Drama

Farewell, Mr. Haffmann

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Farewell, Mr. Haffmann
  • IMDb: link

Farewell, Mr. Haffmann

Adapting Jean-Philippe Daguerre‘s play, writer/director Fred Cavayé tells the story of French Jew Joseph Haffmann (Daniel Auteuil) whose family flees Nazi-occupied France. Haffmann arranges to give his shop to his assistant, François Mercier (Gilles Lellouche), under the agreement he will return the shop to Haffman after the war. However, unable to flee, Haffman ends up hiding in the basement of his former home, with Mercier and his wife (Sara Giraudeau) agreeing to hide him, only to slowly discover the devil’s bargain he has made.

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Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
  • IMDb: link

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

It’s hard to imagine a more unexpected hit in 2000 than Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon but the film surpassed all expectations, and a mainstream movie-going audience which at that point was far less accepting of foreign films, becoming both a critical and box office smash. Adapted from the novel, the film centers around renowned Wudang swordsman Li Mu Bai (Chow Yun-Fat) and his longtime ally Shu Lien (Michelle Yeoh) as well as the governor’s daughter Jen (Ziyi Zhang) who is secretly the apprentice of the villainous Jade Fox (Pei-Pei Cheng) and her love for desert bandit named Lo (Chang Chen).

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Shōgun – Crimson Sky / A Dream of a Dream

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Shōgun – Crimson Sky / A Dream of a Dream
  • IMDb: link | link

Shōgun - Crimson Sky / A Dream of a Dream

The final two episodes of Shōgun focus on the choices of Mariko (Anna Sawai) and their aftermath. Having journeyed to Osaka, Mariko informs Ishido (Takehiro Hira) of her plans to return to  Lord Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada) the next day and take his vassals, and infant son, back with her. Putting Ishido in a no-win situation of either giving up his hostages or confirming that they are indeed hostages and unable to leave, he refuses her request having his men cut down her soldiers at the gate and advance on to Marko. This, of course, is exactly what Mariko was expecting and gives her the opportunity to commit seppuku for failing to meet her lord’s demands and achieve her long goal of joining her family in death.

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Challengers

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Challengers
  • IMDb: link

Challengers

What a mess. You know you are in trouble when in the final act of a film, particularly a sports film, you find yourself with no investment or interest in the outcome. Honestly, shouldn’t I be cheering for someone? Anyone? Anyone at all? A Challenger is a tennis tournament, often with local sponsorship for small prize money, for those not quite good enough for the main tour tournaments. The film from director Luca Guadagnino and writer Justin Kuritzkes is aptly named as it too is not-yet-ready for prime time.

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