Masterclass

Rating: 9/10 (18 September 2010)

Wow, what a director. Instead of upping the pace, he lets scenes breathe and develop, leading to unexpected details that make the characters so much more lovable. He lets the leads shine, he doesn't overdose on the violin quartets, his camera angles genuinely surprise, he manages to run a tight art direction without making it a "design movie". Usually, a great script makes or breaks a movie for me. This script was good, but not brilliant. Campanella just goes to work.
The past 20 years, filmmakers have slowly increased the pace and editing. Pace excites us and has the additional advantage of hiding weak parts in the script by bombarding the audience with sheer visceral impact. Now, I always prefer a superficially exciting movie over a dreadful, semi-profound sleeper. But nothing is better than this: a movie that finds its own pace and just pulls the audience along, with their full consent.