Amazon.co.uk Review
Salma Hayek makes up for many bad movies with her fierce performance in the sumptuous biopic Frida. Hayek plays the Mexican surrealist painter Frida Kahlo, whose tempestuous life with her unfaithful husband, muralist Diego Rivera (Alfred Molina), drives the story. Maverick director Julie Taymor (Titus, the stage production of The Lion King) pulls out a wealth of gorgeous visuals to capture everything from the horrific bus accident that damaged Kahlo's spine to her and Rivera's trip to New York City, where Rivera's political leanings ruptured a commission from the Rockefeller family. Though the script spends too much time telling us how great Frida's painting is (rather than trusting in the power of the images themselves), Taymor's dynamic energy and Kahlo's forceful personality give Frida genuine emotional impact. The superb cast includes Roger Rees, Valeria Golino, Ashley Judd, Geoffrey Rush, Antonio Banderas and Edward Norton. The Oscar-winning score is by Taymor's husband, Elliot Goldenthal. --Bret Fetzer
Customer Reviews:
FRIDA (2002).......2007-12-23
Selma Hayek is a revelation in this exquisitely staged bi-opic of the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo which dramatises her unconventional marriage to the muralist Diego Rivera and her brave struggle with disability and illness. It's stunning to look at - the locations, the costumes, the inventive animation sequences - and intelligently places Kahlo's deeply personal paintings in their autobiographical context. With an engaging companion performance from Alfred Molina as the avuncular philanderer Rivera and a great score, this film is a tour de force, according Kahlo the attention she deserves, but also revealing director Julie Taymor and Hayek to be substantial artists themselves.
Fabulous!.......2007-03-08
Totally loved this film! It's just what i needed to give me a more clear insight on the life and works of Frida Kahlo. Im so glad i brought this item, it was a great help for my art coursework. I'd recommend this film to anyone who wants to know a bit more about Frida.
You can get lost in this Bio-Pic.......2006-09-02
You can immediately feel that you are a part of history and even when you know their (Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera) story you still get surprised amused and amazed. I have seen their actual work and this film brings it back. For people that do not know their story this is an excellent introduction. I found it interesting how Frida (Selma Hayek) and Diego (Alfred Molina) complimented each others personality so well from the beginning until where we leave them.
Also the films surrealistic qualities will remind you of "Water for chocolate". Many times this enhances instead of distracting form the reality of the films port ate. The colors being vibrant and even the music being vibrant fives a three dimensional quality to the film. I have only seen one other Julie Taymor directed film "Oedipus Rex" (1992) which also had this quality. Julie seems to know how to bring out thoughts that we do not know we have our selves and we see many things in a new way.
I started to buy the soundtrack but do not see Lila Downs on any of the tracks. And her singing was the soul of the movie.
Now it is time to read the Hayden Herrera (book) "Frida - A Biography of Frida Kahlo" to see how much is in this screen adaptation by Clancy Sigal.
Very good account of Frida's life.......2006-03-21
For anyone not familiar with the life of this Mexican painter, this film might seem a bit weird. However, having read her biography and having seen her paintings, I found this film highly interesting and enjoyable. The acting is great and engages you. Highly recommended.
The best film I have seen for years!.......2006-03-17
The amazing visuals and wonderful mexican music are fantastic. As well as the insight you get into the mexican culture. I really enjoyed the use of the dream sequences, and the collage effects. If you are an artistic person you will really love this. I always liked her art-but the film of her life really helped me to understand her work and talent. The story is tragic and moving but also has great humour. At the end of it does make you think what amazing woman she was and the film is a great tribute to her. I saw this a fair while after it came out and I can't believe I missed it!
I would say it is evident the film makers have toned down the character of Frida to make her more acceptable to a wide audience. From a documentry I saw many years ago which showed an interveiw of her-I would say she was a much more unusual, challenging personalty than portrayed and could really be quite shocking. However it doesn't diminish the film in anyway.
Customer Reviews:
CLASSIC DRAMA........2007-09-27
Så som i himmelen (2004) As It Is In Heaven
A successful international conductor suddenly interrups his career and returns alone to his childhood village in Norrland, in the far north of Sweden.It doesn't take long before he is asked to come and listen to the fragment of a church choir, which practises every Thursday in the parish hall. Just come along and give a little bit of good advice. He can't say no, and from that moment, nothing in the village is the same again. The choir develops and grows. He makes both friends and enemies. And he finds love.
Daniel (Michael Nyqvist)is a renowned conductor, who suffered a painful childhood in his native town of Norrland. There, Daniel was bullied by his school mates, while he was trying to develop a musical career with his mother support. Now, as a conductor, Daniel is very temperamental and has an intolerant character with his musicians as well. He also has a strange condition, which makes him bleed from the nose. After a concert, he has a heart attack. Despite Daniel has professional commitments for the next 10 years, he decides to return to Norrland and make an indefinite retire. In Norrland, Daniel sets in the old and abandoned primary school. The local reverend asks Daniel to work as the church choir's conductor, formed by all kind of villagers, with all kind of problems. Daniel first task will be to teach the choir members to find their own voice tone, and the musical basis. Lena (Frida Hallgren), a charismatic girl, will call Daniel's attention immediately. But Daniel will have to struggle with other problems in the choir, like, a woman who is beaten by their drunk husband, and the prejudices of some members, whom think that Daniel is more interested in Lena than in the choir. However, the envious reverend will begin to feel relegated by Daniel, and will take seriously the accusations about he and Lena. Daniel will have his chance to prove the contrary, taking his group to an important contest, taking place in Viena, Austria.
Nominated for an Oscar and winner several other awards.
into the heart and out again.......2007-08-31
if ever did anything make my heart burst and ache with emotions that i cannot name than they were all erased by what i felt when i watched this master piece.
the music, the voice, the dream, they go straight into the heart and out again leaving a huge, beautifully aching opening in it.
i wish more films like that were made,
real films
with real people and real emotions
with problems and the hope and power to get over them and move on.
it's one of these fims that show life as it is while giving hope for a better one, a film that shows how strong is music and how powerful is the bond it creates.
master piece is the word, and the emotion it creates is so unusual that i don't think it has a name, whatever it is, it's the strongest i have ever felt.
SO POWERFUL........2007-07-10
What a memorable, powerful film this is!
And one of the things which I really loved about it is that all the characters are played by people who look so real, not awful Hollywood-type dolls. It is set in a small village in Sweden to which a conductor whose health is not good, returns after having had an unhappy childhood because of the boys who taunted him.
He has become famous but he returns to where he finally realises that he loves the people and they love him, and he begins, albeit reluctantly at first, to be the cantor for the church choir.
The flawed lives of the villagers are seen sometimes in alarming detail and you see how the music and the singing bring them closer to one another and old grievances and resentments are brought to light and then they dissipate under the common love for the conductor.
Of course, as a result, jealousy arises and the end, some bad experiences happen until the rather beautiful finale.
Someone has said that it is cliched but often in life , coincidences happen which could be seen as cliched if they are on the screen.
The atmosphere is brilliantly created. Although it is summer most of the time, you feel cold when you watch the incidents which arise and the music - oh, the music!
The singing is outstanding and the music is wonderful.
This is a film which is well worth seeing over and over.
Superb, Exceptional and Uplifting.......2007-07-07
Swedish film about a sick maestro-conductor who returns to his village and there helps train a choir. One of the best movies ever, with a anthemic song at the crux of it. Recommended!
Open your heart!.......2006-09-26
This is a beautiful film that makes you cry and laugh and at the same time.
Although one could critisize that it uses certain klischees and stereotypes we all know that if you open your heart things like that can and do actually happen in "real" life.
Overall very inspiring, I love this film!
P.S. Bless all who resist it's magic... ;)
Amazon.co.uk Review
Shot in the UFA studios with a big movie star in the lead and all the special effects and production design resources any blockbuster of its time could wish for, FW Murnau's 1926 Faust represents a step up from his better-known Nosferatu. Oddly, Faust is a less familiar film than the vampire quickie and this release affords fans a chance to see what Murnau can do with an equally major fantasy story. Adapted neither from Marlowe's play Dr Faustus nor Goethe's verse drama, the script scrambles various elements of the legend and presents a Faust (Gosta Ekman) driven to summon the Devil by despair as a plague rages through the town, desperate to gain enough learning to help his neighbours. When this deal doesn't quite work out, because he is stoned by townsfolk who notice his sudden fear of the cross, Mephisto (Emil Jannings) offers Faust instead renewed youth and an opportunity to seduce a famously beautiful Italian noblewoman and then to return to his home village and get involved with the pure Gretchen (Camilla Horn). Like most versions of the story, it's episodic and some sections are stronger than others: the great stuff comes in the plague and initial deal sequences, though it picks up again for the tragic climax as Gretchen becomes the central figure and suffers horribly, freezing in the snows and burning at the stake. Jannings' devil, a gruesomely humorous slice of ham, is one of the great silent monster performances, reducing everyone else to a stick figure, and Murnau faces the challenge of topping his Nosferatu imagery by deploying a battalion of effects techniques to depict the many magical journeys, sudden appearances and transformations.
On the DVD: Often seen in ragged, incomplete prints projected at the wrong speed, this is a decently restored version, running a full 115 minutes with a complete orchestral score. The original materials show some of the damage to be expected in a film of its vintage, but the transfer is excellent, displaying the imaginative art direction and camerawork to superb advantage. Aside from a nicely eerie menu, the sole extra is a full-length commentary originating in Australia: written by historian Peter Spooner but read by narrator Russell Cawthorne (who mispronounces the odd name). This provides an interesting wealth of background detail, such as Murnau's attempt to cast Hollywood's Lillian Gish as Gretchen, and delivers a balanced assessment of the film itself. --Kim Newman
Customer Reviews:
The domestic version, is by far the best horror film of the 1920s.......2007-08-28
This is a 1926 classic of silent cinema. This new life that has been given to the film comes from the fact that the domestic (German) version has been restored and we can compare it with the export version that had survived. It is absolutely striking how the domestic version is tighter in the shooting, the taking and the cutting. The angle is slightly different and better, the contrast is a lot finer and more pronounced, which is very important for a black and white film. The cutting packs up many sequences and this increases the dramatic dimension and effect of the film. Apart from that you will not recognize any running version of the myth. The film is essentially centered on the love affair with Gretchen, but a long first part concentrates on the fight between God and Satan to conquer the world. Faust is nothing but a wager thrown by God at Satan's face. This prologue in the sky and this mystic dimension is partly, but only partly, borrowed from Goethe's Second part of his play. But that is all. This first part of the film also makes Faust travel in time but we are very far from the farce Marlowe set up in this voyage to various courts, including those of Troy's Helen, the Germanic Emperor and the Pope in Rome. It is shorter and more centered on the Emperor, on Germany. Most of the second part of Goethe's play is totally absent since this second part is entirely centered on Faust's voyage in time first, to the past, and then in time as well as in space towards some future, this time building dams in Holland. The film then centers on the affair and on the manipulation of everyone by Mephistopheles. He cheats all the time. He asserts his desire to protect Faust but he is the one who goes and tells Valentin, the brother, and then spread the news of Valentin's murder in the city, a murder he has done himself. But so far so good. We can live with this lying Mephistopheles. But then the film becomes melodramatic in an extreme proportion. Gtechen is only put in the blocks for her fornication and then abandoned in the street with her baby in the winter and that is a major difference with all other versions. The baby finally dies of cold. She is discovered with the dead baby and at once accused of having killed him and brought to the stake where she is burnt in spite of Faust's intermission. She accepts her fate since her baby is dead. But the ending is not without some resemblance with Gounod's Faust. In Gounod she kills her baby out of cold blood, and she is saved by the intervention of Jesus Christ himself. A deus ex machina to save her. Artificial and in Gounod practically farcical. Here it is more serious, very visual but Faust regains his youth again on the pyre and they kiss in the flames and both are saved together at this very moment by the intervention of some angel brandishing the fire of God. This is a moment when the film winks at Goethe who also saved Faust but after a long second part and for quite different reasons. The film finally concludes with a moral about one human dimension that will never be conquered by Satan, and this is LOVE. Here we find again both Berlioz and Gounod for whom love is the explanation of everything and love is also the excuse of everything. Then this very melodramatic action leaves us slightly lost in front of the film because the general atmosphere and impression we get here is that of horror, with the plague at the beginning and a pyre at the end, and several people being killed along the way. What made the Germans visit over and over again in these late 20s that theme of horror, either old and great myths like Nosferatu and Faust, or dystopias like Metropolis? Some leaning coming from history and everyday life after the defeat of 1918 and before the victory of 1933? These fifteen years are the melting pot of all frustrations and dissatisfactions, discontentments. But in this film shot before Murnau's moving to Hollywood we have a darker atmosphere than in Nosferatu, though less intensely tragic, or even Metropolis, though without any human or social hope at all, and the special effects are better used to create the scenes in heaven for example.
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne & University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines
Artistic silent masterpiece.......2007-06-20
This astounding film by F W Murnau made in 1926 is at the very pinnacle of silent film making, probably the pinnacle of artistic presentation plus an almost unique movement of light and shade across the static framing of the scenes.
Like Gounod's opera the film dramatises the first part of Goethe's epic, with the key difference that Faust initially makes his pact with Mephistopheles to prevent a plague, and not solely to regain his youth, this comes later.
Gosta Ekman is equally convincing in his portray of both the old and young Faust but the great performance in the film is Emil Jannings as Mephisto as he slowly persuades and cajoles Faust into his power and eternal damnation.
Although a dancer and not an actress Camilla Horn is a competent Gretchen, and William Dieterle is passable as her brother Valentin.
But the value of this eighty year old film is the painterly way (Rembrant comes to mind) all of the scenes are constructed and acted, It is really as an artistic masterpiece that it excels.
One of the most impressive films ever made.......2007-01-30
Faust is just an incredible accomplishment in the art of silent cinema, one of the most ambitious and masterfully directed films of any era. If you've never seen a silent film and wonder if one could even keep your attention, Faust is the film to watch. Far too many classic early films were either lost or came to us in relatively poor condition, but this digitally mastered version of Faust is remarkably clear and free of white outs. I'm sure it looks better now that it did when it was released over eight decades ago. Don't go thinking we're only talking about characters standing around conversing, either; F. W. Murnau packed all kinds of incredible special effects into this magnificent piece of filmmaking.
You all know Faust - that fellow who made a deal with the devil. The story goes back as far as the fifteenth century, with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe penning the definitive version in the early nineteenth century. Murnau's Faust differs somewhat from the original two-part drama written by Goethe, supplanting rationalism with mysticism (no one did mysticism better than early German filmmakers). This approach, among other things, allows Murnau to open the film with nothing less than jaw-dropping visuals and effects. The story is heralded by the grim image of the apocalyptic horsemen thundering through the clouds, leading us to a confrontation between Mephisto (Satan) and an archangel over the control of the Earth. A wager is proposed, with dominion over the Earth set to depend upon the fate of one man's soul. That man is, of course, Faust, a good man targeted for evil temptation by the cursed one. Knowing he could not tempt Faust directly, Mephisto uses his own compassion against him. As a devastating plague is unleashed among Faust's fellow citizens, Mephisto casts his dark shadow over the landscape quite literally, as we see him hovering over the entire village. That, to me, is one of the most memorable and iconographic cinematic sights I've ever seen.
As his friends and neighbors beg Faust (Gosta Ekman) to save them from the plague, his unanswered prayers bring him to the point of despair. He actually summons Mephisto himself (in another incredible special effects-laden scene). After some deliberation, Mephisto (Emil Jannings) convinces Faust to sign a pact for one day only, and that proves to be an offer Faust can't refuse. A little later, though, Mephisto brings in the big guns - the promise of restored youth. Extending the contract from one day to eternity is basically just a formality at this point. All of his new powers don't truly satisfy Faust, though, and so he sets his sights on a lovely, pure maiden by the name of Gretchen (Camilla Horn). The whole mood of the film changes at this point, with the art of wooing temporarily displacing the clouds of doom hanging over the first half of the film - but this is only a prelude to true tragedy. As Daniel Johnston says, "Don't play cards with Satan, he'll deal you an awful hand," and that is exactly what happens here. It gets pretty darned depressing, really, making it hard for the viewer to see how Faust can possibly redeem himself for all of the misery he has caused. Murnau doesn't pull any punches when it comes to establishing the central theme of the story.
Thanks to earlier successes such as Nosferatu and The Last Laugh, Murnau had complete control over the making of Faust. Something of a perfectionist, Murnau made sure that every aspect of every single shot met with his satisfaction. It's obvious that the man was a genius, as even the contrast of light and shadow reinforces the central motif of the story he is telling. The special effects seem years and years ahead of their time. Even the makeup is remarkably well-done (I would never have guessed that Gosta Ekman played both the old and young versions of Faust, as the older version looks genuinely old). And the acting? Top-notch, all the way. Ekman is superb, Emil Jannings becomes the very personification of Mephisto, and an inexperienced Camilla Horn is simply enchanting as Gretchen. (The role of Gretchen was actually written for Lillian Gish, but she bowed out because Murnau refused her demand to have her own personal cameraman shoot the film.) The musical score, composed and conducted by Timothy Brock, is a wonderful counterpart to the film, as well.
In virtually every way possible, F.W. Murnau's Faust is nothing less than a cinematic masterpiece.
Two FAUSTS For The Price Of One High Quality DVD........2006-10-01
For many years F.W. Murnau's FAUST was known to me only through a few stills and a poster. About 15 years ago I came across a public domain video copy which had poor picture quality and Vivaldi's FOUR SEASONS as its soundtrack. Even with these handicaps I could tell that it was something very special and I longed for the day when I might see a better print of the film. A few years ago Kino International released a high quality DVD of FAUST with a newly commissioned score and I was ecstatic as I could now see the film close to the way it must have looked in 1926. Now Eureka has come out with this double DVD set which allows us for the first time to see the film the way Murnau intended. The Kino edition was based on the export version which differs in a number of ways from the original domestic version made available here. The biggest difference is in the way a number of scenes are treated. They are more expanded in the original and have a sharper picture quality than the export version. The ending of Faust and Gretchen ascending to Heaven is missing which seems rather strange as that is key to the film's theme of redemption through forgiveness. Thanks to this set you can view both versions and see the differences for yourself. The performances especially by Emil Jannings as Mephistopheles and Camilla Horn as Gretchen are remarkable and the various special effects used are outstanding for the time and still have the power to astonish. As I said in an earlier review most silent film buffs think PANDORA'S BOX with Louise Brooks to be the apex of German silent cinema and maybe it is but I cast my vote for FAUST. Murnau was a true cinematic poet, a German Cocteau if you will, and all of his considerable skill as a cinematic storyteller went into the making of this film. Because of FAUST Murnau was brought to America where his next film would be SUNRISE. I have one minor quibble with this otherwise outstanding offering from Eureka. The new harp score for the domestic version lacks the power of Timothy Brock's orchestral score for the export version and although you have the option of using the Brock with the domestic version, it doesn't always match up because of the differences between the two films. Nevertheless if you love German silent cinema in general, Murnau's films in particular or romantic fantasy overall then this edition of FAUST is a must.
A VISUAL STUNNING CLASSIC.......2006-04-10
Having seen Murnau's Nosferatu and having enjoyed it immensely I had to check out some of his other films. Faust quickly caught my attention. After Murnau made Nosferatu, he was given the opportunity to do whatever film he wanted and they gave him a huge budget to do it. The result was an impressive, visually stunning and supernatural film.
God and the Devil are fighting over who gets to control humanity. They do a wager, they decide that if Satan aka Mephisto can corrupt Faust then all humanity will belong to Mephisto. After the wager is on, Mephisto spreads the plague throughout Faust's town and people start dying. Faust then decides to call on the powers of darkness to help him out.
First off, more than anything this movie is a true visual feast. How Murnau made this movie with limited resources he had at the time is a true testament to his talent as a film maker.It was 1926, before make up fx, before Stan Winston, before blue screens and CGI - before anything!. Yet, he managed to create an incredibly rich film. This gut even managed to do a crane shot in the film. The scene where Faust and Mephisto are flying through the sky... the camera swoops over landscapes filled with waterfalls, mountains and cliffs all in one shot. I was amazed how with their limited technological resources Murnau managed to do this time of film back in those days.
The imagery is amazing starting with Mephisto spreading is gigantic black wings over Faust's small town. Images of the Horsemen Of The Apocalypse riding the skies... angels with swords, Faust's conjuring up Mephisto by reading from his book this film is really something to behold. Its all wrapped around that black and white aura that gives the film that eerie feeling. I like black and white horror films and Faust is one of them.
Of special interest was the scene where Faust conjures up Mephisto by reading some words in a book, its truley a great movie moment with an incredible supernatural feel. The visuals of those circles of light emanating from the ground up towards the sky was amazing. I think that scene influenced Francis Ford Coppolla in Bram Stoker's Dracula because he uses the exact same image of the circles of light emerging from the ground.
Faust's fantastical imagery truely demonstrates that Murnau had complete control over over everything that he shown on screen. The snow, the wind, the shadows and the lights were all perfectly handled to create the exact mood and feel that was required at the moment. It quite obvious as well that this film benefited from a much bigger budget then Murnau's previous films. The sets look a lot like those on Caligari at times, the detailed miniatures are very well acieved.
The performances are great, better than in Nosferatu. They are sometimes a bit exaggerated, but not as much as in other silent films Ive seen before. On Faust the performances seemed just right to me. Of special mention is Emil Jennings as Mephisto, the character he plays comes across as evil, treacherous and calculating and he does this all with a smirk on his face. The make up on him is great and he kind of reminded me of Bela Lugosi in Dracula at times. But overall his performance is the best in the film. I also enjoyed Camilla Horn as Gretchen, her scenes with her baby in the snow were great, not only in the acting department but visually too.
Overall I'd recommend this film to those interested in German silent cinema. Its really something to see that how even in those days, the imagination and creativity was there. Even the limited technological resources couldn't hold them back from a truly beautiful, haunting, spooky and supernatural film. For those of you who enjoyed films like Murnau's Nosferatu or Robert Wienes The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari then you will most certainly like Faust, yet for some reason this doesn't get as much recognition.
Definitely worth a look.
Thank you for reading my review.
Customer Reviews:
Beautifully dull, worth consideration.......2007-10-03
You'll note that all these reviews so far are short. Well that is probably because nothing much happens. This is a simple film, centred around a handsome and sensitive boy who has an affair with a school teacher. It is set in the war and the film makers do a credible job at giving it period feel. It isn't often that you see such good use made of radio broadcasts, for instance. The film really appears to have one or two scenes missing. Towards the end it just seems rushed and indeed it lacks tension throughout. Infact, if one sees through the beauty of the film one has to admit that it is a little dull but you may appreciate how this film looks.
Young love turns sour.......2004-05-12
Also released as All Things Fair. Set in 1943, the story tells of a passionate affair between Stig, 15, and his teacher Viola, 37. Viola's drunken husband suspects nothing and he and the boy become friends. When the girl next door plans to seduce Stig he hardly notices her at first. Then, when Stig eventually falls for the young girl's charms and tries to end the affair with Viola, she is determined to make him pay.
This film is very passionate and realistic........2001-02-06
I loved this film even though I had to use the sub-titles underneath to understand it! Johan Widerberg is a great actor and obviously one of the most distinguished-looking actors on screen! Sexy is probably a better word! I think everyone should see this film, it is wonderful and thought-provoking! I can't help but say that Johan was definately the best part of the film!
Recommended!.......2000-11-14
A fourteen year old boy (Johan Widerberg) falls for his teacher and is at first rather pleased to learn that the passion is mutual felt. But when he grows interested in a female peer (Karin Huldt), things get complicated, his older lover unwilling to let go. An Oscar nominee and winner of many other awards, this film has proven to be a hit with the critics and masses alike. Johan Widerberg happens to be director Bo Widerberg's son. Recommended!
Customer Reviews:
Book Was Rubbish Anyway.......2006-08-24
Prozac Nation was one of the most self-obsorbed, depressing and uninspiring books I have ever read. So why should the film be any better?
Very Good Adaptation.......2006-02-26
Although this film has had a lot of mixed reviews, this may partly be due to the fact that it only depicts Elizabeth Wurtzel's first year at harvard. Based on her best selling novel of the same name, Elizabeth is seen leaving for Uni where she hopes to find a place to fit in. While it is true that the film's subject matter is hard to bring to film, I feel it does it justice for a number of reasons. Firstly, it captures the 80s well, with Lou Reed making an appearence, and the fashion/music is very 80s. Secondly, the performances are excellent, with Christina ricci and jessica Lang performing the strained relationship of mother and daughter brilliantly. While other reviews have said that Elizabeth comes off as nothing more than a brat, the film does portray the bitter, twisted nature of depression, and how it turns you into such a isolated, cruel person. Other strong performances include Michelle Williams and Jason Biggs. If you liked the book, I would recommend the film.
Bad Day in Bratville.......2005-09-16
Prozac Nation, the best-selling, honest and inspiring debut novel by Elizabeth Wurtzel has finally had the celuloid treatment. And what a disasterous idea it was and has become. What should have been a no-holds-barred depiction of what it is like to suffer the agony and isolation of clinical depression, has been rendered so inexpertly as to make Elizabeth Wurtzel into a moaning, selfish and moody teenager. It is as if the novel were put into a shredder and then glued back together by someone with no interest in refering to the actual story. Some of the re-imaginings are so inaccurate as to be both hilarious and infuriating in equal measure.
However, this film is not without some saving graces. Christina Ricci's performance (given the limited and cliche-ridden screenplay) is very engaging and sufficiently unrestrained as to give some idea of the protagonist's condition. Jessica Lange is as compelling as usual: her mixture of fragile obliviousness and domineering hysteria is always a pleasure. Although in this particular guise (as Elizabeth's mother) it is as she is giving a performance for the film it should have been, rather than the film it essentially is. The remainder of the supporting actors are a strange assortment of wondefully under-used talent: Michelle Williams (of Dawson's Creek fame) is reduced to the stock character of the long-suffering friend; Jason Biggs is the long-suffering boyfriend; and Anne Heche is strangely cold and unlikeable as the (long-suffering?) therapist.
Anyone who has been looking forward to seeing the screen version of Wurtzel's remarkable novel should not expect a great deal of this film. It is disappointing and frustrating. There is little here to recommend it. Those coming to the book after seeing this ill-advised outing may well be discouraged not to read the orginal novel, which would be a mistake because it is exceptional and worth every minute of our time. Read it, don't watch.
Product Description
PLOT SUMMARY: A successful international conductor suddenly interrupts his career and returns alone to his childhood village in Norrland, in the far north of Sweden. It doesn't take long before he is asked to come and listen to the fragment of a church choir. He can't say no, and from that moment, nothing in the village is the same again. The choir develops and grows. He makes friends - and enemies - and finds love...
Customer Reviews:
Warning! Swedish DVD with Dutch Subtitles .......2007-10-05
This version of the DVD is a Dutch product with the original Swedish soundtrack and Dutch subtitles. There is no english language track or
subtitles.
This film has it all.......2007-09-14
Extraodinary acting, beautiful camerawork. Content: deep and believable. "I will live my life as I am". What a good sentence to have as a model! If any film ever tackles the question of living our lives of coming in touch with ourselves and feelings and living in love with life - this is THAT film. I cannot recommend this film highly enough. For all of you who are interest in content, quality and a life message of personal development - you owe it to yourself and your friends to run out and buy this film NOW.
Bob and Marianne
Customer Reviews:
Must Buy!! FANTASTIC!!!.......2006-02-12
I have the Frida Dvd and i must say - it was nothing like i expected. I never expected to get so much on this wonderful dvd. You must buy it if you are a Frida fan!! :-)
Frida talks for about 2 hours, answering all questions with detail and loving memories. She laughs and jokes and remembers the fun times she had as a solo artiste in the 60s and the wonderful times she had with ABBA. She talks about her tragic losses in her husband and daughter, never faltering, never saying "This is too hard to talk about or this is too private to go into". She speaks honestly and truly.
She talks about her albums and making them and the songs she chose and why. She speaks about Mamma Mia and even how she is still in contact with Agnetha and how they have a sisterly relationship. She speaks with such fondness of ABBA - it's such a joy to watch.
There are many, many rare video clips from shows starting with her very first tv appearance singing En Ledig Dag as a shy and quiet young girl to after ABBA when she was co-presenting on Lite Grand i Orat. There are wonderful clips such as Baby Love, My Man, Shot Down in Action, Just One of Those Things, Fire and Ice, Min Soldat, Aquarius and many more!! There are fantastic documentaries from the making of the Shine album with Phil Collins and also the Djupa Andetag album with Anders Glenmark. Both taking you behind the scenes and following the whole recordings of both albums, emotions - tears, laughs and all.
If you have ever had any questions that you wanted to know about Frida - you'll find the answers here. Frida is no doubt truly happy and comfortable with her life now. The Dvd interview with Frida filmed in the Summer of 2005 in Zermatt, Switzerland. Her friends Heinz Julien and Urs Beiner both talk about their love for Frida and how she is the most wonserful person. About how she gets them up to go skiing early in the morning and mountain climbing and how they drag her out clubbing late at night.
This is the true insight of Frida, you won't get any closer than this :-) Any fans dream come true!
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The Diary of Frida Kahlo: An Intimate Self-Portrait
Frida
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