Customer Reviews

Nostradamus Kid [VHS]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I bought this movie for my partner, who spent her early life as a Seventh Day Adventist, and was pleasantly surprised at the depth of the film. An autobiographical account of coming of age in the 1950's and early 1960's, but also much more. Including the shackles that strict religions place on people in their formative years, the confusion of early personal relationships,and generally finding your way in a world that was changing rapidly. Loved the " ex-cannibal" who discusses philosophy with the central character, over a few beers, in a strip club. To paraphrase one of his profound comments - " We were both raised within primitive religions -but we've survived, moved on. "

This is one of those movies that stays with you and always reminds me of the universality of the human experience. I saw this movie many years ago and I never forgot it. Every now and then I still think about it. The story of a young man's self discovery and his experiences growing up in the church, leaving the church and losing the love of his life, against the backdrop of the Cuban missile crisis and the end of the world outlook of fundamentalist Christianity. I can relate to this all too well. I also could relate well to the overall British feel of the film, living in an ex-colony myself.

It intermingled humour with melancholy and its classification as a comedy surprised me. On the whole, I found it be nostalgic and sad - but I like that. The dialogue is witty and sharp, it has a lot of atmosphere, and the use of music is excellent - not the usual American 60's period pieces that are used in most films these days. "Fullness of form" - a line from the movie that always stays with me, even though I'm still trying to understand its profundity. Overall one of the best movies I've seen - haven't seen another like it since. Maybe I need to watch more Australian movies. Wish that I could get a copy to keep.

This movie is eccentric...so a viewer will either hate it or love it. It is the story of a young teenager who questions the
doctrines of the 7th Day Adventists as well as its puritan sexual mores. He is attracted to a rich, beautiful girl who
responds to him because she sees him as a young rebel who represents everything her father is not. Noah Taylor is a quirky actor but he is a wonderful fit for the part. Overall, I found this film to be one of the most memorable coming of age movies in years.

This is a very tiresome movie. The major characters are mostly caricatures, and the ruminations of the main character (played by Noah Taylor) are neither insightful nor funny. The only sympathetic character is played by Miranda Otto. I wondered why this young woman would be attracted to a self-absorbed bore like Noah Taylor. This happens only in the fantasies of the self-absorbed and boring writers of the script. Another offensive aspect of this movie is its lame satire of Christianity. Again there is no characterization of the Adventists, only caricature. And after seeing what happens to the non-religious "drop outs," all I can say is: "Give me that old time religion!" It sure beats spending the rest of your life in a spiritual fallout shelter.