FIVE MINUTES OF HEAVEN (2009)

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FIVE MINUTES OF HEAVEN (2009)

Between 2001 and 2005, director Oliver Hirschbiegel made four films in his native Germany - two of which were the pretty good Das Experiment and the great Downfall (I haven't seen the other two). Then in 2007 he faltered hard with his first english language film, the not good movie that was The Invasion.

Thankfully he got back up on the horse and in 2009 delivered Five Minutes Of Heaven, a film about truth and reconciliation that, in a way, is a reconciliation of its own with fans of Hirschbiegel who had sat through The Invasion - okay, so that's me being a bit over dramatic, but I liked the metaphor so I went with it.

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EXAM (2009)

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EXAM (2009)

Back about a decade ago I was browsing Netflix looking for a movie to watch and Exam came up as a suggestion based on the hundreds of movies I had rated and liked/disliked, etc… Now, generally I was not impressed with these suggestion services, but in the case of Exam, Netflix did good.

The film begins with eight strangers competing for a job, entering a windowless room and sitting at their assigned desks. Then an invigilator enters the room, tells them the rules of the exam, puts 80 minutes on the clock and walks out, leaving behind the eight applicants and an armed guard.

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DEATH AND THE MAIDEN

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DEATH AND THE MAIDEN

Chinatown, Rosemary's Baby, The Pianist.  When people discuss Roman Polanski’s work it’s usually those films that come to mind.  However, when I think Polanski, Death And The Maiden is often first and foremost in my head.  The three aforementioned films are great - but for me, Death And The Maiden, is maybe my favorite of them all (which is saying a lot given how good Chinatown and Rosemary's Baby are).

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