Artivels Undescribable Perfection

Raetsonwe Redundant and unnecessary.

Micitype Pretty Good

Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

AdamHawkes Frankie, an elementary school student, is a boy who has deaf ears. Despite his handicaps he is able to understand words others' say by reading their lips. But he is not willing to speak so he talks with written paper or sign language. He respects his father. He writes letters to him every day, who is a member of crews and voyages around the world for a long time. He likes collecting stamps which his father gives. One day, Frankie's classmate tells Frankie to take Frankie's father to him. If Frankie so, the classmate will give him his cards. Frankie is angry with the attitude and accepts it. This makes things complicated. Actually, his mother has a secret about their family.This story is heartwarming so I love it soon. The scenes of Frankie and his father are very moving. I like the scene in which Frankie runs a race with his father the best of all. It represents father's affection for his son, I think. As time is going by, their relationship is becoming friendlier.For the first time in years I found my favorite film. I like this film so much that I would like to watch this film again. And I can recommend confidently that you watch this film.

Chrysanthepop Shona Auerbach's 'Dear Frankie' is another gem of a little British film (set in a Scottish town). What particularly stands out in this picture is its simplicity and subtlety. Even though the key characters include a mother, her hearing impaired son and his grandmother who are on the run, the story is told in a very slice of life fashion without having to be voyeuristic or jumping in and out of the lives of every single characters with the obvious emotional manipulation. Andrea Gibbs's writing, Shona Auerbach's direction and the actors' performances give it heart. They don't spoonfeed the viewer but instead they leave it up to the viewer to draw conclusions. The cinematography wonderfully captures the beauty and simplicity of Glasglow. Emiliy Mortimer is excellent as the desperate mother who finds an unusual way to connect with her son. Jack McElhone is equally remarkable in the title role. Gerard Butler too does a terrific job as he downplays his part effectively. The supporting cast, especially Mary Riggans and Sharon Small, is superb.In a way, 'Dear Frankie' could be described as a film you didn't know you wanted to see. That's reason enough to watch it.

ram6328 The Director's name is Shona Auerbach: I was moved by her display of patience, and confidence in the "illustration of silence" - allowing the film to play out at a pace either organically created on-set or in her own intuition - either way, she showed extreme patience in the gradualness of the production. Just when you thought you had the story figured she would intricately place another turn/detail with absolute precision.I can only imagine how Quentin Tarantino would've approached this film, given on a silver platter the violent opportunities in the script, he probably would've tore into some violent display, (eg: the event that caused Frankie's hearing loss) in some dramatic opening scene - or maybe had one of the characters reprimand the school bully for his overt abuse. Most male directors have a difficult time resisting the apparent or the obvious - Ms. Auerbach showed incredible restraint not to do what was anticipated.For example... You knew at some point Lizzie and the stranger were going to kiss, maybe on the walk along the ocean after the party or shortly there after. However, she showed confidence in the power of silence to wait and instead ask the actors to just stand at the door and literally stare, for what felt like at least 60 seconds before partially acknowledging what was just a half kiss - as a viewer this directly interfered with my expectations, and gave additional credence to....This is not a movie at all, we're voyeurs actually watching this un-fold.Most directors/actors would've rushed through that scene - not finding it a pivotal, powerful, poignant, telling moment as she did. Her patience to "wait" and allow the actors to feel their way through the movie almost as if they were blind-folded, literally having to feel the gravity of each scene before actually filming.Can you imagine the discipline required - literally fighting against your natural instincts to tell the story while the actors I'm sure are fighting against their own natural instinct to act or what turns into over-acting - this could've easily turned into a scenario where the crew was filming a... Take #:45 of a scene #:30. Another example...Would be the two actors at the fish tank observing the sea horse - let's remember directing child actors has it's own challenges, imagine the responsibility coupled with having to draw everyone on-set into your belief that the silence is working and how it can ultimately show in the film as an additional character.Further, It was the juxtaposition of how the director used silence and Frankie's silence (being deaf)... Truly captivating! As a viewer, and like his Mother, the only time we could hear his voice was through the letters.Another moving scene for me was when Frankie came home from school and leaned up against the wall in the lobby portraying this intimate moment with the design in the tile. For me, it was the proof she was in some type of zone - it was like watching Michael Jordan go lights out in game 7 in the NBA Finals. She was so committed and brazen in her belief that the silence was working - I simply sat back and watched in awe. Now knowing her background as a still photographer and cinematographer, and with this being her first feature film - I spent more time listening to what she "didn't" say.I was struck by how she refrained from illuminating the majestic back-drop, the ocean scenery set in the small Scottish town off the coast - instead she choose to use this grayish hue. I can only assume she felt it would be adding un-needed layers, and pulling the viewer away from the power of the story. The directors job is similar to a musical composer, who in the studio has to make the critical creative decision when enough is enough - Shona and her editor executed with perfection! In closing.. There are rarely movies where a powerful story is equally matched, maybe dominated by a powerful performance (..yes performance) by the director, this is indeed one of those rarities.http://www.totalfilm.com/trailers/dear-frankie-inthttp://www.totalfilm.com/trailers/dear-frankie-int

cinecrazy08 I remember a proverb that " Books are well written or badly written'.It is similar in case of movies too, Movies are well made or badly made. (there is no such thing as art films or commercial films). I saw the movie on STAR MOVIES on an evening, it completely mesmerized me.The actors weren't phony and script is also well executed. Also everybody brings out a seamless performance in acting, which can be credited to director.Even for people who hate movies, I will recommend this movie 10 out of 10.