Product: Elvira Madigan [VHS]
Rating: 5.0
Better than you've heard
All right, I admit it -- I've got a soft spot in my heart for "Elvira Madigan." I first saw it when I was thirteen and thought it was absolutely gorgeous. Over the years, I've read many reviews and talked to many film "experts" who take delight in tearing this film apart, dismissing it as nothing more than an hour-and-a-half shampoo commercial. Granted, it may not be Bergman or Fellini (two of my personal favorites) but it is an affecting and effective piece of cinema. You'd have to look a long time to find as many consecutive images as ravishing as the ones in the film, and the performers themselves act with restraint and honesty. There are quibbles, of course: the Mozart is overused, and the editing is sloppy. However, if you give yourself over to it and are not an avowed cynic, this film can work some real magic.