Lextical Reviews

Where Hands Touch (2018)

A very moving and profound tragic romance

[8/10 · 12 March 2020]

I just finished watching this for the first time. It features Amandla Sternberg as a mixed race girl from the Rhineland (they nicknamed those children Rhineland bastards) and George McKay as a German member of the Hitler Youth with whom she falls in love with during WWII and towards the end of the Nazi regime.

The entire cast is brilliant, especially Abbie Cornish as Amandla's character's long suffering mother who is not allowed to forget her affair with a black man, and is abused as a "race traitor" for producing a mixed race child.

It's a suitably very tragic and harrowing film based on a shameful chapter in European history, but one which features two sweet and youthful romances as its catalyst.

This film reminds us that love knows no colour, and family is ultimately (or should be) what unites us, and sometimes it breaks us too.

I've read negative reviews saying this film romanticises Nazism and fetishises black woman, which is crap. It does neither. Every major character suffers for being associated with Nazism and the lead character is not portrayed as a fetish. All those comments are just empty hating.

Amma Asante has now made two amazing films on what it is to be half black in historical Europe, BELLE (2013) being the other one. I feel indebted to her as a mixed race West African and German man myself 🙂

Jeronimo (I) (2019)

Korean Diaspora Pride beautifully celebrated!

[9/10 · 21 February 2020]

Tonight I watched a fascinating documentary titled JERONIMO, about Korean Cuban Jeronimo Lim, a minister during the Castro regime and an instrumental figure in the Cuban revolution. He was also an associate of Ché Guevara.

This great film traces how many ethnic Koreans in the early twentieth fled slavish indentured servitude in Mexico for the promises of "riches" in Cuba, long before the ongoing Castro regime.

The film follows the story of Cuban born ethnic Koreans and their descendants who under the Cuban legislation banning affiliation with their ethnic identity, had to fight to preserve their language and identity, eventually visiting their now divided homeland, as well as campaigning for freedom from Japanese occupation, all under the constraints of communism.

It's a rich documentary told with a lot of compassion, insight, pride and empathy for a great pioneer and the community he proudly headed. As you can imagine from the description, it's very moving in parts.

This is by an upcoming Korean American director & narrator, Joseph Hoo Juhn, with whom there was a Q&A. I'm sure we'll hear more about him in the future.

Habana Blues (2005)

Cuban Blues Brothers

[7/10 · 6 December 2005]

No, there is more to it than that! This recent film does compare similarities with John Landis's classic in the plot, but the competent acting and general mood of the piece sets it apart in its own league.

The contemporary mood of troubles people coping in a troubled Havana is well caught by its director Benito Zambrano. I very much admire the originality of this piece, and also its attempts to make the film accessible to many audiences by using several traits which one may call 'stereotypical'.

Albeit the plot of two down on their luck desperate musicians is a familiar one but the genre of music struggles to make original in its own right.

One of the main problems is, its a situation many audiences have met before and there is not much Zambrano and his cast can do to avoid this. Personally, some of the music performed initially is quite weak but maybe this is to show Tito and Ruy's development in their music. I am not sure...

Some of the songs have real flavour- as personally I find a lot of Latin American produced Music does. Some try to heighten the films' messages- others seem just to be there to fill the running time.

The ensemble performances are very good, almost every character makes an impression- in particular Yaridad Sierra who plays Ruy's wife, Caridad is very very convincing.

I also really liked the straight talking grandmother- she was excellent! It's characters like that light up the movie, when things started to become very serious overall, thats the movie works really well as an ensemble piece. The individual performances were of a similar standard, the two leads Alberto Yoel (Ruy) and Roberto Sanmartin (Tito) were well cast.

Overall, this is an enjoyable movie if you do not analyse the film too much (probably my biggest mistake), there is a lot of sentiment that some may find endearing and others repulsive. However the content of the piece is so well thought out and fairly well presented that I can't help but like in its own way...

Why Do Fools Fall in Love (1998)

Doo Wop Nostalgia at its peak

[7/10 · 17 September 2005]

An interesting (but flawed account) of the battle over pop star Frankie Lymon's estate by three women claiming to be his widow...

The story portrayed here is actually semi-fictitious, but the background story of Frankie's life is entirely true.

From his starts as a fresh-faced Harlem kid to a haunted drug addict, Larenz Tate (one of the most underrated talents in Hollywood) shines as dreamer Frankie, and does well to give perspective to Frankie's conflicting attitudes towards his relationships with the women, which the script muddles- Frankie appears shallow yet introspective at the same time.

Halle Berry tries to make more of her understated and thin role as Zola Taylor, wifey no. 2, but provides an adequate performance.

The most developed of the three female characters, is Elizabeth Waters (Viveca A. Fox). Loyal yet dishonest, gritty Elizabeth is the only character aside from Frankie that seems to be real. This is a combined effort by the characterisation and the performance by Fox.

And Lela Rochon does very well cast against type, as a school marm dragged into this battle. Rochon clearly understands the character well, and manages to make her mark on the story despite being developed late into the film.

The period detail of this piece is well captured over the 20-odd years that this story is set (particularly the performances of Frankie with the Teenagers), and even the small scenes which provide insight into Frankie's younger days.

The main flaws of this film lie essentially in the struggle to develop some of the themes. As mentioned earlier, Frankie's reasons for bigamy are not established at all or how he copes this with this, or whether one of the wives in particular is lying about the legitimacy of her marriage.

Some of the characterisation is a bit thin, caused by some of the later events of the film and because this deep story of fame, loss, betrayal and torment has such a muddled structure the whole film comes across as sketchy by the end which clearly was not intended.

But never the less this is an adequate tribute, to the world of fame and its inevitable clingers-on, and those just caught up in the action. This will never be top of its genre however...

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)

Sadism...Sex...Stanwyck

[9/10 · 10 September 2005]

With all of the schemes, intrigue, sexual undertones and murder this is a very rare and so incredibly original post-wartime movie.

Many have cited this as the inspiration for the much later 'Neo-Noir' alongside, another Stanwyck classic 'Double Indemnity'.

Unlike the latter feature, this film is not filled with cold and brooding images.

The film starts off dramatically with a strong cameo by Judith 'Mrs. Danvers' Anderson. The teen-aged actors that portray Stanwyck's, Heflin's, and Douglas's characters as youths deliver very moving performances.

They capture the tension of murderess Martha's wicked deed. The teen-aged actors pull off the difficult task of linking their characters with the mature characters- a great start to this bold film.

Personally, Barbara Stanwyck is the best of the 'Golden Hollywood' queens, and displays why with this subtle yet sly performance. Unlike many of the other criminals she portrayed, Barbara is cold-blooded rather than hysterically evil and occasionally reveals the blood that boils behind her gray eyes.

Her lethal attraction to Heflin is passionate at the same time as chilling. It is a true triumph that the colourful relationship between the two sizzles on the screen without the use of lush, colourful cinematography! The black and white colour highlights the gloom of the piece.

Van Heflin swaggers through the film, giving a satisfactory performance as the wronged kid 'from the wrong side of the tracks'. Many have praised Lizabeth Scott for her sultry performance as the equally dubious Toni Marachek. This is true. She is a worthy foe for Stanwyck, and in some scenes does steal the attention away from her co-stars.

Now, many have criticised Kirk Douglas's performance as over-acted and unconvincing. I have to disagree. Perhaps for many audiences, it is too much of a shock to see the usually rugged, manly Douglas playing an unstable Daddy's boy manipulated by his wife, and cowardly towards the end. It is a difficult role, but Douglas retains the wimpish quality of Walter from start to finish, also depending on the actions and control of his unbalanced wife.

Towering performances, a gloomy soundtrack, and dark cinematography make this feature dazzle as one of the best 'film noir' genre produced in the 1940s.

Lizabeth Scott in particular gives a commanding performance, which generates interest, glamour and suspicion. These are the stem of the themes to this great film.

Brilliant as it was 59 years ago!

The Age of Innocence (1993)

A challenge for Scorcese's fans and the man himself

[8/10 · 9 September 2005]

Martin Scorcese's adaptation of Edith Wharton's splendid novel is not only a challenge for Scorcese, but also for his long term fans.

Scorcese buffs used to the grit and coarseness of previous films, 'Mean Streets', 'Taxi Driver' and 'Raging Bull' will be surprised by this delicate, but still socially provocative period tale.

Meticulously and elegantly visual, Scorcese does well to attempt to recreate 1870s New York which is essential to the reading of Wharton's piece. With beautiful detail, and sumptuous to watch, this is one of the strengths of this film.

But there are two main triumphs: Firstly, Daniel Day-Lewis gives an intelligent introspective performance as Newland Archer. His intense relationship with Michelle Pfeiffer sparkles on the screen, and Day-Lewis really gives live to Newland, lifting him off the page as a man caught between two ways of life- rebellion and convention.

And secondly, the glowing, knowing narration by Joanne Woodward adds real depth to this social drama. In my opinion the use of narration, saves this film from just being a mere 'costume drama' with emphasis on visual detail than the story itself. Woodward's voice gives reflection and depth to the social context.

The acting is well founded and suitably subtle. Michelle Pfeiffer's performance as the 'wayward' Countess Olenska is poignant and fragile yet with the same intensity that Day-Lewis connotes. Her accent is a little too 'American' however, as she looses some of the New England diction that was custom of the time.

Winona Ryder sensibly underplays her role as the good hearted May, adding a welcome snooty streak to the character.

The supporting cast is well chosen and distinguished, with co-stars such as Geraldine Chaplin, Richard E. Grant, Miriam Margoyles and Sian Phillips. But it is really Margoyles and Phillips who stand out from this line-up, as socially conscious matriarchs.

A few of the flaws lie in lingering close-ups and shots, while it is obvious that they are there to establish the attraction between Day Lewis and Pfeiffer's characters, they are slightly overdone.

Some of the opera scenes feel a bit 'forced' as well, and do not quite fit into the structure of the film as a whole.

But otherwise for Scorcese, this is a triumph proving himself as capable of handling delicate, sensitive romantic dramas with a social conscience. The perfect movie for a night in!