Garyswordz

A Good Old Fashioned War Film, 14 January 2009

Author: gary-444 from United Kingdom

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

It would be easy to pick holes in this picture. Based upon a true story, it tells the tale of the Bielski brothers who flee WW Two German persecution in Belarussia to take refuge in the forests. There is so much to draw upon, that it is inevitable that some issues are shown in shorthand, some glossed over, and some ignored altogether. But as a straight forwards Action/Adventure story, it succeeds admirably.

Daniel Craig dominates the film as Tuvia Bielski and does a fine job. Stoic, rugged and with a passable local accent, he carries off portraying the dilemmas of his role as leader, and that of Action Hero, with some aplomb. Inevitably there are times when things teeter on the brink of a Sherwood forest, “Robin Hood” ,pastiche, and the tone and violin playing veer into, “Schindlers List”, territory. But the essence of events; ordinary, disparate, diverse people with a common bond as Jews being forced to flee Genocide by living a subsistence existence in the wild forests is well told.

Intriguingly, the ethics and morality of their position bedevils them in the same way that the contemporary Gaza Crisis bedevils modern day Israel. Tuvia slays the Policeman and sons who killed his family in cold blood, but opts for a survival strategy for his camp rather than that of raiding outpost. On one occasion they spare the lives of an informant and Policemen who stumble across their camp, compromising its existence rather than indulging in further slaughter. Yet later captured Germans are beaten to death by an exhausted and embittered camp.

His brother Zus leaves with some others to join Soviet Partisans to follow a more aggressive Resistance. Fascinating sub- texts are flirted with; the anti-Semitism of the Soviet Partisans themselves, the hopeless position of villagers pressed by the Germans, Partisans AND Bielski, the “forest wives” morality of the refugees versus a “no-babies” policy, the class –conflicts within the refugees themselves and the invidious position of the local Police Force.

The beautiful forest, and noble cause of the Jews creates a Romantic air about the film where on the whole heroism and good triumph, and the Nazis and their sympathisers are shot. As is customary in the genre, women are for decoration only. Gritty realism and the raw underbelly of what life must really have been like understandably take a back seat. Yet this does not diminish the tale, and taken at face value, it is a compelling 137 minutes of cinema.

A Beautiful, Thought Proving Work, 12 January 2009

Author: gary-444 from United Kingdom

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Director Sean Penn will have been delighted by the controversy and debate this film has created. Yet its flaws are also its strengths.There are many unanswered questions- about central figure Chris McCandless’s reckless behaviour in Alaska and his handling of his relationship with his sister and family in particular.These criticisms miss the point.

Penn has created an episodic exploration of “untamed” America which need only be taken at face value. What remains are images of a great wilderness and vignettes of life’s highs, a brief chance meeting with a Danish couple in the Grand Canyon, and it’s lows, a beating by railway security.It encapsulates the loose Everyman desire to commune with the wild,discover the beauty and truth of nature, and eschew life’s materialistic trappings.No individual could possibly satisfactorily represent all those emotions, and McCandless, wonderfully played by Emile Hirsch, doesn’t.

Ultimately, it is a doomed quest. A tragedy that seeks, and attempts to illuminate, some truths about human existence. The extent to which it succeeds is down to the viewer, not the Director.Sometimes the pace is so slow that proceedings come to a graceful halt.Yet these halts serve merely as a coda, for the next meting with a stranger, and for the next sunset.

For those bored with formulaic blockbuster fare this is a welcome diversion, for others this will be a frustratingly slow and long exercise in achieving very little.You decide.

A Literate, Powerful Joy, 8 January 2009

Author: gary-444 from United Kingdom

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

A tremendous two hour journey, skilfully produced by the late Anthony Minghella and wonderfully acted by the two central characters, Michael Berg and Hannah Schmidt, played by Ralph Fiennes and Kate Winslet. Fiennes excels as the law student who enjoys a youthful summer romance with a bus conductress, Winslet, who subsequently is revealed as an Extermination Camp SS Guard. A compelling, moving, story is told around subject matter littered with moral bear-traps. Director David Daldrey, whose finest hour to date has been “Billy Elliot” handles the subject matter with calm authority, the screen play by David Hare, whose natural home is play writing, produces dialogue of conviction and weight, without sounding worthy or self important.

Although two hours long the plot is simple, Berg’s idyllic summer romance with Schmidt ends suddenly, and he next sees her on trial for Nazi War Crimes. The temptation to explore what makes ordinary people do bad things is resisted. Instead we have a simpler tale, of a repressed, illiterate woman, doing her best to survive herself during the war who finds herself at the furnace of evil. Her actions are neither justified, apologised for or fully explained. You make a judgement “as you see fit”, the advice offered to berg when he takes Schmidt’s financial legacy to a Holocaust survivors daughter.

The visceral power of the early sexual relationship is powerfully portrayed with David Kross playing a young Michael Berg, this, and her appreciation of having fine literature read to her dominate the opening scenes. During her trail for war crimes, Schmidt offers an ignorant innocence which condemns her. And although her subsequent self taught literacy apparently saves her, it also condemns her as well. Equally, although the cerebral berg enjoys a career as a lawyer, he too is emotionally repressed by the emotional maelstrom of that early affair from which he never recovers.

Some minor irritations are present. All the actors speak in English, barely a German word is heard, and Winslet and Fiennes effect a light cod German accent. Consequently German authenticity is somewhat compromised.Mindful of the fact that the author of the original book is German ,and it is set entirely in Germany, I think that some concessions to the local language would have been accepted by an English speaking audience.

If the screenplay is seen to favour Schmidt a little too sympathetically, a superb closing scene in which Llana Mather receives Bergs bequest more than corrects the balance. In a stunning cameo performance, actress Lens Olin, immaculately turned out in stark contrast to the wrecked and wretched Schmidt, refuses the money and informs Berg that there is “nothing” to learn from the camps. Not in an educational , but nihilistic sense. It is her that she suggests that Berg should do with the money “as he sees fit”. Itself, a metaphor for how we too should see this fine film.

Decent Fantasy Fare, 24 December 2008

Author: gary-444 from United Kingdom

A well told story of an imaginative novel by Cornelia Funke.Strongly cast, it runs perhaps twenty minutes long at an hour and three quarters, but never outstays its welcome. Funke creates a magical world where books come alive, characters literally leap off the page, and the major characters have to do all they can to make sure normality, and justice, are restored.

Paul Bethany as Dustfinger steals the film as the heroic/tragic character lifted out of the pages of “Inkheart” into the “real world”. Apparently author Funke insisted on Brendan Fraser as “Silvertongue”, the man who can make books come alive by narrating them.Perversely, he is the weak link, giving a strangely insipid performance alongside Bethany, Broadbent as Finolglio the author of “Inkheart”, and Helen Mirren playing a wonderful cameo as Aunt Elinor in a part which could have used more screen time.

Eliza Bennett is a convincing child lead as Meggie, Silvertongue’s daughter, and the cast of baddies looks as though it has been stolen from the cast of “Pirates of the Caribbean” extras!Interesting, and erudite, the film falls just short of classic status, mainly due to Fraser.Nonetheless,it remains a strong story, well told and will appeal to children of all ages, as well as adults who are young at heart.

A Worthy Twist on Familiar Themes, 9 December 2008

Author: gary-444 from United Kingdom

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Hollywood is justly criticised for its concentration on formulaic fare. So this commendable attempt to twist some familiar characterization and situations into unfamiliar territory is welcome indeed. Although ultimately unsure of its identity as a film, the story, Samuel Jackson, and script ,.are all well above average. The central premise is of a mixed race couple who move next door to a hardened cop – they do not get on.

But the Cop is black, the man is white and the woman black.. Director Neil Labute has a reputation as an edgy player with challenging takes on misogynist and racist views which are fully exploited as the film develops. The strength of the story is its ambiguity as none of the characters are wholly likable, or unlikeable. But this also weakens the dramatic tension at the end.

The final act is preposterous with forest fires, shoot outs and a corny wrap up, but before, it is unusually strong with a towering performance from Jackson. as Cop Abel Turner. Although “the bad guy”, his character has several redeeming features. He is a hard working widower to two teenage children, the tough thin blue line in a violent neighbourhood, and has a strong moral value set. Thus his ultimate demise is not a cause for unqualified celebration. Equally, his “opponent”, Chris Mattson played by Patrick Wilson is a weak, insipid, preppy individual whom it is difficult to “root for” as the good guy. His “wigger” taste for Black Gangsta Rap is scornfully derided by Turner , “When you wake up in the morning you will still be white”.

Mattson’s wife Lisa, has to tolerate the racial prejudice of her own black father against her white husband, and when Cop Turner needs to call upon some crack dealing muscle to deal with the Mattson’s, of course he is white! Shamelessly the story revels in challenging every racial stereotype going.

The flaws in the story are its unnecessary “big finish” and loose ends tied up conclusion and the fact that Turner is not bad enough, nor Chris Mattson good enough for us to be able to walk away feeling that justice was done

Terrific Middle East Thriller, 27 November 2008

Author: gary-444 from United Kingdom

Despite an ambivalent response from the Critics this is the best Hollywood effort yet about the intrigues of the modern Middle East. Sir Ridley Scott produces a densely plotted, yet accessible, thriller which steers clear of the failings of other efforts in the genre so far. Di Caprio produces yet another fine performance as a high flying young CIA Station Chief, Ferris, in Amman, and Crowe gives a scintillating performance as Hoffman ,his bloated, arrogant, corpulent boss back at Langley.

Skilfully, Scott throws in the crowd pleasing elements, “there are some people who don’t want to be negotiated with”, and the, literally, knife edge release of Ferris, amidst a much more even handed exploration of the geo-politics of International Terrorism. Aisha, Ferris’s love interest, an Iranian born nurse ,becomes an innocent pawn in this battle of wits, and the Jordanian head of Intelligence outwits the CIA at their own game.

Al Qaeda’s cynical atrocities are matched by the cynical indifference of the CIA to achieve their own objectives, whatever the cost. Hoffman coolly gives life and death telephone instructions whilst attending to various mundane family duties. The cinematography is superb with lush, yet grimly authentic images abounding. As is Scott’s, trademark, the action sequences are superb, yet show commendable restraint. When people are shot, they stay shot.

The three obvious predecessors to this, The Kingdom, Rendition, and Lions for Lambs were all flawed by the requirement for there to be an American Hero to win over the home audience. “Body of Lies” attempts, and largely succeeds in conveying a much more morally ambiguous landscape. A triumph of film making which I suspect will attract greater accolades once the froth of the opening box office has subsided.

Pointless, 25 November 2008

Author: gary-444 from United Kingdom

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

The book may be an insightful deep exploration of the physical impact,and metaphorical opportunities, posed by blindness.The film is a wasted effort.Despite a compelling performance by Julianne Moore, she cannot save a messy screenplay, poor dialogue and inadequate exploration of a good idea.

The opening act starts brightly, a Japanese man is struck blind, but robbed by an apparent Good Samaritan.His native speech adds to our confusion mirroring his confusion from his blindness.Then others are struck down, and the story drifts out of control.At the heart of this is poor characterisation. Despite a two hour running time we don’t really get to know any of the characters, let alone like them.

The main action takes place in an isolation block, despite the increasingly desperate conditions little empathy is generated for the main players. A parallel plot then unfolds of the degeneration of their isolated society as allegory for the wider world.Moore plays the sighted wife of an incarcerated Doctor there to look after her husband, the only one with sight, offering great dramatic possibilities, which are largely squandered.After an hour I started to get bored. In order to ratchet up interest a “group rape” scene is introduced in which some women seek to “earn” food for the others from a band of ne’er do wells who have seized control.So tedious had the narrative become that I was as accepting as their menfolk.

The denouement is farcical.They “escape” their “secure” quarters simply because the guards have deserted, presumably blind too, but not before ensuring that everything is unlocked.Then they wander around a bit.By this time i was tapping my watch to see whether it was still going and thought to myself “this will end with them suddenly regaining their sight again” – and it did.

Bleak and boring, lacking dramatic contrast, Director Fernando Meirelles previous work has largely been TV work. It shows.He is hopelessly out of his depth in a feature length.

A Tremendous Tour De Force, 25 November 2008

Author: gary-444 from United Kingdom

Youth films are notoriously difficult to pull off.When created by the middle aged, they invariably miss the point. When created by peers, they invariably lack perspective. This amounts to a retrospective by a middle aged man, Director Shane Meadows, about his youth.As such it avoids the pitfalls, but benefits from hindsight and maturity.

What sets this apart from so many films is the dialogue and characterisation. Every scene is carefully observed, and every character is carefully drawn so that we care about them. On the one hand we see the journey of the prepubescent Shaun, wonderfully played by Thomas Turgoose from lost soul to a key character in a skinhead group. On the other we see the violent, raging Combo,(Stephen Graham), recently released from prison, with hate in his heart but a tragedy and fragility about him which is equally as compelling.

Meadows loves people, and there is not a wasted scene.Shaun is taken by his mother to buy some new shoes, he is determined that they should be Doc Martens Boots, she is determined that they should be “sensible shoes”, and secures the acquiescence of the store assistant to that end. A wonderful vignette, what child did not experience that childhood battle of wills over a pair of shoes?

In barely an hour and forty one minutes, Meadows delivers a searing polemic on the alienation of youth, the desolation of some communities in Thatcherite Britain, the festering breeding ground of racism,and the strength and joys of human inter action in groups.Although violent, foul mouthed and brutal, it is also funny, sharp and melancholic. At times the film almost slips into an elegiac nostalgic mood, before Meadows kicks it on with another sharp scene.

A towering success, and proof that a strong narrative, good characterisation and strong dialogue, do not need a big budget and several writers