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Woody Allen's Manhattan features black and white cinematography - by Gordon Willis - with a beauty rarely seen in the cinema. The movie is light, grand and balanced. Seen at first as a romantic comedy depicting the relationship between a middle-aged man and a teenager, the plot takes on complexities that only passionate people will be able to recognize. Isaac's and Tracy's romance does not thrive because of sheer immaturity ... of him. Although the romantic mood is always present, what you see most during the development of the plot are people who can't stand experiencing happiness and are always looking for justification to break up with their partners: Isaac persuades Tracy to leave it; Mary, who is having an affair with Yale, also asks him to leave her because he has no nerve to leave his wife; Yale himself encourages a relationship between Mary and Isaac to later regret. It seems that romances are a pretext for the director to celebrate his private love for Manhattan, a place he loves. From the opening of the movie, with dawn in Central Park to George Gershwin's Blue Rhapsody, to the iconic scene of the couple Mary-Isaac on a bench on Sutton Square overlooking the Queensboro Bridge, what follows is a sequence of New York rituals of that time: going to the Guggenheim Museum, art films, lake boats, concerts, Chinese food and a string of romantic songs performed mainly by the New York Philharmonic, under the baton of historic conductor Zubin Mehta. At the end of the movie, after meetings and mismatches, it seems that, along with Isaac, we all fell in love with Tracy aka Mariel Hemingway. Her acting is so natural and devoid of glamor that she seems to be the only person balanced within a multitude of beings utterly unable to get along serenely. When everyone introduces themselves, they speak not what they are but what they do, it is Tracy's most entertaining speech. After people say they are from TV, from the publisher, from literary criticism, she says: ─ I'm from high school. #allen #review

Silver Linings Playbook is a milestone in cinema about people with mental health problems. Usually seen as dangerous (as in Hitchcock's Psycho) or funny (Levinson's Rain Man), people with mental disorders end up losing control of their bodies and are treated apart, trapped or overprotected as it happens in real life. David O. Russell's movie attempts, and succeeds in a different way, to turn the dramas of two “troublesome” people into a romantic comedy. Handsome, athletic, and confident, Pat (Bradley Cooper) manages to be released from a mentally ill hospital where he remained for eight months after beating his wife's lover and still has a restraining order from her. Diagnosed as bipolar, he returns to his parents' home under the responsibility of his mother Dolores (Jacki Weaver). The boy's father, Pat Sr., masterfully portrayed by Robert De Niro, also cannot be considered completely sane: stuck in a restaurant project, but unemployed, lives on bookmaking mainly football games, having an irrational passion for Philadelphia Eagles team, which is why he was banned from the stadium for fighting. Standing in front of the TV, he is convinced that a series of superstitious rituals can alter the outcome of the games. The entry of Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence, fantastic), a young widow who lives in the neighborhood, represents a balance in the plot not because she is understanding and welcoming Pat, but precisely because she seems to be as crazy as he is. During a discussion, they pass in front of a restaurant and, seeing the sign Dines, he invites the girl: ─ Do you want to have dinner with me? ─ and she, with a face of hate, responds: ─ Pick me up at seven-thirty. Together, they comment on the effects of the various anti-anxiety and antipsychotics meds, and indulge in a ballroom dance project, which will be the movie's great climax: they will try to win a good position and still defend Pat Miller's ultimate bet. #russell #review

When it received the “Palme d'Or”, the grand prize of the 2001 Venice Film Festival, The Son's Room was criticized by many for exactly some of its best qualities. Seen as sentimental, simplistic and common, the film empathizes with the audience that allows a calm and slow cry during many scenes. This complicity happens because, although compartmentalized by doors, such as the one that divides the Sermonti family house and the father's office, the subjects interpenetrate and intersect to the point of influencing the fate of the characters. Nanni Moretti, the director, acts as Giovanni, a psychoanalyst who listens to various patients with apparent distrust in the process of remembering, repeating, and reworking. Thus, it accomplishes the task mechanically, even going rambling. After the attendance, Giovanni goes through the door that shares the office with the house and plunges into domestic issues. He and his wife Paola (Laura Morante) are worried about their son Andrea (Giuseppe Sanfelice), who was accused of stealing a fossil from the school's science lab. He denies it. Daughter Irene (Jasmine Trinca) studies Latin with her weird boyfriend. When the fatal accident with Andrea occurs, the family kind of breaks down. The scene is striking when, during a basketball attack, Irene is surprised by the presence of her father (who was to give the tragic news), and at first smiles, then completely paralyzes. The question that arises is: how to continue leading life in the same way? How can a professional who welcomes others' pain continue to pursue the profession despite his own tragedy? Giovanni tries to be oblivious, has a crying attack during the session with an obsessive-compulsive, and ends up blaming the cancer patient for his son's death. One day out of nowhere comes a letter from Arianna (Sofia Vigliar) who had a connection with Andrea. The entry of this character, hitherto unknown to all, will give serenity and a new perspective to mourning. #moretti #review

Parasite is such a fantastic movie that even its comparison with other amazing works can be dangerous. Korean director Bong Joon-ho has such control over the narrative and the camera that we often feel in a Hitchcock or Tarantino movie or even Italian neorealism. And it all flows smoothly. The film begins as a custom comedy. Kim Ki-woo's family (Choi Woo-sik) lives so far below the poverty line in Korean society, that resides in a basement. They're always trying to capture wifi signals from surface neighbors, or leaving the windows open to benefit from the plagues fumigation made by the city hall on the streets. The boy's life experiences a turnaround when a friend who is taking a trip abroad indicates him as a tutor to a girl he is teaching English. The friend is in love with the girl and trusts Kim, who knows why, to keep her safe. Changing his name to Kevin, the boy begins his classes at the magnificent home of the fancy family, and, as expected, the girl Park Da-hye (Jung Ziso) soon falls in love with him. But your dream is much more ambitious: getting a job for your whole family in the house. First, he convinces the girl's mother Yeon-kyo (Jo Yeo-jeong in great acting) to hire an art psychologist named Jessica, actually her sister Ki-jung (Park So-dam) for the hyperactive younger son. Using tricks, the Kim family's father and mother are soon admitted to the house. And on a Parks trip, they celebrate at their "new" residence. After that apparent happy ending, everything changes in the movie. Former housekeeper Moon-gwang (Jeong-eun Lee) returns home and brings with her a great secret hidden until then. The outbreak of this surprise causes scenes worthy of a thriller, which only ends with the unexpected return of the Parks. What follows are comical scenes and amenities, until the terrible birthday of little boy Da-son (Hyun-jun Jung). From there, chaos, destruction, and despair. And an ending. Or would it be two? #bong #review

Sunrise is an extraordinary movie. Considered by many to be the best silent film ever, it was the first work of German director F.W. Murnau in Hollywood. Released in 1927, at the dawn of sound films, it was not a commercial success, but it was almost a century ago an unforgettable experience. The truth is that after the soundtrack came about, precisely that same year 1927, with The Jazz Singer, much of the cinematic experience lies in the dialogues. In Sunrise, the strength is in the images and emotional expression of the actors. Also, the movie is not completely silent. It uses a piece of equipment called "Movietone," which was an audio track recorded on a vinyl record that was played back in the speakers as the movie was being projected. This method allowed for a complete sound experience with instrumental music and various sound effects such as traffic noise, thunder, and the like. There are no dialogues, and even intertitles are rare and of little content. The story is simple and universal "of no place and every place." The characters are not named: they are just The Man (George O'Brien), "The Woman" (Janet Gaynor), and "The City Woman" (Margaret Livingston). The Man, a married farmer, has an affair with The City Woman, who suggests, on a date, that he kill The Woman, sell the farm, and come live with her in the city. Man is reluctant at first, but they come up with a plot: he will invite his wife for sailing and drown her on the way. Everything works perfectly well, until, inside the boat, the man goes to the woman, but cannot commit the crime. However, the woman realizes that something is wrong and runs away from him as soon as they reach the shore. When they finally reconcile, they decide to have fun in the city together, where fun episodes happen with dances, comedic scenes, and moments of tenderness. At night, tired and happy, the couple return to the farm, but a storm strikes them halfway back. #murnau #review

The Barbarian Invasions is a 2003 movie that deals in its dialogues with the question of the interpenetration of divergent worlds, failure of ideologies, and the fall of empires and points of view. It is no coincidence that it occurs shortly after the Twin Towers tragedy in the United States. Rémy (Rémy Girard) is a college professor who has a terminal illness and is on the verge of death in a chaotic Canadian hospital assisted only by his ex-wife Louise (Dorothée Berryman). Pressured by the precarious conditions of the public hospital and the severity of Rémy's illness, Louise calls their son Sébastien (Stéphane Rousseau), a dominant trader in a London financial conglomerate. They do not get along. The son does not forgive his father, who left his family for a bohemian life. The father does not support his son's lifestyle, opposite to his beliefs. However, it is the son's money that will give Rémy some dignity in her last moments. Sébastien bribes hospital staff and union members to have his father set up on an unoccupied floor, hires a few students to visit him, contacts some of his best friends, and employs a morphine addict to share the drug's effects with his father. Rémy does not accept the idea that soon he will no longer be in the world, but in one of his “trips” provided by Nathalie (Marie-Josée Croze), she makes him understand that his attachment is not to the present but his past. Realizing his father's affection for his old lakeside home, Sébastien organizes a gathering of all around his father to talk, drink and eat. Conversations, it turns out, are the film's strong point and revolve around the deconstruction of youth illusions, outdated ideologies, and ridiculous loves. Everything goes by, and indeed the desire to live forever or die a good death are no more than delusions on this nostalgic night. Everyone lived, perhaps not as long as Rémy, illusory lives and passions. For him, death comes the way he finally wished. #arcand #review

Werner Herzog's Wrath of God remains after almost 50 years, one of the scariest movies ever made. But terror comes from the condition of the plot itself, not from some outside element. On Christmas Day 1560, a Spanish expedition led by Gonzalo Pizarro (Alejandro Repullés), descending the steep mountains of the Peruvian Andes like small ants among clouds, arrives in the rainforest in search of the legendary city of El Dorado. Dressed like a military parade, soldiers carry heavy cannons along the muddy trails, and enslaved natives carry litters with noble ladies. At the same time, a song composes the scene with sounds that travel between the sacred and the rusticity of the Indians. It's the band Popol Vuh (name of the Mayan holy book) led by Florian Fricke. If the music is sinister, the presence of Klaus Kinski in the role of Don Lope de Aguirre sets the harrowing tone of the action. When the expedition splits into two groups, Aguirre rebels treacherously and cowardly against the leadership of Dom Pedro de Ursua (Ruy Guerra). Leaving this nobleman injured, he appoints the unimpressive nobleman Don Fernando de Guzman (Peter Berling) to command the expedition. In a meeting with an Indian couple who cannot hear the word of God in a bible, the arrogance of the Spanish conquerors is expressed. In contrast to jungle adventure movies, where it is known that someone will survive in the end, this film offers few alternatives to the hostile environment of the equatorial forest, the rushing river, and the arrows of the Indians. There are no spectacular scenes, nor many dialogues. Faith in Aguirre's delusional thinking, which speaks of being emperor of a kingdom full of riches, or the fear of this delirium, causes everyone to follow him. In the end, what you see is a limping Aguirre and what remains of his expedition drifting on the Amazon River on a raft. The hallucinated commander's speech becomes increasingly ambitious about the future, while little monkeys insist on occupying the float. #herzog #review

Bacurau is an extraordinary Brazilian movie directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles. Named for a bird, "not a birdie," which is angry and goes out at night, Bacurau is a forgotten city in the backwoods of the state of Pernambuco. So forgotten that there is no drinking water, no vaccines, no books in schools. So forgotten that coffins have become food parcel items, and news comes via WhatsApp or through a strategically parked DJ at the entrance to the city. The story begins with the return of Teresa (Barbara Colen), hitchhiking a water tanker truck, to the funeral of her grandmother Carmelita (Lia de Itamaracá), the village matriarch and religious leader. A tension between religion and science is presumed to be during the wake, in the explosive reaction of Dona Domingas, the head of the health clinic, masterfully portrayed by Sônia Braga. After the interment, strange facts start to happen: a flying saucer chased a tricycle ridden by an indigenous healer, the tanker truck was shot at, the city disappeared from Google Maps, and several bodies, including children, began to appear nearby. A couple of Brazilians (Karine Teles and Antonio Saboia) who declared themselves "from the south, from that richest part of Brazil where there are European colonies" arrived in the city trailing and installs an artifact that silenced all cell phones. We find that they are in the service of a group of Americans, set up on a nearby farm that, under the leadership of German Michael (Udo Kier) and, with vintage weapons, are willing to decimate the entire village population. One of the residents, Pacote (Thomas Aquino), seeks help from the nearby Lunga (Silvero Pereira) gang to defend the city. When the carnage takes place, the German puts himself on the outskirts of the city with a precision rifle aimed at the streets. By coincidence, this year 2019, after the film's premiere, five children from poor communities in Rio de Janeiro were murdered by police officers. #mendonçafilho #dornelles #review

The thread of a Wedding Story seems to be divorce, but what director Noah Baumbach reveals is a glimpse of real-life in a relationship between two people. That thing you never talk about, regarding opposite and undesirable affections that arise, and what you see are two people who genuinely love each other by taking unthinkable and disloyal attitudes to each other. At the beginning of the movie, it's possible to know the strengths of the two protagonists. They write a description that each made about the other at the request of a mediator. We found out that Nicole (Scarlett Johansson) is a loving mother, great listener, concerned about her mother and sister, and never closes the cabinet. Charlie (Adam Driver), on the other hand, is a talented and creative theater director, extraordinarily competitive and devours his meals. Entering the intimacy of the couple, who has gone through previous crises, makes life difficult for the viewer accustomed to taking sides. Logically, some dirt on the couple is dug up. Charlie has already cheated on Nicole once and rarely takes her personal needs into account. Nicole goes to LA to film the pilot of a TV series and kind of kidnaps the couple's son to live there permanently, the fact that Charlie only learns of when he is surprised by the divorce papers. The performances reinforce this documentary idea: both Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson are convincing in their performances. Each receives a monologue from the director: Charlie at the bar and Nicole with the horrible Nora Fanshaw (Laura Dern, fantastic!). Also, there is a dialogue, or rather, an unthinkable argument, that famous final round in which one says what is not to be told and what is frightened is heard. Rarely does the film sounds conventional or excessive, as in musical numbers, which perhaps worked better in the theater. But in general, it is a beautiful movie, a work of fiction that manages to scratch real life and makes us feel that the couple should be together, even though we know it would not work. Or it rather would. #mendonçafilho #dornelles #resenha

Man With a Movie Camera is one of the most revolutionary visual experiences ever made in the form of film. Director Dziga Vertov sought to challenge various models fashionable in 1929. One of these parameters is the average shot length (ASL), which measures the total duration of a movie divided by the number of shots. The silent films of that time had an ASL of 11.2 seconds, and the director's wife, Yelizaveta Svilova, achieved the feat of editing Man With a Movie Camera in 2.3 seconds, a mark similar to modern films. Vertof also changes the theatrical form with which the movies were produced and bet on an alternative language, making a point of stating, at the opening of the film, that he had no scenery, no intertitles, and no actors. Just a succession of images and a fast-paced soundtrack. The purpose of the film is to portray the 24 hours of a single day in a Russian city. That single day was shot in four years and showed images of three cities: Moscow, Kiev, and Odessa. The work resulted in about 1775 different shots recorded by the cinematography of Mikhail Kaufman, director's brother, and perhaps the only character. At the beginning of the exhibition, an image division presents the illusion of a giant movie camera with the cinematographer and his camera with a tripod on top. The scene changes to a movie theater where the seats, until then raised, begin to automatically swivel down to the entrance of the audience that will watch the movie, this one. What follows is a beautiful metalanguage exercise. Images on various subjects are shown, and the cinematographer is showed himself filming, sometimes on top of a truck, sometimes in the depths of a coal mine and even being almost squeezed by two trams that cross. The ending is a crescendo where the stages of editing the film are shown along with new images in cuts that "jump," the movement accelerates, the music becomes frantic until the shutter closes together with a human eye. #mendonçafilho #dornelles #resenha

Fargo begins with a white canvas, and as the initial credits start to appear, the icy North Dakota landscape arises, with the strange flight of a bird through the snow. There is a warning that the story tells a real fact that happened in Minnesota in 1987, but that the real names were changed in "respect to the dead." The locations took place made in the two neighboring states and in the cities where the tragedy occurred. It looks like a home-made movie, as the directors, the Cohen brothers, Ethan, and director Joel grew up in Minneapolis. Every expectation falls apart as the story progresses, to the point of not knowing for sure whether we are witnessing a tragedy, as promised, or a satire, comedy, thriller, or thriller. It's a unique, unrivaled movie where transitions occur smoothly, and even violence seems "natural." The story revolves around a failed car salesman, Jerry Lundegaard (William H. Macy), who desperately needs money for a deal that can save him from bankruptcy and also the domination of his wealthy father-in-law (Harve Presnell), who, by chance, owns the car agency where Jerry works. To make his investment viable, Jerry hires two scumbag lowlifes called Showalter and Grimsrud (Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare) to kidnap his wife Jean (Kristin Rudrud) and share the $ 80,000 ransom paid by father-in-law Wade. Simple like that simple. Said no one ever, because everything goes wrong and all expectations turn into nightmares in the most amazing ways possible. In the middle of the movie, some corpses begin to appear, frozen. Called to investigate possible murders, Brainerd's border town police chief Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand) also has an unexpected profile: pregnant, she needs to have her vehicle pushed to get the engine started, and before going to the police station, goes to the market to buy worms for her husband Norm (John Carrol Lynch) to fish. #coen #review

The Searchers is one of John Ford's most epic and beautiful movies. Winton C. Hooch's magnificent cinematography is already present in the opening scene of the movie when, from inside Aaron Edwards (Walter Coy) ranch, we see his wife Martha (Dorothy Jordan) open the door to the sunny Texas landscape of the year 1868. Down the dusty road, we noticed, as if we were part of the scene, the arrival of Aaron's brother Ethan (John Wayne), a Confederate soldier who boasts of never being defeated and who for three years became a wanderer, raising suspicions about their activities. Analyzing the movie today requires a reflection on the culture of that time, which saw the Indians as savages to be exterminated. Ethan's stance is racist, even discriminating against young Martin Pawley (Jeffrey Hunter), whom he rescued from an Indian attack, but who, having an "eighth Comanche blood," is not worth living with family, according to the war veteran. However, this stance will be reviewed by a few occurrences of the plot that will follow. The big issue in the movie is a relentless search for Ethan's niece Debbie (adolescent Natalie Wood), kidnapped by the Comanche Indians, after murdering the entire family and burning the ranch. Five years later, only two men remain in search, but for different reasons: Ethan intends to kill the girl, who would have become the prey of a Comanche buck. At the same time, his unwanted traveling companion, young Pawley, wants to rescue his foster sister at all costs. Moreover, the coexistence of the two men of such different personalities serves to diminish the differences between them, and to add to the old cowboy some humanity, as well as to soften some aspects of his troubled mind. When the expected confrontation with Chief Scar's (Henry Brandon) tribe finally occurs, Debbie runs into the despair of Uncle Ethan, whose path is barred by Pawley. The ending, surprising by the standards of the time, heralded a new era for western films. #ford #review