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Reviews
De battre mon coeur s'est arrêté (2005)
Stylish Identity Thriller
It has become customary for tired Hollywood producers to look for European art house successes which can be remade in a more commercial style. Think of Cameron Crows remake of Abre los Ojos (Open Your Eyes) as Vanilla Sky or Mike Nichols remake of Cage Aux Folles. The Beat That My Heart Skipped is a rare case of the reverse happening. After the success of Read My Lips, French director Jaques Audiard turned to James Tobaks 1978 Harvey Keitel vehicle Fingers, and remade it as an altogether more stylish and powerful film. Tobaks film, a favourite of Godard and Tarranino, is often through of as some sort of lost masterpiece and has been favourably compared to Taxi Driver. On revisiting it, I found it over plotted and over long, but an interesting and overlooked piece of cinema history all the same.
The Beat that My Heart Skipped focuses on Thomas Seyr (a top notch performance from Romain Duris), who has followed in his fathers footsteps and gone into business at the sleazy end of the property development market. He and his colleagues daily routine involves planting rats and setting fire to buildings to drive tenants out. Sometimes they resort even more direct aggression and violence in order to get their way. A chance meeting with his long dead mothers piano teacher brings new meaning to his life
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Essentially it's a film about the age old Oedipus concept, as Thomas flits between the violent influence of his father and the artistic heritage of his mother. As he becomes more engrossed with his piano practice, so he is drawn away from the wheeler dealing lifestyle of his father and business partners. Soon he is dancing to a different beat. But is his piano playing good enough to offer him an escape route? Shades of Al Pachinos desire to concentrate on legitimate business in the Godfather perhaps, also parallels with Billy Elliot as Thomas goes against the grain of his contemporaries.
After being promised an audition, Thomas starts visiting a young Vietnamese tutor, Miao Lin, who has recently arrived in Paris on a scholarship. Miao Lin cannot speak French and the strained communication between them parallels Thomas' struggle with his father and his own sense of identity. Audaird wisely chooses not to subtitle Maio Lins Vietnamese dialogue to further illustrate the frustration that Thomas feels.
Good use is made of music throughout the film, periodically switching from techno to classical to illustrate the dichotomy of Thomas' world. Perhaps the most telling scene has Thomas, hands still bruised from "business" dealings, tapping out classical piano chords on a bar, while electronic music blares out in the background and his thuggish partners discuss how they are going to drive their next deal home.
Audaird is quickly is making a name for himself for turning out well crafted, intelligent thrillers. From Tobaks source material he has retained the protagonists internal struggle with the self, toned down his misogynistic tendencies, lost a subplot or two and given us a more satisfying ending. Now the only question left is: who is the best one handed piano player, Keitel or Duris?!!!
Patrick Bliss.
Brokeback Mountain (2005)
A new euphemism for repression
Brokeback Mountain rides in on four Golden Globe and four BAFTA wins and is widely tipped to do well in this years Oscars. Ang Lee is once again revisiting his favourite themes of the unspoken love, constricting traditional values and relationships filled with lies and deceit (The Ice Storm gets a cheeky name check) with a tale of forbidden love between cowboy Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) and rodeo rider Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal).
The two meet in 1963 when they are assigned shepherding duties on the eponymous mountain. In true Western fashion, both are men of few words, but after living and working together a bond slowly develops between them. When they end up in the same tent the night after a storm, curiosity and unbridled passion gets the better of them, and their clandestine affair begins. Both subsequently get married and have children, but their illicit meetings (masquerading as fishing trips) continue well into the seventies.
It's a story of two men coming to terms with something that's bigger than both of them. Should they bite the bullet and surrender to the love they have for each other or just be good cowboys and live the American dream? The spectre of Brokeback Mountain looms over them in judgement and Lee, following on from the Incredible Hulk and his earlier Chinese films, once again examines the influence a dominant father can have over his son. When Jack presses Ennis about the possibility of living together, Ennis recounts a time when his father "made sure he saw" the body of a gay man who had been tortured and killed by enraged locals. It's a reminder that it's not so long ago that the "crime" of being homosexual could result in a lynching.
Of the two, Jack is more promiscuous, regularly travelling to Mexico to meet rent boys and willing to make the long journey up from his home in Texas on receipt of a one line postcard from Ennis. Ennis on the other hand settles for having sex with his wife from behind. Jack is also the more pushy and outspoken, and regularly tries to engage Ennis in conversation about their future, suggesting that they could find a ranch somewhere and run it together.
Gyllenhaal is certainly convincing in a nagging wife kind of way, but ultimately, it's Ledgers film. His portrayal of a man racked with guilt and repression builds as the film goes on, culminating in an emotional showdown with Jack. By the end he looks as if his life has been sucked from him, the broken wreckage of a man sitting alone in a dinner eating a solitary piece of that age old symbol of American "family values"- apple pie.
The performances from the women are equally impressive in their portrayal of despair and rejection as they learn of their husbands' misdemeanours. When Ennis' wife Alma (Michelle Williams, a dark haired, more wholesome version of Renée Zellweger) catches a glimpse of her husband in a passionate embrace with Jack, she says nothing and stands by her man. But the pain shows and gradually their marriage crumbles. Jack marries Lureen Newsom (Anne Hathaway), the daughter of a bigoted farm machinery dealer. She sticks by Jack to the very end, but there is no doubt that she knows exactly what is going on, her terse treatment of Ennis on the phone at the end of the film showing both contempt and understanding.
The film is handsomely photographed making good use of the rugged Wyoming exteriors, hard drinking bars and macho rodeos to frame the dilemma faced by the two leads. It's the America of old movies, tourist brochures and adverts. You can imagine Lee showing his cinematographer old Marlborough adverts and saying "that's what I want this film to look like". These are Marlborough men on the outside but confused little boys on the inside.
Lee has made an important film which will be remembered for decades to come. The subject was also covered recently in Todd Haynes film Far From Heaven, but this stands as a definitive statement on the subject. The phrase "they're living on Brokeback mountain" may well become common parlance to describe anyone who is living a repressed life, especially gay people who are unable to face the consequences of coming out - a situation which has improved since the period the film was set in but is still sadly in evidence.
Patrick Bliss.
Tarnation (2003)
Stunning reinvention of the documentary as a Pop Art experience
Jonathan Caouette's stunning reinvention of the documentary gets my vote for best film of 2005 (UK release) for its sheer inventiveness and narrative flair.
Edited on an i-mac using i-movie, the film is essentially a collage of Caouette's home movies, photos, answer phone messages, DVD's and CD collection, creatively stitched together to form a dazzling, kaleidoscopic fast forward through the life of somebody you've never heard of at the outset, but know intimately by the final credits.
The film tells Caouette's story from before his birth, through his upbringing by his schizophrenic mother and grand parents and on to his first forays into drag clubs in Texas before finding relative comfort and acceptance in New York. It's a life tarnished by abuse, ignorance, misunderstanding and insanity.
Tarnation takes you on a journey, or better still a no drugs needed trip, in and out of troubled minds of Caouette's family. Like the electro shock treatment his mother receives, it shook me to the bone and left me overwhelmed with emotion. The Andy Warhol style photo collages of young Caouette and his glamour model mother are nothing short of inspired and the sublime soundtrack (Low, Iron & Wine, Lisa Germano, Magnetic Fields, Cocteau Twins and Red House Painters) adds much to the experience. It helps that Caouette is so beautifully photogenic - gay or straight, it hard to take your eyes off him, whether it be his school musical production of Blue Velvet (!) or his Denis Potterish lip syncing to a song from Hair.
Tarnation has highly polarised its critics. It is not so much a film to watch as a work of art to experience. If you can fully surrender yourself to its voyeuristic charms, it will give you an insight into the disordered mind of its creator and leave you with images which will resound long after your leave the cinema.
Patrick Bliss, 02/01/06
Le conseguenze dell'amore (2004)
The slow unfolding of a quiet mans mysterious life
The opening shot of the Consequences of Love perfectly sets up this intriguing and absorbing film. A travellator slowly carries a solitary out of focus figure towards the camera, trailing a huge suitcase behind him. Like the central character in the film, we know nothing of him and our initial interpretation of him, his profession, the contents of the suitcase could be way off the mark.
Consequences of Love is that kind of film. From the title you might expect a Bergmanesq dissection of a relationship. What we have instead is a lead character, Titta, living life in emotional exile, seemingly choosing to cut himself off from those around him. If the film can be classified in any way, I would call it a mystery, as we are engaged in working out who Titta is and what he is about. What we know from the start is he is 50'ish, cool, composed and expensively attired. He has lived for the last eight years in a plush looking Swiss hotel, always paying his room fee on time but seldom showing any interest in the staff or other guests.
His only real companions are a couple who he plays occasional card games with. The couple, it transpires, used to own the hotel but have now gambled everything away and have only the room they live in left. Their love of money, antiques and each other was their undoing and Titta seems to identify with their plight. He once had it all, but now is now living as a virtual prisoner in the hotel. His brother, a long haired surf instructor, drops in to see him occasionally, but he sees his visits as more of an intrusion than a pleasure. They talk about the person Titta considers to be his best friend, even though he hasn't seen him for 25 years. This long lost friend is now a telephone engineer, repairing the communication network that brings so many together. Meanwhile Tittas phone calls to his wife and children end quickly when they refuse to speak to him.
Midway through the film Titta makes an uncharacteristic move and begins to open up to a young barmaid from the hotel. With his judgement clouded by emotion he sets himself on a course of actions that will ultimately seal his fate for good.
The slow unfolding of Tittas fall from grace is and beautifully scripted, shot and scored. The thumping techno soundtrack does much to build up the tension as more and more secrets are revealed, the final half hour turning into a taught thriller as Titta lets his mask slip and must once again face the consequences of his actions. The ending, with a visual nod to Felini, is dramatic yet ambiguous and leaves the audience to once more question his motives.
Patrick Bliss, 01/06/06
Yes (2004)
A poetic meditation on the cycle of life
Sally potters sumptuously photographed meditation on the cycle of life, love, identity, race and religion is told in Shakespearian style "iambic pentameter" prose. Not quite a modern take on Shakespeare - his writing would be more like Quentin Tarantino does the West Wing if he were around today - but a fascinating screenplay none the less and, if there is any justice in the world, it will surely be recognised at the Oscars.
She (performance of a lifetime from Joan Allen) is a scientist, dealing with the very stuff of life while stuck in a loveless marriage to her adulterous husband (Sam Neil). They live a house as spartan and sterile as their childless marriage, her only joy is acting as an adult confidant to her teenage goddaughter. A chance meeting with romantic Middle Eastern chef, He (Simon Abkarian), seems to offer the pathway to a more poetic existence
These are characters dealing with life from opposite ends of the spectrum. While She examines sperm cells and eggs under a microscope, He, we later find, is a qualified surgeon from Beirut, now reduced to chopping meat in a restaurant. The couple's erotic and tempestuous affair examines cultural identity in post 9/11 London (significantly, filming started on 12th Sept 2001 and it was released shortly after the London bombings).
Ultimately, it's a film about saying YES to life and how diversification adds poetic substance to our otherwise stale lives. Even the microscopes used by She to examine our multiplying and mutating genetic code have a life of their own, the lenses appearing as bulbous alien eyes under their dust mask covers. Dirt here is not something that can be swept away, but is regenerative and needs to be confronted. Images of cleaners occur throughout the film, frantically trying to clear up the emotional mess the characters leave in their wake.
The ever-wonderful Shirley Henderson, as She's maid, provides a kind of Greek chorus commentary, her delightful monologues neatly top & tailing this lyrical film. The rhyming dialogue, far from being a gimmick, adds metaphorical clout to the script without distracting from the performances in any way. Praise also to Sam Neil for his air guitaring to BB King and Eric Clapton, one of the most memorable cinema moments of the year.
Patrick Bliss, 08/12/05
Primer (2004)
Time Travel Mindbender for Characters and Audience
Aaron and Abe are two young engineers who spend all their spare time developing an electronics business based in Abes garage. One of the projects they have been working on starts producing some strange side effects, such as cultivating fungus at 1,000 times its usual growth rate. They realise have accidentally invented a time machine that will allow them to travel back to the moment the machine was initially switched on.
Cue a multitude of jumps backwards and forwards in time, replicated Aarons and Abes, parallel universes and repeated scenes and dialogue. The film forms a sort of bizarre love triangle between Abe, Aaaron and the machine, as they spiral deeper and deeper into chaos in an attempt to change their immediate history. Like the Weebles they test the machine with, they don't fall down, but the wobbling gets more frantic as paranoia, betrayal and double crossing engulf their multiple lives.
What makes this so compelling, and sets it apart from your standard Hollywood time travel movie, is the believability of it all. First time writer/director (and star as Aaron, cinematographer, editor, composer, probably swept the floor and made the sandwiches as well) Shane Carruth gives us just enough well researched scientific evidence (he was a maths major and engineer in a previous life), but also holds enough back for us to believe that this is all possible.
Carruth purportedly made the film for just $7,000, his grainy 16mm camera work and gravely, cryptic voiceovers bringing a gritty realism and underground feel to a film about an underground project. Effective use is also made of Robert Altman style overlapping dialogue, which adds to the confusion that the viewer has, and the characters feel as they struggle to understand the monster they have given birth to.
Primer is a film that demands much of its audience, but rewards those who can stay with it. It won't appeal to everyone, it's complex and convoluted and you will need to stay alert to every little conversation and plot twist. Even then, expect to want to see it at least once more after you leave the cinema. Or better still, buy the DVD.
Patrick Bliss, 08/12/05
El perro (2004)
A South American Shaggy Dog story!
Why is Latin American is so good at making movies about Pitt Bull Terriers? After the astonishing Amores Perros, we now have a very different type of film with the breed (or at least a near relation, a potentially vicious looking piece of canine whatever way you look at it) at its centre. In the UK at least, and the USA I'm sure, Pitt Bulls are considered a social menace on a level with gun crime, but the Argentineans seem to admire, even evoke sympathy for this breed.
Coco is an out of work mechanic, who ekes out a living making and selling carved knife handles while he touts for business at various garages and workshops in a desolate part of Patagonia. On his travels, he comes across a woman whose car has broken down by the side of the road and agrees to fix it for her. She repays him with a dog championship pedigree from her husbands' dog breeding business. So begins an enchanting buddy movie with a twist as Coco embarks on a journey into the bizarre world of professional dog shows.
Non-professional actor (apparently he was the directors chauffeur) Juan Villegas is perfectly cast as mild mannered Coco. He has a wonderfully captivating smile, which hides a life tinged with sadness but easily brightened by simple pleasures and acts of kindness. He reminds me a little of the guy in Il Postino, but lets hope he makes more films than he did. I loved the chemistry between Coco and the dog (!), how they're both misplaced souls seeking their true vocation - Coco an experienced mechanic and Bombon a dog bred for hunting. In true dog/owner style they even begin to resemble each other!
The film perfectly captures the bleakness of its Patagonian setting, yet remains warm and uplifting. Ultimately it's a film of hope and friendship, which often bought a smile to my face. There are some lovely little moments, such as when Coco wins a pair of sunglasses that make him look like "the men in black", and the dog training scenes where Coco wears white overalls and resembles Bombon even more you wonder exactly who is training who!The ending is just right and refuses to resort to the sort of gross overstatement that Hollywood would have given similar material. Recommended!
Patrick Bliss, 26/10/05