At The Movies

Superb  ****    Very Good  ***     Good  **      Mediocre   *    Forget It  -

Unmissables

El Secreto De Sus Ojos ( The Secret in their Eyes) **** (vo Spanish)  It seemed an upset when The White Ribbon from Austria/Germany did not receive the best foreign film Oscar and this Argentinean film picked it up instead. Well, I just saw the film and am still in awe as I write this. Using flashbacks to some 25 years ago, director Juan José Campanella has woven an elegant tale of love, injustice, loyalty and empty lives around a crime of rape and murder that was never quite resolved. This intricate account is exceptional on many levels. It’s about a retired justice official (Ricardo Darin) who is writing a novel on the unsolved crime that will not leave his mind. It’s a love story that has remained locked in the hearts of the two colleagues (Darin and Soledad Villamil) involved in the old investigation. It’s a reminder of the duplicity and power politics of revolving-door governments. And above all, it’s a manifestation of the exquisite quality of South American and especially Argentinean cinema – the dialogue, direction, the subtlety of the acting, cinematography and editing – you name it, they excel.

Une Exécution Ordinaire  **** (vo French)  During the last days of Stalin’s life, an infernal triangle forms between a doctor who has extraordinary healing powers in her hands, her physicist husband and the father of the country himself, who summons her to alleviate his pains. Marina Hinds continues her brilliance (after her tender portrayal of Lady Chatterley) as the frightened healer, while André Dussollier becomes Stalin, in all his power, ruthlessness and enigma. This is quite an intimate foray into what was the terrible pressure on common citizens under Stalin’s vicious reign. With great sensitivity and discretion, the multi-awarded writer Marc Dugain directs here his first film based on his own book. Impressive!

Romans d’Ados 1- 4  **** (vo French)   Béatrice Bakhti as director and her husband Nasser as producer, backed by the Swiss TSR, have created an exhaustive documentary about a group of teenagers in Yverdon whom they followed from the ages of 12 to 18. This is an amazing, caring work about personable characters as well as a psychological quest through the turmoil of growing-up. The families give of themselves completely, without inhibition, while the individual teenagers grow on us with their emotional disclosures. The four episodes of approximately two hours each are as gripping as any fine work of fiction, beautifully filmed, paced and edited, as well as being important pedagogically. This is truly a revelatory tour-de-force of courage, pain and joy in a cycle of continuity.

Troubled Water (En Eaux Troubles)  ***1/2 (vo Norwegian)  A kidnapping gone terribly wrong and the guilt over a child’s death are shown from two points of view – that of the kidnapper who has been released from prison and that of the child’s mother. Brilliantly and delicately balanced, it bares the truest of reactions on all sides – responsibility, revenge, redemption – casting the spectator in the role of Solomon. The acting is superb all around (young Pal Sverre Valheim Hagen has the makings of a world star – might help to drop a few of those names) and the Norwegian director, Eric Poppe, grabs our attention from the first tentative minutes till the end, using music as a balm for so much sorrow.

Moon  ***1/2 Duncan Jones (son of David Bowie) has deservedly picked up a slew of awards for this first feature film, a science-fiction tale about a lone man on the moon who works for a company that extracts helium for energy use on earth. Impatiently waiting for the end of his three-year stint, he begins to have delusions that develop into some sinister realities. Sam Rockwell is excellent, as is the voice of Kevin Spacey as Gerty, his indispensable computer. There are obvious shades of Kubrick’s Hal and 2001, A Space Odyssey, though this one is a far more personal, engrossing and well-written version of what can happen up there. Sorry Stanley, but I never could warm to that film of yours.

Robin Hood (Robin des Bois) *** The dynamic Oscar-winning duo of Ridley Scott as director and Russell Crowe as star are back again (They’ve done Gladiator, A Good Year,  American Gangster and A Body of Lies together.), this time with an old classic which they’ve decided to turn on its head, by telling it as a historical prequel. You will be surprised, for this is not your everyday outlaw-in-green-tights. As Crowe (who’s also producer this time) puts it, “It’s anarchy, violence and adrenaline… with an instinctively heroic Robin Hood who could have really existed…With research you discover the story is probably based on up to 30 real people” in the late 12th century when King Richard the Lionhearted was returning from the Crusades. With a top-notch cast including Cate Blanchett and Max Von Sydow, it blends history, grand battle scenes (the one of the French invasion at the cliffs of Dover is reminiscent of the sea landing in Saving Private Ryan), the struggle between royal power and a just social order and a tender love story growing between Robin and Lady Marion. As always, Crowe is simply riveting.

La Tête en friche  *** (vo French)  Jean Becker tends to make nostalgic films of bucolic friendships, such as his Les Enfants du Marais or Dialogue avec mon Jardinier. This one, with the monumental Gérard Depardieu (the Marlon Brando of France, in so many ways), is a wonderfully gentle tale of a simple man who meets an elderly lady (Sophie Guillemin) on a park bench and gradually becomes what he could have been, through her love of books. It’s moving, amusing and so human, with an array of quirky characters. Don’t listen to the negativism of snob critics.

Kick-Ass  *** How can one say that a film is entertaining and super fun if it’s also terribly violent, with an 11-year-old girl who ends up pulverizing more men than Schwarzenegger?! But it is brilliantly done, which makes it that much more dangerous for the kids who will end up seeing it. It’s smart and a treat on various levels – the reality of being a nerdy teenager, the fantasy of becoming a super-hero, and the collision of a criminal gang (headed by Mark Strong), a surrealistic father/daughter revenge machine (Nicolas Cage and Chloe Moretz) and the wannabe Kick-Ass (Aaron Johnson). British Matthew Vaughn (producer of Guy Ritchie’s films and husband of Claudia Schiffer) does an amazing job of creating thrills and comedy drenched in violence. I guess you could just say it’s kick-ass…

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Movies – Films

Superb  ****    Very Good   ***     Good **       Mediocre  *      Forget it   -

Worth your While

Alice in Wonderland ***  The fantabulous team of Tim Burton, Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter is back to enchant us once again, after such delights as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Sweeney Todd. It’s of course the classic tale of Alice, who is somewhat older this time, with a wonderfully dazed and touching Mad Hatter, as only Johnny Depp could portray.

How to Train your Dragon ***  Dreamworks is inching in on the brilliance of Pixar animation with exuberant tales like this one about a Viking village that is constantly attacked by dragons. But the son of the village chief just doesn’t feel like killing them, to his father’s shame. In fact he ends up befriending one of them …This is an invigorating and humorous tale of understanding those whom we have mistakenly come to fear and hate. Wonderful!

Men Who Stare at Goats (Les chèvres du Pentagone) ***  Don’t take this film seriously and just enjoy a super team of actors including George Clooney, Jeff Bridges, Ewan McGregor and Kevin Spacey. You’ll laugh yourself silly at the antics of an “anti-war” unit in the U.S. Army. Weird, goofy and a hoot!

Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang ***  Set in the English countryside, this is a magical, feel-good film for the whole family, with a disguised Emma Thompson (who also wrote the screenplay) as an amazing nanny who is transformed with each good deed she teaches her young brood. The kids are great, as is the versatile Maggie Gyllenhaal as their mother, along with a woozy Maggie Smith. It’s a moving, funny and adventurous story of a family waiting for Dad to come home from war.

Les Invités de mon Père (vo French)   ***  With a super cast that includes Fabrice Luchini and Karin Viard as his sister, this is a film    about a close-knit family that wonders what’s up with their father when he takes in a dubious mother/daughter duo from an Eastern-bloc country. Anne Le Ny’s refreshing French comedy manages both to amuse and dissect a multitude of family quirks and prejudices.

Shutter Island ***  If this is not an homage to Hitchcock, I don’t know what is. There’s the twisted plot, the heightened colors and fake backdrops (especially at sea), the winding staircase in a lighthouse (Vertigo) and even a cliff-hanging scene (North by North West). Scorsese and DiCaprio give us the shivers until the brilliant ending, better than any of Hitchcock’s. I didn’t want to see the film, as it seemed so creepy, but it was finally well worth the chills.

The Ghostwriter **1/2  Here is Roman Polanski’s take on a Tony Blair-like British leader’s memoirs and intrigues – an interesting, austere political thriller with Ewan McGregor and Pierce Brosnan.

Tetro **1/2  A young sailor from Europe arrives in Argentina to find his long-lost older brother. Francis Ford Coppola has turned to dramatic black & white to tell this tale of a family torn apart by an overbearing, illustrious father with some deep secrets. Intense and esthetically sumptuous, it’s a grand old melodrama set in Buenos Aires.

Precious **1/2  Highly acclaimed and Oscarized, this downer of a film is about a terribly abused black girl who gradually comes out of her shell through a caring teacher. Fine acting all around, especially by the abusive mother, but the whole tragic process leaves you feeling queasy.  Can any of this relentless scrutiny help somehow, somewhere?

Chloe **1/2  There are films that grab you from the outset and don’t let go. This is one of them, though it leaves you with a disturbing sense of guilt for having watched it. This slick psychodrama, about a wife who hires a call girl to get at the truth about her husband, is an intense observation of the twists of life by the renowned Canadian/Armenian director Atom Egoyan (Exotica). Julianne Moore is especially effective in this remake of the original French film, Nathalie, which starred Fanny Ardant and Emmanuelle Béart.

Les Aventures extraordinaires d’Adèle Blanc-Sec (vo French)  **1/2  Luc Besson (Le Grand Bleu,Subway, Angel) knows how to make films, even if critics regularly drub him – jealousy? This one is pure action/fun entertainment (in the genre of Indiana Jones or Romancing the Stone) based on a well-known comic-book series set in the Paris of the early 1900s. A feisty journalist, Adèle, goes off to Egypt and its pyramids to find a way to cure her comatose sister. It has great characters, exotic locations and cinematography, but it could have been shortened for better effect.

Neptune Ingwersen

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Movies – Films

Superb  ****    Very Good   ***     Good **       Mediocre  *      Forget it   -

It’s been almost three months since I’ve written about films! I was away in balmy Florida, but have been keeping up with the movies and have stored them in my head and some in my heart. A few I’ve almost forgotten, they were so inconsequential. Now I’m back, with a backlog of reviews. I know some of the films may be gone and others have not yet arrived, but I hope these inevitably brief reviews will get us up-to-date. And there’s always DVD and Amazon.com.    Neptune Ingwersen

Unmissables

An Education ****  Here’s an intelligent, engrossing and brilliantly acted ensemble piece from England. It’s about a bright young girl who gets waylaid on her mission to attend Oxford, by a seductive older man played by a smooth Peter Sarsgaard. By Danish director Lone Scherfig (Italian for Beginners), it’s set in the early 60s and has it all – a whirlwind romance, misguided parenthood, ambition and folly. Sweet Carey Mulligan was nominated for a best actress Oscar, but lost to Sandra Bullock.

The Last Station ****  This beautifully-acted and atmospheric jewel of a film by Michael Hoffman recounts the turbulent love between Leo Tolstoy and his tempestuous wife, as they spar over his literary legacy to the Russian people, in the last months of his life. Helen Mirren and Christopher Plummer are wonderful as the fiery couple (both nominated for Academy Awards), as are their cohorts, James McAvoy and Paul Giamatti. An illuminating work, both emotionally and historically. (I would have given this or An Education the best film Oscar).

Green Zone ***1/2  Matt Damon is getting better with each film and his partnership here with director Paul Greengrass, with whom he’s done the Bourne series, doesn’t hurt. With his clear blue eyes and cute pug nose, Damon is the embodiment of the “good” American in Iraq at the beginning of the invasion, when the troops were frantically searching for WMDs. This smart action yarn tells it how it was – the deliberate deceptions, the Iraqi side (brilliantly done), the different layers of command. Brains and brawn together, what more would you want on a movie night?!

Soul Kitchen (vo German) ***1/2  Fatih Akin, the German/Turkish director of Gegen die Wand and Auf der anderen Seite, is a fan of Jim Jarmusch, and it shows in his eccentric, meaningful films full of color and passion. This one, about the troubles of two close-knit brothers and a funky restaurant in Hamburg (where Akin was born), is joyous, energetic and great fun, showing  marginals in a little-known side of Germany.

Les Chats Persans (No one knows about Persian Cats) (vo Farsi)  ***1/2  This is a surprising, multi-awarded (Cannes, Miami, Sao Paulo) Iranian film about one of the thousands of underground rock bands that exist today in Tehran. Since they can’t perform there as freely as they wish, the lead boy and girl of a band are trying to go to England to give a concert. To help them recruit new band members and get the necessary papers, they turn to a riotous wheeler-dealer (Hamed Behdad)who can charm anyone into anything. By the Kurdish/Iranian director Bahman Ghobadi of A Time for Drunken Horses and Turtles Can Fly, this is a breath of fresh air and a true picture of the suppressed vitality that is Iran today – a must-see for a better understanding of a burgeoning, multifaceted, misunderstood country.

The Hurt Locker (Démineurs) ***1/2  Winning the Oscar for best film and best director, this film by Kathryn Bigelow is a tense study of a bomb squad in Iraq, and one of them in particular (Jeremy Renner, Oscar nominee), who is as fearless and cool under fire as a Steve McQueen character. Filmed in almost documentary style, the story does not delve into the politics or ethics of war, but just observes the raw fear and almost drunken high experienced by those who face instant death at any moment. Powerful – but was it the best of the year? And is it universal enough for the honor?

Crazy Heart ***  Here’s a slow, lazy look at an aging country singer who once was somebody and is now playing in sleazy joints and slowly drinking himself to death. It’s all downhill until he’s interviewed by a lovely young thing and they begin to fall in love. Jeff Bridges mightily deserved his Oscar for this role of a lifetime (one of many for him), which completely carries the film. But Maggie Gyllenhaal isn’t far behind, with her tender portrayal of a lover and a mother. And then there’s Colin Farrell in a surprising cameo role. This is one fine coup for first-time writer/director, Scott Cooper.

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Movies – Films

Superb  ****     Very Good  ***      Good **     Mediocre  *     Forget It   -

UNMISSABLES

Up In The Air ****     Suave, gliding through airports as though they were his home with his myriad privileged credit cards, George Clooney’s character flies around the country firing people for firms which don’t want to deal with the mess. He’s great at his job  and loves his unattached lifestyle.  Seamlessly directed by Jason Reitman (Thank You for Smoking and Juno), this deceptively subtle film is a metaphor for today’s modern, empty world – from a charged beginning to an uncertain end. Clooney is excellent, once again proving he’s not just a gorgeous guy. This is Oscar material all the way…

Brothers ****     Brodre, the gripping 2004 Danish film by Suzanne Bier has been transformed here into an American work and quite fittingly, as it concerns family tensions and the war in Afghanistan. With a strong cast including Natalie Portman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Tobey Maguire and Sam Shepard, directed by the Irish/American Jim Sheridan (of Oscar winners such as My Left Foot and In the Name of the Father), this has proven one fine import. The “good” brother goes off to war, while the bad-boy brother stays home and becomes close to the former’s wife and children. It’s austerely modern; it’s Greek tragedy and also Shakespearean. Won’t tell you more, just go see it. And rent the Danish film too.

A Single Man ***1/2     We’re terribly lucky this season – deluged with one fine film after the other. Here’s another one, amazingly polished by first-time director, Tom Ford, who is the highly successful men’s fashion designer. Being gay and stunning-looking himself, he has made a film about a teacher mourning the loss of his lover, set in the early 60s when homosexuality was still under wraps. The mood and look of the era are impeccably captured and Colin Firth, who has perfected the art of being contained and reserved, has never been so moving. And he’s never been so trim and well attired either, all due to Ford, of course. This is quite an aesthetic work of art by a newcomer to the field. But then the painter Julian Schnabel also traversed careers brilliantly, directing Basquiat, Before Night Falls and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. Once an artist, always an artist.

Invictus ***1/2     “I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul”. This quotation exemplifies the grandeur of Nelson Mandela’s life and his legacy for Africa (and in a smaller sense, the trajectory of director Clint Eastwood’s career). The film dwells mainly on Mandela’s efforts to unite his country behind its rugby team during the World Cup in 1994 and his strength and wisdom in going against the current. Morgan Freeman becomes Mandela and Eastwood does them both honor. From White Hunter, Black Heart and Bird to Bridges of Madison County and Letters from Iwo Jima, and now this tribute, Eastwood keeps proving his mastery of many genres, his understanding of diverse worlds and the control of his audience.

2 Brothers ***1/2  (vo Hebrew and English)  I’ve written this up before, but now it is finally being released in our area after garnering quite a few prizes in various festivals. It’s about two opposing brothers, this time in Israel. One is a peace activist living there and the other is a fanatic Orthodox Jew, who has moved back from New York. Their differences and struggles highlight the grave threat posed by the Orthodox community to peace in that region. Powerful and important, it is directed by Geneva-based Igaal Nidam.

It’s Complicated ***     Ah, to have a bit of fun in this sad and serious world! So here’s a film not to miss. First because it’s a love story about mature adults, second because it’s got such super actors as Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin and third, because a good romantic comedy is a rare thing. But director Nancy Meyers is an expert at the entertaining ones – such as What Women Want and Something’s Gotta’ Give. It’s a delight for the eyes and for many a belly laugh and it all makes giddy sense until the ending, which I personally did not like. But that’s only me – you and others may well think it should end in such a modern, egalitarian way….

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**** Superb       *** Very Good       **  Good         *  Mediocre

UNMISSABLES

Océans ****   (vo French)  This spectacular documentary by Jacques Perrin (Le Peuple Migrateur) is absolute poetry in motion, and a visual gift depicting the beauties and peculiarities of the myriad marine species in our precious waters. It’s a must-see on the giant screen for the full effect of its glorious images and music. Simply breathtaking!

Sin Nombre ****  (vo Spanish)   Along with an incongruous love that develops atop a transport train, this violent and harrowing yet moving film shows the desperate ordeal of emigrants from Central America trying to reach the borders of the U.S. A powerful first film by Cary Joji Fukunaga, it has won awards at both the Sundance and Deauville festivals.

The Little Fugitive ****   This entrancing B&W, multi-awarded film from 1953 will be showing at the CAC Voltaire and should NOT be missed! It’s Brooklyn in the summer and boys will be naughty. When a widowed mother leaves to visit an ailing grandmother, her two sons are left alone for two days. And because little Joey is a pest for his older brother, they play a prank on him, turning Joey into a scared fugitive. A boy’s day out, the innocence yet gumption of a smart kid, and a holiday atmosphere on Coney Island – it’s all here in this independent American forerunner of the French Nouvelle Vague. Cunningly photographed and timeless in its simplicity and universality.

The Road ****   Not for the faint-hearted, here’s yet another end-of-the-world story, but one which is done with a sobriety and depth of feeling that will shake you to the core. The grayness of the desolate earth is given life through the overpowering acting of Viggo Mortensen and Kodi Smit-McPhee as a father and son trying to survive in the barren wasteland that is left of the world. This tour-de-force which deals with the struggle between brutal survival and remaining “one of the good ones” is based on the celebrated novel by Cormac McCarthy (of No Country for Old Men) and directed by Australian/Canadian John Hillcoat.

Where the Wild Things Are  (Max et les Maximonstres) ***1/2   Based on the beloved children’s book, this Spike Jonze film is about a boy who feels no one really listens to him, so he creates his own strange kingdom with quirky and delightful creatures where he can rule and be heard. Superbly played by little Max Records and Catherine Keener as his mother, this charming tale is for those with heart, from 5 to 95.

Le Concert ***1/2 (vo Russian/French)   A renowned but politically-damaged Russian conductor gets a chance after 30 years to reunite his orchestra and give an impromptu concert in Paris. Can he manage against all odds, and get to perform with the young violin virtuoso with whom he has a connection from long ago? This delightfully constructed adventure by the Romanian Radu Mihaileanu has some silly and unnecessary moments, but as an old-fashioned crowd-pleaser it is saved by its heartwarming story and characters, and especially the lovely Melanie Laurent (last in Inglourious Basterds) as the violin soloist. The rousing concert finale will have you wanting an encore!

It’s Complicated (Pas si simple) **1/2   Here’s a film not to miss – first because it’s a love story about mature adults, second because it’s got such super actors as Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin and third, because a good romantic comedy is a rare thing. But director Nancy Meyers is an expert at the entertaining ones – such as What Women Want and Something’s Gotta’ Give. It’s a delight for the eyes and for many a belly laugh and it all makes giddy sense until the ending, which I personally did not like. But that’s only me – you and others may think it should end in such an American, equalitarian way…

WORTH YOUR WHILE

Bright Star ***   This beautifully-filmed period piece by Australia’s Jane Campion (The Piano) is about the difficult love story between the poet John Keats and his muse, Fanny Brawne. It truly conveys its era and the delicacy and discretion of feelings back then, when emotions hung on rapturous words and silences..

Loup **1/2 (vo Russian)   Nicolas Vanier (Le Dernier trappeur) takes us once again into the wild, this time to oriental Siberia. This saga of a young man, who has to take care of his troop of reindeer and also protect the family of wolves with whom he has become entranced, is an amazing feat of animal and nature photography.

Kérity, la maison des contes **1/2  (vo French)   Here’s a beautifully animated tale of a little boy who can’t read but is bequeathed a precious collection of books by his late auntie, narrated by Jeanne Moreau. Watch the classics come alive.

Mères et Filles **1/2  (vo French)   The tension between three generations of mothers and daughters is magnified by some dark family secrets. This melodrama is enhanced by the fine acting of Catherine Deneuve, Marina Hinds and Marie-Josée Croze.

WHY NOT ?

Le Siffleur **  (vo French)   What makes this film is its setting – the marvelous Côte d’Azur, and the light touch with which it presents its crooked cast of characters, played by the likes of Thierry Lhermitte, Alain Chabat and the indefatigable François Berléand, doubling as his own twin. They all seem to be having such fun down there, in that radiant climate and all the luxury….

Baba’s Song *1/2  (vo English and German)   This uneven mishmash about musicians in Africa, destitute orphans and a shady adoption deal even grapples with Aids. Wolfgang Panzer of the brilliant Broken Silence just can’t seem to recapture the magic of his earlier film. Some of the acting and dialogue is painfully amateur, but the saving grace is Baba and his wily little side-kick.

AT YOUR OWN RISK

Le père de mes enfants *1/2  (vo French)   This is a story that ends tragically about a film producer burdened by bankruptcy and depression. None of the drama will make a dent in your emotions, methinks. (One wonders if those intellos would feel better if they washed their hair…)

Le Dernier vol *1/2 (vo French)   Don’t bother with this endless search through the dunes of the Sahara. Even though it tries to emulate The English Patient, it doesn’t come close to the latter’s quality or intensity. And neither Marion Cotillard nor Guillaume Canet can save the dull scenario.

Limits of Control *1/2   What’s happened to the brilliant Jim Jarmusch (Night on Earth, Ghost Dog) here? A hit-man goes from locale to locale and meets some strange characters. To what end? And who cares finally?  It should be called The Limits of Patience.

Bazar * (vo French)   This tale of an autumn/spring romance between an older woman and her new young beau, filmed here in Geneva, would have been more interesting if it hadn’t succumbed to clichés and superficial solutions. A pity.

Paranormal Activity *   You and I could also make such a home movie, with slamming doors and moving sheets, about a possible entity in a young couple’s home. It’s not scary, just a creepy wool-over-your-eyes stunt. Don’t fall for the hype from the U.S.

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UP ****  ( A superb movie for all ages.)

It never fails – Pixar studios (now distributing through Disney) keep coming up with stellar works in animation, transcending the genre by making it intelligent art (Toy Story, The Incredibles, Cars, Ratatouille) that is both emotionally satisfying and super fun at the same time. This one, which is the story of an old man who flies away with his house to fulfill a life-long dream, melds two generations through nostalgia and effervescent adventure. The touching old fellow keeps remembering his departed wife, while the little boy scout who comes on board his flying home adds terrific enthusiasm to the whole shebang – a delight for kids from 5 to 95.

Neptune Ingwersen, European movie critic

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