I dont think youll be disapointed

The lives of others is set in Eastern Germany during the mid 80s. The internal security services ease drop on their citizens without any hesitation and the population must keep their head down and brak no rules in order to keep them off their back. The DVD has in depth interviews with every main character, the making of the film and a full length commentary, even a short show reel of the gadgets the security used to spy,easedrop,survey the population in East Germany at the time. The film is mainly about a specific couple and a 1 of the agents who gets to know their lives.

An interesting, artistic dark film ... I just expected something different and struggled with its utter bleakness

I understand why many people have given this film excellent reviews and as an artistic film it deserves more than my 2 stars, but that's just my personal score given the extent to which I enjoyed and appreciated it.

I bought this film because I knew particularly about the fantasy elements within it and had seen clips of the fantasy creatures involved. On watching the film it became apparent that the main thrust of the story was behind the story of a violent captain of the Spanish Army intent on crushing the insurgent rebels from the Spanish civil war and how he interacts with the main character Ofelia and her mother. The fantasy elements are definitely secondary to this main thread and there are only a few different fantasy characters that the girl Ofelia comes across. Neither are really any of the fantasy creatures likeable including the one that comes alongside Ofelia the most, and while it is perfectly legitimate that Pan's Labyrinth explores a different path for these characters and thus parallels the real world that Ophelia is encountering, I just found it slightly awkward that I couldn't put my trust in any of the creatures and this hindered my enjoyment of the film.

It is a very dark and very sad story, as well as being fairly violent, and I was unable to find any hope from it even at the end - perhaps not every film needs to offer hope but can merely portray the horrors of reality that have existed particularly at certain points in history, but I didn't feel like I had got anything back from the film. A counter-example of a film that I enjoyed and really appreciated despite it being probably more graphically violent and also having some horrific stories in it was City of God. Perhaps this is just because the atmosphere of that film was not so dark and bleak and there were characters that you could better identify with and trust.

This would have been an interesting film to have seen once but I am now slightly disappointed that I bought it because I can't see myself just sitting back to watch it again. Some of you will clearly love this film and appreciate it, but if you were hoping for the fantasy elements of the story to be the major thread of this film, or if you require there be at least some glimmer of hope in a film's outlook then you should probably avoid buying this film, even if at some point you watch it in some other way out of curiosity or interest.

Magnifiqué

Got to say this film is Great!!!!!!

If you haven't seen it yet, buy it!

I love how he constantly slips in-and-out of reality, and the embarassing stuff he does is very amusing! But if easily confused, watch this with somebody clever :)

"Great tv comic book series"

'Heroes' is television's breakout hit of the year, and for my money, it's just about the only TV comic book series that's ever been any good. Sure, it can be a bit slow-paced at times, and sometimes the characters' unending neurosis get a bit tiresome. But this is still genuinely compelling television, and I certainly will be tuning in for season two.

This HD DVD definitely impresses in the supplements department. Universal has packed in enough standard extras to keep any fan happy for days, plus a load of cutting-edge high-def exclusives that really push the boundaries of the format. Okay, so the video transfers can get a bit noisy at times and the audio is somewhat underwhelming, but as TV-on-high-def box sets go, this first season of 'Heroes' is now the one to beat.

Amazing

This film made me laugh and cry all at once. It may not be a film that changes your life but it touches your soul.

"There is a Way to be Good Again"

Amir (Zekeria Ebrahimi) and Hassan (Ahmad Khan Mahmidzada) are two boys growing up in 1970's Afghanistan. Even though Hassan is the son of Amir's family servant, the two are close friends. They even make a great team in the annual kite tournament, and Hassan has shown a remarkable talent for chasing the fallen kites.

Tragedy strikes the boys during the winter of 1978, however, when Amir witnesses the neighborhood bullies performing an unspeakable act on Hassan. Racked with guilt, Amir withdraws from Hassan.

When the Soviets invade Afghanistan, Amir and his Baba (Homayoun Ershadi) move to San Francisco. As an adult, Amir (now played by Khalid Abdalla) has managed to put his past behind him. Until a phone call brings it all back. What will he do now?

When I finally read the novel this movie is based on, I found it rather slow and predictable. I thought I might enjoy the movie better since it would have to streamline the plot. In the end, I was glad I read the book first since the movie glosses over several events that really set things up early on. There was enough there to make the movie work, but the complex themes of relationships, regret, forgiveness, prejudice, and revenge don't come across as strongly as they could. One key plot point near the end is completely absent. While it would have added extra time to an already two hour movie, it makes the last 10 or 15 minutes needlessly confusing.

That's not to say I wasn't impacted emotionally. The further into the movie I got, the more I cared about the outcome. I even found myself fighting back tears a couple times.

The movie is almost all in Farsi with English sub-titles. Even when the setting moves to San Francisco, at least half of the scenes are sub-titled. Once or twice, the lines moved so quickly I couldn't keep up, but it didn't bother me otherwise.

The cast of relative unknowns is wonderful. Personally, I find the boys fine but wooden, like they were reciting lines with little emotion behind them. But that could easily be because I was too busy trying to read the sub-titles to watch them too closely.

The kite flying scenes are magical. While obviously computer generated, they are more elaborate then I expected and brought a smile to my face.

The movie handles the tough scenes with grace. The events are hinted at but never shown in graphic detail. Even so, know going in that this is an emotional drama and not just some light entertainment.

If it weren't for that missing plot point at the end, I would have enjoyed this movie more then I did. In the end, the movie turns out to be an average adaptation of an average book.

Good film - but suffers in comparison to its brethren

The Amazon review, above, actually sums it up rather well. It's a spectacular looking film that just suffers from being the third film in a series where the first two are true cinematic greats. This is a very good film, just not on the same level as the excellent"Flying Daggers" and the simply breath-taking"Hero".

The cinematography is, once again, superb with a dazzling use of colour. But the plot drags along and the fight sequences don't seem so imaginative, flowing or beautiful as before.

Maybe if I hadn't already seen Hero I would have been more impressed but, as it is, I'm glad I've seen it for the sake of completion if nothing else.

An engrossing thriller

This film obviously has raised mixed reactions to judge by earlier reviewers. I enjoyed it as a thriller full of pace with many twists and turns in the plot: it reminded me of Robert Goddard's books. The film is so full of surprises that I wasn't always sure who were the goodies and baddies. You think all is explained by the end and then there's a further twist.

A masterpiece

My brother and his girlfriend bought this for us for Christmas, which we initially thought a surprising gift as we'd never seen (or expressed a wish in seeing) a foreign language film before. Having just watched it, I have to say it was an completely inspired choice. Initially, it's the quality of the cinematography that draws you in, as the landscape of Provence and its wild animals are portrayed at their most beautiful and detailed. Then it's the tale of an idealistic young man moving out of the town to try and make a living in the country with his family, and the way in which his neighbours conspire to thwart him. The story plays out like a Greek tragedy, but over such a generous period of time (watching both films back to back takes around four hours) that you can understand the conflicting feelings of the neighbours in a way that makes the ending both poignant and satisfying. All kinds of big themes are touched on before then: greed, love, kindness, betrayal, sacrifice, regret, dedication, mistrust and prejudice are just some of them, but they're essayed in such an understated way that you never feel that the film is heavyhanded in getting its point across. Since it's impossible to imagine seeing one film without the other, this double set is really the only way to experience this masterpiece.

Heart Wrenching

If you have children then watch this film . You can't contemplate what these people went through in prisoner of war camps with children , the film does take a rather glossy view sometimes . But it is very moving and I was in tears at the end . I just found the Fathers efforts to keep the Horror away from his son very moving indeed . This is one of those films that you keep thinking about days after you have watched it . Im so glad I did !

Forgot how good it was

I wasn't sure when I ordered this if I had done the right thing. You know one of those things that you watched a long time ago, as an impressionable young adult, which could only disappoint in the cold light of middle age!!! How wrong. This drama is as good now as it always was. The studio work is a little"hammy" but only because we are now used to such amazing special effects. The story is great, Richard Chamberlain is dreamy, and some of the scenes are nothing short of barbaric. But it makes for great viewing, and as a bonus you are sure you can speak Japanese at the end of it!!

A bright representation or a pale shadow?

So. They went and made an Ursula Le Guin anime. I have to say, having been a big Earthsea fan since early childhood, I was dreading the anime counterpart. Part of me was disappointed, most of me enjoyed it.

As a representation of the book, it does the original text no justice. A lot of the grander themes have been dismissed, and the threat of violence, always prensent in the original text, is certainly missing here. Cob is no longer the tragic figure of the book, merely an archetypal anti-Wizard. Insufficient emphasis is placed on Ged and Tenar (you have no idea why on Earth[sea] they're so important) and the final representation of Therru becomes just plain random. And Arren... Well. Let's say he was 'rejuvenated,' and leave it there.

It's a pale shadow of the book, but that doesn't mean it's necessarily a bad shadow. It's not the book, but then it's not meant to be. It has been transformed into a light family film. The darkness of so much of the original Earthsea has been glossed over for a reason, and I'm sure that's what makes it able to appeal to such a massive audience. The tales of Earthsea are generation-spanning, and this is a great film for every type of person (unless you're not a fan of the anime genre.)

I would like to have seen more character depth, but perhaps this can be saved for another film, some other time. Overall though, I still gave this film four stars. It's a very good film, but the book is just overwhelmingly better.

Powerful depiction of the end days in the bunker

A very powerful movie showing the end days of Nazi Germany. It is well acted and shows the different types of people around Hitler apart from Hitler himself. One gets a real sense of what it must have been like in the bunker in the dying days of the war, as it became clearer and clearer for the characters portrayed that the Nazis had lost the war. Some of characters were clearly pathological deviants without question. Others were true believers and followers, who allowed evil to happen as they so much wanted to believe the illusion they were fed, while ignoring the reality and the brutality that was all too obvious for those with eyes to see.

Lessons to be learnt in today's world, where a new rise of fascism is evident. Time to watch out and pay attention to what is really happened and done and not just to what the leaders say.

A True Feast!

Clapet (Jean Claude Dreyfuss) owns a butcher shop and the tenements above it. He is looking for a maintenance man and advertises in the Hard Times paper. An unemployed clown (Dominique Pinon) applies for the job, and so sets the scene for the ensuing lunacy.

As meat is in such short supply, Clapet has an unusual technique of procuring meat for his clientele. Pinon being next for the chopping board. However, this time, his daughter has fallen in love with the 'new boy' and tries to thwart her father's plans.

The uncanny ensemble of characters that dwell at this dilapidated tenancy include 2 gentlemen that make moo sound toys boxes, a lady whose suicide attempts are perpetually hapless, and a Mr Potin, who lives in a swamp and dines on frogs.

Clowns looking for employment as maintenance men, squeaky bed springs, curious lodgers, an introduction to the subterranean `troglodytes', meat as currency......and love. Coupled with brilliant cinematography, and macabre humour, there are some exquisite moments in this film.

fantastic

i first saw this film in school, when studying for gcse frech, and i was immediately captivated by the story it tells.

The acting is brilliant, especialy that of gerard jugnot, who plays clement mathieu. The singing is amazing, by all the boys, but jean-baptiste maunier particularly stands out during his solos that send shivers down my spine, make my hair stand on end, and bring tears to my eyes. the music can be enjoyed by everyone, as my whole french class loved it and we all bought the dvd, and also by parents and grandparents too.

the ending made me cry, it was beautifully made and acted, and i immediately wated to watch it again and again.

i would absolutely reccommend this film to anyone, whether you can speak French or not, because the story reaches out and touches everyone, and it fully deserved the two oscars it won.

Amusing

Classic theatre-style farce (no doubt based on a play). Perhaps a little too farcical at times, but it is also a lot of fun if you haven't got anything better to do.

Not a patch on the book

This movie is interesting for those fascinated by Houellebecq's written masterpiece. However, it all too quickly skipped over the key part at the end of the novel. Micheal is relegated to the minor part here, with Bruno having the lead role. Hence, the sex angle is overplayed (as you'd expect). Something of a missed opportunity here.

Fantastic On All Levels

I loved this film from start to finish. there is nothing bad to say about it except that it ended. Brilliant.

Heart-warming truth-telling

I completely agree with all the other 5* reviews- a mesmerising, enchanting documentary, which employs many of the conventions of fictional film-making (close-ups interspersed with landscape long-shots, no 'didactic' voiceover of a regular doc) with the ring of truth which only comes through real people doing their real, unscripted thing. It is quite amazing how wonderful this teacher, Georges Lopez, is. He has a natural rapport with the children which makes the viewer want to go back to being 5 years old, just so you can have him as your teacher. The kids themselves are achingly cute, especially Jojo with his never-quite-clean hands (see front cover), and by the end both of us watching were in tears. The scenes are so authentic and so resonant that they remain in your mind long after the film's ended, and I'm determined to watch everything else by Philibert now. The best French movie I've seen, along with 'Amelie'.

Great Acting

Moving sensitive acting evocative of time and place.
A Totally engrossing and interesting portrayal of characters and subject.
All positive reviews of film supported. Could watch again.