Film Reviews 2007

Good Night and Good Luck - A truly excellent film, not to be missed in my opinion. First, it’s in beautiful black and white, a stunning example of the texture and artistry that this form of film can display, as opposed to colour. As well, David Straitharn is amazing as Edward R. Murrow and a number of other well-known and not so well-known actors are also excellent. And finally, there's the story itself and presentation of Murrow’s courage in speaking out against McCarthy at a time when no one else dared, and his wonderful use of the English language.

Separate Lies - A really well-done, well-acted and thought-provoking British film with excellent performances about relationships, love, guilt and innocence, blame and forgiveness.

Shopgirl - There were a few things in this film based on Steve Martin’s novella that didn’t quite work for me, but all in all I really enjoyed it, and parts of it were truly hilarious and the cinematography very effective. Jason Schwartzman in particular, as the other man in Claire Dane’s character's life besides Steve Martin’s older cad, was incredible.

Well, it’s been an orgy of film-watching for me lately. What a relief to see a number of really good films after such a long drought!

The first is Off the Map, an independent American film from the past year starring Joan Allen and Sam Elliott. It's about a rather quirky hippy-ish family living off the land in New Mexico, told from the point

of view of the precocious and bright 12-year-old daughter. For a change in these kinds of films, she’s not obnoxious and the adults aren't all idiots. I found the film to be quite funny in parts with interesting

characters and haunting and evocative scenery; even an ocean-loving person like me could appreciate the appeal of the desert.

The next is Mad Hot Ballroom, a highly acclaimed documentary from the past year about a ballroom dancing program used in public schools in NYC for 11-12 year olds, both in order to teach them to dance and to basically improve the lives and self-esteem of these mainly poor kids from difficult living situations. It’s predictably a feel-good and inspiring film, which to me isn’t a criticism because I found it a joy to watch. I particularly admired the devoted and caring teachers who seemed to realize that treating young people as uplifted ladies and gentlemen actually brings out those qualities in them. I guess I should mention that I almost always love watching dancing and hearing Latin music, so if you don't you might not enjoy this film quite as much. But some of these kids are really great dancers!

Finally, I went to see Walk the Line, about Johnny Cash and June Carter. This is also a predictable film (difficult childhood, substance abuse, rise to stardom, etc.) but the performances are great and even though I was never a huge Johnny Cash fan, I still have his lively tunes buzzing through my head today and I don’t mind at all.

Last night I went to see The Prestige, and I highly recommend it! Like The Illusionist, it’s a film from circa 1890s London about magicians, but whereas I enjoyed The Illusionist, I was completely delighted with The Prestige. Though it’s mainly about the rivalry between two young magicians, I found that the film itself is like a great magic trick. It’s beautifully filmed and performed, keeps you thinking and watching and trying to figure out exactly what’s going on, is sometimes shocking and even cruel. It deals with obsession and what we’re willing to put ourselves through in order to maintain the illusion and enthrall others.

I’m recommending For your Consideration for when it comes out on DVD. It’s directed and co-written by Christopher Guest, who’s also responsible for Best in Show and This is Spinal Tap, among other films. It wasn’t as hilarious as I found both of those two but was gently and cleverly quite amusing, about the foibles of ego as they play out in the entertainment industry. As usual for this director/writer, there’s a large cast of fairly wacky characters, and though most of them are made fun of and caricatured, they are also generally rather sweet and actually sympathetic. (I think the first part of the film is funnier if you’re Jewish as it centres on a film being made that’s called Home for Purim and there are quite a few Yiddish expressions tossed around.)

I just watched an amazing Brazilian DVD called House of Sand. It reminded me somewhat of the well-known Japanese film from the 60s, Woman of  the Dunes. In this case, beginning in 1910 a woman is stuck in and tries to get out of a desolate sand-dune and lagoon area for years before giving in to the situation. It’s slow-moving and there’s not too much more to the plot than that but the cinematography is incredible, even on my fairly small TV, and the nuances and twists of character interactions quite fascinating.

I saw The Painted Veil last night and really recommend it. It’s based on a Somerset Maugham book and is quite compelling, I find myself haunted by it this morning. The performances by Edward Norton and Naomi Watts are excellent, and all the other film elements come together beautifully. It was filmed mainly in China with quite spectacular cinematography. The story is fairly simple, leading to a pretty obvious ending, but the character development and relationships are always interesting and thought-provoking.

Also, I saw The Good Shepherd right around New Year and didn’t  review it because it wasn't a great film, but I decided to mention it here as I do think it’s worth seeing. Many of the reviews I’ve seen or heard aren’t very positive and I think I liked it better than those critics. It’s long and slow-moving, but I appreciated that, especially in a Hollywood film. All the performances were very good and though it’s about the CIA and how it began, what I found more interesting was the psychology of all these men who seem to be passionately drawn to secretive and self- important activities.

I went to see Letters from Iwo Jima last night. As expected, it was well done and quite compelling in many ways but basically a war film and I do get tired of and bored with so many battle scenes and things blowing up – I’ve never been able to understand why many people apparently find these kinds of scenes exciting. Also rather depressing to realize, once again, how pointless wars are and yet how soldiers on any side have always somehow been able to convince themselves that they’re doing the right and honourable thing for their country and themselves, and only in rare instances are able to wake up and see the “enemy” as just another human being.

On a more cheerful note, I saw Miss Potter last weekend and thoroughly enjoyed it. Though not nominated for any awards, I found it to be beautiful visually, very well acted, and an interesting story of the life of Beatrix Potter, who was quite ahead of her time in being a successful and independent business woman and artist.

I went to see Venus over the weekend and recommend it, though I wouldn’t say it’s my favourite film of the year or my favourite Peter O’Toole film either, though I think he may get the Oscar for best actor for his performance, since he’s been nominated several times in the past but never won. It’s generally a very well done and thought-provoking film, especially for those of us approaching that age. I couldn’t quite see the appeal of the young woman he falls in love with, but then I’m not a man! And her gradual transformation from a bratty 20-something to a caring adult because of how he treats her is lovely to see.

I want to recommend this film even though I don’t know if and when it will be showing here. I was lucky to be given a free pass to an advance showing of Days of Glory last night at Park Lane. This is one of the films nominated for Best Foreign Film Oscar and is a French-Algerian- Moroccan partnership. It might be interesting to speculate on why that title was chosen as the French title is Indigenes which means natives. This is yet another World War II film and of the high-profile ones I’ve seen lately (Letters from Iwo Jima and Pan’s Labyrinth), to me it was the most affecting and historically interesting. This time it’s the story of the Algerian and Moroccan natives who were convinced to join the French army and go to France (the “Motherland” as these countries were French colonies) to fight the Nazis. The film shows how  they were treated so badly by the French (who also got all the credit for any military successes), which later on played a big part in bringing about the French-Algerian conflict and eventually Algerian independence. Every element in the film is superbly done, and especially the wonderful portrayal of the North African characters in the story, their development from desert dwellers who had never seen anything remotely European into top-notch soldiers, their relationships and caring for each other, their unwavering pride in who they are despite how they’re treated.

Having said that, I hope to not see any more war films for some time! It’s sad to be shown over and over again humanity’s cruelty and senseless killing of one another.

I found Breach to be a really excellent film, though unless like me you really prefer seeing films in the theatre, you could wait till it comes out on DVD as it wasn’t so much the visuals as the story and acting that I found so well done and compelling. In case you’re unfamiliar with the true story it’s based on, it’s about the bringing down of Robert Hanssen, the FBI agent and long-time spy for the Soviet Union who was finally arrested in 2001. Even though you know the outcome of the story, it’s gripping throughout because of the performances, especially those of Chris Cooper and Laura Linney. To me, it seemed a great depiction of being caught in ego's clutches, totally motivated by arrogance, the need to be important and better than everyone else. It also showed how religious fervour bordering on fanaticism can enable one to have seemingly contradictory views and behaviour: self-righteousness of one’s beliefs and cause, together with causing much harm to others.

I went to see The Namesake last night. I enjoyed it a lot, though there’s nothing earth-shaking about it, it’s basically a family saga but like a good novel, I felt very immersed in it and was sorry to have to leave the characters when it ended. Quite colourful, going between NYC and India, some really good cinematography including the Taj Mahal. It covered a fairly long time period and only touched briefly on some incidents that I imagine are fleshed out more in the book – it’s based on the book by Jhumpa Lahiri, someone I had never heard of but in looking her up see that she was born in the UK and won a Pulitzer Prize in 2000.

The Lives of Others: This is the best film I’ve seen in a very long time, so if you generally agree with my film assessments, don’t miss it! It takes place in East Germany in the 80s and the plot revolves around the Stasi and a group of artists. I’m not going to say any more than that about the plot, as I was very happy that’s all I knew when I watched the film. I will say that it includes cruelty (though no real physical violence), suspense, great acting and visual texture, and the wonderful unfolding of characters and how they touch each other.

I saw another amazing film while in California recently, After the Wedding, the Danish nominee for best foreign film at the Oscars this year. As one reviewer said, if it hadn’t been for The Lives of Others, this film would surely have won the Oscar. Now that I’ve seen all five of the nominated foreign films, I have to say that they were all excellent and far superior to most English-language ones I’ve seen recently. Anyway, I don’t know if this film will come to Halifax but if you’re anywhere that it’s playing or is available at some point on DVD, don’t miss it. It’s about a Danish man who’s been living in India for a number of years working as an aid worker at an orphanage and has become very negative about the wasteful, plentiful and materialistic lifestyle of 1st world countries. He’s called back to Denmark to try to get funding from a wealthy businessman. While there he unexpectedly comes face to face with people and issues from his past. This film is very emotional, a real tear-jerker in parts so if you don’t like that kind of film be warned. But it’s incredibly well done, in terms of acting, cinematography, and just how it all hangs together. The main character is the Danish actor who recently played the villain in the James Bond film, Casino Royale. He has an amazing face and presence, and so do a number of the other actors.

For those of you who, like me, missed Away from Her at last fall's Atlantic Film Festival, don’t miss it now. It’s gotten a lot of publicity so you may already know that it’s the directorial debut of Sarah Polley, young and already prolific Canadian actress, and it stars Julie Christie and Gordon Pinsent. This is a beautiful, haunting film and is particularly amazing because of Sarah Polley’s youth in directing these veteran stars in a film about Alzheimer’s based on a short story by Alice Munro. All the acting is wonderful. I won't say more, just go see it.

Paris, Je T'Aime is a very interesting film that’s a number of vignettes done by different writers and directors, all set in Paris and all having something to do with love. Some segments are in French and some all or in part in English, and there are quite a few well-known actors among the huge cast. Especially if you have any fondness for Paris, I thoroughly recommend this film. Some of the segments I found better than others, a couple of them I thought were plain silly, but all in all really a pleasure to watch, especially to drink in the visuals of many different areas of Paris.

If you’re a fan of Edith Piaf, or at least appreciate her voice and that kind of music, then go see La Vie en Rose. If you’re not, you probably won’t enjoy it because the music is a big part of the film. I did thoroughly enjoy it, especially watching Marion Cotillard, the actress who plays her amazingly. As in many biopics about artists, we see a very turbulent life ending too soon, so the story is nothing new. But the very French flavour of the whole thing really stayed with me. This is in contrast, for me, to the film Once that so many critics and other people loved. I thought it was an okay, sweet film but it didn’t really engage me and that may have been in large part because, again unlike many others, I didn’t like the music in it and as in La Vie en Rose, the music was a big part of the film. So I guess it’s all a matter of taste, isn’t it?

First, I have to pay homage to Ingmar Bergman, who died over the weekend at age 89. I don't think there’s another director who had more of an influence on my early love of foreign and interesting films than he did. I still have very clear memories of seeing The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries, Smiles of a Summer Night, and others of his early, stunning black & white films. If you’re unfamiliar with any of these, do yourself a favour and rent them.

I was also very lucky to enjoy a wonderful film over the weekend. I had been waiting for Avenue Montaigne and almost missed it because it was shelved under its other title Fauteuils d'Orchestre. This is another film for Paris lovers, but besides the luminous views of that beautiful city, it’s a completely delightful film. The story revolves around several characters whose different life stories converge at a theatre in Paris. The music is great, some classical and some typically French, all the characters interesting and well-acted, and I had a smile on my face throughout much of the film. Both funny and heartfelt, what a joyful way to spend two hours!

It’s been a while, but here are two film recommendations. First, Michael Clayton, which I wouldn’t call great but very well done, well acted, and definitely keeps your attention. In fact, it takes quite a bit of concentration especially at the beginning to follow what’s going on, so don’t go see it if you’re tired! You’ve probably heard about this film, a legal/crime drama, suspenseful and as I said, well done and satisfying.

Second, Across the Universe, which you’ve also probably heard about, the film based on Beatles’ songs. I knew beforehand that some critics loved and others hated it. I fall more or less into the former category, thoroughly enjoyed it, especially the visuals and amazing choreography, costumes and art direction. I thought that for the most part, the stories built around the song lyrics were clever though at times a bit far-fetched, and the 60s theme well done and evocative. But I can see how some might find the non-Beatles’ interpretation of the songs irritating or even unforgivable.

I'm writing this recommendation for Ang Lee’s Lust, Caution even though the film is no longer playing here, after just one week. But perhaps some of you will be interested in renting it if and when it appears on DVD, and I feel that most of what's been written about this film has done it a disservice, and so many would not be inclined to see it based on what they’ve heard up until now. Most of these reviews or write-ups have focused on the sexual content of the film, and I feel that the title is unfortunate in also pointing pretty much totally in that direction. It’s true that the sex scenes are very graphic and intense for a mainstream film, but there are only three of them, whereas based on what I had heard, I expected the whole film to be filled with sex, and this is simply not the case. It’s basically a political/spy story, and I found it to be very well done, with particularly great acting from the female lead. And in order for the story and the main characters’ motivations to make sense - which in typical Ang Lee fashion is quite poignant and haunting - those sometimes fairly violent and in my view realistic sex scenes were necessary and make total sense. The visuals of the cities (Singapore and Hong Kong around 1942, during World War II), costumes and art direction are also excellent. As well, I didn’t find the film tedious (it's long at around 2.5 hours), and I was fully engaged in it the whole time.

I’m recommending Love in the Time of Cholera, which I went to see despite the uniformly lukewarm or bad reviews I had read. Though I wouldn’t call it a great film, I found it thoroughly enjoyable. Visually it’s very beautiful and the music is great. Though at times I felt the scene changes were somewhat abrupt and disjointed, in general I appreciated the acting and story. I have a feeling it’s more enjoyable if, like me, you haven’t read the book because a major criticism of the film has been that it doesn’t capture the magic and passion of the book.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, especially here in Halifax, home of its star Ellen Page, you probably don’t need my review of Juno in order to be interested in going to see it. And yes, I do recommend it, but I wouldn’t rave about it to the degree that I’ve been hearing and seeing in the media for some time. It’s well done, witty and sweet, has very interesting visuals and music, but it just didn’t grab me as did a couple of other quirky and sweet comedies from recent years: Little Miss Sunshine and Sideways.

I've been experiencing frequent puzzlement lately at films that I thought were okay or so-so that also seem to be getting raves from the critics, such as Atonement. Am I becoming jaded or what? Anyway, you're not going to get my opinion about a number of other big-name films opening recently that I haven’t gone to see as they're either too violent or just don't interest me, so you’re on your own! If the Oscars do succeed in being televised this year, I probably won’t have seen a good proportion of the films and actors nominated.

I was lucky to get some free passes to an advance showing of I’m Not There which I went to last night. How to begin? I guess by saying that this film is a work of art, for me a mainly visual and musical experience for which it’s difficult to find words, and in fact I’m reluctant to try to conceptualize it. Early on in the viewing I realized that my best approach was just to open myself to the experience and not try to figure it out or think about it too much, as it’s not at all linear and doesn’t provide endings or resolutions. It totally captured me and has remained with me through the night and today, but some may not like it, if you’re looking for a film “about” Bob Dylan, which it’s not. It's definitely the director-writer Todd Haynes’ vision, and what an imagination! He has done one other film that I also loved called Far from Heaven (2002). The cinematography was marvellous, Edward Lachman being the cinematographer, who has many films on his resume including Far from Heaven. The music was Dylan’s but not always sung by him and many not his most famous songs. Of the six who played the Dylan personas, the amazing Cate Blanchett was truly incredible, the others also interesting and well done though not as close to my image of him. Maybe I’ll stop here. Go see it when it arrives in the theatres.

You’ve probably heard of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, which recently (very deservedly in my opinion) won a Golden Globe for best director for Julian Schnabel, the artist who has also directed two previous gems of films: Basquiat and Before Night Falls. This French film is based on a true story and a book written amazingly by a man who has a stroke while still in his 40s and is completely paralyzed except for his left eye – you’ll have to go see the film to discover the painstaking way this book was written. Part of what makes this a directorial masterpiece is that much of it is filmed from his point of view, as others bend down to talk with him (he can hear and understand everything). And much of the rest of it shows what’s going on in his mind. The cinematography and music choices (also supervised by Schnabel) are stunning. Yes, this is a poignant film though I wouldn’t call it depressing, a feast and inspiration for a sad and tender heart. Before his stroke, this man was editor of a popular French fashion magazine and was leading what some might call a fairly frivolous and materialistic life. May we all rise to the challenges of our circumstances as he did.