| Bloom | 
 enlarge | Actors: Stephen Rea, Hugh O'conor, Angeline Ball, Patrick Bergin
Studio: Mti Home Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $9.98 (€7.88)
Buy New: $3.21 (€2.54)
You Save: $6.77 (€5.35) (68%)
Buy New/Used from $3.21 (€2.54)
Avg. Customer Rating:   (11 reviews)
Sales Rank: 20988
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: Spanish (Subtitled), English (Original Language)
Rating: Unrated
Media: DVD
Running Time: 108 minutes
Number Of Items: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: D2029D
UPC: 039414520293
EAN: 0039414520293
ASIN: B0002F6BBU
Release Date: August 24, 2004
Theatrical Release Date: 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 6 more reviews...
 Middling September 8, 2008
Bloom is an Irish film of the James Joyce novel Ulysses by director Sean Walsh. Let me be up front- I think Ulysses is a vastly overrated book, with moments of superbness and many more moments of wretchedness. It was Joyce, Woolf, and their ilk that started a good deal of art down the road to narcissistic hermeticism. That all said, while the film Bloom is not a great film, in and of itself, it is a good film, with moments of brilliance, and does a far better job at explicating the events of the first Bloomsday, June 16th, 1904, than the book ever has, despite what pretentious critics say.
Basically, nothing much happens on that day, yet three main characters- a married couple, Leopold (Stephen Rea) and Molly Bloom (Angeline Ball), and an aspiring artist and scholar named Stephen Dedalus (Hugh O'Conor)- protagonist of Joyce's earlier A Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man. The three perambulate about the world of Dublin on that day, meeting and missing each other on several occasions. Dedalus is trammeled by his own inadequacies, and rebelling against the established order, while the Blooms deal with the slow death of their marriage, precipitated by the untimely death of their son, and aided by Molly's flagrant infidelities. Yet, the book takes these circumstances and subordinates them to the intellect, in the conceit of `stream of consciousness' writing, which is basically unpunctuated interior dialogue. Of course, the thing about stream of consciousness is that it is really the conceit, not the real way people think, lest punctuation would never have gotten started. Think of how often your thoughts veer and back up, U-turn and screech to a halt. The mind is certainly not like a river, but more like a potholed city street.
The film, however, does not suffer from these limitations. The visual image can work on multiple levels with far more immediacy than the word, so the `day' of the book can be easily condensed. Some Joyceans will complain that the film takes things out of order, and mixes many of the chapters together, yet a) this is a film, not a book, and b) that is akin to deriding those who deride Joyce's approach in the book (regardless of whether or not he succeeds- I vote nay), as well as being the height of hypocrisy. There are marvelous images, and truly the cinematography is the best thing in the film. Rea is also great as Leopold Bloom, while ball and O'Conor also have moments of brilliance- including Molly Bloom's closing soliloquy- the last chapter in the book- which the filmmaker wisely opens and closes the film with, so that Molly is indelibly stamped in the viewer's mind while most of the rest of the film explores Leopold and Dedalus.... Almost all of the flaws in the film are carryover flaws from the novel. Film, in fact, would seem to be a medium that Joyce was born to indulge in. Had he been born thirty or so years later I think he may have become the first great screenwriter, and may never have dabbled in novels. Film is far closer to poetry than prose, and Joyce's prose certainly is among the closest published skirts near poetry. Instead of `not doing justice' to the book the film really makes the book far more relevant to readers- hardcore or casual. Its only flaws, outside of the book's, is that it could have been a bit more daring. I mean, if Ulysses is rent of nudity, just how avant garde can it be?
Overall, I recommend this film on its own right, and as sort of a Cliff's Notes to the book, especially considering the excellent director's commentary. But, it's a so-so book to begin with, so take the former notation in that light. Yes?
 Bloomsday or Doomsday November 14, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This film reinforces my belief that some books cannot be translated to film. The depth of imagination required to follow and appreciate the intricate interweaving of the Ulysses story/plot/action can only, as far as I know, be achieved within the human mind. The movie industry simply doesn't have the technology to achieve such a feat on the screen. This was a valiant effort, but my anticipated visual bloomsday felt more like a doomsday.
 Filming the unfilmable October 19, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Joyce's novel is impossible to film because the peculiarities of its form are unique to the written language. It is the same reason that many films cannot be reduced to words because there is more to them than just a story. "Ulysses" is more than the chain of events through a single day; it encompasses literary allusions, numerous writing styles, and other elements that contribute to the whole, that no film could capture. This is why the film is entitled "Bloom" rather than "Ulysses:" it is an entirely different medium inspired by the novel, not a visual copy of it.
Approaching it as a separate work, rather than a failed transfer of the novel to the screen, avoids disappointment. The cast, mostly lesser-known (at least to me) Irish actors, is wonderful, especially Angeline Ball as Molly Bloom. Her soliloquy is worth the price of admission, and probably contributed to her winning the IFTA Best Actress award for her portrayal. The commentary by director Sean Walsh is one of the better ones I have come across, explaining both his general approach to the film as well as explaining individual decisions. For the viewer unfamiliar with the novel's storyline and the different styles of each chapter, the commentary will assist in their following the action.
The sole disappointment is Stephen Rea, whose familiarity compared to everyone else is distracting. Rea delivers his lines in a thickly accented, incomprehensible mumble that glaringly pointed to the disc's major flaw - a lack of English subtitles (the subtitles are in Spanish only).
In all, a valiant effort.
Ulysses fails to Bloom March 31, 2006
7 out of 9 found this review helpful
Bloom
Since I love the television show 24, which breaks neatly into each hour of a single day, I figured there was a chance I'd like the movie Bloom, whose two hours cover 18 of a single day. Just kidding. Aside from the day-long time frame, the projects share nothing in common. Whereas 24's Jack Bauer saves the world at least three times, kills 20-50 people, blows up a half dozen buildings and never stops to eat or use the bathroom in a day, Bloom's Leopold Bloom (originated by James Joyce in Ulysses) avoids mayhem while walking around Dublin, finding plenty of time to eat and use the toilet during his day.
Bloom is a shocker for those groomed on current movie mayhem staples, which makes it tough for director Sean Walsh to succeed in his goal of exposing the basic Ulysses story elements to a wide audience, one where he finds very few members have read the book that has been rated as the best of the twentieth century.
Walsh's approach is to reduce the work it takes to absorb Joyce's writing style, but it could well be that the work is mandatory for appreciating the what happens. Correlating each of Ulysses' 18 chapters to those in Homer's The Odyssey is part of the fun. So is going through the different patterns of each chapter, bringing about an oddly rewarding obsessive compulsive appeal. This is lost in Bloom, where the exact timeframe is dispensed with, losing The Odyssey correlation along the way.
Still, the basics of the story are covered, with good eye towards recreating early 1900s Dublin and beautiful choices in outlying beach scenery. Performers are effective, led by The Crying Game's Oscar nominee Stephen Rea in the title role. Hugh O'Conner gives the Stephen Dedalus character a more ingenuous appeal than found in the book, making him easier to like in the film. Angeline Ball maintains her figure better than the novel's Molly Bloom, but has a good take on her extended, famous soliloquy, bringing a soft and meaningful reading of the uniquely written piece whose eight mere sentences run about 60 pages in print.
Her reading is a highlight of the film, taking advantage of one of the book's segments that seems the most theatrical and cinematic. The other is the Circe chapter of hallucinogenic activities in a brothel. It would take work to do it right, with part of the challenge being that the work has to be disguised and flow easily, as Terry Gilliam managed in Brazil. Walsh, on the other hand, is hampered by his low budget, which lessens the necessary effects for the sequence. He has his actors play it too broadly, with music that seems to be saying "This is funny, laugh damn it."
The scene will be expected by readers but should take newcomers completely off guard, with no hint at why it's there or what it means. Most of the film works that way. Ulysses readers, on the other hand, will recognize most key elements and perhaps enjoy recalling favorite moments from the book so that ultimately the movie becomes a literary, rather than cinematic, experience.
BEAUTIFUL MOVIE October 4, 2005
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
One reviewer was put off by the bodily functions (almost) portrayed . Ah well, but that is life. Does this person ever watch televison past 8:00pm?
Another was so vitriolic I checked their bio; doesn't seem to like very much about about anything. Ulysses was not voted the greatest novel of the 20th century by literary critics for no reason. The average novel is to Ulysses as the "Sound of Music" is to Mozart's "Don Giavonni".
The movie is a beautiful "abstract" of the novel and would hopefully tempt someone into reading the novel. It is difficult and demands some helpful books about it to wend your way through it, but the effort is well worth it. Joseph Campbell in "Wings of Art" investigates several of its underlayments, especially the influence of Bhuddism in the novel.
|
|
|
