Awful
No words can describe how terrible this movie experience was for me
1/10
On a mission from God (248/250)
Let me guess -- from the ratings, young people (<18) have the lowest ratings probably because most of them, at the beginning of their adult lives, have little interest in problems potentially encountered in old age at the end of their lives.
So you're under probably under 25 or less?
First of all, i'm 27.
I don't know or care about the ratings but its wrong to just assume something.
Younger people who watch this movie are giving it a chance in the first place. Whether they like it or not is entirely up to their opinion.
As someone who really liked Bicycle Thieves (1948), i was just disappointed by this.
Umberto received absolutely no empathy from my side. To me he was just a stain on the society. Too lazy to contribute and too proud to receive help.
Thankfully i have never been in his situation, but surely someone who is not disabled should be capable of working to survive rather than contemplate suicide.
He doesn't have a family to support so surely a job which pays minimum wage would be enough.(Cooking, cleaning, washing dishes)
And man, talk about selfish, your only friend comes to you for advice and rather than comfort her for a minute, you brush her aside rudely to look for your dog.
Since the director and writer doesn't do us the common courtesy of providing us some background about his family or relatives. I believe we can assume that for ourselves, isn't it so?
I believe Umberto was a horrible father and husband and now he is reaping what he sowed.All empty and alone. What goes around, comes around.
Sometimes a weak movie can be redeemed by a better ending. But for me it wasn't the case here. Yes, we get it, its neo-realism but it didn't seem happy or sad for me, just seemed pointless. " I will live live for another day to contemplate suicide once again tomorrow"
Sorry for the long post but it felt good to get all of that out. I didn't have much time to write an analysis when i made the original post.
"Top of the world, Ma!"
I apologize for my too-quick reply to you. I made it just before I was about to see it and had read the synopsis and some user & other reviews about it. Please accept my apologies.
Then I saw it this afternoon and, while I'm not quite as negative about it as you, it was certainly disappointing.
To me, it seemed needlessly "jumpy" -- almost like its sequencing and development followed sort of a "comic strip" model in which some actions are briefly portrayed and then some later ones, and it's up to the viewer/reader to fill in the gaps in the sequence.
I like many foreign films (Italian, Czech, French, Spanish, Swedish, Japanese, etc., as well as English & USA) but this film was quite disappointing to me. I'd rate it only about a 5 or so.... I'm very glad that so many people love it and rate it tops -- GREAT!! I don't regret or despair their enjoyment at all.
[FWIW, I do have a dog (a Lab) and we have (IMO) a closer relationship than Umberto has with Flite.]
Sorry for not putting up the spoilers tag. I had assumed you had already watched the movie. :D
"Top of the world, Ma!"
[deleted]
I love foreign films as well.The link below has a really nice collection of foreign films. Most of the classics are included.
http://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/100-greatest-world-cinema-films/
"Top of the world, Ma!"
Thanks for the link.
I scrolled through and I've seen 27 of them so far. They have one Kurosawa animated film listed but I'd certainly include others plus, definitely, one by his colleague (don't remember his name but his animated film is "Grave of the Fireflies"-- OH! his name is Takahata). This (your) link gives me choices to fill in -- thank you.
It's certainly all a matter of individual taste but, IMO, "Rashomon" is the best movie I've ever seen.
(ETA -- I just scrolled through IMDb's list of their top 250 films and have seen 102 of those.)
Kurosawa is the greatest foreign film director IMHO. My personal favorite is Ran (1985), color and splendor in all its glory. Rashomon and Grave of the Fireflies are excellent movies as well.
Which is the animated Kurosawa film you mentioned? I don't seem to recall him directing any.
Of the IMDb Top 250, i have seen 248/250. Only 2 left to see are Captain America: Civil War and the new entry Winter Sleep. :D
"Top of the world, Ma!"
Which is the animated Kurosawa film you mentioned? I don't seem to recall him directing any.
Pardon me -- I must've had a brain fart; it was not Kurosawa, it was Miyazaki at Studio Ghibli. Miyazaki is the more (most?) famous director of Japanese anime films and Takahata was a colleague in that group; his "Grave of the Fireflies" is EXCELLENT (IMO) but I love many of Miyazaki's animated films -- especially "Kiki's Delivery Service," "Howl's Moving Castle," "Spirited Away," and "My Neighbor Totoro" share
Too lazy to contribute and too proud to receive help.
He had already contributed to society - working for the government his entire life.
but surely someone who is not disabled should be capable of working to survive rather than contemplate suicide.
Italy would have had a forced retirement age at this point - plus the influx of labour returning due to the end of the war combined with an economy on its knees would have meant no jobs - even if he took a job he would likely be depriving a working age man, who may well have children to support, of one by doing so. I get the impression you are trying to place modern day situations onto a period that barely resembles modern society.
Since the director and writer doesn't do us the common courtesy of providing us some background about his family or relatives. I believe we can assume that for ourselves, isn't it so?
I believe Umberto was a horrible father and husband and now he is reaping what he sowed.All empty and alone. What goes around, comes around.
There is no suggestion of family at all, I believe, so what leads you to the conclusion that he had any or that he was a bad father? Its entirely possible that if he had sons that they could have died in WW1 for instance - remember this is someone who has survived through two world wars and a global economic collapse - so its entirely possible he simply outlived any relatives.
share
Thank you, Paulski, for an answer I just wanted to write after the initial post - such a deep lack of empathy and historical knowledge...
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
"Don't act, be !" (Kate Winslet)
Okay, My mistake, i guess i didn't factor in the situation of the aftermath of the world war while i was watching the movie. Even still, i enjoyed watching Bicycle thieves but i did not feel the same after watching this movie.
"Top of the world, Ma!"
An opinion everyone is entitled to of course - however it does appear that much of your lack if enjoyment stemmed from the fact that you could not empathise with the lead due to viewing him as a 'stain in society' - it would be interesting to see what your opinion would have been of the film if you didn't view him in such harsh terms. At the end of the day he is an elderly man living in abject poverty - a situation most would agree is deserving of at least some degree of empathy.
share