Christine's reviews

Been meaning to catch Neds. Now my mind's made up.

__________________
"Critics are like eunuchs in a harem; they know how the Tatty 100 is done, they've seen it done every day, but they're unable to do it themselves." - Brendan Behan

Sounds a bit depressing, still may watch it though Thanks for the review Christine

__________________
Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.
Buddha

I realised I hadn't said anything about the lad who plays the lead, so have gone back and edited it.
It is depressing Nebbs, I felt upset after watching it cos there's such a waste of life and talent going on and sometimes it feels even worse today than it did when I was younger.

Be interested to hear what you both think of it,

Biutiful directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu

Uxbal (Javier Bardem) is a small time hustler in the back streets of Barcelona. He runs payoff connections between corrupt police and illegal African immigrant street sellers, and is a go between for the gangmasters of Chinese immigrants making counterfeit goods, taking a cut of the action for himself. He juggles running these chaotic activities with looking after his two young children and coping with his bi-polar ex wife.
You might think this is enough for one film but no, Uxbal can also see dead people and runs another little sideline in telling the recently bereaved whether their loved ones have passed over in peace . To pile the agony on, Uxbal discovers he has well advanced prostrate cancer.



Like in Iñárritu's other films, small actions have big consequences and the same happens here. There's none stop upheaval in the lives of all the characters including Uxbal's own children who are subjected to his ex wife's erratic emotional behaviour. The illegal immigrants as you might expect are living on the edge of society, in squalor and working in dangerous surroundings, the gangmasters are forever looking for a quick buck. Overall the film's overburdeningly depressing but also strangely predictable particularly in one story arc. To counter this there are a couple of beautifully staged scenes particularly one in the part of the story where Uxbal's father's coffin is exhumed due to building work. He asks to see his fathers embalmed body which leads to a really strange and affecting scene in the morgue.



So it feel too long, and how much despair can an audience handle? However there are two things that keep your attention - the two child actors playing Uxbal's children are luminous in every scene they're in. His daughter Ana looking at her family's suffering through the intelligent eyes of a 10 year old. Her final confrontation with her father forcing the truth about his illness from him is very moving. The young boy Mateo's sweet face is an innocent part of a sad world.
Despite Barcelona being far from the beautiful city tourists flock to, the backstreets are seedy and so is Uxbal. What he does is live off the misery of others, but his chinks of humanity are enough to see something in him, that and the fierce love he has for his children.
So the other thing that keeps you watching is Javier Bardem himself. There's no doubting what a fine actor he is, he fills the screen with his emotion - you feel it but he doesn't overplay it. I always think he's a very male actor, a very virile screen presence so here depicting him dying of prostrate cancer is almost unimaginable, he's bewildered by it and such is his power he makes you feel his pain like a dying animal.

I hesitate to recommend this film to most people, it's full of the bad things we do to each other However if you want to see Javier Bardem give a massive performance in an imperfect film then go and see this.

3.75/5

Thanks Christine for the review Have added it to my must watch list

Jiro Dreams of Sushi directed by David Gelb

Jiro Ono is a sushi master chef in his late 80s. His tiny 10 seater restaurant is in the Toyko subway yet he has 3 Michelin stars. We find out why in this endearing documentary.
This is a study of a man who has been a sushi chef for over 70 years yet strives to discover new ideas, hence his dreams of sushi. He's spent his whole life engrossed in his work believing that once you have chosen your work you must dedicate your life to mastering your skills. There's no doubt he is a master but the director subtly makes you realise that Jiro could only achieve this by giving all his time to his restaurant and not his family.

A stern figure behind the counter, making the sushi and watching his customers reverently eat leads you to imagine it must be pretty scary eating there never mind working for Jiro. The apprenticeship is 10 years and one of his sous chefs tells how it took 200 goes over months and months at making egg sushi before it was pronounced good enough to serve.

The film also involves Jiro's two sons, the younger of whom has his own place - a mirror image of his fathers, and the eldest is the second in command at Jiro's main restaurant. The complex relationship between father and son, the respect for the old man yet the longing to be be in charge is strangely moving.

There's fantastic orchestral music accompanying the wonderful shots of the various sushi and the difficult and many different layers of preparation in the busy kitchen. Seeing how the fish is cut and prepared giving different tastes, and the precision of the preparation is astonishing. It's interesting to see the inside of the fish markets and the relationship between the restaurant and the suppliers. However the film does end on a salutary note and that's how so many of the fish that Jiro used to use are now getting rarer and some almost none existent possibly partly due to the popularity of sushi worldwide. His eldest son Yoshikazu warns of overfishing and the threats to global fish stocks.

Well worth seeing. 4.5/5

Muscle Shoals directed by Greg Camalier

Tells the story of the studios of Muscle Shoals - Rick Hall's FAME studios and the Muscle Shoals Sound Studios formed by the brilliant session musicians that made the sound of Muscle Shoals renowned the world over. If you're a music fan you'll love this film. Archive footage, interviews and music from so many world class acts - Aretha Franklin, Clarence Carter, Candi Staton, Wilson Pickett, Etta James, the Allman Bros and the Rolling Stones who recorded Brown Sugar and Wild Horses there, Dylan, Paul Simon, as well as countless others



When you see these grey haired old guys today who played on such great, great music it really does warm your heart, their talent was, and still is, awesome.

Sounds interesting thanks Christine

Noah directed by Darren Aronofsky

The Bible has some amazing, poetic and beautiful stories, ones I learned at my Nan's knee so although I'm not a Christian, I did look forward to seeing this film which tells one of the most dramatic and well loved tales in the whole of the Old Testament.

Firstly I think we knew Aronofsky wasn't going to make a straightforward retelling of the story, he's not that kind of film maker but I do think he has stayed true to the values of the Bible story without sticking to the literal work. After all the verses in the Bible are fairly terse and sometimes a little obscure. For Aronofsky to add some of his own interpretation is only what film makers do. I heard him say in an interview that he wanted to make a dramatisation of having to destroy what you love, and destroying mankind is certainly taking that sentence to its limits!

The film starts on a blasted landscape with Noah and two of his sons collecting lichen. We can see something is wrong with this world and it's not long before we realise that mankind has decimated nature with its rampant cities and populations, so it is an ecological disaster parable which has resonances with today.

Along the way Aronofsky changed some of the characters in the Genesis story for dramatic effect and I guess that's where some of the objections from Christians have come from, but y'know the story is still there and the film isn't going to alter that, so there's no reason to get worked up. His character changes however, specially the ones of who actually gets on the Ark are puzzling, but then so are a lot of Bible stories so the film will have to be seen in the same allegorical light.
His Noah is a man totally obsessed with carrying out his task. Russell Crowe actually does play Noah with magnificence. He is an excellent onscreen Old Testament prophet, grizzled and tormented by the enormity of what he has to do. Noah is described in the Bible as righteous, and he's definately played this way with Crowe torn between the safety of his family and the word of God.



I wasn't too bothered about the changes Aronosky made to the story. I think he portrayed Noah's torment powerfully enough to carry the film along. There were parts like the angels trapped within rock monster which were a little bonkers, but hey they helped get the Ark built in time and after all there were giants in the earth in those days Many scenes did feel very LotR though, and there were touches of magic that felt ill-judged.

Anthony Hopkins was lovely as Methuselah with that gorgeous Welsh lilt in his voice. Jennifer Connelly was a bit underused, as she was only a foil to Noah's increasing passion.

There's a nice montage of the world from the beginning up to the Garden of Eden, including as a last shot a monkey swinging into there - one for the creationists I guess

Just a mention for Ray Winstone who's become your go to actor for larger than life baddies. His Tubal-cain is the armour clad leader of the rampaging hoards of people, ( nice touch as Tubal-cain in interpretations of the Bible was an instructer of every artificer in brass and iron) We have a new Ray Winstone quote now in our house to go with our other Sexy Beast one of "it's f*****g hot", and that's "Your women, your beasts, your Ark - it's all mine!" beautifully raged in Ray's ace Cockney accent - love it!



so there you go - entertaining, daft in parts but don't see it if you're going to moan that it's not faithful to the text!

3.5/5

Nice review Christine. I need to catch Noah, probably wait for the dvd release tho.

__________________

Hmmm, now I want to see Noah. Thanks for the review Christine.

Castaway on the Moon directed by Hae-jun Lee

A young man, Seong-geun Kim is suffering from chronic debt and decides to end it all by throwing himself off a bridge. Fortunately for him he is washed up on an uninhabited island in the middle of the Han river a stones throw from the skyscrapers of Seoul.



We see this man at first cope and then survive in his new life - one that has shrunk from a pressurised treadmill existence in a corporate urban economy to one in which he has to scavenge amongst the debris washed up on the island to live. We see him stretch his soul out of his stress into "perfect boredom" . His empty world condensing tiny successes into exquisite pleasures. Within the sight of the urban sprawl he is living a boiled down version of Robinson Crusoe. Into his world through a long distance camera lens comes Jung-yeon Kim, a vulnerable young girl isolated in her parents house, living with them but shunning even their company, locking herself away from the world. Equally her existence has shrunk into one tiny bedroom where her only contact with the outside world is though her computer, her life judged by other people.

The growing relationship between the two Kims forms the basis of the story.

The film is a comment on life in Korea, and indeed on all our urban rat race lives. There's some very funny scenes, and some heartbreaking ones, the characters are quirky as they so often are in Korean films. I defy you to watch this film and not think to yourself that you need to go out and enjoy some of the small things in life!



whimsical in parts but with an essence of lovely simplicity.
Thanks to ScarletLion and Sane for recommendation
4.5/5

This I agree with, at times i thought it was real corn and in other parts it was funny, but hey I'm going to buy it when it comes out, I think it will end up a cult movie

Thanks Christine for the review

Salvatore Giuliano* (1962) directed by Francesco Rosi

Salvatore Giuliano was a real life bandit leader in Sicily from 1943 until his death in 1950. He was, and maybe still is, seen as a latter day Robin Hood - I saw posters of him in a street market in Italy a few years ago. Realistically he was a criminal but one who used his power amongst the peasants to fight for Sicilian independance.

Rosi's film uses a documentary style to chronicle Giuliano's life which mirrors Sicily's own post war history of separatism, and collaboration between criminal elements and politicians. His style is spare - Giuliano himself is only ever seen in long shot, and is only heard speaking a few times. His white duster coat is the only thing that marks him out from the rest of the bandits on the mountain.

The film starts with a scene of Giuliano's dead body lying in a courtyard. A local official listing out his injuries and possessions to a group of seated men before a mass of press and photographers cram into the courtyard to witness the death. It's soon apparent that the official line on his death doesn't match the local witnesses.
From this point forward the film cuts between the events of Giuliano's life as a bandit and the consequences of his death. Here we have the betrayals, the growth of the Mafia, the conflicts between the local police and the Carabinieri (the mainland Italian military police) . We have the poverty of the peasants and their silence which keeps the bandits safe from authority, allowing kidnapping extortion and blackmail to flourish.....but all this is presented with a dispassionate eye, one that doesn't side with anyone. There is a straightforward explanatory commentary, almost an old fashioned newsreel in its precision.

In the heat of the Sicilian sun, the black and white photography is stark, all deep shadow and white light. At night scenes are lit by streetlights or cigarettes or a sudden opening door from a lit interior. Beautifully shot by Gianni Di Venanzo (who also worked with all the Italian greats - Fellini, Visconti, Antonini and De Sica ) . There's several stunning almost still tableau scenes shot from a static viewpoint, and several shot from above. There's a great scene where all the men from the village are marched off to the village square by the carabinieri and fearing they're to be put to death, all the women rush en masse down the street and are held back by the soldiers .
I can't find a link to my favourite scene but if you've seen the film it's probably struck you too - there's one where the outlaws are waiting in the dark street for someone to come out of a doorway , they're all ranged across the street in the semi darkness, it's such a brilliant picture it always comes to mind when I think of outstanding cinematography.







As one of the lawyers says at the end:
"To understand how an outlaw can become pivotal at election time and throw the parliament and government into turmoil by his actions we must have the courage to expose the sad life of poverty, of ignorance, of servitude to a feudal system endured by these poor people. The many faces of political manipulation, the face of the mafia. We must have the courage to expose it all"

versions of this speech surely can apply across the world


the real Salvatore


Salvatore Giuliano is a very fine film. Its court scenes I don't think quite have the strength of the rest of the film, but overall 4.75/5



*this is a rewatch for me so I probably mentioned it before some years ago, in fact according to a search it'd be amongst the 7000+ posts on the 'rate the last movie you saw'

Nice review Christine thanks

Outrage (2010) directed by Takeshi Kitano

I've been a fan of this guys film since the 1990s. He has the ability to come up with vastly different types of films but here with Outrage he takes us back to his first successful films which were yakuza stories. Outrage is more like Boiling Point or Violent Cop in it's relentless violence with none of the little touches of humour or humanity that lie in Sonatine or Hana Bi.

Takeshi Kitano directs, writes and takes the role of Otomo an under boss who is given the job of getting another family back into line after they've been dabbling in drug dealing against the Chairmans wishes.


This is the straightforward and usual story of yakuza families vying for territory under the leadership of one 'Chairman' , a little like the Mafia and their families. The film has the usual yakuza themes of betrayal, dirty double dealing and honour and disgrace. There's no surprises here in the plot, but there are very inventive and gruesome ways of making people talk or of putting people to death besides just gunning them down. Several of which I had to look away they're so graphic. I couldn't even begin to tell you about this one...



This is par for the course tho if you have seen any of his films before


Whenever there's a scene with a table you know someone's going to be saying goodbye to their little finger!

Kitano himself is such a charismatic figure visually. Whenever he's onscreen usually with a sardonic smile, your eyes are drawn to his expressions rather than the damage the guns are doing. There's plenty of nice visuals - scenes of lines of sleek black cars rolling sedately through tree lined roads and static shots of the sea (a constant theme in his films). Also plenty of things that make you feel at home in yakuza films - loads of men standing around in snappy dark suits, the women who are ornamental only, the trainee yakuza in white trackies, the seemingly benevolent Chairman relaxing with his minions surrounding him, the lack of empathy, the sudden bursts of men shouting at the top of their voices - you like all those things you'll enjoy this film.


As Otomo says "one of us must survive to see who will win"

An excellent film of the genre, but you have the feeling Kitano could make one of these in his sleep it's so slick.



3.75/5

Good review Christine. That's about how I felt about Outrage too. Entertaining but frustrating in its good-not-greatness.

The Missing Picture (2013) directed by Rithy Panh

Rithy Panh was 13 when the Khmer Rouge reached his home city of Phnom Penh in 1975. Cambodia became the Democratic Republic of Kampuchea. Under the leadership of Pol Pot they proceeded to empty the cities and drive the population into the countryside to work in agriculture. They commenced on a drive thoughout the 70s to destroy this ancient culture, its books, films, music and artifacts. They stopped all education and executed anyone perceived as being 'intellectual' , anyone opposing them, anyone of a different race or culture - artists, teachers, engineers, doctors, writers, journalists. Anyone who stood up to be counted.

"Whoever protests is an enemy
Whoever opposes is a corpse"

Rithy Pahn lost his family to famine and disease and although he survived his memories are very strong. Cambodia has little in the way of film or photos of that devastating time, hence the title of his film.

He's made a haunting record of those atrocious years by making clay figures and setting them in various tableau just as if they were the missing photos. He's unearthed precious scratched and damaged film and superimposed the figures on top creating his own personal history. His figures are deliberately carved and painted and set in static scenes, the very stillness frozen in sadness. As the film goes forward Pahn carves out the ribs and faces of the models as they starve to death. His own father turns his face to the wall refusing any more to eat animal feed and gradually fades away. As the people turn to eating insects, rats, roots and seeds the deft hands of the carver takes more clay away.

" the sick who do not obey are not fed - hunger is a weapon"

Specially moving are the scenes from pre-Khmer Rouge where Pahn has recreated his own house on a day when all the family are celebrating and the house is full of children and adults and singing and dancing. What a contrast to the black clothed wraiths dying in the countryside








This documentary is the sobering memories of one man and his family. Just one family amongst an estimated two million deaths under Pol Pot's regime. It's an unusual and effective film narrated in a quiet gentle voice which adds even more contrast to what's unveiled on screen.
The sound is effective too using distorted propaganda chanting, atonal and traditional music.



the little clay figures are and unconventional way of telling history, but very powerful.
4.5/5

The Innocents (1961) directed by Jack Clayton

Young and beautiful Miss Giddens gets her very first job as a governess in a remote country house to two children, Miles aged 10 and Flora aged 8 . Their uncle who is their guardian lives in London and is very firm in his intentions of not having anything to do with the children and that all responsibility would be with her as governess.

The Innocents is a fairly faithful telling of the Henry James story The Turn of the Screw, a famous gothic tale published in 1898. This film retelling is wonderfully creepy. Deborah Kerr as Miss Giddens begins her job happy that she has charge of two seemingly lovely children in a beautiful house surrounded by acres of gardens. She has a friend in the housekeeper Mrs Grose and all seems well, that is until she learns that the death of the previous governess isn't all it seems, and that the children are preternaturally knowing. Miss Giddens feverish imagination casts the children as being possessed by the souls of Miss Jessel and her lover....can this be true?
A terrible sense of dread creeps through the film, and the fine performances of the youngsters - Flora with her cunning smiles and Miles with his precociously adult mannerisms add to the atmosphere.



There's a very, very fine frisson of sexual tension running through the final scenes that's quite interesting, and as Miss Giddens gets more intent on proving her theory then her state of mind begins to be doubted by the viewer. That's very well done, and a tribute to Deborah Kerr's acting that our judgement sways one way and the other.

The child actors are very good. The 11 year old Pamela Franklin would go on to play in many more films, while Martin Stephens played more roles but quit acting while still a kid. My favourite actor in this film tho is the wonderful Megs Jenkins (Mrs Grose), a stalwart of British film,tv and theatre who most often played mumsy types she just had one of those faces
The famous British writer John Mortimer also wrote some scenes. William Archibald adapted his theatre play for the screenplay to which Truman Capote also contributed.



An excellent example of a ghost story that can haunt you with no more than a glance through a window or a form seen far away. Give me this anyday rather than blood and gore!

4.5/5

The Innocents is on my 60 list ready for when it gets going. One of the first I thought of when the 60s came up too.


Great film.

__________________