The Conversation

Starring:Michael Higgins, Harrison Ford
Studio: Paramount
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com essential video
Bleak and mysterious, Francis Ford Coppola's taut masterpiece about responsibility, privacy, alienation, and paranoia is part Hitchcockian thriller, part grim character study. Hackman plays Harry Caul, a guarded wreck of a human being whose profession as the world's greatest surveillance expert has detached him from everyday reality. Though a topnotch voyeur, amorally earning his living by bugging other people's conversations and selling the tapes to clients, Caul keeps his own life fiercely private. He has no friends, just associates in the wiretapping business, all of whom he distrusts; his love life consists of apathetic sex with what could be any woman; his apartment contains three locks but few possessions. His indifference to life extends to his attitude about his job: though he's a wiretapping genius, he accepts no responsibility for what harm his work might produce--it's merely work ... until now.

While on his latest assignment, Caul breaks his own code and becomes immersed in the latest conversation he's taped. While piecing together fragments of a lunchtime conversation (Coppola dazzles us with his repeated fetish for technology here), something stirs Caul and he begins projecting his own misery onto the discussion. He finally discerns that some evil plot may occur because of his work and is forced into the moral dilemma of whether to turn in the tapes.

Amazon.com

This romantic, witty, and ultimately poignant glimpse at two strangers (Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy) who share thoughts, affections, and past experiences during one 14-hour tryst in Vienna somehow remains writer/director Richard Linklater's (Dazed and Confused, Slacker) most overlooked gem. Delpy, a stunning, low-key Parisian, meets the stammering American Hawke, as the two share a Eurorail seat--she's starting school in Paris, he's finishing a vacation. Their mutual attraction leads to an awkward meeting (beautifully played by each performer), and Hawke suggests that Delpy spend his remaining 14 hours in Vienna with him.

Typically, this skeleton is as much plot as Linklater provides; as usual, he's more interested in concentrating his talents on observing the casual, playful conversations between his leads. His tight time frame allows the characters to say anything to one another, and topics ranging from politics to past romances to fears of the future flow with subtle finesse. The short time frame is also cruel, however, because beneath this love affair lies the painful reality that the two most likely will never see each other again and will be left only with memories--an idea Linklater drives home with an effective snapshot conclusion.

Hardly the trite Gen-X bitch session that many '90s films using this approach become, the film feels more like a Bresson or Rohmer piece, containing sharp perceptions--and flawed humans rather than stereotypes. The protagonists' frank revelations and heated exchanges flow in a stream-of-consciousness style, and its no accident that Linklater set the film in Vienna, where Freud invented and practiced psychotherapy. --Dave McCoy

Customer Reviews:

Lovely movie in charming Vienna! .......2007-03-10

This a lovely real-world love story where the characters meet on a train in Europe and decide to get to know each other better in a day and night stay in Vienna. They talk about interesting things, they stroll through beautiful places in Vienna and they fall in love!! It's so sweet how their relationship develops during the movie that you may think that the love of your life is waiting for you somewhere on an European train!!
I simply love this movie!

Been there, done that.......2007-01-10

I couldn't believe this movie when it first came out. I had a nearly identical experience in Austria (same as the movie) in 1971. The only difference was the gal was an American. It made me wonder who had been following us around. Sadly, i let her get away from me when we got back to the states. Mea Culpa.

I found it well done, and convincingly acted. The street scenes and infrastructure was as i remembered it.. Overall a top notch production - sadly ignored by the media and movie reviewers. Interaction between the two major characters was as i remember doing it.

Even Hawke's line about: "In a few years you'll be married... you'll wonder how things would have worked out with someone else you'd met.. look at this as time travel..". I actually used that line myself. Incredible parallelism. Basically i loved it..

Cheers

Last Box Step In Vienna.......2006-11-05

Richard (Artsy) Linklater, poet laureate of Gen-Nexters, is the kind of director who could be great - if he wasn't so lousy. He has a refreshing desire to take risks, defy convention, and flat out ignore devices that have served storytellers for millennia. In Tape he locked three people in a room and held them hostage, along with the audience. In Waking Life he merged morphing animation with stream of conscious dialogue to create a dream within a dream within a college freshman's philosophy term paper. In Before Sunrise he shows us a brief encounter, (characterized by the inappropriate illusion of intimacy frequently experienced when traveling), during which absolutely nothing happens.

Failure is commonplace, failing magnificently requires courage.

There are good things to say about Before Sunrise. Vienna looks lovely. Celine, Julie Delpy, looks equally lovely, and acts her part, what there is of it, beautifully. The film is replete with attractive train and trolley shots and even re-uses the marvelous Ferris wheel made famous in The Third Man, (a movie that actually had a plot). The Austrians on the bridge are funny, and the "milkshake" poem was wonderful.

Things crash quickly after that. Even the colorful street scenes, palm reader, belly dancing, etc. look blatantly staged, you can almost see the grips and gaffers stringing cables one foot out of the shots. Ethan Hawke needs to be told that his scruff does not give him that cool, dangerous Trotsky affect; it just makes him look like he sleeps in a culvert. Though his acting is workmanlike, he was the wrong choice for a film that depends entirely on the glossy superficiality and shared insanity of romance.

When two people speak and listen to each other, that's called a conversation. When interesting, well-developed characters talk to each other and do things to each other, thereby revealing themselves and being changed in the process, (and there's a cameraman on hand), that's called a movie.

When two-dimensional characters talk endlessly about whatever in a way that accomplishes nothing and only serves to explore the full extent of their two-dimensionality, that's called a Richard Linklater movie.

The movie was okay.......2006-11-03

I was amazed at how much dialog the main two actors had to learn for thie movie. It entirely consists of them talking. Got old after awhile. If they had shortened it, it would have been great. I fast-forwarded through some of it.

Beautiful scenery.

A great art........2006-10-30

To me great film/art is that which helps us understand what it is like to be a human being. This GREAT film shows us what it is like to be 24 or so and fall in love while walking around Vienna.

This is a SEAMLESS, FLAWLESS movie. Before Sunset is perhaps just as good. WOW.

Average customer rating:

It grew with me
Beautiful Sequel Extends the Realism and Genuine Feelings From the First Film
Definition of Yummy, anyone?
Beautiful Encounter in Paris!! Lovely movie!!!
Lovely Film... As Magical as the First... Fine DVD from Warner

Before Sunset
Starring: Ethan Hawke , Julie Delpy , Vernon Dobtcheff , Louise Lemoine Torres , and Rodolphe Pauly
Director: Richard Linklater
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B0002YLC24
Release Date: 2004-11-09

Amazon.com

In 1994, director Richard Linklater (Dazed and Confused, Waking Life) made Before Sunrise, a gorgeous poem of a movie about two strangers (played by Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy) wandering around Vienna, talking, and falling in love. Ten years later, Linklater, Hawke, and Delpy have returned with Before Sunset, which reunites the same characters after Hawke has written a book about that night. Delpy appears at the final book reading of his European tour; they have less than two hours before Hawke has to catch a flight to New York...and in that time, they walk around Paris, talk, and fall in love all over again. It sounds simple, perhaps dull, but it's written with such skill and care and acted with such richness that it's a miracle of filmmaking. On its own, Before Sunset is moving and wonderful; seen right after Before Sunrise, it will break your heart. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews:

It grew with me.......2007-06-08

I loved this movie. I remember watching the first one when I was a teenager and I loved it then. All the conversations where real and intimate. I hate movies where the two people fall in love and you can't really tell why because they hardly ever talked to each other. In Before Sunset you see how their words really effected the other person. I love the way they captured the realistic discomfort and timidness of meeting a lost love and through time seeing the longing of what could have been. Very realistic in its conversations and feelings. I loved it.

Beautiful Sequel Extends the Realism and Genuine Feelings From the First Film.......2007-05-16

I was a huge fan of Before Sunrise when it came out. I loved the simplicity and realism of two young people, who just met, walking around a beautiful European city like Vienna, and getting to know each other.

You might wonder what they have left to talk about in this film since they tackled so many subjects in the previous one. Believe me, they have plenty to talk about, and you wish that this film would never end.

The story takes place nine years after the previous film. Jesse is now a successful author who is doing a book tour throughout Europe. Paris is his last stop. He's sitting in a small book shop, answering questions from some readers, when he looks over his shoulder and sees Celine standing there. The film takes off from there as Jesse and Celine spend a few precious hours together before Jesse must be at the airport to make his flight.

Ethan Hawke (Jesse) and Julie Delpy (Celine) both co-wrote this screenplay along with the director. It's obvious that these two actors know their characters so well, that I'm sure that even they had spent those "nine years" wondering how it would end. Does Jesse come back for that six-month-later reunion? Does Celine? Do people, who really live so far away able to keep, what seems to be an unlikely promise?

I'm not going to relate anything else about the story here for those who have not seen the movie yet. This is a film where the thrill is in the journey, not the goal. Each step that Jesse and Celine make as they walk around Paris, is another step in that journey.

I recall telling friends about the first film and what it was about. They couldn't understand how a movie about two people walking around could be so good. But just like that first film, their conversations are so real and enthralling. I think part of the reason that it's so compelling is that when these two characters are together, they are themselves. There is no fakery or need to put on another face in order to impress the other. Perhaps because they are in a time crunch, they figure that there's no need to be anything other than genuine because they don't feel that they'll ever see each other again. There is a powerful scene in this film that is a recognition and a tribute to that "genuiness" and why they feel more comfortable with each other than with anyone else they've ever been with.

I've always said that sometimes the best stories are the simple ones. And this one is simple, yet again. These two simple, yet real characters, captivate the audience again with their genuine conversation that holds nothing back, and invites the audience to try and do the same.

Definition of Yummy, anyone?.......2007-05-08

This movie is a phenomenal collection to your movie library. It stars Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy who make the perfect match on screen. The movie is not meant to be fancy pants, but laid back and conversation.

It takes place on the streets of Paris and Jesse and Celine meet by again after a nine year break. They converse on topics broad and small and the denouement of the previous film, Before Sunrise, is worth the wait for the this sequel. I won't spill anything, but this is definitely a delightful, funny, and intellectual watch.

Beautiful Encounter in Paris!! Lovely movie!!!.......2007-03-14

This movie is an unexpected sequence for the lovely Before Sunrise and a great surprise for its fans! The characters reunite in another incredible setting: a beautiful Paris in summertime! They walk through charming and not obvious places in Paris, they chat about their lives and what they have done since their first meeting in Vienna 10 years before... And they discover that they have important things in common about their feelings about each other and about what could have happened if things have occurred in a different way 10 years before...
It is a beautiful view of how few moments can be so strong and present in our lives! And that we should strive to make these moments last forever...
I can't wait to the third sequence!!!

Lovely Film... As Magical as the First... Fine DVD from Warner.......2007-03-10

I avoided watching this sequel until now, mainly because I didn't want to spoil the magic of "Before Sunrise". Despite the open-ending of the first film, I always expected the couple to meet again for their promised Christmas in Vienna. So to me the first film had a decidedly happy ending. "Before Sunset" of course is based on the premise that they didn't. Still I wasn't disappointed. "Before Sunset" is a lovely film, as beautiful as the first and ends on a suitably ambiguous and equally optimistic note. Filmed in real time, and taking place 9 years after the first film, it shows the pair meeting again, this time in Paris, the City of Love. Jesse (Ethan Hawke) is now a successful writer on a book tour promoting his latest bestseller, an autobiography based on their one night in Vienna. Celine (Julie Delpy) of course lives in Paris and comes to his book-signing. They have one lovely summer afternoon together before he has to fly back to America. Like the previous film they spend it walking, chatting, flirting, teasing and now reminiscing, as Celine takes him through the beautiful streets of her home city, including a picturesque boat trip down the Seine. Watching the film is like slipping into a pair of comfortable old shoes, or as others have said, like meeting and catching up with old friends again. The whole film is a single long chat as they reveal how their lives turned out, why they didn't meet before this, what might have been, and rekindle the romantic spark that came to life 9 years ago. The dialogue is witty and always engaging and you never want it to end. The chemistry between the pair is as palpable and electric as it was 9 years ago. All throughout you long for them to stay together.

The script was written by Richard Linklater in collaboration with both actors which might explain the close affinity the actors have for their roles and the deep chemistry they exhibit. It's like they are not acting at all; as if we were given the privilege of eavesdropping on two close friends deep in an intimate conversation. Absolutely delightful. Can't wait to see them in another 9-10 years as they recount what has happened since. That would be a treat indeed. Both actors have aged visibly but they wear the years well and it's nice to see actors who don't try to disguise their age onscreen. It adds immeasurably to the realism of these characters.

The film is presented in a modified form to perfectly fit the new 16:9 (1.78:1) widescreen TV. It is not in the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1 contrary to what is stated on the backcover. The picture looks fine and I couldn't detect any major composition problems. Colours are fairly strong and natural. Black levels are accurately set with good detail in the darker scenes. The DVD comes with the obligatory theatrical trailer. There is a also short but treasurable 10-minute "On the Set" featurette with the director and 2 stars talking about their collaboration in making the film and how they wove their own life expeiences into their characters' fictional lives. Good to know that another sequel is still possible 9 to 10 years down the line. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

Average customer rating:

Sound and Fury
You need a lazy afternoon for this one
Over The Top Coppola Masterpiece
Better than the "Godfather"(sacrilege to some I know but true)
A Fantastic Little-Seen Masterpiece

The Conversation
Starring: Phoebe Alexander , Timothy Carey , John Cazale , Harrison Ford , and Frederic Forrest
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Manufacturer: Paramount
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ASIN: B00003CX9I
Release Date: 2000-12-12

Customer Reviews:

Sound and Fury.......2007-05-22

THE CONVERSATION (1974) does age well as a character study. Its technology seems dated, of course. Surveillance today I have no doubt would put that old reel to reel tape technology to shame, in the era of microchips and miniaturization. Coppola likes this little film, and he had trouble initially getting it produced. Only his success with THE GODFATHER allowed him the clout to twist a few arms. As a writer, influenced by Tennessee Williams, he wanted to take his small projects and make intimate films, not blockbusters. Isn't it odd that GODFATHER and APOCALYPSE NOW to this point stand as his cornerstone works, allowing him to do several other less successful smaller projects.

Coppola chose his brother-in-law, David Shire to compose the music for THE CONVERSATION, and his haunting single piano seemed to hit just the right emotional timbre; and then to make Harry Caul (Gene Hackman) a saxophone player, who sits solo at night and wails away, was a wonderful secondary touch. Caul was such a cold fish, such a secretive human being; it was fun to hear complete statements coming from him in the language of jazz. It is an interesting name, Caul, meaning veil or membrane over the face of a fetus; heavy symbolism. Coppola stated that he was heavily influenced by Antonioni's BLOW UP (1966), and he liked the idea that the director's camera was watching the surveillance expert as he "listened" to other characters; working in a mystery that was also homage to Hitchcock. He, like Antonioni, shot abstractly at his characters, through and around plastic a lot; smoked barriers, rippled windows, pebbled glass, and the incessant appearance of Caul's god awful clear plastic raincoat.

Robert Duvall did an uncredited cameo, and Frederic Forrest, John Cazale, and Teri Garr all did fine work as members of his repertory. Allen Garfield did a bang up job as the competing surveillance expert, Bernie Moran. Garr's sweet, yet sad, cloistered mistress cloys to our minds, in her white socks and short blond locks. A nice surprise was how good Harrison Ford really was in what could have been a non-descript walk on. Coppola was impressed with his inventiveness. Hackman found in Caul a character he could barely live with, and he had difficulty shedding it off camera. Still it stands as some of his best work

Haskell Wexler shot the big opening sequence in the park, with the whole surveillance team. Then he and Coppola had an "artistic difference of opinion", and he was replaced by Bill Butler who did a seamless job of the rest of the film. Coppola said he closed down the film four days early because he was so stressed out. The dream sequence with Caul and Cindy Williams in the park, midst all that fog, was supposed to be part of the actual ending of the film, but the fog machine got out of hand, and people complained, sending in the SF police to harass the team. Coppola was faced with providing us with a different ending, and he found a perfect one. Caul, at last succumbed to his personal paranoia, tearing up his apartment looking for the bug Moran used on him, and then sitting exhausted in the wreckage, blowing out his pain in jazz riffs on his sax. Coppola suggested later that the bug might have been in the saxophone strap itself.

You need a lazy afternoon for this one.......2007-04-26

The development, acting and plot progression is exceptional. In comparison with today's Big Brother thrillers, The Conversation appears to be a slow-moving flick. The viewer is gradually pulled inside the head of a burned-out spy who happens upon the conversation of a couple with bad intentions. His feeling of isolation becomes real to the viewer, and you begin your search with the same information with which our spy is equipped. His paranoia and desperation are well portrayed. Getting past the dragging introduction, a viewer can involve himself in the quest of the spy to solve the mystery. Not an exciting film for group enjoyment, yet quality is undeniable.

Over The Top Coppola Masterpiece.......2007-04-25

This is without a doubt one of the greatest personally insightful films that delves into the ambience of eavesdropping and mystery. I beg and incourage anyone who finds this film even remotely captivating to purchase this film.Yes, it doesn't contain action, but it proves that a film doesn't require action in order to be spectacular and mesmerizing.And I can't say that the premise sounds interesting but please believe me that there is more than meets the eye.

In this film Gene Hackman (perhaps his greatest performance) plays a preeminant reclusive eavesdropper hired by the great Robert Duvall to eavesdrop on his wife played by Cindy Williams prior to Lovern and Shirley.That's just a superficial synopsis of this classic.The film also stars Harrison Ford, John Cazale who played Frado in the Godfather. Coppola brilliantly weaves mystery, isolation, loneliness, and conspiracy into this unique picture.

So please do yourself a favor and watch this film instead of the rubbish that is being made these days. You won't regret it.

Better than the "Godfather"(sacrilege to some I know but true).......2007-03-29

Yes I said it and I'm glad i said it,I love the "Godfather" and it is one of the best movies ever made but this is one rung above it. Now that I've mad everyone mad < let me tell you why I love it this much.
Gene Hackman HAS NEVER BEEN BETTER THAN HE IS HERE. His Harry Caul is a man defined by his work only. He has no real life of his own, he just spies on real lives for his own gain. He just does a job, it's the people who hire him who are responsible for what is done with the knowledge he gives them. All of this changes on his latest job, as he begins to suspect that the young couple he is asked to tape is being set up to be killed. From the first shot to the last heartbreaking, but logical shot Hackman owns this spellbinding movie about paranoia and personal liberties being taken from you. It more than holds up today,even if the technology is now dated. There is no wild car chase or big bangs here only food for thought tied to a very downbeat but fantastic script. Mr. Coppola has outdone himself here and the film is his masterpiece in my eyes. Not one false note or scene in this one,as close to prefect as a movie gets. YOU WILL NEVER FORGET IT ONCE YOU SEE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Fantastic Little-Seen Masterpiece.......2007-03-20

"The Conversation" is a little seen masterpiece from Francis Ford Coppola, made in between "The Godfather" and "The Godfather Pt. II." It's a mystery-drama, that plays like a horror movie similar to the Nicolas Roeg film "Don't Look Now" in the sense that works with dread, rather than fright. Two-time Academy Award winner Gene Hackman plays Harry Caul, a wiretapper whom we first meet as he's recording a conversation between a young couple in a park. Caul sees his job as a job, he doesn't get involved with the people he records nor does he pay much attention to the details of the conversation. He's supposed to record it and deliver it. His suspicions begin to grow about the tape when he tries to personally deliver it the mysterious person who asked for it and is instead badgered by the man's assistant (Harrison Ford) for it. At the same time we begin to realize how bad Caul is at his job. His partner Stanley (John Cazale) has quit and has already began working for another wiretapper. The superintendent at his apartment building has managed to get inside his multi-locked apartment to drop off a birthday present. A ladyfriend of his tells Harry about a time she watched his spying on someone for an hour...It's no wonder that when a rival wiretapper comes to his office with him he manages to record an intimant conversation between Harry and a woman. While the mystery revolving around "the conversation" continues, Harry begins deciphering some of the sentences and his suspicions are confirmed when he hears the sentence: "He'd kill us if he got the chance?" This question fuels the rest of the movie, until the very creepy and superb climax. Some of the most haunting parts of the film come at the end and this is due to the visuals of the film. One much-talked about scene comes when Harry flushes a toilet in a motel room and it begins overflowing with blood. This scene (and the few that follow it) are some of the most effectively creepy scenes I've seen in a long time. Gene Hackman is superb as Harry Caul, a multi-layered character that on the page must have seemed very one-dimensional. Harry is a man with no personal life, almost no friends, and he's a man that lives shrouded in mystery. Coppola had already proved by the time this movie came out that he was a cinematic genius, but he's mostly known for movies like "The Godfather" and "Apocalypse Now." Those films are 3 hour long epic films, but I think to really see how much range Coppola has as a director it's nice to take a look at "The Conversation." Few people have seen this movie, it's a much smaller scale film that most of his movies but it's truly a masterwork. Great acting, great direction, great art direction, and great cinematography.

GRADE: A

Average customer rating:

"If men don't trust each other, this earth might as well be hell"
Not a "whodunnit"
A movie that truly belongs to world cinema's history
Required viewing at most film schools
The Worst Movie I've Ever Seen

Rashomon - Criterion Collection
Starring: Minoru Chiaki , Fumiko Homma , Daisuke Kato , Machiko Kyo , and Toshiro Mifune
Director: Akira Kurosawa
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ASIN: B00003CXC6
Release Date: 2002-03-26

Amazon.com essential video

This 1950 film by Akira Kurosawa is more than a classic: it's a cinematic archetype that has served as a template for many a film since. (Its most direct influence was on a Western remake, The Outrage, starring Paul Newman and directed by Martin Ritt.) In essence, the facts surrounding a rape and murder are told from four different and contradictory points of view, suggesting the nature of truth is something less than absolute. The cast, headed by Kurosawa's favorite actor, Toshiro Mifune, is superb. --Tom Keogh

Description

Brimming with action while incisively examining the nature of truth, Rashomon is perhaps the finest film ever to investigate the philosophy of justice. Through an ingenious use of camera and flashbacks, Kurosawa reveals the complexities of human nature as four people recount different versions of the story of a man's murder and the rape of his wife. Toshiro Mifune gives another commanding performance in the eloquent masterwork that revolutionized film language and introduced Japanese cinema to the world.

Customer Reviews:

"If men don't trust each other, this earth might as well be hell".......2007-06-05

I usually watch many kinds of different movies, but I wasn't a fan of old Asian movies, at least not until a friend lent me this beautiful classic, directed by Akira Kurosawa. Now I know what I was missing...

"Rashomon" (1950), shot in black and white, is nothing short of stunning. The first scenes show us a priest and a woodcutter taking refuge in an old temple, in order to escape from the heavy rain. A third man shows up, and they start talking about a recent crime that troubles them. Despite the fact that these men were at the trial in which those involved were judged, they don't have a clue regarding what happened, due to the fact that they hear very different versions of the events that took place that fateful day. Will the truth ever be found out? And is there such a thing as truth, or an objective point of view?

This is the first film by Kurosawa I have watched, but it won't be my last. Highly recommended ! And... thanks, Rubén :)

- Belen Alcat, June 2007 -

Not a "whodunnit".......2007-05-19

Kurosawa's use of multiple points of view allows him to highlight the interpretive agendas of the various "tellers" of the story. There is no one "true" version that the viewer is supposed to be able piece together from the narratives. Rather, the story is about the way in which no one interpretation will explain the events adequately. The meta-narrative of the story is what's at stake for each of the tellers that make them tell differently.

Tojomaru, the bandit. All at stake for him is his reputation as a bad guy. He knows he's doomed, and that he'll probably be executed, so his story embellishes his reputation. He says he fights, subdues and rapes the wife, then fights and kills the husband because the wife demands it. He fights fairly, and, in spite of the wife's role in urging him on, only because he wants to. In his version, he must kill the husband, but is then betrayed by the wife, so in some sense he has been wronged.

Masago, the wife. She has two interconnected motives: she needs revenge and appeasement of guilt. As a victim of a rape, she was shamed before both her husband and the bandit. She must try to exact revenge on the bandit, yet her husband spurns her as she tries to seek this revenge. In order to receive satisfaction, she must incite the fight (as she is reported doing in every version). It is important that in her version, the two men aren't actually seen fighting, because her agenda is to take the blame for the death of her husband away from herself. She deals with this by simply losing consciousness, then waking and finding her husband dead and the bandit gone.

Takehiro, the husband. This one is primarily driven by his culpability. He got himself tied up and then killed. He has to explain it somehow in honorable terms. It's very important that his story does not include a fight with the bandit. The husband was vain and proud, and losing the fight would be quite dishonorable. His version ends in suicide, as he owns up to his failures - but only after rejecting his wife (by not running after her), who "let herself get raped."

The woodcutter. Although his version is the most complex, having elements of all the others, his main motive is simple: to avoid being asked where the knife is (he denies having seen it at the inquest). Yet he is torn, repeatedly saying "That's a lie" to all the other stories. When he finally does tell his whole version, he describes the players as being full of pity, regret, fear and horror: all emotions that he must have gone through while watching the encounter. Further, his story must include a fight between the two men (which is disorganized and messy, concluding with "I don't want to die!"), because the husband must die by a sword wound and not a dagger. At the end, the wanderer gets the woodcutter to all but confess to having taken the dagger. Whether he took it from the husband's chest or picked it up from the ground is not known, but watch Takashi Shimura's face at the moment the medium speaks of having the dagger pulled out. The expression is one of horror, but is it horror over his own actions?

The woodcutter has both the most and the least to hide. His "crime" was being a witness, and then stealing evidence; he may be impeding justice by more or less corroborating the bandit's story - i.e., a "non-dagger death." Yet this impediment might not be that significant, considering Tajomaru's reputation and likely fate anyway. He must hide the fact that he's a thief, yet we can believe that he'd put the money gotten from the theft to good use. After all, he has six mouths to feed. I guess I distrust him the least, and believe that his lie hurts the fewest people. I suppose I'm highlighting what I value in the character (and in life) by making this interpretive decision. And that's why I also don't mind the ending (which some have felt is sentimental or out of step with the tenor of the film). In taking the abandoned child home, the woodcutter is compensating for his ill-gotten gains, and thus restoring balance to his karma.

But just maybe the woodcutter saw nothing (as in his first telling), and his second version was a fantasy of his own creation, made to appease the enormous guilt he feels at stealing the dagger. As the wanderer says, "We all want to forget something, so we create stories. It's easier that way."

A movie that truly belongs to world cinema's history.......2007-04-11

Sometime during the 12th century in Japan, three men, a woodcutter, a commoner and a priest, find themselves under the ruin of the Rashomon as they seek shelter from the heavy rain. As they wait for a break in the weather, they discuss the trial of the bandit Tajomaru, accused of killing the samurai Takehiro after having raped his wife. But was it what truely happened? The more we listen to the witnesses, the further we seem to drift away from the truth....

As I read reviews here and there, I quickly realized that there were basically two sides: the enthusiasts (the majority), some of which almost implying that there just can't be anything to complain about since this movie is widely considered as one of the most important in cinema history. And then there are those who are quick to argue that this movie is overrated, even boring. So, are the former just name-droppers in select parties, hoping to pass for the artsy-witsy type? Or are the latter either ignorant or trying to be hipper than hip by going against the greater number's judgement?

I think the main issue here is that those two sides just aren't talking about the same aspects of the movie. If there's one thing that's undeniable about Rashomon, the movie that truely revealed its director to the world, earning him a Golden Lion in 1951 at the Venice Film Festial and a honorary award at the Oscars, is that at the time of its release, this movie broke grounds both technically and in terms of story-telling. Maybe the most famous of those technical "innovations" is the pointing of the camera directly at the sun: to us now, it may comes as completely anticlimatic, but this was breaking one of the biggest taboos at the time

But maybe the one aspect of this movie that immediatly impressed the most was the storytelling, this presentation of several perceptions on what happened that fateful day, leading us only to accept in the end that the factual truth, because we couldn't experience the events first hand but only through the eyes of the various witnesses who all played a part in them, is forever lost to us. Such use of subjectivity to present a singular fact to the audience, therefore shaking their confidence in what they have actually seen, continues to this day to influence movies. Surely, if Rashomon hadn't been made, another director would have done just the same, but the first happens to be Kurosawa, and whatever one's appreciation of this movie is, the fact remains that, for those reasons alone, it deserves our utmost respect

But does it deserve our love? Now that's the hard one. It is certainly not an emotionally engaging movie: you're never really brought to care for the characters, which is probably the one reason why I couldn't give it 5 stars, no matter how much of a piece of history that movie is: I just need to emotionally connect with a movie at some level to be fully engrossed in it, and Rashomon just doesn't do that for me. However, it definitely is an intellectually engaging movie, and relatively short. The multiple layers in the visual, the acting, the philosophical statements all almost make up completely for it, and it ends before the lack of emotional ties leads you to lose interest in the story

Also, if you are after a Kurosawa movie which will entertain you from the word go, you would be far better off watching "Seven Samurai" or even "The Hidden Fortress". Rashomon lacks this fun factor - on the surface: dwelve on it some and the irony of the woodcutter's second tale, between Tajomaru's child-like glances and the swordfight's parody, which come in direct contrast with the others' tales, and in particular Tajomaru's own, can definitely qualify as funny, although it is much more likely to bring a soft chuckle rather than an outright loud laugh out of you

You may be put off by other details: the lack of dialogues for one. I would however argue that more dialogues wouldn't have been necessary, nor would they have shed anymore light on the case. What the director wants us to know without being put into words transpires through clever camera work, precise use of space and of the elements the environment provides (weather conditions, light, shadows of the foliage, etc). What may also grate on your nerves is what may pass as overacting (in particular in Mifune's and Machiko Kyo's cases): that being said, for one, acting standards in Japan are slightly different from those in the West. What I mean by that is that what they consider good acting may often be considered as unnatural and overacting by us. There's also another explanation: we aren't witnessing the facts as they actually happened. In a sense, the characters involved in this deadly affair are all, as they testify, performing, hoping to convincingly present the events in a way that will best serve their interests and, in the words of the others, they are but mere puppets who are made acting to suit their needs. No wonder therefore that a sense of surreality permeates these performances

Another point that may be annoying is the lack of resolution: sure, the image the woodcutter walking away with the baby under sun that is at last shining forth provides for a hopeful note. But the movie, through the camera angle during the testimony scenes at the court, puts you in the position of the judge, of the person who is there to seek out the truth. Yet you are forced to admit in the end that you'll never find it

But then the next question should be: do we need to know? Tajomaru, whatever the role he played, has, from what we are told, killed other women already: even if his role in this affair remains unclear, his fate, now that he is in the hands of justice, shouldn't. The samurai's wife, whether she has encouraged this violent act or not, will live a life of shame, a fate maybe worse than death. The samurai will cannot be brought back to life anyway. As for the woodcutter, even if he has taken the dagger to resale it, his generosity towards the child certainly more than redeems the theft

Interestingly enough, Kurosawa, it seems, never thought of Rashomon as of one of his best movies. And as for myself, I tend to agree with that statement, if only because it isn't too engaging on an emotional level. Still, Rashomon remains a movie that should be watched by any aspiring film-maker as well as any person more or less interested in the art of film-making in general. But I would also definitely recommend it to anyone not afraid of rather depressing yet tinted with hope, philosophical statements, and willing to spend the necessary time to reflect on it afterwards and possibly treat themselves to more than one viewing

A last word on the DVD itself: I've only watched the Criterion Collection edition of this movie, and I don't think I'll ever need another one. The restored transfer's quality is absolutely superb, even though I am tempted to say that the image faired better than the sound. The translation, from what little I can judge, is adequate; I have, however, only listened to the English dubbing for a hanful of scenes, so I can't say much, apart that it seemed terribly out of sync sometimes. The extras are all insightful, be it Robert Altman's introduction, the documentary extract on Kazuo Miyagawa, the cinematographer, or the audio commentary by Donald Richie. Also, the booklet that accompanies the single disc contains the two short stories on which the script was based, which is a most welcome addition

Required viewing at most film schools.......2007-04-10

In the Bible, Pilate asks, "What is truth?" and, as Roger Bacon puts it, "would not stay for an answer."

I felt a bit the same way after seeing this remarkable film by Japan's celebrated film maker, Akira Kurosawa. It is set in 12th century Japan, and while most viewers would say it examines the nature of truth and finds it slippery, I think it more properly examines the nature of the feudal Japanese society.

We have as representatives of that society, a priest (Minuru Chiaki) and a woodcutter (Takashi Shimura) sitting out a rain storm in a place called Rashomon. It might pass for a ruined Greek temple except that its pillars and roof are made of wood. The priest and the woodcutter declare that they just can't understand it. They shake their heads and stare at the ground. Along comes a commoner (Kichijiro Uedo), a cynical man who asks what it is that they cannot understand.

They have witnessed an investigation into the death of a samurai, Takehiro (Masayuki Mori). He is in some ways the equivalent of a medieval knight. He has a horse and lady, Masako (Machiko Kyo). The accused is an infamous outlaw named Tajomaru (played brilliantly by Toshiro Mifune, who obviously had a lot of fun with the part). He tells his story. He admits to having his way with the lady, but lets the court know that she liked it so much that she began to embrace him while her husband was tied up watching. Afterwards he says that she insisted that they fight over her. Tajomaru obliges. He cuts the rope holding Takehiro and they sword fight. Tajomaru wins.

Next the wife tells her story. It is different of course. This causes the court to get a medium (Fumiko Honma) to tell the story from the point of view of the dead Takehiro. His story is different yet again. Finally the woodcutter reveals to the priest and the commoner that he saw the whole thing, and he then gives his version, again different of course.

The commoner has some terrifically cynical lines. Here are three:

"It's human to lie. Most of the time we can't even be honest with ourselves."

(To the priest:) "Not another sermon! I don't mind a lie if it's interesting."

"Man just wants to forget the bad stuff, and believe in the made-up good stuff. It's easier that way."

He speaks for the natural or animalistic man.

His counterpoint, the priest, opines, "If men don't trust each other, this earth might as well be hell."

He speaks for moral man.

Near the end of the film a baby is discovered crying. The woodcutter, who has five or six children of his own, takes the baby home.

He represents civilized man.

Masako represents the samurai's view of the nature of women when she is heard to say, "A man has to make a woman his by his sword."

What impressed me most about this film is the way Kurosawa was able to create an emotional atmosphere in each of the sittings. "In the Grove" we feel the trees and the light that sparkles through the leaves, and the disturbed serenity. At Rashomon in the rain we feel the men isolated and waiting, and in the sterile court scene we feel the severity of the tragedy.

The Worst Movie I've Ever Seen.......2007-04-04

The Bandit is so obinoxious, it's not even funny, the movie hardly mean't be laughable anyway

Average customer rating:

Movie - what Movie? What Iggy Pop?
straight-faced hilarity
Killing Me Softly With These Things...
authentic or artificial?
What goes with coffee and cigarettes...

Coffee and Cigarettes
Starring: Roberto Benigni , Steven Wright , Joie Lee , Cinqué Lee , and Steve Buscemi
Director: Jim Jarmusch
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0002I83Z4
Release Date: 2004-09-21

Amazon.com

Now here is a movie that's practically perfect for DVD. Shot over many years with eccentric actors, Jim Jarmusch's collection of black-and-white vignettes is as uneven as a collection of music videos (without songs). Even with the dull spots and the drop-dead-hip ambiance, there's something touching about this parade of frazzled people holding on to their coffee and cigarettes like life rafts--especially in the final sequence with Taylor Mead. There are some severely misconceived pieces, but the best are a treat: Alfred Molina and Steve Coogan in a hilarious Hollywood encounter, Tom Waits and Iggy Pop getting off on the wrong foot in a funky diner, and Cate Blanchett doing a dual role as herself and a jealous cousin. Bill Murray can't save one underwritten piece, but Jack and Meg White are amusing in an absurdist blackout. Use the Scene Selection menu, and revel in the fetishizing of java and butts. --Robert Horton

Description

Celebrated writer-director Jim Jarmusch (Mystery Train) serves up this witty and intoxicating brew that's "as addictive as caffeine" (Richard Roeper, "Ebert & Roeper and the Movies") and "as buzzy and ephemeral as, well, coffee and cigarettes" (LA Weekly)! "Sneakily delirious [and] way cool" (Time), this "funny cluster of eleven stories" (Rolling Stone) delivers "inspired eccentric match-ups" (The Hollywood Reporter) from an incredible all-star cast, making Coffee and Cigarettes an absolute must for fans of film, fun and fantastic wit!

Customer Reviews:

Movie - what Movie? What Iggy Pop?.......2007-05-29

I must have missed the whole thing except Renee French. What a woman, what a woman.....the slight tilt of the head, the cute wrinkling of her nose, the casual browsing through the Mailorder Catalog of Handguns viewed through the smoky haze of her cigarette, the cool statement that her coffee was just the right colour and texture and the waiter had messed it all up by his preemptive refill. 'Oh Jim...how could you treat her this way...'

If your teenage years weren't lived in the 50's and 60's you'll never get the subtleties of the Diner, Renee and the sublime undercurrents.

straight-faced hilarity.......2007-04-23

humor like this is so rare and so wonderful. there is no action to speak of, just conversations at tables, which lets the actors really do their stuff. it is amazing to see them work. if you need to see car crashes and explosions, this is not for you, but for those who appreciate subtle, hip comedy and fine acting it is highly recommended.

Killing Me Softly With These Things..........2007-04-11

"Coffee and Cigarettes" (2004) written and directed by Jim Jarmush is a very simple movie shot in B/W. It is a collection of eleven shorts where famous actors, comedians, rock-stars, and musicians played themselves. They drink coffee (lots of it), smoke, and talk. While each segment is short, we still can learn a lot about human nature.

Whether you like the film or not, does not even depend on whether you like coffee and cigarettes. I quit smoking many years ago but I love coffee (I prefer it strong, hot, no sugar, thanks) and I still remember that it was fun to sit over a cup of coffee and cigarette with the friends and talk about movies, books, plays, music, art, life...

Of eleven shorts, six were wonderful. I read some comments and was surprised that there are so many negative opinions. Some viwers think that the movie was slow - I did not even notice how the time flew. After I finished watching it, I started all over and watched the ones that I loved for a second time. The best, IMO are "Somewhere in California" with Iggy Pop and Tom Waits, "Cousins" - (Cate Blanchette plays a dual role - herself and her not so successful cousin); "These Things Will Kill You" (Joe Rigano, Vinny Vella, and Vinny Vella, Jr), "Cousins?" - easily the best in the bunch (Alfred Molina and Steve Coogan), "Delirious" - the funniest (RZA, GZA, and Bill Murray), and the final one, the elegiac "Champagne" - (Bill Rice and Taylor Mead)

authentic or artificial?.......2007-01-25

Writer and director Jim Jarmusch gathers ostensibly random combinations of conversation partners in coffee shops for smoke, drink, and impromptu talk. There is no introduction or conclusion, no soundtrack except for the ambient, background noise of the various coffee shops, no narration or explanation, and filmed in black and white. But only two of the eleven vignettes worked for me; the others felt and sounded very much like playing for the camera. The effect was artificial rather than authentic human conversations about important matters.

What goes with coffee and cigarettes..........2006-11-25

A collection of vignettes that take place in various setting but all include coffee and cigarettes. This film is all black and white. Some of the short scenes are funny, some sad, some just 'eh, what was that about?', and some that made you think. There are even two totally different scenes that have basically the same dialogue but have a different feel to them because of the actors. This is definitely not a film for everyone but it's worth a try -- the time flew by as I watched and while it was uneven it wasn't wasted time.

Average customer rating:

There's a light, over at the Franken... er Femm ... place
The Old Dark House
It really was a dark and stormy night...
Great Classic
Confusion is Creepy

The Old Dark House
Starring: Boris Karloff , Melvyn Douglas , Charles Laughton , Lilian Bond , and Ernest Thesiger
Director: James Whale
Manufacturer: Kino Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00000ILEU
Release Date: 2003-09-02

Description

A dark, gothic, one-of-a-kind macabre comedy. Directed by James Whale, subject of the acclaimed "Gods and Monsters," "The Old Dark House" tells the story of three weary travelers who find shelter in a mysterious Welsh manor, soon find themselves in the unwelcoming company of the psychotic Femm family--and never will they be the same!

Customer Reviews:

There's a light, over at the Franken... er Femm ... place.......2007-06-23

I only noticed it mentioned by one of the earlier reviews but it immediately struck me that this must have had a strong influence on Rocky Horror Picture Show. Even some of the dialog had me finishing it in my head with the Rocky Horror version. ("There's a light ...", "Madness ... takes its toll"). You can almost hear the RHPS music (over the storm). It even has a little bit of "gender bending" -- not to be confused with homosexuality as one reviewer does. But the film soon casts its own spell and you're hooked on its terms. Have a potato! And some gin! Enjoy the ride.

In any case -- this is a minor masterpiece with some great performances. The Femm family are especially good and Charles Laughton is notable for what I think is his first Hollywood role.

Like many of the "strangers stranded in a spooky house" movies (of which this must have been one of the first) it is filmed almost as if it were a stage play, giving it much of its considerable charm. The cinematography and lighting are pure "Universal Horror". This film was a trend-setter. Anything it didn't actually originate it certainly made its own.

And the title of the film is perfect!

P.S. Why not five stars? Need to leave a little room for Bride of Frankenstein!

The Old Dark House.......2007-06-21

One of Whale's most indispensable horror films, "House" marries dark wit with bizarre, wonderfully eerie scenarios involving the three Femm children: addled atheist Horace Femm (Ernest Thesiger), his fanatically Christian sister Rebecca (Eva Moore), and older brother Saul (Brember Wills), a pyromaniac kept under lock and key--usually. Karloff, in his first big role, is memorably ghoulish as a gin-swilling servant, but Thesiger and Moore play the demented siblings to sinister effect. Inspired camerawork, spooky lighting, and brilliant ensemble acting from the whole cast put a sardonic twist on this sublime tale of gothic lunacy.

It really was a dark and stormy night..........2007-02-05

Any film that starts with the visual version of "It was a dark and stormy night" might otherwise be regarded with suspicion but not in the hands of director James Whale. Is it worth checking out? Absolutely as this is one of Whale's masterpieces using humor, some creepy imagery and a great cast (Boris Karloff, Melvyn Douglas, Raymond Massey, Gloria Stuart, Charles Laughton, Ernest Thesinger and other notable stage vets) to create a moody chiller with humor.

The extras include a thoughtful trivia filled commentary Gloria Stuart and a second commentary by Whale bigorapher and film historian James Curtis. Curtis Harrington provides a detailed introduction of how he became involved in saving the film, meeting Whale, etc. The video quality of this portion is so-so. The transfer of the film looks solid although it could use more digital cleaning up (like the recently reissued editions of "Frankenstein" and "Dracula"). Although the film appears a bit unsteady in the beginning, it improves. I personally thought the contrast could have been improved a bit as well. Audio sounds good but the volume is a bit low and probably could stand a bit cleaning up to get rid of some hiss and popping.

The follow up to Whale and his star Boris Karloff's "Frankenstein", this witty, cynical horror film is well adapted by writer Ben Levy. Thought lost for years (the original film has been out of circulation for at least 44 years when William Castle made his weak remake), director Curtis Harrington found a copy of the film from which this version is drawn.
The film was almost lost when Universal sold the rights to Columbia in 1963. Luckily director Curtis Harrington (who befriended director Whale late in life)while working at Universal asked to have the negative pulled and duplicated. Otherwise the film would be lost as the firs reel of this classic was in pretty bad shape.

Overall this is a pretty good reissue of a classic Whale film that has been out of circulation for too long. It's a classic right up there with Whale's "Waterloo Bridge", "The Bride of Frankenstein", The Invisible Man" and "Frankenstein" although closer in tone to "Bride" and "Invisible" than his straight horror films.

Great Classic.......2006-11-10

A great classic worth every penny. A bit dated but that makes it even better. From the director who brought you such classics as Frankenstein with Karloff and The Invisible Man with Claude Rains. They just don't make movies like this anymore. Highly recommended.

Confusion is Creepy.......2006-07-16

Old Dark House is an early thriller which draws audiences probably because of Boris Karloff's name but which has a great cast. The story goes that several people (including Melvyn Douglas, Gloria Stuart, and Charles Laughton) are driving around in the rain getting more and more lost as time goes by and risking more and more danger as they drive on the muddy ground. They stumble upon an old house with lights in the windows and venture in only to find a very strange family inside. There is a creepy butler (Karloff) who cannot speak except to mutter gibberish, a fanatically religious old woman, and a timid older man. The visitors begin to notice strange things in the house and become more and more frightened when they learn that the circumstances of the night are making the muddy muck outside a bit safer than staying cooped up inside.

The quality of the print I saw was less than great, but it was a cheap bootleg. I would assume that Kino's release has a much better print.

The film is greatly suspenseful because of how confusing it is. We never know, nor do the guests of the house, who is crazy and evil and who is good, so one is constantly on edge.

The cast is very good. Stuart is absolutely gorgeous in her slinky evening gown. Laughton is decent, though he does not have enough screen time to really shine like he normally does. It is Douglas who gets the greatest recognition, aside from the creepy Karloff. Douglas is heroic and lovable, a role normally designated to a co-star in his films. He takes on the leading man position very well.

Average customer rating:

Anyone know if there's a soundtrack for this movie?
it was ok
split screen well done
A painful role reversal.
If Only For The Stars

Conversation(s) With Other Women
Starring: Aaron Eckhart , Helena Bonham Carter , Yury Tsykun , Brian Geraghty , and Brianna Brown
Director: Hans Canosa
Manufacturer: Arts Alliance Amer
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

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ASIN: B000JJ5G4W
Release Date: 2007-01-09

Description

At a New York City wedding reception, two guests, seemingly strangers, become entangled in a sexually-charged battle of wits. But as the night carries on in a cigarette smoke haze, the nameless couple's repartee deepens to reveal the passion of their two decades past love affair. Unfolding entirely in split-screen, director Hans Canosa's feature debut is an unconventional and poignant love story.

Customer Reviews:

Anyone know if there's a soundtrack for this movie?.......2007-06-02

I loved the soundtrack and the songs played in this movie - does anyone know if there is a sound track available?

it was ok.......2007-05-30

the best thing about this film is that it's only 80 minutes because the story-line and everything else just revolves around two People through most of the film and the split screen effect wears thin after a while. it was Ok. Meeting at a Wedding and going back over each other's lives is interesting,but the film never fully sizzles and just ends on a whimper. it is interesting and then it just looses steam.

split screen well done.......2007-04-16

The entire movie is shot with a split screen and a two-angle view of every single scene. There are quite a few flashbacks and a number of comparison shots. At first, I wasn't sure about the strategy but it works with the storyline and highlights the purpose of the storytelling. It's different, it's interesting, it makes you think and question relationships and faithfulness and the truth of love.

A painful role reversal........2007-03-20

The split screen technique may not be comfortable for some but it is worth getting into. In love matches the technique follows on from 'sliding doors'. Here it emphasises there are '..two sides to every love story'.

'Conversation(s) with Other Women' is an intriguing title. It has little to do with the plot and suggests so much more to do with the changing roles of men and women. The plot is a common one: Young couple met, fall in love, part and meet by accident a decade to wonder what if...

In "Conversations..." the sexual roles are reversed. A painful film for men to watch and feel. Rather than a woman dumped and still bleeding, here it is the man. More painful for men as men have to suffer cuts in silence and rarely get over it other than by pulling up the emotional drawbridge. Women are liberated to talk with other women.

In 'Conversations...' it is not accidential meeting. The man is trapped. He had to attend. The predatory woman returns to see if her cornered pray is still wounded by her claws. She brilliantly fakes concern for the husband and children she has left at home.

It is unusual for a dialogue to hold an audience's attention. The fact that 'Conversations...' does, is testimony to the quality of the script, acting and editing.

just Jack

If Only For The Stars.......2007-03-20

Helena Bonham Carter and Aaron Eckhart are certainly some of the best "eye-candy" actors available. They can even hold your interest for just over 80 minutes in this ordinary and boringly pretentious film. The characters meet at a wedding, they flirt, they dance, they have a quickie affair and then they have these dull, boring realizations about life. My eyes could not roll further back into my head. But wait! Why is this film special? Apple, Inc. decided that a flick like this needed a gimmick to work, so it's all filmed in split screen. ALL of it - totally unnecessarily so. It's an interesting frolic for a bit, but it wears on you until you just want to see a movie like a movie is meant to be seen; not all artsy and ridiculous. It appears that the producers came to their senses in the last thirty seconds of the film - when the two screens meld into one - finally. Oh. The title song is sung in French. Another point of pretense.

Average customer rating:

With the friends like Mary, Barry, Terri, Cheri, Cary and Jerry
Quirky and weird, yet I can't stop watching
The Cast is simply great but it really doesnt have a point
Say what?
Dark, comical, and disturbing

Your Friends & Neighbors
Starring: Amy Brenneman , Aaron Eckhart , Catherine Keener , Nastassja Kinski , and Jason Patric
Director: Neil LaBute
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0000AMU7A
Release Date: 2003-09-23

Amazon.com

In the age of ever-increasing crassness on screen (see the Farrelly brothers' comedies), there are some filmmakers who can make serious commentary instead of just throwaway gags. Neil LaBute's second feature is a corkscrew comedy of savage, bitter people who can't find happiness in many a thing, let alone sex. The film is not as tight or commanding as his first feature, the black-hearted In the Company of Men, but he gives six nameless characters six juicy parts with plenty to talk about. The emotional punch is devastating for those trying to find love and happiness on celluloid. One wife and husband (Amy Brenneman, Men's Aaron Eckhart) are nice people, living in a dream home, who can't connect sexually. Drama teacher Ben Stiller and live-in girlfriend Catherine Keener may just work out if, well, he didn't talk all the time. Stiller confesses his love for best friend Eckhart's wife; Keener starts an affair with artist assistant Nastassja Kinski. Then there's Jason Patric (who also produced) as a calculating, misogynistic doctor who has not had a peer on film or theater since David Mamet's Sexual Perversity in Chicago (which took a different film form as About Last Night...). Manipulative and forward, he's the white-hot core to LaBute's fire and has the monologue of the year to boot. LaBute's callous films aren't for everybody, but there is an art and clear-headedness to his work that most American independent filmmakers can't create on screen. Note: the six characters speak the only lines in the film, although through careful editing it never seems this way. --Doug Thomas

Customer Reviews:

With the friends like Mary, Barry, Terri, Cheri, Cary and Jerry.......2007-01-31

"Your Friends and Neighbors" (1998) is the second film by director/writer Neil LaBute and it tells the story of three couples and their complicated friendships and relationships. I've seen it more than once during the last couple of days - and I found it incredibly clever written, well acted (especially by Jason Patric and Catherine Keener - their only scene together was the second best in the movie - so dynamic and tight) and skillfully directed. LaBute certainly has a very unique sense of humor and he knows well the history of cinema. To give all characters the names that rhyme - Mary, Barry, Terri, Cheri, Cary and Jerry - was a clever idea - the characters are interchangeable in their relationships and it does not matter really, who is with whom - Mary with Barry or with Cary or Jerry or Barry with Barry, and Cheri with Terri or Jerry? The important thing is that they are selfish and often unpleasant and despicable people who are not happy with themselves and can't make happy their spouses or partners. Another interesting trick - the repeating scene in the Art gallery that starts with exactly the same words for each character but leads to different developments. I mentioned that LaBute knows his movies. Have you noticed the poster from Goddard's Le Mépris, (1963) aka "Contempt" with Brigitte Bardot? "Contempt" features one of the most fascinating and longest scenes of a breakup ever filmed. The breakup scene between Terri (Catherine Keener) and Jerry (Ben Stiller) started like in "Contempt" but it only lasted a few minutes and it was a good scene. Actually, I loved all scenes with Catherine Keener and if I have to choose one character that I liked, it would be Terry. Seems that Charlie Kaufman might have seen LaBute's movie because Terry and Maxine from "Being John Malkovich" have a lot in common. I was actually waiting for Terry to say to Jerry, "The thing is if you ever get me, you would not know what to do with me".

Jason Patric was a revelation - I don't know him very well but I remember that he gave a very good performance in "Narc". As for the scene in a steam room, it is not just the best of the film; it is one of the best scenes - monologues ever. I know not many would agree with me but the scene is as powerful, unforgettable and strangely erotic as the monologue in Bergman's "Persona". LaBute's writing, his camera, and mesmerizing performance by Patric made this scene an instant classic.

The film is not perfect and sometimes it drags but overall I found it interesting and enjoyable. You don't have to like the characters in order to like and appreciate the film. Sadly, the beautiful, sensual and talented Nastassja Kinski (Cherri) does not have much to play while Ben Stiller does and I am not his fan - even in this film.

LaBute's usage of "Metallica"s "Enter Sandman" (performed by Apocalyptica) during the opening and the closing credits instantly pulled me in and Bryony Atkinson's song "My Hollow" is terrific.

3.5/5 or 7/10

Quirky and weird, yet I can't stop watching.......2007-01-04

Yeah, what to really say about "Your Friends And Neighbors", kind of an all star cast, and definately not what to expect in a movie. I think it really portrays the weaknesses that all of us go through in day to day life. It's really just a matter of whether or not you give into these weaknesses. Throughly enjoyed it, and bought it so I could lend it to other people and show them that you don't have to blow up things on the big screen in order to be riveted!!!

The Cast is simply great but it really doesnt have a point.......2005-11-14

Your Friends & Neighbors stars Jason Patric (NARC, The Alamo), Nastassja Kinski (One Night Stand, Little Boy Blue), Ben Stiller (Envy, Duplex), Catherine Keener (The 40 Year Old Virgin, The Interpreter), Aaron Eckhart (Suspect Zero, In The Company of Men) and Amy Brenneman (Heat, Tv's Judging Amy) about two couples, one obssesed stud and a art gallery assistant. Stiller and Keener arent having the greatest marriage. During Sex, Keener doesnt like Stiller to yell things and say things. Eckhart and Brenneman are also having trouble and when they have sex, when Eckhart wants to talk to her, she cant say anything. So, Stiller then has an affair with Brenneman and Eckhart doesnt know about it until Stiller tells him. On the other line, Stiller's wife Keener is having a lesbian affair with Kinski, the art gallery assistant because she knows that Stiller is having his own affair. Last but not least, there's Patric, who is so obsessed with himself he even records himself saying sexual things in a voice recorder, he listens to it while he does crunches...hmm, ok. This is anchored by the cast, they do a damn good job but this has no point and being that the cast is good, it doesnt matter. The women look sexy and gorgeous and Patric is dead on target with his role. "Is this part of the gallery or another collection?"

Say what?.......2005-08-03

Im confused. Are we supposed to like anyone in this movie? Are we supposed to believe that these people hung together long enough to fall apart in the time frame of this movie? The only character I even remotley liked was Cary (Jason Patrick) because he was such a complete vilain. Never once did he deviate from exactly the person he portrays. He is utterly dispicable, and in the scene where he reveals his best sexual experience to his friends Berry and Jerry, any posibility of liking or relating to the character is hopefully destroyed. All that aside, Cary accomplishes one task in this movie, other than atracting our enmity. He confronts Jerry's girlfriend (Terry?), and completely destroys her in the span of a single nasty sentence. You see, from the beginning, we understand that's she's completely self absorbed, and doesn't care about anybody. Cary is excessive, but that's also in keeping with his character, so somehow he's absolved, right?

So this movie is supposed to be dark is it? Well, okay fine, but here's the problem with that approach. When you isolate the characters from the audience to such a degree, anything dark they do loses its impact because we can no longer relate to them anymore. All I wanted to see was bad things happen to everyone in this movie, without acception. That may sound dark on my part, but they started it.

This movie is basically about 2 a--holes, and 3 cowards. 2+3= why am I watching this? Is this really a slice of the American social experience? Because I don't know anybody like this. Maybe the people I can't stand being around live like this, but that doesn't mean I want to watch a movie about them either. Two stars are given because at least this movie engaged me on an emotional level, but if I want to watch a bunch of people I can't stand, I'll watch the news. Read that how you like. Sure this movie is dark, but there's nothing organic about it, so it ends up feeling contrived, and ultimately pointless.

Dark, comical, and disturbing.......2004-08-30

I liked this movie because it is original, and you get very absorbed in the characters. The acting is very good, the story ties together, and it holds your attention. Best of all, at least for those who appreciate dark humor, this is very comical. It is, in my personal opinion, a brilliant, well directed film.

Average customer rating:

Perspective
God and Buddha together again
Deepak Shines in this prophetic (pre-9/11) discussion
Informitive and more.
An okay watch...

God and Buddha - A Dialogue
Starring: Deepak Chopra , and Robert Thurman
Manufacturer: Mystic Fire Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Special Interests | Genres | DVD | Video

( G ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

How to Know God
Deepak Chopra-The Essential DVD Collection
The Tibetan Book of the Dead (A Way of Life / The Great Liberation)
The Robert A.F. Thurman Collection (On Tibet / On Buddhism)
Life of Buddha

Accessories:

The Journey to Wild Divine Biofeedback Software & Hardware for PC & Mac: The Passage

ASIN: B0000C23DQ
Release Date: 2003-11-11

Description

In this unprecedented dialogue, held at Tibet House New York, Chopra and Thurman explore the ultimate harmonies between Buddism and Vedanta.

Customer Reviews:

Perspective.......2006-11-03

I find it fascinating to see things from any perspective other than the Catholic ways I was brought up with. I knew there was more and I find Deepak Chopra's interpretation easy to understand and more sensible than any other teachings I have heard. Highly recommend!

God and Buddha together again.......2006-05-12

Two experts compliment each other in a free form discussion. We are immediately introduced to Vedanta by Deepak Chopra. And it is quite surprising because you are expecting some sort of new age concepts to come from him; instead you get ageless concepts that tell you what you knew before you ever heard of Vedanta. Then Bob Thurman ties this to Buddha and explains that the only difference is semantics.

The balance of the presentation is going into more detail and describing experiences that relate to the original insights.

Deepak is spellbinding from the beginning as he describes reality as a magical projection of divine consciousness. Robert Thurman takes a tad getting used to because at first you are thinking he is either "Mad Eye Moody" or Uma's father; then you settle down and replay what he is saying.

You may need to play this in small snippets so you can contemplate the thoughts placed forward. This is also an excellent place to do some supplemental reading of the Upanishads.

You will find your self repeating this presentation to pick up ideas that you want to expand on after testing them out.