Thursday, August 16, 2012

Four-Sentence MIFF Reviews #10-12: Student, Oslo August 31st, Rampart

Student (Darezhan Omirbayev)

Based on Dostoyevsky's Crime & Punishment.
A philosophy student moves quietly through his days, registering silently the injustices he sees in capitalist modern life.
Then he buys a gun.
A good example of how to 'show' rather than 'explain' a story, though heavy-handed at times in its message.



Oslo, August 31st (Joachim Trier)

Anders is venturing out of drug rehab and attempting to re-establish his life, despite being obviously still depressed and under-supported.
An unsettlingly accurate depiction of directionless intelligence.
The heartbreaking inevitability of Anders' mindset hit way too close to (past) home in a lot of ways.
I found myself trembling uncontrollably as the credits rolled; it took a while to subside.




Rampart (Oren Moverman)

Arrogant LA cop Dave Brown is certain he can get away with anything, from beating up the man who crashed into his car to murdering a man he decided was a serial date-rapist.
But gradually it all begins to spin out of even Dave's idea of control.
I relished the dialogue in this (script co-written by James Ellroy and the director), Dave's cocksure pseudo-intellectual rants are priceless.
A tightly written portrayal of an almost-complete-arsehole who still thinks he's a pretty swell guy.




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