En kongeling affaire, A Royal Affair, 2012

En kongeling affaire, A Royal Affair, 2012
Director: Nikolaj Arcel
Cast: Alicia Vikander, Mads Mikkelsen, Mikkel Boe



Stage: Local Theatre Dvor


En kongeling affaire in short: A young queen, who is married to an insane king, falls secretly in love with her physician - and together they start a revolution that changes a nation forever. 



Preps: Only a good recommendation from a person I admire and respect. Which is good enough for me. I am aware this is an european piece, because theatre Dvor wouldn't screen it otherwise. Plus, I am in royal mood to see it. 


Reality: Enlightenment is a period which is both, sacred to modern thinkers and furthermore, one of more important periods of world's history. People died in that period for being different, thinking different and not being just a part of the holy sheep crowd. It is inspiring to see on screen, how Nikolaj Arcel saw this happening in the danish royal society.
The movie will take you through the dreadful time of being forced to a marriage, just because your parents thought it was a good match. At that point of time, it was given to you at birth, who is your circle and who are you supposed to marry. Love wasn't a matter of opinion, but a matter of intelligence and money. And careful choice of the parents, some sort of agreement. In a way you didn't have the choice, therefore many affairs like the one depicted, happened for sure.
The court in this case has a witty, yet looney king, for whom the history doesn't know even now, what his real problem was. Nor does the movie suppose or predict why the weird acts happened or what was wrong with him.
The german protagonist of enlightenment movement comes and dazzles the king. Becomes his so called friend, adviser, closest person the king can relate to. Soon enough the queen is bedazzled as well, making strong moves and committing her heart to Struensee.
Now, Struensee has many enemies in court. They don't want him there as he poses a threat to existing rules, existing ways things work. Enlightenment meant bringing reason to things instead of god. Meant progress, new ways to do things, new inspiration. The ideas behind it were more progressive than most of the rulers could take at that time. This is why many of the protagonists were beheaded at some given point of time and in this piece, we definitely see the cruel side of the coin. However, things moved in many countries because these weren't just a few of individuals, this was indeed a movement. You will for sure see, how tuff it must have been, bringing a bit of difference in every day life, many small steps towards a greater cause - progress in general.

The hidden "holy" background, many church protagonists, fought severely against this plague and called it devil deeds. You will be amazed how well the movie will drag you right in the centre of this happening. I am quite sure this story could be depicted in the same way at many national courts all over Europe. However, we can thank today to many poets, writers, progressive people that made some of things we take today for granted, real.

The love story is inspiring and will make you believe. The relationship Sturgess and queen Caroline develop, seems so real you will cry at the end. You will be stunned by the ruthless ways court people develop just to destroy the love and progressive ideas. Until the end, until death, until all means are gone.
Another thought I had while I was watching this piece. Looking at that time and thinking of it, it would seem that now we should be happier because we are liberal and have all the means that we can be or relate with anyone we like. Yet it seems we are still unhappy and unsatisfied. Unfortunately we cannot have the excuse these people had. They were forced into living lives they often didn't want. We don't have the pressure they had. Still, I cannot say we are much more happy than they were, merely in love and choosing a spouse sense.


My personal rating: 8,5 (the nomination for Oscar well deserved, a sparkling love story and inspiring age you will think about long after the movie is over).



A Royal Affair on IMDB
Royal on official page of Kino Dvor

Cloud Atlas, 2012

Cloud Atlas, 2012
Director: Andy Wachowski, Tom Tykwer
Cast: Tom Hanks, Hale Berry, Hugh Grant, Jim Sturgess



Stage: Home theatre


Cloud Atlas in short: Everything is connected: an 1849 diary of an ocean voyage across the Pacific; letters from a composer to his friend; a thriller about a murder at a nuclear power plant; a farce about a publisher in a nursing home; a rebellious clone in futuristic Korea; and the tale of a tribe living in post-apocalyptic Hawaii, far in the future.


Preps: This is a hot cake at our theatres. A lot of my colleagues already saw this and I was anxious to see it as well. I heard many contradicting stories, but here's what I found out. I didn't even prepare the way I normally do - which means I didn't even see the trailer nor knew what the movie was about. 


Reality: Cloud Atlas is one of those movies you either enjoy or don't at all. Binary, I need to say. So I don't suppose there is an alternative option to that. Either you believe souls can be recaptured and repositioned in another shape/body, or you don't. Or least you need to be open to this suggestion.

It took me a while to figure out what is going on in this piece, as I didn't do my homework. So for some time I looked puzzled and didn't know what to do with all of the scenes and all of the roles I saw Tom, Hale, and other protagonists, appear. But once I discovered what it meant and what the true story is saying, I was amazed and regret not being able to figure out sooner. One of better reasons why I need to see it again.
Now, this piece will tell you why you end up in a better place, if you do good. And why you will be even a larger villain if you do bad in your life. I read a book at some point, The fate of souls, by Newton M, which deals with this - soul captivity or soul learning after you end up a life. If you did a good job and learned what you were supposed to learn, you will progress and you will meet up with souls of your group in your next life. If you don't do well, you have another chance, but you don't progress. You go a few steps back and try again.

This movie is about experiencing each other in different time, different circle, different role. One time you are a parent, next time a spouse. It is amazing how quick the director switches from one time to another, from one scene to another. It doesn't let you down in terms of thinking about all the scenes, you really need to have full concentration when watching this piece. Because if you don't, you will be lost and will need extra time to catch up or make it up for that scene.
The real question, posed in this, would be, is it believable to one, that didn't believe before? Will this person now try at least to be open to the idea of the soul mixing, fate, etc? Or will these groups of people just nod their heads and say to their friends that they just had seen a nice fairy tale.
The music in this piece is superb, also the scenery and the costumography. The story in my opinion is a very good one, and you can find a lot of literature, supporting it. It will make you think about life and the meaning of it. It will make you at least consider the fact that it isn't such a tragedy dying, because you might wake up as a better, upgraded person in a fine role, the next time you wake up.

It would be interesting to capture the lives of these people and characters from their childhood. The movie throws you in the middle of their existing lives and you need to figure out what they mean, who they have around from the previous round. Exciting to explore and very interesting to see.

Definitely one of the better pieces lately and worth your time. The three hours will pass by like one and a half. Not one time, did I think about time. Yet time is not important in this piece. The things you do in life, are. They will echo in eternity.


My personal rating: 8,0 (an extremely interesting piece, worth the nominations it has, and worth the time. Maybe one of the more extraordinary mixtures of different lifestyles and destinies you will ever see on screen)


Cloud Atlas on IMDB

Jack Reacher, 2012

Jack Reacher, 2012
Director: Christopher McQuarrie

Cast: Tom Cruise, Rosamund Pike, Richard Jenkins




Jack in short: In an innocent heartland city, five are shot dead by an expert sniper. The police quickly identify and arrest the culprit, and build a slam-dunk case. But the accused man claims he's innocent and says "Get Jack Reacher." Reacher himself sees the news report and turns up in the city. The defense is immensely relieved, but Reacher has come to bury the guy. Shocked at the accused's request, Reacher sets out to confirm for himself the absolute certainty of the man's guilt, but comes up with more than he bargained for.


Stage: Local Colloseum, just before NY eve.


Preps: Seen the trailer, wanted to see it badly. Am fan of Cruise anyway. But I expected some kind of MI, or something like it, to be honest. 


Reality: A good political capitalist thriller. I have really thought this was a clone of Mission Impossible, so imagine my surprise. Not only that it can hold the thread from the beginning to the stunning end, the story is extremely good, the delivery is such that it makes you wonder what the next move is going to be like and after a while you are surprised with the ways the story makes turns.

It is impressive from multiple parts. Tom is obviously a bit older than we are used to, but still dazzling. He does not use his charming smile, which I am absolutely mad about, but you cannot blame the director for skimming this off the movie. It would not work, not in the scenes that movie is telling about. Thank you, McQuarrie, for making us see that Tom can really act and be a splendid sight for sore eyes even without the dashing smile. Without a doubt, the movie gives a few points for not making the obvious romance which could happen, really happen. I am grateful for this more than I can even point it out.
Great music and strong dialogues. The type that makes you want to make it until the end. Strong two hours of action and investigation. Very suitable for anyone that wants to see something between CSI and Poirot, something between The Net and Tom Cruise bedazzling on the scenery.  Like some kind of Terminator or Rocky. He is a trained tuff guy from war police, investigator for a cute attorney. My mind sets in a different scene, with Matthew McConnaughey and Sandra Bullock, a time to kill. Although now the lady is the attorney and not vice versa. If you liked that piece, you will love this one, storywise. The action is as exciting as in MI2.

I appreciate the crew didn't want to go live just in the time of shooting in US. It wasn't appropriate. However, until I saw the piece, I didn't realize the point. Now I am smarter and know why they didn't want to go out public. The movie is about violent shooting of innocent people which should never happen. In this piece it is the interest in money, not the victims. Unfortunately, it often is.

My personal rating: 7,5 (unusual piece, it won't let you down)


Jack Reacher on IMDB