JUST TRYING TO SURVIVE "THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING"

I was worried about this film. I really was. Not because I thought it would turn out bad, on the contrary, I was rather afraid it would turn out very good. If you don’t know what I mean, you haven’t read the book. Those who have will understand why three hours of one of the most depressing books known to man, re-enacted by an all-star cast would seem a tad bit daunting. I was literally afraid of being pushed to depression. I am so very glad I watched it in the end; it was such a cinematic experience. I do need a cuddle though. And about six large boxes of chocolate.

The unbearable lightness of being is the story of Tomas (Daniel Day Lewis). And Tomas’ life is inextricably entwined with the lives of Teresa (Juliette Binoche) and Sabina (Lena Olin). Tomas is a brain surgeon living in Czechoslovakia in the 1960’s. When our story opens, he has a successful career that is rivalled only by his success with the ladies. But despite his steady string of girlfriends in the background he always comes back to his intensely sexual and passionate relationship with Sabina. This changes slightly (but only slightly) when Tomas runs into the naïve, childlike Teresa. She is very much a country bumpkin and embodies everything the women around Tomas have lost, such as purity and illusions. Tomas falls madly in love with her; they get married in a matter of months.  However one thing in Tomas’ life does not change. Even married, he still continues to return to Sabina, much to the distress of Teresa. But this is not the beginning of the woes of the couple as soon the USSR invades Czechoslovakia and a truly brave new world begins to unfold all around the country, the couple – and Sabina – barely escape Prague with their lives. But now there is a new problem. Now, apart from the fact that Tomas finds live so very “light” and can only live by drifting along and breaking hearts no matter how much he would love something to tie him down, the couple have been cut loose from every single root they ever had in their home country. It is a point of no return, and there is nothing on earth that can fix those teares, even returning to Prague…

I don’t quit know where to begin with this one. I’ll start with what I thought was the best about it; Juliette Binoche STEALS the show for me. I think she is BRILLIANT as Teresa. I really think she came into her own here, personally I never was that big of a fan of hers before. But no longer. She is a wonderful contrast with Lena Olin who is point perfect as the deeply passionate Sabina who is every inch a woman. My Mom will be disappointed to hear this but I had considerable trouble warming to Daniel Day Lewis as Tomas. It was only when I was actually writing these lines that I realised; that actually shows exactly how good Daniel Day Lewis was in this role. The whole point of Tomas is, after all, that he cannot be “attached to” as he is in a constant mode of detached floating, unable to connect. And quite beautifully, the two women could not be more different one from the other, but neither of them can truly “catch” Tomas. Some might argue that Teresa succeeds in a way, as they do end up married for the duration of the film, but ask yourself this. If Sabina had not “taken things into her own hands” towards the middle of the film (bending over backwards not to give spoilers away here) what would have changed in that triangle? Categorically nothing. Which is, possibly, the whole point of the film. It is, I think, the story is trying to draw a portrait of humanity among other things. Humans, their heads full of dreams of being settled and “settling” for something but constantly unable to do so and constantly being “acted upon” rather than being active in their own lives. Buffeted by other people, political systems and events. Just drifting – unable to set down roots… The difference of this story from a lot of others of its kind is that it doesn’t portray Tomas suddenly transforming into the active hero we want him to be deep down, if only so at least one of the women can find contentment and happiness  (I defy to be able to sympathise with just one of the women by the way). But Tomas ends up being buffeted around from pillar to post and then… Well I’ll let you discover what then, but suffice to say, he doesn’t turn into a shiny, polished Hollywood hero. Thank God.

And lastly of course, the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. A particularly fascinating point in this particular work of art as it is based on the personal, first-hand observations of Milan Kundera, the writer of the book. Of course a book and a film are very difficult to compare as far as style goes, but I felt the film gave a very artistic, very brilliant rendition of the invasion, using various different mediums including Teresa’s photography (oh the nostalgia in me when I saw her old camera!) and black and white footage, not actual documentary footage of course but shot in the same style, giving it a further air of authenticity.

Life is, at the end of the day, about going places. Not always physically but also as a person, or simply exploring different sides of your own personality. This film will definitely “take you places”. You may not necessarily like every single place you end up in… But well… That’s life for you.  

ARE YOU READY TO PAY THE PRICE OF POWER? : "THERE WILL BE BLOOD"

I have no idea why I waited so long to review this film. I distinctly remember loving it the first time I saw it. What I then should have done is review the darn thing ASAP while all the details were fresh in my mind. This is important because the film is round about 2,5 hours long. Well, no matter, I’m doing it now – better late than never and all that jazz. Because, seriously, you need to know about this film. Don’t even let the fact that it is 2,5 hours long bother you. Even if you’re a purist, like me, in the sense that you have to watch something from beginning to end without leaving any for next day, it goes quickly. And stop sniggering, no I do not have OCD. I have principles. Not the same thing at all…

My Mom’s favourite actor Daniel Day Lewis stars as Daniel Plainview, a prospector living at the turn of the 19^th century. Daniel has a single, solitary passion in life: power. Power and riches. And he will stop at literally nothing to achieve it. Whether it takes back-breaking manual labour or manipulation of his own son, show Daniel the way to power, he will go for it. This is why he reckons it’s his lucky day when, quite out of the blue, a young man appears on his doorstep informing him of a large quantity of oil on his family ranch – and demanding only a measly sum of money for the information. Mr Plainview and co find themselves in a small town in rural California, a town that both progress and good fortune seem to have passed by. At first, all seems to go well for Mr Plainview, he is a rich prospector with a reputation, and buying land relatively cheaply from the impoverished villagers is easy. However, the more he stays, the more Mr Plainview begins to be confronted with problems and foes he cannot buy his way away from. And the most notable of all these will in time become his nemesis: the charismatic evangelical preacher Eli Sunday (Paul Dano) who has a bone to pick with Daniel – and I don’t just mean on the ethical front…

There are so many things I love about this film I barely know where to begin. First of all – conversely you might think – the length. Now, it is quite common to set films over a period of time, years, and decades even. However, as this period cannot realistically be portrayed in real time, it is common practice to “imply” the passage of time. The film is usually around 1.5 hours to 2 hours long, so the events are “condensed” accordingly. Now, in this little (well, maybe not so little) masterpiece, what director Paul Thomas Anderson does is concentrate on a few key events and really draw them out in a way that allows us to see the details in these key events. None of your Hollywood style quick exchanges or “superfluous” events to provide insight into the characters here. You watch lives and events unfold at as realistic a pace as cinema technology of today will allow. This is great on many levels, not least because it really, really lets you get to know our two main characters, Daniel Plainview and Eli Sunday. Neither of these men are particularly likable, however, as you get to know them in depth you begin to, if not sympathise, see where they’re coming from too. And that you see is a clear sign of good character construction, more specifically the construction of a good villain. The key is, no one is just evil. That would make a flat, two-dimensional character and nothing more. Here, Daniel Plainview and Eli Sunday are so real, you almost believe they exist. Speaking of believing people exist, I want to address this fact that Paul Dano has been, apparently, criticised about his performance in this film. Can someone please explain what is supposed to be wrong with it, because I can’t find a single flaw. I mean yes, if you expect him to act like a “typical” preacher, you will be disappointed – especially if you expect him to do so in all areas of his life. But what is typical anyway? And the whole point is that, despite being a man of the cloth, he is just as bad as Daniel Plainview in so many ways… Which is specifically why the two have so much trouble getting along. As for Daniel Day Lewis, he makes a wonderful villain and his performance is as astounding as always. Writing a  complex character like Daniel Plainview is hard enough in itself, on top of that, you need the acting talent to actually pull it off and Daniel Day Lewis is more than up to the task.

Be warned, this film will leave you feeling as if you have been hit by a freight train. In a good way though. I mean come on, I live for that “freight train” feeling I sometimes get after watching a film and it seems to me it’s getting a rarer and rarer occurrence these day – but anyway. That’s the topic of another article I guess… In the meanwhile, do watch this. It’s a real cracker. 

THE PAST OF A NATION - AND A GREAT MAN - EXAMINED : "LINCOLN"

Ok this is another film that is going to get talked about a lot. I mean, it already is. It did quite well at the Golden Globes, it got a slew of nominations for the Oscars® and if the Golden Globes are anything to by (and it is no industry secret that they often are), Lincoln is set to do well there as well. Now, we already know that this is a Spielberg biopic, which, in itself, gives away quite a bit. But let’s get the lowdown on this three-hour long epic shall we? (By the way, what IS it with the length of films these days? Nothing under 2, 5 hours long! I mean, mostly the quality is quite high so the length is not, in itself, an issue but still, I’m curious. Films used to be a lot shorter in the past, even when technical developments allowed for much longer films. Now, when our attention spans are supposed to be getting shorter, films are getting longer and longer. There’s a thesis for a researcher or three in there somewhere…). Ok, I’ve done another one of my mile-long parenthesis. But bear with me; I’m getting to the point. In fact, this was not intentional, but it is kinda fitting that I went down a bit of detour here. Because one of the main “things” about Lincoln is that it is verbose. Very  verbose. But I’ll get to that in just a sec. Let’s briefly hear the story first.

This biography of Abraham Lincoln (Daniel Day Lewis), takes up the story of the great politician’s life in 1865. Lincoln has two very important matters on his hands. The greatest without any shadow of a doubt is the Civil War. One thing is clear however, the war seems to be inexorably winding to a close. Lincoln is more than happy that the North seems to be winning. And with people dying in their thousands, peace could surely not come soon enough. The only thing is, Lincoln has a second issue on his mind that he is desperately trying to balance with peace with the south. For a while now, Lincoln’s main political aim has been to end slavery. However, he must bring the amendment to the attention of the senate and be sure to pass it before the southern states join if he is to have any hope of success. The economy of the southern states depends largely on slave labour, meaning that they would, almost to a man, block this amendment. Lincoln has a race against time on his hands if he wants to get this historic amendment through. On the one side, there is the hope of an early peace and saving thousands of lives. On the other, there is the chance to end slavery, which brings hope of much greater things in terms of ethics, lives and quality of lives. And then of course, there is the possibility of the amendment being rejected anyway, as the representatives are far from unanimous in their support of it. Lincoln deals with this crisis within his conscience with the aid of such historical figures such as William Seward (David Strathairn) and Thaddeus Stevens (Tommy Lee Jones) with truly historical consequences…

First up, hats off to Spielberg. This is an epic of quality and grandeur to suit a great man such as Abraham Lincoln and the historical changes he wrought in American history. The cast, full to the brim as we mostly know by now with big name stars (Joseph Gordon Levitt, Sally Field and Hal Holbrook among those who I couldn’t work into the synopsis) , present us with a true feast when it comes to acting. And for those, like me, who have very limited knowledge of American history, especially this period in American history, the film is easy to follow. The explanations given by the characters are clear and easily fitted into the storyline. And to be fair, seeing that the main part of the story takes place in parliament and amongst politicians, there are plenty of opportunities to make the discussion clear, so all levels of knowledge can follow and gain something. But of course this comes at a price. This tendency, coupled with the nature of the story, as detailed just now, means there is a lot of talking. And I mean A LOT of talking. There are, as I said, detailed explanations on what is going on, and even though my levels of concentration are definitely average if not slightly above, even I had to rewind, and/or check out a few facts online from time to time. You might, thus find it a tad hard to get into the pace of the film if you are a fan of less talking and more action, as it were. But once you “get” the storyline and adapt to the pace, this film will prove a wonderful lesson in a historical event in history. And I defy you not to get excited about the whole thing at the end, even though history tells us what happened as clear as day… 

A TOUCH OF POLITICS WITH "THE BOXER"

The troubles. Do you remember what they were, readers? We don’t see them so much in the news these days as thank God those days are pretty much behind them in Ireland, but there was a time when the news bulletins every day were pretty much bound to contain some bombing or retaliation by or to the IRA. We have, naturally, had a lot of films about these bad times. And the political side of it is of course vital in understanding the problem. It is also interesting however to have films about the human consequences of these political uprisings. The Boxer is not, of course, the only one of its kind; it is however one of the better examples. Well, some combinations are just known to produce good results. Like pasta and cheese. Or coffee and chocolate. Or Jim Sheridan and Daniel Day Lewis.
Danny “Boy” Flynn (Daniel Day Lewis) used to be a professional boxer in East Belfast. But like a lot of young man in his gym, he threw in his lot with the IRA. He was one of the luckier ones in the sense that he was not killed, but he was sent to jail. When he is released 14 years later on good behavior, no one quite knows where he stands. Because although he has been true to the cause inside, in that he refused point blank to name names, he completely ignored the other IRA prisoners too. All he seemed to be interested when inside is keeping fit and keeping up his boxing, when he gets out all he seems interested in is building up the old gym, starting boxing again and hopefully turn the (already non-sectarian) gym into a place where Protestants and Catholics alike can come together and enjoy the sport. He also has another agenda: getting back with his former girlfriend (Ellen Watson). This however, will be tougher than it seems as she is now married, a mother of one and the wife of a political prisoner. Danny Boy Flynn however, is not going to give up on any of his dreams without a fight.
Danny Boy Flynn is a fascinating character in this story. He is in the strange position of being caught up between his heart and his heart. He believes in the IRA, that’s why he joined and that’s why he never gave anyone up for a cushier deal. He is, however, above and beyond anything, a boxer. And that’s really all he wants to do in life, box. Faced with endless time to think in prison, he decides that when he gets out, his heart will rule above and beyond anything. So no matter how impossible a task it seems ( the gym has gone to rack and ruin, most of the previous boxers are dead and his former trainer, now an alcoholic lives on the streets) he gives it his all. Then there is the matter of ??. She is married, and they live in a Catholic community making adultery a dangerous thing anyway; there is the added danger stemming from the fact that her wife is in jail for the IRA. And the prisoner’s wives are supposed to be above reproach in every way. Especially if they also happen to be the daughters of high-ranking IRA members. Daniel Day Lewis is brilliant as Danny Flynn; slightly awkward socially when he gets out of prison, not very good at communicating and slightly bewildered by the world outside, but at the same time doggedly determined. He is just as passionate as some of the others portrayed, who are a lot more vociferous about their beliefs and opinions, but unlike them he has a quiet determination that carries him far. Whether this is enough however, is something you will have to discover for yourselves…