tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-290259122024-03-05T10:05:25.503+05:30AINULINDALËFazilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09399827255619790326noreply@blogger.comBlogger313125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29025912.post-48854460924478126512014-03-01T09:28:00.001+05:302014-03-01T10:36:38.140+05:30Filth<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
The <i>Trainspotting </i>comparisons aren't unwarranted. <i>Filth </i>is adapted from <i>Trainspotting </i>author Irvine Welsh's novel by the same name. Welsh relishes in portraying characters that dwell in a miasma of skullduggery, depravity and obscenity; scum of society who are highly puerile and cynical, almost compulsively on the verge of becoming (or already full-fledged) junkies. He glorifies their satirical and putrid views on society from the protagonist's POV, and then proceed to strip the reason behind it all, layer by layer, until we see the person behind this facade of filth and realize they're indeed as human and vulnerable as we all are. Enter James McAvoy, fresh from his Danny Boyle treatment in <i>Trance</i>, which also sees him warping in and out of dimensions through mind-bending hypnosis, right into the snort-line-paved streets of Edinburgh, which he polices as Detective Sergeant Bruce Robertson.<br />
Now Bruce as a career guy is as ruthless as we all know backstabbing, ego-whoring, jealous, arse-hole-savoring work-colleagues. He lies, cheats, plants evidence, takes drugs, blackmails young women into having sex, makes obscene phone calls and uses every ruse he can in his bid to win promotion at work. We all have one such person in our work-lives whom we'd be happy to see rot inside a hole in the ground before he/she gains an upper hand in the less than congenial work-environment. Bruce as a human being seems even worse. He wallows in his pantomime-style villainy, always seeming to be tipping us the wink as he dreams up his next act of skullduggery, running amok unhindered and unimpeded with his charismatic body language and of course, his Sergeant badge. He takes such relish in his own bad behavior that we can’t help rooting for him. Only slowly do we become aware of how damaged the character really is. Robertson, we gradually learn, is a manic depressive whose glamorous, Gilda-like wife has long since abandoned him.<br />
It’s a measure of the strength of McAvoy’s acting that he is able to play Robertson as a larger-than-life Iago-type at the beginning of the film but then, later, to show his vulnerabilities and the extent of his self-deception. There is nothing comic at all about the sequences in which he roams the Edinburgh streets in drag or sits alone in his squalid home. Jon S Baird’s screenplay may chronicle his decline but it never lapses into sentimentality. Even at his most suicidal, Robertson isn’t asking for our sympathy.<br />
McAvoy, who has gained weight and grown a scrappy ginger beard for the role, is fearless in his rip-roaring awfulness, yet conveys just enough of the chaos inside Robertson to suggest that – buried somewhere very deep – there is a seam of moral understanding. His wife and daughter have left him; his mental health is disintegrating; and a childhood trauma has convinced him of his own essential worthlessness. He has a bad case of the madonna-whore complex, but when a sweet-faced madonna appears before him (in the shape of Joanne Froggatt), she cannot make much dent in the headlong narrative of despair.<br />
That <i>Filth </i>works is largely due to the fact that McAvoy is reversing the formula from Trance and Punch: there, we were asked to buy the good guy and take the possibility of the character’s darker moral shading on faith. Here, though, Robertson is so monstrous that the only way to get through it is to hope there is some glimmer of McAvoy’s usual humanity at the end of it, something Baird teases us with throughout. Around him, a great supporting cast has fun stretching the limits of realism: Eddie Marsan’s hilarious Clifford, a dim-witted mug we should feel sorry for but, somehow, don’t; Shirley Henderson as his mousy, secret goer of a wife; and Kate Dickie as Robertson’s bit-on-the-side, who enjoys a bit of “cutting the gas off”.<br />
It’s a hard momentum to maintain, juggling all manner of extremes and digressions, but Baird does corral this berserk carnival into a cohesive narrative. As Robertson’s cool, calm amorality crosses the line into full-blown madness, only the strait-laced Amanda Drummond (Imogen Poots) sees what’s really going on, and he knows it, driving the misogynistic, domineering cop crazy. The final reveal brings us full circle, and though the pay-off might be tough for some to swallow, it is certainly in keeping with a film that sets out to be larger than life from the off.<br />
The director, Jon Baird, has a knack for catching the visual grotesquery of hedonism without extinguishing its nauseous exhilaration: he leads the audience through scenes of rage-fuelled sex and desperate substance abuse like the implacable organiser of a particularly debauched, unhappy stag night. Indeed, there’s a peculiar extremism to Scottish self-destruction, faithfully documented by Welsh, perhaps because it has to work so hard to drown out the vocal little Puritan lurking in the Scottish psyche.<br />
The central performance works superbly but the film around it doesn’t, quite: its wider landscape doesn’t convince in the way that the one in <i>Trainspotting </i>did. Even allowing for the hectic stylistic stunts – the crazy psychiatrist, the visions of pigs and tapeworms – there is something off-kilter about its structure and tone. <i>Filth </i>often gets bogged down in its yearning to shock, letting the plot slide away, and its criminal villains feel weirdly under-drawn next to Robertson.<br />
In the face of common opinion that it simply wouldn't work, and after years of development, <i>Filth</i> turns out to be a near masterpiece, whose recognition as such is only made less likely by the inevitable comparison with <i>Trainspotting</i>. It is a ballsy adaption of a hugely admired novel, as unpredictable as its central character and charged with the vitriolic energy of the author's writing. A well balanced juggling act of tones; in lesser hands this would have been a mess! It is not always a pleasant watch, but like the central character, it finds its way to a strange, engaging and even rather emotional resolution. Whilst there is likely to be a good forty percent of casual viewers who are left completely cold, the remaining will see a successful, proudly Scottish film that is by turns dark, shocking, comical and moving, which also goes out on an incredibly catchy and surprisingly fitting 70's hit! And do watch out for Clint Mansell's cover of Radiohead's Creep syncing to the film's most darkest point.</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://kmfazil.blogspot.com</div>Fazilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09399827255619790326noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29025912.post-41921884556514328652014-02-27T08:53:00.000+05:302014-02-27T09:07:09.190+05:30Philomena<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
The story of the Magdalene laundries is not exactly a chapter of Irish history that anyone wants to hang on a wall. For more than 200 years, the Magdalene laundries were an asylum engineered to incarcerate young girls who were either promiscuous or prostitutes or the victims of rape. It was little more than a sweatshop in which the girls were forced into hard labor – usually doing laundry - for a certain term and were regarded like inmates. These asylums were sanctioned by the Catholic Church, operated by nuns and privately funded by the government. Many girls were guilty of nothing. Some were pregnant and had children and were only allowed to see their children for an hour a day. Even still, a child could be adopted and sent away without the mother's knowledge or consent. You should know that this is not a story out of The Dark Ages. In fact, the very last of the Magdalene Laundries closed its doors in 1996.<br />
Don't panic, though. Stephen Frear's film <i>Philomena </i>is not an expose of the Magdalene laundries. That story has already been told in Peter Mullan's hard-bitten 2003 drama The Magdalene Sisters. They do, however, serve as a backdrop to the story of one person whose life was affected, for better and for worse, by her time locked away behind the walls of the laundries.<br />
<i>Philomena </i>tells the story of <i>Philomena </i>Lee, an Irish catholic woman who spent most of her life regretting one fateful event that never left her heart. A half century ago <i>Philomena </i>made a mistake, the consequences of which have haunted her ever since. Back in 1951, she was a teenager. She went to a carnival. She met a boy. Things got serious. Nine months later she was living in Sean Ross Abbey in Roscrea where she gave birth to a son she named Anthony. Later, she was forced to stand by helplessly as her son was adopted by an American couple. <i>Philomena</i>, a devout Catholic, believed that her separation from her son was penance for her sin. Yet, it is something that she has never come to terms with. Half a century later, her sad eyes are a window into painful memories and regret.<br />
<i>Philomena</i>, played in a lovely performance by Judi Dench, wants to know what ever happened to her son, and finds herself in the company of an out-of-work BBC reporter named Martin Sixsmith (Steve Coogan, who co-wrote the film) who, at first, sees the old girl's story as a sellable human interest piece. Anyone with eyes can see that she is much more than just a sound bite. She's warm-hearted, a bit naïve, with a stubborn resolve, yet she's not a standard crabby old bat. She's a cozy soul with a twee Irish accent and too often the perpetrator of TMI.<br />
At first, Martin is purely professional, but as the deep wounds of <i>Philomena's </i>story unearth, he finds himself taking it personally. He is at odds with her passionate faith, because he himself is a newly-minted atheist. He labels himself confidently, but we sense that he hasn't completely rid himself of all doubts. The two are not on equal ground. Martin's mind is a flurry of intellectual cynicism. He's a college-educated journalist who seems to have a quip, an aside, and an answer for just about everything. <i>Philomena</i>, meanwhile, is earnest and straightforward. She sees the world in terms that are purely black and white.<br />
The search for <i>Philomena's </i>son becomes an awakening for both she and Martin. Travelling from rural Ireland to England and to American, the two dig up bits and pieces about Anthony, some of which are a relief, others are painful. What she finds will not be revealed here, except to say that it is not what we expect. Little by little, bit by bit, information about her son comes to light; yet, all <i>Philomena </i>really wants to know is if he ever wondered about her.<br />
What is interesting about <i>Philomena </i>is that this is not a hard, maudlin melodrama. Frears allows a good deal of humor, especially in regards to <i>Philomena's </i>awakening to the rude shocks of the modern world. She's surprisingly calm, especially in her attitude about the sexual encounter that produced her son.<br />
Judi Dench, whose presence in a film is welcomed no matter what she's doing, gives one of her best performances as a woman whose eyes betray a weary heart. Through the years, her missing child has never left her mind or her heart, yet the experience hasn't destroyed her spirit. She is a woman devoted to God, un-embittered by her experience that keeps her mind on the task and won't allow herself to be pushed into outbursts of emotion.<br />
The outbursts are reserved for her travelling companion. Martin reacts more or less the way we would. He's outraged by what he learns about <i>Philomena's </i>experience. He's a man who has slipped away from God in the cold of a brutal world (remember, he's a journalist) and he can't understand her unbending faith. You expect a film that is emotional, but you don't expect one that brings in questions of faith and the meaning of God. During one roadside rant about the meaning of God, he asks her if she really believes all that she claims, and he is stunned by her straightforward, "Yes." <i>Philomena </i>is a very moving film. It is touching when it needs to be, humorous when it's appropriate and comes to an ending that never feels like a manipulation. If there is one weakness it is probably that it leaves several questions unanswered. Those are difficult to discuss without spoilers, but you walk out in deep discussions over some of the issues it raises. This is a beautiful film about the chasms of time, the measure of lingering heartache and the manner in which old wound are dealt with.</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://kmfazil.blogspot.com</div>Fazilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09399827255619790326noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29025912.post-38944189292998865152014-02-21T09:03:00.002+05:302014-02-21T09:03:40.395+05:30All is Lost<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Talk about making a huge leap forward in your filmmaking
abilities; J.C. Chandor can rest easy knowing he demonstrated the directorial
style of a pro in his survival film <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">All
is Lost</i> starring Robert Redford. Debuting today at the New York Film
Festival, you can tell that many critics were simply captivated by what they
were witnessing on-screen. An almost 40-page script and a team of amazing
technical magicians encapsulate the awe and wonder of the upcoming Lionsgate
feature.<br />
The synopsis is pretty straight forward; a man is out in sea when finds himself
fighting mother nature and his own psyche to survive out in the Indian Ocean.<br />
Writer and director J.C. Chandor assembles a man without revealing any back
story that the audience can latch onto. We spend a lot of time with "Our
Man" - as he's named by end credits. It's a brilliant constructed
character study focusing on human behavior. There have been plenty of survival
films to screen this year showing the different perspectives that human beings
take when faced with their own extinction. "Captain Phillips" has Tom
Hanks react when another soul threatens that life while Sandra Bullock relies
on her own instinct and brains in "Gravity." Redford envelops the
body of a man who is surrounded by his own thoughts. Alone in the ocean, he
utilizes tools provided by his boat as well as life experience. There are no
asides or soliloquies for the audience to in tune themselves with the
narrative. We rely on our senses. Chandor has an admirable aesthetic for
telling his stories. Unafraid to get up close and personal with our main
character and to observe the angles from the boat, air, and sea, I was
mesmerized nearly the entire time.<br />
At 77, Robert Redford gives a grueling, unrelenting performance that greatly
relies on his facial expressions, body language and physical stamina that
belies his age, mostly because he chooses neither to talk to himself, nor does
the script allow him to even think aloud. In an already illustrative career<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, All Is Lost</i> ranks along Mr. Redford's best
ever. Only he could've tapped into the epitome of the human spirit, to bring in
some quiet dignity to the role. <br />
Frank G. DeMarco and Peter Zuccarini, dual cinematographers, gather gorgeous
imagery especially those captured from beneath the ocean's surface. In our
violent moments when nature shows her true aggression, the two find the
pleasant bearings of Redford's dread. <br />
As it would be expected in a film with no dialogue, the sound design becomes
the forefront and star. Rain and ocean rush across the screen and speakers to
place us right in the moment. A fierce intensity boils to the brim when the
sound really takes off. <br />
The film tends to be bloated a bit. At 106 minutes, a cut down to perhaps 90
might have tightened up some of the scenes and give a more clear and fluid
cinematic experience. Trust that when the movie does take off, the Visual
Effects team needs to be commended. It's not as simple as sitting in a life
raft and watching the rain fall; in many ways, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">All is Lost</i> acts as an independent action thriller with a strong
narrative device, something we don't see too often. The music of Alex Ebert
certainly helps and acts a strong companion piece to the sound work. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">All is Lost</i> is one of the more pleasing
and emotionally satisfying dramas of the year that had me at the edge of my
seat. There are many that could see it as a guy just having a really bad week,
or one of the few cinematic endeavors of the year that exemplifies the
vulnerable parts of soul. If you're looking for a quality Oscar contender for
2013, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">All is Lost</i> will offer you a
delectable helping with all the trimmings.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<cite class="vurls">Thanks: www.awardscircuit.com</cite> </div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://kmfazil.blogspot.com</div>Fazilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09399827255619790326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29025912.post-49148647768278832322013-09-28T12:30:00.002+05:302013-09-28T12:34:29.070+05:30The Consequnces of Love<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aWwnjJNN8D0/UkZ_Tjpkk8I/AAAAAAAAJf4/vcna_JDrycQ/s1600/04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aWwnjJNN8D0/UkZ_Tjpkk8I/AAAAAAAAJf4/vcna_JDrycQ/s1600/04.jpg" /></a></div>
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<br />
As Titta (Toni Servillo) watches impassively through the window of
his hotel room, a suited man in the traffic island below, distracted by
the sight of a passing woman, walks smack bang into a lamppost. With
simple economy, this scene near the beginning of Paolo Sorrentino's The
Consequences Of Love (Le Conseguenze dell'Amore) establishes several key
features of the film, for it encapsulates Titta's status as an aloof
observer, cocooned from the "street level" of everyday human affairs, as
well as affording an early glimpse of the catastrophic disorder that
desire can bring.<br />
There is no room in Titta's life for disorder. Neat and fastidious,
with a greyly lugubrious air, he has lived a quiet exile in the same
Swiss hotel for eight long years, estranged from his wife and children
in the south of Italy, rarely talking to anybody, or venturing out,
resolutely ignoring the civilities of bartender Sofia (Olivia Magnani),
occasionally playing cards with a once-wealthy couple (Raffaele Pisu,
Angela Goodwin), who have fallen on hard times, and always paying his
expenses with perfect punctuality. It is a life dominated by clockwork
routine, in which nothing out of the ordinary ever happens and the
future already seems set in concrete. Even if the hotel manager wonders
what his permanent guest actually does for a living, Titta is a master
at guarding his secrets to the grave. Until, that is, he plunges feet
first into a romance with Sofia and nothing can ever be the same again.<br />
From the start, Titta's evasive taciturnity makes him an enigmatic
figure, so that viewers are immediately drawn into the other characters'
curiosity about his person and circumstances. Sorrentino has crafted an
assured mystery, first focusing on the minute details of Titta's
strange entombment in the hotel, isolated, bored, and unable even to
sleep, before slowly importing thriller elements, with some deft twists
and, ultimately, life-or-death suspense. Yet what gives the film its
dramatic power is that the criminal plot, which eventually emerges, is
as understated as the central character, and so complements, rather than
displaces, the very human story of Titta's living death, sentenced to
stay in a place of transit and wait in silence.<br />
Servillo, who also starred in Sorrentino's previous films, L'Uomo In Più
(2001) and Il Divo (2008) offers a performance of perfectly controlled containment,
setting the tone of cool, sterile surfaces, shrilling underneath with
nervous tension. Shot mostly within the hermetic confines of the hotel,
The Consequences Of Love gives Titta's claustrophobia and alienation a
vividness that is only enhanced by cinematographer Luca Bigazzi's
vertiginous camera angles and Pasquale Catalano's disorienting triphop
soundtrack. For in the end, as in the beginning, Titta is a prisoner,
fixed in place and unable to escape, his only small consolation being
his faith, unwavering, if highly questionable, in his fellow man.<br />
This is a tense, tragic portrait of a life suspended. Simply unmissable.</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://kmfazil.blogspot.com</div>Fazilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09399827255619790326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29025912.post-24830860100765987892013-09-28T11:58:00.001+05:302013-09-28T12:35:40.895+05:30Only God Forgives<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-E5HEs6ZyAz8/UkZ_tliPmvI/AAAAAAAAJf8/YxWsy3UILQk/s1600/OGF.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-E5HEs6ZyAz8/UkZ_tliPmvI/AAAAAAAAJf8/YxWsy3UILQk/s1600/OGF.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
"One of the worst films ever" was one response heard upon leaving the
multiplex. "Almost the worst film I've ever seen," said another critic
on radio; the thing is, that was followed up with, "second only to
Inland Empire". Perhaps this says something for the lack of truly awful
films the person has actually seen, but if you are familiar with the
reference to the Lynch directed masterpiece, or in fact David Lynch at
all, you are already most of the way towards knowing whether you can
sit through the hour and a half that is 'Only God Forgives'.<br />
Nicolas Winding Refn's second collaboration with Ryan Gosling was not
going to be a Gosling film at all; it was only due to the dropping out
of a fairly unknown British actor, for a role in 'The Hobbit', and
Gosling's desire to help his best buddy director, that lead to where we
are now. Where are we? We have an art house film that was hated at the
Cannes Film Festival, and which would have most likely bypassed most
casual cinema goers had it not been for the big name, actually drawing
in crowds of excited but naive Gosling fans, and curious but naive
passers-by, on a trip out for their weekend's entertainment. Sadly for
them, 'The Notebook' this is not.<br />
Remove 'Drive' from Refn's catalogue and 'Only God Forgives' sits as a
steady continuation of his vision; 'Drive' is in fact the most
accessible and "Hollywood" the man has ever gone, or may likely ever
go. Sadly for many who do not know of the 'Pusher' trilogy, 'Bronson',
'Fear X' or 'Valhala Rising', it makes for high expectations ripe for
the shattering! Forget any comparison with 'Drive'; the film features
Gosling, who again says very little, features explosions of violence
and looks absolutely gorgeous. That is about all the two films have in
common. The story, as far as it is one, is of Julian, who runs a muay
thai boxing club as a cover for more shady dealings. His older brother
does something awful and vengeance is visited upon him; this prompts
the devil of the piece, Julian's poisonous mother, played by Kristen
Scott Thomas as you have never seen, to fly in and order Julian avenge
his brother's demise. Julian cannot do this, and so follows the tripped
out dream-scape that seems to be a vague effort at a revenge tale, a
spiritual journey which serves as an exploration of the futility of
vengeance, the battle between forces of good and evil, the damage of
guilt, self-loathing, the need for forgiveness and redemption, the
Oedipal complex of a man broken and owned by his mother, and shattered
masculinity, all delivered with shadows of Shakespeare in the
background.<br />
The top of the list of great things about this film is the
cinematography; you can DESPISE this, and still need to concede that we
are unlikely to see a film whose framing, lighting and textures are
more terribly seductive. Larry Smith shot 'Eyes Wide Shut' with Stanley
Kubrick, and has worked with Refn twice previously; based on the
evidence, it is fair to say Refn has found his partner, just as Chris
Nolan had with Wally Pfister. Next up, the sound editing and Cliff
Martinez's score rumble, grind and push at the edges of the piece.
Martinez previously worked with Refn on 'Drive', but again, there is
little comparison. The performances are all very good, but it should be
noted, and this is meant absolutely sincerely, it could be easy to
watch this with the wrong mindset. These people are not characters,
they are archetypes; do not expect standard characterisation.<br />
Now, the violence! For all the uproar about how full-on this movie is,
it is quite clear this criticism comes from people whose high water
mark for extremity is 'Saw'. I should note, this is not a complaint; in
fact, I rather admire the technique of always cutting away, or shooting
the violent scenes in such a way that we, the audience, aren't
completely privy to the retribution. Even if a belief that this ties in
with a theme of the film is incorrect, it is still safe to assume that
it was Refn's intention to defy our expectation of what we are going to
see every time. This does, however, lead me to say that the violence is
tame. Yes, it is extremely stylish, but I have seen more raw and
disturbing violence in Scorsese's pictures than in this one.<br />
In many areas admirable for its Kubrick-standard perfection, but
admittedly tiring, this is a film that will find its most loyal
audience in the art house crowd. If you only watch films for a standard
western approach, an entertaining story, with a clear through-line and
plot, characters with traditional arcs and actors giving
dialogue-driven performances, then avoid at ALL costs! If you grasp the
idea that a film can be something else, an expression like a Salvador
Dali painting, in which every image, gesture and moment can be
considered key to your understanding of what's going on, deepening your
analysis of the film, then this is worth your attention, as it does
have a lot going on that cannot be absorbed in one sitting. That does
not mean you will love it; despite a dedication to Alejandro Jodorowsky
, Refn lacks the man's mastery of this sort of visual poetry. You will,
however, be hard pushed to find a more strange and challenging film in
the main stream for some time! Overall, this is not a scratch on Refn's
best work, but it is worth giving him, and all involved, a round of
applause for truly going all out to shake us out of what I will call
"cinematic apathy".<br />
Now and then we need a film like this, whether we like it or not!
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://kmfazil.blogspot.com</div>Fazilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09399827255619790326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29025912.post-34950435527281702412013-08-11T13:13:00.000+05:302013-08-11T13:17:01.824+05:30The Imposter<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mTMZFIIOjO0/UgdAWte_GpI/AAAAAAAAJds/0Wu3I-g_fas/s1600/imposter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mTMZFIIOjO0/UgdAWte_GpI/AAAAAAAAJds/0Wu3I-g_fas/s1600/imposter.jpg" /></a></div>
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Considered a dead-cert win at the Academy Awards next year,
Bart Layton's documentary <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Imposter</i>
has rapidly generated a great deal of notoriety and acclaim. The quintessential
'stranger than fiction' tale, it's sensational blend of archive footage,
delicate reconstructions and heartrending talking head interviews illustrate
that, not only is Layton a masterful, investigative reporter, but moreover a
profoundly impressive storyteller.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Back in 1994, the blue-collar Barclay family from San
Antonio, Texas, was left distraught after the disappearance of their
13-year-old son, Nicholas. Like any teenage boy, Nicholas was a cocksure kid,
filled with energy, love for his family, and certainly wouldn't run away from
home for no good reason. Weeks turned into months, and eventually the case was
abandoned by the police and press. Three years later, the local Texas police
department receives an international call from Spain. On the receiving end is a
character claiming to be Nicholas. Putting in a bogus story about how he
escaped the clutches of a drug fuelled, pedophilic organization, the police
think his story check out, and soon enough Nicholas' sister Carey jets over to
Europe to meet her long lost brother. In front of police officials, she takes a
good look and identifies him as the legitimate lost brother. Three years ago,
Nicholas was a blue-eyed, spunky American teenager, now he's transformed into a
dark haired, brown-eyed man with stubble and an irreplaceable French accent.</div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Imposter</i>, like
its central subject, is not the documentary you expect it to be. With many
twists, contortions and moral judgments, you’re pretty much open-mouth and on
the edge of your seat throughout the film's entirety. That's partly down to
Layton's craft, particularly the Errol Morris-like interviewing technique –
which sees people gaze directly into the lens of the camera and, vicariously,
straight at us. But, even more astounding, is the capricious performer that
names the film. Frédéric Bourdin, a then 23-year-old man of French-Algerian
descent, is actively impersonating Nicholas the whole time, convincing not only
the state officials, but the abandoned boy's own mother. With a shrouded
history as a homeless orphan thrown into the life of deception and petty crime,
he longed to fit in and have a family of his own. When that opportunity didn't
surface, he decided to steal Nicholas's own.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"How could he get away with it?" I hear you cry.
That's something I'll leave for you to answer when you see this documentary.
Suffice to say, Bourdin is an intimidating, convincing, intelligent and
charismatic figure. To the point where we sit back and reflect whether we ourselves
could have been swung by his quick wit throughout the length of the interview.
Even if Bourdin is the great pretender, a new revelation in the film's final
act suggests that the Barclay family in turn, is perhaps keeping up appearances
of their own too.</div>
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It may not be my favorite documentary of the year, but <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Imposter</i> is the best psychological
thriller I've seen in recent memory. It transcends the documentary stratum. A
dauntingly universal account of a missing child and false identity, its
stupefying moments will leave you silenced whilst the movie plays out. But, as
soon as the credits roll, you'll be talking about this exceptional movie for
years to come.</div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://kmfazil.blogspot.com</div>Fazilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09399827255619790326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29025912.post-36916399740431944402013-08-11T13:11:00.001+05:302013-08-11T13:11:38.428+05:30A Hijacking<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9_LazOQFogo/Ugc_r9lIg9I/AAAAAAAAJdk/Z_alpiGc7y4/s1600/Kapringen_5_credit_Magnus%2520Nordenhof%2520J%C3%B8nck%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9_LazOQFogo/Ugc_r9lIg9I/AAAAAAAAJdk/Z_alpiGc7y4/s1600/Kapringen_5_credit_Magnus%2520Nordenhof%2520J%C3%B8nck%5B1%5D.jpg" /></a>For his second directorial feature, Tobias Lindholm
(co-writer of <a href="http://kmfazil.blogspot.in/2013/05/the-hunt.html" target="_blank"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Hunt</i></a>) delivers the
kind of indifferent, matter-of-fact realism not experienced since the early
days of Dogme 95. And because it cuts through all the fluff and artifice that
has invaded commercial films without compromising momentum as a situationist
thriller, one must concede that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A
Hijacking</i> has upped the ante on Danish rebellion against the Hollywood
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The refusal to include actual scenes of the hijacking in a
film specifically titled "A Hijacking" is no accident.</div>
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A cargo ship MV Rozen is hijacked by Somali pirates in the
Indian Ocean. Among the eight men crew taken hostage is Mikkel (Pilou Asbæk),
the ship's cook. A translator for the pirates issues demand for $15 million in
exchange for release. But back in Copenhagen, CEO of the shipping company Peter
(Søren Malling) learns that gaining the upper hand demands patience. And so
negotiations play out in silence like a sociopathic Fischer-Spassky game: cold,
calculated, unyielding.</div>
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I can't think of any movie in which I have wanted so much to
resist and cease watching, yet fail to do so because it has a quality so raw,
unsympathetic and intuitive. In keeping with Lindholm's debut feature, an unforgiving
prison drama (“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">R</i>”); <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A Hijacking</i> is filmed on location, in
chronological sequence and on board a sea freighter that was hijacked in the
Indian ocean. Casting also features a real life hostage negotiator as the central
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Arguably, mechanical reproduction of genuine conditions
doesn't guarantee a convincing film but in this case, it does — <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A Hijacking</i> looks so suitably stained
with normality that one instantly recognizes the absence of gimmicky
aesthetics. Unmanipulated, you resonate with the film's fabric of reality while
searching for something more, and in the process, gain access into
psychological domains that underpin both Peter and Mikkel.</div>
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It's not for nothing that Lindholm went through great
lengths to replicate an uncomfortable, pressing scenario because the film
offers reflection on an overlooked form of terrorism. Corporations may be
showing it to employees as a resource on how to respond during such crises, but
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A Hijacking</i>’s master stroke — is the
revelation of an impasse between the moral versus the practical. There is no
payoff at the end of this film, it is one the most sophisticated vérités I have
seen, the meta-argument leaves you deliberating, and the film takes off like a
thinker on paradox.</div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://kmfazil.blogspot.com</div>Fazilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09399827255619790326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29025912.post-6135528047170157612013-08-11T13:08:00.002+05:302013-08-11T13:08:55.985+05:30Mud<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Living from the river. Life is hard but the people are
hard-working, honest and resourceful. If Mark Twain was writing now, and had
not been seduced into doing graphic novels, these are the people he would be
writing about. In fact, this film does homage to Mark Twain; Huckleberry Finn
was based on a childhood friend of Mark Twain's called Tom Blankenship, the
name of a character in this film. This film then, essentially, is a modern
up-date of that genre.</div>
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The two boys are played superbly by Ty Sheridan and Jacob
Lofland. Their characters are fourteen-years old, hardened and matured by their
environment. The two actors seem believable and natural in their roles. Chris
Pine was originally considered for the role of the mysterious stranger, and
with his blue eyes and young looks, he would have looked attractive and
charismatic as he encountered the boys. I bet he wishes he had been in this
well-scripted film. However Pine's loss is Matthew McConaughey's gain. Robinson
Crusoe was never like this. I doubt if Pine could play this as well as
McConaughey, who lives this role. Actor? This guy looks like he has done
nothing, but, live on the river, all his life. You totally believe he is living
on this island. If there was a Best Eating Baked Beans Oscar, he would get it!
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McConaughey and the two boys, but of all the supporting actors too. At first
you are unsure who is who in the families. They seem a little cold but as the
film progresses the characters develop. All are believable. The female roles,
there are three, are all strong and well developed. The lovely Reese
Witherspoon, star of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Legally Blonde</i>,
like Sharon Stone in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Casino</i>, shows
here that she can play a gritty role. Youngest actress, Bonnie Sturdivant, like
the boys, got it just right. Older actors too were great; Sam Shepard, who
played his role with some depth, and it was good to see Joe Don Baker in a
small role.</div>
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laconic home-spun philosophy, will also be said.</div>
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river is filmed lovingly, so too the way of life. The film is homage to the
life and the river. However while we see beautiful scenes of the river, we see
too the grittier scenes of urban decay and dereliction and waste. All filmed brilliantly.</div>
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it is unclear what will be resolved. Friendship, family, life and death, love
and violence are all explored. The adult themes are not hidden. The boys have
to try figure out the truth and act accordingly. The film is very much seen
through their eyes. However we do see a little bit more than the boys see. What
is the truth? What to do? The truth is not very clear, clear as mud, perhaps.
No real judgment is made about the truth, or the characters, or their
decisions. Their lives are too rich and complex for that sort of simplistic
verdict.</div>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://kmfazil.blogspot.com</div>Fazilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09399827255619790326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29025912.post-82645032300126399132013-07-28T12:21:00.002+05:302013-07-28T12:21:50.622+05:30Before Midnight<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-faAyacELu7o/UfS-_nXWC_I/AAAAAAAAJc0/lzc1TUbS0lw/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-faAyacELu7o/UfS-_nXWC_I/AAAAAAAAJc0/lzc1TUbS0lw/s1600/1.jpg" /></a></div>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jesse, Céline and Linklater are a different sort of breed,
when they work together. They invented cinematic magic in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Before Sunrise</i>, reveled in the afterglow and made it more beautiful
in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Before</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sunset</i>, and have now matured into a great team in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Before</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Midnight.</i> Each of these films have a gap of exactly nine years
(1995, 2004 and 2013). So in a practical sense, the characters have aged along
with us, in real-time. Never did I expect an already beautiful story to get
better than the first two movies combined. Both the first two films ended in
brilliant, ambiguous situations that left us with bi-polar answers to a single
question. One seemed practical. Another stemmed from within heart. Either way,
team <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Before..</i> succeeded each time (and
have done it yet again) in one of the most accurate and authentic portrayals of
love since Michel Gondry gave us <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Eternal
Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.</i></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--3e804xLTjU/UfS_SNsOYCI/AAAAAAAAJc8/nglEyKgGy6s/s1600/B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--3e804xLTjU/UfS_SNsOYCI/AAAAAAAAJc8/nglEyKgGy6s/s1600/B2.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hawke and Delpy in Before Sunset (2004) and Before Sunrise (1995)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The film is an absolute marvel, showcasing the very best
dialogue and capturing the sheer essence of acting brilliance from stars Ethan
Hawke and Julie Delpy. Director Richard Linklater has also created the crowning
work of his directorial career, showing incredible restraint and focus on two
characters that still feel just as new and fresh as the day we met them. The
film opens with a near fifteen minute take that gets its hook into you and
never lets up. It's a cinematic sensation.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The writing is astounding. Sharp, intelligent, biting,
humorous, with staggering subtext, but most importantly, it feels real. If the
screenplay doesn't get an Oscar nomination it would be a shame.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Midnight</i> takes
place nine years after the events of Sunset. Jesse and Céline are still
together and have managed to have twin girls, Nina and Ella, and are living in
Europe. The film takes place at the tail end of a six-week vacation in Greece
where Jesse has just dropped off his thirteen-year-old son Hank, from his
previous marriage, at the airport for his return back to Chicago. Realizing
that he's missing the formative years of Hank's teenage life, Jesse and Céline
explore the option of possibly making a move to America, leaving opportunities
and a life in Europe behind.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The acting is flawless, and so is the writing. The movie
could so easily have become nothing more than two privileged white people moaning
about their white person problems, but it instead gets right at the heart of
what makes simple day-to-day living, even when nothing major is wrong with your
life and even when you can admit that to yourself, so difficult. Before
Midnight is very sincere in that it openly discusses lots of interesting things
and everyday problems. It actually consists of couple major dialogues that
clearly expose whole spirit of plot. There is a dining scene where characters
discuss their first sexual intercourse or just their sex lives and I was
surprised how precise, natural and nice each word was. It did not
"scream" as it happens in most of films. Each and every other
dialogue was a masterpiece, very quiet, peaceful and calmly emotional. The last
scene in the bedroom which actually last half an hour, just runs very quickly
because of beautifully written script (which Hawke and Delpy co-wrote), the
poster child for screen writing and brilliant storytelling for years to come.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Ethan Hawke is an actor that never quite caught onto the
awards circuit for some odd reason. Nominated for his performance alongside
Denzel Washington in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Training Day</i>,
Hawke has shown tremendous range throughout his career including missed
opportunities for recognition in Sidney Lumet's <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Before the Devil Knows You're Dead</i>. As Jesse this time around,
Hawke uses every ounce of magnetism, charisma, and acting ability to bring
himself to the levels of legendary actors like Daniel Day-Lewis and Marlon
Brando. He becomes a man all too familiar to the male viewer and ignites the
film into a spectacular frenzy of passion. Hawke isn't afraid to show the inner
turmoil of Jesse as the growing cancer of guilt has come to the surface. He
works moment after moment in expressing the bewildering beauty of love at the expense
of one's own values and sacrifice. He's almost the distant, and utterly toned
down, cousin of Freddie Quell from Paul Thomas Anderson's <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Master</i>, a man so complex but inserted with terrific character
beats and an actor willing to commit entirely to the craft to portray him
flawlessly. Hawke surpasses not only his past features but the very being of
himself as an actor. It's his finest turn yet.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Julie Delpy is as imaginative and magnetic as ever. She's a
wonderful presence, often a very skillful example of acting on the finest
level. She executes the pure feelings of uncertainty in conjuncture with the
script which is a clear and marvelous character study on love. She's wildly
immersed into Céline, accomplishing not only a somewhat free- spirited damaged
woman but a sex appeal that triggers any person's romantic desires. She's an
effortless existence in the film, which makes Céline not only explicitly real,
but tenderly and mysteriously loving for the viewer. It's a performance that
defines her abilities as an actress and one that will be remembered fifty years
from now as we all think back on the amazement of Julie Delpy.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The film is breathtakingly accurate and precise in capturing
the love and relationship of couples, it will and should be studied by film
schools and writers for years to come. Linklater bares his soul, frame after
frame, showing confidence of his own idiosyncratic vision of this story and
being as accessible to even the youngest of people. This is Linklater's most
personal tribute to the scope of cinema and will be his defining moment on the
silver screen. The film is a must-see and is the first masterpiece that 2013
has to offer. Before Midnight is an instant Oscar-contender and a triumph in
filmmaking.</div>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://kmfazil.blogspot.com</div>Fazilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09399827255619790326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29025912.post-47063949238156764672013-07-28T11:18:00.001+05:302022-03-23T12:16:53.038+05:30Trance<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqGso6Tr_y8rYKsX9SqN0fZoH8tNu528LzhdZpJKqslw8tiQ1K0WrbstXz6nRsHZeCiV0FK1_cZ8Hl1MYKsDhfL72B-azxlslle6TSXhOk_Te0ShUAFr45kqgzobV6SFRaU0F8/s1600/1648018005382534-0.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqGso6Tr_y8rYKsX9SqN0fZoH8tNu528LzhdZpJKqslw8tiQ1K0WrbstXz6nRsHZeCiV0FK1_cZ8Hl1MYKsDhfL72B-azxlslle6TSXhOk_Te0ShUAFr45kqgzobV6SFRaU0F8/s1600/1648018005382534-0.png" width="400">
</a>
</div><br>
<div style="text-align: left;">
It's probably considered treason by now to criticize Danny Boyle. The man is a national hero today after he brought home the Best Picture Oscar after nearly 10 years (I wouldn't count Shakespeare in Love before I crap in my pants) went on to direct the 2012 Olympic Games ceremonies, made the Queen of England paraglide (well, apparently) in front of the whole world before politely declining a knighthood from her Majesty for the love of being a common englishman who simply happens to love his country so much. And for a film director of such caliber, Mr. Boyle, has carved a niche of reputation for himself, right where legends like Quentin Tarantino, Christopher Nolan, David Lynch, Steven Soderbergh and Steven Spielberg are at the top of their games, in their own unique styles. He broke ground with a murder mystery, a trippy rabbit-hole through the muck of Edinburg's drug scene, went ahead to experiment with a wayward retrospection that leads to a hidden Beach, redefined the Zombie genre with an epidemic-survival guide, a fable of innocence, a space-mission adventure, a Bollywood love-story and a critically acclaimed true story about survival in the Utah plains. With <i>Trance</i>, he now takes on a Bank Heist. Through the viewpoint of a hypnotherapist. Who's hypnotized Simon, an art-house auctioneer. Who's in cahoots in an art-house heist. Who has um.. well lost his fucking mind. And to fully understand Trance, you really MUST lose your mind. Here's why.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
To continue, the art-house heist goes wrong. The thieves plan the robbery of a multi-million-pound worth paining by Spanish romantic painter Francisco Goya (Witches in the Air), but manage to get away nothing but a bronze frame, thanks to Simon, who's apparently devised a plan of his own, to deceive the gang single-handedly, but not before getting shotgun-walloped on the head by their leader Franck (Vincent Cassel). Simon drifts into a coma, losing his mind and with it, his memory of what he did with the still-missing painting. No amount of torture seems to revive his damned amnesia. Desperate for solution, Franck draws help from Elizabeth Lamb, a seemingly talented hypnotherapist, who immediately senses something is amiss with her patient, and decides to help him out. Things seem so straightforward and simple at first, even during Simon's initial hypnosis. All that had to be done was to reach inside his mind and retrieve the memory. Simple, right?</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Actually, no. If you're willing to do some serious retrospection, a LOT of questions would instantly arise. Why would Elizabeth lamb, (seemingly adept at her profession) agree to help a bunch of goons retrieve their loot? Is retrieving a memory from within amnesia really that easy? Did Simon really steal the painting? Or did someone else do it? Slowly you realize there's a lot going on behind the story that you have no clue about. Franck isn't just another petty art thief. Lamb actually knew who Simon was, even before he came to her for professional help. They even seem to share a history. The more that is revealed, the more contrived the plot becomes. Stretched beyond imagination, through loops and knots, only a lengthy explanation seems capable of clearing the fog.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
As expected, Trance has all the visual flair you want from a Danny Boyle
film, with all the cross cutting between flashbacks and the present
time and Boyle does gets to play around with the dreamscape. Trance
also serves as a great example of how a music score can amplify the
action on the screen, being a fast and pumping when the action picks up
to being calm and tranquil for the hypnotist sequences. Boyle does get
to audience absorbed into his dream worlds with his use lens flare,
camera movement and music.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Trance is similar to other thrillers like Memento and The Machinist,
twisting and turning constantly. Boyle starts the film as a heist flick
and then slowly turns the genre gears and turns the film into a
psychological thriller. Like Christopher Nolan, Boyle and his writers
set out to explore themes of memories, relationships, manipulation and
trust and it was done to an expect level. Throughout the film, it
changes courses constantly, leaving to the audience guessing: but Boyle
and the writers do leave some clues about the eventual ending and I am
sure there's more to the film, during a second viewing.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The characters themselves are also enigmas, as their motivations change
and we get to see more pieces of the puzzle. Simon starts off as a
victim but as the film progresses, we see his dark and twisted side and
McAvoy effectively brings this out of his character. He was much better
fitted for this role, than his recent action anti-hero role in Welcome
to the Punch. On a whole, the characters are generally unsympathetic
and the film constantly shifts both its focus and who the audience
should root for. But added to the film's theme of who we are meant to
trust as relationships, the motives in the film that shift along
coincide with its themes and makes some sense overall.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Whilst Trance is a fun ride, people might begin to see multiple plot
holes and raise questions about how characters know certain actions and
reactions were going to happen. But it can be argued that The Dark
Knight Rises had plot problems, if you held it to any form of analysis
and people still enjoyed that film. The aim of Boyle and the writers
was to focus on the themes and how the puzzle fit together once you get
more information, even if the foundation itself is a little shaky.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Trance is a highly entertaining and engaging crime and psychological
thriller. It is a fun ride as it brinks through its 101 minute running
time. Whilst there are some logic and logistical problems in the plot
when everything is revealed, it is still a well made film that explores
the themes of memory, trust and the framework of the mind. Fans of
Boyle's previous work will certainly be pleased.<span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-size: medium;"> The only reason you'd probably dislike the movie is that you were not able to decipher it.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-size: medium;"></span></div>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://kmfazil.blogspot.com</div>Fazilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09399827255619790326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29025912.post-13610668889797735002013-07-14T12:04:00.000+05:302013-07-14T12:04:04.299+05:30Upstream Color<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1EKColcID70/UeJGRoKOQLI/AAAAAAAAJcc/b6lPkvXu3JU/s1600/UC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1EKColcID70/UeJGRoKOQLI/AAAAAAAAJcc/b6lPkvXu3JU/s1600/UC.jpg" /></a></div>
A question that is likely to plague many that have the pleasure of viewing <i>Upstream Color</i> is regarding what defines "a film," or, more specifically, a worthwhile film. In my view (and many will and are free to disagree), one of the most exciting and interesting characteristics of film is the ability to take an abstract concept or complex social force we all encounter and manifest it into a narrative via a character or concrete mechanism for the protagonist to interact with or confront. Furthermore, film, as an audiovisual medium, can be best used to express ideas or develops through carefully considered combinations of images and sounds. Expositional dialogue is present in so many movies that it is refreshing to come across that rare filmmaker who dares to take a more symbolic or lyrical approach. Should aforementioned images and sounds be beautifully captured, as they are here, all for the better.<br />
I actually view <i>Upstream Color</i> to be both substantially superior to and less confusing than <i>Primer</i>, his debut. So what is Shane Carruth going on about? Primarily, our conception of identity and forces that perhaps we are unable to perceive - much less understand - that mold this identity. It is obvious to even the most casual observer that our lives are overwhelmingly influenced things outside of our control. The plot we see, then, might be viewed as simply an innovative way to introduce these ideas into a film. Kris (Amy Seimetz) is accosted by a man who forces her to ingest a parasitic maggot that allows him to easily hypnotize and control her, with the ultimate goal being to steal everything she has. Once he's achieved this goal, he exits abruptly, leaving behind a ruined life. At this point, a mysterious figure surgically transfers the parasites from Kris to a pig, for motives more complex. No longer physically infected but still influenced by forces she doesn't understand, Kris encounters Jeff, a man similarly broken, and together they struggle to reassemble their lives and make some sense of what has happened to them.<br />
In many ways, Henry David Thoreau's "<i>Walden</i>" may be the key. First, the Thief has Kris copy Thoreau's work as he prepares to wrench away all her material possession, an act which, despite its obvious malevolence, allows Kris to have a spiritual journey of sorts, to build her life up from the ground floor and truly seize life, as Thoreau sought to do in "Walden". As we see Kris reciting lines from "Walden" while retrieving stones from the bottom of a pool, she is expressing not only that she is beginning to remember some of what happened to her, but also that she is becoming aware that her life is not her own and that she must take action to secure her agency, which one could argue is the core thesis of Thoreau's novel. Finally, referencing "Walden" as an analogous narrative demonstrates that the Thief, Sampler and Orchid gatherers as a cycle represent Carruth taking advantage of that most elegant possibility offered by film to heighten and personify all of the inexplicable things that shape our lives. To make any of these figures entirely comprehensible (i.e. scientifically) would defeat the point, and ultimately make for a less intriguing narrative.<br />
The title, then, is quite fitting. Most structurally, it refers to the blue chemical that flows downstream to affect the development of the orchids. Yet, in a metaphysical sense, it refers to the indistinguishable waves vastly divergent from actions taken far outside our perception, their ripples influencing the trajectory of our lives. As suggested by the trailer of the film, we may be able to force the shape of our story, but the color, the details that may define its richness are decided long before we have any say. Likewise, the oblivious and likely mostly benevolent florists, the morally grey or sometimes compromised Sampler and the explicitly exploitative and unethical Thief exist in a cycle, entirely dependent on each other with varying degrees of awareness, true of the power structures that we interact with ubiquitously.<br />
Of course, it would be a mistake to trivialize the importance of romance in this film. In fact, much of the romantic development serves for a crucial springboard into the more ontological issues, and vice versa. What Kris gets from her time with Jeff beyond just companionship in an otherwise bleak existence, is some sense of self-worth, some understanding that fractured she may even be able to be loved to an extent previously unknown. Along the way, we see refreshing glimpses of the insecurities and questions of trust associated with opening your life up to another person. Carruth's framework for the issues that plague these characters allow the realization of such tender truths that the endurance of the film in the hearts of the willing viewer is practically ensured.<br />
Despite the centrality of the romance, this is Kris' story and Seimetz's expression of the character's emotional trajectory is riveting. Carruth is great as the essential but reserved supporting character of Jeff, and succeeds in that his presence never detracts from the immersion. In a leading role, blemishes may have appeared, but there are none here. The score, sometimes reminiscent of Cliff Martinez's score for Soderbergh's <i>Solaris</i>, is universally captivating and worth listening to independently. The soundscape and visual cues serve to demonstrate how the characters most directly perceive a world controlled informed by powers they have no way of rationalizing or verbally expressing, and are always hypnotically rendered. The editing (done in collaboration with David Lowery, himself burgeoning with talent) facilitates a powerful emotional relevance and further aids in suggestion of thematic connections.<br />
Destined to be lauded as a masterpiece by some and condemned as pretentious by others, <i>Upstream Color</i> is at the very least an ambitious sophomore effort from writer/ director/ producer/ editor/ actor/ composer/ distributor/ cinematographer Shane Carruth. I hope to unravel more of its carefully constructed mysteries in much-anticipated future viewings.<br />
<br />
Suggested Reads (Heavy Spoilers):<br />
<a href="http://angryrobot.ca/2013/05/07/upstream-color-explained" target="_blank">ANGRYROBOT.CA's interpretation of <i>Upstream Color</i> (very plausible explanations)</a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span></span><br />
<a href="http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/features/interview-shane-carruth-unravels-the-meaning-of-upstream-color.php" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Everything you were afraid to ask about <i>Upstream Color</i></span></span></span></a><i><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="name"> </span></span></span></span></i><br />
<a href="http://www.avclub.com/articles/upstream-color-room-237-and-why-some-movie-mysteri,97371/" target="_blank"><i>Upstream Color, Room 237</i>, and why some movie mysteries don’t need to be solved </a><br />
<a href="http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/features/interview-shane-carruth-unravels-the-meaning-of-upstream-color.php" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: small;">FSR interview with Shane Carruth</span></a><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://io9.com/director-shane-carruth-explains-the-ending-of-upstream-475087719" target="_blank">i09 interview with Shane Carruth</a></span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://kmfazil.blogspot.com</div>Fazilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09399827255619790326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29025912.post-42093791718651548582013-05-03T21:20:00.003+05:302013-05-03T21:20:44.041+05:30The Intouchables<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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From the opening roar of a Maserati pursued by police along the
Parisian périphérique, <i>Intouchables</i> captivates. At the wheel Driss,
(Omar Sy) a young, Senegalese street hustler, bets his passenger,
Philippe (François Cluzet) a middle-aged, bourgeois Parisian, he can
escape. Cornered but not defeated, Driss ups the ante to secure a
police escort. With Phillippe aping a potentially fatal fit, Driss
races to A&E with Earth, Wind and Fire blaring above the attendant
sirens.<br />
Flash back to Driss, fresh from a prison stretch, unwelcome at his
Mother's overcrowded flat on the sprawling Berlioz housing slum. Living
on benefits conditional on attending interviews, Driss applies to care
for Philippe, a rich quadriplegic confined to his first arrondissement
mansion. Devoid of pity or reverence for Philippe's rarefied world,
Driss's open about his motivation optimistically coming on to Magalie
(Audrey Fleurot), Philippe's assistant. Although totally unsuitable,
Philippe withholds his signature to satisfy the benefit agency. Forced
to return, Driss around his expansive quarters and homeless, Driss
reluctantly accepts a trial recoiling at the indignities expected of
him. Despite initial tantrums and ineptitude, Driss develops an
unlikely relationship with Philippe that transforms the entire
household.<br />
<i>Intouchables</i>, contrary to the tragic set up, is one of the funniest
comedies of the year. Creative collaborators Olivier Nakache and Eric
Toledano have produced a string of popular and critical successes since
1995. They took France by storm when <i>Intouchables</i>, based on a true
story, was originally released in November 2011. The films worldwide
release has broken box office records for a French language film,
racked up awards, contending for an Oscar and already scheduled to be
remade in English by The Weinstein Company; it will need a brave
director to try and live up to the original.<br />
<i>Intouchables</i>'s casting is superb. Cluzet plays Philippe, a former
adrenalin junkie born to entitlement but paralysed in a paragliding
accident and mourning his wife. His performance, with the physical
limits of Philippe's condition, is an expressive master class, his
comic timing perfect. Sy, who emerged from the working-class suburbs of
Paris himself, is authentic and effortlessly charismatic as Driss, the
aimless, street smart, opportunist whose overwhelming vitality is
infectious.<br />
Their cultural clashes drive the comedy. Philippe fills his life with
intellectual stimulation; poetry, art, opera and classical music
repressing the physical pleasures he can no longer feel. Directionless
and irresponsible, Driss grasps all life has to offer living in the
moment and, forgetting or dismissing his employer's disability. For
Philippe Berlioz is the great French composer of the 19th Century; to
Driss Berlioz is his family's housing project. While Philippe has
poetic epistolic relationships, Driss collects hooker's flyers and
constantly propositions Magalie. For his birthday Philippe's extended
family gather for a dour classical concert but Driss gets them all
grooving to Boogie Wonderland.<br />
It's an education for both. The odd couple overcome the barriers of
class and race, sharing honesty, humour and contempt for bourgeois
pretension. Through Driss' ignorance and innocence, cajoling and
challenge, Philippe's rediscovers the pleasures and possibility of life
while Driss matures, developing empathy and a knowledge of classical
cultural denied his social class.<br />
<i>Intouchables </i>avoids sentimentality touching on the deeper issues of
social class and discrimination poignantly reminding the viewer to live
life to the fullest and embrace our common humanity.
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://kmfazil.blogspot.com</div>Fazilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09399827255619790326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29025912.post-66568649369864192102013-05-03T17:36:00.003+05:302013-05-03T17:36:53.686+05:30The Hunt<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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According to English Professor Jack Lynch, "Lies, once they are accepted as true, take on a life of their own, one that lasts long after the original falsehoods have been exposed." The power of the continued acceptance of lies is reflected in Thomas Vinterberg's The Hunt, the disturbing story of the false accusation of a kindergarten teacher of sexual abuse. It is an accusation that reveals the sordid underbelly of a small town, hidden beneath the veneer of middle-class civility. Written by Vinterberg and Tobias Lindholm, The Hunt is a thought-provoking drama that makes us aware both of the vigilance needed to protect our children from predators, and of the crucial importance of following the precept that an individual is innocent until proved guilty in a court of law.<br />Mads Mikkelsen is Lucas, is a caring kindergarten teacher who has been recently divorced and shares custody of his teenage son, Marcus (Lasse Fogelstrom). He has a good relationship with his students, especially six-year-old Klara (Annika Wedderkopp), the daughter of his best friend Theo (Thomas Bo Larsen) and his wife Agnes (Anne Louise Hassing). Lucas walks her home from school when her parents are late in picking her up and she obviously likes him very much. In class one day, Klara kisses Lucas on the lips but is admonished by him that kissing on the lips is only for mum and dad. Sparked by seeing images on her bother's iPod, she tells kindergarten head Grethe (Susse Wold) that she doesn't like Lucas anymore because he has a "weenie." When Grethe tells her that this is normal because every man has one, Klara tells her that his was "straight and pointed." The incident is forgotten about for a few days until Grethe realizes that "children never lie", and begins questioning the little girl again, coming to the decision that sexual abuse has occurred and that some action must be taken. Though Klara now says that she cannot remember, her parents attribute her loss of memory to trying to forget what is uncomfortable. Calling a group of parents together, Grethe accuses Lucas before the parents, telling them the signs to watch out for in their own children. Slowly, the word gets around of widespread abuse at the school, though Lucas remains in the dark because Grethe refuses to give him any details about the accusations.<br />Word spreads by hearsay, gossip, and innuendo as a child psychologist, teachers, parents, and eventually the police are brought in, but no through investigation is ever conducted. Klara is questioned again (questions taken directly from the transcripts of actual police cases) and it is obvious she is a confused little girl who tells the adults what they want to hear. Vinterberg ratchets up the tension and we sense the world closing in on the embattled teacher. Though Lucas' male friends in the community have a long-lasting bond, they break the ties of their close-knit group and turn against one of their own.<br />Lucas and Marcus are denied the right to shop in the local market even to the point of threats and violence, his best friend Theo rejects him, and even his girlfriend Nadja (Alkexandra Rapaport) asks him if he's insane or sick. Lucas' only friend is Marcus' godfather, Bruun (Lars Ranthe), who soothes his friend's psyche with black humor. After Lucas is arrested, a preliminary hearing rules that there is not enough evidence to hold him and he is released, but this does not stop the violence. A rock is tossed through his window and neighborhood thugs take out their aggression on his dog Fanny.<br />The Hunt is a harrowing experience that is not an easy film to watch, especially if the viewer has had past experience with the subject. The exceptional performances, however, make it easier to appreciate. They are not only from Mikkelson who won Best Actor at Cannes, but also from Fogelstrom as Lucas' loving and supportive son, Ranthe who keeps Lucas afloat, and especially that of seven-year-old actress Annika Wedderkopp who is so angelic that we never turn against her even though we know she is lying. While some critics bemoan the fact that this kind of story has been told before, it has never been told like this, building with inexorable power from the warmth of small-town conviviality to a shocking picture of injustice and paranoia that hits us right in the solar plexus. </div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://kmfazil.blogspot.com</div>Fazilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09399827255619790326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29025912.post-71922899850305130952013-04-06T10:45:00.002+05:302013-04-06T10:45:49.315+05:30Pairon Talle<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Hindi movie audiences have in recent years been treated to many an edgy cinematic tale set in India’s National Capital Region, warts and all. But <i>Pairon Talle</i> (English title: Soul of Sand) is miles away, both textually and stylistically, from any other Delhi film one might have seen before.<br />Debutant director Sidharth Srinivasan presents a landscape that is unrelentingly grim, stark and drenched in blood. Rarely have the unseemly facets of life in a rapidly expanding Delhi been captured on the big screen quite as unflinchingly.<br /><i>Pairon Talle</i> shocks and provokes and calls attention to all that is going wrong as material progress and modernization wage a losing battle with ominously regressive thought processes.<br />The film paints a dystopian portrait of a lawless fringe of a gleaming urban expanse that is going to seed post haste as land sharks and feudal mindsets run riot and violate all norms of humanity with complete impunity. It plays out in a space that is, on the face of it, placid, even idyllic. The mine overlooks a misleadingly tranquil water body.<br />Srinivasan adopts a style that yokes the conventions of cinematic naturalism to clearly identifiable elements of a genre film. The plot is built around a slew of disturbing systemic and social issues that Delhi and its denizens confront today on a daily basis.<br />Among other things, <i>Pairon Talle</i> addresses the simmering tensions unleashed by land deals, honour killings sanctioned by guardians of medieval morality and blatant anarchy engendered by lax and corrupt policing. These are all harsh and undeniable facts of life in Delhi NCR, but Srinivasan couches his concerns in a deceptively simple linear narrative.<br />Much of the film’s action takes place in and around an abandoned silica mine on the crime-prone outskirts of Delhi. A watchman, Bhanu Kumar (Dibyendu Bhattacharya), keeps vigil over the decrepit compound.<br />It is difficult to divine what he is really protecting for there is nothing left here. The gate to the mine is as rickety as Bhanu’s spirits, and the rusty padlock inspires anything but confidence.<br />Bhanu lives on the barren premises with his pretty wife, Saroj (Saba Joshi). His commitment is to his master, Lakshmichand Ahlawat (Avtar Sahni), is unquestioning and total.<br />He is servility personified – a figure not too different from the slavish migrant worker in Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s 1993 film, <i>Vidheyan</i>. Bhanu has been robbed of his sense of dignity and well-being by years of enslavement and he does his master’s bidding without a pause.<br />The only man who seems to treat Bhanu as an equal is a pliable policeman, Chattar Bitta (Rupinder Walia), whose palms have to be regularly greased in order to keep the mine out of harm’s way. But when trouble does strike, the cop proves to be as emasculated as Bhanu.<br />The lecherous Lakshmichand, who has inherited the silica mine from his father, thinks nothing of taking advantage of Bhanu’s loyalty and sexually exploiting his young wife.<br />On his part, Lakshmichand pledges his daughter, Twinkle (Geeta Bisht) to a man old enough to be her grandfather in a bid to induce the latter to buy the defunct mine.<br />In this world where anything goes, real estate is valued much more than family ties and women are treated as chattel to be battered and bartered for personal and pecuniary gains.<br />On the prowl here is a masked killer on a motorcycle. The nameless man is in pursuit of a pair of young runaway lovers. The hired assassin’s path crosses Bhanu’s, making life even more fraught with physical danger for the watchman.<br />The only time the marauder reveals his visage, it stays off camera. Obviously, his face is as disfigured as the treacherous world that he has emerged from.<br />When Bhanu, somewhat like the silent tribal victim in Govind Nihalani’s Aakrosh, eventually gathers the courage to break free from his shackles and give vent to his anger, it is too late for any sort of redemption. The consequences of his act are shockingly bloody.<br /><i>Pairon Talle</i> goes for the jugular. It isn’t a joyride of a film. But the palpable air of menace that hangs over the setting and the sheer power of its cautionary statement make it a consistently riveting experience.</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://kmfazil.blogspot.com</div>Fazilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09399827255619790326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29025912.post-46198607503674742322013-04-05T10:35:00.000+05:302013-04-05T10:35:50.450+05:30A Royal Affair<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Historically relevant, A Royal Affair shows its true period-drama nature in the very intelligent and detailed storyline, steadfast and conspicuous acting, and, most of all, sumptuous and glorious interiors, which actually enhance the visual experience significantly. The film expressively reminds the world once again about the illicit affair between Caroline Mathilde (Alicia Vikander), the beautiful Queen of Denmark, and the enlightened, German-born physician named Johann Struensee (Mads Mikkelsen). In all its courtly essence, A Royal Affair presents this 18th century tale with utmost thoroughness, adding huge amounts of tension to its naturalistic substance with every following minute. While it's mostly recognized for the meaningful romantic overtone, this film presents much more than that, even though the star-crossed lovers prove to have the biggest impact on the unexpected turn of events.<br />It starts very similarly to Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette, with a young princess bound to marry a king she doesn't even know, through the old-fashioned way of a royal transaction. Right after the Queen finally sets her lovely eyes on the mysterious husband-to-be one thing is certain – there is something wrong with his majestic appearance. Christian VII (Mikkel Boe Følsgaard) giggles nervously, and is more interested in greeting his own dog than the woman, with whom he will probably (but not likely) spend the rest of his palace life. Right after the both absolutely awkward and truly humorous announcement of King's nightly visit in his wife's bedroom, and Caroline's anxiously awaited pregnancy, it becomes perfectly clear that the pair won't present itself in the expected, regal way. Those two characters don't even intend to give the appearance of being fully in love with each other. The king wanders angrily around the luxurious chambers making fun of everyone, not knowing that he ostentatiously presents all of his biggest weaknesses. At the same time, the Queen spends most of her time with the newborn baby. When Christian proclaims his forthcoming trip around Europe nobody realizes that big and sudden changes are about to happen. During the journey King's mental illness becomes worse. He needs a private doctor and he needs him quick. This is the moment when Johan Struensee first shows his handsome face. Apart from his unquestionable medical abilities, he proves to be a great admirer of the Enlightenment movement's greatest thinkers and their innovative works, and that's what makes him an ideal partner for the King. After returning to the country, their companionship grows stronger every day. Unfortunately, so does Johan's affection towards Queen's awe-inspiring persona. After a while, it becomes awfully obvious that they won't be able to suppress their deepest urges and a risky romance will soon take place, one that might actually begin a new era in the history of Denmark. Scheming behind the back of the wig-wearing, ignorant council, Caroline and Struensee use the gullible King for the sake of a greater good – they create many new and reformative laws, and using Christian's powerful, yet unstable hand they end up improving the whole land and its citizens' life, rushing Denmark towards the desired Enlightenment.<br />As history so often shows, when there is the optimistic, hard-working side there must also be the pessimistic, mischievous one. In A Royal Affair, it takes the form of an ominous, recalcitrant aristocrat named Ove Høegh-Guldberg (David Dencik). Conspiring along with Christian's stepmother Juliane Marie (Trine Dyrholm) he comes up with a perfect plan to get rid of the unwanted German and, at the same time, bring back Denmark's old 'glory'. Revealing the shocking truth about Queen being pregnant with Struensee he wreaks havoc among the society. The return of the Dark Ages is upon Denmark, and no one is able to stop this devastating process, as the King gave in to Ove's strong and convincing character, and, ultimately, to his own illness. Johann and Caroline are banished from the Kingdom, just to see that, sadly, their thorough plan wasn't actually meant to help anyone.<br />With its splendidly high entertainment value, A Royal Affair turns out to be a history lesson for everyone. Considerable attention to details in plot and in art design brings out the true substance of the film. The costumes are pitch-perfect, the music flows adequately to the events, and the ongoing transition in the atmosphere intensifies the reception of the whole. A Royal Affair possesses a great energy, which shows its true strength in all the performances. Without offending anyone from the amazing cast, it's important to note that Mads Mikkelsen gave the most award-worthy performance, showing the straightforwardly persuasive impassiveness that may really convince his fans and anti-fans alike. Therefore, those irrefutable acting skills, combined with a well-written script and steady direction, make A Royal Affair one of the most memorable Danish movies of the last decade.</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://kmfazil.blogspot.com</div>Fazilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09399827255619790326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29025912.post-34925478291447782572013-03-08T08:58:00.000+05:302013-03-08T08:58:47.281+05:30The Perks of Being a Wallflower<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i> The Perks of Being a Wallflower</i> redefines the classic American coming-of-age story. Writer/director Steven Chbosky has raised the bar on the traditional adolescent drama, with an emotionally-charged narrative infused with just enough bold strokes of joy and heartbreak to set a new benchmark for what the genre can accomplish.<br />
Based on Chbosky's own novel of the same name, the movie is about growing up in a tough and unforgiving world, yes, with its requisite lessons on overcoming obstacles. But it also touches on tragic notions of loss and grief, rarely explored in coming-of-age films with such mastery.<br />
Chbosky has said that if viewers take away one message from the film, it's that "you are not alone." This seemingly simple thought can't come at a better time, as bullying and its often devastating consequences have dominated headlines in recent months.<br />
The book's premise is deceptively straightforward. 15-year-old Charlie (Logan Lerman) keeps a diary of letters addressed to someone real or imagined. "Dear Friend," each entry begins, as he recalls his tumultuous high school days, celebratory one moment, heartbreaking the next, but always poignant and full of promise. The movie brings Charlie's writing to life, with a charming cadre of schoolmates (and the occasional peripheral adult) taking the stage as Charlie stands in the spotlight. It's an ideal structure for a narrative as free of boundaries as the promising world of the adolescent. Charlie is everyteen, we've all been there, or have we? <i>The Perks of Being a Wallflower</i> wanders down paths seldom seen on screen, into surprisingly shocking territory that challenges audiences to open their hearts.<br />
The indie look and feel of the film is undeniable from the start. Single-point lighting is used effectively as a plot device. Charlie's face often appears split down the center, one side brightly lit, the other in soft shadow, mirroring his conflicted soul and sense of confusion, trapped between two worlds. Light falls gently on him when he's serene, more harshly in moments of crisis. The darkness hides the secrets he deftly keeps to himself as the narrative unfolds.<br />
Audiences of all ages will be able to relate to the 80s modern rock soundtrack -- evocative songs you undoubtedly know and love, spanning generations from Boomers to today's teens. Sound design is brilliantly orchestrated with action timed perfectly to the music cues. Michael Brook's original score is appropriately minimal. Nothing needs to be underlined here in a story that has no filler or room to breathe. Not a frame is wasted on extended character development or conventional transitions in this visualization of Charlie's nonstop roller-coaster of a diary.<br />
Andrew Dunn's stunning cinematography patiently engages the viewer, eschewing the hand-held shaky cam style so prevalent in the genre. His use of slow motion dolly shots brings us, literally, into Charlie's world. The boy's fear and sense of unease is heightened by intense closeups that reveal the bittersweet emptiness in his eyes. There's a lot more going on in that youthful head than he allows those around him to see, but even he isn't aware of it. We are but voyeurs, watching, examining, trying to make sense of Charlie's vulnerability and confusion.<br />
Editor Mary Jo Markey's loving hand allows us to embrace the plot's twists and turns without skipping a beat. The pace is calm but deliberate, and it's clear that Dunn, Markey, and the rest of the production team are as devoted to Chbosky's vision as a boy experiencing his first romance. You only have one chance to get it right.<br />
Chbosky has unquestionably assembled one of the most talented young ensemble casts in recent memory. As Charlie's love interest Sam, 22-year-old Emma Watson dominates the screen with the maturity and wisdom that only a polished veteran could bring to the role. Nina Dobrev, Julia Garner, and Mae Whitman are the free-spirited girls who surround Charlie and attempt to bring him to life. Their performances shine with an authenticity that is clearly rooted in passion for the material. On the male side, Johnny Simmons portrays football jock Brad, whose enigmatic personality figures prominently in the story in ways which will be left to the viewer. Nicholas Braun and Reece Thompson are standouts in support and much-needed comic relief.<br />
As Charlie's would-be best friend Patrick, Ezra Miller is shockingly brilliant as a gay-go-lucky teen who lives life as if every day is his last. His joie de vivre is infectious and vacuums the pain out of anyone who comes near.<br />
But <i>The Perks of Being a Wallflower</i> primarily rests on the shoulders of Logan Lerman. As Charlie, his ability to play down to 15 (he was 19 at the time) owes itself to a physical transformation he brings to every role -- in this case, widening his eyes and keeping an expressionless face that projects puppy dog innocence. His posture, walk, and pattern of speech all serve to underscore Charlie's youthful vulnerability. However <i>The Perks of Being a Wallflower</i> is remembered, wherever it stands in the pantheon of coming-of-age pictures, Lerman's authentic characterization of Chbosky's semi-autobiographical protagonist should stand as one of the most iconic adolescent portrayals of our time.<br />
Some films are intensely personal, and that's as it should be. Art should move you, and you bring your own life experience to the table when considering it. <i>The Perks of Being a Wallflower</i> was so much more than I imagined. I expected to be moved but I had no idea where the film would take me. Whether or not you will be similarly affected is something you'll need to discover for yourself. I think you will. <div class="blogger-post-footer">http://kmfazil.blogspot.com</div>Fazilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09399827255619790326noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29025912.post-31956623770546466992013-03-01T11:06:00.002+05:302013-03-01T11:06:41.491+05:30Young Adult<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-GDcvo0mpDGk/UTA9RbSGdGI/AAAAAAAAJHI/puODgKnU_G8/s640/blogger-image-2018589582.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-GDcvo0mpDGk/UTA9RbSGdGI/AAAAAAAAJHI/puODgKnU_G8/s1600/blogger-image-2018589582.jpg" /></a>We all know a woman like Mavis Gary. She's the kind of girl who everyone feared in high school, who was always effortlessly beautiful, and yet she had no personality whatsoever. She would do whatever was thought to be "cool". Her loved-but-feared status meant that she probably barely registered your existence at all. We assume that this kind of woman goes on to do great things, and becomes an amazing person who would have a whole new generation of people fearing her, but that is not always the case, and that is where we meet Mavis, in <i>Young Adult</i>.<br />
Diablo Cody will forever be known for writing 2007's hip-dialogue laden and instantly memorable <i>Juno</i>, a somewhat controversial teen comedy, which served as a star vehicle for Ellen Page, ensuring that she will play rebellious teenagers well into her thirties. Diablo Cody has reunited with her <i>Juno </i>director, Jason Reitman, for <i>Young Adult</i>. I would like to mention that aside from auteur moments in Cody's writing, this is nothing at all like <i>Juno</i>, and that's a good thing.<br />
<i>Young Adult</i> is the study of a borderline psychotic personality. It's the story of Mavis Gary, a woman pushing 40, who lives alone, with her obviously neglected Pomeranian, in her disheveled condo in Minneapolis. She is a ghost writer of young adult fiction, which is ironic, considering she hasn't grown up at all since high school. She is not emotionally matured in any way, and thinks that her living in a neighboring city of her suburban hometown means that she has a life. She gets an e-mail from an old high school boyfriend who invites her to a baby-naming ceremony, or something like that. Fully intending to get him back, she blatantly ignores the fact that he is a husband and new father. In her mind, there is something not right in the universe, and she intends to fix it.<br />
We don't really know, as an audience, if we are supposed to feel empathy for Mavis, or if we should just feel pity. At several points in the film, we see Mavis laying face-down on a bed, either in her cold pigsty apartment, or her hotel room, where she appears to be dead. She's never dead, just dead drunk. Her character says to her parents at one point, "I think I might be an alcoholic", and the statement is largely ignored. Anyone who says this aloud knows damn well that they are, and the fact that her parents ignored this statement shows you what kind of family this woman came from. Mavis is definitely an alcoholic, seen repeatedly drinking heavily just to make it through the day. She may as well have been drunk in every scene. This is a study of a depressive character, but the thing that bothered me was that her parents ignored this statement, because they would obviously rather pretend that there is no issue. It's upsetting, but like I said, it shows where this woman became this way. That's good writing. <br />
This film works because the lead character is extremely well written and observed, but also because Charlize Theron knocks this one out of the park. First of all, before I get to any other facts about this character, I must say that Theron plays a drunk very well. The last thing I remember seeing her in was her infamous performance as Aileen Wournos in 2003's <i>Monster</i>, and it is going to sound trite, but she's playing a different kind of monster here. She is a woman whose main goal in this film is to break up a marriage. She gave so much of herself to this character, and she may as well be responsible for the film's success. I personally liked Mavis, a character who we're supposed to hate, or feel great pity for, and I give Theron most of the credit for that. <br />
With <i>Juno</i>, <i>Thank You For Smoking</i>, and <i>Up in the Air</i>, and now <i>Young Adult</i>, Jason Reitman has a fantastic track record. I have enthusiastically enjoyed each of his films thus far. It's interesting for me to think of this film as a companion piece to 2009's <i>Up in the Air</i>, two films about emotionally stunted individuals. George Clooney's character in <i>Up in the Air</i> didn't want to feel anything, and didn't want to get too close to anyone. The film ends with him not exactly changing, but moving forward in his life, ignoring factors that would have emotionally devastated the average person, and just moving forward. Meanwhile, Mavis is irrevocably stuck in the past. The best time in her life was high school, where she was popular and kind of feared, and now she is just pitied. Yet she is obsessed with making her glory days a reality again. <br />
There is nothing warm, sentimental or happy about the ending of this film, let me just say that right off the top. The film itself is dour, bleak and emotionally brutal. The performances are powerful, and the writing is excellent, yet it doesn't have the warm, happy, everything- is-better-all-of-a-sudden ending that American audiences are used to, and that's a damn good thing. Most character studies about unlikable people typically have the antihero change for the better in the end, in an ending where everything is warm, and everyone is left happy, but Mavis doesn't get off the hook that easily. While the film, in a whole, is quite depressing, its brand of black-as-night comedy is refreshing and welcome. I would call it the meanest Hollywood film this year, and that's a very good thing. </div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://kmfazil.blogspot.com</div>Fazilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09399827255619790326noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29025912.post-81889851929316670712013-03-01T10:43:00.001+05:302013-03-01T10:45:25.883+05:30Robot & Frank<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-RME0XkhnZhM/UTA5Gj6jPLI/AAAAAAAAJG8/I0ux_9gM7cU/s640/blogger-image-816153574.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-RME0XkhnZhM/UTA5Gj6jPLI/AAAAAAAAJG8/I0ux_9gM7cU/s1600/blogger-image-816153574.jpg" /></a>It seems like once a year or so an Alzheimer's movie comes along and knocks me for a loop. I don't know what it is; I've never had any personal, real-life experience with the condition or its unfortunate sufferers, but there's ripe material for crafting warm and moving stories which invariably end with me in tears. In the last few years I have been devastated by films such as Away From Her and Barney's Version, and while Robot and Frank is certainly comparable, it's a lighter, less harrowing take on a tragic side of aging, and ultimately results in a much more enjoyable experience.<br />
Frank Langella plays Frank, a divorced senior living a life of solitude in rural New York. Between visits and video calls from his children (James Marsden and Liv Tyler) concerned about his seemingly deteriorating mental state, Frank fills his time with visits to the local library to flirt with librarian Jennifer (Susan Sarandon), and by shoplifting decorative soaps from the store occupying the former site of his favourite restaurant. He is a man of the past, and his little moments of defiance in the face of change establish his character early, so when Hunter (Marsden) arrives with a new robot caregiver, Frank is understandably offended.<br />
As much as Frank's memory regarding the day to day seems to be fading, his former 'profession' as a cat burglar remains at the front of his mind, and the robot's insistence on finding a project to keep him mentally engaged opens a window of opportunity for Frank to focus his mind and retreat back to the glory days of his youth. The planning and execution of heists sees a charming relationship forming between Frank and his robot companion, complemented by a sweet potential romance and stark moments of sadness.<br />
There's a clever subtext running through Robot and Frank as well, commenting on the loss of personality in the digital age, and the disposable nature of modern life. The more we come to rely on technology for everything, from our reading material to our aged care, the less we ourselves are practically capable of, giving rise to a generation of privileged, ironic, but purposeless people ('yuppies' as Frank calls them). What Robot and Frank highlights is not just the fragility, but also the value of a mind filled with life experience and skills. There's no substitute for the complex intelligence of our brains, and even the most sophisticated technology has more to learn from us.<br />
Robot and Frank feels like a film aimed at an older generation, but there is so much to enjoy for anyone who might be occasionally frustrated by our cynical modern world. There's a great balance of laughs, romance and sadness with a fun sci-fi twist, right down to the subtle Star Wars reference. </div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://kmfazil.blogspot.com</div>Fazilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09399827255619790326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29025912.post-10875315490823441832013-02-21T09:33:00.000+05:302013-02-21T09:33:26.882+05:30Room 237<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Is Stanley Kubrick's 1980 horror classic The Shining really about the
holocaust? How does it figure in the genocide of the Native Americans?
Can it be used to prove that the moon landing was a hoax? It may sound
ridiculous that one fade-in shot of Jack Nicholson's hairline suggests
Hitler's mustache, but try telling that to a handful of hardcore
devotees who have dedicated the last 32 years to studying all 146
minutes of the beloved horror film frame by frame by frame. You may see
a simple-minded horror movie, they see a great deal more.<br />
The Shining is one of those rare horror films that is loved even by
those who don't like the genre. Here was the story of an alcoholic
writer (Jack Nicholson) who takes a job as the winter caretaker at a
Colorado resort where he and his wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) and son
Danny (Danny Lloyd) will be snowed in all winter while he tends the
boiler. The haunted history of the century-old hotel causes the dad to
go insane while the son uses his psychic abilities to call for help.
Simple, right? Some say, not so fast.<br />
Rodney Asher's documentary Room 237 (named for the haunted hotel suite
in the film where three ax murders were committed) explores in
exhaustive – and sometimes laughable – details about the lengths that
five people have gone through to break the film down looking for clues,
signs, symbols and subtexts of every size and shape. Some of their
theories reside within the film, some have relevance to history. Others
are just plain wacko.<br />
The five subjects are never seen on screen. We hear their voices and
they all share a commonality, they have seen something in The Shining
that the rest of us seem to miss. One of the interviewees points to a
wrecked truck, seen on screen for a few seconds, and suggests that it
was Kubrick thumbing his nose at writer Stephen King, who famously
hated the film. "I've wrecked your book," he suggests, "and here it is
for everyone to see." Another asks why Jack Nicholson's character is
seen at the beginning reading a Playgirl magazine – does he have
homoerotic feelings? Another interviewee traces the patterns of Danny's
Big Wheel rides through the hotel hallways – the path of one of his
treks is in the shape of a key. There is also the symbolism of the
large Calumet cans seen in the pantry at the film's opening. One of the
interviewees says that they are meant to suggest Native American ghosts
in the hotel. The real Calumet, Colorado, you see, is a legendary ghost
town.<br />
Some of the information is interesting. One of the devotees suggests
that the hexagonal carpet pattern has something to say about Danny's
state of mind. Remember the scene where he is playing on the carpet and
a ball rolls into his space from out of nowhere? We see the shot from
overhead and the ball comes into the frame along the carpet pattern
that seems to lead right to Danny. In the next shot we see him
straight-on and the hexagonal pattern is closed. Was this a continuity
error, or was Kubrick trying to suggest something? What is he also
trying to suggest with a sticker on Danny's bathroom door that
disappears from shot to shot.<br />
Other suggestions are just plain stupid. The silliest offers the idea
that Kubrick himself filmed the fake moon landing after the releasing
2001: A Space Odyssey in 1968 because the film proved that his special
effects team could do it convincingly. It is thought that The Shining
offers clues to a confession by Kubrick. Notice the rocket on Danny's
sweater.<br />
In truth, if this were another filmmaker, the theories could be thrown
out with the trash, but Kubrick was such an eccentric, a man whose work
was a tapestry of maddening detail that we are forced to look at these
outlandish theories and wonder if he had them in mind from the start.
Did he mean for a skier in a poster to represent a Minotaur? From
another filmmaker probably not, but from Kubrick, who knows? What makes
Room 237 work is its obsessive detail. The interviewees have obviously
spent many days and nights searching each and every tiny frame looking
for some connection that suggests something more than just an
entertaining horror movie. For film buffs, this film may seem
invaluable. The effect of the film is that it offers so much unseen
detail that we may never have notice while watching the film, that it
makes us want to revisit the film and search for clues on our own. The
film is so full and so intricately detailed that there still seems to
be a lot of room left to explore. There are plenty of rooms that can be
explored . . . forever and ever and ever and ever.
<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://kmfazil.blogspot.com</div>Fazilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09399827255619790326noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29025912.post-86914104726090122632013-02-21T08:59:00.002+05:302013-02-21T08:59:50.950+05:30Searching for Sugar Man<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This is a music biography with a bit of a difference. Normally when we
settle down to watch one of these we know in advance what the artist's
music is like. Even if we are not committed fans we usually at least
know something. In this documentary this will simply not be the case
for the vast majority of folks who decide to watch it. For this reason,
Searching for Sugar Man is somewhat unusual.<br />
Its subject, the singer-songwriter Sixto Rodriguez, recorded a couple
of critically praised but commercially disastrous albums in the early
70's. He was quickly dropped by his record label and then basically
vanished from the public eye for over quarter of a century. Rumours of
his on-stage suicide circulated as fact. Where the story becomes a
little unexpected is that through word of mouth he became massive in
South Africa of all places. In the apartheid years his music developed
a following that rivalled bands like the Rolling Stones. His lyrics hit
a note with white liberals there and his albums became
anti-establishment classics. Many of the people who would make
important contributions to overturning the apartheid regime were
influenced by Rodriguez. But the thing is, he knew absolutely nothing
of his fame and popularity there. He received no royalties at all for
the 500,000 albums he sold in South Africa. When interviewed, his label
boss Clarence Avant gets a little shifty when asked about this. It
seems that Rodriguez had been dealt a somewhat bum hand.<br />
The second act of the story began when one of the South Africans who
loved him discovered when speaking to an American friend that Rodriguez
albums were impossible to buy in the States. This was something of a
revelation, as up until this point it was generally assumed that he
must have been a peer of Bob Dylan and just as popular. This led to a
quest to discover more about the man; it led to the incredible
discovery that he was still alive and living a modest life in Detroit
with his daughters. The man himself was utterly unaware of his cultural
impact in South Africa. The South African's subsequently organised
concerts back home and so Rodriguez went there in the late 90's. A
nobody at home, there he played to crowds of tens of thousands of
people of all ages in the spectrum. They all seemed to know his records
off by heart too. It was a revelation to witness this strange but
uplifting story arc.<br />
It's difficult to really know why Rodriguez never made it at the time.
Many now classic acts such as Nick Drake never made it during their
recording careers either. Sometimes a combination of things just
conspires against a musician and Rodriguez seems to have been a victim
of this circumstance. His music certainly is good - and there are nice
animated segments to go along with some of his songs here – but it's
difficult to say how good on one viewing. Certainly there were a lot of
singer-songwriters in the early 70's on the back of Dylan. But what
makes this documentary so interesting is not just the discovery of
something hidden and good but also the realisation that a mass cultural
happening could occur on another side of the world without it's
figurehead knowing the slightest thing about it. It's overall a
fascinating story and one for all music fans.
<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://kmfazil.blogspot.com</div>Fazilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09399827255619790326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29025912.post-3645695085879110592013-01-29T11:48:00.001+05:302013-01-29T11:48:09.619+05:30Russian Dolls<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Russian Dolls are those wooden toy dolls, which can be opened to reveal
another doll, and opened again to reveal another, until you reach the
final, tiny one. That in essence, is the movie's message on love and
relationships. How do you know that the person you're with, is that
final soulmate, the final tiny Russian doll at the end of the chain? Or
are you still stuck in the process of searching, and breaking up, and
perpetually wondering and keeping a lookout for that someone else
perceivably better? A sequel to The Spanish Apartment, you don't really
have to watch that in order to enjoy Russian Dolls, even though most of
the characters come back in this one. The protagonist is Xavier (Romain
Duris), a down-and-out writer who's looking for his next big break, no
matter if it's a cheesy love story that he's tasked to work with, or
ghostwriting memoirs of celebrities. We follow his journey as he seeks
his dolls, most of whom were encounters in the Spanish Apartment.<br />
First we have Martine (the lovely Audrey Tautou), his ex-girlfriend
who's now a single parent, and who still holds a candle for him, but
only when she's feeling lonely and needy. Don't you just feel that
sometimes you're being made use of, but you're a nice guy and is
accommodating to that ex? But no worries, there's always that buddy to
rely on, and Xavier's buddy happens to be a lesbian Isabelle (Cecile De
France, that tough as nails cookie in High Tension), a smart financial
analyst. Friends like these must have OK? They'll even go all out to be
out of character just to assist you in situations, providing you with
accommodation, and dressing up so femininely (she's a butch by the way)
to be your pretend-girlfriend.<br />
In between, Xavier tries to get back to the dating game by hooking up
with store assistant Kassia (Aissa Maiga), but as you know, the ex
always gets in the way, somehow. So another potential relationship,
ended up broken before it even had a chance to get started.<br />
But the final two proved to be most challenging of the lot. Business
brings Xavier and Wendy together (Kelly Reilly, in a lot of movies
lately, like Mrs Henderson Presents, Pride and Prejudice), and love
blossoms between the two, despite initially starting off as platonic,
and Wendy still being stuck in a relationship that she doesn't have the
strength to walk away from. But their relationship is put to the test
when Xavier, through business, also gets the opportunity to hook up
with up-and-coming model Celia (Lucy Gordon). Ah, a beautiful
celebrity, that unattainable perfect being, the object of everyman's
desire and lust, now within reach. Which would he choose? Which would
you choose? The down to earth person, or the party girl surviving in
that barbie world that last only as long as their looks do? The movie
suggests many known thoughts and ideas on romance and relationships,
such as loving someone meaning loving their flaws, that there's no such
thing as the perfect person, just only being able to love someone
because their flaws don't drive you up the wall. And the eternal
question of when will you stop looking? Temptations abound, but at the
end of the day, do you cross the line, or who do you return to? It
might seem that the story's the usual of love, finding love, losing it,
and all the clichés of a romance flick, but with an added punch.<br />
It's also interesting to note the different apartments that Xavier
encounters, from his ex's home, to Isabelle's bachelor pad, from an
ordinary London home in Wendy's, to the luxurious French suite of
Celia's. There're also plenty of country hopping, between England,
France and Russia (Moscow, St Petersburg), where their friend in common
William is getting married. And yes, Apple laptops sure looks sexy!
Probably I had it easier to identify with this movie, given I'm the
targeted age group of those approaching the big-three-oh, wondering
about stuff like these occasionally. Peppered with plenty of comedy to
keep the going interesting, especially its techniques of juxtaposing
reel-reality with reel-fantasy, Russian Dolls is a truly contemporary,
chic, and sassy film standing on its soapbox with a mouthpiece touching
on modern relationships.
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://kmfazil.blogspot.com</div>Fazilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09399827255619790326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29025912.post-69935045055037361402013-01-29T11:46:00.000+05:302013-01-29T11:46:01.993+05:30The Spanish Apartment<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
The pressure to land a good paying job and have "security" is so
prevalent among young people that many never discover what they really
want to do in life. Cédric Klapisch's film L'Auberge Espanole is about
one young man who had the good fortune to discover new possibilities
about himself. Promised a steady job in the French ministry if he would
learn Spanish and study the Spanish economy, Xavier (Romain Duris), a
25-year old French economics student applies for the European exchange
program known as Erasmus. After fighting through a maze of bureaucracy,
he travels to Barcelona, Spain for one year of study, leaving behind
his devoted girlfriend Martine (Audrey Tautou) and his bohemian mother
(Martine Demaret).<br />
In Barcelona, Xavier stays with a French neurosurgeon and his wife
Anne-Sophie (Judith Godreche) but soon finds an apartment with a
contingent of young people from various parts of Europe: Wendy from
Britain (Kelly Reilly); Tobias from Germany (Barnaby Metschurat); Lars
from Denmark (Christian Pagh); Soledad from Spain (Cristina Brondo);
Alessandro from Italy (Federico D'Anna); and Isabelle from Belgium
(Cecile De France). Similar in theme to Bertolucci's The Dreamers but
much lighter in tone, L'Auberge Espanole explores the growth of a once
bland student when exposed to people of different cultures who are
unrestrained in their zest for life.<br />
There are the usual fights over doing the dishes, space in the
refrigerator, and politics in the new Europe. One of the funniest parts
of the film is the arrival of the Wendy's brother from the UK (Kevin
Bishop). He turns everyone off with ethnic slurs but redeems himself
after he covers up his sisters affair with a boorish American so that
her just arrived boyfriend doesn't find out. Much of the action centers
on relations with the opposite, or in one case, with the same sex.
Martine visits him but their relationship becomes strained when she is
uncomfortable having sex in a crowded apartment and does not relate
well to the other students.<br />
A new housemate, Isabel, a lesbian, teaches Xavier about the moves and
touches that most appeal to women and he tries them out on Anne-Sophie,
the neurologist's wife who eagerly submits to his advances. The film,
however, has a larger theme: learning to discover our true self, not
the one parents or teachers expect us to be. The experience allows
Xavier to get in touch with his own creative energies and reminds him
of his childhood longing to become a writer. While L'Auberge Espanole
never explores any character in much depth and the camera tricks can
become tiresome, it has intelligence, fun, and exuberance and, with
Barcelona scintillating in the background, rekindles the time when life
was an adventure of discovery.
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://kmfazil.blogspot.com</div>Fazilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09399827255619790326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29025912.post-75197607318377347692013-01-27T12:20:00.001+05:302013-01-27T12:20:46.690+05:30Seven Psychopaths<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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There is a definite subtleness about Christopher Walken's dialogue delivery mechanism. He lets them out like honey flowing out of a pot onto ice-cream. He's the few actors in the years of bygone cinema, who could look equally menacing and docile at the same time. Here is one septuagenarian who knows his place in the screen and makes sure he's not easily forgotten, while never for once screaming for attention. I'm not sure how many critics are fond of his famous face-to-face dialogue sequences, but as far as I've known, they are legendary, starting from his Russian-roulette scene in <i>The Deer Hunter</i>, to his <i>Pulp Fiction</i> conversation with the little kid, the one with Frank Abnagale Jr. in <i>Catch Me If You Can</i>, the magic that took place when he came face to face with Dennis Hopper in <i>True Romance</i>, and now, he sits as Vincenzo Coccotti before Woody Harleson, psychopath, talking about crochets, moments after he shot Coccotti's wife in cold blood. Technically, the two have no clue as to who the hell is the other. But we know; and Walken knows we know, and he uses that on us, to convey without words that he knows who the man sitting in front really is.<br />
Such are the intricacies with which <i>Seven Psychopaths</i> astonishes us, the same way <i>In Bruges </i>did, a couple of years back.<br />
In sequences so incidentally similar to In Bruges, Martin McDonagh surpises by showing us two henchmen, out to kill someone.. being shot dead by a masked 'psychopath'. <i>In Bruges</i> started out by killing off a young kid. You don't know how or what brings about this killing. It's just as random as watching Donnie Darko turning to his side and finding an alien-like rabbit watching a movie with him. Your attention is grabbed. You're thus riveted to what's to come for the next one and a half hours.<br />
When Hollywood scriptwriter Marty
(Colin Farrell) finds himself struggling to write his new screenplay,
for now only figuring as a plot less title "Seven Psychopaths", his
best mate Billy (Sam Rockwell), whose day job is stealing rich people's
dogs together with his partner Hans (Christopher Walken) and then
returning them to their owners to collect a finder's fee, decides to
aide him in his efforts. Apart from throwing in an occasional story
about multi-layered psychotic individuals, he also runs an ad for
psychos to call in and tell their life stories, collects articles about
a serial killer whacking off mobsters as well as brings Marty into
close contact with a maniacal crime-lord Charlie (Woody Harrelson), who
is obsessively devoted to his shih-tzu. When Billy steals the minuscule
dog he initiates a bloody spiral cat-and-dog chase, which culminates
into an unexpected fashion. In the meantime Marty is delivered first
hand access to a plethora of psychopaths with both Hans and Billy
chipping in to the creative process with their ideas...<br />
Surprisingly "Seven Psychopaths" has received nowhere near the interest
and focus as "Pulp Fiction", not to mention that of the intellectually
inferior "Django Unchained", whereas one could expect a similar level
of praise and furore given just how consequential and delightfully
satisfying a picture this is. And Tarantino is probably the best person
to compare McDonagh too. Both are incessantly drawn to violence in
cinema, but whereas the American film aficionado uses it to create full
length feature movie jokes, homaging various genres to the glee of
likewise minded freaks, McDonagh manages to use the inherent flaws,
expectations within a given type of movie to pose questions and draw
attention to various issues. Whereas dialogue overflows in the work of
both men, McDonagh's actually has a point of reference, an underlying
goal, not just talk for talk's purpose. For example, an essential
discussion occurs when Marty, Billy and Hans are driving to escape the
wrath of Billy. Here Marty confides about the real movie he would like
to make, where the initial violence introduced to the movie in the
guise of psychopaths would peter out having the later half of the story
focus on the protagonists idly sitting, waiting and holding
philosophical disputes in the middle of the desert. And this is exactly
what transpires for most of the remainder of the movie (enhanced by
calm, brightly saturated lensing), albeit Billy is intent on a more
explosive ending with an epic stand off as the denouement, thus doing
his best to guarantee that the plot isn't mired down into a bunch of
guys sitting around a fire and talking.<br />
Billy is the audience, the target group, whose expectations
inadvertently influence the writer's decisions, thus mindlessly
choosing to sabotage any chance for a contemplative ending. Hans brings
a certain balance (the thoughtful viewer?) suggesting content with
meaning, where his concept of a psychopath has ulterior motives and
goals, making his actions almost sacrificial in nature, accepting that
necessity requires blood, but it need not be senseless violence, such
as that proposed by the more Tarantinesque belligerent Billy, whose
focus is primarily on the bloody shoot out and its effectiveness, not
at the reasons or consequences.<br />
Built around a story with surprising coherency and not overly diverting
away to meta-analysis, McDonagh manages to fuse together the more
contemplative side with some stark entertainment and wry dark humour.
Fronted by a phenomenally well-rounded cast, who manage to keep within
their character boundaries, despite the self-referential filmmaking
contextualisation (especially in regards to Christopher Walken who
treads a fine line between auto-parody and delivering the most
substantial impact on the story).
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://kmfazil.blogspot.com</div>Fazilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09399827255619790326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29025912.post-33126941905593157202013-01-27T11:27:00.000+05:302013-01-27T11:27:00.690+05:30Safety Not Guaranteed<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<i>Safety Not Guaranteed</i> is a potent and quirky picture; a film with such
a lasting charm that to explain it to someone who hasn't seen it is a
definite challenge. A challenge I'm willing to accept. Being that many
of the film's high-points are heavily nuanced, imagine trying to
describe this film like one would describe the beautiful engravings of
a rare coin over the phone to someone whose knowledge of coins to begin
with is very slim.<br />
The film is lead by Aubrey Plaza, but a majority of it is stolen by
Mark Duplass in a difficult, fearless role. Plaza plays Darius, a
directionless magazine intern for a Seattle magazine, who is given a
job, along with two others, to investigate a man who put a strange ad
in the classifieds section asking people to contact him if they were
interested in traveling through time.<br />
The ad reads something like this: "WANTED: Somebody to go back in time
with me. This is not a joke. You'll get paid after we get back. Must
bring your own weapons. I have only done this once before. Safety not
guaranteed." The two others Darius goes with are smartass Jeff (Jake M.
Johnson) and awkward Arnau (Karan Soni), providing effective comic
relief to the story. The three of them, not totally excited about
working together, slog through this assignment by first tracking down
the man, named Kenneth Calloway, to befriend him and make him believe
that they will be traveling back in time with him. When Jeff winds up
upsetting Kenneth, played by Duplass, Darius assumes the role of
approaching the thirty-year-old, who happens to be stocking shelves at
a local grocery store. Instantaneously, Kenneth finds something about
her, whether it be her stunning bluntness, her unique behavior, or just
her impeccable beauty, he finds something and gives her about as much
of his trust as he can give to a person he just met. For the remainder
of the film, we watch as these two quirky, yet vulnerable human beings
(not characters) build up a stable relationship, as Kenneth trains
Darius for the event of time traveling.<br />
While Kenneth painstakingly puts Darius through endurance tests, Jeff
decides to look up a formal flame, who is not chubbier yet still packs
a wholesome wallop, while at the same time, harasses poor Arnau, a
young college student who is a virgin, taking the job of a journalist
because diversity looks good in college. Even in only eighty-one
minutes, writer Derek Connolly manages to gives every characters his or
her own little dimensions to build off of, never limiting everyone's
story in the process.<br />
But it's the performances that remain nuanced in this sea of
eccentricities. Aubrey Plaza has a wonderful Emily Blunt-like screen
persona, playing the straight-shooting girl, equal parts sassy and
lovable, while Duplass gives arguably the best role of his short career
(which is beginning to pick up in the year 2012, with already two films
he co-directed and five films he has starred in). He embodies the
awkward stiffness, the bottled energy, the reclusive strangeness, and
the plethora of fragile instincts of Kenneth without hesitation. This
is a character who is either deeply disturbed or quietly brilliant, and
the film is smart enough to fuel arguments for both propositions.<br />
<i>Safety Not Guaranteed</i> is a winner in terms of story and performances,
but a grand-slam in terms of its modestly nuanced style and its
bleeding gums characters, who give us truly compelling substance with
their checkered life stories. It also gives us enough information about
time travel to effectively label it, among many things, a film about
time travel, yet I'm sure many who enjoy those kinds of films wouldn't
be too fond of this, mainly because it explores the idea with stunning
seriousness and logic rather than contrivance and silliness. Yet
another thing it nuances in with its kinetic whimsy and incandescent
charm.</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://kmfazil.blogspot.com</div>Fazilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09399827255619790326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29025912.post-54101922210997134782012-12-30T11:47:00.001+05:302012-12-30T11:47:57.617+05:30Possible Worlds<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
Police thrillers traditionally
set the cops out on a chase to catch criminals. They cut through lies
and deceptions, elude dangers and get their man, woman, monster,
whatever. In Robert Lepage's complex Possible Worlds, which begins with a horrific
murder scene, the conventions of the policier are inverted, warped and
re-made with a daring verve. The story veers into a surrealistic world of dreams, memories and
futuristic science. Catching a criminal seems the least of the worries
the cops face at the end, despite other shocking deaths leaving
mutilated corpses, each missing its brain. Finally, this intriguing and provocative film inspires its protagonists
and its audience to ask existential questions about our time here. Do we
exist but once? Are there parallel universes? How do we define our
existence? Are memories real or subconscious dreamscapes? Is the film
going to solve any of the challenging questions it raises?
<br />
The answer to the last question is no, not really, although there is a
crass mad science conclusion to the piece. This is the weakest element
in an otherwise masterful film that is both mentally rewarding and
exquisitely beautiful.<br />
Based on the stage play by Canadian writer-actor John Mighton and
adapted to the screen by the author, Possible Worlds also --
significantly -- marks the English language filmmaking debut by Lepage. He has already worked extensively in English in the theatre, but his
prior three films -- work which Lepage still considers a hobby despite
his skill and unfettered imagination in the medium -- have all been in
French. Sadly, this will probably not dramatically increase his
audience. The film is too weird and too esoteric to appeal to the mall
crowd. But it doesn't hurt that Possible Worlds is so skilfully acted. Canadian
Tom McCamus is the man found murdered -- and brainless -- at the
beginning of the story. In flashback, we find out how he came to be in
such a state.
<br />
The regression into his memory produces a series of possible worlds,
quite literally, but also poetically. In each, we find the mysterious
English star Tilda Swinton playing the alluring object of McCamus'
affection.
<br />
In each world, our hero is the same man. He is also 'conscious' of each
of those other parallel universes. In each world, however, the heroine
is transformed and has no connection or memory of her other selves. So
Swinton plays four versions of herself. The possibility exists that
there are an infinite number of others. Each may (or not) exist only in
our hero's brain, the one removed at the murder scene. McCamus, serious and sober, and Swinton, sensual and yet remote, are
both splendid, utterly convincing in making the material flow naturally.
In lesser hands, the story might otherwise be just absurdist or even
ridiculous.
<br />
As it is, Possible Worlds may well be the most bizarre and beautiful police thriller you have ever seen.
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://kmfazil.blogspot.com</div>Fazilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09399827255619790326noreply@blogger.com0