directed by Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne
[The kind of filmmaking you'd expect from the Dardennes, except perhaps the removal of a hand-held camera from the mix, though the camera's still always moving. As in their other movies, the plot trickles to the surface and becomes apparent about halfway-in, though some of the best scenes come early between Dobroshi and Renier. Mislabeled as a thriller because of, say, ten minutes of suspense, the film ends on a surprisingly quiet note and is ultimately a little bit disappointing in its lack of poignancy that came at the end of both Rosetta and L'enfant.] 7.5
Timecrimes
directed by Nacho Vigalondo
[Fun, rather stupid low-budget time-traveling story almost overstays its welcome at 88 minutes but luckily the last act picks up the slack from the second, which is largely just about thirty minutes spent showing us how the first part was done, most of which we've already figured out by then. Cheesy score and plot devices (the "pink" bandage) appear unintentionally funny, but even so this isn't exactly Primer, so what the hell. Can't wait to see the shot-for-shot remake starring Jordana Brewster!] 5
2 comments:
I enjoyed Time Crimes more than Lorna's Silence, though I always assumed it was meant to be a bit funny.
Lorna was alright, but my least-favourite Dardennes film. The plot trickle turned too much into a plot burst. I didn't quite buy into it. I liked the beginning. Like you said, the best parts were early, before we knew stuff was happening.
Czaro, I'm sorry I missed your comment initially!
I'll admit Lorna's Silence hasn't resonated with me terribly well, and I'd currently place Ramin Bahrani's Goodbye Solo, which is obviously influenced by the Dardennes, ahead of it.
You're probably right in the tongue-and-cheek tone of Timecrimes, but I don't know how well that works with the considerable seriousness of its ending.
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