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Awix (3310 KP) rated Transit (2018) in Movies

Aug 16, 2019 (Updated Aug 16, 2019)

Transit (2018)

2018 | Drama

7.0

(1 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Anna Seghers' novel of life in France following the German invasion of 1940 updates to the present day with disturbing ease. There is much talk of 'occupation' and 'cleansing' but the director wisely keeps things unspecified as Franz Robowski's character steals a dead man's identity in an attempt to escape Europe, only to find emotional entanglements pose almost as great a problem as international borders.

Understated, with various echoes of other films - you can see why it's being compared to Casablanca, but this is a much heavier and more intense movie. Still quite engrossing to watch, mainly because of the performances. There are also shades of Kafka - you are only allowed to stay in one hotel if you can prove you don't want to stay there - and also Antonioni's The Passenger, although the existentialism of the film's theme is kept muted. Concentrates on telling a story rather than putting over a message, and as a result is effective and sometimes moving.

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Kirk Bage (1775 KP) rated A Prophet (Un prophete) (2010) in Movies

Mar 3, 2020 (Updated Mar 3, 2020)

A Prophet (Un prophete) (2010)

2010 | International, Drama

7.0

(4 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Last, but not least, we travel to France and journey into a seedy and disturbingly real world of crime and society in modern Europe. We follow the life of Malik, a confused young Arab man forced into a life of crime by circumstance, as he grows from petty criminal to a man of real power and influence. The whole thing feels dirty, deprived and cold; there isn’t a lot of glamour here. The pinstripe is a leather jacket and a tracksuit; the weapon is as likely to be bare hands or a rusty knife as a gun. The power of this film is in wondering how this young man can ever attain peace and redemption, as he descends deeper into the mire; how he becomes both truly lost and at the same time somehow enlightened. A grim tale, told with a European eye that shuns fancy camera work in favour of forcing you to watch, and think. Not a pleasant film, but an important one.