Rev Stan's film blog

The Artist - genius or gimmick?

I enjoyed The Artist. It oozes charming, is entertaining and it has a cute dog. I'm certainly not one of the few imbeciles who've walked out in disgust because of the lack of dialogue but I did wonder, if you strip out the fact that it is a silent movie would everyone be gushing quite so much? And the conclusion I came to is 'no'. 

The story is interesting enough if not wholly predictable and the stuff of several movies before it. But, the lack of dialogue pushes the actors into a different direction, a different style of acting not seen since the, well since the last silent movies and it is really refreshing to watch.

I think what pushes The Artist beyond the gimmick tag is the choices that director Hazanavicius made. In interviews he says he didn't set out to make a silent film but decided that a silent movie was the best way to tell the story. The Artist was an artistic decision, is full of artistic decisions and wonderful vision.

It was also a genius choice not to stick doggedly to the silence but to add sound to one sequence, when our silent hero has a nightmare. It's a really nice touch and works perfectly in the context of the story.

However, what pleases me most about The Artist is that a film like this is getting so much attention at the big awards. It's refreshing to see something different win, something that doesn't tick the usual boxes that gets a film on a short-list.

My only fear or rather prediction is that there will be a string of copycats hitting cinema screens in the next couple of years. These won't be genius, these will lack imagination beyond trying to cash in. These will be gimmicky.

The Artist is definitely worth a look, it will put a smile on your face - Uggie the dog will put a smile on your face. The two lead actors Jean Dujardin and Berenice Bejo ooze old fashion beauty and charm, they are almost luminous on the screen, it quite takes your breath away.

I look forward to seeing it again with a live orchestra sometime in the future. It is inevitable.

It's getting 80% from me. On IMDb it's got 85% with a Metacritic score of 89%. While on Rotten Tomatoes it's got 97% from critics and 91% of site visitors have given it 3.5 stars or more.

 

The disappointing Sleeping Beauty

It held so much promise. An intriguing sounding indie flick about a young woman Lucy (Emily Browning) who in order to fund her way through college starts working for a mysterious organisation that can best be described as offering alternative titillation services.

This isn't prostitution in the traditional sense, this is an art flick after all. At first Lucy has to serve at a dinner party where all the female waiting staff are bare-bosomed or in stockings and basques. Then she graduates to a service where she is drugged into an unconscious state and men - all at the older age range - can do whatever they want with her naked body except penetration and with the proviso they don't leave any marks.

The film's blurb concentrates on the fact that she becomes curious about what the men do while she is in her drug-induced sleep and so sets up a secret camera. However, the film takes an awful long time to get that point and it is something that is concluded very quickly.

Ultimately it is unnecessarily arty, self-consciously so, with lots of lingering shots and people not saying very much either with or without words. You don't get to know very much about Lucy and how she really feels about what she is doing and what impact it is having on her.

She visits a man with whom she seems close who spends most of his time in bed but who he is or what the relationship is, isn't explained. Towards the end of the film she gets into a relationship with a fellow student but again the impact of her job on this isn't explored.  

There is much that could be delved into in this film but just isn't. It just feels risque for risque sake rather than having any real depth.  I left the cinema feeling only disappointment and a little bit cross that that it failed to deliver on any its promises. 

I'm going to give it 25% and if you are thinking of seeing it, save your money. On IMDb it has got 56% from users and 54% from Metacritic. On Rotten Tomatoes there isn't a consensus from critics but only 26% of visitors gave it three stars or more. 

 

Back from Babel: Inarritu's Biutiful

Biutiful is the antithesis of Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu's last film Babel. In the BFI's production notes the director says:

"At the end of Babel, I was so exhausted I made it a point that my next film would be about just one character, with one point of view, one single city, with a straight narrative line and in my own native language."

If you add into that having film's protagonist played by native actor Javier Bardem then you have something which is far, far superior to the starry-casted and confusing Babel.

Biutiful is Uxbal's (Bardem) story. He's a single father of two, his ex-wife is bio-polar and for money he hustles on the grimy back streets of Barcelona, acting as a broker between illegal immigrants and those looking for cheap labour or an outlet for selling their counterfeit goods.

*Some spoilers* The film starts with a tension-filled scene in a snowy wood between a young man and Uxbal, the two walking into an unknown fate or so it seems. The significance of the opening scene only gradually becomes evident as the narrative switches back to the preceding weeks, following Uxbal going about his life.

He is a good man. He is raising his children as best as he can and kind and considerate to those around him. The cliche would be that he was manipulative and exploitative in earning his money but he isn't. He treats those for whom he finds work as his equals, finding them places to stay and even getting arrested when he steps in to stop the police beating one.

It is his kindness that ultimately leads to tragedy but that isn't the heart of the story or the true tragedy. The tragedy is that Uxbal is dying of cancer. He has ignored the signs and the pain and now it is too late and he has just a couple of months to put his life in order for all those dependent on his help and his young family.

The Tempest trailer (with some bits of Ariel)

Finally not just a picture or a tantalising clip but a proper trailer. Ben Whishaw's Ariel looks as intrigueing as ever. And I love the fact that he gets an 'And Ben Whishaw' in the trailer. Very excited (again).

The Tempest Trailer
Uploaded by teasertrailer. - Full seasons and entire episodes online. 

Sunday film dilemma

Time for one film but there are three I want to see:

Gasper Noe's Enter the Void

Loved the trailer but the synopsis sounds like it could turn into something, well, for want of a better word, a bit wanky. A friend has just sent me Irreversible to watch on DVD which he described as 'the most disturbing film' he'd seen. Which kind of makes me want to watch Enter the Void as I like to be shocked. Does that make me weird?

Buried

Despite trying not to be influenced by reviews I saw that this is rating very highly on Rotten Tomatoes. Problem is being buried alive is one of my ultimate fears. My hands are starting to sweat just thinking about it. Will it be just too uncomfortable viewing?

Made in Dagenham

Saw a rough cut of this in a test screening about a year ago so I'm curious to see the final product. At the time I think I was quite harsh in my comments on the post screening questionnaire but I was tired and had got drenched on the way to the cinema so that may have influenced things.

Clips of The Tempest emerge - and yes they include a glimpse of Ben

Thanks to yetanotherbenwhishaw blog for alerting me to this. It's a BBC piece on Helen Mirren at the Venice Film festival and includes some tantalising clips of Julie Taymor's The Tempest including one or two glimpses of Ben Whishaw's Ariel.

You can view it here on bleedingcool.com

I'm intrigued by the two sides of Ariel they show. From what I remember of the play - it's been a few years since I saw it on stage - Ariel can be all sweetness and subservience towards Prospero but has a bitter, angry side having been bound to him for so long. The clip shows hints of this duality, of course in Taymor's interpretation, Prospero becomes Helen Mirren's Prospera. I also like the way she's played up the sorcerer/ess side of Propero/a.

Unfortunately it doesn't appear to be showing at the London Film Festival, unless it turn out to be the mystery film, so I'm left waiting for a UK release date and I'm not hopeful of anything this side of Christmas.

Poster appears for Taymor's Tempest - is that Ben Whishaw????

The first poster (or as far as I can tell) had appeared on the web. Thanks to Cinema Blend who spotted it (read the story here).

Apart from being a lovely poster I got excited about the silvery figure at the top. Is this Ariel? Is this our lovely Mr W. I remembered in an interview in Wonderland Magazine last year where he is quoted as saying:

"I was naked apart from a little jockstrap, my eyebrows were shaved off and I was given breasts and enormous wings."

Now the eyebrows are difficult to see (or not to see if you get my drift) but those sort of look like wings and it looks a bit like his profile. So is it, is it Ben Whishaw? Whadda people reckon? Can I inwardly jump up and down in premature excitement about the film and his turn as the moody spirit?

Wild Grass - like trying to digest a big chunk of steak

OK so some critics have been raving about this one if the posters and adverts are to be believed. And I have sort of broken my rule and read a review. Sort of, because I read it after I'd seen the film but before I'd written down my own thoughts.

My reason for this is because I wanted to see if I was missing something.

You have two characters Marguerite and Georges who, quite separately, live ordinary, run of the mill lives. Then one day Marguerite has her handbag snatched. Her purse is later found by George having been dumped by his car in the car park of a shopping centre.

He starts to obsess about Marguerite, imaging what type of women she is based on the photos and pilots license in her purse.  He has imaginary conversations with her over the telephone and seems take a ridiculously long time deliberating over what to do about the purse. Eventually he hands it in to the police who return it to Marguerite.

She phones Georges to thank him and thus begins her own obsession with what Georges is like. It culminates in a bizarre cycle of stalking and rejection.

There are hints that Georges has some sort of sinister past which hangs like a threat over the whole relationship but doesn't quite manifest itself into anything more dramatic than his slashing her car tyres. Marguerite a seemingly sensible, level-headed women is prone to fits of day-dreaming and fantasy which result in her own irrational behaviour.

First review of Julie Taymor's The Tempest

So I'm breaking my own rule by reading a review before I see a film but as I'm probably not going to get to see The Tempest until at least October if it shows the London Film Festival or December if it doesn't, I'll have probably forgotten everything it said by then anyway.

If you don't want to know any more don't read on and certainly don't click on the link.

The review, published on www.aintitcool.com, is from a focus group screening in New York and is pretty much glowing. Helen Mirren's name is mentioned in the same sentence as 'Oscar' and other notable performances are given as Djimon Hounsou's Caliban and Russell Brand's Trinculo - the latter is described as actually demonstrating he can act.

And of course Stan-fav Ben Whishaw gets an honourable mention, I'd be upset if he didn't.

If that isn't enough of a teaser then you can read the full review - just ignore the unintelligible expletive riddled rant that serves as some sort of intro.

Related posts:

Julie Taymor talks about the The Tempest

Tempting titbits about The Tempest

Rev Stan's news: release date for The Tempest?