Is there much to say about Chinatown that hasn't already been said? The screenplay is brilliant, the casting and performances are superlative. The art direction, costumes, style, and feel of the visuals are impeccable. The new blu ray release has a great commentary by Robert Towne and David Fincher, and if you're a fan of the film, this is a must. A few thoughts were provoked from this commentary. Firstly, it's interesting just how many times the camera is behind Jack Nicholson's shoulder, forming a not-quite-POV shot, and allowing the audience a voyeuristic entrance into many of the scenes and physical spaces. It's also intriguing how there are three levels of crime in the film; the major crime of the land grab and the rape of the valley; the personal crime committed by Noah Cross on his daughter; and a third level, which is in a sense a 'crime' committed by Jake Gittes. The Oedipus myth is much discussed when it comes to detective stories, and as Towne readily admits in the commentary, it plays a part in Chinatown. Gittes has tried to help a woman in his past and only ended up hurting her. Throughout Chinatown, he hunts for the solution to the mystery, hunts for the villain, confident in his ability to ultimately triumph. But this near hubris on his part will finally lead to the death of yet another woman he tried to help. If he had just stayed out of it, just tried to do as little as possible, then maybe she would have been saved. In a sense, the criminal he is looking for is ultimately revealed to be Jake himself... To work this level of complexity into a screenplay, and yet to make it unfold in such a way that everything is clearly understandable as you watch it, is true mastery of the art of screen writing and film-making.
Reviews
6 Reviews
The 25th Reich
(2012)
The things you find in the Australian outback!
16 April 2012
I went to a preview screening of The 25th Reich at ACMI in Melbourne with a friend. Afterwards, he described it as the 'singularly most outrageous film he'd ever seen'. I wouldn't quite go that far, but there's no denying 25th Reich is out there in a space all of its own. Based on a pulp novel called 50,000 Years Until Tomorrow, Reich finds a squad of American GI's based in Australia during the Second World War on a mission to catch or kill some escaped pumas who have fled into the bush (this bit, I believe, is based on something of a true story). The five man squad trek into the stunning wilderness, carrying a strange radio device designed to send out signals to attract the pumas... and then things start to go a bit weird...
I won't detail any of the plot turns from here, but suffice it to say we are served up time travel, rampaging giant mosquitoes, infighting amongst the men, aliens, a crashed UFO and giant Nazi robot spiders! This film is a genuine oddity and a rarity for Australian cinema, which is only cautiously embracing genre after decades of playing things fairly safe. It's obviously been done on a low budget, but what it lacks in Transformers style high-tech mayhem it more than makes up for with verve and wacky ideas. The cast do a fine job of playing characters that initially seem to be stereotyped WW2 GI's, but gradually take on individual shadings, and the retro visual style is highly reminiscent of 50's Technicolor sci-fi movies. The dialogue (presumably lifted from the novel) is laced with period lingo and the actors pull it off without a hitch. The film has a slow build (which might bother ADD types who itch to check their iphone every ten seconds) and the real lunacy happens in the last third, but its an engaging and fun ride all the way through. There is one standout scene that had my jaw dropping open with stunned disbelief, but I won't say anymore (although I think it's still burned into my eyeballs - people will know the scene I'm referring to when they watch the movie). It also ends on something of a 'Republican Serial' style cliffhanger, and I can't even begin to imagine how insane the sequel could be. This film has been likened to the much hyped (and much more expensive) Iron Sky, but there's no real comparison here - 25th Reich is very much its own beast. I really enjoyed this offbeat offering from director Stephen Amis and his team, and hope that it will inspire more indie filmmakers in Australia to think outside the box of kitchen sink dramas and rom-com's. Well worth a look.
I won't detail any of the plot turns from here, but suffice it to say we are served up time travel, rampaging giant mosquitoes, infighting amongst the men, aliens, a crashed UFO and giant Nazi robot spiders! This film is a genuine oddity and a rarity for Australian cinema, which is only cautiously embracing genre after decades of playing things fairly safe. It's obviously been done on a low budget, but what it lacks in Transformers style high-tech mayhem it more than makes up for with verve and wacky ideas. The cast do a fine job of playing characters that initially seem to be stereotyped WW2 GI's, but gradually take on individual shadings, and the retro visual style is highly reminiscent of 50's Technicolor sci-fi movies. The dialogue (presumably lifted from the novel) is laced with period lingo and the actors pull it off without a hitch. The film has a slow build (which might bother ADD types who itch to check their iphone every ten seconds) and the real lunacy happens in the last third, but its an engaging and fun ride all the way through. There is one standout scene that had my jaw dropping open with stunned disbelief, but I won't say anymore (although I think it's still burned into my eyeballs - people will know the scene I'm referring to when they watch the movie). It also ends on something of a 'Republican Serial' style cliffhanger, and I can't even begin to imagine how insane the sequel could be. This film has been likened to the much hyped (and much more expensive) Iron Sky, but there's no real comparison here - 25th Reich is very much its own beast. I really enjoyed this offbeat offering from director Stephen Amis and his team, and hope that it will inspire more indie filmmakers in Australia to think outside the box of kitchen sink dramas and rom-com's. Well worth a look.
Dog Poo: The Truth at Last
(2011)
Amusing doco about... poo
29 October 2011
I wondered how anyone could possibly make a feature length doco about dog poo, and found the answer with this entertaining, zippy little film. It's fair to say that everything you've wanted to know about dog poo - assuming you've wanted to know anything other than how to get it off the soles of your shoes - is contained here. Director James Boldiston travels bravely to several different countries and continents to give us an exhaustive, fast-paced, and fun doco (well, it's kind of a doco, but also something of an 'essay film' with its loose, freewheeling structure) about dog poo and the many industries, products, occupations, health hazards and politics (including Harvey Milk!) that spring off the topic. While the show is done with a light, humorous touch, it also contains a bit of serious scientific content and a quite shocking tale of a toddler in the UK who lost her sight after contact with diseased poo. With non-stop crazy animation and a wry, posh female voice-over, this is probably the last word on the surprisingly complex world of dog poo - definitely recommended. Now if only I could figure out the best way to get the damn stuff off my shoes...
Suburban Mayhem
(2006)
Cyclone Katrina
28 August 2006
Warning: Spoilers
Suburban Mayhem is a raucous, nasty, in-your-face blast of often very black comedy. It's kind of like the mutant love child of Kath and Kim coupled with Natural Born Killers. It details the sordid life and times of a barely-out-of-her-teens sociopath and the trail of havoc she wreaks across an atypical brick veneer/Neighbors style suburban wasteland.
It's interesting that there are many negative reactions to the film on IMDb. I suppose that's mostly because the film refuses to apologise for offering up an amoral protagonist, and that's fine by me - whoever said that drama has to be about likable characters anyway? For me, it's enough that I'm interested in them and what they do, and in this instance, watching as these quite horrendous people crash and burn their way heedlessly through their lives held a kind of demented fascination. Is there a moral in all of this 'mayhem'? Perhaps. Perhaps the way Katrina gets her comeuppance in the final scene with her brother in jail is enough - but perhaps also, this film is a perfect one for John Howard's Australia. After all, when we, as a nation, can go out and willingly re-elect a liar and a war criminal, can we honestly say there is any real morality left in our land? Why shouldn't Katrina behave like she does? Hasn't her contemporary culture, for the most part, told her it's OK - don't worry, you can lie, manipulate and even kill - and the only real sin is getting caught? If we are outraged that she gets away with it, why? For me, these are all questions that the film threw up and for that I am thankful, as Australian cinema is usually committed to achieving a kind of frightened mediocrity which you depart from at your peril.
It isn't perfect and here and there the tone falters a bit and the intentional rawness occasionally slips into sloppiness, but for the most part, Suburban Mayhem is a wild, outrageous and startling ride. Recommended.
It's interesting that there are many negative reactions to the film on IMDb. I suppose that's mostly because the film refuses to apologise for offering up an amoral protagonist, and that's fine by me - whoever said that drama has to be about likable characters anyway? For me, it's enough that I'm interested in them and what they do, and in this instance, watching as these quite horrendous people crash and burn their way heedlessly through their lives held a kind of demented fascination. Is there a moral in all of this 'mayhem'? Perhaps. Perhaps the way Katrina gets her comeuppance in the final scene with her brother in jail is enough - but perhaps also, this film is a perfect one for John Howard's Australia. After all, when we, as a nation, can go out and willingly re-elect a liar and a war criminal, can we honestly say there is any real morality left in our land? Why shouldn't Katrina behave like she does? Hasn't her contemporary culture, for the most part, told her it's OK - don't worry, you can lie, manipulate and even kill - and the only real sin is getting caught? If we are outraged that she gets away with it, why? For me, these are all questions that the film threw up and for that I am thankful, as Australian cinema is usually committed to achieving a kind of frightened mediocrity which you depart from at your peril.
It isn't perfect and here and there the tone falters a bit and the intentional rawness occasionally slips into sloppiness, but for the most part, Suburban Mayhem is a wild, outrageous and startling ride. Recommended.
A High Wind in Jamaica
(1965)
Great kids film from a great director.
29 July 2006
Warning: Spoilers
*Spoiler alert* This is a wonderful, if somewhat disturbing, kids film. I'd heard a lot about it and am a huge fan of the great Alexander Mackendrick, so I bought the DVD and it certainly didn't let me down. It's definitely one out of the box, though, because while it has an adventurous tone and concept, it has its fair share of grim moments - when the drunk monkey falls to its death (brilliantly and blackly capping the kind of moment that would be found in a Disney film) I knew I was in for something unusual. I can't think of another kids movie that goes into the kind of territory that this one does. Its main theme seems to be about the transition from the innocent childhood world into the murky, dangerous and complex adult world. It's a rare kids film indeed where one of the young boys dies in a tragic accident and the main pirate character, whom we and the kids have grown to love, meets his ultimate fate on the gallows. I love the fact that the makers didn't shy away from sugar coating the world the kids have dropped into, and the fact that something bad may happen to them at any point, and their baffled, slightly uncomprehending reaction to their new world, adds a level of tension and unexpected pathos to the proceedings. The direction and cinematography are tremendous (the film was shot by the great Dougie Slocombe) and the kids are astonishing. How Mackendrick managed to get the performances that he did is amazing, and it's a shame that Deborah Baxter (as Emily) didn't go on to do more movies. The final shot, where the model ship is floating away across a pond in a London park, is a brilliant and moving image to suggest that Emily's childhood is over and forever drifting away from her. This is highly recommended and it's a shame it isn't more widely known.
Wolf Creek
(2005)
Solid Oz genre flick
9 August 2005
Wolf Creek has a completely standard basic story for this kind of genre movie - travelers in isolated location encounter sadistic nut. Despite this, it's what writer/director Greg McLean does with the details which makes a difference.
The outback locations are rendered with a nice eye and evoke a sense of spooky isolation - anything could happen to you out here and no-one would know, much less be able to help. There is also the much discussed 'dark side of Crocodile Dundee' element - frankly, I can't believe it's taken so long for someone to conjure this one up, and McLean clearly delights in stabbing a knife through the heart of the mythical Aussie archetype. I think he's actually gotten to an uncomfortable, close-to-the-bone truth about the psyche of certain Aussie males, and John Jarret is eerily similar to the kind of individual one would encounter in many a country pub down under.
The fact that this is an Australian film also makes it a rare bird indeed. For some unfathomable reason, the Oz industry rarely does genre, and when it does, usually doesn't do it well. With this in mind, Wolf Creek is something of a breath of fresh air. Yes, it hews pretty closely to the codes and rules of its genre, but for the most part it does it well, and for my money, what works about the film is strong enough to make some of the weaker plot moments forgivable.
Will Gibson's HD camera-work is impressive, maintaining a consistent style from start to finish, aided by solid editing, score and sound design. Now maybe people will stop whining about how 'we can't make genre films here' and we might see some imagination and variety creep into Australian cinema.
The outback locations are rendered with a nice eye and evoke a sense of spooky isolation - anything could happen to you out here and no-one would know, much less be able to help. There is also the much discussed 'dark side of Crocodile Dundee' element - frankly, I can't believe it's taken so long for someone to conjure this one up, and McLean clearly delights in stabbing a knife through the heart of the mythical Aussie archetype. I think he's actually gotten to an uncomfortable, close-to-the-bone truth about the psyche of certain Aussie males, and John Jarret is eerily similar to the kind of individual one would encounter in many a country pub down under.
The fact that this is an Australian film also makes it a rare bird indeed. For some unfathomable reason, the Oz industry rarely does genre, and when it does, usually doesn't do it well. With this in mind, Wolf Creek is something of a breath of fresh air. Yes, it hews pretty closely to the codes and rules of its genre, but for the most part it does it well, and for my money, what works about the film is strong enough to make some of the weaker plot moments forgivable.
Will Gibson's HD camera-work is impressive, maintaining a consistent style from start to finish, aided by solid editing, score and sound design. Now maybe people will stop whining about how 'we can't make genre films here' and we might see some imagination and variety creep into Australian cinema.
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