What I Watched in March
There is no better proof that my daily schedule is filled to the brim then my break from cinema. I was filled with hope after February that I will get back to more regular screenings or at least go to the cinema once or twice. Nope.
Snatch (2000)
The only movie that I watched in March. Not that I was watching some series or something, this is one piece of visual culture that I interacted with for the whole month that I can name. It's good that it's one of the better examples of it, that's for sure.
This movie feels experimental and familiar at the same time - probably because it become a blueprint for others (and shares a lot with Guy Ritchie later work). A lot of montage or music motives occur a lot in his later work and probably can be traced to his previous music video production.
What surprised me the most is the script - it feels both light and dark, discussing heavy themes with light atmosphere, convoluted but straightforward. Impressive mix!
Jason Statham is great as always, or even better since this role has given him some emotional range and didn't relay on his performance in action - he mostly talks in this movie and that's a refreshing sight! However, the star that maybe shines a little bit brighter is Brad Pitt - his role as Mickey O'Neil is the most interesting performance that I've seen from him (and second best after „Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”).
I tried to learn more about how Pitt's performance was received by the people it portrays. The one piece that I found was rather negative, inside positive review of representation in „The Gentleman” (2024). So I'm glad that Ritchie took all those years and provided some good representation for this ethnic group.
While looking for the review of the representation I found out that some contemporary critics pointed out similarities to his previous movie. I definitely need to watch it next month!
Ordering Guy Ritchie
All the movies (and tv series) from Guy Ritchie that I watched, order from best to worst:
- The Gentlemen (series, 2024)
- The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015)
- Snatch (2000)
- Wrath of Man (2021)
- The Gentlemen (movie, 2019)
- The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024)
- Sherlock Holmes (2009)
- Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011)
- Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre (2023)
- The Covenant (2023)
- King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017)
- Alladyn (2019)
Most of what I have watched from Guy Ritchie keeps a certain quality that makes this kinds of ordering hard. There is one obvious placement and that's Alladyn at the bottom of the list.
Places 3-6 are pretty much interchangeable - depending on my mood one could rise above the other. What keeps The Gentlemen (tv series edition) and The Man from U.N.C.L.E above others is the inclusion of woman. I absolutely adore Kaya Scodelario as a Susie Glass and I wish that more of his films would be more gender varied.