★ 7 / 10
**A good movie, with nice gothic touches, despite
Filipe Manuel Neto
**A good movie, with nice gothic touches, despite being tiring, slow, excessively dark and not very faithful to the original book.** I saw this movie very…
**A good movie, with nice gothic touches, despite being tiring, slow, excessively dark and not very faithful to the original book.**
I saw this movie very recently and was pleased. The film is a remake of an older work, from 1972, both of which are inspired by an older historical novel of the same name, published in 1796 by Matthew Gregory Lewis, an English playwright, perhaps still inspired by the vapors of republicanism and fanatical anticlericalism coming from neighboring Revolutionary France.
This film takes place in the early years of the 17th century, in the Spain of the ultra-Catholic Habsburg Kings. A baby, abandoned at the door of a Capuchin convent, becomes the prestigious preacher Friar Ambrósio, who draws crowds with his sermons. However, things change after the arrival of Valério, a new monk, whose burns force him to always keep his face covered. As time passes, we will discover that this new monk is not what he seems.
The plot is pleasant and has a Gothic touch, although it does not take place in the medieval period, but in the times of the Counter-Reformation. For me, as a historian, the film has too much imagination and there are very fanciful details, like the story of the pregnant nun left for dead. The original book is not so macabre, and it gives this character a better, more interesting and appealing plot, making the nun Agnes one of the heroines of the original story. And if it's true that I really enjoyed the dense environment and the pleasantly dark atmosphere, it's also true that the film is very still.
Being a French production, the cast is overwhelmingly French-speaking and delivers a restrained, elegant performance, more profound than truly dramatic. I liked the work done by the actresses Joséphine Japy and Déborah François, the latter being seductive without really having to show much of her body. Geraldine Chaplin also seemed to me to be fine in her short role. Roxane Duran and Frédéric Noaille both had very little time to show their worth. Ultimately, the film ends up being, almost, a one-actor film: the prestigious and competent Vincent Cassel sustains the film and gives us a mature, well-achieved and consistently intense work.
Making the gloomy environment even denser, the cinematography doesn't give us much space to see beyond the few points of light that exist in the scene. I understand that the director, Dominik Moll, wanted it, and saw in this cinematography, signed by Patrick Blossier, a mark of style, but for me, it was problematic and tiring. Without any exaggeration, there are scenes immersed in full darkness, with only the face of the actor or actress, partially visible in a very dim light. Along with this excessive darkness, the film's pace is exasperatingly slow: a 90-year-old woman in a walker walks faster. The music, signed by Alberto Iglesias, is good and does her job very well.
★ 6 / 10
French/Spanish co-production with fine acting , colorful cinematography and rousing score by Alberto Iglesias
ma-cortes
Dominik Moll directs as well as adapts the screenplay alongside Anne-Louise Trividic , being adapted from Matthew G. Lewis' ,now cult , 1796 Gothic novel . The…
Dominik Moll directs as well as adapts the screenplay alongside Anne-Louise Trividic , being adapted from Matthew G. Lewis' ,now cult , 1796 Gothic novel . The Monk traces the corruption of a 16th Century, pious Capuchin Monk . Madrid, in the seventeenth century . Abandoned at the doorstep of a monastery , a baby was taken and educated by a group of monks headed by Père Miguel (Jordi Dauder) . Left at birth at the gates of a Capuchin monastery in Madrid, Brother Ambrosio (Vincent Cassel), raised by the friars, grows up into a preacher admired far and wide for his fervor. Ambrosio is feared for his righteousness and believes he is immune from temptation - until the arrival a strange character . But Satan attempts to tempt Brother Ambrosio (Vincent Cassel) who was left on the door of a Cister Monastery . Ambrosio has been brought up by the Capucin Friars and after becoming a friar himself, he becomes an unrivaled preacher whose sermons draw crowds and earn him the admiration of all , especially a young girl named Antonia (Joséphine Japy) . Ambrosio is a monk who is sexually seduced by a sorceress , a young female named Valerio (Déborah François) in monk's robes . Admired for his extreme rigor and absolute virtue , Ambrosio is certain he is safe from any temptation . But Satan has not said his final word . As pleasures of the flesh incarnated by a young woman devoured his soul . After he has committed a crime , it appears that he will be caught by the Inquisition .
This is a slow-paced , deliberate though magnetic Gothic thriller . A supernatural thriller and sincere attempt to film one of the Eighteenth Century's most readable Gothic Novels . It is a riveting film though boring , waiting to be made from The Monk the classic 18th Century Gothic novel by Matthew Lewis . Anyway, the film is interesting , thematically intriguing , and usually scathing of virtually all institutions and classes , as marvelous cinematography by Patrick Blossier , breathtaking musical score , enjoyable production design , but, for a variety of reasons, it does not quite pull as much punch as it should have . It tells of the downfall of the devout Ambrosio , excellently played by Vincent Cassel , who fulminates about sins of the flesh in hellfire and brimstone sermons only to be tempted by a emissary of the devil masquerading as a monk , a gorgeous young woman well acted by Deborah Francois . Good support cast gives right performance and full of French actors as Josephine Japi , Catherine Mouchet , Roxane Duran and Spanish players as as Jordi Dauder , Javivi and Sergio Mateu who eleven years later shooting ¨Harry , he's here to help ¨ collaborated again with director Dominik Moll in some dream scenes filmed in Almeria , Spain . And special mention the veteran Geraldine Chaplin as L'abbesse . Adequate and atmospheric set design filmed on location in Madrid , Navarra, Girona and Monatery of Santa Creus , Tarragona . Intriguing as well as evocative musical score by several times Oscar nominated Alberto Iglesias .
The motion picture also called Le Moine, was professional though slowly directed by Dominik Moll . He has directed a few movies as Intimacy", "Harry, He's Here To Help" and "Lemming". ¨The Monk¨ is the third adaptation based on the classic novel , the first version was ¨The Monk¨ with Franco Nero , Nathalie Delon , Nicol Williamson directed by Ado Kyrou , including a screenplay by Luis Buñuel , subsequent remake ¨The monk¨ by Paco Lara Palop , starring Paul McGann as Father Lorenzo Rojas , Sophie Ward as Matilde Venegas , Isla Blair as Mother Agueda and Aitana Sánchez Gijin as Sister Ines .
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