Inglourious Basterds

Kunniattomat paskiaiset / Ärelösa jävlar. US/DE (c) 2009 Visione Romantica. D+SC: Quentin Tarantino. DP: Robert Richardson - negative: 35 mm (Kodak Vision2 200T 5217, Vision3 500T 5219), anamorphic Panavision 2,35:1 - digital intermediate 2K. CAST: Brad Pitt (Lt. Aldo Raine), Mélanie Laurent (Shosanna Dreyfus), Christoph Waltz (Col. Hans Landa), Eli Roth (Sgt. Donny Donowitz), Michael Fassbender (Lt. Archie Hicox), Diane Kruger (Bridget von Hammersmark), Daniel Brühl (Pvt Fredrick Zoller), Til Schweiger (Sgt. Hugo Stiglitz), Gedeon Burkhard (Cpl. Wilhelm Wicki), Jacky Ido (Marcel), B.J. Novak (Pfc. Smithson Utivich), Omar Doom (Pfc. Omar Ulmer), August Diehl (Major Dieter Hellstrom), Denis Menochet (Perrier LaPadite), Sylvester Groth (Joseph Goebbels), Martin Wuttke (Adolf Hitler), Mike Myers (General Ed Fenech), Julie Dreyfus (Francesca Mondino). 156 min. Original in French, German, and English. Released in Finland by Finnkino, with Finnish / Swedish subtitles by Timo Porri / Janne Staffans. Viewed at Cinema Bristol, Helsinki, 4 Sep 2009 (Finnish premiere day). - Although the film is reportedly based on a 2K digital intermediate, the print had a pleasant photochemical look except in the forest scenes. - I love Quentin Tarantino, but I have been disappointed with his films since Pulp Fiction because of their regressive development. - To be redeemed: the great cast - the complexity of Daniel Brühl's character: the Wehrmacht has made him a killer, yet one can sense the human being struggling to emerge from the uniform - the smiling, polite Gestapo officer created by Christoph Waltz certainly belongs to the great villains of film history - Brad Pitt has developed a new and strong blackly humoristic charisma in his roles for the Coen Brothers and Tarantino; in these roles he is at his best - Mélanie Laurent is dignified as Shoshanna Dreyfus, brutalized by the Holocaust. - The fascinating thing is Tarantino's meta-commentary of film history, which ranges from Ernst Lubitsch (To Be Or Not To Be) to European war exploitation cinema. It is fun, and maybe I'm wrong to expect more. - I hate the sadism of this film. I also hate the simple-minded revenge motif of this film. My initial reaction is also that this film does a terrible disservice to the Jews. - For the Finnish viewer it is striking to notice the swastika over Finland on Hitler's map of Europe. It is not right (Finland was never under Nazi rule), nor quite wrong (Finland was a partner in Operation Barbarossa).

Burn After Reading

US/GB/FR (c) 2008 Focus Features. P+D+SC+ED: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen. P also: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner. DP: Emmanuel Lubezki - 35mm - digital intermediate - print 35mm color 1:1,85. M: Carter Burwell. Starring George Clooney (Harry Pfarrer), Frances McDormand (Linda Litzke), Brad Pitt (Chad Feldheimer), John Malkovich (Osborne Cox), Tilda Swinton (Katie Cox), Richard Jenkins (Ted Treffon), David Rasche (CIA Officer), J.K. Simmons (CIA Superior). A FS Film print viewed at the opening gala of the Helsinki International Film Festival (Love & Anarchy) at Bio Rex, Helsinki, 18 September 2008. - Print with a slightly denatured digital intermediate look. - The Coen brothers in good form. - Joel Coen: "If you want to call it a comedy I wouldn't protest. It's sort of about the CIA, the culture of physical fitness and internet dating". - The auteurs see this as the third film of their idiot trilogy. - A black comedy with fine performances (the best performance I have seen from Brad Pitt) and effective music by Carter Burwell. - The satire of a soulless way of life got a good laugh response from the audience. - The sharply written film has surprising twists, the ensemble is excellent, and it is not totally empty.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

Jesse Jamesin salamurha pelkuri Robert Fordin toimesta / Mordet på Jesse James av ynkryggen Robert Ford. US (c) 2007 Warner Bros. / Virtual Studios LLC. D+SC: Andrew Dominik - based on the novel by Ron Hansen (1983). DP: Roger Deakins - negative: Super35 KodakVision 2 - via 2K digital intermediate - print: 35mm anamorphic Fuji. 1:2,35. "The Ballad of Jesse James" performed by Nick Cave. Starring Brad Pitt (Jesse James), Casey Affleck (Robert Ford), Mary-Louise Parker (Zee James), Brooklynn Proulx (Mary James), Dustin Bollinger (Tim James), Sam Rockwell (Charley Ford), Jeremy Renner (Wood Hite), Garret Dillahunt (Ed Miller), Paul Schneider (Dick Liddil). 162 min. Released in Finland by Sandrew Metronome Distribution Finland, Finnish / Swedish subtitles by Timo Porri / Janne Staffans. Viewed at Kinopalatsi 9, Helsinki, 18 Jan 2008. An unglamorous look into the final stage of the life of Jesse James (1847-1882), who became a figure of folklore during his lifetime. Various episodes of the story have been told in films by Henry King, Fritz Lang, Samuel Fuller, Nicholas Ray, Philip Kaufman, and Walter Hill. This film has the same concept as Fuller's, but the story is different. Fuller's film is sharp and stark, this one is slow and meditative. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_james