TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film

Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Jerrie It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Caryl It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

ma-cortes Brooding and provoking movie mainly dealing with a merciless , relentless chase to a jaguar and many other things . An old man called Antonio Bolívar (Richard Dreyfuss , though director originally envisaged Morgan Freeman in the lead role) lives in a small village in the wild jungle . Antonio is a thoughtful veteran who has been living with Jivaro Indians who reduce human heads and has learned a lot of things from them such as hunting by means of blowpipe . Meanwhile , he reads loving novels such as ¨To love and to be loved¨ and ¨Lovers of the forgotten garden¨ and falls in love for a beautiful village girl (Cathy Tyson) , Mayor's girlfriend . There governs a corrupt as well as stiff-upper-lip Mayor (Timothy Spall) in charge of Town Hall Mayoral Office . The grumpy Mayor is a ¨Cacique¨ who coerces the natives to vote to him , giving them liquors and privileges . When a savage jaguar kills people , the Mayor organizes a posse to track down the animal . The motley group is formed by Bolívar , the itinerant dentist Rubicondo (Hugo Weaving) , villagers (Guillermo Toledo , Luis Hostalot) and natives . Antonio is forced to confront a dangerous female jaguar and his own past through the sacrificial killing of the beast he has grown to love. In the jungle, the one who survives is the one that moves. This jungle adventure yarn is full of interesting dialogs , moving scenes , thrills , and results to be slow-moving but entertaining . The film is pretty well with a nice sense of pace but also some holes in the screenplay . During this exciting tale we share the old man's memories , scenes of a past existence , records and relationships with his deceased wife and the Amazon tribe who healed him . The yarn has a complex narration , including intelligently inserted flashbacks along with some well-paced hunting scenes through of the capture of wildlife by the hunters and being based on a novel by Luis Sepúlveda . Filmmaker Rolf De Heer wrote and shot this exciting as well as thoughtful jungle story and Richard Dreyfuss , Timothy Spall , Hugo Weaving star in it , which should guarantee a high quality excitement and entertainment . Nice support cast , many of them Spanish players such as Luis Hostalot and Guillermo Toledo . All of them , contribute towards compensating for the flaws and gaps in the plot . Sensitive and lively soundtrack by Fernando Sancho and Graham Tardif . Luxurious and glamorous color photograph by cameraman Denis Lenoir filmed on location in Guyane, Départements d'Outre-Mer, France , though the film was originally going to be filmed in Venezuela, South America. The flick was compellingly produced by Michelle De Boca and the Spanish producer Iñaqui Nuñez, the latter has financed good films such as Poniente , Sabotage , Marujas Asesinas and The ninth gate . The motion picture was well directed by Rolf De Heer . In the early stages of development, the director asked for final cut thinking that he would not get it, but he did . Rolf de Heer was born on May 4, 1951 in Heemskerk, Noord-Holland, Netherlands . He is a director , writer and producer, known for Dingo (1991) , Dance Me to My Song (1998) , Bad Boy Bubby (1993), Alexandra's Project (2003) The tracker (2002) , Ten Canoes (2006) and this one his best movie ¨The Old Man Who Read Love Stories¨ (2001) . Rating : Better than average . Well worth watching .

hendem A leisurely and beautifully filmed movie which concerns an old man (Dreyfus) living in a remote backwater of the Amazon River. Late in life he has learned to read, and he has taken to reading love stories, savouring each word as if it were a morsel of a feast. The narrative concerns the hunt for a jaguar which has apparently acquired a taste for human flesh. During this adventure we share the old man's reflections, reveries and regrets, fragments of a past life. In the unfolding of the story he is able to make reparation for at least one of his regrets. The film could be criticised for being slow and uneven at times. I have not read the novel, but I'm sure that it was multi-layered and textured, with underlying themes of missed opportunities, loss of innocence, the environment and the egregious impact of civilisation. The movie only hints at these things and sometimes were are left a little puzzled. But the eloquence is in the mood, which is perfectly captured. Highly recommended.

Philby-3 Caution; SPOILERAlthough Rolf de Heer has made some oddball movies (Bad Boy Bubby for example) he has got more conventional of late (The Tracker) yet is still preoccupied by people on the margins of life. His protagonist here, Antonio Bolivar (Richard Dreyfuss), bearer of a famous South American surname, came from a poor village in the Andes to settle in a remote part of the Amazon region 40 years ago. He lived most of the intervening time with an Indian band after the early death of his wife from Malaria but has now moved into 'town', a wretched tiny village clinging to the side of the river.There's one steamer every two months with a travelling dentist (Hugo Weaving) who does his extractions in public. The town is presided over by the bullying 'democratically elected' Mayor Agallo (Timothy Spall) with whom Antonio has an uneasy relationship, especially after his girl Josefina (Cathy Tyson) leaves him for Antonio . Rather late in life Antonio has commenced learning to read, though he has only pulp romantic fiction (provided by the dentist to practice on.)Although he is well geared to life in the jungle Antonio is a troubled man, and when he becomes involved with hunting down a Jaguar which has taken to killing people the ghosts of his past come near to overwhelming him. But Antonio is a man of character and you just know he is going to make it.Richard Dreyfuss is wholly convincing as Antonio, a man who does not expect a lot from life, but is sunny and genial nonetheless. It's one of those remarkable performances that puts out of your mind other roles the actor has played. Hugo Weaving and Timothy Spall give good support and there is almost a hypnotic performance by Victor Bottenbley as Nushino the Indian chief. The Jaguars were pretty good too.The film was made in French Guiana, which must not have been easy, since it rains there about 11 months of the year, and the locales look authentic even if it's not exactly Amazonia. For some reason it has taken three years for this film to be released (apart from some film festival outings). In fact it hasn't been released in the US yet which is odd, with Dreyfuss in the lead role, Hugo Weaving in support and an almost mainstream story. There's no reason why it shouldn't do OK on the Art-house circuit at least – it's not 'Fitzcarraldo'.This movie put me in mind of the final part of 'A Handful of Dust' when distracted English aristocrat Tony Last is captured and held by an illiterate hermit in Guiana who lives with the Indians. The hermit (Alec Guinness in the film) gets him to read out loud Dickens every night. Perhaps literature is seen to best advantage in remote places. I don't know if the original author here, Luis Sepulveda, has ever read Evelyn Waugh, but there is a strange resonance here. Now, I suppose our hermits can have solar powered CD players which obviate the need for capturing unfortunate readers.

thisroughmag This film won the Adelaide International Film Festival's Audience Choice Award, and for good reason.This is beautiful story-telling; it's subtle, beautifully paced and visually magnificent. And if whoever wrote comment number one couldn't find subtext then he must have been watching a different film.I'm hoping against hope for an Australian release in the near future.