Harry here... LOOK!!!! UP NORTH!!! IT'S WONDERGUY!!! Ahhhh finally a report on PROZAC NATION... been panting for quite some time to hear how this thing turned out and I'm very happy to hear that it is seeming a good flick to check out! Yippee!!! Ricci Rules! Here's Wonderguy with his second report...
Hello faithful,
Well it's day 3 and I've scratched three more films from off ticket
list. Thus far it's been a pretty good festival, in fact, I'd even be
so bold as to say that it's wonderful.
Hearts in Atlantis
I won't go into a detailed explication, this has already been done on your site. What I will say is that it is my favourite festival film thus far. There are some films that make a connection with people. This could be shared between a few people, or be a mass phenomenon. While I have no doubt that all people who see "Hearts" will be touched, I connected with it. Although David Morse is only in the film at the beginning and end, his final meeting in one of the final scenes really touched me. I love that scene; it further elevated a film that, by that point, had completely won me over. Let me say this; I am slightly biased. I love Scott Hicks' films. Shine is a brilliant movie, most people will give me that. Where the consensus ends is with "Snow Falling on Cedars". I really enjoyed that film. It was one of my favourites at that year's festival. To this day and forever after I will believe that Max Von Sydow was robbed for not even receiving an Oscar nomination, let alone mass critical praise, for his performance as an elderly attorney. "Hearts" is as good as its predecessors. I only wish that Hicks would do a Q&A after the festival screenings.
Aside from saying that the cast was phenomenal, from Hope Davis to
Mika Boorem (who was fabulous as Carol), this movie hit all of the right
notes. Furthermore it had a superior film score. It is clear that this
is something we can expect from a Hicks movie. Great job! I also loved
the script. More precisely, the dialogue that was given to the
children. It really felt that it was genuine. The way all three
children would finish their sentences and each others, make grating
remarks, and affectionately goof around with each other, was perfect.
Thank you for understanding children. I highly recommend Hearts to
anyone who loves (scratch that - need) good stories.
Warm Water Under a Red Bridge
I came into the picture with little expectation and little knowledge of the story. I knew that it was directed by Shohei Imamura who made The Eel. This film deals again with a middle class man trying to get his life back together. After an older mentor/friend of the lead character dies, he leaves to fulfill a promise he made earlier to the old man. (Excuse me for not remembering the character's names) In this new city, he meets a woman in a grocery store, follows her home and makes love to her shortly thereafter. During intercourse, the woman gushes out fluid like a geyser. This happens because "water" fills up inside her and can only be released through intercourse. This man stays in the village and falls in love with the woman.
I wasn't very fond of this film. It was too long and too
deliberate. What was most annoying was the way the relationship between
the central couple was treated. It lacked eroticism. The love-making
sessions were cartoonish. This wasn't in tune with the rest of the
film. Also, the audience was constantly reminded that this woman has
a
lot of juices, too often. However, despite these flaws, there was an
excellent running joke about a foreign African student.
Prozac Nation
I was really stoked about seeing this. I wasn't disappointed. Christina Ricci gave this movie her all. This is her best performance, and I imagine one of her most difficult. It will most likely draw comparisons to "Girl, Interrupted", but this is a better film. Ricci's Lizzy is an intelligent woman who suffers from depression. She is erratic, unstable, and incapable of maintaining any kind of relationship. The film follows her through her first year at Harvard. She is finally away from her mother (Jessica Lange) and expects to meet depressive intellectuals just like her. She is a music lover and writes music reviews for the Harvard paper. But this stops when her life overwhelms her and she becomes just too fucked up. I really hope that this summary does the story justice. In her first semester, Lizzy befriends Ruby (Michelle Williams) and falls in love with Rafe (Jason Biggs). The cast is completed with Lizzy's father, therapist (Anne Heche), and first Harvard boyfriend (Jonathan Rhys Meyers)
The performances were fantastic and I really liked seeing Lou Reed on the big screen. First time director Erik Skjoldbjærg has made a good debut film. This was achieved by what appeared to be a very devoted production team. While he said before the screening that the film was not yet completed, we appeared to be seeing a finished product. My biggest fear about this film is that too much of an issue will be made about the nude scene. The last thing that any mature film lover can want is another incident like this summer's Swordfish. Apparently Halle Berry's breasts helped gross the film an additional $5 million, but it wasn't deserved. While I do hope that this film is commercially successful, please don't allow this one scene to take any precedence. In fact, I felt that it was inappropriate. It came at the beginning of the film and revealed nothing about the character. The argument will be made that it exposed Lizzy's physical vulnerabilities - but we didn't know the character well enough to assume otherwise. Many people will comment on this, so I will leave it to them... Jessica Lange delivered a strong performance. I thought that this was reminiscent of Blue Skies. I also appreciated Jason Biggs. He is really good as a nice guy who spends his life looking out for others. I really hope that he doesn't continue to be cast as awkward losers, he is better than this typecasting. This film really deserves a wide release. If Girl,Interrupted had an audience (Angelina Jolie's Oscar aside), this one will resurrect it and more.
Until day 4...
WonderGuy
