Jamie passion and passionfruit!

Ma mére

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Another musical for Oscar time – the second this year.  Maybe they are not my thing entirely but there is a world of difference between a live stage show and film and somehow part of the energy is lost on celluloid.  That is not to say that Rent is not a good example of the genre.  The tunes are reasonably good and the singing and acting is fine, although the cast is largely unknown.  Perhaps it is the theme – bohemian artists struggling with HIV in New York in the 90’s – an updated version of La Boheme that I found hard to take.  The messages of love and tolerance are fine in principal but somehow got rather repetitive towards the end and a good twenty minutes could have come off the film.  There are also many elements in the plot where you have to suspend judgement, especially the final scene which may work on stage or in a fantasy but not in grimy New York.  Maybe I was just not in a great mood to make concessions.  So, Anthony Rapp, Adam Pascal, Idina Menzel (two great scenes) and Rosario Dawson all do their bit.  Taye Diggs is not as prominent as one would have expected from his billing.  Chris Columbus is a competent enough director but somehow although there is plenty of energy I needed more.  Maybe the Pet Shop Boys singing ‘Rent’ would have helped!

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Another message movie.  This time the fight against sexual harassment by a group of women mine workers in Minnesota in the early 90’s.  Of course, the divine Charlize Theron is the lead character and not some plain butch mine worker.  Good for cinemagoers but a point off for authenticity.  Just like Julia Roberts as Erin Brokovich.  Theron acts very well and it is a great part.  She is very ably supported by Frances McDormand as Glory, a union rep and then sufferer of a fatal illness, Sissy Spacek, Woody Harrelson, Sean Bean and Richard Jenkins.  No problems with the acting then.  Nicki Caro’s direction is fine within a certain Hollywood pattern and Chris Menges (photography) and Gustavo Santaolalla (music) do good stuff.  But somewhere something is missing.  Perhaps it is the rather cliched screenplay or the almost overly exaggerated bad guys portayal of the male miners.  What they do and the relentless bad language and bad behaviour is surely authentic but it gets to be too one-sided when it is served up constantly.  I don’t know.  Again, the hearts of the filmmakers are in the right place and it is all easy to follow but I felt that it came closer to cliche and to telemovie at times when other films like Norma Rae have covered similar ground in a more earthy way.  So, congrats to the girls for the Oscar nominations and I hope Caro finds something slightly more offbeat to do next time.

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This film is almost a documentary in parts and then smack on top is a love story which I found to be a detracting factor.  After all, the main value of the movie is to recount the story of the Truth and Reconciliation commission in South Africa following the downfall of the regime of apartheid. We learn some very interesting things about the black concept of dealing with what happened in the 34 years before the film.  The film is based on the book by an Afrikaans reporter who covers the hearings which crossed the country for the South African Broadcasting Corporation.   Juliette Binoche plays the character based on this journalist, Anna Malan.  As ever Binoche is very watchable and mines a range of sentiments deep inside.  Samuel Jackson plays the American reporter who plays the ignorant Everyman to whom everything has to be explained.  What is more he is black!  Thinks he should understand Africa but realises that he doesn’t and the Africans don’t think he does either.  And what’s more he has an affair with Anna and witnesses first hand murder in a township of black against black! It is all a bit contrived somehow as are some of the scenes in which meaningful messages come out in the dialogue.  So, this adds up to a very difficult film to assess.  A little too dramatized for Hollywood for my liking in places but undoubtedly rich in individual scenes, performances and information in others.  Perhaps it was more a subject for a mini-series than a film and that may explain its lack of cinema success worldwide.  Director John Boorman is a sensitive veteran who has tried to do the best job by all but I have always doubted a bit his quality as a director.  There was always something missing between good and great.  And perhaps it is his rather conservative treatment that ultimately leaves me feeling a bit cold despite the undoubted good intentions of cast and crew.

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Italian film released here as ‘The Secret’ about a ten year-old boy who discovers a secret in a well near his house.  As this is the period in Italy when kidnapping was  common you can imagine what might be involved.  Giuseppe Cristiano is excellent as the kid as many European actors of this age are striking a balance between being photogenic, being real and being able to act.  Aitana Sanchez-Gijon has a rather dull role but is more than welcome as the mother and then there are various characters fleshing out the other parts.  Gabriele Salvatores tells us he story through the eyes of the child and this perspective is consistent throughout.  We don’t get any more information about what is going on than the boy has and little by little we learn what is really happening.  I liked this film a lot although it was slow moving at times.  The photography gives us those typical Italian agricultural scenes in the height of summer that has all the Brits rushing off for their cottage in the hot sun, but the story is really more than that and while it is not that original it is a professional and enjoyable film.

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By the end of this I had been well reminded of ‘Iluminados por el fuego’ the Argentine film about the cannon fodder recruits in the Malvinas.  Here, the fodder are marines in the first Gulf War who are volunteers and who go to the Gulf all hyped up to battle old So damn insane.  150 + days later and still no sign of action.  They are bored stiff, sandy and dirty and demoralised living in tents in the desert.  Fights break out, accidents happen and there is more than a little madness.  When fighting does occur it is over in four days and mostly air to ground missiles and no hand to hand combat.  This film is undeniably ironic and spares no criticism of the unpreparedness of the army chiefs with their friendly fire and contradictory orders given.  And yet, the real victims are these young men who come out scarred in more ways than one.  An intersting film – again not great.  Jake Gyllenhaal holds it together as Swoff, ably supported by Peter Skarsgaard.  Jamie Foxx and Chris Cooper both do the trick in supporting roles and Sam Mendes directs with skill as one of his background should.  James Newman adds some decent music too!

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Japanese Story

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What a stylish film this is!  Black and white photography, swirling smoke, moody glances and jazz on in the background, Clooney has definitely created the look good movie of the season to date.  Robert Elswit again to the fore in the photography seat.  The content of the film is not too far behind either.  About the CBS newsrooms determined effort to question the witchhunt of Senator Joe McCarthy in the US in the fifties and spearheaded by one of the most influential TV frontpeople of the time, Ed Murrow, we are taken through the campaign in an intelligent way.  We see the tense newsroom meetings, the hushed conversations in the halls, the meaningful looks – it is a film in which the depths of the story are there in different forms, whether punctuated by a jazz tune with a message or by old film reel clips.  David Strathairn does a great job as Ed Murrow and is ably backed up by a fine cast including the wonderful Patricia Clarkson, Robert Downey Junior, Jeff Daniels, Ray Wise and George Clooney himself.  For me, a great cast film with Clooney as director standing out with his intelligent approach, especially given that in the Bush era these same issues are to the fore.

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Straight country and western biopic just as Ray covered the blues etc last year.  No great revealtions in the movie itself but some very solid acting all round especially the excellent Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash, who might have won the Oscar in another year and Reese Witherspoon who is efficient and shows her acting chops as June Carter.  They get extra kudos for singing all the songs but somewhere along this line we walked I think I would have liked to have seen something more innovative and something I cared about more.  It’s a careful movie but somehow the grit left when we left the cotton fields.

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The political thriller has made a comeback and now we have the third in recent times after Munich and The Constant Gardener.  This one is all about the battle for petrol and the sleazy deals between lawyers, energy traders, oil companies and various sheikhs.   You have to keep your wits about you as it has all sorts of stories rolled into one.  It gets a little much three quarters of the way through but there are enough interesting scenes to keep us amused.  The film has a repertory feel with no one actor standing out among the many.  Matt Damon and George Clooney have the most visible roles but I wouldn’t say they are great performances – just very competent ones.  I found the photography of Robert Elswit one of the best features, especially in the scenes set in the Arab world which have a luminous glare to them.  A film to be valued for the fact that it tackles issues that need to be tackled as much as I have my reservations about the cinematic excellence of the work.

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Yes, its a special film – for its theme and for the beauty of many of the features it shows like the landscapes and the acting.  It is also achingly sad and a beautiful tale of a thwarted love, impeded by the times and place where the story is set (Wyoming 1960’s -1980’s). Intelligent, gripping and with care to detail, Ang Lee has made a very good movie all round.  Heath Ledger is especially impressive as Ennis and Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Williams and Anne Hathaway all shine.  Haunting cowboy music by the Argentine, Gustavo Santolalla.  So, not a dry eye in the house but that is what cinema is partly about, telling us moving stories.

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Second time round for this story this year – the first having a definite Indian spice flavour.  This time around, it is a much more traditional British adaptation of the Jane Austen classic.  We have the classic actors like Judi Dench, the picture postcard scenes of grand houses and the crisp witty dialogue.  It is all perfectly enjoyable.  I can`t say however that it has that extra spice or adornment to raise it above the usual costume drama – it is just very competently done.  I guess  you have to like Jane Austen a lot too and frankly she is all a little twee for me.  Keira Knightley holds the film together and despite her youth she is an excellent Lizzie and deserving of her Oscar nomination.  I also liked Donald Sutherland as the father – one of the best things he has done in ages.  Brenda Blethyn warbles away amusingly and the long line of supporting actors do their bit well.  Matthew McFadyen is suitably distant most of the way through so it comes as a bit of a surprise at the end when he becomes all heated and passionate.  The story is written that way so it doesn’t give the actor so much to do.  Nice music by Dario Marianelli and photography too.

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One of the sweetest films I have seen for some time, this independent release has won prizes and acclaim all over for its honest depiction of growing up in Manhattan.  Victor aspires to be the local Casanova which leads to his grandmother getting upset about his behaviour and accusing him of breaking up the family unit which is comprised of those two, a couch potato sister and a younger brother.  In the midst of this Victor discovers Judy, the most sought after girl in the neighbourhood and although at the beginning he thinks of her as a conquest, it then becomes something else.  There are various other subplots which show how people move through the processes of change and growth as adolescents and how this affects the people around them.  Always done with humour and tenderness, Victor Rasuk is excellent in the lead role and ably supported by Judy Marte, Altagracia Guzman as the granny and a host of other amateur actors who shine.  Peter Sollett wrote and directed this little gem.

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Jaime Bayly es la oveja negra de la literatura peruana y en mas de diez años ha escandalizado a su familia y la sociedad mas conservadora de su pais.  No es gran escritor ni gran periodista pero encara los temas mas sensibles de la vida social de hoy en dia. Y eso es algo.  Me cae como simpático y honesto. Ahora su segunda novela pasa al cine y hecha en Mexico.  Tiene pinta como película, la fotografia es linda, tanto como la música de Angelo Millo.  Lastima que la historia, el contexto y las actuaciones no logran causar tanto interes.  Barbara Mori es la tipica actriz de novela que no ofrece nada a la caracterización de su personaje, Christian Meier hace lo que puede con un papel que implica que guarda muchas cosas para el y Manolo Cardona como el hermano de Ignacio no hace mucho mas que usar palabrotas.  Falta profundidad y autenticidad.  Bruno Bichir es el mas interesante como el amigo gay, pero aun asi estamos listos para ir cuando termina este trabajo fofo.

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A Dirty Shame

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Steven Spielberg surprises me with his toughest, saddest film in years apart perhaps from Artificial Intelligence.  Based on the killings of Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics it actually looks at the Mosad hit squad that then set about picking off the Palestinian assassins over the next few years.  Basically, the message is that we cannot be immune to violence however justified it may seem and that the price of killing can be very high even if it is the way to save your country.  All of this is personified in the figure of the group leader Avner Kaufmann played excellently by Eric Bana who is torn between duty to his homeland and his family.  The rest of the film is more of your thriller as the team set up explosions and murders and deal with the people in international terrorism.  It is a dark and violent movie in places but I found it quite fascinating and while by no means perfect it has a lot to say and is a good fiim into the bargain.  The absence of soppy scenes helps a lot.  Photography of Janusz Kaminski again up to his high standards as he gives a grainy dated almost sepia image to the movie.  Geoffrey Rush leads an excellent supporting cast and all told a satisfying if not particularly cheerful visit to the cinema.

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