The Dancer Upstairs
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Movie Reviews of The Dancer Upstairs
Movie Review: one of my top 5 movies of all time
Summary: 5 Stars
it does not get any better than this if you are an adult movie goer.Movie Review: "The government uses human fat to lubricate its machines."
Summary: 4 Stars
Nicholas Shakespeare, who wrote the screenplay of his novel, establishes in the opening scene the conflict between the "common man" and the government in an unnamed Latin American country. Three adults, driving in their truck through the barren countryside, run down a soldier who tries to stop them at a checkpoint. At a later checkpoint, they indicate that the bloodstains on the car are from a dead dog. This imagery is further developed throughout the film--common people vs. authorized government, blood and the color red, and dead dogs, a symbol for those condemned to death.
Capt. Augustin Rejas (Javier Bardem), a lawyer turned policeman, is investigating a series of mysterious hangings of dogs, with signs affixed to their bodies, praising the mysterious Ezequiel, who may be inciting the countryside to a Maoist revolution. In further violence, dancers at an avant-garde performance kill a government official and his wife; a child blows himself up, killing more officials; and three mayors, eleven city councilors, and the Minister of the Interior are assassinated. Rejas, an honest man, struggles to investigate as the corrupt military, controlled by an equally corrupt president, threatens to impose military rule.
Directed by John Malkovich, the film is impressionistic, giving the audience fragments of the ongoing action but not a coherent picture, requiring the viewer to draw conclusions, just as Rejas and his assistants do, in an effort to solve the terrorist mystery. Since the dialogue is not always clear and the accents are strong, this is sometimes a difficult task. The cinematography (Jose Luis Alcaine), however, is dramatic and memorable, much of it focusing on architectural features--bridges, arches, jail cell bars, the bars of a fire escape, columns, balconies. The color red (symbolizing blood throughout) is used to powerful effect in virtually all the key scenes.
Though Bardem and the rest of the Latin American cast are effective in conveying the tension of time and place, the film is sometimes difficult to follow, and the exact nature of the relationships is not always clear. Nevertheless, the film makes its point about the nature of government and political movements and succeeds in showing Rejas (Bardem) as a rounded character, trying to keep his family happy, trying to find happiness himself, and trying to bring honor to his job. The music is sparse but used effectively and sometimes symbolically, especially at the beginning of the film, where happy, syncopated accordian music is gradually transformed into dark, eerie harmonies, the syncopation kept intact. Thoughtful and complex, the film highlights some of the competing interests of Third World governments. Mary Whipple
Movie Review: The Dancer Upstairs: the wreck of unmotivated violence
Summary: 4 Stars
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.
Movie Review: An Elegant and Moody Thriller
Summary: 4 Stars
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.
Movie Review: atmospheric thriller
Summary: 4 Stars
Javier Bardem is a detective leading a squad of cops in an unnamed Latin American country. His team is charged with catching a terrorist who is rallying the people to revolution and threatening the stability of the democratic government. The cops are afraid that the government will panic and impose martial law. Meanwhile, Bardem must deal with a growing attraction to his daughters ballet teacher. (Laura Morante)How does one function as a cop in a place where the rule of law can vanish in an instant? That's the central question of this film, impressively directed by John Malkovich. Bardem (a very fine tightly wound performance), doesn't know whom he can trust, but is unable to articulate his inner conflict. He edges towards romance with the ballet teacher, but events catch up to them. I enjoyed the unfamiliar setting, which Malkovich uses like a native, and the mood of impending chaos that pervades much of the film. Some plot turns feel a bit hurried, but this is a very assured effort from all hands. The final scene is one of the most moving endings to a film I've ever seen. Recommended.