YALS 2008 literary competition winners
C1
Film Review - Where is the love?
by Tijana Jovanović, Tom i Ema
Over the years, romantic comedy has become a genre that guarantees box office success, but can hardly ever offer any outstanding cinematic achievements. They are often looked upon as entertaining “chick flicks”, associated with predictable stories, average performances and cliché dialogues.
Recently, I saw Because I said so, described by a friend as absolutely hilarious. However, I found it disappointing. The movie tries unsuccessfully to tackle the subject of family and love life. Diane Keaton plays an overprotective mother who posts an ad on a dating site seeking out prospective husbands for her daughter. The outcome is highly predictable. However, it is not only the story that fails to attract attention. The character of the mother is crucial to the film, but the performance is wildly overdone, making her seem neurotic rather than caring. What’s more, the humor is based mostly on superficial sex jokes.
And just when I had given up on romantic comedies, the light hearted, charming and upbeat Stolen kisses came along. Although it was filmed in 1968 it seems as fresh as ever. This film shows the complicated world of Antoine Doinel, a young man looking for his place under the sun. Discharged from the army as unfit, he gets a job as a private detective. His love life haphazzard as he finds him self in love with two equally fascinating women. Fantastic photography, a lovely soundtrack and a lively cast of many unusual characters, as well as one of the most original proposal scenes make this film an unforgettable one.
If only today’s film-makers would take a look at the past, not to bore us with another remake, but to remind themselves of what an original movie looks like.