I wanted to like this, but didn't. The cast are good but the story isn't and the script isn't.
As things went on I just felt sorry for the poor single mother left to look after that bloody annoying child.
Jeez he was annoying. And just got more and more so. No wonder she went off the rails.
And so it wasn't scary, because I was just rattled by how annoying the boy was and how unfortunate his mother was to be stuck with him.
This is an award winning film about life in Russia. The cinematography is very good. The setting is bleak. The characters lead bleak lives.
I didn't enjoy watching it.
I am a fan of Tom Hardy. I think he is a great actor. So I got this film because he is in it, despite the rather dull sounding summary.
There are other famous actors in it too. Apparently it was the late James Gandolfini's last role. And the rather lovely but hard to spell Noomi Rapace features too.
The story is quite good. Bob finds an injured dog in a trash can. I spent the rest of the film worrying that the dog would get hurt again by the previous evil owner.
Oh, and some people get beaten up and killed too.
SPOILERS
I'm not going to go over the whole plot. It is very clever though how everything seems to be going on around Bob with him helpless. And yet you always feel that he could do more if he wanted... Couldn't he?
Is he really going to give all that money to Deeds for the dog? No of course he isn't. What do you think the gun is for?
But then when Bob confesses to Deeds that he killed the man Deeds was notorious for killing... You don't even have time to take it in before Bob shoots Deeds.
Which captures Bob perfectly. He goes under the radar. Surprises everyone, including the viewer. He's got the drop on us.
So at the end you realise that the title isn't about the money, it's about Bob.
I like Korean films, they are always a bit different. This one is a kind of zombie vampire ghost martial arts thriller...
Confusing? Yes it is. It probably didn't help that I drank half a bottle of wine before watching. Or maybe it helped a lot?
The film's plot is a bit baffling. There's an ex actor. Is it ever explained why he quit acting? Not that I noticed. But some of the dialog is a bit rapid for a subtitled movie... In places I just couldn't keep up.
There are ghosts and vampires. And some people who can help the ex actor to fight them.
Still confused? If not then wait for the end. Because I didn't understand that at all.
Which might make you think I didn't enjoy the film. But I did. The plot might be odd, but everything else is really good. The characters are great, and the action, and the effects.
It really should not work. And I wouldn't want to watch a movie like this every day. But this was a refreshing change from the run of the mill predictable fare that I so often end up watching.
Another great Korean movie.
There are several films called Night Watch. I am writing about the 1994 Danish movie directed by Ole Bornedal.
Nattevagten.
Even though there is an English remake by the same director I went with the original because it has good reviews.
I didn't like it though. The most interesting thing about it is that most of the young cast went on to find fame in great dramas like The Killing, The Bridge and Borgen.
There's nothing wrong with the acting but the plot is dull and predictable. There isn't much character development. There is little suspense. It isn't very scary.
It's really quite a poor film.
There are gritty dramas that make you think. And gritty dramas that shock you. And gritty dramas that are quite dull, or even boring.
The Golden Dream is all of those. I didn't imagine that children would try to migrate from Central America to the US alone. I was shocked by the way they were exploited by almost everyone they encountered on the way. And sadly I was quite bored by the way all these things are presented in this film.
Maybe the long periods where nothing happens are meant to heighten the shock of the shocking parts? That didn't seem necessary... rape, kidnap and murder are always going to be shocking in themselves.
The film just made me feel worse and worse as it went on. But because it dragged on so long, by the end, the very grim end, I just wanted it to be over.
Sigh.
I admit it. The main reason I chose to rent this movie was because I liked the cover art. Breaking one of my golden rules.
As usual I thought maybe this one might be different. Maybe it would be a quirky and sexy Japanese gem... a future cult classic?
But no. As usual, sexy cover art = bad film.
When will we ever learn. I guess never. Which is why people keep pulling the same old trick on us.
At least with R100 the sexy ladies on the cover do appear regularly in the film...
But it really is a bad film. It starts off weird - which isn't a problem for me - but then just gets stupid. At one point a child is tied up and suspended by a rope from the ceiling ... which I found unacceptable ... and it was totally irrelevant to whatever story was left at that point.
No. For me this was a film made by people who were trying too hard to be wacky... and maybe tying to court some controversy. It wasn't entertaining on any level.
0/10
