Tinker, Tailer, Soldier, Spy
A feature length version of John le Carré's novel directed by the Swedish director Tomas Alfredson. I'd see this as a BBC miniseries starring Sir Alec Guinness as George Smiley and I think this Cold War espionage story needs much more than the two hours allotted here to properly draw the noose tight around the neck of the traitor at the top of England's MI6.
Excellent production but fell short of my expectations, especially the rushed ending.
Top notch acting all around and headed by Gary Oldman as Smiley.
Himizu
An alienated teenage boy tries to find his "place" in a post-tsunami coastal area that has been ravaged. The social environment that he finds himself in (alcoholic drifter father, a mother that selfishly leaves her son to go off with another man, a small group of homeless characters camped nearby, and a school girl that has a crush on him) causes his internal anger to resonate in violence.
He becomes a guardian angel of sorts by wielding a butcher knife to stop crimes instigated by others just a bit more psychotic that he is.
A lot of screaming and needless violence marks this attempt to portray a post-tsunami Japan. I don't believe that the director succeeded in conveying a cohesive story here...
