Priest: Save urself the pain of watching this one.

I dint find anything new or unsual in d movie priests. It was just d same old story of d world divided in two, one is d blind path of d church following n othr is total nihilism of d wrld of vampires.
The film doesn't have too many charcters bt still it fails at etching them out so tht audience cud attach any emotions to them.
Also as I'm now going into judging movies not only by my own parameters but also of the others who watch it with me....I would say safely say that Priest is a disappointingly dragge-me-to-hell sort of film for paying to watch it in theater.

Priest is directed by Scott Stewart and written by Cory Goodman. It is based on a Korean comic book series of d same name by Min-Woo Hyung. In d series priests come together to fight fallen angels while here it is vampires that they r fighting against. the Film was announced in 2005, but it was not until 2009 that the film went on floor. Later it's release was delayed from 2010 to 2011. Also it was converted from 2D to 3D.

3D specials effects don't really wrk for dis film, and it seems to b put in just so tht d movie finds a connect to d new age audiences who r just so smitten by the wrds 3D being attachd behind a movie.

Wht I like is d character of Priest played by Paul Bettany, and the juxtaposition in the character that is the man of God who enjoys the thrills of killing.

As for d action in d film, I just like d 1st major fighting section. The fight at d 1st reservation tht hicks n priest cme across. that is the only good fighting sequence, because not even the climax fighting was able to stand that excitement that a thriller action film should have in it throughout.

The worst acting is by Cam Gigandet, as Hicks. there is total confusion in one character, whether he is supposed to be there to provide comic relief, as a side kick to the Priest or a brooding lover searching for the girl whom he loves who has been kidnapped by Vampires (Oh well and she on the other side never even as much as mentions him or thinks of him.).
Maggie Q plays the typical character that she is known for that is of a woman fighter sidekick. Here as the Priestess she offers the same, her only impact is in the scene where she talks about her life after their authority was dissolved and talks about her dreams.

Oh yes the most irritating line in the movie 'to go against d church is to go against d God'. A line that I think is said and unsaid over and over forms the core of the movies based on church ideologies, etc. Priest creates an alternative universe that is divided between just the humans and vampires.

Overall I feel that Priest is a movie that could have been sleek and stylish but ended up being a dull and done-to-death blend of sci-fic and action and horror.
I would rate the film 1 out 5, and that too just for my liking for Paul Bettany in the film.

SUMMER INTERLUDE

FILMS ARE also well known as motion pictures that seem to be revealing a story through their constant motion. One such beautifully directed film that I have lately seen is Ingmar Bergman’s ‘Summer Interlude’. A well directed film that I would love to refer to solely as a motion picture.

Though the film is in Swedish (and I saw it with English subtitles), yet more than the words what captured me was the essence of picturesque quality that can be seen in every frame of the film. From the very first frame to the very last, what you can see is the master eye of the director in nuances of photographic techniques. Every frame portrays an emotion that connects directly to its audience, despite the language barrier.The film and its director belong to a class of ‘world cinema’. This is not the first film that I have seen of this director, I have also seen Bergman’s ‘Wild Strawberries’ before. That too was a very beautiful, emotional touching and moving film, but the experience of that movie lies on its dialogues. Though framing of shots and selection of locations is a point worth noting in that film as well, yet it relies equally on its dialogues and language so as to make its feel reach to the audience. On the other hand, I can well say what attracted me to praise ‘Summer Interlude’ was its beautiful composition style that make the emotions very clear even without any dialogues. It could have been a silent film as well. Moving beyond my ongoing praise for the compositions, there are things also that are worth praising like the story and story telling aspects of this film.

The central story of the film revolves around Marie (Nilsson) a young ballerina, who on a summer vacation meets a college-boy called Henrik (Malmsten) and falls in love. During one of the last days of the relationship, Henrik suffers head and back injuries that result in his death. Years later, Marie reflects on the mistakes she has made in life following Henrik’s death.There is something in the movie that I think almost everyone can relate to. It can either be the idea of dancing and enjoying what we do, or the haunting of the past, or the idea of first love, or how we suffer setbacks in life after we suffer some loss, or how we tend to make walls to protect ourselves from pains and sufferings after the setbacks and fail to realise what we wasted in that time.

These are the few of the central ideas that the story of this film revolves around.But the central theme remains of realisation, realisation that life is always worth living and realisation that one can only find out about ones true identity ‘only when the walls around us crumble’.The director here uses a very beautiful motif, something like a Shakespearean style of grotesque and character of a clown that merge in one here, as the Marie realises that its time for her to let go of her walls, face the truth and embrace what lies ahead. As in the climax of the film, we see that it is only after this that she again finds enjoyment and life in her dance and realises that there is someone, who again truly wishes to love her but whom she so far kept on the periphery of her world only.It’s a beautiful film with love, life, dance, passion and expressions of the actors that pierce you directly and close ups that make you feel sympathy as well as empathy for Marie.
I would say anyone wishing to experience of world cinema should get hold of this film.