Re: Ben you were wonderful darling mwah..mwah..
Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2002 9:20 pm
what i liked about this film was it's use of naturalism to depict an optimistic view of human relations. the message that inspite of less than encouraging circumstances, people can still retain their ability to care for one another and, thus strengthened, look beyond their bleak horizons, is a powerful solace.
not that it lacked ambiguity. ben's character, les, certainly didn't merit the savage beating he took from 'good guy' - alfie. les was just as much a good guy, in his own way. he certainly wasn't the staple, exploitative, opportunist that habituates most cinematically seedy, seaside resorts. what the beating showed was that, although les had the potential to lead a different sort of life, he was still who he had always been. forcing the audience to acknowledge this ensured that any sentimentalism about his character was snuffed out.
the performances were uniformly excellent. artyom strelnikov played the wise beyond his years child, note perfectly and dina korzun was bewitchingly believable, as a woman who illustrated childrens books for a living, whilst still living life as a child herself, in many respects.
i don't think it was bleak. the director purposely used the language of cinema verite to lead audiences into the assumption that it would be and then proceeded to confound those expectations by inverting the rules that usually apply to that particular dramaturgy.
a critical thumbs up, imo...
er, anyone got any nudey pix of dina korzun? [feeble attempt to stay on topic]
not that it lacked ambiguity. ben's character, les, certainly didn't merit the savage beating he took from 'good guy' - alfie. les was just as much a good guy, in his own way. he certainly wasn't the staple, exploitative, opportunist that habituates most cinematically seedy, seaside resorts. what the beating showed was that, although les had the potential to lead a different sort of life, he was still who he had always been. forcing the audience to acknowledge this ensured that any sentimentalism about his character was snuffed out.
the performances were uniformly excellent. artyom strelnikov played the wise beyond his years child, note perfectly and dina korzun was bewitchingly believable, as a woman who illustrated childrens books for a living, whilst still living life as a child herself, in many respects.
i don't think it was bleak. the director purposely used the language of cinema verite to lead audiences into the assumption that it would be and then proceeded to confound those expectations by inverting the rules that usually apply to that particular dramaturgy.
a critical thumbs up, imo...
er, anyone got any nudey pix of dina korzun? [feeble attempt to stay on topic]