50 Dead Men Walking, 2008

50 Dead Men Walking, 2008
Director: Kari Skogland
Cast: Ben Kingsley, Jim Sturgess, Kevin Zegers



Stage: Home TV selection, late Saturday night


50 dead men in short: Based on Martin McGartland's shocking real life story. Martin is a young lad from west Belfast in the late 1980s who is recruited by the British Police to spy on the IRA. He works his way up the ranks as a volunteer for the IRA whilst feeding information to his British handler and saving lives in the process.


Preps: Well, I don't have any. Neither have I heard about the piece, nor I am aware what it's about. But I can see from the beginning it's going to be a hard one, full of reality in its hardest shape.


Reality: Well, this isn't a tough call. The piece shocks you in many ways. We still live in our cocoons all around the world. And think that wars are reserved for places far away. No way they can influence our lives and they are reserved for special missions.
Dream on. This piece was made to clear your mind. The war is as near as Ireland, you can find it in your own country. Making fun out of native citizen, humiliating people, having rasists all around you. I think you can perfectly suit the piece to every country in the EU, yet alone in the world. It is just the simple fact that it's more obvious in Ireland. The war with IRA and british people staying there is just something you can close your eyes from, but cannot deny. Are you a free citizen if you are living in a country you were born in and want to get work, get a life, get family and succeed? It seems that among "equal" some nations are more equal than the others. And in this sense this piece can tore your heart in two parts.
The main protagonist fights two battles, one of his heart (who are you true to) and the other one of survival (yes, human beings normally have the desire to survive). Which one is more important? Is it more cool to die for things you believe in or to live and pretend you don't care? Much simpler puzzle, if you have a family, in this sense you will move towards preserving it from harm. And the movie is filled with choices. To be a spy or to die and be hungry.. Tough dilemmas, the main actor fights all his life and saves lives in his deeds, although not being proud of himself. Just wanting to survive and make the best out of opportunities he das.
Is it good he was doing or was it evil? I will leave the judgement to the audience. I think that after seeing this you will be happy if you have the luck to lie in a country that doesn't fight such terror as it is still present in Ireland. I would like to have a safe feeling about my country and places I go to see. I am happy that noone chases me on our streets just because I am of wrong nation. I am aware there aren't many people as lucky as me.

The piece in its second stage reveals many traumas the young man has. It doesn't serve us the music, the script, just the raw story. Taken upon a true story, it can reveal humbleness in your heart and evil towards unjustice, like we see it here. Pure, red, rebellious.


My personal rate: 6,0 (Don't watch it if you have a bad stomach. It could hurt your sleep as you go along with it)


50 Dead men walking on IMDB

Frozen, 2010

Frozen, 2010
Director: Adam Green
Cast: Emma Bell, Shawn Ashmore, Kevin Zegers




Frozen in short:
Three skiers are stranded on a chairlift and forced to make life-or-death choices that prove more perilous than staying put and freezing to death


Stage: home cinema

Preps: I have seen the plot and the movie sounds interesting. No special expectations nevertheless.


Reality: The movie kicks off with a live skiing resort ideal world of three persons going for the Sunday skiing in the local resort, at its third it is broken down to a static sequence of them being stuck on the mountain for unknown period of time, forgotten on a ski lift. Sounds believable, however the main fact that the degrees on the ski resort are below zero makes it hard to believe they would even survive a night, yet alone the complete week.

The script makes the spectator even laugh a bit about the dreadful situation, however, a tiny approach of the director to make something dynamic about the things young people share with each other or even evolve some stressful situation results this "being stuck on the ski lift and very likely to die from" situation offers.

None of this happens. After a good half of the movie I don't want to look at it anymore, because nothing really happens. The scenes are prolonged beyond belief, the movie lacks energy and some believable moments. The one good attempt would be being eaten by the wolves - this makes the movie a bit more interesting again and puts this situation into another perspective. However, it also accuses the young people being stupid - making them jump without thinking from the ski lift is one good example of this.
The story also lacks some background. Surely the three persons would be filed missing and being searched by their parents, therefore I strongly doubt this could be a real situation. It could be a good reminder to ski fans, though, not to exploit working times of ski resorts- in the end after some thoughts I can also see it this way. And the ironic, dramatical moment - would the girl live normally? I suppose she would froze the first night.


My personal rating: 3,0 (some highlighted moments and the start made it easier for me to follow at least until its half. Apart from that, do something else. Not worth your time.)

Frozen on IMDB