DVD Review - Free Zone

I was surprised by how much I liked Amos Gitai's film Free Zone. I say surprised because the film didn't get great reviews and it didn't play in theaters for very long.

The film starts out with a close up of Rebecca (Natalie Portman) crying. The scene of her crying lasts for about seven minutes and it is quite powerful. We later on find out a bit about her. Rebecca is not accepted as a Jew in Israel because her father is Jewish but not her mother. She is married (or is with) to a Jewish man but his mother (Carmen Maura) does not approve of her. They are all in Hanna's (Hana Laszlo) cab but when they reach their destination Rebecca stays in Hanna's cab. By the way, Hanna is an observant Jew.

Hanna tries to dissuade Rebecca from coming with her but Rebecca insists on staying. Hanna has to go to the "free zone" (which is near Syria, Saudi Arabia and Iraq) in order to pick up a large sum of money that her husband is owed. He has been seriously injured and cannot pick up the money. Along the way they meet up with Leila (Haim Abbass) who is a Palestinian. She tells them that the man Hanna needs to see is gone. But Hanna insists that Leila take her to see him so that she can collect the money that she and her husband are owed. All three women are wonderful in their roles. Laszlo won a much deserved best actress award at Cannes.

There is more to this film and it certainly packs in a lot in just 90 minutes. The basic theme has to do with the middle east conflict. Gitai doesn't take sides because he knows that this issue is not black and white. It is very grey. We see just how wrong both sides can be. Originally Gitai was going to have three men play the leads but he eventually opted for women. Perhaps it is because men are the ones who make the wars. In this film we see Hanna and Leila arguing but they are doing it with their voices and not with guns or other weapons. Ah, if only we would learn how to talk to each other. There is a lot more to say but because of time limits I will have to refrain.

Playing throughout the film is a haunting song entitled Chad Gadya by Chava Alberstein. The song tells us how one action causes another and things we do to others have repercussions from generation to generation. Above all, Free Zone is a call to peace. And I do hope that now that this powerful film is on DVD people will get to see it and heed its message.

Cannes Festival Winners

WINNERS

PALME D'OR 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days, Cristian Mungiu

Grand Prix The Mourning Forest, Naomi Kawase

Jury Prize TIE Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi - Vincent Paronnaud and Silent Light, Carlos Reygadas

Best Director Julian Schnabel, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Best Actor Konstantin Lavronenko, The Banishment

Best Actress Do-yeon Jeon, Secret Sunshine

Best Screenplay Fatih Akin, The Edge of Heaven

Special Prize for the 60th Anniversary Gus Van Sant, for his career

What can I say? The Best Actor prize was a complete surprise. I thought that either Javier Bardem or Mathieu Amalric would win. And the Coens No Country didn't win anything. Very strange. But I think that violent films don't do well with Cannes jurors. Last year Pan's Labyrinth went home empty handed and the year before that ditto A History of Violence.

As for the winners, Diving Bell will be released in the US by Miramax and Four Months will have a limited release with IFC Films First Take. As for the rest of the winners, your guess is as good as mine. Perhaps the jury will explain their picks at a press conference.

Some of these small films really do need a push so perhaps that is why the jury chose to honor them because otherwise most of us would never hear about them.

DVD Review - Russian Dolls

This delightful film is Cedric Klapisch's follow up to his hit film L"Auberge Espagnole (The Spanish Apartment).

Once again we follow the trials and tribulations of the protagonist Javier (Romain Duris). He is a writer who is trying to make ends meet. He still has feelings for his ex Martine (Audrey Tautou) but also has a roving eye. When he has to leave his current pad he moves in with his lesbian friend Isabelle (Cecile De France).

He is commissioned to write something in English and heads off to stay with his friend Wendy (Kelly Reilly) in London who is also a writer. It just so happens that Wendy's brother William (Kevin Bishop) has left for Russia because he fell in love with a Russian woman.

I won't bother to tell you about the romantic ups and downs of the film. You will have to see it for yourself to find out. The film is fun and entertaining. There are a few sequences that are quite silly. But, for the most part, I enjoyed the film. And I loved seeing how people in Europe travel from country to country with the greatest of ease. It made me (once again) wish that I lived in Europe instead of the US.

Jindabyne

Ray Lawrence, who wrote and directed the superb Lantana, has created another marvelous and mysterious film. The story takes place in the small town of Jindabyne, Australia.

Stewart Kane (Gabriel Byrne),who is Irish, and his wife Claire (Laura Linney), who is an American, have made a life for themselves in Jindabyne. They have a small son and Stewart owns a auto repair shop. We detect that there have been some problems in their marriage and later on we find out more about this.

Fishing is very big in Jindabyne and catching a big one is a big deal. Stewart and three of his friends take off on a fishing weekend. While Stewart is roaming around the lake he notices the body of a young Aborigine woman. The men don't know what to do with her. They decide to continue fishing and don't call the authorities until the end of the weekend. The townsfolk don't look upon them too kindly for doing this. And their actions stir something up in Claire. She feels that she must somehow make amends with the dead girl's family (even though she had nothing to do with what happened at the lake). And that is all I will tell you about the storyline.

As I said before, Lawrence did a terrific job writing and directing this film. The screenplay is based upon a Raymond Carver story (the same story was also used for part of Robert Altman's Shortcuts - I must see that again so I can compare how it is told). Linney is outstanding as Claire. Her character just breaks your heart. And the underrated Byrne is equally as strong. A fine supporting cast rounds things out. And the scenery is absolutely breathtaking.

This is a film that will make you think and wonder after you leave the theater. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys using their brain.

Cannes Update

I wish that I could write a more detailed update but I just don't have the time. I will say that there were more films that I have read about in the last two days and I will give a mention to them just so you have an idea of what was screened.

In competition films that I have read some good things about: The Edge of Heaven (Fatih Akin), The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Julian Schnabel - starring Mathieu Amalric), Silent Light (Carlos Reygada), Paranoid Park (Gus Van Sant). I have also heard some good things about Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof. Some in competition films that I have not heard good things about are The Man from London, Breath and Tehilim. I really can't say what will win on Sunday but I do know that the more good films the better.

Also of note - A Mighty Heart, which is directed by Michael Winterbottom and stars Angelina Jolie as Marianne Pearl (based on her book), has gotten good reviews. It is not in competition.

I will try to write more soon and I will certainly post the winners after we find out who they are.

Private Property

I always try to see films that star Isabelle Huppert. She is one hell of a fine actress. So her latest film to be released in the US, Private Property, was no exception. Joachim Lafosse directs this emotionally taut film with style (he also co-wrote the script with Francois Pirot).

Huppert plays Pascale, a middle aged, divorced woman living with her two grown sons. To say that they don't get along is an understatement. Thierry (Jeremie Renier) and Francois (Yannick Renier) are experts at giving their mother a hard time. Thierry is particularly nasty towards her. Oh, I should mention that Thierry and Francois are twins. It seems that they blame her for divorcing their father Luc (Patrick Descamps).

Pascale would like to sell her house and move somewhere else so that she could start a bed and breakfast business with her lover Jan (Kirs Cuppens). Her sons are absolutely opposed to it (they are old enough to be on their own). Bottom line - they don't want their mother to have a life.

Private Property is very well acted by everyone. Huppert is playing a much more sympathetic character than she usually does (she is not an ice queen). Both of the Renier brothers do a fine job as well. I couldn't stand them, especially Thierry. And the sex and nudity is quite frank and realistic (not like in American films). And the film does not have a tidy ending. We have to leave things to our imagination. I highly recommend this film to anyone who likes good, adult foreign films.

Cannes Update

There is some very good news from Cannes. I don't know how things are going for a few of the smaller films that have been screened that are in competition. I haven't seen a lot of things coming out of the festival about them. However, my most anticipated film of the festival (and one of my most anticipated films of the year) has gotten mostly rave reviews. When I read Cormac McCarthy's book I knew that the Coen Brothers were the perfect people to make this film. From what I've read they have done a masterly job of directing the film (and adapting the screenplay). All of the acting - by Josh Brolin, Tommy Lee Jones, Woody Harrelson and Kelly MacDonald - is supposed to be outstanding. And my favorite actor on the planet - Javier Bardem - is supposed to be beyond fantastic. Some say that he is better in this than he was in The Sea Inside and Before Night Falls. I hope that the film wins a prize next week (I think that it has a chance to win something - that is for sure). We have to wait until November to see the film but they say that good things are worth waiting for and this will surely be one of them.

Another film that I am looking forward to is Michael Moore's Sicko (which was screened out of competition). Moore takes on the shitty health care system in the US. And I am happy that he has done that. He has pissed of the government because he took some sick 9/11 rescue workers to Cuba because they couldn't get medical attention here. Good for him. Why can't the rich US provide good health care for all of its citizens? I am sure that Moore explores this and other questions in his film. Sicko opens up at the end of June.

Leonardo Di Caprio debuted his new global warming documentary The Eleventh Hour - picking up where Al Gore left off. I think that this will be a very interesting film.

Also in the controversial documentary department Bill Maher (who is one of my favorite people) and director Larry Charles (Borat) are in Cannes discussing and showing raw footage of Maher's
anti-organized religion film. This one is sure to make many people's blood boil but I am looking forward to seeing it when it comes out. The more people who rock the boat the better.

Away From Her

It is hard to believe that Sarah Polley is only 28 years old. She has shown a depth and maturity in her acting that go way beyond her years. And now with her directorial debut of Away From Her one can only wonder what heights Ms. Polley will reach as she gets older.

As well as directing the film Polley also wrote the screenplay which is adapted from Alice Munro's book The Bear That Came Over the Mountain. The story is about a couple, Fiona (Julie Christie) and Grant (Gordon Pinsent), who have been married for 45 years. You can see how deep their connection is. They are truly soul mates. But Fiona begins to forget things and decides that she must check herself into a home. Grant is in denial. He thinks that this will be only temporary. But Fiona does not get better. To add wood to the fire Grant cannot visit Fiona until she has been in the home for a month. During his absence she grows attached to another resident Aubrey (Michael Murphy) who also happens to be married. And when Grant visits her for the first time she doesn't recognize him.

I will not say more about the plot. The only thing that I will add is that at some point Grant meets Aubrey's wife Marion (Olympia Dukakis) and they form a relationship. If you want know more you will have to see the film.

The film is done in a very sensitive way but it is never schmaltzy. I like that fact that it does not only concentrate on Fiona but on Grant as well. While Fiona deteriorates day by day Grant's heart is breaking piece by piece. On the other hand, Marion seems to be quite stoic. Perhaps she didn't have such a deep connection with her husband.

All of the acting is wonderful. Murphy is very good in his small role. And Dukakis is terrific as the put upon Marion. Christie, who is a favorite of mine, is outstanding as Fiona. When you look into her eyes you can see just how lost her character is. But my favorite performance in the film belongs to Pinsent. He is superb as the sad and devastated Grant. It is true that it is harder to be the one who is left behind.

Away From Her is definitely one of the best films so far this year. I hope that people will see it despite the subject matter. They won't be sorry that they did.

DVD Film - Gilles' Wife

Frederic Fonteyne's sensitively done film is adapted from a novel by Madeleine Bourdouxhe. And it features a standout performance by Emmanuelle Devos.

Devos plays Elisa, a woman who is happy to just be a wife and mother. She has twin girls and she is expecting another child. Her husband Gilles ( Clovis Cornillac) has a very active sex drive and pregnant Elisa isn't always in the mood. Gilles starts acting strange and Elisa becomes suspicious. She soon finds out that he is having an affair with her sister Victorie (Laura Smet). Most women would toss Gilles out but Elisa lets him talk out his feelings because this is the only way she can keep him.

The film is told from Elisa's perspective and this is her voyage. Devos has a wonderfully expressive face and you can tell what her character is thinking just by looking into her eyes. Cornillac and Smet are also very good in their roles. After everything that has happened the ending is quite a shock - or maybe it isn't. I do recommend Gilles' Wife to anyone who likes thought provoking films.

Cannes Update

Two more films in competition were shown today. One of them, Zodiac, had already played in the US and I saw it when it was in theaters. I haven't read much about the reaction to the film but I think it was positive. It got good reviews in the States. I thought that it was pretty good but overrated. My review appears on this blog if anyone wants to read it.

The other film that screened today is entitled Four Months, Three Weeks & Two Days. It is a Romanian film directed by Christian Mungiu and stars Anamaria Marinca. It is about how hard it was to get an abortion in Romania during the final days of the Soviet Bloc. The film got very good reviews as did Marinca. Some people have commented that it is the frontrunner for the Palm D'or and Best Actress awards. While it is way too early to tell it certainly has more of a chance to win the big prize than either Zodiac or My Blueberry Nights.

Screening out of competition was The Flight of the Red Balloon (Le Voyage Du Balloon Rouge) which is based on a 1956 short film entitled The Red Balloon. The film is directed by Hou Hsiao Hasien. It stars Juliette Binoche as a mother who works too much and doesn't pay enough attention to her young son. He spends more time with his nanny. The film deals with the alienation and loneliness that many of us face today. The film got some favorable reviews. And while I am not a fan of everything that Hou has made I look forward to seeing this film as it sounds like it is up my alley.

I Have Never Forgotten You: The Life and Times of Simon Wiesenthal

This is powerful documentary about the Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal is a film that nobody should miss. And I would make sure that young people see it because they need to know what happened over 60 years - especially since there seem to be a number of Holocaust deniers out there today.

The film starts out with young Simon's losing his father during World War II. He studied to become an architect (as he always had a talent for building things) and was working in that capacity before the war. The film talks a bit about how he met Cyla, the woman who would become his wife. Of course, we find out about what happened to him during the war (he was sent from camp to camp). After the war he could have gone back to the type of life he had before. Instead he chose to dedicate his life to bringing Nazi war criminals to justice. And this was his passion to the day he died.

Director Richard Trank did a marvelous job of putting this film together. There are several interviews with Wiesenthal from various times in his life. We find out how he tracked down some of the Nazis, many of whom were living in South America. Cyla makes a few comments during the film. And there is a wonderful interview with his daughter Paulinka that was done after Wiesenthal died. Oh, and there is so much more to the film but I just think that you should go out and see it (or rent it when if comes out on DVD if you can't make it to the theater).

Simon Wiesenthal shows us how dedicated person can make a real difference in the world. But despite everything that he had been through he had never lost his sense of humor (without that life would be so grim). And that is one of the things that made him the great man that he was.

Cannes Film Festival 2007 opens

Cannes Film Festival 2007 - which is the 60th year for the festival - opened up today with Wong Kar Wai's English language film debut My Blueberry Nights. The film stars Nora Jones as a woman who travels across America in search of understanding herself and others. My Blueberry Nights also stars Jude Law, Natalie Portman, David Strathairn and Rachel Weisz. The reviews have been very mixed. Some critics liked Jones and some people thought that she was too bland. Overall, Portman's performance seems to have gotten the best reviews. Judging from the trailer the films look lovely and I think that I would like to see it (but I'm not certain if it will be on the big screen or DVD. That depends when it is released and what other films come out at the same time that I want to see). Judging from what I've read I do not think that My Blueberry Nights will win any prizes at the festival (I could be wrong and the jury could surprise but I kind of doubt it).

DVD Review - Army of Shadows

This film was made in 1969 but it didn't get released until 2006. I am not sure what the reason for that is but there is no justification for this.

Director Jean-Pierre Melville has created a dark, suspenseful drama about the French Resistance fighters in World War II. The main character is an engineer named Phillippe Gerbier (Lino Ventura). Gerbier is a a loyal member of the Resistance who is betrayed by one of its members. He is brought to a camp but manages to escape. I don't really want to say much about the plot because I don't want to give anything away. I will say that this is a warts and all portrait of the Resistance. We see all of the day to day goings on and many of these tasks can be rather dull. The men in the Resistance are not handsome in the way Errol Flynn or Tyrone Power were. They are ordinary looking people.

Melville does a fantastic job of directing this film. He and his cinematographer Pierre Lhomme are meticulous about every detail. Melville and co-screenwriter Joseph Kessel wrote a true to life screenplay. And it is no wonder - they were both members of the Resistance. All of the acting is first rate. The only other actors that I was familiar with were Jean-Pierre Cassel (Jean Francois Jardie) and the wonderful Simone Signoret as Mathilde. In any case, all of the actors were terrific.

I liked the fact that Melville made these people real human beings. There are things that they do and say that make me cringe. But who wants to see a movie on this topic that is full of "super heroes?" I sure don't (we already have too many super hero films as it is). So if you want to see a really special film (however, I must say that I didn't quite like it as much as some of the critics) then I suggest you rent Army of Shadows.

Waitress

Waitress is a lovely slice of live comedy (with some drama thrown in) that has a bittersweet tinge to it. You see, writer/director Adrienne Shelly (who also is Dawn in the film) was brutally murdered before the movie premiered at Sundance. So she never saw what a great success the film is.

The story takes place in the southern part of the country. The focal point of the story is a restaurant that serves all of its dishes in pie form. Jenna (the wonderful Keri Russell) is not just a waitress but a talented pie maker. But she is saddled with her lout of a husband Earl (Jeremy Sisto) who treats her like property. Jenna would like to leave Earl but when she finds out that she is pregnant she feels even more trapped. Jenna's waitress friends are the sassy Becky (Cheryl Hines) and the mousy Dawn. The restaurant (like everything else in town) is owned by the curmudgeonly Old Joe (Andy Griffith).

Jenna is not thrilled about being pregnant but she will the things through. Her regular doctor is semi retired so she has to use the services of the new to town Dr. Pomatter (Nathan Fillon). The good doctor is also married but there is an instant attraction between the two. Throughout the film Jenna imagines creating a pie for every occasion (for example - an I don't want to be pregnant pie). And all of her creations look yummy.

Shelly did a good job of directing and her screenplay has some very witty dialog. All of the acting is good and Russell really shines. And veteran actor Griffith is wonderful in his role.

Waitress is a good natured, sweet film and under other circumstances I would have felt good coming out of the film. But I couldn't help but feel sad as I knew this is the last work we will see from Ms. Shelly. Who knows what she would have gone on to create if her life was not suddenly cut down in its prime.

The Valet

The Valet is the latest in Francis Veber's delightful French farces. As in The Closet and The Dinner Party, this film is loaded with laughs.

Poor Francois Pignon (Gad Elmaleh). He works as a valet and is in love with Emilie (Virginie Ledoyan). He has loved her since they were children. But, sadly, she doesn't love him back and turns down his marriage proposal.

In the meantime, billionaire businessman Pierre Levasseur (Daniel Auteuil) is having a hard time with his mistress Elena Simonsen (Alice Taglioni) because after being with him for two years she wants him to get a divorce. But Pierre has a lot to lose if he divorces his wife Christine (Kristen Scott Thomas). She owns more of his business than he does. One day Pierre and Elena are caught on camera together. Also in the picture is Francois (his image is quite blurry). In order to put a damper on any suspicions that his wife or anyone else might have Pierre finds Francois and pays him to live with Elena. That is about all that I will tell you about the plot.

Although some of things that happen in the film are predictable it is still a highly entertaining piece of work. Veber knows how to get people to laugh. I liked all of the performances and Auteuil and Thomas in particular shine. I also want to find out what more about Elmaleh. And there is a small part of the film that is devoted to a worker's strike against Pierre's company. Even though this is not given much screen time we find out that Pierre is just as unethical in his business life as he is in his personal life (big surprise).

All and all a splendid time at the movies.

Red Road

Andrea Arnold's feature film debut is an intense study in emotional obsession. Jackie (Kate Dickie) works as a CCTV operator (I must say that seeing all of those surveillance cameras gave me the creeps but that is how it is in the UK). She focuses on a certain part of Glasgow trying to make sure that people are safe. But Jackie has a deep, dark secret. We get some clues about what happened in the past but we don't find everything out until much later on.

I am not going to say much about the plot because I don't want to give things away. I will say that things start to take shape after Jackie spots someone from the past on one of the cameras.
He is a man named Clyde (Tony Curran) who has a shady past.

Red Road is a tough, gritty story. There is nothing pretty about it. Dickie is marvelous as Jackie. She not only feels like a real person - she looks like a real person. Curran is very good as her object of obsession. Also doing a fine job of acting are Martin Compston as Stevie and Nathalie Press as April. They are friends of Clyde's. Please make note of the man with the dog - I believe that there is some symbolism there. I must tell you that there is a explicit sex scene in the film. I found it to be realistic - that is what real sex is like. But I have read some comments on various boards that seemed not to like it. I guess these people are in a fantasy land.

Ms. Arnold is definitely a force to reckon with and I look forward to her next film. And, by the way, check out her Oscar winning short Wasp. I recently saw it on the Sundance Channel and it packs a powerful punch (and Ms. Press is in that one as well).

DVD Review - Thumbsucker

Mike Mills Thumbsucker was shown at last year's Sundance Film Festival and it falls under the one of Sundance's favorite topics - coming of age. But the film, based on Walter Kirn's novel, doesn't take the usual route.

Justin (Lou Pucci) has an unusual habit. He is seventeen years old and sucks his thumb. His father (Vincent D'Onofrio) constantly criticizes him for it. His mother (Tilda Swinton) is less critical. Justin also has other problems. He can't seem to focus in school. He is diagnosed with ADD and starts to take medicine. His personality changes and he becomes a great debater - much to the happiness of his debating teacher (Vince Vaughn). And he starts to notice girls. But Justin doesn't stay on the meds for that long.

There are things happening in this film but they are not dramatic enough to make a really interesting film. Pucci does a good job but the other actors are wasted. The film has a sweetness about it and it not terrible. But it just isn't that gripping either. Keanu Reeves plays Justin's weird dentist and Benjamin Bratt plays a television actor that Justin thinks his mother is having an affair with. The background music, with the awful singing, was very annoying. All in all, a noble attempt but nothing more.

DVD Review - Marily Hotchkiss Ballroom Dancing and Charm School

This is a sweet little film that I think got lost in the shuffle. Writer/director Randall Miller has created a sensitive story about love, death and fate.

Frank Keane (Robert Carlyle) is a baker who is having trouble getting over his wife's death. While out making deliveries he comes upon an overturned car with an injured man in it. He stops and calls for help. He discovers that the man is named Steve Mills (John Goodman). While on the way to the hospital Steve tells Frank that he was on his way to honor a forty year old commitment to meet his former childhood sweetheart Lisa at the Marilyn Hotchkiss Ballroom Dancing and Charm School. Since he won't be able to make it he gives Frank the card with the address. Frank is reluctant to go but once he gets there he perks up and his life begins to change. Among the people he meets is Marilyn's daughter Marienne (Mary Steenburgen), the cocky Randall Ipswitch (Donnie Wahlberg) and Meredith Morrison (Marissa Tomei) who Frank is especially interested in (I liked the fact that she was a vegetarian).

Frank goes to a support group of men who lost their wives. He relates to them what happened to him and it is so obvious that this twist of fate was very positive for him. But we also get to learn about Steve and how he came to make this strange commitment. I really like Carlyle a lot and I think that he is a very underrated actor. His performance in this film was low key but very emotionally satisfying. I also liked Steenburgen a lot. Her Marienne is quite a character. Some other well known actors in this film are Danny DeVito, Sean Astin, David Paymer, Sonia Bragia and Camryn Manheim as the grown up Lisa.

Sure, sometimes Marily Hotchkiss got a little corny. But so what?! It brought tears to my eyes which would surely be enough. But it also made me want to take a dance class. So if you are looking for a lovely romantic film with a bit of sadness then this one is for you.

Paris je T'aime

Paris je Taime is made up of 18 short films of about five minutes long. Each short film focuses on a different section of Paris, the city of lights. And each film, in its own way, has to do with love.

I am not going to give you summaries of all of the short films. I will say that most of the films work. But even the few that don't work aren't really bad because they are so short. So they all fit in together rather nicely.

A few that I really liked were - Sergio Castellito and Miranda Richardson directed by Isabel Coixet; Ben Gazzara and Gena Rowlands directed by Gerard Depardieu (who is also in that short film); Alfonso Curan directing Nick Nolte and Ludivine Sagnier; Steve Buscemi directed by the Coen Brothers; and Catalina Sandino Moreno directed by Walter Salles. There were others that were really good as well.

I understand that the producers of the film are already preparing for films to be made in other cities. One is New York - which seems definite. And another one is Tokyo - which doesn't seem as definite (the flyer I got at the theater mentioned China but didn't say in what city).

All in all, this was a very good filmgoing experience for me and I highly recommend this film to anyone who truly loves cinema.

La Vie en Rose

Director Olivier Dahan has taken on the task of telling us the story of Edith Piaf, (Little Sparrow) a woman who possessed an extraordinary voice. Unfortunately, her life was very tragic.

At the beginning of the film we see Edith's (at five years old played by Marion Chevallier) mother Anetta (Clotilda Courau) take little Edith to live with her grandmother (her father's mother). Anetta wants to become a singer and can't take care of the girl. It should be said that Edith's granny runs a brothel. But Edith gets used to living there and becomes very close to one of the prostitutes Titine (Emmanuelle Seigner). After Edith's father Louis (Jean-Paul Rouve) gets out of the military he rejoins the circus and takes Edith with him (who is by now ten and is played by Pauline Burlet). But Louis gets kicked out of the circus and he and Edith wind up performing on the street in order to get a few coins. This is when we find out that Edith can sing.

Despite her talent Edith (played as an adult by the remarkable Marion Cotillard) resorts to prostitution and drinks heavily. She is "discovered" by Louis Leplee (Gerard Depardieu) and starts to sing at his club. Things don't go smoothly for Edith but at some point in time she goes on to bigger and better things. But she is never really happy.

The film spends some time telling the story of her relationship with boxer Marcelle Cerdan (Jean-Pierre Martins). He is her greatest love and their affair ends in tragedy. After Marcel is killed Edith takes up drug use (in addition to already heavy drinking). This lifestyle weakened Edith's already frail constitution and when she was in her 40s she looked more like a woman of around 70.

There are several problems with this film. That is not to say that there weren't things about it that I like. There are. But for one thing, at two hours and twenty minutes it is too long. Twenty minutes needed to be trimmed from the film. The story goes back and forth to different periods in time. However, these are not smooth transitions. Sometimes the film tries to show three different time periods almost simultaneously and it just doesn't work. At the end a "surprise" is thrown in. I can't believe that something so important in Edith's life (I will not tell you what it is) is just glossed over like this. I read about a documentary on French singers during World War II and the piece stated that at that time Edith had a German lover and was quite unapologetic about it. Since we had such a long film anyway why wasn't it mentioned. What this film needed was a better and more experienced director than Dahan and a really good editor. Then it would have been a fabulous film.

Now here is the thing - after all of my criticisms of the film I still recommend that people see it.
The main and most important reason is Ms. Cotillard's performance. She is truly outstanding.
She captures all of Piaf's tortured existence in her soul. She literally becomes Piaf and does a very good job of lip syncing). And there is some other good acting in the film as well. Also, there are a good number of powerful scenes (the problem is that there are too many scenes, period).

La Vie en Rose is far from perfect. But if you want to see what is sure to be one of the year's best performances (not too mention the great music that you will hear) then by all means see this film.

DVD Review - Winter Passing

Winter Passing is a quiet little film that has some good things about it. It is written and directed by Adam Rapp and even though it is obviously a first feature there are things I really liked about it.

Reese Holden (Zooey Deschanel) is an actress who gets small roles in offbeat theater productions. She also tends bar to make ends meet. Reese is into drugs and casual sex. She seems like a sad and bitter young woman. I was appalled by the way she handled the situation with her sick cat. But she is not meant to be a likable character.

We find out that her mother recently died and that she did not attend a funeral. Her father is a writer but she has not seen him in ages. Reese is approached by a woman named Lori Lansky (Amy Madigan) who wants to publish letters that her father and mother wrote to each other a long time ago. At first Reese doesn't want any part of this but she soon changes her mind.

Her time with her father Don (Ed Harris) is quite life altering. He is still reclusive but less so because he now has two people living with him. Corbit (Will Ferrell) is a Christian musician who is very strange but also sweet. And Shelly (Amelia Warren) is a former student of Don's who he helped get through an illness.

I liked the way the characters interacted with each other and there were many scenes that were very touching. However, Rapp has a bit of a way to go as a filmmaker because something about the look of the film is a little amateurish. But still and all I liked this film. It certainly helped that the performances by Deschanel and Harris were very good. Warren did a find job in her role and Ferrell was very sweet in a low key turn.

I can recommend this to those of you who like small films that take their time to unravel. And I hope that your DVD copy is better than the one I had because it skipped on one DVD player (15 minutes worth) but played on the external computer drive only to crash it (happily it was temporary and the problem was reported to the ever reliable Netflix).

DVD Review - Capitaes de Abril (April Captains)

This film marked the directorial debut of actress Maria de Medeiros and it is a fine debut indeed. This is the story of how the Portuguese army forced the fascist government to surrender without firing a single bullet. The story takes place in April 1974 (hence the name of the film.

That things worked out as well as they did is due to the heroic efforts of two captains - Maia (Stefano Accorsi) and Emanuel (Joaquim de Almeida). Both of these men stood their ground. Besides Portuagal being ruled by fascists the government sent soldiers to certain countries in Africa in order to "civilize" the people who lived there. This resulted in the killing of many Africans. The soldiers had enough of this so they rebelled. Ms. de Medeiros also co-wrote the screenplay with Eve Deboise and plays Antonia, who is teacher and part of an underground rebel group. She also happens to be married to Emanuel. Playing an important supporting role as Labao, one of the rebel soldiers, is Spanish actor Fele Martinez.

At the beginning of the film there are images of Africans who were killed and that was just horrific. But, all in all, I found the film quite uplifting and I learned about something that I really didn't know anything about. As we see in the film it is possible to change things in a non violent way (this was called the carnation revolution and the bloodless revolution). So if you are interested in world cinema and want to expand your historical horizons this film is for you.