ESSIE SPEAKS OF THE MYTHICAL ORIENT

Hey there folks!

Ok, so on the minus side (is there such a side? I guess there is...) it's a bit of a short update this week... I'm sorry about that. It happens sometimes (a little too frequently these days) but there you go. It's not a permanent change of attitude, that I promise.

On the plus side though, I've got some serious stuff for you. Like, concentrated. Stuff that's going to take a while to fully and truly sink in. So maybe it's a good thing there are only two this week. Be it based on reality or imagination these two little oriental pearls are going to knock you breathless. I hope yo enjoy...

happy viewing,
Essie

A SCARY VISION OF THE FUTURE : "NEVER LET ME GO"

I want to get one thing out of the way straight off the bat; neither the characters nor the setting in this film (and the book it was based on) have anything whatsoever to do with the orient. It was written, however by Kazuo Ishiguro, Japanese writer of great renown and Booker prize winner (for his acclaimed novel Remains Of The Day). It is something in the way the whole book is written that makes me put the film in the “mythical orient”; it is not so much something concrete but an emotion, something in the air, in its whole state of being. Plus, as you know, the Japanese are the masters of sci-fi and things like alternative futures and dystopias; so just based on the subject matter, I think Never Let Me Go is in the right category…
Imagine a world were cancer is a distant dream. Human life expectancy is now in the low three-figure digits, sickness and pain are all but eradicated. Sounds like paradise? It may be for some… But for all the other people on the planet to benefit from these great advances, some must suffer, they must die very young, and get no more than a look into the wonderful things life has to offer… Never let me go is the stories of these people in this dystopia; we follow their lives, loves, dreams and ultimately their deaths as we are faced with some ethical and moral questions that we very well may need to ask ourselves if not now, sometime in the not terribly distant future…
I don’t want to give too much of the story away. The one problem I had with the film was that it spared the viewer the emotional impact of “realization” (You will have noticed that I have obviously concealed something from you in the previous paragraph). The book starts like a completely different genre; a period piece. You have an inkling something is not as it should be and the truth is not openly uttered until the middle of the book. Until that point you only have hints and clues and a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach coupled with the phrase “It couldn’t be… Could it?” Now, fair is fair, it would be tough to give that kind of suspense and surprise in a film… So what the film does is just cut to the chase straight off the bat and take the story from there. Within five minutes you will have a good idea what the second rather murky paragraph was all about. And I simply have to comment the genius and originality of the Kazuo Ishiguro’s story; it is one of those topics that we push to the backs of our minds now, but they are there, sitting waiting… We very well may have to face up to them some day. The things I’m talking about are not pleasant; but then again adult life sometimes has very little to do with what you find pleasant and what you don’t…
Artistically the film was good. Even though for me personally the brilliance of the book overshadowed the film slightly, I can’t actually fault the film either. The young cast made up of Keira Knightly, Andrew Garfield (The Social Network, The Imaginarium of Docor Parnassus) and Carey Mulligan (An Education) are faultless in their performances. Never Let Me Go takes place in an alternative reality very similar to yet completely distinct from our own and I have to say that the air of eeriness and “something is not quite right” is well rendered. My only criticism would be that – and I do admit I may be a touch biased – the book struck me terribly and really affected me deeply. With the film, although it is intense in pieces the inevitable love story has been given a little more weight than in the novel and the “condition” of our heroes does not strike one as clearly as one might have expected… Nevertheless, even if it is the “light” version in comparison to the book you will be struck by it and it will give you a lot to think about… Yes indeed, medical advances can be scary things…

A SAD, TRUE STORY : "CITY OF LIFE AND DEATH"

I think it’s only fair to give you a heads up: this week’s fare is not a happy one. From what may or may not happen in the distant future, we skip to something that actually has happened; something tragic that not enough of us in the Western world know about. In 1937, the Japanese imperial army invaded China. And despite the disparity in sizes, the Japanese wiped the floor with the Chinese…
During the invasion some of the worse horrors of war imaginable were committed and City of Life and Death is the story of the invasion of the city of Nanking, where some of the worse of these horrors were witnessed. We follow the fates of two people, one is a Japanese soldier who, despite obeying his orders, is conscience-stricken by what he is witnessing and the second is Mr. Tang, the personal secretary of John Rabe, a Nazi businessman who works from the area during this period.
The aim of the film is a very noble one. It is to present, in all its bareness and horror the events during and after the invasion of Nanking. Dismissing this film as yet another saga on the horrors of war and the evil man is capable of would be, to my mind, a mistake. As you watch the film you will realize – I did – that despite all these terrible events that took place I knew virtually nothing of them. And I feel that we owe it to the victims to take the time to stop and listen to the stories…
Cinematically speaking, I wouldn’t say that this is a good film. By this I mean that there is zero character development, we are confronted with certain types, certain characters we have to work out as we go along and if we don’t have specialist information on the matter we may (I did) struggle to work out certain points (questions like “Well who’s that then? What committee?” sprang forth quite regularly =) ). But you have to remember these are slightly beside the point when we consider the actual aim of this film. Even if we don’t have conventional character development we bear witness to some of the most horrific events we could imagine… The film is very difficult to watch and cannot help but touch your heart even though the methods it uses (again, cinematically) are slightly cliché…
This film, I felt, was a prime example demonstrating the importance of a good story. Of course in an ideal world you have a great story and some technical expertise to show different aspects of the story; but as long as the story is good, the latter isn’t an absolute obligation. Think of this film as a distant cousin of the documentary, then you should be alright. And definitely watch it with tissues close to hand; I cannot stress this enough, you would have to made of stone not to have tears in your eyes as you watch this one…

ESSIE SPEAKS OF SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE / MIXED BAG

Well hello there!

Winter has pretty much settled over this part of the hemisphere. Just the right time of the year, says I, to curl up infront of the televisison with a DVD, a blanket, possibly with the adition of a loved one and a glass of wine. The winter is long, long enough to get through quite a few movies so I have tried to include a large spectrum in this week's update. Something for everyone.

We have black-and white classics, epic Hollywood fare and slightly more experimental stuff, all down below, clamouring for your attention. Go see which piques your curiosity the most?

Happy viewing,
Essie

AN EPIC TO SWEEP YOU AWAY : "THE AVIATOR"

Okey dokey, we hadn’t had a good old “true story” for a while now (documentaries don’t count). And I hadn’t watched a Martin Scorsese film in a while. The main reason for the latter is that I have gone through pretty much everything he has filmed to the present day and watched it (at least once) with great gligany. I was overjoyed to see The Aviator priced at a mere 2 pounds sterling in a large supermarket chain in the U.K – so as you can see I haven’t abandoned my frugal habits! The time was ripe to watch it the other night and boy oh boy… Leonardo di Caprio and Martin Scorsese are well on the way to becoming one of those “classic duos” I reckon… I have great respect for Leonardo di Caprio. He started off with half the planet quite sure he was nothing more than a pretty face. Now, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone to refute the fact he is a damn fine actor. But I digress. Let us get stuck into the story of the aviator – Howard Hughes.
Howard Hughes (Leonardo di Caprio) was a young man in the ‘30s. He was a wealthy heir, inheriting large companies and a lot of money in Huston Texas at a very young age. A lot of people assumed he would continue the family business – drill bits – but Howard had other plans. There were two things in life he wanted to do: Build airplanes and make films. So, much to the surprise of his elders and betters, that is precisely what he channeled all the family fortune into. It seemed like a gamble, it seemed foolish, and a in fact Mr. Hughes skated on the borders of complete bankruptcy for most of his career. However, it turned out, that Howard Hughes had a flair for both. And this flair was so great, that the size of his success and his ventures began to attract the wrath of the stronger men in both industries. But these were not the only enemies Mr. Hughes had to deal with. He had many personal demons, very severe Obsessive Compulsive Disorder that worsened although his life almost crippling him towards the end of it, to battle as well… To the point that it becomes pretty clear that if one set of enemies don’t get him, the others definitely will… Or will they?
The thing I love about Martin Scorsese’s films is their grandeur. I figured this out last night as I watched The Aviator. And it has to be said, Howard Hughes was ALL about grandeur. I mean, really and honestly. His first epic picture Hell’s Angels was shot with a total of 26 cameras, nothing short of lunacy in his time, but he insisted, went as far as mortgaging companies to get the job done and even made a profit out of what Hollywood deemed to be an impossible film. He was by all accounts an impossible man to work for, but his personal life was constantly populated (over-populated by some accounts!) by some of the greatest and most striking names of the time, including Katherine Hepburn (Cate Blanchette) and Ava Gardner (Kate Beckinsale). His eccentricities were incredibly extreme – I’ll let you discover them as you watch the film itself – but the strength with which he battled them and then came up on top, “winning” over all his demons, be it in the business world or in his head, was equally incredible. So yes, it is a big film full of big emotions and Scorsese gives the film its due in a way few directors could. There is something innately satisfying about sitting down in front of a really big, epic movie and being swept away by it. Something cathartic you might say. This film is everything it promises to be, plus a fascinating true story to boot. Not to miss.

FOR THOSE WHO FANCY A BIT OF A CHALLANGE : "SEX, LIES AND VIDEOTAPE"

Ok folks, so here’s the deal. What we have right here is a historical film in its own right. Sex, lies and videotape not only made director Stephen Soderbergh’s career, it also put the Sundance film festival where it made its gala performance on the cultural map. I was shown a clip of this one in one of my classes and was intrigued by it. Naturally the clip was by no means enough to give one an appropriate idea of the film in general, but the taste it left in my mouth was pretty ok. So I hunted it out and watched it a couple of days later. The exercise was supposed to be purely educational; I meant to watch it with the lecture and my class notes still fresh in my mind. All I can say is, I am so glad I was feeling so enterprising…
Now, I know the title basically makes the thing sound like a cheap porn movie, but it’s actually pretty good at summing up the whole story. It is about sex, lies and videotape. John and Ann are in many ways your common or garden suburban couple. John is a lawyer, he is successful and a bit egocentric; he is also having a passionate affair (nothing unusual so far) with his extroverted and saucy sister in law Cynthia. Ann, his wife, is woman with problems. Although she is basically a very good person, she has serious problems with sex on many levels. This is linked to the problems in her marriage; but the relationship between the three of them is a lot more complicated than it first looks. Nevertheless, the little triangle carry on through day to day life somehow until Graham, an old college buddy of John’s moves to town and asks to stay with John and Ann for a couple of weeks. The thing nobody really knows about Graham is that he has problems of his own and he has embarked on a very personal project to work through them… As Cynthia, Ann and John also become a part of this project, all four lives and relationships will be changed forever…
I’m in a conundrum as I write about this film, I don’t want to give too much away, on the other hand it’s pretty hard to express the effect and the emotion contained in the film without giving stuff away. Sex is always a touchy issue isn’t it? I mean yes, we’re all very liberated, we talk about it so freely and all that these days, but even so when it comes to serious problems and hang-ups, it’s not that simple. Now kindly recall that this film was actually made 20 years ago, when talking about these things were even harder and there were many more social taboos. Soderbergh struck a blow right to the heart of yuppie culture, a typical, dysfunctional, suburban couple with the house and the car and the prestige and the problems that no one can bring themselves to speak about. He then presents a solution to the problem. It is an unorthodox solution, it is bizarre and since the consequence of it is that you end up facing yourself and your own fears it is not easy to implement but ultimately it is a solution and basically in the end almost everyone is happy. It is a very honest film that doesn’t pull its punches at all. When it was over I was so overcome by it, I had to throw myself out onto the doorstep with a completely unscheduled cigarette to pull myself together. But did I regret watching it? Heck no…

A REAL CLASSIC FOR THE CLASSICALLY MINDED : "THE BIG SLEEP"

Confession time. I have a major soft spot for the classics. You know what I’m talking about, black and white film, old world Hollywood glamour… I mean as you may have gathered by now I enjoy a lot of things cinematically speaking but nothing really beats settling down with an old favorite – preferably with a hot drink, something sweet to go with it and your other half or good friends nearby to share the experience – of an evening and just getting lost in the experience. This is what I did with The Big Sleep last night. I mean ok, technically I was alone in my dorm room but green tea was involved so I reckon that counts…
Those of you a little more involved in the history of films may know that The Big Sleep directed by Howard Hawks is pointed out in textbooks as one of the best examples of classic Hollywood cinema. And starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, really, how could the film be anything except brilliant? The good thing about these movies is that even if you have, technically, seen it a million times before, they’re still good. This one is no exception to that rule; Philip Marlowe (Humphrey Bogart) is a private eye based in L.A. He’s an ex-cop, kicked off the force for insubordination but brilliant at his work. One day a wealthy General hires him to get to the bottom of a blackmail case. But the deeper into the case he gets the more dead bodies seem to pile up. Plus, it seems that the General’s lovely daughter Vivian (Lauren Bacall) is also mixed up in this whole dastardly affair, making the whole affair deadlier and more dangerous than ever…
I must say, the film can’t be faulted on tension or acting. Bacall and Bogart are absolutely electric, and if you let your sympathies and your love of the genre get in the way of artistic temperament for a second you will see that the cuts that don’t quite match, the (by our standards) incredibly unrealistic backdrops and even the slightly stilted acting style that pervades the whole film (it was 1946 don’t forget) don’t matter at all. No sir, not one little bit. And to be fair, the film has quite a few redeeming features. For starters the story. Not only is it absolutely and mind-blowingly exciting, it is also sophisticated. And in places complicated. To the point that Bogart’s “in case you didn’t get that” explanations to random characters in the film actually come very welcome indeed. So if nothing else you will put some serious effort into following it. Then there is Bogart’s character who is charismatic (well when isn’t he), witty and always ready with a snappy answer, will undoubtedly regale you (and make you a might weak at the knees). As for the legendary Bacall – Bogart chemistry, all I can say children is that it is legendary for a reason. Yep, this is definitely good quality Saturday night entertainment. Keep for a rainy night; and enjoy!