Starring: Brit Marling; William Mapother.
Director: Mike Cahill
CELESTIAL concepts generally tend to be heavy on the mind – about as weighty as a planet.
Another Earth begins with images of a big planet – the largest one in our solar system as it turns out – Jupiter, with a voiceover explaining where our protagonist, Rhoda (Brit Marling), comes from.
Her journey begins one drunken night when she drives while intoxicated and hits another car, killing a composer’s (William Mapother) pregnant wife and five-year old boy.
Four years later and Rhoda, fresh out of the slammer, is hoping to be one of the lucky few to go on a voyage of discovery to the other Earth while she takes up a job as a cleaner both at a nearby school and also at the composer’s, John Burroughs, house who has fallen into drink and is consumed by grief.
The horrific incident at the start of the film happens on the same night as Earth has a galactic visitor and it doesn’t take long for us to work out (the clue is in the title) that what is up there is the same as down here.
But how similar is it, or could it be? And that is the underlying message that continues throughout this film.
It is a psychological question that requires a lot of pathos, and unfortunately this film has a lot of it.
Science-fiction theory is a wonderful genre in films and one that when it is done right can be really entertaining, when it’s done wrong it can be boring.
This year there has been several films that are now included in that canon, The Adjustment Bureau and Source Code being possibly the best and certainly most popular for 2011.
Another Earth is a great stab from debut director-screenwriter Mike Cahill who is joined by Marling on the penning credits.
But it is just too full of itself.
It is clear that Marling and Cahill are two very intelligent and well-read young people but Another Earth could easily have been cut in half.
There were far too many pretentious shots and long camera shots of characters gazing off into the sunset, fingers tapping on wood, quiet moments of reflection.
But if the editing was as strict as the overall craftsmanship then the running time would struggle to get past the hour.
Moments such as when a NASA scientist makes first contact and the subsequent confusion are nail-biting. Similarly a beautiful moment with a musical saw shows that Cahill has great strength.
But the concept of the film is something that would be better suited to a bigger budget – it is drowned by the ordinariness of the world that surrounds it.
Thursday, 29 December 2011
Sunday, 6 November 2011
You Only Live Thrice
In case you haven't heard the next James Bond film has a title – Skyfall.
It’s interesting to note that the announcement of a film title can become an event itself.
True, it’s been 50 years since James Bond first graced our screens and despite a couple of delays threatening to kill off Bond for good (a legal wrangle threatened the franchise between Timothy Dalton’s and Pierce Brosnan’s turns as the super spy; and the recent financial problems of MGM) he has been able to live not just twice, but three times.
So it was probably not much of a surprise that at the announcement of the film’s title at the West End’s Corinthia hotel Bond himself, Daniel Craig, was there sporting a beard while one on side was French actress Bérénice Marlohe as one Bond girl and British actress Naomie Harris as another.
Of course producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson were there too along with the fictional head of MI6, Dame Judi.
What really made this movie buff get excited were the appearances of Oscar-winning director (and fellow Reading boy) Sam Mendes at the top table as well as everyone’s favourite bad guy, Javier Bardem.
The news that thesps Ralph Feinnes and Albert Finney will be in the film too can only add to the impact.
Let’s be honest how many other Bond actors and actresses can you name beyond the main man? Christopher Lee, Grace Jones, Gert Frobe, Honor Blackman, Christopher Walken, Eva Green. There are plenty more (Teri Hatcher for instance, and film buffs will remember a youthful Benicio Del Toro in Licence To Kill) but it’s difficult to pin them down – yes, I’m sure you will be able to remember others I’ve temporarily forgotten, Famke Janssen, for example. But now we’ve got an ensemble cast and director that’s almost worthy of a Christopher Nolan film.
Have the Bond producers set themselves up for a fall? There’s so much weight on the screen, combined with the three year delay (although that’s hardly the producers’ fault) there will be a lot of expectation for delivery of the goods (there are rumours that Mendes wants this film to be less Bond and more Smiley).
Twenty-three films is no mean feat for a franchise although I can imagine many of today’s blockbuster film making a considerable run.
But now I wouldn’t be surprised if a press conference was called for future franchise instalments.
After Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Rises he has said he will hang up his hat, but something tells me that if he comes back for a fourth, there will be a similar buzz about that one as there is for this.
And what of other franchises and other comic books? The Pirates of the Caribbean episodes, another Bourne movie, the list goes on.
Perhaps 007 can be more than just a series based around one character – it could have been the inspiration for all the movie blockbusters we have today.
And once again, perhaps that could be down to the success of Bond’s cinematic home, Pinewood Studios, and British technicians.
It’s interesting to note that the announcement of a film title can become an event itself.
True, it’s been 50 years since James Bond first graced our screens and despite a couple of delays threatening to kill off Bond for good (a legal wrangle threatened the franchise between Timothy Dalton’s and Pierce Brosnan’s turns as the super spy; and the recent financial problems of MGM) he has been able to live not just twice, but three times.
So it was probably not much of a surprise that at the announcement of the film’s title at the West End’s Corinthia hotel Bond himself, Daniel Craig, was there sporting a beard while one on side was French actress Bérénice Marlohe as one Bond girl and British actress Naomie Harris as another.
Of course producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson were there too along with the fictional head of MI6, Dame Judi.
What really made this movie buff get excited were the appearances of Oscar-winning director (and fellow Reading boy) Sam Mendes at the top table as well as everyone’s favourite bad guy, Javier Bardem.
The news that thesps Ralph Feinnes and Albert Finney will be in the film too can only add to the impact.
Let’s be honest how many other Bond actors and actresses can you name beyond the main man? Christopher Lee, Grace Jones, Gert Frobe, Honor Blackman, Christopher Walken, Eva Green. There are plenty more (Teri Hatcher for instance, and film buffs will remember a youthful Benicio Del Toro in Licence To Kill) but it’s difficult to pin them down – yes, I’m sure you will be able to remember others I’ve temporarily forgotten, Famke Janssen, for example. But now we’ve got an ensemble cast and director that’s almost worthy of a Christopher Nolan film.
Have the Bond producers set themselves up for a fall? There’s so much weight on the screen, combined with the three year delay (although that’s hardly the producers’ fault) there will be a lot of expectation for delivery of the goods (there are rumours that Mendes wants this film to be less Bond and more Smiley).
Twenty-three films is no mean feat for a franchise although I can imagine many of today’s blockbuster film making a considerable run.
But now I wouldn’t be surprised if a press conference was called for future franchise instalments.
After Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Rises he has said he will hang up his hat, but something tells me that if he comes back for a fourth, there will be a similar buzz about that one as there is for this.
And what of other franchises and other comic books? The Pirates of the Caribbean episodes, another Bourne movie, the list goes on.
Perhaps 007 can be more than just a series based around one character – it could have been the inspiration for all the movie blockbusters we have today.
And once again, perhaps that could be down to the success of Bond’s cinematic home, Pinewood Studios, and British technicians.
Saturday, 5 November 2011
Jack Goes Boating
Director: Philip Seymour Hoffman
Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Ryan, Joe Ortiz, Daphne Rubin-Vega.
Jack Goes Boating is the directorial debut for acting wonder kid Philip Seymour Hoffman highlighting a role reversal that has become endemic in the world of cinema.
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away – well, some considerable distance for mere mortals in Leicestershire – Hollywood was a social hierarchy.
Directors wanted to be in front of the cameras as well as behind; writers and cinematographers wanted to direct while the technicians who actually made the movie were just happy to be.
Then actors wanted to show they were more than just a pretty face. Luvvies like Richard Attenborough were the first get behind the camera and were swiftly followed on the other side of the Atlantic by Clint Eastwood, Robert Redford and then the likes of Sean Penn.
It was inevitable that a man known for playing Truman Capote, an actor who could easily be considered the best of his generation would want to direct.
He made difficult films like Happiness watchable; he stole Mission Impossible 3 from under Tom Cruise’s, his own star vehicle blockbuster. In short he can’t put a foot wrong.
And the same can be said with Jack Goes Boating when he’s in front of the camera. Every second on screen Hoffman is engaging and he performs his role as Jack, a socially awkward middle-aged limo driver in New York with aplomb.
He has all the tics and mannerisms you would expect of someone who is nervous around women, and when betraying thoughts and emotions, even down to a well-placed cough like a drying throat. Hoffman does everything you would expect him to and more.
A tenderness rarely seen in Hollywood actors shines through his performance especially when he confronts his phobia of being in water and his determination to cook a meal.
Co-star Amy Ryan also puts in a fine performance as Connie, a sales woman trying to turn her life around despite a lot of emotional baggage.
She is more than a match for Hoffman while Jack and Connie develop their relationship at a patient pace while they plan to go boating in the summer.
But perhaps Hoffman’s acting in front of the camera is distracting him from his first experience at helming.
The film plods along at just too slow a pace and while less can be more at times, in this case the more you get, the better it is.
Joe Ortiz as Clyde and Daphne Rubin-Vega are welcome additions to a film about real people with real issues but they are not utilised as much as they should be.
There’s a hidden issue about what happens the trials and tribulations and couples that is looked at, but never explored to its full potential.
For a first stab at directing, there are moments of brilliance.
In the moments leading up the film’s climatic scene the fast editing and hallucinatory sequences are awesome, and clearly an influence of his previous boss Paul Thomas Anderson. But more of that is needed.
Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Ryan, Joe Ortiz, Daphne Rubin-Vega.
Jack Goes Boating is the directorial debut for acting wonder kid Philip Seymour Hoffman highlighting a role reversal that has become endemic in the world of cinema.
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away – well, some considerable distance for mere mortals in Leicestershire – Hollywood was a social hierarchy.
Directors wanted to be in front of the cameras as well as behind; writers and cinematographers wanted to direct while the technicians who actually made the movie were just happy to be.
Then actors wanted to show they were more than just a pretty face. Luvvies like Richard Attenborough were the first get behind the camera and were swiftly followed on the other side of the Atlantic by Clint Eastwood, Robert Redford and then the likes of Sean Penn.
It was inevitable that a man known for playing Truman Capote, an actor who could easily be considered the best of his generation would want to direct.
He made difficult films like Happiness watchable; he stole Mission Impossible 3 from under Tom Cruise’s, his own star vehicle blockbuster. In short he can’t put a foot wrong.
And the same can be said with Jack Goes Boating when he’s in front of the camera. Every second on screen Hoffman is engaging and he performs his role as Jack, a socially awkward middle-aged limo driver in New York with aplomb.
He has all the tics and mannerisms you would expect of someone who is nervous around women, and when betraying thoughts and emotions, even down to a well-placed cough like a drying throat. Hoffman does everything you would expect him to and more.
A tenderness rarely seen in Hollywood actors shines through his performance especially when he confronts his phobia of being in water and his determination to cook a meal.
Co-star Amy Ryan also puts in a fine performance as Connie, a sales woman trying to turn her life around despite a lot of emotional baggage.
She is more than a match for Hoffman while Jack and Connie develop their relationship at a patient pace while they plan to go boating in the summer.
But perhaps Hoffman’s acting in front of the camera is distracting him from his first experience at helming.
The film plods along at just too slow a pace and while less can be more at times, in this case the more you get, the better it is.
Joe Ortiz as Clyde and Daphne Rubin-Vega are welcome additions to a film about real people with real issues but they are not utilised as much as they should be.
There’s a hidden issue about what happens the trials and tribulations and couples that is looked at, but never explored to its full potential.
For a first stab at directing, there are moments of brilliance.
In the moments leading up the film’s climatic scene the fast editing and hallucinatory sequences are awesome, and clearly an influence of his previous boss Paul Thomas Anderson. But more of that is needed.
Monday, 31 October 2011
A New Horror - A New Hope?
HALLOWEEN is the time of year where, as everyone knows, you have to get out the horror collection.
But recently there have two new sub-genres that people can curl up in front of the tv with a tub of ice cream – torture porn and trolls.
The first of those is a category which I really don’t see the point because it really just likes to bathe in blood, and has no scary aspect about it.
The Saw franchise is similar in ways to that of the Final Destination saga – elaborate deaths portrayed as something clever but ultimately really predictable and boring. There is a morbid curiosity with all horror films, but while all the others inspire fear, torture porn just makes people go “oooh, that’s clever”. Well, no it isn’t.
At least the Final Destination was able to laugh at itself. You know that the characters won’t die as you first think they will and the humour is in how ridiculous the deaths become. The film makers can string out one death over the course of an entire film and it would be worthwhile, perhaps that’s where they’ll do next for their next film.
But the Saw and Hostel films are just plain boring without any thrills, just a fascination on blood and gore that really isn’t healthy. They just shock for shock’s sake while The Human Centipede is a one-trick pony that should be a ten minute short, at best.
But the second new sub-genre that I think has come about is trolls. Have we ever had a troll movie before? I don’t think we have. Recently I got to see Trollhunter for the first time. (Living in a “provincial city” means that we get most films a few weeks after everyone else.)
It’s a terrific film and one that really deserves to be shouted about and I hope that it will inspire other films of its type.
Yes, it lends itself to the Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity films, but at least this one spoofs those documentary films and becomes a great mockumentary.
The comedy and the horror are blended perfectly to create a fantastic film that is at the right length, and really shows up the flaws of those films I’ve mentioned.
At every step of the way you feel for the characters despite knowing little about them, and Otto Jespersen’s performance is spot on.
Like Shaun of the Dead, I think it could really open up a new type of film and one that will see film makers across the planet making their own type. Here’s hoping that there will be more leaders than imitators.
But recently there have two new sub-genres that people can curl up in front of the tv with a tub of ice cream – torture porn and trolls.
The first of those is a category which I really don’t see the point because it really just likes to bathe in blood, and has no scary aspect about it.
The Saw franchise is similar in ways to that of the Final Destination saga – elaborate deaths portrayed as something clever but ultimately really predictable and boring. There is a morbid curiosity with all horror films, but while all the others inspire fear, torture porn just makes people go “oooh, that’s clever”. Well, no it isn’t.
At least the Final Destination was able to laugh at itself. You know that the characters won’t die as you first think they will and the humour is in how ridiculous the deaths become. The film makers can string out one death over the course of an entire film and it would be worthwhile, perhaps that’s where they’ll do next for their next film.
But the Saw and Hostel films are just plain boring without any thrills, just a fascination on blood and gore that really isn’t healthy. They just shock for shock’s sake while The Human Centipede is a one-trick pony that should be a ten minute short, at best.
But the second new sub-genre that I think has come about is trolls. Have we ever had a troll movie before? I don’t think we have. Recently I got to see Trollhunter for the first time. (Living in a “provincial city” means that we get most films a few weeks after everyone else.)
It’s a terrific film and one that really deserves to be shouted about and I hope that it will inspire other films of its type.
Yes, it lends itself to the Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity films, but at least this one spoofs those documentary films and becomes a great mockumentary.
The comedy and the horror are blended perfectly to create a fantastic film that is at the right length, and really shows up the flaws of those films I’ve mentioned.
At every step of the way you feel for the characters despite knowing little about them, and Otto Jespersen’s performance is spot on.
Like Shaun of the Dead, I think it could really open up a new type of film and one that will see film makers across the planet making their own type. Here’s hoping that there will be more leaders than imitators.
Sunday, 30 October 2011
Frightarama
Watching a horror film is a staple part of the Halloween tradition. The difficulty always comes down to which one to watch. So, on October 29, Leicester’s Phoenix Square cinema had a horror movie marathon, and to make life a little easier, they put on three films – two classics and a new film that is a worthy addition to the genre.
The Shining – Here’s Johnny!
From the opening shot, this film oozes fear. Opening with Wendy Carlos’s haunting bass resonating throughout the film, it lingers long in the mind, forever connected with Jack Nicholson’s grimace and helicopter views over the Rockies. The terror was just as palpable as when I first saw it many moons ago. Some people find children in horror films psychologically disturbing, and those two girls in their blue dresses contribute to the terror. It’s not something I get because personally I find the blood flooding out of the lifts one of the most horrific moments in cinema history. Others meanwhile find Jack Nicholson’s performance as Jack Torrance the most traumatising aspect of The Shining. The moment Wendy (Shelley Duvall) finds those meaningless scribbles from the typewriter is when we start to cower behind our hands. And of course when he starts running around with the axe, that’s when we get really scared. A great start to the triple bill.
Trollhunter – “they can smell the blood of a Christian”
Zombies, aliens and monsters, ghosts and poltergeists, deranged killers, demons – surely it’s only trolls that haven’t been covered in their entirety in cinema? This must be a sub-genre defining film if ever there was one. After the terror of The Shining, comedy horror came with Trollhunter. So trolls can smell Christians, but can they smell the blood of Muslims? “I honestly don’t know” is troll hunter Hans’s response. The moment our band of heroes are in the trolls’ lair provokes the two great emotions of fear and humour in one go. Who would have thought a fart would be so funny and terrifying at once! Its reception in its home country of Norway has been mixed but over here it looks like it will be every bit of a success story.
For my full review click here: http://filmbuff-moviebuff.blogspot.com/2011/10/trollhunter.html
By this time, because the air conditioning had broken down the heat in screen two was getting too much, despite both films being set in really cold places. There was great relief to find we were being re-housed into the other screen to watch our final instalment ...
The Exorcist - It’s only a movie, it’s only a movie, it’s only a movie...
At the climax of William Friedkin’s classic, you could hear a pin drop in the theatre. Shown on 35mm film, it was cinema gold, it looked like a hand-made movie, like picking up a hand-made leather-bound book. Those precious moments when the devil takes over Regan are great fun and a wonder of technical proficiency. But it’s those little moments that add to make the whole - the very brief frames of the devil pale and gaunt; the devil reminding Father Karras if he could spare some change for “a poor old altar boy, father”; reminders about what he did to his mother by leaving her in the home. By the time Max Von Sydow re-enters from stage left, it was full throttle for the final battle of good versus evil.
The Shining – Here’s Johnny!
From the opening shot, this film oozes fear. Opening with Wendy Carlos’s haunting bass resonating throughout the film, it lingers long in the mind, forever connected with Jack Nicholson’s grimace and helicopter views over the Rockies. The terror was just as palpable as when I first saw it many moons ago. Some people find children in horror films psychologically disturbing, and those two girls in their blue dresses contribute to the terror. It’s not something I get because personally I find the blood flooding out of the lifts one of the most horrific moments in cinema history. Others meanwhile find Jack Nicholson’s performance as Jack Torrance the most traumatising aspect of The Shining. The moment Wendy (Shelley Duvall) finds those meaningless scribbles from the typewriter is when we start to cower behind our hands. And of course when he starts running around with the axe, that’s when we get really scared. A great start to the triple bill.
Trollhunter – “they can smell the blood of a Christian”
Zombies, aliens and monsters, ghosts and poltergeists, deranged killers, demons – surely it’s only trolls that haven’t been covered in their entirety in cinema? This must be a sub-genre defining film if ever there was one. After the terror of The Shining, comedy horror came with Trollhunter. So trolls can smell Christians, but can they smell the blood of Muslims? “I honestly don’t know” is troll hunter Hans’s response. The moment our band of heroes are in the trolls’ lair provokes the two great emotions of fear and humour in one go. Who would have thought a fart would be so funny and terrifying at once! Its reception in its home country of Norway has been mixed but over here it looks like it will be every bit of a success story.
For my full review click here: http://filmbuff-moviebuff.blogspot.com/2011/10/trollhunter.html
By this time, because the air conditioning had broken down the heat in screen two was getting too much, despite both films being set in really cold places. There was great relief to find we were being re-housed into the other screen to watch our final instalment ...
The Exorcist - It’s only a movie, it’s only a movie, it’s only a movie...
At the climax of William Friedkin’s classic, you could hear a pin drop in the theatre. Shown on 35mm film, it was cinema gold, it looked like a hand-made movie, like picking up a hand-made leather-bound book. Those precious moments when the devil takes over Regan are great fun and a wonder of technical proficiency. But it’s those little moments that add to make the whole - the very brief frames of the devil pale and gaunt; the devil reminding Father Karras if he could spare some change for “a poor old altar boy, father”; reminders about what he did to his mother by leaving her in the home. By the time Max Von Sydow re-enters from stage left, it was full throttle for the final battle of good versus evil.
Trollhunter
Director: André Øvredal
Starring: Otto Jespersen; Glenn Erland Tosterud; Johanna Mørck; Tomas Alf Larsen.
EVERY once in a while a genre defining film comes along – and Trollhunter is exactly that.
It is very difficult these days to come up with something new or refreshing but writer/director André Øvredal has done just that.
Recently there has been a truckload of zombie films, Jason Bourne imitators and other spy films.
But a film about trolls? That is something new. A fairy tale monster which rarely comes up on the horror radar is a sight to behold.
Trollhunter begins with three media students finding out about shootings of bears in Norway. Hungry for an assignment, they stalk a man they believe to be a bear poacher.
But when they follow him into the woods, they find that he is a hunter of an altogether different kind of beast.
From the start it turns out that the troll hunter or trolljegeren, Hans (Otto Jespersen who plays along with comic precision that would make Leslie Nielsen proud) has some very odd personality traits.
One of his first questions he asks is whether one of our trio is a Christian, because trolls can smell the blood of God-fearing men. Later, the question of whether trolls can smell the blood of Muslims arises, to which Hans’s answer is “I don’t honestly know”.
Then they have to rub themselves, including their nether parts, in troll scent. And because he can’t sleep during the night time, Hans sleeps on a sun bed. Clearly not very health conscious.
Trailing not far behind is the incompetent yet ruthless Troll Security Service who ship in dead bears from Croatia to make people believe that poachers are responsible for the deaths of cattle.
And throughout there is a light-hearted look at the situation. Everyone is asking themselves: “I mean, trolls. Really?!?!”
But despite a limited budget they’re illustrated with exquisite CGI and inspire real fear. Even when they fart.
A problem in horror movies is when to reveal the monster. If it is too early then it becomes ridiculous and the subject of humour.
Thankfully there are many different breeds of beast and beyond that each time is like the arrival of the T Rex in Jurassic Park - you know what’s going to come and it makes you want to change your pants.
The only thing that kills the trolls is intense UV light, so the nocturnal aspect creeps through with everything that made you scared of trolls when you were a kid, afraid that the troll would come out from under your bed.
What might put people off is that it is yet another one of those ”found footage” faux documentaries but in this film it is almost a spoof of that type of film.
But at the same time, the frenetic use of the hand-held camera adds to the fear of the unknown.
With a great Nordic monster, this film will add another layer to the horror genre. Hitherto unvisited, one wonders why it hasn’t done so before.
Starring: Otto Jespersen; Glenn Erland Tosterud; Johanna Mørck; Tomas Alf Larsen.
EVERY once in a while a genre defining film comes along – and Trollhunter is exactly that.
It is very difficult these days to come up with something new or refreshing but writer/director André Øvredal has done just that.
Recently there has been a truckload of zombie films, Jason Bourne imitators and other spy films.
But a film about trolls? That is something new. A fairy tale monster which rarely comes up on the horror radar is a sight to behold.
Trollhunter begins with three media students finding out about shootings of bears in Norway. Hungry for an assignment, they stalk a man they believe to be a bear poacher.
But when they follow him into the woods, they find that he is a hunter of an altogether different kind of beast.
From the start it turns out that the troll hunter or trolljegeren, Hans (Otto Jespersen who plays along with comic precision that would make Leslie Nielsen proud) has some very odd personality traits.
One of his first questions he asks is whether one of our trio is a Christian, because trolls can smell the blood of God-fearing men. Later, the question of whether trolls can smell the blood of Muslims arises, to which Hans’s answer is “I don’t honestly know”.
Then they have to rub themselves, including their nether parts, in troll scent. And because he can’t sleep during the night time, Hans sleeps on a sun bed. Clearly not very health conscious.
Trailing not far behind is the incompetent yet ruthless Troll Security Service who ship in dead bears from Croatia to make people believe that poachers are responsible for the deaths of cattle.
And throughout there is a light-hearted look at the situation. Everyone is asking themselves: “I mean, trolls. Really?!?!”
But despite a limited budget they’re illustrated with exquisite CGI and inspire real fear. Even when they fart.
A problem in horror movies is when to reveal the monster. If it is too early then it becomes ridiculous and the subject of humour.
Thankfully there are many different breeds of beast and beyond that each time is like the arrival of the T Rex in Jurassic Park - you know what’s going to come and it makes you want to change your pants.
The only thing that kills the trolls is intense UV light, so the nocturnal aspect creeps through with everything that made you scared of trolls when you were a kid, afraid that the troll would come out from under your bed.
What might put people off is that it is yet another one of those ”found footage” faux documentaries but in this film it is almost a spoof of that type of film.
But at the same time, the frenetic use of the hand-held camera adds to the fear of the unknown.
With a great Nordic monster, this film will add another layer to the horror genre. Hitherto unvisited, one wonders why it hasn’t done so before.
Saturday, 22 October 2011
We Need To Talk About Kevin
Director: Lynne Ramsay
Starring: Tilda Swinton; John C Reilly; Ezra Miller.
Lynne Ramsay shot to fame with her last film (back in 2002) Morvern Callar, a gem of a Brit flick which should have made a bigger splash.
The Glaswegian director then tried to adapt The Lovely Bones for the big screen but in the end the baton was passed to Peter Jackson and Ramsay picked up Lionel Shriver's We Need To Talk About Kevin.
Clearly a difficult book to adapt Ramsay has made an extraordinary job getting this onto film, but it’s a movie that really demands your attention.
It opens with a long shot of a net curtain blowing in the breeze, while the sounds of crickets or either a fan play over the top. It’s a moment of distortion where the confusion continues for several minutes.
The next moment, a crowd of hundreds is bathing in the blood-coloured flakes and juice of the Spanish tomato festival with Eva, played by Tilda Swinton, gloriously throwing herself into the action.
Next, we discover that her house has had blood red paint thrown over it, while the sounds of the festival slowly dissipate.
It’s an arresting start, but incredibly infuriating too as it takes time for the jigsaw pieces to fall into place while the timeline flickers back and forth.
But get past the first 20 minutes and the tension and atmosphere will slowly start to simmer to the boil.
The crisscrossing timeline soon becomes a tour-de-force with heavy symbolism, red-filled complex shots and editing, while Swinton could not have been better cast for the role.
Never a fan of Swinton, I have previously found her cold and at times aloof and have never warmed to her, it seems this role was made for her.
And her battle with devil child, Kevin, (the perfectly evil Ezra Miller) illustrates how difficult motherhood has been for her with this Damien-like offspring.
But her husband Franklin (John C Reilly) finds it hard to understand why she finds him such a mean-spirited child.
There are few clues to why Eva is such a terrible mother but it is clear that Eva would rather be travelling round the world or living in glamorous surroundings rather than raising a family.
But it appears the Kevin is really a horrible child with a bullying streak who really needs taking down a peg or two.
As the film progresses the tension towards the horrific finale grows and grows, answering many questions asked along the way.
But not all of them. The audience is left wondering why Eva is so reviled by the public. Her son has committed an awful atrocity, but she’s lost her family too, so why is she being vilified?
Fans of the book will no doubt be disappointed.
Thankfully this is a film which will see Ramsay get the plaudits and attention she deserves and Miller and Swinton put in performances which hold it all together.
Starring: Tilda Swinton; John C Reilly; Ezra Miller.
Lynne Ramsay shot to fame with her last film (back in 2002) Morvern Callar, a gem of a Brit flick which should have made a bigger splash.
The Glaswegian director then tried to adapt The Lovely Bones for the big screen but in the end the baton was passed to Peter Jackson and Ramsay picked up Lionel Shriver's We Need To Talk About Kevin.
Clearly a difficult book to adapt Ramsay has made an extraordinary job getting this onto film, but it’s a movie that really demands your attention.
It opens with a long shot of a net curtain blowing in the breeze, while the sounds of crickets or either a fan play over the top. It’s a moment of distortion where the confusion continues for several minutes.
The next moment, a crowd of hundreds is bathing in the blood-coloured flakes and juice of the Spanish tomato festival with Eva, played by Tilda Swinton, gloriously throwing herself into the action.
Next, we discover that her house has had blood red paint thrown over it, while the sounds of the festival slowly dissipate.
It’s an arresting start, but incredibly infuriating too as it takes time for the jigsaw pieces to fall into place while the timeline flickers back and forth.
But get past the first 20 minutes and the tension and atmosphere will slowly start to simmer to the boil.
The crisscrossing timeline soon becomes a tour-de-force with heavy symbolism, red-filled complex shots and editing, while Swinton could not have been better cast for the role.
Never a fan of Swinton, I have previously found her cold and at times aloof and have never warmed to her, it seems this role was made for her.
And her battle with devil child, Kevin, (the perfectly evil Ezra Miller) illustrates how difficult motherhood has been for her with this Damien-like offspring.
But her husband Franklin (John C Reilly) finds it hard to understand why she finds him such a mean-spirited child.
There are few clues to why Eva is such a terrible mother but it is clear that Eva would rather be travelling round the world or living in glamorous surroundings rather than raising a family.
But it appears the Kevin is really a horrible child with a bullying streak who really needs taking down a peg or two.
As the film progresses the tension towards the horrific finale grows and grows, answering many questions asked along the way.
But not all of them. The audience is left wondering why Eva is so reviled by the public. Her son has committed an awful atrocity, but she’s lost her family too, so why is she being vilified?
Fans of the book will no doubt be disappointed.
Thankfully this is a film which will see Ramsay get the plaudits and attention she deserves and Miller and Swinton put in performances which hold it all together.
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