Rating: Summary: Looks like we'll have to settle for square-screen Review: Like others who own it in VHS, I was disappointed the DVD wasn't released in widescreen. But it seems there's no hope. On the commentary track Minghella laments having shot it that way (it was a BBC production) and, it seems, its squareness drives him up the wall just as it does us. Guess we'll have to forgive him; it was his first film. And what a marvel it is...in any shape.
Rating: Summary: Great movie -- and there's a reason it's not widescreen. Review: Greetings. This is an excellent film which I would recommend to just about anybody. However, the main reason I'm posting this review is in reply to Mr. Bassford's comment, below. Just a quick quote from the DVD jacket: "The Director's intent is to show this film as it was originally photographed for BBC TV. The original aspect ratio is 1.33:1."I nearly didn't buy this DVD because I too prefer widescreen vids - but when I got hold of a copy, I realized this was a case where widescreen would actually mean cutting part of the original framing out. At any rate, the audio commentary from the director is worth the price of the DVD even if you already have the VHS.
Rating: Summary: the "Thinking Man's 'Ghost'" keeps you thinking Review: This giddy, beautiful movie about mourning and the re-establishment of one's life has always struck me as one of the most beautiful pictures ever made. Alan Rickman stars as a ghost who returns to his newly widowed, deeply mourning wife -- a wife who is completely possessed by her loss -- and proceeds to fill her with all the joys she felt with him while he was alive. But ultimately she must make a choice between the opportunity for a budding romance with a living man and her memories of a man who, as a ghost, is slowly but surely becoming a pain. And so, this nagging question: did the ghost deliberately return, planning to become a pain, so as to spur her to appreciate the life that is around her? There is a beautiful scene where Rickman's character tells of parents in a park given new reasons to closely hug their children... This movie is completely beautiful. (Did I use the word 'beautiful' enough?) By the way, the format is not wide screen because it was originally filmed for British television.
Rating: Summary: Auspicious directoral debut Review: Anthony Mighella (Director of 'The English Patient') was writing 'Inspector Morse' for the BBC when he was asked to write a script for fledgling BBC Films. "Only if I can direct it", he replied, and the result (for $650,000) was 'Truly Madly Deeply'. The film deals with the life of Nina (Juliet Stevenson), a Thirty-something working girl who has recently lost the love her life, Jamie. She lives in her dsyfunctional apartment, her only companion a mouse, who forces her to sleep on the sofa with a cricket bat. She breaks down in a therapy session, showing the all the levels and layers of loss and anger that she feels, in an incredibly powerful scene. Jamie (Alan Rickman) comes back into her apartment, and her life, as a ghost. (Not an ethereal being. We see Jamie as anyone else). At first she is overjoyed, but complications arise, involving heat, guests, and conflicts that were romantacized out of existence in her grief. The movie is about Nina learning to say goodbye, and learning to let go of grief and embrace life. It is funny, sad, moving, and quite a directoral debut. One of those "little films" for which you feel an inordinate amount of affection, but a film populated by some wonderful acting and writing. If you like something a little off the beaten path, this is a little gem.
Rating: Summary: One of my favourite, finally on DVD. Full screen only? Review: Finally! I've been waiting for this to come out on DVD for years. But, unfortunately, I *STILL* can't buy it because it's full screen. Why in the world would it not be offered in widescreen? At least it's being released, so I'm a bit closer to getting this excellent movie (one of my two all time favourites, the other being Until The End Of The World) - but what's WRONG with publishing companies that they insist on releasing only full screen versions? Unless this happens to actually be the original aspect ratio. I'll gladly eat my words if it is, and rush out and buy it. But is it?
Rating: Summary: , Rickman and Stevenson are brilliant Review: I watch this movie whenever I can. I have studied acting but this movie is so much more than just a copied script with great actors. We see in front of our eyes the true grieving process and can laugh at it. We see how a person dependant on another who has died slowly and with a few steps backwards at time move forward with her life. We also see how it might be if a loved one who has passed just might show up and decide to not only stick around but bring his friends with such comedic timing that it is believable and rolling on the floor laughing. When the final break between the two happens one can almost feel it inside themselves. Juliet Stevenson and Alan Rickman are brilliant in any movie they are in, but in this movie, even when one thinks they are going mad themselves, it brings a closure to one's own loss of loved ones. This movie may never end up a best seller or known of by many, but it will be a classic forever. It is a movie where all actors have an opportunity to shine and none disappoint us. One can feel the chemistry between every character.
Rating: Summary: GREAT ACTING! Review: If you are an actor, do NOT miss this film. Buy it used, rent it any way you can!!! This film never fails to inspire me! Stevenson is a jewel and Rickman is incredible. You never doubt them once! See this movie!!!
Rating: Summary: truly madly deeply through my eyes Review: In my opinion, this film was a British attempt at the previous years American blockbuster 'Ghost'. What drew me to it was the intensity of the love between the two main characters and yes it bought tears to my eyes. Best bit: for me was certainly the two singing 'the sun ain't gonna shine anymore'.
Rating: Summary: My Favorite Film!!! Review: When I'm asked for my favorite film, I generally say "Truly, Madly, Deeply" & people respond "WHAT???" This overlooked film combines dialogue usually heard on the stage and a watercolor-like cinematography. Juliet Stevenson (who I had the privilege of seeing perform Rosalind at the RSC Stratford) is a joy. She is something quite unusual in cinema, she is a real woman. She completely captures the raw pain, torment & frustration of Nina's grief. You completely understand Jamie explaining his re-appearance "I couldn't bare your pain". Alan Rickman is charming, witty & urbane. He turns the prose to poetry. As Jamie, he is indeed, to paraphrase William Shakespeare "the G-d of Nina's idolatry", until he becomes the bane of her existence. Michael Maloney turns in a subtle & endearing performance as the the new man in Nina's life. It is too easy to say "Truly, Madly, Deeply" is the thinking person's "Ghost" because it is much more. While exploring the process of grief, Anthony Minghella creates in north London suburbia a love story as satisfying, expansive & heartwrenching as he did in the great expanse of the north African desert with his much acclaimed film "The English Patient".
Rating: Summary: Captures grief like no other movie Review: This movie captures grief so accurately and intensely. I have never seen a movie that expresses how devastated you feel when a loved-one dies, this one does it. It is such an excellant movie.
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