I was on the fence about this movie going in. Kate Winslet had just about started to annoy me a tad, and one of my favorite bloggers had lampooned it, making me wary.
Well, Jessica, we'll have to debate because I thought it was amazing. I loved it.
I knew the skeleton plot coming in. A young boy has an affair with an older woman. The woman is charged with war crimes dating to World War II. That was about all I knew.
I was so engaged in the story and it's three act: 1. The affair; 2. The trial; 3. The aftermath. Brilliantly acted by everyone (people have said Kate was better in RR, but I disagree. She's so controlled here. She's cold as Nazi, but still emotional. She's amazing!)
I can't say that this is an original comparison, though I haven't seen it anywhere else. This movie reminded me soooo much of Sophie's Choice. In that movie, which is absolutely required viewing, a young boy happens upon an intriguing 'older' woman and becomes fascinated. But! She has a secret, involving the Nazis. I don't want to give it away, because it was an Oscar winning performance by Meryl Streep and I highly recommend it.
Anyways, I digress. Both movies have such severe subject matter. Can someone be forgiven for the choices they make under high stress? Can those people forgive themselves? Winslet's Hanna is sort of clueless, still clinging to that Nazi presumptuousness that what they did could not have been avoided. I'm not sure she feels bad. Or perhaps it's that she feels worse about her illiteracy, which makes her both sympathetic and just pathetic.
There were no excuses. But we all make them. Everyone made them during the war. I'm rambling. This is subject matter beyond my expertise. I just loved it. It's between Frost/Nixon and this were movie of the year for me.
Jeff's take: "Kate Winslet was once again excellent." (pauses to eat peanut M&Ms) "Never heard of that young kid, I don't know his name, never heard of him. But he was good too. And we saw Kate Winslet topless a lot. Very good. Enjoyable. As enjoyable as a Holocaust movie can be."
Final ranking: Four Werschaibles
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2 comments:
I knew we'd disagree!
I liked the first act - I did. But as soon as the trial began, I lost interest in the characters, and especially the boy. It felt like the movie was trying to make me pity him, and I simply couldn't. I hated his character. Winslet was great, to be sure, but I liked her in RR better because the movie (to me!) was far better.
Also, there seems to always be one movie I hate every year that the Academy and everyone else loves. I despised Atonement (save for the directing, which I thought was beautiful) - but I thought it was so bland and bought into so many British-film stereotypes, I couldn't stand it.
Perhaps in a few years, I'll rewatch these movies and find something of which I love. It's happened to music before, surely it can happen to movies. :)
I do love reading your reviews though! No matter if we differ. Ha.
Also, I'm also not so sure Winslet should have been nominated for this movie in the Best Actress category over Supporting Actress, where she's been hailed for this performance everywhere else except for the Oscars (damn you, Weinstein!).
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