Cindy I (webalina)

A modern retelling of the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. Eurydice dies and Orpheus goes to the underworld to bring her back, with the understanding that he can never look at her.

I heard raves about this and was excited about seeing it, especially knowing that director Jean Cocteau had directed the magical, brilliant La Belle et La Bete. But I was profoundly disappointed in this. Yes, the effects were interesting, but La Belle did them SO much better. The underworld, instead of seeming ominous and threatening, just seemed to be a dark street in a bad neighborhood. And finally, I just didn't buy that these characters had a love that transcended death itself. Vastly overrated. But maybe I'm just missing something.

A story of what happens when an event witnessed by four different people is described in completely different ways, and someone's life is at stake in the telling. One of Kurosawa's best.

UPDATE: Just saw this again on a HD television. Even though the film obviously wasn't filmed in HD or any digital format, the film took on a depth and a detail I"ve never noticed before. It's almost as though I was participating in the film as one of the witnesses.

Silent French film based of the transcripts of the trial of Joan of Arc. I just saw this again, for the fourth time. Renee Maria Falconetti's performance as Joan of Arc is astounding. It's so good you almost can't believe you're not watching news footage of the actual trial. Is this the best filmed performance ever? It's hard to believe this was her only film. The mind reels at what else she could have done had she stayed in the film business. But almost as effective is the end when Joan is burned at the stake. It is done in fairly graphic detail for the time, and it makes you feel totally emotionally drained after sitting through it. But even more it made me question the motives of a religious institution that would put someone through an ordeal like this, supposedly with God's approval. If you never see another silent film in your life, see this one. And make sure to see the version with Richard Einhorn's newly-composed "Voices of Light" score.

There are no words to accurately describe how good this film is. It justly made Humphrey Bogart a mega-star with his portrayal of private eye Sam Spade. Everything about this film noir thriller -- the cast (Mary Astor, Peter Lorre and an Oscar-winning turn from 62 year old Sidney Greenstreet in his first film role), the direction (John Huston's first of many fine directing efforts), the crackling script which closely follows the Dashiell Hammett novel of the same name -- is perfect. What is the Maltese Falcon? Why do they want it? What will they do to get it? Get the answers to these questions by seeing this film as soon as possible, and then seeing it again...and again.