Not quite there
Directing: Superb.
Acting: Exceptionally realistic.
Movie: Not so good... Semi-flop.
This is definitely the worst of Martel's three movies.
This posting is a FAIL..this movie was a near-masterpiece!
shareI completely agree with the OP. How was it a near-masterpiece? I'd like you to give me a detailed explanation why this was a great film.
I saw 2 5 star reviews from reputable UK publications-The Guardian and Time Out. 80% of the time I agree with their reviews. User comments for the films, however, were generally quite unfavourable.
The movie is well directed, it looks good, it sounds good, the acting is excellent, it is artfully composed and the editing is fine. Technically it is a stand up piece of film-making.
What I don't get though is it's reverence as a psychological thriller/drama. We see hints of various issues. The class war going on between the fair skinned middle class and the manual workers. The hints about family life and the double standards of parenting. The troublesome issues with memory and how it can haunt you. But really these were extremely weak and undeveloped themes. It wasn't just underplayed, it was almost not there at all.
Hidden, the Michael Haneke film, did the whole middle class guilt thing a whole lot better. it was actually tense, scathing and emotionally draining. This was merely flimsy.
http://imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=17337091
Agree with the OP. I have no problem whatsoever with unresolved narratives; in fact, I have a fetish for them. The story itself is fascinating on a theoretical level: upper class Argentine woman runs over "something" in the road, spends the next few days alternately trying to remember and to forget. Or you could say that theoretically, this film is fascinating. But when the movie's over I don't want theory, I want to have been actively seized and captivated, and I wasn't. The whole thing felt passively handled.
That said, I am sufficiently intrigued to want to see something else by Lucrecia Martel.
There, daddy, do I get a gold star?
Yup, La Cienaga and The Holy Girl were wayyyy better. I think rob arnott^ summed it up best:
The movie is well directed, it looks good, it sounds good, the acting is excellent, it is artfully composed and the editing is fine. Technically it is a stand up piece of film-making.
What I don't get though is it's reverence as a psychological thriller/drama. We see hints of various issues. The class war going on between the fair skinned middle class and the manual workers. The hints about family life and the double standards of parenting. The troublesome issues with memory and how it can haunt you. But really these were extremely weak and undeveloped themes. It wasn't just underplayed, it was almost not there at all.