AN AWARD WINNING DISCUSSION OF AN EVER PRESENT QUESTION... "DEAD MAN WALKING"

I love digging up obscure gems. You know, the type people haven’t quite heard of, with very little but instinct to recommend it to you. The subject matter for this one is close to my heart so that alone attracted me – mainly out of curiosity as to how the topic was handled. Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn are also pretty darn close to my heart. It was like slipping on a comfortable pair of tracksuit bottoms really. I knew it was going to be nice and comfy from the start – and oh yes, I was right…

Susan Sarandon stars as Helen Prejan, the nun who wrote the true story of the time she spent as the spiritual advisor, and in time, friend of convicted murderer Matthew Poncelet (Sean Penn). Poncelet is on death row. More specifically, he is on death row in Texas, so he stands even less of a chance of knocking his sentence back down to life imprisonment. But he lacks the funds and the expertise so he reaches out to Helen Prejan, almost completely by coincidence and so starts a life altering experience for both of them. Helen’s aim as a Christian and his spiritual advisor should be to get Matthew to take sacrament but Helen is aiming for something a little higher than mere form. Matthew is someone she considers a friend, and she has mere days to get him to truly accept and take responsibility for his actions and their consequences…

I pretty much knew what the film was the moment Helen and Matthew had their first meeting at the prison. I don’t mean this as a bad thing; it’s good that a film has an agenda and sticks to it. It just mean that the film was possibly a little less striking for me because I had seen others, others I had considered better for different reasons. What the film is, is essentially the argument against capital punishment – an argument that I fully support by the way. I say I found the film less striking than others, what I am in essence talking about it Wes Anderson’s Into the Abyss. The only difference with this film is that the arguments are slightly veiled and put to us via the now familiar faces of Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn. It is not an unbalanced story; Poncelet’s victims get equal airtime. Through Prejan’s painful encounters with the parents of the young couple Poncelet and his accomplice raped and murdered we are painfully reminded that Poncelet is there for a reason. I was especially fond of the portrayal of the male victim’s father. While the girl’s parents are slightly more along the “classic” Texans one may imagine in this case – baying for Poncelet’s blood – Mr Delacroix is more complicated. He does not forgive Poncelet and he definitely wants him to be executed but… I guess this is a good way of showing that even through one of the greatest pains in the world the issue of capital punishment is confusing.

The way Poncelet is portrayed is basically used to underline how he is dehumanised. We never see him in his cell, like Sister Helen we only see him in the visiting area of the prison and in court. Camerawork is used to put Poncelet in the middle of a cold, lonely, dehumanising landscape; especially poignant at the family visit preceding his execution where he is chained to a chair and must converse with his family “from a safe distance”. He is not even allowed to hug his mother farewell. Sister Prejan uses nothing but words to reach out to him but arguably manages to do touch him more than all the dehumanising the prison system does. Some may argue what she does falls largely in the “too little, too late” category but I don’t know really…. I think we are almost definitely on this earth to learn and grow, and if Poncelet was able to do that right down to the last minutes of his life is this a bad thing or a good thing?

Although this is clearly not a documentary, the fact that the film feeds off real events comes through well in this film. In fact Sister Prejan’s “enquiries” to the prison guards about the whole system almost tangs of rather stilted public information films (although this is not to question Sarandon’s acting – fully deserving all the accolades she got for her performance in this film). And its reality renders the film truly heart-wrenching. It goes out of its way to make of Poncelet a very realistic villain; not a “monster” or a inhuman cartoonesque killer but a poor, uneducated young man who went astray. And the parents are real too in their suffering and confusion. But don’t let their pain cloud you into thinking that Poncelet deserves to die. The real question is, is inflicting the same pain on another mother really the solution?

Don’t write Dead Man Walking off as just another soppy movie. It presents a very cleverly constructed argument with some first class acting. It will push you to think. And feel. And if that’s not what you want from a film, I really don’t know how to help you… 

TIME TO HIT THE ROAD WITH STYLE: "THELMA AND LOUISE"

Well, as you guys know by now, I am not a major fan of going through the big classics here on this blog. I mean, especially if we’re talking about “those” films, you know, that we all agree are unequivocally brilliant. But still, I do get back to this category from time to time. Because well, you never know, I saw a lot of the “big” classics quite late in life, maybe you’re in the same boat. Maybe you just never got round to it. Better late than never and all that jazz. So here, for your delectation is Thelma and Louise. The road movie of road movies. At the very beginning of the story, Thelma and Louise could just as well have gone absolutely nowhere. Thelma (Geena Davis) is a stay-at home wife with a rather horrible husband who harasses her and probably cheats on her. Louise, her friend, (Susan Sarandon) works as a waitress in a diner, has a long-term boyfriend but is a more independent spirit than Thelma. All the two women want is to have a girl’s weekend at a cabin they have borrowed from a friend of Louise. And things would have gone a lot smoother if Thelma had actually found the courage to ask her husband – not that he would have agreed. The end result is that when the two women drive off, Thelma has left a note taped to the microwave and they are both feeling in a very “giddy” mood, up for having some fun. The trouble is – without giving too much away – that the fun turns nasty pretty quickly and their holiday risks turning into a nightmare. They have to look deep within themselves and find unplumbed depths to both themselves and their friendship if they can ever hope to turn things around. Ok, to be fair, the director Ridley Scott is known for a rather different kind of film. You know, he is the man of epic adventures; he brought us “raaaah” moments like in Gladiator or serious, though-provoking sci-fi with Blade Runner. This is also, in a sense, an epic adventure but on a completely different scale. I was flipping through the interview the director has in the leaflet of my version of the film and Scott points out that rarely are the scripts he works on so “character based”. It is true actually. Usually Scott’s characters are, in one way or another, part of the bigger whole. True, they may be standing up to it or something but I mean, take Russell Crowe in Gladiator – the “model” soldier, standing up to the Roman Empire. Or Robin Hood – the model archer standing up to a corrupt monarch. I am not implying that all Scott’s films are the same by the way – though some do argue this - but, case in point, Thelma and Louise is different. I mean, there is the action / western in there. Really. There are shootouts, car chases all that kinda thing, the ones who have watched it know what I mean. But there is character based comedy as well. Both Sarandon and Davis are SO brilliant. I mean I have to say, the characters are a bit “type” y – there are ALWAYS two very different characters on the road movie, they are very disparate and a lot of the time one is very down to earth and organized and one is a little more scaty and “funny” – as are Thelma and Louise. But as the film progresses we see them both change and develop. And since both actresses are brilliant we see it happen realistically. We get to know them, we get to understand their backstories, why exactly they were / became this way. And the depth of character works very well for the messages the film gives about women and their situation back in the day - and we can discuss how much it has improved. But that is the topic of a whole new paper all together. In short, Scott uses some familiar tropes to make a fun and very watchable movie that also gives us some serious stuff to think about buried not to deep in the film. A definite must watch I’d say.

WAR AND SADNESS "IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH"

With 9 / 11 and the subsequent war in Iraq there are more and more films discussing the matter; giving the pros and the cons and the different ideas and opinions as to what is going on. In the valley of Elah is one of these films. I am actually doing my dissertation on war films by the way so over the course of the next couple of weeks you will be hearing about these films quite a bit. I may even do a week on them but more about that later. First let’s take a look at the film in hand. Hank Deerfield (Tommy Lee Jones – one of my favorite actors incidentally) has the misfortune of getting the call every parent who has a son or daughter in the armed forces dread: “your son is missing”. The irony of the situation being that the young man did not get lost on the battlefield but actually back in the United States, when they had just returned from the tour in Baghdad. An ex-serviceman himself, Deerfield is determined to figure out the full truth of what has happened to his son. With the help of Emily Sanders (Charlize Theron) Deerfield starts his own investigation in the face of the apathy of the institutions. First of all, as you may have guessed the story does contain some quite open political overtones and messages. I am not going to get into that – this blog was not set up for politics. So let’s concentrate on the film itself. And the film itself is quite something. First of all, the film is quite brilliant as a crime / murder mystery alone. I mean I grant you, having a single hero – Hank – who just happened to be a retired intelligence officer doing a better job than the entire police force by himself is a bit “old”. But the film does save this particular gimmick by making him a middle aged man with a lot of flaws in his character – he is in fact a rather difficult man all in all. Tommy Lee Jones’s rugged charisma fits the role very well and they go well together with Susan Sarandon who plays his wife. Although there are a few “types” among the characters, but what I really liked about them is the fact that none of them are perfect. And the flaws in their characters do not look slightly off, as they do in some films, some times a flaw is there simply because the writers reckoned the characters turned out too perfect. Here we have very real and realistic people portrayed – the benefits of having an Oscar® winning writer / director (Paul Haggis, director of Crash) on the crew I suppose =) In the valley of elah is, above and beyond everything, a look into the human psyche and the way it reacts under pressure. In the valley of elah is definitely up there in good company along with a series of war films that look at the states of mind and changes in character that occur in prolonged combat. And it is of course very sad and in bits rather hard to watch but definitely worth it. By the way, just found out that Tommy Lee Jones was actually nominated for an Academy award with this role. Well deserved says I.

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