5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Weakly-plotted supernatural/fantasy story, February 8, 2009
This review is from: The Stone Council ( Le Concile de pierre ) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - France ] (DVD)
This is actually a dubbed movie, and it's original French title is "Le Concile De Pierre". It's based on Jean- Christophe Grange's young adult fantasy novel "The Stone Council", and my comments here are only going to focus on the movie itself since I've never read the novel.
The movie stars Monica Bellucci [who sports a short hairdo and looks almost frumpy here] as Laura Siprien, an interpreter based in Paris who adopts a Central Asian baby boy from an orphanage somewhere in Russia. When Liusan [Nicolas Thau], the boy turns 7, he begins experiencing nightmares [mysteriously also shared by his mother] and a weird mark in the form of a circle appears on his chest. Laura takes him to the family doctor who dismisses it as nothing to worry about. Well, it turns out there is a lot to worry about as Laura discovers that Liu is apparently "The Watcher", born once every 100 years and whose death can bring immortality to those who capture and sacrifice him in the course of a ritual. The rest of the movie centers on Laura's efforts to save Liu from a gruesome fate, discovering in the process that most of her friends are in on the conspiracy.
Though the first half an hour was actually quite interesting [in setting up the main story arc], the rest of the movie soon slides into a mess of cliches. Those who are familiar with movies such as Rosemary's Baby, Ninth Gate, The Prophecy etc will recognise elements from these movies in "The Stone Circle". In short, there is nothing unique about this movie,except perhaps the scenic setting in the latter part of the movie, which was shot in Mongolia.The lead actress Monica Belucci does a decent job with the limitations of the script, but even she can't save this plodding fantasy-horror movie.Catherine Deneuve as the arch villain is wasted in her role, and I was frankly surprised to see her in this B-movie. I wouldn't recommend this as a purchase, and only as a rental if you've absolutely no other choice of supernatural movies.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
only in english and region 1, August 24, 2009
This is on the disc itself and not the film yet. I should have waited for the version with the original french language. This disc is region 1 and has only english audio. Though it's in english I also prefer to hear the actor's actual voice in french and read the subtitles so the story feels more natural. I will post the actual story itself on my next updated review.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Relied too much on special effects, February 14, 2008
This review is from: The Stone Council ( Le Concile de pierre ) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - France ] (DVD)
Disappointing. The film relied too much on special effects to convey fear. Good acting. Poor script writing. Too predictable.
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