8 1/2 (15)

Italian classic 8 1/2 is released on Blu-ray and remastered DVD today.

8 1/2 (15) (This review on FilmJuice.com)

In 2013, the question for Italian director Federico Fellini’s seminal work 8 1/2 is does it stand up to it’s reputation as an iconic masterpiece?  The answer is a hearty yes, if your cinematic vocabulary hasn’t solely been taught by hobbits and terminators.  Though coolly influential and often breathtaking, 8 1/2 belongs to a bygone era and culture of filmmaking.

The fantastical episodes that make up this celluloid tapestry follow film director Guido Anselmi, a cypher for Fellini himself, struggling to find the reason behind his next film, which is already underway.  He thought he had something important to say, but now that he’s started saying it he’s not so sure.  Harried by colourful characters including a producer who doesn’t care what decisions Guido makes as long as he makes them, a mistress plagued by sudden fevers and a wife with the questionable gift of always seeing through her husbands lies, Guido retreats ever further from reality and hides in a fantasy world made of memories and wishes.

Marcello Mastroianni plays Guido, a handsome and elusive dreamer, mysteriously quiet on the outside, a swirling pool of confused ideas inside - the personification of still waters running deep.  Anouk Aimée is disarming as Guido’s troubled wife Luisa, Sandra Milo fantastically portrays the director’s forbidden lover as a hilarious caricature of a rich married woman capitalising on her voluptuousness, and Claudia Cardinale ignites the screen as a movie star who Guido casts as his dream woman, also called Claudia.

Gianni Di Venanzo’s black and white cinematography certainly stands the test of time, dazzling with inventive and adventurous camerawork right from frame one.  Likely alienating to present day audiences however, are techniques such as the use of an old Italian tradition of dubbing all the dialogue in post production, whereby the actors are filmed mouthing nonsensical lines, leaving no hope for lip-synced dialogue!

Fellini’s use of cinematic language, grammar and technique to wrestle with his own demons, and his use of craft to rediscover his muse, are mightily personified by Guido, an artist who feels an alien in an industry populated by shallow moneymakers and divas, an industry he depends on for his art as much as he tries to escape from it.  Fellini’s brazen honesty in committing these internal and private thoughts into a very public piece of art still makes for a potent sucker punch of entertainment.

Fifty years on, much of the homage critics lay at Fellini’s feet when 8 1/2 first hit a silver screen in the glorious gloom of a Cannes cinema, is undoubtedly still deserved.  Technical mastery, daring honesty and dispassionate liberality are intrinsic to the identity of 8 1/2, one of the few films still snapping at Citizen Kane’s heels as one of the greatest works of art created by a filmmaker.

DVD & Blu-ray extras: ‘Lost Sequence - Fellini on Fellini’ 50 minute documentary, Interview with Lina Wertmuller, Tribute to Fellini, Theatrical Trailers

The Look of Love (18)

The latest collaboration of comic legend Steve Coogan and director Michael Winterbottom is out on DVD and Blu-ray this week.

The Look of Love (18) (This review on FilmJuice.com)

A personal passion project of Steve Coogan’s, The Look of Love reunites him with director Michael Winterbottom (24 Hour Party People, The Trip) to tell the tragicomic true story of Paul Raymond, the man who built a fortune on erotic theatre and clubs, owned half of Soho and became the richest man in the UK.

The character of Paul Raymond fits Coogan like a glove; he ticks all the boxes that drive him as a performer - he’s a vilified monster with a lesser known side that’s uncomfortably recognisable as universally human, and his line of business lands him in all manner of surreal and darkly humourous situations.  Winterbottom and Coogan are a dream team, and this was an obvious project for them, the director playing to the actor’s strengths in areas such as improvisation and comedy.

We are introduced to Raymond in his latter years, looking back on the wild ride of his life in the light of a family tragedy that suddenly frames things differently, and for a moment Raymond is quiet, sober and reflective.  The rest of the film is a whirlwind tour of his lavish lifestyle, dizzyingly presented through hyperkinetic editing and eye-popping colours, not to mention nudity in quantities that might have made Raymond himself blush.

Besides the classic song, the title refers to the performance of porn actresses as they’re required to appear to be enjoying what they are doing.  It’s a subtle insight into the falseness behind the marketing of human flesh, that’s still going strong today.  Raymond constantly ignores reminders of the importance of family and the damaging nature of his work, and it’s telling that in their research the filmmakers struggled to find anyone who was truly close to him.

As expected the supporting cast sometimes struggle to keep up with Coogan’s in depth and exploratory performance, particularly in the improvised scenes.  Still strong though are Tamsin Egerton as Amber, one of Raymond’s mistress/muses, and Chris Addison as photographer Tony Power.  British comics from Steven Fry to David Walliams fill out most of the other supporting parts - perhaps comedians are the only ones happy to touch this kind of hot material.

The delivery of the moral is heavy handed but true, King Midas being a parallel so obvious there’s even a scene where Raymond himself ponders it.  For a film that on one hand warns of the dangers of hedonism, it takes a surprising amount of relish providing gratuitous titillation of it’s own; an uncomfortable ambiguity that Coogan and Winterbottom are typically happy to settle for, but also one suggestive that there may yet be answers to the questions posed, even if the filmmakers stop short of discovering them.

DVD Extras: Deleted Scenes, Paul Raymond Timeline, Interviews with Cast and Crew

A Late Quartet (15)

The exquisite debut from Yaron Zilberman is out on DVD and Blu-ray next week.

A Late Quartet (15) (This review on FilmJuice.com)

A Late Quartet is a model of class, directed with confidence, acted to perfection and boasting a rare and potent classical soundtrack.  First time director Yaron Zilberman explores the subculture of classical musicians, their dreams, passions and the intimacy fanned by their intense working relationships.

The Fugue Quartet have toured the world for a quarter century, garnering fame and critical acclaim.  Their lives are thrown into turmoil when cellist Peter Mitchell (Christopher Walken) announces that he has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, and won’t be able to play with them much longer.  As the group faces the touchy dilemma of who to replace him with and when, old rivalries rear their heads and the quartet’s future looks bleak.

As first violin, Mark Ivanir’s character Daniel leads the quartet, and if there were an equivalent position among the foursome of thespians it must be Walken, soaring at the top of his game, all but devouring the screen with his powerful presence.  Like their instruments the actors are finely tuned, their emotions no less exquisite and true than the notes played on their strings.  It’s a master class in acting, a real joy watch.  Philip Seymour Hoffman is typically brilliant, and Catherine Keener is a minor revelation, as she is in every film in which she appears.

The script by Zilberman and Seth Grossman occasionally flirts with the wrong side of melodrama, but the direction and acting keep things heartfelt.  Zilberman shows the signs of a far more experienced filmmaker than he actually is, this being his first narrative film; his only previous cinematic work is the 2004 documentary Watermarks, about an Austrian Jewish womens’ swimming team in the 1930s.  The word ‘versatile’ comes to mind.

The director compares the way the characters handle their personal struggles, with the way in which a quartet must plough on through a difficult piece of music.  The Fugue choose Beethoven’s infamously challenging String Quartet No. 14 for their climactic performance, and though Peter arguably faces the grimmest trial of all, it’s his steadiness and wisdom that the others must look to if they are to have a chance of pulling through with their beloved quartet intact.

One of the most affecting insights the film brings is of the respect that the musicians have for each other’s talent, despite the differences and betrayals raging on behind the scenes.  The sacrifices they make out of commitment to the belief that it is more special to be part of the whole than to be recognised individually, is refreshing in an age that at all costs celebrates the importance of taking care of number one.

Zilberman’s delicate tale of ego, sex, sickness and music will delight music and film fans alike.  There are moments it’s obvious the actors aren’t really playing their instruments, but that’s a small flaw in a first rate film that offers a poignant and heartbreaking perspective on the world of classical musicians.

Blu-ray & DVD extras: Theatrical Trailer

The Great Gatsby (12A)

The latest big screen adaptation of The Great Gatsby is still showing in cinemas.

This review was first published in The Methodist Recorder (www.methodistrecorder.co.uk).

The Great Gatsby (12A)

Director Baz Luhrmann’s first film since his 2008 epic Australia, is an adaption of the classic novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.  Tobey Maguire plays Gatsby’s neighbour and story narrator, Nick Carraway.  Intrigued by the mysterious multimillionaire next door, he leaps at the opportunity to attend one of Gatsby’s famous parties, and a friendship is formed as Gatsby needs Carraway to do him a favour - reunite him with his lost love, Carraway’s cousin Daisy.

The Great Gatsby has been filmed four times before, and apart from the 1926 silent version which is now lost to history (reviews at the time were favourable and described it as faithful to the novel), no version has entirely pleased devotees of Fitzgerald’s text, and this one is no exception.  Luhrmann has remained about as faithful to the book as can be expected of a film adaptation, with corners being cut to suit the medium; stylistically though he has taken liberties with the art direction and soundtrack, updating every aspect of the 1920’s set story to be palatable to a generation brought up with MTV and iPhones.

The first half hour is plastered with 21st Century Pop and Rap music, giving the impossibly opulent partying that Gatsby facilitates for his many celebrated acquaintances a jarring but undeniably fresh edge.  The camerawork is bold and dizzying, with a mostly superfluous use of 3D only occasionally making the blinding production design even more striking.

Nevertheless the power of the story shines through, and once the plot takes precedence the film becomes engrossing, due in no small part to Leonardo DiCaprio’s fascinating performance as Jay Gatsby.  DiCaprio rivetingly embodies the character’s elusive ambiguity, and is the strongest link in an impressive cast.  As Daisy, Carey Mulligan continues to accelerate her ascent to stardom, delivering lines taken verbatim from the 1925 text as if fresh from her own lips.

While the novel is largely open to interpretation, the 2013 film is more on the nose with it’s warning about the dark side of the American dream, with Luhrmann highlighting themes of hope and love, contrasting them with the corrupting power of ambition and fame.  “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” arguably doesn’t apply to Gatsby himself, but the truth of that verse is something that had he understood, might have helped him avoid his most tragic mistakes.

My Left Foot (15)

Recently released on Blu-ray, My Left Foot is a must-see British classic from 1989.

My Left Foot (15) (This review on FilmJuice.com)

My Left Foot tells the inspirational true story of Christy Brown, a writer and artist born in Dublin in 1932.  It was years before he could express himself, even by speech, because he was born with severe cerebral palsy.  Director Jim Sheridan’s film adapted from Brown’s first book, brilliantly tells the story in a series of flashbacks that vividly bring to life the tale of an artist’s rise to prominence against near impossible odds.

As we witness Brown’s early years, his disorder is harrowingly compared with the Catholic notion of Purgatory, with the young Brown empathising with the suffering souls that he hears about in Church.  Sheridan cleverly conveys an inkling of the depths of frustration that those who can’t communicate with others must feel.

Brown’s uniquely Irish humour brings a sense of mirth to even the most awkward situations.  “F**k Plato!” he barks at his speech therapist, after she has fulfilled her promise to help him enunciate his expletives more clearly.  One of the most painful facts Brown has to face is that no woman will ever love him other than platonically.  He also sees advantages in his loneliness, reflecting on the scope for creativity that his isolation brings.

The screenplay by Sheridan and Shane Connaughton highlights aspects of Brown’s life that fit the mould of a feel-good movie, and a cursory investigation of the truth reveals that liberties have been taken.  Suffice to say if you want to keep the feel-good factor, don’t go digging into the history afterwards.  The script remains a textbook example of how to turn a biography into something exhilarating, and the intentions behind the tweaks were surely noble, with the writers’ arguably being vindicated as the film has since become a touchstone of hope for many with conditions similar to Brown’s.

No review of My Left Foot would be complete without waxing lyrical about the incomparable Daniel Day-Lewis; it’s tough to find a more towering performance by an actor in all of film history, before or since.  It’s a passionate and heartfelt example of an actor fully committed to his craft, and though Day-Lewis reportedly put his colleagues through the mill by remaining in character throughout the shoot, even to the extent of needing to be fed at lunch breaks, the results speak volumes for the value of method acting.  Hugh O’Conor also deserves kudos for his heartbreaking portrayal of the young Christy Brown.  His performance isn’t diminished alongside Day-Lewis’s, no small feat for a fourteen year old.

Sheridan has crafted an explosively uplifting piece of cinema, but the liberties taken with the truth of Brown’s life raise questions of how far it is right to go in pursuit of a good movie.  Perhaps focusing on things in a positive light does more to honour Brown’s legacy, but the opposite could equally be argued.

Blu-ray extras: Cast and Crew Biographies, Stills Gallery

White Elephant (15)

White Elephant (originally Elefante blanco) is still showing in select art-house cinemas.

This review was first published in The Methodist Recorder (www.methodistrecorder.co.uk).

White Elephant (15)

White Elephant, by Argentinian director Pablo Trapero tells the story of Julián, a Catholic priest who has dedicated his efforts to aiding a housing project and pastoring the residents of a slum in Buenos Aries.  He persuades his old friend Nicolás, a younger and less experienced priest to join him and share the pressures faced serving the tumultuous slum community, plagued by drugs and organised crime.

The film starts at a leisurely pace which isn’t initially grabbing, but once Nicolás joins Julian at the slum (known as Ciudad Oculta, which means Hidden City) the story develops a sense of urgency and realism which is impossible to look away from.  Unexpected violence erupts from nowhere and the harsh realities of slum life are brought to the screen; it’s a harrowing dose of reality.  The White Elephant of the title is a huge unfinished hospital building, casting an ominous shadow over Ciudad Oculta.  Window and doorless, it now serves as housing and a tutoring centre.

The priests are portrayed as flawed but genuine in their attempts to be guiding lights in a community lost in darkness.  Their humanity isn’t glossed over, as Nicolás struggles with feelings of attraction to new colleague Luciana, a secular social worker with whom he has to work frequently in high pressure conditions, and in whom he tellingly confides, “How can my desire for a family live alongside my calling?”  Meanwhile Julián has to deal with the frustration that his senior clergyman don’t have the same priorities that he does for the projects in the slum.

Ricardo Darín is solid as Julián, convincingly generating the sort of humble charisma that might earn the respect of such hoodlums as he works with.  Jérémie Renier gives the character of Nicolás a kind of everyman relatability, and Martina Gusman sparkles as his temptress Luciana.  Guillermo Nieto’s accomplished cinematography is sumptuous and immediate, and the score by Michael Nyman is serviceable if not memorable.  Content-wise the film earns it’s 15 certificate thanks to frequent strong language (subtitled), a sex scene with brief nudity, drug use and of course the violence.

Being rooted in such sobering realities the script is largely (but thankfully not entirely) humourless, so don’t expect anything ‘feel good’, but rather a complex and open ended insight into the everyday struggles of a distant land.  White Elephant shines as a riveting, beautifully filmed slice of life.

Billy Liar (12)

A personal favourite, the iconic British comedy Billy Liar is released in the UK on Blu-ray and DVD today to celebrate it's 50th anniversary.

Billy Liar (12) (This review on FilmJuice.com)

Oscar winning director John Schlesinger, best known for Midnight Cowboy (1969) had an early triumph in 1963 with Billy Liar, a challenger for the following year’s Dr. Strangelove as the funniest film ever made.  Tom Courtenay stars as the eponymous hero, a compulsive liar with two fiancées on the go and a vivid imagination in which he is ruler of his own country, ‘Ambrosia’.

Alive with humour and charm, the film feels decades ahead of it’s time in terms of cinematic inventiveness, with Schlesinger announcing himself as a powerful and innovative filmmaker.  The script by Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall, adapted from Waterhouse’s novel, warmly presents what is now a slice of history: the inner workings of a post-war English town.  The story is of the awkward but inevitable rise of a new generation, born from the freedom of a country victorious after the Second World War and kicking against the creativity-stifling recovery period that followed.

Billy holds a job as a file clerk at the local undertakers, but his ambitions lie elsewhere.  He believes he has what it takes to catch the attention of his favourite comic actor, London based Danny Boon.  The scene in which Billy prepares to tell his boss what he really wants to do in life is genuinely sidesplitting, and one of the most memorable in the film.

Courtenay makes palpable Billy’s frustration at being trapped in such a closed community, with a family who’s aspirations reach no further than his mother’s hopes of having her favourite song played on the radio (something unlikely to happen since Billy forgot to post her request letter).  It’s impossible not to root for him to escape to London and take on the world.

The only person who truly knows Billy is not one of his duo of brides to be, but the alluring free spirit Liz (a young Julie Christie).  She alone is wise to Billy’s playful but alienating penchant to fib, and she disarms him into revealing his vulnerabilities and even inviting her to help govern his beloved Ambrosia.  “I turn over a new leaf everyday” Billy confides in her, “but the blotches soak through.”  She is the perfect foil for Billy’s character, and challenges him to take action and strike out.  Billy’s fantasies however are as much fuelled by guilt at not doing right by his family as they are by his ego, and his loyalties become divided.

Fifty years on Billy Liar remains as irresistible as its titular rogue, and for anyone who can relate to the tension he feels between going his own way and supporting his bewildered but loving family, it’s a film destined to hold a special place in their heart.

Blu-ray extras: Remembering Billy Liar with Tom Courtenay and Helen Fraser, Interview with Richard Ayoade, A look through the Keith Waterhouse Archive with British Library Curator Zoe Wilcox, Interview with Saint Etienne’s Bob Stanley, Stills Gallery, Trailer

Army of Shadows (12)

The restored French classic L'armée des ombres is re-released on Blu-ray this Monday.

Army of Shadows (12) (This review on FilmJuice.com)

Having been critically panned on release in France in 1969 and subsequently denied a theatrical run in the US, after a thorough restoration over thirty five years later, Army of Shadows has finally found recognition.  It is director Jean-Pierre Melville’s final word on the French resistance in wartime France, of which he himself was a member.

Lino Ventura plays Philippe Gerbier, a chief in the French resistance in German occupied France, 1942.  We first meet Gerbier on his way to a prison camp, having been betrayed by one of his subordinates.  From here Melville unravels a harrowing tale of ethical dilemmas, split loyalties and courage of a type that only those who lived through such times can fully comprehend.

A bleak portrait is painted of life for the resistance members, one of near futility as their efforts seem to consist almost solely of evading capture and risking their lives with no reliable way of knowing who to trust, only to find out that the powers that be consider them of little use against the German war machine.  Melville poses questions such as whether ones own life has any value in the grand scheme of things, particularly if one feels of little use to anyone alive.  The tension between personal friendships and loyalty to a cause is also explored, leaving you with unsettlingly ambiguous thoughts that hint at the kinds of things that kept the resistance members awake at night.

Melville’s typically sparse and minimalist mise-en-scène reinforces the chillingly matter of fact atmosphere.  Characters pace through scenes, their footsteps echoing as the camera lingers in a way that leaves the audience room for a quiet sobriety of thought, of a kind that the fast cutting and handheld camerawork of more recent war films can only dream.

Éric Demarsan’s haunting score is evocative of Cold War-esque melancholy secrecy.  The icy strings and poignant piano melody weave a non-specific yet memorable soundscape to reflect the troubled and cagey characters.  The performances throughout are superbly restrained and affecting, particularly those of Ventura in the lead and Simone Signoret as resistance member Mathilde, a character whose personal ethical hell is perhaps the most sympathetic.

While slow and intellectually demanding, like a ponderous game of chess, Army of Shadows remains a treasure trove for anyone looking for a vivid and challenging insight into the experiences of the French resistance, told in a beautiful cinematic style which is now sadly all but forgotten.

Blu-ray extras: Army of Shadows - The Hidden Side of the Story (Documentary), Booklet on the movie written by Ginette Vincendeau (Professor and Film Critic)

Lincoln (12A)

Spielberg's latest masterpiece (really!) is still in cinemas... catch it before it bags a load of Oscars on the 24th!

This review was first published in The Methodist Recorder (www.methodistrecorder.co.uk).

Lincoln (12A)

Steven Spielberg had to ask three times to convince Daniel Day-Lewis to don the iconic stovepipe, believing Lincoln wouldn’t be worth filming without the talents of the worlds best actor.  The film centres on the abolition of the slave trade, and we first meet Lincoln visiting his battle weary troops, finding black soldiers as earnest and loyal as any.  From there we witness his uphill struggle to pass the Thirteenth Amendment, to outlaw slavery once and for all. 

Like all exceptional biographical films, Lincoln doesn’t simply follow the character from cradle to grave, but tells the story of the choices he made under the greatest pressures of his life, thus revealing the man’s heart.  Spielberg has never made a more mature and thoughtful film, with his carefully tempered use of harrowing battle scenes and gory images serving to demonstrate the cost of the Civil War, and the high stakes with which Lincoln was faced.

A film so steeped in politics risks being dry and laborious, and while there are scenes that require a greater than average investment of attention, they always pay off tenfold thanks to Spielberg’s decision not to shoot until Tony Kushner’s script had been fine tuned to perfection.  The wit and sparkle with which history is brought to life is remarkable, and sets a new standard for historical biopics.

Day-Lewis’ performance has been roundly lauded as uncanny, but there’s no chance of distraction from the story despite awe of his performance, because Day-Lewis has uncovered a character so authentically humble that you forget you’re watching a film, and experience something of what the man himself might have been like.  Tommy Lee Jones is also on top form as Thaddeus Stevens, injecting his incisive insults with delicious venom; just one example of the delightful humour Kushner uses to bring periodic levity.

Another film about slavery is on release concurrently with Lincoln, Django Unchained.  While Django represents a fictional and unrighteous attack on slavery, Lincoln is the opposite, telling a true story of a righteous assault on evil.  Important questions are raised as Lincoln ponders that we don’t choose to be born, and are perhaps therefore made for our time with a specific job to do.  It’s food for thought for Christians considering God’s purpose in their lives, and Lincoln’s ultimate triumph is an encouragement to fight injustice even against odds which, from an earthly perspective, seem insurmountable.