Cleveronix
A different way of telling a story
Brendon Jones
It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.
Sienna-Rose Mclaughlin
The movie really just wants to entertain people.
Guillelmina
The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.
Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)
"Final Cut: Hölgyeim és uraim" or "Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen" is an Hungarian production written and directed by György Pálfi. This 80-minute movie is from 2012, so it has its 5th anniversary this year. The entire thing is basically a patchwork quilt of many many pretty famous movies. It consists entirely of scenes from other films, so it is justified to ask if you think Pálfi really has a creative impact here or if he owes it all to the makers and actors of the films he depicts. I think it is a mix of both. The attempt to create a story is clearly visible and it is an interesting approach, but I don't think it is really successful. However, the film works very well as a piece of art for film buffs everywhere on the planet. And from this tribute perspective, it is a really good achievement. The quantity is decisive here, not the quality, but this is not really a criticism as the movie is worth seeing for several reasons. First of all, it is always nice to see scenes from films you love and maybe even have forgotten about these, so this one here brings back some magic for you. Examples for me personally here would be "Das Leben der Anderen" or "Der Himmel über Berlin". And this movie is also a nice quiz opportunity to find out how big of a film buff you are, i.e. how many movies you recognize. And the good thing is as well that this one (you could almost call it a documentary) does not spoiler anything at all as the scenes used are always that short that they don't take away anything major from the stories they are about. I can only imagine it must have been a really big effort to make this one. And while there is no direction or camera work from Pálfi himself in here, he has show on other occasions that he can also "make" movies in a more true sense of the word than it is the case here. I liked this one nonetheless and I recommend seeing it. Thumbs up.
room102
From director Gyorgy Palfi ("Taxidermia"), this is a weird concept: An entire movie made by editing hundreds of movies from all times and all genres, from early silents to the latest sci-fi's (and including his own "Texidermia" at one point). All of them are spliced to tell a story.For a film buff like myself, it's hard not to keep busy recognizing the movies all the time (I think I recognize at least 50% of them). Also, at times it feels as if, when the director wants to show a scene, he takes all the relevant scenes from previous movies and splice them together without really needing to do that (like the "supercut" clips on YouTube).The concept is pretty interesting, half-original half-not ("Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982)", for example). It's good for a short movie, not for a full-length film. At times it feels like a clip from the Oscars, but an endless one.According to IMDb's trivia, the movie uses scenes from 450 different movies and TV series. I think there are a lot more. While the movie was playing, I found it more interesting to recognize the films and add the missing ones to IMDb's Movie Connections. I added more than 30 of them.At the end, in the "special thanks" credits, they are listing IMDb.com and... isohunt.com
doranna92
When I went to see this movie I was full of doubts and without any idea how can a film like this look like. But from the very first moment it grabbed me, took me out of the real world and for one hour and a half I was just sitting with an open mouth or because I had to laugh or because I was that amazed. The creativity that comes from this film is inspiring. The two main character change their face and body in every 10 seconds from blonde to black, from older lady to a cartoon figure, it doesn't matter, the action and the movements are still hold together. However, the audience gets distracted by some cuts when you actually have to use your own imagination, to find the right place for that scene in the movie, which makes the whole experience even more exciting. Meanwhile you watch a beautiful Hollywood love story through the eyes of more than 400 actors and actresses, you still can have the "aha" experience by recognizing historical movies from only 5 seconds.
keiranj
Saw this tonight at the Sydney Cockatoo Island Film Festival.An interesting work. Really tests the limits by telling a story without a main actor, without a script, without a location. Achieves a certain level of film making bordering on genius or dilettante. What has been done here deserves notice by anyone who has interest in any aspect of film and creative process.Its a fantastic experience and very much worth watching. Personally I found it interesting that the melange of actors/actresses/scenes spanning almost every conceivable situation, did not include such luminaries as, for example; Michael Caine and Christopher Walken, while still including multiple shots of actors such as Ethan Hawke.Regardless, I thoroughly enjoyed the premier viewing and relished every minute of what was produced by the writer and director in this instance.