ESSIE SPEAKS OF THE END OF THE WORLD!

Haha, don't worry, the blog hasn't changed subjects suddenly - just a canny ploy to get your attention =) However, it isn't exactly a lie either, because the theme of the week this week is dystopias. Now, a dystopia is a film about the future, usually the end of the world also comes into play at some point. It can be art-house or crammed with special effects or a combination of both and speaks of a rather gloomy outcome for us all. They also provide food for thought in a lot of cases and make some damn good films...
I mean, Johnny Mnemonic, though comparatively primitive technically, was a pioneer of the genre. Michael Hanneke's Time of the Wolf uses the context of an apocalyptic event to explore the darker sides of the human psyche - in true Hanneke style of course. And last of all, a more modern cousin of these two, the canny British dystopia Children Of Men. I really, really got into this one as you can see from the length of the post - I hope you enjoy my ruminations.

I know it's rather a depressing topic guys, but I tried to do it with a bit of class as it were, you know, not so much blood and destruction but rather some serious considerations on the matter... I hope you enjoy...

Essie

THE END OF THE WORLD WEEK FOR THE CHILDREN OF MEN

I have to admit, there was a lot of hype about this particular dystopia. I mean, it was praised to the skies, nominated for three Oscars ® and miscellaneous awards, over half the people I know watched and said it was one of the best films they ever watched. So I thought it would be only fitting to put it in here. It is, after all, the most recent dystopia out of the three and has the added bonus of being, in my mind, the most realistic. That is partly due to the fact of it being so recent, so we can draw clear ties with the problems we have today. The film presents what could (unfortunately) logically be “worst outcome” scenarios involving things that happen today. I mean, yes I grant you, given the vagueness in “Time Of The Wolf”, we can’t really say that isn’t realistic either, but the difference between this film and Time of The Wolf is that Time of The Wolf has the people and the effects of the disaster on the people in the foreground; it is a psychological dystopia if you will. Children of Men is all about the disaster and, in true Hollywood style (it is a British film but all the same), “fixing” the disaster. Of course in Time of the Wolf people aren’t trying to fix anything just trying to survive, and that is what makes the film so tough to watch; it’s bleak, there is no end in sight. Children of Men, however, does provide “a cure”. And unfortunately, for that reason, a film that starts out with one heck of a lot of promise and originality, spirals down into something quite cliché – with a few Biblical references thrown in for good measure. But I’m getting ahead of myself, let me give you a lowdown of the story first…
The year is 2027 and we are in London. The world has, basically, gone to pot. An “infertility” pandemic has taken over; no human beings have been born for the last 18 years. All the doctors in all the lands are powerless; the human race is, for all intents and purposes, dying out. Chaos, in the meanwhile, has taken over. Governments like Britain crack down on illegal immigrants, refugee camps have sprung up all over the country where the “fugees” live in ghettos and are shipped out of the country. Anti-government activism is rife, bombings and raids a day to day occurrence, pollution is everywhere, you get the general picture… Theo is separated from his wife Julia. Julia has gone underground and has joined the anti-government fight. Theo has lost faith and just gets on with his life. Until, that is, Julia contacts him and asks for his help. A girl needs to be escorted to meet the mysterious “Human Project” and he is the only one she trusts to obtain the necessary papers to travel through the country. Theo is dubious at first but it becomes obvious that bigger things are at stake, because this girl may well be the key to the salvation of humanity… The problem is, she is a refugee and must be kept safe from the government. But it will not take Theo long to understand that the government aren’t the only ones trying to get their hands on this woman… The future of humanity is, for all intents and purposes, in their hands…
You may have, on reading the plotline, wondered what was so “original” about the film. I mean, you don’t have to be a genius to guess why the woman holds the key to human survival, right? Yes, yes, she’s pregnant (you still don’t know whether they get her to safety or not though, so I technically didn’t tell you the end). But there are lovely little touches about the possible future world that are given out within the first 15 “introduction” minutes of the film that draws one straight in. For example, now the government distributes “suicide kits” for people in depression, allowing you to take your own life in the comfort of your own home, with no mess. What else? In the first 10 minutes again, we learn the youngest person in the world, an 18 year-old, has just died. The entire world is in mourning (don’t worry, this is not integral to the storyline AT ALL J ) Remember when Lady Diana died? Heck, any celebrity? Nice dystopic poke at the phenomenon there, Theo uses the excuse to get off work early because “he is distraught” J Oh and there are these funny little “rickshaws” made up with motorbikes all over the roads. There still are cars and busses but obviously they have been stopped at some point, the cars are quite old. And the whole theme itself is also good, I mean, we are responsible for entire species dying out, why not humans? Especially with this “aging population” all around Europe and the developed world, it isn’t unthinkable at all, scary but true.
But the clichés bleed through straight away. The anti-government stance of the film is a given of course. There is the unavoidable old hippy acquaintance of Theo’s that gets them out of a scrape or two (the inimitable Michael Cane, the only possible excuse for this characters existence is the fact that he is played by such a great actor). And of course the reason why Theo and his ex-wife went their separate ways (yes, yes again you got me; their son died). And then, completely out of the blue, there are the Biblical references. I mean, putting aside the obvious one of a baby whose very existence is a miracle bringing hope and salvation to the human race (note here that the reference is made obvious by the mother herself joking about it, teasing Theo who asks who the father was by saying “there is no father I was a virgin” and then bursting out laughing). There is the activist that helps Theo and Kee (oh yes, the mother’s name is Kee. As in key. Get it?) to escape Miriam (Miriam is the name of the sister of Moses and leader of the Hebrew women during the Exodus) who just so happens to be a midwife. She is leading her out of an oppressive and scary state (Egypt reconstructed as Great Britain) to, wait for it, the Human Project that will pick her up on a… Boat. (Moses in the reeds anyone?) And then there is one scene, right at the end, where the crowds admire and “adore” the baby. Now, I have seen this being interpreted as a throwback to Rosemary’s Baby, but I am not too darn sure about that. And of course the very name of the film. (Children of Man / Children Of Israel – there is the second connection with the children two of course, but such things are rarely coincidental in this business). Unfortunately, that is where the philosophical “similes” end. I do wish the director had gone deeper with the theme, I mean why not, but if there was any further depth to the film I missed it. And yet the presence of the previous parallels are so obvious that their presence without any further basis is confusing – they confused me at any rate… The director then mixes in various parallels with the Iraq war (some parallels with the infamous Abu Ghraib prison cannot escape even the most undiscerning viewer). And of course these make sense seeing as this is an anti-government film but… I don’t know, too many themes spoil the broth if you ask me…
In short, I admire what director Alfonso Cuaron Has set out to do. Unfortunately, I feel he hasn’t quite finished the job. I do understand that there is a lot to say on these things but why, oh why did he feel he needed to say the whole lot at once? Fewer “messages” would have salvaged the original themes that are present in the beginning of the film, making it a whole lot better than it is. Wasted potential. Watch it. You will like it. I’m just saying you could like it one heck of a lot more…

THE END OF THE WORLD WEEK - IT'S THE TIME OF THE WOLF

Ok, as we said we are going to do this “end of the world movie” thing with a touch of class. And the point of this post - and in fact this film - is that there is more to the world ending than fire-balls and dinosours. This, of course, is Michael Haneke’s classic film “The Time Of The Wolf”. No special effects here. No actual apocalypse to speak of either. Haneke has focused on something that is probably more important. The catastrophe has come and gone, leaving devastation in its wake. How will the survivors cope?
As far as we can gather, we are in France. A family of four are journeying towards their summer house. An unnamed catastrophe has shaken the county (perhaps the whole world, who knows…) and they hope that they will be safer outside the city in the countryside. The moment they arrive they realize how wrong they were to think that. Lack of provisions has plunged the entire countryside into desperation. Money has no value anymore; people are reduced to “exchanging goods”. Men on horses with guns sell water at exorbitant prices instead of moonshine liquor. You might be robbed at any time, disease is everywhere and survival is a very, VERY tough game indeed…
The aim of the film (as we can confirm from the interviews with the director and cast as well) is to bring a sense of devastation and desperation to people who live in comfort most of their lives while wars and famine ravage three quarters of the globe. A lot of the characters we meet, including our heroes, are as far as we can tell normal middle class people who led very ordinary lives until this nameless crisis occurred. They struggle to cope, they break down from time to time, and they try to hold on. In the end, they figure out ways of surviving, and in the process revert to ancient practices, exchanging goods being just one of them. Stealing has become common practice. If a murder occurs, you need to provide hard evidence or deal with it yourself, rule of law and justice have all become ancient luxuries. The camera in the film is more of a spectator. It doesn’t narrate per se. Or rather, it doesn’t put the viewer in an “omnipotent” position. You know what I mean, that whole breed of films where the viewer always knows a lot more of the whole picture as opposed to the characters. In this film we nearly always know less. I mean, it’s very basic, we don’t even know what this apocalyptic crisis is. There are various hints in the film that it could be connected to water. We notice the lack of animals and birdsong in the woods. In fact, animals seem to be dying left and right. But apart from that nothing. Another thing you can’t help feeling is distinct alienation as we watch people coping somehow, often doing things we couldn’t imagine ourselves doing. And yet we see it happen, well dressed middle class women who could be your neighbor, selling their bodies for food. Stealing. Killing horses and roasting them on open fires.
Yes, it’s nasty, but the whole point of the film is to make you stop and think. You have to remember that this is the day to day reality of some people. And that, dear friends, merits one heck of a lot of thinking about…

THE END OF THE WORLD WEEK WITH JOHNNY MNEMONIC

This is one of those late ‘80s early ‘90s films that everyone remembers with a kind of… Nostalgia? Disdain? I don’t know. Sci-fi films of that era (in fact any era gone by) suffer greatly these days, don’t you find? I mean, technology has come on in gigantic leaps and bounds, with films like the Matrix (trilogy), Lord of the Rings and what have you on our hands, any previous and feeble attempt is well… Sneered at. If you like the genre, I can’t blame you. I mean, most of us watched the Matrix for example, right? I mean at least the first one if not all three (I honestly wouldn’t have watched all three unless it was kind of necessary for my self-education but there you go). Remember the effects there? Wow. So I get why you might pat Johnny Mnemonic on the head and let it pass… But it was when I actually saw the film advertised on TV when it hit me… The slogan they used can be roughly translated to English as “Before the Matrix… There was Johnny Mnemonic.” I took one look at it and thought “Damn right”. The topic, the casting (Keanu Reeves leads in both – heck of a coincidence, no?) in every respect. In a lot of respects Johnny is a kinda prequel to the Matrix. As you know, the story of the Matrix opens in a time where machines have taken over the world (I’m putting it very basically, don’t jump down my throat). Here, it is sort of just before that happens. Machines are getting more developed, fusing with humans, big corporations are pushing them on, getting greedier and greedier…
In this dark world exist people like Johnny (Keanu Reeves). He is what is called a “Mnemonic courier”. What that means is that he has a computer implant in his brain (mechanic and computerized implants and chips in the body are apparently common in 2021). The implant is a sort of storage device. Think of it as a hard drive stuck in your brain. He uses the device to courier information back and forth. He earns well but he wants out. He has had to give up a lot of his long term memory to be able to have the implant – he no longer thinks it is worth it and wants his life back… Trouble is, he has to do one last job… But in this last job something goes wrong. Johnny, eager to just get it over with, takes on way more data than his implant can take. It’s no sweat really; he easily has 2 or 3 days before the data seeps out and kills him. Problem is, getting to his destination is going to be a bit of a problem. The yakuza that have been hired by a mega company are out to kill him… The information Johnny has in his head is extremely valuable… Unwittingly, he has in fact taken on something that could change the destiny of the planet for ever…
Now, I have to admit even the story line makes you smile. “One last job” – but something goes wrong… How many times did we hear that one eh? There is a girl involved of course. And a resistance group who fights the corporations that have almost literally taken over the world. All the clichés of the 20th century are there. Thing is, so are a lot of things that we see time and time again afterwards. I mean, from the smallest to the biggest thing… From the touch screen computers (well very early interpretations of – I’m not talking about tablets by the way but the stuff you see on Minority Report or CSI these days) to the whole concept of people being hooked up to computers and the internet (now what does that remind you of, hm?) come to the screen for just about the first time here. There is even a direct reference to the famous sci-fi anime “Ghost In The Shell” (a fascinating work that also takes place in a world were humans can fuse with machines. The whole question of machines with souls thus arises and one of the characters – her soul that is – is uploaded into cyber space, highly recommended if you haven’t seen it). And you will see that a lot of mediocre sci – fis have copied and referenced Johnny since then.
I know that this film can be considered “quaint” at best by some standards, and I’d have to agree with you. But it is also kind of an historic film, the first time a lot of things happened. Not to mention the whole thing with machines and humans – a topic we may well have to actually tackle in the future… A “must-watch” by my standards.

A TRIP BACK IN TIME WITH PERIOD PIECES!

Ok folks, here I am, back again, how are you doing?

Well, where I live you can feel the effects of Global Warming in every vain, it is so darn hot! But I don't let that stop me from watching my beloved movies. Especially since leaving the house and facing the heat and humidity has become a bit of a challange atm :)

So what have I got for you this week? Well, I know a person cannot live in the past but a visit n ow and then cannot hurt - that is why we all love period dramas so much! I have a goodly selection for you this week; first Maurice. Oscar nominee, wonderful love story, one of my favorite movies ever. Please like it - I'll get upset if you don't :S Secondly, Mrs. Dalloway, again a love story but... Not of the same kind. Watch it and see. And then, for those of us who fancy a cold chill down our spines (chance would be a fine thing in this climate!) we have Turning of the screw.

I hope you enjoy! Have a cool week (in all senses of the word!)

Essie

PERIOD PIECES : A VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY - "MAURICE"

I feel very strongly about this film. To the point that I would be seriously upset if people I care about professed a dislike to the film. True enough one of the leads in it is Rupert Graves, one of my favorite actors ever of all times, but even that is only part of the story. See, I try to view a film more as the characters not actors – if you see what I mean. In this film for instance it’s more about Alec Scudder (the character) than Rupert Graves, the actor who plays him. The story (more power to E. M. Forster) is one of the most profound love stories I have ever witnessed, it touched me to the core, it is without a doubt one of those few films I will go back to over and over again as the years go by, just for the pleasure of re-viewing it (and I hardly EVER re-watch films I have already watched just for fun. Unless I am being polite or something like that, that is…). It is not as well known as Brokeback Mountain, but it did get nominated for Oscars® and the two leads Hugh Grant and James Wilby shared the Best Actor award in the Venice film festival back in the day, so I have quite a few strong voices backing me up…
Maurice Hall (James Wilby) is a young man growing up at the turn of the century. He is an orphan and lives with his mother and two sisters, life is not easy but the family does its best to provide him with a good education. They manage quite well – he gets to Cambridge. And there he falls in love. With Clive Durham (Hugh Grant). This comes as a bit of shock to Maurice but that is only half the trouble. The year is 1910 and in England homosexuality is punishable with prison, flogging, hard labor and absolute public disgrace. Clive and Maurice have to keep their feelings for each other an absolute secret. Their relationship endures the years but soon after graduation a friend an acquaintance is publicly disgraced and imprisoned for “the unspeakable vice of the Greeks” throwing Clive, now well on his way to inheriting a large estate and becoming a successful public figure into inner turmoil. Is his love for Maurice so strong he can risk losing everything and almost everyone he has ever known? Clive’s inner turmoil upsets and destabilizes Maurice whose love for Clive is unwavering. And then, Alec Scudder (Rupert Graves) enters the scene… But if you want to see where he fits in, you’re just going to have to sit down and watch the film.
I am not gay. But as I have gone through life and observed other people around me I have never been able to tell the difference between the love between a man and a woman and the love between two men or two women. If you have such a prejudice, pray leave it at the door of the cinema for this one. If there ever was a story about true love and following your heart in the face of the world, this is THE ONE. Heck, it might even be the film to help you shift that prejudice slightly. James Wilby absolutely shines as Maurice, come the middle of the film you cannot help but becoming well and truly embroiled in the whole thing and seriously worried about his general well being. Hugh Grant, so very young here– it’s rather an old film you know! – is also brilliant. Although you can actually see that he is beginning, even at that early age, to act all “Hugh Grant-ish”. I have endless respect for the man, but like Nicole Kidman and Clint Eastwood I get the feeling he doesn’t do that much acting per se, it’s always “Hugh Grant acting” that you see and not a character (I know this is a HORRIBLE thing to say to/about an actor but that’s my humble opinion. So there you are). He’s pretty damn good here though, hats off to him… I wish I could say more about Rupert Graves as Alec Scudder (apart from the fact that he has considerably fewer lines than Wilby and Grant and therefore cannot share in any award) but his part is a crucial one. And Graves’ performance is brilliant. The thing is you see, the whole tension of the story rather hinges on not being sure what Scudder is up to until the end. To the point that I got quite cross when I picked up the DVD and realized that it summarized the whole story – talk about spoilers! So, don’t read the back of the DVD. Just buy it and watch it.

PERIOD PIECES : A TOUCH OF NOSTALGIA - "MRS. DALLOWAY"

The novel Mrs. Dalloway written by Virginia Wolf, is no doubt known to all of you. Well, at least you must have heard of Virginia Wolf. I keep threatening to read one of her novels but somehow never seem to get round to it. Not for a lack of opportunity, my grandmother has a collection of almost all her novels in the house but it just somehow never happened. I thus thought that this British adaptation with rather a stunning cast starring Vanessa Redgrave and my own particular favorite Rupert Graves (to be fair he technically wouldn’t be called starring but he is one of the main attractions as far as I’m concerned!), would motivate me into reading them. I was deeply moved by the film, but somehow also felt it could be done better… Hang on, let me tell you the story I’ll then elaborate on what I mean…
Clarissa Dalloway (Vanessa Redgrave) has had a successful life on the whole. She comes from a good family, she has “married well” to a then up and coming and now current politician. She is a member of high society who is renowned for her parties and grace. On the day we meet her she is preparing for just such a famous party and reminiscing fondly of her stormy youth. She had been quite a beauty with a string of suitors but one of them stands out in her mind, John. She had almost married him once, but that would have entailed going off to India and starting a new life, no, Mrs. Dalloway is better off as Mrs. Dalloway. That is, until John actually turns up at the house to visit on that same day. In the meanwhile, a young soldier Septimus Warren Smith (Rupert Graves) back from the front after the First World War, is suffering terribly from “delayed shell shock”. His young Italian wife is desperate, and Septimus, although quite clear in his own mind as to what he’s thinking , is growing more and more incoherent to others. Mrs. Dalloway’s peripheral brush with him and his desperate efforts to reconnect to a world to which he no longer seems to belong will take her to places in her own soul that Clarissa Dalloway had been trying to forget existed for a very long time…
I have one major problem with this film and it is this. The whole story of Mrs. Dalloway is superbly portrayed and acted. It is, as you have guessed, a story of opting for a safe and cosseted life over a life of discovery, adventure and very possibly true love. I find it quite beautiful that the regrets have arrived later in life; Mrs. Dalloway is in her early fifties. Her emotions, choices of youth and sadness are wonderfully painted and cannot help but touch you. Then there is the story of Septimus Warren Smith. Now this one rests chiefly on the shoulders of Rupert Graves and I must say his portrayal of the shell-shocked young man shakes one to the roots of one’s boots. He desperately tries to explain how he feels and why he has left his previous therapist to his new doctor but his metaphors have become so roundabout and his mostly negative emotions are so ready to boil to the surface, the doctor simply glazes over as he listens and pays no heed at all to the contents of his rather long speech. Both stories are stunningly emotional, but the way they connect is… I mean, they hardly connect at all. Only barely. Mrs. Dalloway barely is conscious of Septimus and his story – she doesn’t even know his name – and yet the little she knows almost upturns her… I mean, one could argue that with the visit from John in the morning and all the reminiscing and wondering about her own life has made her emotional but still… I found it contrived. And I strongly suspect bits have been “cut out” for the sake of the length of the film – the problem is that I haven’t actually read the book. I felt the film was rather untidily sown together, almost as if one had to choose one of the two stories, didn’t have the heart to discard either, and sort of hacked bits out of both for the sake of fitting both in… But it is a wonderful film, full of beauty and deep thought, a combination that one rarely finds these days…

PERIOD PIECES : A BIT OF A CHILL - "THE TURNING OF THE SCREW"

Ok so moving on. Period pieces are very well and good but they do come in different shapes and sizes, a point I want to illustrate now. The turning of the screw is a tale by Henry James scary enough to chill the marrow of your bones. In these enlightened days of modern science and such like, ghost stories have sort of lost a bit of their popularity. But still, if you believe that there are more things in Heaven and Earth than can be seen with a telescope or microscope (and I do), and if you have a particularly good yarn to chew on, I feel that you won’t be able to help feeling well… Just a tad chilly. Especially if the screen adaptation is of BBC quality… Oh yes, this is one to be watched during the day…
Ann is particularly excited as she starts her new job as a governess in Bly manor. The master of the house is handsome, charming, and charismatic and cannot be persuaded to leave London for an instant. This being the case his two young nephews, orphans of whom he is now in charge Miles and Flora, are confided to boarding school and the massive country estate respectively. Now, like every young woman of breeding Flora must have a governess. The problem however, seems to be with getting the governesses to stay. Ann cannot think why as the days at Bly begin by being pure bliss. Ann still can’t help noticing strange flickers of light and whispers around the house. The servants seem slightly surly and quiet, but it’s nothing that cannot be explained away. Then, young Miles is sent home from his boarding school that refuses to have anything further to do with him. The more Ann tries to figure out why, the more she comes up against the memories of Miss Jessel, the children’s previous governess, and her lover Peter Quint. Both appear to have died on the estate and neither was well liked. Both spent a lot of time with the children. And the more Ann looks into things the more convinced she becomes that Jessel and Quint may be dead but they are far from gone. And they refuse to leave their former charges, Miles and Flora alone. Or behind. The thing is will Ann get the people around her to believe her? Or, as they say, are her nerves and imagination actually getting the better of her?
The story may not seem all that original at first; that I grant you. But the atmosphere of the film is such that you get sucked in straight away. It actually has quite a Hitchcock-esque feeling about it, have you ever watched his classic Rebecca? Well, it’s a similar theme in a sense (without the super-natural. Oh you’ll know what I mean if you’ve watched it). And there is a similar feeling of eeriness. The only difference is of course that in this case the strange fears and imaginings that nip at your ankles and whisper over your shoulder late at night actually come to pass. I felt the adaptation was all in all very well done (well that’s the BBC for you!) and there were some rather wily editing tricks at the beginning. I was quite disappointed to see they didn’t continue actually, probably so they didn’t attract attention to themselves. I finally feel the need to add that naturally ghost stories and horror are quite often an acquired taste. But this is a good quality adaptation of a classical tale, and unless you are completely “anti horror” of any kind I doubt you could find much wrong with it…

p.s as there are many adaptations of this classic tale I feel duty bound to tell you that he one I watched was the BBC adaptation and they have gone mighty thin on acting - directing credits... I will check them out and add them in the weeks to come, promise!

GEORGE CLOONEY SPECIAL WEEK!

Oooh ladies (and gentlemen of a non-heterosexual persuasion) boy do I have a treat for you!

Ok, so having a blog linger slightly on the "erudite" side is well and good in itself. Nothing wrong with it. But Hollywood was built, lets face it, primarily on and around eye-candy. And said eye candy has produced some mighty important films over the years! Take George Clooney. Now I don't think any of us are about to dispute how yummy he looks. He adds a certain je-ne-sais quoi (palpitations if nothing else) to every film he acts in. But he churns out important films as well. I mean, there are fun-filled heist movies like the Oceans series (and we all loved that one, right?) and then there is sextuple Oscar nominee (that's six nominations - meant to be anyway) Up in the Air and actual Oscar winner (not George Clooney, the movie) Michael Clayton by Tony Gilroy. (If you haven't heard of Gilroy you HAVE heard of his films. Bourne triolgy anyone? Armageddon? )

So feast your eyes on the classic gourgeousness that is Mr. Clooney. I will be adding the advertisment links and drooling over them (and skilfully avoiding the keyboard as I go =) )

happy viewing,
Essie

GEORGE CLOONEY SPECIAL WEEK : THE TENSION IS MOUNTING - "MICHAEL CLAYTON"

It’s been a while since we’ve seen Mr. Clooney grace this humble blog. Down to me completely of course, but there you go better late than never. So now, not only do we have a full movie of him but also a multiple Oscar® nominated little number fit to take your breath away and I don’t just mean Mr. Clooney’s looks =) Nominated for seven Oscar®s in total including Best Film and Best Director, Michael Clayton sets a high standard. Then lives up to it.
George Clooney is, as you may have already guessed, Michael Clayton. What he does for a living is not that obvious from the outside, but in reality he is a “fixer”. He works for a massive law firm in New York and he is the middle man between clients and the firm, and more importantly tricky, sticky situations and everyone else. He doesn’t exactly have a happy time of it but his gambling debts keep him firmly attached to the job. One day, the firm receives a piece of rather extraordinary news. One of their representatives out in a small rural area who is overseeing the lawsuit between a major industrial firm (their client) and the people of the area who claim the firm is causing pollution and grave damage to the area has had a slight “break” from reality. Clayton is sent to hush him up and preferable bundle him into a mental institution. On arrival however Clayton realizes quickly that there is less madness and more guilt involved than he first thought. His colleague seems to know a lot more than he was supposed to and this is not proving good for him. And with the young, ambitious executive of the firm (Tilda Swindon) prepared to do ANYTHING to keep her firm afloat, the more Clayton “looks into” this, the greater the danger around him becomes…
This film is, I believe, a classic example of the fact that how you tell a story is just as important as the story you tell. I mean of course unless you have a good story you will not keep your audience no matter what you do. But the story doesn’t need to be new or very original. Look at this one, your common or garden corporate cover-up story, fully equipped with charismatic protagonist after the truth. However, since the actors are brilliant and the director is bent on keeping us up to our eyes in suspense until the very last minute we end up gripping the arms of our seats and biting our nails, despite the fact we have actually seen it all before… My only slight criticism is that although it is fascinating and exciting and all that, it takes the long, scenic route to get to the point. Which is fine, because that is the appeal of the film. It is fun, for example to work through the clues slowly, trying to figure out where the adventure will lead you, I am all for that. But I did feel it did take a little too long to actually get to the actual point if you see what I mean. The “setting “of the story took a little too long and it wasn’t always %100 clear. I mean, it comes clearer later but still, it could be umm… Even clearer.
I don’t know, it’s one of those things you have to see for yourself to really “get”. And I strongly recommend you see this one for yourself. Typical, a quality Friday night entertainment!

GEORGE CLOONEY SPECIAL WEEK : A SERIOUS NOTE "UP IN THE AIR"

My memory is beginning to worry me slightly. For the past couple of days I have been repeatedly sitting down to watch films full of confidence that they are one thing only to find out that they were something quite different all together. Sometimes this turns out to be a pleasant surprise, sometimes not. For Up In The Air, it was very pleasant indeed. Now, don’t make puppy eyes at me, the fact that George Clooney is in the film may excuse a multitude of sins but it doesn’t cover all of them. If the film is boring, it’s boring, Clooney or no Clooney. With this film I was under the distinct impression that Catherine Zeta Jones was in it (do NOT ask me where I got that from but I did). With her and George Clooney I thought “Boy meets girl in airport. His life changes. Blah.” And left the screening of the film to a future date. When I finally got round to it, the first surprise came in the opening credits (I, unlike most sane and normal people, tend to read the ones in the opening) when Catherine Zeta Jones’s name didn’t pop up. Not surprising seeing as she has nothing to do with the film. Then the film itself came along. Yes, boy meets girl in airport, that much is a given. However there is no “blah” factor in this movie. It is gritty and true to life. It oozes with substance. I love it.
Ryan (George Clooney) has a rather interesting job. He basically travels around America visiting big corporations for his company. His job is to fire people. The job is ruthless and the endless days wiled away on the road draining to say the least, but… Ryan loves his life. His love goes to the extent that he also does motivational speeches about how people should avoid commitment of any sort to achieve true success and happiness. He lives in a little cocoon of “club member treatment”, alleviates his loneliness with passing “ships in the night” like himself, in short, he has it all. Until, of course the company decides to do things differently. The 23 travelling employees like Ryan are eating the company’s budget and the powers that be have decided that they will try applying the “firing squad” online, thus saving immensely on bills. With his perfect lifestyle becoming redundant, his executive world crumbling and neither home nor family waiting to support him, how will Ryan turn things around?
Now this film isn’t exactly new. The date it was released was poignant because, if I am not much mistaken, it was around the worst days of the recent credit crunch. With people losing jobs and livelihoods left right and center the film focuses on the feeling of uncertainty. The uncertainty and unsettledness that Ryan thrives on but the rest of us (most of the rest of us anyway) hate. Stop and imagine doing a job like that for a second. Firing people. Day in, day out. I just couldn’t do it. Of course, this being a film, we see plenty of Ryan firing people, and it is touching to find out, at the end, that some of the people we see were not actors but actual people from the business world who lost their jobs. I defy anyone who has held down a regular job for at least a few years to watch those scenes without a considerable lump in their throat. It’s like having the carpet pulled from under your feet. You are then thrown up in the air and try to find your feet again. It’s deep and difficulty stuff Ryan causes but has never had to face himself. He isn’t fired per say, but his lifestyle has been ended. He has to find a new way of surviving and that comes to the same thing psychologically, pay check or no pay check. It is really refreshing to see Hollywood movies focusing on real and gritty issues.
I like the end as well. It isn’t a happy ending per se, and you will have to go through one heck of a lot of heartache to get there (as will Ryan) but the experience is worth it. No doubt.

GEORGE CLOONEY SPECIAL WEEK : A PARADE OF STARS - "OCEAN’S 11"

Now, as we all agree our dear Mr. Clooney is, to put no finer point on it, yummy. And naturally, he is, in himself, quite sufficient to glue one to a film from beginning to end whether the film has substance or not. A film like Michael Clayton, where you have to really use the “little grey cells” to coin the phrase of one of my favorite detectives (oh of course you know who, just think for a second!). Mr. Clooney really and truly knows how to act, the story is amazing and exciting, in short you are surrounded by various levels of yumminess. Sometimes, however, one’s little grey cells have had enough exercise for one day. They want to kick back and be entertained, they don’t want to work. That’s when your typical, common or garden “entertainment” movie comes in. Hopefully it has a clever plotline. Plenty of action, a few nice special effects, a few handsome gents and some beautiful dames, add a little pop corn, grab a soda, what more do you need? How about just such a movie starring George Clooney… Brad Pitt… Matt Damon… AND Julia Roberts? Too good to be true? No. Ocean’s 11.
Danny Ocean (George Clooney) is fresh out of prison. He is also a man with a plan. He intends fully to make up for the lost couple of years of his life, and he will do that by robbing three of the biggest casinos in Las Vegas. Of course, if you’re robbing a casino in Las Vegas, you have to do a touch more than walk in with a gun and yell “Stick ‘em up!” You’ll need a plan. And a team to execute it. Now we have already explained, Mr. Ocean is a man with a plan. All he has to do is acquire a team, and thanks to his own old contacts – and his best friend Rusty’s (Brad Pitt) this is not actually going to be a problem. All they have to do is to find nine other men as mad as themselves, and pull of the biggest casino heist in the history of Las Vegas… All in a day’s work for Danny Ocean…
Ocean’s 11 is all you expect it to be, and more. There’s really no wonder it kind of turned into a trilogy. Now there is one thing you have to bear in mind when it comes to this kind of film. It sounds simple. That’s what usually trips people up. If “anyone” tries to film a robbery – heist movie, chances are you’re going to get something that is pretty much 10 a penny these days. Completely predictable with 3rd rate acting and photography. Do any of us go out and watch these? Well some of us do, that much is obvious, but most of us do not. However if Steven Soderbergh is at the helm of the boat and if so many classic actors are crammed into the film (the afore – mentioned foursome PLUS Andy Garcia, Bernie Mac and Casey Affleck – and that’s still only part of the cast!) you get true, good quality entertainment. The film is great fun from beginning to end, the plot twists are intelligent and not predictable (as a general rule, anyway) and besides come on… We’re talking about George Clooney here… Of course the film’s brilliant!

BACK TO THE MYTHICAL ORIENT WITH ESSIE SPEAKS

Hello there folks!

I hope everyone had a great week! I am beetling thorugh my "to watch" list as usual. As the date for my departure to foreign climes approaches mild panic is setting in, not to mention mild cabin fever as I seem to concentrate more on stuff to be done around the house and then climb the walls hehe.

Anyway, this week, I decided to take a trip back to the "mythical orient" I love so much. While The Bow is a slightly unorthodox film by slightly unorthodox director Kim Ki-duk, Poetry is another deeply sad yet cleverly constructed film from Korea - just to show they can make "normal" films too if you will =) And last of all, we peek over to Japan for Ikuru, what is, in my humble opinion, one of Kurosawa's greatest works!

I hope you enjoy this week's selection as much as I did.

Happy viewing,
Essie

BACK TO THE MYTHICAL ORIENT : "HWAL / THE BOW"

Now, I want to kick off this week with something a little less traditional. And I do mean by anyone’s standard. Admittedly, Kim Ki Duk is NOT everyone’s cup of tea. The Bow, you might find is even less so. I was in two minds about this one to be honest with you, it is fascinating, it draws you right to the core of it and you basically watch it without so much as drawing a breath or pausing for the loo right till the end. But I have to warn you, there’s some tricky material therein. And Ki Duk’s style as a director? Heck, it’s trickier still. But first, the story.
Our characters have no names. They have no voices to speak of either. I know you know half expect me to say they are inanimate, but no, they are human. One is an old man, and one is a young girl. The way they have come together is somewhat unusual though. The old man found the little girl when she was six and brought her out to his boat. They have lived together for ten years, on a boat in the middle of the sea. They make their living by brining tourists who want to fish out to fish on their boat, ferrying their customers back and forth in a smaller motor-boat. The odd couple has an almost completely silent but happy and comfortable relationship. And every evening, the old man crosses a day of the calendar. When the young girl reaches 17 – and she will in a few months time – he will marry her. The girl seemingly sees nothing wrong with this until that is, a particular group of tourists comes on board their little boat. In this group there is a young boy of her own age. Cupid is hard at work and for the first time, the young girl begins to question her quiet existence. The old man is curious and the young man is intrigued by the whole thing… The couple can never be the same again, the question is, what then is the way forward for them?
Now, I do realize that the idea of an old man (think 70’s) marrying a girl of 17 is not an easy thought to digest. I also find it easy to understand why you would find the fact that she has lived on the blessed boat without a thought to her previous life (6 after all isn’t exactly infancy, she should logically remember something) unsettling. Add to that, the fact that the film contains maybe 100 lines in total during its full 90 minutes. In short, I have to admit, you may want to give this one a miss. And I wouldn’t blame you. I didn’t give it a miss however, and am glad I did.
The relationship constructed between the old man and the young girl is fascinating. For instance, he is like a father to her, all the way up to their wedding day. If any of the tourists on the boat try any funny business with her, he defends her with a bow and arrow – and he is one heck of a shot! He approaches her almost with chivalry. And the girl evidently loves and trusts him. The affection between them is genuine and odd as it is, you can see why; if this is the only life you have known and you have been protected from everything except your limited small world, you may well now question your life. Heck, with no outside influence you have nothing to compare your life to, and the girl doesn’t even start thinking about it until something to compare her feelings to comes into her life – the boy she falls in love with. The old man is seriously upset by this turn of events (a typical Ki Duk theme this by the way – love as a kind of ownership), he feels genuine affection towards the girl, has been counting the days (literally) towards their wedding day and has simply assumed she felt the same way…
The ending of the film, well… I will not be able to give much away if only because it’s one of those endings that means something different to everyone who watches it. I only wish I knew a bit more about Budhism, because although one can see the references there as clear as day, if one doesn’t know what they mean, one is pretty much stumped, if you see what I mean. It is weird, beautiful and thought provoking this one. I would get over my prejudices and watch it if I were you. I didn’t regret it.

BACK TO THE MYTHICAL ORIENT : "POETRY / SHI

I hate burying you all in depressing films the way I seem to be this week, but the seconda entry of the day will be another sad one… Add to that the fact that Poetry is actually a Korean film; you will understand why I kinda feel bad about it. What I like a lot about Asian cinema you see is that the emotions portrayed in the films are not “filmified”. You know what I mean, joy and happiness tends to be all engulfing and sadness devastating and destructive in movies. In Asian cinema however, everything is more… Well dignified. Sadness, negative emotions tend to be weighty and striking but the character will not be “engulfed” in it. The smaller tell-tale signs wrench our hearts, which is closer to real life in my view than the other approach. That is why Asian films tend to touch me more than Hollywood style movies – on an emotional level anyway… But I appear to have launched into the commentary already, let’s get the storyline first…
Mija is 66. She lives in a small town in South Korea with her grandson, Wook. His mother has left him with her and has moved to the city after her divorce, Wook and Mija have a “typical” grand-mother – grand-son relationship, even though they are not close. Mija is getting old, her memory is beginning to fail her (the doctor tells her she has to have a full check up in case it’s something really serious and Mija will get round to it one of these days…), she works part time assisting an old man who is half paralyzed because of a stroke to keep the little family afloat. In the spirit of doing something for herself, she starts taking poetry classes – with the aim of writing a poem herself… However ,upon the heels of this little experiment will first come her test results then the revelation of a devastating secret… Whether Mija will be able to cope with these shocks and whether she will be able to finish her poem – or even start it – is what we will find out as we watch the film…
No wonder this film won the award for best Screenplay at the Cannes film festival. The story has so many dimensions and subtleties… First of all, as I was discussing in the first paragraph, there is the emotion. The film is dominated by intense sadness but this is balanced out and made more real by Mija’s attitude to it. Like most people of her generation – especially in that part of the world – she puts a good face on it. Does not let go of her dignity. She searches desperately for a way out and for poetic inspiration – as possibly another symbol for escape – but does it with her head held high. It’s the little things that alert us to how she is really feeling. Mind you, there is one scene in the second half of the film that some viewers may find slightly offensive, but I didn’t mind it. Even a “difficult” situation like that is handled with the spirit of the film and in fact comes completely naturally with the story…
Another thing I really liked a lot about this film is the way the director and scriptwriter constantly play with the concept of knowledge. It’s a matter of not knowing whether or not someone else knows a given thing and not just between the characters; the story “plays” with us the spectators as well, so we are never quite sure when this quiet, dignified little film is going to throw us another curveball, keeping us on our toes, in a sense, right until the end.
My verdict? Tough to watch without a doubt, but it broadened my horizons… Put it on your “to watch” list…

BACK TO THE MYTHICAL ORIENT : "IKURU / TO LIVE"

Ok, you may or may not have noticed that I have, these days, developed a “thing” about Akira Kurosawa. That is partly because I have acquired a rather large box set of his collective works. It’s not that I feel I HAVE to write about his stuff, it’s just that every single thing he does is so good! Well, since I am simply bubbling with Akira Kurosawa’s I want to talk about and this is “Asian Promises” week, I thought it only fitting that we should talk about Ikuru here. Not one of Kurosawa’s most famous films – which is why I want to talk about it here. It avoids Kurosawa’s usual topics, i.e. Japan of the Middle ages, and focuses on more up to date and philosophical topics such as work life, bureaucracy and well. The meaning of life… I LOVED this one, it is possibly my favorite Kurosawa so far…
Now, even if you don’t know Watanabe san personally, you definitely know someone like him. He is the head of a government office and has worked in the same office for 30 years. He has never missed a day of work. He never does anything outside of his daily routine. Even his family, his brother and his son (who lives with him with his wife) don’t know much about him – there is nothing much to know! Watanabe san is going through life in this semi-conscious state and not particularly considering doing anything about it until he is diagnosed with stomach cancer. The cancer is advanced and incurable. Watanabe san has no more than 6 months to live. At which point the old man realizes he has no idea how to live. He has, to all intents and purposes, never lived in his life… If he understands nothing else, Mr. Watanabe does see that this is his last chance to learn. So he drops everything and sets about finding out. Will he find the answer? One thing you can be sure of, his quest will astonish those around him in the remaining days of his life and after his death…
Now, for all intents of purposes this does look like a ‘50s version of “Eat, Pray, Love”, right? Wrong. Never underestimate the switch of perspective brought by the different geography. This is not a story about embracing life Julia Roberts style, or going through a series of amusing scrapes like “The Bucket List”, this is the story of a man clutching desperately at the few remaining days of his life, doubled over not only by the pain of the cancer but the pain brought on by the knowledge that he has wasted over 30 years of his life and now he only has a few months left. But it is not a bitter film either. Sad, yes. But also constructive. Watanabe is sad, but he is also desperately seeking an answer. And as we all know, people who truly seek tend to find.
And of course there is Kurosawa’s masterly touch. Black and white film can, in its composition alone convey so much emotion don’t you find? Especially in the hands of a master like Kurosawa. His mastery and imagination alone makes the film a joy to watch, add to that the philosophical nature of the film itself and it somehow feels more like a portrait and less a film… That sounds odd but you know what I mean… Not to be missed.

MIXED BAG ON ESSIE SPEAKS!

Well, I don't know about you guys but I have really "got in" to themes. You probably have noticed, most weeks have a theme now and I will be expanding on themes, themes for certain actors or directors or genres for example, and newer, wierder connections that I haven't thought of yet either. But in the meanwhile I have not and will not forget the good old "mixed bag", the style that started this little blog!
So what do we have this week? First up is Nosferatu, dating all the way back from 1922! Don't pooh - pooh the idea, the film is fascinating to watch, it may surprise you, it definately surprised me! Then we cross over in time and space to Sweden, where the master director Ingmar Bergman offers us "Wild Strawberries". And lastly, we jump across the ocean with Mr. Alfred Hitchcock to solve the mystery of "The Trouble With Harry". I adore all three of these films and love the fact that they're all together, if you see what I mean. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

happy viewing!
Essie