The Place (2017) Online

"The Place" is an Italian movie directed by Paolo Genovese who became more famous after his previous film - "Perfect Strangers". Good news is that the premise of the movie is fantastic. We are inside "the place" throughout the whole runtime where we're listening to conversations between a man and several guests who are approaching him with numerous wishes. To have your wish fulfilled, you get a non-negotiable task from the man that you must complete. Simple wish gets a simple task, but a complicated one... Well, it can leave you wondering if you really want it that much. Bad news is that the whole idea and stories that go with it (with a little tweak here and there) were taken from a Canadian show called "The boot at the end" which consists of 2 seasons with 5 episodes each. If you're a fan of the show, you will probably find enjoyment here, but basically the only difference is that several episodes have been merged into one cohesive story with just a few new, original ideas which you may or may not notice.

Still, that being said, performances are very good overall and movie is an easy watch. Although, it leaves one disappointed that director choose to go the safe, more light hearted route and didn't have enough courage to do what must be done and give his characters more believable closures. With some casualties, most of them get a happy ending, and unsurprisingly they are the ones we were supposed to be more sympathetic to. With all that in mind I would definitely recommend the series first but dont be afraid to give this flick a shot. From me - 7 out of 10.

Fun fact is that based on the director's most famous movie that I mentioned earlier ("Perfect Strangers") a remake was made in Spain, with the exactly the same premise and story and I saw the remake first. So I suppose the joke is on me.

A great story, an amazing leading actor.

Do not expect any violence, or action, it is all in the dialogues, plot and acting.

A genre film that can be seen by everybody.

The film keeps you engaged from the start, and leaves plenty to think about when it's over. And yet it is neither preachy nor pretentious. It starts off as a film about the things people would be prepared to do in order to achieve their dreams, but it moves on to other themes, such as what you think you need vs. what you really need, being able to live with oneself having achieved something through trickery and evil deeds, or good outcomes eventually arising from people's intentions to actually do bad things. The film does not involve action, it is based around dialogue. But rest assured, it will never bore you, and it will keep introducing twists that will keep you engaged and constantly guessing what will happen next.

This movie is simply perfect, thanks to the 2 geniuses who cooperated: the writer, Christopher Kubasik, and the director, Paolo Genovese. The story of Kubasik is absolutely original, and I think Genovese did a fantastic job as a director. The actors are awsome, the pace, the dialogs, the editing, the atmosphere are flawless. This is a must see.

I kind of enjoyed The Place even though it has lots of flaws. The acting and dialogue was spot on and the story had enough twists to keep me interested until the end. The film did however have lots of problems for me. First of all the editing and cinematophy were really dull and I had a very hard time finding a motivation behind certain choices that were made. The soundtrack also didnt work for me at all. The music was very uninteresting and generic, it would probably have worked better with no music at all, or at least with some restraint. The horrible music at the end left me running away from the theatre.

In conclusion: director Paulo Genovese is good at directing his actors and keeping a story interesting like in his previous film Perfect Strangers, but the style of the film was very poor and undermined the potential of the story greatly.

This movie is an italian remake of the (web?) series, "The booth at the end". In a coffee shop a man is sitting at a table. People comes to him to make a deal. They ask for something and in return the man assign them tasks. The bigger the favor, the harder the task. Most of them are horrendous acts to perform (murder, robbery, rape, killing a lot of people with a bomb). All day long people are coming and going to ask for a favor or to report the advancement of their tasks. I rated the series 10* but I rate this movie only a 7 because there's absolutely no original story, every character and associated tasks came from the series. It's exactly the same but in italian. The actor playing the man is the same type too. So nothing original, but still a very entertaining story

Not since My Dinner with Andre can I recall a film set in a single location - now we have this 2017 Italian film The Place, a cafe by that name in which a distinguished-looking fiftyish man holds court at a back table. Supplicants come to him with the problems that most deeply disturb them, and he flips through his thick handwritten notebook to one of the red ribbons - the kind you'd see in a Bible to mark a verse - and tells them what act will bring about what they want.

These acts have nothing to do with their problems - a woman who wants to be prettier is told to steal a very specific amount; a blind man is told that raping a woman will give him sight. But once he pronounces an oracular "deal" he has no alternate solution. They are free not to accept it, or to follow through, but each of them wants their outcome strongly enough to make their pact - at least to begin with.

They stop by to report on their progress, which he records in his notebook. The tasks he assigns often overlap, either by his design or by some hand of providence, and some people get what they ask for, some change their minds and drop the whole thing, and some try to convince him they did as he said - but he tells them they didn't. "How do you know?" A man of few words, he doesn't answer, but we know that they didn't. If they had, something about them would be different.

He is an enigma - we learn the names of some characters, but even in the credits he is Uomo (the Man). He's at The Place when they're setting up in the morning, he's there when the waitress is mopping up at night. As she probes, he admits he doesn't sleep much. We don't see him arrive, we don't see him leave. Sometimes The Place is crowded, other times he's the only customer, and the chairs are upside down on every table except his. Why doesn't he get kicked out? What's his source of funds? He eats and drinks all day, but we never see him pay.

For a man intent on details, he offers few of his own. His supplicants ask him questions, including "Who are you?" which he deflects, returning to why they have come. One character accuses him of being Satan, which he neither confirms nor denies. He displays a lordly indifference to what they think of him - his only concern, once he's assigned their task, is what steps they're taking to complete it.

Is his purpose to awaken conscience, or to demonstrate to people that their desires blot out their morality? Or is he an evil being with the power to grant people's wishes - as long as he gets in trade their compromised integrity? Or is he simply a mirror of a self-absorbed culture in which our happiness is so important we're willing to destroy someone else's to get it?

A mí no me gustan este tipo de películas en las que la puesta en escena no existe, pero tengo que reconocer que el director se las apaña para mantenerte en tensión y atrapado durante toda la película. A veces me preguntaba por dónde iba a ir, para no aburrir, por que llegaría un momento que tendría que dar respuestas, pero sale bastante airoso.

Debe agradecérselo principalmente a los actores, que estas estupendos todos, desde la camarera, que te atrapa y estas esperando saber más de ella, ¿Quién es? ¿A qué viene? Hasta cualquiera de los personajes

Eso sí me quejo de que no me gustan los finales abiertos y este es así. Imaginaba por donde iba a ir, pero no lo deja claro.

La iluminación es mala. Para este tipo de películas poner una luz blanca, pues como que no. Una película de este tipo se merece una luz que te meta, que tenga tensión, que te cuente algo.

El director, la verdad es que me ha sorprendido, para bien. No sabe hacer un plano bonito y no lo intenta. No hace puesta en escena, ninguna. Solo cambia de plano para no hacerlo todo en uno solo. Pero no te aburres. Tiene la maestría de atraparte

Para pasar un rato entretenido esta bien.

I do not like this type of movies in which the staging does not exist, but I have to admit that the director manages to keep you in tension and trapped throughout the film. Sometimes I wondered where I was going to go, so as not to bore me, because there would come a time when I would have to give answers, but it comes out quite gracefully.

You should be especially grateful to the actors, that these are all great, from the waitress, who catches you and you are waiting to know more about her, who is she? What is she coming for? Up to any of the characters

I do complain that I do not like open ends and this is the case. I imagined where he was going, but he does not make it clear.

The lighting is bad. For this type of film put a white light, well no. A film of this kind deserves a light that puts you, that has tension, that tells you something.

The director, the truth is that I was surprised, for good. He does not know how to make a nice shot and he does not try it. No staging, none. Just change the plane to not do everything in one. But do not get bored. It has the expertise to catch you

To spend an entertaining time is fine

The movie is boring. the story is incredible. The main actor is expressionless. The dialogues are obvious. Dont try it.

Some actors do improve the experience, but overall it's a presumptuous fiasco.