Artemis '81 (1981)

Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Best movie of this year hands down!

Best movie ever!

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

I just wrote 'I'm astonished it exists' while reviewing something else and it goes double for this. Others have already made better attempts to review it than I can, but I want to add it to my list for the sake of those who haven't heard of it.I'm not even going to try to describe it, but here are some of the things I have exclaimed to people when failing to do so after watching it:Sting is an Angel! Or perhaps some kind of alien! Hywel Bennett is in love with him! Or vice versa! Hywel Bennett descends into Hell or some kind of parallel world which is like Liverpool only they speak Estonian backwards and there's constant tannoy and posters warning you about crab monsters! There's a long-haired musical genius with this statue of a goddess who causes suicides all around him and is going to play a song that will end the world! It's three hours long! They showed it without a break on the BBC at Christmas back when there were only three channels! And when TV was allowed to take risks.It's not for everyone but for me the three hours passed in a flash. Some of it went over my head but at bottom it's a simple and powerful morality tale. Unlike some other reviewers I loved the poetic dialogue. It's worth watching for the bizarreness and unlikeliness and grandiose ambition alone - the joyous sense that you can do anything you damn well like in art and that some people have done - but it has far more going for it than that.I recommend watching the writer David Rudkin's fantastic Penda's Fen first as an introduction to his world.

I'm not sure how to describe this bizarre, but beautiful movie.First, it's long. Just one minute under three hours. And it's not exactly fast-paced either. If sci-fi for you means action, spaceships and interplanetary intrigue, give this one a miss. In fact, although the cover describes it as "The cult BBC Science Fiction film", I'd hesitate to call it science fiction; indeed, I'd hesitate to label it anything at all.And it's definitely flawed. The dialogue is riddled with melodrama and pretentious poetry; the camera-work sophomoric, and the editing clumsy. And yet the effect shines through: the movie has an eerie, otherworldly quality, where trivial details (such as an old lady glaring at a noisy conversation in a library) seem to take on ominous significance.And so, if you have the patience, you'll get sucked in to this movie. It's mysterious, and beautiful. But don't expect to come out satisfied. Although there is a plot, it is far from clear. The story moves from one surreal incident to another, each connected but seldom shedding any light on its predecessor; even at the end, when it appears that our protagonists have triumphed, it's far from clear what exactly they've triumphed over, and most loose ends are left firmly untied.Hywel Bennett does a fine job as as the somewhat petulant author caught up in a situation that might have been co-written by Kafka and Philip K Dick. Dinah Stabb perhaps succumbs a little to her melodramatic script; Dan O'Herlihy brings an artistic gravitas to his role. A cameo from a very young Daniel Day-Lewis, and a supporting role by Sting, add a bit of celebrity interest.Overall, Artemis '81 reminded me more than anything of Twin Peaks (which was made nearly a decade later, and, curiously, also featured Dan O'Herlihy) - the same sense of explanation hidden just around the corner, and another reality just half-glimpsed and poorly understood. I don't think everyone will enjoy this movie, but I certainly did.

I liked this film. It's got it all, inter-dimensional(or planetary?..you decide)travel, unrequited homosexual love, heterosexual love, journeys of self awakening, the apocalypse, great music played by weird organists with a devilish pact, oh and of course Sting as the good angel(spirit) Helith. The basic gist of the story is Helith and the evil Asrael go head to heads after Asrael wakes the Earth spirit Magog from her slumber.Magog represents the destruction of the earth. Helith and Asrael are then charged with influencing man to save or destroy the planet. Gideon Harlax, a writer of the paranormal, stumbles upon a bizarre series of coincidental deaths on a ferry from Denmark and the weirdness begins from here including being transported to another planet, dimension or future Earth..(it's never explained). Dr Albrecht Von Drachenfels is in unwillingly in league with Asrael and the fate of the Earth and mankind rests with a piece of music he must play to herald the apocalypse........yee har!! I Loved the atmosphere of dread that the film portrayed in a nod to the Danish Film industry and at times you feel really uncomfortable and bewildered which is of course how you're supposed to feel as it reflects the confusion and uncertainty that the main character is feeling. It doesn't lead you by the hand like Hollywood films do, so expect to have to think a little( oh the horror!!). Overall enjoyable for sci-fi fans who like apocalyptic themes.Give it a go for the sake of mankind!

Okay, so Artemis gets off to a dodgy start with Asrael sounding like the decapitated Dr Hill in 'Re-animator', followed soon after by the dreaded hubcap shot (although that may have been a deliberate spoof, you never know with this epic.) However, intrigue soon captivates and the production becomes enthralling. Surprisingly, as homo-erotica is not my first choice viewing, nor am I a devote of crosswords, Suduko and puzzles in general. It takes a little adjusting to because the characters speak in elliptical and metaphysical terms, occasionally lapsing into jarring movie speak such as: "what the hell is this place?" although purposefully, I suspect. It's not always clear what is real or imaginary, for instance, how the two protagonists got from what appeared to be a polluted East-European country to Wales, but you always want to know what happens next. The Bela Lugosi/Hitchcock references may be over-literal for some. For instance, I exclaimed: "oh, look, a Hitchcock blonde!" only to find the actress listed as 'Hitchcock Blonde' in the end credits. But the playfulness helps offset any pretensions.Artemis would have made a great widescreen feature, not that it would have made a penny at the box office. For something done with such obvious love and commitment, it is woeful that it has never been repeated or released retail. It really is beautifully done. Those who like the children's sci-fi serial 'Sky' may like this, although Rudkin is ideologically opposed to interventionist supreme beings. Brazil also springs to mind, although Artemis is diametrically opposed to that film's freneticism. A rum concoction for sure, but I for one can't wait to see it again.