Pleasantville (1998) - Ross lays out Hollywood liberal ideas in original classic

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A fabulous rainbow drives through this classy and supremely elegant poster for Gary Ross' Pleasantville

A quarrel over a remote control gets two teenagers sucked into the boy's favorite 1950s sitcom Pleasantville, where everything is black and white, and neither fire, sex, toilets, art nor death exists.

Pleasantville is written, co-produced and directed by great Californian filmmaker, debuting Gary Ross (Ocean's Eight (2018)).

It is a really good film based on an exciting and original idea. The plot moves fast, seemingly because Ross wants to cover many points. The conservative proprieties have no qualities; the advent of sins and unrest after the fall of the residents of Pleasantville are also casually leaped over: The present time (and colors) are simply preferable to repression (whatever the costs, apparently.) Liberal emancipation is for the good in absolute terms in this anti-conservative, liberal fantasy that's also interesting as an ideological time machine. Ross' somewhat complacent point is also carried through with the preachy lines from Tobey Maguire (Labor Day (2013)) at the film's end. Before this, however, Pleasantville is fantastically sweet, funny, attractively photographed (by John Lindley (Castle Rock (2019, TV-series))) and produced in a staggering scheme of black and white and colors. 

The turns from especially William H. Macy (Sahara (2005)) and Joan Allen (Room (2015)) have moving high points, but the performances are good all over. Pleasantville has cinematic qualities, thought-provoking themes - and great hair and makeup work! It is a modern Hollywood classic, an inventive and original work from Tinseltown. 

Related posts:

 

Gary Ross: Ocean's Eight (2018) - Commercially mandated spin-off sinks 

The Hunger Games (2012) - A global, teen-centered sci-fi smash

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 60 mil. $

Box office: 49.8 mil. $

= Huge flop (returned 0.83 times its cost)

[Pleasantville premiered 17 September (Toronto International Film Festival) and runs 124 minutes. Shooting took place from March - July 1997 in California. The laborious camera work on the film cost the life of camera operator Brent Hershman, who fell asleep behind the wheel driving home one night after a 19-hour work day on the film. The film opened #1 to an 8.8 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 2 weekends in the top 5 (#2-#3), grossing 40.5 mil. $ (81.3 % of the total gross). The film was nominated for 3 Oscars, winning none: Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, lost to Shakespeare in Love, Costumes, also lost to Shakespeare in Love, and Score (Randy Newman (Toy Story 4 (2019))), lost to Nicola Piovani for Life Is Beautiful. Roger Ebert gave it a 4/4 star review, translating to a notch over this one. Ross returned with Seabiscuit (2003). Maguire returned in The Cider House Rules (1999); Reese Witherspoon (Just Like Heaven (2005)) in Cruel Intentions (1999). Pleasantville is certified fresh at 86 % with a 7.70/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Pleasantville?

Harold and Maude (1971) - Ashby and Higgins' odd and hilarious cult favorite

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An eye-catching, drawn and painted poster centering on the odd couple of Hal Ashby's Harold and Maude

Harold is a young man of the upper class, who stages his own suicide occasionally for his mother, who tries to hitch him with a girl his age. But he now meets and falls for 70 year-old Maude, a hedonist and self-professed 'life extremist'.

 

Harold and Maude is written by Colin Higgins (Foul Play (1978)) and directed by Utahan master filmmaker Hal Ashby (The Landlord (1970)), whose 2nd feature it was.

The two central figures naturally bump into one another at funerals. Absurdity marks many scenes here; from Harold's theatrical suicide stagings to his uncle's amputated salute claps and beyond.

Despite developmental troubles plot-wise, over-use of Cat Stevens' (Deep End (1970)) score, and a poorly devised, indeterminate finishing of Maude's part of the story, - among other things, - this is a peculiar, very different, endearing and life-affirming film that's full of laughs. And a truly priceless performance from Ruth Gordon (Edge of Darkness (1943))!

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 1.3 mil. $

Box office: Unknown

= Uncertain - turned profitable 12 years after its release

[Harold and Maude was released 20 December (North America, Turkey) and runs 91 minutes. Higgins was a UCLA film student, when he started working on the script, passed on while working as a pool boy, and from there passed on to Paramount executive Stanley Jaffe. Shooting took place from December 1970 - March 1971 in California, including in San Francisco. The film was a flop upon release. But it kept playing in some theaters for years, as fan patrons saw the film again and again, and it turned into a cult movie, especially among young people. By 1983 the film started turning a profit. At that point it had already been turned into a novel and a successful play by Higgins. It was nominated for 2 Golden Globes and a BAFTA. Roger Ebert gave it a 15/4 star review, translating to 3 notches under this one. Ashby returned with The Last Detail (1973). Gordon returned in 6 TV credits prior to her theatrical return in The Big Bus (1976); Bud Cort (Girl in the Cadillac (1995)) in The Hallucinating Trip (1975). Harold and Maude is certified fresh at 85 % with a 7.70/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Harold and Maude?

Gandhi (1982) - Kingsley illuminates hearts and minds in Attenborough's humanistic biopic

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Unusually many people flock on this poster for Richard Attenborough's Gandhi around the titular character, whom it thoroughly touts

Mahatma Gandhi's life was remarkable, for he was a remarkable man: From the formative rebellion in British-controlled South Africa to his non-violent insistence upon independence for his country India, he was a key figure in 20th century history.

Gandhi is written by John Briley (Enigma (1982)) and directed by British master filmmaker Richard Attenborough (Oh! What a Lovely War (1969)), whose 5th feature it is. Mahatma was an honorific name given to Gandhi in 1914 in South Africa, a Sanskrit word that means 'great-souled' and 'venerable'.
Ben Kingsley (Sexy Beast (2000)), who is partly of Indian heritage, gives a masterly performance as the diminutive Indian, who more than once in his life turns to fasting and sticks with it to the point where he nearly dies to remind his fellow man of his wisdom that "an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind", - and other such valuable lessons. The principled strength and brilliant logic of Gandhi's humanism inevitably touches most audiences deeply, and Attenborough's vast epic thereby becomes an unmissable film as a cinematic study in the best of humanity.

Related post:

Richard Attenborough:  Top 10: Best UK movies reviewed by Film Excess to date

A Bridge Too Far (1977) or, Epic Shit Hits the Fan

Watch a 6-minute trailer for the film here

Cost: 22 mil. $
Box office: 127.7 mil. $
= Huge hit (returned 5.80 times its cost)
[Gandhi premiered 30 November (New Delhi, India) and runs 191 minutes. Attenborough was contacted by an Indian-born civil servant and devout Gandhi follower in 1962, who persuaded him to pursue a film of the man's life. 18 years passed before it came to fruition: India's prime minister Indira Gandhi was by the late 1970s persuaded to put up the first 10 mil. $ of the film's budget from the country's National Film Development Corporation of India fund. Shooting took place in the UK, including London, and in India, including Delhi, from November 1980 - May 1981. SPOILER More than 300,000 extras were used in the funeral scene, setting a new Guinness World Record. The film opened #14 to a 131k $ first weekend in 4 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #2 (on President's Day weekend), spending a total of 11 weeks in the top 5, grossing 52.7 mil. $ (41.3 % of the total gross). It was the year's 3rd highest-grossing film outside of North America, the highest-grossing film of the year in the UK and one of the highest-grossing imported films in India ever, adjusted for inflation. It was shown tax-free in Mumbai and Delhi. Goldcrest Films made a profit of 6.3 mil. £ on their participation in the film. It was nominated for 11 Oscars, winning 8: For Best Picture, Actor (Kingsley), Director, Original Screenplay, Cinematography (Billy Williams and Ronnie Taylor), Art-Set Direction, Costumes and Editing. It lost Best Makeup to Quest for Fire, Score (Ravi Shankar and George Fenton) to John Williams for E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and Sound to also to E.T.. It also won 5 Golden Globes, 5/16 BAFTA nominations, 3 David di Donatello awards, was nominated for a Grammy, won 3 National Board of Review awards and many other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 4/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. The film has been criticized for idolizing Gandhi and leaving out his less flattering sides and development as a person. Attenborough returned with A Chorus Line (1985). Kingsley returned in The Merry Wives of Windsor (1982, TV movie) and theatrically in Betrayal (1983). Gandhi is certified fresh at 85 % with an 8.15/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Gandhi?

Honeyland (2019, documentary) - Captivating, demanding observed life

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+ Best Hero of the Year: Hatidze + Best Nature Documentary of the Year 

The main character of Tamara Kotevska and Ljubomir Stefanov's Honeyland works with the bees in a striking light on this captivating poster for the film

Hatidze is a bee hunter in the rough, mountainous Macedonian countryside, caring for her old mother and working with a respectful 'take half, leave half' philosophy, as a nomadic family becomes her new neighbors and disrupts the precarious natural balance.

Honeyland is an observed life documentary by debuting Tamara Kotevska (Free Hugs (2015, short)) and Ljubomir Stefanov.
Hatidze is a remarkable and strong person to follow: Her teeth and nose are a mess; she is past her prime as a marriage item, and she knows it. Still there is something beautiful about her, which no doubt stems from her exuding spirit and intelligent humanity. SPOILER Her caring for her invalid mother is touching and funny, but the story sees her lose the only family she has left, just as the new neighbors' exploitative efforts at bee-farming breaks her own little honey factory. But in the face of death, wintry cold, loneliness and financial ruin, Hatidze perseveres, keeps moving, engages with nature and thinks ahead to the coming spring.
Before this end, the neighboring family's interaction, two workhorse-like adults and their big litter of kids, are also a sight to behold; shouting, screaming, running, falling, fighting and doing what they can to keep the skins on their noses, it is hard to blame them much for the consequences of their failed farming attempts and rummaging Hatidze's surroundings; and the film doesn't vilify them. But it shows how different attitudes to making use of nature has different consequences, whether the involved parts are big or small, rich or, as in this case, all poor. - We share the same land, and consequences don't respect our borders.
Paradoxically, big, expensive nature documentaries free of people, - and usually with faster editing, - are often more readily relatable for modern city audiences as myself than a sojourn with people such as the ones we meet in Honeyland, simply because their everyday lives are so different from those of us watching them in cinemas, (a cultural luxury which they have likely never tried.)
It is therefore a demanding but captivating trip to a kind of life most will not have known of prior to Honeyland.

Related post:

Tamara Kotevska, Ljubomir Stefanov: 2019 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

2019 in films - according to Film Excess

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: Unknown
Box office: 660k $ and counting
= Uncertain
[Honeyland premiered 28 January (Sundance Film Festival, Utah) and runs 87 minutes. The project was started in 2016. Shooting took place in North Macedonia, including Skopje. The filmmakers have bought Hatidze a 10k € house with electricity, an oven and a refrigerator, nearer the city, as well as clothes for the nomadic family's children; and they have launched a campaign for the sale of local honey. The film opened #40 to a 31k $ first weekend in 2 theaters in North America, where it is right now peaking at #36, and has peaked previously theater-wise on 56 screens, grossing 650k $ there to date. It won 3 prizes at Sundance, - and is likely to become a Best Documentary Oscar contender. The film has screened at numerous festivals and is set to continue opening in new markets into 2020. Kotevska has since made two shorts; House on a Rocky Road (2019) and Paw Law (2019), and is announced to helm a drama entitled Man vs. Flock. Stefanov does not have an announced next project yet. Honeyland is certified fresh at 99 % with an 8.35/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Honeyland?

Reconstruction (2003) - Luminous Bonnevie in Boe's striking Copenhagen love/mystery debut

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+ Best Art Film of the Year + Best Copenhagen Movie of the Year + Best Debut Movie of the Year + Best Romance of the Year

The stars meet romantically on this beautiful poster for Christoffer Boe's Reconstruction, which undeniably aestheticizes smoking cigarettes

A man in a relationship suddenly falls for an unknown woman named Aimee and follows her, finding that she is also already entangled. But their connection is powerful all the same.

Reconstruction is written by Mogens Rukov (Elise (1985)) and great debuting Danish co-writer/director Christoffer Boe (Beast (2011)). A salute should go out to Boe for injecting a strong dose of Parisian elegance into Danish cinema with this delectable love mystery. And yet Reconstruction still seems so Copenhagen and Nordic still.
The film has a sommelier restaurant scene that may be putting on airs a bit, and the drama at times seems somewhat secondary and diffuse, - but it gets a renaissance later in the emotional finale.
Nikolaj Lie Kaas (Just Another Love Story/Kærlighed på Film (2007)), Krister Henriksson (Faithless/Trolösa (2000)) and Maria Bonnevie (I Am Dina (2002)) give brilliant performances, and especially Bonnevie is fantastic. 
Reconstruction features innovative, inspiring photography by Manuel Alberto Claro (Nymphomaniac: Vol. I & II (2013)) on Super16, masked to CinemaScope format in editing. It is a hard-to-explain film of existential fear stemming from a story of the construction of a love story that evolves into a classical mystery. Somehow the unlikely thing happens and this all comes together, making Reconstruction one of the first highly distinctive and memorable Danish films of the new millennium.

Related post:

Christoffer Boe: Allegro (2005) or, His Past Was Lost in a Copenhagen Zone!

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

Watch a scene from the film here

Cost: Unknown
Box office: Around 1 mil. $
= Uncertain - but likely a huge flop
[Reconstruction premiered 18 May (Cannes Film Festival, France) and runs 91 minutes. Shooting took place in Copenhagen, Denmark. The film enjoyed an extensive release of foreign markets and festivals for a Danish film. It sold 51,523 tickets in its production country Denmark, not bad for an art film, raking in approximately 515k $ (51.5 % of the total gross). It opened #81 to a 13k $ first weekend in 2 theaters in North America, where it never rose in rank but spread to 9 theaters and grossed 73k $ (7.3 %). North America was the 5th largest market; the largest was Denmark, followed by Argentina with 113k $ (11.3 %) and Russia with 90k $ (9 %). If the film was made on a probable low budget of around 2 mil. $, it would rank as a huge flop. It won 2 minor prizes in Cannes, was nominated for a European Film award and won 2/6 Robert nominations (Denmark's Oscar). Boe returned with Visions of Europe (2004, segment) and feature-wise with Allegro (2005). Kaas returned in Dogville: The Pilot (2003, short) and theatrically in Brothers/Brødre (2004); Bonnevie in Let's Play House/Mamma Pappa Barn (2003). Reconstruction is fresh at 72 % with a 6.29/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Reconstruction?

Into the Wild (2007) - Penn and Co. triumph with true-story, American odyssey

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+ Best Movie of the Year
+ Best American Movie of the Year + Best Adventure Movie of the Year + Best Youth Movie of the Year + Best Road Movie of the Year

Emile Hirsch sits on the roof of an abandoned bus in Alaska and ponders existence on this serene poster for Sean Penn's Into the Wild

Into the Wild is the true story of Christopher McCandless, who as a young man in May 1990 breaks radically with his parents' suburban life and cuts himself off from everything and every one he knows to go on an American adventure as a 'Alexander Supertramp.'

Into the Wild is the 4th feature written and directed by Californian master filmmaker Sean Penn (The Crossing Guard (1995)), based on the same-titled 1996 nonfiction book of McCandless' life and journey by Jon Krakauer (Into Thin Air (1997)).
Rarely does a film touch people the way that Into the Wild does, and certainly does touch me when I watch it. It gets to you like a sharp, pointed arrow with a vivacity, a fullness of life, a formidable drive and a devastating but also enormously beautiful end. This film is an absolute masterpiece.
Emile Hirsch (Killer Joe (2011)) is a star and a generational hero for his towering performance here, and his scenes with Hal Holbrook (Innocent Victims (1996, TV movie)) are among the most moving that I can recollect ever having seen in a motion picture.
The music in the film, made up of monumental, howling, acoustic and beautiful songs by Eddie Vedder (The Namesake (2006), song) and a strong score by Michael Brook (The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)) and Kaki King (How I Got Lost (2009)), is forceful, as is the exceptional cinematography by Eric Gautier (Clean (2004)). Into the Wild is a visual cornucopia of the majestic sights in America's Godly nature.
As a film about a young radical idealist and explorer, Into the Wild is out of this world, and with the release of this masterpiece and his outstanding performance in Gus Van Sant's masterpiece Milk (2008), Penn touched a height in movies that is only afforded very few certified greats.

Related posts:

Sean Penn:  Gangster Squad (2013) or, Good Men vs. Bad Men! (actor)
This Must Be the Place (2011) - Sorrentino's Nazi-hunting stoner cracker (actor)
The Tree of Life (2011) or, Mother, Father, Sharks, Dinosaurs, My Brothers, Sunflowers, the Desert, the Wind and Me (actor)
Fair Game (2010) or, The Intelligence War (actor)
2007 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2007 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
21 Grams (2003) or, Hardcore Life (actor)
The Pledge (2001) - Maddening, realistic, unpleasant child-killer story (director)
The Crossing Guard (1995) - Penn's great, downbeat Jack Nicholson-starring drama thriller (writer/co-producer/director)
Carlito's Way (1993) - De Palma's best gangster movie (actor)

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: Estimated 15 mil. $
Box office: 56.2 mil. $
= Big hit (returned 3.74 times the cost)
[Into the Wild premiered 1 September (Telluride Film Festival, Colorado, USA) and runs 148 minutes. Shooting took place in Washington, including Seattle,  Oregon, including Portland, Arizona, Alaska, South Dakota, California, Atlanta, Georgia, Nevada and in Mexico from April - November 2006. SPOILER The final bus section of the film was shot in Alaska about 50 miles (80 km) from the actual site, using a replica of the real bus. The film opened #33 to a 212k $ first weekend in 4 theaters, a huge 53k $ cinema average, and widened to peak at #14 and in 660 cinemas in North America, where it grossed 18.3 mil. $ (32.6 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were France with 13.5 mil. $ (24 %) and Italy with 8 mil. $ (14.2 %). The film was nominated for 2 Oscars: Best Supporting Actor (Holbrook), lost to Javier Bardem in No Country for Old Men, and Best Editing, lost to The Bourne Ultimatum. The film won 1/2 Golden Globe nominations, an AFI award, was nominated for a César award and a David di Donatello award, a Grammy, won two National Board of Review awards and many other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 4/4 star review, equal to its rating here. It is currently #181 on IMDb's user-generated Top 250 list, sitting between Wild Tales (2014) and Life of Brian (1979). Penn as filmmaker returned with the ridiculed The Last Face (2016). Hirsch returned in Speed Racer (2008). Into the Wild is certified fresh at 82 % with a 7.5/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Into the Wild?

The Fountain (2006) - Aronofsky's sensorial meditation on mortality

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+ Best Psychedelic Movie of the Year + Best Mega-flop Movie of the Year

A truly striking, space-set poster for Darren Aronofsky's The Fountain

The Fountain is a strange journey in three ages: Thomas struggles to save the woman he loves; as a 16th century conquistador in New Spain, protecting her from attacking Mayans; as a neuroscientist in present time, dealing with her cancer diagnosis, and in an organic spaceship in the future.

The Fountain is a highly unusual, psychedelic and metaphysical triple story about the search for immortality, which isn't held together by a central suspense curve, SPOILER but one that does find its final release in our natural conclusion: death.
Hugh Jackman (The Greatest Showman (2017)) and Rachel Weisz (The Whistleblower (2010)) play the loving, troubled couple, and Weisz relates all of creation to Mayan myths in The Fountain, which is interesting.
The Fountain is written and directed by New-Yorker master filmmaker Darren Aronofsky (Pi (1998)), with Ari Handel (Noah (2014)) contributing story elements. It did not grab me as strongly as Aronofsky's preceding, harrowing drug drama Requiem for a Dream (2000), but it is a sensual, aesthetic waterfall of beautiful sounds, images (cinematography by Matthew Libatique (Ruby Sparks (2012))), music (score by Clint Mansell (United (2011))) and lights. A rare experience and obviously the result of serious, painstaking efforts.

Related posts:

Darren Aronofsky: mother! (2017) - Bring a flask with you to this one!
Black Swan (2010) or, Manic Dance

2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 

2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 35 mil. $
Box office: 16 mil. $
= Mega-flop
[The Fountain premiered 4 September (Venice Film Festival, Italy) and runs 96 minutes. Aronofsky developed the film after Requiem for a Dream as a 70 mil. $ package with Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett for Warner Bros. But as Pitt dropped out weeks before shooting, the film fell apart, and the sets, including a Mayan temple, were auctioned off. Aronofsky attempted to recast with Russell Crowe, but he was too exhausted after Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. Aronofsky was able to reshape the film to a budget half the original size, and the project was again green-lit. Jackman prepared extensively for his performance, training t'ai chi and yoga for many months before shooting. Aronofsky cast his girlfriend Weisz, who visited terminal patients and witnessed brain surgery as preparation. The budget was kept low by minimizing the use of CG effects and using macro photography instead, (blowing up extreme closeups, including deep-sea images of micro-organisms shot by Peter Parks). Shooting took place in Guatemala, Montreal, Quebec, Canada and in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania over 60 days in 'early 2005'. The film opened #10 to a 3.7 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it grossed 10.4 mil. $ (65 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were France with 1.3 mil. $ (8.1 %) and Russia with 0.6 mil. $ (3.8 %). It was nominated for a Golden Globe. Roger Ebert gave the film a 2.5/4 star review, translating to a notch harder than this one. Jackman returned in The Prestige (2006), Weisz as a voice in Eragon (2006) and in a physical part in My Blueberry Nights (2007). Aronofsky returned with The Wrestler (2008). The Fountain is rotten at 52 % with a 5.9/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Fountain?

A Serious Man (2009) - A serious masterpiece

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+ Best Movie of the Year

+ Best Dramedy of the Year + Best Breakthrough Actor of the Year: Michael Stuhlbarg

Michael Stuhlbarg seems to be looking down at the state of his life with consternation from his rooftop on the humorous, desaturated poster for Ethan and Joel Coen's A Serious Man

We follow a Jewish physics professor from Minnesota, as life deals him some blows: His wife wants a divorce, his job situation is precarious, his brother won't leave their house, where he sleeps on the couch, and ...

A Serious Man is the 14th feature from Minnesotan master writer-director brothers Ethan and Joel Coen (Fargo (1996)). It is a very well-composed and very Jewish existential dramedy peopled with some great faces and situations:
Michael Stuhlbarg (Lincoln (2012)) is a precious find as the title character, and Richard Kind (Divorce Invitation (2012)) is wonderful in a rare movie performance as the brother. The dragging, potentially depressing material in the film is suppressed through snappy, perfect editing, (also credited to the two Coens), and an underlying feeling of warmth and sympathy towards not only the main character but several figures in the bleak travesty that unfolds in the course of the narrative. As well as, of course, a good dose of distanced gallows humor.

The film opens with an unrelated Jewish folk horror short, and though the film is Jewish through and through, it is just as much a universal predicament that it depicts, so that it is a film for everyone, (mostly adults though, of course.)
The Coens strike real creative gold with this favorite of mine. It is one of their least talked about but best films.

Related posts:

2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 7 mil. $
Box office: 31.4 mil. $
= Big hit
[A Serious Man premiered 12 September (Toronto) and runs 106 minutes. The story is inspired by a mysterious rabbi the Coens knew in their adolescence. Shooting took place from September - November 2008 in Minnesota and the Czech Republic. The film opened #30 to a 251k $ opening weekend in 6 theaters (an impressive 41k $ average) in North America, where it peaked at #12 and in 262 theaters (different weeks) and grossed 9.2 mil. $ (29.3 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Italy with 3.6 mil. $ (11.5 %) and France with 3.5 mil. $ (11.1 %). The film was nominated for 2 Oscars: Best Picture (lost to The Hurt Locker) and Best Original Screenplay (lost to Mark Boal for The Hurt Locker). It was also nominated for a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, a David di Donatello award (Italy's Oscar), won 2 Independent Spirit awards out of 3 nominations, won AFI's Movie of the Year award and 2 National Board of Review awards and many more. A Serious Man is certified fresh at 89 % with a 7.9 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of A Serious Man?