Okay so I haven't seen very many european films of recent, but if this film is anything to go by then I shall certainly try.
I have my own way of rating a film, as I'm sure many others will do the same. I will always judge if it was a good watch if I walk away and think 'I'm buying the DVD' This is why I certainly don't own any bad DVD's *cough* Yeah okay 'Terminator Salvation' has managed to creep into my collection somehow. I think HMV uses mind control in their shop, you go into buy one DVD and you come out with about five.
'A GDR Captain is given an assignment to spy on a scholar, who has an enemy in the form of a Minister desperate to destroy him. This dedicated Captain is forced to evaluate his views and beliefs in the GDR as he begins to see what it is doing to innocent ordinary people'
So this feature film directed by 'Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck' (Yes I cut and pasted that) was certainly a breath of fresh air to watch. Its just a shame more movies like these don't get made, solid characters with a strong backbone of a storyline. My first impressions were of that I really liked how we were challenged at first on which characters to like. We started off watching one of out main cast interrogating and some might say torturing a help-less man. Yet somehow he was still likeable, but so was the intellectual script writer he was chosen to spy on.
Instead of us the audience struggling on who to pin our dislike onto, the movie gave us our release in the form of 'Christa-Maria Sieland' she is never really protruded as an evil person, but there defiantly was just something that didn't sit quite right with her. I think this did give the movie balance, we had to strong characters each fighting there own battles and it would have been a shame if we were forced into choosing one over the other.
I have to go back to Richards screenwriting classes in were he always preached 'Know your characters as if they were a living person' Know whats in their fridge, what they read and just all these little quirks that make a character. Yes the majority of this will never be shown on screen, but I think it definitely showed that the screenwriter knew these characters like the back of his hand.
So the plot strand was interesting, we have been discussing parallel narratives in some of Zams classes. I initially clocked the plot as doing this, but at some point it became something else. It was interweaved, it wasn't two separate narratives but one, it was just shown from different perspectives. I don't think I have ever seen this type of storytelling before, but it was very interesting to watch, although I feel its something not to be attempted unless you really know your stuff.
This movie didn't so much try and hook you straight away, it knew what it was doing and gave you the time to slip into it at your own pace. It had patience and was quietly confident in what it was doing and knew it didn't have to rush into anything to quickly.
Its that human element, those little details that made this film believable and feel undoubtably real. This is what drew me in from the off set.
From watching a few short european films in Adam's class and Richards class last year, its clear to see the unique cinematography used in modern european film. Its those contrasting white edges comprised with monotone colour schemes, it looks and feels reel, but never strays into that 'It looks to real' dimension. It's well 'cardboard box' colours, you are never really presented with contrasting colours unless there is a clear reason for it being used. This is what I feel added that extra dimension to the film that let us concentrate on the characters and really feel the blandness of life under the 'GDR'
I know to give a proper balanced review I must now point out flaws of the film, I know in recent reviews I have raved about the films and it must seem like I can't properly deconstruct films. So just to be picky, I'm not sure if they properly built up any real danger in the film. I didn't really ever feel like the scholar was in any real danger, even under surveillance. I knew he'd be locked up for a long time if caught, but I don't think they quite went far enough to make the bad guys, well the bad guys.
I think this was due to the fact it was one of our main characters 'Hauptmann Gerd Wiesler' who was surveilling him, and well we had already been made to like him. That is just being picky, a little more peril would have been interesting.
Over-all a fantastic watch.
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