05-11-2009, 03:12 PM
JCVD is astonishing. It forced me to totally reappraise my opinion of JCVD.
This is not really a martial arts film. There's a nice opening scene - a remarkable continuous single shot no less, although JCVD does throw a major airball punch about midway through - and two other rather short sequences, but that's not the reason to see this at all.
It's cut from the celluloid cloth of French film, which I generally detest, but somehow, it really worked for this. There's a classic rewind sort of scene where the film is pulled through the reel, which was just so French. The film is mostly in French with subtitles, which makes JCVD sound more genuine than his ridiculous accented action film dialog. There's some top notch cinematography like long complex single shots, remarkable displays of technical skill and directorial timing. The entire film is slightly over exposed, turning all light into a harsh and hazy filed of bright white. The film is developed with the weight towards yellows and greens, giving a lot of the scenes a sickly pallor, but it totally works for the mood they evoke of Brussels. There are many funny bits, scathing self satire, and surprisingly poignant moments. It's daring filmmaking for any martial artist, especially JCVD who has built his career on caricature machismo. It's way out of the box for most martial arts aficionados (remember Maggie Cheung's Irma Vep?) but an absolutely fascinating for anyone into film.
When it comes down to it, it's all about JCVD confession scene - a classic French film moment where they actor breaks the framing of the film and discusses the process of filmmaking itself in that weird recursive French film artsy fartsy way. It's a long single shot and JCVC nails it emotionally. It's an amazing moment in film. The confession is heartfelt, so it's not so much amazing acting as it is brutally honest. JCVD lays it out, bares his soul, and surprisingly, it's sympathetic soul. It's a truly captivating scene, a triumph for JCVD that I would have never seen coming in a thousand years. There's hope yet.
This is a French-style artsy fartsy film showcasing JCVD. And I really enjoyed it. This is not a DOOM flick, but I do recommend pursuing it if you have any interest at all. It's so out of the box for JCVD and you just got to respect that. Now I'm really curious to see what JCVD does next.
This is not really a martial arts film. There's a nice opening scene - a remarkable continuous single shot no less, although JCVD does throw a major airball punch about midway through - and two other rather short sequences, but that's not the reason to see this at all.
It's cut from the celluloid cloth of French film, which I generally detest, but somehow, it really worked for this. There's a classic rewind sort of scene where the film is pulled through the reel, which was just so French. The film is mostly in French with subtitles, which makes JCVD sound more genuine than his ridiculous accented action film dialog. There's some top notch cinematography like long complex single shots, remarkable displays of technical skill and directorial timing. The entire film is slightly over exposed, turning all light into a harsh and hazy filed of bright white. The film is developed with the weight towards yellows and greens, giving a lot of the scenes a sickly pallor, but it totally works for the mood they evoke of Brussels. There are many funny bits, scathing self satire, and surprisingly poignant moments. It's daring filmmaking for any martial artist, especially JCVD who has built his career on caricature machismo. It's way out of the box for most martial arts aficionados (remember Maggie Cheung's Irma Vep?) but an absolutely fascinating for anyone into film.
When it comes down to it, it's all about JCVD confession scene - a classic French film moment where they actor breaks the framing of the film and discusses the process of filmmaking itself in that weird recursive French film artsy fartsy way. It's a long single shot and JCVC nails it emotionally. It's an amazing moment in film. The confession is heartfelt, so it's not so much amazing acting as it is brutally honest. JCVD lays it out, bares his soul, and surprisingly, it's sympathetic soul. It's a truly captivating scene, a triumph for JCVD that I would have never seen coming in a thousand years. There's hope yet.
This is a French-style artsy fartsy film showcasing JCVD. And I really enjoyed it. This is not a DOOM flick, but I do recommend pursuing it if you have any interest at all. It's so out of the box for JCVD and you just got to respect that. Now I'm really curious to see what JCVD does next.
Shadow boxing the apocalypse