DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILY AND A TANGERINE
Shion Sono: Noriko’s Dinner Table, Japan, 2005 with Kazue Fukiishi
Viewed on Nov 27, 2009. Running time: 159 MIN.
More coming…
PROGRESSIVELY INGENIOUSLY
Shion Sono: Love Exposure, Japan, 2008 with Takahiro Nishijima
Viewed in September, 2009. Running time: 237 MIN.
More coming…
1984… AND A HALF, AND THEN SOME MORE.
Terry Gilliam: Brazil, United Kingdom, 1985 with Jonathan Pryce, Kim Greist
Viewed on DVD with English subtitles, Nov 25, 2009. Running time: 132 MIN.
While I find myself slightly bothered by this fact, I’ve always been struck by the connections Brazil holds to both masterworks from the literary as well as the cinematic past, present and most definitely, future. From the early dystopian Huxley to mid-century Jacques Tati with his delightful satire of mechanized living in Mon Oncle, onwards to obvious Orwell (1984) with a final splish splash of Monty Python humour.
This is a fine recipe for what I, and many by my side, considers to be not only Terry Gilliam’s finest work, but just as well one of the best pieces of celluloid in the history of film.
More coming…
Filed under: Reviews | Tags: Audrey Dana, Firat Ayverdi, Philippe Lioret, review, Vincent Lindon, Welcome
UNPLEASANT TAKE ON MODERN REFUGEE POLICY
Philippe Lioret: Welcome, France, 2009 w Vincent Lindon, Firat Ayverdi, Audrey Dana
With English subtitles on Nov 21, 2009. Running time: 110 MIN.
In Philippe Lioret’s latest film Welcome the title is obviously a contradiction, but the meaning of the contradiction itself is just as obvious. It’s about illegal aliens in Europe, in this specific film narrowed down to Calais in France. And they are certainly not welcome.
Pic holds an unsettling tone throughout. While storylines tend to diverge, it’s reminiscent of Ulrich Seidl’s Import/Export in that it tells a story about people in motion in contemporary Europe. People whose conditions were bad from their take-off point, but becomes nonexistent in the grand, boarderless EU. The limitations with this modern refugee policy of EU is that it only benefits our own. This is all old news for Lioret’s protagonist Bilal (Firat Ayverdi) who comes from war-torn Iraq. His journey to Calais where the story begins has been long and painful, and the way to his love in London seems to stretch far beyond the horizon for the seventeen year old refugee.
These are harsh times, Lioret proclaims through images of a port district infested with immigrants, battering cops and even authorities that manifest a despicable manner not only towards refugees but just as well to people trying to help them. One of them is Simon (Vincent Lindon), a disgraced previous champion in swimming. He seeks atonement in Bilal for his previous mistakes in life and the two becomes committed to each other. But in these harsh times nothing is certain and struggle lays ahead for both of them.
Philippe Lioret covers pretty much the whole lot of it. Each of his characters carries around on fear, despair, desires, love, longings and struggle. It is classic ingredients taken from the ordinary lives of those immigrants. In Welcome, however, it blends well with the non-immigrants as well. It is something they have to live with constantly, but something that is exposed to us at times as well. It is indeed an unpleasant take on modern refugee policy, but it is nevertheless a necessary take.
“THIS IS BLISS”
Pen-Ek Ratanaruang: Last Life in the Universe, Thailand, 2003 w Tadanobu Asano
With English subtitles on Nov 20, 2009. Running time: 112 MIN.
Ratanaruang’s 2003 masterpiece (I can say this now, in retrospect) Last Life in the Universe is one of those type films that you’ve been meaning to see forever but just never got around to do so. I’ve been reading the interesting synopsis on IMDb and seen the beautiful poster so many times that I deemed it necessary to finally come around. It was worth it. Mesmerizing. Totally.
SYMPATHY FOR SHRIMP
Neill Blomkamp: District 9, New Zealand, 2009 with Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope
With English subtitles on Nov 19, 2009. Running time: 112 MIN.
In Neil Blomkamp’s District 9, man is depicted at his most rotten, deceitful state of being. Set in the rare location of South Africa, the allegoric tale of modern apartheid strikes close to home for the generation of today.
Aliens (as in immigrants) and aliens as in aliens kind of blend here. A lot of things actually blend, even pic’s protagonist in more ways than one. That’s obviously the point, to draw parallels between our contemporary migration and foreign policies worldwide, but it get’s even more urgent with the setting location, which holds a certain past, present and most likely – future.
Excellent visual effects and narration, clearly with certain direction from the old king of splatter Peter Jackson makes this (along with a number of other things) a really good sci-fi.
Filed under: Reviews | Tags: Corneliu Porumboiu, Dragos Bucur, Police Adjective, Politist adj, review
POLICE, SUBJECTIVE: CONSCIENTIOUS LAW
Corneliu Porumboiu: Police, Adjective, Romania, 2009 w Dragos Bucur, Vlad Ivanov
With English subtitles on Oct 30, 2009. Running time: 115 MIN.
In Police, Adjective, Romanian director Corneliu Porumboiu devotes himself to a seemingly – at first glance – simple story about a small town cop reluctant of busting a minor for endorsing hashish with friends. Although vague at first, we learn that the civil police Cristi is having an unease conscience about nailing the young man, which may inflict seven years in prison for what Cristi believes to be a petty crime that will – soon enough – be looked upon more liberated. Throughout pic we follow his daily routines and interactions in the downbeat and austere town of Vaslui, including scenes of parodic bureaucracy and laudable lengthy takes.
Police, Adjective is admittedly in many ways difficult to interpret. The first half of the film deals with classic police work (classic as in reality, not classic as in previously depicted on film) including Cristi’s pursuit of suspects and filing reports. For an audience used to clustered action pics, this is nothing but tedious and unbearable to endure. From a more objective perspective, I find it somewhat original and daring. This course of the film is harmless, it is on the contrary a certain, yet inevitable cul-de-sac initiated by a mere typo, that push it in a slightly too academic stand. On the other hand, it could also be considered an ironic twist when deciding how Cristi’s moral dilemmas should be solved.
One of the more unfortunate aspects of Porumboiu’s directing, in particular substantial for Police, Adjective but nonetheless equally visible in previous film 12:08 East of Bucharest, is that the [black] humor sometimes may appear so subtle that when juxtaposed to foreigners it can easily be completely lost (in translation.)
Watching Porumboiu’s battle between an objective and supreme law versus Cristi’s subjective conscientious law is evidently quite fascinating, despite the somewhat submissive, clustered conclusion it grants towards the end.
BRILLIANT(E) AND EXPLICIT IN PHILIPPINES ODDITY
Brillante Mendoza: Serbis, Philippines, 2008 with Gina Pareño, Jacklyn Jose
Viewed on DVD with English subtitles, Jun ??, 2008. Running time: 90 MIN.
No! This is not a pornographic movie. It is a movie about a theater screening pornographic movies. In the Philippines. It is serious.
More coming soon…
Filed under: Reviews | Tags: 31:st Gothenburg International Film Festival, Céline Sciamma, Naissance des pieuvres, review
TEEN ANGST AND SUBURBAN ADOLESCENCE
Céline Sciamma: Water Lilies, France, 2007 with Pauline Acquart, Louise Blachère
Viewed in theaters with English subtitles, Jan 14, 2008. Running time: 85 MIN.
Coming soon…
REQUIEM FOR A PROPHÈTE
Jacques Audiard: Un prophète, France, 2009 with Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup
A juvenile delinquent named Malik (Tahar Rahim) goes to prison after spending most of his upgrowing in juvenile correctional facilities. Malik soon learns that he’s no longer a small fish in an aquarium, but a fry in an ocean. And swimming with the big fish is quite a different state of affairs as he is bound to discover.
Pic’s protagonist is recruited by the Corsican gang and being an Arab by appearance (granted, apparently not religiously), he continues to live as an outsider of not only society but also fellow inmates as he has done most of his life. But he continues to float and find his way behind the bars. Malik also gets an education for the first time in his life.
In the exquisite direction of Jaques Audiard, the film accelerates well through good character development and profound script. The education of Malik is in my opinion one of the main pillar of the film because it is not only an education in necessities of language, but also to get ahead in business. Dirty business, granted, but it is business nonetheless!
It’s the small things that distinguishes this little gem from many other movies on prison culture. It has to be, Audiard knows this and has created yet another great piece of cinema for his fans.
