24 March 2005

SCHULTZE GETS THE BLUES

Big surprise, under the radar. I walked in cold, dragged by a friend who assured me I would be Happy, because it had accordions in it. [A current obsession, BTW.]

It is the kind of loving, quirky comedy you'll not see in the US much. It moves slowly, patiently, with exquisite comic timing. It loves its character to pieces. It has wonderful redeeming spirit. It has glorious screen composition, with delightful tension and asymmetry. It has long patient periods without dialogs, just watching movement and faces, charmed and burbling with humor. The audience was small... maybe 20 people... but there were constant, separate moments when the pleasure would be just too much, and someone in the audience would break and giggle and groan with pleasure... usually one at a time, because the humor is not from gags, but from situation, anticipation, and lingering irony.

I'm not going to tell you what it's about. You can find that out from internet research if you want. But it's the kind of movie I'll show as a Rolston Movie Night some time, because I'd love to watch people's reactions, and because music is at the heart and soul of it, and because it is the sort of movie most people will never hear about or think to go see themselves.

Four Stars for Entertainment... with possible elevation into the Five Star category, if it satsifies me as much on the next viewing.

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