Film Reviews

Gallipoli
***1/2

Uneven but powerful film about the First World War atrocity at Gallipoli where appalling incompetence by the generals lead to thousands of Australian soldiers being ordered above the trenches into direct Turkish gunfire. Gallipoli the film is also largely about the development of the unlikely friendship between country boy Archy Hamilton (Mark Lee) and the more streetwise Frank Dunne (Mel Gibson). United as outstanding, competing, athletic prospects Archy leads the more questioning Frank into joining up after they undertake an unscheduled desert trek to Perth.

Like most of the other rookie volunteers, the geographically isolated Archy is incredibly naïve about the war, seeing it as little more than a foreign adventure. After clearly inadequate training in Egypt, the two friends and their comrades land amidst spectacular gunfire in Turkey and are soon disgracefully ordered forward with sudden catastrophic results.

Made by renowned Australian director Peter Weir, the pointless waste of these young lives packs a very powerful punch. Less impressive is the film’s development towards this climax with Archy and Frank’s burgeoning friendship being under-developed on-screen. Gallipoli’s lack of cohesiveness is also not helped by it already feeling dated, not least due to its horrible early 80s music interludes. Still it’s a very powerful indictment of a terrible episode of army incompetence and despite its flaws, is well worth seeing.
Released: 1981
Seen by me: 23.9.06 (with Naomi)

Gangs Of New York
****
Violent film about two rival gangs of Irish immigrants in the Big Apple in the 18^th Century starring Leonardo Di Caprio and Daniel Day Lewis. As a boy Amsterdam Vallon (Di Caprio) witnesses his gang-leader father’s murder by The Butcher, the rival leader played by Day Lewis. The father’s gang of mainly 1^st generation immigrants is then largely quoshed and silenced by The Butcher’s gang of “Natives” (mainly 2^nd generation immigrants) as Vallon is sent back to Ireland but returns to New York as a young man. A useful accomplice, The Butcher befriends him, not knowing his true identity till he tries to kill The Butcher. This fails disastrously and The Butcher scars Vallon for life though he recovers from this rather over-miraculously. Inspired and revitalised by discovering Vallon’s true identity, his father’s followers are rekindled to bring about the bloody battle to end the gang wars…
Gangs Of New York is an excellently made film directed by Martin Scorcese yet it is not my favourite genre and too violent for my tastes. Nevertheless the two leads are excellent in a film that is well worth seeing.
Released:
Seen by me: 18.1.05 (with Naomi)

Garfield
***1/2
The film debut of the lazy yet loveable cat. Famous from cartoon strips, this Garfield is computer generated but plays alongside real human, canine and feline companions. An entertaining adventure where the nice guy – Garfield’s owner John – gets the nice girl. Not terribly deep but good fun.
Released – 2004
Seen by me: 31.10.04 (with Naomi)

Ghost & Mrs Muir, The
****
Classic old film in which a determined young widow and her daughter take up residence in a house which is thought to be haunted. Very soon the ghost appears. An old sea captain, he is surprisingly a benign, calming presence who finds his way into Mrs Muir’s affections and helps expose a fraudster who tries to take her hand. The captain then disappears for a generation and is touchingly reunited with Mrs Muir at the end of the film. Most critics and my wife consider TGAMM to be a charming piece of 40s sentimentality. I found it strangely quite disturbing and frightening but still well worth seeing.
Released: 1947
Seen by me: 12.11.05 (with Naomi)

Girl With A Pearl Earring
***1/2
Bleak film starring Scarlett Johansson as Griet, a young lady forced into becoming a servant at the house of the painter Vermeer following her father’s serious illness. The painter’s wife and child take an instant dislike to Griet whereas the artist himself (Colin Firth) feels she understands his work more than his spouse and his matriarchal mother-in-law grudgingly recognises that she helps inspire his creativity (and commissions!). All is horribly repressed till the wife finds out that Vermeer has painted Griet wearing her earrings upon which emotions boil over. Girl With A Pearl Earring is a horribly claustrophobic insight into the appalling lives of young servant girls at the time. Johansson gives an excellent, mature performance as the nervous Griet though Firth is not so convincing as the painter - he seems unable to really escape the typecast of being the nice guy in romantic comedies. It’s a good film though, due to its depressing atmosphere, not one I want to see again too quickly.
Released – 2003
Seen by me: 20.3.05 (with Naomi)

Godfather, The
****
Atmospheric, classic epic film about the rivalries between the five Mafia families in the US in the 1940s. The Godfather has brilliant performances by Marlon Brando as the Godfather (the head of the Corleone family) and Al Pacino as his straight son who turns from good to bad as he gets increasingly involved in the gangster underworld, ending the film as the new “Godfather”. Brando’s other sons are the cocky gangster Sonny (James Caan) and not very bright Fredo (John Cazale). Brando won the Best Actor Oscar for his performance and Pacino, Caan and Cazale were all nominated for Best Supporting Actor.
The Godfather interweaves the stories of these characters and the complex development of the gang wars with many sub-plots. Most reviewers would give the film five stars claiming it to be one of the best movies ever made. It’s not really my favourite genre so I’m not going to rate it quite so highly but still appreciate that it is a brilliant made and played film.
Released: 1972
Seen by me: 1.5.05 (with Naomi)

Good Will Hunting
****1/2
Very thought provoking film written by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon about an abused orphan (Damon) who has incredible mathematical intellect but no expectations or aspirations in life. He drifts into crime with his unacademic friends and only escapes prison following the intervention of a professor who tries to harness his incredible abilities and gets him to see a psychiatrist (an Oscar winning performance by Robin Williams). Affleck and Damon also won an Oscar for their screenwriting - an incredible script exploring complex relationships for two such young writers. Good Will Hunting explores the relationships between Will (Damon) and his best friend (Affleck), the psychiatrist and his wealthy but similarly insecure girlfriend as well as the psychiatrist's complex rivalry with the professor - former fellow students. It is a multifaceted psychological film and a superb achievement by its two young writers.
Released - 1997
Seen by me: 4.4.04 (with Naomi)

Gosford Park
***¼
All-star film by Robert Altman about a murder during a shooting party weekend in a manor house in the 1930s although the film is more about the secret relationships and debauchery above and below stairs (and indeed between "upstairs" and "downstairs"). Although it includes some fine performances (notably by Maggie Smith, Kelly MacDonald and a hilarious, underused Stephen Fry as a bumbling detective), there are too many characters, the relationships between them are too confusing to fathom and the sudden ending is unsatisfactory. An overrated film which tries to pack in far too much - it would ironically have made a much better TV series - though still worth seeing.
Released - 2002
Seen by me: 6.4.03 (with Mum)

Great Gatsby, The
****
This highly anticipated adaptation of F Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel by Baz Luhrmann has several of the director's characteristic touches. Like Luhrmann's highly popular Moulin Rouge (2001), The Great Gatsby includes modern pop songs performed within the film's period setting - similarly to MR, the mostly rap and hip-hop material strangely doesn't seem out of place amongst the lavish, hedonistic parties at Gatsby's mansion. Yes, TGG also includes another Luhrmann speciality in the expertly choreographed massive celebrations yet, beyond these modern touches, it's also surprisingly faithful to Fitzgerald's novel - right down to using considerable chunks of the original dialogue.
As well as spectacular set pieces and a fine story, The Great Gatsby also features three excellent central performances by Tobey Maguire as the narrator Nick Carraway, Carey Mulligan as the enchanting Daisy and Leonardo Di Caprio as the ever-romantic but troubled lead. It is an excellent film and period piece even with the director's trademark modern touches.
Seen by me: 29.5.13 (with Naomi)