Gutsycurene
Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.
Unrealxlolx52
I have seen many movies in my days, some terrific and some not-so terrific. This movie is very exceptional in the way that it actually is beyond this spectrum of good or bad, simply by being so extremely horrible that I find it hard to fathom that a human mind could have produced it.What can I say? The camera work is atrocious, the cinematography is stunning in its badness, the acting is among the worst of all time, the sound is terrible, the directing is beyond sloppy.... And then I haven't mentioned the stupidest, most obnoxious thing about the movie yet: the plot itself. I mean... come on! The plot is so full of inconsistencies, so full of mind-numbing dumbness and so terribly written that even when I think about it I get angry. Two lovers die during the holocaust of WWII (which began in 1939, not 1933), and find each other again in the "next life". Personally, I find this to be very stupid, but hey, perhaps that's just me. Maybe the father, who's sleeping with his daughter's soon-to-be husband, is a paragon of good characters. Maybe the fact that the daughter - for unknown reasons - is okay with her father marrying her betrothed is supposed to be beautiful (perhaps she's supposed to function as the embodiment of destiny - that eventually brings the two morons back together). Maybe this is all a poetic vision? In my opinion, it sounds completely retarded, but then again, who am I to complain about the very famous Jorge Ameer, whose many movies enrich IMDb's bottom 100? But GOD, how stupid can a script be? Why on earth did they even bring in the holocaust element? It's.. just.. STUPID! It has no relevance at all, so why bother? Those two idiots could as well have been killed during the crash of Hindenburg, or even during the battle of Hastings - the point is, it doesn't matter. I could also rant for an hour about the internal logic of the movie, which is astounding in its absence, but if I do that this review will never end.The Singing Forest is not a thought-provoking movie either - it's far too idiotic to be. However, it can be seen as thought-provoking in one sense: it makes one contemplate how on earth it is possible to achieve such dreadfulness! Moreover, there are several shots (by the seaside) where it is impossible to hear the dialogue (which is awful, by the way) due to the bad sound. Furthermore, several scenes just neglect all speech and replace it with appalling music, some of which is so terrible that I had nightmares after hearing it. The ONLY piece of music that is good in the movie is the 1st movement of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, but it is used very inappropriately, and thus it stirs hatred rather than anything else. Having to hear such wonderful music in such a god-awful movie just makes me mad. Also, the visuals are terrible beyond the deepest strata of imagination. That means "not very good".I've seen some reviews that state that this is an artistically perfect movie, just like a great poem. True, the movie may have a message under its facade of badness; and yes, it should receive credit for being very original. However, being an enthusiast and student of poetry myself, I say that every aspect of the movie is just too terrible for any of the so-called "poetic subtlety" to be able to manifest and get through to the viewer. To compare this movie to a poem is like comparing Shakespeare to a rock - it just doesn't work.I rated the film one star. I'm saddened by the fact that I can't rate negatively. I saw this movie, and I was never the same afterwards. It left me with a terrible feeling of disgust, and with an emptiness that I never thought was possible to feel. Seeing the Singing Forest is as entertaining as hitting yourself in the head with a hammer.I guess my conclusion is: DON'T WATCH IT!!
Jasimia
This film was amazing. Amazingly bad! Fellow fans of terrible film, I call your attention to the works of the Jorge Ameer. I am convinced he is the reincarnation of Ed Wood. It's been a long time since the world has seen such terrible filmmaking. I "specially" love the comments that overly praise Jorge's entire oeuvre, comments that were more likely than not written by Ameer himself or those close to him. The comments add a veneer of extreme narcissism that vault Ameer from the realm of ordinary bad filmmaking to legendary status. So rejoice! A legend lives among us! I have already "enjoyed" Contadora Is For Lovers, and look forward to watching everything I can get my hands on by this inadvertent master of bad cinema. I was going to give him one star, but he deserves all the stars I am capable of giving him. So ten stars it is!P.S. World War II didn't start until 1939, not 1933. (Keep up the lazy research Jorge!)
Cristian Morado
I recently saw this film and really enjoyed it. The story is good and definitely worthy of a remake for large mass consumption. The themes of reincarnation and gays in the holocaust, within other themes, are explored here. I think the filmmaker did a good job with whatever the low budget he was dealing with, but I do think in the same hands with a larger budget and star this story could really have an impact because it touches on so many human aspects of topics that are not touched upon during the holocaust massacre. After seeing the film twice, the story is told from Christophers point of view and Im wondering if the character, we know he's in a deep depression, is not borderline bi polar or with multiple personalities or some mental illness since we see a lot of his reality and what may very well be fantasy being mixed in his own perception of reality. Just something to think about. I also love the performance by Craig Pinkston - the Ben character. I looked him up here but I could not find any other movies by him. Does anyone know if he has done anything else. I think he's very talent and carried his role well and would like to see him in other film if they are out there.
Frank Bailey
There is deep meaning to this film. I watched it the other day and found it to be thought provoking and very profound. There were some production problems, I guess for its low budget, but all in all, I really liked this movie. I specially loved the music. I can't wait to see what the director comes up with next. You can tell he has a lot of talent and originality. Making reference to the gay holocaust is something that I found to be refreshing and have not seen in any other film since "Bent" which I loved. The moving back and forth within time periods was effective. The actors did a descent job. I'd like to see more work from Craig Pinkston. I read all of the bad reviews on this site. I think most here are too focused on the production values of the film rather than the message.
