La corrispondenza (2016) Reviews

• Tornatore's Latest Misses the Mark

  larrys32017-07-25

  Italian filmmaker Giuseppe Tornatore has brought many terrific films to the silver screen including "Malena", and what I would regard as an all- time classic movie "Cinema Paradiso". Some may regard this latest effort as romantic but others will look at it as quite pretentious, and unfortunately I fall into that latter category. The fine actor Jeremy Irons portrays Astrophysics Professor Dr. Ed Phoerum who for six years has been in a passionate relationship with one of his former students Amy Ryan, played by Olga Kurylenko. Attending a seminar one day,she learns of his death and goes into sudden shock and grief. However, she begins to receive many cryptic messages, CD's, and other communications which seem to indicate that he's somehow aware of her activities each day. Amy begins to investigate how this is possible and will slowly learn the truth, so that by the end of the film it will all be revealed. Sorry, but it all seemed quite preposterous to me, and additionally I was never able to connect emotionally to the characters here.

• La Corrispondenza is a wasted potential with dragging screenplay.

  shobanchittuprolu2016-08-17

  La Corrispondenza (2016) : Giuseppe Tornatore has earned a good fame in International cinema with Cinema Paradiso (1988) and since then his movies are always gaining attention.Love is the key element is his movies which is shown in different ways and views.The Correspondence is such love story which has bit twisty plot. Plot: Amy Ryan (Olga Kurylenko),a student and stunt woman and Ed Phoerum (Jeremy Irons),a renowned astrophysicist have affair for 6 years.When Ed goes out of town,both of them keep in touch by text and video chats.But shockingly Amy hears the news that Ed died 2 days back due to cancer.But still she receives messages and gifts under the name of Ed.She never feels lonely since then but still surprised about the mysterious messages and gifts.How did she cope with her life and how is Ed texting and sending gifts even after his death forms rest of the story.. Plus Points: 1)Plot: Though this plot resembles 1997 Korean movie The Letters which is remade in Hollywood as P.S.I Love You where a heartbroken girl receives messages or letters from their deceased love.Correspondence also has same plot but with new backdrop. 2)Music: Music by Enno Moricone is decent and gave the right mood at right place. 3)Performances: Both the lead actors performance is decent. Minus Points: 1)Screenplay: Screenplay is the major drawback for this film.With such talented cast and crew,Giuseppe wasted with such boring screenplay.Except the initial 20 Min's,rest of the movie starts getting lagged with every scene. 2)Duration: With 2hr duration, this movie seems boring after 30 Min's. into the movie. So, La Corrispondenza is a wasted potential with dragging screenplay. My rating 5.5/10

• Some people will love it, some people will hate it

  skyx262016-12-27

  First of all: this is NOT Cinema Paradiso. I need to start with that statement because somehow when you make such a awesome movie like Cinema Paradiso everybody thinks that all the following movies are going to be as good as Cinema Paradiso, and that's a stupid way of thinking. In fact, if you review all the movies directed by Giuseppe Tornatore you will notice that Cinema Paradiso is his highest rated movie, the rest are just OK movies. La Corrispondenza is a good movie, just not as good as Cinema Paradiso, and that is OK because they are different pieces of art, just like The Pieta and the David. So, do yourself a favor and don't watch this movie if you expect another Cinema Paradiso. That being said, I will answer the question in every male's mind: yes, Olga show her tits and that beautiful butt of her's, but focus for a minute, there is more in this movie that female nudity. This is an OK movie, and yes, I did wrote OK and not good. There were material for a good movie but somehow it stays short in almost everything, not reaching it's full potential. The story is about an PhD student and a professor, they have been lovers for the last six years which is a problem because Amy is way younger than Ed. The photography for this movie is really beautiful, York, Edinburgh, and Piemonte impregnates the movie with a melancholic atmosphere, perfect for the setting. Maybe Edinburgh was the weakest location, but it may be just me, and even so it has it's own sparks. While York show us lots of green and earth, and Piemonte lots of blue and water, Edinburgh shine by the grey and the harsh. But there is more in here for the untrained eyes. There is texture, like the wood on the door on Piemonte or the one induced by the water on the lake, also in Piemonte; contrasts, like the water drops in the ground of a rainy city, the character of Ed and the severity of Ed's doctor; light and darkness and the not so subtle hints of hope and despair. The editing was OK, I guess. It's a pretty much straightforward tale, so editing is not so important (as in Inception, for example). Music is between OK and good. Certainly is not the brightest work of Ennio Morricone, but not because is not good, but because it melts so good with the general feeling of the movie that you barely notice the music. It fill the blank spaces with a sweet feeling of sadness, sorrow, loneliness, and lost that are so subtle that are not powerful enough to catch your mind, trapped most of the time by the performance of Olga or the voice and emotion of Irons. The duration of the movie it's OK but, for me, the last 15 minutes were kinda boring. I really wish the movie to end because Tornatore extended the drama a bit too much. The performances range from good to just OK now and then. Let's be clear about something: this is a movie about Olga and Irons, the rest of the cast is just there to fill blank spaces, so I will focus on Olga and Irons. Olga Kurylenko it's more than just a pair of tits and a nice butt, she can act. It was proved back on Hit-man, Max Payne, and Quantum of Solace. Unfortunately, I don't know why she has such bad luck with movies... Anyway, 85% of the movie she delivers a good performance, there is a scene where she is taking a shower and you can see the emptiness in her face, but then again, there is another scene where she is talking about her father and you wish Tornatore pushed her a bit more to get a good performance and not just an OK performance. Jeremy Irons take his acting in a different direction and just like Olga, you can't stop feeling there was something missing. They both feel authentic and plastic at the same time... Now, let's talk about the elephant in the room: the plot. The plot is OK, it's not an original idea but for telling this story you don't need it. It's kinda cheesy, use some clichés here and there, but it's OK. Maybe my biggest problem is the ending, but then again, maybe it's just me (it has a better ending than Blue is the warmest color). The plot is about grief, pain, loss, forgiveness, growing up, healing, getting better, moving forward; but above all, La Corrispondenza is a movie about love, love for your family, for yourself, for your significant other, and it's also a movie about time and how short it is, how much we ignore it and take it for granted not really appreciating it and how much we want to turn it back once it's gone. Now, this is cinema and cinema it's a form of art. Maybe you will not like this movie but if the movie makes you ask questions like: it was fair?, how much is enough?, what would you do in that situation?. If you ask yourself or to other person such questions, then the movie accomplish it's objective: touching your soul. For me this movie is a 8/10, but maybe it's because I have love and lost so I can connect to Amy when she fells into the ground like she lost complete control of her legs. The rest of the world will give to La Corrispondenza a 7.5/10 or maybe even a 7/10.

• The communication as the purest form of connection

  b1le2016-05-12

  What do you need in order to create a movie in the inverted order from the usual story line: the one that starts with the line "From death do us part" and ends with the line "They lived happily ever after"? The answer is simple: You need a mastermind like Giuseppe Tornatore. A mind capable of inventing such interesting story, told through inspirational dialogues and intriguing plot. The final product entitled "The Correspondence" is equally impressive as an independent piece of art, as well as a juxtaposing part of Tornatore's previous movie "The Best Offer". The beauty of comparing his recent films (written in English) lies in the opportunity to grasp the big picture. Both movies revolve around couples and involve prototypical males (rational yet highly emotional, thus men in touch with their feminine side) and prototypical females (fragile yet strong, thus women in touch with their masculine side). Both have impressive cast for the role of the men (Jeremy Irons / Geoffrey Rush) and expressive cast for the role of the women (Olga Kurylenko /Sylvia Hoeks). "The Best Offer" deals with the mysterious appearance of the female character, while "The Correspondence" seals the deal with the mysterious disappearance of the male character. The first speaks about losing oneself when finding the significant other, while the second movie speaks about finding oneself while losing the significant other. Indeed, the theme of loss is ever-present in each frame and pixel of "The Correspondence". Someone might wonder if something so void and devoid of any words, something as ineffable as loss could ever be explained through words? It can and it ought to be, since the communication is the purest form of connection between a man and a woman, a marriage of their ideas, an ideal in itself, an open door to the deepest human connection. As long as we perceive the words spoken outside of our heads (in the books, songs or mouths of other people) as coded messages from the loved one, and as long we use all words existing inside of our heads as messages for our loved one, there will be connection. As such, the words are symbol of focus, of attention, and constant (re)invention of the significant other. Their presence signifies life, their absence – death (even in a symbolic manner) of the other. Within this movie, the characters use words to reach to one another, somewhere, anywhere. With this movie the director uses words, to hopefully reach toward each one of us, everywhere. With this review, I use words, maybe also to reach to someone, somewhere, out there… Biljana Gjoneska www.evermind.me

• Not Giuseppe.

  saqlainali-064372018-07-22

  As compare to his former, exceptionally great, movies like Cinema Paradiso, The Legend of 1900, Malena, Sttano Tutti Bene(Everbodys Fine), Baaria, The Best Offer and The Unknown Women, his Correspondence is somewhat left me in depsair. His direction skills are peerless with impulse of emotions and feeling in most of his movies with touch of comedy. Correspondence is what i will call not a movie of Guissepe.