Unbearably sad film......
588770
I don't know what Kundera was trying to say in his book, and reading all the reviews others have written I am persuaded we are like the blind (wo)men and the elephant. Each has his or her own interpretation. I didn't like Kundera's book, I found it silly, disjointed, and boastful. Perhaps I could find some meaning in it if I set my mind to the task. I'm pretty good at assigning meaning when there is none. Perhaps the book suffered in translation.  Perhaps one had to experience the coffee houses of Prague during the spring to understand.
Philip Kaufman's film THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING is wonderful and awfully sad. The film is wonderful because of the three main actors: Daniel Day Lewis, Lena Olin, and Juliette Binoche. In THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING DDL plays Tomas a doctor with women on his mind--another character for his diverse vita. BEING is about beautiful young people who seem unfulfilled as human beings until it is too late. I was young and restless once--in the 1960s--and I think it's very hard to be happy when you are young. You suffer from these foolish notion that you can change the world--or you can't. You start revolutions--or you don't. Mostly, you try to figure out what the heck life is about.
Tomas has frivolous things on his mind. Or does he. After all, procreation is the stuff of survival and he is just the right age to be at the mercy of his survival instincts. Does Tomas think of women too much? Is he a lothario or is he trying to find himself? I think Tomas is Tomas and you either like him or you don't. I don't think he thinks about woman more than any other man his age. If you're a woman, you get involved with Tomas or you don't. He does have a way with women. But, Tomas is not happy--he is a cynic until it is too late.
Why does Tomas marry? Maybe underneath it all he wants a "regular" life. Or, maybe Tomas wants his cake and he wants to eat it too. Apparently, he wants a wife as he acquires one. And he wants to keep on seeing other women because he does. I am sure most of the men who saw this film and thought it was a very good film did so because they would like to be like Tomas or at least fantasize they are like Tomas. I am sure some of these very intelligent and educated men can find rationalizations for why this is a profound film.
Actually, I think Philip Kaufman has his tongue in his cheek. HENRY AND JUNE (another of his films) is simply the reverse of THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING. Anais Nin wanted to have her cake and eat it too.  She wanted a husband and a full range of sexual experiences with other men (and women). Apparently she did just that. Nin's diaries are much more explict than Kundera's books and good bedtime reading. Nin started a revolution--for women.
I recommend HENRY AND JUNE. Uma Thurman is wonderful as June and Kevin Spacey also stars in this very funny film, though he is not Henry Miller. TROPIC OF CANCER--now there's a book they ought to ban in Boston.
4374589
This was an outstanding film.  The acting, directing, and story were great.  It was EXTREMELY emotional, but beware...
IT WAS DEFINITLY THE SADEST FILM I HAVE EVER SEEN!!!
526208
This wasn't a bad film, but I am still slack-jawed at the description of this movie stating it as "Heartwarming" (slightly?) and "HILARIOUS" - there was not ONE single instance of hilarity throughout the entire movie.  It is more of a despondent film.  You wonder about the characters, but don't really come to care or identify with any of them. (Once, for a moment, a child makes a face at his mom - was that the aforementioned hilarity?)
The movie is sweet, but very bleak and understated.  Think 'British Movie' multiplied 5-fold for (Scottish) austerity of acting and add to it a depressing background, and storyline.  I am actually curious to watch another Scottish movie now and see if this really IS hilarious and entertaining by their standards.  And if so...how morbidly depressing.  Maybe there was just a typo or error in the description.
1834536
The trailers for this movie on TV and the star list made this a "must see" movie for me.  So disappointed!! It was one of the few movies i have ever seen that has absolutely NO redeeming quality.  The family in this film came together a damaged bunch and it ended with even more tragedy before it was over.  It was a horrible movie - one of the worst I have ever seen.  Of course, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.....
2777342
One cannot come away from a movie like this without feeling such sorrow at the atrocities carried out against the Jews and the depths to which mankind can sink. The Jews, like a number of people-groups throughout history, have had a very sad past, the latest being the Holocaust of WWII, and when watching this I was reminded of the biblical accounts of the numerous instances of Jewish 'slavery'.

This movie is set entirely in the concentration camp (i.e. there are no scenes of the war) and deals with the true story of Auschwitz's twelfth Sonderkommando and its attempts to fight their Nazi captors. _The Grey Zone_ might not be a Schindler's List, but I think it was more realistic in its portrayal of camp life. It is definitely a bleak film, and if you are expecting a movie about redemption or hope, then watch something 'Hollywood' instead. The Grey Zone lets you feel the sense of desperation and hopelessness that must have faced those people who knew that their days were numbered but struggled to hold onto their lives, even if it wasn't much of one.

The only fault I can find with this movie is the dialogue. The scriptwriter(s) really let this movie down by giving such unrealistic dialogues to these great actors. At times I was wondering whether this was an American drama or a movie about European Jews during World War II. I didn't see the rationale in giving the Germans a German accent while both Polish and Hungarian Jews had an American one. I would have preferred to have the actors with an accent even if it wasn't the best, rather than hear what was a very Americanized movie.

But, as I said, that was the only fault I found, so I hope it has not put you off this movie for good. I would highly recommend it, because it is a more realistic look at life within the concentration camps than some of the more rosy 'Holocaust films'.
3133391
When I first watched this film I was looking around at the others watching,thinking are they as underwhelmed as me,or was I missing something?
this is one of the worst films I have ever seen! I just can not see why it appears to be so popular????
it is so dam poor,on all levels.
2128145
It's bizarre as hell.  I went into this movie expecting nothing.  Watching it made me feel like I was going insane, and actually probably did permanent mental damage.  Nothing made sense for days afterwards and I still feel like I lost a part of myself, to have it replaced with something alien and hostile.

It isn't a comedy, or horror, or sci-fi movie.  It's a despair movie.  The awful despair of a senseless hostile world that no one would ask to be part of.  Absurdity that makes you laugh to keep from crying.  It is a tale of the human condition: brutal and insane.  Camus would run off a cliff after this movie, screaming about what a waste of time L'Etranger was.

Watching this movie will damage you, and not just through it's plot, imagery and music.  Even the pacing will make you realize how much of your life you've pissed away and how little it matters that you even exist.  You'll laugh, cry, scream, want your money back and eventually accept it's dark lessons.  You will not survive watching it, but something new will walk away wearing your skin.

So yah, I guess I'd say I really liked it.
2364213
One way or another, this film will leave you slack-jaw.  Everything about this film is so quintessentially bad that it should be taught in film school as an example of how to not make a movie.  The film is so tragic, in such a variety of ways, that the subject matter becomes entirely irrelavant.  See this film.  Prepare to be shocked.
2175294
Seriously, this film is even worse than the Titanic. I've tried to enjoy it, tried to search for the film's deeper meanings, well, there aren't any believe me. If the film's theme is just The finding of good company even in a strange world, The solace one finds in another in loneliness,then I would have to say that it is very poorly done.

The story is basically about a famous American actor who got an advertising job in Tokyo, but when he got there he is alienated by the Japanese culture and had some difficulties communicating, but then he met a woman named Charolett, who also feel the same way. Well, first I have to say something about the acting, it's B-A-D. Bill Murray, in the entire film has nothing but a depressed look on him. He showed almost no character transformation, at least not in his acting. He did not get more and more cheerful, but continues to "get lost" in his loneliness. The whole film did not give me a feeling of comfort, since the message is "The solace one finds in another in loneliness" and therefore it's suppose to be comforting. But after I watche the movie it left me with an empty feeling that I even cried. Because the message the movie gave me is that life is empty and meaningless, that even in such a gorgeous city, you can't be happy and find things you enjoy. I also felt tramendously lost, lost in wandering what the purpose of life is. Lost in feeling that there's always something missing in life.

The other thing is the Asian discrimination. Like another reviewer said, the two protagonists never managed to learn about their surroundings, never bothered to learn to speak Japanese because they just assumed that everybody knows how to speak English. If that is not a sense of superiority, then I don't know what is. Through their eyes, the Japanese people seemed extremely uncool, they are silly, stupid, couldn't say the "Rs" right, and have no artistic talent. All these things are discrimination and racisim. And I don't find it the least bit funny. So yeah, the protagonists wanna get the hell outta there, I would too. But the reason I received was not because they are so alienated, but that the place itself was so incredibly stupid to stay in. And this is also shown in the plot too, for example Bob and Charolett complained about cooking their own food.

Overall, I cannot understand why this film actually touched the Oscars, I guess once again I can say that the critics are mindless idiots. Also I just have to say to you guys, don't persume you know a culture or a country just because you've read books on it, studied it or watched it on TV. Because all those things can be biased. Go to the country, spend time there, and you may be deeply surprised. As someone who lived half of my life in one country and half in another, I have the right to say this.
1152329
I did not read other reviews, just finished it, and as I type this, the credits are still on the screen. I have to return it to the library tonight.
The movie is sad, and artistically so. This sadness it presents is very quiet, lingering sadness, and people who are naturally tuned into emotion of others will be affected most by it. By the way, I do not glorify sadness, yet, every now and then it's OK to taste it, only to keep one's capacity to feel sadness alive.
The movie is about  a bunch of dead-end people, in a somehow dead-end community/town. Very depressing, stagnant surrounding. A psychotherapist will find a lot of areas that the characters can work on. The movie has quite a few stereotype, small town scenes--the lame parties, teenage drugs, broken families, single mother competing with the pubescent daughter, and series of painful outcomes which could easily have been avoided in a different set up of life.
The ending could be a scene to desperation as well as a hope of new beginning.
The movie has the vibe of a short story, that takes one to a different world, to lives of others and makes one feel sorry about vulnerability of human heart. If you are as sensitive as I am, you would think about similar characters around you, and wished you could do something.
Recommended to those who are mature enough to observe sadness without being overwhelmed by it.
Otherwise, the overall desolation of heart-space may linger too heavily on some.
By the way,the prairie scene was beautiful.
Seeing two young love birds getting close and finding each other cute as well.
I am not a love-story type person, but I was touched by quite a few scenes.
1687474
One of the most relentlessly imbecilic movies I have ever seen.  Practically all of the military are mindless, bloodthirsty thugs, give to pointless, random destruction.  Of course the boogyman is an evil corporation (what else!) willing to kill and destroy anything in its path in a cold, cruel quest for filthy lucre.  Incidentally, the object of their evil lust is an element called "unobtainium" (I could NOT make this stuff up!)  And naturally the innocent natives are beautiful, spiritual beings, at one with nature, and...Oh, never mind.  Just insert the most puerile, inane, new-agey drivel you've ever heard here and you've got 'em.  Ironically, an evil corporation made this drek in a cold, cruel quest for filthy lucre.

That being said, this is undoubtedly the most visually beautiful movie I have ever seen.  If you can borrow it, and can endure the nauseating, self-righteous preaching of the script, you should see it.  Don't encourage the evil corporation by giving them your money though.  You may need it for an airsickness bag.
540656
...I'm very hesitant to do reviews on 'plight' movies. Why? Because the subject matter is very serious and very controversial; Save The Whales, HIV Awareness, Ebola Epidemic, the drastic change thats happening in our own country over racism as I write this, murder and terror in Kenya...Very serious subjects that ALL need immediate attention and action. But to make a MOVIE out of these horrible occurrences just feels...wrong...to me. I think Hollywood will defend themselves by saying they are using cinema to bring the atrocities into the light of awareness. Well unless every red cent made off this movie was sent to the main character to honestly HELP THESE CHILDREN...well...I'll just leave that as an open ended statement. This movie is stark and in your face, no happy happy here. The amazing fortitude the character (the real life 'Machine Gun Preacher') shows as he  rises up out of a wasteful criminal existence to find religion and find a REAL purpose, a VITAL purpose in saving the lives of these children is so intense and eye opening that it's truly hard to watch. I feel like these types of subject matter needs to be DEALT with, not put on display at the box office. What's next, Ferguson gone wild? Or perhaps, cancer sufferers Do Dallace!? The only reason I am reviewing a film I feel is somewhat exploitive is because I am a huge fan of Gerard Butler or I wouldn't review this movie at all. His portrayal as King Leunitus in the film 300 is one of my favorite performances by ANY male actor... ever. I will probably get quite a few 'negs' for this review, and I try to slip by and leave these sensitive subjects alone, but when I've been requested to do one, I do. It's what I'm expected to do as a reviewer. I hate doing bad reviews. I want to give everyone five stars, but that's not always possible. The performance by Gerard? Five stars. Exploitive presentation, knocks two stars off...Oh, and that real life "Machine gun Preacher? He's still out there...struggling. Risking his life. Children are starving and dying. I wonder if HOLLYWOOD plans to do a sequel? Mr. Butler, as one of your biggest fans, I believe your heart is in the right place, and I know you didn't get famous or make a killing doing this role, but this kind of subject matter is too horrible to be relegated to some theatre. This should be an emergency documentary being blasted at NATO enclaves and world outreach organizations, FEMA programs etc. Etc. Not played by actors and stylized, censored, and made palpable for public viewing. People should be getting sick to the very core of their moral fiber. Not writing reviews about it.
2350986
Lost Highway is certainly one of the strangest movies I have ever seen. Until the last moment, I was somewhat intrigued by the incomprehensible story, waiting for answers. It was extremely difficult to stand the many  unpleasant and disgusting scenes of the movie, yet I was hoping that at  least it was all for a purpose. However, when I discovered that all of this  was only for its own sake and could never be explained by anything other  than "life itself" (probable meaning of the title), I could find  no excuse for the existence of this work. What kind of life is this,  anyway?! Musically, this is one of the most memorable films I have ever  seen, but when the beautiful sountrack is wasted in such a pathetic way, it  does not redeem the movie too much. Definitely the most unpleasant film by  David Lynch so far.
2289893
I feel sad that people see "depth" in this flick. The only thing that lurks below the surface of American Beauty is hate...

skillet-deep, self-indulgent HATE. Similarly, the film does nothing to show what "looking closer" (its mantra) does for anyone aside from turning them into pitiful/pitiless scumbags. Example: after their epiphany with the paper/trash and Spacey's death, the two kids look coldly at the dead father and then turn to belittle the cheerleader (Suvari) on their way out the door. What sort of humanity or beauty is there in this? Suvari turns out to be the only humane character in the flick, and these two droids tell her SHE'S got problems and is essentially trash? Please. According to the director their actions are supposed to be the closing of a circle of sorts. I.e. The boy again sees beauty in an unlikely place. Again, please. The kids are vampires, sucking on beauty with no intention or ability to pass it on, much less radiate it. This is only one example of the utter lack of depth and humanity of American Beauty. I cannot think of a worse failure than this film.
79011
My thoughts about this movie had very little to do with its quality. Frankly, it didn't matter how good or bad this movie turned out to be... that went right out the window, 15 minutes into it.

Im annoyed, the DVD didn't come with enough warnings. I have never seen such a gruesome movie in my life, and I've seen just about everything at my video store. Im not "faint hearted"... but this... this was borderline traumatising. The images are stuck in my head as I write. I hired the DVD cause Belluci was in it and there was nothing else to see. So im sitting there with a few mates... and bam!... this thing just hits us like a tonne of bricks.

The beginning almost made me throw up... and it hadnt even started yet... the camera swirls around until you feel real nausea... and just when you're about to dry reach... this guy gets his arm snapped in half... and before you can squint... another man gets his face bashed violently.... Now i don't mean... bashed until his bloodied and bruised... I mean his maxilla (face) caves in, and his brain comes out... It looked so realistic... my heart was honestly pounding...

The next few minutes was a blur... I was debating with the guys to just turn it off. I wish we did... then came a gruesome 10 minute rape scene... stuff I frankly don't care to see... And just when you think its all over and you're picking what's left of your sanity off the floor... the guy beats Belluci until her face is splatterred across the concrete.

The rest of the movie is pointless.

I really really hated this film... and someone needs to stress how gruesome this movie is. Its documentary style 'tell it like it is'... is too much.. its traumatsiing... this needs to be communicated... specially when the DVD is creeping up onto shelves all over video stores right about now with Belluci looking seductive as ever on the front cover.

There is no point for us to analyse/discuss the moral/social/philosophical issues behind this movie... because its too traumatic, and depressing to think about. It sucks you so deep into its turmoil that you become a victim of it, rather than an outside observer.

Last time I felt like this, was when I stupidly witnessed an Iraqi beheading clip. And really, in hindsight, how different is this from that expirience. And why would I want to expirience it. We spend our lives trying to avoid and protect ourselves from such horrible encounters. We know its bad. Are you pleople that bored with your lives that you need to resort to watching snuff.  (Some people cut themselves to induce emotion). Are we at a point in time where mankind welcomes and embraces this kind of assault onto oneself for mere excitement\entertainment.

Watching A movie is like needles pinching nerve and muscle tendons, to inspire some sort of emotion. It can be relaxing, atmoshperic, thought provoking, entertaining. This movie is like a knife straight through the heart. Maybe I've still got a bit of life left in me to NOT need this sort of adrenaline pumping through my veins.
1363712
Beautiful to watch, difficult to understand or enjoy.

That has to be the most common complaint I hear whenever poor 'civilians' are thrown in to this disjointed product - I genuinely feel bad for the masses. As a young man who was active in the comics world during the release of The Watchmen, I can attest to the astounding and ground-breaking impact it had on storytelling, art, and vision. It was the Star Wars of comics - laying waste to the uninspired, underperforming and often flat world that was comic books at the time. When it ended its 1-year run - The Watchmen had changed an entire industry - it was THAT amazing.

But this visually rich film fails at capturing, what is at it's core, a mystery. Who Is killing The Watchmen? And why?

The film is so non-linear that it's very near impossible for the average viewer to take in and process. It's 1953, now it's 1985, now it's 1971, now it's 1944, now it's 1979, now it's... you get the point. Too muddied, too disconnected, too many plotlines to properly thread together a meaningful story.

As a fan, I 'got' what was being offered, and if we were all comic geeks, I think we would be unanimous at this stupendous achievement.

Sadly, and I think this is lost amongst fellow nerds, MOST of the audience are not, and will not, become hardcore fans just to see a film. That Director Snyder sought out the approval of the fans is what unfortunately sinks this film into the mess that the average viewer has to sort out for themselves.

What should have been the focal point, as in the original storyline, was Rorschach. It should've been made clear that it's from his perspective all the surrounding stories swirl. He is us - the audience. We're being taken along a complex  investigation about the deaths of his former comrades. THAT should've been the foundation upon which this story should've been told. But what we get is a mishmash of introductions, flashbacks, intersecting plotlines, dropped plotlines, missed & missing connections - all carried along with spectacular visuals that sadly lose their meaning since it's not placed within the context of  a story that we can readily absorb.

Solution: You start at the past. An introduction of characters; a brief synopsis of who and what they are; what their relations are to one another; what happened to them throughout the years. Boom - 25 minutes of film - the stage is set for the rest of the story. But what happens? Well... what happened.

Watching the Watchmen is like eating cotton candy - visually and texturally appealing, but ultimately leaving you empty inside.
4369885
This is absolutely one of the most heartbreaking films I've ever had the pleasure of viewing.

That sounded sort of strange.

The truth is that it takes a special kind of movie for me to be able to move me to the point of actually feeling genuine grief. But during this film, I felt like I was mourning along with the characters.