Bellucci

Malena
$32.99
I enjoyed this movie, but it is distressing because it happened too many times at the end of WW2. It shows both the strengths and weaknesses of human character. It also shows how easy it is for a society to ravage and ruin someone's life, especially a woman or stranger. Monica does a good and perhaps great job playing her character, and if you like the "grown up" narration of the narrator's past, i.e. The Wonder Years or Sandlot, then you should like this movie as well. The only aspect that I did not find totally credible, is when Monica surrenders to the town's expectations of her in order to get food, she seemingly disliked sleeping with an Italian leader but later in the movie, seemingly enjoys sleeping with multiple Germans. Given that she continues to love her husband throughout the movie, I find it hard to believe that she would give herself totally over to the Germans even when it was the only choice to get food. I am not saying that she may not have had a good time, but given the theme of the movie being the tragedy of what happens to her and her love for her husband, it would seem contradictary to then have her enjoy being a prostitute given that the town forced her into it. Overall it tells the very real story of many women and other strangers in a setting that happened in many towns in Europe during and after WW2, and in other places during other major wars.

Maxim May 2003 (Maxim Magazine)
$6.95
Maxim May 2003

Irreversible
$19.98
IRREVERSIBLE: The traces of other films are indeed perceptible on its canvas. And yet it is absolutely singular, absolutely unlike anything else in the history of cinema.

People go on and on about how "disturbing" this film is. On a mundane level, the film is "disturbing," of course. But I personally found the film just, morally unambiguous, and even beautiful.

It is simultaneously the ugliest and most beautiful of all films.

The film's message is not, as most people claim, that "time destroys all things." This is a painfully banal cliche, and, yes, it is plastered onto the surface of the film as if it were a billboard. The film's reverse order gives the lie to this stupid cliche. We are discussing a film that contradicts its own title: "Irreversible" reverses everything. The film says: yes, time destroys all things, but time itself can be destroyed.

Because the camera swirls around in a disorienting way at the beginning of the film (and at other points, as well, suggesting the reversibility of time), the spectator is initially unaware that the film starts with a scene of brutal vengeance. Nor does one understand, at this point, why this vengeance takes place. This effect of disorientation prevents the spectator from forming a moral judgment and condemning the bloody act of revenge.

The final scene of bliss (the "end" of the film is its chronological beginning) contains such pathos that it is absolutely overpowering: now the spectator finally recognizes (a recognition that comes by way of a feeling) that rape destroys human life. The woman who is raped, Alex (Monica Bellucci) is mourned at the close of the film (against Beethoven's seventh symphony); her assailant, whose violation mirrors her violation, is not.

Marcus is Alex's current lover. Pierre is Alex's former lover, an older man. Pierre shows infinitely more devotion toward Alex than her boyfriend: he is the true spirit of revenge in the film. Marcus, by contrast, is self-absorbed, stupid, and morally weak: out of fear, he is reluctant to avenge the crime committed against his girlfriend.

Does Pierre resent Alex for having chosen another man over him? There is evidence of this in the film.

If you are a man, this film will make you feel ashamed that you are.

In the bedroom scene, Marcus reveals that he is the rapist's double. Watch this scene carefully, and you will see what I mean.

Likewise, Marcus is quite similar to the anonymous passer-by who witnesses the rape in the tunnel (the tunnel is a figure that is used throughout the film) and yet does nothing to prevent it.

Those who run from the theater in horror are just as cowardly as that passer-by.

Dr. Joseph Suglia

Remember Me, My Love
$14.99
This is a film about the contemporary italian family consisting of midlle aged, professional parents who are both working and their teenage children. Each one of them is living numb existance. They are bored, lonely, insecure, unhappy with their jobs/careers or high school existance. They also feed emotionally off each other. Their rages are directed at each other with such force that it almost makes one dizzy.

What they experience and how they come out of those experiences I do not wish to retell in this review. But movie itself is really worth watching in order to find out. Laura Morante gives fantastic performance as a frustrated mother, wife and an artist; but Monica Belucci is just so beautiful that one cannot take their eyes off of her. Someone as beautiful as her is almost expected to steal another woman's man with very little or no effort. I also liked the music score used in this modern day drama where there are no winners and no loosers but an endless string of avalanche like events...