Sunday, June 7, 2009

Oh, the Humanity

Blindness looks like a catastrophe or science fiction flick. Watching a couple of previews gave me the impression that some form of plot was at work. I'm not going to give many spoilers here, but focusing on apocalyptic scenarios or science fiction paranoia is not at all the point of this movie.

Blindness is about what it means to be human, with all the good and bad that implies, and how people may act when the society we know ceases to function. This is a gritty movie, and if you're very sensitive to language, violence, or sexual situations, this is definitely not the movie for you. This is NOT a kids' movie by any stretch: not that many teenagers would enjoy it, in any case. It is a movie worth watching, though: I'm just not sure how many times I could take it. 3.5/5 stars.

Defiance is another movie about being alive, but with a different message. Based on a true story, Defiance stars typecast tough guys Liev Schreiber and Daniel Craig as Jewish brothers who almost accidentally end up leading a huge community of Jews in the wilderness during World War II. While not certain how Schreiber first came to be cast into bad-ass roles, it is certain that he plays them well. When he comes against Craig, though, there is an obvious winner, as Craig manages to exude a very real menace while still seeming three-dimensional. (As a side note, Craig would be the obvious choice to play Patricio Carrera if Tom Kratman's A Desert Called Peace is made into a movie in the next few years.)

Craig is a superb actor, though his accent at times seems better suited to an Irishman than a Polish Jew. Schreiber does his usual fine job, with a better accent than Craig. Like Blindness, there is a good deal of grim in this movie, but it is an inspiring lesson, and I think will hold up well to repeated watching. 3.5/5 stars.

2 comments:

Old NFO said...

Dang, now I gotta go BACK to the movies... sigh...

Tam said...

Defiance has Jews shooting Nazis in the face with machine guns.

I can't think of anything that says "Movie Worth Seeing" better than that, unless maybe they were zombie Nazis.


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