The (Eight) Hours

So, um, I watched The Hours this weekend. Four times. I hadn't seen it before.

Okay, one of those times I watched it with director's commentary on. Does that count as watching the movie?

It is an amazingly good film. I love the way the director composes scenes. And emties them of dialog. I think that this is something I consistently love in films: when films communicate really well without needing to put dialog in a character's mouth. A look. A motion. Nuance. A shot followed by a reverse shot. The 1951 scenes, in particular, are so pregnant with intuitive understanding. Of characters knowing things, and us, the audience, knowing that the character knows.

This film, like Magnolia and Crash and Solaris makes me look at scenes and say "how did the director do this? How did the director put this scene together?" Daldry is fascinating to listen to: the way he approaches a scene captures everything I love about film.

It's full of some really great performances: Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore, Stephen Dillane, and Ed Harris (who, I've come to believe, is one of the most versatile actors of the modern cinema). But what a directorial masterpiece!