Ceticultsot
Beautiful, moving film.
BallWubba
Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.
PiraBit
if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.
Tracy Allard
I have no doubt the novel this script is based on is great, and the actors do try hard, unfortunately, the director just completely misses the mark, possibly due to an incredibly bad script????? Anytime a movie spends so much time percentage on scenery, it's usually because it's trying to impose some emotion missing from the script, unfortunately this never works, as Jean-Claude Van Damme has proved many times, great scenery does not make a great movie.I haven't read the book, the concepts of too many details and forgetting is a perfectly valid/interesting topic, unfortunately, this script dwindles on a ridiculous love story and the actors although trying have nothing to work with. Poor Roy, he was the worse served by this scrip/director, such good talent so wasted. Maybe he was just miscast? The editing and cinematography were amateur at best, strange decisions in "shaky camera" use and odd "travelings" just served to distract from non existent story. In such a relatively short film, 99 minutes, there should have been no time to waste on how to string together lamb chops, on a kid with a frog obsession, and endless shots of lakes and grass.Sad sad indeed, and possibly an embarrassment for the writer of the book.
mindcat
This film was one of the absolute best acted, best directed and scripted of any I have yet watched.The film is not a tear jerker, except for the both dumb of heart and mind. It is a powerful story, that has roots in the very fabric of human history and the struggle for meaning in life.The existential struggles and scarred souls of three Nazi concentration camp survivors, meet after 35 years. Lessons are learned by all involved. The perhaps greatest lesson, is the need for the young to understand the life and circumstances their parents faced. And, ironically the inability of time to seem anything except indifferent to human suffering and existence itself. The past and its sufferings need give way to time's indiffernce. Live and love in the present. That is the crux of this fine drama.I do-not suggest this film for insensitive slobbery and obviously some here saw nothing in it. It is as if a great film was cast before them and all they saw was a boring pace and words and emotions they could never feel or associate themselves with.I have given this film a NINE. That for me is almost an impossible thing to do, if you review my reviews.Congratulations on a moving, intellectual and poignant cinema.
ladywarrior0505
I liked this movie a lot, however, as in some previous remarks, I feel that they all came up short on where they wanted to go. I agree that more of the past should have been developed, and tied to the characters in the present. For me, it was a bit confusing that it seemed like such a modern time, and I just didn't believe that they had survived the Holocaust. I felt they should have shown more hauntings from the past, and perhaps a bit more clinging to each other, after having survived in the emotional shipwreck of Drancy. I think, perhaps more of their message could have been brought out if they had just spent more time in the scenes from the past. After seeing this movie, I did some research on Drancy and was shocked to learn it was the French, with the approval of the Nazi's, who did this. There should have been more history lessons, I feel, so we could see the larger picture. Anyway, I loved Max von Sydow's portrayal of Jakob, and I liked Susan Sarandon's suffering, but I just felt it seemed to be disconnected from what happened in the past. I was expecting a multi hankie movie, and only shed an occasional tear. All the actors are really good, and this is well worth the money to rent or own, and to open discussions about the atrocities of WWII and the Nazi regime.
airdrieguy
...because it was too disjointed and it seemed it was building up some steam and then suddenly it stopped again or more exactly dragged to a stop. Not a lot happened and what did happen had limited explanations explanations. What were American and Irish children doing in Paris in the Second World War? Would the Nazi's have really gone out of their way to get two orphans? What's with Max Van Sydow and the gun in the barn? Why is the grandson's mother mentioned once and never again? Gabriel Brynes' accent kept appearing and then disappearing. The actor who played him as a boy had no Irish accent at all. Having said that I hasten to add the actors gave life and some consistently to an otherwise jerky story line. The scenery was amazing as well. They are the reason I watched it to the end and gave the movie a 10.
