Demndiary Blog

Klaus Haro's Mother of Mine is a bittersweet drama about a Finnish war child’s childhood in Skane, Sweden. Eero is sent to Sweden to protect him during WWII and the consequences haunt him and his mother throughout his adulthood. The film portrays that same alienation of a stranger in a strange land as seen in Sweet Land.

            Mother of Mine is filled with amazing performances. Eero (Toni Majanuemi) is cold and lonely, and hard to reach yet still exhibits the innocence of youth. Signe Jonsso (Maria Lundqvist) performs well beyond her character. She is resentful of Eero and hides her secret why, but when she opens up is a loving mother without blinking. Michael Nyquist’s Hjalmar is a friendly father and male role model for Eero. He is a friend before father and humanizes the unusual situation. Majaana Maijala’s Kirsti, Eero’s Finnish mother, is stiff and seems directionless with a role that does not encompass the entire story.            

    Haro sets the story in obvious set pieces, and amazing landscapes. Skane, Sweden is surreally beautiful with too green grass, and a seascape that draws the eye in. Everywhere in the town, and in Finland the set pieces seem painted like a school plays that, if not for the actors’ phenomenal performance, would seem amateurish.

            In conclusion, Mother of Mine is a schizophrenic movie. The performances and the story are breathtaking but the environment seems less. It is a tearjerker, but it lacks a solid punch all the way through.

A young woman being stalked by her ex, has an affair with a handsome venture capitalist. Christian Petzold's Yella is not that simple.

Yella is remarkable with a strong cast. Nina Hoss is Yella from first scene. Yella is independent and intelligent. She is moving on with her life and moving away from her father and ex, Ben (Hinnerk Schoenemann). Schoenemann makes Ben a personality nightmare as kind and begging one moment, and violent the next. Philipp (David Striesow) is the knight in shining armor who offers a challenging job, and real love.

The film has clues to the story hidden throughout. Subtle suggestions come from music, sounds and light. The deeper meaning is not revealed until the end. It is as big as The Sixth Sense.

Petzold's style is stark and minimalist. Rooms are simple and seem close to natural lighting. Shots are composed to add an unnatural edge. The effect molds the story from simple to sublime.

Yella is an enigma. It is bold and risky in story. Nina Hoss makes it a joy to watch like watching Run Lola Run for the first time. Yella is entertaining mystery to be enjoyed.

Juan Antonio Bayona's The Orphanage is a scary film about a family moving into a former orphanage and being haunted by its former charges. The film is driven by Belen Rueda's Laura as a caring mother desperately seeking her child.

          The film has many elements. It is a ghost story in the vein of The Changeling. It incorporates both shadows and ghosts as humans as good as any J-Horror. It also has the best scene with a psychic medium since Poltergeist.

           The cast is filled with standout performances. Roger Princep is Simon, Laura's son, and is unaware that his imaginary friends are more than that. Fernando Cayo is Carlos, Laura's husband, who fights tooth and nail to come up with logical explanations for everything. Montserrat Caralla is Benigna, the spooky former worker at the orphanage who knows too many secrets. All make an ensemble cast that brings realism and fear to this story.

          Bayona has a beautiful style from location to lighting that enhances the story and performance. Del Toro's influence can be seen in lighting hazy sunshine similar to The Devil's Backbone. CGI is used sparingly. The best scares are truly bump in the nights. The isolated house on a seaside cliff surrounded by trees and a beach is foreboding. The one fault is some more editing was needed near the end.

           The Orphanage is a horror film from the old school. It is spooky and scary and makes you look at every corner to see if there is something there. Perfection is hard to find in horror. This is practically it.

          

          Ronald Bronstein’s Frownland is a character study of a sad, miserable person named Keith Sontag. Keith stammers when he talks. He begins every thought as an unfinished metaphor and never gets to the point, even when at his angriest. He has a lot of reasons to be angry. His roommate Charles is composing music loudly, and not paying his share of the rent. His girlfriend Laura is stabbing herself, and him, for no apparent reason.His boss, Carmine, is unsympathetic to his inability to sell coupons door-to-door.            

Keith is played by Dore Mann.Mann makes Keith uncomfortable to watch. Whether it is with a running nose, or a silent lack of protest when everyone continually pushes him away and down. Strangely, his performance generates a sympathy for him. It is a hard part, but Mann, an amateur, makes it work.            

Frownland is rough, close, and loud. Bronstein purposefully uses close ups in close spaces (apartments, buildings, etc…). It is uncomfortable and gets worse throughout the film. Bronstein also uses an unconventional script. He even switches his main character to Charles for a half hour for a change. In addition, Bronstein has made a noisy film. Quiet moments are filled with background noise of the city. It is unnerving, long and wandering.            

Frowland is a challenging film. It is not likeable. It is not nice. It leaves its audience asking questions of the characters and story.

Craig Zobel’s Great World of Sound is an account of a scam by the fools instructed to orchestrate it. It is a moral film about two men desperate for a job that seems to give hope to others. Martin and Clarence meet in training and hook up for the road trips. It is Clarence who delivers the final revelation.  

              Pat Healy’s Martin is self- deprecating and moping in his life. Kene Holliday’s Clarence is a powerhouse of emotion and slick sales. Together they function on the road signing new artists. The auditions they conduct are reminiscent of the audition scene in Miike’s Audition where the good and bad are seen so fast it is both humorous and sad. It is also the standout point of the film. Martin’s girlfriend Pam (Rebecca Mader) seems under used on film. Their relationship is not fleshed out in the scenes it is given. Robert Longstreet’s Layton is slick and clean, and the hard sell.  

Great World of Sound is filled with many problems. The pacing of the film never seems fluid. Pat Healy’s Martin seems wooden in performance throughout. The film plods along in search of a meaning and waits too long to find it. It doesn’t reach out to the audience but stays stagnant. A stronger production budget might have helped, but it appears that the screenplay never reached the high drama moments.  Great World of Sound is like the performers who audition in it, wanting something bigger, and not reaching it.

Basil Gelpke &  Ray McCormack's A Crude Awakening is a fearmongering film about the day the world runs out of oil. Although the film is presented with numerous interviews and case examples it seems to rely on one source too many times: Stanford University. At one point up to four professors are cited in the same segment. If the facts were so prevailent, it should have been easy to find other Universities willing to back them up. The directors failed to do so and, as a consequence, it disables their position and the film.

               Justin Theroux’s Dedication is not a happy go lucky romance. It is dark and evil and hard to watch at times. It is also an amazing debut feature by a director who will make a mark. It also begins to bring Mandy Moore into her own as an adult actress.                 

Henry Roth (Billy Crudup) is the last person one would expect to write children’s books. He is brooding, dark and mean spirited and barely held in check by his best friend and illustrator Rudy Holt (Tom Wilkinson). The two somehow convince a big name publisher and it’s editor Arthur Planck (Bob Balaban) to publish their book. It becomes an overnight success, and plans are made for book two. With barely a month before it is due Rudy dies, and a despondent Henry is assigned the newby Lucy to illustrate.                 

Mandy Moore’s Lucy is not a ray of sunshine. Her mean mother, and landlord Carol beautifully portrayed by Dianne Weist overwhelm her.  Her ex-boyfriend is also courting Lucy. When Lucy and Henry are given a strict deadline they begin to press down to work and to find out about each other. Lucy is also given the added incentive of a possible $200,000 bonus is they complete on time.                 

Theroux films Dedication in a different way. He uses wide shots, but also seems captivated by the environment whether it is Henry’s warehouse apt or a neighborhood greasy spoon. Theroux mixes environment and music in a tapestry that transfers emotions as deeply as the discordant music.                  The film is Henry and Lucy. Both are not perfect to the world or to themselves. They are damaged and it seems like their own problems fight against any attempt at synergy. Mandy Moore’s Lucy bears a strong resemblance to Ally Sheedy in the Breakfast Club. She is always wearing dark clothes that shroud her body and face. Billy Crurup’s Henry is neurotic, and draconian in language to anyone. He is uncaring, and has the most needs. Both are striving to patch their holes.                 

Dedication is a strong film. It has elements of Adaptation and Elf mixed into it. The film style is close to Once in its beauty and simple stylings. It is the chemistry of Crudup and Moore that make this film worth watching more than once. It clings to emotions and stays there.

Wiebke Von Carolsfeld's Marion Bridge is a family drama filled with strong characters. The film itself is quiet in scope, and photography but rests upon a solid screenplay.

Molly Parker's Agnes is the rebel who earned a reputation with her sisters. She was the heavy drinker, and partier. The Agnes who comes home is different and almost trapped by the perceptions of her sisters. Theresa (Rebecca Jenkins) is the eldest and is used to holding her world, and everyone else's together whether they need it or not. Stacey Smith's Louise is the middle sister who has many dreams but has always remained as the stable one between her sisters.

As with all character dramas it is the conflict of the characters that is the story. It is best seen with Molly Parker and Rebecca Jenkins. They emote their bond as well as their anger in a sparsity of words. It is also strongly seen in the scenes of Molly Parker's Agnes and Ellen Page's Joanie. Both actresses let their characters speakk volumes without saying a word.

The film as a whole never overwhelmed nor faded. There were wonderful tidbits in the screenplay dialogue that came through beautifully in the film. Sadly many parts, including the beginning dragged. The film seemed determined to bring arguements with the characters so any change would seem miraculous. A subtler touch would have sufficed. It is not another On Golden Pond for acting. It is also not an Evening for melodrama. It is a simple drama with actors who have developed into more since its filming.