Midnight and the River
Oct. 9th, 2011 10:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alobearA leisurely cinematic double bill for me today - but with plenty of depth and beautiful direction.
First of all, I walked to the cinema to see Midnight In Paris, directed by Woody Allen, where Owen Wilson proved himself to be perfectly capable of carrying a high quality non-comedic film whilst retaining his inexplicable charm. I've always been a fan of his, though I haven't always been able to say why, and I've been put off a fair few of his films because of their style of humour, so this was a very pleasurable experience for me. Its message and conclusion was unexpected, too, and quite satisfying, though the last couple of minutes was perhaps a little too neatly tied up. It was a beautiful film, clearly made by people who love Paris, and the city itself featured as a strong and multi-faceted character in its own right. Bits of it were very funny (Hemingway in particular made the whole audience laugh several times, whilst at the same time being quite tragic), but it was mostly whimsical and introspective, exploring concepts of self-identity and the perception of different time periods with great skill.
On my arrival back at home, I put A River Runs Through It in the DVD player and immersed myself in Robert Redford's sun-drenched ode to fly fishing. This was a gorgeous but mostly uneventful film, with no surprises, and all the real action happening firmly off screen. And yet it managed to be quite affecting, and presented its theme well - that of the frustration of being unable to help a self-destructive loved one. Brad Pitt practically shone as the troubled young man in question, and I managed to recognise Joseph Gordon-Levitt in his first role, aged 11. Montana was as beautiful as it always is in films like this, and the leisurely pace augmented rather than detracting from events.
First of all, I walked to the cinema to see Midnight In Paris, directed by Woody Allen, where Owen Wilson proved himself to be perfectly capable of carrying a high quality non-comedic film whilst retaining his inexplicable charm. I've always been a fan of his, though I haven't always been able to say why, and I've been put off a fair few of his films because of their style of humour, so this was a very pleasurable experience for me. Its message and conclusion was unexpected, too, and quite satisfying, though the last couple of minutes was perhaps a little too neatly tied up. It was a beautiful film, clearly made by people who love Paris, and the city itself featured as a strong and multi-faceted character in its own right. Bits of it were very funny (Hemingway in particular made the whole audience laugh several times, whilst at the same time being quite tragic), but it was mostly whimsical and introspective, exploring concepts of self-identity and the perception of different time periods with great skill.
On my arrival back at home, I put A River Runs Through It in the DVD player and immersed myself in Robert Redford's sun-drenched ode to fly fishing. This was a gorgeous but mostly uneventful film, with no surprises, and all the real action happening firmly off screen. And yet it managed to be quite affecting, and presented its theme well - that of the frustration of being unable to help a self-destructive loved one. Brad Pitt practically shone as the troubled young man in question, and I managed to recognise Joseph Gordon-Levitt in his first role, aged 11. Montana was as beautiful as it always is in films like this, and the leisurely pace augmented rather than detracting from events.
