Mully

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  (2005)

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.

Under discussion:

The Fountain  (2006)

8/10

A Timeless Odyssey

I absolutely adore Darren Aronofsky’s previous film Requiem for a Dream. I think it is an absolute masterpiece of filmmaking and ever since I saw it I have been anxiously awaiting Aronosky’s follow-up. In a way I’m afraid my expectations have gotten so high over the past 6 years that no movie on earth could ever reach them and I couldn’t help feeling slightly disappointed by The Fountain as I finally sat down and let the experience wash over me. Notice I used the word ‘experience’, which I think is the best way to describe this film, just as it is for Requiem for a Dream. When I saw Requiem I was flabbergasted at how a piece of celluloid was able to literally punch you in the stomach and make you want to turn your whole life around. The emotional attachment that movie built up between itself and the spectator is one of the strongest any movie has ever achieved I think. And it was exactly that emotional attachment that I felt mostly lacking in The Fountain, which is predominantly an intellectual and visual experience.

The Fountain is a very estranging film and Aronofsky goes to great lengths to make it as estranging as possible. Most of the movie is filmed in right angles : straight in front, behind, above or beside the characters. This is the same technique Wes Anderson employs for comedic effect. Aronofsky uses it to estrange us, to prevent us from being sucked into the diegesis of the story with this style that draws attention to itself. In the contemporary storyline, which is the emotional centre of the film, he luckily uses this right angle technique very little.

Hugh Jackman delivers a powerful performance as the lead in three different time periods. Watching him is almost worth the price of admission on its own. As are the special effects, which are truly unique (Aronofsky did not use CGI, but employed microphotography of chemical reactions to obtain many of the film’s imagery) and absolutely have to be witnessed on the big screen.

The Fountain is truly a marvel, but I can’t be entirely positive about it. The film lasts for 90 minutes and during its first hour I was intrigued, but not overwhelmed. 2001: A Space Odyssey is one of my all time favorite films, because even though it establishes no emotional connection to the viewer whatsoever, and offers a little interesting storyline, watching the film has the same affect some works of art can have : that of sublimity, of being taken over by danger, grandness, overwhelming beauty or overwhelming ugliness. The Fountain in its first hour has a relatively meagre plotline and just a few scenes that work on an emotional level, and I basically just went through the motions, enjoying the ride overall. There is only one word to describe the last half hour though and that is ‘sublime’. You may not always know what is going on, but you know that it’s overwhelmingly perfect and you wouldn’t want to be anywhere else but in that movie theater, and that’s so goddamn rare.

Under discussion:

Pan's Labyrinth  (2006)

Horribly beautiful fairy tale for grown-ups

9/10

With Pan’s Labyrinth, Mexican director Guillermo del Toro for the first time since 2001’s The Devil’s Backbone returns to his Spanish language roots. Just like that film, Pan’s Labyrinth takes place in both the harsh reality of the Franco dictatorship as in the magical world of imagination.

In 1944 the young girl Ofelia moves with her pregnant mother to a rural area of northern Spain to live with her new stepfather, the merciless fascist captain Vidal (a very impressive Sergi López, who excels at playing creepy characters as he did in 'Dirty Pretty Things' and 'Harry, un ami qui vous veut du bien'). Vidal however only cares for his unborn son and considers Ofelia and her mother to be no more than a necessary evil.

One night, Ofelia is awoken by a fairy that leads her to the faun Pan. He tells Ofelia that she probably is the princess whose return her kingdom has been awaiting for centuries and he subjects her to three tests in which she has to prove her true identity. Meanwhile captain Vidal has his hands full with the rebels that are hiding in the surrounding mountains and who appear to be aided by someone on the inside.

Guillermo del Toro, who also wrote the screenplay, makes a film with Pan’s Labyrinth that is both Schindler’s List and Alice in Wonderland at the same time. The Schindler’s List element can certainly not be underestimated, as what might at first glance appear to be a Tim Burtonesque visual fairy tale, contains on more than one occasion brutally horrific imagery, and the war story is so dominant the Alice in Wonderland storyline becomes almost circumstantial. If anyone was planning on taking the little ones to this film consider yourself warned for weeks of nightmares and wetting the bed. The R rating is definitely a deserved one. However, Pan’s Labyrinth is also an incredibly beautiful and moving film and much of the credit here has to go to the cinematography and the set, costume and make-up designers who created a unique, visually rich film world of magic and imagination. The real hero however remains Guillermo del Toro, who has repeatedly proven himself to be the most visionary horror director of his generation. Pan’s Labyrinth is without a doubt his masterpiece.
The mixture of the harsh and brutal reality of war and the total fantasy of the magical realm of imagination may sound strange, but when dealing with fascism it might be the only one that makes sense.

Under discussion:

Shark Tale  (2004)

Waiter, this fish has gone bad

2/10

If not the worst movie of 2004, it's certainly the most despicable.
When DreamWorks Animation was founded, they promised to do things differently from Disney, and audiences applauded them for it. As it turned out though, Disney's Pixar productions are loved the world over and DreamWorks' productions have become a joke. Doing things differently for Dreamworks seems to mean : get as many famous actors as possible, write a script completely reliant on pop culture references and try to sell as many soundtracks as possible by cramming the movie with flavor-of-the-month pop sensations.
For the rest, the movie has nothing to offer. No jokes, no eye-candy, the oldest, most predictable story in the book and an extremely tiring pace. I have nothing good to say about this movie. From it's characters talking "gangstah", over the cascade of pop culture references that won't mean anything to audiences five years from now, to the big finale with Missy Elliot fish and Christina Aguilera fish (a new low in moviemaking history) I was just watching with my jaw on the floor at how despicable (truly the best word to describe it) one film can be.

This movie wasn't made with creating a quality product in mind, the only thing that seems to have mattered for DreamWorks is how to promote the *** out of it. If there's one major difference between DreamWorks and Pixar, it's that the former's only concern is how to get you into the theater, while the latter is more concerned with how you will leave.

Under discussion:

Hostage  (2005)

Too much bang, too little blah

5/10

There is a scene at the beginning of Hostage where negotiator Jeff Talley (Bruce Willis) tries to end a hostage situation : the SWAT team wants to go in guns blazing, he wants to settle it through reasoning. It is the most exciting and best scene of the film. For the rest of the movie director Florent Siri is so in love with slow motion bullet impacts and blazing infernos that there’s barely any more room for this kind of negotiating tactics.

The setup has a lot of potential though. Three young petty criminals break into a mansion to steal a car, but when the police show up they resort to taking the inhabitants, a father (Kevin Pollak) and his two children, hostage. Some time later negotiator Talley is approached by men who inform him they have kidnapped his family. It appears Pollak is working for the mob and has a disc containing vital information in his home, information they can’t risk having exposed when the police should decide to barge in. Talley now has to make sure this disc finds its way back to the mob, or his family dies. This sort of plot could make for some exciting viewing and it strongly reminded me of what happens in just about every season of the tv-series 24 : the hero has to prevent a catastrophe from happening, while at the same time having an agenda of his own he has to keep secret from the authorities. Even though 24 is one of the best series currently on television, it is rather telling that a high budget motion picture starring Bruce Willis never once reaches that show’s level of excitement.

One of the biggest problems is that the movie fails to make you care. It doesn’t make the effort to let us get to know the hostage takers or the hostages, with the unfortunate result that you don’t worry that much about who’s going to live or die. In a movie about a hostage situation, where everything’s about bargaining for lives, you’d think that’s a pretty damn important element. Especially in the case of the hostage takers this is a missed opportunity. Two of them never intended for any of this to happen, they feel they are in way over their heads and their actions are caused by desperation. The third is an absolute psychopath who takes sadistic pleasure in making others and himself suffer. He is the least interesting character, yet the movie focuses on him. Instead of what could have been a Dog Day Afternoon, which delved into the minds of its culprits and their desperate actions, we get an action extravaganza finale with a bad guy straight from a slasher flick.

That said, the movie never bored me. Director Siri keeps the pace up (a bit too much) and Willis is as always a charismatic lead. The score by Alexandre Desplat is also very good, though I couldn’t help feeling it should have been written for a better movie.