Movie Review: The Revenant

THERE ARE SOME SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

Hello readers,

Yesterday I watched The Revenant, a film that has been a talk since last year and also a comeback for Leonardo DiCaprio who took a hiatus from acting to do something good for society. Besides Leonardo who starred as the frontiersman, Hugo Glass, Tom Hardy played as Fitzgerald, an antagonist of the film.

The Revenant is a chilling film that captures the tone of the harsh winter and the origins of the time period where there were Red Indians and some French people I believed. The film opened to a dialogue that has this enchanting effect and followed by some boring parts which I rather not pay much attention to. Throughout The Revenant, Hugo Glass was left for dead in the suffering cold winter with his badly injured self after a grizzly bear attack. The most saddest and angrier part for the character was Fitzgerald killed his son who was the only family member he had left.

We then followed Hugo Glass' journey to surviving in the dead woods and the snow where there was no narration, just a broken man and his empty water bottle (I guessed) to keep himself alive. His determination to get revenge on Fitzgerald for murdering his son was what kept him going as he tries to reached for his goal. I praised Leonardo DiCaprio for taking on such a role like Hugo Glass. If I were placed in such position, I can't see myself being able to survived in such bitter winter and shoving myself into a dead horse's body for keeping warm or eating whatever you can find. For Tom Hardy as Fitzgerald, his character was rather disturbing because I could barely hear what he was talking, thanks to his 'bummy' accent.

The Revenant is also a film which brings to think about humanity. Whenever there is a person being a burden, we tend to think of dumping him if necessary. Humans are selfish at times, just like Fitzgerald who only cares about himself. There are so much more that this film can offered which I would keep it to myself since they aren't important for this review. In that case, The Revenant has been widely praised by film critics who believed this film is one of the best in 2015. Though the film indeed is good, I wouldn't recommend certain people to watched this if you prefer films with crazy actions or fightings. It is, I shall put as an art film with brilliant cinematography and limited soundtrack.

Now the question is, with Leonardo DiCaprio winning the recent Golden Globe for Best Actor in Drama Movie, will he get the next ticket to the Oscars and win the Best Actor? Is his performance worth the win for The Revenant? I would say that this role may be Leonardo's challenge and a change for him. If he truly wins, then there is nothing surprising about it cause I admit that this performance was remarkably outstanding and does helped defined his career.

Ratings: 7/10

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Movie Review: Room

THERE ARE SOME SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

Hello readers,

I just finished watching Room which is based on the novel of the same name. The film is about a woman and her son living in a shed which they referred as room, hence the title of the film. The son, Jack, spent his early childhood in the room until he reaches age five and his mother planned the escape. Room is not only a film that focuses on both survivors, but it also focus and mentioned what was the world out of the room with strangers, objects and others.

When I first heard of Room, I knew it was going to be an Oscar-worthy film including Brie Larson who played the woman. I did not watched the film last year because I was worrying over my national examination result. With Carol and The Danish Girl being covered two weeks ago, I decided to take this time to watched Room and I was proven right about the film. Room is about surviving for both mother and her child. Everything that is mentioned is mostly based on the child's perspective, especially when the film went on to show the outside world of the room.

If you thought they were already saved, think again. Life wasn't as smooth when both stepped out of the room. I felt the mother was trying to regain back her own life prior to the kidnapping that took place years before her son was born. She was lost and felt that her life was already over. Putting into her shoes, I could understand she is still young, making mistakes and again like what I said trying to regain her previous life which she regrettably didn't fully experienced. Her son was the same, but more in a difficult position. At such age, he had no idea what is out there in the world. He grew up with just objects and a television in the room. The son had problems trying to talk to real people out in the world and needed a step at the time to feel similarly like he was in the room where everything makes sense.

Those words I have mentioned were why I enjoyed Room. This story reminded me so much of childhood and home. Again, these people were survivors who needed a place to belong. Room may be a home for both, but the world is bigger and more than the inside. I also liked the ending where Jack wanted to visit the room with his mother and they did. It was then he questioned about the room and later saying his farewells to the objects that were once part of his life. Here, we know, Jack had already accepted the truth that he was no longer going to stay at his home.

It was nice to see that both mother and Jack at least have a home where there is no rules or boundaries. I would definitely recommend you as a reader to give Room a shot because you truly can't deny the fact that home is a safe place for anyone and that is what I liked about this film. Love has no boundaries, whether you are in a room or outside the world.

Ratings: 8/10

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Movie Review: Suffragette

THERE ARE SOME SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

Hello readers,

I am back again with a review on Suffragette and it starred Carey Mulligan, Helena Bonham Carter, Brendon Glesson, Anne-Marie Duff, Ben Whishaw and Meryl Streep. The film is based on an actual feminism movement group in the 19th and 20th Century of the same name. These women back in those days did not earned their freedom and the rights including being voting rights and mother's rights. Men in their lives were the in charge in what they believed was good for the women because they believed they were better.

In Suffragette, the story follows a woman named Maud (Carey Mulligan) who works at a laundry factory if I remembered clearly and has a husband and son. She was then exposed to the movement done by Suffragette including her co-worker when she happened to be at a part of London, supposedly out to finished a task. Then curiosity striked the cat, Maud went deeper when she followed her friend to listen to the women's testimonies. Instead of her friend's testimony, she had to give her own because of the bruises inflicted on her friend's face from husband's abuse.

As you can tell the obvious, after the testimonies and decisions within the courtroom, the verdict was given outside to informed the women that the evidences/testimonies were proven to be insufficient. The women were then furious with the decision, believing it to be lies and then started to protest. Things escalated when one of the policemen decided to punch a woman so hard on the stomach and the protest became violent.

You see, the problem with protests, is nobody will listened and that is the truth. In those days, whether is it women's rights or racial issues, nobody would care what you were saying until something happened. That was when in the ending of Suffragette, one of the women 'soldiers', Emily decided to fight her way in the Derby Day (watched by many audiences and even the King and Queen) and got herself killed to voiced out the cause the group have always been fighting for. It was amazing how these extraordinary women really fought their way to make sure they were heard and now we could enjoy the rights and freedom they have always dreamt for the future generations to come.

I, myself, am not a feminist, but still I enjoyed the film. Though not as much as some films, it did not really softened my heart even as a woman. Carey Mulligan as Maud was one of the factors of Suffragette which I enjoyed and she delivered a performance which you could at times sympathised her as a mother, worker and a rebel. Meryl Streep is a disadvantage in the film because her screen time isn't that much and it is not worth watching for some fans of hers, very misleading.

Ratings: 6/10

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Movie Review: The Danish Girl

THERE ARE SOME SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

Hello readers,

I shall be writing the second film review of 2016 with the also talked about and yet marvelous film, The Danish Girl. The film is loosely based on a true story and starred last year's Oscar winner, Eddie Redmayne and Alicia Vikander.

I am certain that you may have heard of transgender people, whether trans male or woman, there is a sex assignment surgery. If you are not familiar or not very sure, sex assignment surgery is a surgical procedure by which a transgender person's physical appearance and function of their existing sexual characteristics are altered to resemble that of their identified gender. For this case, the story follows Einar Wegener (Eddie Redmayne), a painter and husband who realised his calling: to be a woman (Lili Elbe).

Throughout the film, Einar is exploring himself. We can see that he is shy as his wife, Gerda (Alicia Vikander) had already mentioned that she was the one who asked him out. Einar showed qualities that were similar to an average woman: the way he interacted with people and how he seemed to be by himself. He later realised his calling when he was asked to pose for his wife's painting. For Gerda, she is a strong woman who is there for her husband, despite him being Lili. I admired her character for being tough and able to pull through what is happening.

The Danish Girl is a film to always tell us that no matter who you are, whether you are a woman or man, you are beautiful as who you are. If you feel that you have a calling, then go ahead and make yourself be happy. Don't let people think you are crazy or foolish if they know your intention. This is your life and you can't be happy if you just shoved the wanted life away. Like how Lili was in the film, no matter what circumstances (even when Gerda missed Einar), she knew that this isn't her body and it was time for a change. What a shame that Lili did not get to really experienced the life of a real woman (I mean, as a reformed woman after the surgeries).

With every emotions flowing throughout this film, The Danish Girl is an absolute film to watched and highly recommended. Eddie Redmayne, who has already gotten an Oscar for The Theory of Everything, has once again proved what he is able to bring out in the film. Maybe, there is a chance he might be a lucky man again, especially his recent nomination on the Golden Globes. May the luck be with this man (and other nominees).

Ratings: 9/10

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Movie Review: Carol

THERE ARE SOME SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

Hello readers,

I am here to write the first film review of 2016 on this talked about film, Carol. The film starred Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara in a story filled with happiness and sadness at the same time. Rooney portrayed a character, Therese who works at a toy store and later attracted to Carol who is portrayed by Cate.

I believe I don't have to emphasised what Carol is actually about, but bear in mind that this is a film on lesbian romance. It is a romance which during the 1950s, it was still considered unusual, although most characters in the film did not make a fuss about it in that period. The film also showed that not everyone just simply married because they have to. Carol, the character herself, we can see that she is a married woman who is fallen apart because of her sexuality. There are in fact people who married for the sake of convenience or just to cover their own identity.

The other character, Therese, is just like anybody out on the street. She is curious and simply trying to figure herself out. For example, Therese questioned what is like to fall in love with someone of same gender during a particular scene. Moving away from the history of 1950s and the characters' details, Carol is simply a film which I believed it is closed to my heart. I can relate what the characters are going through and I truly admit that their budding romance was sad.

Nevertheless, the film ended with a scene which may find the audience probably leaving the cinema with a heavy heart as the musical score synchronised with the ending very well that made this film marvelous and romantic. If you were to ask whether Carol is worth watching, I would give you a green light because not only was the film beautifully filmed along with good soundtrack, but also both Cate and Rooney acted fantastically in their portrayals.

At the end of the day, things happened. No one can tell when you can fall in love or maybe end a relationship. There is no explaination on how things happened.

Ratings: 9/10

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