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

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

Short Circuit (PG)

This 80s classic was my favourite film when I was about 6, and it's out on Blu-ray and DVD today!

Short Circuit (PG) (This review on FilmJuice.com)

Eighties cult classic Short Circuit is pure daft fun.  Packed with goofy American humour and anchored by a warm hearted moral about the universality of morality, the movie is a childhood favourite for many and sure to become one for generations to come.

‘Number Five’ begins existence as a lifeless robot, built to do the army’s bidding and act as a cutting edge military deterrent.  Suddenly lightening strikes (literally), flooding consciousness through his circuits and gifting him with a squeaky voice and instantaneous lust for life.  The now living machine sets off on a hyper-curious exploration of the world, initially oblivious to the panicking armed forces hot on his tail.

Newton Crosby is Number Five’s charming genius inventor, modestly portrayed by a subdued Steve Guttenburg, and Ben Jebituya is his stereotypical nerdy assistant-cum-sidekick, who is to prone to making arguably excessively racy jokes for a PG rated film.

The onscreen oestrogen and obligatory love interest comes in the shape of Stephanie Speck, an animal loving, UFO believing pseudo-hippy.  Her heart is won by Number Five’s malice-free nature, and they enjoy a dance in front of director John Badham’s own Saturday Night Fever, playing on the television. Ally Sheedy fills Speck’s character with no small measure of irresistibility, delivering a spritely and memorable performance in a film where for the most part the best actor is the robot.

Though patchy in quality, the script is nothing if not upbeat and much mirth is to be had from Number Five’s zany and surreal one-liners (“Hey, laser-lips, your mama was a snowblower”)!  Director John Badham’s life affirming mid-career effort is heavily indebted to Steven Spielberg's far superior E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, released four years previously.  Upon discovering Number Five outside her house, Speck even thinks he is an alien, and is delighted as he swiftly picks up human ways.  The film does however carve it’s own unique spot in eighties movie history, with an impressive character design crowned with ingeniously emotive ‘eyebrows’.

Anyone with at least one working eyeball will notice the plain-as-day similarities between Number Five and WALL-E, with their caterpillar perambulators and binocular optics.  Pixar’s Andrew Stanton stated that he ‘may have been subconsciously influenced’ by Short Circuit, presumably using the subconscious as a metaphor for tracing paper.  The bottom line of the matter is of course that Short Circuit came first, but WALL-E is the better film.

It won’t move your soul, unless you’re under five, and it won’t teach you anything new, unless you know less than a dead piece of metal, but Short Circuit is mostly harmless escapism fit for all the family (bar a few blue gags).  It’s worth a look, and the kids will love it.

Blu-ray & DVD extras: Commentary by director John Badham and writers S.S. Wilson and Brent Maddock, Original theatrical trailer, ‘The Creation of Number 5’, Cast and crew interviews, Behind the scenes featurette

Les Enfants du Paradis (PG)

Timeless classic of French cinema, available on Blu-ray and DVD from Monday 17th September.

Les Enfants du Paradis (PG) (This review on FilmJuice.com)

Voted ‘The best French film ever made’ by the French Film Academy, this stunningly restored edition of Les Enfants du Paradis (1945) is a sumptuous cinematic treat.  Garance, a courtesan and actress iconically played by Arletty, one of the great beauties of the twentieth century, is pursued by four very different yet equally amorous gents.

Principal among them and the only one for whom Garance has any reciprocal feeling, is the unappreciated but brilliant mime-artist Baptiste.  At their first meeting, the mime uses his performance skills to demonstrate Garance’s innocence when she is falsely accused of pickpocketing.  Their paths diverge however when Baptiste hesitates in wooing her, and they each settle for loveless relationships whilst longing that their paths might cross again.

Jean-Louis Barrault plays Baptiste, a character modelled on real life nineteenth century mime-artist Jean-Gaspard Deburau, whom Barrault had been fascinated by ever since hearing how he had beaten a street-boy to death for taunting him in front of his family.  The other male characters are largely also based on real people, such as intellectual criminal Pierre-François Lacenaire, who stakes his own claim to Garance’s heart.  The romance is a catalyst allowing these disparate characters to be explored in one story.

Director Marcel Carné is known for his affinity with the working classes, and though Les Enfants du Paradis is about the theatre, it is also about the paying masses on who’s dreams and fantasies actors and writers live.  The cheap-ticket holding common folk are even affectionately referred to as ‘the gods’, as their laughs and gasps at whatever drama unfolds on stage is acknowledged as the theatre’s true lifeblood.  The balconies where these ‘gods’ are seated were referred to colloquially as ‘paradis’, hence the actors are their dependent offspring.

The Oscar nominated script by Jacques Prévert is a soul-searching, despairing treasure-trove of wit and humour, with dazzling dialogue full of memory-branding lines.  The soft, abstract-shadow filled cinematography is an interesting contrast to the razor-sharp imagery that is in fashion today, and Maurice Thiriet’s fabulously restored score is a frenzy of orchestral emotion.

Many will likely be daunted at the prospect of an old black and white French film that runs over three hours and takes place largely in the confines of a theatre setting, but anyone who gives it a half a chance is sure to have their hearts won over.  It is unashamedly melodramatic but uproariously entertaining, not to mention technically dazzling and even something of a miracle, given that it was shot during the years of France’s Nazi occupation.

The anguish filled finale is every bit as much a sledgehammer to the heart as those of better known dark classics like The Third Man and Brazil.  At one point a character muses “Audiences want something new... novelty, what does that mean?”  Les Enfants du Paradis could be that something for present day audiences, a rediscovered relic of cinema from another time and place.

Blu-ray & DVD extras: Theatre, Love and War: Making Les Enfants du Paradis, Once Upon a Time... Les Enfants du Paradis, The Restoration, The Restoration - Before and After, Trailer

Dexter Fletcher's Directing Tips - Part II

Here are actor/director Dexter Fletcher's concluding top five tips from his exclusive workshop on how to direct a movie!  (Picture: Dexter Fletcher as Bytes' Boy in The Elephant Man [1980]).

6. Keep your crew happy - everyone is important

“Most people on a film set do it because they are genuinely passionate about film, and on the long days you’ve got to help them remember that.”

Fletcher kept his crew happy by being inclusive, acknowledging their contributions and respecting their passion.  “Even the lowly runner does a job and it’s an important one,” he said, “it’s about remembering that.”

Don’t take anyone for granted, a happy crew is a hardworking crew.  It also helps to feed them well and keep the coffee flowing!  Coffee is the oil that keeps the human machinery of many a crew running efficiently.

7. Take risks - just do it!

If you’re not taking risks, then you probably won’t get anywhere as a filmmaker.  In many ways, choosing to be a filmmaker in the first place is a risk!  “Of course take risks,” said Fletcher, “but calculated ones.”

So how can a director use this philosophy of risk taking to get the most out of their cast and crew?  “It’s about pushing other people to take risks.  Ask [your actors and director of photography] to do stuff that they feel out on a limb on, but ultimately gaining their trust and making them take a risk that you’re in control of.  That’s the calculated risk, you’re pushing people to raise their game in a way that they’ve maybe not expected to, but when they do it they go ‘wow’ and they deliver, because it’s about your faith in what other people can do.”

8. Collaborate - be open to suggestions

One of the key features of being an effective director is knowing how to put the talent at hand to maximum use.  It’s all too easy to be precious and thereby stunt productivity, so remember that ‘collaborate’ is a word used by filmmakers again and again to explain what makes a truly creative team.

Dexter Fletcher is no exception, and spoke plenty on the topic of collaborating, “Heads of department are there because they’ve achieved a lot and understand a lot about what it is that they do, and so it’s okay to defer to other people.  It’s part of the collaborative nature of it.  You can say ‘no’, but it’s okay to ask the question and find out what other people think.”

9. Be prepared - know your project inside out

There’s no excuse for a director, especially writer-directors not to know their story better than anybody else.  On set, you always need to know the context of the scene you’re shooting at a given moment.  As Fletcher put it, “You’ve got to be aware of what it is that you’re shooting, what went before it, what’s going to come after it.”

But how can you achieve such a level of preparation and intimacy with the material?  “The preparation is a natural part of it, I don’t think I was really even aware of it [directing Wild Bill], I was just involved with absolutely everything all the way along the line.”

Full immersion in the script and hands on involvement with every department are core elements of the director’s job and preparation.

10. Let things go - edit brutally!

Once you’ve made your film and the stress (and thrill!) of the shoot is over, then it’s time to sit down and piece it together in the edit suite.  Have you ever wondered why DVD and Blu-rays so often include ‘deleted scenes’ as a bonus feature?  It doesn’t matter how much time you sweated getting the perfect light for that scene you’re in love with... if it doesn’t move the story forward then it has got to go.  Said Fletcher: “You’ve got to be brutal, you’ve got to be able to [ask] is it furthering the story?”

This can be painful, and it’s usually helpful if the director and editor and not the same person, because then the editor is able to look at the film objectively and suggest cuts to the director, persuading them to wave even choice material goodbye.  Fletcher is all too familiar with this, “There’s whole sections of Wild Bill that I just cut out because it wasn’t moving the story along.  It doesn’t matter how you feel personally about something, you’ve got to try and be as impersonal about it as you can when it comes to the edit.  It feels brutal at the time, but it’s about being practical and making the best film that you can.”

Of course it’s up to you what stays in the film and what gets left on the cutting room floor, but it might be wise to bear Fletcher’s final thoughts in mind when you’re splicing and dicing your first film: “Nobody cares what you love.  What [the audience] care about is whether they go to the cinema, watch the film and are entertained.”

Ask yourself, ‘am I making this film for myself, or for the audience?’  If you’re Steven Spielberg and answered the latter, then well done!  You’ve got a bright future.  And if you’re Quentin Tarantino and answered the former, then well done to you too!  Some director’s styles are more commercial than others, and these are just tips after all... food for thought for filmmakers.

Now go make your movie!  And don’t forget the ‘kick in the nuts’ shot...

Wild Bill is out now on Blu-ray and DVD, check out the trailer!

(This article was originally written for FilmJuice and can be found here).

Dexter Fletcher's Directing Tips - Part I

Earlier this month I had the privilege of interviewing veteran British actor Dexter Fletcher at the prestigious St. Ermin's Hotel in London.  He began his career as a child actor in classics such as Bugsy Malone and The Elephant Man, before progressing to adult roles in the likes of Band of Brothers and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.  He recently made his impressive directorial debut with the critically acclaimed low budget gangster drama Wild Bill, after the success of which he claims to have caught ‘the directing bug’ and is already hard at work helming his next project.  As a filmmaker I was keen to learn from his experience, and here I'll share the first half of his top ten directing tips.  Check back soon for the rest!  Wild Bill was released on Blu-ray and DVD on the 23rd July.  (Picture: Dexter Fletcher as SSgt. John Martin in Band of Brothers).

1. Settle on a project - what story do you want to tell and why?

“Filmmaking is storytelling” said Fletcher, and it is a fact that most budding filmmakers have a million and one ideas floating around their heads, but lack the decisiveness to settle on one and put the time and work into making it happen.  Fletcher had some helpful thoughts on how to overcome this common problem, “Choosing projects is about whether there’s a story in there that [you] can connect to and want to tell, because then you’re telling a story that means something to you.”

Filmmaking is far too much hard work to bother with if you don’t care about the story you’re telling!  Find material you connect with and go for it.

2. Be aware you’re making a product - how can you sell it?

Many fresh faced filmmakers want their work to be 100% Krzysztof Kieślowski and 0% James Cameron, and then wonder why they can’t find an audience, let alone make a living!  Depending on the balance of art and commercial viability in your personal dreams as a moviemaker, you might want to rethink that balance depending on where you see yourself in ten years: still working at Blockbuster and sharing your weekend passion projects with friends and family, or wining and dining with Brad and Angelina on the set of Mr. & Mrs. Smith 4!  There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be auteur, but even the best know they need to make a buck.

Some words of wisdom from Fletcher, “The art takes care of itself to a large extent, it’s the commerciality that you need to keep half an eye on.  You’re not just here to be an auteur and make an artistic piece of film that no one’s going to want to see... what’s the point of doing that?  Think about what’s going to be good in the trailer!  There’s a guy getting kicked in the balls in my film, it wasn’t my first choice but I was talking to an editor of trailers once and he’s like, ‘always the shot they want is someone getting kicked in the nuts.’  It’s a great trailer shot because everyone goes ‘ooh!’  It gets a response.  It seems kind of mercenary and calculated but there’s nothing wrong with it, you are making a product.”

3. Cast big names - what have you got to lose?

“Start with Brad Pitt and work your way down!” joked Fletcher, but he was serious too.  Apparently the first thing most investors asked about Wild Bill was ‘who’s in it?’  Make no mistake, star power counts.  Case in point, Gemma Arterton was originally cast in Wild Bill but couldn’t make it at the last minute.  Would the film have done bigger business at the box office had she made it?  You’d better believe it.  But how can directors yet to make their debut hope to cast known stars in their shoestring budget labours of love?  “The great thing about our industry is that the people who are involved in it genuinely love film...” said Fletcher, “if you’ve got a good script and a good story that you believe in, and a great opportunity for an actor to do something different, then you’ve got nothing to lose by asking them.  What I tried to do was offer great actors the chance to do something different.  If they love it and respond they’ll turn up for a sandwich and a good scene.”

There are plenty of examples of big name actors lending their talents to low budget productions for purely art’s sake, (see John Hurt in the 2011 short film Sailcloth).  So pick up the phone and make the call, because if you’ve got a top script the talent’s not as hard to tap as you think.

4. Get lucky - live in hope!

So many things have to go exactly right for a film to be made that it’s a miracle every time one is finished.  With that in mind, anyone who has made a film deserves respect for seeing the project through to the end (yes, even Uwe Boll), but one thing that never hurts is a little luck.  “Any moment you can get lucky!” said Fletcher.

Be it luck or divine providence, unplanned moments of brilliance can give your film a unique edge, and they do happen!  One such moment occurred on the set of Wild Bill, resulting in a shot of which Fletcher is especially proud: a paper aeroplane is thrown from high up a block of flats... the camera follows it perfectly as it soars through the air for twenty seconds plus.  It is a sensational shot.  However, such events cannot be bargained on, and Fletcher reminds us to be realistic, “Where there’s no luck, then adaptability is going to be the next option.”

5. Work hard and be flexible - roll with the punches

“Obviously there’re no guarantees for [luck] so you also have to work hard” said Fletcher.  A large part of walking the walk as a filmmaker is having the passion and commitment to put in the blood, sweat and long hours it takes to see a project through to completion.  Make no mistake, there can be just as much pressure on set as fun and then some, and it is true that when the going gets tough the tough get going.  “Save the stress for when you get home” continued Fletcher, acknowledging the pressure that he sometimes felt on the set of Wild Bill.  “You’re going to hit bumps and roadblocks all the way and it’s about making sure you can keep things moving.”

Don’t give up then, even when there are fraying tempers.  Just remember that if you keep your head, and aren’t afraid to improvise solutions, then everyone will be friends again by the end of the day.  Prime example, unexpected snow in London prevented Fletcher from shooting a crucial scene as planned.  Did he panic?  Far from it!  He improvised a swift relocation and shot the scene in a cafe instead.  It might sound like a compromise, but sometimes a spanner in the works can lead to an even more effective outcome than originally planned.  Let it happen, roll with it!  Just make sure that as much of the heart of your script makes it to the screen as possible.  The rest is peripheral.

To be concluded!  Meanwhile why not check out the trailer for Wild Bill.

(This article was originally written for FilmJuice and can be found here).

Brassed Off (15)

Classic British film from 1996 just re-released on Blu-ray and DVD!

Brassed Off (15) (This review on FilmJuice.com)

Brassed Off is one of the best British films of the nineties, perhaps second only to Trainspotting in terms of homespun cinematic genius.  Set in the fictional South Yorkshire village of Grimley (obviously intended as the real life Grimethorpe, where much of the film was shot, and which at the time was the poorest village in the UK) the film follows a local miners’ brass band as they face financial hardships, and struggle for motivation when it comes to work, family and even the will to live, let alone keeping up their music.

Pete Postlethwaite’s star has hardly shone brighter than it does here.  He plays bandleader Danny, whose coal-filled lungs are only one of a number of problems threatening the existence of the band, the primary one being the imminent closure of the village pit, should its workers vote for redundancy over a financial viability review.  All the musicians are agreed: should the pit close and they lose their jobs, then they will disband forever. Music is first and foremost in Danny’s heart however, and he spurs the jaded men on to compete in the National Brass Band Championships, eyeing the final at the Royal Albert Hall with anticipated pride.

Director Mark Herman (The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas) expertly guides his audience on a journey of emotional highs and lows, making it impossible not to be cheering the band on as they fight to stay together and compete in the nationals.  The political message is mostly of the non-preachy kind, making it easy to sympathise with the trials of these men who face losing their jobs in the pits, with the script being loosely based on recent historical fact.

The weakest subplot is the romance between Andy and Gloria, played by Ewan McGregor and Tara Fitzgerald.  Thankfully this thread of the story is not overplayed, and more time is given to the gut wrenchingly emotional subplot that follows Danny’s son, Phil, who is locked in a downward spiral as he loses everything near and dear to him.  Even his dignity is left in tatters, as he has to resort to performing as a clown for children’s parties to keep the wolf from the door (barely).  Stephen Tompkinson fills the role with such intensity that you can’t but watch his scenes with gritted teeth.  Seeing him fume in full costume, red nose, baggy trousers and all is a sight to behold, and almost as painfully funny as it is moving.  The script takes this character to dark places indeed, only perhaps going too far during a climactic rampage in a Church.

The drama is woven between montages scored with sublime brass music, all performed by the actual Grimethorpe Brass Band.  This lends the film a warmth and gives it great character, but the montages get a little repetitive after the fourth or fifth one.

With hearty music that gets the blood going, irresistible English humour, tiptop performances and a powerful message, Brassed Off is a magnificent film and well worth a revisit.

Blu-ray extras: Theatrical trailer, Interviews, Subplots, Biographies, Photo Library

La Grande Illusion (U)

This influential French classic is out on DVD and Blu-ray next week, and currently on re-release in cinemas.

La Grande Illusion (U) (This review on FilmJuice.com)

La Grande Illusion, the undisputed masterpiece by pioneering French filmmaker Jean Renoir, looks better now than it ever has thanks to a breathtaking restoration. Famously an inspiration to future directing giants including Orson Welles and Martin Scorsese, in 75 years La Grande Illusion has lost none of its ability to move and surprise.

Based on true accounts of the First World War, including Renoir’s personal recollections, the story sees Captain de Boeldieu (Pierre Fresnay), Lieutenant Marechal (Jean Gabin) and Jewish banker Rosenthal (Marcel Dalio) captured behind enemy lines by the aristocratic Captain von Rauffenstein (Erich von Stroheim). They are put in a POW camp, and after an escape attempt are remanded at a maximum security fortress, under Rauffenstein’s command.

The colourful and contrasting characters that populate the story help make every scene gripping and entertaining. The great von Stroheim’s authoritative presence is as palpable as ever, and Fresnay brings an air of pure courage to the memorable Boeldieu. Little Early Peters who played the adorable Lotte towards the end of the film, sadly never saw the finished product, having died tragically from flu only weeks before the premiere.

Upon release in 1937 the film was considered a controversial and subversive indictment of war, prompting Joseph Goebbels to refer to Renoir as ‘Cinematic Public Enemy Number One’. Although eventually banned in Italy, La Grande Illusion was so well received at the Venice Film Festival that a new award called the Grand Jury Prize was devised and bestowed upon it, to avoid giving it the Mussolini Prize!

What sets the film apart from most war films is the way in which soldiers from both sides are presented with equal sympathy. French and Germans alike are portrayed as dutiful patriots, all too aware of the absurdity and human cost of the great conflict in which they find themselves. The gentlemanly friendship between the well-mannered but fearless Boeldieu and the weary Rauffenstein, painfully highlights the tragedy of would-be comrades cruelly pitted against each other by a seemingly endless war.

From his brilliantly choreographed camerawork to his intricate building of tension and character, Renoir’s cinematic influence has echoed throughout the 20th Century. When even the genius behind Citizen Kane calls a film the greatest ever made, there’s no taking it lightly! To this day La Grande Illusion is an innovative and essential classic, making the opportunity to revisit or discover it for the first time, unmissable.

Blu-ray extras: La Petite Marchande d’Allumettes from Jean Renoir (short film), Trailers: 1937 & 1958 (introduced by Jean Renoir), Francoise Giroud remembers shooting the film, Introduction by Ginette Vincendeau, Success and controversy, John Truby talks about La Grande Illusion, Restoring La Grande Illusion, The story of the original negative.

The Living Wake (15)

Just out on DVD this week is the hilarious and thoughtful The Living Wake. FilmJuice are running a competition, so for your chance to win a copy just click here!

The Living Wake (15) (This review on FilmJuice.com)

The Living Wake is an absurdist comedy of the highest order. K. Roth Binew (Mike O’Connell) is an eccentric with an expiry date. His Doctor has diagnosed him with a mysterious disease, the only known fact of which is the precise moment at which the sufferer will die. Accompanied by his friend and devotee Mills Joquin (Jesse Eisenberg) K. Roth spends his last day making a last ditch search for the meaning of life, and ensuring that once he’s gone he will not be forgotten.

K. Roth is a character of such inventive wit and passion that it’s hard to believe he’s on the verge of death. O’Connell perfectly inhabits the character, embracing every ridiculous implication of his nature. Without such a strong turn The Living Wake would have been a lesser affair, but as it is his performance makes the film a blast. Shunned by his family and desperate for recognition, K. Roth is a character custom-made for young artists to relate to.

Director Sol Tryon clearly drew inspiration from the works of Hal Ashby and Wes Anderson, particularly Harold and Maude and The Royal Tenenbaums. The way Tryon frames a shot is unmistakably reminiscent of the quirky yet matter of fact look that has become a signature of Anderson’s work; but Tryon keeps safely on the right side of the line between style stealing and paying homage.

The story’s whacky reality takes a few minutes to warm to, but once it gets going the film is consistently entertaining. Some of the supporting parts are underdeveloped and cheesy, but this is mostly redeemed by the strength and depth of the central characters.

Jesse Eisenberg brings a quieter brand of comedy to the show, expertly complementing O’Connell’s over the top performance with a less showy but equally effective one. Though sometimes mute, the rest of the time Mills makes no less clever use of the English language than K. Roth does. The script (jointly written by O’Connell and Peter Kline) is alive with wordplay and charm, achieving an impressive balance between its dark themes and surreal jokes.

O’Connell also contributed to the music, collaborating with Carter Little to produce a delightfully peculiar soundtrack interwoven with songs, lending the production a heightened dreamlike quality.

Though undeniably off the wall the film retains a sombre edge, as if lamenting the transience of life without ceasing to beguile its audience (just like K. Roth’s living wake). Tryon has crafted a production that enthralls with gags and mayhem, whilst subtly presenting a bleak and thought provoking worldview.

The Greatest Movie Ever Sold (12)

The new documentary from the man who brought you Super Size Me is out on DVD & Blu-ray this Monday 27th February.

(Below is the film's full title below, for sponsorship reasons!)

POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold (12)
(This review on FilmJuice.com)

Morgan Spurlock’s latest documentary (brought to you by POM Wonderful...) is an uproarious look at product placement and advertising in the entertainment industries, itself funded by product placement and sponsorships! After a whirlwind introduction to its themes, we see Spurlock pitching the film’s concept to potential sponsors and branding partners. At this point he doesn’t know whether his ingenious idea will work: to reveal the inner workings of film advertising and co-promotion, whilst simultaneously pitching for funds to get the film made! As the poster declared, ‘He’s not selling out, he’s buying in.’

Spurlock’s aim was to raise awareness of the pervasiveness of advertising in the entertainment industries, and to unpack how the world’s biggest blockbusters (cough Avatar cough...) make their billions with the help of sponsors and branding. He more than succeeds, with unexpected facts and revelations galore about marketing. Candid interviews with big name directors from J.J. Abrams to Quentin Tarantino give the film added weight (Avatar producer Jon Landau probably declined to comment).

Anyone who has seen Spurlock’s acclaimed (and infamous) documentary Super Size Me, will be familiar with his breezy and engrossing style of filmmaking. This film builds on that style with even more polish and watchability. In his 2011 television series 50 Documentaries to See Before You Die, Spurlock coined the term ‘gateway documentary’, meaning a documentary so accessible and universal that it serves well as an introduction to the genre. The Greatest Movie Ever Sold is so packed with infectious charm and ironic laughs, that it might just be the greatest gateway doc ever.

As Spurlock signs deal after deal with various sponsors, he soon faces a real conflict between maintaining artistic control (it’s made all too plain that sponsors couldn’t care less about art) and losing that control to the sponsors and branding partners, who use endless contracts to protect themselves against libel. Even though it’s obvious before watching that Spurlock succeeded in getting the film made, it remains fascinating to watch how he explores the line between selling out and buying in.

Particularly eyeopening is the Clockwork Orange-esque method used to vet and refine many Hollywood trailers and T.V. adverts, in order to provoke the most positive audience response possible. Test audiences are monitored by CAT scan machines whilst being shown various edits of unfinished trailers and adverts, with activity in the parts of their brain that elicit emotional responses recorded.

The Greatest Movie Ever Sold is mind tinglingly insightful, from facts on the deliberately stupefying effects of advertising (because it can’t work on the sceptical or questioning!) to the strange beauty of São Paulo in Brazil, where all outdoor advertising has been banned. If there’s a conclusion, it is that advertising is so pervasive in today’s world that to avoid it you either have to go to sleep, or to São Paolo.

Extras: Workin’ Nine to Five (am): POM Behind-the-Scenes, The Greatest Vacation Destination: Aruba, Deleted Scenes, Delving into the Consumer Unconscious: Extended Scene, The Greatest Commercials You’ll Ever See.

Jack Goes Boating (15)

Fantastic film from one of the best actors in the world, Philip Seymour Hoffman. Out on DVD & Blu-ray Monday 27th Feb.

Jack Goes Boating (15) (This review on FilmJuice.com)

Philip Seymour Hoffman’s directorial debut is a blistering gem of a bittersweet romance. Adapted for the screen by Robert Glaudini from his own play of the same title, the story follows the love lives of four central characters. The titular Jack is a sensitive soul trying to make the best of his average life, and is inexperienced when it comes to relationships. One day he decides to take a chance and go on a blind date at the recommendation of close friend Clyde (John Ortiz). Connie, Jack’s date (the lovely Amy Ryan) hints that she’d love to go boating one day, and so Jack learns to swim so that he can make her wish come true.

Clyde and his wife Lucy (Daphne Rubin-Vega) are almost parent-like figures to Jack, as they advise and enable him to woo Connie, with whom he hits it off from day one. They seem a perfect match, each as timid and unpretentious as the other. At the other end of the spectrum Clyde and Lucy’s marriage is showing some serious cracks, as past indiscretions gnaw on their minds and ruin the good that they have. Jack witnesses these painful realities and has to decide whether to take the enormous risks that go with starting a relationship. As always Hoffman plays the part with incomparable intensity.

The plot unfolds with a wealth of delicious dark humour, played to perfection by the accomplished thespians. The writing is a real treat, with some of the most interesting and believable dialogue this side of (vintage) Tarantino. The characters and their relationships are revealed layer by layer with such intricacy and finesse, that reading the screenplay could be compared to dismantling and admiring a fine Swiss cuckoo clock.

Hoffman, Ortiz and Rubin-Vega also starred in the stage play, so clearly it’s a story with characters close to their hearts. The character’s frailties and strengths are painted so vividly that even the absurdity that marks some of their behaviour rings true. At times the film feels a little too much like ‘the Philip Seymour Hoffman show’, with the director letting the camera dwell for longer than perhaps is necessary on his latest powerhouse performance. But on the other hand the man is an undeniable genius in front of the camera even he if he isn’t quite one behind it (yet), and so maybe that isn’t such a bad thing.

Hoffman’s fluid direction coupled with an efficient edit make the film all the more absorbing, and the soundtrack has all the charm and beauty of the very best low budget indies (think Little Miss Sunshine but with more variety). Simply put, Jack Goes Boating is an affecting, unmissable delight.

Extras: UK theatrical trailer, Philip Seymour Hoffman UK Press Conference, Cast interviews.

Johnny English Reborn (PG)

Disappointing and belated spy spoof sequel released on DVD and Blu-ray Monday 13th Feb.

Johnny English Reborn (PG) (This review on FilmJuice.com)

Rowan Atkinson returns as bumbling 007-esque hero Johnny English, and to say that the results are mixed would be kind to say the least. While his first adventure wasn’t brilliant, it did have a few decent laughs and though daft it was more than watchable. Reborn on the other hand seems to completely miss what a Johnny English film should be, and is full of gags that are lazy, repetitive and worst of all not funny.

Things kick off with English in exile at some sort of oriental training camp. He returns to London only to find that his beloved MI7 is suffering from a painfully generic case of ‘there’s a mole in the agency’. In one sense maybe plot doesn’t matter quite so much in a spoof movie, after all it’s only there as a framework on which to hang a series of jokes about spy film cliches, right? Wrong. According to the makers of this debacle at least.

Director Oliver Parker frustratingly gives the underdeveloped and boring storyline more attention than the humour and slapstick. If the story was even a tiny bit interesting then that wouldn’t be such a problem, and it would make perfect sense to abandon the comedy elements in favour of plot development... but then it wouldn’t be a spoof at all but kind of pseudo-Bond film in and of itself! Atkinson’s enormous talents go to waste as the film takes itself too seriously.

One flaw the film shares with it’s predecessor is that when it does manage to hit the occasional funny bone, the pace grinds to a standstill, with the edit blatantly waiting for the audience to calm down from a laughing fit before moving on. These moments drag and completely drain even the jokes that do work of their comic energy.

Parker gets it wrong on so many counts that it’s amazing he wasn’t fired. A scene with Johnny’s likeable sidekick Bough was cut because test audiences were disappointed he wasn’t in the rest of the film; which is a great example of how the director has made a movie that simply fails to deliver what it’s audience wants to see. The writing is patchy and the supporting characters hollow. Even Gillian Anderson and Rosamund Pike flounder in their small roles; they have nothing to do besides lend their names to the poster.

A rare positive is the film’s memorable score; composer Ilan Eshkeri is definitely one to listen out for. That, along with a zippy wheelchair chase and a clever gag involving voice changing sum up the film’s pluses. Many of the jokes were used in the trailer, robbing them of impact in the film itself.

Reborn starts and remains stuck in an unfunny and boring limbo between spy adventure and genre spoof. Tiresomely predictable and frequently cringeworthy, clearly things could not only get better after the uneven original. Hopefully now English will go back into exile where sadly, he belongs. This could and should have been so much better.

DVD extras: The Wheelchair Chase, Gag Reel, Deleted/Extended scenes with intro from Director Oliver Park, Feature Commentary.
Blu-ray extras: Same as DVD, plus The English Files - The Making of Johnny English Reborn, Gadgets, English in Hong Kong, Working with Rowan, Pocket BLU.

Orphans (18)

Today we have gritty British indie flick Orphans (1998), out on DVD and Blu-ray Monday 31st October.

Orphans (18) (This review on FilmJuice.com)

Actor Peter Mullan’s 1998 feature debut as writer and director is a gritty, no holds barred Scottish drama mixing heartfelt agony and unexpected hilarity, resulting in a rich and powerful ensemble piece. This is a must see for any fans of British indie cinema.

Recently bereaved of their mother, four siblings (three brothers and a sister) embark on a sleepless night of turmoil and anguish ahead of her funeral the next day. Gary Lewis plays Thomas, the oldest and most emotionally bottled up brother. Thomas chooses to spend the night alone in the local Church, keeping vigil by his mother’s body. Douglas Henshall is spellbinding as Michael, perhaps the most interestingly written character in the script. After suffering a stab wound defending Thomas’ honour in a pub brawl, he rejects hospital treatment in favour of waiting for his next day of work, planning to pretend that it was a work related injury and thereby claim compensation. The film is laced with many such difficult to watch but extremely funny twists and turns, and although deeply sympathetic to his character’s burdens, Mullan was also clearly having a whale of a time bringing the dark and bracing humour of his Scottish homeland to the screen. Some of the passionate but boneheaded sweary dialogue is side-splitting.

Youngest brother John channels his feelings into a misguided crusade for vengeance against his brothers knife attacker. His misadventures take him on a wild roller coaster of emotions, and Stephen McCole plays the part with flair. The final sibling and only sister is the handicapped Sheila (Rosemarie Stevenson), who suffers after being left in her older brother Thomas’ care. His devotion to his dead mother trumps that for his live and very needy sister. Left to wander the dark streets alone in her wheelchair, Sheila serves as a symbol for where the bereaved’s focus should lie, but sadly rarely ever does.

At first the film’s score (an insight into the early days of now successful composer Craig Armstrong) feels overly melodramatic, but soon it’s appropriateness is made clear as it helps to soften the contrast between the film’s bleak atmosphere, and the explosions of comedy which appear left, right and centre. So pitch black is the style and tone that visually the picture looks like it’s been dipped in tar, and that coupled with Mullan’s emotive camera work and direction is shatteringly effective.

Orphans paved the way for Mullan to direct The Magdalene Sisters (2002) and Neds (2010), and as far as career launchers go it’s a belter. Here’s hoping he’ll take the reins behind the camera for many more films to come!

The Beaver (15)

Next week sees the DVD & Blu-ray release of Mel Gibson's comeback vehicle The Beaver, and it's pretty darn good:

The Beaver (15) (This review on FilmJuice.com)

Mel Gibson is a good actor. Whatever the truth about his personal life, it isn’t relevant to that fact, and The Beaver features one of his best performances to date.

He plays Walter Black, a deeply troubled soul caged deep within a hardened shell of depression. His wife Meredith (Jodie Foster) has lost all hope of rediscovering the wonderful man who she married, having struggled through years of Walter’s ever increasing moroseness. She kicks him out, and of course that has no positive effect on poor Walter’s state of mind.

Enter the beaver. In a scene both hilarious and sensitive, Walter finds himself incapable of committing suicide and is finally talked out of it by... himself! Strangely drawn to an old hand puppet, Walter begins conversing with himself via the furry toy, and Gibson’s performance makes this potentially ludicrous turn of events seem not only plausible, but entirely convincing.

Jodie Foster also directed the picture, and it is her first effort behind the camera in sixteen years, much of which she must have spent practising! The story unfolds with a mature mixture of heartfelt respect for families torn apart by mental illness, coupled with a healthy injection of humour and wit.

Anton Yelchin plays Walter’s son Porter, and proves himself once again as a fantastically talented young actor. Hard as he tries, Porter finds it impossible to rid himself of his father’s every mannerism and trait, as he fights to escape the shadow of a dad who to him seems pathetic and helpless. Yelchin comfortably handles this complicated character, and clearly has a big career ahead of him.

Gibson’s soulful, naturalistic portrayal is likely informed by his rumoured personal battles with depression, but whatever his method he dominates the screen and makes you feel Walter’s pain. Being something of a shunned name in Hollywood these days his turn here is unlikely to garner the recognition it deserves, but it certainly is one of note.

The film has a distinctly European flavour to it, partly thanks to the darkly playful score by Marcelo Zarvos, characterised by its accordion tangos, but also due to the crisp and summery cinematography by Hagen Bogdanski, which helps to lend the heavy themes a softer, more digestible quality.

Inevitably the plot is tainted with some measure of Hollywood cliché, and particularly later on in the film some strands of the story risk getting lost in the realms of wishful thinking. However as a whole the tale rings true, the finale for example being far from as pat as it could have been, and for that writer Kyle Killen and the director deserve credit.

Killen’s ingenuity lifts The Beaver way above the cesspit of films full of trite and obvious metaphors, and without preaching delivers a timely message about accepting the unexpected, not judging the apparently strange, and however painful making the effort to keep your family under one roof.

Incendies (15)

Today we have the excellent and hard-hitting Incendies, recently out on DVD and Blu-ray.

Incendies (15) (This review on FilmJuice.com)

Sometimes you wish the horrors in a film were just that, part of a horror film without root in reality. But here the horrors are all too real. Canadian director Denis Villeneuve’s devastating sucker punch of a film charts twins Jeanne (Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin) and Simon (Maxim Gaudette) on a journey that unravels their identities and unveils their past.

After their mother’s sudden death, the twins open her Will with her employer, a notary called Jean. In it she has asked them to travel to her home country in the Middle East, to discover the facts of their mysterious family origins.

The twin’s odyssey is interwoven with flashbacks to the past struggles of their mother Nawal (Lubna Azabal). The effect is straightforward and to the point, the intention clearly being to bring home to Westerners what life for many in the Middle East is really like. The tone is set beautifully by a recurring Radiohead song, which is strangely appropriate and avoids being jarring, with just the right contemporary blend of unsettling raw emotion.

Incendies (or ‘Scorched’ in English) is based on an award winning play by Wajdi Mouawad, which in the past has been criticised for being melodramatic, and some of that criticism could certainly be levelled at the film version. It is flawed then, but Villeneuve expertly and successfully disguises the plot’s weaknesses by pressing hard on the thriller button, and he never drops the ball in terms of suspense.

To put it simply, the ending, if you can stomach it, will leave you reeling. Undoubtedly it is one of the most gut wrenching and emotionally draining finales to a film in a recent years; the darkest secrets are truly saved for last. Therein lies another flaw however: though excellent in their respective roles, it was always a tall order for Désormeaux-Poulin and Gaudette to portray the extremes of emotional torture that their characters are put through. Thankfully such feelings are too distant for most of us to imagine, and the director partly compensates for this with great use of understated emotive imagery, symbols and sounds. Perhaps it’s best that some things remain unfilmable.

The cinematography is accomplished; nothing we haven’t seen before but still beautiful from time to time. Grégoire Hetzel’s score is haunting and very sparse; the film largely being silent aside from voices and atmospheric sounds. This creates an atmosphere of realism, thus lending the truths from the real world that the script brings to light even greater impact.

Not being a ‘date movie’ Incendies hasn’t won as many viewers as it deserves, but having been rightly nominated for Best Foreign Film at the Oscars this year, it will hopefully be more successful on DVD. If you’ve got two hours to sit back and concentrate, then Incendies will engross, enlighten, shock and move you unforgettably.