thought the action and stakes were really good here. the twist was pretty crazy. the scene that takes place right after the twist is even crazier. that final confrontation between oh dae-su and lee wo-jin made my skin crawl. choi min-sik was excellent throughout.
of course the hallway scene was amazing. it felt like i was watching a cartoon or anime fight, and the way it was filmed with no cuts really added to the stakes and the tension. the…
such an exhilarating watch. i feel as enthralled by this film as each of the family members feel towards the stranger. the pace by which the film moves is brilliant. no unnecessary words are spoken. actions speak so much louder than words here.
once again i am astounded by laura betti as emilia. she is able to say so much with her expressions it’s amazing. the desperate need for affection she recognizes the instant the stranger arrives from the house…
super super unique perspective on this story. loved how the story focuses on masculinity and the way that chrion represses his feelings. it’s all about keeping up appearances, and for chiron the most important appearance is that he is a ‘real man.’
chiron kind of does this by adopting juan’s personality by the end of the movie, which i thought was really cool and made juan’s impact on chiron feel really tangible.
i also liked how the story skips around, you really don’t need all the interstitial stuff, and the 3 sections of the movie all transition so well.
the film had more merit than i expected to be honest. an anti-imperialist message, some funny performances, and cool set pieces make the movie worth watching for jodorowsky fans trying to watch his whole filmography, but those alone might not be enough for general movie loving audiences. the elephant had a really good performance too. the scene with the train was really funny and actually kind of convincing.
