Knit One, Watch Two Again....

Welcome to the third installment of my intermittent movie reviews for knitters.  Instead of reporting on movies about  knitting, I like to focus on how the movie accompanies knitting.  And here we go!

Not as pointy as it sounds....

The Final Cut - 2004, starring Robin Williams

The first of my review duo is The Final Cut, starring Robbin Williams as a "cutter", one who edits the memories of people to be played back after death for their loved ones.  Although seemingly innocuous at first, it becomes clear that the Zoe chip is quite controversial regarding individual privacy (the person with the chip is recording everything, including personal interactions, with or without the knowledge or consent of others involved) as well as the way human being experience life (in the moment versus for the sake of the recording).  Alan (Robin Williams) is haunted by his own past and find a path to its resolution while being hunted by an anti-Zoe group for knowledge he holds regarding a client's implant.

All in all, this movie was not bad.  It was very moody and dark and I love Williams in more serious roles.  It was suspenseful and philosophical.  There was not as much action as I thought there would be, and the storyline with the anti-Zoe group felt a little thready, but it felt very relevant for this age of living publicly through social media and our efforts to control what parts of our lives other people see.  Knitwise, it definitely fit the bill.  Most of the movie was expressed verbally, so I could absorb a lot without dropping a stitch.  A small cast made following the who's who easy, and I did find myself thinking about the philosophical questions the movie posed.  The Final Cut gets rated as a KNIT.

An intellectual escapes in this tale of intellectual escapism!

Night Train to Lisbon  - 2013, starring Jeremy Irons, Melanie Laurent and Jack Huston

An emotionally isolated professor (Jeremy Irons) is compelled to learn about the life of a Portuguese revolutionary poet and doctor when a book lands in his hands courtesy of a mysterious suicidal young woman.  On his journey, he connects with the people who most figured in the poet's life and comes to reevaluate the meaning of his own life's path. Based on the book by Pascal Mercier.

I found this movie quite lovely.  A quiet suspense unfolded as we learn more and more about the events that defined the doctor/poet's place in history.  Betrayals and intrigues abound, but melodrama is set aside for vulnerability and sincerity.  Though literate and understated, the film does it's job well in illustrating the violence and fear that surrounded the events of the revolution against the Estado Novo regime. Though visually very appealing, the story is told mostly through conversation and brief, beautifully written philosophical passages.  The atmosphere of the film is great for when you want a quite, literate ambiance for your knitting, and I was able to follow an impossible-to-memorize lace pattern and still keep up.  Night Train to Lisbon gets a well-deserved KNIT.