A French German Japanese American crime film directed by Jim Jarmusch, starring Forest Whitaker, Henry Silva and Isaach de Bankole.
Mobsters decide to kill one of their assassins who follows samurai traditions and communicates with them only through notes on pigeons.
Out of the Jarmusch I've seen so far, this is not his best work. It seemed too new, too Hollywood and too violent. I'm not really one for guns anyway and this guy practiced with a sword that never got used. Also, if he's such an honorable samurai, why does he go around stealing cars like it doesn't matter? The video had lots more fast editing and close shots than I would have liked and the mobster's daughter spoke 1 line of audible dialogue and like 5 lines inaudible. Overall, not really what I like to watch. I would advise Jarmusch fans to skip it and I rate it tolerable.
An American drama directed by Jim Jarmusch, starring Winona Ryder, Gena Rowlands, Giancarlo Esposito, Isaach de Bankole, Beatrice Dalle and Roberto Benigni.
5 taxi drivers in Los Angeles, New York City, Paris, Rome and Helsinki pick up people and have conversations with them.
Awesome "slice of life" vignettes. My favorite driver was Roberto Benigni in Rome and my favorite passenger was Beatrice Dalle in Paris. For being set in cars, the camera-work showed lots more than just the inside of cabs. The varied settings really gave the viewer a clear idea of locations. The segues were accomplished by a fade to black, cut to labeled clocks on a wall. The camera goes in on the clocks and fades to a map where a location is highlighted and then fades into the next scene. The audio started in English (LA and NY) but switched languages with locations. The version that I watched had hard coded subtitles. The audio mix was actually good. I could hear what people were saying and the music was at a tasteful level. If you liked Coffee and Cigarettes (2003), you will like this. I rate it best for being looking and sounding good as well as for plots and characters. Watch it!
An Irish British drama directed by John Michael McDonagh, starring Brendan Gleeson, Aidan Gillen, Isaach de Bankole and M. Emmet Walsh.
A man enters a priest's confessional and threatens to kill him in one week because the man was sexually molested by a priest as a child. He says that killing a bad priest means nothing, so he will kill a good one. The priest then spends the week wandering the small town that he lives in and interacting with people. Most of the residents of the town have a problem that they are seeking advice from the priest to solve.
Very interesting. A drama for the characters within the film, but a murder mystery for the viewer! I know I was trying to figure out who it was. Clocking in around an hour 36, the slow pace made it seem like more. The plot was absolutely brilliant and the varied characters in the town formed a cohesive unit of intertwined relationships. All of the dialogue fit well and the acting was done well. The setting in an actual small town and "street clothes" costumes fit together to convey a bleak style. The camera-work was seamless. That's the goal of good filmmaking, to make even a video dork like me not notice what the camera is doing. Audio included good dialogue levels correctly mixed with appropriate and mostly diegetic music. Other critics have given it a C rating because of the heavily religious overtones and subject matter of sexual abuse. They said it does "not fit in an easily marketable genre" meaning it's not mainstream, braindead trash. I however give it a best rating for being thoughtful and marvelously produced. Watch this!
