Film Reviews by AS

I was really looking forward to this as I often end up with just 30 mins at the end of my day -- not enough for a feature film, but enough for a short one. But these were all really just one big waste of my time despite brand name actors. Perhaps this is just telling about how difficult the format is, but none of these was worth a second thought. Let alone a second viewing...

Everybody raves about TV shows and I hated all of them, including the supposedly the best like The Wire (which I forced my self to watch the full first season), Treme and numerous others which I never watched past one or two episodes. This is finally something I genuinely enjoy. It's beautiful and I find the story truly intriguing. So the moral might be that if you hate everything else you might like this.

This is not so much a documentary, but rather an overview of Pina's work compressed into 95 minutes. Just sit back and relax. Dancers' comments are a bit overly hagiographics but pieces are great and if you are not familiar with Pina, this is a great intro.

I'm not fan of all of von Triers work, but some of his early stuff (in

particular the television series Riget (The Kingdom)) and the recent

Depression trilogy (Antichrist, Melancholia and Nymphomaniac) are

excellent with Nymphomaniac having a chance of becoming one of my

favourite movies, once things settle a little.

There are three aspects to understanding of this film: 1. Von Trier is

mentally ill. 2. He is a brilliant film maker, "technical perfection

as something natural" (Pogorelich) comes to mind. 3. He is a complete

misanthrope, he has zero belief in humanity or any possibility of

redemption, world would be a better place if solar system was replaced

by a cosmic void.

If you have at least some resonance with 3. above, the film makes a

gripping viewing. It is not easy, it's like being in a pub brawl,

where the you've just received two jabs, you feel groggy, your head is

ringing and you see a third one coming, straight for the nose, and

you don't do anything to prevent it. Everything is shown, all the

little unpleasantness that you really didn't want to see are there

with clinical precision. The scene with Umma Thurman, the father's

death and the final scene (of Vol 2) are masterpieces in themselves.

It's long and you should watch it in two instalments. I've lost my

nigt sleep after each of them.

I'm not fan of all of von Triers work, but some of his early stuff (in

particular the television series Riget (The Kingdom)) and the recent

Depression trilogy (Antichrist, Melancholia and Nymphomaniac) are

excellent with Nymphomaniac having a chance of becoming one of my

favourite movies, once things settle a little.

There are three aspects to understanding of this film: 1. Von Trier is

mentally ill. 2. He is a brilliant film maker, "technical perfection

as something natural" (Pogorelich) comes to mind. 3. He is a complete

misanthrope, he has zero belief in humanity or any possibility of

redemption, world would be a better place if solar system was replaced

by a cosmic void.

If you have at least some resonance with 3. above, the film makes a

gripping viewing. It is not easy, it's like being in a pub brawl,

where the you've just received two jabs, you feel groggy, your head is

ringing and you see a third one coming, straight for the nose, and

you don't do anything to prevent it. Everything is shown, all the

little unpleasantness that you really didn't want to see are there

with clinical precision. The scene with Umma Thurman, the father's

death and the final scene (of Vol 2) are masterpieces in themselves.

It's long and you should watch it in two instalments. I've lost my

nigt sleep after each of them.