DVD Mini Review - Forbidden Games

I will say that Rene Clement's Forbidden Games in a beautiful but sad film about the loss of innocence. The story is all about what war does to children. Shot in glorious black and white the film really impresses. But there is something that really disturbs me and will get to it later on.

Little Paulette (Brigitte Fossey) and her parents are trying to escape the Nazi invasion of Paris. Along with many others they are trying to find a safe place. But luck is not on their side and the parents are killed. Also killed is Paulette's beloved little dog Jock. But Paulette survives. Traumatized Paulette walks around with the dead dog and is found by a family who is not kind to her. She leaves them but is eventually found by Michel (Georges Poujouly)who is a bit older than her. He brings her to his family and they take her in. Both of them experience death of a loved one at an early age. Because of this they decide to make a cemetery just for dead animals. I won't say more about the plot because I don't want to give things away.

As I said before, Clement does a marvelous job in directing the film. It is really an anti-war statement. The two child actors are absolutely terrific. The film won several awards and it is easy to see why.

So what is my problem with the film. Well, did they actually kill the little dog for the film? That is a big ethical question for me. I do not a definite answer to that one. When dog is dead (and wet) I thought that he looked fake. But the pre-death scene looked real. Some have said that the used electrodes and that the dog didn't die. And in an interview that comes on the DVD Fossey says that the scene was "realistic" and bothered her a lot. That word makes me believe that he didn't die. But, in all honesty, as much as I think that this is a masterful film I wish that Clement would have cut out a scene or two concerning the dog. No animal should ever die or be harmed in the making of any film!

Encounters at the End of the World & The Dark Knight

I will share a few (and because of time constraints I mean a few) words about two very different films that I saw today.

The first one is Werner Herzog's beautiful and amazing Encounters at the End of the World. Herzog gives a glimpse of Antarctica that very few of us has seen. He is stationed in McMurdo, which is the main center of the action. He describes McMurdo as ugly and seems to be surprised that it has clubs and even a bowling alley. One of the most interesting things about the film is the interviews with the various people who live there. These range from scientists to full time travelers. None of them are your average Joes or Janes. Also, the scenery is spectacular. We see the cold sea as well as the icy earth. And there is the question of human survival. Herzog seems to think that we are doomed and so do I. The lone penquin going off to its fate says it all. I highly recommend this film to all of you who love planet Earth and are sad to see what is happening to it.

I have seen every one of Christopher Nolan's films from Following to his most recent efforts. There is no doubt that he is a good director. But I must say that I have been very suspicious about all of the hype surrounding his new film The Dark Knight.
And after seeing it I will say that I liked most of it but I certainly don't think that it is one of the greatest films ever made. For one thing, it is too long. After a half an hour I was getting a bit bored. But after the hour mark it started to kick in. As usual, Batman (alias Bruce Wayne played by Christian Bale) is fighting evil in Gotham City. This time it is in the form of The Joker (the late Heath Ledger). And as in any summer blockbuster there are car chases, blowups and lots of special effects. But there is also some fine acting. Ledger is very good as The Joker. His performance is very cartoonish but there is a good chance he will get an Oscar nomination. Equally as good but not getting enough attention is Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent. And Bale is good but I didn't see his role as that challenging. Add to the mix Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman,etc. and you have quite a cast. And there is some moral lessons in the film as well. The Dark Knight is basically a good film. It's just not the greatest thing since sliced bread. And the fact that it is number one on imdb makes me wonder just who votes on that site.

Frozen River

I came back from a preview screening of writer/director Courtney Hunt's debut feature
Frozen River. The film won the Grand Jury Prize at this year's Sundance Film Festival.

Melissa Leo stars as Ray Eddy. Ray is a down and out mother of two. She and her family live in upstate New York near the Canadian border. Her gambling addicted husband has taken off with their meager savings. Ray works at a convenience store and her salary barely buys the family enough to eat. But a chance encounter with a Native American woman named Lila (Misty Upham) provides her with a way to make much more money. The way was to help transport illegal aliens across the border.

The film has been called a thriller but I wouldn't say that it is. There are a few suspenseful scenes but not enough to make it a thriller. Someone else called it a dramedy, which it certainly is not. There is very little humor in this film. I would say that it is a slice of life drama. People like this do exist (director Hunt met many of them in preparation for this film). They really do live hardscrabble existences just like Ray and Lila do.

I think that Hunt did a pretty good job but it does feel like a first film. During the Q & A that followed the film she revealed that she cut something out of the film that my friend and I thought was crucial. Big mistake. But still and all this is a good beginning for her. The film was beautiful to look at and really captured the snowy winter of upstate New York. The film was, for the most part, well acted with Upham, Charlie McDermott as Ray's older son TJ and James Reilly as her younger son Ricky particularly good. But the best thing about the film is Leo. She was wonderful in the role and it was very brave of her to allow her face to be shot at such close angles. She has been doing good work for years and I hope that this film helps her get the recognition she deserves.

The bottom line is - Frozen River is a good but not great film. But it is worth seeking out if just for Melissa Leo's outstanding performance.

DVD Mini Review - Children of Paradise

Marcel Carne's Children of Paradise is considered a film classic. Some even call it the best film ever made. While I wouldn't say that it the best it certainly is a wonderful film.

Carne started making the film in 1943 when France was under Nazi occupation. It is a wonder that he actually made the film at this time but he didn't finish it until 1945. The screenplay, which was nominated for an Oscar, was written by poet Jacques Prevert.

The story is a simple yet timely one. Four men all fall for one woman - the lovely Garance (Arletty). They are all as different as can be. But in the end there is only one that Garance loves. How does this story turn out - what do you think? The truth is that this is a tragic love story (those are the best kinds) with a moral to it. But there are also references to the occupation itself. Just see how these people treat each other. They think nothing of challenging each other to a duel.

The film is beautiful to look at and perfectly captures Paris in the 19th century.
All of the acting is terrific with Jean-Louis Barrault's heartsick mime Baptiste the standout performance.

When the film ended I was a bit wistful. True love is hard to find but if you are lucky enough to find it then you must keep it. The ending says it all. Do yourself and favor and rent this true cinema classic.

Days and Clouds

Silvio Soldani's Days and Clouds is a very realistic look at how circumstances can turn around lives in these crazy economic times.

Elsa (Margherita Buy) and Michelle (Antonio Albanese) are an upper middle class couple who seem to have it all. She just completed an advanced degree and is working on a beloved restoration project. He has been in a prosperous business for many years. Or so she thought. The fact is that Michelle hasn't worked in several months after he was forced to leave the business. He wanted to wait until Elsa graduated to tell her.

What we see in this film is how it is to try and get work if you are middle aged. And we see how it takes a toll on a marriage. The couple have a daugher Alice (Alba Rohrwacher) who is in her early 20s and is a partner in a restaurant.

I won't say more about the plot. But as I said before, this is the real deal and hits close to home. It joins films like Time Out, Mondays in the Sun and others in showing us the how the world is in this global economy. I thought that the film was terrific and the two leads were outstanding. I urge people to see this film and support films that have to do with this subject matter. Most of the films that deal with layoffs and work problems are not American. This country is having an economic meltdown. When will a brave American directer get the cajones to make a film that tells it like it is? I hope very, very soon. Again, if you can't see this film in theaters (it has a limited distribution) then rent it when it comes out later this year.

Tell No One

Guillaume Canet had written (based on Harlan Coben's book) and directed a terrific French thriller entitled Tell No One. And this film keeps you on the edge of your seat right until the very end.

Dr. Alex Beck (a marvelous Francois Cluzet) is happily married to Margot (Marie-Josee
Cruze. They were childhood sweethearts. But on a trip to their childhood haunt Alex is badly beaten up and Margot is murdered. After this deadly dead we are fast forwarded to eight years later. Well, some writers have said more about the film but I will not. I don't want to spoil anything. If you want to know what happens just go and see the film. Nothing is as it seems.

The film is very well written and directed. It is quite Hitchcockian. And all of the acting is great. Besides Cluzet and Cruze the cast includes Kristin Scott-Thomas, Nathalie Baye, Francois Berleand, Andre Dussollier, Jean Rochefort and Marina
Hands. Need I say more? Go see this film - you not be sorry that you did.

Kicking a Dead Horse

I don't write about theater because I hardly ever go. I love theater but it is way too expensive. However, I went to see Sam Shepard's latest play Kicking a Dead Horse with Stephen Rea. I like Shepard's work very much but I went mainly because I am a big Rea fan.

The play is set in the west and plays a NYC art dealer looking for the authentic west. But does he find it? What do you think. The play does not have a real plot.
It is an 80 minute monologue and it tosses out many ideas. It is an exitential piece and reminiscent of Samuel Beckett. Some of the themes are the death of the west and the downfall of the US. It is also about death itself.

Rea is absolutely brilliant and this proves what a great actor he is (after all, he has made a few really bad films). And while I liked the play I don't think that it is for everyone. You really have to concentrate and what is being said. It is all about the words and how Rea presents them. In fact, I would like to read the play and see a DVD of it (if one is ever available) because I am sure that there are things I will discover the second time around. The play will only run through August 10th at the Public Theater in NYC. But never fear - Shepard is writing another play for Rea and a wonderful Irish actorn named Sean McGinley. It will debut at the Abbey Theater in Dublin next spring and Rea said that it will also play in NYC (I got to meet him after the show and he signed my Playbill). And that is very good news because I look forward to seeing this amazing actor live once again.

DVD Mini Review - Monsieur Verdoux

I wish I had more time to write about Charles Chaplin's brilliant Monsieur Verdoux because there is so much to say but I just don't have the time. So a few words will have to suffice.

This is a dark comedy about a bank clerk who loses his job in the 1930s. The story takes place in France. Monsieur Verdoux (Chaplin) has a family to feed so he must find a way to make money. He decides to "marry" rich, middle aged women and support his family that way. This, of course, is wrong. But as the film points out the number of women he kills is nothing in terms of the number of people who are killed during wars. This message got Chaplin in a lot of trouble back then. But it is certainly a timely one and resonates well in these troubled times.

Chaplin's directing, writing (from an idea by Orson Welles) and acting are all terrific. The film looks great and is in glorious black and white. The supporting cast is also wonderful. Martha Raye is particularly funny as one of Verdoux's potential victims.

I urge you all to see this film and if you already have seen it then see it again. It is going to be on Turner Classic Movies later this summer (I forget when but check their website and set a reminder) and I will certainly tape it for my collection. At some point I hope to be able to come back to this film and write more about it because it is not only great but very important.

Brick Lane and Beauty in Trouble

Today I saw two films in which women are the protagonists. And in both films each woman had to make an important decision about her life.

Brick Lane is based on a novel by Monica Ali. It is directed by Sarah Gavron and the screenplay is written by Laura Jones. Young Nazneen loves her village and loves playing with her sister. But an event alters her life and eventually she is sent to London to marry an older, educated man. The grown up Nazneen (Tannishtha Chatterjee)lives in London's Brick Lane. She has a very dull, uneventful life with her husband Chanu (Satish Kaushik) and her two daughters. She longs for home and is kept up to date by letters from her sister. When Chanu quits his job because he feels unappreciated Nazneen takes in sewing. One of her customers, Karim (Christopher
Simpson) stirs something in Nazneen that she has never felt before. I won't tell you more but I will say that I was very absorbed by this story and was anxious to see what happened to Nazneed and her family. The acting is good from the whole cast and the film is a visual treat.

Beauty in Trouble takes it's title from a Robert Graves poem. The film is directed by Jan Hrebjk (director of the Oscar nominated foreign film Divided We Fall). Marcela (Anna Geislerova) lives with her husband Jarda (Roman Luknar) and two children but is not happy. She decides to leave him and goes to live with her mother and very strange step-father. In the meantime, Jarda steals a car and winds up in jail. And I should mention that his mother is also off the wall - she is an ex communist who is now a religious fanatic. Through circumstances Marcela meets the man who's car was stolen. Evzen (Josef Abrham) is an older, well to do gentleman. He and Marcela form a friendship that leads to something else. And what does she eventually wind up doing? Well, for that answer you will have to see the film. Here is another film in which I really cared about what happened to the characters. As with Brick Lane, the acting here was good by the whole cast. And Hrebjk knows how to tell a story. Oh, and the soundtrack is wonderful - there were a number of songs by the talented Glen Hansard.

I highly recommend both films. But I wonder if they will appeal more to women. I hope that men will give them a chance as well.

DVD Mini Review - Chop Shop

Chop Shop is Ramin Bahrani's follow up to Man Push Cart. And like his previous film Chop Shop shows how some people are living on the edge in NYC. Alejandro (Alejandro Polanco) lives and works at an auto body shop in the Willets Point section of Queens.
He has big ideas and when his sister Isamar (Isamar Gonzalez) arrives he tries to act on them.

Alejandro is one tough cookie but things don't always go his way. He tries to be protective of Isamar but he isn't always successful at that either.

This is a very realistic look at the immigrant struggle in this country. When I think of Willets Point I think of Shea Stadium. I never knew that this was an area of so many downtrodden people. Chop Shop is a real eye opener and I highly recommend it.

WALL-E

Oh, I was very anxious to see WALL-E. After all, the reviews were fabulous. And I must say that it is a terrific film.

WALL-E is a lonely, garbage collecting robot. His only companion is a little roach. And believe me, this roach can live through anything. The story is set in the future and the earth is one big trash heap. Humans can no longer live here. Instead, they live in a far off galaxy. One day a space ship lands and a robot named Eve arrives. She stays behind and she and WALL-E get quite close. But the space ship comes back and she goes back to her planet - and WALL-E goes back with her.

I don't want to say much more about the plot. What I will tell you is that the visuals are spectacular. Director Andrew Stanton did a magnificent job with this film as did everyone involved. There were many times that things looked so real that I forgot it was an animated film. It is a sweet little love story. But there is also a greater message here - one that involves saving Mother Earth. We are the ones who can do it and we must. Fred Willard plays a corporate CEO who reminded me of someone - especially when he said the people will have to "stay the course."

WALL-E also has a great soundtrack. And at the end of the film there is a beautiful song entitled Down to Earth that is performed by Peter Gabriel and was written by Gabriel and Thomas Newman. Yes, this should get an original song nomination. And WALL-E will almost definitely win for Best Animated Film.

WALL-E is very suitable for older children. But it is not suitable for two and three year olds. They have no idea what is going on and they become very restless and disturb the rest of the audience. In any case, WALL-E comes highly recommended.

The Last Mistress and Chris & Don: A Love Story

Catherine Breillat's The Last Mistress is not a great film but it is an intriguing one. Set in the 1800s it is a saucy love triangle. Ryno (Fu'ad Air Aattou) is in love with his fiance Hermangarde (Roxane Mesquida). He doesn't have much money but she does so the match is to his advantage - she is crazy about him. But there is just one problem. Ryno has had a ten year relationship with Vellini (Asia Argento) who is considered an easy woman. Will he totally break off with Vellini after he gets married? You will have to see the film to find out.

The film captures the colors and mood of the times. There are some explicit sex scenes which are very much welcome given that many US productions seem to be afraid of sex (but certainly not violence). Argento gives a good performance as did the rest of the cast (which included the wonderful Michael Lonsdale). I liked the film but I had to wonder what did these two women see in the Ryno. That is my question. If anyone has the answer please let me know.

Chris and Don: A Love Story is the very moving story of Christopher Isherwood and Son Bachardy. The film is directed by Tina Mascara and Guido Santi. Despite the fact that Chris was 30 years older than Don their relationship lasted for over 30 years. They were an "out" couple way before it was safe or fashionable.

I liked the way the film throws in so many fascinating details about the two men as well as some of the people in their lives. It was interesting (but not surprising) that they would be in a room with many men whom they slept with who were with their wives. But even in this "enlightened age" things haven't changed.

We see how Chris influenced Don. But at some point Don comes into his own. There are a number of interviews with different people - including Liza Minelli and Leslie Caron. Chris was a writer (Caberet) and Don is a portrait artist. Well, I won't get into more details about their lives because I think that you should see this film. But Chris is no longer here and Don has his memories which he holds very dear.
In the end, this film proves that real, true love can overcome any obstacle and last for a long, long time.

Just a note: I just watched the original 3:10 to Yuma starring Van Heflin and Glen Ford on TCM. It was a good film and so was last year's remake. I'm glad I got the chance to finally see the original.

The Witnesses

Once again, Andre Techine has created a most interesting film. The Witnesses is about the intertwining lives of Adrien (Michel Blanc), Sarah ( Emmanuelle Beart), Medhi (Sami Bouajila), (Manu) John Liberau and Julie (Julie Deparadieu). Yes, it is a very good cast.

The time is 1984 and the AIDS epidemic is fairly new. Not much is known abut the virus. The film is mainly a character study. All of the are good and best of all are Blanc and Bouajila. Adrien is a doctor who happens to be gay. He is middle aged and quite lonely. He is very attracted to the much younger Manu but Manu wants to keep the relationship platonic. Julie is Manu's opera singing sister. Hers is the least developed character and I wish we knew more about what made her tick. Sarah and Medhi are a married couple. She is a writer of children's books (although she doesn't seem to love her newborn son). He is a guard (cop). They have an open relationship and sometimes have affairs with people of the same sex. But for Medhi his current affair seems to go beyond sex.

This is a very good film and I highly recommend that you rent it on DVD.