Sleepers, 1996

Sleepers, 1996
Director: Barry Levinson
Cast: Brad Pitt, Robert de Niro, Kevin Bacon, Dustin Hoffmann, Minnie Driver, Jason Patric




Sleepers in short: Four boys growing up in Hell's Kitchen play a prank that leads to an old man getting hurt. Sentenced to no less than one year in the Wilkenson Center in upstate New York, the four friends are changed by the beating, humiliation and sexual abuse by the guards sworn to protect them. Thirteen years later and a chance meeting lead to a chance for revenge against the Wilkenson Center and the guards.



Preps: None in perticular. The cast is astounding. The director is one of my favourites. And I have naturally watched this earlier, as a child. Admired it at that time, I am sure I will even more now with a critical eye.



Reality: I am right. This is one of better bitter stories ever being put on screen. I believe Levinson is a genious and a coragious man to put this live. Still, the US government and all similar facilities, deny that such places exist, such actions ever could take place and that there wasn't a trial as depicted in the movie.
Well, the story will rip your bones off. It is breathtaking and it makes you shiver with fear and horror all along the way. Violence creates violence. Put normal boys into a facility of correction, juvenile home or something, abuse them and be sure they will grow up to be criminals, most of them.
The sad story revolves around four boys being taken into a facility for a homicide they commited unintentionally. And the abuse they were submitted to, it is just horrible. Their commitment never to speak about that part of their lives is broken when two former boys, now adults, have the chance to take the revenge with a guy that raped them. So they kill them and are put into trial.
The trial isn't about the killing, it's about revenge to the facility that abused them while they were taken in for a year in their childhood. And they get the revenge, with style.
The cast is magnificent. The story is breathtaking. The director did his work and it shivers me even now as I write about it. A must see for any person. It will make you fear of such institutions and make you never do wrong in a way you would get into a facility like that. It will make you hate those that abuse children, even more. And will make you think about the sacrifice you are willing to take for the ones you love. The priest treads on his values or virtues to help the kids get the revenge they want. The truth, even though not admitted by the government, is out and it should be. In a fair world, such things wouldn't go unpunished. And no kids would die on streets with 29. But that is in fairy tales. We live in a no dream world. And need to take it seriously, for it's a place for filth and abuse. You see this undoubtfully in this piece. It will tear down your heart.


My personal rate: 8,5 (splendid piece that makes you think way beyond its purpose and content. It makes you cry in your heart and feel with the characters. Not many pieces do that to you).


Sleepers on IMDB

The Green Mile, 1999

The Green Mile, 1999
Director: Frank Darabont
Cast: Tom Hanks, Michael Clarke Duncan, David Morse



Stage: Home theatre, on the lovely Saturday night

The Green Mile in short: Paul Edgecomb is a slightly cynical veteran prison guard on Death row in the 1930's. His faith, and sanity, deteriorated by watching men live and die, Edgecomb is about to have a complete turn around in attitude. Enter John Coffey, He's eight feet tall. He has hands the size of waffle irons. He's been accused of the murder of two children... and he's afraid to sleep in a cell without a night-light. And Edgecomb, as well as the other prison guards - Brutus, a sympathetic guard, and Percy, a stuck up, perverse, and violent person, are in for a strange experience that involves intelligent mice, brutal executions, and the revelation about Coffey's innocence and his true identity.


Preps: I have read the book and seen the movie several times. Although it's three hours long, I have always this inner sense, like a citizen duty, to see it again, if I have the chance.


Reality: The storyline is striking. The Green Mile is the name for the last few yards someone takes before dying under law conviction in a jail. In this case, you follow a convict of enormous size, his inner strenght and special powers that make him the most special guy in the prison and this the amazing story you can easily buy. We love to believe in miracles, if they are put on screen with a powerful story (Stephen King's novel) and powerful cast, they can make a challenge to find something you don't like in a movie. In this sense, you will be touched several times and filled with most powerful feelings - like you would open the Pandora's box in some sense.

The story within a story, making two retired people come closer together with this amazing story that happened 50 years ago, it makes this piece even more worth seeing. And makes you think about your sins and the things you should remorse. It will not make me more religious - not in the catholic way anyway. But it makes me inspired and thinking all miracles can happen if you believe they can. The will will find the way and the good will surpress evil. In all this positive feelings you get squashed by the impossible hatred you find for the governmental laws and all the bad guys that go away and good guys that get a conviction like this and cannot do anything about it.

However, the idea of the movie is positive and will inspire you with some actions you will want to take in order to make some good. If the green mile seems so long, you need to walk through it and face your responsibilities. The movie will inspire you to do so. Return the good with good. And will fill you with a terrible feeling towards the system, because one person cannot bend it, even though you have a solid evidence it's wrong or it did unjustice.


My personal rating: 8,0 (one of the most touching ones on the topic. Truly a great piece you will find interesting and suited to the soul).

The Green Mile on IMDB

Kynodontas - Dogtooth, 2009

Kynodontas - Dogtooth, 2009
Director: Giorgios Lanthimos
Cast: Cristos Stergioglou, Michele Valley, Aggeliki Papoulia, Mary Tsoni

Stage: Home theatre, the middle of the night.


Kynodontas in short: Three teenagers are confined to an isolated country estate that could very well be on another planet. The trio spend their days listening to endless homemade tapes that teach them a whole new vocabulary. Any word that comes from beyond their family abode is instantly assigned a new meaning. Hence 'the sea' refers to a large armchair and 'zombies' are little yellow flowers. Having invented a brother whom they claim to have ostracized for his disobedience, the uber-controlling parents terrorize their offspring into submission. The father is the only family member who can leave the manicured lawns of their self-inflicted exile, earning their keep by managing a nearby factory, while the only outsider allowed on the premises is his colleague Christina, who is paid to relieve the son of his male urges. Tired of these dutiful acts of carnality, Christina enlists the elder daughter for some girl-on-girl action, carelessly disturbing the domestic balance. Soon enough, sex has spread throughout the household like fire. Next stop: rebellion.


Preps: A good recommendation made me watch this as I was unable to sleep and have just got this on my PC. But I don't know anything about the movie as I enter play.


Reality: Confusion in the first ten minutes continues with a weird feeling that I know what I am watching. Although I still don't want to believe this. But it is. The story of Austrian Fritzl, just thrown in a greek environment and entering a couple decision instead of single decision (of a single man). The greek couple decide to raise their children isolated. Teaching them words that are supposed to mean something completely else, making them dance in front of their parents in the weirdest way possible, renting a security guard female prostitute to make sure the boy remains sexually satisfied.. more and more weird scenes enter the stage as my feelings boost and my wondering increases. The way the austrian kept his family in the basement is pretty much similar, although the children here have the big garden with a pool and to some objective level one might think that they lack nothing.

Nothing but human touch per se - they don't have interactions with other people.. Amazing to what you can convince people (the cat is the deadliest animal ever and we need protection; we need to vacume clean to get rid of bacteria "xxxalis", a zombie is a cute small yellow flower.. there is no limit to what those kids believe to be the truth. And honestly, if someone that you respect and is your father/mother is the only person you see the entire life, who are you gonna believe - of course them. And accept silly punishment because you think you deserve it.

On the other hand, it impresses me that a couple would decide to go this far with the raising of the kids. I cannot imagine this to be the work of two individuals. Merely one, convincing / or blackmailing the other to do the same. In this sense, I am still confused and thinking about this piece. Although filled with silly situations and weird sexual scenes, the movie gives me the creeps and makes me being grateful for the liberty I am indulging.

My personal rating: 8,0 (for the sake of weird ending and some impossible-to-believe scenes. Apart from that, a superb piece, makes you think about people like Fritzl even more and appreciate liberty)

Kynodontas on IMDB

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