Koneser

What a phenomenal film fake. It's not about the finale or the structure of the screenplay, whose twist is predictable from halfway through. Focus on the captivating camera, life the themes and truths, Geoffrey Rush's performance, and the pure emotions. A film about love with all its positives and negatives, it only matters whether it works out or not. And at the same time, it points out that nothing may be as it initially seems. Absolutely complex, a masterpiece. (14.04.2014)

I am sincerely sorry for the staff of that dive of a Prague beer bar Pivnice U Milosrdných; I can just see how tourists look in there curiously and then wonder “where has that sumptuous, stylish interior from that great but really depressing movie gotten to?" And I hope that Polanski sees it (the movie, not the beer) to learn in just half an hour what an adaptation of Club Dumas should look like. (06.07.2013)

Like his hero, Tornatore is a bit of a museum exhibit, to whom the information age must seem like a deceitfully wounding enemy and film as an intimate room of certainty. Emotionally, the film stopped affecting me (intentionally) in the excessive second third, and whilst the twist is well thought out and well prepared, the conclusion is unnecessarily long and literal. Excellent actors (the duets of Rush - Sturgess / Rush - Sutherland are decorative), visually, it’s a great splendor (the reference to Sorrentino is not accidental - he and Tornatore still believe in the power of unnecessary gestures), and the musical background is perhaps too sentimental. A pleasant museum of nostalgia, folly and defensive detachment from reality. I liked the motifs of the thirteenth room, the automaton, and the truthful dwarf the most in this somewhat mechanical metaphor of uncertainty, creativity, and destructiveness of emotion. (11.09.2013)

I like movies like this one. I like it when the movie is playing with me and I love stories that can knock me off my feet. And I feel like I have to praise the things that all the users here criticized in their reviews. The director shot a beautiful, mystery story that’s amazing in the very essence of its premise. Geoffrey Rush puts on an acting class and the director Tornatore shows some excellent filmmaking craft and Ennio Morricone wraps it all into some amazing music. It almost seems that this movie cannot go wrong because it was handled by the best in the business. And if it really does look like it was, it makes me all the happier that the movie was shot in Prague of all places. I mean the finale in the Mother of Cities is as magical as it can be. It’s a beautiful and border-line fantastic experience that made me feel really strange afterwards. (04.01.2014)

The beauty of hidden paintings hanging on the walls, the increasing tension of art auction participants in proportion to the rising price of their sought-after treasures to enrich their collections, the mystery of artifacts from old mechanisms, and above all, the secrets that people hide behind the tightly guarded mask of their faces and carefully controlled emotions, behind the facade of their status and social relationships. Tornatore plays with his protagonist as well as with his viewers. Although I roughly figured out where the game was heading halfway through, surprisingly, I didn't detract anything from the exceptionally high final impression. It's worth watching the film for the top craftsmanship, Tornatore's perfectionism, the fascinating performance of veteran actor Geoffrey Rush, the atmosphere of a neglected noble palace, and the process of discovering what lies beneath the layer of dust, old colors, and words. The film is actually a story about (self)love, late realization, and late regrets. And last but not least, it's also about hope, because as we know, hope dies last. I had the opportunity to watch The Wolf of Wall Street and this film in one day, and the slow-paced Tornatore triumphed emotionally over Scorsese. Overall impression: 90%. I would immediately go to Prague to see if Virgil is still waiting there... (21.02.2014)