18heavenly Reviews

La possibilité d'une île (2008)

Warning! Epic Fail

[3/10 · 21 November 2008]

The film versions of Michel Houellebecq's novels are a sorry lot. The German filming of Elementary Particles comes out as a cheap TV movie, name actors notwithstanding. This film, helmed by the novelist himself, proves that the author may not be the smartest interpreter of his own work. If Mr. H. weren't a star, there's no way any producer would allow the release of his film in this shape. If you haven't read the book, I can't imagine what can you make of this abortion of a film.

In deciding what to include from the book Mr. H. chose to make do without the core part of the book, the story of the "contemporary" Daniel. This robs the remaining sci fi/cult conceit of any deeper meaning and the story of the future "neo-human" Daniel is worthless without its human contrapunt. He focused instead on the part taking place in the Canary Islands, which is the least essential for the whole story.

The actors are mostly well chosen for their types, but only if you know the book - they have almost nothing to do in the movie. I wonder why I am giving it even 3 stars - perhaps for some impressive sceneries and for one or two dialogs that work. The result reminds anybody who would forget that cinematic storytelling is a craft as well as art, and you can't break the rules of the craft without consequence.

Marseille (2004)

Difficult, but not pretentious

[7/10 · 11 July 2008]

This is a very difficult film to describe, because the description of the goings-on on the screen won't get you very far. The director denies you any conventional narrative that would give you access to the characters' motivation. They themselves don't know what drives them, what do they want or what will hit them; that's the key.

It reminded me of Antonioni more than any other film I have seen. Just like Antonioni, it seemed initially boring, but then I noticed that time was running faster than I had felt. Just like Antonioni, the cinematography is meticulously composed, with characters often sharing spotlight with objects or panoramas. Towards the end Sophie is overwhelmed with profound sadness whose source she cannot fully pinpoint, as in L'Avventura, and eventually she completely vanishes from view, just like in L'Eclisse.

Apologies for describing the film as "just like the Great Master XY", I can't stand this kind of lazy reviewing myself, but somehow the film was like an object that is too close for me to see in its entirety. It has all the hallmarks of an art-house bore - lack of plot, lack of glamorous characters, alienation, etc., but I wasn't bored. It forced me to stop and watch, and conclude that this film probably has more to say about our world than any number of films full of profound "statements".

Of course that doesn't mean that many people won't be bored, just like with Antonioni.

Helpless (1996)

an early exercise

[7/10 · 9 December 2007]

I cannot recommend this movie to those who aren't into certain kind of Japanese cinema. On the other hand there is a lot to appreciate here. Aoyama's talent is apparent. On the plus side is, first of all, the admirable absence of clichés - well, it still is a yakuza flick: a yakuza returns from prison and cannot cope with the fact that his gang is apparently defunct; he bumps into Tadanobu Asano, whom he happens to know (he may be his relative - I forgot). Asano's father is dying in the hospital. That's the opening setting, I will engage in spoilers. Almost every character is an original - a retarded/insane girl with a pet rabbit, a friendly, clueless classmate of Asano's - you never know what they are up to, and it feels real. Aoyama has been notable for his attention to music - see his use of Jim O'Rourke's song in Eureka and the noise rock that is a constituent part of Eli Eli Lama Sabachtani. Here he plays electric guitar himself, and it's good.

On the minus side, it does feel a bit contrived, and as it plays out almost in real time (during a single day), with limited cast of characters, it has the feel of a stage play adapted for film.

But this is not a forgettable movie. It contributed to the development of the style from which greater works sprung later, both by Aoyama and others. And Asano's fans naturally have to see it.

Elementarteilchen (2006)

Read the book

[4/10 · 29 October 2007]

This is a plodding, clueless adaptation of Michel Houellebecq's novel of the same name. It manages to include many of the book's dialogs verbatim, while completely missing its point. The main evidence is the outrageous change of the conclusion - the director just mined the novel for catchy phrases and totally refused to tackle its challenging ideas. Or rather he was not able to notice them. Even apart from that, the adaptation is dumb. One example: when Bruno describes to the psychiatrist the biological details of the decomposition of a human corpse, he uses lines that are there in the book, down to the moths with "the names of Italian starlets" - but they belong to the narrator, not to Bruno! Such knowledge is completely inappropriate for his character.

I don't mind the downplaying of the sex scenes - watch some porn if you have never seen it. The causality of the philosophy and culture of the times and the parents' lives on the lives of the main protagonists, the whole point of Michael's enigmatic life, the desperation of the obsession with sex and narcissism of the body, the sheer horror and cruelty of Bruno's existence, all this is downplayed to the point of absence. Houellebecq created a gripping world in his novel that you cannot shake off even if you think you know that he isn't right. The director produced a made-for-TV movie.