I wore my Uncut Gems shirt to set last week and someone told me they hated the film because of how much it streessed them out. I actually loved it for that reason, if a film is able to make you feel an emotion intentionally, they've done their jobs.
Just watched Uncut Gems tonight after seeing your notification appearing. I wanted to "prepare" myself and watch the movie before watching your video, and I must say it was a really good movie with stunning cinematography, I was really impressed, so... thank you for letting me discover this gem!
One of my favourite theatre going experiences. It was a run down theatre situated in a dying suburban mall and the film itself was a bootleg screener copy. It was the most perfect way to view a film like this.
I was so happy to see you make a video on uncut gems. As an up and coming film maker I always loved the ways the safdie’s make their films, they inspire the way I work to this day.
One of my all time favorite films! Top 3 for sure. The first time I saw it I sat there in my room speechless watching the last journey through the gem. Then I told everyone I know about this movie. Absolute blast of a film!
The quality of your videos just keeps increasing, thanks for these fantastic breakdowns. Honestly, I'm learning more from this than from graduate school.
It really is the great that all of the experience from the Safdie brothers learnt through their films was convied to the screen with great cast members such as Adam Sandler acepting to act in serious movie along side Lakeith, Kevin Garnett and Julia Fox who surprises me as its her first acting role All being filmed with the expertise of Darius Khondji is a cherry on top👏🏽
Great episode! Would also be great for you to break down some of the styles used in 'The Handmaid's Tale', especially the framing - seems to create tension in a different way.
One of my favorite movies, first time I saw it was by mistake on Netflix in Montreal. Came back to the states and was wondering why it wasn't on Netflix in America at the time.
Very early Scorsese like approach to filmmaking, mixing documentary style with fiction, also underexposed cinematography with high contrast, which I loved.
It’s so strange that Adam Sandler nowadays is a better actor in a drama role than a comedic actor. Though I do like Sandy Wexler and the Meyeoritz stories
I got how they tried to show the maniacisim in the movie and it worked well. But after I watched it I just felt overwhelmed and exhausted. The story also wasn't that compelling to me ! Still a movie, that stays in the mind for a long time
True! It’s crazy to think that in one moment you want him to win but when he dies you get a sense of relief because you know you can finally breath and just relax
I have to admit, none of the tension in this movie worked for me. I felt disconnected from the protagonist the entire time, and the reason I think that is is because I don't care about him as a person. He's a crook and never quite does anything compelling that makes me go "I want to root for this guy," does that make sense? Does anybody else feel the same about this movie? Consider a character like Walter White from Breaking Bad. Very similar situations, except Walter does have a reason that compels us to like him and root for him. He wants to help his family; he's dying and he's taking desperate measures to get what he wants. He gets in extraordinary situations that could get him and those around him killed, very similar to Sandler's character in Uncut Gems, but it's that humanity in Walt that truly makes it tragic to see him dig himself in a whole he can't get out of. And when worst comes to pass, that pity we feel for him feels earned. Sandler's character? He's already in the business, he's already a con man. He doesn't really care for what goes on in his family; he cheats on his wife. We see he has problems with his health but nothing really appears to bother him from it. All I see is a manipulative person who makes all the wrong decisions, and at one point (yes, at one point), he comes to regret it, but that's what? A 5 minute scene? Does he try to do anything to redeem himself? To help us understand him. Nope. So what is there for me to care for? Nothing. As Ivan Drago from Rocky IV said, if he dies, he dies. Don't get me wrong, The movie is impeccably directed; from a technical standpoint, it's awesome, but if I can't care about a protagonist, I'm not really going to feel any sympathy for their situation, so no tension for me.
I'm glad to see that you can not personally care for the protagonist and still be able to acknowledge that it's a very good film. To me, I don't really need to care about the character as much as I need to be intrigued by their story.
That’s so interesting to hear your perspective because for me it was totally swapped! I was so stressed for the entirely of Uncut Gems because I just wanted it to all work out for him and was upset by his death. It felt gut wrenching. But with Breaking Bad which I just watched all 5 seasons of recently over the course of about a week or so, I really did not like Walter. Of course I did not actively wish to see him fail and when he came across more unlikeable characters I wanted him to beat them, but I just saw him as a disillusioned psychopath who kept acting like he was doing it for his family (which appeared to be the initial goal) when really, as he admitted later, was entirely for his own selfish gain and ego. If he actually cared for his family, he would have stopped when he had enough money for them to get by the rest of their lives but he couldn’t give it up. He was redeemable at times, but I got so frustrated how he only ever acted out of self interest and then tried to preach morals to others while being an active hypocrite.
@@so3594 same here. ratner's energy is infective, you get lost in his desire to win big, but with walt i just found him to become more and more of an asshole for no good reason as the show went on
i get what you’re saying, but i think that it’s not about caring about him as a person. it’s being able to watch someone, regardless if we care for them, go down a rabbit hole of bad choices and get to experience the path of someone we don’t necessarily agree with. it’s not our story to identify with, it was his story. i can understand though how it may take you out of wanting to be immersed in the experience, but for me it was amazing bc i didn’t have much sympathy, but i got to watch it and experience it even if i didn’t agree with it
Actually, when you shoot on film, there is a sort of correct exposure (meaning that the whites wouldnt be too bright and the shadows not too dark). However, with film, you can also overexpose to get a different look (which does not work well for digital). So, for this film, the exposure was pushed (brighter) by one stop of light making the contrast and saturation more accentuated.
It means they exposed the negative at 1000 ISO instead of its typical 500 ISO (halving the exposure time) and then developed the negative for longer to compensate for that reduced exposure. This usually increases contrast and saturation and accentuates the film grain. The opposite is to “pull” the film, which means rating it as less sensitive than it is and then reducing development time and that typically results in a less saturated, less contrasty negative with less prominent grain.
Deep inside I hated every minute watching this movie. You feel trapped, uncertain, and not clear. The whole movie was uncomfortable to watch with all the tention. Which is why I liked it. And **Spolier** the ending was just messed up.
You’re getting narrative voice confused with shot size. You picked Koreeda’s Shoplifters to show he tells his stories objectively when the entire film builds to one unflinching close up of the young mom being interrogated in the police station. Comparing technique between films, especially across different directors, is a largely meaningless exercise.
What tension? It was a boring movie with an idiot for a protagonist. He literally did everything in his power to fail. It was impossible to like him. He was a failure machine.
Addiction can do that to people. They become so obsessed with winning, logic goes out the window. The thing I loved about Howard is that he never gave up. He believed in himself when no-one else would. The monologue he has with Kg near the end of the film depicts Howard as the character he is. Gets me pumped every time. He only breaks down once and realizes his addiction is leading him down a rabbit hole that won't turn out well, which he got in the end with a bullet to the face. He went out with the biggest win in his life at least, with a big smile on his face. The perfect ending to a flawed, but charismatic Character.
