AND NOW, A LITTLE MUSIC... "DANCER IN THE DARK"

We all know what Lars von Trier is like by now. His films are dark, not for the faint hearted and heavy with the kind of twist that makes you go “oh surely not… Oh NO! He did!”. You (or at least I) need a stiff drink afterwards more often than not. So the fact that he had made a musical starring Bjork does not exactly make one think  “It’s The Sound of Music all over again…” In fact, like a lot of von Trier’s films, Dancer in the Dark comes with a warning – it is notoriously difficult to watch. None of the usual blood and gore and shocking visuals this time though… Von Trier is playing around with our emotional landscape and reminds us what horrible beings we humans can be…

Selma (Bjork) is an immigrant living in the United States. Her life is hard – her single solitary purpose in life is to build a future for her son. To this end, she works hard in a factory, saves every penny she earns and plans for the future… Her one escape from her toils is old fashioned Hollywood films and especially musicals – she even acts in the factory’s acting club… However, Selma has a secret… Time is running out for her and she has to use all her strength if she wants her son’s future to end up the way she hopes it will. The problem is that human beings – even the friendliest looking ones – are unreliable beings and… Well the long and the short of it is that you can never, ever know who you can really trust…

Alongside Bjork, whose striking voice and musical talent are the exact “secret ingredients” this dark musical needs, we have the legendary Catherine DeNeuve starring as Kathy, Selma’s friend and right hand woman at the factory. I almost couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw her, she is as ever, a pleasure to watch. And incidentally, please don’t get hung up on the fact that the film is “technically” a musical. True, there are quite a few very striking musical numbers in there but given Selma’s dreamy, almost otherworldly nature –  a nature that Bjork portrays so very well – it’s hardly out of place and any Bjork fans will follow her with quiet enjoyment as Selma drifts off into her own little world…     

And if you really hate musicals, well, at the end of the day the musical numbers that DO exist are Bjork songs, so it’s all a far cry from the face-splitting smiles common to this kind of production. To be honest with you, the second big difference is the atmos. As we all know musicals tend to be BIG. I mean, the good guys are practically angelic and the bad guys are “evil”. In Dancer in the Dark, it’s not so much an extreme of any kind but a sense of painful pathos that reigns supreme. We have a villain we simply can’t help pitying, a prince charming who annoys us – and yet we can’t help backing – and an heroine struggling against it all, not only ailing but also proud to a fault, refusing to ask for help, which ultimately leads to her demise… And the best bit ? It’s all set in rather oblique contrast to The Sound of Music, the musical Selma and the factory theatre company is putting on. Selma’s positivity and stoicism in the face of mounting odds is greatly comparable to Maria’s, the sad difference is that this story is very much set in the modern world. For all her sweetness Selma is ultimately consumed by the system and no pity is shown to her – at least not by the people who can have any influence at all over her destiny.

So first of all for Von Trier and Bjork fans, but also for fans of musicals – who want to see a bit of a different take on their beloved genre - and non-fans of musicals alike this is a must see. I am not saying you will find it easy to watch – but you won’t regret having done it either… 

TIME TO THAW THOSE "FROZEN" HEARTS WITH SOME GOOD OLD FASHIONED DISNEY...

The newest Disney sensation! An Oscar ® winner no less! Naturally I had to jump on the bandwagon and get my mitts onto this one as soon as possible – not least because of the complete and utter sensation it seemed to be causing all over the internet. A modern adaptation of The Snow Queen (you know something, I literally hadn’t thought of that until I saw it in the credits at the end) Frozen shows us once again that Disney is doing its best to keep up with the times. And to give them their dues, they haven’t done a too shabby job at it either…

Elsa and Anna are two sisters, two princesses to be precise, and heirs to a small kingdom. There Elsa is the elder sister and heir to the throne one day but there is a slight problem – a problem that must be kept a secret even from her own sister Anna. Elsa has been born with the power to freeze practically everything she touches; she can make it snow or freeze almost at will. Almost. Because, truth be told, Elsa can barely control this power. That said, with the support of her parents she can keep her power in hand (haha see what I did there? Oh never mind...), until an unfortunate accident orphans her and her sister, forcing Elsa onto the throne. Elsa tries to keep everything under wraps, however the stress of the coronation brings the whole secret tumbling out and starts a chain of events that threatens the very existance of the kingdom… There is only one person who can stop it all – but can Anna, an eternal optimist who has grown up in practical isolation in the palace step up to the plate?

Frozen has been hailed as progressive and a big change for Disney’s general rules all over the internet and I will have to join my voice to the chorus up to a point. I mean true, the basic tropes do not change – the whole prince- princess deal, fairy tale endings and the fact that the structure of the story is so predictable that you can predict which attempt will fail and which will succeed with literally no prior knowledge of the script are all there. But let’s give the film it’s due, it has tried to do some things differently. And it seems to have succeeded.

One point that I have seen made time and time again is that only one princess ends up with a man. In fact she technically ends up with two at one point – making the rather original point (for Disney) that love is not as clear cut as “you meet someone, you fall in love and that’s it”. Not only that, but the handsome prince turns out to be the complete villain in the end. It is the rather more homely looking Kristoph who gets the girl when all is said and done – thus admonishing the trope that all good guys are automatically good looking. I mean, naturally both the princesses are stunning and Kristoph isn’t exactly a troll (even though he was raised by them) but hey… It’s a step in the right direction.

And then of course there is the matter of Elsa not having a beau. But then again, when you think about it, it isn’t so surprising. Not because of the rather obvious problems potentially caused by her uncontrolled powers either ; messages of true love surpassing all physical obstacles have been given under conditions that are more trying than these.  It was only when I was reading Disney’s “behind the scenes” snippets of the film when I realised that I put two and two together. Elsa is in fact the result of years of head scratching and wondering what to do with the actual Snow Queen in the fairy tale. I mean sure, you could make her your archetypal villain queen but Disney has an over-abundance of them and I mean look, it turns out they have been trying to make this film since the ‘40s for God’s sake they’re not going to wait 70 years just to do something they have done a million times over once again. The result? A very clever compromise and a way of making the film about sisterly love as opposed to romantic love. This too is part of a trend if you think about it – I mean Brave wasn’t about romantic love either, it was about mothers and daughters, I mean heck, romance didn’t even raise its head in Brave.  And I love the diversification of topics by the way. True it’s a rather small and conservative step (we have moved from spouses to family which isn’t exactly a gargantuan leap) but give it it’s due, we have moved. Better than nothing. But hang on, back to the matter of Elsa being single; you see where I’m coming from, right? I mean at the end of the day, in her origins Elsa is the villain – even though she is innocent in this version of the story – so we couldn’t really have her being rewarded just for learning to be good, right? Being good is the first step. If she is good for long enough, she will get a spouse. Anna has been good. She has been trapped in the palace for most of her life (Rapunzel anyone?) and yet kept her pure heart (and her sanity by the way. I mean excuse the spoiler but if I had lived the life Anna lived, I would have been either a psychopath or a gibbering idiot by 12. That said, her first social contact in decades and she is merely slightly awkward… Oh Disney…) and she even overcomes obstacles and makes sacrifices to save her sister. So she gets her reward.

Soo… Yeah. This IS, in fact a typical Disney film in a lot of ways. I mean fair enough, steps have been taken in all the right directions, but they are rather small steps. Still, as I have said before in this same post, they are steps. We have moved. And we can’t expect messages that are so entrenched and have proved such successful sales tools to change overnight. Basically, if you like Disney, you’ll like this. If you don’t, mark my words, you’ll still find the songs catchy. The film got the Oscar® for Best Music for a reason J

A TIMELESS PIECE OF HISTORY : "THE JAZZ SINGER"

Now,  the reason I took this film up in the first place was the fact that it has historical significance. This film, ladies and gents, is the first feature-length film with synchronised sound sequences in it. The year was 1927 and this was not the first attempt at sound film, in fact many shorts already exited, but the whole “talkies” thing didn’t catch on. I know, very hard to believe, but true. When the Warner brothers first agreed to take on this film in their studio, everyone was pretty sure they were heading for rack and ruin. Instead, they went down in history as some of the great innovators. Because The Jazz Singer (a film that has, incidentally, spawned many remakes) did not flop and vanish. It went down in history.

The story is that of Jack Robin (portrayed by Al Jolson) , a young man with a passion for jazz who was born to a very conservative Jewish family. Our hero is given a choice between his home and his passion for jazz by his stern father – the cantor for his local community and thus thoroughly disapproving of Jack’s taste in music. Jack chooses jazz. And his career takes a meteoric rise. However, just as he is about to reach the pinnacle of his career, the fork in the road presents itself again. With a chance to redeem himself and patch things up with his father on one hand and the “big break” he has been working so hard towards on the other, what will Jack choose? You will have to watch and find out…

Now, the particular version of the film I watched was the 80^th year anniversary version that includes a lot of documentaries, extras and comments on the film and generally sound and film. As a side note, find this version if you can, because the extras are so good –and there are SO many – that if you have the choice, it would be a shame to miss them. One of the comments in the documentary was the fact that it was amazing that Al Jolson, from all that time ago, was right there, on stage, entertaining people from the 21^st century. Now, you may be prejudiced by the fact that the film is quite old fashioned in many ways. Not least in that it is still, mostly a silent film. The musical numbers and snippets of dialogue are in synchronised sound but the rest is silent. And then you might think, well, the topic is all very quaint and nice. You might think it’s going to be old fashioned. And boring. And then you might just leave it on the shelf. That would be a mistake in my view. I mean, the musical numbers alone are just so brilliant, despite the almost 90 years time difference you cannot help but enjoy Jolson singing numbers like Blue Skies and, on the other end of the spectrum, Kol Nidre is a sight to be seen. And when we watch him on the scene, he truly entertains us. I mean honestly, I love it. If he had a live show somewhere I would go see it. True, there are some slightly racist quips in there in the shape as a performance as a black and white minstrel. But I think this should be taken in the spirit of the time and as pure entertainment value with nothing too serious attached.

In short, I personally think, as a movie  buff, you should watch it. It’s film history. It’s one of those films you simply have to have seen. And do you know something? I can almost guarantee you will be pleasantly surprised at how much you enjoy it…

POSSIBLY MY IDEA OF A PERFECT FILM : I GIVE YOU KING "CRY BABY"

  I try to be professional while I write this blog. This may seem strange as I am actually doing this for pleasure not work. But still, standards must be kept up and all that, and I try and be objective and honest and all that when I review films. Like everyone, however, I have my Achilles heel. I don’t admit this too often, but those who know me know this well. If Johnny Depp is in it, the chances are I am probably going to love this film. No matter what the rest of the technical qualities. I mean, I will notice the rest of the film. I will bear whatever is wrong with it in mind when I talk about it. But I will also like it. For Johnny’s sake. *sigh*.

But into all that comes a film like Cry Baby. Ladies and gentlemen, you would be very hard pressed to squeeze more things I like into a single movie. It’s a musical. It’s a ‘50s musical. It has ‘50s music in it (in case you hadn’t made the connection). It has Johnny Depp in it. It has absurd comedy and kitch coming out of its ears. I am well aware that film critics everywhere may not necessarily agree with me but I just may have discovered perfection dear readers. In my universe, anyway.

So what is Cry Baby about? Well, we’re in Baltimore, the ‘50s. And the town can be roughly divided into territories of two gangs. One, the Squares, the “goodie two shoes”, who have the full support of the adults and the “Drapes” aka the juvenile delinquents (these are all real gangs by the way and based on the memories of writer and director John Waters but I’ll get to that in just a second). The head of the Drapes gang is Wade Walker, better known as Cry Baby, who can sing and croon like Elvis himself and can make the girls swoon with his ability to shed a single tear. Love, however, knows no boundaries and one day, he falls for a girl. The girl – Allison - happens to be very “high up” in the Squares gang. However, she is actually “sick of being good” and Cry Baby has a heart of gold for all his bravado and showing off and with a bit of a “bad girl makeover” Allison is soon the “queen” on Cry-baby’s arm. However, the small town, Allison’s ex-boyfriend and the “system” are determined to keep the lovers apart. Will they overcome the obstacles and get together in the end?

I love this film because it doesn’t put on airs and graces. It doesn’t take itself too seriously. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a serious (and successful) effort at making a brilliant film. But at the end of the day it is a fifty’s film full of fifty’s stuff that may well look like kitch to us today. Frankly, the film really, really doesn’t care. John Walker grew up in Baltimore where the Drapes (the real ones) and all their escapades ruled the headlines. Like all respectable kids growing up, he really wanted to be a Drape. Whether he succeeded or not (I got the impression not from the interview but who knows), he has put that whole era well, truly and completely into the film. And the comedy. The absurd comedy, oh my God. I know that both musicals and absurd comedy are acquired tastes more than anything else, but for those who like them, this film offers perfection, be it through the music or the performances. Johnny Depp is gorgeous as Cry-Baby and my other favourite in the film is without a shadow of a doubt Iggy Pop who stars as his “step-grandfather”. I’ll let you discover for yourself how that works out J

Now, if you’re going to feel all self-conscious and weird because you’re not watching the next “cool and hip thing” give this a miss. But if you’re not pre-occupied with “cool and hip” and want to really let rip, and I mean toe-tapping, guffawing and actually applauding the screen, this is the one. Plus it has Johnny Depp. I mean, come on, this is a proposition you just can’t refuse… Right? 

DON’T DREAM IT – BE IT! WITH THE "ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW!"

I’m sure the title has caused a lot of you no little confusion on a lot of counts. The older among you will exclaim – “But that was a musical – surely they haven’t made a FILM of it – that’s BLASPHEMY!” And the younger among you will say “Rocky WHO?” Ok, let’s recap and begin at the beginning. In the United Kingdom, in 1973, there was a musical. It spoke openly of sex and sexual awakening (which was not usual for the 70’s) and also caused no little controversy because one of the protagonists (Dr. Frank N. Furter – now most definitely my FAVORITE any kind of character of all times) is a transsexual . In platform shoes. Underwear. Suspenders. Makeup. The works. Kids broke out of their family homes and collected pocket money for weeks to go and see it. Parents strongly disapproved and worried – but with most things of this genre, could do nothing about it to prevent it spreading like a wildfire. In the mid 70’s, seeing the success of the musical, the company decided to turn it into a “motion picture”. Starring big names like Susan Sarandon (Good LORD she is young. I barely recognized her!) the one and only Tim Curry (the original Dr. Frank N. Furter from the musical) and rock singer Meatloaf (of all people). Now, I knew shamefully little about this. I knew sex featured heavily. That it was considered the granddaddy (or grandmommy?!) of absurd comedy. That it was probably a musical. That was it. I saw the DVD on discount in the foreign land I was travelling in last week and picked it up. I did not speak the language of this land and therefore only got to learn the story by watching the damn thing. It turned out to be the best purchase I have made. Like, ever.
However, I guess you lot want to have a touch more forewarning about what you are going to watch and its topic so I will now proceed to give you a short summary. Meet Brad (Barry Bostwick) and Janet (Susan Sarandon). They are you’re a-typical engaged couple of the late 60’s – early 70’s. Very “good” no “heavy petting” nothing “unusual”. They are going through life “the normal way” and are preparing to go through life pretty much on the same route - until they get a flat tire one night when they are in the middle of nowhere. Well, it isn’t exactly the middle of nowhere, there’s a rather spooky looking castle in the middle of that particular slice of nowhere. Janet is scared but Brad is reasonable. The castle may have a phone that will allow them to call civilization for help. The castle, however, is no ordinary castle. Its master is Dr. Frank N. Furter – and he has plans for our couple. And neither telephones nor returning to the car is included in these plans…
Now, first and foremost, don’t even go near this DVD if you hate musicals, disapprove of comedy of a sexual nature or think that 70’s movies are lame and absurd comedy is pointless. Just forget I mentioned it and move on to the next post. If, on the other hand, you are not one of the above, get this DVD by hook or by crook. Even if you have watched the musical, the particular edition I have includes such delightful extras as a “participation prompter” – where you are advised as to how you can participate in the musical as you watch (it’s not complicated and you don’t necessarily need a prompter. For instance, in the middle of writing this, for a distraction, (I have a migraine as I write this so I can only stare at the screen and concentrate on it for short periods of time) I slapped the DVD on and did the “Time Warp” round the room. No prompter used, just common sense. Well, when I say common sense…) Or, if you would rather see the reactions of others, you can listen to the reactions of an audience of veterans (I’m guessing fan-club members) singing along to it – it makes for a PRICELESS experience. Even the DVD menus are hilarious. Curious? Then “go up to the lab and see what’s on the slab!”

P.S. For those who are now “full on Frankie fans” here’s the link to the fan club website. I’m definitely signing up. Like, seriously… Oh and by the way on the same website you can purchase tickets for the musical itself in various countries... Check it out! :D