adrmb

"The strength of children despite everything, which evokes in less tragic tones Grave of the Fireflies by Takahata, released the same year." Yep, as far as I know (less according to Cannarsi's words), Totoro was criticized for its fairy-tale portrayal of the Japanese countryside in that particular historical context (unlike the grave, which is super-mega rigorous).

"I'm really struggling with the closed cinemas." There's streaming from the Cineteca if you're interested!

The new Battiatoh!!1!!1

At least the memes of the artist1!!1! Lauro and Morgan being a pain are nice.

Ninjato on Filmscoop :)

I stop by to check if hj has already commented.

Anyway, I’m copy-pasting the comment I wrote on Facebook because why not.

I don’t know, even without wanting to, a few days after watching the 1994 film, which I find superior in almost every aspect and stylistically closer to my taste, this new film made me see it as a more diluted adaptation. On one hand, for example, the choice of two different timelines allows for a first distinction of the film compared to previous adaptations, but for me it takes something away in terms of narrative clarity (like the relationship between Jo and the professor, I don't know, it didn’t strike me as impactful). Then, I don’t know, I also missed something in tone: it’s a technically well-made film, but at times I felt it fell too much into being quirky (like the kiss in the rain sequence that simply... no)—and also several lines from Aunt Meryl Streep, very direct and quite crass in my opinion (the audience in the theater laughed harder than in a Fantozzi movie, go figure). And then I don’t know, I don’t think the character diversity between the sisters was effectively conveyed; they all seemed very uniform and unruly, while a Meg, as far as I understand, should really have been the archetype of a composed and refined person, in contrast with Jo. In short, all the parts in common between the two films were better rendered in the '94 version with more grace and a more refined execution (perhaps because it was filtered through Rider's experience with The Age of Innocence?): just think of the delightful Christmas "prologue." On the other hand, this film, in my opinion, does a better job of exploring the characters of Amy and Laurie (even if I still feel dissatisfied with the relationship outlined between the girl and painting; it never seems to delve deep, but maybe that’s a flaw of the book) in the part set in Europe and how they end up reconnecting, and Meg's struggles after marriage, between sacrifices and personal vices.
Oh, and I don’t know which reaction is more faithful to the source material, but while in the '94 film the professor criticizes Jo's stories, saying that they are outside of her range and advising her to write about herself to show her heart (something very sentimental and romantic that finds its completion in the end), here Jo reacts like a spoiled girl ("Don’t criticize me!!!! You don’t understand a damn thing!!!! Boo, don’t talk to me anymore!!!!") that, man, I feel like giving a slap in the face.
Then they messed up the casting of Amy again: in '94 we had a twelve-year-old Dunst and then, after a four-year ellipsis, a twenty-two-year-old actress (so the contrast was striking), but in this one they called a twenty-four-year-old right from the start, so it seems too old from the get-go (especially in a scene in a classroom where she talks with little girls ROFTL).

Finally, two technical notes that I didn't like either:
- the soundtrack is too anonymous and too intrusive, so it’s quite annoying.
- the photography in the past timeline is too orange, I don’t know, it seemed like it was sunny every day in my opinion; I didn’t like it too much.

Tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk

Uh, this is a nice film, undoubtedly. Loach is a very principled director and continues his discourse uncompromisingly (maybe laying it on a bit too thick with the misfortunes in this specific case, in my opinion). I should catch up on his previous films.

"But even in bed, when mom Nicole, little Henry, and dad Charlie are so close together... for one last time." BERGMAN-CORE