to be background scenery for a live theatre play. For whatever reason, Welles didn't even succeed in creating his half-play half-movie and then "Too Much Johnson" somehow got lost. Many decades later, archivists found the footage, and now they have excitedly released the footage on DVD. The problem is the footage isn't even edited down. On this DVD, you're essentially watching the "rushes"… and you see some of the same scenes over and over again… because that's how you make films: you film different versions of the same scene and then choose the best version for the final cut (Chaplin, in particular, was renowned for his repetitive takes in the pursuit of perfection). It seems that nobody in the 21st century bothered to edit "Too Much Johnson" (or, if they did, it's not on this DVD release). Furthermore, they didn't bother to put intertitles in. Thus, when you watch this DVD, you see a 66 minute movie that should've really been 26 minutes long. As it stands, is not particularly funny (but that's probably because no footage was taken out). A lot of what makes silent comedy funny is expert editing. Actually, it's wrong to say that this is unedited. It's just not edited to be funny. That said, there is some amusingly rapid editing in the first few scenes (which, to me, foreshadows his manic editing preferences of the 1970s). Unfortunately, most of the movie is just watching the same scene over and over again. Okay… I've said a lot of negative things, but let me focus on a few positives. Some of the cinematography is beautiful. You have the amazing architecture of 1930s New York (mostly with actors running on rooftops), beautiful desert scenes that juxtapose sandy topography against the sky, lovely sunsets, etc. And, clearly, everyone was having a great time filming this. Orson Welles was exactly that generation that would've watch silent film in their formative years. So, the affection for silent film is clear. Also... if you're in the right mood, you might actually enjoy watching the same scenes over and over again. It has a kind of surreal appeal, perhaps enjoyable in the same way that hearing the repetitive beats of music might be enjoyable. However, I think most people will be watching this either (a) looking for a Welles film or, (b) looking for a Mack Sennett style crazy comedy. They won't find either. Overall, "Too Much Johnson" will be very exciting for film archivists and Welles fanatics, but I feel that a lot of people (silent film fans) will be disappointed with this film. As I said, don't blame Orson Welles for this, because all of this wasn't meant to be a real movie anyway.

Probably, most people don't know that both Oliver Hardy and Stan Laurel were film actors long before they teamed up. The two films in this collection are billed as "Laurel and Hardy", but instead it's... "Bobby Ray" (who?)... and Hardy... and these films were released at least ten years before Laurel and Hardy started their famous comedy duo. Bobby Ray is a totally forgotten actor (he had a pretty short acting career, and later in life he became an assistant director during the sound era), but interestingly Mr. Ray bears a passing resemblance to Stan Laurel. So, it was weird watching these film because you have the "skinny" and "fatty" look (although Mr. Hardy is notably younger and somewhat slimmer than we remember him), but the mannerisms and style of Laurel and Hardy that we know and love are absent here. Mr. Ray is kind of stone-faced and lacks a clearly identifiable character. Mr. Hardy, on the other hand, resembles his later persona very closely. I saw all kinds of little mannerisms in this 1915 film that I knew and loved from his Laurel and Hardy films (e.g. how he gesticulates when he's shocked). If you're curious to see what Mr. Hardy was doing before he met Laurel, then this might be an interesting historical curio for you. In the plot and style of comedy, these films are not similar to the typical Laurel and Hardy short film. It feels more like a Mack Sennett film in its frenetic pace and relentless physical gags... but with some snappy (and quite funny) one liners added in the intertitles. Having said all this, both films are actually pretty funny. There's a few good laugh-out-loud moments in both the slapstick and verbal humor. The second film has a death defying ending worthy of Harold Lloyd. So, you may enjoy this... just don't assume it's Laurel and Hardy.

This was filmed on an island called Rotuman, a remote part of Fiji that has its own unique culture. It is about a teenage girl who lives simultaneously in two cultures.. the ancient culture of their island and the new culture of the British. It takes places in the late 60s, and it shows her struggle to clear her father's name (he is wrongly accused of theft) and also her efforts to get into university (in the Fijian capital city, Suva), and leave the island. Most of the actors were locals. The director wanted to show his homeland in a way that represented the true life of the people... instead of stereotypes. I read that it was a real struggle to get the film made, and they mostly used local non-actors. So, you should be forgiving of the film's eccentricities. However, it is a surprisingly polished film (they had a professional production crew), with a compelling storyline and sympathetic characters. I really enjoyed this!