Sarentrol
Masterful Cinema
Dorathen
Better Late Then Never
Kaelan Mccaffrey
Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.
Kirpianuscus
film of a state. not an ordinary one, not easy to define it , unique, provocative, refuge and desert, giving brilliant performances and special atmosphere. a film for remind. old lectures, pictures and situations, characters and meets. and, in same measure, good opportunity to escape. in a fragile, convincing, ambiguous universe. it is a film who must see. for performances and for great cinematography. for lovely trip in the essence of things. and for the delicate portrait of life. and, maybe, for the flavor of a surprising parable. it is it. a trip. across vulnerable worlds and steps in the middle of a kind of fairy tale.
Robert J. Maxwell
TV Guide describes this as something like "two gamblers meet on a boat," but it's much more than that. It's a story of romance, religion, and ruin -- but not hopeless ruin.The first half presents Raif Fiennes as a semi-deacon of a strict English sect, a young man who has been beaten into neurotic submission to the extent that almost EVERYTHING is forbidden. I'm not sure he wouldn't hesitate before scratching an itch. Estranged from his father for some slight, he supports himself by playing cards, giving the rest to charity. He leaves Oxford aboard the Leviathan for a ministry in Sidney. At the same time we meet Cate Blanchett, an ambitious young lady who enjoys gambling, does well at it, acquires a glass factory, and moves to Australia aboard the Leviathan.The two of them DO meet aboard the ship and spend a lot of time together in Sidney, playing poker and making wagers on all sorts of silly thing, such as who can finish scrubbing the floor first. They're in love, of course, and Blanchett more or less offers herself to him -- she's something of a rebel -- but he shakily backs off.The second half resembles "Fitzcarraldo," when she furnishes the components of a small chapel made entirely of iron and glass plates. Fiennes' job is to schlep it up overland through tough country to an isolated settlement. He gets the job done but it all ends rather badly. Maybe. I mean, he dies a horrifying death by drowning, but then he sees his smiling father reaching out to him, and then a smiling Blanchett reaching to him. I don't know what to make of scenes like that.It's a very genteel story as befits the times. Towards the end, Fiennes does get balled by a horny widow but only when he's half conscious from exhaustion and illness. I didn't know it was possible and I'm still dubious.The photography is crisp and at times epic. The art direction would be hard to improve upon. Blanchett and Fiennes play well together as two somewhat wild redheads. In a way, despite the skilled acting on everyone's part, what's most memorable is Cate Blanchett. She's an actress of considerable range, of course, but she's transcendently beautiful at times in this film -- that long face with its slitted blue eyes, that wide generous mouth, and that impossible, fluorescent nose. It's a face you could fall into.
evil-kencat
I believe this movie was quite splendid indeed.I especially enjoyed the part where Oscar said "The" It really was quite smashing.Coming from England I believe this movie was very accurate.My mates and I had a wonderful time watching this film; We believed it was "Sexcii" as the "hip" kids call it these days.Well I must be going now.Chereo! Toodaloo! Right Oh! Goodbye Chaps! Good Evening And Etc.p.s. It was exciting.p.p.s. It was also romanticp.p.p.s It also was a tab bit sadp.p.p.p.s It had a nice plot i say!
Sherazade
First things first, Cate Blanchett and Ralph Fiennes are water and air for the world's film industry as we know it. Very few actors working today can stand side by side with them when it comes down to the Nitty-Gritty of acting chutzpa! So when reviewing a film in which they both starred, with a fine director, fine script and cinematography, it's very hard not to want to get that out of the way first. It's also very hard trying to put into words how well they did justice to this film. It was breathtaking (especially the floating church scene), it was heartbreaking, it was bittersweet, it was beautiful, it was thought provoking, it was marvelous, it was well narrated, it was well acted, it was well directed, it was picturesque!Oscar and Lucinda (Fiennes and Blanchett) are two young adults who love to gamble. Oscar's a priest and Lucinda's socialite just coming out in society. One evening, they meet aboard a gigantic ship (almost like Jack and Rose in Titanic) and the instant chemistry between is ignited. But they quickly have a falling out when Oscar's fear of the Ocean causes him to offend Lucinda. By the way, let me point out that both of them had scarred childhoods, Oscar's mother died while he was very young and the impact virtually drove his father insane, while Lucinda endured parents who were unhappy with one another but pretended to be happy for the sake of their daughter. When her father died, her mother slowly became a living corpse until she eventually died years later, leaving Lucinda devastated but well taken care of financially.One day, Oscar and Lucinda make amends to their friendship and slowly become closer and closer. Lucinda then decides to build a glass church for their mutual friend, a priest who lives miles away and Oscar bets he can deliver it to him before Good Friday. By doing this, they both break their promise never to gamble again and this sets up a dramatic chain of sorrowful events that occur in the wake of Oscar's journey. A character that Fiennes plays to the pulp!
