Tag / 1991

by Jaime Rebanal

‘My Own Private Idaho’ Review: A Gay Shakespearean Tragedy for the Lost American Youth

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Gus Van Sant’s My Own Private Idaho is often noted for playing a big part in bringing LGBTQ+ cinema to the mainstream as it was also seen as a landmark of New Queer Cinema, and for good reason at that – because I also happen to think that this is Gus Van Sant’s best film as a director. For many reasons I believe that this is his best film because of the way in which it speaks out for the whole experience as a gay man wandering through the Americana landscape – not only as that but even as a retelling of Shakespeare of all things, somehow this odd combination could only have ever been made possible by someone like Gus Van Sant. It’s a film that carries an almost dreamlike quality to it, but in order to best capture what the journey feels like, from continually wandering through America, there’s no other way for a film like My Own Private Idaho to unveil itself. Being only the filmmaker’s third feature, it has only ever remained one of the best films ever to be made about life in America, but also Van Sant at his most experimental and outwardly thus far.

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by Jaime Rebanal

The Silence of the Lambs – Review

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NOTE: Jonathan Demme passed away on April 26, 2017, and this review is dedicated to his memory.

In the history of the Academy Awards only three films have managed to sweep up the Big Five, and the most recent one to hold such a distinction is none other than Jonathan Demme’s The Silence of the Lambs. It was at the point where Demme was making a name for himself through the comedy films Melvin and Howard and Something Wild or documentaries such as Stop Making Sense. Within the many years that have come by, The Silence of the Lambs has already become widely seen as Demme’s best known film together with the most widely celebrated cinematic portrayal of Hannibal Lecter – for good reason. The greatest joy that Demme presents in The Silence of the Lambs doesn’t come from the consequence of event but how it works its way into one’s mind the way Hannibal Lecter finds his way under another’s skin just as the very best thrillers do just as The Silence of the Lambs is indeed deserving of every bit of its own reputation as one of the best films of its own period.

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by Jaime Rebanal

A Brighter Summer Day – Review

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Whenever I watch Edward Yang’s A Brighter Summer Day at any moment of my life, something flashes back into my head – it is a memory of a happy moment of my life. At this point of my life, it hits me even harder because I have just hit the age of eighteen years old. Before I hit this moment, I was afraid more than anything. I was especially afraid because I just felt deep down that I wasn’t ready to hit such a moment of my life. Entering adulthood, I felt I wasn’t ready to leave moments of my life that defined what I am right now behind. Of course, I was going to keep them as memories, but even then, they still feel missing. I reflect back upon Edward Yang’s A Brighter Summer Day and its portrait of the youth finding themselves, and I think to myself that somewhere, I’m seeing a life experience coming back to me. As a result, my love for A Brighter Summer Day has only heightened. At four hours, what Edward Yang leaves behind is a search that entrances while it still lasts. Continue reading →

by Jaime Rebanal

The Lovers on the Bridge – Review

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Leos Carax’s The Lovers on the Bridge easily is something that could come off as any conventional love story based on the premise alone but it is the traces of his own trademarks that ultimately set everything apart. While I’ve certainly had the introduction to his work through his 2012 film Holy Motors, it was interesting enough to see the roots to what he was building up to come about in The Lovers on the Bridge, an intriguing if somewhat conventional take on the romance genre. It lies in Carax’s touches though that make The Lovers on the Bridge as fascinating a piece of work as it stands, even if there is another level to where I do find it leaves me somewhat cold. It’s a problem that seems to have stuck with me from my first viewing, but a rewatch certainly didn’t help. Continue reading →

by Jaime Rebanal

The Fisher King – Review

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The Fisher King is one of those movies that really feels so messy but in the end it’s such a wonderful mess. It’s messy in the sense that it is also using this nature to itself in order to fully embrace what it is about. And at that, there’s still more wonder to be found within Terry Gilliam’s The Fisher King. Sure, it’s no Brazil but it’s one to win the heart of even a cold soul like myself. It’s the sort of lack of balance that works to such an amazing degree. Considering how it would have come off for me at first glance as something that shouldn’t work, yet the whole time I couldn’t help myself. It was just nothing short of playful, and somehow, it managed to work its way to becoming both joyous and emotionally hard-hitting at the same time, and never does it fall down to the levels of cheap sentimentality – something that I know Gilliam would never stoop down to. Continue reading →

by Jaime Rebanal

Raise the Red Lantern – Review

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It quite saddens me to say that out of recent note I’ve fallen out of love with the films of Zhang Yimou primarily because knowing what he was capable of when he was at the top of his game yet lately it seems as if he’s sunken down to levels of melodrama that just don’t very much ring towards my sensibilities. Yet in the 1990’s is where I feel he has accomplished his finest efforts and if one of those films were to stand apart from all the rest, in my eyes, it’s none other than Raise the Red Lantern. Prior to having watched Raise the Red Lantern I was admittedly unfamiliar with the films of Zhang Yimou, as it was my first from him – and it has left such a great impact on that one viewing which still has lasted upon all these years I’ve went without having seen it. Continue reading →

by Jaime Rebanal

The Double Life of Veronique – Review

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This is a difficult film for one like myself to describe, not only in the sense that it’s not so easy to discuss but it’s not rather easy to process it. Yet even amongst these difficulties, it still plays out a hypnotizing effect on its viewers and within every viewing it grows to captivate me more. My first viewing of The Double Life of Veronique at a younger age brought onto myself a unique experience of sadness, and in spite of that I still didn’t know if I were following the story correctly. Revisits grew to captivate me more and soon it all became clear to me, The Double Life of Veronique is most certainly spiritual in all its beauty. Continue reading →