AN EERILY REALISTIC STORY OF "CONTAGION"

Oh Steven Sodebergh. Oh how I love you. Ok, I am continuing my catch-up session of recent(ish) films and this one was definitely high on my “to watch” list. Why? Because I really, really enjoy the work of Steven Sodebergh. I know, he isn’t easy watching. He has a penchant for all things slightly dark and disturbing and is more than capable of putting that feeling across, through the screen, right into your bones. Contagion is no different. In fact it is definitely one of his spookiest yet.

Beth Emhoff (Gweneth Paltrow) dies suddenly after a business trip to Hong Kong, her young son dies the very next day. This may be considered a small event in the scheme of things; however, there is a problem. Not only are the doctors completely unable to figure out what Beth and her son exactly died of, the disease is spreading. And by that I mean spreading all over the world, killing every man, woman and child in its wake. The CDC and the WHO desperately try to analyse the disease and figure out a cure. In the meanwhile, panic on a global scale sets in and everyone, even bloggers like Alan Krumwiede start to chime in with conspiracy theories and home remedies. The war for law and order in the world has begun. It is being fought in a laboratory.

Now seriously, this is what separates a “good” director from a “great” one: The ability to take an almost mundane story but tell it in such a way that you are glued to your seat, terrified. I mean come on, mystery diseases that threaten the whole of humanity – how many times have we seen that one before? This is seriously different though. Sodebergh primarily focuses on the “silent killer” angle. You can be sure that every time the screen goes particularly quiet, something bad is going on. And you know this in the pit of your stomach as well, you know that sinking feeling. Quietly and slowly, the action unfurls on screen, and you can’t even find it in yourself to yell “no” or something. It’s weird.

Oh the cast definitely helps. I haven’t named everyone – which is unfair because the cast is so brilliant – but other names I haven’t mentioned include Lawrence Fishbourne, Matt Damon (who has put on a bit of weight I am sad to observe. Maybe it’s for the film or something but it doesn’t suit him methinks), Kate Winslet and Marion Cotillard. To be honest, you’d have to be a very special kind of fool to make a bad film with a cast like that. But Sodebergh is ANYTHING but a fool.

The other brilliant thing the film does is play on the “six degrees” thing. You know, how we are interconnected with the entire rest of the planet and everything. It’s a particularly brilliant way to do it if you think about it. Because the disease spreads through, you guessed it, touch. Your smallest action, brushing against someone or handing someone something may suddenly make you responsible for carrying the disease to your part of the world, killing thousands if not millions. If there were ever a film to remind us that yes, a tiny event all the way on the other side of the ocean could affect our entire lives, this is it. You will see what I mean at the end of the film when the origin of the disease is revealed. I mean, it actually made me stop and think.

And if this all seems a bit like a bunch of old clichés think about it: this has happened. Think about SARS, think about Bird Flu. I mean, ok, thankfully the disease was stopped before it actually killed half the population of the world but you know… The fact that the film is so realistic doesn’t “help” either. So definitely go for it. It will make you think. It will make you shudder and curl up under the covers a little more tightly than usual…

"CARNAGE" IN ALL BUT THE PHYSICAL WAY

As you know, if I’m doing a mixed bag, I try and vary the contents as much as possible. You know, make it pretty much something for everyone. That’s why I was glad when this one crossed my path. I’ve always admired Polanski as an artist, even though I have to admit there is a very questionable side to him as a person. But like I’ve always said, leave that to one side and concentrate on the art, because no matter what you think of him as a person, he is one HECK of a director. A fact that he has proved once again with this film. It all starts out as a tiny incident really. Zachary and Ethan are two little boys who have a fight in the playground. It ends a bit rougher than expected, Zachary hitting Ethan in the face with a stick, resulting in Ethan losing a tooth and sustaining damage to a second tooth. The parents get together to sort this situation out; they want to be “adult” about the whole affair. But what starts off as a very civilized conversation between two – admittedly different – couples; soon takes a very strange turn. As time goes on though, it becomes obvious that it is not really so much about the differences in the couple’s lifestyles. True, Ethan’s parents - Nancy and Alan Cpwan (the legendary Kate Winslet and Christopher Waltz) are a power couple, both firmly ensconced in the business world and Zachary’s parents, Penelope and Michael Longstreet (the equally legendary Jodie Foster and John C. Reily) are the more liberal writer /artist types but this in itself is not the problem. The problem is much deeper – not between the couples but in the couples. As the tense situation continues fault lines begin to appear in the first perfectly smooth veneers and dirty laundry within both couples, along with the real faces under the masks begin to get aired. Which is when the real carnage begins… Ok, first up a technical note or two about this film. If you settle down to watch it you will very quickly pick up on the fact that it is actually adapted from a play (God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza to be precise). Thus it uses a minimal number of settings; in fact 90% of the film takes place in the Longstreet’s living room and the whole story is driven mainly by dialogue, not action. Now you may find that daunting as a film initially. But luckily the dialogue is very witty and both easy and enjoyable to follow. And plus of course there is the difference made by the actors actually delivering the lines – I mean take a look at that cast! The concentration on dialogue is, in my opinion, a good thing here because it brings so much great talent to light in the shape of the four actors. Plus, another good thing if the idea of a dialogue driven play /film daunts you is that it is not actually that long – so you don’t have that much to be scared of if you’re not used to the whole thing. But honestly, I reckon anyone with any kinda taste for cinema will enjoy this one. It is very witty, very clever, ok, admittedly it’s as dark as pitch as far as comedy goes but hey… It’s also a very good consideration on adult relationships and life. You really do not want to miss it.

A UNIQUE STORY OF : "HEAVENLY CREATURES"

Did I ever mention I rather liked true crime? I know, not a very appetizing introduction for a person. Nevertheless I feel by this time you all know me well enough for me to be able to risk telling you this. It’s not that I am a particular fan of gore and blood and such like – if anything I’m a complete lightweight as far as that sort of thing goes. But I guess part of the “fascination” is the fact that I do find killing and murder so abhorrent, films or books of true crime, if they’re well executed of course, tend to give interesting insights into the minds of the killers, which I find particularly fascinating. I am also greatly interested in human psychology, I guess this is another reason I cannot resist a peak into “the mind of the killer”. Heavenly creatures, despite its name, is particularly well executed and thus particularly sad example of the genre. One of those films that gets its claws into your gut and twists and twists, right till the very end. Even if you do know the ending – not a tough thing to do, this being a true crime story…
So the true story that inspires Heavenly Creatures took place in New Zeeland in the early 1950’s. Pauline Parker is a shy, quiet girl, not too many friends in school, grades not overly brilliant… She comes from an underprivileged family, nothing in her life is especially brilliant or original until Juliet Hulme arrives in town. Juliet is the daughter of a celebrated English scholar, outgoing and vociferous, in short many things Pauline was not. But the unlikely pair strikes up a strong friendship very, very quickly. Their friendship only intensifies with time, growing to include an imaginary world called The Fourth World where their favorite stars and singers are worshipped as saints and magical adventures are plentiful. In time, it becomes obvious to everyone, the girl’s parents included, that they are a lot more than just friends. At age 15 the girls are undoubtedly in love. The only problem is, you mustn’t forget, this was the year 1954. Homosexuality was still considered some kind of mental disorder. The parents – well-meaning but misguided - decide it is best to separate the girls indefinitely. For Pauline and Juliet, both of whose grip on reality has significantly loosened, not to mention blinded by passion and fear of separation, there seems to be one way out of this… Murder.
Ok, so at least I managed not to tell you who got murdered. But I mean, I did know who got murdered and even so watched the film with baited breath. One fact worth mentioning maybe, is that the director of this film is Peter Jackson – yes, you know, the one who directed The Lord Of The Rings trilogy and King Kong. I personally thought he would turn out to have more of a talent for epics and not the more sentimental stories, it turns out I was very, very wrong. And the actresses, well, Juliet Hulme is none other than a young Kate Winslet! And Pauline is played by Melanie Lynsky, who we have later seen in secondary parts in films such as Up In the Air and The Informant! And TV series like Two and a half men. So all in all it’s quite a little cluster of talent. When you couple this with such a heart-rending story the film can’t not be a success really. Personally, it hit me like a freight train. Of course when you have such a striking story at the heart of it you know you’re on to a winner. Heavenly creatures is intensely sad and thought provoking without being “cheap” or a tear-jerker. Good quality stuff. Enjoy.

FINDING NEVERLAND

I was browsing through last-weeks posts and all the mention of Peter Pan and Johnnie Depp put me in mind of another little gem. It is yet another true story, not a very well known story yet a story well worth knowing… It is the true life story of J.M. Barrie, the writer of the novel Peter Pan and the events that inspired the creation of the classic we all know and love today…

Scottish playwright James Barrie (Johnnie Depp * SIGH…* ) has just suffered a dismal failure with his latest play. He is also lacking terribly in inspiration, a condition fed by the depression brought on by his failure… Inspiration comes to him in the surprising form of beautiful and fragile widow Sylvia Llewelyn Davies (Kate Winslet) and her four young sons. Barrie turns out to be an excellent playmate and father figure to the boys. He becomes especially close to Peter, one of the younger boys (acted by child prodigy Freddy Highmore). Peter is troubled, misses his father, has an extraordinary imagination and does not want to grow up… Despite criticism from Sylvia’s mother (the multi-award winning Julie Christie) and Mary, Barrie’s wife (acted by Radha Michelle - hmm, I never knew I was such a fan of hers, I seem to write about one of her works every week!!) Barrie spends more and more time with the family. It will inspire him to write his greatest work ever. If he can only convince the producer Charles Frohman (Dustin Hoffman) it’s a viable business venture that is…

First of all, with such a stellar cast, the film can only be so bad if you see what I mean =) But in fact, director Marc Foster is not to be sneezed at either; his works you may have heard of include Monsters Ball, Stranger than Fiction, The Kite Runner and Quantum Of Solace… This is most definitely a successful work: the film was nominated for a total of 7 Oscars ® including heavyweights such as Best Motion Picture, Best Leading Actor (Johnnie Depp - *SIGH*) and Best Writing. (Ok, so in the end it only won Best Achievement in Music but the other fields were actually worth a mention!!) The film also trails a very long list of nominations for prestigious awards such as Golden Globes and BAFTA’s, so I feel that even those of us who in later years have begun to shy away from mainstream cinema should feel confident to “dip a toe in” so to speak. I mean, come on guys, so many juries, they can’t all be wrong /stupid / corrupt!

And besides, even if you are completely anti mainstream, didn’t you read Peter Pan (or even better, have it read to you, like I did) when you were younger and love it? (And if you didn’t read / have it read to you I am genuinely sorry about that. If you did and didn’t like it, well, chances are you’re reading the wrong blog mate… really…) Ehm, so you did love it, right? Aren’t you just the teensiest bit curious as to what the real Peter Pan was like? I am really sorry to disappoint you guys but he did actually grow up – here’s his Wikipedia page. I always find the real stories behind these great works fascinating (same with the extraordinary life story of Lewis Carrol and his creation of Alice in Wonderland for instance). Maybe it’s this fact that endears the film so much to me. It is still a beautiful, touching film.