Unquestionably great stuff.
Firstly, I saw this film under unusually good circumstances. With friends. After a great burger and chips at Frankie and Benny’s. Free tickets. The lot.
Now, onto some thoughts. It’s sort of hard to express how I feel about this film using words, because it is, frankly, a brilliant one.
Technically the film was, as you would expect from Ang Lee, perfect. Direction, editing, cinematography, music and sound, the whole lot.
But the really special, most important parts of this feature lie away from the standard side of things. The acting, storyline and storytelling are exceptional. Really, really great.
I sat though that two and a half hour film completely engrossed by the plot, the acting and the universe the characters occupied, which is rare for me.
The acting is absolutely flawless by the two leads. I don’t want to rabble on about the details, but I think it’s enough to say that I thought it was seamless.
The storyline itself is the life of the film, and that’s a big bunch of brilliant and all. The storytelling aspect is what separates this film from the short story, though. I’m starting to run out of positive words, here. Masterfully told, again it is seamless and all seems to fit in amazingly well with the rest of the film.
Words
It’s funny how I’ve just written a lot of words and not actually said so much. The opposite occurs in the film, of course. What is wonderful about the entire thing (especially the introductory sequences) is the power of what is unsaid. If anything, that is a real sign of some special acting. I didn’t even have my glasses on, so the details were mostly fuzzy, but all movements made by Ennis and Jack were spot on.
While the film didn’t entirely move me (or my lady companions) to tears, it is in fact an infectiously sad film. Really, really, really sad, and in so many different ways. If you were open enough to it, it leaves you thinking a lot… yet another unusually brilliant aspect.
The primary theme of the film, as far as I am concerned, is suppression. Not what I was expecting, but it is communicated so well you can’t help but feel it. Beyond the obvious, people who walk away from this film can’t help but take home a few issues highlighted for them.
I actually walked out of the theatre saying that I probably won’t want that on DVD, but after going though it afterwards I really do. It’s the sort of film which floods you, and you have to work on it to make it drain away.
Go
So there you have a few of my thoughts on the film. There are a whole load more, but I’m not going to be listing them here.
This is a really, really big film; a perfect epic of the genre. Go and see it, and don’t put it off. Everything is so right about this movie. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you prefer in the cinema, this is a film which is accessible to everyone, and is one of the most important, ever (for many, many reasons). [IMDb]
