2006
dir. Kevin Reynolds star. James Franco Sophie Myles Rufus Sewell
I wasn't intending on doing a review of this film, but we just finished it in my French IV class, and seeing how I am behind in my films, I decided that I might as well write a review for this.
First off, if you are unfamiliar with the story of Tristan and Isolde, you might wish to visit this website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tristan_and_Iseult
At first I presumed that Tristan + Isolde would be like the films that you had to watch in middle school, as it pertained to the subject that you were learning about. (in my case, French history) Most of those times, I found the films to be dull and uninteresting, as they were not what we wanted to watch. But with Tristan + Isolde, I was quite surprised at how quickly the story grabbed me up and held me captivated throughout the entire film with only a few minor laughing moments. (These are Spoiler Alert! moments, so I will not elaborate on them.)
I should clarify this pdq, this film is not just a love story like The Notebook, or Letters to Juliet and other chick flicks like those, there's actually some substance to this film and some really nice cinematography. When I saw the gentle transitions between nature to human civilization, I automatically assumed that the cinematographer was European. So I looked him up: Artur Reinhart. Polish. Win!
The acting...was made up for by the cinematography. It wasn't really bad acting, but it did appear flattish in some scenes. And Sophie Myle's accents were easy to understand, a huge bonus. And Franco's performance as Tristan was not of the "macho-Imma-stud-'n'-I'm-invincible!" variety. It was quiet, and very thoughtful, there was no over the top acting with him.
My only disappointment: Way to mess up one of the most famous love stories ever.
I would recommend this to... those couples who need a love story for the girl, and an action film for the guy, there's enough of each to keep you satisfied.
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