La Mission

Un western roadmovie tranquille sans intrigue dramatique marquante, mais avec un petit cœur humaniste. C'est tout simplement Hanks. Son but est de montrer de nouveaux coins et personnages de la conquête de l'Ouest américain, ses lois et ses souffrances. De manière plus réaliste que The Postman de Costner :-) On ne sent pas beaucoup la présence de Greengrass. Est-ce qu'il l'a vraiment réalisé ? Le retour de James N. Howard dans le genre est agréable même si, à cause de la conception minimaliste du film, on en profitera pleinement après les génériques uniquement. (23/01/2021)

Everything’s cool. A simple but well delivered story from the Wild West with a flawless Tom Hanks in the main role. The thing is that everything happens exactly as you expect, yet more should be expected from a film with Hanks in front of the camera and Greengrass behind it. (14/01/2021)

A few years after the Civil War, Captain Kidd is traveling through Texas reading the news to the people. One day he comes across a little girl who was once abducted by Indians, and he decides to return her to her relatives. But it's not going to be an easy journey. This intimate western relies on great cinematography, music and an excellent Tom Hanks in the lead role, and isn't afraid of a slower pace, but unfortunately it tells a story that is woefully transparent and not very revelatory. And ultimately a little boring. (21/01/2021)

Paul went out of his comfort zone into the prairie, where life is a circle, and you have to remember that in order to move on. A simple but beautifully constructed story, told with fluid camera strokes, that you've heard a hundred times before, but that the Hanks-Zengel duo will want to hear again and again. The film is a quiet commentary on America's brokenness and the need for kindness and acceptance of difference. It may not have any dizzying depth, but it's certainly Greengrass' most personal, intimate and moving work, and its simple goodness made me believe at times that the world isn't messed up. Hats off and I love it. (10/02/2021)

More was probably expected from a Paul Greengrass/Tom Hanks collaboration. For me, it's a an unnecessary and uninteresting film that didn't bring anything new. It's shot well, acted well (Helena Zengel, after System Crasher, proves once again that she is on an excellent path). The stumbling block for me is the story, did Greengrass really have to choose such an uninteresting subject? Watching a traveling journalist in the Wild West is probably the most boring option available. It lacks action, emotion, drive, and tension – everything I like basically. Weak three stars for Hanks. Story***, Action*, Humor>No, Violence>No, Entertainment**, Music***, Visuals***, Atmosphere***, Tension**. 5/10. (15/01/2021)

I certainly didn’t expect a slow western about people from Paul Greengrass. The dynamic directing with the shaky camera, so typical for his work, is gone. Hanks’ Captain Kidd spends his time riding from city to city, reading his newspaper to the folks there, taking an orphan girl to her surviving family in Texas that he came across during his travels. There is precisely one action scene in this movie and it works excellently, even though there aren’t many bullets, if you disregard the horse bolting, nothing dramatic happens. But the power of this movie lies in the girl’s final dialog with a friend from school and in the little scenes when the girl sings to herself when grooming the horse. A very unusual western which, while not coming up with anything new, certainly doesn’t offend. (22/02/2021)

A Greengrass film that doesn’t feel it was directed by him. A slow, deliberate and down-to-earth western where not much happens or is said. The main idea is appealing, the interaction between the two main characters is decent, but there is no sensation. A more restrained and focused version of the post-apocalyptic The Postman with Costner wanting it all and we know how that turned out. (18/03/2021)

A beautiful film full of important ideas. Tom Hanks can't even do it any other way, and so once again he acts great and the western environment suits him very much. Paul Greengrass kind of gave up on being Paul Greengrass and pops his head up only a few times, but that’s fine, because the story is told one hundred percent skillfully, and however much the final quarter hour can be predicted, it affected me exactly as they planned. If you (didn't) like the slightly more melancholy The Homesman with Tommy Lee Jones, expect the same from News of the World. (10/02/2021)

Yes, News of the World is certainly an interesting movie and no, it’s not a western in the strict sense of the word. Even Once Upon a Time in the West wasn’t a western proper, it was a movie that deconstructed the classic world of the tough cowboys of the wild west adding modernity at the thematic and formal levelS. Compared to it, Greengrass’s movie has an editing that gives the impression of a much faster pace than the story actually has. And although westerns mostly aim at a clear cliffhanger, while the secondary themes around the coexistence with the Indians or the railway are subordinated to the narrative, this one goes in circles that are only apparently separated by historical events (the Civil War, which may have abolished slavery, but without changing anything in the minds of the Southerners), from which the main characters try to escape – move forward. And in my opinion, this movie also pushes forward the possibility of thinking about the “Western”, which hasn’t been a strictly defined genre for a long time, as some sort of field of free expression for talented directors to add their own historical reflection and author’s formal concepts, which in this case is certainly refreshing and stimulating. It’s a film that doesn’t submit to it (like even Once Upon a Time in the West back then), but that conceptually rewrites it, and it has my full admiration. 90% (15/01/2021)

News from the World skillfully combines a western road movie and an adventure drama, spiced with a dash of action. Story-wise, it is not a particularly complex film – as we travel from A to B, there is a mutual self-exploration, interspersed with a series of adventures and ending with a satisfying (if predictable) denouement. Even so, for two hours I was swept along on a nicely told tale of a spunky veteran and a vivacious girl brought together by fate. Tom Hanks guarantees a quality performance and the role of "The Captain" really suited him. The young Helena Zengel certainly didn't let herself be overshadowed by her more famous colleague and gave an equally convincing performance. As already mentioned, the film does not lack action (the chase and the shootout at the rocks), nor strong, even touching moments, like Johanna's homecoming or the reunion with the wife, and besides that it offers beautiful shots of natural scenery, which are enhanced by an unforgettable musical score. (25/04/2021)

Défi cinéma – les genres : western. Ces derniers temps, j’observe la tendance des films de deux heures dans lesquels l’histoire occupe la seconde place et où l’accent est mis sur des longs plans, sur la photographie et sur une intrigue minimaliste, voire inexistante. Au début, j’ai cru que La Mission était coulé dans le même moule, mais une scène de western classique a fini par arriver, ce qui m’a fait sortir de ma léthargie et regarder la suite plus attentivement. Après, le tempo ralentit à nouveau, mais en gros, c’est un western correct dans lequel Helena Zengel joue avec brio. (25/04/2021)