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Posts Tagged ‘heath ledger’

Casanova (2005)

Posted in Film Reviews, Period drama/comedy reviews, tagged , , , , , , , , on July 30, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Before anyone watches this film they should probably know that it in no way attempts to tell the story of Giacomo Casanova; instead this is a fictionalised account of a specific period in Casanova’s life.  It’s full of historical inaccuracies, but it’s clearly not trying to present any semblance of truth, and instead is more a comedy of errors, with plenty of visual gags.

In essense, the infamous seducer Casanova (Heath Ledger) is ordered to wed a virgin, or else be arrested on crimes of fornication.  He quickly proposes to a young girl who is smitten with him, but then he meets the headstrong and intelligent Francesca Bruni (Sienna Miller) and falls for her.  However, she is not aware of his true identity, and to complicate matters, she is engaged to a distant relative who she has never met.  Casanova pretends to be the fiance, while in the meantime, the young girl who he previously became engaged to is the object of affection for Francesca’s brother – who also has no idea of Casanova’s real identity.  Sounds complicated, but on the screen it all plays out well, with plenty of moments of humour.  Throughout all this, Bishop Pucci (Jeremy Irons) is on Casanova’s tail and is also trying to find a famous heretical writer – but further identity mix ups get in the way…!

The film is strictly played for laughs and on the whole it works well.  Heath Ledger looks nothing like how I would expect Casanova to look, but he plays the role well and with considerable charm – and looks like he’s having great fun doing it.  Jeremy Irons seems to positively revel in playing the evil Bishop who wants to capture and kill Casanova, and Oliver Platt is also wonderful as Francesca’s unknown fiance.  Omid Dajlili plays Lupo, Casanova’s manservant, and provides many laughs.  Mention should also be made of Lena Olin, as Francesca’s mother.  She was very funny and looked absolutely beautiful.  The only slightly weak link in the cast was Sienna Miller, who was never really convincing enough as the feisty woman who Casanova falls for.  However there was plenty enough in the film to make up for that.

Venice itself looked gorgeous, and is shown off to its best effect here (it made me want to visit there!), and the costumes were also terrific.  The classical musical score, including some of Vivaldi’s work was perfect for the film, and so nice in fact that I would like to buy the soundtrack to the film.

This film is basically an old fashioned romp through 18th century Venice.  Low on accuracy, but high on laughs with a smattering of romance (although the emphasis is definitely on comedy), and a nice twist at the end.  Overall, an enjoyable way to pass a couple of hours.

Year of release: 2005

Director: Lasse Hallstrom

Writers: Jeffrey Hatcher, Kimberley Simi, Michael Cristofer

Main cast: Heath Ledger, Sienna Miller, Oliver Platt, Jeremy Irons, Lena Olin, Omin Djalili

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The Brothers Grimm (2005)

Posted in Film Reviews, Period drama/comedy reviews, tagged , , , , , , , on August 30, 2010| Leave a Comment »

This film is a very heavily fictionalised account of the lives of the Brothers Grimm, before they became famous for their collections of folk/fairy tales.  Set in French occupied Germany in the early 1800s, Willheim and Jacob (named Will and Jake in this movie, and played by Matt Damon and Heath Ledger respectively) are shown as a pair of conmen.  They make their living performing fake exorcisms and getting rid of non-existent witches and demons.  However, they eventually find themselves having to solve a genuine mystery.  The town of Marbaden has seen the disappearance of a number of young girls recently, and Will and Jake will need all of their cunning and courage to uncover the truth…

This film received a LOT of criticism, and while I think a lot of it was too harsh, I can see why many people would not enjoy it.  On the plus side, the two main leads – Damon and Ledger – are excellent.  Heath Ledger plays the part of the bumbling and nervous Jake to perfection, while Matt Damon ably handles the role of the more cocky and dominant Will.  As with all Terry Gilliam films, there is an explosion of colour and imagination.  There are also plenty of laughs along the way.  I also enjoyed seeing the allusions to many of the stories which the real Brothers Grimm became famous for.

However, the film did start to fall apart a bit about halfway through.  The plot seemed to get a little bit lost and was certainly overlong.  It seemed to move from the surreal and amusing into the ridiculous.  There was some pretty poor CGI as well; while I’m not normally bothered about special effects in a movie, bad effects can drag a film down.  This is certainly not the best film that either Matt Damon or Heath Ledger have ever starred in – and neither is it the best film from the usually excellent Terry Gilliam.  However, I do like the fact that he is never afraid to try something new and different, and the charisma of the two leads was just about enough to pull this movie through and make it a film I enjoyed watching.

Year of release: 2005

Director: Terry Gilliam

Writer: Ehren Kruger

Main cast: Matt Damon, Heath Ledger, Lena Heady, Mackenzie Crook

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10 Things I Hate About You (1999)

Posted in Film Reviews, TV/Film adaptation reviews, tagged , , , , on January 27, 2009| Leave a Comment »

I loved this movie, which is based on Shakespeare’s ‘The Taming of the Shrew’.  There are several nods to Shakespeare in the movie – the two sisters’ are called Katarina and Bianca, as in the play, and their surname is Stratford – which was of course where Shakespeare lived.  Heath Ledger’s character’s surname is Verona, and Shakespeare is studied in the high school where the action takes place.)

Cameron is a new boy at school, who falls for the popular Bianca.  However, Bianca is not allowed to date anyone, unless her prickly sister Kat dates as well…but there are not many men wanting to get too close to Kat, who is bad tempered and unsocial. Cameron concocts a plan whereby he gets the resident ‘bad boy’ (played by Heath Ledger) to take Kat out, thus enabling himself to ask Bianca out.  However, things inevitably go awry!

Although this is a high school movie, it’s actually very sweet, and there are moments of great humour – my favourite scene was Verona serenading Kat with ‘Can’t Take My Eyes off You’.  All of the leads are great, and we are reminded once again what a talent the entertainment world lost when Heath Ledger died just over a year ago.  He is very charismatic and funny, and here shows the potential that was realised in his later movies.

The great soundtrack is the icing on the cake.  This movie isn’t going to change anyone’s life, nor is it going to make it onto any ‘classic movie’ countdown.  But as a funny and entertaining way to pass a Sunday afternoon, this fits the bill perfectly!

Year of release: 1999

Director: Gil Junger

Writer: William Shakespeare (book), Karen McCullah Lutz, Kirsten Smith

Main cast: Heath Ledger, Julia Stiles, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Larisa Oleynik

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Brokeback Mountain (2005) (spoilers)

Posted in Film Reviews, TV/Film adaptation reviews, tagged , , , , , , , , on March 2, 2008| 1 Comment »

This is a really beautiful movie. It tells the story of Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist, two young cowboys who meet in the summer of 1963, up on Brokeback Mountain. They forge a connection which stays with them throughout their lives. This film is wonderfully acted, and watching it now just reminds one of what a wonderful talent has been lost with the tragic death of Heath Ledger. He is outstanding in this movie, as is Jake Gyllenhaal.

The film is widely known as ‘the gay cowboy movie’, but it is so much more than that.  Ennis and Jake fall for each other so deeply, and at a time and in a culture where such a love would be heavily frowned upon (indeed, Ennis suspects that Jack is murdered for being gay).  It’s clear that Ennis in particular is taken completely by surprise at his feelings for Jack, and is not sure how to deal with his emotions.  He has always bottled his feelings up, and additionally, has always been taught that homosexuality is completely wrong.  He struggles with his feelings throughout his entire life, and eventually at the cost of his marriage. It is interesting to note that early on in the movie (before anything physical has happened between the two men), Ennis is talking to Jack about his childhood. Jack notes that Ennis has just said more words in that conversation than he has said in the whole two weeks that they had spend together up until that point. Ennis then says that he has just said more than he has said in the past year. This demonstrates how he finds it difficult to open up to people, but has started to learn to trust Jack.

Jack is more open about his feelings, and even at one point suggests that he and Ennis could live together.  Ennis states that that could never happen – he knows what can happen to men who are openly gay, and still doesn’t seem able to accept his own feelings, let alone be prepared for anyone else to accept them.  Ennis’ inability to accept his own feelings (and to a lesser extent, Jack’s inability to do the same) is a constant thread throughout the film.  Often Ennis’ frustration manifests itself in violence.  Indeed, when Alma, he ex wife reveals that she knew about his and Jack’s relationship, it looks as though he is going to punch her.

The final meeting between the two, where Jack makes it clear once again that he wants more than an occasional mountain break with Ennis, and laments that he wishes he knew ‘how to quit’ Ennis is very tender and sad.  Ennis’s reaction to Jack’s statement is even more emotional.

The ending, where Ennis goes to see Jack’s parents after learning of Jack’s death, is beautifully acted, and extremely moving.  It’s apparent that Jack’s father knows, or at least suspects his son’s homosexuality, and he takes almost a twisted kind of pleasure in informing Ennis that Jack used to talk about him all the time, but had more recently started talking about another man.  Ennis surely has to wonder whether Jack had finally found a way to quit him.  But then the discovery of two shirts shows that Jack never could and never did quite Ennis.  They really were each other’s one true love, and the tragedy is that they could never be together properly.

The acting in this film is excellent all round.  The two leads are outstanding, and Michelle Williams and Anne Hathaway are brilliant as the wives of Ennis and Jack respectively.  I really found myself caring about these people and wanting to know how their story would turn out.

I know that this is a film I could – and will – watch over and over again.  A tender, touching love story, which is wonderfully acted and directed.

Year of release: 2005

Director: Ang Lee

Writers: Annie Proulx (book), Larry McMurtry, Diana Ossana

Main cast: Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Williams, Anne Hathaway

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Click here for my review of Annie Proulx’s book ‘Close Range’ which contains the short story ‘Brokeback Mountain’.

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