The Notebook

Name: The Notebook
Genre: Drama, War
Released: August 29, 2014
Duration: 112 min
Rating: 57
Cast: András Gyémánt, Gyöngyvér Bognár, László Gyémánt, Piroska Molnár, Ulrich Matthes

2014

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Mixed or average reviews based on 21 Critic Reviews

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The Notebook: Say Goodbye To Father (US)

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Movie Details & Credits

Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: August 29, 2014 | R

Starring: András Gyémánt, Gyöngyvér Bognár, László Gyémánt, Piroska Molnár, Ulrich Matthes, Ulrich Thomsen

Summary: Towards the end of World War II, people in big cities are at the mercy of air raids and death by starvation. A desperate young mother leaves her 13‐year‐old twin sons at their grandmother's house in the country, despite the fact that this grandmother is a cruel and bestial alcoholic. The villagers call her "the Witch" because she is rumoredTowards the end of World War II, people in big cities are at the mercy of air raids and death by starvation. A desperate young mother leaves her 13‐year‐old twin sons at their grandmother's house in the country, despite the fact that this grandmother is a cruel and bestial alcoholic. The villagers call her "the Witch" because she is rumored to have poisoned her husband long ago. Previously pampered, the twins must learn how to survive alone in their new, rural surroundings. They realize that the only way to cope with the absurd and inhumane world of adults and war is to become completely unfeeling and merciless. [Sony Pictures Classic]… Expand

Director: János Szász

Genre(s): Drama, War

Rating: R

Runtime: 112 min

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Critic Reviews

Clayton Dillard

Aug 25, 2014

János Szász's film is a thoroughly provocative WWII screed that almost deliberately goes out of its way to avoid sentimentality or bathos of any sort. Read full review

Walter Addiego

Sep 5, 2014

It's a nightmare fairy tale that can be very difficult to watch. Read full review

Tirdad Derakhshani

Sep 26, 2014

A bleak, despairing testament to the cruelty of war, and how it mangles and defaces everyone it touches. Read full review

Ty Burr

Oct 2, 2014

An elegantly made, almost unbearably depressing tale of WWII-era deprivation and survival. Read full review

Mike Scott

Oct 10, 2014

There's something haunting going on in The Notebook -- in the story, in the performances, in the overall atmosphere -- that makes it hard to look away from, and equally hard to forget. Read full review

Boyd van Hoeij

Aug 28, 2014

The frequent voice-overs, in which the boys read what they wrote (heard over shots of them writing), add distance rather than insight because it is not the action of writing that's revealing but the events and thought processes that led them to write what they did. Read full review

RogerEbert.com Godfrey Cheshire

Aug 29, 2014

A well-crafted but otherwise undistinguished and tedious entry in a long line of European films that make a grotesque show of war’s horrors, often viewed through the lens of childhood’s disabused innocence. Read full review

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foxgrove

Aug 29, 2014

This is definitely not the film I was expecting based on its Oscar nominated pedigree. To say that I was disappointed is to put it mildly. The story concerns twin brothers who are sent to live with their un-loving grandmother at the time of World War 2 and are requested by their father toThis is definitely not the film I was expecting based on its Oscar nominated pedigree. To say that I was disappointed is to put it mildly. The story concerns twin brothers who are sent to live with their un-loving grandmother at the time of World War 2 and are requested by their father to keep a notebook of their experiences. The scenes involving the grandmother are indeed the best in the film. However, the boys evolution from weak to strong, in both body and spirit, is at times too simplistically presented and at others un-necessarily over stated. Their blank stares into the camera when occupying the same cinematic frame often makes them come over as twins of evil from a hammer horror film. To this end the limited music score ominously conspires, its notes of doom seemingly belonging to another film entirely. The actress who plays the grandmother is very good, but the scenes involving cruelty to animals (often a requisite in Foreign Language films for some reason) are as distasteful as they are unwanted.… Expand

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