Tarantino is back!  Whether you like him or not few directors understand cinema and the history of film like this guy and his new effort which is a whole new take on WW2 and the Nazis. The film is long and at times the dialogue drags a bit but it is more than made up for with some fine scenes with plenty of suspense and a most original script with a bunch of American Jewish soldiers hunting a Nazi Jew hunter in France, the Jewish survivor of the same soldier’s attack on a farmhouse in the first scene seeking revenge by killing a whole bunch of top Nazis in her cinema in Paris, etc, etc. Apart from the sheer inventiveness of it all Tarantino layers the film with humour and a rich anachronistic soundtrack including Bowie’s wonderful Cat People which presages the cinema fire.  Then there are all the movie references to other films, to actors and actresses of the golden age …and the usual violence that this time is more bareable because of the humour of the film. Another delight is the variety of actors with some cast against type, notably Brad Pitt. Christoph Waltz as Landa is great as is Melanie Laurent as Shoshana. This is a film that will merit more than one viewing and is a valued addition to the director’s work.

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New Zealand’s epic of a couple of years back that ended up costing fortunes and being a plagued shoot.  Rather like Baz Luhrmann’s, Australia, this is a sort of attempt to tell a major story from the country’s history, about an Irish woman who has a child with a Maori and ends up in the context of the Maori Wars going from one side to another as she searches for her boy who is kidnapped by a tribe or is lured back to the British side.  It is not a bad story but in the telling it gets rather mangled and my end impression is of a not very original movie going over the same ground that The Mission, Terence Malick and others have done better.  The problem regrettably is with Vincent Ward, despite his talent as it is the direction and mostly the script that are really wooden. The music choice also tends to grate and it is left to Alun Bollinger’s photography up the Wanganui River to save the day and some good battle scenes.  Samantha Morton does a reasonable job in the lead role without being that gripping, Kiefer Sutherland starts well and peters out and locals Cliff Curtis and Temuera Morrison hold their own.  A lot of fuss methinks about a film that could have been better and just manages to more or less keep our attention for the ride.

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Definitely in the category of small films, this little German number set in Poland takes the story of Sven, a young German,who comes to Auschwitz to do his civil service and ends up having to babysit a veteran of the camp who is in his 80’s and far from an easy job.  He is also involved in and around the monuments and this allows him to meet Anya, a Polish guide who he falls for.  The films throws up all sorts of questions about the German role in Poland today with local Polish being relatively cool towards their presence.  It also asks us to look at what and how we remember such tragic events in the past and as the film progresses Sven realizes how important it is to value the memories of history and how that today is a challenge with the young.  A gentle film which makes a number of points quietly, I enjoyed it a lot although there is nothing outstanding either in front or behind the camera to mention in particular.  Simply, a quiet, competent film.

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A strange film with readings on various levels.  The story is that of a French family who live in bucolic abandon next to a motorway that has never been inaugurated.  It is like paradise for the wife (Isabelle Huppert).  Then, after ten years inaction, the authorities give it an extra layer of paving and open it up.  The rural peace is shattered and we watch the family coming to terms or not with the effects of this new lifestyle: the difficulty of getting across the highway to their car, the contamination of the air and plants, the constant noise, etc.  Family relationships start to get strained.  They block up the house with concrete bricks to get some peace transforming paradise into a type of prison. The rationalists will say ‘Why don’t they get out?’ Indeed, the calvary seems somewhat senseless.  Yet reading the film as a type of allegory of being stuck in a place that changes its nature with you being powerless to do much about it, it could be Planet Earth, a state that becomes a dictatorship, a state at war (there was an Israeli film with a similar theme) or simply a neighbourhood that turns sour. The ending is perhaps a little too open and overall, the film is a little dull unless you engage in this reflection based on what it says.  Ursula Meier does a good job of casting with Huppert and Olivier Gourmet up to their normal level and the photography of Agnes Godard which follows the mood of the story perfectly.

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Independent Argentine film that seems low budget but packs a punch well above its weight.  Unfortunately, its setting and the themes dealt with in the film are not going to draw millions to the box office but as a story of poverty, violence, ignorance and exploitation, the film is a low-key and convincing and remains in the mind for a long time afterwards.

Roberto is an 18 year-old gay whose mother and sister barely provide a stable home life.  He wants his independence, a place of his own and a dream romance within the reasonable expectations of an unemployed boy from the southern suburbs of greater Buenos Aires.  He takes up with Raúl, a 50-ish long-haired loner who earns his money from dubious dealings, seems to be a sort of cross between rocker, dealer and local mercenary and who has a very short fuse which results in acts of considerable violence.  The relationship sputters into life that way with Roberto moving in with him, grateful for a home and trying to reform the older man and balance up the relationship in some way.  As he gets to know more about Raúl, who has a history in the neighbourhood, he realizes that he is sucked into a cycle of violence which involves another lover, his family and his friends.

The film is no joyride but Juan José Campusano manages the pacing and direction with confidence, gives us a largely authentic script and leads his inexperienced actors to some excellent performances.  Oscar Génova as Raúl is quite a character, brooding and hard, Nehuén Zapata does an amazingly solid job with Roberto as a mixture of good faith, courage and innocence and Marisa Pájaro as Alejandra, the sister, is a find.  Vil Romance wins a lot of points in its authenticity and simplicity and for the commentary it makes on human relationships particularly in the context of an impoverished social class.

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An extraordinary film in the sense that it plays out more like a documentary but is in fact very carefully staged and full of wisdom about people and families.  It takes the story of a Tunisian father who lives in France and when ‘made redundant’ decides to put his efforts and little money into turning a derelict boat into a cous-cous restaurant. His ex-wife will cook for it, his present lover who has a small hotel gets the huff and various members of the family support the project to greater and lesser degrees. The person who most helps him is Rym, his lover’s daughter. Played by Hafsia Herzi, she and Habib Boufares make an odd and compelling couple as they battle local banks and bureaucracy. Both actors, but particularly Herzi, are superb and give us characters that are so real and credible that we hardly feel we are watching a film.  These are real people with no concessions for cinema.  The father is quiet to the point of almost sullenness, the women are quite the opposite and can’t be halted in full flow and with it we learn all about the substrata of family life.  Maybe it is overlong and maybe some of the content drags on a bit but the effect is so natural and so dramatic in precisely a compellingly natural way that you get hooked.  Several scenes, usually involving long dialogues are fascinating and of a type seldom scene in the cinema these days and Herzi’s last main appearance as the belly dancer is stunning.  This is a film that warrants more than one viewing as it gives us real-life drama and many comments about life and immigrants that are most insightful.  Director/Screenwriter Abdellatif Kechiche can take a bow.

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This is no world beater as a film but as a rainy Sunday afternoon chick flick it does have some merits.  Not the least of which is Meryl Streep, who once again gives us a superb portrayal of the famous American cookery writer Julia Child, who living in Paris took classes in French cooking and then wrote about it to introduce the Americans to that cuisine.  We see her life in Europe, her supportive diplomat husband played by Stanley Tucci and her efforts to nail the definitive book with her local friends.  Streep does another masterpiece on accent and on body language – the tall almost ungainly woman with the passion for life and food.  Less gripping is the modern blog story featuring Amy Adams as Julie, the New Yorker who seeks respite from her day job sorting out 9/11 traumas to cook all the recipes in Child’s original book and write about them! Adams does her best and is clearly an actress of talent and her scenes with Chris Messina are good but they pale in comparison to the scenes with Child.  Good photography and music and Ephron has a sure hand with the direction though the script can be a bit cloying at times as she tries to milk a life lesson every so often.

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Intelligent and well directed Argentine film about a retired judge’s clerk who decides to write a novel about a case twenty years previously that was never quite solved to his satisfaction, as was a potential love affair that never got off the ground with the judge’s secretary.  Consequently, the film is shot with plenty of flashbacks which fits in with its mystery theme and the element of romantic memory that it contains.  Juan José Campanella is a more than competent director and is well supported by favourite Ricardo Darin, the very able Soledad Villamil, an effective Pablo Rago and the most surprising comic actor Guillermo Francella who turns in a remarkable performance as the alcoholic sidekick Sandoval. Great photography from Felix Monti too.  While there may be some quibbles about time frames and continuity, this is a satisfying work of art without rising to great heights.

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Marco Tullio Giordana is noted for his period pieces for RAI television and his latest film smacks of the same careful reproduction of the period and rather monotonous pacing.  There is no denying the seriousness of the cast and crew as they recreate this real story of the death of two actors famous during the Fascist regime in WW2 Italy.  The story of how the regime tried to influence the art and muzzle the noted directors of the time and how the wannabe’s tried to use this opportunity to grab fame is well portrayed as is the climactic persecution of such upstarts as the war ends.  The flashback technique is a little irritating in this respect as it takes time to work out who is who.  Acting credits go to Luca Zingaretti who is excellent as Osvaldo Valenti and Monica Bellucci is ever magnetic whenever on screen as the siren Luisa Ferida. All in all the film is a good opportunity to learn about an episode of war and Italian history that has lessons for posterity, but as a movie it does drag in parts and lacks a certain something to lift it into a better category. Interesting but not vital.

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Indie darling of a couple of years back, there is no doubting that this is an original little movie about a bunch of interconnected people in the suburbs – child sexuality, child molesting, lost adults, etc etc.  Parts of it I found almost irritating and writer-director Miranda July as the leading lady and performance artist is definitely close to maddening, but the sheer inventiveness of the script and the stories makes up for her character.  There are some good performances from a non famous cast and a nice brevity to the film but it also falls short of the great revelation I perhaps expected.  July is an artist to be watched and there may be more than one actor here to go on to better things, so at the end of the day it gives plenty to enjoy and think about.

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A curiosity that ends up being less than curious.  VS Naipaul’s first novel set in Trinidad and brought to the screen by Ismail Merchant of the Merchant and Ivory team.  As a work designed to depict a certain period in Trinidad’s history (1940’s and 50’s) it is sound enough, the great problem being that the story of this Indian upstart becoming a masseur, magic man and politician is not that fascinating and despite the efforts of actors and screenwriter Caryl Phillips, the film has a plodding predictable nature that kills our interest. Only the lush countryside and the fact that this is a ‘new’ subject for a film kept me going to the end.

* *

German remake of an American independent film of the 80’s and both are based on a real incident at a Californian High School in the 60’s.  It recounts a week project by a political science/civics teacher who decides to show his students how an authoritarian society can come about by leading them through a simulation of the process.  Trouble is that the students buy into the project to such an extent that they start taking it way too seriously and things get totally out of hand. The film itself is nothing special with an upbeat staging and direction by Dennis Gansel and a solid leading man in Jürgen Vogel, but it is the issues that the film raises,  which keep one interested and the fact that it is made in Germany has a special relevance.

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This film had mixed reviews but for my money is as good as anything seen out this year.  Clint Eastwood gives us a great grumpy non-PC Korean veteran in Walt, forced to confront his wife’s death and his new neighbours, an extended family of Hmong Vietnamese in his run down part of Detroit.  Walt repels the church and his own family’s guilt-saving intentions to find himself sucked into the world of the neighbours as in his role of security guard of his property he defends the teenage son and daughter next door from marauding gangs of both black and Vietnamese origins.  He learns a few new things in his begrudging way and he dusts down his old soldier skills and a bit of Dirty Harry in the process.  This film has much to consider on many levels.  There is Eastwood’s own acting and directing talent – his composition of Walt is a terrific characterization of a man of his age and experience and as a piece of acting you seldom see the like.  Then there is the whole baggage he brings to the film from his career.  The issue of who is one’s neighbour, of the assimilation of immigrants, of the fading of old Yankee standards (the car Gran Torino is a symbol of this) is another aspect as is the question of law and order and protection of one’s property.  Add to that modern aspects of racism and the role of the church, and the humour of insults and you have a rich array of levels on which to watch the movie.  Bee Vang and Ahney Her are satisfactory in the supporting roles but this is Eastwood’s film with the help of Nick Schenk’s cracking script.  While this may not be a masterpiece, it is a master class in characterization and story telling and for that Clint deserves all the accolades he can get.

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Bulgarian almost magic realism film shot in black and white and featuring the learning and experiences of a skinhead ‘crim’ both in jail and on his release.  Set in the 40’s and 60’s this is an undeniably original film with considerable humour and borrowings from all over the place.  Girlfriend Ada is a sultry torch singer and the one-eyed boxer is a great character.  Maybe not the best film out but definitely a breath of fresh air. The side comments on communism and aspects of the regime are also priceless.  Will be interested to see where director Javor Gardev goes from here.

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A small, poignant and thoughtful drama based on an acclaimed novel and about a young Bangladeshi woman sent to Britain as a child bride of 17 to a man 20 years her elder, physically unattractive and miles from her in interests.  We take up the story 17 years later as she becomes curious about the world, meets a younger man she has feelings for and wonders if her daughters will suffer the same fate.  11 September is around the corner with a rise in Muslim activism and her husband finally wants to take the family on that long awaited journey home.  Nazneen (very effectively played by Tannishtha Chatterjee) has mixed feelings about all this and the film beautifully portrays this period of doubt and growth.  Satish Kaushik makes the unattractive Chanu an interesting character who, though trapped in Muslim macho attitudes, does have a heart. Lovely photography and music as well.  Most of all it is a good movie about marriage.

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Impressive recreation of period in this thriller about the July 20 plot to kill Hitler by a bunch of high ranking Nazi officers.  It’s an incredible story too.  But as a film it hardly set me on fire despite a great selection of top Brits in supporting roles.  Why?  Well, part of it has to do with Tom Cruise in the lead role who acts in a restrained way but just can’t pull off this sort of part.  He is too American and does nothing to hide his accents.  The homogenized non-Germanic nature of the supporting actors all using a variety of accents and styles is a mess compared to many films that have pulled off the accent issue (if Meryl can do it …). And in the end there is something leaden about the storytelling and something largely undramatic.  Good photography and music help save the show but I left this film wanting a good laugh and I am sure that was not intended.

* * +

Low-key and harsh drama penned by the excellent Hanif Kureishi about a mother who visiting her children in London, loses her husband and then for fear of returning to her home stays on and brings things between her daughter and she to a head by bedding the daughter’s boyfriend!  It may seem sensational but is in fact a tense and awkward drama about dysfunctional families, the lack of respect for others and where people put the blame for their unsatisfying lives.  It is also about the right of senior citizens to have a sex life.  Great acting from Anne Reid and Daniel Craig in particular, well photographed, directed and scored.  Maybe not a fun night out but definitely a thought provoking and rewarding film.

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The second feature by Argentina’s Celina Murga, this is relatively minimalist in plot and action but rich in subtlety of meaning as she explores a week in the life of a bunch of rich teenagers in a gated community.  Their parents are away and they try to keep themselves amused like breaking into houses or joy riding or simply playing at play station.  Through small incidents, looks and comments we discover how they perceive the outside world, their lives and the people like guards and maids who work for them.  It is a strange existence and they have contradictory behaviour, defending the ‘prison rules’ to others but striving to break them whenever possible and expecting impunity!  Nothing you could call great in it, but far richer than you would first think. Juvenile actors like sisters Magdalena and Sofia Capobianco shine, especially the latter as the sensitive younger girl who delivers a lovely song at the local concert.

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As the days go by since seeing this modern morality tale by Mike Leigh, it rises in my estimation.  Seeing how people react when confronted by an extremely optimistic person is fascinating.  Leigh’s film lags a little in places but delivers lots to chew over.  Sally Hawkins as Poppy, the optimist in question performs a tour-de-force managing to be engaging just when we thin she will be unbearable.  Eddie Marsan as Scott, the manic driving instructor is a little over-the-top but credible all the same and London does its bit for the backdrops.  Cracking script and some funny scenes.

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