(8/8 is "Great")
De Jurk is not a typical "great" film for me - it is not at all showy in its composition, edits or narrative, not is it an epic - what it is is an intriguing story made incredibly straightforwardly.
It is almost the film embodiment of Dutch frankness, not just in the unassuming way in which it is made, but in the way it doesn't look down, or up on the human condition - but just shows it as it is. This is pure cinema.
(7/8 is "Very Good")
A lot of this film is watching people walk slowly - yet it works. I think the reason is that the chillingly eerie music and ancient surroundings really make it feel like the gods are watching, and judging. It's not unlike scenes with the monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey.
(8/8 is "Great")
The great thing about this film is that it knows precisely what it is - an ultra cheap B movie horror. It knows that some of the things it does to make the horror work are silly, and then it points and says "Ha! Wasn't that great? Look at the blood!".
It's somewhat congruous to think of two-camera sitcoms - obviously fake, removed from reality - yet highly engrossing. It's because the formalist staging makes it cinematic.…
(8/8 is "Great")
[Film #1200]
Today I have found possibly the best alpine film - by chance. You see, I have felt the drive to find a mountain movie for many years because I have myself spent a large portion of my childhood under the shadow of mountains (not as grand as the Alps I'll grant, but still). There is something about that experience that this film captures perfectly, but also something more.
To be in a lowly populated region…
