<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: Hints of Alain Resnais
Review: Rodolphe Marconi is a young, talented filmmaker as LOVE FORBIDDEN (Defense d'Aimer) demonstrates. Marconi wrote the script, directed and is the principal actor in this dark but very sensitive melodrama. No, 'melodrama' may be the wrong word here, because 'film noir' seems to suggest its antecedents more clearly. Anyone who loves Resnais' "Last Year At Marienbad" will understand the comparison when viewing this extended meditation on obsession. Rome is the site for an Academy of students from all forms of the arts and the students are from many parts of the world. The film is shot in French, Italian , and English as each set of circumstances dictates. The main character is Bruce (Rodolphe Marconi), a loner of a film maker student who meets a few students as friends ('Orietta' played very well by Orietta Gianjorio) but encounters a 'boarder' Mateo (Andrea Necci) who works in the library and is a writer. Mateo manipulates Bruce into letting him use his 'better room condition' and ends up sharing Bruce's bed - platonically. Bruce becomes aware of his sexual feelings towards Mateo and eventually those feelings are reciprocated and acted out, only to have Mateo exit Bruce's room and life as abruptly as he entered. Mateo avoids Bruce, takes up with an American girl Aston (Echo Danon) and Bruce becomes so obsessed with his lost love that he begins to stalk Mateo. Eventually Bruce and Aston become friends and share frustrations with the self-indulgent Mateo and the end of the tale is at hand as a surprise. The filming is by video and I do not find that interfering in this case. The result is an intimate, secretive appearance to the story, allowing the camera to linger on nocturnal images, feel the ancient rhythms of Rome, and be a voyeur like Bruce. The music score is at times heavy handed (why choose Bach's 'St Matthew Passion' for the sensuous lovemaking between Bruce and Mateo?) and too often it covers the dialogue. Marconi is a fine actor and says more with his body language and eyes than with his words. In all, this is a dark, moody, but sensitive work that deserves more attention than it is receiving. Try it. The English subtitles are excellent.
Rating:
Summary: Hints of Alain Resnais
Review: Rodolphe Marconi is a young, talented filmmaker as LOVE FORBIDDEN (Defense d'Aimer) demonstrates. Marconi wrote the script, directed and is the principal actor in this dark but very sensitive melodrama. No, 'melodrama' may be the wrong word here, because 'film noir' seems to suggest its antecedents more clearly. Anyone who loves Resnais' "Last Year At Marienbad" will understand the comparison when viewing this extended meditation on obsession. Rome is the site for an Academy of students from all forms of the arts and the students are from many parts of the world. The film is shot in French, Italian , and English as each set of circumstances dictates. The main character is Bruce (Rodolphe Marconi), a loner of a film maker student who meets a few students as friends ('Orietta' played very well by Orietta Gianjorio) but encounters a 'boarder' Mateo (Andrea Necci) who works in the library and is a writer. Mateo manipulates Bruce into letting him use his 'better room condition' and ends up sharing Bruce's bed - platonically. Bruce becomes aware of his sexual feelings towards Mateo and eventually those feelings are reciprocated and acted out, only to have Mateo exit Bruce's room and life as abruptly as he entered. Mateo avoids Bruce, takes up with an American girl Aston (Echo Danon) and Bruce becomes so obsessed with his lost love that he begins to stalk Mateo. Eventually Bruce and Aston become friends and share frustrations with the self-indulgent Mateo and the end of the tale is at hand as a surprise. The filming is by video and I do not find that interfering in this case. The result is an intimate, secretive appearance to the story, allowing the camera to linger on nocturnal images, feel the ancient rhythms of Rome, and be a voyeur like Bruce. The music score is at times heavy handed (why choose Bach's 'St Matthew Passion' for the sensuous lovemaking between Bruce and Mateo?) and too often it covers the dialogue. Marconi is a fine actor and says more with his body language and eyes than with his words. In all, this is a dark, moody, but sensitive work that deserves more attention than it is receiving. Try it. The English subtitles are excellent.
Rating:
Summary: Good low budget import
Review: Rodolphe Marconi is excellent as a young man obsessed with an individual he met while studying art at a Rome college...This is basically a 1-character study with 2 or 3 supporting roles, and a very limited budget; the script and acting are good, but the film is worth for it's portrayal of someone's borderline fall into the madness that unreciprocal love can bring
Rating:
Summary: Good
Review: This is probably the best digital video movie I've watched. The travelogue-like scenes do have that cheap home digital video look (I don't think this is high definition), but the character scenes are mostly dark and very well lit, they do their job helping the mood of the movie, and not getting in the way with their uglyness, as happens many times with this format.
Anyway this would be nothing without a decent script, which this movie has too. You really get into the story and the main character's predicament (there's not a scene he isn't in). The less 'nice' parts of his personality (depression, etc) didn't take me away from the movie, as has happened to me with other mentally troubled characters like catherine deneuve's in 'Repulsion', where I always feel they go way too far. Though perhaps it's not a good comparison becouse this one is not nuts.
Enjoy this character study/love story, becouse I think everyone has been around there sometime.
The dvd is 1.85 non-anamorphic but quite good. You can't take the subtitles off, and they're only on when characters don't speak english. I think that's unfair becouse the movie is really trilingual.
Rating: 
Summary: Self Indulgent
Review: This low budget self indulgent vanity production deals with a gay film student who becomes obssessed with a straight friend.
Shot on video- the productions best feauture is the travel logue photography of Rome.
<< 1 >>
| 
