28 June 2024.
By Neptune
THE DRIVEN ONES ***
This documentary, which for some years followed a few ‘driven’ students at Switzerland’s elite St. Gallen University, is an eye-opener about the hopes and achievements of undergraduates wishing to make it to the top of the business world. It accompanies the chosen handful, from different countries, as they enter this highly reputed business school (on par with the likes of Harvard, Wharton or London School of Economics), and follows their trajectory up to and beyond graduation.
Directed with fluid editing by Piet Baumgartner, the documentary pulls us into the lives of these earnest, eager students whose whole life is about achievement. It’s engrossing and thrilling as we follow their years to the summit, but somehow there is that nagging feeling – is it all worth it? Are they selling their souls for that materialistic pinnacle? That’s the eye-opener….
KINDS OF KINDNESS *1/2
Yorgos Lanthimos is the Greek director of weird, daring works which have been highly awarded, such as “The Favourite” and “Poor Things”, both with Oscar-winner Emma Stone who is also in his latest, and seems to be his constant muse. Those last two films were sumptuous period pieces that took great risks while presenting the intrigue-infested court of Queen Anne of England in the former, and a robot-like woman who begins to discover her sexuality in the latter. They were brilliant and particularly sensual. He knows how to grab the audience with audacious ideas.
This one consists of three separate stories with the same actors, including Stone and Willem Dafoe, in each of them. The tales are once again twisted and puzzling, but lacking Lanthimos’s usual dazzling form. The first story is about a man who will do anything to please his tyrannical boss; the next is about a policeman who is suspicious of his returning wife; and the last is about a strange cult run by a charismatic couple. Stone, Dafoe and Jessie Plemons play the main characters in all three episodes, which seem to dwell on power, control and once again, sex. With stilted dialogue, the stories keep getting more bizarre and nauseating as the film progresses. I was frankly both bored and sickened.
LE COMTE DE MONTE CHRISTO *** (vo French)
Now here’s a straightforward swashbuckler of a film – historical, exciting and as suspenseful as a grand soap opera. Based on Alexandre Dumas’ 1844 novel of the same name, it’s entertaining and expertly acted by the talented Pierre Niney (of such varied works as “Yves Saint Laurent”, “Frantz” or “OSS 117”) as the re-invented Count.
Directed by Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de la Patelliére, it’s a satisfying adventure yarn that would have been even better if cut from its almost three-hour length.
Superb **** Very Good *** Good ** Mediocre * Miserable – no stars
By Neptune
Neptune Ravar Ingwersen reviews film extensively for publications in Switzerland. She views 4 to 8 films a week and her aim is to sort the wheat from the chaff for readers.
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