Buffalo '66

Title: Buffalo ‘66

Director: Vincent Gallo

Released: 1998

Starring: Vincent Gallo, Christina Ricci, Ben Gazzara, Mickey Rourke, Rosanna Arquette, Jan-Michael Vincent, Anjelica Huston

Plot: Released from prision after serving five years for a crime he didn’t commit, Billy (Gallo) is keen to get his life in order starting with a visit to his parents. However to maintain the lie of his whereabouts all this time he kidnaps tap dancer Layla (Ricci) to play the role of his fiance.

 

Review: The debut film from the man of many talents Vincent Gallo and who here writes and directs the film, though if your to believe Gallo he was also responsible for the cinematography aswell.

Made on a shoestring budget of $ 1.5 milion this aggressive little indie film is not one for those of use who watch films for escapism or to generally not feel like garbage by the end credits for this is far from the happiest film as Gallo crafts a film full of hate and vitriol as Billy is introduced angry and carries it through for nearly the whole film as he angrily searches for a bathroom, argues with his parents and even gets angry at Layla for daring to actually have feelings for him. That being said though in Gallo’s world view everyone is seemingly just as angry.

A favourite of not only the critics where it appears frequently on the top 50 lists of independent cinema but also the majority of Letterboxd reviewers whose glowing reviews for this film made me wonder if I’d stumbled into a different movie as this was far from the most thrilling cinema going experience as instead I found myself feeling like I was locked in a filthy room with only a single Kleenex to clean up. Honestly I wasn’t sure what there was to enjoy about a film were for the first hour it just seemed to be a stream of people determined to let each other know just how much they hated each other.

Of course there have been other equally grim movies such as “Requiem for a Dream” and “Irreversable” that dare I say I’ve enjoyed, but with those it was clear that there was a destination they were heading towards and that it wasn’t just some demented experiment in endurance that the director was seemingly trying to craft. It’s here of course that I find the biggest question mark about the film in that its unclear what Gallo is actually trying to achieve here other than fuelling his own ego as throughout Gallo ensures that he constantly the focus of the film while the now legendary fallout from the film which saw Gallo claiming that he carried Ricci while refering to her as being a “Puppet”, he also blamed Anjelica Huston for the film being turned down by the Cannes film festival.

As a lead character Billy makes this far from the easiest experience to get through as there is no one that he won’t pick an argument with or shout abuse at and while Gallo might with painful tedium strip aware these layers of aggressive armour as the reasons are revealed from the abusive family home which is layed on thick for if you couldn’t tell by the general bitterness around the family table Gallo throws in a flashback to Billy’s father killing his puppy when he didn’t clean up after it. We also flashback to the events surrounding his imprisonments was he’s interrogated by his bookie Mickey Rourke whose surprise appearance here was one of the spattering of high points scattered throughout the film.

Ricci’s Layla makes an interesting counterpart to Billy as represents the light in this world, even though her lack of concern for her situation let alone willingness to go along with Billy’s plan remained a sticking point for myself especially when Billy is just so continually aggressive towards her only to suddenly fall for her in a moment of sickening smaltz because of course she’s the only one who can save him from his own darkness. Still despite the cliché path for her character here Ricci still manages to craft several moments throughout the film such as a spontaneous tap dance at the bowling alley. But with her doe eyes and general manic-pixie-dream girl aura around her its hard to not like her character

While the film might be a slog to get through it does however incorporate some interesting visual ideas into its cinematography to hold your attention with the best of these coming at the finale were we get to enjoy freeze frame gunshot wounds as the camera moves freely around the frozen figures. For all the flashy camera work though, it often feels like more of a distraction for the general unpleasent tone throughout this film.

Sure this fans might have its fans but like its leading man this was one film whose appeal was lost on me.

Celia

Title:  Celia Aka Celia: Child of Terror

Director:  Ann Turner
Released:  1988
Starring: Rebecca Smart, Nicholas Eadie, Victoria Longley, Mary-Anne Fahey, Margaret Ricketts, Alexander Hutchinson, Adrian Mitchell, Callie Gray, Martin Sharman, Clair Couttie, Alex Menglet, Amelia Frid, William Zappa, Feon Keane, Louise Le Nay

Plot: Celia (Smart) is a nine year old with an active imagination growing up in 1950s suburban Melbourne, who constantly escapes into a fantasy world to escape the ongoing troubles around her, while society deals with both the fear of communism and the rabbit plague.

Review:  This might be the vaguest Alt. Christmas movie I’ve covered to date, especially when the sole link we get to Christmas is in the opening scene which see’s Celia’s class breaking up for the holiday, while the blackboard reads “Merry Christmas” that’s it! No Christmas trees or celebrations, just some festive words on a blackboard. So while the link might not be the greatest, it does however mean I get to cover this obscure Australian film which sits amongst the likes of “Lord of the Flies” and “War of the Buttons” with a playful dark side which at the same time left me wanting to compare this film to arguably Peter Jackson’s best film “Heavenly Creatures”.

 Right from the start director Ann Turner wastes little time in showing the audience an insight into the psyche of Celia which see’s here escaping from her troubled home life via her active imagination which see’s slime covered monsters lurking outside her window, while at the same time sharing a tight bond with the three Tanner kids who live next door and whose parents communist beliefs keep them isolated from the community. Its also through her eyes which we see various adult events unfolding from affairs and barbeques through to events happening in society such as the rabbit plague highlighted through news reel footage which really helps to capture the time period and especially the tensions of the time.

Its worth pointing out that this isn’t a horror film as for some reason the distributors were seemingly keen to market it as judging by the alternative “Child of Horror” title, no doubt the result of them not knowing how else to sell this film, which is understandable when it constantly seems to exist in its own unique world were Celia can switch between blood pacts and childish feuds with her cousin Stephanie (Frid) and her committing and covering up a violent murder with little concern for the consequences of her actions, while the mock hanging she carries out with her friends is awhole other thing entirely. That being said the film is frequently a fascinating and surreal film.

The feud with Stephanie continually makes for one of the pillars of the film here as they engage in a series of tit for tat exhanges, with their rivally seemingly spawned out of their polar world views as Celia fights against the rule governed world of adults, while Stephanie is more happy to submit and more often use them to get a Celia often via her policeman father. However this being said she too has her own bad seed moment when she chooses to brand Celia’s rabbit seemingly out of pure spite. For some reason these confrontations usually around the quarry where Celia and her friends prefer to hang out for no real reason, especially when there is nothing of any real interest there apart from an old shed and it was a setting that I constantly thought would lead to some big moment, but sadly it’s just a setting and nothing else.

The other main antagonist for Celia here is her father with who she has one of the more complicated relationship with as he constantly scoulds her for not following the rules or for her friendship with the Tanner’s especially when he finds out that they are communists. He’s also responsible for her losing her beloved pet rabbit “Murgatroyd” under the rules being enforced by the authorities as part of their attempts to curb the rabbit plague, however when given the chance to reclaim him, he’s happy for her to believe that he has died, despite finding him a couple of minutes earlier. These scenes of high bastardry being countered by scenes of her being taken fishing which only makes it the more confusing how we are supposed to feel about this relationship.

Due to Celia’s behaviour throughout the film its hard to know if this movie should be classed as a “Bad Seed” movie, especially with the events of the film being largely seen through her eyes, while her blonde hair and plats certainly bringing to mind Rhoda Penmark. At the same time a lot of her activities are carried out with her gang of sorts, making it more of a kids gone rogue movie.  

This is far from the most action packed or gory film which means that those horror fans looking for their bad seed fix might find themselves sorely disappointed as it features neither but the interactions between the characters and occasional set pieces really help to carry this film which does at time feel a lot longer as a result than its surprisingly short runtime and what stopped me from rating this film higher. That being said it has enough interesting and occasionally shocking moments to make this one worth hunting down,  more so when it’s the kind of film which is sadly not made enough in these times were films seem to fall into the category of high drama or blockbuster its films like this which make it so much fun to hunt down and experience these movies.

50 / 50

Title:  50 / 50
Director: Jonathan Levine’s
Released: 2011
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Seth Rogan, Anna Kendrick, Anjelica Huston, Matt Frewer

Plot: Adam (Gordon-Levitt) a Seattle based radio researcher, whose sole problems seem to be a lack of sex with his Artist girlfriend Rachael (Dallas Howard), getting to work on time and what seems like some minor back problems. It is soon the latter which throws his world into turmoil as he discovers that it is being caused by a malignant neurofibroma-sarcoma schwannoma (try saying that after a couple of drinks) a rare form of cancer with a survival rate of 50 / 50

Review: It’s probably safe to say that Cancer isn’t exactly the most prime of choices for comedy and judging by how noticeably empty the theatre was when I originally saw this film, it seems that a lot of people had seemingly come to the same conclusion. Still with a script by Will Reiser who himself battled and won his own fight against “The Big C” he has here crafted a fantastic script based on these experiences which certainly doesn’t tread on eggshells around such delicate subject matter.
While certainly a grim situation its one that Adam doesn’t have to fight this battle on his own, as he finds support from his long term friend and full term slacker Kyle (Rogan), who also frequently uses Adam’s conditions, to their…..well mainly his own sexual advantage to pick up girls, while also receiving support from trainee councillor Kate (Kendrick) and for whom he is only her third patient and from whose sessions an unlikely friendship begins.

Following Adam throughout his battle, he maintains a largely positive front despite soon discovering that his girlfriend is dealing with things slightly less well, clearly having signed on to be his girlfriend and not his nurse, while still feeling the pressure to stand by her man yet she refuses to attend his treatments allowing her own personal dislike of hospitals to take precedence and generally struggling to deal with the situation, leading to best friend Kyle proving to be the unlikely pillar of support even as Adam’s situation grows increasingly grim. Rogan here clearly drawing from his own experiences as the best friend of Will Resier you have a real sense that the role was written specifically for him to play, especially when so many of their shared experiences make reappearances here and while Rogan might be pulling out the same stoner chic which he has carved a living from over the last few years made his calling card, here it more of a throwback to “Knocked Up”  as he tones down his usual frantic energy to allow the natural humour to shine through.

The humour throughout never feels forced outside of the occasional outrageous one liners which are unsurprisingly given to Rogan, yet at the same time it feels wrong to mark this as a comedy, for humour is shown frequently here as shown more as a coping method of handling the situation, than anything resembling cheap laughs from which is essentially an extremely grim subject and it’s a black veined humour which runs throughout this film, which such memorable quips including “The more syllables it has, the worse it is” as joked by prostate cancer patient Mitch (Frewer) during a post chemo chat over hash macaroons a man who is almost like the living representation of acceptance, the fifth and final step on the “five stages of grief”, the stages of which Kate struggles to guide Adam through as she battles her own confidence issues, having still not earned her doctorate and not having the experience to provide all the answers with Kendrick herself describing this character as “the worst therapist in the world”.

With Kate and Kyle providing Adam with his main support Adam also finds himself receiving slightly less wanted support from his mother Diane played here by the always fantastic Anjelica Huston, who again makes such a small role still memorable, as she is already caring for her Alzheimer’s stricken husband yet still is insistent on dropping everything to move in and care for her son as well, while Adam’s attempts to subtly break it to her about his diagnosis by opening with the questionable “Have you ever seen Terms of Endearment?” easily being one of my favourite moments of the film.

Levine has assembled a great cast with Gordon-Levitt once again pulling off another memorable lead performance, while maintaining his indie charms despite recently making more mainstream movies as his profile has risen in the last few years and receives great support from the rest of the cast, who are all equally believable in their roles so that you actually care for these characters, especially during some of the darker moments and Levine effortlessly manages to shift the tone between these moments

“50/50” is yet another great film to come out of the fantastic year for cinema that 2011 turned out to be and while it’s subject matter left it to be truly only discovered once it was released on DVD, much like director Jonathan Levine’s previous indie gem “The Wackness” and again like my review for “Drive” I feel I that I’m truly not doing it justice with this review, even more so when I came home from having watched the film and tried to explain to my wife about the film, only to be greeted with confusion over how a film about cancer could be both funny and not drowned in the usual over emotional tones and as such I can really only urge you to go and watch it yourself to truly understand just how good this film really is.

Elwood's Essentials #10 - Magnolia

Title: Magnolia

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson

Released: 1999

Starring: Jeremy Blackman, Tom Cruise, Julianne Moore, Melinda Dillon, Philip Baker Hall, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Ricky Jay, William H. Macy, Alfred Molina, John C. Reilly, Jason Robards, Melora Walters

Plot: Nine interlinked stories play out over the course of twenty hours in the San Fernando Valley.

Review: Clocking in at just over three hours epic would certainly be the easiest way to describe Director Anderson’s follow up the critically acclaimed “Boogie Nights” which honestly is just one of those films I just didn’t get. Still on the back of its success he was given the opportunity to make any film he wanted with the head of New Line Cinema at the time Michael De Luca signing off on the film without even hearing a plot pitch, while showing so much faith in the director that even giving Anderson rights to the final cut. While it might from the end result seem like Anderson may have been taking the piss slightly considering its length, he had originally wanted to shoot something small and quick only for the script to keep growing as kept thinking of actors he wanted to write for.

Thankfully having been afforded such a generous runtime we truly get to know the mixed and varied inhabitants of Anderson’s vision of LA who include

• Police officer Jim Kurring (Reilly)
• Jimmy Gator (Hall) - Host of the long running game show “What Do Kids Know?” and his estranged daughter Claudia (Walters)
• Child quiz prodigy Stanley (Blackman)
• The grown up former child quiz prodigy Donnie (Macy)
• The terminally ill TV producer Earl Partridge (Partridge), his trophy wife Linda (Moore) and his nurse Phil (Hoffman)
• Pick up artist Frank Mackey (Cruise)

So what ties all these characters together? The simple answer is coincidence as established by the opening monologue which presents us with three cases of coincidence before moving onto the bigger (let alone more complex) example which is the film itself.....this is of course all before it memorably rains frogs!

Each of these characters get their time to shine while the links they all share slowly revel themselves be it through family bloodlines or just through chance encounter. By the end of the day a line can be drawn between them all while its simply staggering how Anderson manages to piece it all together and more interestingly is that no element of his plotting ever feels like a forced connection. Even without the connections between the characters this is still a fascinating film to watch for the stories on their own thanks to some pitch perfect casting.

As a result of such great casting which sees him reuniting with several members of his "Boogie Nights" cast, each of the cast truly embody their characters creating as an result a truly immersive experience as switch between these characters as their stories slowly develop from the Jim’s bumbling attempts at being a good cop only to frequently fail when not seemingly pretending he is on “Cops”. Elsewhere we get the almost the almost identical fates of Stanley and Donnie who both are blessed and cursed with being child genius’s and whose life stories might share more similarities than we first expect, as Donnie’s parents blew his prize money, while for the present day child genius Stanley it would seem that his father has equally similar plans for the potential prize money Stanley is set to win on the show. The plot threads involving this game show interestingly coming from experience gained by Anderson when he worked as an assistant on “Quiz Kid Challenge” while making me how much was actually based on what happened during this time.

Needless to say the standout here is Cruise playing essentially the kind of guy you would expect Tom Cruise to be much like Fight Club’s Tyler Durdan to be what Brad Pitt is like (only perhaps alittle less psycho) so of course it makes perfect sense to have him playing the sexist pussy hound, who has built his life philosophies around sport lays and being the alpha male. Ideals we see him peddling through his self-help groups with all the passion and conviction of a televangelist. The downside to his performance here through is that it does tend to overpower the film and will no doubt be the one character that most people remember from the film, especially when we get to see here Cruise clearly firing on all cylinders.

An emotional roller-coaster here Anderson manages to juggle sudden changes in mood and tone, as he crafts here a film which is frequently brutal in its tone as it manages to be humorous such Jims’ flustered attempts to ask out the terminally neurotic Claudia, let alone the incredibly surreal coffee shop date they ultimately go on or Phil ordering adult magazine over the phone in his attempts to track down his employer’s estranged son Frank. At the same time he is never afraid to counter these moments with something more powerful like Donnie’s drunken breakdown and appeals for love from a clearly uninterested bar tender or Stanley having his request to use the bathroom constantly ignored so that he is left to wet himself on live television.

At the same time the soundtrack provided by Aimee Mann perfectly suits the tone of the film, with Anderson bringing it to the forefront or pushing it to the background as required so that it’s never being used to establish any false sense of tone or mood, though at the same time including the surreal use of “Wise Up” which features the characters simultaneously singing along to the track in a scene seemingly homage by Richard Kelly’s use of “Mad World” in “Donnie Darko”.

While Paul Thomas Anderson might not on the top of my list of favourite director (I know shame on me), let alone the kind of director whose films are usually accompanied by a lot of deep thinking regarding their themes and ideas, here he gives us a film which even when watched without over analysing each scene it remains an immersive experience even with its weighty run time this is undeniably truly masterful film making which even those of who didn’t get his other films can still appreciate.

The Devil's Double

Title: The Devil’s Double

Director: Lee Tamahori

Released: 2011

Starring: Dominic Cooper, Philip Quast, Ludivine Sagnier, Mimoun Oaissa, Raad Rawi, Mem Ferda, Dar Salim, Khalid Laith, Pano Masti, Nasser Memarzia, Tiziana Azzpardi, Akin Gazi, Amrita Acharia

Plot: Iraq 1987, Latif Yahia (Cooper) a soldier finds himself recuited to become a “Fedal” (body double” for Uday Hussein (also Cooper) the son of the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein (Quast).

Review: Lee Tamahori is hardly a director who springs up on anyone’s favourite director list, despite memorably launching his directing career with the powerful “Once Were Warriors” it's been a series of disappointments which followed in its wake while he managed to single handily kill both the “XXX” franchise (not even Wilem Dafoe could save that sequel) and for awhile the “James Bond” franchise with the disappointing series tribute “Die Another Day” while the less said about “Next” the better really. Needless to say I wasn’t sure what to expect from this film, while sees Tamahori moving away from action cinema and back to his drama roots.

While it might claim to be based on a true story, the facts have been frequently disputed since the film’s release, mainly due to lack any actual evidence that Latif Yahia had any connection to Uday Hussein let alone the kind of access to the higher levels of Saddam’s regime as the film depicts. This however does not stop it from being a fascinating story and a highly enjoyable one to boot thanks largely to the phenomenal double act pulled by Cooper as both Latif and Uday. At the same time Latif and Uday are fascinating characters in their own respects with Latif being forced into new role as a Fedal, rather than willingly excepting the role with his first refusal seeing him imprisoned and tortured and ultimately only agrees to take on the role after being informed that his family will be tortured and killed if he doesn’t agree. It is an almost begrudging sense of duty which he takes on the role. Uday on the other hand lives a “Scarface” style lifestyle thanks to the unlimited wealth and power he is afforded as the son of Saddam. At the same time he also enjoys a highly deviant lifestyle of hovering up vast quantities of cocaine, picking up school girls of the street and frequently being prone of burst of psychotic violence which it would seem is none too different than his real life counterpart.

Much like “Scarface” this is equally a film with a focus on gross excess both in terms of wealth aswell as in violence as Latif frequently bears witness to Uday’s life as a playboy gangster which he in turn he is forced to become a part of , while Uday views him as his brother and an object he has created while deluding himself into thinking that he has control over Latif, even though Latif is constantly looking for a way out which won’t endanger his face who have been left believing that he has been killed in the war. While the main focus on the story might be on this thread like bond between Latif and Uday, the film also takes time to follow the relationship between Latif and his advisor let alone the closest thing he has to a friend inside of the regime Munem (Rawi) who like Latif is equally disgusted by what he is forced to bar witness to yet at the same time continues his duties with a sense of grim numbness. At the same time he is frequently a source of sound advice for Latif even if you’re never sure were his loyalty truly lies, more so when he never seems to really side with either party throughout the course of the film.

Still if things are not complex enough a further twist is thrown into the mix with Sarrab (Sagnier), Uday’s lover and the one person who could prove to the breaking point in the fragile arrangement between Latif and Uday as she soon starts showing an interest in Latif with the two soon carrying on a relationship in secret. This however like so many aspects of the film was seemingly included in the more fictional elements which have drawn most of the criticism for the film especially when so much of the film can’t be proven or would appear to have been based on real life events such as the jealous slaying of Saddam’s bodyguard Kamel Hana (Ferda) by an enraged Uday.

The other criticism about the film is the levels of violence which while sporadic frequently burst into cartoonish levels of gore as with the aforementioned killing of Kamel Hana while providing yet another reason to compare it to “Scarface”. At the same time the violence is never excessively over used and often feels in context even if the tone of the film is far from the serious biographical film that I think a lot of the detractors were expecting it to be.

Unlike his more recent output Tamahori here proves that he can still craft a gripping drama even if falls more between the worlds of his brutally dark debut and the more action orientated later latter films. This is still a great film and even while it might be factually questionable in places, its strong characters and visual styling which includes a memorable scene of Saddam playing tennis against his double this film gives us hope that he’s still capable of producing memorable cinema, while at the time of writing it remains to be seen if he continues on this track or returns to more mainstream fare.

The Hunter

Title: The Hunter
Director: Daniel Nettheim
Released: 2012
Starring: Willem Dafoe, Frances O’Connor, Finn Woodlock, Morgana Davies, Sam Neil

Plot: Martin (Dafoe) a mercenary hired by the biotech company Red Leaf to hunt down and recover tissue and organ samples of the Tasmanian Tiger, which has long since thought to be extinct. Arriving in Tasmania under the alias of a university professor, he sets up a temporary residence with single mother Lucy (O’Connor) and her two young and seemingly feral children Sass (Davies) and the mute Bike (Woodlock), whose father disappeared in the wilderness eight months previous hunting for the same Tasmanian Tiger which Martin seeks.

 

 

Review: Possibly one of the more low key releases, but non the less important releases of this 2012, it is a film much like “Lost In Translation” in the fact that it is hard to make sound appealing and a film which it would seem that director Daniel Nettheim has taken the most cue’s from as he crafts a simple plotted but none the less engaging film.

Based on the book of the same name by Julia Leigh, it is far from being one the most action packed films but at the same time far from boring as we follow Martin on his quest for the elusive tiger. From the start though its clear that he is a man who seems most happy when he is isolated from the rest of humanity as seem in the opening, as he complains about being kept waiting in his hotel room and despite being in Paris cares little for sight seeing while clearly having long since grown used to a life on the road as shown by how he sets out his personal effects in his hotel room. Still despite this solitary existence he has chosen for himself, it is also clear he was not prepared for some of the aspects of this latest assignment, as he is left horrified by the rundown condition of his latest dwellings which inturn soon has him running for the local inn seeking alternative accommodation.

Elswhere the locals are less than welcoming, as they associate him with the local environmentalists or “greenies” whose current protests currently threaten the livelihood of the local loggers, who in turn ensure that the threat of violence is never far away, even more so when they are potentially linked with the disappearance of Sass and Bike’s father. Realising that he has little choice but to stay at his original accommodation, he soon finds himself bonding with his host family in particular the children whose fathers disappearance has sent their mother into a medicated downward spiral leaving them with almost no adult supervision outside of the occasional visit from the local guide Jack (Neill), who is from the start and throughout especially suspicious of Martin, especially with his loyalties being seemingly divided between both the environmentalists and loggers.

It is only when Martin sets out into the Tasmanian wilderness that the film really  is at its best, let alone most stunning as panoramic shots and extensive helicopter footage add to the sense of isolation, especially with the shots of Martin walking across the plains with nothing but wilderness and harsh terrain in seemingly all directions. This sense of how remote this territory only further reinforced when Jack points out during Martins first trek that most of the surrounding land hasn’t even been mapped outside of satellite imagery. It is also during these treks that Martins real skills are showcased as despite his desire to surround himself with the comforts of modern technology at the home, out here when at his most focused on his mission he takes on what could almost be seen as a complete personality shift, as he is shown as an expert in tracking, setting traps and surviving on backwoods skills, all believably portrayed by Defoe who worked with bush survival experts to prepare for the role, which clearly pays off here as he once more truly embodies the character of Martin.

During the treks the film provides most of it’s drama, not only with the hunt and the excitement of the smallest of clues that Martin is on the right path, but also from the fact that it frequently alluded to that he is never quite alone, with the discovery of additional traps and warning shot only furthering his paranoia, especially when he can’t be sure if he himself is being tracked by the loggers or even his own employers, even more so when he starts finding clues to what really happened to Sass and Bike’s father. This tension is expertly cranked up as the film progresses, with small details and events rather than sudden surprise twists, but none the less effective as the audience’s attention is firmly held by director Nettheim, even when it is essentially just Martin wondering around the dense woods and rocky mountains. What is especially interesting is noticeable lack of voice over which I’d expected during Martin’s treks, especially with him traveling alone Nettheim instead opts to shoot these scenes in eerie silence and only a spattering of minimalist soundtrack, as any internal monologue is left to be played out by Martin’s actions.

In between his treks Martin slowly brings order to the Armstrong house, as his bond only grows with the family, forcing Lucy to kick her addiction to prescription meds, while repairing the generator which like the rest of the house has long since fallen into disrepair, while also building a bond with the mute Bike, who may hold the secret to the whereabouts of the elusive tiger, while the family themselves slowly begin to provide Martin with a purpose outside of his work, while providing the film with many of it’s simpler moments of pleasure such as when Martin fixes the speakers hung in the tree and floods the surrounding area with the sounds of his favourite opera, to the ecstatic excitement of the family.

True this might not be the most action packed movie, but it is absolutely stunning to watch, with the human drama and the power of one man’s obsession and his humanity being restored is griping enough without feeling the up the action quota, as director Nettheim proves perfectly here that in this case certainly that less is certainly more.

The Flowers of War

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Title: The Flowers of War

Director: Yimou Zhang
Released: 2012
Starring: Christian Bale, Huang Tianyuan, Ni Ni, Tong Dawei, Atsuro Watabe

 

Plot: Based on the book “13 Flowers of Nanjing” by Geling Yan and set during the 1937 invasion of Nanking, China by the Japanese army were mortician John (Bale) arrives at a Catholic church to prepare the church's priest for burial.  However upon arriving at the church he finds himself the sole adult amongst the young Covent girls who are soon joined by the prostitutes from the nearby brothel claiming sanctuary. Now he finds himself in the unwanted position of protecting the girls by pretending to be resident priest.

 

 

Review: I’m sure I’m probably alone when I say that for myself Christian Bale’s most interesting films have always been his less mainstream ones, with films such as “The Machinist” and “Harsh Times” only being further evidence of this and while everyone is still pretty much cooing over his performance as the dark knight, it has meant that this film, another of less mainstream projects has once again slipped under the radar.

 
Directed by Yimou Zhang who is probably best known for his Hero trilogy (Hero, House of Flying Daggers, Curse of the Golden Flower) whose popularity only makes it all the more surprising that this film did not get better distribution, especially with Bale in the lead, which also makes it only the second fully Chinese-funded film to have a Hollywood star in the lead (the first being the Kevin Spacey headed “Inseperable”) aswell as also having the honour of being the most expensive. Still considering the subject matter it hardly makes for the most fun viewing, while reminding us of a frequently less remembered time in history, were the atrocities being committed by the invading Japanese were easily comparable to those of their Nazi counterparts.
 
Needless to say Director Zhang does not ease his audience into the situation currently happening, as he shows John stumbling through the corpse strewn streets, dodging stray gunfire from the invading Japanese soldiers hunting down the last of the Chinese soldiers still trying vainly to defend the city. Picking up two of the terrified convent girls he his lead back to the church, which has been left in the wake of the priests death to be defended by the teenage George (Tianyuan), whose attempts to stop the local prostitutes also moving into the church basement are made in vain, especially when they are lead by the fiesty Yu Mo (Ni Ni). It is within this opening half hour which Zhang paints a city now largely abandoned apart from the invading Japanese army and this mixed group seeking refuge within the walls of the church and he makes no qualms about showing the real horror of war, via some truly kinetic battle scenes and especially from the perspective of a Major Li (Dawei) who is soon left the long solider and unofficial protector of the girls before his sudden and surprising removal from the film, but only furthering the harsh realistic view point Zhang has chosen for this film in what is a noticeable departure from his artistic styling’s and use of key colours which made his previous films so memorable, though despite this he still manages to find time for the occasional flourish such as the shots of shattering stained glass, which often sit awkwardly amongst the scenes of vile human atrocity being committed alongside.
 
Despite being ultimately the saviour for the two very different groups of girls, Bale’s character is far from a shining example of sainthood, for when he is first introduced he is shown as a drunk, more concerned with drinking communion wine and plundering any funds contained within the church, than showing any concern for anyone else. However it is only after the attempted gang rape of the Covent girls by an out of control platoon of Japanese soldiers that he soon finds his moral backbone, while continuing to portray the church priest, in order to invoke an uneasy arrangement with Japanese Colonel Hasegawa (Watabe) to keep the church free from invasion by his troops by posting an armed guard outside the church.
 
Switching the focus throughout Zhang paints as full a (if admittedly one sided) picture as possible of this group and their view points on the situation, especially as it brings them together to form a mismatched family, especially as some are forced to make hard choices come the end of the film, which will certainly tug on the emotions of even the most stone hearted amongst you. However despite having more than its share of emotional moments and a unquestionable atmosphere of sheer terror throughout, it is hard to ignore the length run time, which does at times feel as if it could have been trimmed down in places, without sacrificing the heart of the story. Equally frustrating is the fact that it often feels like many of the cast are speaking in forced whispers with Bales especially being a prime offender of this, despite giving another truly believable antihero performance.
 
Ultimately this film is a mixed experience for while it contains many moments of real emotion and unflinchingly shows the invasion of Nanking for what it was, while equally let down in this respect for not showing the Japanese from any view point other than from the Chinese standpoint, leaving us with no explanation or understanding of their behavior. However despite this it still remains one the better dramas about this particularly troubling chapter of history and for that fact alone it is worth watching, if only to remind us of the evil war brings out in those caught in the conflict, while ensuring that it’s never forgotten.