Archive

Tag Archives: Hunting Knife

Marshland

February 17, 2017
Film Reviews
1 Comment

Marshland, La isla minima, Raúl Arévalo, Javier Gutiérrez, Antonio de la Torre, Nerea Barros, Jesús Castro, Alberto Rodríguez, Mercedes León, Adelfa Calvo, Manolo Solo, Salvador Reina, Jesús Carroza, Juan Carlos Villenueva, Alberto González, Manuel Salas, Cecilia Villanueva, Ana Tomeno, 

Marshland (La isla minima): two out-of-favour Madrid detectives are sent out to the middle of nowhere to investigate the disappearance of two girls; they soon uncover a serial killer and potential police involvement. The main drama of the film comes from lots of complex and conflicting relationships; the detectives and the villagers, the villagers with each other, the detectives and their new boss, and even the mismatched investigators themselves with their ‘old school’ and ‘new school’ approaches. Aesthetically, and tonally, this is very similar to HBO’s True Detective (although they came out at the same time); the palette is dominated by earthy, natural, and rustic colors & locations, which help the odd top-down  drone shots of ethereal landscapes really stand out. The film also holds an interesting Spanish angle too; being set at the start of the 80s in a ‘New Spain’, but calling back to the Franco dictatorship and exploring how large and looming the shadow of that time still is. Marshland is a very well made, excellently acted picture with a sufficiently eerie & suspenseful score: however, there’s nothing particularly fresh or exciting in the story itself… it’s just been tarted up and presented in a more unique setting than normal.

Score: 7.5/10

Marshland, La isla minima, Raúl Arévalo, Javier Gutiérrez, Antonio de la Torre, Nerea Barros, Jesús Castro, Alberto Rodríguez, Mercedes León, Adelfa Calvo, Manolo Solo, Salvador Reina, Jesús Carroza, Juan Carlos Villenueva, Alberto González, Manuel Salas, Cecilia Villanueva, Ana Tomeno, 

Marshland, La isla minima, Raúl Arévalo, Javier Gutiérrez, Antonio de la Torre, Nerea Barros, Jesús Castro, Alberto Rodríguez, Mercedes León, Adelfa Calvo, Manolo Solo, Salvador Reina, Jesús Carroza, Juan Carlos Villenueva, Alberto González, Manuel Salas, Cecilia Villanueva, Ana Tomeno, 

Marshland, La isla minima, Raúl Arévalo, Javier Gutiérrez, Antonio de la Torre, Nerea Barros, Jesús Castro, Alberto Rodríguez, Mercedes León, Adelfa Calvo, Manolo Solo, Salvador Reina, Jesús Carroza, Juan Carlos Villenueva, Alberto González, Manuel Salas, Cecilia Villanueva, Ana Tomeno, 

Marshland, La isla minima, Raúl Arévalo, Javier Gutiérrez, Antonio de la Torre, Nerea Barros, Jesús Castro, Alberto Rodríguez, Mercedes León, Adelfa Calvo, Manolo Solo, Salvador Reina, Jesús Carroza, Juan Carlos Villenueva, Alberto González, Manuel Salas, Cecilia Villanueva, Ana Tomeno, 

 

Seraphim Falls

March 16, 2012
Film Reviews
10 Comments

Note: this is post #500 since starting the site way back in July of 2009! To mark this, next week will feature guest reviews, several ‘feature’ posts as well as some more regular Paragraph Film Reviews. Thanks to everyone that reads, comments and visits the site, particularly the regulars. You folks are ace!

Seraphim Falls: a determined bounty hunter (Neeson) and his hired guns are chasing a skilled man (Brosnan) through the wilderness for reasons unknown. With two big actors centre screen you’d expect this film to play well… Broz takes his grunting to a whole new level as he’s on his own for most of his part – unfortunately, there’s also a scene where he’s genuinely out-acted by a horse! Pre-heroic re-invention Neeson feels miscast here, and in general everyone looks a bit disinterested. The writing is sloppy, and storytelling has a lot to be desired – an Indian and saleswoman appear – only to facilitate a showdown – and we don’t know why Broz is even being hunted for around 90 minutes – who should we be rooting for? With this, there’s not a whole lot of tension (essential for a decent cat-and-mouse story). It’s partially well-shot, making the biggest reason to watch this some great scenery of wilderness and breathtaking landscapes. Overlong, uninteresting and full of questionable acting, Seraphim Falls feels like a bunch of guys walking about in the words, then desert for the most part – it’s is nobody’s finest hour. 3:10 to Yuma is still the daddy of modern westerns!

Score: 3/10