Review of Lilith (2011) by Brian P — 04 Jul 2004

Laputa:

Great story, great animation, wonderful characters. Didactic ending, though. I was very impressed - I didn't expect to like it as much as I did. I was expecting something alot different. Miyazaki came up with something better.

Bebop:

FANTASTIC animation! I just adored the style of this film. Plus, I thought that the story was quite interesting - it made Mars seem so much like Earth. Vincent is an oddly sympathetic scumbag. Also, the film makes interesting use of the dangers of hallucinagenics and explores the effects that intense existential confusion can have on one's waking life.

Akira:

I don't know what this crap about it having a hard to follow (or bad) story is. Of course the story isn't as great as the collosally good animation, but it's no slacker, either. I thought that the romantic development was charming, and the climax was genuinely thrilling. Pretty rich film. And that music!!!

The Bride Wore Black.

This film is Truffaut's homage to Hitchcock, much like Tarantino honored Kung-Fu in Kill Bill.

I think that Tarantino's homage works better for one simple reason: while Tarantino is more interested in film than he is in life, I think that Truffaut is more interested in life than film. This means that Tarantino's film feels more committed to the project, more focused. Truffaut's homage isn't what Truffaut should be using his talent to doing, you know?

The homage to hitchcock doesn't invigorate like Tarantino's does. However, this difference swings both ways: Truffaut's interest in life translates into his ability to create films with characters more emotionally real than anything in a Tarantino film. Yes, Tarantino can make a better homage - but Truffaut still makes the better film.

Lilith.

Here's another plodding film for all you lovers of L'Avventura and Woman in the Dunes out there. Ever so slightly less plodding than those two, I think, because it does have a few scenes of some kineticism.

This is probably the most sober film about insanity and the world of human imagination ever made.

The great (photography, acting, script) outweighs the terrible (the editing, the use of music) and the only slightly above average direction. Still, it has much to offer a viewer who is interested in religion, J. Campbell, and imagination. Just have some coffee, in case.

Also, the ending was silly.