As a fan of Koreeda's other films (particularly After Life),
I was keen to see this at the Melbourne Int'l Film Festival and it did not
disappoint (even though I was wary of the director's first foray into the
jidai-geki). If one reads the film as Kore-eda's reaction to the events of Sept
11 2001 (or the subsequent US response), as has been reported as one of the
intents, then it is an interesting take on the value of suppressing one's
(righteous) anger in favor of responses that build community and diffuse the
cycle of tit-for-tat animosity. That said, the film is full of broad humor and
tender moments, Japanese-style. Worth seeing for the way it creates a small
band of often hapless characters, though not without its confusing or
undigested plot points (i.e, the actual revengers). (2010 review)
Dystopian
thriller from director Alfonso Cuarón with tension that never lets up. Clive Owen plays Theo Faron, an office worker
who is slowly drawn into the actions of a terrorist group, the Fishes, by his
ex-wife (played by Julianne Moore). The
time is 2027 and humans have become infertile with no offspring produced for
the previous 18 years. Events in the
world (nuclear destruction of New York City included) have led nations to close
their borders and illegal immigrants are locked up in cages in London (where
the film takes place) before being sent to refugee camps that are clearly Hell
on Earth. (In this, the film feels
current – alas). Owen is cynical and
alcoholic but has his spirits raised by aging hippy Michael Caine who lives off
the grid outside of London. He agrees to
help escort a young girl (Clare-Hope Ashitey) to the coast, through dangerous zones,
with the terrorists. She is humanity’s
hope for the future and needs to meet up with “The Human Project” who have a
ship and can take her to the Azores, a free zone. So, there is a “road movie” feel to the
proceedings and Cuarón and his team use tracking shots to excellent effect
(some quite long but apparently assisted by some invisible digital cuts). The use of sound is similarly all-encompassing
– loud explosions broken by moments of reverie and then back to chaos. Perhaps this feels like a videogame (and Cuarón
doesn’t shy away from using CGI to assist the storytelling – but it is pretty
seamless). The film is gruelling but there are moments of hope that nearly brought
tears to my eyes. And then it’s over,
leaving you to ponder our own world’s possible fate. But in the end, the film doesn’t
attempt to offer real solutions or insights, it’s just a scary ride that could
come true.
☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ Rescue Dawn (2006) -- W. Herzog Unrelentingly tense -- even grim at times. But Christian Bale's confident, optimistic, humane performance carries the day. Plus Herzog's great landscape photography. Still, I won't need to see this again. (2008 review).
It’s all about the vibe here – which is
generally peaceful and introspective, underscored by a thin vein of
anxiety. Director Kelly Reichardt lets
this spur of the moment camping trip by two old friends unfold naturally and
uses Ozu-like still-life shots (mostly of beauteous nature) to punctuate the
action (if you can call it that) and provide a pause for reflection. The soundtrack is by Yo La Tengo at their most
meditative, although there are healthy doses of silence too. Some talk radio focused on economic and
racial problems is heard in the car – which helps to advance that theme of underlying
anxiety, mostly associated with the character Mark who is about to become a new
dad, has a steady/busy job, and who generally seems to have moved on from a
more carefree existence to a life of responsibility. However, Kurt (played by Will Oldham a.k.a
Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy) seems more free-wheeling, a sort of elemental spirit (if
you will) with some deep-seated emotions bubbling under his surface, smoothed
over with half-cracked story-telling about dreams and openness to
experience-styled adventures. As the
movie progresses, you wonder whether Mark wishes he were still like Kurt; but
that gradually and gently shifts to wondering whether Kurt wishes he were more
like Mark. There is ample room to do
such wondering but the movie also lets you _feel_ this reality which might be
very similar to your own, if you’ve reached a certain age. Above all, then, the
wistful awareness of time having passed (and the tension between the inability
and the ability to recreate earlier states) evokes the sensation that Reichardt
has aptly labelled “Old Joy”.
A young bride-to-be is exposed to real
married life when she is hired to serve as a maid for a squabbling couple. As with Farhadi’s later dramas (About Elly, A
Separation, The Past), there is a mystery here.
The wife suspects the husband of having an affair. Young Rouhi is caught in the middle. Farhadi only offers us (and her) sketchy bits
of information about what is going on.
We have to construct the narrative ourselves and often for a moment, we
might expect something different might happen than what actually does. This is great movie-making -- and the
anti-thesis of the Spielberg/Hitchcock suspense tradition in which everyone
sees the same heavily manipulated movie.
This is not to say that Farhadi doesn’t know exactly what he is doing –
like his colleagues Kiarostami and Panahi, he is playful but also uses cinema
to raise serious issues. The fireworks
of the title (before New Year’s) are seen at night in what must be a slice of
reality (filmed on the streets) but they are also symbolic of the couple’s
fiery relationship, which of course is fiction.
Hard to know whether the young bride’s dream of married life (and her
partner) are fiction or reality – but Farhadi seems to be giving her an
eye-opening.
The last time I watched Scorsese’s remake
of the Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs (2002), it was pretty soon after I’d
seen the original, which is also great.
In fact, at the time, I felt the HK film was stronger. But now, at a greater distance, I can see how
Scorsese has made this gritty undercover cops-and-robbers drama his own
(perhaps it is those Catholic church references). Although not perfect and sometimes
over-indulgent, the film is never less than engaging. Matt Damon is loathsome as the rat inside the
police and Leonardo is suitably wary as the cop inside the gang. Jack Nicholson plays the crime boss with his
usual grand relish. Marky Mark Wahlberg
has a showy bit part as a foul-mouthed staff sergeant and Alec Baldwin and
Martin Sheen are always good value. Vera
Farmiga handles a tricky role as the psychologist girlfriend well. There are a number of twists and
surprises. I haven’t seen all of
Scorsese’s more recent films but his use of music here is almost cliché (for
him) – we hear the Rolling Stones prominently.
But I recall that he intended this to be a b-picture (which is what he
said about Shutter Island too), so perhaps he is excused. In fact, the film doesn’t have much to say
but as an A version of a genre piece, it is pretty fun.
The Wind that Shakes the Barley (2006) -- K. Loach
Count on Ken Loach to
speak truth to power -- this is his major theme over the years, whether he is
depicting working class life in Britain more authentically or documenting the
legacy of colonialism for marginalized people around the world. Here, he focuses on the Irish fight for
independence from the UK (circa 1920-22) using it as an example of how a unified
front can be so difficult to maintain and how every action you take in the
fight may compromise either the self, the cause, one's kin or humanity. Characters do get into some political talk,
which is exhilerating in contrast to so many empty Hollywood movies. Of course,
nothing is simple and in effect this is really a two-hour trauma -- a full
fledged war film. Cillian Murphy is
great, the film won the Palme D'Or, but I wouldn't want to put myself through
it again. However, Loach wants us to
know that people are still struggling, despite our complacency.
My original (very
brief) review was as follows:
"Horrible, beautiful, pulsating, ugly". I stand by this but add the following: David Lynch made this by gluing together a
number of short films he made for other purposes (or for no express purpose)
and eventually the sum reached 180 minutes.
It isn't coherent but your mind, trained as it is, wants to make a
narrative out of the parts. You can't
make it work because Lynch uses "dream logic" but it is never dull
trying (although I'll admit it does grow long).
The intensity of experience (and Laura Dern's performance) is what is so
compelling here and there are allusions to the (much greater) Mulholland Dr,
given the framing story is set on a Hollywood set. But this is largely an
experimental film and no one should go into it expecting Twin Peaks. Inland Empire still stands as Lynch's last
feature and he may not make another.
Not having read the
novel, I was prepared for something more sci-fi (like Blade Runner) than this
psycho-sociological inquiry into drugs, societal control, and
self-consciousness (in the broadest sense). The wacked out animation (part live
model, part imagination) adds an ironic counterpoint to the theme of drug
problems. Multi-layered, with a twist, edgy, paranoid, and worth-seeing.
