konpamusic
Lifetime Total
1+
IMDb Member
9 years
Reviews
O Espinho Da Rosa (2013)
A film with handsome actor
I saw O Espinho Da Rosa (The Thorn of the Rose) at ZIFF. It is a mystery-horror film with socio-political undercurrents, by first-time filmmaker Filipe Henriques.
Not bad but not that excellent to win awards!
One thing that every horror movie has in common, and that is the lack of common sense, lack of survival instinct of the characters. The film handles it okay but not quite well.
The down-side of the film is the added romantic overtone, too much screen-time focus on characters'beauty, to cover the not-sustained tension, which in turn overpowers the mysterious theme that the film is intended to sell to its audience.
The filmmaker attempts to make the mysterious twists revolve around the misunderstanding between the characters, but it is not believable, due to lack of acting-directing synchronization. Furthermore the director puts too much focus on the romantic scenes. He could have trimmed some of them out, and the film would be better.
The Exorcist films work no matter how many times they remake them because of effective use of tension. It must be efficiently and effectively built to keep the audience engaged.
The actor's /actress' beauty only covers up these flaws for a short time. Then, the other components in the film fail to keep the audience in suspension of disbelief. The filmmaker could have used the cognitive estrangement of its target audience to promote suspension of disbelief.
In horror-mystery films, the characters must gather their courage to venture into the unknown. The unknown plays into our most basic root of fears: the dark, the unknown, the forbidden. Stepping into the darkness is universally recognized as scary. The imagination tends to run wild in the dark. The film has many dark moments but not all of them are good for tension buildup. A good director would capitalize only the needed ones. The rest could be even cut out in the director's shooting script rewrites, even if the writer has them in the original script.
Not bad but not that excellent to win awards!
One thing that every horror movie has in common, and that is the lack of common sense, lack of survival instinct of the characters. The film handles it okay but not quite well.
The down-side of the film is the added romantic overtone, too much screen-time focus on characters'beauty, to cover the not-sustained tension, which in turn overpowers the mysterious theme that the film is intended to sell to its audience.
The filmmaker attempts to make the mysterious twists revolve around the misunderstanding between the characters, but it is not believable, due to lack of acting-directing synchronization. Furthermore the director puts too much focus on the romantic scenes. He could have trimmed some of them out, and the film would be better.
The Exorcist films work no matter how many times they remake them because of effective use of tension. It must be efficiently and effectively built to keep the audience engaged.
The actor's /actress' beauty only covers up these flaws for a short time. Then, the other components in the film fail to keep the audience in suspension of disbelief. The filmmaker could have used the cognitive estrangement of its target audience to promote suspension of disbelief.
In horror-mystery films, the characters must gather their courage to venture into the unknown. The unknown plays into our most basic root of fears: the dark, the unknown, the forbidden. Stepping into the darkness is universally recognized as scary. The imagination tends to run wild in the dark. The film has many dark moments but not all of them are good for tension buildup. A good director would capitalize only the needed ones. The rest could be even cut out in the director's shooting script rewrites, even if the writer has them in the original script.
Love Me Haiti (2014)
A high quality low - budget film.
I saw this film at ZIFF. It was one of the best films presented in the Old Fort this year. To my taste, this short film was better than the big budget films ZIFF presented this year, even better than Mandela:Long Walk to Freedom, another big- budget failure at the box office.
It is time for independent filmmakers to learn that one can only make Hollywood with Hollywood, neither with Sollywood nor with Nollywood.
For a low budget film, the director did a great job, and the acting performance is believable.
The only thing I didn't like in this film is the music, as I am a fan of silent film. To my taste, I think that the images would be better without music. The music has a dramatic overtone. It adds emphasis on the drama in Haiti, but a bit too much.
Overall, it is a great story. It should be developed into a feature film.
It is time for independent filmmakers to learn that one can only make Hollywood with Hollywood, neither with Sollywood nor with Nollywood.
For a low budget film, the director did a great job, and the acting performance is believable.
The only thing I didn't like in this film is the music, as I am a fan of silent film. To my taste, I think that the images would be better without music. The music has a dramatic overtone. It adds emphasis on the drama in Haiti, but a bit too much.
Overall, it is a great story. It should be developed into a feature film.
Half of a Yellow Sun (2013)
A novelist film
I watched this film at the Zanzibar International Film Festival. It is an Okay film for the first-time director Biyi Bandele - jumping straight to big budget film ($10M). Nevertheless, it does not deserve the golden award for best feature film. ZIFF is promoting mediocrity. There were other local African films that deserve the award - as 'local' is one of ZIFF main criteria. ZIFF is a not-for- profit organization, and it functions no different than the big-name for-profit festivals. If you don't know what I am talking about - watch the documentary Official Rejection (2009).
Hollywood actors, big-name producers from Constant Gardener, and expensive special effects did not embellish the poor directing skills of Biyi Bandele.
To be successful in his next film project, I advise Biyi to first divorce himself from his novelist style.
Just as acting-for-play is different than acting-for-film; the same rule applies to writing a book vs a film script; directing a play vs directing a film.
Biyi does not yet understand the job of a director. There are certainly a LOT of specific directorial responsibilities that he needs to master to become a good director.
Hollywood actors, big-name producers from Constant Gardener, and expensive special effects did not embellish the poor directing skills of Biyi Bandele.
To be successful in his next film project, I advise Biyi to first divorce himself from his novelist style.
Just as acting-for-play is different than acting-for-film; the same rule applies to writing a book vs a film script; directing a play vs directing a film.
Biyi does not yet understand the job of a director. There are certainly a LOT of specific directorial responsibilities that he needs to master to become a good director.