Words and Pictures (2014)

Undescribable Perfection

Sick Product of a Sick System

A Disappointing Continuation

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

How come that average rating of this movie is 6? Ok, it is not the best movei ever, but in comparison to last 10 years production this is a marvel. No special effects, no crime, no violence. Just a movie. Just a movie. With a story, with passion, with actors that can live basics (emotions). But obviously this is far too much for contemporaty taste.

This is a great film. It takes the age old argument of what is more powerful Pictures or Words and gives it a fresh take. Wonderful portrayal of the characters by Clive Owen and Juliette Binoche. Words and Pictures was a much needed break from the garbage Hollywood has been putting out in recent years. It is an uplifting film that explores the pain life can dish out while also showing the recovery we are all capable of. The story revolves around two prep high school teachers who are trying to motivate their students as well as themselves. The interchanges between Owen and Binoche are fantastic. Do yourself a favor and check it out.

Fred Schepsi brings his thoughtful direction to create a film with depth.The lead actors are allowed to harness all their professional skills and slowly unfold their characters to provide a wonderful duet for the viewer.The film moves with the subtle progress of European films that don't 'race' to the end.Clive Owen and Juliette Binoche performances rise and rise, just as their characters Jack and Dino must in order to connect with the life unfolding from their previous lonely havens.Words and Pictures also showcases Fred Schepsi's beautiful connection to scripts that involve the human desire for intellectual companionship, and how he brings layers of emotion without shouting from the director's chair.

Gerald Di Pego's script for WORDS AND PICTURES deserves to be published as a book, so sensitive are his musings about art and literature. This film is filled with some unforgettable thoughts that should challenge teachers of writing and art and their students as well. Fred Schepisi directs this lovely little film with restraint and sensitivity, allowing the brilliance of the performances by Juliette Binoche and Clive Owen to shine. Though the school kids are a bit cookie cutter and thwart the momentum of the film at times, the overall response is one of pure pleasure in the drive of the story.A flamboyant English teacher Jack Marcus (Clive Owen) and a new, stoic art teacher Dina Delsanto (Juliette Binoche) collide at an upscale prep school in Maine. A high-spirited courtship begins and she finds herself enjoying the battle. Another battle they begin has the students trying to prove which is more powerful, the word or the picture. But the true war is against their own demons, as two troubled souls struggle for connection – Jack is a chronic alcoholic who has distanced his son and Dina is an artist hampered by the insidious progression of her Rheumatoid Arthritis. The banter of battle is one of words in a game that is fascinating to all: the tenderness of their mutual needs sculpts the poetry of the script. Superb acting, excellent script, Oscar deserving recognition for many concerned in this refreshingly nuanced film. See it and memorize it.