Night Pages: Oscar films 4 & 5
Apr. 30th, 2013 02:08 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
luncheeMovie: Zero Dark Thirty
Long story short Fucking loved it. An amazing cinematic experience.
Review
Details the hunt for Bin Laden from the mid 2000s until his execution by a tenacious government agent played by Jessica Chastain.
I liked many, many things about this movie, most of which can be summed up by JESSICA CHASTAIN IS AMAZING. The movie was I think, almost three hours long? And Jessica Chastain had to carry most of that by herself, and by god, did she carry it.
The hunt for Bin Laden is obsessive, alienating, lonely and desperate. They grasp for clues and hunt down lead after lead after lead. The movie moves quickly, but packs an emotional punch. It’s minimal, but harrowing and confronting, and shows the endless red tape and bureaucracy of the whole operation. At this point, when ! step away from the overwhelming wish that Chastain’s character succeed, I start to think about the larger themes of the movie - how far can you go? How much of yourself and your morality are you willing to destroy in order to succeed?
It sharply changes in tone about 30 minutes from the end, where it derails a little from Chastain’s character to the team who goes on the mission to take down Bin Laden. The movie turns into a full scale army operation, filmed in night vision, detailing the entire operation from beginning to end.
This movie sort of makes me feel like the ultimate voyeur - you get to see every minutiae of the situation, at times uncomfortably close to the action, and go through the emotional wringer with Chastain. It is filmed in such a way that you really feel like a fly on the wall - due in part no doubt, to the fact that the story of Osama Bin Laden is so prominent in our social consciousness. As an Australian, I was never too sure about the whole Osama Bin Laden thing - where he was, how he did the things he’d done, how he died, etc. and this movie clears all of that up.
I came into the movie with very little knowledge of it and not knowing what to expect. I’m not usually a fan of army films, because I find they usually try to shove patriotism down your throat, and as an Australian, it usually misses the mark and feels annoying. The print advertising of this movie was incredibly misleading, featuring the special ops team who only show up in the last 30 minutes of the movie, but I understand why they did it - I don’t think the majority of army-film loving men would not see a movie featuring Chastain looking stern and determined in a suit in it’s advertising.
Basically I was elated that the film revolved around not just one, but TWO bamf ladies (and a whole lot of disquieting torture and interrogation) who did nothing but work tirelessly towards the goal of capturing BIn Laden - no bullshit romance side plot, or shopping trips, or anything that usually comes with the territory of female characters. This is probably due to the also female director, but nevertheless, I loved it utterly for it’s depiction of women.
I won’t spoil the ending of the movie, but my god, the ending, it was absolutely incredible. After this movie, I’m a huge fan of Jessica Chastain, and I think this movie was utterly robbed at the Oscars.
Movie: Argo
Long story short Was weak next to Zero Dark Thirty, and less enjoyable.
Review
Based on a true story. The American consulate in Tehran is raided and people taken prisoner by the militia, but six employees escape and are given refuge in the Canadian embassy. An extractor is tasked with getting them out of the country back on American soil without fatalities, and he succeeds by having them pretend to be part of a film crew scouting locations to shoot for a movie called Argo.
I watched this movie on the same day as Zero Dark Thirty, and ZDT was hands down the better movie. They both shared similar themes and a similar story, but I feel ZDT was better executed and a clearer idea of what it wanted to be and what it’s goals are. Argo, on the other hand, couldn’t decide if it wanted to be a dark political thriller or a comedy.
The fantastical elements of Hollywood that are involved in the success of the Argo mission both bolstered and brought down the movie. It was often the comic relief from the main storyline, but undercut the seriousness of the hostage situation. Depictions of the six employees hiding in the Canadian embassy, fighting about what to do next, was like watching a sitcom - highly unrealistic, though it is trying to depict a scene that the viewer can relate to.
The character of Tony Mendez was also romanticised - the brooding anti-hero, whose life of work has left his personal life a shambles, trying to fight the good fight and be a good man. Often depicted, to me, as the smartest guy in the room and smarmy about it. (Or maybe that was Ben Affleck’s face.)
The sense of danger permeating through the scenes in Tehran were diffused by the antics of the people back in America. The people in the Canadian Embassy were glossed over, though they really played an instrumental part in getting those 6 people out alive. There was a side story about the native Tehran employee hired to cook and housekeep at the Canadian embassy not ratting out the 6 escapees to the militia - and I really don’t know why that wasn’t focused on more, rather than having it be kind of an afterthought.
I think I would have enjoyed this movie a lot more had I not seen ZDT first - but I did, and Argo didn’t measure up.
word count: 995
Long story short Fucking loved it. An amazing cinematic experience.
Review
Details the hunt for Bin Laden from the mid 2000s until his execution by a tenacious government agent played by Jessica Chastain.
I liked many, many things about this movie, most of which can be summed up by JESSICA CHASTAIN IS AMAZING. The movie was I think, almost three hours long? And Jessica Chastain had to carry most of that by herself, and by god, did she carry it.
The hunt for Bin Laden is obsessive, alienating, lonely and desperate. They grasp for clues and hunt down lead after lead after lead. The movie moves quickly, but packs an emotional punch. It’s minimal, but harrowing and confronting, and shows the endless red tape and bureaucracy of the whole operation. At this point, when ! step away from the overwhelming wish that Chastain’s character succeed, I start to think about the larger themes of the movie - how far can you go? How much of yourself and your morality are you willing to destroy in order to succeed?
It sharply changes in tone about 30 minutes from the end, where it derails a little from Chastain’s character to the team who goes on the mission to take down Bin Laden. The movie turns into a full scale army operation, filmed in night vision, detailing the entire operation from beginning to end.
This movie sort of makes me feel like the ultimate voyeur - you get to see every minutiae of the situation, at times uncomfortably close to the action, and go through the emotional wringer with Chastain. It is filmed in such a way that you really feel like a fly on the wall - due in part no doubt, to the fact that the story of Osama Bin Laden is so prominent in our social consciousness. As an Australian, I was never too sure about the whole Osama Bin Laden thing - where he was, how he did the things he’d done, how he died, etc. and this movie clears all of that up.
I came into the movie with very little knowledge of it and not knowing what to expect. I’m not usually a fan of army films, because I find they usually try to shove patriotism down your throat, and as an Australian, it usually misses the mark and feels annoying. The print advertising of this movie was incredibly misleading, featuring the special ops team who only show up in the last 30 minutes of the movie, but I understand why they did it - I don’t think the majority of army-film loving men would not see a movie featuring Chastain looking stern and determined in a suit in it’s advertising.
Basically I was elated that the film revolved around not just one, but TWO bamf ladies (and a whole lot of disquieting torture and interrogation) who did nothing but work tirelessly towards the goal of capturing BIn Laden - no bullshit romance side plot, or shopping trips, or anything that usually comes with the territory of female characters. This is probably due to the also female director, but nevertheless, I loved it utterly for it’s depiction of women.
I won’t spoil the ending of the movie, but my god, the ending, it was absolutely incredible. After this movie, I’m a huge fan of Jessica Chastain, and I think this movie was utterly robbed at the Oscars.
Movie: Argo
Long story short Was weak next to Zero Dark Thirty, and less enjoyable.
Review
Based on a true story. The American consulate in Tehran is raided and people taken prisoner by the militia, but six employees escape and are given refuge in the Canadian embassy. An extractor is tasked with getting them out of the country back on American soil without fatalities, and he succeeds by having them pretend to be part of a film crew scouting locations to shoot for a movie called Argo.
I watched this movie on the same day as Zero Dark Thirty, and ZDT was hands down the better movie. They both shared similar themes and a similar story, but I feel ZDT was better executed and a clearer idea of what it wanted to be and what it’s goals are. Argo, on the other hand, couldn’t decide if it wanted to be a dark political thriller or a comedy.
The fantastical elements of Hollywood that are involved in the success of the Argo mission both bolstered and brought down the movie. It was often the comic relief from the main storyline, but undercut the seriousness of the hostage situation. Depictions of the six employees hiding in the Canadian embassy, fighting about what to do next, was like watching a sitcom - highly unrealistic, though it is trying to depict a scene that the viewer can relate to.
The character of Tony Mendez was also romanticised - the brooding anti-hero, whose life of work has left his personal life a shambles, trying to fight the good fight and be a good man. Often depicted, to me, as the smartest guy in the room and smarmy about it. (Or maybe that was Ben Affleck’s face.)
The sense of danger permeating through the scenes in Tehran were diffused by the antics of the people back in America. The people in the Canadian Embassy were glossed over, though they really played an instrumental part in getting those 6 people out alive. There was a side story about the native Tehran employee hired to cook and housekeep at the Canadian embassy not ratting out the 6 escapees to the militia - and I really don’t know why that wasn’t focused on more, rather than having it be kind of an afterthought.
I think I would have enjoyed this movie a lot more had I not seen ZDT first - but I did, and Argo didn’t measure up.
word count: 995
no subject
Date: April 30th, 2013 08:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: April 30th, 2013 03:29 pm (UTC)If you even had a slight inclination to watch Argo, then I really would recommend you watch that before Zero Dark Thirty, or wait a while before watching the other.
Bit of a warning though: ZDT is really quite meaty and depressing, so make sure you're in the right mood for it! It's amazing though, and I do hope you enjoy it :)
no subject
Date: May 1st, 2013 04:45 am (UTC)Will keep your caveats in mind, thanks bb :)