Reviews (2)

Wonderful movie dealing with relationships of all levels
This is a wonderful film dealing with topics of love, sex, politics, coming of age, terrorists, and the craze relationships and longing can put us all through...Detmers is a beautiful actress who controls the film and those characters surrounding her...they feed off her cinematic talent, which unfortunetly was never captured by directors in her future films...she was a star who never reached her potential....this film is evident of her talent...The film should not be missed...It is a hidden treasure..saw it in the theaters when it was first released and have the video...everyone serious film lover should own it!

A surprisingly touching coming of age film
It's a shame this is not available on video because this is actually one of the better rites of passage movies involving a young student and older woman. Usually the stuff of dreck, this movie has a terrific performance by Maruschka Detmers as a mercurial soon-to-be bride who falls in love(?) with a student. She is a real presence and raises this film to "gentle fable" status. Please come back to availability status soon. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Sex education for the all-too-normal men
The title translation to this movie should have been "The Condemnation" instead of "Conviction" - from the Italian word "La Condanna." While this movie starts with sex scene, it is wrong to call it a 'passionate' or even 'hot' sex, for one thing, there was only one scene of full nudity. Viewers are treated with the simulated orgasm scene by Claire Nebout, but after the first 20 minutes of this movie, it is clear that the gist lays elsewhere - instead of the museum where Claire Nebout's character Sandra was locked in overnight with Vittorio Mezzogiorno's character Lorenzo.

This movie is about the sex-education of the all-too-normal, all-too-controlled District Attorney ("Public Attorney") who prosecuted Lorenzo for alleged rape and involuntary confinement of Sandra. Played by veteran Polish actor residing in France Andrzej Seweryn, the D.A. was obviously admiring Lorenzo as he was presenting his argument to the court ("tribunal"), the argument that leads to Lorenzo's conviction. It is he who is the main character in this picture as far as I could tell. The D.A's sexual life with his frustration and those of his fiancee was the one really 'on trial' here. He does not understand what is it his fiancee "wants" - first she accused him of not having enough desire for her, then she accused him of 'violating' her as much as Lorenzo did Sandra for 'not knowing' how to bring her into orgasm. The frustrated fiancee, Monica, even said "...you are responsible for bringing me into orgasm! I can't do it alone!"

To compound the frustrated D.A's frustration, after he got Lorenzo convicted, Sandra the alleged rape victim threw a cake on his face in a party that evening! And in his total frustration, the D.A. went to see Lorenzo in prison and asked him to please explain why Sandra did that - to the laughter of Lorenzo. Lorenzo's comment could be summarized as "that is her, alright..." as if he knew Sandra all along, while the movie established that they had only met the night Sandra was locked inside the museum with Lorenzo.

However, the point of the movie was that Lorenzo was women-savvy, unlike his frustrated counterpart the Good D.A. Lorenzo graciously explaines to the D.A -who had convicted him!- that women are 'absurd' and 'illogical, irrational' and whatever else. That women 'want' to be overpowered by men, but then they 'condemn' you for it. A great line from Andrzej Seweryn's character was "...you paid dearly for your unorthodox views, .. and I pay for my normalness." And Vittorio Mezzogiorno's Lorenzo later on said "...you cannot really enjoy sex and love unless you 'accept' the condemnation (women and/or society would impose on you later on). At the end of this picture, the D.A seemed to be reconciling the conflicting ideas of "I will never be like the Architect (Lorenzo) but I am condemned to keep trying."

The message seemed to be summarized as 'normal' men do not understand what the heck is it women want. And they are damned for it - like Seweryn's D.A. Those who are 'abnormal' and not following the prescribed societal norms, represented by Lorenzo - played beautifully by veteran Italian actor Mezzogiorno, - who 'do understand' what women really 'want,' are condemned for following their instinct about it! It is a good food for thought. Sound quality could be better, but the exchange and great chemistry between Vittorio Mezzogiorno and Andrzej Seweryn definitely made it a wonderful movie to watch. These two actors (who had history of working together side-by-side in Peter Brook's "Mahabharata" - a four-year project) present mirror characters; Mezzogiorno, a liberal, unorthodox minded person who so-called 'understood' what women want and act on his instincts and impulses - though knowing full well that she would condemn you for these acts; and Seweryn, a conservative, all-controlled-superego-driven character who is trained to repress all wild impulses, who was also damned for not knowing how to act on his instincts. Excellent contrasts, and excellent chemistry. For those who had watched Peter Brook's Mahabharata and familiar with the characters these two played in it, you may even see the replay of Yudhishthira - the paragon of all goodness and virtue of Ancient India - in Seweryn's D.A. character!

Fascinating study
The movie is a very interesting study about what constitutes harassment in a sexual encounter. I felt myself go from one end of the discussion to the other end during the movie. As is usual with a controversial director like Bellocchio, his work cannot be analyzed for his camera angles and ideas, but for what he chooses to direct, that is, highly controversial themes. This is not the kind of movie that you'd want to see over and over again, but if you grab a copy, watch it! It's worth it.

Interesting, but...
The story is really interesting, as it explores the limit between consensual sex and rape. Farfetched, though, as most of Marco Bellocchio films, and slow. The characters, however, are well played. If you are a Bellocchio fan... ... Read more

Reviews (1)

White-washing Children
Children need to hear about the forgiveness of Jesus, His undeserved grace, and salvation as a free gift. This video is instead sadly geared to train children to believe that salvation and pleasing God is a condition of law-keeping. As one who was indoctrinated with this teaching as a child--and has since overcome Sabbatarianism--I urgently suggest anyone to reconsider imposing this video on your precious impressionable children. ... Read more

Description

The dashingly handsome Andrea di Stefano (BEFORE NIGHT FALLS, Dario Argento’s THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA) delivers a riveting lead performance in THE PRINCE OF HOMBURG.The film is directed by Marco Bellocchio (HENRY IV, THE NANNY).Di Stefano stars as the Prince of Homburg, a haunted, impetuous young German general.During the 17th century, the Germans are at war with the Swedes.The Prince of Homburg is having trouble sleeping – lusting after his commander’s beautiful niece, and fretting the battlefield.In one crucial battle, the Prince leads his troops onto the battlefield before being ordered to do so.The Germans win the battle, but the Prince faces severe consequences.THE PRINCE OF HOMBURG is gorgeously shot in a candle-lit, painterly style, and features an evocative, murmuring score.It also features winning performances by di Stefano, Barbora Bobulova, Toni Bertorelli, and others.But the film’s crowning glory is the rich delicacy of playwright Heinrich von Kleist’s text, delivered here with tact, precision, and emotional force. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

excellent screen adaptation of a play
This is one of the best screen adaptations of a play I've ever seen. From the first moment the intelligence behind this film is apparent - the Prince is in the garden, in sharp focus, and the others (Elector, etc.) approach with torches, but out of focus. So you have the dreamy quality of the play established immediately. The film is shot in virtual darkness, with faces highlighted, suggesting the murkiness and ambiguity surrounding the prince. Plus excellent performances, an evocative soundtrack, and Kleist's dialogue.

I was expecting to be disappointed. Bravo. ... Read more