Archipelago

Audience Reviews

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Jan 31, 2019 even I like Tom but the movie makes me want to sleep

Mar 24, 2018 Take some of your least favourite relatives on a holiday to somewhere gloomy and film their inevitable arguments on a home video camera. What you will end up with is Archipelago, the reason why I always check the audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, rather than just going by the critic's score. Once bitten, twice shy. The film has been praised for giving us a window into upper middle class life, but nobody seems to have stopped to wonder whether there's anything interesting to look at through that window. I wish that I could give you a detailed review describing what this film is about, but sadly I left the room halfway through it, when I realised that I had other things I'd prefer to be doing, like sleeping, or having my teeth drilled. Luckily, this isn't a problem, since the film doesn't really seem to be about anything. Characters have whispered arguments over the sound of high winds, making sure that the audience are unable to hear the dialogue and so are free to imagine it as "searing" or "claustrophobic". The 'action' (if you can call it that) is limited to arguments over being served cold food in a restaurant and one three minute scene of nothing but a man undoing the drawstring on his pyjamas. Personally I found it dull, but if you're one of those people who complains that nobody in Harry Potter ever stopped to go to the loo, or that no one in The Shape of Water brushes their teeth, this may be the film for you. Here at last is a director commited to realism- or else one that isn't aware that editing the boring bits out is an option. Like I say, I left before the end. Possibly about halfway or two thirds in the film suddenly changes conpletely and becomes genuinely interesting. Maybe aliens land, or the painter murders that bloke (don't expect me to remember their names), or one of them actually shows an emotion beyond disdain and barely concealed hatred for the rest of their family. Possibly (and far more probably) I am just a philistine. Most likely it is just that putting me in front of this film and expecting me to enjoy it for what it is is like putting a four year old in front of the Mona Lisa and being surprised when they are unable to admire the technical skills it took to create it and instead complain that there aren't enough dinosaurs in it. Though I personally can't help but suspect that the critics who are praising this are only doing so to make themselves seem clever, I am fully prepared to accept that perhaps I am wrong. Perhaps the Emperor really is decked out in a beautiful suit of finest material, and I'm just the one idiot who can't see it. But, I'll say this, I think that I and others like me probably represent a greater percentage of the film-going population than critics and film buffs. So, by all means, go and see this film if you're the sort of person who can understand arty films and enjoy them. But if you're just looking for a way to pass the time on a Saturday evening, then I reccomend you skip this. See more

Theodore S Jul 4, 2017 Tom Hiddleston is one of my favourite actors and I watched this while going through his filmography. Unfortunately, I'm clearly not meant for art films because I found this painfully boring. Nothing happens at all. See more

Finn G Nov 19, 2012 Meaningfully voyeuristic and claustrophobic cinematography, exquisitely uncomfortable writing, but just too unpleasant to be as long as it is. There's a catharsis missing that a slow-burn drama needs to keep the audience interested. See more

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Archipelago

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