Life Itself

Title: Life Itself

Director: Steve James
Released: 2014

Plot: Documentary charting the life and death of legendry film critic Roger Ebert

Review: On April 4, 2013 a dark shadow was cast over the film critic community as Roger Ebert lost his 11-year battle with cancer. Ebert was seen by many of us as a titan of the critic community and while I might have written off his relevance at during the early years of this blog it would be after I saw how he championed smaller and lesser seen movies like “Welcome tothe Dollhouse” that I finally got the importance of his work and realised that he was not another mainstream critic simply reviewing movies, but rather a man who truly loved films and saw his critical work as a way to share this love with others and perhaps encourage people to view films in ways they might not have otherwise seen them.

Director James who previously gave us the basketball documentary “Hoop Dreams” here crafts a touching tribute to the life and ultimately death of the legendry critic as he was still filming right up until Ebert’s death. Ebert and his wife seemingly give him here seemingly unlimited access to their lives as well as home movies and photographs to craft a truly full picture of his life, starting from his early writing assignments with his university paper the “Daily Illini” were he also served as the editor before starting his role as a film critic for the “Chicago Sun-Times” which in turn would lead to his now legendry partnership with Gene Siskel.

Narrated by a spot on impersonation by voice artist Stephen Stanton reading passages from Ebert’s autobiography from which the film takes its name, the film is guided by these passages while being added onto by interviews with his friends, family and more surprisingly only a handful of director interviews with Martin Scorsese being the biggest named of these directors to appear and this might be more down to the fact that he is one of the executive producers, but as always makes a warm and welcome contribution to film, aswell as highlighting the contribution Ebert made to his career revival with his contributions to the promotion of “Raging Bull”. On the other end of the scale we also have directors Ava DuVernay (I Will Follow) who shares memories of meeting Ebert as a child and meeting him years later when she made her directorial debut. Ramin Bahrani (Man Push Cart) equally shares a number of happy memories, while seemingly also appears to have had a mentor and apprentice relationship, with Ebert clearly having held out hopes of big things for Bahrani’s career from some of the stories he shares, while scenes of him visiting Ebert in the hospital show a friendship much deeper than critic and film maker.

Needless to say the most interesting parts of the documentary revolve around his professional rivalry and unique friendship he had with Siskel. While the question as to how much of their rivalry was for show still hangs in the air, it is clear from the interviews with those closest to them that they held a level of respect for each other, with Marlene Siskel really nailing it when she quotes her late husband as saying

“He was an arsehole, but he was my arsehole”

Ebert’s quotes from his memoir do also outline much like the well-publicised footage of them finally finding in religion something they can finally agree on that while they might have had their disagreements on screen that off screen they shared many moments he held dear. What is clear though here though as it was then is that both clearly relished the fact that both could give as good as the other.

Equally interesting here though are the sections surrounding Siskel and Ebert constantly promoting the smaller and frequently less seen films, something that Ebert continued to do through his website which would become the home of his critic work for the latter end of his career. The example of this kind of promotion given here though is the Errol Morris documentary “Gates of Heaven” which they managed to sneak onto their show three times. Sadly though this is really the only example given, with the likes of “Dark City” for which he contributed a commentary strangely not even being mentioned which I found to be one of the more frustrating aspects of the documentary much like how his work on Russ Meyer’s “Beyond the Valley of Dolls” is only really glanced with no mention of the adopted father figure he found in Meyer’s thanks to a shared love of large breasted ladies, as highlighted in the Meyer’s biography “Big Bosoms and Square Jaws”. At the same time these things are more of a minor concern if you knew they existed in the first place….so sorry for giving you that irritation I guess.

Ultimately this is both a touching and moving tribute to the life and work of the great man and one which fans will not be left disappointed by, especially as it trades a star studded interview list to craft a truly intimate portrait, especially when the gaps are filled by his wife Chaz whose extensive interview footage ensuring that that this really as complete a profile of the man as possible and an ultimate tribute to the staggering body of work he left us.

Little Dieter Needs To Fly

Title: Little Dieter Needs To Fly

Director: Werner Herzog

Released: 1998

Staring: Dieter Dengler, Werner Herzog, Eugene Deatrick

Plot: Documentary about pilot Dieter Dengler, who in 1966 had his plane shot down over Laos, were he was captured and tortured, before finally managing to escape to rescue.

Review: One of two documentaries by Herzog to make the “50 Documentaries To See Before You Die” list with the other being “Grizzly Man”, this film has been on my to watch pile for awhile (like so many of Herzog’s films) and with the forthcoming death row documentary “In The Abyss” set for it’s UK release, I thought it was about time I finally watched it.

In Dengler it is clear from the beginning that Herzog feels he has a kindred spirit, with both growing up in the rubble strewn Germany of World War 2. Dengler also openly confesses that his earliest memories are of Allied bombers destroying village and that during one such attack one of the planes flew so close he was able to see the pilot, sparking in the young Dengler a life long obsession with wanting to fly. Emigrating to America at 18, he is soon enlisted in the Air Force, but frustratingly cannot gain his pilots license and leaves after two years to attend college before then joining the Navy, were he finally gets to complete his flight training before the events of  Feburary 1^st 1966, which form the main meat of the story.

To meet the Dengler at the start of the film it is hard to imagine the ordeal he would go through, as he speaks with a constantly positive tone to his voice and always seems to be in an upbeat mood, though the events have clearly left their scars, with Dengler shown constantly opening and closing doors to reinforce his fragile sense of freedom, while also showing Herzog his stores of food which he keeps hidden under the floorboard of his house.

Herzog however is keen to not just do a standard talking head documentary with actors reinacting the events of his capture. Herzog instead uses the documentary as a form of makeshift therapy for Dengler, who seems just as happy to co-operate as Herzog takes Dengler to airfields to sit in planes which also shows the sheer passion that Dengler has for flying before more shockingly taking him back to the jungles of Laos to almost relive various points of his capture by the Pathet Lao, as well as his imprisonment later by the Viet Cong, with each process closely narrated by Dengler. These moments of personal narration Herzog knows are key to the audience getting the full picture of Dengler’s ordeal especially with many of these scenes frequently bringing back some painful memories for Dengler. Frequently he drives himself to frequently to the edges of sheer panic, especially during the scenes were he is lead handcuffed through the jungle, with his additional voice over confessing that he could feel his heart pounding in his chest, during the whole sequence.

Dengler frequently goes into the most indepth details about even the minutest details of his capture and torture, painting an extremely vivid picture about the torture, bugs and disgusting conditions they lived in. Here malnutrition would see them frequently hunting for the rats and snakes which lurked in the faeces covered ground below were they were imprisoned, while this uncomfortable picture only being added to by the exposition piled on by Herzog. Many have criticised this fascination on covering even the smallest of details, were as I found it only made for a more riveting account of what he went through, while Dengler clearly is keen to make the most of this opportunity to exorcise some of his demons which still clearly haunt him years later. Still Dengler does not bare any grudges against the Vietnamese’s people, as he is shown hugging and apologising to one of the villagers who happens to be standing next to him as he tells the story of how he was mentally tortured by one of the guards who tried to take his wedding ring. Still Dengler’s general mindset regarding the events which happened, are very much of that it was a time of war and during war these are things that people do, after all he was there with the purpose of dropping bombs on people.

Dengler’s story would be later remade by Herzog as “Rescue Dawn” with Christian Bale, a clear sign of the impact which the story had upon Herzog, even though Dengler tells the story with such clarity that we do often feels as if we went through the ordeal with him, that at time you feel as if you have gone through it with him, especially as it’s his situation continually goes from bad to worse. Still despite what he went through Dengler still flies today, with Herzog’s narration revealing that he suffered a further three crashes while working as a test pilot and philosophising that “Death did not want him” while ending the documentary in the Aeroplane graveyard in Nevada, which judging by the ecstatic expression on Dengler’s face it truly his own vision of heaven, which is reassuring seeing how Herzog essentially puts him through hell to get there.

A gripping documentary aswell as amazing story of not only survival, there is no doubt that anyone who watches this documentary will find it hard to not be drawn in by Dengler’s story much less won over by his intoxicating lust for life, as Herzog presents a fascinating portrait of an amazing man.

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call – New Orleans

Title: Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call – New Orleans
Director: Werner Herzog
Released: 2009

Staring: Nicolas Cage, Eva Mendes, Val Kilmer, Fairuza Balk, Xzibit, Brad Dourif, Shawn Hatosy, Nick Gomez, Jennifer Coolidge

Rating: 4 / 5

Plot: In the aftermath of Katrina, in New Orleans, Terence McDonagh (Cage) suffers a severe back injury, while rescuing a prisoner from a flooded jail, while also earning himself a promotion to Lieutenant. Struggling to deal with the pain caused by his back he soon finds himself addicted to painkillers, combining it with heavy cocaine use to help relive the pain, while at the same amassing huge gambling debts. Brought in to lead the investigation into the murder of a group of Immigrants, which are rumoured to be linked to local Drug lord “Big Fate” (Xzibit).



Review: The original “Bad Lieutenant” (1992) was an extreme cinema classic, aswell as not being the easiest film to sit through with it’s heavy mix of drugs, rape and Harvey Keitel’s penis, for whom it still remains one of his standout movies (Harvey Keitel that is not his penis). Still it is certainly an interesting choice, to recive the remake treatment or even gain a sequel, but then it is hard to say what this reimagining of the original Abel Ferrara film is, who its safe to say took the news of the film being made, rather badly when he stated that anyone involved in this film “should all die in hell” while calling writer William M. Finkelstein an idiot, for writing the script.

Now seeing Nicolas Cage on the cast listing, might have already had some of you ready to skip this one, which is an opinion I’ve never understood, for although he has made some bad movies, he has at the same time also made some of my favourite films, with his knack for playing oddball and unhinged characters, he is the perfect choice to take on the role of the titular "Bad Lieutenant", especially as the character of McDonagh is just that, a man becoming more unhinged by the day as his dependency on his personal vices increases, while at the same time fighting to maintain not only professional front around his colleagues, but to uphold the same values he’s always held close, which is clear in how involved in the case he becomes, even if he’s less of a professional than he might have once been, clearly playing by his own rules, frequently abusing his position of power whenever given a chance to flash his Lieutenant badge, while threatening suspects and even members of the public, including an elderly woman in a nursing home with his pistol, which honestly looks more like a hand cannon than any standard issue weapon and in many ways making him much like Dirty Harry on a bender, as procedure it seems is just something else to be disregarded especially if it stands between him and getting that next lead.
Still I guess it is Cage’s frequent overacting and zaniness which tends to leave some people cold and it’s true that he’s always been at his best, when he has a director with a firm grip on his reigns, which is certainly something that Director Herzog clearly has, as he picks his spots to let him off the leash to clearly devastating effect, even if the idea of the eccentric Herzog and Cage teaming up might not seem like the best combinations, much like his earlier work with the equally insane Klaus Kinski, whom it could be argued also made some of his best films with Herzog, even if they spent most of their time together trying to kill each other, with Herzog stating once “I had to domesticate the wild beast” when asked about working with his so called friend Kinski somthing which has proved to be great experience for him, as here he helps Cage to churn out not only one of his most memorable, but also certainly one of his most strongest performances in a long time, who clearly relishes the chance to play a truly fascinating character, whom even though he frequently disgusts you with his actions, which include at one point even pimping out his prostitute girlfriend Frankie (Mendes) to cover his mounting gambling debts and having sex with a girl in front of her boyfriend, after shaking them down for more drugs to add to his personal stash. Still despite these atrocities he remains strangely watchable in true car crash fashion.

While McDonagh is obviously the main focus, the film still has more than a few interesting supporting characters, from the fiercely loyal Stevie (Kilmer) who might just know more about McDonagh, than he is letting on, to the greasy bookie Ned (Dourif) who constantly feeds of McDonagh’s gambling habit, unafraid to even come into the precinct and harass him about money owed to him, as McDonagh’s personal cover he’s crafted from himself threatens to crack, as more pressure from his vices is piled upon him.

One of the bigger surprises here though is how restrained Herzog is with his direction, only occasionally choosing to freak out the audience, with some surreal moment such as filling the screen with imaginary Iguana’s, shot on a handheld camera, while the strains of “Please Release me” plays in the background, or the break dancing soul of a recently shot gangster, all courtesy of McDonagh’s drug fuelled delusions, while the Iguana scene in particular feels more of an escape for Herzog, who clearly feels that scenes of police procedure are alone not enough to hold his audiences attention and while it’s true the plot could have been lifted from any made for tv crime film, he has somehow managed to lift it above it’s almost pulpy roots, playing around with the crime genre and making the most of his location, as he attempts to take in the sights and sounds of the city which for the longest time, was the more familiar stomping ground for the likes of horror author “Poppy Z. Brite” and here just by using this setting, makes for a refreshing change from the usual cityscapes which are so overly familiar with the genre.

The downside here as to be expected is truly Mendes, who continues to confound me as an actress, especially when I wonder why she is still getting such prominent roles, even more so when she would be much better suited as an attractive supporting character, but yet again here she is, looking out of place as a surprisingly fresh faced prostitute, which is even more surprising when you look at her sheer drug consumption throughout the film, that also makes you wonder if she is only adding to McDonagh’s problems, not only with her chosen profession, but when there are so many scenes of them snorting cocaine together, which feature so prominently throughout, you can’t help but wonder. Still I found the majority of Mendes appearances to be the low points of the film, with a particularly standout moment coming during her argument with McDonagh’s alcoholic mum (Coolidge), which again makes you wonder why he wasn’t more messed up sooner? So while Herzog might be great at getting amazing performances out of some of the more eccentric actors in the industry, even he can’t get a decent performance out of Mendes.
My other main gripe though with the film, had to be towards the end as the pressures really begin to get to McDonagh and he finally looks like he might come undone, that Herzog suddenly decides to give him a reprieve, as one by one all his problems suddenly magically solves themselves, as the film comes full circle with an ending which seems to have been pulled out of seemingly nowhere, as the films just suddenly ends, after having passed a more suitable ending five minutes earlier.

Although not as shocking as the original, Herzog has still created a fantastic reimagining, that is worth checking out not just for it’s unique take on the crime genre, but also for what is without a doubt one of Cage’s most exciting performances in a long time!