My reaction to this film: Outstanding Take Shakespere and put it with great actors, stupendeous music, and fine cinematography, and you have a great film. While I honestly think one would have a better grasp of what is going on had they read the play previous to watching the film (which I have done, only it was several years ago), the film is fairly easy to follow. The story mainly follows England's King Henry the Fifth as he goes forth to conquor France. Along the way, we meet and follow some commoners who were friends of the king when he was still a prince. (Christain Bale plays a lad amongst these--and a fine one.) Harry meets danger from within and without with justice, mercy, and a trust in God that is quite wonderful to see protrayed on the screen. He metes out justice when it is called for--even though it be an old friend whom he must see to death. He is merciful to his enemies. In triumph and in sorrow, he praises God and trusts Him for the outcome of the battle. The main battle scene is very well choreographed and shot--it's almost like being there yourself. The seriousness and confusion, as well as the horror of war are very well protrayed. There are moments of humor as well...probably the funniest being France's princess attempting to learn some English. That scene was amusing and light-hearted. As is the scene where Henry goes about his wooing of said princess. One of the aspects of the film that was the most appealing to me was the humbleness of the king and his love for his people. He understood that he, like them, was just a man and in that they did not differ. And yet, he was king, and therefore was responsible for them and he loved them. He was responsible for upholding justice--and he did; but tempered with mercy when mercy was permissible. In other words, this portrayal of Henry shows him a man; a godly man--a man to be emulated.
If you don't own this one--add it to your collection. Note: some of the violence is fairly gruesome, but it isn't dwelt upon heavily. You might not want to show this film to young children.
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This series is great; a self-conciously Christian look at D-Day. There are seven episodes: 1) The Theological Signficance of the Second World War; 2) The Strategic Overview [basically of the whole Western theater]; 3) The Theology of Leadership on D-Day [kind of a brief overview of each national, as well as military, leader]; 4) Deception, Intellegencee, and Spying for D-Day; 5) The Decision to Go; 6) The Men of D-Day and the Meaning of Manhood; and 7) The Aftermath. Hosted by Douglas W. Phillips and William Potter (military historian extraordinaire), the series is shot in Rome, Normandy, London, and St. Andrews. There is some reenactment footage as well as an interesting use of clips from previously made films such as The Longest Day (1962) and Band of Brothers (2001). The use of actual footage is very widespread and I personally, like that aspect. Naturally, some of the most special moments are those where the viewer sees and hears the veterans telling parts of their stories.
I highly recommend this and I look forward to watching it again! The Search is a 1948 movie set at the close of WWII. It is about a little Polish boy who has been in a concentration camp for most of his life. He remembers very little. His mother has survived the war and she is looking for him. Meanwhile, he escapes from the UN people who are trying to locate kid's parents and vice versa. An American soldier (Steve) finds him...to say more would give the story away. The music is really quite good, particulalry since this isn't a dialouge heavy film. One of the interesting features to the movie is that there is a female narrator (rather unusual I find, particularly for that era). The cinematography was really good (I thought). I found The Search a very interesting, and thought provoking film. I had never considered before the number of orphaned, frightened, broken children there must have been after the war. Or the heartbreak of the parents who lost children and never did find them among the masses of ragged little ones coming out of concentration camps. Another interesting feature of the movie is that it was filmed (at least partly) in Germany and therefore the viewer gets to see some of the distruction left by the bombing...it's pretty sobering. I definitely would watch this one again.
I watched this film last evening with my Grandma...it was something my uncle had sent her. I decided I might as well write a review of it here. The Help is set in the early 1960's and is basically a story of racism in Jackson, Mississippi. The story follows Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan, a recently graduated journalist, as she undertakes to expose the racism rampart in her home town. She herself, like many rich kids from around, had in essence been raised by the family's black maid-Constantine and loved her very, very dearly. The two maids who initially (and illegally) help her with her research are Aibileen Clark and Minnie Jackson--two very different women who are best friends. (Aibileen actually acts as something of a narrator.) One of the most influential women in town is young Mrs. Hilly Holbrook...she despises black people as inferior and different than white people. She is in essence the villian of the story. While an interesting enough story line, I wouldn't necessarily recommend it; due in large part to the language. The used of profane and blasphemous language is rather profuse. (The majority of it could have not been there and you wouldn't have lost any dialouge.) While I'm sure there was a PC bias in the film (aka. white people are bad/black people are good), I didn't notice it overly much--there were good, kind, thoughtful white people (and some that might have been kinder if they weren't so cowed by Hilly) and there were plain out nasty white people. There were good, kind, mostly forgiving black people and there were black people who displayed a vindictive spirit--and in one case, a thief. (Of course, on that one, you actually kind of feel sorry for her, but it still doesn't not excuse her theft.) Often humoreous, often sad, sometimes down right shocking (might I even say disgusting? Minnie's "pie" is just that...) the story does keep one engaged and rooting for the end of the racist tendencys of the culture of the time. By the close of the film, one begins to see how Skeeter's and the maids' task is being rewarded--though there is still a long way to go. There are at least five or six different story threads woven together and each of them is some how related to another. Also, for the ones in search of films with modest-clothing...there is some tight and low in this movie. (And some kissing--both pre- and post-marital.) The overall worldview: While God is mentioned and apparently believed in by Aibileen, He appears to be rather irrelevent to the facts of life.
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RachealA Reformed Presbyterian girl who enjoys a good movie or a good book any ol' time. Archives
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Note: All images picked up online. No copyright infringment intended.
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