Will the traffic in the cinemas heat up or will it stay icy longer than the recent snowfall? Two young women will answer the question movies which premiere tonight and are expected to draw the general public. This is the long-awaited mystery film “Crime on the Nile” by Kenneth Branagh and the latest romantic comedy “Marry me” with Jennifer Lopez. Also showing are the films “Natural Light”, an interesting war drama from Hungary and Dennes Nagy and “Last and First People”an unusual futuristic film by Iceland film music composer Johann Johanssonwho died prematurely.
Crime on the Nile (Death on the Nile). A mystery film, American production of 2022, directed by Kenneth Branagh, with Kenneth Branagh, Gal Gadot, Emma McKay, Armi Hammer, Annette Bening, Tom Bateman, Leticia Wright and others.
From the movies that cinephiles have been looking forward to, after the successful transfer, five years ago, of “Crime on the Orian Express” by Kenneth Branagh, who is once again testing his strength with another bestseller by Agatha Christie .
The British director and actor, who also plays the main role of Hercule Poirot, this time puts another bet, wanting to cinematically renew the famous book of the famous author, on the one hand penetrating as deeply as possible into the character of Poirot and on the other using history mystery and to the detriment of the suspense, to speak of high society, to make social comments concerning the present day, sometimes to give a strongly melodramatic style.
Of course, the main spirit of the play remains to support the whole project, but it is quite weakened in relation to the 1978 film made by the experienced but quite conventional John Guillermin, with the unique Peter Ustinov and a number of renowned actors in the cast. (from Betty Davis and Maggie Smith, to David Niven and George Kennedy).
Fans of the mystery films and Agatha Christie, from the foreground, will wonder if they are in the right film, as they will be transported 20 years before the mystery case that Poirot has to solve, in the trenches of the battles of the First World War, where they will see him trying to save his battalion, in a suicide attack. A key point for the evolution of his multifaceted and difficult character, while it will be revealed what is hidden behind his famous mustache. Brana will find other occasions to illuminate the character of the egocentric, obsessive compulsive, full of guilt, the death of his first and only love, detective and all that will make him a special hero in 33 books of the English writer.
At the same time, Brana will try to go deeper into the other characters of the play, to give them substance, to show what is hidden behind their behavior and crime, to make an extensive social comment, to talk about the elite of the time, but and the influence of money, sometimes successful and other times not so much, other times showing fascination with their lives and other times reminding that behind riches and expensive costumes there is nothing but miserable little people. A commentary that is quite loaded, with jokes or symbolism, but also unnecessary explanations, the most dangerous trap for a director, as Kurosawa used to say, whose hair does not seriously injure the film.
The story is more or less well-known, with the company of the rich being on a luxury voyage on the Nile, in Egypt, another protagonist, the most charming in the film, despite the director of photography and close collaborator of the director, the Greek Cypriot Haris Zamparloukos, postcard photography, giving atmospheric the dreamy feeling conveyed by the African country and the Nile, and helping Brana to put us in the climate of the time, even sometimes through a colonial perspective. As for the emphasis on the melodramatic dimension of the film, it probably loses some points here, although it may be more appealing to the general public, but it weakens the structure of a work that wants to be a mystery story.
Kenneth Branagh as Poirot, though well thought out and commendably trying to delve deep into the complex character, seems to be losing points (indulgently) to Ustinov, while the rest of the large and notable cast stands adequately although at times resembles , failing to understand the influence of the environment, the metaphysical energy of the landscape and a great culture, far more important than money, silk dresses and gold jewelry.
IN A FEW WORDS διά The famous Belgian detective Hercule Poirot travels to Egypt on an impressive steamship. When the seemingly perfect and idyllic honeymoon of a couple and their company is abruptly interrupted by violent deaths, Poirot’s journey turns into an adventure, as he is called to rediscover the killer.
Natural Light. War drama, Hungarian, French and German production of 2021, directed by Dennes Nagy, with Ference Zambo, Tamas Garbatz ​​and others.
Nightmares from the past, about Hungary’s stance in World War II, as it found itself in the wrong camp, on the cursed side of history, embracing Nazi Germany. Courageous cinema, which looks at the responsibilities of the ancestors, but also as relevant as ever, as the crimes, the mistakes of the past seem to be repeated.
An unexpectedly significant debut for Dennis Nagy, who was honored with the Silver Bear for Best Director at the Berlin Film Festival and is a true example of the Hungarian new wave of cinema, starring Laszlo Nemes (“Saul’s Son”).
It is not just another film about the horrors of war, but a penetration into the psychology of those found on the black page of history, participating in crimes against humanity, dipping their minds and hearts into the hatred generously shared by the Nazis.
A story that seems to be repeated, many times, with different shapes and appearances, continuing to further poison our world.
Nagy, having a strong story, with a group of Hungarian soldiers looking for guerrillas in villages of the occupied Soviet Union, on behalf of the Germans, will dip the camera in the mud, in the icy inhospitable landscapes, in the gloomy half-darkness, which weighs even more. turbulent presence of soldiers. And at the same time putting the protagonist, a photographer observer of the battles, to be unexpectedly in charge of the soldiers and to realize his responsibilities.
A difficult, but really shocking, film, directed by a seemingly extremely talented and evolving creator, a thinker, who makes the most of the meager supplies he was given and the amateur actors he found in the surrounding villages. Russian-speaking Latvia, where he shot the film.
IN A FEW WORDS… During World War II, a group of Hungarian soldiers (Hungary was fighting on the side of Nazi Germany) was looking for guerrillas in the occupied part of the Soviet Union. Wandering in the icy landscape leads them to a small village where the suspected saboteurs are likely to be hiding. Sergeant Semetka, a photographer and silent observer, suddenly finds himself at the head of a group facing a “war” that has always been raging around him, but has never been his.
Last and First Men. Science Fiction, Icelandic production of 2020, directed by Johan Johansson.
Unusual futuristic film, the first and only one made by the prematurely lost Icelandic film composer Johan Johansson (died in 2018 at the age of 49), based on the science fiction novel by Olaf Stapleton and screened at the Berlin Film Festival.
There is not the slightest action or human presence in the film, only slow, almost motionless spooky shots, often repeated, of imposing stone monuments built in the 1960s in the former Yugoslavia, in black and white and very, very gray. And together with the voice of Tilda Swindon to narrate – accompanied by the imposing and mournful music of the late creator himself – the end of the planet, two billion years from today! Surreal monuments, the only ones left from our civilization, transmit messages to the deserted planet, but also to humanity before the earth enters the last turn of its existence, highlighting the humility of the human species and its humble instincts that made everything , what they could for an inglorious end -although predetermined. A star as it is born and so it disappears.
A film that looks more like a philosophical text accompanied by images and that is of course aimed at a limited audience.
An interesting text, with several serious and interesting views on the universe, man, the earth, but it falls victim to an excessive seriousness, on the verge of seriousness and a teaching. It is no coincidence that the film begins with the narrator Swindon saying “listen patiently”, while throughout (70 minutes), commandingly and with the sternness of a teacher of previous years, only the sound of the rod that warns the wind is missing, to develop , slowly and painfully, the text -of the 1,500 words, up and down- that is in front of her.
Of course, one would say that after two billion years – this could also be described as excessive optimism – who lives and who dies. But man always wants to be held somewhere. Even the distant end of humanity is something macabre, especially for those who do not believe that everything is exclusively physics or chemistry …
IN A FEW WORDS… Two billion earth years later, in the future, the last generation of humans is on the brink of extinction. From their distant, inhabited planet, they send a final cinematic message to the present inhabitants of the Earth.
Marry Me. A romantic comedy, American production of 2022, directed by Kat Coiro, with Jennifer Lopez, Owen Wilson, Maluma, Chloe Coleman, Sarah Silverman and others.
Another sweet and savory romantic comedy with Jennifer Lopez, a variation of Cinderella in America today. Only in the place of Cinderella is not Lopez, but her co-star, Owen Wilson! At the same time, however, it is a film about the glamorous world of the biz show, since the rudimentary and completely superficial script wants Lopez to play more or less herself. A pop star who in front of thousands of viewers and millions of viewers gives up the famous and beloved of her heart, after discovering at the last moment that he is cheating on her, and chooses as a husband an insignificant, divorced math teacher who was at her concert without wanting to, accompanying his teenage daughter.
All this with plenty of sweet scenes, even more colorful soap bubbles and many songs of the attractive Latin American showwoman. A film that promotes its latest successes, but also the image of a pop idol.
The details are unnecessary, for the film, which is full of recipes and familiar clichés and is addressed exclusively to the teenage and youth fanatical audience of Jennifer Lopez.
IN A FEW WORDS πο Pop star Kat Valdez, along with Bastian, with whom they form the most successful duo in the music industry, are preparing to have their wedding in front of their fans, in a ceremony that will be broadcast live. A divorced math teacher, Charlie, forcibly accompanies his daughter and girlfriend to the concert. When Kat learns, shortly before the ceremony, that Bastian is cheating on her, her angelic world collapses and she turns her gaze to a random person in the crowd, who chooses to marry him. This is Charlie. And what started as an impulsive reaction is evolving into an unexpected romance, even though all the forces of the universe are conspiring to separate them.
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