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4) Don't know the film but "in danger of being cheesy" comes to mind as a term.



He he well don't judge it too harshly by my description alone. It's not nearly as cheesy as it sounds. (Unlike, say, the deliberately cheesy shot of the [clearly fake] robin in the window in "Blue velvet".) It's actually a very good movie characterized by its restraint.

I agree that the four examples I provided use different technical devices, but it seemed that they achieved similar emotional results. I think we disagree on what cinema verite means. I was using the term (perhaps incorrectly) to apply to fake-documentary styles. An extreme example of this would be the faux documentary The Battle of Algiers. "Saving Pvt Ryan" as a whole does not fall into that category but the Omaha Beach section seems to dabble in it IMO by mimicking the look of old newsreel footage, with the color desaturated a bit to approach the feel of black and white.

If you like mysteries and thrillers you might like "The Dancer Upstairs." It's not a car-chases-and-gunfights sort of movie. It's more atmospheric. I'd compare it to "Gorky Park" in terms of pace and tone. Incidentally, it was directed by John Malkovich.

Last edited by Alex Williams; 03/28/06 06:14 PM.