Mully Blog

Under discussion:

Beowulf  (2007)

Remember that scene from Lord of the Rings where Legolas fights that elephant ? Now picture that scene being two hours long and Legolas fighting naked, and you'll get an idea of what 'Beowulf' is like. This is one of the most ridiculously over-the-top movies I've ever seen. I loved it !

Under discussion:

Sunshine  (2007)

8/10 

Fifty years from now the Sun is dying, and the only hope for mankind is a group of astronauts en route to the Sun aboard the Icarus II, carrying a nuke the size of Manhattan to try and re-ignite it.

Let me start off by saying I really like Armageddon. Yes, its gung-ho patriottism makes me roll my eyes more than once, but overall I think it is an extremely effective action movie. Even The Core is something of a guilty pleasure of mine. I say this because Sunshine pretty much has the same premise as those two movies. All three feature an apocalyptic catastrophe, a group of astronauts carrying big bombs, and have Murphy’s Law along for the ride. What differs Danny Boyle’s Sunshine most of all however, is that it doesn’t focus so much on solving the problem at hand, as it does on its characters, who are exposed to the most extreme circumstances and the most difficult choices, and who each deal with these in their own way.

This focus on character is helped enormously by Boyle’s choice not to cast any big names and to have the entire movie revolve around only the eight people on board the Icarus II. Another smart move is to have the movie start 16 months into the mission already, as the ship has just crossed the point where communication with Earth has become impossible and crew members are starting to crack under the pressure. No tearjerky goodbye messages to Liv Tyler here, folks. When a character dies, he dies a looong way from home.

Director Danny Boyle has never limited himself to one genre, and in this film he combines science fiction, psychological thriller and horror, and shoots it all in a very kinetic, visually inspired style. One of the best scenes of the film, where the crew is examining a ship, looks like it was edited by Tyler Durden (you’ll know what I mean when you see it), with a most unsettling effect. The movie is full of very effective visual inventions, and also features some truly impressive visual effects, especially of the Sun.

Unfortunately around the 75-minute mark there’s a twist I didn’t much care for, mostly because the resulting scenes looked like they belonged in a different movie. This is too bad, because Sunshine is a great film for the rest. It takes a ‘been there, done that’-premise, but surpasses it with its distinguishing visual style and focus on characters under extreme pressure. Armageddon-haters shouldn’t be afraid of Sunshine. It is a solid, fast-paced and visual sci-fi actioner, filled with memorable scenes. So far, this is the best film I’ve seen all year.

Under discussion:

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer  (2006)

8/10

Perfume smells wonderful

In 18th century Paris, Jean-Baptiste Grenouille is born without a scent of his own. He does however develop a superior sense of smell and learns to discern every minute odor that surrounds him. His greatest goal in life is to have smelled everything there is to smell in the world, until he discovers the most sublime of all the scents in a young girl. When he accidentally kills her and loses her scent forever, Grenouille dedicates his life to recreating and forever conserving this most sublime of smells, and he will stop at nothing to achieve his goal.

Perfume is based on the immensely succesful novel by Patrick Süskind, which I have greatly enjoyed reading. The novel was often deemed impossible to be turned into a film, which is something I never really agreed with as I thought Süskind’s descriptions of sights to be nearly as overwhelming as his descriptions of smells. The main reason it was deemed unfilmable was that the medium of film would be unable to convey the sense of smell. By that logic the same can be said about paper and ink. Director Tom Tykwer does a more than admirable job at bringing 18th century France and the plethora of smells of that world to the screen, from the disgusting smells of the fishmarkets and tanneries of Paris, to the gorgeous scent of lavendar fields in Provence. This alone makes Perfume a film worth seeing, but there is more.

Süskind’s novel has more to offer than vivid descriptions of smells. I wouldn’t have finished it otherwise. Perfume offers one of the most intrigueing and deeply disturbing plots you’re likely to see all year. A word of warning might be in order for those who haven’t read the novel : even though Tykwer first immerses you in a visual incarnation of the world of smell and makes you sympathise with the unusual protagonist, in the film’s second half things take a very dark turn in a way not everyone might appreciate (though the film’s subtitle “The Story of a Murderer” might have given a hint to the more perceptive spectator). After the screening I attended, I heard a lot of murmur around me and my curious ears caught a lot of “...didn’t like the second half”s, and “...not my kind of movie”s. I guess your enjoyment of this film depends largely on your willingness to accept its basic premise, namely that the character of Grenouille has such a fine nose that he can smell a blade of grass miles away and this allows him to create scents unlike the world has ever experienced. Grenouille’s abilities are so spectacular even that Perfume almost wouldn’t be misplaced in the recent line of comic book movies, or he as a member of the X-Men. If you accept that Grenouille has this amazing ability without asking questions, the rest of the film will probably feel right. If you don’t and are bothered by things you can’t comprehend, the film’s second half will in all probability feel awkward and vile.

I loved Perfume. Tom Tykwer turned one of my favorite novels into a truly excellent film. Dustin Hoffman and Alan Rickman deliver fine performances, but it is Ben Wishaw in his screen debut as Grenouille that steals the show. He is an extremely talented actor that perfectly incorporates Grenouille in all his awkwardness and out-of-this-worldliness. See Perfume for his performance, for its unique attampt at bringing smells to life on the big screen and for its dark and intrigueing story of a truly extraordinary man.

Under discussion:

My Summer of Love  (2004)

7/10

Dark Romance

In a small town in West-Yorkshire a young girl named Mona lives above a former pub. She never knew her father, her mother’s dead and she’s increasingly estranged from her brother Phil, who was recently released from prison where he found God and who now devotes his life to praise and conversion. One day she meets Tamsin, a beautiful upper-class girl who spends the summer there. Tamsin feels abandoned by her parents, as her mother is mostly away and her father is cheating with his secretary. Both girls find an escape from their miserable lives with each other and fall in love, but while Mona thinks their love will last forever, Tamsin knows all too well the summer will soon end, and the cruel mindgames she plays with Mona might just turn against her.

My Summer of Love, written and directed by Pawel Pawlikowski, is a beautiful and touching story of the love between two girls set against a bleak background. There is a permanent ominous mood (helped by a great score by Goldfrapp) which lingers throughout the film and promises things won’t end well. The romance is constantly broken up by intense (even creepy) scenes of Phil’s born-again christian group or Tamsin’s morbid fascination with her dead sister. When the girls promise each other they will kill the other if she ever leaves her, we wonder how seriously either of the girls take this.

Director Pawlikowski previously made a documentary about born-again christians in Yorkshire, and his documentary background shows in the film’s handheld shooting style and the cinema vérité-like scenes involving the born-again christian group. However, Pawlikowski is no social realist like Ken Loach and the social situations form mostly a backdrop to the girls’ relationship.

This is the second time I’ve seen My Summer of Love and I still like the movie as much as the first time. I particularly like its pacing and build-up, which is almost mysterious and spellbinding, and the performances from the three leads. Especially Natalie Press and Emily Blunt evoke great emotion as Mona and Tamsin. My Summer of Love is a moody, intriguing and sexy film that is definitely worth a watch.