beyond the hills ( romanian : după dealuri ) is a 2012 romanian drama film directed by cristian mungiu , starring cristina flutur and cosmina stratan .

the narrative follows two young women at an orthodox convent in romania .

the film premiered at the 2012 cannes film festival , where mungiu won the award for best screenplay , and flutur and stratan shared the award for best actress .

it was selected as the romanian entry for the best foreign language oscar at the 85th academy awards , making the january shortlist .

beyond the hills

the times critic a . o . scott reviews
beyond the hills .
beyond the hills
seethes with astonishment and rage at a broken society marooned between the 21st century and the 16th .
cosmina stratan , left , and cristina flutur in “beyond the hills , ” written and directed by cristian mungiu .
looking for movie tickets ? enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing beyond the hills near you .
beyond the hills is gorgeously austere and often exhilarating in its its slow - burning atmosphere of dread and sorrow . it
beyond the hills is a film of great formal rigour and a furious indictment of religion as an instrument of patriarchal oppression .
' beyond the hills ' . incited way too much frustration with its whiny protagonist that overshadowed anything it was saying about love .
cosmina stratan , left , and cristina flutur portray women reunited in a romanian convent in “beyond the hills , ” directed by cristian mungiu .
mtv wanted kristin to be on the hills at the same time as lauren .
she thought of being
the bitch
on the hills as a job .
there are no featured audience reviews yet . click the link below to see what others say about beyond the mountains and hills ( me ' ever laharim vehagvaot ) !
that’s what “beyond the hills” has in common with “taste of cherry , ” “d’est” and “the turin horse . ” that’s why it might legitimately be called a masterpiece .
even though heidi and spencer caused the bulk of the drama on the hills , kristin loves the couple .
he has no outright heroes or villains , with each character in beyond the hills ( dupa dealuri ) sincerely believing he is right - the ultimate tragedy being therefore unavoidable .
kc : i never filmed the hills when whitney filmed the hills . so by the time she left and i came in , it could ' ve easily changed a lot .
laguna beach was more authentic than the hills , though it wasn ' t all completely real .
unlike on laguna beach , producers would text lines for kristin to say while filming the hills .
conflict seethes through beyond the mountains and hills , infusing the feature with the unsettling air that can only come from knowing the truth of a tumultuous situation , but still wishing for change , acceptance and a reason to retain hope .
if you long for the bleak intelligence of an ingmar bergman film , where humankind is deeply flawed and god is indifferently silent and the landscape is cloaked in perpetual winter , then beyond the hills promises to be your cup of despair .
whitney port , who was in seasons 1–4 of the hills , recently rebutted your previous claims about the hills , saying the show wasn ' t
staged .
what are your thoughts on whitney ' s recent comments ?
and she ' s prolonging her kids from watching laguna beach or the hills for as long as she can .
you introduced heidi and spencer , which caused the bulk of the drama on the hills . do you feel any responsibility for the drama speidi caused on the show ?
there is a kernel of an interesting story here : yifat ' s desire to build bridges with palestinians and how her impulses are frustrated by the complex reality in which she lives . if only that had been the main focus of beyond the mountains and hills .
ms . flutur recalled a showing of the film at a festival in vienna where a member of the audience “was very angry such a thing could happen in romania in the 21st century . ” that , she said , is precisely the wrong lesson to take away from “beyond the hills . ”
i can ' t see things being easier with mungiu ' s beyond the hills . all credit to its distributors for not trying the hard sell and marketing it as
the romanian lesbian nun exorcism movie
– though technically , that wouldn ' t be untrue .
as titles go , beyond the mountains and hills ( me’ever laharim vehagvaot ) is a rather poetic one , and it takes on several meanings in israeli writer - director eran kolirin’s latest film , which premiered in cannes’ un certain regard sidebar .
despite whitney port ' s recent comments about the hills ' authenticity , kristin still stands by her claims about the show being heavily manufactured .
eric d . snider : for me , “beyond the hills” was the kind of movie that gives “artsy foreign movies” a bad name . the stereotypes that make people wary of art - house fare — that it’s going to be long , slow , ponderous , and painful — are all apt descriptors . and i say this as someone who frequently enjoys movies that are some combination of long , slow , ponderous , and painful ! when such “difficult” movies work , it’s because something about the overall experience makes the arduous or unconventional process worthwhile . “beyond the hills” gives no such payoff .
given the infamous series finale of the hills , we all know the show was heavily produced . was this the case for laguna beach ? were there ever situations that the producers created just for the show ?
the tensions between the spiritual and the secular , groups and individuals , are examined in intelligent , creepily insinuating but not entirely satisfying fashion in “beyond the hills . ” set largely within the physical and psychological confines of a rural monastery , this latest work from gifted romanian writer - director cristian mungiu boasts the same formal control and somber realism [ … ]
erin kolirin’s third feature , “beyond the mountains and hills , ” is his most profound film yet , but also the most problematic . profound because he’s exploring the mixed feelings of so many israelis who try to rationalize their sense of personal identity against the dysfunction of the state : what does it mean to be a good person [ … ]
when it came time to cast “beyond the hills” mr . mungiu took a bold gamble . the role of the monk was no problem : he had written the part specifically for valeriu andriuta , a collaborator on two previous films who was at the time working as a gardener in ireland , telling him to grow his beard before even beginning on the script .
for long stretches “beyond the hills” also has an air of atemporality . the monk and his followers shun most of the conveniences of modern life , subsisting in medieval simplicity and isolation and cultivating beliefs to match , so when outsiders drive up in a battered ceausescu - era dacia or a cellphone suddenly rings , the effect is jolting .
after season 2 of laguna beach , lauren , of course , went on to star in her own spin - off series the hills that you eventually starred in . did mtv ever approach you to star in your own spin - off before you signed on to do the hills ?
stark as it was , 4 months . . . , set in the blighted ceausescu era , told a compelling , emotionally involving story of two women ' s comradeship and determination . beyond the hills is similarly rewarding , although its spare , nuanced narrative doesn ' t offer its rewards on a plate .
cannes - nuns on the verge of a nervous breakdown have a surprisingly strong cinematic pedigree stretching from the powell and pressburger classic black narcissus to bunuel’s viridiana , russell’s the devils and almodovar’s dark habits . the chief poster boy for romanian cinema’s new wave , cristian mungiu now adds to that legacy with beyond the hills , a serious - minded contender in the current cannes competition line - up .
“beyond the hills” is based on a pair of best - selling “nonfiction novels” by the romanian writer tatiana niculescu bran , a former bucharest correspondent and editor for the bbc . the books , in turn , are a dispassionate examination of a notorious real - life incident that took place in a romanian orthodox monastery near romania’s northeastern border with moldova , in the spring of 2005 .
from the man ' s point of view , the hills don ' t look like white elephants , and the hills certainly don ' t have skins . the girl , however , has moved away from the rational world of the man and into her own world of intuition , in which she seemingly knows that the things that she desires will never be fulfilled . this insight is best illustrated when she looks across the river and sees fields of fertile grain and the river — the fertility of the land , contrasted to the barren sterility of the hills like white elephants . she , of course , desires the beauty , loveliness , and fertility of the fields of grain , but she knows that she has to be content with the barren sterility of an imminent abortion and the continued presence of a man who is inadequate . what she will ultimately do is beyond the scope of the story .
this is what i mean by “unstoppable momentum” : a pressure that is always growing and always feels internal — to the characters , the situation and mungiu’s direction — rather than being applied from the outside , as it would be in the ordinary suspense movie . if mungiu had allowed anything other than internal pressure to drive “beyond the hills , ” the story it tells might have seemed like only a sensational anecdote . ( imagine how the new york post might fit the entire incident , with jeering condescension , into one paragraph of its “news of the weird” column . ) as it is , though , “beyond the hills” has a solidity and integrity that you might associate with sculpture more than film . it feels like something that had to come into the world , and in no other form .
i don’t know if i want to give cristian mungiu’s beyond the hills more points or less now that i know it’s loosely based on a true story . i find it more incredible but yet less considered as allegory is , at best , demoted within the narrative , and at worst not present at all . i’m going for less .
kristin ' s come a long way since her laguna beach and the hills days , which is one of the reasons why she wrote her new book , balancing in heels .
when you were returning to reality tv on the hills , mtv was promoting your return with the slogan
the bitch is back .
do you feel like you deserved to be called
the bitch
?
“beyond the hills” was filmed on location last winter , with mr . mungiu pushing his cast and himself to meet an ambitious deadline that would allow him to edit the film to two and a half hours to have it ready for showing at cannes . as a result he shot even in the midst of blinding snowstorms , a choice that helped give the film a bleakly beautiful look that echoes the mood of the story .
from the very first image , as voichita squeezes through a railway station crowd , beyond the hills is deeply claustrophobic , and you ' ll want to take a deep breath when it ' s over . but you ' ll have been somewhere you could never have imagined otherwise – not just to an obscure corner of religious europe , but to murky , painful regions of the human soul .
“4 months , 3 weeks and 2 days” had the clarity — and to some degree the comfort — of hindsight . viewers could be soothed by the knowledge , unavailable to the characters , that the nightmare of communism would soon be over . “beyond the hills , ” unfolding in a place that seems both post - communist and pre - modern , is in many ways a more troubled and ambiguous film . it investigates a mystery that grows deeper the more clearly it is seen .
like 4 months . . . , beyond the hills offers more in terms of narrative and emotional weight than conventional visual pleasure – though if you ' re partial to chilly realist starkness , you ' ll be in clover . oleg mutu ' s widescreen photography drapes the frame with blasted , snowy hillscapes , or frieze - like compositions of the sallow - faced nuns in their weird little pillbox hats .
that is the starting point of the romanian director cristian mungiu ’s “beyond the hills , ” which won two top prizes at the cannes film festival last year and opens in new york on friday . before long , however , the story takes a series of odd and increasingly menacing turns , as the viewer is plunged into a circumscribed world in which the word “iconoclast” recovers its original greek meaning , and exorcism is a tool that true believers wield in hopes of keeping apostasy at bay .
as with the
the exorcist
' s implicit praise of faith versus a monstrously rational medical establishment ,
beyond the hills
bursts to life when discreetly expressing a passion for… passion . even in scenes that aren ' t set in blinding snow drifts , mungiu ' s frame gives off a bitter chill to make your teeth chatter , all the better to offset characters whose sense of devotion burns so fiercely as to prove fatal .
mungiu’s other highly acclaimed film , “4 months , 3 weeks and 2 days , ” was slow , like “beyond the hills , ” but with a crucial difference : though it moved slowly , it felt like it was indeed going somewhere . the new film gives quite the opposite impression , repeating situations of indecision and inertia so frequently that you start to fear the movie won’t ever actually arrive at its destination ( whatever it may be ) . as for the running time , i think a movie should be however long it needs to be to tell its story effectively , whether that’s 80 minutes or 180 . “beyond the hills” is too much of a chore to be effective ( unless its purpose is to be a chore ; more on that in a minute ) , so i don’t know if a 90 - minute version would be any “better” than the 150 - minute one .
as a storyteller mr . mungiu is both passionate and patient . “beyond the hills” is long and slow moving , absorbed in the routines of monastic life and the emotional currents that ripple underneath its surface and occasionally spill out into the open . the rhythms of the film , and the rough intimacy of the camera work , allow you to experience both the calm order that voichita finds soothing and the unbearable confinement that alina experiences . in other words , even as mr . mungiu maintains a detached , objective point of view , allowing the details of the story to speak for themselves , he also allows you to glimpse the complex and volatile inner lives of his characters .
erin kolirin’s third feature , “beyond the mountains and hills , ” is his most profound film yet , but also the most problematic . profound because he’s exploring the mixed feelings of so many israelis who try to rationalize their sense of personal identity against the dysfunction of the state : what does it mean to be a good person — or rather , to try to be a good person — in a society that doesn’t reward good behavior ? problems come in the unbalanced way he expresses this idea , via a family uncertain of what they’re looking for as they fall apart at the seams . it also doesn’t help that the only arabs in the film are terrorists or potential rapists . certain to generate much heated discussion at home and abroad , “beyond” is likely to see modest international sales .
while not embraced with the quite the same degree of enthusiasm as “4 months , 3 weeks and 2 days , ” cristian mungiu’s follow - up still went over pretty well at the cannes film festival , nabbing both a screenplay prize and acting honors for its two young leads . but even that kind of endorsement doesn’t match the level of enthusiasm stuart has expressed for the film , which can be found in a widely circulated pull quote in marketing materials . you call “beyond the hills” a “masterpiece” loaded with “unstoppable momentum . ”
cristian mungiu ’s “beyond the hills” is a tough and engrossing work of realism , set in rural romania in the dead of winter , but it also has some of the shadowy magic of an ancient folk tale . at its heart are two orphan girls — one dark , one fair — whose destinies are entwined even as their paths in life have diverged . one of them has fallen under a malign and powerful spell , or maybe both of them have .
the result is a movie that is simultaneously analytical and empathic . based on the real - life case of an exorcism gone wrong , “beyond the hills” might have easily have succumbed to sensationalism or scolding , flattering the sophistication of an audience accustomed to regarding religion with contempt or condescension . but while mr . mungiu , inspired by the romanian journalist tatiana niculescu bran’s books about the incident ( which took place in a moldavian convent in 2005 ) , hardly casts spiritual authority in a flattering light , he also refuses to derive easy or comforting lessons .
quite absorbing despite its deliberate pace and running time , this is mungiu’s first feature since “4 months” won the palme d’or in 2007 and confirmed a creative renaissance in romanian cinema ( he also produced the 2009 omnibus work “ tales from the golden age ” ) . while it may be unreasonable to expect lightning to strike twice , “ beyond the hills ” is so clearly a companion piece to “4 months” that it naturally summons comparisons : once again , mungiu explores the powerful bond between two young women trying to negotiate the boundaries of a particular prison .
eight years ago the appearance of cristi puiu ' s the death of mr lazarescu , a stoical , grimly funny story about the ghastly legacy of the ceausescu regime , won a major prize at cannes . it was soon followed by cristian mungiu ' s 4 months , 3 weeks & 2 days , which won the palme d ' or at cannes and seemed to confirm that something remarkable was happening in the romanian cinema . now , after a longish wait , mungiu has made another feature , beyond the hills , a painful and exacting picture that confirms his position as a film - maker of the first rank .
editor’s note : critical consensus is a biweekly feature in which two critics from indiewire’s criticwire network discuss new releases with indiewire’s chief film critic , eric kohn . in this installment , kohn trades e - mails with the nation film critic stuart klawans and urltoken contributor eric d . snider about cristian mungiu ’s “ beyond the hills , ” which opens in new york and los angeles this week ahead of a national roll - out and video - on - demand release .
the physical locations used are ideal for conveying the sense of separation , even without actual walls : the greenbaums live on one side of a barren , unlit hill , the arabs on the other , with a no - man’s land between them where encounters are possible but always on uneven terms . is there a place “beyond the mountains” ? the film implies that such a location is the very definition of “terra incognita . ”
beyond the hills
is an arthouse film from romania , yet , in its slow , lurching progress toward a tragic exorcism , it is a stylistic nephew of america ' s
the exorcist .
william friedkin ' s classic adaptation of a william peter blatty novel was pitched as popcorn entertainment for nervous christians , whereas director cristian mungiu ' s embellishment of a true story ( from the
non - fiction novels
by tatiana niculescu bran ) ultimately laments superstition , ignorance and indifference .
beyond the hills is a disturbing watch but knowing that it is based on a true story makes the whole experience even more painful . like cristian mungiu’s previous film , the incredible and unforgettable 4 months , 3 weeks and 2 days this is a disheartening portrayal of the friendship between two women where one tries to stop the other one from the ultimate descent into misery and despair . mungiu narrates this soul - shattering story with sadistic determination and by asking questions which are almost impossible to answer he creates a nightmarish experience which will put the viewers in a state of shock and confusion for days . mungiu’s style…
it’s the filmmaker’s fair - minded approach that ultimately gets the better of his material ( adapted from journalist tatiana niculescu bran’s investigation of a real - life 2005 incident ) , compounded by a frustrating unwillingness or inability to penetrate his characters’ thoughts . there are deeper forces and mysteries to this tale than a strictly observational approach , however unblinking , can entirely capture . observing the situation at an icy remove , “beyond the hills” never builds the palpable menace and pressure - cooker anxiety of “4 months , ” and its dramatic progression feels obvious , even predictable , by comparison .
the tension between the two is almost as sizzling as the heat of the spanish sun . the man , while urging the girl to have the operation , says again and again that he really doesn ' t want her to do it if she really doesn ' t want to . however , he clearly is insisting that she do so . the girl is trying to be brave and nonchalant but is clearly frightened of committing herself to having the operation . she tosses out a conversational , fanciful figure of speech — noting that the hills beyond the train station
look like white elephants
— hoping that the figure of speech will please the man , but he resents her ploy . he insists on talking even more about the operation and the fact that , according to what he ' s heard , it ' s
natural
and
not really an operation at all .
eric , i’d like to dig into some of the reservations you have about this movie . in your review , you called it “an interminable one - note punishment” that “moves slowly and repetitively” and yet it seems that you liked “4 months” a lot more . what was it about “4 months” that worked so much better for you ? and since you called out the new movie’s 150 minute running time , when do you feel that such a length is justified in a movie ? would “beyond the hills” have worked for you if it ran 90 minutes ?
the tensions between the spiritual and the secular , groups and individuals , are examined in intelligent , creepily insinuating but not entirely satisfying fashion in “ beyond the hills . ” set largely within the physical and psychological confines of a rural monastery , this latest work from gifted romanian writer - director cristian mungiu boasts the same formal control and somber realism that distinguished “4 months , 3 weeks and 2 days . ” but mungiu’s slow - burning , scrupulously evenhanded portrait of religious hysteria rarely achieves that film’s gut - level intensity , leaving audiences with an accomplished but bleak 152 - minute picture that will require favorable critical attention to find an arthouse niche .
: the man who leaves and the man who comes back are not the same .
”the one who leaves and the one who comes back are not the same . ”
like an israeli american beauty , beyond is very much about what lurks beneath the facade of a seemingly perfect family — the frustration and disillusion , but also the bonds that hold people together through thick and thin . while that isn ' t the most original theme to tackle , kolirin adds a more compelling element by focusing on the politically charged atmosphere of contemporary israel , including the constant hunt for terrorists and the bomb scares faced by residents on a daily basis .
romanian new wave director cristian mungiu’s beyond the hills is an oppressively stark and hauntingly solemn examination of the crisis of faith in people and the clash between worldly desires and religious vows , depicting a seemingly mundane albeit intriguing story that is as powerful as his bleak , cinéma vérité masterpiece 4 months , 3 weeks , and 2 days . it also inexorably flirts with the topic of blind piety , a deed that could do more harm than good even if the intention is of righteousness and innocuous concern . at first , the film reminded me a lot of black narcissus , but with a twist on the relationships of the lead players and a deliberately languid pacing , not to mention a sparser , technicolor - free surrounding . …
we’ve established that this movie takes its time , but haven’t really explored much about what happens in it . eric hinted at mungiu’s apparent disdain for the orthodox church , but to me the movie leaves this element somewhat vague . is it the church itself or this particular church in the filmmaker’s crosshairs ? in other words , is this movie truly an indictment of an entire institution or specifically about people who work within its constraints to destructive ends ? i’m reminded of the recent debate swirling around “zero dark thirty” and various critics’ attempts to figure out whether the movie celebrates the use of torture to achieve satisfactory results . “beyond the hills” also finds a group of religious ideologues torturing a helpless victim in the alleged service of what they believe to be a commendable goal .
it would also be too glib to say that mr . mungiu places blame on the orthodox church , romanian society or something more abstract , like the modern world or human nature . but all of these forces are implicated in a precise , rigorous drama that is also an earnest attempt at social criticism and philosophical inquiry . like this director’s breakthrough film , “4 months , 3 weeks and 2 days , ” which was set in the last years of the ceausescu dictatorship , “beyond the hills” depicts a world that seems to have been organized to undermine solidarity and stigmatize decency . and like the earlier movie it explores this terrifying moral landscape by examining the fragile friendship of two young women who are neither innocent victims nor fearless heroines .
extremely long and harrowing , beyond the hills has been accused of being deliberately slow . but i found it riveting to watch and fascinating to think about afterwards . it ' s morally adroit in the way that the difficult , contrarian , ungrateful alina is turned into a sympathetic character after first appearing to be merely an unbalanced troublemaker . the film ends on an ambiguous image , devastating in its simplicity . a battered police van , its confused passengers brought to the city as witnesses to inexplicable events , has stopped in a potholed street . the driver has just heard that the public prosecutor they ' re going to see is tied up with the case of a young man who ' s murdered his mother and published photographs of his crime on the local social network . a passing vehicle splashes filthy slush on the van ' s windscreen , which the wipers are attempting to clear as the film fades to black .
i might begin by saying these films would be unwatchable for ordinary moviegoers , and so the lonely , embittered critic needs to elevate them above all doubters and detractors — but that would be too cynical a self - judgment . although i might be wrongheaded , i remain convinced that open - minded people , even if they are well - socialized and unaccustomed to art - house fare , might nevertheless fall head - first into any of these pictures , despite the patience with which the filmmakers observe the world , the modesty with which they allow information to emerge and the restraint with which they manage the turning points of the plot ( if any ) . i can testify to having seen a thoroughly unprepared civilian become mesmerized by “d’est , ” and i fervently believe that other civilians could be similarly enthralled by “beyond the hills . ”
click here to read about the czech documentaries selected for the competition of the 53rd karlovy vary iff .
hills like white elephants
is set in spain . an american man and a girl are sitting at an outdoor café in a spanish train station , waiting for a fast , non - stop train coming from barcelona that will take them to madrid , where the girl will have an abortion .
kristin cavallari : laguna beach was definitely not as manufactured as the hills was for me . laguna beach was more putting us in situations where we normally wouldn ' t be in or hanging out with people we wouldn ' t necessarily hang out with . in the hills , i knew sort of this character that they wanted me to play . when i decided to come on board , i made a decision and i was like ,
ok , this is my job and i ' m going to separate my hills life from my real life .
it happened on laguna beach where you don ' t know what ' s real and fake and i saw cast members who couldn ' t distinguish what was real and what was fake anymore . it was kind of scary to see so i kept them very separate so that i didn ' t go crazy .
in this case , it’s one built on the unyielding foundations of religious dogma , a subject that should resonate well beyond the boundaries of the unconsecrated orthodox monastery where the film is set . in this remote moldavian enclave , consisting of a simple chapel and a few huts cut off from electricity or running water , a strict but not unkind local priest ( valeriu andriuta ) oversees an order of young nuns who refer to him as “father” or “papa . ”
stuart klawans : it’s a form of critical three - card monte , this business of calling a new film a masterpiece . the red card — the one bearing the carefully thought - out analysis — is supposed to be moving around on the cardboard box , but somehow , under cover of the m - word distraction , it never flips up . so you are right to call me on my having resorted to the term . while admitting that my memory is faulty , i can recall only three other instances in the past 25 years of reviewing when i have slapped the masterpiece label on a new film : “taste of cherry , ” “d’est” and “the turin horse . ” i remark on the relative infrequency of these dodges not to excuse myself for them but to open a question : what do these films have in common with “beyond the hills” that would prompt me to throw up my hands and say , in effect , “listen , just trust me , they’re great . ”
the film new europe ( fne ) association is the networking platform for film professionals in the cee / see / baltics region . the webportal and fne newswire was chosen as the main tool to achieve the network’s objectives of the sharing of know how , visibility of regional cultural diversity and finally the voice of the region .
priest : the man who leaves and the man who comes back are not the same . see more »
at times , he and dp shai goldman ( the kindergarten teacher ) transform such incidents into visual poetry , such as in a memorable sequence where rina directs her students through a shelter drill like a choreographer working a team of ballet dancers . but there are also moments when the rhythm , despite an efficient 90 - minute running time , seems to drag , and though beyond offers a decent payoff during the third act , it takes a while to get there and loses some intensity along the way .
here we are with the final version of the game ! in this version we have changed all the intro , 1st chapter’s puzzles and some puzzles from chapter 2 , plus a few storytelling details throughout the game . these changes were necessary for the consistency of the game mechanics and storytelling of the game . in addition we improved the ui and some graphics and introduced the title “a new beginning” which reflects the storyline of the complete game .
beyond the hills is less fun than any film about lesbian nuns and their psychotic ex - lovers ought to be . but it is an engrossingly serious work , and confirms mungiu as a maturing talent with more universal stories to tell than those defined by romania’s recent political past . venue : cannes film festival , ( in competition ) , may 18 production company : mobra films cast : cosmina stratan , cristina flutur , valeriu andriuţă , dana tapalaga director : cristian mungiu producer : cristian mungiu executive producers : pascal caucheteux , gregoire sorlat , vincent maraval , jean labadie , bobby paunescu , jean - pierre and luc dardennes director of photography : oleg mutu sales agent : wild bunch rating tbc , 150 minutes
mungiu lavishes attention on backdrop details that underline the particular character of the story .
the ebro a river in northeastern spain ; the second longest river in spain .
beyond the mountains and the hills is about a family that is connected , yet each have their own secrets . at the heart of it is david who has recently retired from the army , and is trying to find his way in the rest of the world . there is also the mother , a teacher , and two teenaged high school kids . as most of us do , they each have their own problems and must find ways to deal with them . however , watching the mother navigate an inappropriate relationship , or how the son reacts to it just isn ' t interesting . watching the daughter is even worse , as she ' s just another teen making decisions which are based more on rebellion than on logic . at least the father ' s arc is a little interesting . after failure in business , he unloads his gun into nothingness , only to find out the next day someone died on the hill he was shooting at via gunshot wound . all these individual arcs lead to everybody having a feeling of guilt , but not really leaning on each other for support . and as a movie it was just not involving enough to keep you interested in each person ' s guilt .
i certainly don’t disbelieve viewers who say they had a profound and enriching experience with the movie . i’ve been on that end of things several times , championing a “difficult” movie whose detractors said , “you’re reading too much into it” or “you’re just pretending to like it because you think you’re supposed to . ” that attitude is maddening , and all you can say in response is : “i’m sorry you didn’t get it . ” that’s what i have to concede on “beyond the hills” : i apparently didn’t get it . if there is depth , drama , and tragedy in what felt to me like a stilted , grueling treadmill of boredom , i couldn’t find it . but more power to those who did ! maybe i’ll have that experience on that next one .
in the story , hemingway refers to the ebro river and to the bare , sterile - looking mountains on one side of the train station and to the fertile plains on the other side of the train station . the hills of spain , to the girl , are like white elephants in their bareness and round , protruding shape . also notable is that
white elephant
is a term used to refer to something that requires much care and yielding little profit ; an object no longer of any value to its owner but of value to others ; and something of little or no value . throughout this dialogue , the girl ' s crumbling realization that she is not truly loved is a strong undercurrent that creates tension and suppressed fear .
moving at an unhurried pace mungiu lavishes attention on backdrop details that underline the particular character of the story , such as the rudimentary conditions the nuns live in ( no running water and no electricity ) , the unpaved roads and the frozen winter landscape .
· the priest grates on alina for the first time , carrying on about the sinful gender confusion in the west — and at this stage she lets him run on .
david is discharged from the army after serving for 27 years . he returns to his family after being distanced from them for years and tries to find himself in his new civilian life . he believes that he will find his way in some managerial position in the private sector , but he has difficulties adapting to the pace of the “new israel” , a competitive culture obsessed with success and money . more often than not , he finds himself alone at home , watching a morning tv - show or listening to the radio . when a friend suggests working as a salesman , he sees this as an opportunity to get his foot into the door of the business world and make something of himself . but it soon turns out a bitter failure . also the rest of the family gets deeply into trouble : his daughter tries to overcome boredom and futility by reaching out beyond the mountains and hills , and becomes entangled in an emotional and political mess . his wife , a school teacher , embarks on an affair with one of her students , humiliating herself , and subsequently provoking her son to a violent act of vengeance . good people living in a bad reality , helplessly caught in the maze of today’s israel .
kc : mtv didn ' t come to me to star in my own reality show but they came to me to go on the hills numerous times . i kept being like ,
no , that ' s lauren ' s thing — i ' m not going to do it .
but with her leaving , obviously , it was too good of an opportunity to pass up .
it is a wonder that this story was published at all . when it was written , authors were expected to guide readers through a story . in
hills like white elephants ,
though , hemingway completely removes himself from the story . readers are never aware of an author ' s voice behind the story . compare this narrative technique to the traditional nineteenth - century method of telling a story . then , such authors as dickens or trollope would often address their readers directly .
· the exorcism ensues , and is as grueling as the film needs it to be .
hop , skip , and jump worshops – the product and the process by david m . israel
persuasively , and in convincing detail , a steadily escalating conflict grows between the father and the recalcitrant alina . it threatens the stability of the monastery and then spreads out to involve the nearby town . the run - down local hospital is involved , along with alina ' s former foster family and the police . lurking outside officialdom are hints of exploitation and abuse in the form of sexual predators and traffickers who are preying on orphans and vulnerable teenagers with the community ' s tacit consent . on the face of it , the battle is over voichita and alina ' s attempt to make her quit romania . but beyond this , and much deeper and less personal , is a challenge to a rigid , unreasonable and unreasoning authority . alina is physically ill , probably suffering from tuberculosis , and mentally troubled , possibly schizophrenic . in the climactic scene she becomes the object of a brutal exorcism that is at once horrific and farcical . but in accepting her position as outsider , outcast and , ultimately , martyr , she exposes the hypocrisy , petty cruelty , indifference and lack of charity in a whole society .
but as david embarks on a new phase of his life , trying his hand at marketing dietary supplements , his household starts to fall apart , especially after he frustratingly fires his gun into the “hills” of the film’s title and winds up killing an innocent palestinian . as it turns out , the victim had met ifat just a few days before , and while the young girl goes off on a guilt trip that will take her into dicey territory , rina begins having an affair with one of her teenage students ( yoav rothman ) — in a subplot that will eventually connect with the greater story of david’s unraveling .
first , it describes the landscape lying just outside the apartment complex where a clan of four lives in relative harmony , at least for the time being . second , it signifies the horizon toward which the father of the house — a recently retired army officer — must turn as he faces semi - retirement and an uncertain future . finally , it designates the hidden menace faced by the rest of the family as they make life - changing decisions that will hurdle them into the unknown .
1 . the master ( paul thomas anderson , usa ) ( review ) 2 . tabu ( miguel gomes , portugal / germany / france ) ( review ) 3 . amour ( michael haneke , france / germany / austria ) ( review ) 4 . holy motors ( leos carax , france / germany ) ( review ) 5 . beasts of the southern wild ( benh zeitlin , usa ) ( review ) = berberian sound studio ( peter strickland , uk / germany ) ( review ) 7 . moonrise kingdom ( wes anderson , usa ) ( review ) 8 . beyond the hills ( christian mungiu , romania / france / belgium ) ( review ) = cosmopolis ( david cronenberg , canada / france / portugal / italy ) ( review ) = once upon a time in anatolia ( nuri bilge ceylan , turkey / bosnia & herzegovina ) ( review ) = this is not a film ( jafar pahani & mojtaba mirtahmaseb , iran ) ( review )
es : i hope kael was lying about never watching movies a second time . if she was telling the truth , she was being needlessly stubborn and limiting her own edification . i love the experience of re - watching something and finding new things to appreciate . i used to write a regular column where i’d re - watch films several years later that i either loved or hated the first time to see how my feelings changed . usually they didn’t change much . but occasionally there’d be a movie where the passage of time between viewings or my own experiences in the interim ( or both ) caused me to see it in a different light . it doesn’t mean i was “wrong” the first time ; it just means i’ve acquired new information or experiences that alter my perspective . my sour memories of “beyond the hills” are too tender for me to be in a hurry to re - watch it any time soon , but reading impassioned defenses of it makes me curious to give it another shot at some point . if people see amazing things in a movie in which i saw nothing , why wouldn’t i want to try — at least try — to see those things too ?
basically the story of a man forced to finally see the injustice around him . riley’s movie is designed to do the same thing to you . …
this story was rejected by early editors and was ignored by anthologists until recently . the early editors returned it because they thought that it was a
sketch
or an
anecdote ,
not a short story . at the time , editors tried to second - guess what the reading public wanted , and , first , they felt as though they had to buy stories that told stories , that had plots .
hills like white elephants
does not tell a story in a traditional manner , and it has no plot .
karlovy vary : the spot of the 22nd ji . hlava idff made by jean - luc godard has been officially released at the 53rd karlovy vary iff . the 2018 ji . hlava idff will take place…
· the police , bored and indifferent , come for the whole crew , and voichita , who had been so determined to remain in the religious life , climbs into the van dressed in secular clothes .
in an episode dedicated to the show within the show , “glow” illustrates its grand capacity for storytelling , and the very good tv podcast breaks down how .
i love the patience with which the director tells his stories - okay , maybe there’s a little too much patience here - and the way he’ll allow his camera to sit on his actors . it’s spielberg - lite to me - long takes where the performers come to the camera or the camera might come to the performers , they might step into or out of the frame , the camera itself might reframe . there’s a steady command which contrasts with the madness and and teeth gnashing of particularly the last 40 minutes . and make no mistake , this film damn near becomes a full - on horror movie by the end .
let’s admit , though , that the priest’s set - up represents an entrenched , strikingly backward strain of religiosity in romania . the question is whether a local , quasi - official institutionalization of this religiosity is any worse than the local , fully official institutions of the medical profession , the child - care and educational system , the emigration and labor authorities or the police . and while we’re assessing the culpabilities , we might as well throw in the behavior of private citizens , such as the foster parents who have taken such good care of alina , and of the operators of those boat cruises in germany , where the full range of a young waitress’s job description is left to the imagination .
fne’s objectives include visibility for the region and audiences for films by providing a special focus on the region .
that said , during the latter part of the 1990s , this story became one of the most anthologized of hemingway ' s short stories . in part , this new appreciation for the story lies in hemingway ' s use of dialogue to convey the
meaning
of the story — that is , there is no description , no narration , no identification of character or intent . we have no clear ideas about the nature of the discussion ( abortion ) , and yet the dialogue does convey everything that we conclude about the characters .
thus we come to the title of the story . the girl has looked at the mountains and has said that they look
like white elephants .
immediately , a tension between the two mounts until the man says ,
oh , cut it out .
she maintains that he started the argument , then she slips into apology , stating that , of course , the mountains don ' t really look like white elephants — only
their skin through the trees .
cannes wouldn’t be cannes without a little flag - waving , and what about the brits ? loach is the only homegrown director competing for the palme d’or , and considering both that he won it in 2006 for ‘the wind that shakes the barley’ and that the ‘ the angels’ share ’ is said to be a lighter affair than much of his work , a second win is unlikely . the lack of other british filmmakers in competition was not unexpected : no other world - leading filmmakers from the uk have films ready to unleash on the world .


innocent blood ( also known in some regions as a french vampire in america ) is a 1992 american crime comedy horror film directed by john landis and written by michael wolk .

the film stars anne parillaud as a beautiful french vampire who finds herself pitted against a gang of vicious mobsters led by robert loggia who eventually becomes a vampire himself .

the film is set and was filmed in and around the pittsburgh , pennsylvania area .

the " little italy " of pittsburgh , a portion of the bloomfield , pittsburgh neighborhood , clustered around liberty avenue , is recognizable in many of the film 's outdoor urban scenes .

actors tony sirico and david proval have supporting parts as gangsters , foreshadowing their roles in the sopranos .

it also features early appearances by anthony lapaglia , angela bassett , and chazz palminteri .

the film is notable for being a mixture of the vampire , gangster and buddy cop genres .

the film balances plenty of slickly directed thrills and gore with some moments of humor .

loggia 's bewilderment at waking in the morgue to find a thermometer protruding from his stomach and the reaction of the wife of crooked lawyer manny bergman ( don rickles ) to the bizarre mayhem that ensues are good examples .

a gorier unrated version was released on dvd in germany .

innocent blood ( film )

innocent venus - vol . 2 : blood of betrayal ( dvd , 2007 )
innocent blood , anthony lapaglia ( l . ) , 1992 , ( c ) warner bros
lot of 2 dvds . innocent blood and wrong turn * i don ' t accept offers *
innocent blood trailer 1992 director : john landis starring : anne parillaud , anthony lapaglia , don rickles , robert loggia , david proval , official content from warner home video a beautiful vampire turns a crime lord into a creature of the night . movie , innocent blood movie , innocent blood trailer , innocent blood 1992 , john landis , anne parillaud , anthony lapaglia , don rickles , robert loggia , david proval ,
innocent venus : vol . 2 blood of betrayal ( dvd ) anime tv show series episodes 5 - 8
pingback : the vampire mafia of innocent blood ( 1992 ) vs . the zombie mafia of shrunken heads ( 1994 ) |
innocent blood is an uncomfortable marriage of vampires and mobsters ; it doesn ' t work on either the supernatural or the criminal level .
the movie title is different : r - rated version ( us dvd ) : innocent blood / unrated version ( german vhs ) : bloody marie .
mr . wang was arrested early last year . his daughter , ms . hu , now acknowledges that he may have innocent blood on his hands .
innocent blood is a 1992 american horror - crime film directed by john landis . the film stars anne parillaud as a beautiful french vampire who finds herself pitted against a gang of vicious mobsters led by robert loggia , who eventually becomes a vampire himself .
for generations the mafia preyed on the innocent . tonight someone is preying on them .
featured in the last of the mohicans / innocent blood / mr . saturday night / glengarry glen ross / laws of gravity ( 1992 ) . see more »
the idea of a monster mob film is brilliant , but other than innocent blood , i don’t recall ever coming across any other films that incorporate the mob with the supernatural . the two elements surprisingly work together in harmony .
innocent blood
is a hilarious marriage of vampires and mobsters . ' sal the shark ' is one of the funniest mob bosses ever . ever time he is on the screen i find myself laughing . love this film : )
first blood ultimate edition dvd cover . note that the knife is the rambo iii knife .
erin : that’s a great question , boomer . innocent blood has a lot of action , but not a lot of character development , even as characters are doing such intense things as literally transforming into undead monsters .
while not a very memorable movie , innocent blood is entertaining . the characters are not very well developed or unique enough to see them on a buzzfeed list of awesome vampires . the movie is the perfect palate cleanser , it kills time and is entertaining but it works better as a movie you watch between thought provoking movies . as it is , innocent blood won’t win any awards but it is at least well made and the character actors do an okay job taking two - dimensional characters some memorable features . comparing this movie to the many other vampire movies out there i can say that the pace of innocent blood keeps the film moving . it does not waste time with filler or flashbacks to when marie was human .
every month one of us makes the rest of the crew watch a movie they’ve never seen before & we discuss it afterwards . this month erin made britnee , brandon , and boomer watch innocent blood ( 1992 ) .
cameo appearances by terror icons dario argento , sam raimi , and tom savini help make innocent blood a hoot for horror fans , but you don ' t have to be a gorehound or a vampire lover to get a kick out of the film ' s virulent mix of guts and guffaws .
first blood ' s portrayal of a vietnam veteran also sparked some controversy . jeremiah kipp argued the film
reflect [ ed ] a new compassion towards traumatized veterans of the vietnam conflict
, while others view the film as insulting and stereotypical .
film director xavier dolan ' s latest film it ' s only the end of the world was received negatively by critics at cannes film festival ; he broached the subject in an open letter explaining why he is unable to submit upcoming film the death and life of john f . donovan to next year ' s festival .
innocent blood is a movie starring jun kim , c . s . lee , and alexandra bokyun chun . james park , a retired undercover detective , faces his worst nightmare when his young son cody is kidnapped by a mysterious criminal connected to his dark past .
as to why this didn’t usher in a new era of similar or copycat bloodsucking mafia flicks , i don’t really think there was room in the world for that genre to flourish . the popularity of film mafiosos waxes and wanes ; after scores of films about gangsters in the early days of cinema , features about organized crime largely receded until the 70s and 80s , when pictures like scarface and the godfather series created a resurgent interest in “fuggedaboutit” movies that didn’t really survive into the 90s . the last great genre piece from that era was goodfellas , which came out two years before innocent blood , and as far as prestige cinema goes , there’s really no comparison between the two . landis’ american werewolf endures because its story blended horror and comedy more successfully than innocent blood does , and its striking effects work made it stand out despite being released the same year as both the howling and wolfen . aside from rickles’ character’s ( admittedly well done ) death sequence , innocent blood doesn’t have american werewolf ‘s tangible viscerality ; overall , innocent blood is a much cheaper - looking movie . if i didn’t know better , i would assume that it was a cinemax made - for - tv film , and would never have guessed that landis was involved .
this article is a stub . you can help horror film wiki by expanding it .
haven ' t seen this film in years and had forgotten how good it was .
unsuccessful film from the mind of an american werewolf in london . same concept just never works
with consummate artistry and the self - assurance that comes from experience , master helmer marco bellocchio continues to play with form and content with an originality that make younger directors look like they’re grasping at ephemeral straws . “blood of my blood , ” a two - part film starting with the 17th - century story of a fallen nun and shifting to the [ … ]
first blood ( also known as rambo or rambo : first blood outside the united states ) , is a 1982 action / thriller film directed by ted kotcheff . the film stars sylvester stallone as john rambo , a troubled and misunderstood vietnam war veteran , with hope , washington sheriff will teasle ( brian dennehy ) as his nemesis , and colonel samuel trautman ( richard crenna ) as his former commander and only ally . it was released on october 22 , 1982 .
a 1992 black comedy horror film from director john landis . essentially , vampires meet the mafia .
this hungarian film is a careful , compassionate and beautifully acted character drama with a social conscience .
britnee : innocent blood is an excellent horror - comedy as well as a truly entertaining film with an unforgettable plot and cast ( well , except for marie ) . the true gem of this film isn’t the vampiric mafia or the vampire / human romance ; it’s lenny ( david proval ) , sal’s dopey - eyed assistant . the only other film that i’ve seen him in is the brady bunch movie , in which he makes a 10 second appearance as an electrician with a bad lisp , and i had no idea that he embodied so much talent and pizazz until i saw him in this film . he only had a handful of lines , but each one was pure gold . i still crack up when i remember his worried face by the bathroom window , screaming “sal ! ” while sal is in a tub of his own blood after marie’s failed attack .
the finnish / estonian / swedish coproduction the eternal road , directed by aj annila and coproduced by taska film , received the first ever filmestonia cash rebate support and premiered in august 2017 in finland and december 2017 in estonia . the film was in the official selection of the tallinn black nights film festival .
based loosely on david morrell ' s 1972 novel of the same name , it was the first of the four - film and ongoing rambo series . unlike the following sequels which were war adventure films set in foreign countries , first blood was a post - vietnam war psychological thriller set in the united states . first blood particularly lacks the gore and violence that would later become a trademark of the series .
innocent blood is a horror / comedy directed by john landis . the performances in this movie are played straight for the most part which makes the movie a fun and entertaining story to watch . it is a movie that requires a certain element of having an open mind so that you can enjoy the ludicrous nature of certain plot elements .
boomer : innocent blood is an ultimately inconsequential film , the kind of movie that seems destined to be included in one of those ubiquitous urltoken lists , like “six movies with a more interesting b - plot than premise . ” i didn’t care for it as much as some of my fellow reviewers , but i didn’t dislike it either . i guess , on the whole , i’d say that on the range of john landis’ contributions to the world , where american werewolf is the limit of the best end and spawning whiny privileged misogynist max is the limit of the lower end ( and no , i didn’t forget the death of two children during the production of the twilight zone feature ; max is arguably worse ) , innocent blood falls somewhere in the vicinity of beverly hills cop iii .
the film , however , has not escaped criticism . although jeremiah kipp praised stallone ' s performance , stating that he
hits his climactic breakdown monologue out of the park” with a performance that was “sweet and moving , ” he gave the film two stars out of four , and criticized its “comic book” dialogue and “macho , mindless escapism . ” brian webster of the apollo film site called first blood ,
an embarrassingly sloppy production , ” with a weak script .
reviewed at venice film festival ( competing ) , sept . 8 , 2015 . ( also in toronto film festival — masters . ) running time : 107 min . ( original title : “sangue del mio sangue” )
the sense of place is as pervasive as a character in “moss , ” a film by daniel peddle .
is this a great movie ? no . it feels incomplete . at its core , innocent blood presents a great mashing of mob cinema and vampires , but that ' s about it . you find the fun you want to find in this one . it ' s not quite a classic , but there might be enough to make it memorable .
in march 2017 , the first ever estonian film & television awards ceremony was held with the days that confused by triin ruumet , produced by kinosaurus film , bringing home the majority of the film awards , six in total , including best film and best director . livia ulman and andris feldmanis won best screenplay for pretenders by vallo toomla , produced by amrion , jaagup roomet won best production design for the polar boy by anu aun , produced by luxfilm , and tiina mälberg won best film actress for mother by kadri kõusaar , produced by meteoriit .
in 2008 , the film was chosen by empire magazine as one of the 500 greatest movies of all time .
innocent blood is simply one of the best horror films of the 1990s – a decade in which the genre suffered something of a minor slump . the film is also a vastly overlooked and underappreciated gem from director john landis and – at a stretch – it could even be interpreted as a spiritual sequel to his own an american werewolf in london , even if it is not quite of the high calibre of that film . it could have ( or perhaps , should have ) been titled “a french vampire in pittsburgh” even though such a title may have be seen as a little trite .
the tv version of first blood premiered on nbc on sunday night , may 12 , 1985 , as a tie - in to rambo : first blood part ii . 3 minutes were edited out , and any suggestive dialog was changed . however , the following scenes were added in order to make up for anything that was cut :
innocent blood is a 1992 american horror rom - com and gangster movie , directed by john landis and starring anne parillaud as the vampire marie , anthony lapaglia as undercover cop joseph gennaro , and robert loggia as gang boss salvatore ' the shark ' macelli . it is also known as a french vampire in america and by its german title , bloody marie : eine frau mit biss . it ' s r - rated mainly for blood and gore , but also for nudity and sex scenes . it was filmed on location in pittsburgh .
the distributors re - titled this film
a french vampire in america
for international release without informing director john landis , angering him and causing some confusion when the film was promoted outside the u . s . see more »
innocent blood also fails to stand out among its vampiric brethren as well , as it lacks the sweeping epicness of , say , interview with a vampire , which came out just two years later , or bram stoker’s dracula , which was released the same year ( innocent blood also doesn’t have the built - in audience that comes from being an adaptation , either ) . as a result , it failed to gain the prominence or immortality that other movies in the same vein and of the same era did . it just wasn’t gruesome enough , or memorable enough , or gangstery enough . in shooting for a middle ground , it ended up having too many ideas ; consequently , it failed to stick in the public consciousness in a meaningful way .
i really like this movie . i’ve seen dozens of vampire films and most of them are lacking things like . . . plots . direction . cinematography . scripts . innocent blood was clearly made with a sufficient budget and by a team who knew what they were doing . it isn’t scary enough to really be a horror movie , although it pays homage to the genre . there are schlock elements , but all in all it feels too mainstream for me to consider it a camp film .
a horror comedy about a vampire from the director of an american werewolf in london ? it ' s fair to say that i had some pretty high expectations when i first watched innocent blood . those expectations weren ' t met , and i didn ' t ever revisit the film over the next couple of decades . i ' m not sure whether that is a good or bad thing , because this long overdue rewatch has made me realise that there ' s a lot here to enjoy .
shannon plumb , the wife of director derek cianfrance , has questioned the validity of film critics in an open essay that accuses them of costing her husband ' s new film
a couple million dollars
at the us box office .
john landis has a specific style to his “horror” movies that is felt in innocent blood . the violence and gore are undercut by jokes and visual humor that softens the blow of the horror . the mixture of genres makes the film entertaining to a wider variety of audience . while the casting of parillaud is a strange choice of marie , she is able to pull it off . her accent is very strong and makes her a bit difficult to understand at times yet her movements and actions really solidify her as decent actress .
watched the german dvd of innocent blood [ released as bloody marie ] because it ' s the only version that has all of the gore intact [ on dvd , apparently the new bluray is also uncut ] , it had been at least 15 years since the last time i saw this and it held up , i remembered more cameos than what appeared here [ frank oz , dario argento , tom savini ] , i must have mixed up some of the cameos in garris ' film from the same year , sleepwalkers .
the movie’s director , li yang , dismissed as “ridiculous” the idea that suspects in isolated corners of the countryside had seen his film . because of its grim plot , the chinese authorities banned the film before it was released , and it has rarely been seen except by urban film enthusiasts . even mr . li had difficulty tracking down bootleg dvds of it , he said .
the tomatometer score — based on the opinions of hundreds of film and television critics — is a trusted measurement of critical recommendation for millions of fans . it represents the percentage of professional critic reviews that are positive for a given film or television show .
class reunion 2 : wedding and funeral , the sequel to the 2016 film still holding the box office record in estonia , directed by rené vilbre and produced by taska film , was also finished in 2017 with the premiere scheduled for 13 february 2018 .
landis backs up this silliness with copious televisions playing ancient b - movies featuring familiar monsters like stop - motion dinosaurs , escaped gorillas , bela lugosi , and christopher lee . at the same time , on - screen televisions also take time to play more respectable fare , like the hitchcock film strangers on a train . i think these movie selections are a great representation of what landis was intending to do here : marrying a schlock aesthetic with the higher production value of a “real” film . it’s that exact push & pull that made me fall in love with innocent blood as a dark comedy , when i initially wasn’t expecting to get much out of it .
innocent blood is a movie i just can ' t stand . i know it ' s not trying to be great , but it ' s so bad i had trouble making it through the whole thing . john landis has made good movies that i ' ve really liked , so it ' s weird i hate this so much . the whole vampires - mob plot was just a little too much .
the recipients of the filmestonia cash rebate grants in 2017 are : the animated series bibi blocksberg , directed by aina järvine and produced by a film eesti , the tv series bordertown , directed by miikko oikkonen , jyri kähönen , juuso syrjä and produced by amrion , and the long animated film checked ninja , directed by anders matthesen , thorbjørn christoffersen and produced by a film eesti .
in 2008 , first blood was named the 253rd greatest film ever by empire magazine on their 2008 list of the 500 greatest movies of all time . the character of john rambo was considered a possible candidate for the american film institute ' s list 100 years…100 heroes and villains . the film itself was also a candidate for afi ' s 100 years…100 thrills , a list of america ' s most heart - pounding movies . the character of john rambo has now become one of the most popular action heroes of all time , spawning an entire franchise of action films .
erin : a decade after an american werewolf in london , john landis brought the public innocent blood , a movie about a french vampire in . . . pittsburgh . marie , the fey french vampire , decides to help herself to pittsburgh’s criminal element . mistakes are made , spinal cords are left intact , and before too long marie and ousted undercover cop joe are duking it out with a proliferating vampire mob .
the last estonian republic 100 film to enter production is eia ' s christmas at phantom owl farm , directed by anu aun and produced by luxfilm and kinosaurus film . principal photography is due to begin in january 2018 with the premiere set for december 2018 .
john landis tries to replicate the quirky gory horror / sick - comedy
vein
he mined in an american werewolf in london in innocent blood . anne parillaud plays marie , a lonely vampire trapped in pittsburgh and looking for some fresh blood . when a local gang war breaks out , marie sees it as the perfect cover for her blood feasts . her plan is to dine on the goodfellas (
what about italian ?
she asks ) and then destroy the evidence of her supper with a well - directed gun blast . but the coroner sees something usual when he gets to examine the gangland corpses ,
there ' s a problem . not enough blood . this guy ' s about five quarts too low .
meanwhile , an undercover cop named joe gennaro ( anthony lapaglia ) begins to suspect that marie might be responsible for the killings after witnessing her lighter - than - air stunts in a church after some gangsters attack her . things get more complicated when marie seduces mob - boss sal
the shark
macelli ( robert loggia ) . unable to finish her snack , sal escapes and becomes one of the undead - - back from the grave but lusting after blood . sal wants to start a new race of mob vampires , deadfellas . this forces marie to team up with joe to stop sal ' s blood brothers from taking over pittsburgh .
innocent blood has a lot of elements of a movie made by a fan for fans . it is a vampire movie that takes a humorous look at the common tropes of the time and mocks it . like a joe dante film , this movie is rife with cameos from linnea quigley , sam raimi , tom savini , forrest j . ackerman , frank oz , and dario argento which are amusing to see but occasionally take me out of the movie when saying “hey , isn’t that so and so ? ” during the film . still , the love of the horror genre is felt and it does come off like a genuine appreciation towards films in a similar vein ( pun not intended ) .
britnee : this may sound a bit crazy , but i don’t really think of innocent blood as being a vampire movie . i know that there are indeed many vampires in the film , but they aren’t the sexy , mysterious vampires that dominate the vamp movie world . they’re a group of grotesque undead dudes that look more like zombies than actual vampires , and as brandon previously stated , they are killed off like zombies as well . of course , marie does fall into the sexy vampire category , but she wasn’t really a big part of the film . even when she did have her vampire moments , she reminded me more of a werecat from the 80s film cat people than an actual vampire . landis was attempting to almost reinvent the vampire , but in 1992 , the world just wasn’t ready for something so huge . the general public would have probably better received the film if landis stuck to more traditional vampire guidelines , but i am ever so grateful that he didn’t . the film’s many deviances make it a cult masterpiece , which is 100 times more valuable than a box office hit .
in her essay , plumb claims that several outlets ignored the film ' s embargo and posted their negative reviews days before the premiere .
it has an excellent cast ; while you might not recognize everyone , they will look familiar . robert loggia plays an excellent mob boss , while anne parillaud is simply amazing as a seemingly - innocent , strong , yet seductive vampire heroine .
innocent blood
is an uncomfortable marriage of vampires and mobsters ; it doesn ' t work on either the supernatural or the criminal level . the payoff , in which the gangsters find that they ' ve become vampires , is an exercise in missed opportunities . more ' s the pity , then , that the movie contains an intriguing character in marie , a vampire who is woman enough to spare at least one man from her fangs .
had not seen this one in a while so i picked it up . nice overlooked john landis vampire movie with a unique cast . part
goodfellas
part
true blood
. features the beautiful anne parillaud (
le fem nikita
) as the sexy vampire . only drawback is these american dvd versions do not present the film in its original widescreen ratio . if you really love the film look for an import version until wb decides to do a new release .
this film has minor cult movie status , in part because it is rarely available or shown on tv . there is very little fanfic .
in 2016 , the annual state support for film industry was 9 , 877 , 146 eur with 7 , 025 , 151 eur from the estonian film institute , 2 , 141 , 995 eur from the cultural endowment , and 710 , 000 eur from the ministry of culture .
with consummate artistry and the self - assurance that comes from experience , master helmer marco bellocchio continues to play with form and content with an originality that make younger directors look like they’re grasping at ephemeral straws . “ blood of my blood , ” a two - part film starting with the 17th - century story of a fallen nun and shifting to the same convent - prison locale today , fits neatly within bellocchio’s method of incorporating family members and his home locale , weaving together social critique , perceptions of past and present , and welcome humor . it is not , however , a film that declares its intentions , which will perplex audiences not feeling equipped to follow every path and connection .
the method of proof is via medieval “trials” : she’s pushed off a cliff to see if she sinks ( innocent ) ; berated to see if she cries ( innocent ) ; and finally , a trial by fire to see if the pain will make her confess . with the last trial , cacciapuoti is convinced she’ll admit to demonic possession , and he sends federico off with the reassurance his brother can have a proper burial . meanwhile , benedetta is walled up inside a tiny chamber in the convent .
without giving too much away , its a mix of three genres of film : horror ( via vampires ) , mobster movies , and comedy .
in 2017 major production of feature films for the centennial film programme estonian republic 100 took place . most of the premiere dates are already scheduled .
a total of 21 estonian films premiered in cinemas through 2017 and two of them made it to the top ten . the dissidents , directed by jaak kilmi and produced by taska film , ranked 2nd , while swingers , directed by andrejs ekis and produced by platforma film , ranked 7th .
lotte and the lost dragons , the third instalment of estonia’s most famous animated franchise and the only animated feature in the centennial film programme , directed by janno põldma and heiki ernits and produced by eesti joonisfilm , will wrap production in early 2018 . the film will reach the screens in 2019 .
in addition to the absence of a clear vampirism metaphor , landis’ film also goes light on its dedication to the generally accepted rules of cinematic vampirism . marie may be averse to garlic & sunlight , but her reflection appears in mirrors & she kills her fellow vampires with shots to the head ( much more akin to zombie rules ) rather than stakes to the heart . somehow , though , i’m not at all bothered by all of this . as much as i might’ve appreciated a clearer set of rules or a more well - defined metaphor , i believe that the film is perfectly entertaining as is . it’s curious to me that innocent blood is the sole screenplay credit for writer michael wolk , as i believe he did a fantastic job of establishing a distinct kind of mob - themed horror comedy that i’ve never seen on film before . when his screenplay works it really works , flaws & false starts be damned .
uring the 1970s there was a queasy urban myth that , in new york cinemas , drug dealers were skulking down the aisles at midnight shows jabbing innocent moviegoers with needles , so instantly enslaving them to heroin . after one single viewing of kill bill volume 1 , starring
the ballad of narayama
is a japanese film of great beauty and elegant artifice , telling a story of startling cruelty . what a space it opens…
creative industries development centre creative gate received 300 , 000 eur to create an international platform as a gateway for film and audiovisual industry in collaboration with creative and service sector partners . the central export marketing channel of creative gate is the annual industry @ tallinn , a part of the tallinn black nights film festival .
it wasn ' t a message that stirred the audiences , nor was it a great performance . . . they were aroused by pure film .
this is blue valentine director cianfrance ' s first film since the place beyond the pines in 2012 . you can read plumb ' s full essay here .
since its release , first blood has been a critical and commercial success , and has had a lasting influence on the genre . it has also spurred countless parodies . the film is notable for its psychological portrayal of the after - effects of the vietnam war , particularly the challenges faced by american veterans attempting to re - integrate into society , something not deeply examined in subsequent rambo movies .
the film new europe ( fne ) association is the networking platform for film professionals in the cee / see / baltics region . the webportal and fne newswire was chosen as the main tool to achieve the network’s objectives of the sharing of know how , visibility of regional cultural diversity and finally the voice of the region .
when hunting down new york ' s most dangerous mobster - turned - suck - face , one must recharge . what better way than to make love to a centuries old parisian vampire ? the safety word :
blood play .
the mobsters might be the place to look for metaphor in innocent blood . sal’s greed for power and his megalomaniacal feelings of invincibility are the things that cause his downfall . maybe the metaphor of vampirism here is for both greed and trying to use powers that are not fully understood or appreciated . sal tries to convert his whole mob into vampires , but doesn’t seem to make any considerations for the fact that they will no longer be able to work during daylight or that their favorite italian foods will now cause great distress .
innocent blood is a fun movie that will entertain a variety of audiences . the effects are good and the humor is delightfully dark considering the horror that ensues . the acting is well done and the story is entertaining . the problem is that the movie is fairly forgettable when you consider the director’s other works . there is nothing that really makes this movie stand out . the movie is clever , funny , and erotic . it feels like this is the sort of movie that would be ripe for a remake in the future .
inherent vice feels like it’s been forgotten already , the master was great but too weighty for some , but there will be blood is the paul thomas anderson film that comes up time and time again in pub film conversations , whether they’re between cinephiles or more casual fans . a blank yet brutal indictment of lucre , daniel day lewis gave one of his best ever performances as oil man daniel plainview , and jonny greenwood’s fearsome score is still being performed live several years after its release . but mainly , “i drink your milkshake ! i drink it up ! ” - ch
on 27 - 28 november 2017 , the estonian eu presidency conference pictured futures : connecting content , tech & policy in audiovisual europe was organised by the ministry of culture in collaboration with estonian film institute , tallinn black nights film festival and the european commission . the event was co - financed by the european commission and enterprise estonia .
first blood received generally favorable reviews , and is considered by many to be one of the best films of 1982 . stallone , in particular , received much praise for his performance . in his 1982 review , roger ebert wrote that he did not like the film ' s ending , as he felt that it was cliched , but that overall the film was
a very good movie , well - paced , and well - acted not only by stallone . . . but also by crenna and brian dennehy .
he even went as far as to say ,
although almost all of first blood is implausible , because it ' s stallone on the screen , we ' ll buy it .
sitting u . s . president ronald reagan was enthusiastic about the film ' s portrayal of vietnam veterans and praised it , also claiming that rambo was mostlikely a republican . although stallone appreciated reagan ' s comments , he insisted that rambo doesn ' t care about politics and it ' s one of the things he despises about america . rambo just wants to be left alone and he is apolitcal , not wishing to be affiliated with any political party . in 2000 , bbc film critic almar haflidason noted that stallone’s training in survival skills and hand - to - hand combat gave the film ,
a raw and authentic edge that excited the audiences of the time .
first blood ' s release on dvd sparked a series of contemporary reviews , earning it an 86 %
fresh
rating from rotten tomatoes and a score of 62 (
generally positive
) from metacritic .
estonian minority coproduction scary mother , directed by georgian ana urushadze and coproduced by allfilm , has already collected nine awards at international film festivals since its premiere in august 2017 .
romantic period tale the light between oceans , which stars michael fassbender and alicia vikander , debuted at venice film festival earlier this month but was met with frosty critical reception .
this film has it all - pretty heroine , a will - he - won ' t - he - get - the - girl hero , vampires , cops , the mob , romance and very black comedy . my favourite line :
don ' t play with the food
. see the film to know who says that about whom !
first blood , with a shooting budget of $ 15 million and a total domestic gross of $ 47 million and $ 125 million worldwide , was a moderate financial success , compared to other films released that year . for example , e . t . , with a budget of just $ 10 . 5 million , brought in nearly $ 12 million in its opening weekend and went on to gross over $ 350 million . similarly , both tootsie and porky ' s grossed over $ 100 million each . stallone ' s other 1982 film , rocky iii , also beat first blood at the box office , pulling in over $ 12 million on its opening weekend with a total gross over $ 125 million domestically . however , first blood was not a commercial failure , either . blade runner performed comparatively at the box office , and grossed only $ 32 million . poltergeist , although more successful in total sales , brought in similar numbers at the box office .
seeing the shower scene today , several things stand out . unlike modern horror films ,
psycho
never shows the knife striking flesh . there are no wounds . there is blood , but not gallons of it . hitchcock shot in black and white because he felt the audience could not stand so much blood in color ( the 1998 gus van sant remake specifically repudiates that theory ) . the slashing chords of bernard herrmann ' s soundtrack substitute for more grisly sound effects . the closing shots are not graphic but symbolic , as blood and water spin down the drain , and the camera cuts to a closeup , the same size , of marion ' s unmoving eyeball . this remains the most effective slashing in movie history , suggesting that situation and artistry are more important than graphic details .
the first half of the film builds with expertly cranked white - knuckle tension . and chris’ ( daniel kaluuya ) periodic phone calls to his hilariously skeptical black friend at home ( lilrel howery ) are like a merry - prankster greek chorus commenting on the whole get - the - hell - out - of - the - houseness of chris’ situation . but get out ’s delicate balancing act gets wobbly in the second half of the film when peele’s conceptually daring premise unspools with a fairly clichéd genre climax . for a film that’s asking hard questions , it takes the easy way out . still , peele is undeniably a born filmmaker with big ambitions and an even bigger set of balls . he’s made a horror movie whose biggest jolts have nothing to do with blood or bodies , but rather with big ideas . b
brandon : it’s funny , because the near - campless first half of the film really wasn’t doing it for me . it felt like landis was splitting his time between making both a mediocre vampire movie & a mediocre mob film . there was a little fun to be had in the way marie talked about her “food” ( read : victims ) in lines like “how about italian ? ” & “never play with the food” and the dissonance between her glowing - eyes blood feasts & the sinatra - scored , bargain bin scorsese mob aesthetics , but it didn’t feel all that special as an example of either genre . innocent blood didn’t truly win me over until it devolved into utter chaos , a change that gets kicked off sometime around when mob boss sallie “the shark” macelli is turned & starts assembling cinema’s ( as far as i know ) very first vampire mafia . there’s some respectable noir influence in the dark alleys & detective work of the back half , but it’s the black comedy & campy vampire mob shenanigans that make the movie shine . it’s hard for me to read scenes like don rickles’ vampire transformation or that never - ending , super - kinky , thrust - heavy sex scene as anything but exercises in camp .
the story and concept is fun and the threat of seeing a mobster turn vampire and then turning his underlings into his vampire followers is a cool idea . casting don rickles as a mob lawyer is fun to watch and creates some amusing scenes that make the movie as lighthearted as an american werewolf in london . the effects in innocent blood are not as impressive as an american werewolf in london but it still okay enough to keep people in the movie . anthony lapaglia is sort of the “dry white toast” of the movie . he does not really make a compelling character but he is the audience surrogate walking them through the movie .
the horror fan in me appreciated both the gore , and the portroyal of vampires . leading female vampire aside , the vampires are portrayed as monsters , much like the film nosferatu and 30 days of night . the mob movie fan appreciated the seedy atmosphere and brutality of the mobsters . and the comedy movie fan appreciated the subtle jokes and lighthearted humor in an otherwise dark , dreary , and violent film .
a middle - aged farmer who lived nearby was blunter . asking that his name not be used for fear of recriminations , he wrote a letter in case he was ever asked about the cases , which said , “there are eight homes in this little village that have been built from human blood . ”
does all star actors don rickles is a scream in this movie . scary but not blood monster tear apart . but more like jump out and boo . another movie i had to have in my collection ! you might want to consider having it in yours too . if you don ' t already ewing 🦊
if he were to remake the film today , mr . li said in a telephone interview , “it wouldn’t have anything different , except the amounts of money scammed would be larger and the perpetrators would be gangs . ”
a modern day vampire tale about a very beautiful french vampire named marie . marie is a vampire , unlike any other as she only feeds on bad people who do bad things . sex and blood are her main course , and one night she goes for italian . when she feeds on a ruthless crime boss named sal
the shark
macelli , she is discovered by an undercover cop , and does not finish him off in order to prevent him from turning . unfortunately , macelli wakes up very confused and extremely thirsty . . . for blood . now , marie and her newfound lover must stop macelli and his gang of vampires .
marie is a vampire who prefers not to eat innocent people ; instead she goes after gangsters and other dangerous criminals , and decides to target the mob led by macelli . since she doesn ' t want to create more vampires she shoots her victims in the neck to cover bite marks and destroy their spines , ensuring that they will stay dead and making her attacks look like mob killings .
whiplash was perhaps the most buzzy ,
have you seen it yet ?
film of 2014 , and winning major oscars off a budget of $ 3 . 3 million was no mean feat . damien chazelle managed to make a film about drumming absolutely edge - of - your - seat stuff , and succeeded by not patronising his audience - trusting that even if they didn’t understand the music theory detail , they would still be able to revel in it . unfortunately , it might just be too small a film to be remembered as a ‘classic’ , but will certainly be circling the top of ‘best movies about music’ lists for some years to come . - ch
a young female vampire sets her sights ( and teeth ) to italian crime boss and his gang of thugs . but things do not go as planned . . . . . great comedy horror film . i like it .
the film , budgeted at $ 20 million , went on to take $ 4 . 8 million in its us opening weekend ; to date , it ' s overall haul sits at an underwhelming $ 11 . 6 million .
a beautiful vampire hooks up with an undercover cop to take down a mob boss who she accidentally turned into a vampire . john landis vampire film that has fun with the genre . not in the same ballpark as awil but not bad .
domestic films had 282 , 421 admissions , adding up to an 8 % market share . the most successful estonian film was the dissidents , which made box office no 1 with 85 , 306 admissions and over 480 , 000 eur gross .
domestic films had 282 , 421 admissions , adding up to an 8 % market share . the dissidents , directed by jaak kilmi and produced by taska film , topped the box office with 85 , 306 admissions and over 480 , 000 eur gross .
the estonian / french / belgian coproduction fire lily , directed by maria avdjuško and produced by meteoriit , will open in may 2018 . the film , starring the hollywood - based estonian - born actor johann urb , was shot in november - december 2017 .
not enough blood . this guy ' s about five quarts low .
an undercover cop named joe gennaro ( anthony lapaglia ) , who has met marie under a variety of suspicious circumstances , begins to suspect she may be behind the killings - especially after she dive - bombs him in a church , flying through the air in rage after being attacked by one of the gangsters .
when norman spies on marion , hitchcock said , most audience members read it as peeping tom behavior . truffaut observed that the film ' s opening , with marion in a bra and panties , underlines the later voyeurism . we have no idea murder is in store .
mihkel , directed by ari alexander magnusson and coproduced by iceland’s true north and estonia’s amrion , was shot in estonia for five days in may - june 2017 , after an icelandic shooting in the autumn of 2016 . the film is set to premiere on 24 august 2018 .
this is a film that has the privledge of not only being one of the best mob flicks you ' ve probably never heard of , but one of the best vampire flicks you ' ve probably never heard of . that ' s a badass combination if you ask me .
precisely because of the film’s thematic richness , extremely italian in its references yet securely universal in its philosophical understanding of stasis , renewal and decadence ( in its traditional definition of cultural decline ) , the film will befuddle viewers , hampering chances for all but a small theatrical release offshore unless brave distributors find a way of convincing ticketbuyers that sometimes , full intellectual comprehension is less important than the lingering emotions that build long after the end credits . critical reception at home is also likely to be uneven , though ironically , time may be the movie’s best friend .
- quentin tarantino ' s first movie for six years - i felt like the director himself had cacklingly jammed his hypodermic into my throbbing arm . really , no one delivers that sheer , aneurism - inducing rush with the same intravenous efficiency as tarantino . it may not be the best film of the year , nor the best tarantino film . but it ' s sure as hell got to be the best way , the only way , to mainline pure adrenaline in the cinema . whether this results in euphoria or nausea depends on the needle - user .
brandon : there’s a near endless list of metaphors that have been attached to vampirism in the past , ranging from as disparate of meanings as the unchecked thirst for power erin mentioned to the powerlessness of cyclical depression & drug addiction . i’m just not seeing anything explicit in innocent blood that suggests a clear metaphor . the mobsters’ thirst for power angle erin suggests is something i’d buy , with plenty of evidence backing it up in the film , but where exactly does that leave marie as a character ? the more i reflect on the emptiness of marie’s general presence , i’m left thinking that the movie could’ve been so much better without her . it’s as if she were a starting point that eventually lead landis & writer michael wolk to the much more fleshed out undead mobster concept . if marie had been left on the editing room floor or at the very least taken a backseat after she got the mobster plot rolling , we might have a much tighter plotted movie . the befuddled law enforcement pov boomer suggested above in particular could’ve been worth a try . then again , we wouldn’t have that insanely sleazy sex scene in that scenario , so maybe they made the right choice afterall .
now that i consider it , none of the main characters are fully fleshed out . joe is determined to take down the italian mafia , but any other motivations he may have in his personal or private life are unspoken , if they exist at all . the same can be said of his fellow cops ( and a criminally underutilized angela bassett as the pittsburg da ) or of the mobsters from loggia down . for a prolonged section of the film , the protagonists and antagonists exist in completely different plotlines that only tangentially intersect , and i think that the crime the film is most guilty of is devoting too much focus to marie and joe , especially if none of that attention yields any character insight or development ; there’s both too much and too little of marie to be satisfying . a film that focused instead on luis guzman , for instance , ineptly bumbling his way through an investigation would have more potential entertainment value , all things considered . lapaglia’s not a bad actor , he just seems to be under the impression that the ratio of crime thriller to comedy of the film he’s in skews in the opposite direction it actually does .