In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.

Q: uncompromising french director robert bresson 's " lancelot of the lake " achieves the exact opposite effect of sir thomas malory 's " morte darthur .
" instead of enshrining the legend of king arthur and his knights of the round table , it dethrones them by revealing arthur as a weak , ineffectual leader and the knights as a group of jealous , bickering men who failed to live up to the legends prescribed to them .
chivalry has no place in " lancelot of the lake , " except as that of a dying ideal .
bresson begins his tale as the knights of the round table are returning , decimated , after failing merlin 's command to retrieve the holy grail , the mystical cup that was filled with christ 's blood .
bresson immediately gives us his impression of the essential meaning of the grail quest : bloodshed and failure .
the opening sequence is a series of clumsy , disjointed fights amongst anonymous knights -- a head is hacked off , a stomach is impaled , a skull is split open , skeletal remains hang from trees , and
burning bodies smolder in the ruins of a flaming house .
since the film starts with camelot in near - ruin , and takes only an hour and a half to arrive at its inevitable conclusion , it does n't carry the grand , tragic resonance of other arthurian films .
we never get to see camelot at the peak of its power , therefore there is no real downfall to witness .
but , then again , it is not the name of camelot that is evoked in the title of the film .
rather , it is lancelot , and bresson is more interested in the internal battle within his heart , than the external downfall of a kingdom .
lancelot has always been a tragic figure in the arthurian tales , and bresson uses him as the central figure to explore the battle between the spirit and the flesh .
the greatest of all knights , he was flawed only in his love for arthur 's wife , queen guinevere , and it was that illicit affair that eventually caused the downfall of camelot .
even when lancelot attempts to end the affair with guinevere ( laura duke condominas ) , he only finds himself falling back into her arms against his better judgment .
he knows it means the destruction of the idealized kingdom , but he is powerless in his passion .
when sir mordred ( patrick bernhard ) accuses lancelot of the affair , other knights , including sir gawain ( humbert balsan ) spring to lancelot 's defense .
it is this battle within the knights that is the eventual undoing of the round table ; the flesh wins out over the spirit , and the consequences are dire .
bresson is an intensely personal filmmaker most interested in the interiors of men 's hearts and minds .
" lancelot of the lake " is filled with his particular trademarks : a stripped - down , minimalist style , flat , expressionless dialogue , and a grand use of natural sounds in place of music .
he uses background music only twice in the film , during an opening narration segment and during the opening credits .
the music here is a heavy drumbeat and accompanying bagpipes , but the rest of the film is scored with natural sounds that punctuate the film 's thematic elements : the incessant clanking and creaking of heavy armor , the neighing of horses , the rhythm of hooves beating down dirt roads , and the natural chirping and whispering of the forest .
like most of his other films , bresson employed nonprofessional actors who recite the dialogue in emotionless , flat voices .
all the actors he used in " lancelot of the lake " had never acted before , and with the exception of patrick bernhard , they never acted again .
never once do they raise their voices or put any emphasis on a given word .
instead of using vocal inflection , bresson strove to create emotion through images .
in some ways , this technique works ; in other ways , it does n't .
the final montage of arthur 's men battling each other is quite marvelous , and the final image of the knights in shining armor reduced to a literal scrap - pile sums up the entire film in one moment .
however , other times bresson 's uncompromising methods are distracting and questionable .
for instance , during an important jousting contest , bresson films the majority of the action so that the only things visible are the horses ' legs .
he does this repeatedly , opening each shot with the same few notes from a bagpipe and the raising of a different flag .
while there might be symbolic value in this , the resulting experience of watching it can be bothersome .
nevertheless , " lancelot of the lake " is a fascinating cinematic experience boldly made by a master filmmaker .
bresson 's style may not be for everyone , but one has to respect his strength as an artist .
by re - evaluating the arthurian legends and making them his own
, he turns " lancelot of the lake " into something rare in modern cinema : a truly personal film .

A: P
****
Q: it is easy to label something sentimental or tear jerking when one has not experienced the heartache of losing a child ? whether that may be in life or in death .
after having said that , i will also say that this movie does all of the above very well .
one gets that choking sensation in the throat ( because of grief ) when one brother forgives another for a costly mistake , or when a husband hugs his wife after a long estrangement .
there is no ocean , no drownings
and it does not conjure up memories of yet another ?
ordinary people ' .
in fact the only thing remotely connected to the ocean is probably tap water and the toilet flushing ( not that this literally happened in the movie ) .
so what are the lessons learnt :
1 . do n't take your children to class reunions .
2 . do n't leave them alone in the lobby , not even for a second .
michelle pfeiffer once again plays the role of a highly - strung wife and mother , a trend that started with ? a thousand acres ' and ?
one fine day ' .
my comment is that she is exceptionally fine strung in this movie , so much so that when she has a nervous break down , the veins on her temples bulge impressively .
whoopi golberg also puts in an understated performance , playing a lesbian cop , with a name that makes one want to reach for a lollipop .
lastly , who are the ideal companions for this sort of movie ?
my grandmother comes to mind .

A: P
****
Q: " gattaca " represents a solid breakthrough in the recent onslaught of science - fiction films -- it 's a genre picture that does n't rely on alien creatures or loud explosions to tell its story .
the movie takes place in a futuristic world where babies are created through genetic tampering and not sexual reproduction .
this allows parents to predetermine what kind of eye color , intelligence and life span
they 'd like for their child , and also eliminates most pesky chances of health defects .
those made the old - fashioned way are labeled as " in - valids " and confined to the lower rung of society .
vincent freeman ( ethan hawke ) is one such person , born not too long before the genetic process was perfected and forced to grow up in a home with his petrie dish - molded younger brother anton .
fed up with being second - rate and enchanted by dreams of one day traveling through space , vincent leaves home and takes a janitorial position at the gattaca aerospace corporation .
everyday , he watches as " superior " folk make his fantasy a reality .
determined to do the same , vincent meets a dna broker ( tony shalhoub in a funny cameo ) who sells fake identities to in - valids .
his counterpart for this scam is jerome morrow ( jude law ) , an ex - athlete left paralyzed in an accident and confined to a wheelchair for life .
for a price and the promise of a caretaker , jerome supplies vincent with his identity , as well as blood , skin and urine samples for all of those pesky on - the - job tests and physical examinations -- this future is one where employees clock in by pricking their fingers instead of punching a time card .
because of his drastically improved status , vincent is quickly propelled to a high position in gattaca , and catches the eye of comely co - worker irene ( uma thurman ) on the way -- obsessed with her own minor heart defect , she 's enamored by his flawless persona
she does n't know is a lie .
but on the figurative eve of his upcoming planetary departure , the mission director is murdered .
two ardent detectives ( alan arkin and billy bathgate 's loren dean ) determine the killer is on the inside of gattaca , and the sole clue they find at the crime scene -- one of vincent 's eyelashes -- threatens to blow vincent 's cover and derail his goal .
even if " gattaca " were dramatically empty , it would still boast a sublime set of production credentials -- the film 's look is dazzling without ever being flashy .
first - time director / writer andrew niccol ( he also wrote the screenplay for the upcoming jim carrey drama " the truman show " ) demonstrates a keen eye for the stylish ;
his collaboration with cinematographer slawomir idziak , production designer jan roelfs and costume designer colleen atwood result in a sophisticated composition that emanates classy , retro ambiance .
an opening credits sequence -- where skin , nail and hair fragments fall in slow - motion through a colored camera lens -- displays these combined talents uncannily .
niccol even utilizes voice - over narration ( a device almost always poorly - employed ) in an effective way .
when it comes to acting ,
the movie is also flawless .
ethan hawke does magnificent work , proving his ability to carry a film and reaffirming his enormously high charisma level .
his chemistry with thurman is a bit on the icy side , but needfully so , adding to the setting 's clinical chill .
as the bitter jerome , jude law has a star - making presence , and it 's his scenes with hawke that give the movie its fine emotional core
.
in " gattaca " 's series of final shots , the fates of vincent and jerome are superimposed over each other , and the effect is sad , lyrical and beautiful
.
things get a little strange as the movie nears its climax , when vincent 's relationship with his brother comes back into view .
the big dramatic culmination is a swim race , which is somewhat silly albeit beautifully photographed .
still , the single most surprising aspect of gattaca is its use of backdrop --
it 's successful sci - fi without showy special effects , it 's a crisp thriller with character - driven thrills , it 's a futuristic fable without blood and guts .
even its murder mystery is relegated to a secondary subplot , ensuring that a smart story about smart people and smart science takes center stage .
although it 's portrayal of the upcoming century is grim , " gattaca " serves up one of the most thought - provoking societal forecasts ever depicted on film .

A:
P
****