Cassandra's Dream [2007]
![Cassandra's Dream [2007]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51EoeqWNGiL._SL160_.jpg) RRP £17.99 Lowest New Price £4.96 
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Suitable for 12 years and over Optimum Home Entertainment Release date: Monday 29th of September 2008 Starring: Director(s): Format: PAL, Region code: 2 Running time: 103 minutes Language: English (Original Language) |
RRP: £17.99
And the award for worst cockney accent goes to.....
Review date: 2008-12-10 Rating: 4 out of 10
It's a tie between Colin Farrell and Ewan McGregor!!!
I was looking forwards to watching this film, looking at the trailer it certainly looked like there was good potential here for a good thriller, especially having enjoyed Match point.
Having a the leads play cockney Londoners was a huge mistake after all they're Scottish and Irish and clearly have no idea how a cockney talks, it sounded to me like a couple of posh cockney guys talking and in all my time in London I've NEVER heard anything even close to the way they were speaking.
Tom Wilkinson is one of my favourite British actors, but he's given very little screen time, he's effective enough, but as with all of the characters no ones role is really developed to any real degree, so what you end up with is a set of actors appearing to be just going through the motions, with Woody Allen both writing and directing the film and the cast to hand you'd have thought it almost impossible to get things so wrong.
It's a watchable film, but other than what happens close to the end of the film there are no real twists or turns or mystery to the plot.
In a nutshell 2 brothers are tempted by their uncle to kill an associate of their uncle, they do it and then one of the brothers starts panicking and eventually phones the police to say that they have information regarding the death, then we get the 'twist' and that's really about all there is to say.
Over the past 2-3 months I've only begin to appreciate and enjoy the Woody Allen films, I have in this time purchased almost every film that he's directed, to date I've only been disappointed with 2 of his films and sadly this is one of them, please Woody go back to comedy and cast yourself too, they're your best films by far.
Reviews
STARDUST MEMORIES
Review date: 2008-11-15 Rating: 2 out of 10
This silly movie involves far too much dialogue and characters that for me seemed like cardboard cutouts as opposed to real people. The talking is nonstop and repeats the same things over and over and over again. This doesn't yield insight, it merely makes the clock continue ticking for a lengthier film. Also, the fact that two brothers raised together could have such differing viewpoints on life and guilt rang false with me.
Worst of all was I never found myself caring for either of these brothers. One seemed a ruthless enough that he thought only of himself. To feel no sympathy for either made this film more an endurance than a pleasure to watch.
In Woody Allen's film STARDUST MEMORIES he had aliens show up on Earth wanting to speak with his character, a film director. The film was somewhat auto-biographical in this case. The main thing that the aliens wanted him to know was that they didn't like his dramas. They thought he was better when he was funny. Amazing how I find myself agreeing with aliens, albeit fictional ones.
Superb Tale of Life
Review date: 2008-10-04 Rating: 10 out of 10
Woody Allen suffers from having a hard core fan base who like slapstick. This means that his huge body of quality films is decried as they are not as inane as "Sleeper". Me, I hated the slapstick period and it took Match Point for me to look at Woody Allen again, and find out I was wrong and that he is a master. This film is excellent. I watched it with my wife, and we both agreed it was the best film we had seen in a long time. Colin Farrel actually acts (redeemed for Alexander) and I can now forgive Ewan McGregor for "The Phantom Menance".
Seriously stop watching Woody Allen for comedy, watch him for the truest capturing of the human condition in modern day art, and you will find the kindness, cruelty, reality, pathos, and humour that is all our lives
Disaster Movie
Review date: 2008-09-26 Rating: 2 out of 10
I second the review posted by 2cleverbyhalf. The line "It's insanely bad" sums this film up (and got me laughing). I watched it on a plane and had to turn it off before I upset my neighbour with my outraged gesticulations. What a monumental waste of time and money. Can this be the same man who made Manhattan?
Cassandra's Nightmare
Review date: 2008-08-23 Rating: 8 out of 10
Colin Farrell and Ewan MacGregor turn in stellar performances as brothers in "Cassandra's Dream," a stark tragedy which demands that its protagonists choose between loyalty to family and the right thing to do; and because of their respective failings, they become enmeshed in a net from which there is no escape.
This film will not be everybody's cup of tea. It is clear that Woody Allen is not out to please the average movie-goer (nor should he necessarily); throughout the film he alludes to Greek tragedy. By beginning slowly--perhaps a bit too slowly--and then tightening the screws of the plot, Allen takes his characters to the critical moment where they have a choice; then, after a final twist as they pass the point-of-no-return, he begins to loosen his grip on the plot as the action unwinds to its logical conclusion.
Allen alludes specifically Aeschylus' "Oresteia"--the tragedy of murder within the family; blood-begetting-blood; and its resultant guilt and madness. The very title, "Cassandra's Dream," alludes to Aeschylus' drama; for in a trance, Cassandra--with the gift of prophecy that no one believes--foretells the murders that are about to take place within the house. In a similar manner, Allen's opening and closing camera shots that focus on the boat named "Cassandra's Dream," both foreshadow and look back on murder for which the viewer, like the Greek chorus, is unprepared.
This is not Allen's only subtle use of irony in the context of tragedy: In mid-film, when the aspiring actress, who is in love with one of the brothers, meets a serious theatre director, who confides that Euripides' "Medea" is his favorite tragedy, she betrays her lack of theatrical gravitas by replying that yes, Clytemnestra is her favorite character. Since Clytemnestra is not in "Medea" but in the "Oresteia," Allen indicates that she will likely not get the part and the break which she so desperately craves.
"Cassandra's Dream" is a difficult film to watch, but then so is Aeschylus' "Oresteia," the only difference being that the latter, set in ancient Argos, offers the theatre-goer the distance of some two-and-a-half millennia, while the former, set in modern-day London, is too close for comfort.
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Sally Hawkins
Tom Wilkinson
Ewan McGregor
Colin Farrell
Hayley Atwell
Creators:
Hayley Atwell (Primary Contributor)
Tom Wilkinson (Primary Contributor)
Director(s):
Recording label: Optimum Home Entertainment
Manufacturer: Optimum Home Entertainment
EAN: 5055201803955
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2008-09-29
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 103 minutes
Theatrical release date: 2007
Language: English (Original Language)
Tech info, cast and quotes/trivia when available. Exclusions may apply with free delivery. Price and availabiltity subject to change
