Film: Léolo - 1992

Leo is an imaginative 12-year old that writes with a lyricism well beyond his years. He writes to escape the stifling ennui of a working class Montreal family composed almost entirely of idiots and the mentally ill. He's a gifted outsider fighting the pressure to succumb to the muted brutality he was born into. His refutation: "Because I dream, that is not what I am."

Nearly every line of narration is a poignant portrayal of childhood's fear, discovery, joy, and ultimate sadness. Reality becomes the plaything of a boy coming to terms with the disconnect between the way he believes things ought to be and how they actually are. The lens often illustrates Leo's perspective with surreal flourishes of astounding creativity. The soundtrack is phenomenal and eclectic- ranging wildly from Tom Waits' melancholy blues, to medieval Tallis chorals and Tibetan throat singing. "Léolo" was French Canadian director Jean-Claude Lauzon's second and final feature-length film before his tragic death in a plane crash.


It's late at night. Consuming darkness abounds except for a small sliver of light illuminating the face of a boy intensely absorbed in the pages of a book. Leo is on the floor of the kitchen wearing mittens and a ski cap, reading by the light of the refrigerator.
Narration:
"I don't try to remember what happens in a book. All I ask of a book is to give me energy and courage to tell me there's more to life than I can take... to remind me of the need to act.

It was the only book in the house. I never wondered how it got there. It was thick. The words were pushed together and required enourmous effort and concentration to yield their secret.

At home, I never saw anybody read or write. Television and Billboards cluttered my brain. In the beginning I read the underlined passages without really understanding. I remember wanting to give up because there were no pictures.

I find my only real joy in solitude. Solitude is my castle. That's where I have my chair, my table, my bed, my breeze, and my sun. I sit in exile. I sit in a fake land.

Because I dream, I am not. "

IMDB

Film: Betty Blue - 1986

Playing catchup this morning again, this was seen on 8/23.



Essentially a tragic romance film for the art-house set, Betty Blue completely exceeded my expectations. This film is full of life, and more importantly it's real - without belief in the genuine connection between the lovers, a film in this genre fizzles into a dead exercise in meaninglessness. Zorg and Betty mean a great deal to each other; he keeps her wild light grounded in reality and she fuels his buried artistic impulse. To the film's immense credit the touching interdependence between the two develops in a completely believable way without relying on the cliches and gimmicks that the genre typically makes use of.

I have the feeling many people were drawn to this one because of it's uncompromising erotic content. Admittedly, there is quite a bit of nudity (male and female), but it's far from crossing the boundry into softcore tripe. On the topic of of nudity, Betty Blue emphatically shouts (in my best French accent) "It's only natural!" The love between Zorg and Betty is real, so sex needs to maintain this naturalism as well. In a particularly memorable scene, an older fat disheveled-looking man enters Zorg's beachfront bungalow one morning and finds Zorg and Betty in bed, both completely nude without any tactically placed sheets covering them. They've obviously had one hell of a night, and the old guy's silly smirk of admiration shows he knows it too. Betty wakes to see this stranger staring at them, asks who the hell he is but doesn't cover herself. Zorg gets out of bed and asks the man to pardonnez-moi because the old guy is sitting on his pants. Hillariously the fat man remarks "I like to sleep naked too." Zorg proceeds to make coffee and it's back to business as usual. In essence, the film's nudity doesn't have an erotic intent; rather it serves to convey the unabashed intimacy of two people in love.

Betty Blue is quintessentially French in all the best possible ways. Part of the pleasure of watching this film is in how it just nails the details of that culture. From its naturalistic handling of nudity to its love of romance, good food, wine and friendship; Betty Blue is a vibrant reminder of a culture that values the important things in life above all. Of all the wonderful little details of French life contained in this film one illustrates this slant perfectly. Zorg is running late delivering a piano to a client. He borrows the a huge truck from the small provincial grocer's brother-in-law. As he's speeding down the winding roads of the French countryside (with a full concert grand in tow) he's pulled over by a completely unsympathetic policeman. Of course Zorg doesn't have his license with him, doesn't own the truck, and was obviously well over the speed limit on a road not meant for such an enormous vehicle. His excuse to the cop: "I just found out today I'm going to be a father." Suddenly the officer changes his tune entirely, a huge smile of congratulations appears on his face and, as is only fitting, sings a song about fatherly responsibility. He waves Zorg off as he once again barrels down the road. Indeed, in France even the police officers have secret manuscripts that they're desperately trying to get published.

Echoes of Cassavettes' "A woman under the influence" are evident in the concluding tragic turn of this film as a gut-wrenching reminder that some flames just burn too brightly for this world.

IMDB

Film: Calvaire - 2004

In the mood for survival horror in the vein of 2005's superb Wolf Creek, Belgium's yarn on demented country folk failed to deliver.

"Calvaire" (The Ordeal) slowly builds the right atmosphere, but when things begin to get out of hand Bartel just does not exhibit the pure malevolence expected from the primary antagonist of this type of film. He's more like a jolly mad uncle than the personification of evil. The loony villagers have a certain deliverance-like charm, but barely add to the waning tension. It doesn't help that the protagonist is a wimp. Pardon the pun if you've seen it, but in this case the dress fits.

In sum, find your shocks elsewhere.

IMDB

FIlm: Bad Boy Bubby - 1993

This was viewed on 8/10/07.


Quite the undiscovered gem. It's like Herzog's Kasper Hauser set in early 1990s Australia. Touching, disturbing, and reproachful all in the same breath, it really starts to roll after the first 30mins.

An IMDB user took the time to type this out, it's an excellent quote from one of the many strange characters Bubby meets... worthy of copying here:
You see, no one's going to help you Bubby, because there isn't anybody out there to do it. No one. We're all just complicated arrangements of atoms and subatomic particles - we don't live. But our atoms do move about in such a way as to give us identity and consciousness. We don't die; our atoms just rearrange themselves. There is no God. There can be no God; it's ridiculous to think in terms of a superior being. An inferior being, maybe, because we, we who don't even exist, we arrange our lives with more order and harmony than God ever arranged the earth. We measure; we plot; we create wonderful new things. We are the architects of our own existence. What a lunatic concept to bow down before a God who slaughters millions of innocent children, slowly and agonizingly starves them to death, beats them, tortures them, rejects them. What folly to even think that we should not insult such a God, damn him, think him out of existence. It is our duty to think God out of existence. It is our duty to insult him. Fcuk you, God! Strike me down if you dare, you tyrant, you non-existent fraud! It is the duty of all human beings to think God out of existence. Then we have a future. Because then - and only then - do we take full responsibility for who we are. And that's what you must do, Bubby: think God out of existence; take responsibility for who you are.

IMDB

Film: Gemini - 1999 - Shinya Tsukamoto

Quite a departure from previous favorites Tetsuo and Tokyo Fist, this one doesn't have the trademark hyperkinetic editing, high-octane industrial soundtrack, nor the visceral emotional punch of his best work.

This is in essence a rather tame revenge story, beautifully shot, set to ghostly theme music and bit of banal medical ethics thrown in.

Minimal and, in my opinion, rather insignificant work of Tsukamoto's.

IMDB

Film: Manderlay - 2005 - Lars Von Trier

With much regret I have to say this one wasn't nearly as intense, insightful, and involving as his previous film, Dogville.

It seemed more of an intellectual exercise, a political treatise of sorts devoid of any of the emotional rawness that made the first so great.

Grace has become an saccharinely idealistic, gullible, spoiled child that wants to impose her clearly unexamined, 2nd-hand moral perspectives on the unjust "state" of Manderlay plantation. Democracy introduced among those that aren't ready for it eventually results in murder. A dictator is toppled and the people, yearning for the comfort of habit, seek a new one. The point became all to clear in the closing credits with a picture of Bush and a zoom shot of the world trade center.

Humanity is what is lacking from this film. Perhaps this was part of Von Trier's point? Implementing abstraction requires superficial players.

IMDB

Film: Inland Empire - David Lynch - 2006

Finally! I've been wanting to see this one since it was announced, and I didn't hesitate when the opportunity arose this weekend.

Where to begin? A fitting question for a film as convoluted and maze-like as this one.

Long ago I had read it was shot entirely in DV, but this didn't prepare me for the initial almost distracting hyper-reality of this type of recording. I suddenly realized that my visual expectations were pretty rigid and that I've been jaded by the high-gloss artificiality of the standard Hollywood pictureframe. The home-video quality at the outset quickly dissolved as the masterful web of story began to take hold. In fact, later I had to marvel at the quality of the DV as it excels in the grungy reality much of the film portrays and is used masterfully for special effects.

The sound design is nothing short of brilliant and plays a key role as it does in so many Lynch films. Dark industrial rumblings, precisely-pinpointed noises, and endless reverbs that fade from scene to scene. Credits have Lynch listed as the sole sound designer, I'm impressed! The music is excellent, and often surreally unfitting to great effect. No Badalamenti involvement with this one as far as I know.

The story? Oh brother. Multiple layers of reality, filmic self-reference, rugs being pulled away from under me as soon as I formulate a theory about what the hell is going on. I love it. I think the best way to enjoy a film like this the first time is to suspend critical analysis and let it take you where it may... let it absorb into the subconscious and enjoy its mesmerizing whimsy.

I can pretty safely say this film is about Hollywood (the inland empire?), and more precisely about acting and the effect an actor has on the viewer. Laura Dern's character (btw probably the best acting I've EVER seen) is the driving force behind the plot, I feel like most of the film is a depiction of what is going on in her mind as she plays and lives through this role in "no more blue tomorrows" - but on another level the viewer (a lady often shown watching the action on a TV) is identifying with the action (perhaps sometime in the future) and superimposing her life onto the movie. The rabbit show seems to be a depiction of meaningless sitcoms with laugh-tracks tied to things that simply aren't funny. I have no idea where the Polish past comes into play... so much more to think about!

I will have to say at around 3 hours, Lynch fans will really get the most out of it. This one doesn't strike me as entry-level Lynch and is probably his most challenging yet.

IMDB

Film: Edmond - 2005

I'm going to have to think about this one a bit and then write something down. There were moments I had to turn the volume down because what was happening on screen became so intense and uncomfortable. It's rare that a film elicits that kind of reaction.

Screenplay + original play by David Mamet

IMDB

Film: 300 - Second Viewing

Movie mood this evening was for pure, visceral entertainment and 300 fit the bill nicely. This was my second viewing, the first being one of the rare times I go to the movie theatre.

Any interesting film gains something from a second viewing. Overlooked details are discovered, the distractions of the visual spectacle and milked emotions are done away with. A repeated viewing allows more free analysis and interpretation.

Capturing a screenshot for this one was almost a chore. Every image is like a beautiful HDR photograph- I would have liked to post dozens. The voice over narration is very well written, as if it was actually drawn from a heroic epic. Truly superb was the sound, something that typically eludes notice-- every sword clang and arrow whir made it's presence known. I especially loved when sound was used to illustrate heightened senses in a particular scene in Sparta's marketplace. Time slowed as individual sounds came to the forefront, bathed in cavernous reverb the viewer briefly transcends the visual beauty and is immersed in sound. Unfortunately, my one gripe about this film was the music. It seemed that every other scene tried too hard to pull the heart-strings with gladiator-styled wailed themes. The similarity doesn't bother me, just that it was used to excess.

Still, with such artfulness in visuals, sound-design, and writing, I don't feel like the film ever gains the status of a true piece of art. This is a case where the pieces feel to be more than the whole, but a solid enjoyable piece of entertainment it certainly is.

IMDB

Film: Black Cat, White Cat - 1998 - Emir Kusturica

Frantic and fun in the tradition of the greats Underground and Time of the Gypsies, Kusturica is undisputed master of lust-for-life Gypsy cinema.

IMDB