Postby Atria35 » Tue Nov 27, 2012 10:32 am
Anna Karenina - Admitting right now I've never read the book, so I can't say how it stacked up against it. First off, it's beautifully filmed. It seems like one of those movies film teachers would pull out to show technique. Part of this is because there are scenes (mostly dealing with Anna's home life) where it's filmed as though it's a stage play, and the various parts of the stage become different places - the catwalk becomes the docks or a train station, the stage is her boy's room or her husband's study, etc. and it's very ingeniously done.
As for the story? I forget that Anna is a bit of a tragedy about a woman who, for all rhyme and reason, is rather mentally unbalanced when it comes to obsessively loving a man. Though there is evidence that this is simply because she's a product of her time - uneducated, given no choice in the man she would marry, unused to being pursued, frivolous as a woman of her station would be... There's all sorts of factors playing into why she behaves the way she does. She's never likeable but I doubt that she's meant to be. And there are a lot of interesting subplots to this as well, such as whether she really loves and how that extends to her children (and how her husband loves in his own way), what love really is, the line between love and obsession. It's really a fantastic movie, but one that I could only watch once in a while.
Lincoln - This was a FABULOUS movie. This centers on the few months before passing the 13th amendment, and almost everything from here is historical fact (including the dialogue, virtually all was taken from speeches, letters, personal diaries, and court documents of the time). Lincoln is human - dealing with many pressures, but desperately trying to maintain good humor through it all. He doesn't always succeed. This is very dialogue-driven, and it's sharp, witty, and wonderful. This is a large cast, and believe me, it can occasionally be hard to keep track of, but they are all characters and I really enjoyed watching them argue, debate, and console each other.
The plot is also A-Grade stuff. It's something that I don't think many films have touched on - really dealt with - and that makes it fascinating to see play out.
Great film. See it.