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Adoration (2013)
Tragedy-turned-dark comedy
Had high expectations for the film because of its intriguing synopsis. I was expecting to see a somber and serious drama that turns into tragedy, exploring the dark side of mother-son relationships with critical reflection and insightful analysis. The disappointment could not have been deeper. The feel of the film is extremely amateurish from the beginning with highly unconvincing yet conventional scenes, awkward cuts between them, implausible plot development and awkward dialogue.
The most disappointing aspect in the film is, however, the almost total lack of reflection. Most of the dialogues in the most crucial stages of the film consist of nothing more than two to three short and bluntly stated lines that merely inform us about the decisions, actions or feelings of the characters. In other words, Anne Fontaine never let's her characters actually problematise, debate and reflect on their situation and choices - except for a few rare scenes of remorse and regret towards the end of the film. Thus we are left without any way to understand the decisions being made by the characters. What drives the boys towards the best friend of their mother instead of girls of their own age? What in their raising and social circumstance has made them so dependent on their mothers and each other instead of a larger social group of classmates and other teenager circles? What kind of needs do these relationships fulfil for them? There are no hints to show how the acceptance of an older woman, for instance, might boost the self- confidence of the boys and how they may have failed in attempts to forge relationships with girls of their own age. On the contrary, the boys seem self-assured and totally at ease with themselves from the very beginning. It goes without saying that the absence of reflection and psychological exploration applies to the two women protagonists as well.
I have rarely felt such a strong urge to exit the cinema in the middle of the film after only 20 minutes of viewing. I cringed countless of times at the strained acting and horrible dialogue, but I stayed. Finally, a series of exceptionally bad and clumsy lines offered a few moments of respite and laughs and turned the film somehow watchable - from a dark comedy point-of-view. And, even with the laughable plot twists towards the end of the film, the few actually worthy dialogues by the women protagonists did manage to capture at least some of the tragedy of their circumstance.
Mammoth (2009)
Captivating critique of the global condition
Mammoth is an ambitious, highly contemplative take on the implications of global capitalism for individuals, families and communities. Moodysson illustrates a world in which market economy as the Western way of life both encourages and obliges human action that, irrespective of one's intentions, reproduces unequal social relations and reinforces existing power structures.
One could criticize Moodysson of presenting only conservative, private solutions for the social problems caused by globalization. The protagonists do not try to face their social circumstance head on or to find political ways for addressing their situation. In stead of seeking social change through collective action, family becomes of central importance. Only some vague escapist dreams are left for the disillusioned workers at both ends of the global working class.
Despite the film's fatalism, Moodysson succeeds beautifully in constructing a convincing and authentic interpretation of the 21st century social reality of global interconnectedness. The tragedy of highly educated Western professionals that Mammoth portrays lies in the fact that they are conscious of the disastrous social and ecological consequences of their actions, yet find themselves completely unable to transform the social condition.
In Good Company (2004)
A surprisingly enjoyable feel-good comedy
In Good Company works with an engaging premise of two sharply contrasting characters having to work together in the distressing circumstances of modern corporate restructuring. The film presents itself as an humanistic critique of neo-liberal business practices, but refuses to follow its own logic as a critical social analysis. Instead it turns to the narrative conventions of the feel-good comedy genre, which makes the plot unconvincing and flat.
Still, the interesting point of departure carries the film unexpectedly far. In Good Company features some clever social observation and witty dialogue, and some of the humour is delightfully anarchistic and light-hearted. Where the film really surprises positively is with its woody-allenesque changing of perspective, which persuades the viewer to understand and feel not only for the 51-year-old veteran but also for his new boss, a 26-year-old go-getter. Both Dennis Quaid and Topher Grace succeed in claiming the viewer's sympathies, thanks partly to their well-timed acting and partly to the way Weitz chooses to show their "behind-the-scenes" reactions after some awkward social situations. This, of course, unmasks the characters and makes them more likable.
Warm-hearted comedy is always a risky genre with its conventions, clichés, stereotypical characters and annoying happy-endings. Paul Weitz, however, manages to turn the tough circumstances in his favor with some good narrative choices and overall honesty. And, as the bar is set pretty low from the beginning, even the feel-good ending fails to ruin the day.
Interview (2007)
Ambitious media commentary, but agony to watch
A journalist of international politics is sent to interview a sexy soap opera star, but the situation heads in a wrong direction from the beginning. The interview turns into a furious battle of wills and a complementary spiral of deceits.
Bogus, stereotyped, downright repulsive. "Interview" is pure agony to watch as the narrative progresses without any credibility while the dialogue is making you wince in all its pretentiousness. This is truly like watching a bad soap opera. Nevertheless, thanks partly to some intriguing "acting of acting" by Buscemi and especially Miller, between the lines the film succeeds in discussing its problematic theme: the relation between a journalist and an actor, in which information and truth become tradeable goods and instruments of power. At its best, "Interview" manages to widen its scope even to a deeper social commentary about the impossibility of commodified social relations. In a mediated society of spectacle, all human relations become nothing more than acted roles, and a genuine contact can no longer be attained.
Despite the interesting - even if extremely pessimistic - argument, "Interview" suffers too much from empty, meaningless and stagnant dialogue. The essentially trivial questions of 'who betrays whom' and 'what is the "truth" about the characters' grow into excessively important motives for the narrative that quickly starts to repeat itself. The result is an unpleasant and contradictory watching experience. In the end, "Interview" is hard to like in spite of some serious effort.
WALL·E (2008)
Too perfect to be fully enjoyable
Pixar's much acclaimed computer animation presents an ecological dystopia in which Earth has sunk under garbage and people live on a giant spacecraft operated by robots. The film recycles ideas and themes from several sci-fi classics. The way of life on the spaceship, aimed at the immediate satisfaction of human needs, reminds of The Brave New World; the relationship between human and machine is a familiar theme from 2001: Space Odyssey; and the anarchistic action motivated by the contradictions between a consumer society, a totalitarian bureaucracy and a constant threat of terrorism comes close to Terry Gilliam's marvelous Brazil.
Both the animation and the artwork are impressive, which makes the film a joy to watch. However, as typical for an animated film, WALL·E suffers from excessive pace and technical perfection. The flawless narrative exposes the plot's determinism and fails to create an illusion about alternative twists or open moral choices. The humanized behaviour of the robots and their society is quite predictably depicted, and the presentation of the much more interesting human society remains superficial. Thus, the film largely ignores the crucial question: why the harmonious easy living created on the spaceship by and for the humans must be so condemnable and unsatisfactory? Why does the film stress the importance of human effort, when the result of such activity (of work and consumption) has been a world filled with trash? Because the film does not analyze the social and economic relations in which the collective human effort has lead to the ecological destruction in the first place, it comes dangerously close to glorifying any kind of collective action (as opposed to inaction), regardless of its political and ideological purpose.
Assassin(s) (1997)
TV as we've never seen it
Some say Assassin(s) speaks of TV-violence and its effects on society. I see the film presenting television as a substitute reality. In the film, TV is constantly there with you, you can't escape it and, slowly but surely, it changes your sense of reality. The result is a numb society, lacking the capacity to feel and emphatize. That is far more frightening than just TV-violence, which, after all, just presents the means of expressing aggression. Kassovitz realises this and directs a shocking but fantastically sharp film that follows its own path of logic owing nothing to any other film. I can't remember the time I've been shaken like this by a motion picture. It's a shame there hasn't been more discussion (in Finland, anyway) about the media-cultural issues Assassin(s) brings forward.