4.5/5
0.5 is the difference between the deduction and the godfather
And in the end, I'm still a little disappointed, sorry. (But that explains why he always seems a little bit of unwilling to carry out his jobs.)
But the other things?
Well-done.
As Mortensen comments, "it's a well executed" but also well produced film.
No wonder he likes Cronenberg, I would like to work with a director like that - put everything in order and really know how to communicate with the actors, above all, can shoot really organized movies.
All elements of a movie are there.
Directing, setting, costume, make-up and hair, editing, sound, cinematography, lighting, framing, acting, music, everything is 98% perfectly done. I am not saying it is perfectly done simply because it does not produce you a whole picture of a world or human. It does not have that kind of really big scale. It is more individual-oriented. But this is not a thing to blame. Few movies carry that big scale. It's few, and that is why they are precious.
But still, it is still about humanity.
Usually I have nearly nothing to say on a good film, since it needn't me to give the same credits as the other critics have already given. Because in most cases, good movies are similar, bad movies, on the other hand, have their own bad ends.
I love the script that really makes every character shine in this story. You can name each character and who they are and picture what they are like in the movie. I can even remember the prostitute the male protagonist fucked in the house. No one is just a tool there. They exist for their own reason. And it does not tell a story that has to be right or wrong. It has that complexity in life and world. I love the work of this script. It is definetely crafted with care and delication.
And Viggo Mortensen does give out a in-depth, complicated, detailed, sophiscated and controlled performance in the action of grace. He definitely walks into this character's heart and shows the audiences what is on the surface so that you can try to see what is really in his heart. It is definitely a charming performance. 【Of course he himself is charming too. Like Cronenberg, he also has a power of seduction in this film, by playing his character but also him himself as an actor in good manner and grace.】
However when he walks towards Vincent Cassel for the baby, I think I saw some Aragorn there.
And the music, especially the one when the ending credits begin, it sounds so much like the theme track of The Ring and Mordor in the Lord of the Ring. Then the subtitle shows “Music Howard Shore”. Well, that solved out the mystery .
You can really see the tradition of cult films of Cronenberg. In scenes when he presents the direct violence. You can see how he approaches and It does always usually come with a veil. They are brutally direct. The bleeding of a little girl, the cut in the throat, the blood covered on that baby( which gives a gently misty and even a jelly-like filter instead of a sharply violent presentation) and the shots of the corps. When he does not avoid the violence on the body and keeping the camera to it, that's the moment I realized, “Damn, it's a fucking R-Rated film! I can't I can't.” Then only the bathroom naked-fighting scene is bearable. It's violence. But it is only violence.
As for other violence in this movie? They are either about power or the mix in humanity. And the betrayal in the mafia becomes the weakest one, since Nikolai was not originally one of them, it reduces the power of that betrayal and being used. It only makes people hurt to find out the truth of humanity. Only when people feel that hurt, can they really change and learn.
Vincent Cassel really has that feeling of a spoiled, naive child. He is Dudley with a relatively good(?) heart. That's a really child-like character and he nailed it in every detail.
The godfather in the mafia is good. The actor gives some smallest chages in facial expressions and emotions. All perfomances are executed in detail. It is sophiscated and done in seemingly ease and grace.
Noami Watts is good, too. There are no many scenes where she can play with or show off her skills, but she takes out some deepest emotions in a crying scene while looking at the baby. That's the moment when she links all her character's actions together and completes the role.
Fortunately they didn't emphasize on neither the “love at the first sight” thing nor “love relationship” , or I will be very disappointed. It is good that their feelings stop at that one kiss. It might be a kiss of mutual understanding or any other meaning. But it's good just not being just constrained to "love".
It's good. I think I'd better change the score into 4/5, since there are still some pities I feel sorry about.
But anyway, it's still a good movie overall.
ps. that stone bracelet Nikolai holds reminds of the bracelet the emperor holds in Zhen Huan Zhuan. kind of interesting (though it might be an old trope).
Speaking of which, there was a post on the Sand Sculpture bot in Middle-earth earlier that said that Comrade Vigo had added a lot of social animal feeling to Ragon, and when I suddenly thought of this, I wanted to complain about the Infernal Affairs setting.
Originally, the old uncle spit at the driver, and then the driver took out a handkerchief and wiped his face helplessly. It was quite a kind of person. Although I seemed to be high above and murdered like a numb, I was still spurned by others. In the mafia, a group of seemingly elegant murderers Among the numb people, they act gracefully and neatly. They seem to be afraid of others, as if they have some kind of power, but in fact, it is difficult to be a human being between Laozi and sons. Arguably. In fact, the driver was almost killed by the top bag. If it wasn't for the setting of Infernal Affairs, it would have had a great impact on the character. There was a feeling that belief was gradually (accelerating) collapsing, but because of this Infernal Affairs setting, it made People feel that there is a shrug and says "Fine, that's it", and it starts to become somewhat stylized and boring. The depth of the film has degenerated from human dignity to hard-pressing social animals. Originally, wiping saliva that was sprayed was related to dignity, but as soon as the whole Infernal Affairs came up, it immediately became a helpless social animal of "this job is really hard to do". . If it weren't for the crying scene of Vincent Cassel later, and V said that he wanted to be king (dbq I Ragon's DNA moved again) instead of saying "I'm a policeman", there would be no "justice defeats evil" where the old godfather was captured alive. There is only one scene where the new godfather is sitting at the table, and there is an aftertaste lingering around the beam, and there is no force to let the heroine's daughter have a father. This film will really collapse. Good thing I got it. Otherwise really gg.
But Cronenberg really loves Viggo hahaha, he is so beautiful hahaha, hehe ☺️
The back suit is so sexy hehe ☺️【But why do you want to drink on your back? If you are interested, I will not analyze it. I only care about whether he drinks or not.
Ps. I looked at other comments, and one pointed out the problem of this film: it was raised, it involved a lot of issues, but it didn't go in depth, that is to say, it didn't give any traces and space for thinking, just like "it's blocked. Like the relationship between space and distorted figures and space", it feels that its depth of thought is limited by its occluded space.
Regarding the region, race, ethnicity, patriarchy, and family in the film title "The Promise of the East" and the region, race, ethnicity, patriarchy, and family, I am not as profound as other netizens feel, but err, I don't feel these things myself. The discussion of the problem, maybe it hasn't broken down this movie yet? I didn't have a very direct or profound experience with it before. It unfolded, but it also stopped short. Stopped at about this location?
But it's a complete story,
But Infernal Affairs is still too much to pull down [resentment again]
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