bennyboy
Group: Members
Posts: 177
Joined: July 2000 |
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Posted: Feb. 16 2001, 00:09 |
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Remember Roland Joffe? The dude who directed "The Killing Fields"?
I think he is one of the most accomplished, innovative and daring directors this side of Kubrick. I think it is a shame that he is so often dismissed by such elitist film critics as Leonard Maltin, Pauline Kael and Roger Ebert.
His first two films, "The Killing Fields" and "The Mission" (concerning the attempts by a couple of missionaries to civilize the Guarani indians in 16th century Brazil) are both masterpieces, undoubtedly two of the greatest movies ever made. It has been a hard thing for Joffe to live up to the legacy of those films, but his work after that, although uneven shows a refreshing amount of intelligence and originality. "Fat Man And Little Boy" (aka "Shadow Makers") is a detailed, if somewhat clinical look on The Manhatten Project and its devestating after effects. "City Of Joy" (his best since "The Killing Fields") is a sincere and heartfelt (if at times rather sentimental) look at life in the slum areas of Calcutta, as seen through the eyes of an ex-patriot American doctor (Patrick Swayze in the best performance of his career). "The Scarlet Letter" is a revisionist take on Nathaniel Hawthorne's classic novel. While "The Scarlet Letter" twists the message of the book and is much more sexually explicit, judged purely as an escapist Hollywood romance it works very well. "Goodbye Lover" is a funny film-noir comedy in the vein of "Wild Things", with an intricate plot and lots of killer twists, but some very shallow main characters.
I like his films because there is a real sense of time and place in them, they simply ooze atmosphere. Plus he is a film-maker not afraid to adress serious issues, and his films are usually quite thought provoking.
His films usually have great music too. Most of his films have been scored by Ennio Morricone. "City Of Joy" and "The Mission" are two of Morricones best scores.
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