As if David Lynch took Carnivale, Schindlers List, Chocolat and the Titanic and made one awful, senseless movie of it. They even seem to have borrowed Depp straight off the set of Chocolat in his French-Gypsy phase. It is so bad that I'm shocked it isn't a cult classic by now. The plot is absolutely senseless. This is coming from a Depp fan as well.
You are warned. Avoid at all costs or you'll be wishing for those 2 hours back at the end of your days on earth.
I thought Depp was Irish in Chocolat..?
"I mean... how do you NOT have sex with me?"
now your comment makes sense!! you keep focusing on johnny no wonder you cant appreciqate the work of art the cinematography actually is, or actually the meaning behind the story.
sooooo sad
Regardless of great cinematography, just a crap plot with nothing for these great actors to work with is sad. There was really nothing in this movie. I felt like all I did was watch pretty pictures with pretty people for a few hours, which while better than most Hollywood slop with just pretty people, it is still not good.
sharePretty people with pretty pictures! Wow, at least it wasn't some CGI horror .. Like so many of the films out there today. I loved it .. Sorry!
Kelly: I'm under Evelyn Waugh.
Charlotte: Evelyn Waugh was a man.
A brief aside: Evelyn Waugh's first wife was also named Evelyn. They were known as He-Evelyn and She-Evelyn.
shareI'm sorry you wasted two hours. I knew going in it was a art-house chick film but still I couldn't resist seeing Cate Blanchett, Harry Dean Stanton, John Turturro and a love story between Christina Ricci and Johnny Depp filmed in 2000; Wasn't that when they made the Legend of Sleepy Hollow movie?
For Russian-Jewish music it could have been better, but I appreciated the gorgeous cinematography and the efforts of all the actors to do justice to the story of the pogroms and wartime separations. Kudos to writer director Sally Potter! You can't please some people
I miss Big Band music and talented singers. Leonard Cohen is my idol. Civility, harmony, unity!
and a love story between Christina Ricci and Johnny Depp filmed in 2000; Wasn't that when they made the Legend of Sleepy Hollow movie?
Squared. Additionally I am too stupid to understand some "alleged" creativeness among the women of Jewish ancestry who embarked on the task of making the same film over and over. Ever seen Yentl? There is one more "Caroline's crossing". A gazillion film with the pronounced Jewish musical talents (Pianist, comes to mind althout I am not sure what is the gender of the author). Does this approach precludes non-Jews from being talented musically or what is it? I have seen many variations of the same story and get nausiated (Anne Mayers, Charles Shyer, Elaine May, etc. etc.) Enough already boys and girls. Leave your insecurities at home and start making film if you can - if you can't do something else. Most of these films and authors who made them belong to the pile of sensless, laughable junk.
shareAre you just a bigot or plain ignorant? No. Don't tell me. I'm not interested.
shareI'm not sure which is sadder and more pathetic, your comments, your apparent inability to get the point of the movie, or the fact that you actually started an IMDB account to make this one and only post. Let me guess, you haven't even seen the flick, have you?
shareYeah, but the music by Fats Domino's cousin, Mountainous Monopoly, was gorgeous!
Nothing exists more beautifully than nothing.
How is this movie senseless or laughable? Is there something sensationalized about it? Did Jews and gypsies not face danger in France during the war? Did Russians not get terrorized during the decades of communist rule? Did some not escape the USSR?
Anyway, as for junk, I thought the social commentary on Europe right before and after the Nazis started taking over was really interesting. I also thought the interactions amongst different classes was intriguing. The acting was great, the story was interesting, the cinematography was beautiful... I don't get it.
A lot of people told me this movie was awful and boring before I saw it, and after seeing it I cannot for the life of me figure out why. I thought it was brilliant.
Pirates 3 lessons: Crabs are the climax of a love story and we just can't get rid of Orlando Bloom
Unfortunately I have to agree. It's hard to imagine how one can take this cast and make a worthless movie but, Sally Potter succeeded.
To the OP's points I must add: the gypsy music/atmosphere is totally artificial and uninspiring. The songs are actually Romanian, not gypsy, and the whole merry singing and dancing isn't merry at all. Ricci's song in response to the gypsies' and her dance in the gypsy bar were among the most forced and unmoving clichés in the movie (which is full of them).
3/10 from me.
The songs are actually Romanian, not gypsy
Well, there's a lot of gypsies in Romania. However they're very different from the native Romaniana from many points of view. In Romania (as in all countries they're present in) being called a gypsy is most likely an insult.
shareThis movie is amazing and an absolutely brilliant film. It was no where near junk. I would highly recommend this movie, for not only is the acting excellent, but the story is moving and touches the viewer on a very personal level. Also, I can't understand why someone would call this movie laughable and senseless. The film is incredibly well-done. The cinematography and camera angles are beautiful and sometimes even mesmerizing. This characters are relatable and you can feel their pain. The scene were Johnny Depp cries is truly emotionally touching. After seeing this movie I could not stop thinking about it and had to watch it again. If you would like to see a movie that you will remember for a long time see The Man Who Cried!
shareI do not agree with the original post. I think that Sally Potter wrote a beautiful story that explores some interesting facets of rather depressing European WWII era history.
Very little film attention has been given to Hitler's persecution of the gypsies in comparison to the Jews. I am glad to see that there is someone who is paying attention to that aspect of WWII history.
From the beginning of the story, the main character, Fegele, is fascinated by and drawn to the gypsies...she doesn't really know why; she is just a child. When she is mature and falls in love with a gypsy, she realizes that they have much in common. Both are considered "the other." They are essentially outcasts due to their heritages as a Jew and a gypsy. She knows that neither of them has done anything to deserve the treatment they receive.
Someone brought up the use of Romanian music in the film. Romania had a huge gypsy population. At one point, the Romanian government forcibly sterilized gypsy women. I don't think it is strange that the gypsies would be playing Romanian music at all. Gypsies have adapted to wherever they live, because they have no homeland. They were taken as slaves from NW India centuries ago by a huge Persian army, and have wandered the world since then.
If you know the history behind the story, I think it is possible for you to better understand what Sally Potter is trying to do in the film.
This film doesn't really have one moment, a definate climax, so it could seem like the plot is empty(?), but I think this movie is beautifully crafted, extremely well acted and written. It's a unique story and it's refreshing to see a different aspect of WWII explored.
shareyeah i have to agree, for a late night film it was a snooze....it has such promise and emotion but somehow none of the characters are developed...
maybe it needs more attention, but this late at night, it didnt do anything
I enjoyed the music/singing, cinematography etc., Blanchetts acting immensely...
but I felt no attachment to most of the characters or cared that much about the slow moving plot/love story (though Depp fans prob love it...
5/10
I just watched this movie today for the first time.
I have to say as a Depp fan I was totally disappointed. This movie wasn't to my liking at all. The first few minutes of the movie are just scenes that fade to black with very little speaking. They get the point across but it felt like the director said "okay we've got all this great material now just cut some snippets of it, paste it all together and add a fade so it has some transition."
Johnny Depps character, while sexy, doesn't really seem to bring much to the story. We see him, we see them together, then she leaves and there's no resolution for his character at all. I was left scratching my head. Maybe you have to be an intellectual to get this movie, if that's the case, then I'll probably never get it. The story itself was a great story and the acting was amazing, but it seemed poorly executed. Johnny Depps character could have been taken out completely, there didn't seem to be a real need for him.
And if the movie got it's title from the scene where he's holding Suzie and crying, just before she leaves, then they should have given him some kind of resolution. I just didn't like the execution of the movie. I would have liked to have seen this with another director. But that's just my opinion. I will not watch this again.