Thracian dawg's reviews

Page contents: Rapt – (2009) / Ten Items or less – (2006) / The Bad Sleep Well — (1960) / I am love – (2009) / Solitary Man – (2009) / Peepli live – (2010) / The son– (2002) / Lonely are the brave– (1962) / Deliver Us from Evil– (2009) / Easy A – (2010) / Incendies – (2010) / Zero focus – (1961) / Lemming – (2005) l / Hideaway – (2009)

Rapt (2009) Belvaux



Survival of the fittest

Psychological thriller. A captain of industry Stanislas Graff (Yvan Attal) is snatched up on his way to work one overcast autumn morning. What should be a fairly clockwork operation quickly runs off the rails when his personal capital, both monetary and as an individual quickly depreciates during his captivity.

The players? The kidnappers. Total professionals. They understand the game, and manage to stay one step ahead of the cops.

The cops. More interested about nailing the high end crew of kidnappers than freeing the hostage.

The company. They know his exact worth and are jack rabbit quick to assemble the 30 million dollar ransom. (although they force his wife to sign a recognition of debt so they can recoup their losses). Unfortunately the kidnappers demand 75 and this becomes a dangerous game of chicken where no one can revise their ransom estimate. The company will not pay the overpriced ransom. The kidnappers cannot appear anything but ruthless.

The board members aren't so thrilled about the not so squeaky clean details of his personal life---as it reflects badly on the respectable corporate image the company must project at all times. Of course, the company wanted a killer---but a sanitised version in a three piece suit. His right hand man quickly orchestrates his fall from grace within the company.

Stanislas' family of women. His wife, his two daughters and his mother all slowly withdraw their affectation for his betrayal of them.

Nice little touches, like the friendly kidnapper endlessly purring his first name to him, his salt and pepper moustache bristling through his ski mask, but would word come down to liquidate him, he wouldn't have any qualms about cutting their losses. This also finds an echo in Stanislas' second in command; officious, diffident and bland to a fault, yet when he see an opportunity to depose the king, he takes it without a moment's hesitation.

Media manipulation. Fantastic when Stanislas using it to serve his own interests, not so great when someone else has a different agenda. The kidnappers have read the press and know he's the president of a billion dollar company. Stanislas has to explain he that has no access to these funds.

A fairly decent main course of the kidnapping, captivity and ransom drop sequences are in store; what's interesting about this flick are the delicious little psychological side dishes that accompany it. The ordeal of his kidnapping, unjust at first, slowly morphs into a well deserved penitence for his sins. A nice idea that even the ones that the top of the pile; the millionaires and billionaires, once they are no longer worth the bother, are not immune to the markets implacable law of the jungle. And a haunting final image.

Rapt ~ 9/10

Ten Items or less (2006) Silberling

The things that keep people alone

A former Hollywood star on the down slope of his career meets a hot tamale check-out girl who invigorates his life, spices up his bed and re-boots his career starring Morgan Freeman? Ewww. Ick. On the other hand, Paz Vega? The opposite of Ewww. The complete and total opposite of ick. Is the girl gorgeous? Spectacularly so. This is a woman who can barely string together a sentence in English beating out hundreds of actresses for starring roles in Hollywood films. One of the DVD extras has a chat between the Director Silberling, Freeman and herself in a department store aisle before they begin shooting for the night. Paz mentions she had a full time interpreter for "Spanglish" her first English role. The director begins this chat by teasing her a little about merely pretending to be a Spanish actress ... crickets. She still has a little more homework.

Fortunately what I assumed was going to be an extremely iffy romance, turned out to be a character study of an actor simply doing research for a possible role. But it's exactly that fantasy that Silberling stands on it's head, and gently chips away at all the barriers that separate them until they actually have a genuine moment between two strangers, which is no small feat.

Morgan Freeman succeeds admirably in creating a giddy portrait of a successful career actor. He's a professional people watcher. He measures and times their gestures, listens to the cadence of their speech, sometimes peeking at the label in the back of their shirt---in his world, everything is character. He even interprets his life through the vocabulary of film. So when he's around ... it's magic time. Being famous, he knows people are going to be genuinely flattered when he talks with them.
There's just a hint of sadness about him. His wealth and fame have insulated him slightly from the world at large. He no longer feeds, but looks for protein. A routine security sweep at his Brentwood mansion (they change all his numbers) has left him stranded. So, after his research is done, and not wanting to see on the news later that night that some famous Hollywood actor was knifed to death in some back alley in Carson, Scarlet agrees to wheel the man back home.

Lurking in the background of this character study is a great critique of rabid consumerism and especially the resultant stratification of people and objects riffing constantly throughout the film. As the poster implies. Your paycheck defines and encapsulates your world---who you'll will meet and greet. Your dreams and sorrows are preordained.

A check-out girl has a job interview. An actor does some research for a film project, this is not the earth shattering plot of your average thriller (the film gently pokes fun at him and business, by having the actor happen upon one of his own blockbusters from yesteryear in a clearance bin) but somehow the filmmakers manage to create an adventure from this day.

Ten items or less ~ 8/10

Some really interesting looking flicks there Thrace. Cheers for the reviews

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Thanks. I know the DVD release for some of these foreign films is years away


The Bad Sleep Well — (1960) — Kurosawa

The Knights of Ni

I’ll assume you’ve already seen this. If I had to summarize the film in a word it would be, subdued. I think this film would have a higher profile and more people would “get” this if all the action say, took place at night and the characters were bathed in stark shadow. There is stylistic choice to favor natural light, uncovered windows, and white diaphanous curtains instead the patented Venetian blinds of Film Noir (they appear a couple of times in the film but they are never back lit). Kurosawa also opts for a realistic tone as an ironic counterpoint to the wonderful world of sociopaths who they commit their financial crimes in broad daylight and everything is duly and faithfully reported in newspapers the following day.

The story itself has a deceptive shape: the main character is actually the corporate vice-president during a routine damage control operation. VP Iwabuchi sucks all of oxygen out of the room and during his press conferences that is exactly what he is supposed to do: spin the story. A widower, his two grown children still live at home with him; Yoshiko his daughter, and the ardent devotee of dissipation, Tatsuo. There is a faint suggestion that Tatsuo once worked for his father but the little chores he had to perform during his work day (and evenings) left him permanently disgusted with the old man. VP Iwabuchi routinely updates his superior superior orchestrating all this mayhem (punctuating his phone reports with copious bows to his off-screen presence) but the master string puller never deigns to put in an appearance in the film.

Toshiro Mifune plays against his usual screen persona; he doesn’t swashbuckle a lick in the film. Koichi Nishi is a corporate lackey whose two greatest assets appears to be vanishing into the woodwork and his uncanny ability to anticipate his boss’s next fix of nicotine. He has a great character tell though; while the rogue Nishi has just strong armed into his elaborate revenge plan squirms uncomfortably (or whimpers) in the front seat next to him, He leans back in the driver’s seat and whistles his revenge theme. Each night as he strolls up the front driveway to the Iwabuchi household, he also can’t help savoring the moment and whistling a few more bars; he has fooled everyone inside the house. Suckers. The boyish Tatsuo thinks he is his best friend. Yoshiko is head over heels in love with him. Of course, the sibling’s adoration doesn’t match VP Iwabuchi’s grumpy esteem; here is a scoundrel after his own shriveled heart; someone willing to take his broken daughter off his hands for a pittance (I’m assuming that being crippled ruled out a wedding ring for her in 50s Japan) plus be his personal valet. If he didn’t have a number one son already, he’d adopt Nishi in a heartbeat, So in addition to being illegitimate Nishi is one total rat bastard to the point where the filmmakers chicken out and walk back some of that magnificent cruelty; they temper him with redeeming qualities by falling in love with the fragile Yoshiko.

There is a little black humor in the film. When the contents of a bank’s safety deposit box go missing; Iwabuchi accuses Shiria of swiping it. Shiria is cut to the quick and shocked his fellow embezzlers would think of him as having . . . sticky fingers. When the Dairyu execs do a run down of their exorbitant costs, Iwabuchi does a quick tabulation and immediately protests they only sent over half that amount! They have to indelicately explain to him, that that was their cut in the deal. Because they have switched identities, there’s always a weird vibe when Nishi conspires with his best friend Itakura, The real Nishi is temporarily taking the place of Itakura and the Itakura is masquerading as the clean-cut, legitimate Nishi. There’s a scene where they want to make Yoshiko happy and purchase a big romantic gesture. Nishi remains on the pavement outside while Itakura goes inside the florist shop and buys the beautiful bouquet because, well, he is the one actually married to her.

Likes? There are some startling moments in the film; a man partakes of his own funeral. A rich man with dollar signs for eyes barters away his fortune for a crust of bread and a sip of water. The shocked reactions of the wrecking crew echo the stumble of Yoshiko (a portent of doom if there every was one) heading into the banquet hall. When the extra cake is wheeled in; Moriyama almost loses his false teeth; Shirai in mid lop, drops the ceremonial wedding knife. Even as the cake is wheeled directly towards and left behind him, only Iwabuchi has the presence of mind to remain nonplussed, In addition, this is a wonderful metaphor: corruption is simply a way of life for sociopaths and the world is only cake for them. If one feels a bit peckish in the afternoon one can wants to slice off a half a million dollars and put it in your briefcase or bring a steamer trunk to work and lug away ten million, it’s of no consequence, it’s not like the public (fools that they are) is ever going to notice and in the event they do, the toothless justice system is trained not to go after wealthy felons.

One complete star goes to the evocative use of repetition in the story; there is constant play of (un)noticed doubling. There are two funerals in the film visited by the “ghost” of a relative. Iwabuchi tells the big boss that everything is fixed and been swept under the carpet, so he can now relax . . . twice. Wada (accounting wizard) dies two times. Thematically the story begins and ends with a son disowning his father. Nishi repeats the exact same character arc of dear old dad, right down to the unusable inheritance.

A clip with Nishi, Shirai and Moriyama. Notice the weird door-like partition on the right side of the room.

The film has a few minor blemishes—in a story made up almost entirely of interiors and middle management offices (one can certainly admire the inventive trichotomous compositions) but Kurosawa’s patent two camera deep focus gets little opportunity here to really dazzle the viewer.

As is, the story doesn’t quite explain Nishi’s metamorphosis into someone with permanent revenge on the brain. The screenwriters left off the telling of his back story (problematic) until the very end of the movie, hoping the audience wouldn’t notice they’ve just dropped a brick. It was only at high school when Nishi learned of the educational penalties on his life—not having a name father meant college was forbidden for him. A little pissed at his birth father for ruining his life, he immediately cut off all contact with him. When his father tried to make amends after an epic ten year sulk, Nishi still refused to have anything to do with his sometime uncle. The next day when the scandal broke in the newspapers, Nishi learned, in addition to being a scoundrel and a coward that the old man was also a crook: would he have dedicated his life from that day onwards to avenging his father’s . . . suicide? Unlikely. The embezzlement scandal would have only confirmed his low opinion of the man. Nishi would simply have flipped the page and gone on with his life.

The story unfurls as a (white collar) crime story whereas it would have been better served as a tragedy. The film flirts with the supernatural by having Wada pretending to be a ghost; the simplest re-write would have been the actual paranormal event with the ghost of his father revealing the last meeting with his son changed his life. He had decided to come clean and become an honest man for him, unfortunately he had foolishly told one of his superiors of his change of heart. Later that night, he was visited by a couple of thugs schooled in the fine art of defenestration; revealing his so-called suicide, was in fact a murder . . . now that would have enraged and galvanized him into action. Bizarrely the film play acts a version of this, but Kurosawa didn’t grasp he was showing the audience the actual crime five years earlier.

There is a key scene in the film about three fifths of the way through when Nishi rips up his motivational device (a crime photo) turning his back on some of the grislier aspects of his revenge plan he has been committed to and setting up a new destination, the melodramatic happily ever after with Yoshiko and the kids. At that sane instant Nishi’s musical motif (which might more aptly be called Iwabuchi’s love theme) also immediately reverses; from then on whenever the unsuspecting Nishi whistles his tune, the noose tightens a little more around his neck.

It’s marvelous how modern, and contemporary this all is. All you have to do is read a newspaper once in a while for the unbroken parade of filth and degenerate behavior splashed across the front page for the incredulous public. For example, the corporate sponsored and orchestrated opioid crisis in the U.S. cut such a swath of suffering and death through the country they actually lowered the official life expectancy of American men. In the fictional story, a three man wrecking crew transfers into a government ministry to better orchestrate the looting within the democratic (aka public) sector and transfer wealth to the oligarchic (aka private) sector which mirrors the current executive revolving door scam (let me get this straight: you are taking a 95,000$ a year government post when you were getting six million the week before? why are all these alarm bells going off?) where corrupt corporate managers do the same thing. Notice that VP Iwabuchi is the last man standing; a consolidation of power (dead men tell no tales) and after a brief cooling off period he will get his dream job, a cabinet post and mainstream politics . . . PM Iwabuchi has a nice ring to it. It’s kind of weird that a great genre like corporate psychopathy doesn’t have a larger pantheon. If you throw out the documentaries and character studies, the cupboard is almost bare; off-hand, I can think of Syriana and Michael Clayton. I guess you can add this film.

The Bad Sleep Well — ★★★

I am love / Io sono l'amore (2009) Guadagnino

Sense and Sensuality

Art film. On the surface this begins as a portrait of a wealthy industrial family in Milan. It's grand dad's birthday soirée and he takes the occasion to confess he's ailing and feels ancient and is going to retire---then installs not only his son as the head of the family business but his grandson Edo (Eduardo) as well.

There was some sort of race earlier in the day in which Edo was the clear favorite. During the party Edo apologises to everyone that he was beat out by a chef. At the party, Antonino (the chef) drops off a cake, either to ingratiate himself with him or to make sure he wasn't offended by his triumph over him. They become fast friends.



The film opens with the preparation for this dinner, yet the focus seems to be weighted equally to the two sides, the servers and the served. The subtext of the film seems to be about the inequality of relationships. Whether they be Business, or family, or friends, or even lovers are all conducted from dominance and weakness.

For example; it's let drop during a conversation that the Recchi fortunes got a huge financial wind-fall during the second world war when the grandfather used Jewish slave labour in their factory. His Son brought back Emma with him as his trophy wife during one his early art trips to Russia.

Nice things? A few quick images: One afternoon in Antonino's house, Emma reaches out to stroke his hair, a single ray of sunlight back lights her hand---for a second it appears to glow with passion. Later in the film, the maid wakes Emma. For a brief second the film flashes us the maid's face when she was young, she's cared for Emma her whole life, she's gone into her room and woken her from her naps thousands of times. Yet has never strayed from their formal relation of Mistress of the house and servant.

The micro close-ups of the plants and bugs breeding and feeding beneath their trysting place in the countryside. Is this a moral tale? I don't think so.

A few nice scenes: A single spot high lights what looks like to be only the idea of a meal in Antonino's restaurant Then Emma's beams with appreciation of just how exquisite his cooking is.

While on a trip to see her daughter in another town; Emma spots Antonino walking in the street. She follows him through town till stops a sidewalk café. She scuttles into a print shop across the street. She pretending to flick through a picture book on the counter while peering across the street to find him. Suddenly, she sees his reflected image, and dashes out into the street, he's not there. She turns and bumps into him. He invites her to see the restaurant location where he and her son are going to build their restaurant. They get into his truck, still clutching the book from the art shop. If the great Rod Tidwell and his wife from "Jerry Maquire" were on vacation and sitting in one of cafés across the street, he'd might go so far as to venture an idle comment about her ... shoplifting the pootie.

A lot of the drama isn't obvious. Emma Recchi's children are about to begin families of their own, leaving her without occupation.

Visually, it's overwrought and the film tends to rely on images rather than dialogue to advance the story. Which might not be a bad thing since this is an Italian film. Take the scene where her husband seeks out Emma in a cavernous mausoleum, she's removed her shoes so she doesn't have to hear the clattering echoes of her heels striking the marble floors---that represents the state of their marriage. Or the pitch meeting which takes place on an empty floor of a London office tower. There's only a conference desk and a few chairs. Despite all the highfalutin talk about giving back to society and the world at large, this is a fire sale.

Aesthetically, The film is a little bit like the chef's dream of opening his select restaurant in the countryside; where people would drive an hour or so just for his special nosh. The fast food crowd would consider it a tad pretentious, and over priced (and the idea you'd drive so far to sample his gustatory prowess would be complete nonsense) but then, I think his little restaurant in the hilly Italian countryside may not do killer box office but it would prosper quite nicely, Thank-you.

I am love ~ 9/10

Solitary Man (2009) Koppelman

http://www.impawards.com/2010/solitary_man_xlg.html

Business man self-destructs

Drama. What was to have been a three month binge on bimbos and booze has gone on incredibly for six long years. This is Michael Douglas just riffing slightly off of his movie star image in a dramatic role. Nice opening with the man in black strumming his guitar. Nice writing, there's some nice zingers here and there.

There's also some cleverness involved with the creative fudging of details; the people in Ben's life are presented as being entertained by his rakish behavior---although actively anticipating the moment the when it goes from bad to worse. And by extension, We the audience, also agree to this comic and anecdotal portrayal of addiction. We are fascinated and entertained by this cinematic train wreck; how one could be so good, and at the same time, so horribly bad.

The filmmakers state it's a wonky belief system (re: ethics) that got Ben into trouble, but I think it's much deeper because the filmmakers borrow some of the downward spiral of the addiction film (but don't take it to it's quite natural and foregone conclusions) So when the inevitable happens and the bottom finally drops out; when Ben Kalmen falls, he doesn't hit rock bottom, but lands on the pillowy false bottom of unconditional caring and love from the people still in his life. Which keeps the proceedings cheery and dramatic, but staves off the tonal slide into tragedy.

The scenes with his daughter (Jenna Fischer) are tinged with a little sadness. She's so starved for his affection, she agrees to his silly mind games. However, when Ben begins to emotionally jerk around her son. She puts her foot down finally and bars him access to her family and his grandson.

Ben hasn't taken a cold hard look at himself in a long time. Take the small scene in the diner when he's flirting with some co-eds. He's so full of himself, he doesn't see what they see: a 60 year old short order cook with a stained apron coming out from behind the counter to hit on some pretty co-eds. They're not laughing with him, but at him. But one more step down on the rung, as a jobless or homeless man, this kind of behavior will begin to result in serious jail time.

Although Ben Kalman believes he still got plenty of game and swagger left; he's actually riding the fumes of his protest. His eyes are bright and chipper, but the man should be totally exhausted. He's destroyed his marriage; ruined his reputation in the business community, alienated people in very high places; gone through his fortune, and is now breaking bread with the few remaining people in his life. Classic moral tale of a man who mistook the sizzle for the steak.

8/10 ~ Solitary Man

Peepli live (2010) Rizvi

http://www.imdb.com/media/rm224559104/tt1447508

The taste of Curry

Peepli is of course the fictional village in which this story takes place. Although the film is mislabelled as a comedy---sure, there's lots to smile about but scarcely little to laugh about. The film is pure satire. The film opens in a dream, Natha (Omkar Das Manikpuri) is being hounded to death, he comes awake from this nightmare on the bus ride back home from a bank appointment. They've just announced they're going to foreclose on his farm.

I liked Natha's blustery wife (Mike Tyson would even think twice about back talk or looking cross ways at her); the idea that Natha didn't really vow to do himself in---he was stumbling home drunk with this brother---they merely discussing this idea that one of the local political cronies in the village suggested to them earlier in the day (more of a joke) and their conversation was overheard by a reporter. Without confirmation the Reporter commits the story to paper and Natha kind of gets railroaded into this mess. This little incident continues to grow until they've got an army of reporters camped outside his hut on a death watch.

The bureaucratic fixes were absurdly ridiculous; they give you the cake, the problem is solved---but there's no way to eat it. Although there's no dancing à la Bollywood; but the songs they include were interesting; the lyrics kind of reminded me of country western tales of working class misery and woe.

Control of the farmers is essential to the global agribusiness. They do this with a variation of the Manhattan con (the one where you sell brightly coloured baubles and trinkets to the natives, in exchange for their future survival) A simple mortgage ensures the farm's prosperity, and you'd have to be a total idiot not to take full advantage of this. These modern labour saving devices can be had at unbelievably chaste and reasonable rates. Of course, once the #&$#^! @!$$ money lenders have all the farm owners mortgaged to the gills. They simply stimulate their financial ruin through inflation.

I can well understand the desperation of these farmers, families that have lived on their farm for generations, and when ownership fell to them, they squandered their heritage. That shame would be palpable.

At the end of the movie. There's a title card that says during the last census period (1991- 2001), 8 million farmers ceased to be farmers: a great indication of the shock and awe of neoliberal policies. In keeping with the comedic tone of the film they didn't add that 180 or 200 thousand farmers also committed suicide during this period of market harmonization.

Had I simply stumbled across this film, I may have enjoyed it slightly more. I remember reading an article on the wave of farmer suicides in India back in the day. What attracted me to this film was just how in the hell could one make funny about that epidemic tragedy? And I couldn't quite shake that underlying idea of the film. Still, this is a very brave and noble attempt by the filmmakers to make a film with a little guts.

Peepli [live] ~ 7/10

Good reviews, thracian dawg. Your review of Solitary Man reminds me that I've completely forgotten to write up one for it. Also, I am still pretty eager to see I Am Love.

In Swinton's portrayal of her character she speaks Italian in the film, but apparently ... Italian with a Russian accent. One of the many dazzling subtleties of the film that I couldn't pick up on.

The son / Le fils (2002) The brothers Dardenne
　
A pound of flesh

My favorite films of all time all contain the same sensation, whether they be comedies, thrillers or dramas, that of being constantly tased emotionally during the run time. The Son is taser friendly, and remains near the tippy top of my favorite french films since the first night I saw it.

The film begins in close-up of the dark black center at the small of Olivier's (Olivier Gourmet) back; then it's up, up, up, over his shoulder and into the story. He's in chronic pain---he's almost never without his leather back belt. Although he's extremely mild mannered and patient (unless he's barking necessary disapproval at his charges) He's divorced, but on extremely good terms with his ex-wife. Olivier's about to be heaved body and soul into a moral dilemma.

Just a quick glance at the cover art.

http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3151928576/tt0291172

There's this kid carrying a heavy plank. There's the ghost image of a cross, and the allusion that this boy is on his way to Calvary. There's a fuzzy image of a man ahead of him, he's kind of a mirror image, carrying his own plank, in fact they could be carrying the same plank, and the same heavy burden.

It's actually rather difficult to write about the film without giving away too many spoilers. I know that anticipating the film won't help it. The film only works if you're actively weighing the same pros and cons that Olivier is also trying to feverishly sort out in his own mind. You have to do all the intellectual heavy lifting and put yourself in his place. This is where all the tension of the film comes from.

The aesthetics of the film helps this enormously. The camera is always directly in his face, off to the side, aimed at the back of his head like a gun; trotting alongside him on a sidewalk or chasing down a stairwell after him as he runs somewhere. This mirrors exactly his emotional turmoil. The camerawork incessantly works to restrict and contain this story within the single point of view, a single place in time, to ask that one simple question.

The Son belongs on the short list of great films about forgiveness. It also belongs to the even shorter list of films that were inspired (?) by the Jamie Bulger murder.

The Son ~ 10/10

Great reviews as always Thrac. Very interested in that last one, will be seeking it out - thanks!

Very well-written, personal and insightful review. I suppose this is as good a place as any for me to present the alternative view.

I don't know what it is about the Dardennes, but I have a difficult time caring about their characters and their movies. I realize that this is a gross overstatement, but I've often said that their "aesthetic" is to film people walking, mostly from slightly behind, for about 40 minutes. That's about half of one of their films. Then, they incorporate three or four key scenes which in and of themselves would make for good drama. So what I usually get from one of their films, including Le fils, is a decent idea buried inside some idea that following people closely while they do what they do (no matter how mundane and repetitive) is somehow strong drama. I suppose that's what most critics, festival juries and thracian dawg see too because most of their films are award winners. I tend to prefer to actually see the faces of the actors for more than 10 minutes in a movie. If you haven't seen one of their films though, I think they are certainly significant enough to watch and decide for yourselves.

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I'd be the first one to agree; lots of people press the eject button only after the first 10 minutes, because it all seems so utterly nonsensical and undramatic.

Understatement. Exactly.

Olivier's a carpenter. He'd make more money in his brother's sawmill but He instructs teens at risk, because he likes that feeling of being wanted and useful. Measure twice, cut once; be careful; know your wood; have a plan; know the sequence of steps. He's patiently giving them a metier, but he's also slowly imparting in them a way of seeing and interpreting life.

Also this story wouldn't exist had it happened in America--- Francis would have been executed a long time ago or still on death row. Still, the odds are against him, Francis (the boy) doesn't have a lot of options. There are only a handful of places where he could end up. And Olivier's wood shop, in the scheme of things is the perfect place ... for him.

Lonely are the brave (1962) Miller

The last Cowboy

A mediation on individual freedom. Jack Burns (Kirk Douglas) rambles into town to visit an old friend. Unfortunately his friend has gotten into trouble and about to be transferred from the city jail to the state penitentiary. Apparently helping fellow human beings in need, has a fancy name in that region of the country; it's called aiding and abetting and carries a mandatory two year prison sentence. Incarceration is the great bogeyman that keeps the gentle populous in line ... but, come to think of it, all these doors swing inwards, so getting into prison isn't that much of an obstacle. An hour later, they're breaking bread together at the courtesy of the county.

A nice supporting cast. Check out the "I'm getting angry" helicopter pilot. In particular, Walter Matthau is good as the police chief; he's a kind of a closet rebel himself, and sort of wishes he was going along for the ride with Jack, instead of coordinating his re-capture.

Also Douglas and Whiskey are a hoot---his horse should be considered a legitimate character. Jack is always scolding or cajoling her. Only a couple of months earlier, this horse was probably wild, so during their frequent pit stops, Jack has to shackle the horse's legs together so she doesn't high tail back to the high country, without him. The horse also hasn't acclimated to the vehicular traffic crisscrossing the landscape, and while trotting across busy highways, She usually panics somewhere near the double lines. Jack is probably as skittish as his horse in this ever expanding world of asphalt roads and faster cars, but he doesn't show it. He may be suffering from PTSD from his war service.

A strong story with a saddle bag full of subtle ideas and nice touches of irony. The invisible tethers of conformity. Heading off the beaten path versus sticking to middle of the road. The price of being an individual in a world where freedom is an advertising logo ... You can go from 0 to 60 mph in 4.2 seconds, that is, until you hit that stop sign just a little further on down the street and you cool your heels for 30 seconds, and wait to be free.

Lonely are the brave ~ 8/10

http://www.evokativefilms.com/conten...ada_Poster.jpg

Fri os fra det onde (2009) Bornedal

Deliver us from Evil

There's enough touches of whimsy in the opening minutes of the film to assure us that Ole Bornedal (Nattevagten, Just another Love Story) has a solid grasp of his metier and knows exactly what he's doing. So one can relax and enjoy the story.

Basically, it's a family new to the region. The father (Johann) was born in that little hamlet and is now a lawyer returning home after making a success of it in the big city. Unfortunately, he's woefully out of touch around these bible thumping country bumpkins.

Johann has more than a little respect and admiration for Alain, a Bosnian immigrant and refugee who is still traumatized by his past. Alain has taken advantage of the hospitality and generosity of Danish people. Johann takes him on as a handy man, as he renovates the family home; whereas the rest of the village seems to view Alain as foreign trash who takes jobs away from the people that count---although, in all honesty, a regular job would probably put a serious kink in their drinking regimen.

The stars have never aligned for Lars; Johann's ne'er do well brother, who never made it out. And today, the day of the annual summer festival, they go awry again and decimate the checks and balances that held this peaceful village together.

The look of the film is almost totally washed of color, the whites are super white and the darks are pushed darker, so almost all the scenes are shadowy amd foreboding. Granted, the third act really pops. However, the first two acts were on such a slow burn setting everything up, that if they were cooking a thanksgiving turkey, the audience would be all be laid out in the living room floor with botulism.

Deliver us from evil ~ 7/10

Easy A (2010) Gluck

Sinking like a Stone

When adapting a movie from source material, I think it's best to disguise that fact and let the audience (if they're clever enough) discover it's true origins. Unfortunately, the filmmakers state the story is loosely based on Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel "The Scarlet Letter". Then immediately belittle the stature of the source material and their own film by telling the audience, not to bother reading the novel (the English Teacher admits it was difficult and obtuse, even for him) Instead they tell you to rent the movie adaptation---but not the Demi Moore version!

Weaknesses? Maybe because we've seen this particular teen universe reenacted several times before (and done way better) it feels kind of lacklustre. Bizarrely, the movie actually invites these comparisons by including several teen comedy clips from the 80's and reprising certain scenes. Also, the actors have spent a little too much time in VIP lounges to convincingly pull off fumbling teenagers. The inexperience of the Director shows, Gluck telegraphs way too many of the bumps; for instance, If you're paying attention, Olive's future boy toy is revealed within the first 20 minutes.

The Christian fundamentalist clique appears to have about 7 or 8 members in a class body of about 4 or 5 hundred---yet they impose their shining moral path on all the other students. The Alpha clique is not even including here, who may have contrasting ideas about promise ... scuity.

Amanda Bynes usually frames her face with long cascading hair; here, she wears it short which allows her ginormous cheeks to really stand out.

Improving this would have been simple. Instead of the story from antiquity, why not go with a real world media storm/tabloid scandal roughly parallelling Olive's story? Also, what's with the A? As epithets go, it pretty harmless outside of Bible study. Seriously, it's got too many syllables, and it's covered in cobwebs. Why not a hotter letter further down the alphabet that's got a little more snap? Why not sew the vernacular "S" on all her clothing?

As far as I can tell, the cyberspeed of the rumour mill is the actual theme of the film. Although, this is left totally unexplored. Also, this is the first of Emma Stone's several upcoming starring roles, however she didn't completely win me over with this one; she hasn't achieved that kind of movie star cachet, yet.

I did like two subtle touches. During a scene when Marianne (Amanda Bynes) gets the news about her straying boyfriend; the shot includes some seagulls on a PC screen in the foreground. When she screams, the birds take flight as if her scream had actually startled them. When the Mascot boy drives Olive home, the love theme from "Sixteen candles" is playing quietly in the background; when the conversation turns serious, he reaches out to the dashboard and either turns down the radio or pauses the CD. Cute, though I doubt any teen aged boy nowadays, who valued his manhood would be caught dead with that soundtrack on his person.

The adults in the film are in fine form; they all know how to craft a little screen presence to their characters. There's a few good one liners. A fictional movie world should always be out-sized and larger than life. Here, it fits in the palm of a hand, with tweety fingers.

Easy A ~ 5/10

Key words: Chick flick. Time waster. Lame Teen comedy. Quiznos Subs.

Incendies (2010) Villeneuve



The singing woman

The Set-up: Single parent mom, Nawal Marwan, has struggled all her life to make ends meet and keep her little family together, and has come up a little short. The kicker comes during the reading of her will for her two children; She's indescribably cruel towards herself, refusing a christian burial unless they deliver a letter she's addressed to their living father (supposedly long since dead and buried) and another addressed to their living brother (they didn't even know he existed) . The son can't be bothered. Frankly, he thinks Mom was a bit of a emotional hay seed, and years of her little dramas have worn him out. However, The sister with just the right amount of hesitation, travels to her mother's home land to find her unmet father and deliver his letter into his hands.

When you have kids you experience the wonder and mystery of life a second time, and it's all precious because everything resonances. Though, once these wee people become adults they tend not to look back and question the wonder of their parents lives, before they became grateful babysitters. The most interesting thing about this, is this backwards look at a parent's life. The children discover all the magnificent horror of life during war time.

Nice things? This was originally a play by Wadji Mouawad, It's almost completely opened up, and only a few minor things remain from the stage play. As the mother, Nawal (Lubna Azabal) has the difficult task of shepherding the film, which she does with brio. The revelations of the film easily rival million dollar CGI in terms of shock and awe. A few striking images will linger uneasily in the imagination.

The Director Denis Villeneuve (Polytechinque, Maelström) as constructed a war film, that's strangely apolitical. Rather than ideology, the players are individuals caught up in a savage time and ruled by tribal fear and prejudice. The film avoids partisan polemic by fictionalizing the country of origin; the ancient villages; and most importantly, the blood lust. Which is probably the correct way to go, in a region, where a massacre of the innocents that happened some 300 years ago, is still as fresh and compelling as 9/11.

I seriously doubt anything better will come down the pike in the next couple of months (this was won Tiff's best Canadian film earlier this month) so this should be Canada's foreign film nomination for the Oscars come February, although when all is said and done, this film remains more middle eastern than French Canadian.

I can't find the English title to this yet, but I imagine it'll be called ...

Scorched ~ 9/10

Zero focus (1961) Nomura

Every rose has it's thorn

The Set-up? A week after his marriage, newlywed husband Kenichi travels from Tokyo to Kanazawa, a town in northern Japan. Before He spent 2 months out of the year there as a representative for an ad firm. He's going to tie up loose ends, before returning to settle permanently in Tokyo with his new wife. He disappears without a trance.

Being shot almost 50 years ago, this Japanese film could be considered a little stale and past it's expiration date; however I was tickled by all the revisions in the exposition; one character will innocently give witness, the facts of which are contradicted by someone else down the line, who and in turn is revised by someone else. Film noir has oodles and oodles of chumps and dames explaining their motivations and the minutiae of the plot to the audience, so this wasn't a (sub-titled) deal breaker for me.

The director Nomura (Castle of Sand) immediately throws a little tension into the works by sprinkling a few doubts about the marriage. They were both a little past the optimum marrying age. Teiko, the bride, had steadfastly refused all prospects and suitors until her parents began to gently despair of her becoming an old maid. Kenichi is almost 10 years her senior, and also unmarried. It was an arranged marriage; add in a short courtship period, the seven days they were married, so she knows almost knows next to nothing about this man she married.

When Teiko decides to follow her husband's trail to Kanazawa. She asks someone about the place she's going to, and they refer to it has the land of the gray, always shrouded in clouds. For a black and white film, this is good hint of things to come visually. The movie was shot on location during winter. Those bleak night scenes were gorgeous. Also there's a kind of metaphysical component as she delves into her husband's identity.

Likes? The dramatic musical high lighting of certain plot points. Just a hint of the crushing post war poverty and malaise is suggested; a lot of the women used to make ends meet by, um, entertaining American G.I's. There were several hints about Kenichi's brother's drinking, but I didn't pick up that he was a alcoholic until he downed half a tumbler of whiskey.

It was a man's world for the investigation, but once the revelations of the third act kick in, the men quietly to retreat into the background and the three actresses take control of the narrative. "Zero Focus" is an old fashioned mystery/film noir from Japan.

Zero Focus ~ 7/10

Lemming (2005) Moll

A Hamster by any other name

This film has crossed my path several times in the past and I always avoided it, mainly because the title is so off putting. I mean, does anyone, outside of arctic zoologists really want to see a movie about lemmings? My own suggestion for a better title would be: "Domestic applications for the Predator drone" It might illuminate the drama at hand a little quicker than "Lemming" but it's still way too obtuse for a DVD cover. Fortunately the title is a total misnomer, this is a good psychological drama with faintly surrealistic scenes thrown in here and there.
　
Alain (Laurent Lucas) is a newly hired engineer with Pollack enterprises. With his young wife Bénédicte (Charlotte Gainsbourg) they're new to a city and their dream life. For them, this is the brief period of matrimonial bliss before they begin their little family in earnest. To shore up his connections, he invites the big boss over for dinner. Insecurity enters this couple's life at the same time as a dinner date and a clogged drain ... as quiet as a field mouse.

The older couple by comparison, is rich and entitled. The boss's wife (Charlotte Rampling) is going through some sort a toxic melt-down and in contrast, Richard Pollack (André Dussollier) is rather debonair and indulgent of his wife's little dramas---intimating her bristle and barb is rather harmless and should be tolerated.

The dinner doesn't go well, and afterwards, Hubby---typical urban hunter-gather that he is, goes about repairing the clogged drain and discovering the source of the problem.
　
This film is a akin to finding a single loose thread; you keep pulling on it out of curiosity and wonder---but the film darkens and deepens psychologically from it's idyllic beginnings with each successive tug.

At the bottom of all this, there's this great idea that products driven by technology and targeted to provide consumers with piece of mind and comfort, ultimately renders people into a permanent state of insecurity and distress. Watch the innocent applications of his "idea" that begins the film, devolve into something totally paranoid.

The Director, Dominik Moll is riffing off of some of the ideas contained in his previous film "Harry, he's here to help" He stumbles a bit at the end by dialing down the tension by explaining away some of the mystery, whereas as he should have went the other direction and ramped things up ... say, for instance, installing the surveillance cameras contained in the prototype at work and hard wiring his own home ... leaving a bitter metallic after taste in the viewer's mind.

Lemming ~ 8/10

Hideaway / Le refuge (2009) Ozon

The beach house

The film begins with a couple of lovers, Mousse (Isabelle Carré) and Louis (Melvil Poupaud) squatting in a gorgeous Parisian apartment--- just one of the many real estate holdings of Louis' family. Their idyll abruptly comes to an end, when Mother Dear barges in one night with a buyer for the property.

Hideaway is not overly dramatic: a woman spends a couple months at her summer cottage. Obviously, this will be way too slight for the ADD crowd. But there's a definate thoughtfulness to the whole thing---the story moves forward through suggestion and carefully crafted poetic images. For instance, although there could be many reasons, it's never really established why she's there.

Mousse has a bit of prickly personality---she's not a gal one gets to know easily, or one who gives up her secrets without a fight. but she does drop hints here and there, as to the how and why of her of a stoney carapace.
His brother, Paul (Louis-Ronan Choisy; he's a muscian in real life who also supplied the soundtrack for the film) stops off on his way to Spain, and since he's is a little curious about Mousse, but more importantly he's more curious about his distant brother, so he lingers on.

Nice things? The two shots of Mousse in the mirrors, suggesting either her loniliness or the swell of maternal feelings taking root inside her. It's interesting that Louis remains at mischievious presence through-out the film, in different guises.