Elisberg Industries
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Products
    • Books
    • Movies
  • About Elisberg Industries
    • Our Corporate Board
    • Information Overstock
    • Elisberg Industries Entertainment Information
    • Elisberg Statistical Center of American Research
    • Consultancy Service
  • Contact
    • How to Find Us
  • Kudos
  • Good Things to Know
    • The BOB Page
    • Sites You Might Actually Like
Decent Quality Since 1847

Capsule Reviews

12/18/2019

0 Comments

 
This past weekend I saw the movie 1917 directed by Sam Mendes that he co-wrote with Krysty Wilson-Cairns. It’s breathtaking.  Just remarkably done.  A friend who's an Academy voter described it as "Magnificent."  We're both right.  If you've seen the TV ads and find it interesting -- the story (based on a range of true events, many told to Mendes by his grandfather) is about two British soldiers sent off to warn a battalion of 1,600 not to attack the next day since they would be walking into a trap where they'll be massacred -- I can only say that it is far, far, far better than the ads.  Mostly, that's for a technical reason. I sat their in awe, since it appears that the movie is made with only only three or four shots, each in one very long take.  (The opening shot seeming to be 26 minutes long, with the second shot 40 minutes.)  That turns out not to be the case, and actually is many more shots that are somehow, almost invisibly edited together seamlessly (which is a remarkable feat until itself), though most shots are still very long compared to a normal movie, ranging from a couple minutes up to nine minutes.  It grabs your interest and flows beautifully, unrelentingly. What this does is put you emotionally inside the story.  It's not told from a first-person viewpoint, but it forces you to see everything from those two soldier's perspective, not cutting to long shots or from the angle of others, or back to other action.  It makes everything incredibly visceral, and -- with one obvious cut "to black" for a few hours to pass -- it's all done in real time.  And keep in mind that the intricacy of the undertaking isn't for a "drawing room" story, but a massive WWI outdoor adventure. There is one sequence with a dogfight that's utterly stunning.  (The trailer includes a part of it, but only part.)  'The cinematography by Oscar-winner Roger Deakins is brilliant, and the two young actors are superb.  One of them in particular, George MacKay, deserves consideration for Best Actor, if only for the shear technical challenge of continual long, intricate takes, though he's excellent on all levels, though I'm sure he'll get overlooked largely for being little known, and there are so many others to choose from.

Here's the trailer.  You'll see the quality of the filmmaking, but other than that it doesn't even begin to do the movie justice.  It's all a collection of short shots edited together.  But as I said, the movie is not that.  It's done in what looks like a fluid three or four shots without cutting.


​Better perhaps is this four-minute "behind-the-scenes" featurette on how they made the thing.  Just from this small bit, you'll get at least a sense of the undertaking and how richer the film is than it appears in the ads or trailer.


The next day, I saw A Hidden Life, written and directed by Terrence Mallick.  It's really loooooong.  Probably too long (just under three hours), but absolutely gorgeous, beautifully done, very moving and (being Mallick) elegiac. It probably plays best on a big screen since there’s scope to it, despite being such a personal story, though I think if given a choice and I had the DVD I’d watch it at home so that I could split it over two nights.

Also based on true events, it tells the story of  an Austrian farmer who is a conscientious objector, refusing to fight for the Nazis in World War II, and how that all impacts his life and family, in his neighborhood and prison. And also the importance that such hidden lives by unknown people help create in the fabric of life.  How long ago Mallick began planning the film, I don't know, so it's hard to tell how much of it might have been inspired by the resistance to Trump, or if that's an overlay that audiences may bring to it.  The film really is beautifully done, though, and I enjoyed it, just…loooooooooong.
​
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Picture
    Elisberg Industries gets a commission if you click here before shopping on Amazon.
    Picture
    Follow @relisberg

    Author

    Robert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. 

    Elisberg is a two-time recipient of the Lucille Ball Award for comedy screenwriting. He's written for film, TV, the stage, and two best-selling novels, is a regular columnist for the Writers Guild of America and was for
    the Huffington Post.  Among his other writing, he has a long-time column on technology (which he sometimes understands), and co-wrote a book on world travel.  As a lyricist, he is a member of ASCAP, and has contributed to numerous publications.



    Picture
           Feedspot Badge of Honor

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013

    Categories

    All
    Animals
    Audio
    Audio Land
    Books
    Busienss
    Business
    Chicago
    Consumer Product
    Education
    Email Interview
    Entertainment
    Environment
    Fine Art
    Food
    From The Management
    Health
    History
    Huffery
    Humor
    International
    Internet
    Journalism
    Law
    Los Angeles
    Media
    Morning News Round Up
    Movies
    Music
    Musical
    Personal
    Photograph
    Piano Puzzler
    Politics
    Popular Culture
    Profiles
    Quote Of The Day
    Radio
    Religion
    Restaurants
    Science
    Sports
    Technology
    Tech Tip
    Theater
    The Writers Workbench
    Tidbits
    Travel
    Tv
    Twitter
    Video
    Videology
    Well Worth Reading
    Words-o-wisdom
    Writing

    RSS Feed

© Copyright Robert J. Elisberg 2023
Contact Us    About EI    Chicago Cubs
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Products
    • Books
    • Movies
  • About Elisberg Industries
    • Our Corporate Board
    • Information Overstock
    • Elisberg Industries Entertainment Information
    • Elisberg Statistical Center of American Research
    • Consultancy Service
  • Contact
    • How to Find Us
  • Kudos
  • Good Things to Know
    • The BOB Page
    • Sites You Might Actually Like