I can't fault this film.

Rating: 10/10 (17 February 2007)

The first time I watched this film I thought it very good. Then, as with films that have made an impact, it rattled round my brain for a month or two. Various scenes, snatches of dialogue, single shots etc., kept coming back and my feeling that this really was something very special slowly took hold. Yesterday I watched it twice. I can't fault it. Technically it is perfect. The story is perfectly told and the Mingella always stays consistent in his telling of it. The acting is marvellous; one becomes accustomed to over-the-top histrionics passing for acting. So many of the big box office "stars" have survived on this kind of nonsense for so long that a lot of film goers no longer have any yardstick to measure by when the real thing presents itself. A special word for the cameraman, thank you you're an artisan in the very best sense of the word. I place this film on a par with "The Duellists" for camera-work, on a par with "The Remains of the Day" for acting and as good as anything I've ever seen for it's direction. I love this film, it's the best thing committed to celluloid in the past fifteen years. I shall watch it on a regular basis if for no other reason than to remind myself how good the medium can be in the hands of professionals.