Venice Film Festival 2007 - Sample Reviews
by Andre Soares
"Oscar-winning writer and director Paul Haggis, the man behind Crash, looks certain to be among the nominations again next year with In The Valley Of Elah. The film, which premiered on the Lido last night in the presence of one of its stars, Charlize Theron, is a moving drama about the repercussions of the Iraq war on military families, writes Jason Solomons.
"An outstanding Tommy Lee Jones, in a performance likely to see him also contesting for awards, plays Vietnam veteran Hank Deerfield, who goes looking for his son after he vanishes from his army base in New Mexico shortly after returning from duty in Iraq."
Also in the cast, Susan Sarandon as Jones’ suffering wife.
Alissa Simon in Variety:
"The hot-button topic of exploited immigrant labor forms the backdrop of It’s a Free World …. , the latest collaboration between helmer Ken Loach and scribe Paul Laverty (following The Wind That Shakes the Barley). Strong, pacily told London-set tale unfolds from the p.o.v. of a would-be exploiter rather than a victim, illuminating a chain of connections most people would rather ignore. Human drama remains front and center, with discussion of issues more naturally incorporated than in some of the pair’s past work. Realistically lensed, convincingly cast pic contains several star-making turns and should work internationally as a quality arthouse item."
Dave Calhoun in Time Out:
"Redacted certainly comes from an interesting place: [Brian] De Palma has decided to focus on the real story of one US Army company in the Iraqi city of Samarra, one member of which was convicted earlier this month for the rape and murder of a 14-year-old girl.
…
"The look of seemingly fly-on-the-wall footage can sometimes give a story a gritty immediacy — surely what De Palma is seeking — but it can also create an air of improvisation, playfulness and even comedy, and that’s what happens too often here — which isn’t very helpful when you’re trying to convey the real horror of a street-kidnapping or a decapitation. The greatest flaw is that the actors generally aren’t up to the task and so don’t convince as US soldiers — they play like actors playing US soldiers. Much of the film — bar a compelling episode at a reconstructed US army checkpoint where suspicious cars are checked or, too often, fired upon — has a rushed, unrehearsed air to it. One suspects that De Palma has mistook a lack of preparation with his actors for the path to convincing realism."
Boyd van Hoeij at European Films:
"After enchanting the world with his first feature film, a masterful and refreshing adaptation of the Austen literary classic Pride & Prejudice, the 35-year-old British directorial prodigy Joe Wright again teams up with his star actress Keira Knightley for another accomplished adaptation of a British literary work: Ian McEwan’s Atonement. Closely following the novel (adapted for the screen by playwright Christopher Hampton), Atonement is a fully formed pleasure of a film that only really stumbles in its editing and its closing moments, compressing McEwan’s haunting epilogue into too small a sequence to allow especially those unfamiliar with the novel the time to fully absorb its devastating meaning."
Also in the cast is James McAvoy, whom van Hoeij calls the fim’s "real revelation."
Venice Film Festival Awards - 2007
64th Venice Film Festival: Competition Line-Up
64th Venice Film Festival: Out of Competition Line-Up
Venice Film Festival 2007 - Horizons Sidebar
LUST, CAUTION Controversy at Venice Film Festival 2007
Venice Film Festival 2007 - The British Have Arrived
Woody Allen’s CASSANDRA’S DREAM at the Venice Film Festival 2007
I’M NOT THERE: Bob Dylan Not at the Venice Film Festival 2007
SLEUTH at Venice 2007: To Remake or Not to Remake
THE GRAIN OF LIFE: Great Cinema at Venice 2007
Top Contenders for the Venice Film Festival 2007 Awards
Queer Lion for Gay-Themed Films at the Venice Film Festival
A Golden Lion for Peter Greenaway?
Sarajevo Film Festival Awards - 2007
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