The Red Shoes (The Criterion Collection) (1948)

Many of Powell and Pressburger's films explore the life of the artist and the power of the artistic imagination. In THE RED SHOES and PEEPING TOM, most notably, the writer-directors reveal the sacrifices that art sometimes demands from its acolytes.

Balletophiles often praise THE RED SHOES, but one need not be a fan of ballet to be amazed by the film's emotional power and extraordinary staging. On the Criterion DVD, the saturated reds that represent the artist's blood sacrifice, and the cool aqua-blues that represent the (false) promise of life and romance outside of art, appear with unmatched vividness. Powell is a master of color, and has influenced a generation of filmmakers (through the advocacy of his admirer Martin Scorcese) with his theories about how color and music contribute to the thematic impact of a film.

Anton Walbrook, who plays the impressario Lermontov in THE RED SHOES, is one of Powell and Pressburger's favorite actors, appearing to stunning effect in THE LIFE AND DEATH OF COLONEL BLIMP as well. Moira Shearer, the actress/dancer who plays the lead, made her reputation on THE RED SHOES. She also dances in one segment of the rarely-seen Powell/Pressburger masterpiece THE TALES OF HOFFMAN.

The Criterion DVD has the beautiful sound and picture we've come to expect from the Voyager Company. Interesting disc features include: an audio track of Jeremy Irons reading from the original Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale, the complete text of Powell and Pressburger's novelization of the movie, an extensive collection of Scorcese's memorabilia, and a comparison of the Red Shoes Ballet with the filmed storyboard sketches the directors used as a guide. One wonderful addition for Powell and Pressburger fans is their filmography -brief descriptions with cast lists and dates for all their films, most of which also have film clips included. It's a chance to see scenes from some of the long-lost works in their catalogue.

I've seen the original film of "The Red Shoes" a number of times over the years and just loved it. The story, ballet, music, color, actors, and the whole production are superb!

Later I acquired the RCA SelectaVision CED video disc edition (two parts) in the early 1980s. The CED issue unfortunately was prone to frame skipping, occasionally syncopating the ballet sequences. Still later, I obtained the Paramount VHS hi-fi release (1987). There was no frame skipping with the VHS tape, but the tops of all the frames tended to be somewhat bent and fluttery. Alas, I found no remedies for these problems.

Without question, this DVD release is the best of the lot, technically. And, I liked the additional background material contributed to this DVD edition. The DVD has great color with clear, well focused images. The only deficiency, in my opinion, is the movie sound track which sounds dated (1947), however it's on par or better than the forementioned VHS release.

Overall, I would class this DVD movie as one I would have to take, along with others, to a desert island on which I subsequently became marooned.

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This is a magnificent movie, one of the most voluptuous ever filmed (in Technicolor), one of the most influential, and one of the most satisfyingly melodramatic. Every bit of it works. At the most simplistic, it's a fairy tale, Hans Christian Andersen's The Red Shoes, that takes place in a ballet, which is repeated in real life.

At the heart of the movie is Boris Lermontov (Anton Walbrook), the imperious impresario of The Ballet Lermontov. He can be cold, charming, ruthless. At a party he says, "If some fat harriden is going to sing, I must go. I can't stand amateurs." He's enigmatic except for his dedication to ballet. At that same party he meets Victoria Page (Moira Shearer), a young ballet dancer, and is intrigued by her.

"Why do you want to dance?" he asks her.

"Why do you want to live?"

"I don't know exactly why, but I must," he says.

"That's my answer, too."

He brings her into his ballet company and also hires Julian Craster, a young composer. Later, with three weeks to create a ballet, he has Craster compose the music to the story of The Red Shoes. Victoria Page will dance it. It is a triumph, but Page leaves the Ballet Lermontov to marry Craster. Lermontov is outraged and swears he'll never see her again. She needs to dance, though, and Lermontov slowly realizes he wants her back, completely dedicated to dancing, because he can make her a great dancer. He subtly woos her back to dance the ballet again, with tragic results.

The ballet of the red shoes is the story of a young girl, engaged to be married who loves to dance and longs to go the village fair. She spies a pair of red dancing shoes in the window of a shoemaker. Despite the reluctance of her fiance, she dons the shoes and begins to dance. She has a joyous time. As she tires, however, the shoes won't let her stop dancing and she can't take them off. She dances until she dies.

The movie works so well on so many levels. Anton Walbrook is marvelous. He can be cold and demanding and devious as Lermontov, but he conveys exactly Lermontov's utter dedication. At the end of the movie when Lermontov, alone on the stage, announces to the audience Victoria Page's death in a strangled kind of breaking screech...well, you'll sit up straight. Moira Shearer, who was in fact a young ballet dancer at Sadlers' Wells and had to be coaxed to take the role, is a gorgeous creature and a first-rate dancer. She carries off the acting requirements very well. With her flaming red hair, she is just a wonder to look at and appreciate.

And then there is The Red Shoes Ballet itself. This was the first time a movie's story line was interrupted for an extended dance piece. The music by Brian Easdale is so memorable that I doubt anyone who hears it will forget the main theme. Powell directed the ballet as a surreal fantasy. It starts on the stage of the theater, then shifts to a stage that was never built in a real theater, then shifts into pure cinema. After The Red Shoes, other musicals suddenly had to have ballets -An American in Paris, Singin' in the Rain, and on and on -but none has ever been better than this.

The Red Shoes is a magnificent movie. It deservedly remains one of Powell's and Pressburger's great accomplishments.

The Criterion edition is just about flawless with true color and great clarity. The commentary that accompanies the movie is fascinating.

Read Best Reviews of The Red Shoes (The Criterion Collection) (1948) Here

The Red Shoes was one of the best ventures by The Archers, the joint production company by Briton Michael Powell and Hungarian emigre to Britain Emeric Pressburger, considered to be the definitive film marrying ballet and cinema.

The story of the Red Shoes by Hans Christian Andersen forms the basis for the story of aspiring dancer Victoria Page, aspiring composer Julian Crasster, and ballet company impresario Boris Lermontov, who takes on the latter two under his wing. Crasster's involvement begins when portions of his work Hearts Of Fire is appropriated in a ballet, and he's given the job of orchestra coach, when he confronts Lermontov. Page comes to the attention of the maestro when the latter snubs an offer by the girl's aristocratic aunt to see her dance. To the Russian, ballet is more than poetry and motion, but his religion, and hence, not an audition. He tries her out at a separate audition, where she makes the final cut.

Lermonotov decides to stage his next ballet based on Andersen's tale, with Victoria as the principle (Victoria Principle? just kidding) and Crassner as the composer. The ballet is a hit, for Lermontov and the whole film, as it's the highlight of the entire movie, with Victoria's flaming red hair a marked contrast to her pale skin and outfit, the ruby red shoes forming a near-symmetry, as they are on her toes. The choreography as well as the music is masterful. Despite Lermonotov and Crassner's insistence that "the music is all that matters," for us the film viewer, it's also the colours and dancing that do as well. Indeed, though the cinematography missed an Oscar, the score and art-direction/set decoration did not.

However, as demonstrated by the departure of his previous star, Irina Boronskaya due to marriage, the authoritarian Lermontov takes this personally, almost a heresy to his religion of ballet. To him, a dancer relies on the doubtful comfort of human love. Once that doubt is removed, goodbye dancing shoes, tights, exercise bar, hello high heels, stockings, and kitchen. He is determined to make Page a master dancer, and anything that comes in the way, he sees as a detriment to himself.

As for the original story, it's of a girl who puts on a pair of enchanted red shoes that keep on dancing even when the girl doesn't want to. This movie is a reinterpretation of it, where the ballet soon turns to real life.

This was Moira Shearer's debut film, and first of only six movies, and the young Scot creates a vivid but fragile and fairylike Victoria, aspiring dancer, the subject of her Svengali-like mentor, and emotionally tortured between being a dancer and a housewife. As she did ballet from age six, an ideal choice. And Ludmilla Tcherina, who plays Irina and who just recently died, was a former prima ballerina of the Monte Carlo ballet, so another great choice. And admire or hate his petty authoritarian personality, Anton Walbrook's powerful personality drives the movie. But Leonide Massine as the flamboyant, camp dancing coach Grigori Lyubov steals the show. Shearer, Massine, and the two directors would be reunited in The Tales Of Hoffman.

A visual triumph in the dancing scenes, as is the foreign location footage. Oh, and the Archers team wasn't the only one inspired by Andersen's tale, as Kate Bush created a reinterpretation of it in her The Line, Curve, and Cross short film.

Want The Red Shoes (The Criterion Collection) (1948) Discount?

The 1948 classic film starring Moira Shearer (herself a professional ballerina) is no only an enjoyable semi-realistic fantasy film, in much the same lines as say The Wizard Of Oz, but a brilliant film technically to look at. It's drawn from the dark fairy tale by Hans Christian Anderson (responsible for such stories as The Little Mermaid), in which a young girl is forced to wear red shoes with a will of their own. The poor girl dances until she dies. The concept is taken to a late 40's England, where the aspiring ballerina Victoria Page seeks to dance in the prestigious company headed by the eccentric, perfectionist and intensely driven impresario Lentmontov. The story provides the audience with a glimpse of dance rehearsals, theatrical life both pre-performance and during, the charm of the glamourosu life ballerinas are said to enjoy. But in reality, it is a study on obscession, the demand for virtuouso performance and the conflict between love of one's career and romantic love. Victoria Page is herself doomed to dance to her death when she is torn between her duty to Lentmontov and her love for his musical composer and choreographer. This movie is excellent for ballet fans, and for stage magic fansthe Ballet of the Red Shoes is the most striking moment in the film, an original ballet set against surreal, nightmarish backgrounds of carnivals, ballrooms and ghostly netherworlds where neon lights change colors in blinding and dizzying speed and danced to jazzy 40's music. The film is sure to impress adults (I disagree that it is for children due to the drama of the whole thing), and it is marvelously shot in Paris, London and Monte Carlo. A film like this does'nt come often.

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The Unbelievable Truth (1989)

If you like Trust and Simple Men then you'll love this film. Personally I love all of Hartley's works, but to me these three films just go so well together. They're all earlier works and in these films you witness an incredibley inspired director do more with a low budget film than most high paid directors could ever dream of doing. I'd also like to say that if you've never seen a Hal Hartley film then this is probably the best point to start out at.

I was saddened to hear of the tragic and senseless passing of the beautiful actress Adrienne Shelly. Nobody can watch Hal Hartley's "The Unbelievable Truth" and not be struck by how talented and engaging Shelly comes across onscreen. At the time of the film's release it seemed as if she was a star in the making. However, she seemed more content to stick with modest indie films and sporadic appearances in acclaimed TV shows rather than become a fixture in vapid Hollywood product that would have increased her exposure. Eventually she moved behind the lens for what was shaping up to be a very interesting directorial career. Sadly, we will no longer be able to witness her growth as an artist, but as a small consolation we still have films like "The Unbelievable Truth" and "Trust" to remind us of her once luminous presence.

Buy The Unbelievable Truth (1989) Now

As in The Book of Life, Hartley exaggerates the limitations he's given so that they seem like a style. And, they are. Burke isn't the block of wood he seemed to be the first time I saw this, and Adrian Shelley crawls under your skin and lays eggs that hatch days, weeks, and even months later. And the script? Hard to do it justice, but I will say that this is one for repeated viewings. Don't rent it, buy it! You won't be sorry.

Also available on VHS again. Finally.

Read Best Reviews of The Unbelievable Truth (1989) Here

As in The Book of Life, Hartley exaggerates the limitations he's given so that they seem like a style. And, they are. Burke isn't the block of wood he seemed to be the first time I saw this, and Adrian Shelley crawls under your skin and lays eggs that hatch days, weeks, and even months later. And the script? Hard to do it justice, but I will say that this is one for repeated viewings. Don't rent it, buy it! You won't be sorry.

Also on DVD. At last.

Want The Unbelievable Truth (1989) Discount?

Fraught with over obvious symbolism, Hartley's early feature is nonetheless a joy to watch. Hal here shows us his uncanny ability to cast his characters perfectly came early in his career.

Adrienne Shelley is a near perfect foil to herself, equal parts annoying teen burgeoning in her sexuality (though using sex for several years); obsessed with doom and inspired by idealism gone wrong she is deceptively and simultaneously complex and simple. Her Audrey inspires so many levels of symbolism it is almost embarrassingly rich (e.g., her modeling career beginning with photos of her foot culminating her doing nude (but unseen) work; Manhattan move; Europe trip; her stealing, then sleeping with the mechanics wrench, etc.)

As Josh, Robert Burke gives an absolutely masterful performance. A reformed prisoner/penitent he returns to his home town to face down past demons, accept his lot and begin a new life. Dressed in black, and repeatedly mistaken for a priest, he corrects everyone ("I'm a mechanic"), yet the symbolism is rich: he abstains from alcohol, he practices celibacy (is, in fact a virgin), and seemingly has taken on vows of poverty, and humility as well. The humility seems hardest to swallow seeming, at times, almost false, a pretense. Yet, as we learn more of Josh we see genuineness in his modesty, that his humility is indeed earnest and believable. What seems ironic is the character is fairly forthright in his simplicity, yet so richly drawn it becomes the viewer who wants to make him out as more than what he actually is. A fascinatingly written character, perfectly played.

The scene between Josh and Jane (a wonderful, young Edie Falco . . . "You need a woman not a girl") is hilarious . . . real. But Hartley can't leave it as such and his trick, having the actors repeat the dialogue over-and-over becomes frustratingly "arty" and annoying . . . until again it becomes hilarious. What a terrific sense of bizarre reality this lends the film (like kids in a perpetual "am not"/"are too" argument).

Hartley's weaves all of a small neighborhood's idiosyncrasies into a tapestry of seeming stereotypes but which delves far beneath the surface, the catalyst being that everyone believes they know what the "unbelievable truth" of the title is, yet no two people can agree (including our hero) on what exactly that truth is. A wonderful little movie with some big ideas.

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Hero (2002)

I feel like I have been waiting a long time to see this movie and that the trailer for "Hero" ("Ying xiong") has been teasing us for at least a year. I have to admit that I fully expected to see an epic full of battle scenes and massed armies of men. My mistake. This film from China is a pointed fable, distilled from legend that may well be myth, and with a point that may well be lost on Western audiences. This is clear from those viewers who are unwilling to accept the conventions of wire work in Chinese martial art pictures and whose standard of realism refuses to allow for the poetic ballet of combat.

The prologue makes it clear that this story takes place in China before it was China, when the land was made up of seven warring provinces and the King of Qin (Chen Dao Ming) dreamt of conquering the other six provinces and uniting the land. For years the king has been unable to have a peaceful night of sleep because there are three assassins who are out to kill him. Now comes a nameless warrior (Jet Li), who has come to the imperial court to be rewarded for killing the three unbeatable assassins. He is warned that he may not approach within 100 paces of the king or he will be killed. But because he has bested the assassin Sky (Donnie Yen) in combat, he is allowed with 20 paces to tell his story.

Most of the story of "Hero" is told in flashback as Nameless tells his stories and the king questions him. We also learn of the fates of Broken Sword (Tony Leung) and Flying Snow (Maggie Cheung), two assassins who were also a pair of lovers. But there is more than one truth and more than one tale to be told in this film. Director Zhang Yimou, improving on the artistry we first enjoyed in "Raise the Red Lantern," color codes the stories that we see. First the story is told in lush shades of red, then in cool blue, again in white, and finally in green. Drops of water and swirling yellow leaves all become parts of the dances of death during the fight sequences, captured by cinematographer Christopher Doyle. "Hero" is a gorgeous film that uses its saturated colors better than any film of recent memory. There is a code to the colors, but that is something you need to come to terms with on your own.

Another strength of this film is that the fighting (choreographed by Wei Tung) and special effects do not overwhelm the actors who are required to play what is on some level the same scene as slightly different characters. I know there are computer generated effects in this film, especially since there are more arrows shot in "Hero" than any film in history, but for once I did not get the feel that what I was seeing was not real. That is become this film keeps coming back to questions of aesthetics, from the breathtaking use of color to the eloquent idea that swordsmanship and calligraphy are intrinsically awaited.

Special mention has to be made of the music, composed by Dun Tan and featuring violin solos and fiddling by Itzhak Perlman along with drumming by the Japanese group Kodo. I have never really seen one of those Hong Kong kung fu movies where everyone screams while they fight and I might never get around to it given the silent eloquence of the fights in movies like "Hero" (not to mention "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"), where the moments are underscored by the sound of clashing swords, pounding drums, and a violin. "Hero" is an art film, albeit one made on a larger and more colorful canvas.

"Hero" may be sold as being a big film but it is really about something relatively plain and simple. I disagree with the idea that either the style or substance of the film is beyond our Western sensibilities. Apparently the reason the film has the "Quentin Tarantino Presents" tag at the start was so that Miramax would not cut 20 minutes of the film out on the pretext that it too Asian/confusing for Western audiences. Indeed, I have seen some critics who professes to be confused about the complex plot and I can only wonder if they were equally confused by "Rashomon," an obvious reference point to this one (in many ways Yimou owes more to Akira Kurosawa's classic film than to Ang Lee's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"). Certainly after a century of cinema we are capable to looking at the same thing from multiple perspectives and enjoying this gem of a film that has finally made its way to our shores.

Beautiful, artistic, poetic...an enchanting martial arts film that will captivate you with every scene!

These are the words I feel about "HERO", the 2002 film directed by Zhang Yimou ("Curse of the Golden Flower", "The House of Flying Daggers" and "Happy Times") and a film that would feature cinematography by Christopher Doyle ("Chungking Express", "In the Mood For Love", "Fallen Angels", "Happy Together") and music by composer Tan Dan ("Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", "The Legend of the Black Scorpion").

The film would also star Asia's top talents which include Jet Li ("The Warlords", "Fearless", "Once Upon a Time in China", "Fist of Legend"), Tony Leung Chiu Wai ("Lust, Caution", "Red Cliff", "Tokyo Raiders", "Infernal Affairs"), Maggie Cheung ("Ashes of Time", "Sausalito", "In the Mood for Love", "Comrades: Almost a Love Story"), Daoming Chen ("Peace Blossom", "My 1919', "Infernal Affairs III"), Zhang Ziyi ("House of Flying Dagger", "My Wife is a Gangster", "Musa the Warrior", "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon") and Donnie Yen ("All's Well, End's Well", "Iron Monkey", "Flash Point" and "Bodyguards and Assassins").

The film which was Hong Kong's most expensive film at the time, was critically acclaimed, won several awards and eventually would make over $178 million worldwide in the box office.

"HERO" is presented on a two-ray Blu-ray disc with one being the primary Blu-ray and the other being a digital copy version of the film. Also, the Blu-ray also comes in a slipcase.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

"HERO" is presented in 1080p High Definition (2:35:1) and suffice to say, this film just looks incredible. It's one of the most significant qualities of this film is its artistic direction, costume design, set design, location and most of all, the cinematography of Christopher Doyle.

Personally, I have always have seen Christopher Doyle as an avant-garde cinematographer since he worked on Wong Kar Wai's "Chungking Express" and suffice to say, his amazing cinematography and the tight editing really pulled the artistic vision of director Zhang Yimou to new heights.

Picture quality is vibrant. Very vibrant and color plays a big part in this film. Grain is seen on the film and I'm glad to see that Walt Disney has again kept with that and not gone the excessive DNR (Digital Noise Reduction) route. But for a film that came out back in 2002, is it a reference film on Blu-ray? Not really. But it does look very good. Part of the main reason is that despite the film being shot in beautiful locations and costume design and the colors really enhance the look of the film, it's no super clear, nor is it reference quality compared to recently released films on Blu-ray but still, "HERO" is just absolutely magnificent to watch.

As for audio quality, this is where it pains me to give it slightly less than perfect score. The film is presented with an English 5.1 DTS-HD losless audio track but the original Chinese language is only in Dolby Digital 5.1 (along with the Spanish and French). For a film of this caliber, I was hoping there would be a lossless audio track for the Chinese language but unfortunately, it's not.

But for some, I know it's a dealbreaker for some that the original language is not in lossless audio but the English version is and to be fair, I will say that the English dubwork is very good for this film. For earlier DVD releases, Asian films released in the US had terrible English dubbing but I will say that "HERO" turned out very well.

For audio, sounds such as the rains, swords clanging, arrows zipping through air... this is all captured quite well on the DTS-HD lossless audio track and sounds great. For the most part, audio is front and central channel driven with dialogue, music and sound effects but many of the soundtracks do utilize the surround channels. Again, I wish the original language was in lossless but for those who enjoyed the dubwork, you will be pleased by the DTS-HD audio.

As for subtitles, subtitles are presented in English SDH, French and Spanish.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

"HERO" comes with the following special features (in 480i, English 2.0 Dolby Digital, English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles):

* Close-Up of a Fight Scene (9:18) The secrets of the fighting choreography of "HERO". Quentin Tarentino, Jet Li and Donni Yuen discuss the fighting choreography. Also, storyboard and fighting scene comparisons. (Note: Some of the footage is the same as the one used on the main featurette).

* Hero Defined (24:01) The Director and talent on their experiences of working on the film and the challenges they faced. Also, how locations were selected and what took place before the shooting of the film, during and after.

* Storyboards (5:19) A side-by-side (or more like top-and-bottom) comparison of the storyboards and final feature.

* Inside the Action. A Conversation with Quentin Tarentino and Jet Li (13:55) Jet Li is interviewed by Quentin Tarentino about his past films and working on "Hero".

* Soundtrack Spot (:39) commercial spot for the "Hero" soundtrack.

JUDGMENT CALL:

"HERO" is a film that really distinguishes itself from other martial arts film due to its artistic style, wonderful cinematography, well-chosen locations and of course, having a talented director and top talents of HK cinema definitely helps as well.

For the most part, "HERO" was definitely one of those films that you can remember for many years later for its scenes. From the vibrancy of the colors used, the battle scene on top of the lake (which Director Zhang Yimou wanted perfect still waters and didn't mind waiting to film when it happened), the thousands of arrowheads attacking the art school, there is simply many scenes that are just memorable.

Sure, "HERO" is a beautiful film known for its cinematography, its talent, its location but what about the storyline? The story of "HERO" is good but not great. Where a film like "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is one of those films that captured beauty through its storyline, "HERO" definitely relies on the visuals to enhance the storyline. Because the film is split up into three arcs with three different stories of what took place, it's all about how the viewer interprets that storyline and how that storyline touches their soul.

Personally, I have found "HERO" almost like a piece of art. You embrace everything that went on to create that artistic piece. From its characters as Jet Li and Donnie Yen are just fantastic when they battle each other during their scene. You know that when these two are together onscreen, you're going to get a beautiful, captivating scene with the best fighting choreography. When you see Tony Leung Chiu Wai and Maggie Chung, you know that these two have awesome chemistry and that they can bring out the more dramatic scenes and even during their fighting scenes, everything seems believable and the two enforce the vibrancy and color of the film. The same goes with Zhang Ziyi who brings the more emotional scenes to the film.

But is the Blu-ray release perfect? Unfortunately, it misses the mark of perfection due to the Blu-ray not including a lossless audio track for the Chinese language. I was so excited about "HERO" on Blu-ray and it's a given, we are going to get awesome picture quality because it's a colorful and vibrant film. You know that the scene between Falling Snow vs. Moon with its rich red colors and yellow leaves is going to be absolutely brilliant on HD or the scene when Broken Sword and Falling Snow wear these blue outfits or their green outfits and you know that color is going to look great on Blu-ray. But along with that awesome picture quality, you want awesome audio.

The English dub is definitely one of the better English dubs for an Asian film and the lossless audio track was very good. But I was torn by wanting to watch the film in its original language but knowing that the audio quality of the Chinese Dolby Digital 5.1 was nowhere near the 5.1 DTS-HD English track. For a fan of this film, for me...it was bittersweet.

So, overall "HERO" is definitely a wonderful film to catch on Blu-ray and it's great to see Disney give this release a digital copy as well. But for the most part, "HERO" could have been a great release but without the Chinese audio track in HD, it ends up being just an average release.

Buy Hero (2002) Now

Much as Ang Lee demonstrated his directorial virtuosity in CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON, Zhang Yimou has applied his magnificent talents to the martial arts genre with HERO. This is movie not only worth seeing, but worth watching two or three times, or more. Each viewing unveils new appreciation for Zhang's artistic direction, Chris Doyle's cinematography, Tan Dun's musical score, and Itzhak Perlman's violin performance, not to mention fresh insights into the story line and character interrelationships.

The story line is simple enough on its surface, based loosely on Chinese historical fact. The king of the Qin state seeks to unify the Seven Kingdoms some 2,000 years ago, and three assassins from the defeated Zhao state wish to kill him. An unknown warrior named Nameless, from the Qin state, succeeds in killing the three assassins and returns to collect his reward in an audience with the King. As we view segments of Nameless's explanation of how he defeated three such fearsome opponents, a battle of wits ensues with the skeptical King until the truth emerges. Their verbal sparring beautifully parallels the feints, thrusts, and parries of the martial arts scenes.

Within this story line, we are treated to extraordinary, ballet-like martial arts contests between Nameless and the three assassins. Each scene is dominated by one primary color, from the opening desert white to the reds of the calligraphy school to the yellows of autumn leaves whose wind-swept swirls become weapons in themselves. A sword fight between Broken Sword and the King of Qin is cloaked in flowing green cloth, reminiscent of Zhang's use of colored cloth in JU DOU.

While HERO evokes memories of RASHOMON, this is not the same motif. The three "versions" of the assassins' reported deaths are rather more like the gradual unfolding of a Sherlock Holmes mystery. As the tale reveals itself, the relationship of the four assassins (including Nameless)moves from enemies to spurned lovers to companions working together and finally to a genuinely tragic (if seemingly platonic) love between two of them.

Several less recognized aspects of HERO are particularly worthy of note. First, anyone who saw Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung in IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE will find it remarkable that the same two actors could pull off the characters of Broken Sword and Flying Snow so successfully. Second, the game of Go played by the assassin Sky at the beginning of the movie magnificently foreshadows Nameless's successive movements in the King's presence from 100 to 20 to 10 paces. Third, the ballet movements in unison of the candle flames burning before the King are not only brilliant in conception, they mirror the closing scene's behavior of the King's faceless advisors calling for Nameless's execution. Finally, the juxtaposition of calligraphy brushes with swords and flying arrows is a dramatic visual rendition of the pen and sword adage.

A last comment. Criticism of HERO as Communist Party propaganda is laughably absurd and demonstrates a severe lack of understanding of Chinese history. Qin Shihuang was a product of his times, no more or less tyrannical than the Egyptian pharaohs, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, William the Conqueror, Suleiman, or the American generals who "cleared" the Wild West of Indians. Regardless of his methods, Qin Shihuang accomplished a grand unification (All under heaven) that continues two millennia after his death. HERO evokes the founding of a nation and one unknown man's ultimate decision to sublimate his desire for revenge to the greater good of his country. That makes it no more propagandist than stories of Abraham Lincoln's struggle to re-unify the North and the South at the cost of countless thousands of lives, and far less pathetically propagandist than the recent "American hero" movies celebrating Jessica Lynch or Ronald Reagan. Americans need to take a long, hard look in the mirror more often before screaming propaganda about the cultural work of other countries.

HERO is not a perfect movie. The sword fight over the lake goes a bit over the top, the calligraphy/sword connection is overplayed, and Zhang Ziyi's character Moon too often feels extraneous. Nevertheless, HERO is a Must See for anyone who loves great story-telling and great movie-making.

Read Best Reviews of Hero (2002) Here

The one star is not for the movie itself, which is one of the best movies I've ever seen. But argh! I've got the Japanese DVD from Elite Group and it is so far superior to the North American release in all aspects (image quality, subtitles, disc pressing quality, and even the box!) that this version makes me want to cry.

Also, I'm getting tired of defending this movie to people who've only gotten the North American version of the subtitles. It's like we're not even talking about the same movie anymore.

What a thing to do to such a beautiful piece of art. How do these people sleep at night?

Looking through the other comments below, I followed Raul Saavedra's advice and checked out the difference between the image quality in the special features, and the movie itself. He has a very astute point. The main movie image quality just ends up looking that much worse in comparison. Why do the scenes look so awesome in the special features sections? My theory is that they tried to cram too much onto one disc (the Japanese release is 2 DVDs), and had to compress the video even more than the overseas releases to make up for it, so the image quality of the movie itself suffered.

PS. Go here for a detailed comparison review of the different versions:

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One can view Zhang Yimou's "Hero" in two perspectives:

One perspective is looking at this movie as if it were Chinese propaganda, since the movie tries to characterize the first King of China as a "misunderstood protagonist being perceived to be a tyrant". In reality, he was worse than Hitler, if not equal.

But most aren't that cynical; Most would view this movie as a clash of action and complexity.

The movie begins with "Nameless" (Jet Li) being escorted to "The King" (Chen Daoming), after claiming to have defeated the 3 most feared assassins: "Long Sky" (Donnie Yen), "Flying Snow" (Maggie Cheung), and "Broken Sword" (Tony Leung). When he arrives at the castle, he walks past thousands of soldiers and gets body searched for weapons. He is told to stay "100 paces from the king; one pace closer and he will be killed without question." To prove that he has defeated these assassins, he brings their weapons as evidence (Two swords, one spearhead). Relieved and intrigued, The King asks Nameless to tell him how he defeated each assassin (each is represented with a flashback).

Nameless explains that his skill as a swordsman was not enough to penetrate the superior skills of those being discussed. He had to use or know something else to get the upper hand. He explains that Broken Sword's calligraphy exposed his swordplay. And since Broken Sword and Flying Snow were lovers, jealously would be a natural tactic. Nameless also uses "honor" as a technique when fighting against "Long Sky". They share a mutual respect as fighters. Halfway into their fight, they stop to ask a blind harpist to continue playing his instrument. While playing, both fighters visualize the fight, rather than physical confrontation. But after a moment of visualizing, they go for the deathblow, sort of resembling an Old-Western Duel.

With each succeeding story, Nameless is rewarded with riches and is allowed to walk a few more paces towards the King of Qin. But also with each succeeding story, it becomes more and more apparent to The King that something doesn't seem right. After all three stories are told, Nameless and The King are only ten paces apart. Now is when The King realizes that the stories might be fabricated. He mentions that he has fought these assassins one on one, and the very idea that a psychological technique like "jealously" corrupting such exceptional warriors would be preposterous. This is the part of the movie where the "Rashomon"-effect goes into effect, where the actual story has more than one point of view. The King retells the story in what he believed has happened. A series of "underestimating each other" occurs, adding a perplexingly rich structure.

"Beautiful" would be an understatement, and would not even begin to describe the mind-blowing visuals of everything in the movie, ranging from scenery to color schemes. Consider the scene where the army of Qin unleashes a plethora of arrows that rain towards a crimson-shaded calligraphy school with sonic precision. Or the flashback fight scene between Broken Sword and The King, where the subtle-bright green color gives off a "dream-like" depiction. And perhaps visually, the best fight in the movie: the scene where Flying Snow fights Broken Sword's apprentice, Moon (Zhang Ziyi) in a forest. Raining from the trees is a profusion of bright golden-yellow leaves that turn into a blazing crimson-red after the fight is over. The overwhelming colors literally explode off the screen. The cinematography is exceptional as well, catching the fierce intensity of the clash of weapons between every warrior. The visuals alone are worth the ten dollars.

The story thinned-out is simplistic, but it is the presentation of the story that makes it intricate. Many would dismiss this complex structure to be "too confusing". But perhaps it is the complexity that makes it alluring. While most movies "spoon-feed" you the story, this one allows you to be drawn in. Nevertheless, "Hero" remains to be both intriguing and compelling.

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Grand Hotel (2013)

The Best Picture of 1931-2 "Grand Hotel" deserved it's Oscar and deserves it's place in history as a forerunner of star-studded films to come. The cast alone is worth watching the film for. But the film stands on it's own as well and is smoothly done considering the intertwining stories of various people whose paths (and fates) cross in that posh Berlin establishment. Greta Garbo as a depressed ballerina is one reason to see this but there's John and Lionel Barrymore in great roles, Joan Crawford as an ambitious stenographer with moral issues, Wallace Beery and other recognizable actors in character roles. Warner Bros. has done a good job with the DVD print so this is definitely a collector's item. There are some amazing interior shots inside the hotel with a wonderful art deco look to them. This hotel where "nothing ever happens" is a must for vintage classic film lovers. It's a rare treasure that's been wonderfully preserved for future film lovers to enjoy. See it for a classic look at what going to the movies in the 30's used to be about.

"Grand Hotel" concerns guests staying at Berlin's Grand Hotel. There's the high strung, tempermental ballerina (Greta Garbo), the sassy vamp-like stenographer (Joan Crawford), the boorish industrialist (Wallace Beery), the stricken labourer (Lionel Barrymore)and the devilishly handsome baron (John Barrymore). These seemingly separate lives cross over some happily so, others with tragic circumstances all thoroughly absorbing and brilliantly performed. At the time of its release "Grand Hotel" was the first movie to feature more than one star above the title credits.

TRANSFER: After years of looking as though the camera negative had been fed through a meat grinder, this DVD digital remastering is a considerable improvement. Having said that, a lot of work is still needed to get this one looking up to par. Solid blacks are about the best thing on this DVD. Contrast levels appear too low in many of the scenes. There are a considerable number of age related artifacts and quite a bit of film grain present on this 70 plus year old classic. The audio has been extensively cleaned up but continues to exhibit considerable hiss. Truly, if this is a special edition it's one of the poorest I've seen.

EXTRAS: Some featurettes that round out the history if too briefly, of this classic film.

BOTTOM LINE: "Grand Hotel" is undeniably engrossing and a brilliant Oscar winner that is sure to enthrall for decades to come! For the film and NOT the transfer, this is an absolute must for your film library!!!

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Although the whole cast deserves accolades, it is the work of Lionel Barrymore that I find compelling. He plays Otto Kringelin, the regular working man who finds himself incurably ill. He decides to spend his last days in luxury at the beautiful Grand Hotel. He makes the acquaintance of a baron (his brother, John), acquires a girlfriend (Joan Crawford), and gets a chance to tell off his boss (Wallace Beery). He achieves the dream that many people have, but never realize. His acting throughout is honest and you find yourself cheering for him.

The casting of this movie shows absolute genius. Garbo is beautiful and engimatic as Grusenskaya the dancer, John Barrymore is the suave but impovrished baron masquerading as a jewel thief, Joan Crawford as Flamchen never looked more beautiful (although she appears in yet another of her stenographer roles), and Wallace Beery comes off well as the ruthless businessman. All of the personalities blend together to make this a memorable film.

The quote "Grand Hotel...people come, people go, nothing ever happens" is the opening and closing line of the movie, but don't let that fool you! A lot happens and this movie is well worth the time it takes you to see it.

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I have a particular affinity for films from the pre-code era, and "Grand Hotel" is by far my favorite of this genre. After numerous viewings, I began to understand this wonderful film as a portrayal of the tremendous struggle life must have been for Germans of the Weimar period, even for the entrepreneurial and aristocratic classes, especially in this critical year before power was handed over to Hitler. In this movie, everyone is broke except the mousy little clerk played by Lionel Barrymore, and every character is trying in his or her own way to achieve or hold on to the dream-world lifestyle they remembered from the days before the Great War. The hotel decor is very trendy (the bar seats its patrons practically above the heads of standees) and the rooms are large, plush and satiny.

The high point of "Grand Hotel", for me, is the central love scene between John Barrymore and Greta Garbo, which is probably the most gorgeous ever filmed -enchanted, poignant and steeped in doom. The actors were also demonstrably attracted to each other, adding depth and authenticity.

I have to disagree with another reviewer here: I find John Barrymore's performance quite restrained, even staid at times, and Garbo's very mannered (and -listen carefully -she says "I ouant to be alone", not "I vant..."). Barrymore did plenty of "over the top" performances, but this isn't one of them. Compare "Twentieth Century", "Midnight", or his last film, "Playmates". (Actually, "Playmates", an embarrassing stinker made the year before his death, is valuable for an amazing 30-second jewel in its center -a tearful impromptu rendering of as much of the Hamlet "To Be" soliloquy as the poor man can remember, in which he seems to grieve the own slings and arrows of his own life and to beg for release.)

Lionel is absolutely priceless, as skillful a comic actor as he is a dramatic one (it is said that comedy is much more difficult). Young Joan Crawford is breezy and delightful, with no evidence of the harridan she was to become later in her career. Wallace Beery is, as expected, wonderfully gross and heavy-handed, but the director forgot to tell him to lose the thick accent, since his character is supposed to be a native German speaker like everyone else (except, perhaps, Jean Hersholt's).

People say that this movie is dated. Of course it is! So are "It's a Wonderful Life", "Casablanca" and "The Wizard of Oz". Every movie, even a classic, carries the style and ambience -as well as the limited technology -of the era in which it was made. A film's date should not be a criticism but an invitation to a treat for latter-day viewers: time-travel into a universe their own older loved ones may have inhabited.

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MGM's 1932 all-star extravaganza, GRAND HOTEL, was the first of its kind to include several major box-office names in one production. The film utilized a wide range of filming techniques overhead crane shots, moving camera, cross cutting, artistic lighting and long takes to infuse emotion and drama into its premise which takes place entirely at a posh Berlin hotel while overlapping the individual crises of its patrons. It was a novel idea and proved extremely successful, spawning many similarly structured films such as DINNER AT EIGHT (MGM,1933), WEEKEND AT THE WALDORF (MGM,1945), THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY (Warner Brothers,1954), and THE V.I.P.S (MGM, 1963), to name a few.

Based on a novel and play by Vicki Baum, GRAND HOTEL was directed by Edmund Goulding and stars Greta Garbo, John and Lionel Barrymore, Joan Crawford and Wallace Beery all in roles of equal importance, and each shines in what counts among their best performances. The luminous Garbo is perfect as a tired of life ballerina, her stylized acting captures just the right note of eccentricity. This is the film in which she utters her signature line, "I want (not "vant") to be alone". Crawford is radiant, chic and sensitive as a stenographer assigned to work for boorish business magnate Beery, who, despite his villainous character, manages to generate our sympathy. Beery is the only one to affect a German accent which serves to underscore his menace and alienates him from the other characters. John Barrymore displays his celebrated profile and gives a touching and ultimately tragic portrayal as a thief forced into his trade out of dire need, and Lionel Barrymore is a likeable old fellow who believes he's dying and decides to live it up during his stay at the Grand Hotel.

The hotel itself figures as one of the main characters, and its elaborate art-deco design is showcased to great advantage, consisting of a circular construction and checkered floor tiles, topped off by the main lobby desk and telephone switchboard. Everything was given top-notch treatment, resulting in a film that epitomizes the Hollywood studio system at its very finest. Quality and dignity represented the order of the day in that classical period of filmmaking, and GRAND HOTEL met every expectation both critically and publically, going on to win Best Picture of 1932. To this day it's still regarded as one of the greatest films of its decade, and has been selected for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant".

The newest Blu-ray release of GRAND HOTEL from Warners is quite grand to be sure, with a clarity and density that outdoes the previous DVD. The grain configuration is tantamount to 35mm film, and details in clothing and background elements are readily apparent. This pristine presentation of an 81 year old film makes one appreciate even more the exceptional skill of the cinematographers of that time. Of course, they also had movie stars with the kinds of fabulous faces that the camera could adore. The audio on this release is clear and crisp, with voices registering at a pleasing pitch without any distortion. All in all, it makes viewing this vintage classic a very enjoyable experience.

The extras are all taken from the DVD: "Checking Out" a making-of documentary, the Grauman's Chinese Theater premiere newsreel, "Just a Word of Warning" Theater Announcement, the Vitaphone spoof "Nothing Ever Happens", and trailers for GRAND HOTEL and WEEKEND AT THE WALDORF a 1945 semi remake. The only new feature is a well researched commentary by Jeffrey Vance and Mark Vieira which adds insight and is particularly helplful to viewers who are challenged by older movies.

Highly recommended.

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Beethoven Symphonies 1-9 (2013)

In 2001, during the month of February, the Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Claudio Abbado, were in residence at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome to play all nine of the Beethoven symphonies. The first eight symphonies were recorded for television by the renowned music film producer Paul Smaczny and directed for television by Bob Coles. The 9th had already been recorded in Berlin the year before with a distinguished cast of singers -Karita Mattila, Violeta Urmana, Thomas Moser, and Eike Wim Schulte, along with the Swedish Radio Choir and the legendary Eric Ericson Chamber Choir -and it is that performance that is included here. These performances have been released on four single DVDs previously, but this compilation box set of four discs is now available from Euroarts for an amazingly low price, much lower than than if you bought the single discs. You can read other customer reviews of the single issues here: Beethoven Symphonies 1, 6, and 8 / Claudio Abbado, Berlin Philharmonic, Beethoven Symphonies 2 and 5 / Claudio Abbado, Berlin Philharmonic, Beethoven Symphonies 3 and 9 / Abbado, Mattila, Urmana, Moser, Schulte, Berlin Philharmonic, and Beethoven Symphonies 4 and 7 / Claudio Abbado, Berlin Philharmonic. I have not reviewed the single issues but will not linger here to offer a review of each disc. I will simply say that for me Abbado is the master conductor of the present age and that his Beethoven interpretations, using the recently completed Bärenreiter edition of the symphonies done by English musicologist Jonathan del Mar, are almost universally hailed. The main achievement of this edition is the removal of hundreds of errors that crept into the first edition and have been perpetuated, or have multiplied, in subsequent editions. Abbado chooses to use somewhat reduced string sections in Symphonies Nos. 1, 2, 4 & 8, as is fitting for their gentler spirit. These same Rome and Berlin performances have been issued in a CD box set Beethoven: The Symphonies [Box Set] and in my view are generally preferred to his earlier issued traversal on Deutsche Grammophon Beethoven Die Symphonien (Symphonies 1-9) / Abbado, Berlin Philharmonic, which in addition is hugely more expensively priced. Interestingly, the present DVD box set costs less at Amazon than the CD box set. Go figure!

Interpretively these performances tend to be a bit on the fast side, with absolutely clear sonics and transparent balances. The men and women of the Berliner Philharmoniker, a younger group than we had been used to even a decade earlier, play like angels. Abbado himself had just been through a harrowing bout with stomach cancer and looks very thin but otherwise healthy in these performances. He says of this period, 'Music is the best medicine. More than any other form of therapy, it is music that has helped me through these last few difficult months.' Visually, the performances on DVD are neatly photographed. In several of the symphonies -Nos. 3, 5, 6 & 7 -the viewer has the option of viewing the performance in a 'Conductor's View' in addition to the usual 'Concert View' by use of the 'angle' button on the DVD's remote control. The 'Conductor's View' simply focuses on Abbado from the orchestra's perspective.

In addition to the bonus of the 'Conductor's View', there is, on the disc with with Symphonies Nos. 4 & 7, a half-hour interview with Abbado talking about his understanding of and response to the music of Beethoven.

These performances gave me enormous pleasure and I can't recommend them highly enough.

Running time: 6hrs, 34mins; Format: NTSC 16:9; Sound: PCM Stereo, DD 5.1; DTS 5.1; Substitles: German, English, French, Italian, Spanish; Region code: 0 (worldwide).

Scott Morrison

I will defer to Mr Morrison's previous review posted here for more details. This is an amazing deal for a complete Beethoven symphony cycle on DVD $30 for a 4 DVD set! Great conductor/orchestra/audio recording and nice 16:9 widescreen, for those with newer TVs. A great aquisition for a new or discriminating collector I am glad to own it.

But just a heads-up. This is a very different Beethoven and Berlin Philharmonic from the Karajan era. I mean almost a polar opposite extreme. Abbado has gotten into the whole newer performance practice of "fast and light" versus "slow and weighty". I am not judging here, just pointing it out. You will see/hear smaller orchestras, wooden flutes and lighter dynamics more akin to Gardiner than Karajan. The whole thing is a little "nicer" than the Beethoven I am used to but the trade-off is an incredible attention to detail and subtleties of dynamics.

The great thing about Beethoven is that it can really work with different approaches. So I recommend this set highly but just know that it is only one approach to this essential repertoire. (Bernstein with the Vienna Phil is a good alternate)Bernstein: Beethoven Symphonies Nos. 2, 6 & 7 or for the "complete opposite" I mentioned earlier Karajan Beethoven The Symphonies Boxset / Herbert von Karajan, Gundula Janowitz, Christa Ludwig, Jess Thomas, Walter Berry, Berlin Philharmoniker

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This set of all nine Beethoven symphonies provides a great deal of pleasure for a remarkably modest price. The added excitement of witnessing a live performance visually while enjoying the benefit of superb sound is what makes this a special journey through the Beethoven symphonies for me.

Not one of the performances will become my favorite; and given the biases we build up over time, including the fact that we tend to become attached to the first performance of a given work that really moves us, this is not a surprising result, nor one that should particularly dissuade the potential buyer. I do have to register a small amount of disappointment, however, because Abbado is one of my favorite conductors; and I was hoping for a few more revelatory moments than I encountered.

The collaboration of one of the world's best conductors and similarly superlative orchestras has produced performances that are at a very high musical level, containing much beauty and not a little virtuosity. I believe that Abbado has carefully considered and honed every phrase of the music, bringing to bear many years of experience and finely tuned sensibility; in addition, he has updated his interpretations to benefit from corrected editions of the scores and has also incorporated a style that is more in keeping with current performance trends, such as hewing more closely to Beethoven's tempo markings and generally eschewing any Romantic excesses. While all these things give us much to admire and recommend these interpretations as almost definitive, I found them to be just a little too much on the "safe" side to excite me if I remove the visual element. For all their excellence, these are performances that are neither fast nor slow, neither opulent nor austere, neither quirky nor routine, with the result that they fell a little flat with me.

I admit, and in fact insist, that Beethoven symphonies are not a good place for conductors to make highly personal statements--stray too far from a straightforward interpretation, and a conductor risks justified wrath at tampering with the sacred; but once in a while someone adds personal touches that make for a truly great performance for all time, for example Bruno Walter's Columbia Symphony recording of Beethoven's Sixth. It may not be correct, especially in terms of today's sensibilities; but it is unique in the best of ways. Abbado has the temperament and supreme musicianship to bring off a similar feat, and yet in this set I do not see that he has.

The modern avoidance of anything remotely approaching sentimentality in presenting the work of such a classical and architectural composer as Beethoven is probably as it should be, but I cannot wholly buy into it. As a result I found several instances in which opportunities for expression were passed over, especially in the first three movements of the Ninth. Adhering too closely to Beethoven's tempo markings leads to a sense of trivialization and sing-song-y-ness in several other places, too. A bit surprisingly, though, I actually enjoyed the brisker pace taken in the slow movement of the Ninth.

A few very brief impressions of these performances by individual symphony: No. 1, too bouncy; No. 2, not enough humor; No. 3, probably the best of the lot; No. 4, unexceptional; No. 5, really quite exciting; No. 6, not "pastoral" enough; No. 7, possibly tied with No. 3 for best of set; No. 8, not sunny enough; and No. 9, rallies in the end for a rousing last movement, with outstanding contributions from chorus and soloists.

Well-balanced and nicely spread-out audio is further enhanced by the choice of three different mixes: PCM stereo (CD-quality, or better, for the purist and for those lacking a surround-sound setup), and both Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 surround modes. Those, like me, who like a little heavier bass and a more enveloping surround sound, will probably like the DTS the best.

One quibble with the production (and one that does not apply, for obvious reasons, to the other packagings available of this performance of Symphony No. 3, in which it occupies a disc all to itself) is that the pairing of the two longest symphonies, Nos. 3 & 9, on one disc leads to an unfortunate hesitation of play in the last movement of Sym. No. 3 as a layer-switch occurs to accommodate the greater-than-two-hour length of the disc. First, it would have made more sense to have avoided the problem altogether by swapping the Sym. No.3 with Sym. No. 2 so that one of the discs would have had Sym. Nos. 3 & 5 and another would have had Nos. 2 & 9. The current arrangement that has one disc consisting of only Symphonies Nos. 2 & 5 and with no added special feature, while crowding Nos. 3 & 9 onto one disc, just doesn't make sense. The layer-switch burp could also have been avoided by making the switch occur between movements, or even between symphonies; letting the switch occur just wherever layer #1 ran happened to run out of space was careless.

Read Best Reviews of Beethoven Symphonies 1-9 (2013) Here

This set is incredible. Everything is amazing The music, The interpretation and The execution. The Sound quality and the video are unreal as well. Just get it, you will not be dissapointed

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This Abbado/Beethoven cycle has been repackaged and is available at a bargain price. I would snap it up as it is generally a superb set. Symphonies 1-8 were filmed at live concerts in Rome. Abbado has a scaled down orchestra and these performances are lithe and vigorous. I cannot think of any of the eight that are not excellent interpretations. My surprize was the Seventh, the work I heard last. Taken at a generally brisk pace, is an absolute knockout; it should have you moving around with the music. The sound and filming qualities are quite satisfactory.

The set concludes with a Ninth that was recorded in Berlin. Unfortunately this performance seems quite flat and uninspired; certainly well below the elevated Rome standard. Given the excellence of Symphonies 1-8 one can still confidently acquire this very reasonably priced cycle. I have returned to it on many occasions with undiminished pleasure.

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Equilibrium (2009) Christian Bale; Sean Bean; Sean Pertwee

I can understand the urge to compare "Equilibrium" and "The Matrix". Both films feature dark, foreboding cinematography. Both films are about rebellion against a warped reality. Both films feature a reluctant, messianic protagonist. And, finally, both films rely heavily on stylistic, hyper-kinetic combat scenes that can only be described as, well, reverent. That is where the similarity ends because while "Equilibrium" has a few moments of slow-motion it's action scenes are much more original than those of "The Matrix Trilogy". No Wires, just pure crazy choreography which makes the action feel all the more authentic. The environment is also a great deal more organic in contrast to the cryptic automaton of the Matrix.

"Equilibrium", in short, manages to be entirely its own movie. Where The Matrix relies on "bending" the rules of physics in an imaginary construct of a world, "Equilibrium" goes the other way and hypothesizes the "Gun-Kata", a martial arts ballet that allows it's practitioners to predict and anticipate close quarters gun fighting and hand to hand combat. Then, through a series of precise, dance like movements, a person can take on several combatants, using exacting, fluid actions to eliminate his attackers. Given a decidedly artistic presentation within the course of the film, these rapid-fire rhapsodies are exhilarating and oddly beautiful. They glamorize death as an abstract expression of powder bursts and shrieking projectiles. The film features some of the best choreographed shootouts I have ever seen, and ends up putting anything in The Matrix Trilogy to shame.

"Equilibrium" is a film that explores what it theorizes to be the root of all worldly chaos, human emotion. The movie takes place in the near future after a third world war that leaves Earth on the verge of total destruction. From the ashes arises a government that regulates everything and everyone through mind control. The drug Prozium is hailed as the elixir to the world's problems because it suppresses human emotion and thus eliminates the possibility war. All art, music, poetry and any emotion are considered contraband and must be destroyed upon discovery.

The primary clash is between individualism and collectivism -the notion that each person is an end to him or herself and pursues his or her own happiness, and the theory that the individual exists only to further the interests of the state. In "Equilibrium", the side of "feelings" (the side that promotes painting, music, and literature) is the side of the sovereign individual.

The film clearly suggests that emotions -the ability to "feel" -are what make life worth living; yet they are also the source of violence and war. At some level, this is clearly true. The joy of art, the intensity of romantic love, the pleasures of a touch or the sight of a sunrise, the fascination of a great idea -these are the things we live for. "Crimes of passion" such as murder, domestic violence, and assault generally involve uncontrolled emotions.

In "Equilibrium", murder and war among the civilian population have been wiped out. Of course, they have been replaced by state-sponsored murder and terror. Thus, the film points out the real purpose of deadening people's emotions is to perpetuate state oppression.

This nightmare is presided over by the Big Brother-like dictator Father, and enforced by a quasi-religious order of "Clericks," whose incredible combat skills are unleashed on "sense offenders" who have gone off the drugs that keep the populace docile.

John Preston (Christian Bale) is the perfect Grammaton Clerick (the government is known as the Tetragrammaton). He kills "sense offenders" without passion or guilt ... until he inadvertently fails to take his prescribed tranquilizer dose and events begin to catch up with him. Little by little, he finds himself drawn into "sense crime" and then into the resistance. I hesitate to reveal much more about the plot of "Equilibrium", jammed as it is with surprise and invention -suffice to say, this is an intellectual rollercoaster ride, as cerebral as it is visceral; both a bleak glimpse into a possible future and a stirring tribute to the indomitable human spirit.

The creators of "Equilibrium" had to take some liberties with the very idea of emotion, of course. The drug really only eliminates the "highs" and "lows," leaving enough emotive strength for the characters to retain ambition and a visceral hatred of their enemies. Plot means conflict and human conflict is impossible without emotion.

The acting is excellent, and if you like Christian Bale as much as I do, he shines above all else. Bale is truly exceptional in bringing a real sense of emotional conflict to the character of Preston, and as the film moves on he gradually brings that emotion to the forefront. At the start of the film, and in it's many flashbacks, Preston is supposed to be this emotionless killer that doesn't realize he's actually feeling subtle emotions. Bale's performance keeps the perfect monotone voice of an emotionless character, but in his eyes shows the doubt, remorse and anger. Then as the films moves on he gradually starts changing his tone of voice, allowing the monotone to falter in key moments, until in the end he completely releases all of his emotions.

As you can tell, Equilibrium's plot draws from a rich variety of sources. There's a lot of Orwell's "1984" and Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World".

True, there are a few minor plot problems, but any movie that treats ideas and symbols seriously these days is a find, and one that pulls off a serious treatment of life's most fundamental questions in the context of a gripping story is a rare jewel.

"Equilibrium" is not science fiction so much as political speculation. It's that mainstay of movies, the cautionary tale, twisted into a decidedly dense and deceptive action thriller. While it may not always deliver in the thought department, we sure get some wonderful visual flourishes. And if a sci-fi film can stir your imagination, it's won most of the battle.

The creation of the enigmatic weapons battle dance, "Gun-Kata", makes the movie a see at least once exercise in speculative movie making.

Sci-fi flick with stunning visuals, "Equilibrium" deserves much more attention not only from fans of genre, but also from general audiences. Sure, its flaws are too visible, borrowing Orwellian ideas from other films like, say, "Brazil," but it is not that ideas themselves but the way they are put into practice that really counts, and on that score "Equiliburium" is a winner. (And critics, please let me know, why do you all praise Steven's "Minority Report" which actually borrows ideas from other films of this genre? So, why not give this one a due respect?)

Well, I admit the opening chapter of "Equilibrium" is a bit weak, introducing us to the dystopia world after the WW3, but soon you will forget that. The totalitarian government established after the war decided to eliminate anything that might possibly make humans emotional, forcing the people to inject a certain doze of [chemical substance] to be unemotional every day. Moreover, it decrees there should be no more music (not only hip-hops, but classic music), no more motion pitures, and no more decorated interiors. Those who love them hide underground, becoming rebels while the authroity set up a super-cop troop called "Grammaton Clerics."

Christian Bale ("American Psyco") is John Preston the best of the Clerics, and dedicates himself to the job until he arrests a woman Mary O'Brien who possessd illegal stuffs. But her strong creed and perhaps beauty make their way into the sleeping heart of Preston, who has been long fighting for his cause.

The film's philosophical messages are in themselves not new at all, and director Kurt Wimmer might have kept his idea a little too long. I say so, because today, in the 21st century, it is not this Orwellian society that we are afraid of most. The story has enough twists to surprise us, but maybe one too many, I think, and the wrap-up part of the film feels a bit hurriedly done.

However, those are noting before the film's sensational action scenes, which can make up for any flawed part of the film. The "Gun-Kata" fighting deserves special mention, using [weapons] like Japanese swords, and its hyper-kinetic movement is very violent and very beautiful at the same time. Incredible it might sound, but Christian Bale shows excellent action star quality here, displaying the beauty of "Kata"s -and "kata" means in Japanese "style." Yes, there are lots of styles in "Equilibrium."

Other plsyers are also effectively cast, and most unexpected is Emily Watson, who quite naturally becomes the Joan D'Arc-like character. Taye Diggs is good as Preston's partner, and though short time, Sean Bean, cast against type, is also perfect as Partridge who plays a key role in the story.

I was quite surprised and satisfied, and even thrilled to see this neglected film, which should have been more pushed. Again I say, its actions are sensational. Not that this is "Matrix"; rather, it is more unique and has its own "kata" = style, which means a lot these days.

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Never, Never, Never Buy This.

Video This blu-ray is 1.78:1, by cutting 2.35:1`s side!

Sound This blu-ray has only one sound track,

This track is 2.0ch, not 5.1ch!!!

Special Features Nothing.

Subtitles Nothing.

This blu-ray is not blu-ray. It is only waste.

Never waste your money and time.

The Best Media of Equilibrium is DVD until NOW!

Read Best Reviews of Equilibrium (2009) Christian Bale; Sean Bean; Sean Pertwee Here

-----------2.0 STEREO ?!?!?!?!?!?--------------

Had to give 1 star even though I love this film.

From what I understand and if true can sum it up: Alliance (the totally crappy Canadian distributer) also owns Echo Bridge who is who bought the rights from Miramax.

Also as the other reviewer mentioned this release is in the wrong aspect ratio. The movie was filmed in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio. This Blu-Ray is in 1.78.1 aspect ratio.

It is possible both of these things are wrong (2.0 Stereo and Aspect Ratio) but that is how it is listed on the Blu-Ray case in front of me and I'm debating weather I should return it or not so I have not opened it yet.

I was so looking forward to this release......bummer.

Edit: 2.0 stereo and wrong aspect ratio confirmed see comment.

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The whole point of BluRay is that the people who have it are in it for the best most accurate picture available. you release the incorrect aspect ratio for the people who still have VCR's and rabbit ear tv's... unacceptable. To cut a 2:35 aspect ratio to 1:77... UNACCEPTABLE. What a piece of crap. A hidden gem like this movie is deserves so much better. This company should be ashamed of themselves.

The Devil's Backbone (Criterion Collection) (2001)

Guillermo del Toro is currently known as the guy who made the Oscar-winning "Pan's Labyrinth," the "Hellboy" movies, and came close to directing "The Hobbit."

But way back in in 2001, del Toro made a movie that serves as a sport of ghost-story prequel to "Pan's Labyrinth." With its mysterious specter, innocent hero and a story set during a bloody civil war, "The Devil's Backbone" is a unique kind of horror movie -it deftly sidesteps the cheap tricks and scares that most ghost stories employ.

Unaware that his father has been killed, Carlos (Fernando Tielve) thinks that he's being left at a remote orphanage only temporarily. Kindly Dr. Casares (Federico Luppi) sympathizes with the lonely new boy, but Carlos soon is distracted from his troubles. He keeps seeing shadows, footprints and falling pitchers -and when he wanders down into the vaulted cellar, he catches a glimpse of a silent ghost with a bleeding head wound. Even worse, the ghost -which was a boy named Santi -informs him that many people there will die.

But the most dangerous one at the orphanage is the brutal former-orphan Jacinto (Eduardo Noriega), who is searching for a cache of hidden gold. As Carlos tries to figure out how Santi died -and what angry, miserable Jaime (Íñigo Garcés) has to do with it -the orphanage is suddenly turned into an explosive war zone. As Dr. Casares tries to protect the remaining boys, Carlos discovers the reason Santi died -and what he wants now.

"The Devil's Backbone" is a movie filled with death: the orphanage is a dying institution in a time of war, filled with orphans and surrounded by sun-burnt grass. It even has a defused torpedo stuck right in the middle of the courtyard. By the time the ghost shows up, it seems like almost a natural part of such a ruined, quietly sorrowful place.

Fortunately Guillermo del Toro avoids cheap scares -the ghost doesn't make weird noises or leap out at Carlos for no reason. Instead he evokes the fear of a child in a dark, creaky old house who is ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN that there's something out there. Also some beautifully creepy visuals, such as blood floating in the air as if it were in water.

But the whole creepy-ghostly-factor is eclipsed about halfway through the movie. After a slow buildup of tension, everything suddenly erupts when Jacinto suddenly reveals his true self. Suddenly we've got explosions, blood, shattered glass, mangled bodies and an all-too human enemy who is slowly closing in. It makes the ghostly Santi seem suddenly very... nonthreatening.

And though the plot seems simple, del Toro spins a spiderweb of interconnected hints and plot threads -comic books, slug collections, a wooden leg and blood-tinged water all come into play. There's loads of symbolism, and the beautiful scenes (Dr. Casares' final poetry recital to Carmen) are handled just as powerfully as the more gory, ghastly ones (the orphans' final assault).

It's kind of amazing that this was Tielve's movie debut, because he's simply incredible -his character slides through fear, courage, sorrow and confusion, all with a kind of unshakable innocence. Garcés is equally good; at first he seems like a mere bully, but we gradually see how troubled and guilty he feels over what happened to Santi. Noriega is thoroughly nasty as a greedy, sociopathic thug who cares about nobody except himself (even his fiancee), while Luppi is a kindly, cultured old man who obviously loves the boys as if they were his own.

I can't think of a better movie to receive a Criterion release, and there's a decent showing of material in this new release -new subtitle translations and film restoration; a booklet by Mark Kermode; audio commentary, video introduction and new interviews with del Toro himself; older interviews; a making-of documentary; storyboards and concept sketches compared to the final film; deleted scenes with commentary; del Toro's notes, and so on.

"The Devil's Backbone" is a haunting kind of ghost story, where the ghost is not the scariest thing you'll see. A powerful, striking movie.

Guillermo del Toro's 'El Espinazo del Diablo' "The Devil's Backbone" tells a story set during the Spanish civil war in the 30's where a new orphan Carlos arrives at an orphanage that holds dark secrets. A few years before a young boy named Santi was murdered and recently the other boys who call him "He Who Whispers" tell Carlos about him and when Carlos first sees Santi the ghost boy tells him that many others will die. Carlos makes fast friends with some of the other boys and they're all wary about a large unexploded bomb that has landed in their courtyard. Plus, there's also the mystery of some gold that is kept in a secret hiding place by Dr Caspares.

When del Toro makes films in his native language they're just brilliant and this one is a precursor to his even bigger hit the Oscar winning 'El Labarinto del Fauno" "Pan's Labyrinth". As you can tell, this reviewer prefers to name the films by their foreign titles. So for genuine chills in a frightening ghost story when 'El Espinazo del Diablo' comes to Criterion Blu Ray at the end of July, snag it it's worth any price. A great film with a top-notch cast the boys are naturals in this "Oliver Twist" ghost story from one of our most imaginative directors.

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Not only is this the best Guillermo del Toro movie ever made, it is one of the best ghost stories of all time. Practically everything he has made since then has fallen in the shadow of this film.

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Not as eerie or creepy or as interesting as I had hoped for. I had heard so much hype about how scary and spooky this film was, but unfortunately it was just hype. This film has beautiful cinematography and the ghost kid is very creepy, but it wasn't enough to hold my interest.

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Enter the Void (2009)

If there was ever a two minute opening credit sequence that could grab me by the balls, it's from Gaspar Noé's Enter the Void. I'm confident it will have that effect on most people. You can see it here if you don't believe me. I've never seen anything quite like it. It's a strange beginning when considering the way it contrasts with the rest of the film. This hyper-frenetic, psychedelic introduction is the star of a film running around two and a half hours, and you'll feel every minute of its run time.

Noé has made a career as provocateur. His last few films involve a level of violence, sex and depravity (and a mixture of all three) that anyone could argue is excessive and exploitive. The problem, however, is that Noé is so talented, it can't altogether be dismissed. It reminds of Lars von Trier, and his latest film Antichrist. Enter the Void doesn't represent a marked change in style for Noé. All the base elements are there: sex, drugs, incest, abortion. And it's completely warranted to feel you're owed an explanation as to why you should subject yourself to them. I don't have an answer. But I can say that there are such dazzling flashes of genius sprinkled in throughout the film, that wading through the rest of the bog will be worth it for some. Even though you'll come out of the experience probably feeling dirty, and empty.

Enter the Void is losely based on The Tibetan Book of the Dead, a canon of scripture for Buddhists. It is an instructional manuel filled with directives for those between this life, and their next reincarnation-what they should prepare to experience, and how they should react. Oscar (Nathaniel Brown) is an American, living in Tokyo. Or at least a Noé-esque Tokyo full of drugs and bass-thumbing club music. He begins to deal some drugs and doing a lot of heavy psychedelics; the film opens on him smoking a bowl of DMT. Here, the screen evolves into rotation patterns, made up of bright colors, accompanied by resonant sounds. It's very clearly an hommage to Stanley Kubrick's famous tunnel of colored light scene in 2001: A Space Odyssey. When the film premiered at Cannes, it was seventeen minutes longer. Seventeen extra minutes of these sorts of effects.

Shot from Oscar's point of view, we mainly get to see the back of his neck, only glancing at his face when he looks in a mirror. He gets gunned down by Tokyo police in a seedy club bathroon. As he's trying to dispose of his stash, he yells that he has gun to prevent them from entering his stall. He dies. At this point, Oscar's essence slowly seperates from his body, and the remainder of the film, still in Oscar's perspective, is seen from what is now nearly a third person, but wordless narrative. He floats about the city, through walls, no longer constrained by the limits of a physical body, but unable to communicate with the world that surrounds him.

He weaves in andout of his friends' presences, and follows his sister, Linda, around (a ubiquitously nude Paz de la Heurta). Linda, a stripper at a club named Sex Power Money) and Oscar share a bond much too close for comfort since a horrific, shared experience in their youth involving the death of their parents. Noé subjects the audience to this experience over and over again on screen which results in a slightly jarred understanding of why Linda and Oscar's relationship is so distorted. There are many scenes too unpleasant for any film. Particularly, an extremely realistic and graphic abortion, and an explicit sex scene made up of impossible, and impossibly candid shots.

Enter the Void could easily be classified as experimental as there's not really much that happens on screen from a plot's perspective. It's a lot of floating-in-the-sky camera work, with little onscreen substance. On one hand, this leaves plenty of room for meditation on what death is, and how we can, or should relate to it. And it's easy to take advantage of this opportunity. On the other hand, two hours of mediation isn't always the desired product when heading to the movies.

Noé provides his shocks and provocations. There's no shortage of them. But every now and then, all of the wildly unrestrained facets of the film converge and the cacophony of it all gets quite. Then there are, quite literally, revelatory moments that make Enter the Void exhaustively interesting, and completely unforgettable.

Disclaimer: I viewed this film as a streaming rental, and as such, cannot comment on the audio or visual quality of the disc. My review concerns the entertainment value of the film itself.

Bound to appeal to only a small subset of film buffs (though to them it should have an intense appeal), 'Enter the Void' is an exploration of the split seconds between life and death, and an experimental trip through method and technique of film-making. Gaspar Noe, the director of 'Irreversible', is the real star here, as this is above all the vision of the helmsman rather than a vehicle for its actors. In fact, several of the key players were first-time unprofessionals, although that made little difference if any toward the film's overall effectiveness. To me, success or failure for this particular sort of film is better measured by how well it communicates its ideas rather than by more traditional yardsticks but having said that, it's also important to note that a reliance on unusual camera-work, disjointed narrative, and uncommon acting styles is probably going to turn many viewers away from the film before they give the ideas a chance to resonate.

A orphaned young man and his sister, both Westerners, are struggling to get by in Tokyo as a drug dealer and a stripper, respectively. In the early going of the film, the young man, Oscar, is set up for a sting by one of his buyers, and is shot by the police. For the next two hours or so, directer Gaspar Noe envisions the moments prior to death, borrowing heavily on flashback, the effects of the drug DMT, and THE TIBETAN BOOK OF THE DEAD. Shot entirely from Oscar's point of view (the only time he appears on-screen is if he catches his reflection, or when he lifts out of his body after being shot), the camera zooms around the hyper-kinetic nightscape of Tokyo, as Oscar's spirit or Oscar's imagination zips back and forth between city streets and alleyways, between past and present, and perhaps between one state of existence and another.

Visually, this film is unlike any other I've seen, with its striking crane shots and laboriously complex style. Although I thought it captivating for the first half, the effect wore off soon and lost its freshness. Still, based only on the look of the film, I'd still recommend it to those who are intrigued by inventive camera work and idiosyncratic methods. I'm positive they would walk away with several technical insights and a sincere appreciation for the effort that went into making it.

Yet that's too small a group of film enthusiasts to reach for; there must be more to a film than the way it looks, so we are back to story. I feel as though I misinterpreted the film as I watched it it was only after reading some of Mr. Noe's comments about his work, and discussing the movie with someone else that I feel I got the intent behind it all. Without those insights, I feel as though most viewers would have the same first impression that I had that this was really a rather simple tale about death and reincarnation. Reading the director's comments put a different spin on the story, but, unfortunately, did not add any depth to it instead it then became a roundabout story of death and nihilism. I don't have any objection to either interpretation, but the unavoidable fact is that the film could have made either point in half the time. Two hours and forty-one minutes of swooping around Tokyo from a bird's-eye vantage point becomes repetitive rather than unique at around the hour-and-a-half mark, and the entire process loses the edge that made it worthwhile in the first place.

Despite these flaws, there are certain film lovers to whom I would recommend the movie especially those who are always looking for something out of the mainstream. It may not satisfy completely, but there is no doubt that 'Enter the Void' is reaching for something other than safe and sound storytelling. The story may not be as profound as the effort behind it intimates, and the length of the film may indicate self-indulgence from the director, but it is unique. That alone is valuable in an industry that seldom challenges its audience.

One last trivial note: This film has the most fantastic title sequence I've ever seen. It's almost as if it were designed to induce a sensual stimulation that replicates a drug high or an epileptic seizure. Kudos to the design team behind a most unusual introduction.

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Spoilers herein!

The primordial notion behind it is rebirth, but rebirth not only in the actual reincarnated physical sense, as is ultimately consummated, but also rebirth in the sense of being reintegrated with the breast; the notion of incest is absolutely pulsating throughout the entire film, and the metamorphosis of characters experienced throughout the sexual encounters is brutally direct in this sense. It would seem that the dream-like state one is immersed in after death is what allows the maximal realization of this basic instinctive drive, since it would be a state in which all repression is lifted, and desire can be experienced in its purest, most raw form without the nay-saying psychic censor beeping like crazy. This is clearly too threatening for a conscious "normal" person to face up to in their everyday experience, thus dreams and reality are distorted to conform to our particular compromise formations, allowing us to live day-to-day without being overburdened by the anxiety of facing our sexual urges head-on.

In its analytic scope, the Oedipal ties are clearly laid out as unresolved; the little boy experiences the death of his parents with detachment, the death of the rival (his father) and of his love object (his mother) occurring simultaneously, a kind of reverse deus ex machina operating in a perverse way, the rival is killed but in a way that destroys the princess they were fighting over. The impotence he experiences (double meaning) carries its weight retroactively in the notion that his mother tells him that she loves Oscar and his father, but in "very different ways", the Lacanian notion of "the name of the father" rearing its ugly head, the mother loves something the son can never provide to her (the phallus), thus the sexualized love cannot be realized. But in a moment of utmost mirroring of the father figure, Oscar enters the body of the father and sees himself through his eyes, watching his mother contort during sex and seeing "little Oscar" at the door, watching his parents.

As the mother figure died, Oscar must appeal to the next best thing in line, the mother's daughter... And the pact to remain faithful to his sister creates a sublimated metaspace that permits the diluted enactment of his desire to be engulfed and reattached to the primordial breast, at least as a promise. Linda apparently shares in some kind of dynamic of her own, as she kisses her brother in a sensuous way, she herself living her own Elektra symbolism through Oscar. Anyway, as Oscar enters the head of Alex, the rule-free realm of the symbolic permits him to experience his fantasy of incest with his sister, turned mother (in a flash), turned sister... The morbid desire for fulfillment compels him to enter for a brief period into the aborted fetus his sister produced, even the split and murdered off component of his sister representing a possibly desired destiny. Truly the "come inside me" line almost in itself justifies choosing English as the primary language for this film, and the encapsulated space of his sister's uterus creates the holding environment for the engulfment to occur... attached at last; the most poignant moment is when the baby is still attached to his sister (or is it his mother?) by the umbilical cord and is brought to the nipple, which is the only element seen clearly (this was a very smart move, from all standpoints, as a baby's eyesight is 20/400 at birth). This moment brings to a close the consummation of Oscar's fantasy, and thus is reborn in a literal sense as well as through purposeful incestuous regression. The unity engendered and its inherent hope are fractured with the cutting of the cord, at which moment the baby immediately starts crying and is taken away, the promise of eternal bondage destroyed thus again, entering the void of an existence deprived of any enduring physical contact, regardless of how many times one reincarnates, even when one enacts their most basic forbidden wishes. On a more controversial note, perhaps Linda experienced the feeling of completeness in herself as well; her desire to possess the phallus of her brother/father becoming alive in a bizarre way. As a female entity she became whole by producing a phallus (satisfying the dispelled notion of "envy"), and with a mind-twisting denouement she not only possesses but produces the familial phallus she so longed for, finding peace at last.

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The guy above did a wonderful job reviewing the film.

Anyway, this is the second Noe film I've seen (the first being Irreversible).

I just watched it 30 minutes ago in the theater and I can't sleep now.

It's 1:58 a.m. and I have film school tomorrow at 7.

I felt literally electrified when I walked out of the theater, my feet were jittery...

Only way I can even try to explain the film:

Imagine Eraserhead, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Requiem For A Dream, and Irreversible smashed together with a lot of POV shots.

Watch this, please.

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I don't think we have enough time and distance yet to realize how new and singular Enter The Void actually is. Singular here is a very important adjective. Gaspar Noe's vision may vaguely conjure up David Lynch; particularly the yarn within the yarn of Mulholland Drive and, in turn, Inland Empire. But this is a film that sets out on its own two feet, that ventures into a world of memory and posthumous viewership. It addresses death in a manner that would make Georges Bataille proud, which is to say that dying becomes a renewal of spirit as formative as a second arrival. But, as with Bataille, that doesn't automatically mean that all is right again. All is lost.

I part with many critics who say that Noe's cinema is always one of nihilism and strained edginess. I Stand Alone is, in my opinion, the least of his efforts. It coasts on a wanton desire to shock, and suffers for that reason. But Irreversible, especially known for a few graphic scenes (and we all know what they are already), merges this transgression with consequence. Many people forget that, in the rewind that is the movie, we wind up in a bedroom with a naked couple in love. It seems as though the city decided to bleed all over their plans. You don't need to take a graduate level film theory class to see the dissonance. It's an inwardly beautiful world for two lovers; it's a chaotic, inconsiderate turned malevolent one once you step outside.

Likewise with Tokyo and Enter The Void. Tokyo doesn't care, just as Los Angeles, New York, London, and Paris don't care. It is a canvas for loss and disappointment, especially when one is sent there already adrift. And Oscar and Linda have always been adrift. There is no city, no concrete or neon, that is going to replace what's gone. In the west we like to see travel or exotic locale as generic enlightenment on screen. Don't come here for that. Our characters' places are quickly defined, and as soon as that happens we are carried into a numinous space. Tokyo becomes the metro of dreams, not some sightseeing tour to give us false revelations. And the rest of the film is one big dream or nightmare, twisting within itself and crawling back to pivotal moments.

This is now one of a handful of films that perceptively captures the subconscious or unconscious state. Film buffs can see its influences, most notably the pinks, oranges, and reds of Kenneth Anger's short works. And, yes, it evokes 2001 in its grand, albeit fractured scope. But it is also terribly sad and affecting, which is something I don't hear often enough from critics and reviewers. "Trippy" does not begin to do it justice, and is a term we probably should have retired in the sixties. It comes with more than that, with sibling separation, with love that flowers in death, with things that we can't get back. As with Irreversible, which this film surpasses by leaps and bounds, there is consequence here. The feeling of a void is palpable.

Directors do not owe us happy experiences. Noe doesn't give us one. I recall reading an article many years ago about something called "the impossible loss," referring to the residue a nightmare leaves us with. That is contained herein. It transcends the violence, the graphic sex (what sex isn't?), and anything else that is distractingly tangible. Everyone's enfant terrible is not just provoking in these two plus hours, he's kicking open the floodgates for new and unexplored textures. This film is about the impossible loss, and it moves along the columns of a dying mind. Take time with it. Watch it more than once.

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