juderobe

Nicely filmed and acted, but I felt no emotions for or against Gloria as the story unfolded. I found little that caught my attention--the characters seemed to be going through the motions. It made me wonder how old was the screenwriter, but that's no excuse for the superficiality of this film. It wasted my time.

This is a portrait of a man and a milieu, not a didactic, finger-pointer; and as such, showing the story, not just telling us how to think, the film works beautifully. I felt convinced by it, saw it as a compelling and timely tale that will be repeated again and again. Gere was mesmerizing. No all-good guys, no all-bad guys here.

Comedy is so hard to pull **** this one plays so many notes so well; maybe it hits my feminine taste, but I just found it fun, charming and pretty close to real. That's what it was ...so close to real, but with one fine and witty twist after another. Well done!

It was fairly low key, and its focus on intimate details kept my attention almost the whole time. Maybe in the last 15 minutes there were a few scenes I found unnecessary. After watching it I was guessing the director was a woman-- maybe from some delicate quality of the storytelling. Charming piece of work.

I wondered what was being said, I wondered why no subtitles. Maybe Netflixs has a dutch copy. The cinematography was very fine. But I found the documentary boring, uninvolving, and confusing. Does India really look that good? I admit I am ot a devotee of the subject.

Not only was I pleased to learn more about an artist whose work I have seen and admired, but this film made a careful effort to be convincing. I believed in the portrait it made of her. The actress deserved an award. Also the cinematography and the script and the casting were all exemplary. It was hard to finish because I read in Wikipedia about her, but the film managed to show every part of her life with grace .

This movie has a lot going for it. Toni Collette and the Japanese visitor were both convincing although Collette overplayed quite a bit at the beginning. Many elements were comedic, and that includes the playing with Australian and Japanese cultural differences. When they got stuck in the desert I thought of the Japanese classic "Woman in the Dunes," and I was so glad about how unpretentious "Japanese Story" was in comparison!

Who said that evil is banal? Banality is the problem with this film which is technically well-made and cast with mesmerizing actors--especially the young ones; the son and the girlfriend and the son's lover. What motivates the mother? Why is her behavior so far off balance? Julianne Moore may have done better with a more filled out characterization. When the film began I immediately thought of a far more effective characterization of a borderline personality--Nancy in the film, "Sid and Nancy." And the film seriously underplays what has happened to the son--until the devasting finale. The real son, who this character was based on, in life, showed extreme behavioral signals, not just the enuie and lassitude we see here.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

I thought it was going to be trite, because of the events of the initial half hour, but I ended being deeply involved. Because the characters told a convincing story I was slowly drawn in to their strange world. The film unfolds with a beauty of understatement.

Consistently fascinating partly because of the great casting, partly because of the nice, steady pace. No surprises, really...just pure Chabrol black all the way.