Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Love is Strange (2014)


☆ ☆ ☆

Love is Strange (2014) – I. Sachs

Although it utilises the same plot device as Make Way for Tomorrow (1937), in which an older couple is forced to sell their home and move to separate lodgings with their not-so-willing relatives, Ira Sachs’s film transports the situation to the modern day and stars John Lithgow and Alfred Molina as the couple, newly married but together for nearly 40 years before the separation.  Sachs doesn’t follow in the earlier film’s tear-jerking footsteps however and instead gently offers a naturalistic slice of life in a contemplative mood (aided by a pleasant piano score and some poetic interludes).  The politics of gay life is manifested a few times: a blissful wedding soon gives way to Molina losing his job as music teacher at a Catholic school for formalizing his already acknowledged relationship, Lithgow makes a quick reference to Stonewall-era protests – but these examples seem unusual in the context of the loving acceptance offered to them by everyone in the picture.  And love is certainly the focus (as it was in 1937) with the loving Lithgow/Molina relationship always centre stage (and beautifully acted), even as their living arrangements create strain on their relationships with others (including niece-in-law Marisa Tomei).  The film isn’t perfect:  a couple of subplots don’t really get started and distract away from the main story and then things end rather abruptly.  Yet, for all its brevity, it was very pleasant to spend some time in New York City with these real people and their open-minded and creative friends and family. There didn’t seem to be anything strange about this at all!
  

Nocturnal Animals (2016)


☆ ☆ ☆ ½


Nocturnal Animals (2016) – T. Ford

Although Tom Ford’s film seems to take place in the same world that you and I live in, there is something not quite the same, perhaps it could be called a “heightened” reality, almost Lynchian in some ways.  Maybe this is because Amy Adams’ character works in the art world and there are heaps of shots of art objects and references to existing artists (e.g., Koons, Freud; the latter emphasised in the in-your-face opening credit sequence).  Or maybe the unreality arises because the film contains two narratives, the first that reveals Adams and her (thoughts about her) past and present relationships, and the second that shows the novel she is reading, entitled Nocturnal Animals and written by her first husband who dedicated it to her.  Novels don’t need to follow the same rules of our reality – but this one, starring Jake Gyllenhaal (who also plays her ex-husband), mostly does, particularly in the way it highlights threats of random violence that we all worry about.  (Michael Shannon also features as a rogue cop in an absorbingly odd performance). The novel could also be read as a threat to Adams herself, seeing how a similar character and her daughter suffer extreme violence in the book (this interpretation also meshes with the end of the film which also involves degradation).  Another reading might see the novel as a documentation of the author’s own pain and suffering at the hands of Adams.  In any event, the film doesn’t provide any insights into Gyllenhaal’s motivations and deals primarily with Adams’ psychological reactions and states.  Viewers are left to decide for themselves whether she has the correct take on reality (or unreality).  In a grander way, Ford may also want us to question the role of art/fiction in our lives and the motivations that underlie its creation but this theme is less successfully implemented. 


Friday, May 19, 2017

The Kid (1921)


☆ ☆ ☆ ½

The Kid (1921) – C. Chaplin


I was a relative late-comer to Chaplin, watching Buster Keaton films before I turned to Monsieur Verdoux (an atypical late Chaplin, but great) and then City Lights, The Gold Rush, The Circus, Modern Times, and The Great Dictator all in the last 10 years or so.  And only now have I turned to The Kid.  I suppose I steered away from Chaplin generally and The Kid specifically because of his sentimental streak.  To me, it seemed to weaken or cheapen a film.  (Verdoux, in contrast, is dark and cold as ice).  Of course, that meant that it took me years to see and appreciate the amazing comic moments in all these Chaplin movies.  The Kid, which shows the Tramp finding and raising young Jackie Cooper despite their poor circumstances, does have an extra high quotient of sentimental moments relative to other Chaplin films.  The heartbroken mother gives up her child; Charlie nearly loses Jackie to the workhouse/orphanage; etc. But there are funny moments as well, perhaps not as funny as in the subsequent features, but some good stuff (and a bizarre dream sequence in Heaven).  In the end, I’ve grown to appreciate Chaplin’s genius, especially in the planning of the gags, but I could still do without the schmaltz. (For what it is worth, this review is based on a 50 minute version of the film, seemingly produced by Chaplin in 1971 with his own musical score; the music may have hurt the picture). 

Tuesday, May 16, 2017

The Killer (1989)


☆ ☆ ☆ ½

The Killer (1989) – J. Woo

Back in the day, I really enjoyed the movies of John Woo – so much so that I think I went and saw Hard Target (1993; with JCVD) in the theatre.  But years have passed and Woo’s profile has dropped; originally, he was touted as a grand stylist of action; in Hollywood he was reduced to making a Lost in Space TV movie; now he is back in China making grand epics.  He seems to have lost his personal style which paid homage to Melville and the honour among men (thieves or cops or both).  The Killer was the centrepiece of his oeuvre up to that point, starring Chow Yun-Fat and Danny Lee as hitman and cop, respectively, who form a bond over a blinded nightclub singer.  Woo brought all of his stylistic trademarks to bear, with slow-motion flying doves in a church, syrupy Cantonese music, Mexican stand-offs galore, and some very sensitive tough guys trying to follow their feelings while also unleashing lovingly choreographed ultraviolence on anyone in their way.  Possibly due to the fact that I watched a version of the film with dubious discontinuous subtitles, it just didn’t resonate with me the same way this time.  However, my recent rewatches of Hard Boiled (1992) – 4 stars, and A Better Tomorrow (1986) – 4 ½ stars, suggest that Woo did have the goods.  Perhaps I’ve been too hard on The Killer this time? Melville’s Le Samourai (a key inspiration) is a personal favourite (not sure how that might influence my verdict).


Monday, May 15, 2017

The Smallest Show on Earth (1957)


☆ ☆ ☆ ½

The Smallest Show on Earth (1957) – B. Dearden

Charming Ealing-style comedy (although not quite as broad or zany) that takes place in a dilapidated old cinema (“the fleapit”), inherited by a young couple (Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers). Along with the cinema comes three aged employees, played by Margaret Rutherford, Bernard Miles, and Peter Sellers (underplaying in old age make-up).  The new owners hope to sell the property to a nearby modern cinema that needs the land for a parking lot but the offer is too low – so they decide to run the movie house (making a small profit!) to force their competitor to raise his bid.  Of course, predictable chaos ensues.  There’s also a sentimental moment where the oldsters are caught showing an old silent film (Comin’ Thro the Rye, 1923) late at night with Rutherford accompanying it on the piano.  This sort of British comedy tickles my fancy and, while not uproarious, The Smallest Show definitely elicited a chuckle or two and that warm feeling of affection toward characters you like.  The black comedic ending does tilt toward the similar vein running through Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) or The Ladykillers (1955).  Worth a look.


Saturday, May 13, 2017

Gorillas in the Mist (1988)


☆ ☆ ☆


Gorillas in the Mist (1988) – M. Apted

Watching this nearly 30-year-old conservation-focused movie now (for the first time) prompts immediate questions about the current status of the mountain gorilla.  Surprisingly, there is some good news: apparently a recovery is in progress – the population is around 880, up from 620 in 1989, according to the WWF. (But of course efforts need to continue to save them).  I also wondered where Dian Fossey (the gorillas’ champion and a folk hero for two decades) was today, only vaguely remembering that she was murdered in Rwanda in 1985, something that would have been more salient to audiences in 1988.  The movie does end with this event and its final 30 minutes set up her fate by showing a dramatic change from wide-eyed affection (toward gorillas) to wild-eyed hostility (toward poachers, the Rwandan government, her own assistants, etc.).  Sigourney Weaver is fine as Fossey but the gorillas are the main thing; the production used a combination of real gorillas in the wild (amazingly shot on location), chimpanzees in make-up, and gorilla suits designed by horror artiste Rick Baker.  The plot includes romance (with Bryan Brown), action (attacks by poachers), and a lot of oohing and ahhing by Weaver; in fact, the plot seems to detract from the focus on Dian Fossey and her character (as Roger Ebert pointed out), not letting us inside her head much at all.   The movie also feels dated, with 1980s style/fashion somehow intruding.  Perhaps it is ironic, then, that the director was Michael Apted, most famous for his involvement with the 7 Up series (with its next instalment 63 Up! due in 2019).  Thinking into the future, it’s hard not to imagine a world ravaged by climate change and many endangered animals wiped out. 
  

Saturday, May 6, 2017

Woman of the Lake (1966)


☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Woman of the Lake (1966) – Y. Yoshida


Along with Oshima, Yoshihige (Kiju) Yoshida was a prominent figure of the Japanese New Wave, often making films starring his wife, Mariko Okada.  Similarly to the films of the French New Wave, Woman of the Lake is refreshing in its style, chockfull of arresting photographic images and experiments.  In fact, the image may be everything here, as the plot seems to drift away toward the end (or maybe that was just me).  Okada plays a married woman having an affair who allows her partner to take nude photos of her, which subsequently fall into the wrong hands – they are stolen by a stalker who invites her to a rendezvous at a spa town.  She is followed by her lover (and his nonplussed fiancée) who confronts the stalker but she seems inexorably drawn to the latter, eventually heading off with him.  We don’t know what she is seeking, whether she is perpetually unfulfilled, lonely, needing to be sexually desired by others outside of her (staid) relationship with a businessman. In the end, she retrieves the negatives but her transgression is still revealed to her husband (who seems nonplussed).  Moreover, the stalker seems to have found her photographic image more desirable than he finds Okada herself.  Director Yoshida may have something to say about voyeurism, the male gaze, the differences between image and reality, and the growing omni-presence of cameras to document and mediate, but the measured pace of the film, the psychodramatic flute score, and the intense acting styles (particularly by Okada), tend to absorb the viewer’s attention.  In other words, images may start to dominate everything so much so that meaning and purpose begin to get lost. Is there a warning here for the viewer and the viewed?

Thursday, May 4, 2017

The Raid: Redemption (2011)


☆ ☆ ☆ ½

The Raid: Redemption (2011) – G. Evans

As close to a video game as you can probably get.  We follow an Indonesian SWAT team as they break into a fortress-like tenement building that is home to a notorious criminal/drug dealer.  Once the action starts, it never lets up – hundreds of baddies pour out of every doorway and stream down every hall.  The ultra-violence quotient is cranked up impossibly high – blood spurts and squirts everywhere and the martial arts fighting (Pencak Silat) is rough and brutal; this film is not for the squeamish.  However, you’ll probably find yourself thinking more about the stunt coordinator and the mechanics of making the action look realistic than worrying about the real hurts involved.  Still, the ruthlessness is a downside for me, as I much prefer the Jacky Chan-style of fighting film with some comic relief thrown in for good measure.  Then I can enjoy the choreography without grimacing too much.  Here, the relentlessness can be rather grinding (and the thumping soundtrack heightens the effect); you also have to wonder (and worry?) whether there are people who get off on the violence of it all.  Nevertheless, if you are looking for a visceral rush and can look past the broken bones and machetes to the throat, this is a taut action film.


Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Arrival (2016)


☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Arrival (2016) – D. Villeneuve

Denis Villeneuve’s science fiction film never underestimates the audience’s intelligence (using real scientists and linguistics scholars as advisors), yet it still comes across as somewhat loopy.  This may be because some of the logical connections that hold the plot together are given short shrift, ending up almost as MacGuffins (Hitchcock’s term for the objects that drive the suspense plot, such as a secret formula that spies wish to obtain, that never really need to be understood or explained).  For example, we almost get to understand the links between learning the alien language and developing a mastery over time – but not quite.  Nevertheless, the film is enjoyable simply for the process that it unfolds, showing how human methods can be used to tackle a surreal situation (and to some degree how human nature can get in the way).  Amy Adams, linguist, and Jeremy Renner, scientist, are enlisted by Forest Whitaker, Colonel, to meet the aliens (who have landed their ships in 12 locations around the world) and to learn the purpose of their arrival (which means learning their language, a painstaking but enthralling task).  Interspersed with this are flashbacks from Amy Adams’ life that help her to tackle the challenge.  The look of the film is sombre and the music often matches that mood.  Think of it as starting where Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1979) left off, with much of the action occurring inside the alien spacecraft.  What consequences would there be for humanity and for individuals?  There’s more to think about – with a “would you kill Hitler” slant – but I hesitate to indulge in too many spoilers in this review; I’m not quite sure the final twist was done justice (though it does make you want to watch the film again).  Definitely worth a look, particularly if you like sci-fi.