In a Nutshell. Mini reviews of movies old and new. No fuss. No spoilers. And often no sleep.
Showing posts with label Geneviève Bujold. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Geneviève Bujold. Show all posts

Saturday, 13 February 2016

Dead Ringers (1988)

When Cronenberg helms a story about identical twin gynaecologists who share their patients and their lovers then you expect to find an uncomfortable mixture of sexual practices with clinical ones, but Ringers goes to even deeper levels of unease. The pair live an ordered lifestyle, are outwardly confident, professional and well-respected by their peers, but it's the shadow cast by the privacy of their complex relationship that the viewer needs pay close attention to. Like in a single body or organism, when an interdependent part falls out of sync with its connecting organs malady occurs.
Jeremy Irons is amazing in a dual role, feeding himself emotional triggers and responding to the same situation, sometimes in two very different ways.

4 character distortions out of 5

Wednesday, 12 August 2015

Obsession (1976)

Watch any of De Palma’s early dramas and you’ll see his love for Hitchcock unashamedly on the screen. Obsession is that love taken to the maximum level. It’s a re-imagining of Vertigo (1958) penned by De Palma and Paul Schrader. The very idea of remaking a Hitch film fills me with revulsion, but I'm forced to concede that against all the odds it’s an amazing success!
Sticking close to the formula De Palma directs our attentions completely. The old-school techniques sit comfortably alongside a less seasoned but more edgy mechanism, creating a work that feels familiar but new at the same time.
The cherry on top is a classic Hitchcockian Bernard Herrmann score.

4 due wages out of 5