~juZ drOppiNG bY…~

as the name implies, it is a french movie (2004). the main actress is Audrey Tautou, who is well-known for her acting in another french movie "Amelie". the title might brings u to think that this is a pure romance drama. to tell u the truth, i thought it was. however, the review for this movie was good (my reliable online movie critics: www.imdb.com, www.rottentomatoes.com, www.metacritic.com) so during my last trip to jakarta, i bought the dvd.

the opening of this movie is gloomy. the colors are dominated by greyish blue with hints of sepia. we are introduced to 5 soldiers who are condemned because out of desperation of being in the war, they wound themselves in order to be sent home. they are to be placed in ‘no man’s land’ which is basically the battle field itself between the german and the french. one particular young guy is the fiancee of our heroine.

after each of the condemned soldiers’ background are presented, the scene jumps to Mathilde (Audrey Tautou), when she receives a message from one of the millitary who knows some hints about her fiancee, Manech, whereabouts. from then on, we see fragments of what has happened to each of the condemned soldiers as Mathilde, the red line of the movie, tries to find out what has become of her loved one.

the director seams the puzzle pieces in such a way that we feel Mathilde’s disappointment, excitement, anticipation, and hope. the plot is also interesting, as it is a mixture of forward and backward story line.

once in a while we are given sweet memories flasbacks of MMM (manech aime mathilde/mathilde aime manech) which makes us believe why this girl never gives up in looking for her dearest. at other times, the movie is inserted by the war events, based on the memories of the intertwined characters. one finding relates one person to the next, and so on. at some points we get to see murders executed. at other points we get to try to find clues hidden in a letter. and all the while, we are given detailed views of each of the location the story takes place. 

from the village where Manech & Mathilde grow up, become friends, & eventually lovers; to Paris where Mathilde hires a detective; to other small towns where Mathilde visits the persons who complement the missing puzzle pieces; and to the battle field where the war took place.

what touches me most is how Mathilde tries her best to hang on to HOPE. during some of her desperate moments, she sort of asks God to give her the omens on whether Manech is still alive or not. one example is ‘if the dog comes into my room before i am called for dinner, then Manech is still alive’. I would also wait with anticipation of the omen to come true. and it is as if I too, feel relieved when the expected omen does happen.

and oh don’t worry, the movie is NOT all somber. there are some funny moments too

overall, the dialogues are quite good (too bad the unofficial french –> english translation in my dvd was a bit confusing). the mystery is there to keep you anticipating (what happen to condemned #1? #2? why? and most of all, is Manech still alive???). the emotions are there to keep you engaged. the shots are there to keep your eyes interested. personally, i just adore this flick. might be just my personal preference ;-P

au revoir!

Yeah yeah now it’s time for another movie review…it’s a bit late…but hey…better than nothing. actually i wanted to refurbish my resume, but somehow my will is not strong enough and so here i am, typing blog instead of resume hee hee…

BatmanBegins

this movie is trying to make u feel for mr. bruce wayne…which is quite successful, i might say. It is as dark as a batman flick should be (rather than the ridiculous Batman&Robin). Basically, it tells u about the agony & struggle of this particular rich heir whose desire to defend justice is difficult to channel by being who he is. gotham city is described to be as bad as sodom & gomorah. apparently the criminals need some creature to frighten them rather than just the police force. hence comes batman to save the day. good show of emotion, good action, good fighting scenes…and i especially ‘love’ the POUT of the villain shrink…or is it his natural shape of lips?

just one disturbing thing in the movie: the hoarse voice of our dear hero…ummm is it meant to disguise thy voice while supposedly being frighteningly cool? i found it a bit annoying however, in general i must say that this batman movie is up to the expectation. but if u ask me to compare it with Spiderman 2…mr.spidey still stands strong…no one can beat those puppy-dog eyes and his ironic poor student/reporter life, especially not one particular millionaire (or billionaire?).

WarOfTheWorlds

A fast-paced movie, but i still find some moments in the movie are questionable. at first the buried-comes-to-life spaceships shoot ALL the humans in sight. then coincidentally when tom cruise & screaming daughter was in the aliens’ sight, they take them as hostage (for fuel whatsoever) instead of just blow them up to dust. why is that so??

then why don’t the aliens just burn the basement (where tom & daughter are hiding) down instead of probing into it a couple of times? I had the impression from the first half of the movie that the aliens relentlessly shoot/demolish things down.

anyway…the first half of the movie IS engaging. especially the part where the residents of a certain town becoming wild with their instinct to save themselves. they are becoming uncivilised people, or should i say, animals? it makes us realize that people are really scary. are we really able to kill each other just to save ourselves?