CODE OF SILENCE was released alongside COMMANDO, RAMBO 2, and INVASION USA in 1985. Those films break down the door bringing new action movie conventions. Not just the muscle man bombast, but also the one-man-army, and overly simplified plot.
CODE OF SILENCE is the film in here that feels a bit as if it has one foot grounded in the Charles Bronson stoic cop film with unnecessarily complex plotting and themes while also having one foot in the go-it-alone, fun…
I never have a problem with returning to this little slice of goodness. Fred Rogers seemed to be the guy who was happy and hopeful even in the moments before he had his morning coffee. He was one of a kind, and spoke with sanity, reason, and care. As one of his assistants mentioned, name everything that makes for bad TV, and MR. ROGERS NEIGHBORHOOD was exactly that, yet it worked. It worked because filling the childhood space with calm…
With all of its production value, gimmicky roving camera, and (falsely advertised) real-time narrative, 1917 is impressive to experience, but honestly is a little light on an emotional core. George MacKay and Dean-Charles Chapman lack the weight, it seems, to make me care about them. Honestly, the long, 'look-at-me' shots have such forward momentum and 'what's next' drama, the audience never really gets a moment to slow down and get to know these young soldiers. And, that's what I think…
TIFF 2021
#30
A few years ago, directors Bertrand Mandico and Katrin Olafsdottir decided to develop their own alt-movie style manifesto akin to the Vinterberg/Von Trier ‘Dogma 95’ articles. The Mandico-Olafsdottir proclamation is known as the ‘Incoherence Manifesto’. Its rules mandate avoiding digital effects, doing all sound in post, using expired film stock, creating vague and dreamy sets, and having actors either overact or underact. ‘Incoherent’ films are meant to be liberating, disturbed, and dreamlike with a freeing aesthetic.
AFTER…
