This is a very weird movie, but not by its content. Hard to tell whether it was worth watching.
Visually it's nice, extremely clean and ordered. But 90% of what happens has absolutely no interest. Family picnic. Wife showing the garden to her mother. Some random conversations. Dictation of work letters. Administrative work. It is very boring, soporific even.
The only interest comes from knowing who those people are and the whole context, and the contrast with the banality of their lives, with the clinical simplicity of administrative decisions.
The whole camp is hidden behind a wall. There is just a background noise, far away, muffled, some cries, some gunshots. And the chimneys smoke.
Among what is banal but extremely shocking by the context:
- The mother complaining she could not get her neighbour's curtains.
- The commander getting a new post, but her wife complaining about losing her garden
- The sales pitch of the new generation crematorium
- Being so happy that the plan is named after him that he calls his wife in the middle of the night
- Ashes used as fertilizer in the garden
The only small moments that acknowledge the violence are:
- the wife, upset, threatening the maid that she could have her incinerated just like that
- the commander having a young girl sent to his office
- in the commanders meeting, the word "extermination" is said once, but all the rest is just logistics and quotas
At the end, a cutscene shows people cleaning the camp, and it takes a while to realize they are cleaning the current day Auschwitz museum, I guess showing the continuity of mundane tasks in all circumstances.
So in the end, this is definitely a work of art that succeeds in what it's trying to achieve. However the boringness is what makes it special, and you can't avoid the fact that it is mostly boring. Not to watch when sleepy or tired.
Oh man... this finale had me bawling start to finish. I know a lot of people will have stuff to say but I loved it. I think they did the show justice. I hoped Pamela would die but a life in prison seems just as Negan said... it's worse for her than death. Walker Lance had me shook! I hoped they'd show him as a walker but I didn't think it would happen.
Rosita has never been a fave of mine but her death had me feeling A LOT. It was beautifully serene in the cruelest way. I had a feeling than when she fell and returned that they'd pull a Glenn again... having her survive but die later on. It was heartbreaking. That said I can't let Luke's death go. We didn't get much of Luke but the way his group reacted, the way he had to watch the woman he loved die gruesomely in front of him to then losing his leg and dying of that... it broke me!
The little moment between Maggie and Negan was so powerful. I'm so glad Maggie doesn't forgive him and in return I love that Negan now fully realizes what he's done to her.
Rick and Michonne's story is going to be interesting. I'm really hyped for the spin-off now that we've seen a glimpse of what that will look like. Seeing them brought back a lot of memories. Adding the montage of literal memories too it... My god... again; I cried.
Daryl saying 'I love you' to Carol meant the world to me. They really are soulmates. Platonic soulmates. I have so much love for the both of them.
I truly enjoyed the finale. It wrapped up a season that for me was bringing some of the OG magic back. I'll definitely revisit the show and I'm actually looking forward to the spin-offs now... which I didn't before but having our TWD end makes me ache for more.
