Monday, October 31, 2005

Pusher (1996)

A Film Review

Copyright Dragan Antulov 2005

Nihilism and moral relativism of 1990s reflected itself in new ways of drug abuse being portrayed in films. Previously, the only kind of people allowed to be protagonists of these films were either the victims - drug addicts and their loved ones - or heroic crusaders trying to cleanse the streets of that evil. Partially thanks to Tarantino, drug phenomenon began to be portrayed from the perspective of those who use it as a way to make a living - dealers. The trend has quickly spread all over the world, including Denmark, small country with very vibrant cinema industry. One of the best known such films is PUSHER, 1996 drama and directorial debut of Nicolas Winding Refn.

Protagonist of the film is Frank (played by Kim Bodnia), mid-level drug dealer who operates in Copenhagen together with his best friend Tonny (played by Mads Mikkelsen). He is currently owing large sum of money to Milo (played by Zlatko Buric), his supplier and one of top Montenegrin mobsters. When he is approached by his old prison acquaintance from Sweden and offered to take part in huge heroin deal, he sees it as a fine opportunity to pay debts and even make large profit. He talks Milo into supplying the merchandise, but the actual exchange goes terribly wrong - somebody has tipped off police and Frank has to throw Milo's drugs into lake before he is arrested. Release from custody is not the end of Frank's troubles - Milo is angry and wants immediate re-compensation, otherwise Frank would have to deal with his quiet and sinister assistant Radovan (played by Slavko Labovic). Frank now has to play all tricks in his book in order to squeeze every last penny from his customers and business associates, but as the week goes by and deadline approaches, every of his schemes tends to end in disaster.

Many critics loved to describe PUSHER as "PULP FICTION made in Dogma 95 style". Their arguments are based on the use of handheld cameras, natural lighting and almost complete absence of separate music soundtrack. On the other hand, PUSHER was made with very low budget, so those characteristics could be better explained with the lack of financial resources than some kind of lofty artistic statement. In any case, that serves film very well because it adds to its grittyness and naturalism, quite fitting for its dark and depressive subject.

The best asset of the film is Kim Bodnia, an actor who gradually became one of the most recognisable stars of European cinema. Bodnia plays Frank as a complex character that can incite sympathy despite many of his actions being morally reprehensible and, later in the film, downright pathetic. Bodnia puts his macho look to good use - at first, the audience is fascinated with the way his character implicitly uses his physical presence as a business tool while dealing with his customers. Later, that look only underlines Frank's sense of helplessness when he is confronted by his colleagues who might not have his muscles or charisma, but who happen to be have higher position in drug world's food chain. Bodnia's combination of stoicism and vulnerability helps the film even in the scenes that look like cliches used solely to gain sympathy - conversation with his old mother or drug-abusing prostitute girlfriend.

Bodnia's colleagues are equally impressive, and that especially goes to Zlatko Buric and Slavko Labovic. Two of them would later repeat their roles in two PUSHER sequels, and Labovic would even play alternative version of Radovan in IN CHINA THEY EAT DOGS and its 2002 sequel.

Apart from the ending, that partially betrays its naturalism with some sort of pseudo-moralistic comeuppance for main character, PUSHER is very good film. If certain enterprising spirits start thinking twice before getting into certain over-glamorised line of work, it could deserve even more praise.

RATING: 7/10 (+++)

Sunday, October 30, 2005

Broken Flowers (2005)

A Film Review

Copyright Dragan Antulov 2005

Jim Jarmusch was called the king of American independent cinema long before independent films became fashionable. In past decade he had to temporarily leave his crown to some younger filmmakers with repertoires more in touch mainstream audiences and more able to build hypes around their names. However, quality of mainstream Hollywood has recently has decreased so drastically that even those less "accessible" films look refreshing in comparison. As a result, Jim Jarmusch films now can expect to have audiences that otherwise wouldn't touch independent films with ten foot pole. Jarmusch's first film to benefit from this new phenomenon is BROKEN FLOWERS, 2005 drama that not only won Grand Prix at Cannes Film Festival, but also turned out to be box-office success.

The protagonist of the film is Don Johnston (played by Bill Murray), semi-retired middle-aged computer businessman who has just been left by his much younger girlfriend Sherry (played by Julie Delpy). Don's next-door neighbour and best friend is Winston (played by Jeffrey Wright), Ethiopian immigrant who could, like Don, belong to middle or upper class if not for having to support five children. Winston, nevertheless, appears to live much fuller and happier life than Don, which manifests in his great enthusiasm for Internet and crime mysteries. This is put to good use when Don receives anonymous letter, apparently sent by one of his numerous girlfriends, informing him about existence of 19-year old son he had never met. Winston quickly narrows potential letter-senders to four names - Laura Miller (played by Sharon Stone), Dora (played by Frances Conroy), Carmen (played by Jessica Lange) and Penny (played by Tilda Swinton) - and helps Don organise long trip during which he would visit all four of them and try to discover whether the letter was genuine or not.

Just like in most Jarmusch's films, there is very little plot and the pace is glacial, often because of the scenes that don't appear to have any apparent meaning. Thankfully, the choice of music is very good - just like the protagonist, the experience is going to be made bearable for audience through excellent jazz score by Mulatu Astatke. However, the greatest asset of the film is Bill Murray, who didn't even had to put much effort in creating perfect character for this sort of film - lethargic, middle-aged former Don Juan is only a slight variation of Bob Harris from LOST IN TRANSLATION. There are few actors that can match Murray in ability to evoke so much empathy in audience by displaying so little emotions on screen. Despite being empty, self-centred and phlegmatic character, Murray's Don Jonhston quickly wins audience and the dramatic effort is powerful when he, in the latter stages of film, displays something resembling emotion.

Murray's excellent acting is well-matched by his colleagues - a large and very diverse cast that includes veterans like Stone, Lange and young newcomers like Alexia Dzina (who provides one of the most memorable scenes of the film) and Pell James. Unfortunately, some of the talents seem to be wasted because the characters they play aren't fleshed enough - especially in the case of almost unrecognisable Tilda Swinton. The worst mistake Jarmusch made was to have Jeffrey Wright played wonderful larger-than-life character who appears relatively briefly in the film and is sorely missed most of the time.

Another mistake is "clever" ending where Jarmusch tries to con audience into believing in some sort of conventional Hollywood finale only in order to provide another "artsy" plot twist. However, this ending is predictable in its unconventionality and it only leaves the bitter taste of disappointment in something that could have otherwise been a true masterpiece. BROKEN FLOWERS, however, deserves the audience because without films like these American and world cinema would never blossom.

RATING: 6/10 (++)

Vampire Clan (2002)

A Film Review

Copyright Dragan Antulov 2005

Horror films often inhabit the realm of supernatural, because one of their many purposes is to make the banal reality less horrible for the audience. Because of that, many people have problems recognising the horror or sources of horror in banalities of every day. One of the films to find horror in reality is VAMPIRE CLAN, 2002 drama directed by John Webb.

The plot begins when Jeni Wendorf (played by Stacy Hogue) returns home one night only to find mutilated bodies of her parents Rick (played by David Wells) and Ruth (played by Mimi Craven) while her younger sister Heather Ann (played by Kelly Kruger) is missing. Police quickly determines Rod Farrell (played by Drew Fuller), Heather's former boyfriend and leader of small band of Goth teenagers, to be prime suspect and organises national manhunt. Rod, Heather and the rest of band are found in Louisiana and arrested. During the questioning, Rod surprises detectives by claiming to be a leader of a vampire clan.

VAMPIRE CLAN is based on true events that had shocked American public a decade ago. Film's low budget is very evident and the only thing that separates VAMPIRE CLAN from a TV film are the explicit scenes of violence and gore. However, those scenes are anything but gratuitous, because the film treats its sinister subject with seriousness of real docudrama. Relatively unknown young actors are quite good in their roles, while director John Webb does a good job of capturing audience's attention despite the actual plot being resolved at the very beginning.

As a reconstruction of true crime, VAMPIRE CLAN is very good. Unfortunately, this also means that the filmmakers are concentrated on facts at the expense of interpretations. VAMPIRE CLAN shows how the crime was committed while not telling or suggesting its ultimate motive. The audience can only guess, despite some brief hints about sexual abuse or parental irresponsibility that sounds more like template used by such stories than filmmakers' actual opinion. As a result, the film's protagonists begin to look more like cartoons than real life persons they are supposed to be. VAMPIRE CLAN is a film worth seeing, but far from transcending banality of its subject,

RATING: 5/10 (+)

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004)

A Film Review

Copyright Dragan Antulov 2005

It is said that doctors are the worst patients and attorneys are the worst clients. Same could be said for actors when they happen to be film characters. At least this is the impression viewer may get from THE LIFE AND DEATH OF PETER SELLERS, 2004 biographical drama directed by Stephen Hopkins.

The film, co-produced by HBO and BBC, is based on Roger Lewis' biographical book about Peter Sellers (1925 - 1980), one of the most talented British actors and icons of 20th Century's popular culture. The plot follows Sellers (played by Geoffrey Rush) from mid 1950s, when he used to be popular BBC radio comedian, and shows how his successful break into film industry and, later, Hollywood had devastating effects on his personal life, alienating him from friends, colleagues, family, and, finally, leading to his death.

Like all biopics, THE LIFE AND DEATH OF PETER SELLERS is faced with a problem of compressing complexities of someone's entire life into a single feature film. Scriptwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely confronted this task by trying to find balance between Sellers' amazing multiple screen images and his prosaic - and often obnoxious - real self. The film argues that Sellers used his roles as an escape from his personal neurosis and emptyness. As a result, Sellers comes as not particularly interesting or sympathetic character.

Thankfully, even such "empty vessels", as Sellers calls himself during the film, can be made interesting when they are played by Geoffrey Rush, Australian actor who approached the role with enthusiasm of a hungry child in a candy store. Rush plays not only Sellers, but Sellers impersonating various important characters from his life. This proves not only too confusing, but also too "artsy" and too pretentious for most audiences. On the other hand, Hopkins' use of various "clever" cinema tricks are more bearable, especially when they depict fascinating world of 1960s and 1970s macho fantasies Sellers had lived in. Rush is, of course, great in his role, while his colleagues perform admirably in the thankless task of providing him with support, most notably John Lithgow as Blake Edwards.

The biggest flaw of this film is the same flaw that affects most other biopics about popular culture icons - in order to really appreciate it, the audience has to have some prior knowledge about the icon. Therefore, unless audience can relate to the works of Edwards' or Kubrick's movies, THE LIFE AND DEATH OF PETER SELLERS would mean very little to it. On the other hand, fans of Sellers and his work would probably appreciate this flawed but fascinating tribute.

RATING: 5/10 (++)

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

The Interpreter (2005)

A Film Review

Copyright Dragan Antulov 2005

Hollywood executives have long been afraid of rapid rise of anti-Americanism affecting the foreign markets - the only thing that makes many of their current products financially sound. United Nations also has PR problems of its own, since the last decade witnessed transformation from inefficient but generally harmless club of dedicated idealist into cesspool of corruption. Interests of those institutions, therefore, matched resulting in THE INTERPRETER, 2005 thriller directed by Sydney Pollack.

The protagonist of the film is Sylvia Broome (played by Nicole Kidman), woman who works in United Nations building as an interpreter. She grew up in Matobo, African country whose president Zuwanie (played by Earl Cameron), once hailed as great liberator, is notorious because of killings, ethnic cleansing and other forms of oppression. One night she overhears two men discussing the apparent assassination of Zuwanie during his trip to New York, where the dictator is supposed to address UN General Assembly, promise reforms and reconciliation, thus thwarting the moves to try him at International Criminal Court. Broome immediately informs the authorities and it is given protection by Secret Service agents Keller (played by Sean Penn) and Woods (played by Catherine Keener), part of the team that should keep Zuwanie alive during his visit. Keller, however, begins to suspect Broome and her story, especially when some details of her radical past in Matobo begin to come out, including some very personal reasons why she would like to see Zuwanie dead or removed from power.

Most of the viewers even remotely familiar with world's current affairs are probably going to recognise Matobo and Zuwanie as fictional substitutes for Zimbabwe and Robert Mugabe. This is supposed to give real life relevance to THE INTERPRETER in order to make it something more than just another pointless Hollywood political thriller. Another thing that makes THE INTERPRETER different is the use of genuine UN locations in New York - a concession filmmaker more than apparently won at the expense of film's objectivity towards that institution. As a result, the protagonists uses every imaginable opportunity to underline the importance and usefulness of UN for today's world. This vision of UN is shared by many American leftists and liberals - including Hollywood filmmakers - who see pacifist UN as the only credible alternative to militant USA in the role of world's policeman.

This strong and not that subtle message is, however, buried under the mountain of cliches and implausibilities created by screenwriting committe which, reportedly, included five different authors. Sydney Pollack's old-fashioned by efficient direction only manages to hide those flaws for a while, because too many scenes feature unnecessary dialogue and completely needless subplots. One example is Sean Penn's character recovering from wife's death, and the film spends too much time on that, slowing the pace to a crawl. Another example is a character of Zuwanie's chief opponent (played by George Harris) who just happens to live in Brooklyn and use bus every day - only in order to provide film with its most spectacular, but least credible action scene.

But the worst flaw is casting of otherwise talented Kidman in the role which is less of a human character and more of an idealised vision of every Western liberal - beautiful, intelligent, environmentally conscious, with talent in music and refined cultural taste, multi-cultural to the bone and, last but not least, able to make right choice in the best possible moment. Her obvious perfection shatters any suspension of disbelief and destroys any resemblance of film to real life. Everything ends with a melodramatic fairytale finale that suggests efficiency of UN as a tool of international justice and peace - something with many people in places like Rwanda or Srebrenica would have plenty of reasons to disagree with. THE INTERPRETER could be watched, but it nevertheless leaves a bad taste of a film that made their authors feel good, while denying the same experience to the audience.

RATING: 4/10 (+)

Monday, October 24, 2005

Slipstream (2005)

A Film Review

Copyright Dragan Antulov 2005

It is becoming difficult to find anything new and refreshing in films about time travel. SLIPSTREAM, 2005 science fiction film directed by Peter van Eyssen, initially gives impression of being such rare find. Narration by film's protagonist Stuart Conway (played by Sean Astin) tries to explain the concept and its practical applications. Conway, a quiet, mild-mannered and nerdish physicist employed in government's top secret laboratory, has invented and constructed miniature time travel device. The device allows him to go back ten minutes in time and he goes to bank in order to puts it to best possible use by making repeated cash withdrawals and discovering the best ways to seduce beautiful bank teller. Little does he know that he is being watched by Sarah Tanner (played by Ivana Milicevic) and Jake Hallman (played by Kevin Otto) - two FBI agents assigned to follow him as part of routine security clearance. He, as well as the agents, are surprised when the bank gets robbed by a gang led by volatile Briggs (played by Vinnie Jones). Chaos ensues, shots are fired, people get killed and Conway has to use his device in order to prevent situation from becoming even more catastrophic.

At first, it looks like the unconventional, nerdish protagonist and equally unconventional use of time travel device would result in unconventional film and that a scientific idea won't be abused as a cheap gimmick for uninspired action film. But such hopes disappear soon after the plot moves to a bank, where the predictable heist is followed by predictable shootout. By the film's end the audience will have opportunity to watch spectacular road crash, hostage crisis and passenger jet crashing into mountain. Van Eyssen directs those scenes with great skill, although at times he succumbs to the desire towards MTV-style "coolness", which doesn't work well, especially when accompanied by often irritating musical score. With Ivana Milicevic miscast as tough federal agent and Vinnie Jones typecast as psychopathic gangster, it is Astin that keeps film bearable for the audience. Shot in South Africa with relatively small budget, SLIPSTREAM had potential to become something more than combination of poor man's MATRIX and GROUNDHOG DAY.

RATING: 4/10 (+)

Saturday, October 22, 2005

The Woodsman (2004)

A Film Review

Copyright Dragan Antulov 2005

In today's world, or at least in its "Western" part, scope of tolerated sexual activities is continuing to broaden. The only exception seems to be paedophilia, which recently became convenient spot for moralists and conservatives to channel the outrage they can't express towards other, "politically correct" forms of sex. This reflects on popular culture, where the paedophilia appears to be worse problem than drug abuse, domestic violence, global warming or terrorism. Hollywood gave its contribution to the phenomenon with simplistic portrayals of paedophiles. So, it takes a lot of courage to go against the current and treat paedophiles as human beings. THE WOODSMAN, 2004 drama directed by Nicole Kassell is one of such films.

The film is based on the play by Stephen Fechter, who co-wrote the script with Kassell. The protagonist is Walter (played by Kevin Bacon), convicted child molester who returns to Philadelphia who was paroled after serving 12 years in prison. Walter is determined not to return behind bars and tries to do the right thing - he gets a job in local sawmill, keeps to himself and regularly visits therapist. But his old life nevertheless finds a way to affect him - either through encounters with his kind-hearted Portorican brother-in-law Carlos (played by Benjamin Bratt) and hostile police detective Sergeant Lucas (played by Mos Def) or romance with co-worker Vicki (played by Kyra Sedgwick), woman who has some difficult issues of her own. The biggest problem appears to be his apartment, which happens to overlook school yard and gives Walter ability to witness another paedophile (played by Kevin Rice) at work. Gradually, Walter begins to return to his old ways and stalks Robin (played by Hannah Pilkes), 11-year old girl who likes to watch birds in the park.

THE WOODSMAN indicates its theatrical origin by not having much of a plot. Instead, the film works as intriguing and often disturbing character study. Many of the characters, like Carlos, appear to be brought only to help describe Walter's character rather than advance the plot. Because of this, THE WOODSMAN, more than most other films, depends on good acting. Thankfully, Bacon, who was executive producer of the film, is brilliant in his difficult and thankless role. With his understated but powerful performance, Bacon breaks many Hollywood stereotypes in portrayal of paedophilia - he is not some pathetic old, middle-to-upper class monster whose perversion could be often interpreted as consequence of rejection by adult women. Instead, Bacon's character, even in his 40ies and after twelve years behind bars, looks disturbingly normal; on the surface he is quiet, unassuming blue-collar man who minds his own business. He is even attractive enough to become interest of one female character in the film. And, furthermore, he is a man with enough intellect to realise his affliction and try to fight it the best way he can. Bacon succeeds in what many films of this nature fail to do - he invokes sympathy for his character while never justifying nor condoning his actions.

Bacon's role - which, according to many, missed "Oscar" nomination only due to Academy's bigotry and lack of courage - is enhanced by the rest of cast, including his wife Kyra Sedwigck or rapper Mos Def in difficult and thankless role of intimidating policeman. Kassell also shows great skill as a director - he allows plot to build slowly, with great eye for detail; on the other hand, pacing is nearly flawless and the audience will be surprised to find so much content in hour and half of running time.

THE WOODSMAN is surprisingly good film, but at this stage it is far from becoming classic. The minimalist plot - which was partially built on few hardly believable details - ends too neatly, and some may argue that the authors took simplistic and predictable method for protagonist's redemption. But THE WOODSMAN nevertheless deserves recommendation because it deals with one disturbing phenomenon in an honest and humane way.

RATING: 7/10 (+++)

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

Executive Protection (2001)

(LIVVAKTERNA) (2001)

A Film Review

Copyright Dragan Antulov 2005

Action genre is probably the last place where the audience could discover serious and sober exploration of important social, economical and political issues, especially those usually ignored by today's "infotainment" media. One of the rare exceptions to this is Sweden, country famous for quality crime and action films about Martin Beck and Carl Hamilton - based on the characters created with clear political or ideological agenda. So, it isn't surprising that some Swedish action films tend to engage, rather than insult viewers' intelligence. One of them is EXECUTIVE PROTECTION, 2001 film directed by Anders Nilsson.

EXECUTIVE PROTECTION is the second film in the series about Johan Falk (played by Jacob Eklund), maverick police detective from Gothenburg. While he attends a funeral of his adoptive father in rural Sweden, he meets old friends, including rich industrialist Sven Persson (played by Samuel Fröler). Sven asks Johan a favour because he made a mistake of major investment in Estonia - a prime target for extortion by local gangs. Even worse mistake was hiring German "security specialist" and former STASI operative Nikolaus Lehman (played by Christoph M. Ort) to handle the problem. Lehman and his team simply snuffed the extortionists and, much to Sven's horror, demanded outrageous sum for his service. Sven and his family are now subject of increasingly unpleasant intimidation campaign, and Sven asks Johan for help. Johan, knowing that bureaucratic Swedish police can't handle the job, goes for help among his former colleagues that run private security firm. They set up a 24/7 protection around Sven and his family, but Lehman proves to be more skilful and more ruthless than anyone has imagined.

As an action film, EXECUTIVE PROTECTION had budget significantly lower than its Hollywood genre counterparts. This is reflected in isolated rural setting and somewhat limited number of action scenes or characters serving as cannon fodder. On the other hand, Nilsson, who had experience with action genre in the past, compensates the lack of usual thrills with steady and confident direction, and, until the very end where usual cliches (ridiculously close race against time) take over, EXECUTIVE PROTECTION looks much better than an average Hollywood action film.

The reason for this is in very good script by Nilsson and Joakim Hansson. The plot is revealed slowly, but the audience is allowed to understand its fine points. The acting is great, although the character of female security specialist Pernilla appears to be invented only to justify casting of Alexandra Rapaport. However, the biggest asset of the film is in its ability to tell not only exciting, but also socially and politically relevant story. Through their characters, filmmakers argue that the end of Cold War and European unification could have ultimate aftermath far from the idealistic visions of 1989. They claim that post-Communist chaos and anarchy in Eastern Europe could spread westwards through the pathways created by globalisation process. In other words, the forces behind deadly combination of street thuggery and crony capitalism that dominates many areas of Eastern Europe are going to apply some of their techniques perfected during privatisation process in order to gain equal power in countries like Sweden, which so far haven't experienced such phenomena. EXECUTIVE PROTECTION is, therefore, a film that could be used as an interesting argument in current debates about European Union expanding eastwards. And even those who don't care about those issues are going to appreciate EXECUTIVE PROTECTION as a good piece of genre entertainment.

RATING: 6/10 (++)

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

The Chorus (2004)

(LES CHORISTES) (2004)

A Film Review

Copyright Dragan Antulov 2005

"When in Rome do as Romans do" is a principle apparently adopted by many non-American filmmakers with "Oscar" ambitions. Since for many of them Academy Award represents the only opportunity to make inroads into Hollywood, many films look identical to Hollywood mainstream in every detail other than setting or language. One manifestations of that phenomenon could be abundance of non-American Oscar contenders that feature uplifting yet sentimental stories and adorable children as protagonists. THE CHORUS, 2004 French drama directed by Christophe Barratier, belongs to this category.

The script, written by Barratier and Philippe Lopes-Curval, is based on 1945 classic French film A CAGE OF NIGHTINGALES. The film begins in present-day when famous conductor Pierre Morhange (played by Jacques Perrin) attends his mother's funeral and meets an old childhood friend Pepinot (played by Didier Flamand) who tells him about diary left by their old teacher Clement Mathieu (played by Gerard Jugnot). The plot than goes back to 1949 when Mathieu is failed musician forced to take all kinds of odd jobs, including that of a teacher in reform school for wayward boys. The institution is reserved for most hopeless of all delinquents and run by tyrannical headmaster Rachin (played by François Berléand) who believes in corporate punishment as the only educational tool. Mathieu has different ideas and, after stoically suffering all kinds of verbal abuse and sadistic pranks, begins to win boys' hearts and minds by setting up a boys' choir.

Barratier appears to have done his homework - THE CHORUS doesn't lack a single cliche from the films about dedicated teachers changing the lives of unprivileged or dysfunctional pupils. Again, the art is used a perfect tool to tame aggressive young minds and channel their construction into something more constructive than violence and other forms of social pathology. Again, the noble teacher has to fight prejudice, conservatism and bureaucracy - this time embodied in character played by François Berléand, actor who seems to be subscribed to every main villain's role in French films. Barratier even adds subplot about protagonist having crush on one of his pupil's young and single mother, simply in remove any doubts about his motivation for helping youths.

Having a plot so safe and so formulaic, THE CHORUS was on its way to become just another forgettable example of saccharine cinema. Thankfully, even the most formulaic films can be rescued when formulas are applied by real talents. Comedian Gerard Jugnot successfully carries film on his shoulders, thanks to his plain middle-aged look that provides realistic dimension to the film. The balance of humour and pathos - one of the most important thing for this kind of films - is achieved in THE CHORUS. The music, although not particularly memorable, is enjoyable and the professional boys choir - whose members play in the film - provides good soundtrack. For most of the audience THE CHORUS will end like a pleasant viewing experience, although few would dare to admit it.

RATING: 6/10 (++)

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

The Return (2003)

(VOZVRASHCHENIYE) (2003)

A Film Review

Copyright Dragan Antulov 2005

Last few decades weren't very kind to Russia or Russian film. Collapse of Communism brought the end to the state-sponsored film industry and almost completely erased Russia from the world cinema map. It took almost decade and half for Russian films to raise some kind of interest outside national borders or give hints that Russian cinema might return to its former glory. In 2003 this happened with THE RETURN, drama directed by Andrei Zvyagintsev. This directorial debut of a notable Russian film and TV actor won Golden Lion at Venice Film Festival.

The plot takes place in a seaside town of Northern Russia where teenager Andrey (played by Vladimir Garin) and his younger brother Ivan (played by Ivan Dobronravov) are surprised to find their father (played by Konstantin Lavronenko) returning from twelve years of absence. They don't know their father nor the reason why he left the family and even more intrigued when their loving mother (played by Natalya Vdovina) agrees to let them join father on a fishing trip. In next seven days they slowly discover that the real purpose of journey is far from recreational - father uses every opportunity to put boys to various mental and physical ordeals, which come to the climax at the remote island. Boys react to abuse differently - Andrey wants to connect with cold and distant paternal figure while Ivan mistrusts father and defies him at every opportunity. Escalating conflict between the two will result in tragedy.

THE RETURN could be best described as the embodiment of "less is more" principle. Shot with low budget and minimal number of actors, this film puts Northern Russian locations to excellent use. As the brothers' journey goes on, traces of civilisation - usually decayed artefacts of once mighty empires - are replaced with ethereally beautiful forests and lakes, lovingly recorded by Mikhail Kritchman's cinematography. But these sights of beauty gradually become more menacing, underlining the frailty of the boys, who are helpless both confronted with nature and their increasingly tyrannical father. All those beautiful sights hide dark secrets that, just like the secret behind father's long absence, are better not to reveal.

The casting - which was of utmost importance in this kind of film - is excellent. Konstantin Lavronenko as father is perfect as dark, mysterious and authoritative force that, despite his questionable acts, could not be put into Manichaean classification of Hollywood characters. Vladimir Garin, who tragically died shortly before the film's premiere, is also very good, although somewhat overshadowed by younger Ivan Dobronravov who stands out as more rebellious of two brothers.

The film's main weakness is what could have been its main strength - the main source of dramatic tension is mystery about father. The audience doesn't know why he left the family, what he did for living and what his ulterior motives for the trip or boys' abuse are really are. After the predictably melodramatic end, the audience is left guessing and THE RETURN looks unfinished. This void was often filled with various speculations and interpretations, especially among Western critics who saw the film's story as religious allegory or tacit condemnation of President Putin's neo-authoritarian policies. Regardless of its flaws, THE RETURN deserves praise as more than simply a good film. Its title is quite fitting, because it represents magnificent return of a great cinema tradition to the world stage.

RATING: 7/10 (++)

The Cowboys (1972)

A Film Review

Copyright Dragan Antulov 2005

Long time ago John Wayne used to be the embodiment of everything America wanted to be. These days John Wayne is often perceived as the embodiment of everything America should abandon. Yet, some of his films that reflect the ideology and values associated with him look refreshing even to contemporary leftists and liberals. This is probably due to Hollywood's ability - now lost - to promote simple ideas and simple truths in a convincing way. One of the best examples could be found in THE COWBOYS, 1972 western directed by Mark Rydell.

In this film John Wayne plays William Andersen, old rancher faced with sudden loss of labour force due to a gold rush. This happened at worst possible moment - just before the cattle drive that was supposed to pay his bills. His friend Anse Petersen (played by Slim Pickens) suggests that he hires local teenagers as cowboys and he reluctantly agrees, not being particularly enthusiastic about group of boys, aged 9 to 15, that he would have to train and lead. The group, which is joined by black cook Jedediah Nightlinger (played by Roscoe Lee Browne), faces many obstacles on their trek, the worst being group of rustlers led by sinister Asa Watts (played by Bruce Dern). The boys, faced with hunger, hard work and danger, learn many important lessons that would help them act like grown men.

It would be pointless to name all elements in which this film insults modern-day sentiments of "political correctness". THE COWBOYS, among other things, feature positive attitudes towards child labour, masculine authority, vigilante justice and children using guns. The only potentially subversive scene features a group of young travelling prostitutes led by ageing madam (played by Colleen Dewhurst). Although introduced probably in order to fill the conventional quota of female roles, those characters could be interpreted as some kind of female equivalent of John Wayne's character and his boys. Screenwriters' reluctance to explore this opportunity is one major weakness of the film, while the other is failure to explain how young boys suddenly transform into efficient killing machines.

Despite those flaws and the somewhat slow pace that could be less tolerable to younger audiences, THE COWBOYS is a film that can expect audience even today. John Wayne is great in one of his iconic roles, while the rest of cast features some interesting names. Bruce Dern is great in small, but chillingly memorable role of psychopathic villain. Young Adolph Martinez of future SANTA BARBARA fame is also very good in the role of a boy who must fight racial stereotypes. Rydell directed film with great skill, putting locations of American Southwest to good use. The film is accompanied by very good score of John Williams that adds to the epic character of the film. All in all, THE COWBOYS shows how old Hollywood promoted conservative agenda with the skill and efficiency modern-day liberals and leftists can only dream about.

RATING: 6/10 (++)

Monday, October 10, 2005

Godsend (2004)

A Film Review

Copyright Dragan Antulov 2005

The author of this review is quite aware that people go to theatres to be entertained above else and, therefore, there is little room for some serious discussion about important issues in contemporary Hollywood movies. However, I'm still getting increasingly annoyed with some intriguing scientific concepts being reduced to cheap B-movie plot gimmicks. One of the worst examples could be current debate about human cloning, which is abused by the screenwriters of GODSEND, 2004 thriller directed by Nick Hamm.

Film begins when high school teacher Paul Duncan (played by Greg Kinnear) and his photographer wife Jessie (played by Rebecca Romijn) lose their adorable 8-year old son Adam (played by Cameron Bright) in a traffic accident. The devastated couple is approached by Dr. Richard Wells (played by Robert de Niro), top medical scientist who developed various cloning techniques and offered an opportunity to have their son reborn as a clone. After some hesitation, they agree to take part in illegal experiment and Jessie later bears son identical to Adam. Their happy life starts to change after new Adam's eighth birthday - their son begins to suffer from terrible visions and his behaviour becomes anti-social. Paul begins to suspect that personality change might have something to do with a cloning procedure that apparently didn't go as perfect as Dr. Wells claimed.

Even from the first, cliche-ridden scenes (adorable family just waiting to be struck by tragedy, street incident showing how noble one protagonist is) GODSEND shows that it is not going to rise above Hollywood average. British director Nick Hamm, on the other hand, maintains viewers' interest by using the acting talents of young Cameron Bright, as well as rural Canadian locations. Unfortunately, the suspicions about film's ultimate quality begin with the appearance of Robert de Niro - once great actor whose name on a poster now tells anyone interested in good film to run to the hills. In the final sections of the film, the Mark Bomback's script - that have taken a safe route of conforming to combination of mainstream Judeo-Christian values and Hollywood's traditional technophobia - begins to collapse under the series of implausibilites and cheap plot "twists" that lead to one of the most disappointing and underwhelming endings in recent Hollywood history. By that time, both those expecting serious film about human cloning and those wanting quality horror film are going to want hour and half of their lives back.

RATING: 2/10 (-)

Sunday, October 09, 2005

Devour (2005)

A Film Review

Copyright Dragan Antulov 2005

We live in fast-changing world and it is fascinating to see how popular culture, even millennia-old myths and urban legends, adapt to new technology. One of the examples for that is a belief, rather popular in certain quarters few decades ago, that heavy metal songs have contain hidden Satanist messages. This urban legend is updated in order to serve as the plot element for DEVOUR, 2005 horror film directed by David Winkler.

Protagonist of the film is Jake Gray (played by Jensen Ackles), computer science student who just turned 21. His friends Conrad (played by Teach) and Dakota (played by Dominque Swain) invite him to the bizarre on-line game called "Pathway". Jake reluctantly joins, already troubled by strange dreams and visions of brutal violence. Soon it becomes apparent that "Pathway" is more than a game and that it includes persons, organisation or force that could affect players' real lives. When Conrad and Dakota both get involved in brutal murders, Jake begins to ask some questions about true nature of the force he would have to face, especially after seeing demonic beings in his visions.

Despite its low budget, DEVOUR looked like a good opportunity for something rarely seen in Hollywood these days - a decent horror film. Script by Adam and Seth Gross had many interesting characters and subplots. The best thing about it is the ending - something that is usually the sore spot for most genre movies today. Unfortunately, unlike so many potentially great film ruined by bad ending, DEVOUR has misfortune of having good ending that can't save generally disappointing film. The weakest link of DEVOUR is director Winkler whose rapid editing leaves too many scenes unfinished and makes the whole film look cheaper than it actually is. The actors are more than fine, especially tragically underused Dominique Swain. DEVOUR also benefits from Vancouver locations, but they also bring unpleasant comparisons with classic episodes of THE X-FILES and underline the impression of DEVOUR being one big wasted opportunity.

RATING: 4/10 (+)

Thursday, October 06, 2005

The Card Player (2004)

(IL CARTAIO) (2004)

A Film Review

Copyright Dragan Antulov 2005

Any ground-breaking filmmaker who remains in business long enough risks seeing his work becoming mainstream. Same principle could be applied to Dario Argento, Italian film director famous for his legendary 1970s "giallo" films. His latest works, despite Argento's best efforts, look not that different from the genre films coming from today's mainstream Hollywood. One such example is Argento's 2004 thriller THE CARD PLAYER.

The protagonist of the film is Anna Mari (played by Stefania Rocca), female police detective from Rome whose latest case involves one particularly nasty serial killer. Unknown psychopath kidnaps women, puts them in front of webcam and dares policemen to a play a game of online poker for their lives. First such challenge is ignored in police and results in a young woman being killed. Since she happened to be British citizen, British embassy sends its resident police official John Brennan (played by Liam Cunningham) to assist the investigation. After another murder, this time caused by police personnel's ineptness in poker games, Anna decides to hire Remo (played by Silvio Muccino), teenager with incredible poker talent. He manages to save Lucia (played by Fiora Argento), police chief's daughter, from the maniac but Anna nevertheless continues investigation and discovers that the killer seems to know too much about her.

If not for Rome locations and absence of Hollywood actors - closest thing to that is Irish actor Liam Cunnigham, probably introduced in order to make this film more accessible to English-speaking markets - THE CARD PLAYER looks very much like so many "high concept" Hollywood thrillers about psychopathic killers with too much imagination and too much resources at their hands. There is very little gore and nudity in the film, and the plot resolution is predictable. Disappointment at the end has more to do with the poor choice of accompanying music than poor choice of script, though. The online poker games, which are supposed to be the high point of the film, are directed in a manner suggesting that Argento can't adapt thrills of digital entertainment to the thrills of cinema. However, the acting in the film is very good, Rome locations are put to good use and there are couple of interesting scenes. THE CARD PLAYER could be recommended as more than passable entertainment, although Argento fans would most likely prefer his earlier work.

RATING: 5/10 (++)

Ken Park (2002)

A Film Review

Copyright Dragan Antulov 2005

All those opposed to nudity, explicit sex and other more graphic forms of film erotica often try to hide their political and philosophical agendas by employing strictly artistic arguments. According to them, explicit erotica too often doesn't serve any other purpose than to shock or titillate audience and thus hide the fact that a film doesn't have artistic merit. One of the films where this argument could be made is KEN PARK, controversial 2002 drama directed by Larry Clark and Edward Lachman.

The film is set in Californian town Visalia and begins with the suicide of adolescent skater Ken Park (played by Adam Chubbuk). The plot continues to describe the lives four of his friends. Tate (played by James Ransone) lives with his grandparents and reacts to their kindness with increasing levels of violence. Claude (played by Stephen Jasso) is considered effeminate and gay-like by his macho father (played by Wade Williams) only to become target of his sexual abuse. Peaches (played by Tiffany Limos) lives with Catholic fundamentalist father whom he tries to defy by engaging in BDSM practices with her boyfriend. Shawn (played by James Bullard) is involved in sexual relationship with Zoe (played by Maeve Quinlan), mother of his girlfriend.

KEN PARK received great deal of controversy - in other words, free publicity - due to the scenes that contain non-simulated urination and sexual activity. When the authors like Larry Clark - who already created controversial reputation due to his tendency to make films featuring adolescent characters in the birthday suits or having sex - resort to this kind of artistic decision, it is usually not a sign of a great artistic confidence. Actually, according to interviews, Clark struggled with the ideas for KEN PARK for almost a decade before being provided with script written by Harmony Korine, who had written screenplay for his first and best film KIDS.

Although KIDS and KEN PARK superficially resemble each other in their naturalistic portrayal of dysfunctional alienated youths involved in various forms of social pathology, it becomes very clear that the first film, unlike KEN PARK, had something resembling plot and clearly defined characters. Korine's idea to make KEN PARK deal with dysfunctional youths' parents only resulted in series of unconnected vignettes and characters who tragically stereotypical - religious fundamentalists are suppressing incestuous urges while openly homophobic macho men are closet gays. In this kind of film, especially in the scenes when the audience is likely to pay more attention to someone's private parts than characters or plot, any kind of stereotype only suffocates whatever meaningful content have been left on the screen. It is sad to see otherwise good actors like Amanda Plummer waste their talent and risk their reputation by appearing in films like this. It is equally sad to see young and good actors who might easily be branded by KEN PARK till the end of their careers. The movie is well-shot, but it is the only good thing that could be said about KEN PARK. Clark and Lachman tried to show themselves as uncompromising artists that would stop at nothing in order to bring ugly realities of the world to the screen, but the only ugly reality revealed was their own shallowness.

RATING: 2/10 (-)

Wednesday, October 05, 2005

Knight Club (2001)

A Film Review

Copyright Dragan Antulov 2005

Being a bouncer is one of the least appreciated professions in the world despite the fact that it requires good fitness, martial, as well as psychological and diplomatic skill that most people don't possess. One of the few films to appreciate this fact is KNIGHT CLUB, 2001 drama written and directed by Russell Gannon.

The protagonist of the film is Gary Grieco (played by Lochlyn Munro), struggling Hollywood actor who successfully uses his skills to con his way into a popular Los Angeles night club. When his deception is about to discovered, he desperately takes the offer to become a bouncer. First incident discovers his new talent, which is recognised by Dirk Gueron (played by Lou Diamond Phillips), leader of Knight Club, group of elite Los Angeles bouncers. Dirk befriends and tutors Gary, allowing him to work in most prestigious night clubs and develop network of influential friends. Gary begins to live a good life, but the lure of even more money from Russian mobster Dimitri (played by Russell Gannon) proves to be too much. Gary betrays his Dirk in order to get a job of a bouncer in Dimitri's club.

Jim Lotfi's script for KNIGHT CLUB occasionally tries to be an honest and realistic portrayal of the dark side of Hollywood. World of elite night clubs and bouncers who are their informal lords and one of the least known pieces of Hollywood machine was provide an excellent and original perspective on the centre of world's entertainment industry. Made with small budget and without content constraints of big studio production, KNIGHT CLUB often has rawness that other films on that subject lack. However, the potentially intriguing story and set of characters are buried under the mountain of abysmal acting. Simplistic moralising, underlined with the use of poem at the end, is not going to improve generally disappointing impression of the film.

RATING: 3/10 (+)

Tuesday, October 04, 2005

Shackles (2005)

A Film Review

Copyright Dragan Antulov 2005

The author of this review seems to adopt more conservative views with time. One manifestation of this phenomenon is decreased level of understanding for liberal Hollywood filmmakers and their promotion of kind-hearted progressive teachers as a cure for drugs, poverty, crime, violence and other inner-city problems. This is the reason why approached SHACKLES, 2005 prison drama directed by Charles Winkler, with great deal of scepticism.

The protagonist of the film is Ben Cross (played by D.L. Hughley), unemployed high school teacher who had sent one of his pupils into coma and now has great difficulties in finding work. The only opportunity comes in the form of special school program for juvenile delinquents and young offenders in Schakleton detention facility. Cross has a task of attracting certain number of inmates to the classrooms in order to have the program continued. After few unsuccessful attempts, he discovers that Gabriel Garcia (played by Jose Pablo Cantillo), one of his rebellious pupils, has a great talent for poetry. He decides to organise a poetry slam in prison, but his efforts are frowned upon by conservative prison administration.

SHACKLES doesn't stray from the ground countless other Hollywood films have covered - both the teacher with murky past and its violent students find path to redemption; the art is a magical wand that channels youthful energy into something more constructive than violence; noble efforts or bridging the class and race divide are thwarted by soulless bureaucracy and repressive establishment. What makes this film bearable is the fact that SHACKLES tells an old story in occasionally inventive way. Winkler's use of HDTV technology and split screens make SHACKLES look interesting, raw and almost documentary. The casting, based on young and relatively unknown actors, also helps the film, especially in the case of Cantillo who convincingly portrayed youthful angst. Because of that the generally good impression of the film survives heavy-handed sentimental finale where the authors spell their message to the audience with the subtlety of Donald Rumsfeld's military strategy. There is one thing in SHACKLES better than a film itself - poetry, which will sound powerful and attractive even to those who don't subscribe to filmmakers' views.

RATING: 5/10 (++)

Monday, October 03, 2005

Puerto Vallarta Squeeze (2003)

A Film Review

Copyright Dragan Antulov 2005

If there is one thing that will doom Hollywood it is the increase of cliches, formulas and predictability that plague today's films, especially those made by big studios. Those made with lesser budgets are somewhat more immune to this plague, but when cliches happen, the result is not pretty. One of such examples is the ending of PUERTO VALLARTA SQUEEZE, 2003 drama directed by Arthur Allan Seidelman.

The plot, based on the novel by Robert James Waller, begins in Mexican city of Puerto Vallarta in 1990. Washed-up American writer Danny Pastor (played by Craig Wasson) and his Mexican girlfriend Maria de la Luz Santos (played by Giovanna Zacarias) are witnessing the double assassination on the street. Few hours later they are approached by Clayton Price (played by Scott Glen), another American who claims to be stranded and offers substantial amount of money for discreet ride northwards, towards US border. Pastor and Luz, in desperate need of money, agree, not knowing that the Price is a former Vietnam veteran and CIA-trained assassin responsible for murders. His act has caused massive manhunt by Mexican authorities, and the efforts to apprehend him are joined by two CIA agents - older Walter McGrane (played by Harvey Keitel) and younger Weatherford (played by Jonathan Brandis). While all this is going on, trio travels to north and Luz begins to develop feelings for mysterious stranger.

In the beginning, PUERTO VALLARTA SQUEEZE looks very refreshing. The exotic locations of Mexico are well-matched by unconventional characters and bizarre love traingle. The plot is good opportunity to spot some tragically underused talents like Craig Wasson. For Scott Glen, specialised for supporting roles of tough guys, this film was a rare occasion to play romantic lead. Because of that, the audience are lulled into not expecting cliches and when they start appearing, film starts to rapidly deteriorate. Harvey Keitel gives another routine performance, while Jonathan Brandis - actor who took his life shortly after the premiere - is almost forgettable. The ending of the film - that significantly strays from the novel - is especially disappointing, because it predictably sacrifices plausibility to Hollywood conventions. Seidelman, director with long television career, makes this film watchable, but the experience contains too many "deja vus" to be recommended.

RATING: 4/10 (+)