IN HER SKIN

This is the 3^rd Guy Pierce movie I have seen in as many months … and that’s not counting his appearance on the small screen this week in the new ‘Mildred Pierce.’  More important than the fact he is a busy working actor is the interesting choices he makes in the roles he accepts.  Especially when they are in smaller budget Australian movies where he becomes an integral part of an ensemble piece than just another Hollywood Star carrying the movie.

This is one such case.  A wee movie that some unknown reason is finding it tough to make it in onto screens in any country, yet it well deserves a decent audience.  It is based on a true and very tragic story of a kidnapping and murder of a 15 year old in a small Australian town. The story unfolds in three different sections, which relate the events as seen by the girl, and then her parents, and then finally by the murderer.  The distraught parents panic as the authorities refuse to treat the case as any more than just a runaway child, and so they start to do their own detective work to search for their daughter. The very last thing they ever expect to find is that she ends up dead at the hands of the very same girl who used to baby-sit the children before her psychotic problems got totally out of control.

That fact is apparent quite soon, as the focus and real tension of this thriller/drama is actually why and how the killer carried out the act, and how she uses her victim to try and achieve her own dreams.  This is a very disturbing and discomforting story that slow unfolds in an almost understated way that is reflected in the quiet manner that Guy Pierce adopts playing the missing girls father.

By no means a perfect movie, but it does carry a certain punch with its choice cast.  Miranda Otto as the mother, Sam Neil as the killer’s father, and an unknown Irish actress Ruth Bradley who scared the living daylights out of me with her (too) realistic portrayal of Caroline the loony murderer.

Definitely worth looking out for.
★★★★★★★

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LIMELIGHT

I’m so immersed in catching the best of contemporary cinema that sometimes it makes a refreshing change to take a fresh look at a classic movie.  This week I caught the newly restored 'LIMELIGHT' released for the first time on HD Digital at the newly restored Miami Beach Cinematheque. Two treats in one.

This is Chaplin’s last US made masterpiece from 1952 due to the House of Un-American Activities who were hounding him as a suspected Communist sympathizer at the time.  In fact when Chaplin returned after attending the Limelight Premiere in London , he was denied re-entry into the US.   The movie was only shown then in New York and did not get a fuller US Release until 1973 when it picked up Chaplin’s only Oscar (aside from his two Honorary ones),  and oddly enough it was for the musical score that he wrote.

In many ways Limelight is very autobiographical. The story of a washed-up old vaudevillian at the end of his career rescues a young ballet dancer from suicide. He takes care of her until she is healthy again, and restores her spirits and her will to live. As the dancer, Theresa, is recovering, Calvero is not only rebuilding her confidence but also his own. Because of his kindness towards her, Theresa eventually believes she has fallen in love with him, even going so far as proposing marriage to him.  The relationship between the two is complex to say the least, and never really ends until the final credits role.

This bittersweet movie is totally captivating and reminds one of what a sheer genius Chaplin was.  Amidst all this heart-tugging pathos is his unsurpassable talent as one of the world’s outstanding slapstick comics, and the piano playing scene with another giant comic virtuoso the great Buster Keaton is beyond hysterical.  And add to the mix, a very young Claire Bloom playing Theresa in the exaggerated melodramatic method of the day, and Chaplin’s handsome son Sydney as the young beau who chases Theresa. Completely mesmerizing.

Lest I should ever forget, seeing his work again, or in this particular case for the first time, is a reminder of the fact that Chaplin was indisputably one of the greatest filmmakers of all time  One that truly deserves the title of Icon.  Catch the new release of this, one of his tour de force movies, now.

★★★★★★★★★
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OF GODS & MEN

The whole crux of this film is whether 8 French Trappist Monks should leave their Monastery, and all the villagers who depend upon them, when the lives are threatened by a group of Terrorists in the midst of a horrific bloody civil war.  The time is 1996, and the setting is the Atlas Mountains in Algeria, where the Monastery has co-habited peacefully playing a vital central role in this Muslim community for almost two hundred years.  They grow their own vegetables, keep bees, run a free Clinic, and spend a great deal of their time in contemplation and worship.  Interestingly enough the Monk’s leader, Brother Christian, appears to spend as much time studying The Koran as he does the Bible.

As the war worsens reports filter back to the Monks about  the rebels who are determined to rid the country of all 'foreigners' and have carried out atrocities killing a group of Croatian road builders nearby, and not long after that the Rebels pay a visit to the Monastery demanding medical help and drugs.  Brother Christian stands up to them and refuses their requests, but when the armed men leave, it is clear to the monks that they will probably not be so lucky the next time.

Whilst the tension mounts the Monks discuss their fears about their own safety and whether they should leave whilst they still can.  Over the course of time their wavering disappears and is replaced by a resolve that they should follow their ‘calling’ as men of God.  It’s a remarkable and emotional sequence of conversations that show all their natural fears for their lives and that underneath their monks habits, they are just men too.  The culmination of their decision is shown in a exceptionally wonderful moving scene when they break open wine at their meal table and sit drinking it silently listening to  Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake  and smiling serenely.

An intelligent, powerful and disquieting movie based on an actual incident that carefully avoids any political partisanship and focuses on the strength of the faith of small group of remarkable men.  Unmissable

★★★★★★★★★
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TEMPLE GRANDIN

Once upon a time a Made-For-TV-Movie was looked down on as an inferior product to any Movie shown in a Cinema: not the real thing. Nowadays that is simply not the case, and in the same words that the remarkable subject of this movie describes herself they are ‘different not less.' I would venture to dispute that statement and tell Miss Grandin that both this insightful and captivating movie and she are so much more than that.

Temple Grandin was dragged to a Psychiatrist when she was 4 years old and still hadn’t spoken a word yet.  A patronizing physician told her mother that her child was autistic and an infantile schizophrenic, and that it was all her fault and as nothing could ever become of the child the best thing would be to have her carted off to an Institution and left there. This was like a red rag to a bull and fired the mother up with such a fierce determination that Temple would have as normal a life as possible.  She taught her to speak and to read and to learn and it soon became very clear that she was in fact an exceptionally gifted child.  Whilst she didn't have a conventional concept of grasping even quite mundane everyday things she did possess this remarkable ability in that she saw everything in her mind in pictures, and actually her comprehension went far beyond most other peoples.

At High School the Science Teacher who recognized Temple’s deep perception and her ingenuity that grew from her great love of science nurtured her. Encouraged by visits to her Aunt’s Ranch she also developed an innate desire to work with animals as her ‘gift’ allowed her to understand them so well.  And she did what was considered unthinkable for someone like her; she went to College and even got a Master's Degree and eventually a Doctorate.  Putting her ingenious ideas and theories into practice was tough as she encountered so much prejudice, more so because traditionally chauvinistic men dominate her chosen field of Animal Husbandry.

This wonderful heartwarming movie about this exceptional and inspirational woman that overcame some really tough odds and was encouraged by her family to be her true herself and succeed way beyond everyone’s hopes and dreams, was such a joy.  Claire Daines as Temple was a revelation as to how stunning an actress she is, and why the Awards bestowed on her for this, were so well deserved.  And how come I missed Julia Ormond growing up and suddenly I find she’s a mature woman playing a mother no less, and quite superbly I might add. Third heads up goes to the enigmatic  David Strathairn for his touching portrayal of the Science Teacher who cared.

I so rarely watch TV these days that I missed the original screening of this movie. But I do tune in for some Award Shows and when Temple Grandin was nominated for 15 Emmys, of which it walked off with 9, and then Ms. Daines won her Best Actress Golden Globe, I guessed this would be something I would love. And I did.  If you also missed it on HBO, then its now out on DVD… go watch it.

P.S. Dr Temple Grandin PhD is currently a Professor of Animal Science at Colorado University and she also lectures in Autism. You can find her on youtube

★★★★★★★★★
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TINY FURNITURE

This is unquestionable the most self-indulgent semi-autobiographical quirky comedy I have seen for years.  And I liked it. I think.

Aura has just graduated college in Ohio with a fairly useless degree and now that her boyfriend has dumped she goes back home to live with her successful artist mother and precocious younger sister in a fashionable Tribeca Loft.  She’s not sure what she wants out of life except for the fact that it must be ‘deep and meaningful’ but nevertheless she settles for a dead-end job as a day receptionist in an empty restaurant and pursues two deadbeat men who only want to use her.

And apart from all the intense rivalry between the 3 women at home that result in angst laden dialogues nothing else much happens. 

The fact that Aura is played by the filmmaker/writer and her screen mother and sister are played by themselves,  and that the Loft is their actual family home adds a rather disturbing but comic twist to it all.  It almost seems like a scripted documentary than a feature film especially with its somewhat limited narrative.

There were times when the characters intensely annoyed me that I just wanted to slap them, but also at the same time for some unknown reason I felt that my curiosity factor about these oddball people needed to be satisfied.  And there were a couple of them like Charlotte her train-wreck best friend, and Jed ‘a big star on youtube’  that were hilarious funny thanks to some very witty dialogue.

Lena Dunham who, to all intents and purposes is ‘Tiny Furniture’, is being hailed as the 'next big thing', and she's managed to pick  up a couple of Awards for this her 2^nd Feature  that she made for a mere $25000.  I’m think that is a little too much hype, but I will confess that I am quite keen to see what she follows this with.

I’m happy to recommend it, BUT add a note of caution that this is strictly for those (like me) who's tastes stretch from offbeat to downright outré.

P.S. The title refers to the miniature furniture, juxtaposed with people, that the mother takes photographs off in the movie, and also in real life

★★★★★★★
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THE HOUSEMAID

Eun-yi a young divorcee leaves her low-paying job in a Noodle shop and the small scruffy apartment in which she shares a single bed with her best friend, to become the Maid to this stinking rich family who live in a stunning mansion outside the city.  They whole place and the family reek of money, which we discover is how they deal with all of life’s problems.

Eun-yi is the protégé of Mrs. Cho an older servant who runs the whole household, and together they are at the beck and call of the entire family, including their scarily articulate young daughter, 24/7.  Hae-ra, the wife/mother is heavily pregnant with twins and as she is unable to satisfy the sexual demands of Hoon her austere businessman husband, he seeks out solace and sex with Eun-yi.  It s hardly rape as she consents, but it is very much a case of a powerful master taking advantage of a servant.

Mrs. Cho who never misses a trick, guesses that Eun-yi is pregnant and reports back to the wife who in turn confides to her pushy ambitious mother who stages an ‘accident’ which fails to harm Eun-yi her intended victim.

The wife and her mother then offer to pay for both Eun-yi’s silence and to have an abortion but she refuses on both accounts.  Once Hoon discovers about the baby, he insists  that his family allow the birth to go ahead, which given the conniving nature of Hae-ra and her mother seals Eun-yi’s fate.

Visually stunning this highly stylized piece shot in this ultra-modern mono-chrome imposing house with its opulent detail, plus some striking impeccable clothes, was the perfect setting for this tale of sex, power and money.  It is evidently a remake of a 1960’s movie that is regarded as a masterpiece in Korean cinema.  Never having seen the original I would risk saying that this astonishing movie cannot be far off that too. Powerful and compelling with its prefect casting  with some first-rate performances esp. Jeon Do-yoon with her innocent wide eyes and soulful look has one so rooting for Eun-yi as she is put upon by everyone.

The totally unexpected highly dramatic two final scenes stuns one into silence.  Dazed and confused even.  But it still does not distract from the fact that this is one astonishing movie which is definitely on my unmissable list.

★★★★★★★★★

ILLEGAL

This overwhelmingly sad and chilling drama is the story of Tania, an undocumented immigrant and her 13 year old son who have escaped from Russia and for the past few years have been carving out a new life in Belgium. Tania  is paranoid about getting caught, and one day as she and the child momentarily drop their guard an chat in their native tongue, she gets arrested.  The son escapes but Tania is placed in a grim Detention Centre where she refuses to divulge her identity hoping that the Authorities will eventually let her go.  Eventually she gives in to her captors and gives them a fake name as she 'borrows' the identity of her friend, who being from Belarus qualifies to claim for Political Asylum, but unbeknownst her friend has a record and now Tania is set for compulsory deportation.

Like most of all the other inmates in this bleak Detention Centre, Tania never gives up hope of being reunited with her son, but her shaky confidence gives way to sheer depression when one of her new immigrant friends feels that she had been beaten up by the guards once too and often commits suicide.

This deeply disturbing and penetrating movie is shot mainly in the prison-like Detention center and uses a hand held camera that closely follow the main characters which makes this shocking story seem even more intense. It is loosely based on a real incident of suicide of an African immigrant which caused a major outcry in Belgium and they allegedly ceased the inhuman and violent practice of compulsory deportations.  In fact the Belgian Authorities have already been censured 5 times by the European Human Court for permitting this to occur, but that has not stopped them  vehemently decrying this film as being completely inaccurate.

A stunning portrayal of a very engrossing and scary subject and full credit to Belgian actress Anne Coesens for her stunning and sobering performance as Tania. (Her husband must be proud of her, he is after all the Director Olivier Masset-Depasse).

★★★★★★★★

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COLD WEATHER

At the end of a rave review for this movie, in a throwaway line, eminent film critic Roger Ebert mentions that some people may find COLD WEATHER boring.  And I am so in that camp!   I usually find something redeeming about any edgy Indie movie, except I couldn't for this uninteresting drab thriller set in a very grey Portland.  Doug, the protagonist, has given up on school and seemingly content enough just crashing on a couch in his sister’s apartment and getting a dead-end job in an ice factory.  His ex-girlfriend suddenly appears on the scene and then mysteriously disappears and so Doug and a chum from work play private eye, and then she reappears again.  And that is about the sum total: true there was more detail than that but with such a dreary plot crawling along at a snails pace I felt like giving up on it like Doug had down with his life right now.

I was really surprised to read later that the Director had intended the focus to be on the brother and sister relationship and not on the mystery : because he really failed on that. And I really cannot decide if this is meant to be of the 'mumblecore' genre, because it almost is on some levels.

The only thing that really puzzles me about this simple movie, is Mr Ebert's high rating which I simply cannot fathom.  I'm almost curious enough to watch it through again, but frankly the mere idea of having to do that depresses me beyond belief.

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WHITE MATERIAL

I finally got to see Clare Dennis’s movie that made nearly all the critics Top Ten Lists last year.  It came and went so quickly the first time around, that I blinked and missed it.  Same could be said about the multi-layer chaos of this movie’s story that if you blink you miss some potential vital scene that may have made the plot more fathomable.

Set in colonial Africa, which is Ms Dennis’s favorite setting for her movies, it centers around Marie a skinny middle-aged French woman who is fighting all the odds to stay on her family’s coffee plantation.  The country is in the middle of a civil war and the French Army tries to persuade Marie to leave the country just as they are now doing. Her ex husband Andre has already sold the place in order to get money to escape, and the new owner is the local mayor who actually has his own private army.  And then there is her ex-father-in-law Henri who is mysteriously sick and seems to know more about everything than he ever lets on, which will be his undoing eventually.  And her 20 yr old son Manuel, who is humiliated by the rebels, subsequently returns home, shaves his head, and steals a gun and loses the plot (and us!) and goes off on a wild rampage with the rebels.  And then Marie's workers flee, the power is cut, the gasoline runs out, and family members disappear or get killed, and then to cap it all, the wounded Rebel leader turns up for shelter endangering practically everyone.

The most intriguing part is the fierce and manic determination of Marie not to ever give up and leave. She believes that she belongs here and that this is her country, and she disparagingly refers to other Europeans as ‘those dirty white people’.   To go back to France would be worse than dying here, and there are so many times in this plot you think she is going to get her wish.  This violent terrorizing war drama is less about survival itself, but much more about the total obsession of this one woman.  Played by the incomparable Isabelle Hubert, the entire drama falls squarely on her shoulders which is perfect as some of the other casting decisions (Christophe Lambert as Andre) just do not  work, or their characters seem incomplete.

I will confess that I needed to view it again (I already have a UK DVD of it) before I could write this piece, and the second time around I was more prepared for the confusing start when its very tough putting the pieces of the puzzle of the story together.  I liked it much more, and even knowing what was in store, the violent end still horrified and shocked me.  An intriguing movie that will stay in my memory a long time (always a good sign) but not one that would have made my 'Top Ten List' for 2010.

★★★★★★★
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MAMA GOGO

There are times in this well-intentioned movie dealing with Alzheimer’s when the plot steers off course that it seems as muddled as poor Mama Gogo herself.  Part quirky comedy, part family high drama, part satire on the local film industry, and part ghost story, this is the latest movie from one of the major forces in Icelandic cinema Fridrik Thor Frirksson.  It centers on an 80-year strong-willed grandmother who is slowly succumbing to the disease  and is immensely watchable thanks Kristbjorg Kjeld's commanding performance as she beautifully steals every scene she is in.

The secondary plot lines seem both disjointed and unnecessary, but the sensitive handling of this very tragic  scenario of witnessing a loved one ‘disappear’ redeemed the film with some very emotional moments . 

I’ve never had to deal with watching a parent come to terms with aging, but I can only imagine that when its similar to Mama Gogo's, it must be so tough, and it also makes one focus on one’s own future.

As unfair as it maybe, as I sat through this movie, I couldn’t help thinking about Sarah Polley's ‘Away From Her' .  Maybe it was the fact it too dealt with Alzheimer’s and also in some cold-forsaken place, but the fact that it had Julie Christie in the lead propelled it all to a different level. 

★★★★★★
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A SOMEWHAT GENTLE MAN

This is a somewhat gentle deadpan comedy that takes its time to draw you in.  Set in the outskirts of a bleak town in Norway, it is the story of Ulrik a middle-aged murderer just released from prison, whose attempts at becoming a reformed man are thwarted by Jensen, his former gang boss who is insistent that he exacts revenge on the Snitch who put him away.  Fenton fixes everything for Ulrik.  First a place to a live: a dingy basement storage room in the house of his older sister who trades food for sex, both looking equally un-appetizing but the latter is so hilarious they are sublime comic highlights.  And he fixes Ulrik up with a job in Garage run by a most ridiculous little man who can only talk with non-stop outpourings of platitudes.

Dealing with the past is not easy. Ulrik’s estranged son is now grown up and about to be a father but his girlfriend doesn’t look to kindly on the sudden arrival of the scene of a murderer for a father-in-law.  And Ulrik’s ex wife is not much more welcoming although she does offer him a quickie for old times sake.

In fact everything about this scenario, including the oddball people, is rather grey and seedy, yet despite all this, what takes shape is a delightful and insightful deliciously droll treat of a comedy.  Stellan Skarsgard gives a pitch perfect performance and really commits you to wanting Ulrik to succeed, so that when he does at the end, you are so happy too.

It well deserves a somewhat gentle crowd to appreciate it.

★★★★★★★

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INCENDIES

Just when I thought that I had already been completely shocked into a stuperfying daze by all the hard-hitting realism of a whole slate of compelling movies at MIFF this week, I saw INCENDIES which totally blew my mind.  This French Canadian movie that only last week won no less than 8 Genies (Canada’s Oscars) … and had recently been nominated for an Oscar too … is one of the most powerfully disturbing films that I have seen in a very long time (and trust me I see my share).  It is totally unmissable.

In an Canadian city a Notary is reading the Will of Nawal Marwan to her twin son and daughter which shocks them to discover that they have a father and brother alive back in Lebanon where their mother was from. She has left 3 letters for them. One they must deliver to the father, the other to their brother and the third one is for them and can only be opened once they compete the first part of the request.  Simon, the son, dismisses the idea as just another example of his mother’s craziness, but Jeanne his sister is determined to unravel the mystery and sets off for the Middle East immediately.

With very little to go on it seems like an impossible wild goose chase, but once she starts to uncover some of the facts of her mother’s past, as disturbing as they are, there is no going back.

Her mother had lived in the remote countryside and had gotten pregnant as a teenage, but thanks to her wily grandmother, avoided the traditional penalty of being killed by her brother for bringing disgrace to her family. After the birth the baby was given away for adoption, and Nawal was spirited to the nearby town to live with her Uncle and get an education.

However she got more than just an education, and soon got very politically active, which in a country enveloped in a sectarian war, was  a very dangerous thing.  She witnessed appalling atrocities and determined to seek revenge manages to assassinate a very high-ranking official, which landed her in jail for the next 13 years.

Jeanne slowly uncovered all of this and was so disturbed by  other  more gruesome facts that she demanded that Simon join her to help her complete the search.

Anyone even with the most over imaginative mind could not predict the sheer horrific tragedy of this penetrating story that details such inhumane acts that leave one totally shell shocked, and yet still desperate to know the outcome.  Trust me, I haven’t even touched on them here for fear of giving away too much of the plot, but let me put it this way, I have never ever sat in packed auditorium and heard so many loud ‘Oh My God’ over the course of 2 hours.

R.T.V. In fairness it wasn’t just the sensationalism of the story that made this such a brilliant movie. An awe-inspiring script based on Wadji Mouwad’s hit play, stellar performances particularly from the two female leads, stunning visually with the vistas of a war torn Lebanon, masterful direction from Denis Villeneuve that took such great care in every single minute detail on this canvas (using Radiohead in the soundtrack; pure genius). 

It is as near perfect that a movie can ever be, and that’s why I have given it the rare highest rating I can.

P.S. This movie was shown at Sundance but the program notes so carefully avoided disclosing the plot that it never even entered my radar.  I hope you don't make the same mistake.

★★★★★★★★★★
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SIN RETORNO (aka NO RETURN)

Young Matias is driving his school pal home from a party in the early hours of the morning when he accidentally hits a cyclist.  Believing him to be dead, they flee the scene and Matias concocts a story that that car was stolen.  When the hit and run is broadcast all over the TV news Matias panics and confesses all to his parents, who desperate that their only son should not be jailed, conspire with him to cover his tracks.

When the cyclist then dies Federico an innocent family man gets charged with his manslaughter and is subsequently imprisoned for 5 years whilst Matias and his family keep quiet.  After serving his sentence Federico leaves prison a changed man, and is bent on one thing only: revenge.

This tense and adrenalin rushing Argentinean thriller gathers momentum and builds up to a fast pace as the plot thickens until literally Matias and his parents are in it too deep to turn back. The biggest shock is the unexpected end, which I’m not sure is how I would have finished the story.  But then the producers are the same guys who gave us the amazing Oscar Winning ‘The Secrets In Their Eyes’ …so maybe they know best.

Two outstanding performances enhance it considerably: handsome Leonardo Sbarglian (‘Burnt Money’) as Federico the wronged man, and Federico Luppi, one of Argentina’s biggest stars, who at 80+years old still can turn it on as he does stealing all his scenes as Victor the father of the dead cyclist.

As I left the theatre I heard a very odd comment from a very odd looking woman. ‘Great story’ she said, and then added, ‘ and it could had made a great film!’   She’s wrong.   It already has made a great (ish) movie.  Well worth seeing

★★★★★★★★
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I AM SLAVE

This overwhelmingly sad and somewhat dispiriting movie’s powerful narrative about an African slave is actually based on a true story.  Twelve year old Malia is abducted from her mountain village in Sudan by Arab militia and sold into slavery to a vile woman in Khartoum who treats her inhumanly and even beats her for actually touching her daughter.  After 6 years the woman gets exasperated by Malia and arranges for her to be shipped off to London to her cousin who is married to a Diplomat.  Her new ‘owner' is equally cruel and after taking Malia's passport tells her that if she dares to ever leave the house or disobey her in any way her father back in Sudan will be killed.

The telling of this compelling and depressing story succeeds so well due to the convincing portrayal of Malia by Wunmi Mosaku who, with very words to stay, coveys all the anguish and pain with her eyes.  The story is reality at its fiercest, and a dispiriting indictment of society today that scenarios like this still happen.  Malia’s has a happy ending, but as the credits roll, there is reminder that Agencies suspect that there are still some 5000 slave workers in London today.

★★★★★★★★
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FOR 80 DAYS

Axun’s ex son-in-law Mikel is rushed to hospital after a tragic car accident and as he is completely alone , she feels obliged to visit him.  Whilst there she meets Maite who’s visiting her brother, also in a coma, and suddenly realizes that this is her best friend from high school.  In fact the two of them were much closer than that, but they never allowed themselves to act on their feelings.  Now 50 years later, Axun and her husband lead a comfortable, and somewhat boring life on a farm, whereas Maite has traveled the world extensively before coming back home to San Sebastian to teach piano at a school that she is about to retire from.

As the friendship between the two women re-kindles, Axun’s husband gets increasingly angry that his wife is not there to wait on him hand and foot simply because she is supposedly now visiting Mikel on a daily basis.  Something he doesn’t understand because neither of them could abide him in the past, and so he becomes suspicious of Axun’s long absences from home.

Axun is initially shocked to discover that Maite is a lesbian, but at the same time realizes that her feelings toward her go way beyond mere friendship.  She tells her friend, that when they are together, she is the happiest she has ever been in her life.  The question is, is her newly rediscovered love enough to make her leave her conventional life now that it's in its last years, or will she for once follow her heart?

R.T.V. This captivating and tender highly-unusual love story about two 70-year-old lesbians is sensitive, insightful and so very moving.  I was desperate to research it when I got home to discover how two men in their 30’s could write and direct such an intelligent authentic piece, and as I suspected it was loosely based on a true story.  It is a sheer delight.  A mature film made for  a mature audience.

P.S. Two notable facts. Shot entirely in the Basque language, this is not only the first Feature from the two filmmakers, it is astonishingly the first movie ever for Mariasun Pagoaga, all the more reason to applaud her stunning performance as Maite.

★★★★★★★★★
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LEAP YEAR

Laura’s life is beyond bleak. To try to escape her unspoken troubled past she moves from her family home deep in the countryside to her own somewhat desolate apartment in Mexico City.  Desperately lonely and completely friendless and working as a journalist from home, her whole life is defined by the four walls which confine her and in which the whole movie takes place.  In daily phone conversations with her mother and brother she lies big time and creates a completely imaginary life full of friends, and the only time she has any emotional contact at all is on the rare occasion when the brother comes to town to visit.

Despite Laura being the central role of this achingly depressing drama, we never really get to know that much about  what makes her tick.   A couple of times a week she dresses herself up and goes out partying and inevitably brings back another stranger who uses her to have unfulfilling anonymous sex ('why do all you men keep asking if I came?').  Then on one of these occasions she meets Arturo who slaps her around a little during intercourse.  Despite the fact that Laura initially shows no interest in him, he keeps coming back for more, and on each occasion the sex gets rougher until it develops into full blown S & M.

Meanwhile the Magazine she writes for has laid her off and she is also fast approaching the 4th anniversary of her fathers death, so her overwhelming depression gives way to suicidal tendencies, and she actively encourages Arturo to actually kill her in a very gruesome way as he makes love to her.  

It has the most explicit and roughest sex that any movie that got a mainstream release  ever had (in Europe naturally), but even that is really overshadowed by the intensely tragic life that Laura has.

The whole experience of watching this movie left me completely drained and mentally exhausted.   I was totally disconcerted, and my immediate reaction was a combination of both shock and horror. However, in sitting down to write this I realize that beyond all of that, the crux of this thought-provoking movie that really touched me was its  powerful indictment of loneliess.  

Be warned, this is not for everyone, but I am more than happy to recommend it to anyone who really wants to be shaken up.  


P.S. The movie all happens over one month finishing on February 29th


PPS I've discovered that the Director is an Australian man which for some reason I find odd given the subject matter!

★★★★★★★
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YOUNG GOETHE IN LOVE

After young Johann Wolfgang von Goethe fails his Doctorial Examination his father dispatches him to some godforsaken suburban town so that he can knuckle down and become a Lawyer like him.  Whilst there he falls in love with a pretty but penniless girl in the next village and when he is spurned because she chooses another wealthy suitor to marry, he sits down in a fit of desperation and major self-pity and writes an epistolary and largely biographical novel that then becomes the world’s first ever best seller.  Oh yes, it also starts off a whole Romanticism movement as well as being the sole reason why the suicide rate of young lovelorn men in Germany suddenly shoots up.

The rest is history and we know that after this period  covered in this movie stops that the young man not only gets over his broken heart, but he breaks it several times again in the future, and in between becomes Germany’s most celebrated and famous literary writer.

If German period movies and Goethe are your thing, then this movie is definitely for you.  I however have no penchant for either and so for me this was just a beautifully photographed, over-sentimentalized, slow-moving, pleasant movie.   What made it watchable were the extremely impressive performances of the three lead actors, particularly Alexander Fehling as Goethe.  It is obvious that this young actor is yet another member of the ‘Inglorious Bastards’ cast that is now about to hit the big time  (as are Melanie Laurent  + Michael Fassbinder).

There has been so much written on Goethe to date … and incidentally the novel that featured in the movie is still in print some 376 years after is was first published ... but I think this is the first time that he has been the subject of a feature film.  Whether is accurate historically is not something I can judge, but I would really question the annoying final scene when people are fighting in the bookstore to get a copy of the novel: its shot like the mob were embracing the winner of American Idol, and certainly not an 18th Century writer.  Hmmm.


P.S.

Here's 'Young Goethe' ignoring me at the Screening!

★★★★★★★
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MAKING SH*T UP

This documentary on the work of Bert Rodriguez the conceptual artist had its World Premiere in Miami last night. It was an exhilarating ride, as befitting the extraordinary talent of this Miami born/based man.   It follows his life from 2008, just before his famed Whitney Biennale pieces, right through a whole roller coaster ride of expositions and commissions, up to his last show in Fred Snitzer’s Gallery in Miami’s Wynwood District.  And along the way he had to survive a near-death head injury.

Bert’s seemingly endless wealth of ideas for his art were astounding: always strange and interesting, often controversial, sometimes beautiful and more often than not were staggeringly stunning.  As a man he is extremely likable and charming, and as an artist he is disarmingly honest and forthright about his own work that is both refreshing and somewhat surprising.

The film is peppered with commentaries by some highly respected artists and art professionals from Vito Acconci to Christie’s Amy Cappellazzo on Rodriquez and his work, both held in high esteem by the art community as a whole.  The one notable exception is Jerry Salz, the New York Magazine Art Critic, who was literally bubbling over with bitterness, and his critique seems a tad to vitriolic to be taken seriously. In fact his blustering does make for a couple of unintentional hilariously funny scenes.

R.T.V. This well-crafted documentary was a breath of fresh air … like the artist himself … and an essential record of ‘one of Miami’s own’ whose exceptional talent with his growing recognition, deserves a wider audience.  Unmissable

To track it down check out www.wetheatproject.com

★★★★★★★★
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CERTIFIED COPY

Much to my disbelief Certified Copy is opening in NY + LA to excellent reviews this weekend.  It’s not that I think it’s a bad movie; it’s just that I found it equally pretentious and emotionally flat, so frankly am surprised at its initial reception.

Set in a small Tuscan town where James Miller, a celebrated English writer, is launching his latest philosophical tome, which attracts the attention of a highly interested (unnamed) woman who is desperate to discuss his work further.  He has a few hours to spare before he needs to catch his train, so agrees to meet with her and picks her up at her Gallery where she sells reproductions of antiques.  And then throughout the new few hours they spend together they enter into an intense dialogue on the nature of copies and originals in art, and in life too.

There is one part in the Café they end up in where they are mistaken by the staff to be a long-married couple, and they play along.  She with enthusiasm and he less so, and eventually cold fish that he is, seems to turn almost bitter about this charade.

The whole movie is just one long (pseudo?) intellectual exercise as the couple continuously try to score verbal points off each other. She, played by the delectable Juliet Binoche, is romantic and impassioned, but the lack of any emotional response of any kind, makes her efforts, and this movie fall painfully flat.  Miller incidentally is played by William Shimmel an English opera singer in his first (non-singing) acting role

Written and directed by Abbas Kairostami an award winning Iranian filmmaker, this is his first European movie, which may be a telling factor in why it so fails to work.  The book that is the centre of all the heated discussion proposes that copies are every bit as good as the ‘real thing’.   This movie is by no means a copy, but as a piece of art and an entertainment, it fails to be the real thing too.


★★★★
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