It's All About Love (Claire Danes/Joaquin Phoenix)
 

I wanted to start a separate thread about this most beautiful film (really exceptional camera work and stunnig soundtrack).

It has been awhile since I have seen such a romantic film..with so much to offer. The cinematography and camera work are simply top notch.....
I also realize that many would not share my thoughts as the film requires some rather careful viewing (no plot spoilers...see for yourself). Since I saw Girl On The Bridge this is just about the second film that really touched me so deeply!

The soundtrack is by Zbigniew Preisner, who also colaborated with K.Kieslowski for his Three Colors Trilogy, Dekalog, and The Double Life of Veronique!

As far as I know the film is yet to be shown in the US...but it is available on a great looking dvd (already mentioned) from Denmark.

The official movie site is here: (PLEASE, PLEASE TAKE A LOOK)!!
http://www.tvropa.com/itsallaboutlove/

and a review of the disc (in Danish) which you could translate easily is available here:
http://www.dahf.dk/cgi-bin/ultimateb...c&f=9&t=000225

courtesy of our Danish friends and their very well made dvdforum.

For those of you considering getting this DVD the subs are optional and the dvd is available at DVDOO.COM

IF any of the international "talkers" has been able to locate the soundtrack.....please, let me know!!!

Back in July last year I bought a film that was one of the biggest gems I've seen in a long time. Nowadays- one of the jewels in my modest collection. So.....

I was browsing through the extras on the disc last night (this is the 4th time I saw this film thank's to my girlfriend...) and noticed that It's All About Love won the Robert Award in Denmark (which is suppose to be the highest honor considered by Danish filmmakers-for Best cinematography, Best Special Effects, Best Production design).

Anyhow....if you have not seen this film YET...rent it from Nicheflix which now carries it. Or simply buy it....as I did a lont time ago.

(signed- Happy owner:D)

http://www.laserdisken.dk/billeder/f...7926993197.jpg

I'm sold. (Still can't figure out how I missed this thread)

How reliable is DVDOO.COM? Any customs issues?


Edit

It's $45 USD shipped from DVDOO.com (kinda steep)

It's $34 USD shipped from Laserdisken (shipping is a little cheaper).

Anyone had any experience with Laserdisken??

go laserdisken.....

very, VERY easy to order....let me know if you need any help :)

I did get mine from DVDoo back in July but they had free shipping to the US so...nowadays...quite pricey.

ps
I will wait to hear your comments when you see the film (and hear the soundtrack).
And I suggest if you have a significant other...pour a glass of wine, put an arm around her/his shoulder, relax....and let Mr. Vinterberg take your breath away!!

Pro,


Place my order today. Should have within 7-10 business days.

Niels Ole Pedersen with Laserdisken was able to provide me assistance with placing an order. Asked if the soundtrack was ever released to the film (awaiting a response)

I also invited Niels to join the forum to give us some more info on Danish DVD etailers (since there is very little provided on which ones ship Internationally).

Candy.....

Neils is a nice person to deal with. He always drops an email, esp if you are a new customer. If he joins that would be great.
As to Danish dvd etailers and else....I have some very good contacts on the Danish forum listed in the directory. In fact they assisted a lot with the superb Danish Dogville release.

Let me know your thoughts after you receive the film. In fact I might go ahead and write a review for Nicheflix if i have some time this weekend.

On a side note the French are also releasing this film on April 8. I will avoid their version though since I highly doubt it they will sub in English the ton of extras this Scandinavian dvd contains (as the Danish did). In fact even the commentary which the Danish production editor did for the DVD release is entirely in English (he chose to speak English not Danish). There was also some talk about Festen (I am sure you realize that this is the same director that did the superb Dogme film) with M. Rukov....excellent work!!

Anyhow....here's the cover work for the French disc:

http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P...8.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

hey thanks for that update, pro. I think I will pick up the french disc. I've wanted to see this for a some time. Did anyone catch that documentary on Sundance last week with Vinterburg, Von Trier and the two other members of Dogma 95? Very cool and funny.

lostatmidnight:

You're welcome...BUT WHY...picking up the French disc? :hscratch:

The Danish disc is superb!!! I mean it.
With all the extras (I mentioned it above....all of the extras are either in English or subbed) the folks from Denmark have gone way out of their way to please if you happen to be an English speaker. In fact, just as Dogville you get to set your own menu- should you like a Swedish, Danish, etc....or an English one.

The picture is crystal clear...not a tiny spec or dirt mark. Perhaps I am missing something in your post but....truly...I cant find a single reason why you would wait until April for a French disc that quite possibly will not include all of the extras from the Danish release....or even drop the English friendly settings/options.-confused-

Not that I want to change your mind but you HAVE to go Danish....(just like the coffee cake...you should know that)! :D

Cheers,

Pro-B

why I do the things I do, pro, is beyond me.
hopefully by April my money situation will be sorted out...other than that...Extras? I don't watch them anymore unless there is a director's commentary. I just scanned through the extras on the Dogville two disc set a few weeks ago....I just ask for OAR and and an excellent transfer.

I agree, the Danish disk is the best one out there, they did an unbelievable job with this great looking film.

OK, not to be a spoil-sport or anything but can someone explain to me what they found so romantic about it? I agree that the cinematography is stunning and the music is great but i found the rest of the film to be utter twaddle. It was like 4 movies mashed (uncomfortably) into one. And why did the characters have to be Polish? If Joaquin, Claire and Sean Penn could have just spoken in their normal voices it would have been much better. I didn't hate it or anything but I was a bit let down and can understand why it hasn't seen the light of day here in the US. I would be interested to hear what others think.

Mr.Toast:

I thought that the characters were international (Polish) because Vinterberg was attempting (successfully??) to imply that love was dying all over the world. That is why (I think) his camera was focused on the fact that as love was fading away, so were people's hearts affected....and eventually the world died carpeted with freezing snow.

As to why I found this film so romantic, maybe my little review could help you a bit. I will be glad though to answer if you have any specific questions after you read it (in fact I very much agree with your comment about plot progression....even wrote about it....it was indeed complicated a bit). :)

http://www.nicheflix.com/reviews/itsallaboutlove.html

Cheers,
Pro-B

Pro-Bassoonist:

That was a very thoughtful review but I guess I missed the romanticsim. Perhaps if there'd been a little more backstory on John and Elena's relationship it would have made their reunion more satisfying for me. And I have to say that the accents really got in the way of the characters for me. I can see Vinterberg's point with international characters but maybe he should have hired international actors. Sean Penn's accent was particularly over-the-top I thought and at first I just thought Joaquin was speaking oddly - it wasn't until I heard Claire Danes that it occured to me that he might have an accent. And what ws the point of the Ugandans? Huh? So, I am able to (mostly)understand his point above love intellectually but it didn't move me. It was a spectacular transfer though. And I also LOVED The Girl on the Bridge. That is one film I cannot shake. Thanks for your thoughts

Pro-B,

I will also try to take a look at this film - probably I will rent it, though, since I heard too many differing opinions on that one - my guess is I will like it... . ;)

By the way, did you get my email?

Seb :)

Dear Seb,

I am sorry....I just responded to your email. I have been swamped with work. My bad.

As to the film...I loved it. :)

A French version is now available.....

http://www.dvdrama.com/imagescrit/it...utlovez2hd.jpg

Pro-B

Well, just finished watching the film.

I look at it as a sort of experiment for Vinterberg; a film made as a stunt, showing that you could make a film with all the cliched, overused and tired devices that Dogme95 tried so hard to work around - for example -

The sound is a very dynamic affair, with lots of artificial music and effects, as opposed to "only natural sounds".

The camerawork is also wide-ranged, with close-ups, artificial and impossible shots, static shots, camera tricks et al, not to mention the epic 2.35:1 cinematography and extensive lighting and optical "improvement" - definitely not done with only actor-operated handheld cameras in natural light!

The film is set in several different parts of the world in the future - hardly the "here and now".

It's a genre movie (sci-fi, romantic drama... a few other kinds!), there's murders and whatnot... and, of course, every bit about the film makes sure to credit Thomas Vinterberg.

There's also other "unnatural" things. Major, recognizable stars. Not to mention the fact that most of the cast speak with a different accent than their country of origin...

I think Vinterberg was intentionally trying to do a couple of things - one, to prove that the stuff Dogme disallows doesn't necessarily make a bad film, and two, to show that he himself wasn't a one-trick pony and could make a major film. Does he succeed?


Kinda.


The script isn't very good, is it?


Sure, the film has a point - the world's all about love, and as love dies or fades away, the world dies a little and so on - but does the point have the support of a good film? I think the film's beautiful to look at and the soundtrack is lovely, but my my, so many bits in the film were just silly. Vinterber lumps every tired device in - conspiracies! Assassins! CLONES! - and he can't make sense of it all. What could have been a very interesting film just falls in on itself from dead weight.


All in all, worth a rent but nothing you'd want to buy, unless you're a sucker for cinematography. If you'd have to buy anything, I'd suggest picking up the soundtrack CD - if there is one.

http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/...laboutlove.jpg

:D

Not seen this yet but I will go with your recommendation and add it to my 'to buy ' list. I liked the director's Festen/Celebration (this month Region 1 Walt Disney and already available in the UK with subtitles (and a faulty soundtrack)) so it's worth taking the chance. My only concern is there's a terrible British acTOR in the film -Douglas Henshall- he makes my skin crawl.

It's getting a release this month in the UK. Cheapest for international buyers seems to be www.amazon.co.uk or cheap in Holland but I'm not sure if that's the exact film. You'd need to confirm.

I'll wait for a review of the UK disc before deciding which to go for.

It gets worse. Doug Henshall with a polish accent!

so this is maybe a little off topic...but since we are talking about this film it might be interesting to read this article from the Danish paper Politiken:


http://www.joaquin-phoenix.net/print/0106politiken.html

Nooooooo!!!!!!! :D

Just caught the UK rental disc.

First the good news: Henshall is barely recognisable.

The bad news. I thought the film was truly terrible. Technically, the first 20mins of dubbing and over dubbing were annoying to me (very late changes to the script/story?).

What's it about? When, how, why and who? I didn't know after 40mins, so I turned it off.

Phoenix was awful.

Bad accents normally = a bad film.

Here, that's well true.

Does Phoenix cry? ;)

Perhaps this is just your opinion...perhaps you were upset way too much by the presence of Mr.Henshall.

I thought the film was too complicated to follow not only in the first 40 min but all the way through the end (for a reason) where the director puts all of the pieces together.

On a side note, why would you expect the first 40 min to reveal all the picture has to tell? Example: Donnie Darko was anything but easy to follow...not only through the first 40min...but even after you have seen it twice...the story is still hard to comprehend. While this is by no means the same type of film I think that it is much more than "terrible".

Just my .02 cents...
Pro-B