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| Ghulam |
 Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2008 1:26 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4742
Location: Upstate NY
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Joe asks, "It's based on the version now published as John Thomas and Lady Jane, no?"
That is correct. It says so in the titles. |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2008 1:36 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 14498
Location: Houston
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| Not really relevant, but my grad school thesis was on Lady Chatterley's Lover. |
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| inlareviewer |
| Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2008 2:41 pm |
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Joined: 05 Jul 2004
Posts: 1949
Location: Lawrence, KS
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jeremy wrote: I saw Sweeney Todd a few days ago. I enjoyed it, but I felt it didn't quite hit the heights, and can understand why it wasn't showered with the expected awards noms and wins.
In oppostion to just about everyone else, I felt one of the best things about it was Helena Bonham Carter's portrayal of Mrs Lovett. She was both funny, pathetic and, strangely, sexy. If they gave awards out for someone's beauty and sexuality shining through despite the best efforts of wadrobe, make-up and writers, HBC would win hands down. Whether ishe's playing a drug addict, witch, corpse or maker of unsavoury, savoury pies, she retains a certain something. Of course her big round eyes and good bone structure have a lot to do with it, but I also think a lot of it is down to the pure intelligence of her acting - Kristin Scott Thomas was another who had it. Tim Burton's insistance on showing off his wife's surprisingly ample bosom (she's only a slip of na thing after all) at every opportunity, made me smile...for a number of reason.
So why was Sweeney Todd just good rather than great. I'm not sure. I'll have to think on it a while. However, it may have had something to do with the confused tone. I think the film was meant to be more serious than the stage musical and wanted to use the medium to show or hint at more interior dialogue. However, the film had trouble reconciling this more serious approach with the humour and ridiculousness of the original inherent in the original production. |
Last edited by inlareviewer on Thu Jan 31, 2008 6:45 pm; edited 10 times in total
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"And take extra care with strangers/Even flowers have their dangers/And though scary is exciting/Nice is different than good." --Stephen Sondheim |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2008 2:51 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 7795
Location: NYC
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| I read an interview with Helena Bonham-Carter in a British paper in which she commented that her breasts expanded during the course of filming because of her pregnancy, and some shots didn't match--but, she added, no one had complained. |
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| inlareviewer |
| Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2008 2:59 pm |
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Joined: 05 Jul 2004
Posts: 1949
Location: Lawrence, KS
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| Certainly not Herr Burton. |
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"And take extra care with strangers/Even flowers have their dangers/And though scary is exciting/Nice is different than good." --Stephen Sondheim |
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| Ghulam |
| Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2008 4:07 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4742
Location: Upstate NY
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| mo_flixx |
| Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2008 5:26 pm |
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Joined: 30 May 2004
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Joe Vitus wrote: jeremy wrote: Ghulam wrote: The French movie Lady Chatterley starring Marina Hands is based on a lesser known version of D.H.Lawrence' novel, and is a very mature treatment of the subject. It deals seriously with issues such as living as a paraplegic, living with a paraplegic, guilt-free commitment to a sexual relationship and the liberating effect of such a relationship. The complexity of the three main characters is well developed. The movie runs at a leisurely pace, is beautifully photographed, and deals with the sexual encounters in a tasteful manner. It won five Cesars, including Best Picture and Best Actress.
An underestimated and overlooked film, and a strange choice for a French filmmaker.
It's based on the version now published as John Thomas and Lady Jane, no? I remember Andrew O'Hehir at Salon praising the movie, while having some reservations about the distinctly French flavor to this adaptation of a very British novel. Indeed, it was that clash of tones he described which, despite his praise, kept me away. Though I don't think he meant it as a criticism.
I liked this movie a lot. I saw it in Paris last spring. It had a wonderful period feel to it. The actor who played the gamekeeper was excellent and memorable for his raw, rugged quality - certainly not conventionally handsome, but sexy all the same.
Great photography and a great telling of the story. |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2008 7:16 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: Houston
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| See, but I'm not sure Mellers should be raw and rugged. He's described as rather frail in the novel. He's not a hunky handyman, by any means. He's also emotionally wounded, by the war and his former wife. He's somewhat emasculated, actually, and Connie Chatterley restores him. |
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You've got a great brain. You should keep it in your head.
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| Rod |
| Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2008 8:41 pm |
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Joined: 21 Dec 2004
Posts: 2944
Location: Lithgow, Australia
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| He was also something of an intellectual, but a working class one, and in returning from the war had basically refused to continue trying to wriggle up the greasy pole. In that regard, he was like an unsuccessful version of Lawrence. |
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A long time ago, but somehow in the future...It is a period of civil war and renegade paragraphs floating through space. |
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| Befade |
| Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2008 11:36 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 3784
Location: AZ
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Forgive me for my absence.......a friend was visiting. She got her doctorate in literature on D.H. Lawrence. I asked why. She said she was just biding her time until a husband came along......
A movie that has really surprised me. One that I only saw as an oblilgation. I am stunned. One more great one in a year of great ones
THERE WILL BE BLOOD
I'll go back and read the reviews here......but want to give my first impressions: Raw, immediate, visceral, best character development and acting from father/son/preacher. Daniel DL made his oil guy come to LIFE. And the title has more than one meaning. Of the good movies this year that have used silence to emphasize the importance of seeing: this one.....and what a great use of sound when it came, No Country for Old Men, and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. Isn't that the uniqueness of film.......to SEE more clearly....... |
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| yambu |
| Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 12:22 am |
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Joined: 23 May 2004
Posts: 6441
Location: SF Bay Area
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Starter for Ten -
Just a delight. A smart script with lightly interweaving characters gives this an an ensemble feel. I laughed hard at the peripheral stuff, like at the dense ice cream guy/boyfriend of the hero's mother. It is partly a story about a dysfunctional college quiz team who, of course, exceed themselves.
The memorable performance is that of one Rebecca Hall, as the gangly, world-wise love interest. I can't help comparing her with Minnie Driver as Skyler in Good Will Hunting.
I know this film has been discussed, but I can't figure out how to search things here. |
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| yambu |
| Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 12:24 am |
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Joined: 23 May 2004
Posts: 6441
Location: SF Bay Area
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 12:36 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| Agree with the praise of Helena Bonham Carter's physicality in Sweeney. If only her musical diction had kept up. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 5:27 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9010
Location: Shanghai
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billyweeds wrote: Agree with the praise of Helena Bonham Carter's physicality in Sweeney.
Are we still talking about her tits?
I did think they looked bigger in a few scenes, but thought it was just the camera angle, costuming, etc. Glad to see my eye is still in shape.
Sweeney Todd. The whole thing kind of just went by. I liked HBC. Depp had a weird pinched mouth thing going on at times that distracted me. I think it was meant to convey anguish or anger (or maybe angst).
Many of the songs seemed half-spoken and not particularly notable. I missed some of the lyrics and didn't mind. I knew very little about Sweeney Todd in other forms except the barest plot outline. In theory I'm a Tim Burton fan. His films always achieve a distinctive look, and then the story is usually a letdown.
I'm not a fan of musicals or horror films, so not the best person to judge. But I assume many will be like me coming to this without much except that Burton and Depp take on a famous musical. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 5:41 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| The worst thing about Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd IMO is that it cheapens the original material. Sweeney Todd on stage is a gigantic achievement, a near-opera which has in fact been performed by opera companies and a musical "comedy" with great songs and excellent characterizations. On screen it's a well-produced horror flick with a highly accomplished central performance. |
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