FROM GAME TO REALITY (SORT OF) : "PRINCE OF PERSIA – THE SANDS OF TIME"

Now, admittedly, this is going to mean a lot more to those of you who actually play video games. I have an announcement. I don’t play video games. No, not one bit. In short, I honestly have no idea how it compares to the game, what the overlaps are, etc. I should actually ask a friend who does this regularly. I may do that still. But actually, no. I mean, these films shouldn’t, from a business perspective, cater ONLY to gamers, right? I reckon not. So here’s a non-gamer’s perspective on this little number. And she happens to be smiling on the movie.

Destan (the rather yummy Jake Gylenhaal) is the adopted son of the King of Persia. He and his two brothers and their uncle, the brother of the king(Ben Kingsley) are out on a mission of conquest and they happen upon the holy city of Alamut. Recent intelligence from the spies says that this historically neutral city of great historical importance is actually supplying weapons to their enemies. The Persians invade the city. Destan is among the most successful warriors there. However, he very quickly finds out that the story about spy intelligence is all a decoy. There is a villain in their midst. And he is after a mythical magic dagger that would allow him to reverse time, putting himself in power. Destan, along with Tamina, the princess of Alamut and the keeper of the sacred dagger, must form an uneasy alliance to stop him. The fate of the entire world may well be at stake.

Ok so basically, you know what this is? It is a road movie, where too initially completely dissimilar protagonists learn to love each other, bond and fight for a common cause on the way. That coupled with the type of romantic comedy that is as old as Shakespeare (I’m thinking Taming of the Shrew). You know, sassy girl gets “tamed” into femininity by the wit and courage of a truly good man. Ladle on a good dollop of special effects (come on, it is based on a video game at the end of the day) and voila. Prince of Persia. Now, I know that thus far I have not  exactly waxed lyrical about the topic. This is precisely why I rarely review Hollywood films, unless they are massive “event” films that is, these days. I am slightly sick of the (in my view) regurgitated storylines. The independent works, the European cinema, the more experimental directors actually have the capacity to offer you something you cannot “foresee”.  Things that really catch you short and make you think. I mean, Aeon Flux, that I reviewed the other day, has elements of this. I did not mention it much in the review because if I did a massive spoiler and the end of the film would come crumbling down but it is there. This film does not have that though. Sorry.

Ok rant over. This being said, why on EARTH did I put it in the blog then? Well, because, credit where it’s due, it is good at what it does. It is an action film. It stars Jake Gylenhaal and has a massive amount of him doing fighting scenes (eye candy alert!). I pretty much like Ben Kingsley in every single thing he does. It is classic Hollywood amusement. Ideal to watch with your mates of an evening. I enjoyed it. It just virtually contributed nothing to my film culture thingy. Not every film needs to…  

AN EMOTIONAL ROLLERCOASTER : "THE HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG"

We all just about know by now that the heart of a good film is a good story. If there is a good story there, the rest will somehow pull along of its own accord. The same is actually true of the reverse. If the technical side of a film is good, “holes” in the storyline and plot may be forgiven. I mean take Avatar; it is, for all intents and purposes the story of Pocahontas with a few twists. Oh and special effects in three dimensions the like of which had never been witnessed before. When I left that particular film, my first reaction was “That was NOT a film.” Well it wasn’t. An experience, certainly, exciting, you bet, fun – are you kidding I wish I had the budget to see it a second time – but NOT a film. Something that was closely related to a fairground ride, crossed with a film. This is why, although I tend to tell people who exclaim “But it has no story at all” that they are being a little harsh, secretly I do know where they are coming from… Gosh I’ve swerved off topic on this one but I am actually trying to make a point… The point is, that House of Sand and Fog contains some of the best acting I have seen in a long time (hence it was nominated for various Oscars® in the field), the story is full of emotion and desperately gripping, but there are holes in it the size of the state of Texas. And yet, strangely enough, the rest is so good, you are gripped, by the story, by the performances and let yourself be carried away with it. And the rest of it is SO good in fact that one almost hasn’t the heart to mention them, but there you are… Let me just tell you the story and we’ll get to the matter properly…
Colonel Massoud Behrani (played superbly by veteran actor Ben Kingsley) is one of many Iranian citizens who have immigrated to foreign lands after the revolution of 1979. He and his family have settled in the United States, they are citizens now, and they are doing their best to start a new life there. Life is not easy, however. All their resources must go into keeping up appearances so their daughter may marry well – a task they succeed in – and after that, there is their young son’s education to think of. Colonel Behrani must work; keep down two menial jobs despite his advancing age to keep the family afloat as his wife barely speaks any English. Then he spots what seems to be a blessing from God Almighty himself. There is a house, a beautiful bungalow out in the woods on sale; it is to be auctioned off it appears, because the previous owner hadn’t paid her taxes. For the colonel this means one thing only: buy the house, renovate, sell at a profit, make a killing and thus have the money for Eshmail, their son’s college. What he doesn’t know, however, is that if the house has been seized, it is partly due to an error on the part of the government, Kathy (equally expertly played by Jennifer Connoley) is accused of not paying her business tax, but she in fact has never owned a business in her life; she has merely been lazy and ignored the government warnings until too late, partly due to her own personal problems. Thus she strongly feels the house is hers by right. And she will go to great, great lengths to get it back…
“Americans, they don’t deserve what they have. They have the eyes of small children forever looking for the next source of distraction; entertainment, sweet taste in the mouth… We are not like them. We know rich opportunities when we see it and do not throw away God’s blessings.” This is a direct quote from the film, something Colonel Behrani tells his young son at some point in the film. And this is, in fact, the whole point of the film really. Throughout the film you will note parallelisms being made between the “Caucasians” and the “Iranians”. One of the most striking is between the Colonel, who despite his sometimes undue strictness is a devoted father and Les, a sheriff’s deputy Kathy has an affair with and who thus begins to take evicting the Behranis a little too seriously, who doesn’t hesitate when walking out on his wife and two very young children without any explanations, just for Kathy who he has only known a few days. Another striking parallel is between Mrs. Behrani, who may not speak English but is the epitome of what it is to be a “lady” in the true old-fashioned sense of the word, not hesitating to wash Kathy’s foot (much to Kathy’s surprise and humility) when she has an accident. Kathy on the other hand is a mess, in many senses of the word, and seems to have a mildly illogical emotional attachment to her house, wanting to turf the family out at all costs, right until the very end… In short, some people seem to consider the “immigrants” the savages no matter what, but in fact when the behavior is analyzed, sometimes, the old fashioned “foreign” values trump it over good old fashioned, individualist, consumerist and in short capitalist society.
Which is where the bits of the plot I find mildly unbelievable come in. For example, quite quickly we find out that Kathy is a recovering alcoholic and her relationship with her parents is problematic. Yet, despite having joint ownership of the house with her brother, even after the house is foreclosed on and taken from under, her she doesn’t call her brother, stranger still neither do the authorities. Kathy then prefers to be homeless rather than go to her family for help, her family, from the little we hear from them, are not hostile to her in any way, just a typical, busy scattered and slightly egocentric family. That aside, the whole matter of the house being foreclosed on is a touch too sketchy for my liking too. We figure out that there is a matter concerning business tax involved and that this is in fact a mistake because Kathy has never owned a business in her life but then, we must believe that she has done almost virtually nothing about it since finding out about this situation; I mean, someone might have forged her signature, there is an ex-husband in the picture; he might have been trying to pull something but no. She is simply so negligent she just lets it slide. Then again, later on in the story, I will give no actual details but injuries are sustained in the house, yet it occurs to no one (until the finale where the ambulances vanish into the fog) to call an ambulance, and believe me, they are situations where you or I would be on the blower like a shot…
And then again, this is a film with a purpose. It is a film full to the brim with emotion and with some of the best acting performances I have ever seen. Incidentally, I would like to say that Ben Kingsley is probably one of the actors I respect the most in the entire industry, from Mahatma Ghandi to hired assassins, throw at him what part you will, he carries it off to a sterling standard. In short, the film is definitely worth watching. And it is definitely thought-provoking… I mean, just for example, how justified is Colonel Behrani in his criticism of Western society that I quoted above? Take a minute to think about it before you answer…

NOT YOUR AVERAGE TRAIN : “TRANSSIBERIAN”

I’m guessing most of us would love a ride on the Transsiberian express… I personally think train rides themselves are romantic enough but who can resist riding across the snow-covered Russian steppes, watching the wonderful scenery go by… This is possibly why such a lot of films are set on the Transsiberian express. There are highs and lows in this category of course, but Transsiberian is definitely one of the highs…

Jessie (Emily Mortimer) and Roy (Woody Harrelson) are a typical American couple. They have just finished work at a charity in China sponsored by their church and now they are returning home. However, they have decided to taste a bit of adventure on the way and therefore have decided to take a trip on the Transsiberian express before flying home. Roy loves trains, Jessie is loving Russia because of the photography opportunities. They keep meeting fascinating characters the trip is going well. Their room-mates are also good people, a young couple called Carlos (Eduardo Noriega) and Abby (Kate Mara) are interesting people and experienced travelers – just what novices Roy and Jessie need. But their “peaceful adventure” is to be short-lived. Roy fails to board the train after one stop. A strange police detective named Elia Grinkov(Ben Kingsley) enters the mix. Ulterior motives begin to surface. And we begin to genuinely wonder what is going on on board this train…

Transsiberian screams quality from a mile away. I mean the cast alone speaks for itself. And as an added footnote I watched this film on blu-ray (high definition dvd – no, I’m not loaded, it’s also my job. I promise.) And it was well worth the experience (for those of us who ARE loaded) not so much because it’s a high-power action movie (and it isn’t. I mean it has action but don’t think Fast and The Furious. This is a train) but because of the breathtaking photography of the afore-mentioned snow-covered Russian steppes. I actually read a review of the film claiming it’s “almost Hitchcock” and I assure you this is not an understatement. Fair enough, you probably will not want to watch it a second time (it kinda palls when you know all the plot-twists. I should know, the afore-mentioned blu-ray episode was my third time round…) but I promise you, you will LOVE the first one :)

TIME TO GROW UP AND FACE “THE WACKNESS”

You may remember The Wackness from last year. It created quite a bit of a stir as far as independent films go. Starring Ben Kingsley (who in my eyes is now a movie classic) The Wackness is not what is typically envisaged as a “indie” movie and that is possibly what has brought it such wide acclaim.
But let me not get ahead of myself and give you a brief outline of the story. The Wackness is the story of two very unlikely characters. One is Dr Squires, a well-known therapist (Ben Kingsley) who has a very complicated life (to put it mildly) despite his seemingly perfect home with his younger wife and intelligent sassy step-daughter. The other is his client Luke Shapiro who has his own opinions concerning loyalty (such as refusing to listen to cds and continuing to use cassettes) and lives pretty much in his own world because he doesn’t fit into his school “milieu” (even though he is popular there because he is the main supplier of weed) or in his problematic household (even though he is the one actually keeping the house on its feet with the money he gets selling weed). Ben Kingsley is in fact one of his clients and pays for the weed not in money but free séances.
Their friendship seems bizarre and unlikely even to themselves but undoubtedly grows. And when Ben Kingsley’s refusal to accept responsibility and act his age are coupled with Luke’s growing pains, family problems not to mention his crush on Dr Squires’ step-daughter the adventures that follow take us up and down the spectrum of feelings from the comical and absurd to coy and romantic, from truly hopeless and desperate to exciting and hopeful…
In a lot of films and reviews “true to life” can be read as somber. Not in this case. The Wackness although it is as “wacky” in many ways as the titles suggests, successfully tells the story of “growing up” no matter what your age is. A must-see.