The Girl From Monaco

The Girl from Monaco is an interesting film. It is directed by Anne Fontaine - a director who I am somewhat familiar with.

Bertrand Beauvois (Fabrice Luchini) is a well known French defense attorney who is summoned to Monaco to defend a woman who is accused of murdering her younger lover.
Bertrand is quite straight laced and does not have an easy time with women. Because the case is high profile he is assigned a bodyguard named Christophe (Roschdy Zem) who watches his every move.

Things are going smoothly enough when Bertrand catches a young, pretty weather woman on television. He soon meets Audrey (Louise Bourgoin) and becomes infatuated. And she takes a liking to him as well (despite their big age difference). Things get more complicated when Bertrand finds out that Christophe and Audrey used to be lovers.

I won't say much about the plot because I don't want to give anything away. There is a mixture of comedy and drama and a few twists to keep things interesting. Things are not what they seem to be.

I thought all of the acting was good and I really liked Luchini and Zem. And the locations are beautiful.

The Girl from Monaco is not a great film but it is a good enough one for me to recommend. It held by attention and when the film ended there were things my friend and wanted to discuss. And that makes for a film that I like and recommend.

Yoo Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg & Flame & Citron (MOD)

Aviva Kempner's affectionate, informative and entertaining documentary about Gertrude Berg is well worth seeking out.

The film follows the life of Berg who created the sitcom The Goldbergs first on radio and then on television. We find out about Berg's childhood and how she came to create the show. She was a feminist way before anyone ever knew what the word meant.

One of the strongest sections in the film goes into detail about what happened to Phillip Loeb who portrayed her husband on the show. He is put on the blacklist and can no longer work on the show. Berg tries every which way to get him back on the show but her efforts fail. It was truly heartbreaking.

Check this out in theaters or on DVD when it comes out.

I saw Flame and Citron on Movies on Demand. It has been on for over a week. I find it strange because the film will be released in theaters on July 31. But nothing in this world can be considered strange these days.

Flame (Thure Lindhandt) and Citron (Mads Mikkelsen) are partisans in the Danish Resistance Movement. They are totally dedicated to the cause. But they are also human beings with needs.

Flame and Citron get their orders from high on but they both sometimes question things. Are some of the people they have killed actually innocent? That crosses their minds throughout the film. And is there a traitor in their midst? Well, you will have to see the film to find out.

Director Ole Christian Madsen has done a find job of bringing this true story to the screen. Both Lindhandt and Mikkelsen are terrific in their roles. And so is Stine Stengade as Ketty Selman, a woman who plays an important part in this story.

I learned quite a bit about the Danish Resistance Movement from this film. You should check it out. IFC has made it so easy to see quality films right in your home on the day they are released in theaters. I really commend them for this because many people would not be able to see these films if not for them.

A Woman In Berlin

A Woman in Berlin is directed by Max Faberbock. One of his previous films is Aimee and Jaguar, a film that I loved. Now I did not like this one quite as much but it is still a good film that I think people should see.

The film is based on a book by Anonyma. She was a woman who (obviously) did not want people to know who she was. She tells the story of what happened when Russian soldiers occupied Berlin near the end of World War II. To say that rape was rampant is an understatement. One had to surrender in order to survive.

Anonyma is played to perfection by Nina Hoss. You just have to look at her face to know how she feels. At some point Anonyma decides she will chose who she sleeps with. As strange as it seems she finds herself developing feelings for one of her "lovers" a Russian Major named Andrei well played by Yevgeni Sidikhim. Making a cameo appearance is the great Juliane Kohler (she played Aimee in the film that I mentioned).

The film is at times riveting. But there are times where the director uses frenetic camera work and this detracts from the story. Still and all, this is so much better than most of the films that are out there today and I urge that people see it either in the theater (if you can find it) or on DVD when it comes out.

When we think of World War II we never think of the Germans that suffered. But there were many of them and this film teaches us that. In any and all situations War is hell.

The Beaches of Agnes

Agnes Varda's new documentary about her life, The Beaches of Agnes, is a good film but just not as great as some of the critics made it out to be.

First of all, you must be familiar with some her work. I have seen a few of her films so I knew something about her work. She certainly is a talented filmmaker. She picks interesting topics (I loved The Gleaners and I and Vagabond).

The film traces her life from when she was a little girl in Belgium, through the war when her parents moved to France and it tells about her long relationship with director Jacques Demy. I found much of this fascinating. Varda does not tell her story in chronological order. She will tell us about her childhood and then skip to something that happened in the 1950s and then go back to her childhood. That confused some people that I spoke to after the film. My main problem was that it was too long for this type of film. It needed to be trimmed. But still and all I liked it.

Oh, I should say that I loved the fact that she has cats and we get to see them with her. This film is only recommended to those of you who know who Varda is and know something about the French New Wave cinema.

DVD Mini Review - Alice's House

Alice's House is a wonderful feature debut from Brazilian documentarian Chico Teixeira. The film is a very realistic slice of life that takes place in Sao Paulo.

Alice (Carla Ribas) is a manicurist. Her husband Lindomar (Ze Carlos Machado) is a cab driver. They struggle day to day. They live with their three sons (who range from late teens to early twenties) and Alice's elderly mother Dona Jacira (Berta Zemel). Alice's sons each have their own issues and they are not too nice to their mother or grandmother. In addition, Dona Jacira is slowly going blind. Lindomar wants to put her in a nursing home but Alice won't hear of that.

Things keep building up and eventually explode. I won't tell you what happens but I will say that two other people - Carmen (Renata Zhaneta), who is one of Alice's customers and Nilson, who is Carmen's husband - figure into the story.

Teixeira, as I mentioned before, has made a terrific film. You feel like you are in Alice's House. All of the acting is spot on with Ribas and Zemel being the standouts. In the future I hope see other work from everyone involved.

So if you love world cinema (as I do) and like films that ring true I suggest that you rent Alice's House. You will be glad that you did.

The Hurt Locker

The Hurt Locker, directed by Kathryn Bigelow and written by Mark Boal, is a damn good film. In fact, I would have to say that it is the best film on the Iraq war that I have seen.

The film is not political. It doesn't take sides. It doesn't say whether or not we should have gone to war. The main focus of the film is about a three soldiers who find and dismantle bombs. Now that is one dirty and dangerous job.

William James (Jeremy Renner) is the new guy but he is also the leader of the group. He is an expert in his field but he is also a bit reckless. JT Sanborn (Anthony Mackie) is second in command and he resents James' recklessness. Young newcomer Owen Eldrigde (Brian Geraghty) is just scared out of his mind.

The film follows the threesome on their various missions and one is more suspenseful than the other. In fact, the film is at times nail biting, edge of your seat suspenseful. But during this time we come to see the real horror and dangers of war.
After the film someone commented that it was too real. But that is the point - it is a very realistic film.

Bigelow directs the film with brute force. She is a woman with cajones. No frilly dresses for this woman. Renner is terrific as a man who lives for danger. The more dangerous a situation is the more he gets an adrenaline rush. Mackie is wonderful as a more sensible soldier who butts heads with Renner's James. Geraghty is also very good as a petrified young soldier. Making cameo appearances are the likes of Guy Pearce, Ralph Fiennes and David Morse. The film is beautifully shot by veteran cinematographer Barry Ackroyd.

Is The Hurt Locker the best film of the year so far? Well, that is a subjective question. It is not my favorite film but it is certainly one of the best made ones and it keeps you on your toes. And although it may be apolitical it does explore a man's (James) addiction to war. At the beginning of the film a phrase - "war is a drug" - appears on the screen. And in The Hurt Locker you will understand why that is true for certain people.

Quiet Chaos (MOD)

Quiet Chaos is playing in a very limited release so I saw it on Movies on Demand. Well directed by Antonio Grimaldi the film is well worth seeing.

The film opens up with a rescue in the ocean. This will figure heavily on the rest of the film. But the really story starts in the section right after that. Television executive Pietro (Nanni Moretti, who also co-wrote the screenplay) and his brother Carlos (Allessandro Gassman) come back to their country home after the rescue to find that Pietro's wife Lara is dead. She is laying on the grass with melon all around her. In a true state of shock is Pietro's young daughter Claudia (Blu Yoshimi).

The rest of the film is filled with many moments in the lives of Pietro and Claudia. Ultimately, it is about how they handle grief and loss. And it all feels very real. Pietro's company is in the middle of a merger with an American company but his mind is on his daughter.

There is a scene in the film that may or may not be real. I thought that it was a dream or a fantasy (a very hot one!) and I would love to discuss it with people who saw the film. Edit: I rewatched the sequence and I think that it is real and not a dream.

Moretti is fantastic as the confused, sad Pietro. He is in almost every scene in the film. Young Yoshimi is great as is Gassman. Also doing some fine work is Valeria Golino as Pietro's bent out of shape sister-in-law Marta and Isabelle Ferrari as Eleanora, one of the women who was rescued in the first scene. Towards the end of the film a world famous director makes a cameo appearance. At first I wasn't sure it was him. I thought that my eyes were playing tricks on me. But when I looked on imdb I found out that I wasn't seeing things.

I highly recommend this film as a non-cloying look at grief and loss. It is very quiet and very moving. The film is a bit elliptical as not everything is spelled out for the viewer. But that makes it all the more intriguing. My only complaint is that at least on MOD the subtitles seem a bit smaller than usual, are sometimes hard to read (white on white) and go very fast. But don't let this put you off as it is easy to rewind the film and you can do it as many times as you need to.

Whatever Works

After making films in London and Barcelona Woody Allen's latest film Whatever Works is a return to his beloved NYC. And as a New Yorker it was great to see places that I have been to many times.

The protagonist of the film is Boris (Larry David), a cranky 60 something genius. He was almost nominated for a Nobel Prize. When we meet him his marriage is failing. He decides to teach chess to kids for a living. The only problem is that he doesn't like kids and believes that everyone is inferior to him. He doesn't like many things. One day he comes upon the uneducated Melodie (Evan Rachel Wood) from the South. She is his complete opposite but she eventually wins him over.

I won't say more about the plot but the film is very Woody Allen. I thoroughly enjoyed the film and laughed a lot. All of the performances are very good - including Patricia Clarkson as Melodie's mother Marietta, Ed Begley, Jr. as Melodie's father John and Conleth Hill as Boris's friend Leo.

Some of the critics didn't like this film. They must be jaded. In this day and age even minor Woody Allen is better than most of the films out there and this is especially true of the stupid comedies that Hollywood keeps churning out. So if you want to spend some time laughing at some eccentric characters take yourself to see Whatever Works. You will be happy that you did.

Public Enemies

What can I say about Public Enemies? Well, for one, I can say that it could have been a better film. But Michael Mann decided to make his film this way and it certainly does have its champions. But I am not one of them.

The story focuses on John Dillinger. And most of the film shows us bloody shoot em ups. Now, this is a gangster film so I knew that it would be violent. And I don't mind violence when it belongs in a film. But this film could have been more of a commentary on the FBI and J. Edgar Hoover. However, Mann chose a different path.

The film looks good and both Johnny Depp as Dillinger and Marion Cottilard as his love Billie Frachette are great. The shoot up scenes are well done. But the story just does not have any depth.

Some people are calling this film a work of art. I know that opinions are very subjective. But work of art. I guess I wanted to see a different film but I got this.