Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...
Here’s another one of those films that I am going to have to see with my own two eyes no matter what anyone says about it. Today, when I was buying my first batch of Region 2 and 3 DVDs over at Amoeba, one of the films I picked up was Kounen’s DOBERMAN, since I’ve never seen it. It’s never had a proper domestic release, and I missed it when it played the Egyptian. Maybe finally seeing this will tide me over until I get a look at how he’s adapted the very bizarre Moebius comic.
Hi Harry,
Jan Kounen's BLUEBERRY came out yesterday in France and Switzerland (I live in Switzerland) and here are my thoughts about it:
Most critics called the movie a disaster around here it seems; I liked it a lot actually. The movie is far from perfect and you can feel it's been heavily cut (from a 3h50 first cut to 2h05...). Actually I haven't felt a movie seemed that cut since GANGS OF NEW YORK. But.. The movie is fascinating. Kounen takes the western story to make something else of it.
Actually it's quite difficult to talk about it, the movie is more to be experienced than trying to figure everything out. It's something unusual, somewhere in between Terence Malick, Jodorowsky and DEAD MAN. So that surely won't please everybody! And surely people will hate the ending and be bored by it. I thought the end visions were great and obviously hypnotic. It last a while but frankly that all for the best. The visions being shorter would make it only a gimmick and would mean Kounen doesn't have the balls to go all the way. But he did, and rightly so!!
I guess what most people will say is "the landscapes are beautiful, but the story is crap." Well obviously it's visually stunning. But Kounen managed to create a unique atomosphere that stays in you long after the film is over and that's the main thing about BLUEBERRY.
The casting is as nuts as can be as we already know : Cassel, Lewis (daughter), Lewis (father), Madsen, Eddie Izzard and... Ernest Borgnine. Cassel's look is fantastic, he's got a great face here. And Madsen who I don't particularly think is a great actor (sure, he was great in DOGS and will be great in KILL BILL Vol. 2!!), well, I liked him quite a lot here.
I only read one of the BLUEBERRY comics, so I won't even try to compare. But I don't think there is a point anyway as this is "loosely based" (as stated in the opening credits) on the comics...
So not much more to say really apart from telling that you got to see it for yourself! But I definetely won't give you your money back if you're not pleased with it - as it is sure to disapoint many!!
There you go, maybe this is of some interest. Take care,
chaoticlock
Nobody seems able to really describe this film yet. I’m dying to see it for that very reason. It seems to confound description. That thrills me, for some reason.
"Moriarty" out.
