Sunday, April 24, 2011

" Los Ojos de Julia "

Verdict: 8/10
Directed by: Guillem Morales


Starring: Belen Rueda
LLuis Homar
Pablo Derqui


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It's a chilling tale of murder and obesseion and one that will keep you guessing till the end.
It's a story of a woman named Sarah who's blind and lived in a quiet suburban village.
One night, the lights mysteriously went off and Sarah was found at her basement, lifeless and dead.
The police ruled it out as suicide but not to Julia otherwise.
Who is Julia?
Julia is the twin sister of Sarah who lives in the city and on the night of that tragedy,
Julia felt something was suffocating her throat and she instinctively remembered to check on Sarah.


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First, there was the mysterious shadow lurking following Julia.
The lights in the house would go on and off,
The eerie cancion that was left playing on the night of the murder and more.

Julia couldn't help but not be baffled by this incident and so deicided to investigate further.
She found out that her sister may have had a secret boyfriend but upon digging more of this,
she was also slowly losing her sense of sight and her husband was trying to convince her that maybe it
was suicide and not murder after all.
When she was almost close to finding out the truth, her husband Isaac was killed and mysteriously committed suicide
right on the same spot where her sister was killed.
Devastated, she was about to give up when a kind and seem to be nice young man named Ivan, helped her regain her
life again but this time, she's completely blind and helpless.


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Weeks go by and it seem to be going well, still something was bothering her, she's having nightmares, couldn't get
much sleep or if she can, she felt dazed and drugged, like someone was watching her.
One fatal night, she caught this killer in her bedroom and quickly sought for help,
hoping someone would save her but only to find out that the killer maybe right under her nose.

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I'm tempted to spill the story but wouldn't want to spoil the ending.

This murderer has an obsession with eyes and has a distorted mind to prey on women who are completely helpless.

The main character in this film is Julia/Sarah, both played by Belen Rueda.
well played and not too much characters in the story, so not too confusing...

I like how almost in the ending, the killer's face still remains a mystery,
an almost surprising but at the same time predictable twist.
Great direction and good cinematography esp. the flashbulb lights.
I like the subdued darkness and almost emptiness feeling of this film.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

" Comme les cinq doigts de la mains "

Verdict: 8/10
Year: 2010
un film de: Alexandre Arcady

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Patrick Bruel
Vincent Elbaz
Pascal Elbe
Eric Caravaca
Matthieu Delarive

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This is about 5 brothers and a doting mother in a family that has strong Jewish beliefs.
Each of them successful in their own careers, the eldest one, a restaurateur, the other, owning a pharmacy,
a professor and the youngest owns a gaming club.
But a story that seems atypical went complicated when one of the brothers, David, went to Marseilles and was involved
in drugs, violence and the mafia. Things got complicated and was soon wanted by the authorities.

David was the black sheep among them, he didn't have a good life and was in hiding for quite sometime and like any all-too perfect family,
there's always a secret that's unrevealed.
His father was once involved in this mess and only David and his mother knows about it, concealing the truth,
in order to protect their family and thereby risking his life.

As the story progresses, it's not David's life that is at stake anymore but all of them.
The brothers decided to take matters into their own hands.
It's about revenge and retribution, when the unreasonable becomes reasonable.

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This film is about camaraderie and brotherhood.
I think what makes it more interesting was the powerhouse cast of actors who played superbly in their role.
Another thing, for a non-Jewish like me, I learned a lot of Jewish customs and its religion.
It is overall a movie that sets your pace, though some parts maybe a bit of cliche, but a good movie nonetheless.