DVD reviews
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"... a thundering example of style over substance."
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The Illusionist
“...a film that generally brings warm smiles rather than belly laughs...”
Treasure Guards
"A willing suspension of disbelief should get most viewers across the line."
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Room In Rome (DVD)
Year: 2010
Rating: MA
Director: Julio Medem
Cast: Natasha Yarovenko , Elena Anaya
Release Date: February 17, 2011
Distributor: Paramount
The Film: 2.0
FILMINK rates DVDs and Blu-rays out of 5“...a curious flatness to the performances...”
Julio Médem (Lovers Of The Arctic Circle, Sex And Lucia) follows his previous sex dramas with this heavily expressionistic exploration of the growing affection between a pair of strangers in the Italian capital
Teeming with sexual desire and vulnerability, Russian Natasha (Yarovenko) and Spaniard Alba (Anaya) meet in Rome and spend the night together, discussing their past and their experiences with men and women.
Whilst the actors seem obviously game for this proto-feminist-but-also-leery picture, they do not seem particularly comfortable with the English language. In fact, there is a curious flatness to the performances that demonstrates their struggles with acting as well, although they are not exactly helped by Médem's writing. Sample dialogue: "You're inspired"; "By You". In fact, much of the dialogue is literal and unimaginative, often flat-out articulating exactly what the characters are feeling rather than expressing their emotions with surprise or subtext.
More successful is the camerawork: panning from actor to scenery, the camera not only ignores the staginess of the piece, but also expresses the characters' feeling and longing for one another (even when that feeling is not adequately expressed by the actors themselves).
