The movie has some of the most impressive cinematography (Elemér Ragályi, JACOB THE LIAR) of the year. From a rich Technicolor look that mimics movies of the period to intriguing black-and-white flashback sequences, it is hard to pick out a visual favorite. The set designers (Alex Tavoularis and Stephanie Ziemer) and the costumers (Beatrix Aruna Pasztor and Vanessa Vogel) work hard to get the look authentic without overwhelming us with kitsch. The 60s, in particularly, is a hard era to recreate without producing parody.
There's a lot more in this rich narrative that I haven't mentioned from the maternal grandmother's plight in prison to the mother-daughter conflict of a rebellious teen and an overprotective mother, who is dead set on never losing her daughter again. Is there anything I would change? Not much. I'd lose the boy on the bike with the big American flag, which was a little too clichéd even if it did provide a nice two-second visual. If you leave happily teary eyed, don't be surprised. But don't worry, you'll won't feel manipulated.
AN AMERICAN RHAPSODY runs a nearly perfect length at 1:43. It is rated PG-13 for "some violent content and thematic material," and would be acceptable for any kid old enough to be interested in such serious stories.
The film opens nationwide in the United States on Friday, August 24, 2001. In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the Camera Cinemas.
Web: http://www.InternetReviews.com Email: Steve.Rhodes@InternetReviews.com
Want free reviews and weekly movie and video recommendations via Email? Just send me a letter with the word "subscribe" in the subject line.
========== X-RAMR-ID: 29275 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 244912 X-RT-TitleID: 1109525 X-RT-SourceID: 703 X-RT-AuthorID: 1271 X-RT-RatingText: 3.5/4
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews