The Deep Blue Sea (Terence Davies)

[Kurosawa Fan]

Liked this, but agree that it's flawed. Completely agree with Rowland in regards to the first 11 minutes followed up by that atrocious scene(s) with Mummy (a shred of subtlety would have been nice). What a misstep. I do think it recovers though, and I like that the film seems to progress as an examination of the ways in which the scars our parents inflict upon us dictate our actions in the future. This is true of both Hester and William. For Hester, she simultaneously can't shed the conservative way in which she was raised (evidenced by her reaction to Freddie's joke in the museum, and her discomfort during the pub songs), and yet rejects the "sanctimonious" and passionless way in which her father approached love and lust, which pushed her into her affair with Freddie in the first place. For William, it's attempting to find passion for Hester, something he makes progress with, but can't completely overcome (even in his desperation outside of her apartment, as he retracts from her kiss). For Freddie, it's a bit of a twist in that it's the war he can't overcome, however it's still something brought on by the generation before him but fought by young men his age. Loved that final shot of the children playing outside of the bombed buildings.

The film was beautifully shot and well acted, but I wish the fragmented fever dream style established in that first 11 minutes had continued through the entire running time rather than coming and going as it did.

[Raiders]

The first 11 minutes of this comprise one of the year's finest stretches of cinema, so it's a shame that this sequence is shortly followed by the lamest scenes in the film (those involving Mummy), after which it never quite recovers the transcendence of those early moments. And while I never felt the tragedy as viscerally as many of the film's biggest proponents have, I found its melodrama finely written and performed, with Beale in particular achieving an impressive rehabilitation from the momma's boy characterization that is initially saddled upon him. The look and texture of the film are ravishing as well, if not always as dynamic in terms of mise-en-scène as even a lesser film such as Polanski's Carnage recently proved is possible with such obviously stage-sourced material.

You found Polanski's film to have dynamic mise-en-scene compared to this film? Really???

[Lucky]

This is the third time I've written this in a week, but I agree completely with Rowland (and KFan). Had the film maintained its operatic flow the first ten minutes had, it would have soared to the top of my favorites for the year. Barber's violin concerto is exquisite and paired well with the film's hazy, dreamlike aesthetic. It reminded me of Melancholia's lush prologue. Match-Cut definitely missed on Weisz, but the cinematography nod is well-deserved.

[Rowland]

This is the third time I've written this in a week, but I agree completely with Rowland (and KFan).

ritch: