Exceptional film-making.
937764
Andy Lau has specialised in his clueless triad roles, but this is the rare one that really hits the mark. Instead of just being the aimless brute he has sometimes portrayed, Moment of Romance really gives him an excellent  chance to shine.  The plot follows Wah Dee as he is persuaded to be a  getaway driver for the dangerous Trumpet (Tommy Wong). After the police  stumble upon the robbery, Wah Dee uses an innocent girl as a hostage to  ensure the safe escape of himself and his contemparies. Trumpet insists  that she could identify them and should be killed. Dee, however, preserves  her and a bond develops between them. However, with Trumpet seeking to take  over the gang, Wah Dee is soon in danger alongside his new-found love.  This film really touches the heart with its skillful development of the  characters and the gradual love between the doomed lovers. Wu Chien Lien is  innocence personified and her performance really lingers in the memory.  Unmissible.
3335121
This director just keeps topping himself.  DELICATESSEN was an amazing artistic achievement, as was CITY OF LOST CHILDREN.  We'll forgive the failed attempt to make a Hollywood film (the fourth ALIEN movie).  Audrey Tautou and Jean-Pierre Jeunet previously collaborated on AMELIE, also a fantastic film, and at the time, Jeunet's best work.  But A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT tops them all.

Part romance, part war story, the plot is ever fascinating and continuously keeps you hooked in.  The characters are all well-drawn and compelling.  The editing and sound design are excellent.  The cinematography, my favorite aspect of this movie, is jaw-droppingly beautiful.  Every shot is like a masterfully created painting.  Usually, I can get into a movie if one of the above attributes is executed well.  But A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT delivers on all counts... a very rare achievement for a film.

If I have ONE complaint about this film is that I don't speak French.  Normally, subtitles don't bother me at all.  But viewing this film, I found myself torn between following the dialog as it flashed by at the bottom of the screen and absorbing the cinematography... both were so well done, I could never decide which to focus on!  You really need to watch this movie twice... once to read the subtitles and follow the story.  And then a second time, with the subtitles off, just to take in how beautiful this movie looks.

One of the best films I've seen in many years.  Hollywood should be taking notes.
3528647
This is one of the most interesting and original films I have seen in years. Although it may offend some "lighter" viewers, it is certainly worth seeing.
2855369
The intertwining stories of struggle, love and life combined with breathtaking cinematography makes this seemingly too long film a spectacular movie experience. I highly recommend it.
970336
I usually watch a lot of foreign films, but if I recall correctly, this is the first time I have experienced a Danish production. The first thing that surprised me was that the movie was created using handheld cameras and natural light, but it took me not time at all to get used to it, and the excellent story, together with the inspired acting, enthralled me until the ending titles.

Andreas (Berthelsen) is a pastor that arrives at a small Danish town to replace an old a stubborn colleague that has been suspended from his chores. Andreas lost his wife a short while ago, and is having a difficult time coping with this; now he is trying to get used to this new life and reconstruct what was shattered in the recent past. In this small town he meets a fascinating set of characters, all of them with personal problems, dreams and fears, and the relationship among all these people is what makes this one of the best movies in the last few years.

Finn (Kaalund) is the manager of the restaurant located in the soccer stadium of the town, and he has a "small" attitude problem that usually ends up with the customers being mistreated and expelled from the establishment. That is why Jorgen (Gantzler), Finn's best friend, is forced by management to fire him, which is no easy task. Besides the three men, the cast incorporates Karen (Jorgensen), a hairdresser with an alcoholic mother, Olympia, a clumsy woman who works at a bakery, and Giulia, a beautiful waitress that only speaks Italian.

All these characters converge, lead by different reasons, in an Italian class. In that place, they can be themselves and as each one of them starts coming out of their shell they learn the value of those things that are important in life. One of the main strengths of this film has to do precisely with how it spends considerable time showing us the feelings each character experiences and the interaction among these people, through precise and insightful dialogues.

This is one of those movies that prove that you do not need a huge budget to produce a film of excellent quality. What you do need is a great script, with actors that understand what they are supposed to do; the rest comes naturally. I am very happy to recommend this movie, and I am already trying to find more Danish films so I can verify if they follow the same pattern as this one in terms of excellence.
1332776
The cinematography in this film is breathtaking. The fight scenes are spectacular in that "people are flying around the room" sort of way. The plot twists are unexpected and interesting. Fans of movies like Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and House of Flying Daggers would enjoy this film.
688321
Gorgeous!  Stunning!  A must-see!

One of the most gorgeous films ever shot.
2829783
One of the best movies I have ever seen.  Beautifully filmed.  The emotion is captured by the actors in an etheric way that one cannot help but experience what their character is  experiencing.
1180889
Brilliant all around; screenwriting, acting, composition.
4605199
For a low-budget, indie production, I thought this film was great. Atmospheric and engaging, with excellent production standards throughout (lighting, camera angles, editing, sound effects, etc., in addition to story/acting/direction).

Just the right length: an 82-minute story told in 82-minutes.

I liked the treatment of the supernatural: how inexplicable occurrences happen to rational people, leaving them with weird memories to sort out, or question. That reminded me of K-Pax.

If more people could make more things like this on a shoestring, fueled by passion, the world would be a better place.

Highly recommended.
3996184
Roman Polanski's Knife in the Water is a masterful piece of filmmaking, and surprisingly the director's first full-length feature. To the uninitiated, Polanski is the man who's vision gave a signature edge to films such as Chinatown, The Pianist, and the film adaptation of Rosemary's Baby.
A graduate of the state-run (and communist backed) Polish Film School, Polanski made the controversial effort with his first film to not only avoid any state propoganda, but to actually call into question the very topics that nearly every Polish film to date had been required to avoid; namely the interaction between the upper and lower class, or more accurately the "haves" versus the "have nots."
The film revolves around a wealthy man, Andrzej, his attractive wife Krystyna, and a young, unnamed hitchiker that Andrzej decides to bring along on the couple's evening out on a boat, more to toy with him than anything else.
The first thing that will probably strike most people about the film is the absolute harmony within each frame, especially once the trio pushes out on the lake. Polanski favors very long, complicated still shots in which the characters may move in and out of frame several times, but the angles are always in such a place as to accent, and occasionally even generate, the tension that permeates the entire movie. In addition, the weather in the film is nearly a character in and of itself, and overall the feeling of being on a boat and out in the elements is portrayed so incredibly that you're practically feeling the water splashing on your face. Quite remarkable for a mono, black and white movie shot in the early 60's on a handheld.
Of course, the scenery can add to a film, but what really makes it is the characters and their interplay, and rarely is this more important, or executed so well, as in Knife in the Water. While the title of the film seems to evoke something like Cape Fear, there's neither murder nor any real violence to speak of in the film. The knife of the title refers to the knife the young man carries on him, which he explains as being useful in the woods, but "useless on the water." It also acts as a rather obvious phallic symbol, changing hands as one man bests the other in seemingly trivial contests of significance, each trying to outdo the other as the wife essentially throws gasoline on a barely subdued fire.
I won't ruin the story or the events within it, but suffice to say that there are very marked levels of subtlety that come across, and the film plays wonderfully with the idea of the "unspoken but obvious". The dialouge is terse and typically very brief; it's what is unsaid that stings the most.
As far as the disc set itself, Criterion once again shows everyone why they're the first and last name in home film collection. The movie itself looks absolutely beautiful, with just the right amount of fine film grain, but nothing else. Distortion is nonexistant, and the picture is exactly as sharp as it should be. The sound is only in mono, but everything comes across perfectly clear, a critical point in a film such as this.
In addition, we get a very funny and informative interview with Polanski and the film's co-screenwriter Jerzy Skolimowski, which is very much worth the time to watch.
Disc 2 is a real treat for film fans, as it contains eight of Polanski's short films made while he was in film school. These rare gems illustrate how Polanski's style was developed, and even display some stylistic tendencies that he dropped before moving on to feature films. These will be more interesting to those studying film than anyone else, but the fact that they are included at all is a very nice addition indeed, and Criterion certaintly deserves a good number of brownie points for it.
In the end, this is a fascinating film delivered in a fantastic package that every film buff should have a copy of. Fantastic stuff all around.
2341155
For me, the best part of this film was the spectacular cinematography with which the physical beauty and talent is captured! Certainly, there will be some points in the movie when you're scratching your head going, 'uhhh why the hell is this happening right now?'
But my goodness, every shot is BEAUTIFUL! The weird and sometimes unbelievable things happen with such an amazing eye that in my opinion they are forgivable if not just to see all the wonderful visual ideas the director put into it.
2782609
Certainly the most visually beautiful film I've ever seen.  The Director's use of different color motifs for each version of the story was inspired.  It also presented us with an intelligent meditation on honor and bravery, and above all, 'rightness,' that is sorely lacking in today's world.  The love story was also quite moving.  Makes most other movies seems like a waste of film.  A masterpiece!
127244
This is an excellent movie - scripting, acting, production. If I can rate it more than 5 stars, I would.
2694867
Fascinating film with gorgeous cinematography,  The way the somewhat parallel story lines were woven together throughout was masterful.  It made me think.
4578874
I thoroughly enjoyed this film from start to finish. The story was very compelling. The photography was great (lots of awesome aerial footage for those who love cityscape artistry.) The actors all shined in their spaces. Spacey, Moore...and the entire cast played perfectly. Well written, with some gem dialogs that really hit. I like this movie a lot. This is an award caliber production.
716338
Excellent film, very dramatic, some of the best cinematography and settings imaginable