After the success of Canadian film 'Juno' last year, this exceptional and confronting Romanian film hit international cinemas at a pitch-perfect time. Both films deal with the issue of teenage pregnancy, though whilst 'Juno' is set in an advantaged, middle-class family environment, '4 Months, 3 Weeks And 3 Days' finds it's protagonists in communist Romania, with not nearly as many choices.
The contrasts further reveal themselves as Juno, with her family in tow, patiently shops around for the perfect couple to adopt her baby... a world away from Gabita, the pregnant lead of '4 Months', and her friend Otilia, whom, alone, are desperately trying to arrange an illegal, and very dangerous, abortion.
I think we know where I'm going with this: 'Juno' is a cute comedy; '4 Months' is a raw tragedy.
The catch-phrase slogan of '4 Months' reads, 'How far would you go for a friend?', but I feel the subtext in this movie reflect a wider struggle, a struggle that asks the question; 'How far must a woman go because of a man?' How marginalised is the destiny of a woman under a patriarchal legal system?
Before seeing this film, I had felt that the most powerful movie I had seen in recent years was undoubtedly 'Hunger' (2008), which covers the IRA hunger strikes in Belfast's Maze Prison during the early 80's. After viewing '4 Months, 3 Weeks And 2 Days' though, it is clear to me that for all it's gritty courage and bloody persecution, what gave 'Hunger' a weighted sense of poignancy was, in fact, just that: pathetic and pointless testosterone-fueled madness; flawed males rebelling against a flawed male system. '4 Months, 3 Weeks And 2 Days' strips itself of all that ego, and what remains is an uphill battle against patriarchal oppression, defiantly pushed along with the love, self-determination, and quiet intelligence inherent in femininity.
'4 Months, 3 Weeks And 2 Days' was released in Australia in 2007, and is now available to rent on DVD.
Showing posts with label DVD. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DVD. Show all posts
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Thursday, July 31, 2008
[Film Review] The Great Debaters
“The time for justice is always – is always – right now!”
This rousing statement, delivered with absolute vehemence by Samantha Booke (played by Jurnee Smollett) of the inspirational Wiley College debate team of the 1930’s, embodies one of the main idea’s director Denzel Washington desires to have linger in the minds of audiences after seeing his latest film ‘The Great Debaters’. Here we are in 2008 - some 78 years after Wiley College defied the barriers of racial discrimination and class stature and became the first African American college to debate against an Anglo-Saxon college - yet have we continued to grow as a liberal society?
The terrorist attacks on September 11th 2001 forever changed our world. Initially, America became the victim for the first time since the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbour in 1941. Then, echoing the response to the Japanese attack, the American war machine was thrust into full throttle and quite quickly America became the assailant again. Casting aside the myriad of other issues created as a result of these events, and focusing on just one, what essentially changed was the focus on America’s domestic policy to a focus on America’s foreign policy. The ramifications of this, from a personal point of view, were that last week I found myself in a cinema asking the question of “how relevant is the issue of race-relations in America these days?” Sedated by constant ‘terror’ newspaper headlines, ‘The Great Debaters’ charged me back to consciousness and got me thinking about America’s domestic policy once again.
As I type this, the people of America are celebrating the annual public holiday dedicated to the spirit of African American civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr, who was assassinated in 1968. Former President Ronald Reagan enacted the holiday into law in 1983, and it was first observed in 1986. After many years of resistance, all 50 states finally observed it in 2000. The 3 sentences you just read pretty much mirror America’s progression in race-relation issues: up and down, but moving steadily down the right path. One of the American’s celebrating is Barack Obama. Barack Obama, an African American politician, is doubly celebrating, as he was just victorious at the caucus in Iowa – one of the whitest states in the country. He is now a serious contender to represent the Democrats in 2009’s national election, and quite possibly become the USA’s first African American president. This is fantastic news for advocates of social justice, and Obama is a great role model for other African American’s who are in a position to climb the ranks of the socio-economic ladder.
What then, for those not in such advantaged positions? Who are the role models for the working class African Americans; those not fortunate enough to be in a position to attend college? While on the campaign trail, Obama spoke with rapper/musicians Jay Z and Kanye West about using hip hop as a positive power if he gets elected as president. Reporting back on the encounter, Obama, very aware that hip hop is a prime source of role models for many disadvantaged African American’s, expressed “concern that they’re always talking about material things; how I can get more money, more cars.” This dire observation encapsulates the other key idea Denzel Washington wishes to convey to audiences of ‘The Great Debaters’: the fundamental importance of education, and crucially, the necessity for across the board access to education.
After showing early promise with his 2002 directorial debut, ‘Antwone Fisher’, Denzel Washington has really stepped up to the plate with his follow-up, and is right at home creating the vision for his cast and crew to deliver the figurative home run. Both thematically, and technically, ‘The Great Debaters’ is an outstanding film – and that’s an opinion I’m willing to debate with anyone and everyone!
The Great Debaters has not yet been released in Australia, keep an eye out for it!
This rousing statement, delivered with absolute vehemence by Samantha Booke (played by Jurnee Smollett) of the inspirational Wiley College debate team of the 1930’s, embodies one of the main idea’s director Denzel Washington desires to have linger in the minds of audiences after seeing his latest film ‘The Great Debaters’. Here we are in 2008 - some 78 years after Wiley College defied the barriers of racial discrimination and class stature and became the first African American college to debate against an Anglo-Saxon college - yet have we continued to grow as a liberal society?
The terrorist attacks on September 11th 2001 forever changed our world. Initially, America became the victim for the first time since the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbour in 1941. Then, echoing the response to the Japanese attack, the American war machine was thrust into full throttle and quite quickly America became the assailant again. Casting aside the myriad of other issues created as a result of these events, and focusing on just one, what essentially changed was the focus on America’s domestic policy to a focus on America’s foreign policy. The ramifications of this, from a personal point of view, were that last week I found myself in a cinema asking the question of “how relevant is the issue of race-relations in America these days?” Sedated by constant ‘terror’ newspaper headlines, ‘The Great Debaters’ charged me back to consciousness and got me thinking about America’s domestic policy once again.
As I type this, the people of America are celebrating the annual public holiday dedicated to the spirit of African American civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr, who was assassinated in 1968. Former President Ronald Reagan enacted the holiday into law in 1983, and it was first observed in 1986. After many years of resistance, all 50 states finally observed it in 2000. The 3 sentences you just read pretty much mirror America’s progression in race-relation issues: up and down, but moving steadily down the right path. One of the American’s celebrating is Barack Obama. Barack Obama, an African American politician, is doubly celebrating, as he was just victorious at the caucus in Iowa – one of the whitest states in the country. He is now a serious contender to represent the Democrats in 2009’s national election, and quite possibly become the USA’s first African American president. This is fantastic news for advocates of social justice, and Obama is a great role model for other African American’s who are in a position to climb the ranks of the socio-economic ladder.
What then, for those not in such advantaged positions? Who are the role models for the working class African Americans; those not fortunate enough to be in a position to attend college? While on the campaign trail, Obama spoke with rapper/musicians Jay Z and Kanye West about using hip hop as a positive power if he gets elected as president. Reporting back on the encounter, Obama, very aware that hip hop is a prime source of role models for many disadvantaged African American’s, expressed “concern that they’re always talking about material things; how I can get more money, more cars.” This dire observation encapsulates the other key idea Denzel Washington wishes to convey to audiences of ‘The Great Debaters’: the fundamental importance of education, and crucially, the necessity for across the board access to education.
After showing early promise with his 2002 directorial debut, ‘Antwone Fisher’, Denzel Washington has really stepped up to the plate with his follow-up, and is right at home creating the vision for his cast and crew to deliver the figurative home run. Both thematically, and technically, ‘The Great Debaters’ is an outstanding film – and that’s an opinion I’m willing to debate with anyone and everyone!
The Great Debaters has not yet been released in Australia, keep an eye out for it!
[Film Review] Grace Is Gone
Grace is Gone is a very private movie, dealing with the consequences of a very public matter: War. Rather than follow the current theme of ‘finger pointing’, Grace is Gone casts aside all exterior concerns and narrows in on the most rudimentary dilemma in times of war - how the family unit deals with loss.
Written and directed by James C. Strouse (who’s only other film credit is as writer of the critically-acclaimed 2005 film, ‘Lonesome Jim’), ‘Grace is Gone’ stars John Cusack as Stanley Phillips, a middle-aged retail manager. Father of two daughters: 12-and-a-half year old Heidi (Shelan O’Keefe), and 8 year old Dawn (Grace Bednarczyk), Stanley is in the rather unusual circumstance whereby his wife, and mother to the children, Grace, is serving as a soldier in the Iraq war. When the harrowing news arrives that Grace has been killed, Stanley - whose persona is more akin to that of a provider as opposed to that of a homemaker - becomes emotionally frozen. Unable to find the words, or strength, to break the news to his daughters, Stanley instead lures them on a road-trip to an amusement park a couple of days drive away. And so begins a heartbreaking journey; not only in the literal sense across the grandiosely corporate, yet strikingly isolated, mid-west of America; but also for Stanley, as he gradually becomes close enough to his daughters to reveal the truth to them.
Grace is Gone recently won the ‘Audience Prize’ at ‘Sundance’, the film festival founded by Robert Redford. Considering the deeply personal subject matter, and how it directly mirrors the afflictions of the Iraq war, it comes as no surprise that American audiences are unanimously warming to the film.
However, the fact that it also won the ‘Critics Award’ at the Deauville Film Festival (France) suggests that there are other elements which place this rather humble film amongst some of the year’s best. In my opinion, two elements specifically: the cinematography, and the original score. Renowned French cinematographer Jean-Louis Bompoint’s (‘Science of Sleep’) photography of Middle America quietly encapsulates the hypocrisy the superpower tries so hard to mask. Using very wide lenses, and staged compositional shots of America’s corporate highway (e.g. a giant Starbucks, or an overwhelmingly indulgent Toys ‘R’ Us), Bompoint poignantly highlights how America’s ‘shock and awe’ submission tactics are not reserved for war purposes alone. The score is composed by Clint Eastwood (who also scored for his films ‘Mystic River’ and ‘Flags of our Fathers’), and it is this element which sledges the figurative axe into the heart of viewers emotions. Subtle, melancholic, and ethereal, Eastwood’s score runs parallel to Stanley’s journey, sounding reminiscent to that of a child’s musical box. During some of the most emotionally arresting scenes, all audio is drained from the soundtrack except for the score - a heartbreaking method to confront audiences and leave their emotions with nowhere to hide.
Gentle and poignant, Grace is Gone is a clever film put together by just a few of the ever-growing number of American’s who desperately want to see their nation return to grace.
Grace Is Gone has not yet been released in Australia, keep an eye out for it!
Written and directed by James C. Strouse (who’s only other film credit is as writer of the critically-acclaimed 2005 film, ‘Lonesome Jim’), ‘Grace is Gone’ stars John Cusack as Stanley Phillips, a middle-aged retail manager. Father of two daughters: 12-and-a-half year old Heidi (Shelan O’Keefe), and 8 year old Dawn (Grace Bednarczyk), Stanley is in the rather unusual circumstance whereby his wife, and mother to the children, Grace, is serving as a soldier in the Iraq war. When the harrowing news arrives that Grace has been killed, Stanley - whose persona is more akin to that of a provider as opposed to that of a homemaker - becomes emotionally frozen. Unable to find the words, or strength, to break the news to his daughters, Stanley instead lures them on a road-trip to an amusement park a couple of days drive away. And so begins a heartbreaking journey; not only in the literal sense across the grandiosely corporate, yet strikingly isolated, mid-west of America; but also for Stanley, as he gradually becomes close enough to his daughters to reveal the truth to them.
Grace is Gone recently won the ‘Audience Prize’ at ‘Sundance’, the film festival founded by Robert Redford. Considering the deeply personal subject matter, and how it directly mirrors the afflictions of the Iraq war, it comes as no surprise that American audiences are unanimously warming to the film.
However, the fact that it also won the ‘Critics Award’ at the Deauville Film Festival (France) suggests that there are other elements which place this rather humble film amongst some of the year’s best. In my opinion, two elements specifically: the cinematography, and the original score. Renowned French cinematographer Jean-Louis Bompoint’s (‘Science of Sleep’) photography of Middle America quietly encapsulates the hypocrisy the superpower tries so hard to mask. Using very wide lenses, and staged compositional shots of America’s corporate highway (e.g. a giant Starbucks, or an overwhelmingly indulgent Toys ‘R’ Us), Bompoint poignantly highlights how America’s ‘shock and awe’ submission tactics are not reserved for war purposes alone. The score is composed by Clint Eastwood (who also scored for his films ‘Mystic River’ and ‘Flags of our Fathers’), and it is this element which sledges the figurative axe into the heart of viewers emotions. Subtle, melancholic, and ethereal, Eastwood’s score runs parallel to Stanley’s journey, sounding reminiscent to that of a child’s musical box. During some of the most emotionally arresting scenes, all audio is drained from the soundtrack except for the score - a heartbreaking method to confront audiences and leave their emotions with nowhere to hide.
Gentle and poignant, Grace is Gone is a clever film put together by just a few of the ever-growing number of American’s who desperately want to see their nation return to grace.
Grace Is Gone has not yet been released in Australia, keep an eye out for it!
[Film Review] Be Kind Rewind
It was only during the final 15 minutes of Michel Gondry’s new movie, ‘Be Kind Rewind’, (starring Jack Black and Mos Def) that I really felt a connection with what Gondry had obviously set out to achieve. The words that came into my head as I left the cinema - awash with a sense of ‘movie baptism’ – were: ‘the end justifies the means’.
Gondry is one of the first directors to evolve from, and be influenced by, the ‘MTV generation’ of the late 1990s. This was an era where digital media - cable internet, plasma-screen televisions, pay-tv, highly realistic computer gaming consoles, reality television programs, etc - became ubiquitous. An era where immediate gratification became not only available, it became essential, to avoid viewers ‘switching off’. As a result of this, consumerism (more and more so without dollar payment) flourished, and the attention spans of many young people became increasingly reduced.
Gondry began his creative career making television commercials (including ‘Drugstore’, an ad for Levi 501s which is officially the most awarded commercial in history), as well as indie music videos for his French band “Oui Oui”. These videos caught the attention of Bjork, who then enlisted him to direct her own video clips. Work for Radiohead, The White Stripes, and Daft Punk soon followed. All of his videos had a very unique, quirky, and almost makeshift feel. Rather than using digital effects, Gondry prefers to create all sets himself, and uses cardboard cut-out props to represent various real-life elements. The end result is a semi-maniacal (… keeping the impatient youth interested?), and ultimately a very real and human aesthetic.
Moving from music videos to feature length films is not always a seamless transition, although it was Gondry, along with Spike Jonze (‘Being John Malkovich’, ‘Adaptation’) and David Fincher (‘Se7en’, ‘Fight Club’), who are credited as representing the first-wave of artists to do so successfully. Gondry’s first film, released in 2001, was the intelligent and highly entertaining ‘Human Nature’. With a screenplay by lauded writer Charlie Kaufman, and produced by Spike Jonze, ‘Human Nature’ is quite light in essence, but certainly has a deeper sub-text accompanying the quirky vision that Gondry employed for the screenplay.
Next up was ‘Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind’; another film penned by Charlie Kaufman, and without doubt, one of the best films of its release year. Gondry was now lauded, by fans and critics alike, as a bona fide director. The time had come for him to free himself of the parent-like creative relationship with the brilliant Charlie Kaufman, and he did this with his own original script in 2006 - the romantic fantasy drama ‘The Science Of Sleep’. This was the film in which Gondry was finally able to have full creative control over the direction of the visual effects.
So where to now for Gondry, an artist who has covered so much ground already in a relatively short time in the industry? The answer is this back to ‘grass-roots’ movie - ‘Be Kind Rewind’ - which he both wrote and directed. Working within a small budget, getting the most use out of basic props, favouring genuine camera trickery over digital cheating, and casting relatively inexperienced actors (rapper-cum-actor, Mos Def, and Melonie Diaz), it is almost like Gondry put aside any artistic ego and instead just focused on trying to put together a really honest and human movie. Take note of my use of words here – ‘movie’, not ‘film’. There is a level of elitism that tends to come with the term ‘film’, and ‘Be Kind Rewind’ is a world away from any such high-brow critiques. ‘Be Kind Rewind’ hasn’t got a very deep plot (two video shop clerks concoct a plan to re-enact all the videos in the shop after they accidentally erase all the originals), nor has it got any breathtaking performances (Mos Def, whilst cute, doesn’t come across as the confident and charismatic man that is on display in his hip hop music). It wasn’t until close to the end of the movie that I really warmed to it and understood that Gondry didn’t so much care about the individual parts of the movie, he had an overall vision for it. Without giving too much away – there really is a life-affirming final stanza that is worth experiencing – Gondry, with ‘Be Kind Rewind’, has gone back to grass-roots movie-making, and in the process, has created something which will not only leave audiences with a reinvigorated love of the cinema experience, it will leave them with a touching sense of community togetherness. Put simply, this could be (1988 classic Italian film) ‘Cinema Paradiso’ for 2008.
Be Kind Rewind was released in 2008, and is now available on DVD.
Gondry is one of the first directors to evolve from, and be influenced by, the ‘MTV generation’ of the late 1990s. This was an era where digital media - cable internet, plasma-screen televisions, pay-tv, highly realistic computer gaming consoles, reality television programs, etc - became ubiquitous. An era where immediate gratification became not only available, it became essential, to avoid viewers ‘switching off’. As a result of this, consumerism (more and more so without dollar payment) flourished, and the attention spans of many young people became increasingly reduced.
Gondry began his creative career making television commercials (including ‘Drugstore’, an ad for Levi 501s which is officially the most awarded commercial in history), as well as indie music videos for his French band “Oui Oui”. These videos caught the attention of Bjork, who then enlisted him to direct her own video clips. Work for Radiohead, The White Stripes, and Daft Punk soon followed. All of his videos had a very unique, quirky, and almost makeshift feel. Rather than using digital effects, Gondry prefers to create all sets himself, and uses cardboard cut-out props to represent various real-life elements. The end result is a semi-maniacal (… keeping the impatient youth interested?), and ultimately a very real and human aesthetic.
Moving from music videos to feature length films is not always a seamless transition, although it was Gondry, along with Spike Jonze (‘Being John Malkovich’, ‘Adaptation’) and David Fincher (‘Se7en’, ‘Fight Club’), who are credited as representing the first-wave of artists to do so successfully. Gondry’s first film, released in 2001, was the intelligent and highly entertaining ‘Human Nature’. With a screenplay by lauded writer Charlie Kaufman, and produced by Spike Jonze, ‘Human Nature’ is quite light in essence, but certainly has a deeper sub-text accompanying the quirky vision that Gondry employed for the screenplay.
Next up was ‘Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind’; another film penned by Charlie Kaufman, and without doubt, one of the best films of its release year. Gondry was now lauded, by fans and critics alike, as a bona fide director. The time had come for him to free himself of the parent-like creative relationship with the brilliant Charlie Kaufman, and he did this with his own original script in 2006 - the romantic fantasy drama ‘The Science Of Sleep’. This was the film in which Gondry was finally able to have full creative control over the direction of the visual effects.
So where to now for Gondry, an artist who has covered so much ground already in a relatively short time in the industry? The answer is this back to ‘grass-roots’ movie - ‘Be Kind Rewind’ - which he both wrote and directed. Working within a small budget, getting the most use out of basic props, favouring genuine camera trickery over digital cheating, and casting relatively inexperienced actors (rapper-cum-actor, Mos Def, and Melonie Diaz), it is almost like Gondry put aside any artistic ego and instead just focused on trying to put together a really honest and human movie. Take note of my use of words here – ‘movie’, not ‘film’. There is a level of elitism that tends to come with the term ‘film’, and ‘Be Kind Rewind’ is a world away from any such high-brow critiques. ‘Be Kind Rewind’ hasn’t got a very deep plot (two video shop clerks concoct a plan to re-enact all the videos in the shop after they accidentally erase all the originals), nor has it got any breathtaking performances (Mos Def, whilst cute, doesn’t come across as the confident and charismatic man that is on display in his hip hop music). It wasn’t until close to the end of the movie that I really warmed to it and understood that Gondry didn’t so much care about the individual parts of the movie, he had an overall vision for it. Without giving too much away – there really is a life-affirming final stanza that is worth experiencing – Gondry, with ‘Be Kind Rewind’, has gone back to grass-roots movie-making, and in the process, has created something which will not only leave audiences with a reinvigorated love of the cinema experience, it will leave them with a touching sense of community togetherness. Put simply, this could be (1988 classic Italian film) ‘Cinema Paradiso’ for 2008.
Be Kind Rewind was released in 2008, and is now available on DVD.
[Film Review] The Kite Runner
It is commonly assumed that the Director of a film is the most important contributor to the overall production. However, it is the Producer who is involved in all aspects of the film-making process. One way to describe the role of the Producer is to suggest he/she is responsible for the casting of the entire production, with a particular focus on gathering together the best possible crew. A conductor, if you like – the person overseeing the individual performances, ensuring they all play their part to the satisfaction of the intended completed product.
The Producer of ‘The Kite Runner’ (a film adapted from Khaled Hosseini’s best selling novel of the same name) is William Horberg.
Horberg first came across ‘The Kite Runner’ when it was merely a rough manuscript Hosseini was still polishing. Set in Afghanistan in the 1970’s, the story traces the lives of two young boys - best friends - with different ethnic backgrounds; backgrounds which eventually play catalyst to a life-changing course of events for both. Horberg immediately saw the potential of this powerful, human story, and secured the rights to a film adaptation. A few months later, Hosseini’s novel was released. To the surprise of Horberg and his developing entourage of conspirators, the novel became a world-wide phenomenon, catapulting to best-selling lists in over 30 countries. It is then that Horberg and co realized just how much attention the film adaptation would no doubt garner – and in my opinion, it is this realization that is responsible for turning what could have been an art-house treasure into a fairly ‘safe’ film for general consumption.
‘Safe’ is the best way to describe the overall feeling of the film, which really disappoints me on a couple of levels. Firstly because I really don’t think Horberg has enough confidence in what general audiences are willing to embrace, and secondly because there are so many wonderful aspects to this film. The cinematography is sweeping and lush; the digital effects crisp and awesome; the vast majority of the score is subtle, ethereal, and extremely heart-felt; and the cast (made up of both seasoned and first-time actors) is completely superb, guided fluidly by Director Marc Foster (Monsters Ball, Finding Neverland).
What is it, then, that takes these fantastic elements and pushes them into safe territory? To me, it comes down to the screenplay itself. In adapting from the novel, screenwriter David Benioff (25th Hour) seems to have taken a very literal transcription. In the same way that a robot would translate the English language, all the poetics and elegance have been stripped from the script. The end result is a beautifully shot, brilliantly acted, and wonderfully scored, rather dry American interpretation of a truly endearing Afghanistani story.
The Kite Runner was released in 2008, and is now available on DVD.
The Producer of ‘The Kite Runner’ (a film adapted from Khaled Hosseini’s best selling novel of the same name) is William Horberg.
Horberg first came across ‘The Kite Runner’ when it was merely a rough manuscript Hosseini was still polishing. Set in Afghanistan in the 1970’s, the story traces the lives of two young boys - best friends - with different ethnic backgrounds; backgrounds which eventually play catalyst to a life-changing course of events for both. Horberg immediately saw the potential of this powerful, human story, and secured the rights to a film adaptation. A few months later, Hosseini’s novel was released. To the surprise of Horberg and his developing entourage of conspirators, the novel became a world-wide phenomenon, catapulting to best-selling lists in over 30 countries. It is then that Horberg and co realized just how much attention the film adaptation would no doubt garner – and in my opinion, it is this realization that is responsible for turning what could have been an art-house treasure into a fairly ‘safe’ film for general consumption.
‘Safe’ is the best way to describe the overall feeling of the film, which really disappoints me on a couple of levels. Firstly because I really don’t think Horberg has enough confidence in what general audiences are willing to embrace, and secondly because there are so many wonderful aspects to this film. The cinematography is sweeping and lush; the digital effects crisp and awesome; the vast majority of the score is subtle, ethereal, and extremely heart-felt; and the cast (made up of both seasoned and first-time actors) is completely superb, guided fluidly by Director Marc Foster (Monsters Ball, Finding Neverland).
What is it, then, that takes these fantastic elements and pushes them into safe territory? To me, it comes down to the screenplay itself. In adapting from the novel, screenwriter David Benioff (25th Hour) seems to have taken a very literal transcription. In the same way that a robot would translate the English language, all the poetics and elegance have been stripped from the script. The end result is a beautifully shot, brilliantly acted, and wonderfully scored, rather dry American interpretation of a truly endearing Afghanistani story.
The Kite Runner was released in 2008, and is now available on DVD.
[Film Review] No Country For Old Men
‘No Country for Old Men’ is an American film neo-noir, adapted from a Cormac McCarthy novel of the same title, with perhaps too much awareness of the novel’s subtext. Writer/Directors Joel and Ethan Coen, who are undeniably brilliant, and always relevant, filmmakers, seem to not be able to let go of an ‘identity ego’ – a linear film would be too ‘easy’ in their, and their devoted following’s, judgments. Or maybe it’s just that the ‘between the lines’ aspect of ‘No Country for Old Men’ is not presented clearly, or cohesively, enough.
On the surface, the film plays like a fairly rudimentary thriller genre-piece. Protagonist Llewelyn Moss stumbles upon a large sum of money, as well as a litter of bodies, which even the most elementary of sleuth’s would be able to decipher as the remnants of a drug smuggle gone very wrong. Llewelyn, who lives in a trailer park in Texas, decides to play ‘finders keepers’, and jets off with the loot. A crisis of conscience leads him back to the bloodied, corpse-ridden scene, where he encounters the rogue posse sent to investigate the bodged smuggle. A chase ensues, one involving the full gamut of stakeholders: the assigned, ruthless assassin Anton Chigurh (played with truly chilling conviction by the lauded Spanish actor Javier Badem); a representative of the American drug syndicate responsible for the drug transportation, Carson Wells (the increasingly annoying Woody ‘Goofy’ Harrelson); local sheriff Ed Tom Bell (the faultless, yet rather mundane Tommy Lee Jones); and of course our ‘in over his head’ protagonist Llewelyn (played adequately by Josh Brolin).
In all of American writer Cormac McCarthy’s novels there is the subtext of the ever-changing nature of America’s West. The original inspiration for ‘No Country for Old Men’ stemmed from the W.B. Yeats poem, ‘Sailing to Byzantium’. Indeed, the title was plucked from the poem’s opening stanza:
That is No Country For Old Men, The young
In one another’s arms, birds in the trees
- Those dying generations – at their song
In the Coen Brothers’ adaptation, Tommy Lee Jones’ sheriff represents that ‘old man’, a man who no longer feels a sense of belonging to, or empathy with, an American society which is falling further and further from grace. This is a powerful and necessary theme for post-9/11 American films to explore, and one which has been explored effectively in such films as ‘Lions for Lambs’, and the upcoming ‘Grace is Gone’. In my opinion, ‘No Country for Old Men’ fails to achieve similar success in this regard. I believe this is because the Coen Brothers are – fundamentally - stylistically esoteric and meticulously detailed filmmakers, resulting in the poignant subtext being overshadowed by a brilliantly mapped-out thriller.
If you’re after a top-shelf thriller, look no further than these benchmark setting American filmmakers’ latest master-craft. However, if you are after a film which successfully marries thrills with philosophy, and/or politics, perhaps you’re better looking to the French, whose 2005 film, ‘Hidden’, sits amongst the best in contemporary cinema’s history.
No Country For Old Men was released in 2007, and is now available on DVD.
On the surface, the film plays like a fairly rudimentary thriller genre-piece. Protagonist Llewelyn Moss stumbles upon a large sum of money, as well as a litter of bodies, which even the most elementary of sleuth’s would be able to decipher as the remnants of a drug smuggle gone very wrong. Llewelyn, who lives in a trailer park in Texas, decides to play ‘finders keepers’, and jets off with the loot. A crisis of conscience leads him back to the bloodied, corpse-ridden scene, where he encounters the rogue posse sent to investigate the bodged smuggle. A chase ensues, one involving the full gamut of stakeholders: the assigned, ruthless assassin Anton Chigurh (played with truly chilling conviction by the lauded Spanish actor Javier Badem); a representative of the American drug syndicate responsible for the drug transportation, Carson Wells (the increasingly annoying Woody ‘Goofy’ Harrelson); local sheriff Ed Tom Bell (the faultless, yet rather mundane Tommy Lee Jones); and of course our ‘in over his head’ protagonist Llewelyn (played adequately by Josh Brolin).
In all of American writer Cormac McCarthy’s novels there is the subtext of the ever-changing nature of America’s West. The original inspiration for ‘No Country for Old Men’ stemmed from the W.B. Yeats poem, ‘Sailing to Byzantium’. Indeed, the title was plucked from the poem’s opening stanza:
That is No Country For Old Men, The young
In one another’s arms, birds in the trees
- Those dying generations – at their song
In the Coen Brothers’ adaptation, Tommy Lee Jones’ sheriff represents that ‘old man’, a man who no longer feels a sense of belonging to, or empathy with, an American society which is falling further and further from grace. This is a powerful and necessary theme for post-9/11 American films to explore, and one which has been explored effectively in such films as ‘Lions for Lambs’, and the upcoming ‘Grace is Gone’. In my opinion, ‘No Country for Old Men’ fails to achieve similar success in this regard. I believe this is because the Coen Brothers are – fundamentally - stylistically esoteric and meticulously detailed filmmakers, resulting in the poignant subtext being overshadowed by a brilliantly mapped-out thriller.
If you’re after a top-shelf thriller, look no further than these benchmark setting American filmmakers’ latest master-craft. However, if you are after a film which successfully marries thrills with philosophy, and/or politics, perhaps you’re better looking to the French, whose 2005 film, ‘Hidden’, sits amongst the best in contemporary cinema’s history.
No Country For Old Men was released in 2007, and is now available on DVD.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
[Film Review] Lions For Lambs
“What do we do now?” is the rhetorical question posed by Senator Jasper Irving (Tom Cruise) during a conversation with media representative Janine Roth (Meryl Streep) in one of the opening scenes from ‘Lions for Lambs’, the new film directed by Robert Redford.
“Do you know what you’re getting?” is the direct question from a college student to fellow student Todd (Andrew Garfield), after a summoned confrontation with Professor Dr. Malley (Redford), during the film’s closing scene.
In many ways, these unrelated questions, asked by the two demographic groups in Mathew Michael Carnahan’s (‘The Kingdom’) screenplay, symbolise one of the main themes of the film. And that is - the decisions made now will affect and influence future generations’ approach to problem-solving issues.
At a time when the public’s nonchalance towards such real-life issues as global-warming and the ‘war on terror’ is becoming increasingly prevalent, this unassuming political-drama couldn’t have come at a more appropriate time. Robert Redford has developed a remarkable ability in choosing socially-conscious films, and then presenting them in an effortlessly fluid and always-engaging manner. In his earlier directorial effort, the Oscar-winning film ‘Quiz Show’, released in 1994, Redford touched upon a related theme from ‘Lions for lambs’: how ethically corrupted will the media become in order to sell a product, and how apathetic will the viewing public become as a result.
It goes without saying that technically speaking ‘Lions for lambs’ has been put together with all-rounded class. Executive producers Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner have a long, successful history in film production, which has instilled in them a formidable knowledge of how best to ‘conduct’ the full gamut of the film-making process. However, the talk-provoking nature of this film is what is really worth selling to you. ‘Lions for lambs’ is a concise, fluid, and receptive film dealing with a current political/social climate that is anything but. I highly recommend you see it, and I strongly urge you talk about it.
Lions For Lambs was released in 2007, and is now available on DVD.
“Do you know what you’re getting?” is the direct question from a college student to fellow student Todd (Andrew Garfield), after a summoned confrontation with Professor Dr. Malley (Redford), during the film’s closing scene.
In many ways, these unrelated questions, asked by the two demographic groups in Mathew Michael Carnahan’s (‘The Kingdom’) screenplay, symbolise one of the main themes of the film. And that is - the decisions made now will affect and influence future generations’ approach to problem-solving issues.
At a time when the public’s nonchalance towards such real-life issues as global-warming and the ‘war on terror’ is becoming increasingly prevalent, this unassuming political-drama couldn’t have come at a more appropriate time. Robert Redford has developed a remarkable ability in choosing socially-conscious films, and then presenting them in an effortlessly fluid and always-engaging manner. In his earlier directorial effort, the Oscar-winning film ‘Quiz Show’, released in 1994, Redford touched upon a related theme from ‘Lions for lambs’: how ethically corrupted will the media become in order to sell a product, and how apathetic will the viewing public become as a result.
It goes without saying that technically speaking ‘Lions for lambs’ has been put together with all-rounded class. Executive producers Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner have a long, successful history in film production, which has instilled in them a formidable knowledge of how best to ‘conduct’ the full gamut of the film-making process. However, the talk-provoking nature of this film is what is really worth selling to you. ‘Lions for lambs’ is a concise, fluid, and receptive film dealing with a current political/social climate that is anything but. I highly recommend you see it, and I strongly urge you talk about it.
Lions For Lambs was released in 2007, and is now available on DVD.
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