Customer Reviews

Dancer Upstairs [VHS]

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Though this movie is slow moving and quiet, it is one of the finest films I've seen in forever. Javier Bardem is amazing. No question. The music is spare but affecting (and one of the most memorable parts of this film). I don't want to give away any of the plot but this is a real thinker's love story (in the midst of a terrorist revolution-in-the-making backdrop), smart, brilliant, surprising in every way without gratuitous sex scenes and cheesy, predictable "happily ever after" endings. Malkovich is a genius. Bardem makes you feel his pain. A must see for any smart film lover. Can't recommend enough.

Many viewers simply didn't *get* this movie.

These are the folks who called it slow, too restrained, confusing.

For the thinking viewer, this movie is not slow, and it is not confusing. It is a visual feast that leaves the mind, and soul, reeling; it is a puzzle that stays unfinished just long enough to make its points, and then closes with a heartbreakingly poignant finale.

It is a tightly plotted, emotionally moving film that can be taken on several levels: as a political thriller, as a police procedural, as a meditation on the pleasures of domestic life v. extramarital passion.

Most powerfully, though, this film talks about, and parallels, explosions -- the explosions of art, of politics, of terrorism, and of passion -- v. restraint. The restraint, for example, of a good man trying to live a decent life in a broken world.

It's hard to talk about this film's most brilliant moments without giving away the whole plot, and that you don't want to do, because this movie's surprises are well worth it.

But one can say -- watch how Malkovich uses the color red. Watch how he uses bars, as if the bars of a cage, when shooting Javier Bardem. Notice parallels, including in a scene where a young girl dances before a series of reflecting mirrors. Note the music she dances to. Notice who is the sole person ever to have photographed a certain elusive terrorist.

Note references to Kant, most famous for his "Critique of Pure Reason."

No, this film is no art house puzzle. But it does offer more than the pure pleasure and visual excitement of a nail biting political thriller, which it offers as well.

It offers us food for thought about one of the biggest issues of the day -- terrorism.

Is it ever right, this film asks, to give in to one's momentary passion and explode, either literally or metaphorically, when confronted with a variety of stimuli, from finding the love of your life, even if you're married to someone else, to having your coffee plantation seized by government troops?

And, what kind of person has something in common with a terrorist, anyway? The answer the film offers might surprise you.

I loved this movie. I wish more of my fellow viewers had gotten it. This film, in addition to being simply beautiful and entertaining, sets before us some of the biggest questions of the day.

Finally, Bardem's performance, a masterpiece of restrained passion and thought, is not to be missed.

Malkovich hit the bullseye.

THE DANCER UPSTAIRS is a fine example of how films conceived and produced by this country can have all the qualities we honor (and hunger for) in foreign films. Based on true events in the late 1980's in Peru, THE DANCER UPSTAIRS is adapted for the screen from the novel by the same name by the author - Nicholas Shakespeare. The story itself is one of extremes in terror, murder, heinous crimes, and all that is associated with terroist activities in a revolutionary framework. Yet Shakespeare has written a screenplay that focuses more on minds of his characters than on their acts. The 'revolutionary' is a professor of philosophy and his nemesis, tracing his identity and capture, is a thinking man's policeman - a lawyer who turned in his black robes to find a better way to discover honesty. Although Malkovich does not spare images that convey the atrocities (children as suicide bombers, slaughtered dogs hanging from the street lamps, mafia-style executions), he does not dwell on them but rather focuses on the impact on the mind of his lead detective. Javier Bardem is the lead actor here and surpasses his previous successes by demonstrating that he is a 'work in progress' - an actor who grows with every difficult assignment he encounters. His sidekick is well acted by Juan Diego Botto, an actor who knows the subtlties of 'supporting role'. The lead women actors, Laura Morente(as the dancer of the title) and Alexandra Lancastre (as Bardem's wife), are as subtle as they are beautiful, making us believe in the inevitable proof of Bardem's human frailty as he forges his imperturable trail toward justice.

The accompanying featurettes are involving conversations and commentaries by Nicholas Shakespeare (who actually lived in Lima, Peru while the 'Shining Path' revolution he describes actually was taking place), by John Malkovich regarding his choices of electing to cast his film with an entirely Spanish speaking crew yet speaking in English and for not naming the country or the particular timeframe of the story which he hopes will make the story more a parable than a docudrama, and by Javier Bardem who addresses the difficulties of keeping his character cerebral. And for once these features truly enhance the film's message.

It is refreshing to know that movies of this caliber exist and that, hopefully, Malkovich will continue his brave stance as a director of consummate taste and subtlety. Highly Recommended, but be prepared to think.

This film has generated a lot of negative reviews by people who are blinded by their conception of "typical" plot structures.

Important in this film is not the primary plot about a terrorist group starting a revolution in a Latin American nation, but about one man, the policeman hunting down the terrorist leader. Unlike a film like Se7en, in which the hunt is as enthralling as the personal struggle of the protaganist, thus giving the casual film goer their eye-candy, in this film the hunt serves only to illuminate the feelings Rejas. He is alienated from a corrupt system, alienated from his shallow wife, and he has found solace in the artistic purity of his daughter and her dance instructor.

This film is not for someone looking for a taut political thriller or police cat-and-mouse game. It's a character study more like In the Bedroom than a police movie like Se7en.

The cinematography is excellent, and the locations that Malkovich chose to shoot perfectly fit the mood of the film. The pacing is slow, and the only thing keeping it from dragging is the emotional intensity of Javier Bardem. Still, at almost two and a half hours, Malkovich could have cut the film by about twenty minutes.

In "The Dancer Upstairs," John Malkovich delivers a complex, moody crime drama set in a Latin American city. Ambivalent police captain Rejas (Javier Bardem) is assigned to track down Ezequiel, an elusive revolutionary terrorist, and his followers. As explosions rage around the city, Rejas and his team race to discover the identity of their man. Unlike an ordinary cop drama, the film gives Rejas's personal life weight. He is caught in a listless marriage and falls in love with his daughter's ballet teacher Yolanda, well played by Laura Morante. In this film, however, nothing is cut-and-dried, and even Rejas's emotional attachment to Yolanda has its dark twists.

Although the plot itself is suspenseful, much of the tension in this film is created through cinematography and directorial decisions - close-ups, shots of the setting, the use of color, the spare music. The acting is understated, making the few outbursts explosive in context. Bardem has so carefully drawn his character under his skin that he conveys a range of emotions through his expressions and gestures, giving his character a subtly only gifted actors can achieve.

My biggest complaint about this film was the heavily accented actors speaking in English. I'm sure I missed some of the complexity simply because I couldn't understand all of what was being said. I would have much preferred a Spanish language film with subtitles, an appropriate choice given the setting and the performers. It has all the feel of a foreign film, so why not go all the way?

Viewers who expect a Hollywood thriller should look elsewhere, as this might be best described as a well-plotted art house film. I highly recommend it for those who are willing to accept the slower pace of psychological intensity.

Augustin Rejas is a former attorney. Disillusioned, he has decided to join the police force in the hopes that he might obviate the rulings of a corrupt court system. Once he has established himself as an Investigator, he is ordered to assemble a small team and to look into a series of events that may or may not be the makings of united revolutionary activity. There are bombings, suicide bombings, assassinations, brown outs and other unmentionable acts of violence committed throughout this unnamed Latin American country. And the perpetrators are a seemingly random assembly of men, women and children, drawn, with no discernable criteria, from the indigenous poor, their Spanish-descended rulers and the buffering middle classes. The violence may occur at any moment, in any degree and from out of any direction; the tension is unbearable.

Inspector Rejas is a massive still presence. His principle investigative instruments are a fascination for fact, an impassive stare and an unrelenting deliberative nature. And with these, he does eventually determine the identity of the leader of this goalless revolution: a former university professor, known only as Ezekiel. But Ezekiel is an empty revelation: Rejas was never really looking for who but for why.

The Dancer Upstairs is commonly described as a political thriller-a misnomer that may dissuade you from recognizing it as a work of another and higher intellectual order. It is, rather, a meditation on the horror of things inexplicable. We are presented with a puzzling succession of events for which we, like Inspector Rejas, must provide an explicating narrative of some sort. Our motivation is the desire to repair the imbalance, to eliminate the random, violent variables that have wrecked our equation for the peace of meaning. The name "Ezequiel" seems to want to point to something, as do the slogans, the posters and the suicidal dedication of Ezequiel's followers. But they are only so many empty ciphers. And while the revelation is admittedly painful, we should remember that Inspector Rejas--the element of good with whom we will identify--is himself a kind of cipher: inexplicably strong, honest, determined. But he is--if for no ultimately satisfactory reason--a satisfactory counter to the damnable example of Ezequiel.

In an unnamed Latin American nation, random acts of violence have been shattering the countryside's peace for 5 years. For a while the incidents seemed unconnected and were blamed on a variety of activist organizations. Then dead dogs displaying signs proclaiming "Long Live Ezequiel" start turning up hanging from lampposts around the nation's capital. Detective Lieutenant Augustin Rejas (Javier Bardem) is given a team of 4 police officers and assigned the task of discovering Ezequiel's identity and dismantling his violent organization. But before he can make much progress, the organization assassinates a government minister. Fearing the beginnings of a revolution, the nation's president declares martial law. Although Rejas is permitted to continue with his investigation, any person his team investigates is taken into military custody and deprived of due process. Frustrated by the lack of justice in his professional life and with a wife with whom he has little in common at home, Rejas seeks the companionship of his daughter's ballet teacher, Yolanda (Laura Morante), a woman who seems at first to share his soulful nature.

"The Dancer Upstairs" is based on the novel of the same name by Nicholas Shakespeare, who also wrote the film's screenplay. It is the first film directed by actor (and director of theater) John Malkovich. The film is timely in its depiction of terrorism as a socio-political force and military law as a purported protection from it. The extremely violent "Ezequiel" revolutionaries were obviously inspired by "The Shining Path" organization which terrorized Peru during the 1980s and 1990s. But "The Dancer Upstairs" is pretty light-handed with its socio-political statements. We see events unfold from the perspective of Augustin Rejas, who is a reluctant police officer, a man of no professional ambition who only wants to live in a just society. He is saddened by his president's paranoia and the nation's return to martial law. But his own decision-making isn't flawless. The film's pace might best be described as contemplative. It directly reflects Rejas' personality and the tempo of the countryside from which he came and with which he still has great affinity. The film meanders a bit and at times seems to have no clear direction. I don't believe this is a flaw though. The story is definitely moving toward its conclusion. It just isn't taking the direct route. This will probably rack the nerves of viewers who are expecting a traditional police drama. Cinematographer Jose Luis Alcaine has created some beautiful and painterly images. He contributes to the film's contemplative mood by pausing on these images long enough for us to take them in. I found a scene in which children carrying large posters scatter in the street at night to be especially beautiful and rather startling. I was grateful to Alcaine and to the film's editor for giving me enough time to look at it. John Malkovich has chosen a difficult adaptation for his directorial debut. "The Dancer Upstairs" has a kind of thematic and narrative obscurity that won't appeal to everyone. I found it to be a memorable film, though, and Javier Bardem is well-cast as the gentle and soulful police detective. The film's biggest fault is that the dialogue is occasionally difficult to understand. The cast is comprised entirely -and understandably- of Spanish and Latin American actors. But the film is in English. While some of the actors speak virtually accent-less English, others can be difficult to decipher.

I found this movie riveting, primarily because of the sensitive and unbelievably graceful performance by Javier Bardem as Agustin Rejas, the policeman whose job it is to capture the mysterious guerilla leader Ezequiel. I felt the political commentary almost became secondary, because Bardem captures the screen with his beautiful, expressive face. His concentration on his job, his patience with his shallow wife, his love for his daughter..... all emotions are eloquently displayed, needing little dialogue. When he does speak, his voice is soft and powerful. Bardem lends a certain nobility to this role, and he really becomes Agustin.
His desire for the ballet teacher is palpable, yet he doesn't rush and is excruciatingly hesitant and tender, waiting for a response from her.
I thought Malkovich did a pretty good job directing his first film, although sometimes the violence was a little gratuitous, and I was bothered by the "scene switching" that goes on occasionally. If a viewer wasn't "up" on the politics of the time, it could be very confusing. Interesting locations in Equador and Peru. I'm kind of surprised that this film was in English, as almost all the actors are Spanish speaking . Bardem rises to the occasion with really fluent English with a charming Spanish accent. The wonderful Nina Simone song at the end leaves a lasting impression. A thoughtful movie really worth seeing!

John Malkovich's directorial debut is one of the best films I saw this year. A superb screenplay by fellow first-timer Nicholas Shakespeare (adapting his own novel) with a marvellously sophisticated central character is only the starting point. As you might expect, performance is foregrounded here and Malkovich gets stunning turns from his cast - Javier Bardem, in particular, is heart-breakingly good as the morally-fraught lawyer/detective - and Malkovich clearly knows how to set up his shots. This doesn't look like the directorial debut of an actor who loves the stage. It looks like the work of a born filmmaker who knows precisely what he wants and how to get it. But the real triumph of this film is that it tells a story combining action, romance and political intrigue, without for an instant feeling like the childish Hollywood pap which usually results from that recipe. This is mature, sophisticated storytelling that doesn't treat its audience like popcorn-guzzling idiots looking to be entertained. And yet it does entertain. It maintains a poignancy entirely appropriate to its subject matter, while still managing to be an engaging political thriller. That's quite an achievement. One of the most effective elements of this film is the music, or rather the lack of it. There are, from memory, only three moments when music is used in this film - and its magical every time. It makes you realise how music is usually so over-used as a cheap way of wringing emotion from badly written or badly acted scenes, and how much more REAL the tension and violence and romance can seem without it. It also shows you how effective music can be when used sparingly. The two songs Malkovich chose for this film are beautiful in their own right, yet their deployment is nothing short of spine-tingling. Overall, this a brilliant piece of filmmaking that deserves a place in everyone's DVD collection. Of course there's no soundtrack, so if you want the two songs go grab yourself a copy of Yul Anderson's album "Wind Starlight" for his stunning version of 'All Along the Watchtower', and Nina Simone's "Emergency Ward / It Is Finished / Black Gold" or "Nina Simone Anthology" for 'Who Knows Where the Time Goes?'. Both are available through Amazon.

I read the book, which I loved, and was gratified at how well and faithfully John Malkovich brought it to the screen. The acting was superb, especially Javier Bardem. This is not a movie for an audience looking for the typical Hollywood thriller and would be much too violent for those seeking a love story. The tension builds slowly as the police realize that years of apparently unrelated violence were in fact the beginnings of a revolution that is rapidly gathering steam. The violent acts become increasingly ominous as dead dogs are found hung from lampposts, schoolchildren gun down government officials, and the revolutionaries advertise their inevitable arrival in the capitol by staging power blackouts accompanied by surreal fireworks displays. The book and movie are very unusual but this is not an 'art' movie. It plays as a straightforward story of a hunt for the revolutionary leader with a subplot of the chief detective's growing love for his daughter's dance teacher. It is one of the best political thrillers I've seen and, again, the acting was terrific.