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Pola X Actors: Guillaume Depardieu, Yekaterina Golubeva, Catherine Deneuve Director: Leos Carax Number of Items: 1 Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen Format: Color, Widescreen, Dolby Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Running Time: 134 minutes Studio: Fox Lorber Region Code: 1 Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2001-04-10 Buy from Amazon |
 "*****"To all of you who wish to obtain the movie -please, do so without reading any of the reviews (they will just make the confusion even greater) Carax's film is too intensively beautiful to be judged in any way. Pola X is all about abstraction, visualization, feeling, sensitivity and mind at a higher degree. If you feel comfortable with yourself and ready to explore new ideas and visions then go for the movie, if not - don't end up writing misleading reviews. Evidently Hollywood has brain washed a lot of heads around and not all of us have managed to retain a real appreciation for a pure, innovative, artistic work. Qualities that Pola X possesses. I assume I will not be an exception of the rule and will devote some time on the love scene. Yes, it is a real punishment for Puritan America. Yes, it is sensual and arousing. For all of us who have made real love to the degree when you are even afraid to touch the other's skin: we'll understand the scene - for the others remain the use of the word "sex". There is an enormous set of details throughout the movie, which will help you better understand and appreciate it. The first line, the first shot - even the title The film is not for people complaining about their burned croissant on he breakfast table. In order to survive through the movie you must have learned how to survive in live. "Oh, Leos Carax!!!!!"Leos Carax is without doubt one of the best French directors alive(Olivier Assyas is another one worth mentioning). "Pola X "is obsessed with "Crazy Love", which is a theme that Carax enjoys his fame for(Such as " Lovers on the bridge" with Juliette Binoche). Pola X is nonetheless deeper than any of Carax's previous work becouse it also expolores the corruption and lies of our society(it is based on Herman Melville 's novel). The cinematograhy is excellent, I espacially like the love scene between Pierre and Isabelle. Yes, it is rather explicit, but Carax deals with it masterfully. The entire scene is as if looking at a beautifully painted medieval oil painting, with two people devour each other's body with extreme passion and tenderness. "complex = carax"this film is carax at his most mature, simply following the paths of godard and truffaut to their inevitable conclusion, a sort of enforced envolution of cinematic language. i liken carax to gustave mahler: half-disillusioned with the possibilities of his influences, but still dedicated to seeing them through to the end. there's not much else to say about the film. either you see where he's going or you don't; either you respect the innovation or you don't; either you're onboard for the experimentation or you're seasick, yet still docked. in the end, shutting down too quickly may mean missing out on a new artistic language, a new development in structure and meaning. "complex = carax"this film is carax at his most mature, simply following the paths of godard and truffaut to their inevitable conclusion, a sort of enforced envolution of cinematic language. i liken carax to gustave mahler: half-disillusioned with the possibilities of his influences, but still dedicated to seeing them through to the end. there's not much else to say about the film. either you see where he's going or you don't; either you respect the innovation or you don't; either you're onboard for the experimentation or you're seasick, yet still docked. in the end, shutting down too quickly may mean missing out on a new artistic language, a new development in structure and meaning. in any case, it never hurts to hear a little scott walker, especially the schizophrenic walker heard here, i.e. tilt. the avant-garde never looked more...pleasantly dissonant?  "a complete miss"I am not too enthusiastic about writing reviews (for good movies there are already better ones than I might do and others are not worth to mention), but this one was unusually dissapointing. I have seen other Carax movies, and, although not being a great admirer, I found him at least interesting - thus, I bought this dvd, largely on the basis of other, some quite intriguing (if not always positive) reviews. However, so far this turned out to be the only dvd I would prefer not to have. Since my mistake was misinterpretation of other reviews, I will start with some statements what this movie is not. It is not (an any kind of) love story. It is also not a study of deep (or any) philosophical questions. The best description probably will be that it is a kind of horror movie. The mysterious Isabelle (Golubeva) really resembles a kind of vampire (in traditions how these are usually shown in movies) and meeting her is probably quite close to the meeting of death with the obvious consequences. Apart from that, the movie quite professioinally shows the kind of nightmares you may encounter on such an occasion and that's it. The nightmares are well done and as such may keep you interested, but they don't solve anything or give you anything - the feeling you are left with is just that of horror. It is true that there is some good photography, camera work, (maybe) some acting, but probably not more (just differently) than in a typical hollywood movie. Conclusions: You might like it, if you are looking for horror movie, or if you basically like hollywood-style movies (the style is different, but similarly valuable and works on the level of similar instincts). If you expect that movie must be a work of art, then most likely you will be dissapointed - this one is not. |
