Rembrandt [1936] (REGION 1) (NTSC)

Customer Reviews:

"I live in a beautiful, blinding, swirling mist".......2004-06-17

Charles Laughton's portrayal of the great Rembrandt is itself a masterpiece, full of sensitivity, pathos, whimsy, a lustful eye for the women who caught his fancy, and the eccentricities of a genius who lived way beyond his means and owed more than he owned to his creditors.
Rembrandt loved much, and suffered many personal losses, but his paintings became more luminous and full of emotional depth as the years went by. Laughton is also made to look much like the master, with his wispy mustache, and the resemblance to the famous self-portraits of the last ten years of his life is remarkable.

The film begins when Rembrandt is 36, in 1642, with the passing of his beloved wife Saskia, the model for so many of his works, and is followed by the controversy over his magnificent and enormous "The Night Watch", which was unveiled the same year. I never imagined this picture to be so huge and powerful.
The details of seventeenth century Amsterdam are marvelous, and I especially enjoyed seeing how the studio of the time was set up, with pigments in bottles, and canvas tied to a stretcher frame.

The film belongs to Laughton, and his magnificent performance, but the supporting cast is great, with Elsa Lanchester as Hendrickje, Gertrude Lawrence as his housekeeper and common law wife, and John Bryning as Titus, the only one of his four children with Saskia that survived.
Remarkably clear for its age, with very few crackles in its lovely cinematography by Geoffrey Toye, its years are more noticeable in the soundtrack (by Georges Perinal) than visually. Meticulously directed by Alexander Korda, this film should be seen by all art aficionados, and those who love Rembrandt's work, as you will love it even more after seeing this film. Total running time is 85 minutes.

Customer Reviews:

The Gruffalo.......2008-02-06

I enjoyed the story when my own son now 22) was a little boy. I now enjoy the book and the DVD with my adopted son aged 3. Great entertainment and a great way of getting kids up and dancing and joining in, it's a lot of fun.

Daughter loves it!.......2008-01-03

My 2 year old daughter is mad about the book so as a treat we thought we'd get her the DVD. She loves it! My only problem is I now find myself singing the songs at the oddest moments.

Excellent.......2007-07-17

We borrowed this from the library and it was soon clear that we would have to buy our own copy as our daughter (age 3) just loves it.
The performers are excellent, the songs brilliant and the whole thing is a joy from start to finish. If your child loves the book, they will love this too!

Great fun for the under 5's.......2006-04-10

I took my then 2 year old daughter to see The Gruffalo on stage last summer, not really knowing what to expect. The story is wonderfully brought to life by a team of 3 actors who between them play the parts of the mouse, fox, owl, snake, Gruffalo and one (and sometimes two!) narrators. She loved it and pestered to see it again, right away.

Six months later we took her again and she loved it just as much ... and on that outing we discovered that the stage show is available on DVD. We are now on our second copy, having damaged/worn out the first.

The characters are played by actors so there is just a hint of who they are (for example, a furry cravat and tail for the fox) but it doesn't seem to bother the little ones. Each character has a great song - and the Gruffalo has two. With a running time of under an hour it is a great attention holder for the under 5's.

My only criticism is with the casting. The two productions I saw live had much better singers/actors in the parts. In particular the mouse on the DVD is neither as small nor as talented as the one we saw perform live. Hence the score of only 4 stars rather than 5.

One final point - This DVD is exactly the same as the one I purchased at the show which had a different cover. I'm not sure why it's called "2005" but if you already have a Gruffalo DVD then it's this one!

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