- S: There are many elements of the film that feel unnecessary or are not well explained: Laszlo's devotion to Judaism, the niece's vow of silence and its ending, where a man's kid is while he's working with Laszlo,
an overdose survival, a miraculously regained ability to walk, a wife's oddly timed accusation of a benefactor, and the scope and functionality of the finished building.
- C: There are, without a doubt, some brilliant shots. The film has too many artifacts in it to the point it becomes distracting and there are some edits which
break up scenes in a way where the dialogue doesn't flow quite right. This is contrasted by excellent credit sequences, a beautifully shot opening sequence with an excellent use of voice-over,
great lighting, and beautiful and sometimes horrifying shots of Laszlo's experience in Italy.
- E: While the film is quite long, great pacing, an excellent score, and an excellent use of intermission help tremendously. The first half of the film is excellent;
it has focus, the story has direction, and the lighting, shot choices, and acting are all so excellent that it brings great excitement going into intermission. The latter-half
of the film feels like a slight let-down relative to the excellence of the first half. There are some narrative issues that disrupt the flow of the film, but the Italy sequence is probably worth the wait.
- N: The story is focused on the suffering in the immigrant experience, and it captures that but it doesn't absolve the immigrants of their role in it. The story's message is quite clear, with a blunt, but symbolic, representation of the American aristocrat's treatment of the immigrant. Some parts of this film feel very non-literal. The sequence in Italy in particular feels this way, and I think these moments work quite well. But then, afterwards,
we come crashing back to the messy, undefined, and lackluster reality where most of the film takes place. The story has some weaknesses that can't be ignored.
In particular, the time period when Laszlo gets a separate job
and the newlyweds say they're going back to Jerusalem feels like a complete waste of time in the grand scheme of the film. In fact, the first thing to happen after this supposed time skip is that the story repivots to have him return to his work on the institute. This whole sequence doesn't really work in the film. In addition, the drug addiction issues don't play very well. The
drug addiction feels unimportant for long stretches of the film, and very important for very brief moments, very unlike the story a traditional addict. His devotion to Judaism is the same way; off and on
at the story's convenience. How can he be working all the time but still respect the Sabbath? Also, the lack of interest in money, even in moderate terms, by this very, very poor immigrant family is
incomprehensible in their circumstance.
- T: The film received four bonus points: one for an excellent opening sequence and for the whole immigration processing scenes at the beginning, one for the scene where Atilla outcasts Laszlo in the dark,
one for the brilliant, mystical sequence in Italy, and one for a stunning shot of a train explosion.
The film certainly has some brilliance, but it is a messy story full of issues that make some parts of the post-intermission portion hard to watch.
Number of Watches: 2
