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Showing posts from July, 2014

Aguirre, The Wrath of God (1972)

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After having just watched Se7en , which makes use of the  Seven Deadly Sins  in order to make a harsh criticism on civilized society, the chances of me selecting a Great Movie to watch next also dwelling on the same topic were very, very slim. Nevertheless, by pure chance, I have picked  Aguirre, The Wrath of God . Go figure... At the end of the year 1560, an expedition of Spanish conquistadors sets off from the Peruvian highlands looking for the city of  El Dorado . Upon reaching the jungle, with their Inca slaves dying and their rations dwindling, they realize they may not find the golden city after all, and a party, led by Don Pedro de Ursúa ( Ruy Guerra ) and Don Lope de Aguirre ( Klaus Kinski ), is sent down the the  Huallaga river  to look for information concerning its whereabouts. Shortly after, however, Aguirre rebels against Ursúa, wounding him. He then renounces his King and forces the election of Don Fernando de Guzmán ( Peter Berling ), a nobleman also member of the

Se7en (1995)

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The two-cops-that-have-opposite-personalities-yet-are-forced-to-be-partners is one of the most overused clichés in cinema. Whereas very few movies based on this idea succeed in being remembered (e.g. Lethal Weapon - 1987 - and Lethal Weapon 2 - 1989), most of them are forgotten right after a good night's sleep. Thanks in great part to an inspired script by Andrew Kevin Walker and a fantastic imagery by production designer  Arthur Max  and art director Gary Wissner ,  Se7en manages to be one of those few. The movie revolves a round two cops, David Mills ( Brad Pitt ), who, aiming at advancing his career, had just requested to be transferred to the most dangerous district in town, and William Somerset ( Morgan Freeman ), retiring in a week's time, training Mills to replace him. Together they will hunt a serial killer ( Kevin Spacey *), who murders people he judges in violation of one of the Seven Deadly Sins . So far, nothing extraordinary plot-wise. But then, with stil