In a dimly lit pub, an unshaven man quietly sips his drink. He looks up and sees a score of 4-1 flash on the tv. His head sinks down and his shoulders look like those of a defeated man. He gets up from his stool, puts his hat on and walks out without even finishing his drink.
Someone asks "who was that?"
The bartender, Rango, replies: "They call him AVB"
"I have never heard of this AVB"
Rango: "He was brought here to restore order & build for a bright future. But he didn't know this town already had 3 sheriffs. They drove him out. Every now and then, his ghost appears here."
"What!!! He's not real?"
Rango: "Who is partner, who is?"
Thus ends "The Strange Case of André Villas-Boas", a chapter from "Mysteries of Porto", a previously unpublished work found by a sailor in Valparaiso. The sailor reportedly paid three crowns for this work.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Miss Bala
Miss Bala (2011, Mexico, Gerardo Naranjo)
Gerardo Naranjo’s remarkable Miss Bala can perfectly be described by the phrase “wrong place, wrong time”. Unfortunately, in the case of Laura Guerrero (Stephanie Sigman), her presence at such a place manages to turn her life into a nightmare hours after she wins a dream spot in the Miss Baja beauty pageant.
Laura only manages to get an audition thanks to her friend Suzu (Lakshmi Picazo). Later that night, Laura goes to a party to find Suzu but comes across cartel members who secretly enter through the washroom.
Laura is spared by the gang leader Lino (Noe Hernandez) but Suzu disappears and several people at the party are killed. Suzu’s absence also causes Laura to lose her spot in the pageant so Laura is desperate to find her friend.
Laura finds a police officer and honestly tells him about the previous night’s happenings. However, the officer leads Laura to the gangsters and Lino.
Lino has feelings for Laura and uses her as a pawn in his operations. In return, he gets Laura her spot spot back in the beauty contest.
Laura pays a heavy price for finally realizing her pageant dream because her life becomes a living nightmare in which the cartel shuttle her from location to location, including border crossings. The cartel is omnipresent and its tentacles infiltrate every aspect of society around Laura. As a result, everyone that Laura reaches out to for help is either captured or eliminated by the cartel.
The film is loosely based on a real life story and shows how a constant war between police and criminals forces innocent people to choose sides and even conduct illegal operations. Choosing sides also involves acting as an informer and providing tips either for money or pure survival. With such an uncertain environment, it is not a surprize that many meetings are conducted away from plain view, either in the confines of a car or in a dark room. Naranjo smartly depicts this by framing many critical transactions in a car, including Lino’s rape of Laura.
The opening credits of the film shows an interesting poster collage of models and beauty contest winners. However, Naranjo also places the word “Fashion victim” on the wall as a nod towards the inspiration for the film’s story. Also, as noted by Satish Naidu, the collage contains a picture of Priyanka Chopra’s character from Madhur Bhandarkar’s film Fashion.
This placement is not a coincidence as Laura’s profile evokes Priyanka Chopra’s character from Fashion. Both characters can rightly be called fashion victims and are beautiful women whose lives are effected by the crime and corruption around them.
Gerardo Naranjo’s remarkable Miss Bala can perfectly be described by the phrase “wrong place, wrong time”. Unfortunately, in the case of Laura Guerrero (Stephanie Sigman), her presence at such a place manages to turn her life into a nightmare hours after she wins a dream spot in the Miss Baja beauty pageant.
Laura only manages to get an audition thanks to her friend Suzu (Lakshmi Picazo). Later that night, Laura goes to a party to find Suzu but comes across cartel members who secretly enter through the washroom.
Laura is spared by the gang leader Lino (Noe Hernandez) but Suzu disappears and several people at the party are killed. Suzu’s absence also causes Laura to lose her spot in the pageant so Laura is desperate to find her friend.
Laura finds a police officer and honestly tells him about the previous night’s happenings. However, the officer leads Laura to the gangsters and Lino.
Lino has feelings for Laura and uses her as a pawn in his operations. In return, he gets Laura her spot spot back in the beauty contest.
Laura pays a heavy price for finally realizing her pageant dream because her life becomes a living nightmare in which the cartel shuttle her from location to location, including border crossings. The cartel is omnipresent and its tentacles infiltrate every aspect of society around Laura. As a result, everyone that Laura reaches out to for help is either captured or eliminated by the cartel.
The film is loosely based on a real life story and shows how a constant war between police and criminals forces innocent people to choose sides and even conduct illegal operations. Choosing sides also involves acting as an informer and providing tips either for money or pure survival. With such an uncertain environment, it is not a surprize that many meetings are conducted away from plain view, either in the confines of a car or in a dark room. Naranjo smartly depicts this by framing many critical transactions in a car, including Lino’s rape of Laura.
The opening credits of the film shows an interesting poster collage of models and beauty contest winners. However, Naranjo also places the word “Fashion victim” on the wall as a nod towards the inspiration for the film’s story. Also, as noted by Satish Naidu, the collage contains a picture of Priyanka Chopra’s character from Madhur Bhandarkar’s film Fashion.
This placement is not a coincidence as Laura’s profile evokes Priyanka Chopra’s character from Fashion. Both characters can rightly be called fashion victims and are beautiful women whose lives are effected by the crime and corruption around them.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Andrew Niccol's In Time
In Time (2011, USA, Andrew Niccol)
Films based on Andrew Niccol's stories have always presented fascinating ideas in an accessible manner, thereby allowing audience to be exposed to engaging topics within the safe confines of a Hollywood framework. This has applied to his three directed films (Gattaca, S1m0ne, Lord of War) and those directed by others (The Truman Show and The Terminal). In Time continues this trend by packaging an intelligent idea in a multiplex friendly package. The story is set in a future where humans stop aging at 25 years of age and only have one more year to live after that unless they can buy, steal or inherit more time. This has the potential to allow some humans to be immortal and live as long as they can keep gaining more time, much like how video game characters continue to stay aline by gaining extra time. These time centric ideas kick the film off nicely but unfortunately the multiplex friendly side of the production steers the film into autopilot mode resulting in a run of the mill second half which does not utilize the promising setup. Still, the film contains many memorable scenarios and dialogues.
Time = Money
In the film, humans can transfer or gain time by grabbing each other’s hands which updates the time counter on their forearm. This exchange gives new meaning to the phrase “money changes hands”. When a person runs out of time, their counter resets to 00’s leading to their inevitable death.
Time is the only currency required for financial transactions which gives literal meaning to “Time is Money” and other associated phrases. The ability to pay for things with their time makes each human a walking ATM machine with no need for a wallet or a purse. So humans can use their time to pay for a restaurant meal or bus fare.
A wealthy person is clearly visible by the amount of time they have displayed on their forearm counter. So the phrase “You must come from time” describes those with ample time.
When a character gives Will Salas (Justin Timberlake) a century of his time, he leaves a simple message on the window:
“Don’t waste my time”
These words take on a much more positive meaning in the film's context.
And common everyday phrases such as the following take on a deadly meaning in the film:
“Give me some time”
“I am not giving you a second”
“Your time’s up”
“Out of time”
“By tomorrow, you won’t have time to stand around”
When someone gets a new lease of life thanks to borrowed time, the following words take on a richer meaning:
“I never got to properly thank you for your time”
Or the following perfectly describes a thief: “All the time he has taken”
A father upset at his daughter’s time wastage: “I am not about to see those years go to waste”
The famous deep throat phrase “Follow the money” also gets a new twist in the film. After Will Salas leaves town (“The Time left town”) with his new time gift, the law (appropriately named timekeepers) wonder what to do. The answer by their supervisor Raymond Leon (Cillian Murphy) is simple:
“What we always do. Follow the time”.
A city/state is divided into time zones so a border crossing into a wealthier time zone requires varying time deposits from a month to a year:
“Please deposit one month”
The timekeepers are able to track all the time counters in a zone. A poor time zone consists of people with hours/months to live so naturally if an influx of decades shows up on someone’s counter, then something is wrong.
The richest time zone suburb is appropriately called New Greenwich. While people struggle to survive on hours and days in the poor time zones, in New Greenwich the wealthy have so much time that they waste it away in a casino. With his new found wealth, Will decides to go gambling where he encounters Philippe Weis (Vincent Kartheiser). The following words appropriately describe Will’s reckless wager on a game of cards:
“You could say I am gambling my inheritance”
Philippe is part of the evil corrupt rich who justifies his rich time lifestyle as “Darwinian capitalism”. The words “quality time” or “a man with a million years” easily apply to him as well.
Mother, Sister or Daughter
A direct consequence of stagnant aging process is that everyone looks 25 years old, which makes it difficult to recognize certain relationships. So when Salas eyes Sylvia Weis (Amanda Seyfried), Philippe reads Will’s mind:
“Is she my mother, my sister or my daughter”?
And then at a party, Philippe introduces Will to his mother-in-law, mother and daughter (from left to right):
Of course, the most confusing aspect of this time relationship is watching Olivia Wilde play Will Salas’ mother.
Comments
Several scenarios and dialogues in the film are fascinating because of the literal meaning placed on time vs money phrases. That is why it is such a disappointment to see the film settle into a conventional good vs evil chase story and not fully explore the potential laid out by the setup. In this regard, the film is as disappointing as Pitch Black, another film with a great setup but an all too conventional second half.
Films based on Andrew Niccol's stories have always presented fascinating ideas in an accessible manner, thereby allowing audience to be exposed to engaging topics within the safe confines of a Hollywood framework. This has applied to his three directed films (Gattaca, S1m0ne, Lord of War) and those directed by others (The Truman Show and The Terminal). In Time continues this trend by packaging an intelligent idea in a multiplex friendly package. The story is set in a future where humans stop aging at 25 years of age and only have one more year to live after that unless they can buy, steal or inherit more time. This has the potential to allow some humans to be immortal and live as long as they can keep gaining more time, much like how video game characters continue to stay aline by gaining extra time. These time centric ideas kick the film off nicely but unfortunately the multiplex friendly side of the production steers the film into autopilot mode resulting in a run of the mill second half which does not utilize the promising setup. Still, the film contains many memorable scenarios and dialogues.
Time = Money
In the film, humans can transfer or gain time by grabbing each other’s hands which updates the time counter on their forearm. This exchange gives new meaning to the phrase “money changes hands”. When a person runs out of time, their counter resets to 00’s leading to their inevitable death.
Time is the only currency required for financial transactions which gives literal meaning to “Time is Money” and other associated phrases. The ability to pay for things with their time makes each human a walking ATM machine with no need for a wallet or a purse. So humans can use their time to pay for a restaurant meal or bus fare.
A wealthy person is clearly visible by the amount of time they have displayed on their forearm counter. So the phrase “You must come from time” describes those with ample time.
When a character gives Will Salas (Justin Timberlake) a century of his time, he leaves a simple message on the window:
“Don’t waste my time”
These words take on a much more positive meaning in the film's context.
And common everyday phrases such as the following take on a deadly meaning in the film:
“Give me some time”
“I am not giving you a second”
“Your time’s up”
“Out of time”
“By tomorrow, you won’t have time to stand around”
When someone gets a new lease of life thanks to borrowed time, the following words take on a richer meaning:
“I never got to properly thank you for your time”
Or the following perfectly describes a thief: “All the time he has taken”
A father upset at his daughter’s time wastage: “I am not about to see those years go to waste”
The famous deep throat phrase “Follow the money” also gets a new twist in the film. After Will Salas leaves town (“The Time left town”) with his new time gift, the law (appropriately named timekeepers) wonder what to do. The answer by their supervisor Raymond Leon (Cillian Murphy) is simple:
“What we always do. Follow the time”.
A city/state is divided into time zones so a border crossing into a wealthier time zone requires varying time deposits from a month to a year:
“Please deposit one month”
The timekeepers are able to track all the time counters in a zone. A poor time zone consists of people with hours/months to live so naturally if an influx of decades shows up on someone’s counter, then something is wrong.
The richest time zone suburb is appropriately called New Greenwich. While people struggle to survive on hours and days in the poor time zones, in New Greenwich the wealthy have so much time that they waste it away in a casino. With his new found wealth, Will decides to go gambling where he encounters Philippe Weis (Vincent Kartheiser). The following words appropriately describe Will’s reckless wager on a game of cards:
“You could say I am gambling my inheritance”
Philippe is part of the evil corrupt rich who justifies his rich time lifestyle as “Darwinian capitalism”. The words “quality time” or “a man with a million years” easily apply to him as well.
Mother, Sister or Daughter
A direct consequence of stagnant aging process is that everyone looks 25 years old, which makes it difficult to recognize certain relationships. So when Salas eyes Sylvia Weis (Amanda Seyfried), Philippe reads Will’s mind:
“Is she my mother, my sister or my daughter”?
And then at a party, Philippe introduces Will to his mother-in-law, mother and daughter (from left to right):
Of course, the most confusing aspect of this time relationship is watching Olivia Wilde play Will Salas’ mother.
Comments
Several scenarios and dialogues in the film are fascinating because of the literal meaning placed on time vs money phrases. That is why it is such a disappointment to see the film settle into a conventional good vs evil chase story and not fully explore the potential laid out by the setup. In this regard, the film is as disappointing as Pitch Black, another film with a great setup but an all too conventional second half.
Sunday, March 04, 2012
Agneepath
Agneepath (2012, India, Karan Malhotra)
Karan Malhotra’s Agneepath conveys the essence of 1980's Bollywood revenge tales in a technically sharp framework that smartly uses silence when needed and in other moments, confidently lets the heightened background score serve as an emotional guide. The end result is that Malhotra’s film is a completely different beast from Mukul Anand’s 1990 Agneepath. The 2012 film cannot be called a remake by any standards and is a true homage as noted by producer Karan Johar at the start of the film. Karan Johar’s father, Yash Johar, was the producer of the original film so understandably Karan wanted to do his father proud and that is exactly what the entire team of the 2012 film have achieved.
Of course, doing a scene-by-scene remake of the original film would have been an impossible task because the 1990 film was powered by a riveting performance by Amitabh Bachchan who channeled the voice of Marlon Brando’s Vito Corleone (Godfather) in his portrayal of Vijay Dinanath Chavan. There were many memorable characters in Mukul Anand’s film but none towered over Amitabh's character. However, in Malhotra’s film the character of Vijay (played by Hrithik Roshan) does not displace the other characters as Roshan turns the anger of the original character inward and hides his burning revenge quite nicely. Instead, it is the two villains in Malhotra’s film who manage to steal the show.
Kancha & Rauf Lala
Sanjay Dutt plays the drug lord Kancha, a behemoth monster, whose appearance terrifies those around him. In fact, he is so terrifying that even he is afraid of his own reflection. His fear has roots in his childhood when he was picked on by other kids for his ugly appearance and whenever Kancha looks at a mirror, he is transported back to his painful past. In two instances in the film, Kancha smashes a mirror which dares show him his face. A mirror is his weak point much like fire was Anna’s (Nana Patekar) in Parinda. In Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s classic 1990 film, Anna was a fierce gangster whose childhood fear of fire was his ultimate undoing. In Agneepath, Vijay is not privy to the knowledge of Kancha’s weakness and is unable to use a mirror to defeat Kancha.
Kancha quotes the Gita in a similar manner to Manoj Bhajpai’s character from Aks but overall he appears to be a cartoonish villain much like Amrish Puri’s Mogambo from Mr. India. Therefore, the responsibility of portraying pure evil falls to Rishi Kapoor, an actor not known for playing a negative character.
Rishi Kapoor’s ruthless portrayal of Rauf Lala comes as a real surprize given the warm loving characters that Kapoor has played in the past. Yet, Rishi Kapoor is able to extract enough charm from his past characters and transform it into the sinister Rauf Lala who appears to be trustworthy when needed and is ruthless when he wants to eliminate his enemies. He also does not expose his true emotions to those around him, including his own son. In a key moment in the film, Rauf's son is surprized when Lala drops a hint that one day the trusted Vijay will be bumped off. Rauf Lala delivers these lines while smiling and lovingly waving at Vijay. Many ruthless villains often compromise or grovel in their final moments but Rauf Lala is evil until his last breath and manages to unleash the violent animal inside of Vijay. Vijay does not want to resort to pure violence but Rauf Lala incites him. This incitement echoes a famous scene from Priyadarshan’s Virasat when Anil Kapoor’s character of Shakti Thakur asks his opponent to back off because Shakti does not want to become a "janwar" (animal) like his opponent. But when his opponent does not back down, Shakti has no choice but to resort to ultimate violence.
The Indian film industry has seen an incredible range of villains from Gabbar (Amjad Khan in Sholay) to Anna (Nana Patekar in Parinda) to Bhiku Mhatre (Manoj Bajpai in Satya) that it is hard to imagine that anyone could add a new dimension in portraying a gangster. Therefore, full credit to Rishi Kapoor for carving out a unique persona with his portrayal of Rauf Lala.
Finally....
Katrina Kaif nails the "Chikni Chameli" song.
The song is not required in the film but Kaif’s energetic & technically perfect performance ensures that the song keeps up the frenzied tempo of the film. The song itself manages to evoke elements from three other memorable Bollywood numbers -- "Beedi" (Omkara), "Humko Aajkal" (Madhuri Dixit in Sailaab) and "Jumma Chumma De De" (Hum).
Karan Malhotra’s Agneepath conveys the essence of 1980's Bollywood revenge tales in a technically sharp framework that smartly uses silence when needed and in other moments, confidently lets the heightened background score serve as an emotional guide. The end result is that Malhotra’s film is a completely different beast from Mukul Anand’s 1990 Agneepath. The 2012 film cannot be called a remake by any standards and is a true homage as noted by producer Karan Johar at the start of the film. Karan Johar’s father, Yash Johar, was the producer of the original film so understandably Karan wanted to do his father proud and that is exactly what the entire team of the 2012 film have achieved.
Of course, doing a scene-by-scene remake of the original film would have been an impossible task because the 1990 film was powered by a riveting performance by Amitabh Bachchan who channeled the voice of Marlon Brando’s Vito Corleone (Godfather) in his portrayal of Vijay Dinanath Chavan. There were many memorable characters in Mukul Anand’s film but none towered over Amitabh's character. However, in Malhotra’s film the character of Vijay (played by Hrithik Roshan) does not displace the other characters as Roshan turns the anger of the original character inward and hides his burning revenge quite nicely. Instead, it is the two villains in Malhotra’s film who manage to steal the show.
Kancha & Rauf Lala
Sanjay Dutt plays the drug lord Kancha, a behemoth monster, whose appearance terrifies those around him. In fact, he is so terrifying that even he is afraid of his own reflection. His fear has roots in his childhood when he was picked on by other kids for his ugly appearance and whenever Kancha looks at a mirror, he is transported back to his painful past. In two instances in the film, Kancha smashes a mirror which dares show him his face. A mirror is his weak point much like fire was Anna’s (Nana Patekar) in Parinda. In Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s classic 1990 film, Anna was a fierce gangster whose childhood fear of fire was his ultimate undoing. In Agneepath, Vijay is not privy to the knowledge of Kancha’s weakness and is unable to use a mirror to defeat Kancha.
Kancha quotes the Gita in a similar manner to Manoj Bhajpai’s character from Aks but overall he appears to be a cartoonish villain much like Amrish Puri’s Mogambo from Mr. India. Therefore, the responsibility of portraying pure evil falls to Rishi Kapoor, an actor not known for playing a negative character.
Rishi Kapoor’s ruthless portrayal of Rauf Lala comes as a real surprize given the warm loving characters that Kapoor has played in the past. Yet, Rishi Kapoor is able to extract enough charm from his past characters and transform it into the sinister Rauf Lala who appears to be trustworthy when needed and is ruthless when he wants to eliminate his enemies. He also does not expose his true emotions to those around him, including his own son. In a key moment in the film, Rauf's son is surprized when Lala drops a hint that one day the trusted Vijay will be bumped off. Rauf Lala delivers these lines while smiling and lovingly waving at Vijay. Many ruthless villains often compromise or grovel in their final moments but Rauf Lala is evil until his last breath and manages to unleash the violent animal inside of Vijay. Vijay does not want to resort to pure violence but Rauf Lala incites him. This incitement echoes a famous scene from Priyadarshan’s Virasat when Anil Kapoor’s character of Shakti Thakur asks his opponent to back off because Shakti does not want to become a "janwar" (animal) like his opponent. But when his opponent does not back down, Shakti has no choice but to resort to ultimate violence.
The Indian film industry has seen an incredible range of villains from Gabbar (Amjad Khan in Sholay) to Anna (Nana Patekar in Parinda) to Bhiku Mhatre (Manoj Bajpai in Satya) that it is hard to imagine that anyone could add a new dimension in portraying a gangster. Therefore, full credit to Rishi Kapoor for carving out a unique persona with his portrayal of Rauf Lala.
Finally....
Katrina Kaif nails the "Chikni Chameli" song.
The song is not required in the film but Kaif’s energetic & technically perfect performance ensures that the song keeps up the frenzied tempo of the film. The song itself manages to evoke elements from three other memorable Bollywood numbers -- "Beedi" (Omkara), "Humko Aajkal" (Madhuri Dixit in Sailaab) and "Jumma Chumma De De" (Hum).
Friday, March 02, 2012
Forza Bastia
Jacques Tati's last directed work was a football film!
Tati directed Forza Bastia, a 26 minute documentary, in 1978 but the film only surfaced in 2001 thanks to his daughter Sophie Tatischeff. The film was shown at the Kicking + Screening Soccer Film Festival in Amsterdam 2011 and can currently be viewed online in its entirety.
It is a remarkable film that shows the excitement in Bastia leading up to their first leg of the 1978 UEFA Cup final against PSV Eindhoven. Tati's focus is on the dedicated and loyal fans, showing their pre-game rituals along with their tension and anxiety during the game. There are some amazing sounds captured of the game itself which was played out on a water logged pitch and ended 0-0. Overall, this film is a great treasure not only of football's history but of cinema itself.
For the record, PSV won the second leg 3-0 to win the 1978 UEFA Cup.
Tati directed Forza Bastia, a 26 minute documentary, in 1978 but the film only surfaced in 2001 thanks to his daughter Sophie Tatischeff. The film was shown at the Kicking + Screening Soccer Film Festival in Amsterdam 2011 and can currently be viewed online in its entirety.
It is a remarkable film that shows the excitement in Bastia leading up to their first leg of the 1978 UEFA Cup final against PSV Eindhoven. Tati's focus is on the dedicated and loyal fans, showing their pre-game rituals along with their tension and anxiety during the game. There are some amazing sounds captured of the game itself which was played out on a water logged pitch and ended 0-0. Overall, this film is a great treasure not only of football's history but of cinema itself.
For the record, PSV won the second leg 3-0 to win the 1978 UEFA Cup.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Best Bollywood/Hindi Songs of 2011
Back in 2010, I absolutely fell in love with Rahat Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's soulful song Dil To Bachcha Hai Ji from Ishqiya. I didn't expect to find anything remotely close to that magical number in a Bollywood or Hindi film in 2011. That proved to be the case but there were quite a few songs that caught my attention in 2011. Here are some of my favourites:
Saibo from Shor in the City
This was the closest song in 2011 that managed to evoke similar sentiments as Dil To Bachcha Hai Ji.
Ik Junoon -- Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara
A fun light number that evokes memories of a warm relaxing holiday.
Sadi Gali -- Tanu Weds Manu
An infectious song that caught hold of me from the moment I heard it and wouldn't let go. I even tried to organize a flash mob dance to this song at my cousin's wedding. The flash mob experiment didn't come off as planned but everyone danced their heart out. With a song like this, it makes moving quite easy.
Chammak Challo -- Ra. One
There are no remarkable lyrics in this song but Akon's unique voice manages to make this a mesmerizing number.
Sadda Haq -- Rockstar
O Senorita -- Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara
Pure fun...
Haal E Dil -- Murder 2
Saibo from Shor in the City
This was the closest song in 2011 that managed to evoke similar sentiments as Dil To Bachcha Hai Ji.
Ik Junoon -- Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara
A fun light number that evokes memories of a warm relaxing holiday.
Sadi Gali -- Tanu Weds Manu
An infectious song that caught hold of me from the moment I heard it and wouldn't let go. I even tried to organize a flash mob dance to this song at my cousin's wedding. The flash mob experiment didn't come off as planned but everyone danced their heart out. With a song like this, it makes moving quite easy.
Chammak Challo -- Ra. One
There are no remarkable lyrics in this song but Akon's unique voice manages to make this a mesmerizing number.
Sadda Haq -- Rockstar
O Senorita -- Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara
Pure fun...
Haal E Dil -- Murder 2
Monday, January 23, 2012
African Film Spotlight, CAN 2012
In the past, I had to postpone an African Cup of Nations (CAN) Film spotlight due to the difficulty in tracking down an adequate number of films from the nations taking part in the tournament. That difficulty still exists and in a way, the 2012 tournament is more challenging than previous editions because of the high profile absences of Egypt, Nigeria, Cameroon, South Africa and Algeria. Much has been written about the footballing ramifications of the absence of these five countries especially since Egypt won the last three tournaments, Nigeria and Cameroon have been major forces in the region for the last two decades while Algeria took part in the 2010 World Cup held in South Africa. However, their absence is more serious from a cinematic point of view because Egypt and Nigeria are the two most prolific film producing African nations while in recent years South Africa and Algeria have contributed a good dose of worthy films. Thankfully, Mali and Senegal are present in this year’s tournament as they are a reliable source of films and it is also relatively easy to find films from Morocco and Tunisia. I decided to go ahead with a CAN spotlight because I was able to find atleast two films from each group.
Selection Criteria & Rules
This spotlight has the least amount of rules because of the hurdles involved in finding enough representative films. The selections can be from any decade and co-productions are essential requirements. There will be no head-to-head judging of films but I will write about the selections and then pick my three favourite entries at the end of the spotlight. Backup films will only be allowed in case I cannot find the entries below.
Group A
Equatorial Guinea: None
Libya: The Message (1977, Moustapha Akkad)
Senegal: Madame Brouette (2002, Moussa Sene Absa)
Zambia: None
Unfortunately, the co-hosts Equatorial Guinea are not known for their film industry although a documentary about the nation’s oil industry does exist.
Group B
Angola: The Hero (2004, Zézé Gamboa)
Burkina Faso: Dreams of Dust (2006, Laurent Salgues)
Ivory Coast: Adanggaman (2000, Roger Gnoan M'Bala)
Sudan: None
Ivory Coast are the soccer powerhouses in Group B and it would be a major shock if they didn’t win their group. However, in cinematic terms, Ivory Coast will have their hands full with the two other group entries.
There are a few foreign made documentaries about Sudan but no adequate direct or co-production entry could be found.
Group C
Gabon: Dôlè (2000, Imunga Ivanga)
Morocco: Le Grand Voyage (2004, Ismaël Ferroukhi)
Niger: Le Medicin De Gafire (1985, Mustapha Diop)
Tunisia: Khorma (2002, Jilani Saadi)
There is potential to see films from all four nations.
Group D
Botswana: The Gods Must be Crazy II (1989, Jamie Uys)
Ghana: Life and Living It (2008, Shirley Frimpong Manso)
Guinea: Dakan (1997, Mohamed Camara)
Mali: Den Muso (1975, Souleymane Cissé)
Like Group C, all 4 films might be present.
The football tournament ends on February 12 but this spotlight will be allowed to run until March.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Euro 2012 Book & Film Spotlight
Back in 2006, I held my first soccer film spotlight to compliment the Soccer World Cup. The film spotlight proved a far more rewarding experience than I had expected as the spotlight forced me to spend hours digging up films from around the world. Each successive soccer film spotlight expanded my film viewing experience as I was able to see my first ever films from nations such as Paraguay, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, North Korea and Honduras. I tweaked the rules and criteria for each spotlight so as to incorporate a mix of film genres thereby ensuring I saw a diverse set of films. Last year, I added books to the mix in the Copa America 2011 Spotlight and that was even more enriching as the South American books dwarfed the films. So books are once again included in this Euro 2012 spotlight and the number of films has been increased to a maximum of two entries for each nation. The total of 16 books and a maximum of 31 films makes this by far the most comprehensive spotlight I am undertaking. The rules, outlined after the book and film selections, are even more complex than before as well.
Books
Selection Criteria -- The author must have some ties to the competing European country, either by citizenship (birth or immigration) or familial. The latter applies in situations when the book is written by a foreign born author but whose roots can be traced back to the selected nation.
Group A
Poland: House of Day, House of Night, Olga Tokarczuk
Russia: A Hero of our Time, Mikhail Lermontov
Czech Republic: The Joke, Milan Kundera
Greece: Z, Vassilis Vassilikos
Group B
Holland: A Posthumous Confession, Marcellus Emants
Germany: The Appointment, Herta Müller
Portugal: Knowledge of Hell, António Lobo Antunes
Denmark: The History of Danish Dreams, Peter Høeg
Group C
Spain: Quarantine, Juan Goytisolo
Italy: The Porthole, Adriano Spatola
Ireland: Kepler, John Banville
Croatia: The Ministry of Pain, Dubravka Ugresic
Group D
Ukraine: The UnSimple, Taras Prokhasko
England: GB84, David Peace
France: The Giants, J.M.G Le Clezio
Sweden: The Dwarf, Par Lagerkvist
Films
There are abundant choices for films in most cases so here are some criteria to help narrow the selections:
1) Production Source: Ideally, the selected film should only be produced by a single European country. However, a co-production is acceptable as long as the European nation is represented either by the story or the director’s nationality.
2) Release Year: The film should have a release date between 2008 - 2012 to coincide with the 4 year gap in between the two European Championships. This also applies to the film’s production meaning a film made a decade ago but only released between 2008-2012 does not count. This criteria ensures a fair competition as all nations would have films within a few years of each other.
3) Film Festival selection: Ideally, the selected film should have played at a few international film festivals. This rule is in place to ensure that each nation has the best chance to do well in the competition and that there are no heavy defeats like in previous competitions. Of course, there is no guarantee of a film’s quality just because it played at a few festivals but atleast the film would have undergone a prior screening process.
Each nation can have a maximum of two films in the competition, a primary film and a backup film. In case the primary film cannot be seen by June 8, the backup film will step in and compete throughout the competition. If both primary and backup films are available, each can take part in a separate group match as outlined by the rules.
The primary film is mentioned first followed by the backup film.
Group A
Poland: The Mill and the Cross (2011, Lech Majewski), In Darkness (2011, Agnieszka Holland)
Russia: Silent Souls (2010, Aleksei Fedorchenko), How I Ended This Summer (2010, Aleksey Popogrebskiy)
Czech Reoublic: Surviving Life (2010, Jan Svankmajer),
Greece: Homeland (2010, Syllas Tzoumerkas), ALPS (2011, Giorgos Lanthimos)
Group B
Holland: C'est déjà l'été (2010, Martijn Maria Smits), Winter in Wartime (2008, Martin Koolhoven)
Germany: Sleeping Sickness (2011, Ulrich Köhler), Storm (2009, Hans-Christian Schmid)
Portugal: Mysteries of Lisbon (2010, Raoul Ruiz), The Strange Case of Angelica (2010, Manoel de Oliveira)
Denmark: Applause (2009, Martin Zandvliet), Terribly Happy (2008, Henrik Ruben Genz)
Group C
Spain: The Last Circus (2010, Álex de la Iglesia), Map of the Sounds of Tokyo (2009, Isabel Coixet)
Italy: The Salt of Life (2011, Gianni Di Gregorio), Terraferma (2011, Emanuele Crialese)
Croatia: Buick Riviera (2008, Goran Rusinovic), The Blacks (2009, Goran Devic, Zvonimir Juric)
Ireland: The Guard (2011, John Michael McDonagh), Kisses (2008, Lance Daly)
Group D
England: Shame (2011, Steve McQueen), Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011, Tomas Alfredson)
Sweden: Play (2011, Ruben Östlund), Everlasting Moments (2008, Jan Troell)
France: House of Tolerance (2011, Bertrand Bonello), Rapt (2009, Lucas Belvaux)
Ukraine: My Joy (2010, Sergei Loznitsa)
A minor concern is that there is no backup film for Ukraine. Ultimately, I don’t think that will matter too much as My Joy is slated for a mid-March release so Ukraine should have its primary film in competition.
***Update, Mar 15 2012: Film Movement confirmed in an email that they don't have legal rights to sell The Country Teacher in Canada. So that means neither Amazon.com or Film Movement will ship the film to a Canadian address. The film is therefore ineligible and thus removed.
Rules
The rules will be different for the group and knock-out phases. As in previous soccer film spotlights, the match-ups will be determined by the soccer tournament draw.
Group Phase
There is a potential for each group match to have three unique titles competing. However, each match will still result in a maximum of 3 points so that at the end of the group phase, a nation can earn a maximum total of 9 points, similar to the soccer tournament.
Group Phase, Match 1:
Primary Film vs Primary Film or
Backup Film vs Primary Film or
Primary Film vs Backup Film or
Backup Film vs Backup Film
The first match will see the two films compete against each other in five categories which will count as goals scored by a nation.
Five Categories: Acting, Story, Direction, Cinematography & Production values
a) If one film is superior to another film in a category, then the superior film will get one goal while the other film will get 0.
b) If both films match each other in a category, they will score one goal each.
c) If both films fail in a category, they will get 0 goals each.
Each film’s respective goals will be totaled up and compared to the other film’s.
The film with the greater total will get 3 points while the goals will serve as goal-difference. Meaning, if Nation A has 5 goals while Nation B has 3, then Nation A will get 3 points and have a goal-difference of 5-3, while Nation B will get 0 points and have a goal-difference of 3-5.
If both films are tied, then each of them will get one point.
Group Phase, Match 2: Book vs Book
If one book is superior to the other nation’s book, then the winning book gets 3 points with a score-line of 1-0.
If both books are equally good, then each nation gets one point with a score of 1-1.
Group Phase, Match 3:
Backup Film vs Backup Film or
Primary Film vs Backup Film or
Backup Film vs Primary Film or
Primary Film vs Primary Film
If one nation does not have a backup film, then it can use the primary film in its place. The judging rules here will be a straight forward 1-0 win to the more superior film. The winning film will also get 3 points. In case of a tie, then both films get 1 point and a goal-difference of 1-1.
Group Phase, points total
The top two nations with the most points in all 4 groups advance to the knock-out stage. In case, multiple nations earn the same points in the group phase, the tie-breaker will be in the following order:
a) goal-difference
b) head-to-head match-up results
Books will only compete in the group phase and will be out of contention in the knock-out phase. At the conclusion of the group phase, a decision can be made to replace a nation’s primary film with its backup film only if the backup film proves itself superior to the primary film.
Knock-out phase
The quarter-finals, semi-finals and final will be governed by the following rules:
The films will compete against each other in 5 categories -- Acting, Story, Direction, Cinematography & Production values.
a) If one film is superior to another film in a category, then it will get one point, while the other film will get 0.
b) If both films match each other in a category, they will score one point each.
c) If both films fail in a category, they will get 0 points each.
d) In case of a tie after these 5 categories, then a subjective vote tie-breaker will be used. This means that the film which sways me emotionally advances. I feel this is similar to the emotional penalty kicks used to settle soccer games when two teams are tied after extra time.
Note: It is possible to have scores such as 3-2 or 5-5 (if both films score maximum on all 5 counts) in this scheme.
Restricting films to be between 2008-2012 ensures that this spotlight will be a catch-up of some worthy titles that I missed over the last few years. The staggered nature of film releases means that it takes me sometimes almost 2 years to finally view a new release. As a result, a lot of films slip through the cracks and never end up in any end of year list. So this spotlight will serve as a correction in that regard.
Interestingly, restricting the films to be between the Euro Championships gives a glimpse into how things have changed with certain countries when it comes to films. Back in 2008, I struggled to find a worthy entry from Portugal as none of Pedro Costa's films were available on DVD. This time around, I had plenty of Portuguese titles to choose from and had to keep out Pedro Costa's Ne Change Rien & João Pedro Rodrigues' To Die Like a Man. On paper, Portugal appears to be quite strong in the film category. However, as previous soccer tournaments have shown, Portugal has never been able to translate its rich soccer talent into success. So it will be interesting to see if the films from Portugal can reverse that trend.
Overall, it promises to be a fun six months. Let the reading and film viewing begin...
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Best Films of 2011
It is always hard to put together an end of the year list when one does not have reasonable access to films from around the world. In previous years, I was fortunate to see many worthy cinematic gems thanks to film festivals such as CIFF, VIFF and Rotterdam. Of course, depending on single screenings at film festivals as a primary source for foreign cinema is never a viable option because of the cost and effort involved in attending multiple film festivals. So when the number of film festival offerings dropped in 2011, so did my access to foreign cinema. Thankfully, the year was not a complete washout and I still managed to catch a decent number of worthwhile films. As usual, the list features older titles that I could only see this year theatrically or on DVD.
Favorites roughly in order of preference
1) Le Quattro Volte (2010, Italy co-production, Michelangelo Frammartino)
Michelangelo Frammartino’s remarkable film uses an unnamed town in Calabria as an observatory to examine the metaphysical circle of life. Depicting such metaphysical topics is not an easy task, but Frammartino pulls this off with considerable ease, plenty of humour, tender emotions and a pinch of mystery.
2) Do Dooni Chaar (2010, India, Habib Faisal)
Habib Faisal’s directorial debut astutely depicts the struggles of a middle class family in Delhi. The Duggals may be fictional characters but one can easily find reflections of their characters in virtually every Delhi colony. Filmed entirely on location, Do Dooni Chaar is absolutely charming and features two excellent performances from Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh. The film only got a limited release in 2010 but thankfully a DVD release in 2011 means the film can be seen by a larger audience.
3) Drive (USA, Nicolas Winding Refn)
Drive perfectly adapts James Sallis’ book while carving out a distinct identity of its own. Like Driver's car, the film is easily able to shift gears and speed up when needed and slow down in a few sequences. On top of that, the film is enhanced with a visual and musical style that evokes the cinema of Michael Mann with a pinch of David Lynch.
4) A Separation (Iran, Asghar Farhadi)
In discussing a conflict in his actuality film A Married Couple, the late Allan King remarked that viewers often projected their feelings on the screen and took sides with one of the characters. King’s words come to mind when watching the conflict in A Separation, a film that refuses to take sides with either of the characters. Some calculated editing and the distance maintained by the camera in a few scenes means that viewers are forced to believe everything they see on face value whereas in reality, the truth is hidden in between the cuts. A truly remarkable film that starts off with a divorce hearing but then moves in a much richer direction by observing humans in their moments of fear, stress and anxiety.
5) Dhobi Ghat (India, Kiran Rao)
Dhobi Ghat pays a beautiful and poetic tribute to Mumbai by exploring the emotional state of four characters. The script shrinks the vast and chaotic city down to the microscopic level of these four characters so that they can be observed in tight quarters. Each character has their own set of complex problems and Kiran Rao lets the actors brilliant expressions and body language form a guide to their inner feelings. Throughout the film, the four actors appear to be living their parts as opposed to acting out scripted lines.
6) Another Year (2010, UK, Mike Leigh)
A happily married couple serve as a sponge to absorb the misery of their friends. The film shows that some people are predisposed to always emit a negative energy while there are a few who are strong enough to withstand all the unhappiness around them.
7) Nostalgia for the Light (2010, Chile co-production, Patricio Guzmán)
Just as rays of light are delayed in their arrival to our planet, horrors of the past sometimes take a long time before they are unearthed. Patricio Guzmán’s emotional and meditative film manages to connect exploration of the stars with truths buried in the ground.
8) Aurora (2010, Romania co-production, Cristi Puiu)
Viorel’s (Cristi Puiu) disenchantment and frustration with society around him continues to build until he acts out in a burst of violence. However, the film is not concerned with the consequences of his actions but is more interested in his behavior prior to and after his violent act. Aurora is a fascinating character study that is packed with plenty of dark humor and features a remarkable climax that dives into the same rabbit hole that consumed Mr. Lazarescu (The Death of Mister Lazarescu) and Cristi (Police, Adjective).
9) The Kid With a Bike (Belgium co-production, Jean-Pierre Dardenne/Luc Dardenne)
The film’s non-stop energy is personified by the young lead character who is able to take all the kicks and roll with the punches. A truly magnificent film but then again one would not expect any less from the Dardennes.
10) Melancholia (Denmark co-production, Lars von Trier)
The end of the world sequence naturally grabs all the attention but the film’s dramatic core lies in the wedding dinner where sharp jabs are traded. These honest verbal punches echo The Celebration and Rachel Getting Married but the words in Melancholia pack more venom and are meant to break the other person down. Justine (Kirsten Dunst) desperately tries to make things work but deep down she knows that some celestial bodies are meant to collide and destroy each other.
11) The Tree of Life (USA, Terrence Malick)
A perfect symphony of camera movements and background score elevates one family’s tale into a much grander scale. The camera continuously zips around the characters, hovers over them, dives down low or swings from a corner in the room. The camera even moves back in time where it patiently captures the big bang and peers into the future as well.
12) Flowers of Evil (2010, France, David Dusa)
David Dusa’s remarkable debut feature is one of the most relevant films to have emerged in recent years. It is a rare film that depicts the revolutions of change taking place around the world by smartly incorporating social media such as facebook, twitter and youtube within the film’s framework. The film also features a groovy background score and makes great use of Shantel’s Disko Boy song.
Note: I was part of the three person jury that awarded this best film in the Mavericks category at the Calgary International Film Festival.
13) The Whisperer in the Darkness (USA, Sean Branney)
Sean Branney’s perfect adaptation of H.P Lovecraft’s short story remarkably recreates the look and feel of 1930’s cinema. The entirely black and white film uses the background score to maintain tension and suspense throughout. In fact, the tension does not let up until the 90th minute when a few moments of rest are allowed before the film heads towards a pulsating finale.
This film was also in the Mavericks Competition at CIFF.
14) Alamar (2009, Mexico, Pedro González-Rubio)
A tranquil and beautiful film about a father’s journey with his son. This is a perfect example of a film that proves that one does not need 3D to have an immersive cinematic experience.
15) Meek’s Cutoff (2010, USA, Kelly Reichardt)
The setting may be 1845 but at its core Meek’s Cutoff is a contemporary film about a journey through an unknown and potentially dangerous landscape. How much faith should be placed on a stranger? If this was such an easy question to answer, then the world would indeed have been a better place.
16) Attenberg (2010, Greece, Athina Rachel Tsangari)
A warm and tender film that puts a spin on a conventional coming-of-age tale by featuring honest communication between a father and daughter.
17) Kill List (UK, Ben Wheatley)
Ben Wheatley’s film packs quite a powerful punch and increases the tension and violence as it races along at a riveting pace. One remarkable aspect of the film is that it keeps quite a few pieces off the screen thereby allowing the audience to fill in their own version of events related to the characters background and even to origins of the cult group. It is tempting to talk about the hunchback but it is best viewers are left to encounter him on their own terms.
18) The Turin Horse (Hungary co-production, Béla Tarr/Ágnes Hranitzky)
Béla Tarr crafts his unique end of the world scenario with a few bare essentials -- an old man, obedient daughter, rebel horse, untrustworthy visitors, an angry wind, potato, bucket, well, table, chair and a window. The film features an array of reverse and sideway shots that manage to open up space in a confined house setting.
19) Buried (2010, Spain/USA/France, Rodrigo Cortés)
Buried proves that in the hands of a talented director a bare bones scenario of a man buried in a coffin can make for an engaging film.
20) The Desert of Forbidden Art (2010, Russia/USA/Uzbekistan, Tchavdar Georgiev/Amanda Pope)
The Desert of Forbidden Art is a living breathing digital work of art that gives new life to paintings that are tucked away from the world. The two directors continue the work of the documentary’s subject Igor Savitsky in showcasing art to the modern world via the medium of cinema.
Honorable Mentions, in no particular order
Undertow (2009, Peru co-production, Javier Fuentes-León)
Senna (2010, UK, Asif Kapadia)
Martha Marcy May Marlene (USA, Sean Durkin)
Of Gods and Men (2010, France, Xavier Beauvois)
We Have to Talk About Kevin (UK, Lynne Ramsay)
The Ides of March (USA, George Clooney)
Shor in the City (India, Krishna D.K, Raj Nidimoru)
Blue Valentine (2010, USA, Derek Cianfrance)
Red Riding Trilogy (2009, UK, Julian Jarrold/James Marsh/Anand Tucker)
Some other notable performances/moments
The entire cast of Margin Call are fascinating to watch although Jeremy Irons steals the show with a character that oozes evil and power.
Jimmy Shergill does a commendable job of portraying a prince who is striving to hold onto power despite having no money in Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster.
Just like in last year’s Ishqiya, Vidya Balan once again upstages her male counterparts in The Dirty Picture.
The opening moments of Hugo prove that in the hands of an auteur 3D can be a breathtaking experience rather than a loud explosive mess.
Favorites roughly in order of preference
1) Le Quattro Volte (2010, Italy co-production, Michelangelo Frammartino)
Michelangelo Frammartino’s remarkable film uses an unnamed town in Calabria as an observatory to examine the metaphysical circle of life. Depicting such metaphysical topics is not an easy task, but Frammartino pulls this off with considerable ease, plenty of humour, tender emotions and a pinch of mystery.
2) Do Dooni Chaar (2010, India, Habib Faisal)
Habib Faisal’s directorial debut astutely depicts the struggles of a middle class family in Delhi. The Duggals may be fictional characters but one can easily find reflections of their characters in virtually every Delhi colony. Filmed entirely on location, Do Dooni Chaar is absolutely charming and features two excellent performances from Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh. The film only got a limited release in 2010 but thankfully a DVD release in 2011 means the film can be seen by a larger audience.
3) Drive (USA, Nicolas Winding Refn)
Drive perfectly adapts James Sallis’ book while carving out a distinct identity of its own. Like Driver's car, the film is easily able to shift gears and speed up when needed and slow down in a few sequences. On top of that, the film is enhanced with a visual and musical style that evokes the cinema of Michael Mann with a pinch of David Lynch.
4) A Separation (Iran, Asghar Farhadi)
In discussing a conflict in his actuality film A Married Couple, the late Allan King remarked that viewers often projected their feelings on the screen and took sides with one of the characters. King’s words come to mind when watching the conflict in A Separation, a film that refuses to take sides with either of the characters. Some calculated editing and the distance maintained by the camera in a few scenes means that viewers are forced to believe everything they see on face value whereas in reality, the truth is hidden in between the cuts. A truly remarkable film that starts off with a divorce hearing but then moves in a much richer direction by observing humans in their moments of fear, stress and anxiety.
5) Dhobi Ghat (India, Kiran Rao)
Dhobi Ghat pays a beautiful and poetic tribute to Mumbai by exploring the emotional state of four characters. The script shrinks the vast and chaotic city down to the microscopic level of these four characters so that they can be observed in tight quarters. Each character has their own set of complex problems and Kiran Rao lets the actors brilliant expressions and body language form a guide to their inner feelings. Throughout the film, the four actors appear to be living their parts as opposed to acting out scripted lines.
6) Another Year (2010, UK, Mike Leigh)
A happily married couple serve as a sponge to absorb the misery of their friends. The film shows that some people are predisposed to always emit a negative energy while there are a few who are strong enough to withstand all the unhappiness around them.
7) Nostalgia for the Light (2010, Chile co-production, Patricio Guzmán)
Just as rays of light are delayed in their arrival to our planet, horrors of the past sometimes take a long time before they are unearthed. Patricio Guzmán’s emotional and meditative film manages to connect exploration of the stars with truths buried in the ground.
8) Aurora (2010, Romania co-production, Cristi Puiu)
Viorel’s (Cristi Puiu) disenchantment and frustration with society around him continues to build until he acts out in a burst of violence. However, the film is not concerned with the consequences of his actions but is more interested in his behavior prior to and after his violent act. Aurora is a fascinating character study that is packed with plenty of dark humor and features a remarkable climax that dives into the same rabbit hole that consumed Mr. Lazarescu (The Death of Mister Lazarescu) and Cristi (Police, Adjective).
9) The Kid With a Bike (Belgium co-production, Jean-Pierre Dardenne/Luc Dardenne)
The film’s non-stop energy is personified by the young lead character who is able to take all the kicks and roll with the punches. A truly magnificent film but then again one would not expect any less from the Dardennes.
10) Melancholia (Denmark co-production, Lars von Trier)
The end of the world sequence naturally grabs all the attention but the film’s dramatic core lies in the wedding dinner where sharp jabs are traded. These honest verbal punches echo The Celebration and Rachel Getting Married but the words in Melancholia pack more venom and are meant to break the other person down. Justine (Kirsten Dunst) desperately tries to make things work but deep down she knows that some celestial bodies are meant to collide and destroy each other.
11) The Tree of Life (USA, Terrence Malick)
A perfect symphony of camera movements and background score elevates one family’s tale into a much grander scale. The camera continuously zips around the characters, hovers over them, dives down low or swings from a corner in the room. The camera even moves back in time where it patiently captures the big bang and peers into the future as well.
12) Flowers of Evil (2010, France, David Dusa)
David Dusa’s remarkable debut feature is one of the most relevant films to have emerged in recent years. It is a rare film that depicts the revolutions of change taking place around the world by smartly incorporating social media such as facebook, twitter and youtube within the film’s framework. The film also features a groovy background score and makes great use of Shantel’s Disko Boy song.
Note: I was part of the three person jury that awarded this best film in the Mavericks category at the Calgary International Film Festival.
13) The Whisperer in the Darkness (USA, Sean Branney)
Sean Branney’s perfect adaptation of H.P Lovecraft’s short story remarkably recreates the look and feel of 1930’s cinema. The entirely black and white film uses the background score to maintain tension and suspense throughout. In fact, the tension does not let up until the 90th minute when a few moments of rest are allowed before the film heads towards a pulsating finale.
This film was also in the Mavericks Competition at CIFF.
14) Alamar (2009, Mexico, Pedro González-Rubio)
A tranquil and beautiful film about a father’s journey with his son. This is a perfect example of a film that proves that one does not need 3D to have an immersive cinematic experience.
15) Meek’s Cutoff (2010, USA, Kelly Reichardt)
The setting may be 1845 but at its core Meek’s Cutoff is a contemporary film about a journey through an unknown and potentially dangerous landscape. How much faith should be placed on a stranger? If this was such an easy question to answer, then the world would indeed have been a better place.
16) Attenberg (2010, Greece, Athina Rachel Tsangari)
A warm and tender film that puts a spin on a conventional coming-of-age tale by featuring honest communication between a father and daughter.
17) Kill List (UK, Ben Wheatley)
Ben Wheatley’s film packs quite a powerful punch and increases the tension and violence as it races along at a riveting pace. One remarkable aspect of the film is that it keeps quite a few pieces off the screen thereby allowing the audience to fill in their own version of events related to the characters background and even to origins of the cult group. It is tempting to talk about the hunchback but it is best viewers are left to encounter him on their own terms.
18) The Turin Horse (Hungary co-production, Béla Tarr/Ágnes Hranitzky)
Béla Tarr crafts his unique end of the world scenario with a few bare essentials -- an old man, obedient daughter, rebel horse, untrustworthy visitors, an angry wind, potato, bucket, well, table, chair and a window. The film features an array of reverse and sideway shots that manage to open up space in a confined house setting.
19) Buried (2010, Spain/USA/France, Rodrigo Cortés)
Buried proves that in the hands of a talented director a bare bones scenario of a man buried in a coffin can make for an engaging film.
20) The Desert of Forbidden Art (2010, Russia/USA/Uzbekistan, Tchavdar Georgiev/Amanda Pope)
The Desert of Forbidden Art is a living breathing digital work of art that gives new life to paintings that are tucked away from the world. The two directors continue the work of the documentary’s subject Igor Savitsky in showcasing art to the modern world via the medium of cinema.
Honorable Mentions, in no particular order
Undertow (2009, Peru co-production, Javier Fuentes-León)
Senna (2010, UK, Asif Kapadia)
Martha Marcy May Marlene (USA, Sean Durkin)
Of Gods and Men (2010, France, Xavier Beauvois)
We Have to Talk About Kevin (UK, Lynne Ramsay)
The Ides of March (USA, George Clooney)
Shor in the City (India, Krishna D.K, Raj Nidimoru)
Blue Valentine (2010, USA, Derek Cianfrance)
Red Riding Trilogy (2009, UK, Julian Jarrold/James Marsh/Anand Tucker)
Some other notable performances/moments
The entire cast of Margin Call are fascinating to watch although Jeremy Irons steals the show with a character that oozes evil and power.
Jimmy Shergill does a commendable job of portraying a prince who is striving to hold onto power despite having no money in Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster.
Just like in last year’s Ishqiya, Vidya Balan once again upstages her male counterparts in The Dirty Picture.
The opening moments of Hugo prove that in the hands of an auteur 3D can be a breathtaking experience rather than a loud explosive mess.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Four Films by Fernando Di Leo
Sometimes genre filmmakers are easily dismissed by critics and their works remain ignored until some influential film festival programmer or film director rediscovers them. In the case of Fernando Di Leo, his films were brought out of the shadows thanks to the Venice Film Festival and Quentin Tarantino. Geoffrey Macnab documents this association.
Marco Muller, former head of the Venice Film Festival, incurred the wrath of many people when Venice decided to hold a retrospective of Fernando Di Leo’s films:
"I was accused by a lot of Italian critics of having lost any sense of the institutions by opening the gates of the festival to trash cinema," says Venice Festival director Marco Muller.
Until recently, Muller points out, the work of filmmakers such as Di Leo was regarded with disdain in Italy. Their films were far more readily available in the UK and US than in Italy.
"Italian audiences think these are bad movies, cheap movies," acknowledges Germano Celant, artistic director of the Prada Foundation (which backed the restoration of films at the Tate.)
So Muller needed someone like Tarantino who had high praise for Fernando Di Leo:
In their battle to rehabilitate Di Leo and his colleagues, Muller and Celant had one key ally: Tarantino. The director came to Venice to introduce the movies.
"I needed Quentin. I knew he would be very loud as a spokesman for Italian B movies," Muller recalls. At the festival, Tarantino's crusading zeal and sheer force of personality helped win round older critics to the idea that the low-budget films made in their backyard in the Seventies were worth reviving. Meanwhile, younger audiences turned up in their droves, curious to see films that had had such a direct influence on Kill Bill and Pulp Fiction.
Tarantino’s words are indeed full of praise:
"One of the first films I watched was pivotal to my choice of profession. It was I Padroni della Città (Mister Scarface). I had never even heard the name Fernando Di Leo before. I just remember that after watching that film I was totally hooked," Tarantino recently recalled. "I became obsessed and started systematically watching other films directed by Di Leo. I owe so much to Fernando in terms of passion and filmmaking".
The Four film DVD box set from RARO video which was digitally restored in collaboration with the Venice Film Festival and The Prada Foundation naturally contains a quote from Tarantino on the front cover:
I am a huge fan of Italian gangster movies, I’ve seen them all and Fernando di Leo is, without a doubt, the master of this genre.
This box set also marked my first foray into the world of Fernando Di Leo.
Caliber 9 / Milano calibro 9 (1972)
The Italian Connection / La mala ordina (1972)
The Boss (1973)
Rulers of the City / I padroni della città (1976)
Politics, Crime and Women
The four films are B-grade works given their low budget nature, poorly synched post-dubbed dialogues, discontinuous editing and over the top acting. Still, once this initial impression is brushed off, the films have relevant political and social commentary about corruption and organization of the mafia families. The films show how government policies assisted in the dispersal of the mafia’s organizational structural from the South to the North which in turn opened the door for outside forces to get a toe in resulting in more bloodshed and power struggle. The films contain many memorable action sequences and an assortment of mafia bosses, rival groups, hitmen, pimps, cops and ample naked women.
Caliber 9 shows how a newly released criminal Ugo Piazza (Gastone Moschin) wants to get on with his normal life but neither his former colleagues or the police want to leave him alone. The criminals are convinced Ugo stole their money so they want it back while the police want him to become an informer. The film shows how the complicated internal dynamic between a criminal organization results in police being rendered powerless. Ugo is a man of few words so naturally the film features many wonderful dialogue-less moments including an impressive opening sequence which shows how a criminal operation features many participants whose role might be as simple as picking up a bag from a train.
The Italian Connection shows the link between criminal groups in New York and Italy. In order to settle a score, two American hitmen arrive in Italy to get rid of a pimp Luca Canali (Mario Adorf). However, as it transpires, Luca Canali is just a scapegoat but once the body count starts rising, it is too late turn back. The two hitmen can be clearly be seen as inspirations for Vincent Vega (John Travolta) and Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) in Pulp Fiction.
The Boss is the most accomplished film of the pack as it outlines the closeness of familial ties in running a mafia group and shows how police, mafia and politicians are all connected in a vicious cycle of power. Loyalty is supposed to be of utmost importance but loyalty can easily be negotiated when everyone wants a slice of power. The film contains a remarkable opening sequence where Lanzetta (Henry Silva) uses a bazooka to blow up criminals in a movie theater. The opening execution results in a major cleanup of the entire criminal hierarchy and the film contains a large amount of betrayals which are planned out like chess moves.
The above three films are part of a noir trilogy with Rulers of the City being a loose addition to the group. Rulers of the City also known as Mister Scarface starts off on a light hearted flirtatious tone when a money collector Tony (Harry Baer) is prowling the streets in his fancy red Puma GT convertible and eyeing women, who naturally cannot get enough of him either. Tony is eager to move up the ranks in his criminal organization and decides to impress his bosses by conning Manzari aka Scarface (Jack Palance). Of course, cheating Scarface comes with a very high price and that starts a domino effect of score settling executions.
Inspiration & an Indian connection
The films of Fernando Di Leo may be crude B-grade films but they also contain many ingredients found in subsequent gangster/mafia films. It is easy to see how various filmmakers could have taken elements from Fernando Di Leo’s films and incorporated them in a more polished framework and produced works that would have gotten critical approval. In fact, many elements from various B-grade films can serve as inspiration for elements found in studio produced A-pictures. The following quote from Martin Scorsese in Geoffrey Macnab’s article rings true:
As Scorsese has pointed out, one of the paradoxes about B-movies is that they "are freer and more conducive to experimenting and innovating" than A-pictures.
Studio films are reluctant to take risks and often follow tried and tested formulas while B-grade films have to get the attention of a potential audience in whatever way they can. This usually means such films dispense worthy technical aspects in preference for over the top action sequences or an abundance of sex and nudity. Basically, their films need talking points to help spread the word. Also, these B-grade films are not afraid to openly criticize the state and can feature plenty of social commentary meant to win the approval of the common citizen. Watching the villains and scantily clad women in Fernando Di Leo films reminded me of the “angry man” films of Amitabh Bachchan from the 1970-80's.
A majority of these 1970-80's Bollywood films that Amitabh acted in were action flicks that featured over the top gangsters/corrupt evil men and had substandard technical aspects. However, the films had a huge following because they played on the sentiments of the oppressed working man. The common man vs corruption element is not present in Fernando Di Leo’s films as his Italian crime films focus exclusively only on elements within the criminal organization. Instead, Ram Gopal Varma’s stellar Satya (1998) and Company (2002) share traits with Fernando Di Leo’s films. Of course, there is no direct line from Fernando Di Leo to Ram Gopal Varma because Varma used real Mumbai mafia as inspirations for his films but an association between Di Leo and Varma exists solely because of how politics is embedded in the everyday life of both Italy and India.
In both countries, passionate debate about corrupt politicians is never wanting and for good reason. So it is not surprizing to find films from both countries containing corrupt criminals openly making deals with cops and politicians.
Marco Muller, former head of the Venice Film Festival, incurred the wrath of many people when Venice decided to hold a retrospective of Fernando Di Leo’s films:
"I was accused by a lot of Italian critics of having lost any sense of the institutions by opening the gates of the festival to trash cinema," says Venice Festival director Marco Muller.
Until recently, Muller points out, the work of filmmakers such as Di Leo was regarded with disdain in Italy. Their films were far more readily available in the UK and US than in Italy.
"Italian audiences think these are bad movies, cheap movies," acknowledges Germano Celant, artistic director of the Prada Foundation (which backed the restoration of films at the Tate.)
So Muller needed someone like Tarantino who had high praise for Fernando Di Leo:
In their battle to rehabilitate Di Leo and his colleagues, Muller and Celant had one key ally: Tarantino. The director came to Venice to introduce the movies.
"I needed Quentin. I knew he would be very loud as a spokesman for Italian B movies," Muller recalls. At the festival, Tarantino's crusading zeal and sheer force of personality helped win round older critics to the idea that the low-budget films made in their backyard in the Seventies were worth reviving. Meanwhile, younger audiences turned up in their droves, curious to see films that had had such a direct influence on Kill Bill and Pulp Fiction.
Tarantino’s words are indeed full of praise:
"One of the first films I watched was pivotal to my choice of profession. It was I Padroni della Città (Mister Scarface). I had never even heard the name Fernando Di Leo before. I just remember that after watching that film I was totally hooked," Tarantino recently recalled. "I became obsessed and started systematically watching other films directed by Di Leo. I owe so much to Fernando in terms of passion and filmmaking".
The Four film DVD box set from RARO video which was digitally restored in collaboration with the Venice Film Festival and The Prada Foundation naturally contains a quote from Tarantino on the front cover:
I am a huge fan of Italian gangster movies, I’ve seen them all and Fernando di Leo is, without a doubt, the master of this genre.
This box set also marked my first foray into the world of Fernando Di Leo.
Caliber 9 / Milano calibro 9 (1972)
The Italian Connection / La mala ordina (1972)
The Boss (1973)
Rulers of the City / I padroni della città (1976)
Politics, Crime and Women
The four films are B-grade works given their low budget nature, poorly synched post-dubbed dialogues, discontinuous editing and over the top acting. Still, once this initial impression is brushed off, the films have relevant political and social commentary about corruption and organization of the mafia families. The films show how government policies assisted in the dispersal of the mafia’s organizational structural from the South to the North which in turn opened the door for outside forces to get a toe in resulting in more bloodshed and power struggle. The films contain many memorable action sequences and an assortment of mafia bosses, rival groups, hitmen, pimps, cops and ample naked women.
Caliber 9 shows how a newly released criminal Ugo Piazza (Gastone Moschin) wants to get on with his normal life but neither his former colleagues or the police want to leave him alone. The criminals are convinced Ugo stole their money so they want it back while the police want him to become an informer. The film shows how the complicated internal dynamic between a criminal organization results in police being rendered powerless. Ugo is a man of few words so naturally the film features many wonderful dialogue-less moments including an impressive opening sequence which shows how a criminal operation features many participants whose role might be as simple as picking up a bag from a train.
The Italian Connection shows the link between criminal groups in New York and Italy. In order to settle a score, two American hitmen arrive in Italy to get rid of a pimp Luca Canali (Mario Adorf). However, as it transpires, Luca Canali is just a scapegoat but once the body count starts rising, it is too late turn back. The two hitmen can be clearly be seen as inspirations for Vincent Vega (John Travolta) and Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) in Pulp Fiction.
The Boss is the most accomplished film of the pack as it outlines the closeness of familial ties in running a mafia group and shows how police, mafia and politicians are all connected in a vicious cycle of power. Loyalty is supposed to be of utmost importance but loyalty can easily be negotiated when everyone wants a slice of power. The film contains a remarkable opening sequence where Lanzetta (Henry Silva) uses a bazooka to blow up criminals in a movie theater. The opening execution results in a major cleanup of the entire criminal hierarchy and the film contains a large amount of betrayals which are planned out like chess moves.
The above three films are part of a noir trilogy with Rulers of the City being a loose addition to the group. Rulers of the City also known as Mister Scarface starts off on a light hearted flirtatious tone when a money collector Tony (Harry Baer) is prowling the streets in his fancy red Puma GT convertible and eyeing women, who naturally cannot get enough of him either. Tony is eager to move up the ranks in his criminal organization and decides to impress his bosses by conning Manzari aka Scarface (Jack Palance). Of course, cheating Scarface comes with a very high price and that starts a domino effect of score settling executions.
Inspiration & an Indian connection
The films of Fernando Di Leo may be crude B-grade films but they also contain many ingredients found in subsequent gangster/mafia films. It is easy to see how various filmmakers could have taken elements from Fernando Di Leo’s films and incorporated them in a more polished framework and produced works that would have gotten critical approval. In fact, many elements from various B-grade films can serve as inspiration for elements found in studio produced A-pictures. The following quote from Martin Scorsese in Geoffrey Macnab’s article rings true:
As Scorsese has pointed out, one of the paradoxes about B-movies is that they "are freer and more conducive to experimenting and innovating" than A-pictures.
Studio films are reluctant to take risks and often follow tried and tested formulas while B-grade films have to get the attention of a potential audience in whatever way they can. This usually means such films dispense worthy technical aspects in preference for over the top action sequences or an abundance of sex and nudity. Basically, their films need talking points to help spread the word. Also, these B-grade films are not afraid to openly criticize the state and can feature plenty of social commentary meant to win the approval of the common citizen. Watching the villains and scantily clad women in Fernando Di Leo films reminded me of the “angry man” films of Amitabh Bachchan from the 1970-80's.
A majority of these 1970-80's Bollywood films that Amitabh acted in were action flicks that featured over the top gangsters/corrupt evil men and had substandard technical aspects. However, the films had a huge following because they played on the sentiments of the oppressed working man. The common man vs corruption element is not present in Fernando Di Leo’s films as his Italian crime films focus exclusively only on elements within the criminal organization. Instead, Ram Gopal Varma’s stellar Satya (1998) and Company (2002) share traits with Fernando Di Leo’s films. Of course, there is no direct line from Fernando Di Leo to Ram Gopal Varma because Varma used real Mumbai mafia as inspirations for his films but an association between Di Leo and Varma exists solely because of how politics is embedded in the everyday life of both Italy and India.
In both countries, passionate debate about corrupt politicians is never wanting and for good reason. So it is not surprizing to find films from both countries containing corrupt criminals openly making deals with cops and politicians.
Monday, December 26, 2011
We have to talk about Franklin, the hunting teacher
We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011, UK/USA, Lynne Ramsay)
Early in We Need to Talk About Kevin we see a helpless Eva (Tilda Swinton) trying to calm her baby down. The baby, Kevin, keeps crying and despite Eva’s best efforts refuses to settle down.
Eva is exhausted and worn out by the time her husband Franklin (John C. Reilly) returns home in the evening. Franklin does not understand or believe about Eva’s struggles with Kevin because Franklin only sees a quiet and content baby. Franklin goes on to lovingly cradle the baby and play with the child.
Such a scene is not fiction and takes place in virtually every household where there is one stay at home parent and one working parent. The stay at home parent spends an entire day looking after the baby with no time for playing and is exhausted by the time evening rolls around. So when the working parent returns home in the evening, they usually find a calm baby and freely go about playing with the child. As a result, the working parent is often the fun parent while the stay at home parent is the workhorse looking after every need of the baby. In most cases, the stay at home parent is the mother while the father gets to be the cool parent. In a sense, such roles have existed for centuries dating all the way back to prehistoric times. During the stone ages, cavemen were the hunters who spent all their time looking for prey while the women stayed in the cave taking care of the children and cooking the food. We Need to Talk About Kevin examines the continuation of these roles in modern times and highlights the similarity by depicting archery as Franklin’s main bonding activity with his son. Franklin is passing down the ancient art of hunting to his son so it really should not be a surprize when Kevin uses this training to go hunting for live prey.
Raising a child is a difficult task and that task is much more difficult if only one parent is left to do everything. Franklin is an absent parent and he is not shown to contribute in any raising of Kevin. He tries his best to be Kevin’s friend and leaves all the disciplining to Eva which is clearly a mistake as Eva cannot handle the child on her own. When Eva loses her temper and manages to break young Kevin’s arm, she alienates Kevin who grows up to resent her. Kevin’s hatred extends beyond his mother to his young sister who also gets mistreated by Kevin. Franklin never clues in and fails to ponder over any questionable actions. When Kevin orders a box of padlocks, Franklin believes Kevin’s statement that he intends to sell the locks to make a profit. Franklin even pats his son on the back and likens him to a young “Donald Trump”. However, Kevin’s words seem dubious as he has never exhibited any entrepreneurial ambition but Franklin would be the last person to notice that.
Kevin lives in a family where he is free to do whatever he pleases because neither parent comes in his way. Both Eva and Franklin have a hands off approach towards Kevin for different reasons. Eva cannot muster up the courage to say anything to Kevin because she is tired of getting insulted by him. Also any attempt by Eva to be friendly towards Kevin backfires as Kevin is never in any mood to spend “quality time” with his mother. So Eva keeps her distance and comforts herself with a bottle of wine. On the other hand, Franklin thinks he is Kevin’s buddy and tries to play it cool. But even Franklin is not spared as his friendly behavior leads him getting stabbed in the back. Eva and Franklin are not shown to be bad parents but instead they come off as parents who cannot cope with their child and as a result neglect him. Not all neglected children grow up and turn violent like Kevin but when parents neglect their child, they leave the door open for outside forces to influence and shape their child. The film does not show any of these outside influences and as rightly observed by Srikanth Srinivasan, the film is from the perspective of Eva, which means we never get to see the full picture of how Kevin is influenced. The film’s title and layers of symbolism in each frame highlights the guilt that Eva feels with regards to Kevin’s violent act. The repeated images of blood seen throughout the film clearly indicate that Eva feels responsible for the bloodshed. As a result, Eva sees blood on her house, car, face and hair. The strange looks the neighbours give Eva when she is sanding her house indicate that the neighbours don’t see the blood but only she does.
Interestingly, the film starts off with a scene where the color red represents freedom for Eva. A series of scenes from the Spanish festival of tomatina portray that red once symbolized a time when Eva had no worries or responsibilities.
However, that same red color ends up being a burden for Eva because it represents her guilt for Kevin’s act. Naturally, the images of blood are only wiped clean after Eva has found resolution and stopped blaming herself.
We Need to Talk About Kevin saves itself from heading down a slippery slope by not including any outside influences that helped shape Kevin’s motives. When Eva presses him for an answer about his violent act, Kevin replies "I used to think I knew. Now I'm not so sure." Usually, there is no quick answer that can suffice but instead the answer lies in years of neglect, anger and resentment that comes to a boil in a single moment. The film gives snippets of these resentful moments from Kevin’s childhood into his teenage years but only from Eva’s memories. Even if the film tried to incorporate Franklin into the perspective, it is hard to think any worthwhile memories would be generated from his vantage point. Franklin unknowingly supervised Kevin’s killer training yet Franklin is blood free for all but one scene. More importantly, Franklin fails to be there for Eva. Franklin never believes Eva when she tells him about Kevin’s negative actions nor does he observe his son’s rude behavior towards his mother or sister. As a result, Eva can never approach Franklin to get him to discipline Kevin. There is clearly a problem in Franklin and Eva’s marriage but since we never learn anything about Franklin, we can only assume he is not interested in any responsibility whatsoever. In the end, Eva is left to run the household and is forced to pick up the pieces after all the arrows have been fired. One day, perhaps we can talk about Franklin and what was so important that he completely ignored his family.
Note: the casting of Jasper Newell and Ezra Miller as the younger and older Kevin is certainly a great decision as both reflect each other nicely. On top of that, both nail their role perfectly and the older Kevin oozes hatred and evil when needed.
Early in We Need to Talk About Kevin we see a helpless Eva (Tilda Swinton) trying to calm her baby down. The baby, Kevin, keeps crying and despite Eva’s best efforts refuses to settle down.
We Need to Talk About Kevin saves itself from heading down a slippery slope by not including any outside influences that helped shape Kevin’s motives. When Eva presses him for an answer about his violent act, Kevin replies "I used to think I knew. Now I'm not so sure." Usually, there is no quick answer that can suffice but instead the answer lies in years of neglect, anger and resentment that comes to a boil in a single moment. The film gives snippets of these resentful moments from Kevin’s childhood into his teenage years but only from Eva’s memories. Even if the film tried to incorporate Franklin into the perspective, it is hard to think any worthwhile memories would be generated from his vantage point. Franklin unknowingly supervised Kevin’s killer training yet Franklin is blood free for all but one scene. More importantly, Franklin fails to be there for Eva. Franklin never believes Eva when she tells him about Kevin’s negative actions nor does he observe his son’s rude behavior towards his mother or sister. As a result, Eva can never approach Franklin to get him to discipline Kevin. There is clearly a problem in Franklin and Eva’s marriage but since we never learn anything about Franklin, we can only assume he is not interested in any responsibility whatsoever. In the end, Eva is left to run the household and is forced to pick up the pieces after all the arrows have been fired. One day, perhaps we can talk about Franklin and what was so important that he completely ignored his family.
Note: the casting of Jasper Newell and Ezra Miller as the younger and older Kevin is certainly a great decision as both reflect each other nicely. On top of that, both nail their role perfectly and the older Kevin oozes hatred and evil when needed.
Friday, December 23, 2011
Putty Hill, The Arbor
Innovative Cinema
A character is busy doing something but suddenly the character stops what they are doing and looks towards the camera to answer questions by an unseen interviewer. Once the character has answered the questions, the camera steps back allowing the character to jump back into the fictional story that continues until the next stoppage to address the audience.
Such a unique and innovative approach in Matthew Porterfield’s Putty Hill manages to blur the line between documentary and fiction by incorporating interviews within the framework of scripted cinema.
This same technique of addressing the audience directly can also be found in Clio Barnard’s The Arbor where actors talk directly to the camera before the film continues.
However, there is a difference in the technique between Putty Hill and The Arbor. Porterfield’s film is fiction that uses mostly non-professional actors but The Arbor uses professional actors to lip-sync a true story. This technique is needed in The Arbor because this method is similar to the work of Andrea Dunbar on whose plays the film is based on. Clio Barnard describes this direct address technique in the film's DVD booklet:
Andrea’s fiction was based on what she observed around her. She reminded the audience they were watching a play by her use of direct address when The Girl in The Arbor introduced each scene.
I see the use of actors lip-synching as performing the same function, reminding the audience they are watching the retelling of a true story.
My work is concerned with the relationship between fiction film language and documentary. I often dislocate sound and image by constructing fictional images around verbatim audio. In this sense, my working methods have some similarity to the methods of verbatim theatre.
Verbatim theatre by its very nature (being performed in a theatre by actors) acknowledges that it is constructed. Housing estates and the people who live there are usually represented on film in the tradition of Social Realism, a working method that aims to deny construct, aiming for naturalistic performances, an invisible crew and camera, adopting the aesthetic of Direct Cinema (a documentary movement) as a short hand for authenticity. I wanted to confront expectations about how a particular group of people are represented by subverting the form.
I used the technique in which actors lip-sync to the voices of interviewees to draw attention to the fact that documentary narratives are as constructed as fictional ones. I want the audience to think about the fact that the film has been shaped and edited by the filmmakers.....
This verbatim theatre and direct audience technique results in a rich work that is a fascinating blend of improv theatre, scripted cinema and a documentary. Often, examples of all three methods take place in just one sequence.
For example, an actor describes the context of the scene the audience are about to observe.
The actor then jumps into character in a theatrical set constructed in the middle of the exact same living space the story is based on. So reality feeds into fiction which in turn reflects reality.
This direct address technique also gives the appearance of interactive cinema. In both Putty Hill and The Arbor, the camera pans across the screen before slowly stopping on a character who then addresses the audience. On first glance, this looks to have the same level of control as when a user clicks on an object of interest when scrolling across a user interface. However, this level of control is a bit misleading since it is not a two-way interaction because the audience does not have full control to listen from any character. Instead, the characters that speak up do so as per the film director’s discretion. The directors carefully adjust the audience attention on a particular character via the camera movement (pan combined with a slow focus) thereby arousing curiosity in the mind of viewers. As a result, when a character speaks up, it is not unexpected nor intrusive. In fact, the character’s words are welcome because it allows viewers to learn a bit more about events in the story.
The following example from The Arbor shows how such a one-way interactive moment takes place. This scene shows characters engaged in a heated debate which threatens to get out of hand.
A policeman leads one of the characters away.
The camera tracks the two characters and settles in on a face in the crowd
who then gives the addresses the audience directly.
Both films share a direct address technique although The Arbor has roots in Verbatim theatre while Putty Hill is a fluid blend of documentary with fiction. The two films are innovative works that break free from the conventional cinematic mould and are essential viewing.
A character is busy doing something but suddenly the character stops what they are doing and looks towards the camera to answer questions by an unseen interviewer. Once the character has answered the questions, the camera steps back allowing the character to jump back into the fictional story that continues until the next stoppage to address the audience.
Such a unique and innovative approach in Matthew Porterfield’s Putty Hill manages to blur the line between documentary and fiction by incorporating interviews within the framework of scripted cinema.
This same technique of addressing the audience directly can also be found in Clio Barnard’s The Arbor where actors talk directly to the camera before the film continues.
However, there is a difference in the technique between Putty Hill and The Arbor. Porterfield’s film is fiction that uses mostly non-professional actors but The Arbor uses professional actors to lip-sync a true story. This technique is needed in The Arbor because this method is similar to the work of Andrea Dunbar on whose plays the film is based on. Clio Barnard describes this direct address technique in the film's DVD booklet:
Andrea’s fiction was based on what she observed around her. She reminded the audience they were watching a play by her use of direct address when The Girl in The Arbor introduced each scene.
I see the use of actors lip-synching as performing the same function, reminding the audience they are watching the retelling of a true story.
My work is concerned with the relationship between fiction film language and documentary. I often dislocate sound and image by constructing fictional images around verbatim audio. In this sense, my working methods have some similarity to the methods of verbatim theatre.
Verbatim theatre by its very nature (being performed in a theatre by actors) acknowledges that it is constructed. Housing estates and the people who live there are usually represented on film in the tradition of Social Realism, a working method that aims to deny construct, aiming for naturalistic performances, an invisible crew and camera, adopting the aesthetic of Direct Cinema (a documentary movement) as a short hand for authenticity. I wanted to confront expectations about how a particular group of people are represented by subverting the form.
I used the technique in which actors lip-sync to the voices of interviewees to draw attention to the fact that documentary narratives are as constructed as fictional ones. I want the audience to think about the fact that the film has been shaped and edited by the filmmakers.....
This verbatim theatre and direct audience technique results in a rich work that is a fascinating blend of improv theatre, scripted cinema and a documentary. Often, examples of all three methods take place in just one sequence.
For example, an actor describes the context of the scene the audience are about to observe.
The actor then jumps into character in a theatrical set constructed in the middle of the exact same living space the story is based on. So reality feeds into fiction which in turn reflects reality.
This direct address technique also gives the appearance of interactive cinema. In both Putty Hill and The Arbor, the camera pans across the screen before slowly stopping on a character who then addresses the audience. On first glance, this looks to have the same level of control as when a user clicks on an object of interest when scrolling across a user interface. However, this level of control is a bit misleading since it is not a two-way interaction because the audience does not have full control to listen from any character. Instead, the characters that speak up do so as per the film director’s discretion. The directors carefully adjust the audience attention on a particular character via the camera movement (pan combined with a slow focus) thereby arousing curiosity in the mind of viewers. As a result, when a character speaks up, it is not unexpected nor intrusive. In fact, the character’s words are welcome because it allows viewers to learn a bit more about events in the story.
The following example from The Arbor shows how such a one-way interactive moment takes place. This scene shows characters engaged in a heated debate which threatens to get out of hand.
Both films share a direct address technique although The Arbor has roots in Verbatim theatre while Putty Hill is a fluid blend of documentary with fiction. The two films are innovative works that break free from the conventional cinematic mould and are essential viewing.
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Three Films by Mohamed Al-Daradji
The following three films from Iraqi director Mohamed Al-Daradji all take place in 2003, the pivotal year in which Iraq's history changed drastically.
Ahlaam (2006)
War, Love, God & Madness (2008)
Son of Babylon (2009)
Ahlaam (2006)
War, Love, God & Madness (2008)
Son of Babylon (2009)
The core of Ahlaam takes place after the American invasion but the film goes as far back as 1998 when Iraq was bogged down by sanctions. Back in 1998, the title character of Ahlaam (Aseel Adel) was on the verge of marriage while Hasan (Kaheel Khalid) was having doubts about staying in the army because he didn’t believe in serving Saddam. Mehdi (Mohamed Hashim) was troubled because his father’s past would stand in the way of him going for higher studies. These characters lives was clearly not great to begin with but their plight gets worse as the film moves along. Ahlaam’s marriage is ruined because her fiancée is taken away by the Iraqi police. She is pushed to the ground which subsequently damages her mind, eventually landing her in a mental hospital. The lack of order after the invasion causes the looters to move into that mental hospital forcing all the patients, including Ahlaam, out on the unsafe streets of Baghdad. As the film shows, most people suffered from poverty while living under the oppressive regime of Saddam. However, things got subsequently worse after the bombs started to fall in 2003 as the locals had to deal with extra problems such as looting, lack of electricity and water. The chaos and looting that spread like wildfire in 2003 causes the lives of the main characters in Ahlaam to spin further out of control. Ahlaam's fate is unresolved at the film’s end, but it is clear that it can’t be hopeful.
The documentary War, Love, God & Madness depicts the struggles and challenges in the making of Ahlaam. In 2003, Mohamed Al-Daradji and his crew entered Iraq posing as journalists (Al-Jazeera being the magic word) otherwise they feared their camera would be taken away. Once in Baghdad, Al-Daradji tried to find the only working film camera while recruiting local actors. He found it quite challenging to select a female lead especially since prospective leads backed out when they learned about the rape scene in Ahlaam. Things are further complicated when one of the crew members walked off suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Additionally, the lack of electricity and safety complicated the daily shoot schedule. Al-Daradji was on the verge of giving up and leaving Iraq but he ignored the advice of others around him and stayed to produce a sharp end product in Ahlaam despite all the stress and complications.
Son of Babylon is set a few weeks after the invasion of 2003 and starts off far away from the Iraqi capital. An older woman Um Ibrahim (Shazada Hussein) goes in search of her missing son when she learns that certain prisoners of war have been freed in Iraq. She take her grandson Ahmed (Yasser Talib) along as her missing son is Ahmed’s father.
Son of Babylon is set a few weeks after the invasion of 2003 and starts off far away from the Iraqi capital. An older woman Um Ibrahim (Shazada Hussein) goes in search of her missing son when she learns that certain prisoners of war have been freed in Iraq. She take her grandson Ahmed (Yasser Talib) along as her missing son is Ahmed’s father.
Their road journey is not an easy one because the country is in a state of flux especially when horrific truths about the past are unearthed on a daily basis. One of the film’s most emotional sequences is when the traveling duo encounter a funeral procession of recently discovered buried bodies. There are no words spoken but Um Ibrahim’s silent expressions convey her worst fears about her son’s fate.
The film manages to showcase Iraq's vast and picturesque countryside, something hardly ever seen on screen.
Also the film depicts the challenges posed by the cultural and linguistic diversity of Iraq. Um Ibrahim is Kurdish but she cannot speak Arabic so she has to rely on her grandson for translation. People have enough problems to begin with so the language barrier only adds to their frustration and confusion. Yet, no matter what language an Iraqi speaks, they are united in their suffering. The ending of Son of Babylon is even more emotional than the one in Ahlaam but such films cannot have a happy ending, not especially when there are so many unresolved matters. The end credits in Son of Babylon lists that more than a million men, women and children have gone missing in Iraq in the last 40 years. By April 2009, more than 300 mass graves were found containing between 150,000 - 250,000 bodies. The remaining are still missing so there are countless stories waiting to be told about Iraq.
Transfer of suffering
Ahlaam and War, Love, God & Madness are about the suffering of the living. However, Son of Babylon shows that suffering does not end when someone dies. In fact, their suffering gets transferred to their living relatives. And in cases when relatives have no closure about a loved one, the next generation of family members start their lives burdened with a heavy dose of pain.
Ahlaam and War, Love, God & Madness are about the suffering of the living. However, Son of Babylon shows that suffering does not end when someone dies. In fact, their suffering gets transferred to their living relatives. And in cases when relatives have no closure about a loved one, the next generation of family members start their lives burdened with a heavy dose of pain.
Smoke and Sounds
Ahlaam is a very well made film that smartly uses a grayish/dark palette to depict the chaos after the 2003 invasion. On the other hand, Son of Babylon is bright and vibrant yet most scenes feature smoke in the background thereby depicting the constant blowing up of things.
Ahlaam is a very well made film that smartly uses a grayish/dark palette to depict the chaos after the 2003 invasion. On the other hand, Son of Babylon is bright and vibrant yet most scenes feature smoke in the background thereby depicting the constant blowing up of things.
War, Love, God & Madness captures the sound of gunfire and bombing that locals have to endure on a daily basis. The documentary also features many conversations with locals in cafes and on the streets. In this regard, the film shares a bond with Sinan Antoon’s About Baghdad. It is quite fascinating to think that both Antoon and Al-Daradji were probably in Baghdad at the same time in 2003 filming their respective documentaries. Their films do feature a bit of hope because the locals believed that being rid of Saddam would eventually lead to a more happier life. It would be interesting if someone revisited the city now and interviewed the same people again because as bleak as things appeared in 2003, we now know that the coming years brought on more uncertainty.
The documentary title War, Love, God & Madness comes from an observation by a person that changing one letter in arabic transforms the word "war" into "love" and "God". That is a fascinating observation as wars are something that take place in the absence of love yet wars also take place in the name of God or if one side has too much love of their God. And when wars take place, madness is unleashed, thereby setting one on the path towards more wars.
Voices and Stories
The documentary title War, Love, God & Madness comes from an observation by a person that changing one letter in arabic transforms the word "war" into "love" and "God". That is a fascinating observation as wars are something that take place in the absence of love yet wars also take place in the name of God or if one side has too much love of their God. And when wars take place, madness is unleashed, thereby setting one on the path towards more wars.
Voices and Stories
There are plenty of books and films about Iraq yet very few of these works give an Iraqi perspective. One of the big reasons for lack of an Iraqi voice is because most of these works are based on experiences of western journalists who were living inside the Green Zone or embedded with foreign troops so their viewpoint was always a bit restricted. When these journalists went to meet the locals, they were accompanied by a translator or a bodyguard (soldier or private) and as a result, there were always filters and barriers which prevented a true Iraqi perspective from emerging. There are some exceptions such as James Longley’s incredible Iraq in Fragments which covers different parts of Iraq and outlines realistic problems facing the country. However, most films about Iraq hardly feature any Iraqis or are even shot in the country. Therefore, Mohamed Al-Daradji’s films are a pleasant surprize because they are shot entirely on location and manage to give voice to the local Iraqi people.
Mohamed Al- Daradji’s films are not made to collect box-office receipts or to win acclaim. Instead, they are made to depict essential human stories about citizens of a country the world has largely ignored even though the country name itself is regularly featured in headlines. These films won’t change the world but atleast it is good to know that there is still some relevant cinema out there that is not manufactured to win awards.
Mohamed Al- Daradji’s films are not made to collect box-office receipts or to win acclaim. Instead, they are made to depict essential human stories about citizens of a country the world has largely ignored even though the country name itself is regularly featured in headlines. These films won’t change the world but atleast it is good to know that there is still some relevant cinema out there that is not manufactured to win awards.
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