This is one of those great stories of someone overcoming great personal hardship and triumphing. It is also one of those terrible films that reminds us of how bad people can be. It is about the "Stolen Generation" where Australia of the 1930's was running a policy of integration to absorb half-caste aboriginals back into white society by breeding them out.
The cast are extremely young and none of them from an acting background, however the director did his work and found three very talented girls. I see that only one of them has acted since, but still it's early days.
Like in Walkabout the story is tragic and simple. We are allowed to enjoy the expansive vistas of the outback, and brood over the facts we've been presented without distraction of a thrill a minute plot. I would not say the pace was leisurely or idle, just not all wham-bam.
Like in THX-1138, the chase of the escapees is limited by budgetary concerns. There is a national policy to enforce, but only so many dollars to enforce it with. I guess this illustrates how people get stuck in the bureaucratic machinery without thinking about the what or why they are doing.
Overall I liked the film. The making of documentary is worth taking a look see at also.
And Brannagh is not insufferably egotistical in this.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Friday, September 24, 2010
Inception
I don’t want to say I’ve seen it before, but…
After the first nested dream I was reminded of two films I’d seen, “The Lathe of Heaven” made by PBS (WNET) based on the Ursula K Le Guin novel, and “Lathe of Heaven” made by A&E (yes I did used to have Cable).
The other film that I went in with a prejudiced expectation of seeing was “Paprika” by Satoshi Kon, but that was not too heavily referenced, the dreams in Inception sticking closer to reality, like in “Abre los Ojos”, a flaw in Vanilla sky was allowing less subtle surrealism into the dreams at times, giving hints which deny the Spanish originals sharp twist at the end.
The recurring dead wife motif was definitely reminiscent of “Solyaris” (Tarkovsky, ’71), but Mal and Ariadne were both facets of “Annie Cartwright” from the UK version of “Life On Mars”.
So Jim Phelps takes the IMF on a dream diving escapade. Technobable, a couple of neat ideas and what have we got, licence to have an action flick where we can get away with zero G in a hotel and trains ploughing through a monsoon soaked LA. Oh American spell checkers always hate the UK spelling of plowing.
I did not think “12 Monkeys” at all, but now, rethinking through the airport scene I am wondering if that was a tribute to that film, or more especially “La Jetée” which 12 monkeys is derived from.
So were you please or disappointed that it had the exact same ending as Solyaris? I almost expected it to start raining in the house. There was another film where the hero escaped into a coma state, no not “One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest”, but I can’t place it for now.
Hans Zimmer soundtrack was pretty good. FX excellent. “photography” was lush, the Paris sequences especially.
Pete Postlethwait and Leo in a film together again. Ellen Page all (more) grown up.
After the first nested dream I was reminded of two films I’d seen, “The Lathe of Heaven” made by PBS (WNET) based on the Ursula K Le Guin novel, and “Lathe of Heaven” made by A&E (yes I did used to have Cable).
The other film that I went in with a prejudiced expectation of seeing was “Paprika” by Satoshi Kon, but that was not too heavily referenced, the dreams in Inception sticking closer to reality, like in “Abre los Ojos”, a flaw in Vanilla sky was allowing less subtle surrealism into the dreams at times, giving hints which deny the Spanish originals sharp twist at the end.
The recurring dead wife motif was definitely reminiscent of “Solyaris” (Tarkovsky, ’71), but Mal and Ariadne were both facets of “Annie Cartwright” from the UK version of “Life On Mars”.
So Jim Phelps takes the IMF on a dream diving escapade. Technobable, a couple of neat ideas and what have we got, licence to have an action flick where we can get away with zero G in a hotel and trains ploughing through a monsoon soaked LA. Oh American spell checkers always hate the UK spelling of plowing.
I did not think “12 Monkeys” at all, but now, rethinking through the airport scene I am wondering if that was a tribute to that film, or more especially “La Jetée” which 12 monkeys is derived from.
So were you please or disappointed that it had the exact same ending as Solyaris? I almost expected it to start raining in the house. There was another film where the hero escaped into a coma state, no not “One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest”, but I can’t place it for now.
Hans Zimmer soundtrack was pretty good. FX excellent. “photography” was lush, the Paris sequences especially.
Pete Postlethwait and Leo in a film together again. Ellen Page all (more) grown up.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
The White Bus
aka Red, White and Zero
Sixties surrealist portrait of industrial Britain, and its context in a post-Empire, dying Commonwealth world. The principle story being told by a bus tour of an industrial Northern town, which is shown in contrast to violent center of commerce, London.
A couple of things that struck me with this film were the balance of composition in the shots and the Mayors monologues. Compositions such as the tour party going up an elevator chute into a factory, or some lovely color shots in a steel mill. The mix of black and white and color scenes is reminiscent of "if...", but here it looks more deliberate.
The director, Lindsay Anderson, also directed one of my favourite movies, "if...", studying Britain in microcosm through examining a public school.
This film has a playful sense of humor, which makes its pretentiousness tolerable. It's more watchable than the likes of Jonathan Millers "Alice in Wonderland".
It's a curiosity, and I think I'll rewatch it to see what else I can get out of it. Not one I'd recommend, except to film students and the curious.
Sixties surrealist portrait of industrial Britain, and its context in a post-Empire, dying Commonwealth world. The principle story being told by a bus tour of an industrial Northern town, which is shown in contrast to violent center of commerce, London.
A couple of things that struck me with this film were the balance of composition in the shots and the Mayors monologues. Compositions such as the tour party going up an elevator chute into a factory, or some lovely color shots in a steel mill. The mix of black and white and color scenes is reminiscent of "if...", but here it looks more deliberate.
The director, Lindsay Anderson, also directed one of my favourite movies, "if...", studying Britain in microcosm through examining a public school.
This film has a playful sense of humor, which makes its pretentiousness tolerable. It's more watchable than the likes of Jonathan Millers "Alice in Wonderland".
It's a curiosity, and I think I'll rewatch it to see what else I can get out of it. Not one I'd recommend, except to film students and the curious.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Five directors to look out for.
- Micheal Mann
- Alfred Hitchcock
- Danny Boyle
- Fritz Lang
- Luc Besson
These are names you will often see listed here. Make a careful note of them, they are good.
Micheal Mann is a contemporary American director. His hallmarks are wide screens, attention to detail, contemplative pacing. The films he's made that you will have heard of are "Heat", "Last of the Mohicans" and "Miami Vice". Though most of his work is epic crime fiction, he also does biopics like "Ali" and "The Insider.
Alfred Hitchcock is one of Britain's most famous movie directors. He is credited with a lot of revolutionary filming techniques. Despite his strength of character, he has still bowed to the wishes of Hollywood, even before moving to the US for the middle period of his career. Films such as "The Lodger" had the ending re-filmed for the American audience as it would just not do for the hero to get lynched unjustly. Likewise there are two versions of "Strangers on a Train" as it would never do to insult a priest in an American movie.
Danny Boyle shot to stardom with "Shallow Grave" then a year or two later to super-stardom with "Trainspotting". He also brought Robert Carlyle to the small screen in "Hamish Macbeth", started the "28 Days" franchise, and then in atonement for his whole success deal made the excellent TV movie "Vacuuming Completely Nude in Paradise", staring Timothy Spall as an obnoxious vacuum cleaner sales man.
Fritz Lang had three interesting phases to his career, the first in a Germany struggling to reinvent itself between the wars, Hollywood in the 40's and 50's and then a return to Germany in the 60's. His outstanding innovative work comes out of his early German career where he worked with Thea Von Harbou, she provided the stories for many of his early films. Though "Metropolis" is a undoubted classic, the strongest of his films is "M".
Luc Besson first came to my attention in the early 80's with his film "Le Dernier Combat". His films are full of anti heros, the most famous two being "La Femme Nikita" and "Leon, The Professional". His other outstanding films include "Angel-A", again a romance set in the crime world of Paris. In more recent years Besson is spending more time writing than directing. Some of his works have benefited from this arrangement, for example the "Transporter" franchise has his hallmark writing, but the fight choreography and action direction benefit from Corey Yuens experience in Hong Kong action flick.
Amelie
This was a rewatch for me. A very cute French comedy romance.
Amelie is a loner, and a dreamer. Then she comes across a hidden treasure, and decides to reunite it with its original owner. When this is a success she decides to fix a few other peoples problems, but tends not to fix her own.
A good chunk of the film is in Amelie's imagination, so there is some pleasing subtle CGI to add reality to the dreams. The colours are beautiful, even if a little over saturated at times. Every frame is beautifully composed, well balanced and filled. A visual treat, but it's not all glossy eye candy, the story holds together, a magical love story that you forget is all too good to be true.
The only other Jean-Pierre Jeunet film I've seen is the equally fantastical, but much darker, "City of Lost Children". The films have some comparable stylistic elements, such as a great reluctance to move away from wide angle lenses. Both depart from reality, but seem to keep you grounded at the same time. City of Lost Children is dark and ugly whereas Amelie is light and loving.
If you have to have a surreal romance, then Montmatre is the place.
Amelie is a loner, and a dreamer. Then she comes across a hidden treasure, and decides to reunite it with its original owner. When this is a success she decides to fix a few other peoples problems, but tends not to fix her own.
A good chunk of the film is in Amelie's imagination, so there is some pleasing subtle CGI to add reality to the dreams. The colours are beautiful, even if a little over saturated at times. Every frame is beautifully composed, well balanced and filled. A visual treat, but it's not all glossy eye candy, the story holds together, a magical love story that you forget is all too good to be true.
The only other Jean-Pierre Jeunet film I've seen is the equally fantastical, but much darker, "City of Lost Children". The films have some comparable stylistic elements, such as a great reluctance to move away from wide angle lenses. Both depart from reality, but seem to keep you grounded at the same time. City of Lost Children is dark and ugly whereas Amelie is light and loving.
If you have to have a surreal romance, then Montmatre is the place.
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
This rather dark Swedish thriller is very engaging and, despite a few brutal scenes, a rewarding watch.
The film starts out looking like a regular Grisham courtroom drama, and they we get introduced to a Goth hacker private investigator. Don't worry, they don't throw caution to the wind at this point, what we see is the coming together of a dysfunctional duet who made it successfully through three novels and now three films (the second and third have not made DVD in the US yet).
The location is beautiful, rural Sweden. I wonder if there is any other type. Still, beautifully snow dusted landscape, nice architecture, and overall a placid backdrop of a film which turns into a psycho thriller of the level of say Manhunter. I must admit there are some scenes that seem to be there only to put our heroine through hell, but they are probably valid as they show who she is before we see this quiet girl suddenly kicking butt.
I am quite looking forward to the other two films, which, though filmed for TV, due to the success of this first were also released big screen in Sweden.
All through the film Micheal Nyquist, the actor who took the lead role, was reminiscent of a cross between John Nettleton and Daniel Craig. I was not too surprised that the role has gone to Daniel Craig for the US remake.
Dark but entertaining manhunt with a reasonable twist at the end.
The film starts out looking like a regular Grisham courtroom drama, and they we get introduced to a Goth hacker private investigator. Don't worry, they don't throw caution to the wind at this point, what we see is the coming together of a dysfunctional duet who made it successfully through three novels and now three films (the second and third have not made DVD in the US yet).
The location is beautiful, rural Sweden. I wonder if there is any other type. Still, beautifully snow dusted landscape, nice architecture, and overall a placid backdrop of a film which turns into a psycho thriller of the level of say Manhunter. I must admit there are some scenes that seem to be there only to put our heroine through hell, but they are probably valid as they show who she is before we see this quiet girl suddenly kicking butt.
I am quite looking forward to the other two films, which, though filmed for TV, due to the success of this first were also released big screen in Sweden.
All through the film Micheal Nyquist, the actor who took the lead role, was reminiscent of a cross between John Nettleton and Daniel Craig. I was not too surprised that the role has gone to Daniel Craig for the US remake.
Dark but entertaining manhunt with a reasonable twist at the end.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Welcome Back Mr McDonald
What can I say about this amusing little farce? Well, it's funnier first time around when you don't know what to expect, so I'll just give a brief summary.
A housewife has won a contest to write a radio script. The show is produced, and everything is fine through rehearsals. This is where we join the action. From here on in it's a comedy of errors, the producer yielding at every turn to the divas of the cast, causing numerous re-write and almost costing the original writer her marriage.
Worth a looksee, but not top of the list material.
6/10
A housewife has won a contest to write a radio script. The show is produced, and everything is fine through rehearsals. This is where we join the action. From here on in it's a comedy of errors, the producer yielding at every turn to the divas of the cast, causing numerous re-write and almost costing the original writer her marriage.
Worth a looksee, but not top of the list material.
6/10
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