365 Days, 100 Films #21 - Laputa - Castle in the Sky (1986)

Laputa - Castle in the Sky, 1986.

Written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki.
Featuring the voice talents of Anna Paquin, James Van Der Beek, Mark Hamill, Cloris Leachman and Jim Cummings.


SYNOPSIS:

A young boy and girl race against pirates and foreign agents in the search for a legendary floating castle.


People call Studio Ghibli the Eastern Walt Disney. I couldn’t say which people exactly, but that seems to be Wikipedia’s general consensus. That they make animated children’s films is the most obvious reason for comparison, but there’s something more intangible about the similarity. They both share a sense of ‘magic’. Cringe away.

Laputa – Castle in the Sky was the first film the studio released in 1986, which places it within the last classic age of Disney from Fox and the Hound (1980) to The Lion King (1994). To further show the two studios’ affinity, Disney currently holds the Studio Ghibli’s distribution rights in the west.

It follows the sprawling adventure of Sheeta and Pazu in the seas of the sky. Everyone is after Sheeta because she possesses something they all want – a strange stone held in a necklace, inherited it from her mother just before she died. The film opens with Sheeta under military protection, or rather, ‘imprisonment’. But the people in Laputa don’t travel by roads; they voyage on vast airships that surf the clouds as though they’re waves. They’re shaped like giant boats tweaked with wings and propellers to keep them in the air, with a gloss of steampunk seasoning.

The main delight is in the film’s mythology. It places you, along with Sheeta and Pazu, in the middle of a much grander story of which Laputa is merely a chapter. None of us know why the stone floats Sheeta gently down to the mine where Pazu works when she falls overboard from one of the ships, nor why it is so sought after. As their adventure develops, and they encounter other, more knowledgeable characters, the legacy of Laputa is slowly disclosed. Many centuries ago there were races of people who lived in floating cities of their own invention, the grandest of which being the castle of Laputa. In time, these sky people moved to the earth and their history was consigned to legend. Pazu’s father, a pilot, once saw Laputa half obscured by a torrent of windy clouds, but everyone thought him crazy when he spoke of it. Sheeta’s ties to the castle are a little stronger. Such an epic story, spanning thousands of years, invests you in an entirely different world full of its unique history and myth.

The secondary delight is the film’s quirk. It possesses a surreal sense of humour, and you should expect nothing less from a film so imaginative. Pay attention to the background because everyone has something to do. Henchmen struggle with the simplest of tasks whilst others bicker. Most trip or fall.

Perhaps a little too long overall, but Laputa has such a rich tapestry of story and background detail that it’s hard to complain.

Oli Davis

365 Days, 100 Films

Movie Review Archive

Hayao Miyazaki: Drawn to Anime

The Tree of Life takes the Palme D'Or at Cannes

The 64th annual Cannes Film Festival drew to a close yesterday as the jury announced their prizes for 2011, with Terrence Malick's divisive drama The Tree of Life taking the top award, the Palme D'Or. The film, which stars Brad Pitt and Sean Penn, was met with a mixed reaction of cheers and boos when it premiered earlier in the festival but the jury, which was headed up by legendary actor Robert De Niro, deemed it worthy of their most prestigious honour.

Take a look at the full list of honours below...

Palme D'Or - The Tree of Life (dir. Terrence Malick)

Grand Prix - Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (dir. Nuri Bilge Ceylan) and The Kid with a Bike (dir. Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne)

Prix de la mise en scène - Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive)

Prix du scénario - Footnote (dir. Joseph Cedar)

Jury Prize - Polisse (dir. Maïwenn Le Besco)

Prix d'interprétation féminine - Kirsten Dunst (Melancholia)

Prix d'interprétation masculine - Jean Dujardin (The Artist)

Camera d'Or - Las Acacias (dir. Pablo Giorgelli)

Be sure to check back later this week when we will be posting an in-depth article on the making of The Tree of Life.

DVD Review - Max Schmeling: Fist of the Reich (2010)

Max Schmeling: Fist of the Reich, 2010.

Directed by Uwe Boll.
Starring Henry Maske, Susanne Wuest, Heino Ferch, Vladimir Weigl and Yoan Pablo Hernández.


SYNOPSIS:

A biopic of the German boxer and heavyweight champion Max Schmeling.


Nazi Germany is a historical setting we are all familiar with. Films set within the Third Reich often have similarities; good natured people trying to help persecuted Jewish neighbours, informers, political intimidation, concentration camps and the striking red background of the swastika. Equally there are areas often overlooked. The boxing rings for example.

Max Schmeling is a German film directed by Uwe Boll which tells the story of one of the 20th century’s greatest boxers. He became world champion in the early 1930s, getting his big break by beating the title holder by default after an illegal “low blow” from his opponent. The film begins by following Max as a paratrooper for the German army in Crete, where everyone seems to know his name. During a conversation with a British prisoner he recalls how his fame started, flashing back to his regret at being denied the world championship outright. The rest of his career became a struggle to prove he deserved that title.

Schmeling wanted to prove himself outside of Germany as well as within it. He wanted to be the best in the world. He was already a national hero but he wanted to win other countries over with his ability. He frequently flew to America for huge matches at iconic venues such as Madison Square Garden. He was beginning to win admiration around the globe until his task became a lot harder with the rise of the Nazi party. As Germany’s image was soured so was Schmeling’s. One of the interesting themes in this film is that Schmeling saw himself as a boxer first and a German second. And that Nazism would simply pass as though it were an adolescent phase.

Hitler wanted Schmeling to be a symbol of the Aryan race and Germany’s might. As Schmeling sought to arrange fights with the formidable black American boxer Joe Louis, an opponent with an unbeaten record and extraordinary number of KOs that would enhance his boxing credentials should he somehow beat him, the Nazis tried to portray the clash as a battle between races and ideologies. Schmeling was naive in one sense but extremely brave in another, to carry on regardless of this manipulation and insist it was just a boxing match. Through his honour he simultaneously became a political pawn by refusing to recognise the wider significance, and rose above the Nazis by continuing with his dream.

So this film is an epic historical drama, encompassing wide areas of German life before and after the Nazis took power. We see both the glitz of the Weimar era and the race riots of Kristallnacht on the streets of Berlin, when Jewish shops and residents were viciously attacked. The period detail, particularly the costumes, and the variety of locations, are impressive. It is also a story of the rise of a sporting great, with Rocky-style montages as Schmeling trains for his big fights and moments of tactical deliberation. And there is a love story, when Schmeling meets his soul mate in actress Anny Ondra and manages to marry her.

The love story gives this film something extra. There are, as I said, a lot of stories set in Nazi Germany, often with romances, sometimes with sporting heroes trying to avoid the control of the regime. But this romance is particularly convincing. Henry Maske gives an Arnie-esque performance, as a simple man falling for a beautiful woman. And Susanne Wuest is believable as first a teasing woman suspicious of a brute pursuing her affections and finally an actress frightened by what the Nazis are doing to her profession.

A short but enlightening “Making of” feature on the DVD reveals the reason for the authenticity of this relationship on screen; Maske is not an actor but a boxer. Therefore, as Wuest puts it in an interview, we have a boxer playing a boxer and an actress playing an actress. Director Boll was impressed with Maske’s performance and put it down to his ability to effectively play himself, identifying with Schmeling to inhabit the character.

Overall this might not be the most original film experience but it is immensely enjoyable. All of its various elements are superbly executed, from the production standards to the acting, from the music to the exciting and raw boxing matches themselves. This feels like an incredibly real snapshot of history and it’s a story that deserves to be well told about a remarkable man.

Liam Trim (follow me on Twitter)

Movie Review Archive

Blu-ray Review - Buried (2010)

Buried, 2010.



Directed by Rodrigo Cortés.

Starring Ryan Reynolds.





SYNOPSIS:



An American contractor working in Iraq finds himself buried alive inside a coffin.





Being buried alive is up there with drowning and burning to death on the commonly accepted list of the worst ways to snuff it. Cinema has a long history of exploring and exploiting these fears for our viewing pleasure and pain. Certainly there are countless films about infernos or choking on salt water. There are classic scenes in tunnels with dust and dirt threatening to submerge our heroes. But never before has a film been quite so confined beneath the earth as Buried is.



Buried opens, after a slick titles sequence that gives the impression of descending through the soil, with a completely pitch black screen, affording me an opportunity to discover and enjoy high definition darkness. Paul Conroy, a civilian truck driver in Iraq, wakes up in a box below ground before our eyes in this nothingness. This is Buried’s only location, a wooden coffin. It therefore might not seem the best film to enjoy on Blu-Ray, as there are no luscious visuals and locales to gasp in wonder at. The ever so slightly sharper picture and sound quality does truly allow you to appreciate the astounding technical achievement of Buried though.



The textures of the sand and the splintered wood feel real enough to touch at such intimate proximity. Conroy’s face, along with all the varied expressions it shifts through, looks incredibly lifelike. The excellent soundtrack, along with Conroy’s rasping breathing, is crisp and clear. The flame from a lighter looks vivid and dazzling in the sparseness of the coffin.



And the additional special features that come with a Blu-Ray disc are worth a look for once. As Ryan Reynolds, who plays Conroy, says in an interview, realising such a concept from a good script was a feat of engineering as well as filmmaking. Director Rodrigo Cortes explains that seven different coffins, each used for different types of shots, were used to make the 90 minutes or so of film. The variety of camera angles and techniques is incredibly impressive, with Reynolds highlighting that unlike a lot of films the same shot was scarcely used twice here. Most of the shots are entirely realistic, placing you firmly in Conroy’s shoes, with just a couple of exceptions, zooming out and away from him to really emphasise his isolation and loneliness.



One of the crew members interviewed says that if Hitchcock were alive today this is the sort of thing he’d be doing. There is undoubtedly the sense that new ground is being broken, in terms of storytelling and filmmaking. The majority of mainstream releases these days are miles away from the level of audience immersion on show in Buried. Even on an ordinary TV screen in a comfortable living room you feel Conroy’s claustrophobia and live his rollercoaster of emotions. This is as much down to Reynolds’ captivating performance as the fine detail and execution of the production team.



Reynolds copes with everything the script asks of him with very little to work with. He takes us from panic to paranoia, from despair to determination and back again. He deals equally well with anger and heartbreak, often conveying an emotion simply through breathing or a look in his eye. He is helped by some good voice performances by those he interacts with on the phone, his one real lifeline, its battery constantly withering away. Particularly good is Brit hostage negotiator Dan Brenner, played by Robert Paterson, who is convincingly professional and genuinely sympathetic. He managed to calm me down as well as Conroy.



Somehow Buried contains what I can only describe as an action scene, in which both the acting of Reynolds and the inventive wizardry of the director, combine with unbelievable effect. Without giving too much away, there is a snake involved. I was literally on the edge of my seat. And the reason this scene was so scary, gripping and exciting, was how well established the character and situation is beforehand.



As well as inexplicably pulling off a believable and enthralling thriller in a box, Cortes’ directing and Chris Sparling’s script also manages some thought provoking dialogue on major issues of our time. The way these topics are explored is seamlessly part of the action and not forced. During the course of Conroy’s phone conversations we explore not just the depths of his character, but the limits and immorality of bureaucracy and the subjective nature of the word “terrorist”. Buried therefore also has political credentials, without ever leaning too far to one side of the debate.



With similar limitations to Danny Boyle’s 127 Hours, Buried is a film reliant on its lead actor. Whilst James Franco was good, Reynolds is even better. In fact Buried is better full stop. For the moving climax alone, that will have you unable to look away through confused tears, it is worth watching. Buried delivers a master class in acting, cinematography, dialogue and political comment. It is a unique and bruising ride of a story. And a must see film experience.

Liam Trim (follow me on Twitter)



Movie Review Archive

365 Days, 100 Films #19 - 13 Assassins (2010)

13 Assassins (Jûsan-nin no shikaku), 2010.



Directed by Takashi Miike.

Starring Koji Yakusho, Takayuki Yamada and Yuseke Iseya.





SYNOPSIS:



Feudal Japan is in a time of peace, but the sadistic Lord Naritsugu is next in line for the Shogun’s rule. 12 samurai, and one scavenger, are under orders to assassinate Naritsugu to avoid such a political catastrophe.





You know what’s missing from cinema these days? Really good villains. I don’t mean, like, a ‘good’ villain as in a bad-guy who sees the errors of his ways (confusing word order: noted); I mean some detestable sonofabitch that you can’t wait to get their comeuppance. Films that are blessed with such antagonists can build their whole plot around their eventual, humiliating (hopefully bloody) demise. 13 Assassins does so masterfully.



There’s a cheap trick in storytelling called ‘kicking the puppy’. It’s where you have your bad guy commit a bad deed that is separate from his relationship with the hero. These acts should be indefensible and, because they do not concern the ‘good guy’ in any way, will show the villain as an objectively evil person. He isn’t just driven by an accidental wrong the protagonist committed (see: Iron Man 2), but is wicked to the core. So you show a guy kicking a puppy onscreen, or something in a similarly provocative range, and it’s established in your viewer’s mind that he is a villain. It whets the appetite for retribution.



13 Assassins, being a Takeshi Miike film, takes its sweet, graphic time over this. Lord Naritsugu (Goro Inagaki) is the Shogun’s sadistic half-brother, and next in line to the de facto throne of 18th century Feudal Japan. He kicks a whole lotta puppies. In the film’s opening 20 minutes, Naritsugu has already been shown raping a clan leader’s daughter-in-law, then beheading (after three failed attempts, like some demented lumberjack) her husband, and using a tied-up peasant family (who seems to be comprised entirely of women and children, the most sympathetic of puppies) as bow-and-arrow target practice in his garden. Most horrifically, though, is the aftermath of one of his hideous pastimes. A young lady sits weeping in a cloak; her eyes appear black and the tears they leak are a dark crimson. She had been found dumped by a road near Naritsugu’s palace, apparently after he’d grown bored of her. To demonstrate the need for action, one of the Shogun’s advisers, Sir Doi (Mikijiro Hira), is showing an old samurai, Shinzaemon (Koji Yakusho), this example of Lord Naritsugu wickedness. He asks someone to take off the girl’s cloak. It reveals a writhing, limbless torso. “What happened to her family?”, Shinzaemon asks, appalled, but the girl can only speak in cries because Naritsugu had taken her tongue as well. She writes her answer instead on a scroll laid out on the floor. Her red tears stain parts of the paper. An aide holds up the Japanese characters to Sir Dou and Shinzaemon. The white subtitles below read: “Total Massacre”.



The whole sequence is like punting a puppy across a football pitch, and its augmented by those onscreen sharing in the disgust. This is a time of peace in Japan. The Shogun has managed the various clans’ relationships well, and the days of the Samurai are nearing an end. Sir Doi secretly recruits Shinzaemon (“The Shinzaemon?”, everybody seems to ask when he introduces himself, hinting at a glorious past) to assassinate Naritsugu. Shinzaemon’s sword hasn’t been in battle for years. Times of peace aren’t that great for samurai. He dreams of an honourable death, as do the 12 other samurai he recruits for the task. This may be their last opportunity for one.



When you meet a few of the other samurai, you can tell they’re just there for the stuffing, like the red-shirts on a Star Trek away team. You have your loyal one, your joker one, one doing it for the money - it’s all very cute, but they’re never given any time to develop, not like in Seven Samurai. But it’s never really about the 13 assassins. It’s all about Naritsugu getting what he deserves.



Like in Seven Samurai, the 13 men fortify a town. It’s on Naritsugu’s route home, and it is where they will strike. This is what 13 Assassins builds up to. The opening 30 minutes details Naritsugu and the politics of trying to be rid of him. The following 50 minutes show the 13 men being brought together and fortifying the town. It’s paced calmly and with restraint. There’s only a brief flash of swords in the first hour and 20 minutes. Then Naritsugu’s troop arrive at the town. Shinzaemon had prepared to face 70 men. Naritsugu has brought 200. The odds get longer and the body count higher.



What follows is an epic and exhausting 40-minute battle sequence. The cinema frequently gasped at the set pieces, and the chap next to me even punched his fist and said “Yeah!” under his breath at one point. It’s exciting, but because of its immense length, it becomes something of an endurance test. As the assassins tire, so do you. You’ve battled hard with them, and it shows how desensitising and wearing battles really are. And then comes the final showdown. Naritsugu vs Shinzaemon. You’d be hard pressed to find a pay-off sweeter.



Rating: ****

Oli Davis



365 Days, 100 Films



Movie Review Archive

DVD Giveaway - Psalm 21

May 30th sees the UK release of the psychological and supernatural thriller Psalm 21 from Swedish actor, writer and director Fredrik Hiller and to celebrate Flickering Myth have two DVD copies of the film to give away to our lucky readers courtesy of Revolver Entertainment.

Read on for the synopsis, trailer and details of how to enter…

"When popular Stockholm priest Henrik Horneus (Jonas Malmsjö) learns of the death of his father Gabriel (Per Ragner) from a drowning accident, he travels through the dark, endless forests to reach the desolate village in which he died to investigate. However, his arrival at the village begins to set dark forces into motion, opening a door to the other side where ghosts from the past begin to cross over into the real world. And the ghosts seem to have one single purpose... vengeance."

Psalm 21 trailer:


To be in with a chance of winning, all you need to do is drop us an email with the subject heading "PSALM" and an answer to the following question...

Per Ragner also starred in which Swedish vampire film?

A) Let the Right One In
B) Frostbitten

The competition closes at midnight on Sunday May 29th. UK entrants only please.

Pre-order now at Amazon.

The Prize Finder - UK Competitions
Loquax Competitions
Competitions Today

DVD Review - Biutiful (2010)

Biutiful, 2010.



Directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu.

Starring Javier Bardem, Marciel Álvarez, Hanaa Bouchaib, Guillermo Estrella, Diaryatou Daff and Cheng Tai Shen.





SYNOPSIS:



A single father, who struggles with love, fatherhood and his business in the underworld of Barcelona, is diagnosed with terminal cancer. He must also deal with his bi-polar wife and a large group of illegal immigrants.





Films about a life of crime always tend to focus on the rise and fall of a young man with big ideas being completely crippled by the baseball bat of corruption. It’s almost like they follow a moral code that says all people who dive into the underworld must drown at the end. After a while, you find yourself asking for a little more forgivingness in these affairs. Or at least let us see a man who genuinely kind, despite his illegal behaviour. Alejandro González Iñárritu’s newest release has given me a new type of crime drama.



Alright, so it’s not a crime drama primarily, but it does deal with a lot of the criminal underworld in Barcelona. Javier Bardem is Uxbal, a single father with two children and a bi-polar ex-(ish) wife, who is also working in various illegal projects. Not only is having Bardem play the lead in this a great idea in its own right, but the characterization is a whole string of fantastic ideas. Uxbal is a charming father figure who just happens to be involved with an underground empire with his brother Tito and a Chinese crime boss called Hai. But he has a good heart.



As well as being one of the most loving fathers I’ve seen outside of the work of Dickens, he is generally nice to those that surround him, despite the shady activities. One part of his empire is an illegal Chinese sweatshop, but he goes out of his way to make sure conditions are at least adequate for the workers. Ok, that’s not exactly a perfect thing to hear, but it compliments his character as a caring person in a world of corruption. Which is why the plot pivot couldn’t be at a better place.



Towards the end of the first act of the film, Uxbal is diagnosed with terminal cancer with a couple of months to live. So begins his redemption and to secure a better future for his children. His bi-polar (sort of) wife is the biggest obstacle to cross. Drinking, smoking and swearing at the kids, the thought of leaving them with her is a frightening one indeed. At times it feels like a pretty extreme episode of Eastenders, but with real actors. Also, he puts himself at risk to make sure the illegal immigrants under his *ahem* ‘employment’ aren’t deported back to their countries, even to the point of paying rent for some of the luckier ones.



The approach of the film feels very similar to the style of a Darren Aronofsky in the way that the camera is allergic to tripods and everything looks grimy. I’m serious. I wouldn’t be surprised if they hired someone to smear the walls with a dead chicken before sneezing over everything. Yes, it really looks like a dump. The lightening helps to make it look more depressing than it really should be, as well. But the optimism and charm from the characters throughout the film provides a good juxtaposition against the filthy background of Barcelona’s underworld.



Biutiful deserved the notice it received at the Academy Awards and it’s a bleeding shame that it lost out on winning anything there. Bardem is fantastic to watch on screen at all times and the narrative swings into so many unexpected shocks that will grip you until your arms go red. It’s a subtle epic that doesn’t outstay its welcome.

Will Preston is a student at the University of Portsmouth. He writes for various blogs (including his own website), presents a weekly radio show on PURE FM and makes various short films.



Movie Review Archive

DVD Review – My Neighbours the Yamadas (1999)

My Neighbours the Yamadas, 1999.

Written and directed by Isao Takahata.
Featuring the voice talents of James Belushi, Molly Shannon, Daryl Sabara and Liliana Mumy.

SYNOPSIS:

A series of episodes showing the ups and downs of everyday life for a family living in Tokyo.


My Neighbours the Yamadas was written and directed by Isao Takahata, co-founder of Studio Ghibli with his long-term colleague Hayao Miyazaki. It is a definite change in genre from the popular 1988 film that was his first with the studio, Grave of the Fireflies, a war drama. My Neighbours the Yamadas is a comedy focusing on the lives of a Japanese family who experience many adventures and misadventures. It was released between Studio Ghibli’s international successes Princess Mononoke (1997) and Spirited Away (2001).The film received an Excellence Award for animation at the 1999 Japan Media Arts Festival.

My Neighbours the Yamadas has a unique visual style, very different from the other Studio Ghibli films. It is the first 100% digital movie created by the studio and uses a nicely drawn sketch-like animation technique with pastel watercolour-style artwork that results in one of the most visually simplistic Ghibli animations. It was inspired by the Japanese ‘Nono-chan’ comic strip by Hisaichi Ishii.

The film has no continuing storyline; instead it is comprised of a compilation of scenes that depict the daily life of a somewhat dysfunctional Japanese family. Takashi Yamada (superbly voiced by John Belushi) and his wife Matsuko live with their teenage son Noburo, young daughter Nonoko, the children’s grandmother Shige and the family dog Pochi. These are relatable characters and the entertainment comes from the heart and humour that they provide.

The collection of short vignettes is like a number of individual four-panel comic strips, usually ending with a funny outcome. Each segment is introduced with a descriptive title, like ‘The Iron Chef’, ‘Dynamic Duo’, ‘Beauty is Fleeting, Life is Long’ and ‘Age Comes Before Wisdom’. Japanese Haiku is also used at certain points in the film. Examples include, “The scent of plums on a mountain path. Suddenly dawn” and “Turn toward me. I’m lonely too. The autumn dusk.” These serve to elevate the events above the dull, daily grind, into something more poetic and fantastical, suggesting we should try to see the magic in our everyday lives.

The film won’t appeal to everyone because some may be put off by its disjointed format as it takes some getting used to. However, it does grow on you after you’ve settled into watching it. The visual and narrative styles are different from what people have come to expect from a typical Studio Ghibli film. Also, the dramatic moments in some of the sections don’t work as well as the jokes.

Overall though, the bickering family and the amusing situations they’re presented with are both charming and endearing. Although it follows a typical family in Tokyo, the themes circumstances are mostly universal so there is no problem with a lack of knowledge about the Japanese culture. My Neighbours the Yamadas is a feel-good comedy about the many adventures life throws at you, even if you’re just an ‘ordinary’ family. It celebrates everyday family life and the entertaining ups and downs.

My Neighbours the Yamadas is released on Double Play Blu-Ray and DVD on May 9th.

Emma Hutchings

Hayao Miyazaki: Drawn to Anime

DVD Review – Laputa - Castle in the Sky (1986)

Laputa - Castle in the Sky, 1986.

Written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki.
Featuring the voice talents of Anna Paquin, James Van Der Beek, Mark Hamill, Cloris Leachman and Jim Cummings.


SYNOPSIS:

A young boy helps a girl with a mysterious crystal hunted by pirates, the army and secret agents in the search for a mythical floating castle.


Laputa - Castle in the Sky was the first film to be created by the Japanese animation studio and production company Studio Ghibli. The famous studio behind more recent successes Princess Mononoke (1997), Spirited Away (2001) and Howl’s Moving Castle (2004) released the original version of this film back in 1986 and it won the Anime Grand Prix 1st prize that year. It was written and directed by the prominent and influential film director Hayao Miyazaki, co-founder of Studio Ghibli.

Laputa follows a young girl called Sheeta who is voiced by Anna Paquin (X-Men, True Blood) in this English dubbed version. Sheeta wears a mysterious crystal as a necklace, which lots of people want to get their hands on. An exciting pre-credits sequence culminates in her falling from an airship after being tracked down by sky pirates, the crystal starts to glow and enables her to float safely into the arms of a young boy called Pazu (James Van Der Beek; Dawson’s Creek, The Rules of Attraction).

Hunted by the pirates, the army and some secret agents, Sheeta and Pazu go on the run and join in the search for a legendary floating castle that many believe to be a myth. The crystal has been in Sheeta’s family for years, passed down by her grandmother, and the different groups that want to claim it believe it holds the key to finding the castle of Laputa and unlocking its secrets.

Laputa - Castle in the Sky is a reference from Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, which features a hovering castle called Laputa. This imaginative extrapolation of that small idea is a very strong first outing from the studio responsible for a number of enjoyable animations that have become popular not just in Japan, but across the world. It is a fun adventure story with many selling points; pirates, conspiracies, robots, airships, magic crystals and a beautiful floating castle. The familiar visual style is seen in many Ghibli films, it is colourful and well-drawn. The supporting cast of voice actors includes Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill, along with Cloris Leachman, Jim Cummings, Richard Dysart and others.

The film reverses audiences’ opinions about the different types of people we are introduced to. The pirates who at first (and often in films) seem to be the bad guys, later join forces with Sheeta and Pazu to try and find the floating castle. The men who work for the government should be agents for good but they have sinister ulterior motives.

Laputa - Castle in the Sky is a very engaging fantasy adventure. There are moments of action, comedy, coming-of-age drama, suspense and thrills that keep you hooked. The film also boasts great visuals and impressive animation. Although it lasts two hours, it successfully fills its runtime and maintains a high level of interest and excitement so you won’t be checking the clock. It’s a really fun animated film that will amuse and entertain the whole family.

Laputa: Castle in the Sky is released on Double Play Blu-Ray and DVD on May 9th.

Emma Hutchings

Hayao Miyazaki: Drawn to Anime

DVD Review - Budrus (2009)

Budrus, 2009.

Written and Directed by Julia Bacha.
Starring Ayed Morrar, Iltezam Morrar, Kobi Snitz, Ahmed Awwad, Yasmine Levy and Doron Spielman.


SYNOPSIS:

A documentary depicting the non-violent demonstrations by resident of Budrus against the building of the Israeli West Bank barrier inside of their village.


Walls aren’t always great. Take the Berlin wall for example. It divided a country into two opposing sides. When used like this, all a wall does is to show how opposed to each other each side of the wall is. A literal metaphor, if you’re so inclined. But what about the people who aren’t on either side, but just happen to be caught in the wall’s path of bricks and segregation? Julia Bacha’s recent documentary on the Palestinian town of Budrus (entitled “Budrus”, funnily enough) gives an insight into what happens when the bulldozers come rolling up. In 2000, the village of Budrus would have been divided and surrounded by the building of the Israeli West Bank barrier, resulting in the loss of hundreds of acres of land as well as thousands of olive trees, both part of their culture and their economy.

Budrus focuses on Ayed Morrar, a father of four who is also the leader of the non-violent movement in Budrus. He has been to prison four times for his protest work with Fatah, a Palestinian political party. “We don’t have time for wars”, says Ayed. This line pretty much some up the nature of the film, as the group of people he leads area strict in their non-violent approach. The documentary shows Ayed giving a speech in a village community hall, which whilst not very dramatic, is one of the honest thing’s I’ve seen. Bacha is showing us a man who doesn’t ooze charisma in the most obvious fashion, but his passion for what he believes is not too subtle that it is totally missed.

We’re also shown interviews with Ayed’s daughter, Iltezam Morrar, who convinces Ayed to allow women to take part in the demonstrations. Iltezam shows a more youthful confidence than Ayed and the rest of the villages women seem more than happy to muck in. Some of the scenes of the women demonstrators chanting against the armed police are heart-warming in a weird way. Shots of them smiling and laughing make it seem like they have no fear and are more than happy to be there, which draws up parallels’ to some of the demonstrations we’ve had over here lately. Even when the police start firing rubber bullets at the crowd, they show no pain and often get up instantly and shout back. Those have to be the strongest women I’ve ever seen.

As well as showing the side of the protesters, two members of the Israel Border Police are interviewed. Whilst they try to make things as calm as they can, they are in severe doubt about the protests working. At some places in the film, we see the police fight back in a way that seems totally robotic, as if they are taking no side in the fight, but to suppress everything. As the film progresses the situation builds up until the police start opening fire at various parts of Budrus. At this point, the documentary takes a turn from being optimistic to showing just how bad a demonstration can go.

Bacha starts by painting a beautiful picture of a village blessed with community and flora before diving in deeper into the people that are trying to keep the village away from drastic change. But it’s not all about resilience against an armed force; the villagers of Budrus are surprised when they come face to face with native Isreali’s helping to fight their cause. These people where their sworn enemy before, and now they have no choice but to fight alongside each other. Whilst it’s a slow moving documentary to begin with, the last half really shines and provides a concise insight to how effective non-violent protest can be.

Will Preston is a student at the University of Portsmouth. He writes for various blogs (including his own website), presents a weekly radio show on PURE FM and makes various short films.

Movie Review Archive

Movie Review - I Saw The Devil (2010)

I Saw The Devil (a.k.a. Akmareul boatda), 2010.

Directed by Jee-woon Kim.
Starring Byung-hun Lee and Min-sik Choi.


SYNOPSIS:

A serial killer has long evaded the best efforts of the authorities until he picks the wrong victim - the daughter of a retired police chief and fiancée to a Korean Secret Service agent.


It will be a day of unforgettable celebration. The nation will rejoice in a night of endless partying and universal happiness, or so they’d have you believe. The flags and the bunting will sway proudly in the sunshine in the streets, on the most iconic landmarks and the grandest stately homes. All our troubles will be forgotten, swept under the carpet, out of sight and out of mind. Everything will be the best of British; sweet, comforting and clockwork. As the fizz flows and the glasses chink, polite patriotism will give way to unparalleled scenes of euphoria. Derelict dance moves will stumble drunkenly from graves and tombs long since sealed. Like it or not, success or failure, it will be a date etched on the face of history.

Friday the 29th of April: Wills and Kate shall finally tie the knot. I wouldn’t say I fall into the “like it” or the “not” category. Instead I’d jump in with what I sense to be the quiet, grunting majority; the “don’t give a shit” group. Most of these people will be happy to use the Royal Wedding as an excuse to get “frightfully merry” but I’m not even fussed about that. I’ll just be glad when they bugger off on honeymoon and everyone calms down.

The long awaited date also happens to herald the release of Korean revenge thriller I Saw The Devil. It will hit selected cinemas as the happy couple say their vows and head rapidly to DVD and Blu-Ray for the 9th of May, when I assume they’ll still be relaxing on a lavish honeymoon. I have a feeling that honeymooners in general, not just those benefiting from pure and perfect blood, will steer clear of this one though. That’s unless they are devoted fans of Korean filmmaking or lashings and lashings of gore, or prefer a particularly sick and dirty tinge to the consummation of their holy joining.

I Saw The Devil is the tale of a serial killer and one specific family he devastates. It begins with a beautiful young girl trapped in her broken down car in the snow. Sounds predictable right? Well I Saw The Devil will continually take seemingly generic set ups like this and make them raw, real and surprising. The refreshing thing about this opening scene was the phone conversation between the girl and her fiancé, who will become the film’s “hero”.

I can never really relate to characters and protagonists like him. He is a slick and successful high flyer with a super cool job (a secret agent in this case). He is so busy and absorbed in his immensely interesting and important work, that he has little time for the woman he is with; a woman he is lucky enough to love and have this love reciprocated. I’m a man with time on my hands, with ordinary clothes and standard prospects, for whom love is usually a one way street. Add into the mix a ruthless ability to kill and a purposeful crusade for revenge and this is the sort of man I fantasise about being; not one I can readily empathise with.

And yet as I Saw The Devil embarks on an unlimited chase through as many deadly sins as possible, prompting comparisons with such notorious projects as Antichrist and endless cuts on the editing room floor, it keeps the moral implications of its action in focus. It’s not simply your typical revenge thriller but a thoughtful one that questions the nature of revenge. Our secret agent swiftly catches the killer of his beloved, only for him to decide that a monster deserves a monstrous death. Butchering him would cause the beast no real distress, so a tracking device is popped in his mouth and the hunter becomes the hunted.

The ethics of this are clearly dubious and as the killer rampages the Korean James Bond wishes he’d ended it when he had the chance at times. But despite my inability to relate to characters of his ilk, the audience sees the twisted emotional logic behind every move he makes. True justice and true revenge is necessarily brutal when confronted with such soulless savagery.

This is a beautiful film as well as a shocking, horrifying and thrilling one. In its opening chapter alone there are numerous stills that would warrant a frame and a prominent place on a wall. The score does a wonderful job of evoking grief, fear, anger and terror. Prior to watching I Saw The Devil, I had heard about a controversial rape scene during which the victim begins to “enjoy” things. This led to even more debate and conflict over its age rating and release than the countless bloody violence. In terms of morality it is the most questionable scene in the movie, but it did not spoil it.

The film could have done with being a little shorter but I was never bored. Things reach a suitably dramatic climax and the whole thing is well paced. But for me a scene from the film’s opening is the most memorable. It’s just as the girl’s body is being discovered and the forensic teams, hounded by the press, swoop on a spot in some marshes to bag and remove her decapitated head. Flash bulbs erupt and officers shout and the head is knocked from the hands of the forensic team. It rolls shamefully in the dirt. The grieving father and fiancé look on aghast.

It may be over the top but this scene captured something real about the growing phenomenon of the serial killer. In many ways such barbaric deeds are now common place news and the only way to keep the true horror of it all in focus is to focus on the families and friends. Those who really feel the pain. I Saw The Devil is a gripping illustration of what emotional pain can do to a human being. Life never ends with a fluffy wedding dress or a cup of a tea.

Liam Trim (follow me on Twitter)

Movie Review Archive

DVD Review - Dobermann (1997)

Dobermann, 1997.

Directed by Jan Kounen.
Starring Vincent Cassel, Tchéky Karyo and Monica Bellucci.


SYNOPSIS:

Following a brutal bank robbery, the charismatic criminal Dobermann (Vincent Cassel) is pursued by the Paris police, headed up by the sadistic renegade cop Christini (Tchéky Karyo).


Coming off the back of his acclaimed performances in Jean-François Richet’s two-part crime epic Mesrine (2008) and Darren Aronofsky’s psychological thriller Black Swan (2010), Second Sight have delved into the back-catalogue of French actor Vincent Cassel to deliver a re-release for one of his earlier domestic films, the stylish heist flick Dobermann (1997). The debut feature of filmmaker Jan Kounen (director of the 2009 biopic Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky) and based on author and screenwriter Joël Houssin’s series of pulp crime novels, Dobermann is Cinéma du look by way of Hong Kong’s Heroic Bloodshed, forgoing plot and characterisation in favour of lashings of highly-stylised, hyper-violent gunplay.

Dobermann sets its stall from the get go, an anthromorphised CGI dog pissing over the title credits before we shift to a Christening where a baby receives a somewhat unorthodox present, a mean-looking customised .357 Magnum. It will go on to become the signature weapon of its owner, Dobermann (Cassel), leader of a group of notorious bank robbers that includes his deaf girlfriend, Nat the Gypsy (Cassel’s other half, Monica Bellucci) and a motley assortment of characters including a priest, a transvestite, a dog-loving knucklehead and a trigger-happy psycho. Together, they run rings around the Parisian police force, much to the displeasure of Inspector Cristini (Tchéky Karyo), a detective so brutal and sadistic in his methods that he makes Dirty Harry seem as ‘by-the-book’ as Dick Tracy. After Dobermann and his crew pull off an audacious daylight robbery, during which the police are humiliated and two officers killed, Cristini takes it upon himself to put an end to the gang by whatever means necessary.

That’s about as much-set up – and indeed as much story – as you’re going to get with Dobermann but the plot itself is largely irrelevant when its purpose it simply to take us from one explosive action set-piece to another. Cassel delivers a solid performance as the anti-hero Dobermann but the real highlight is Tchéky Karyo’s Cristini, a bona-fide bastard who revels in his depravity and thinks nothing of beating on women and tossing babies through the air in his obsessive quest to topple the gang. Meanwhile the supporting cast of stock characters are admirable, although generally they’re left with little to do apart from a few memorable scenes for Belluci’s Nat (who, rather surprisingly, keeps her wongas under wraps) and Stéphane Metzger’s Olivier, a cross-dresser who also moonlights as Sonia.

In a way Dobermann is Heat without any of the depth, the entire film building to a climactic showdown between Dobermann and Cristini, leaving the audience to take a back seat and watch as the unrelenting carnage unfolds. Dobermann comes across as one long music video, moving at a breakneck pace and packed to the brim with over-the-top explosions, shoot-outs and high-speed car chases that are almost comic-book in their absurdity. It's paper-thin, but director Kounen employs almost every trick in the book to capture the mayhem and delivers a visually excessive and turbo-charged treat that makes for perfect after-pub viewing.

Gary Collinson

Movie Review Archive

DVD Review - The Tunnel (2001)

The Tunnel (German: Der Tunnel), 2001.

Directed by Roland Suso Richter.
Starring Heino Ferch, Nicolette Krebitz, Alexandra Maria Lara and Sebastian Koch.


SYNOPSIS:

A group of West Germans hatch an audacious plan to rescue their loves ones from the communist regime of the East by tunnelling beneath the Berlin Wall.


Film fans love a good tunnel. Whether it be the ingenious method for a daring bank robbery or the claustrophobic road to freedom from a tightly fenced POW camp, they are a vital ingredient of many a cinematic classic. Tunnels are a striking but simple storytelling device, that place the focus of the narrative firmly on the characters of people getting from one place to another, usually against the odds and at a snail’s pace. And what are all stories but snappier versions of the long and slow journey of life?

Sitting just a hay-fever induced sneeze away from surprisingly sizzling Easter sunshine with the windows flung open to the fresh spring air, I doubted my ability to fully inhabit the journey of the characters in Der Tunnel, a German film finally released on DVD on the 25th of April. In the comfort and luxuries of a 21st century room, blessed with the freedom to liberally gulp countryside air, I felt a million miles away from the damp, stuffy, volatile tubes carved torturously through the soil by countless characters in tunnel based films of the past. Not to mention feeling a world away from the 1960s Berlin setting of Der Tunnel.

Berlin is a constant inspiration for superb historical drama. It’s a fascinating city and just a glance at the ingredients that comprise its vibrant whole tells you why it’s so popular for storytellers. It’s steeped in history of all kinds, even before the rollercoaster the 20th century put the place through. It became a radical melting pot for cultural and political change, ravaged by wars and economic turbulence and enriched by the presence of artists, writers, intellectuals and dancers.

Then with the division of the city via its infamous wall, the eyes of the world came to rest on a stark clash of cultures. When JFK declared himself a spiritual resident of the city he confirmed its status as a symbol of the Cold War, the tense conflict in microcosm. The West stood for freedom and the East for brainwashed or enforced conformity. Whilst Der Tunnel is ultimately pro the West and anti the Eastern regime, it does make you consider such simplifications more carefully. Standards of living do not change magically because of a move, and state intrusion can be replaced by the media. The West is no sure-fire ticket to happiness.

Of all the tales inspired by the city though it’s perhaps those of suspicious spies and elusive espionage that endure with the widest and most thrilling legacy. Set a film in Berlin and it’s almost guaranteed shorthand for the audience that secrets will lurk and loom at the centre of the plot. Der Tunnel is no exception to this rule. There are a number of features that could be ripped straight from a Cold War thriller, with a manipulative East German Colonel using relationships and blackmail to protect the regime a superb example.

And yet this isn’t a tale of meddling foreigners but a story based on the truth of real Berliners, trying to escape meddling and ideological interference in their private lives. It’s principally the tale of champion swimmer Harry Melchior, who gives up a comfortable and celebrated lifestyle in the East to flee to the West before the wall is completed. He’s unable to get his beloved sister out in time though and he sets about finding a way to “bring her across”, and is joined by others cruelly parted from family, friends and lovers.

It’s a dramatic scene between two separated lovers, one of them also Melchior’s love interest, that really stood out for me from Der Tunnel. One of many emotional moments in the film, this rises above the rest because of superb acting and high drama but also due to the visual presence of the wall: painfully, physically and unavoidably denying the lovers a precious moment together. The tender scenes after this event are also moving, and the standout scene itself certainly has the potential to pluck tears from the coldest of eyes.

At just twenty minutes short of three hours long, I was worried about the wearisome effects of Der Tunnel. Would I need to scramble to the surface for air? In many ways this isn’t very creative or original storytelling, but it’s undeniably well executed, from the acting to the direction. I was engrossed by the lives and loves of the characters throughout. Crucially the tense and exciting climax delivers a classic, satisfying conclusion that’s fitting for such a classic premise.

Liam Trim (follow me on Twitter)

Movie Review Archive

DVD Review - Assault on the Pacific: Kamikaze (2007)

Assault on the Pacific: Kamikaze a.k.a. For Those We Love, 2007.

Directed by Taku Shinjo.
Starring Keiko Kishi, Satoshi Tokushige, Yosuke Kubozuka and Michitaka Tsutsui.


SYNOPSIS:

A World War II epic about a squadron of Japanese Kamikaze pilots and their journey through training and first missions toward the terrifying destiny of their battle with the US Navy over the Pacific Ocean.


In films, the kamikaze have generally been shown as menacing, faceless danger, first appearing as an ominous dot on the horizon and then as a source of death and destruction. Assault on the Pacific: Kamikaze takes a different route, focusing instead on the young men in those planes. Touching on their personalities, fears, desires and relationships. The men, most of them barely out of their teens, are not rabid zealots or men devoid of emotion. Many of the young pilots have flashes of doubt, one flight leader even going to his Colonel to raise his concerns that his pilots have nowhere near the skill to hit a battleship and their lives are being thrown away needlessly. He is censured by his commander, are all who try to question the validity of the kamikaze missions, even though many show flickers of doubt.

This attitude, the suppression of reason and emotion in the face of duty and “glory” that many characters show is sown at the start of the film, when we are shown the upper echelons committing to the plan after the head of the air force states that defeat is inevitable but talks about 'The Spirit of the Nation' and Japan's identity through defeat and emerging on the other side. These generals espouse the Japanese military code of death before defeat or capture. With this attitude historically woven into their offices and ranks, the top brass seemingly only think in grand, nationalistic terms, not without an awareness of the loss of good young men, but more with an obstinate doctrine that it must be so, for Japan to state its intent and retain its honour.

Assault on the Pacific mostly takes place in a small town where the suicide squads, as they call themselves, are stationed. Young girls from the local school are drafted in to care for the men in their last few days of life. In the town, a lady affectionately known as 'Auntie' to the young men, runs a restaurant where the men come to relax and eat. For Auntie, this ushers in a time of continual tragedy and loss, as the young men she remembers as cadets who trained nearby come back one after another to tell her that they will soon be dead. The one young man who she sees the most is Kanayama, who had trained there as a cadet and whom Auntie had taken under her wing as if her own son. As the film goes on, and each character becomes more known and liked, a palpable sense of tragedy builds. Casual, everyday actions are tinged with a dark finality. When Auntie's eldest daughter – Reiko, is lent a book by Kanayama, she tells him that she'll return it in a few days. A silence follows as they both realise the importance of the statement and he tells her that she can keep it. Auntie constantly struggles with the dichotomy between her own, paternalistic feelings for the men (and Kanayama in particular) and trying to be an impartial comfort to them.

The continuous strain of seeing these happy, healthy young men before her and having prior knowledge of their deaths is an odd, emotionally strange situation for a person to be in and Auntie seems more drawn and weighed down as the film progresses. The film doesn't attempt to provide any clear-cut resolution to these feelings, as it would be impossible to crystallise one over-arching, all important message to be gleamed from what happened at this time, in this place. It instead shows a more realistic portrayal of war, from multiple viewpoints. The decisions and motivations of the men at the top of the ladder will and will not be in line with those of the men giving up their own lives. The young men, between themselves, display wildly differing attitudes to their mission. Some are volunteers, others are not. Kanayama, the night before his flight, breaks down to Auntie and her daughters. He comes to the conclusion that he doesn't know who or what he is dying for, just that he knows he will. There is a crushing inevitability in his words, the ultimate realisation that even his life is not his own.

The film again injects more ambiguity about half way through, when a pilot who has been noted to have doubts about giving up his life is beaten and berated and sent out again the very next day. After taking off, the pilot pulls his plane upwards so it will stall and allows it to crash to the earth in a ball of flames. Other pilots and mechanics rush to the scene whilst his commanding officer watches on, aware that the man has taken his own life on his own terms. The film again throwing open the concept of 'honour' to interpretation.

After this, an officer talks with another pilot and the justifications for their mission. Told that he and others are going to bomb a relatively unimportant target, the pilot asks why their lives would be given up for such an innocuous reason. The officer tells him that it is because if they bomb things like the jetty they have been ordered to, the Americans will believe that there are thousands of kamikaze, ready to attack anywhere, at any moment. The pilot grasps that all that is important is their death: that a show of fanatical (manufactured or not) intent would make the invasion of Japan itself a terrifying prospect. The officer states that 'There is right way and a wrong way to lose a war.' and that the kamikaze will help Japan strive for a better peace settlement. This, obviously, was not the case. The film time and again highlights the disconnect between this knowledge of the officers and upper command and the respective information available to those actually dying.

When time comes for the young pilots to actually go and undertake their mission, their fate is mostly to end up blown out of the sky or exploding into the sea. The battle scenes are well handled, with no sense of misplaced victory or defeat in the men's actions – just the sense of futility at their deaths. When one pilot does hit a ship, the repercussions are shown, with American crewmen trying to help their wounded, who are just young men themselves.

Ultimately, Assault on the Pacific aims to present a character study rather than anything over-the-top or distastefully action-laden. It shows the kamikaze pilots as young men at the heart of a conflict that their country was losing. They are not shown as bloodthirsty or hateful, just as normal men. The film does an exemplary job of avoiding portraying its characters as the familiar war film tropes and generates a genuine sadness for the fate of characters you come to know well. There are some moments that tip over into melodrama but these can be forgiven as the film, overall, is an effective parable about the real people behind actions that can sometimes seem incomprehensible.

Alex Williams

Movie Review Archive

DVD Review - The Grim Reaper (1962)

The Grim Reaper (Italian: La commare secca), 1962.

Directed by Bernardo Bertolucci.
Starring Marisa Solinas, Allen Midgette, Giancarlo De Rosa and Alfredo Leggi.


SYNOPSIS:

When a prostitute is brutally murdered in a park near the Tiber River in Rome, the police track down all visitors to the park that night in the hope of catching the killer, with each suspect giving their own account...


Sometimes, just sometimes, films resemble books very closely. No, not The Phantom Menace novelisation. More like those taut, briskly paced thrillers that keep you turning pages well into the small hours; those madcap comedies that make you laugh so hard and so often you feel your face is about to break in half. Not so common are the short stories; the films that break up into little segments, looking long and hard into brief periods of time. Tarantino is quite fond of this structure – look at Pulp Fiction or Inglourious Basterds. Kurosawa’s Rashomon is a masterpiece in the genre.

A conversation. A day at work. A couple of hours’ idle wandering. Most of Bertolucci’s vignettes in The Grim Reaper comprise nothing simpler than these basic premises. They might even be considered as something approaching ‘normal’, if it weren’t for a dead prostitute found on the banks of the Tiber. The Italian police (faceless, nameless and credit-less from start to finish) are investigating her death, and that means interrogating everybody who was in that park last night.

They have five suspects; we get five stories. Canticchia, a scruffy purse-snatcher taking a short cut home through the park. Bostelli, a suave, ladykiller sponger hiding suspiciously in the bushes. Teodoro, a half-wit soldier, asleep on the park bench. Francolicchio and Pipito, a pair of spotty herberts desperate for money to impress their dates, picked up by an older man with money. A nameless creep in clogs completes the set, running off with something under his jacket. Under the interrogation room’s spot-lamp, the suspects tell their versions of the day’s events. We learn nothing from their casual lies.

Most crime stories would introduce a brilliant detective at this point, to cross-examine the suspects or investigate in-depth. Bertolucci side-steps this predictable device and cuts right into their heads, for a first-person account of their activities. He isolates his suspects, letting us into their private lives and their quietest moments. We have the golden opportunity to judge for ourselves who they are, what they amount to, and what they’re capable of.

It all takes place in Rome. Not the bright, touristy Rome of Angels & Demons or Roman Holiday. This is Bertolucci’s Rome; dirty and a little desolate, with mules and scraps of grassland on the outskirts. Hardly the sleek, coffee-shop, landmark-a-minute location we’re used to seeing on film. Still, in The Grim Reaper, we learn quickly that appearances can (and will) be deceiving. Bostelli looks cool and collected, but how many people would guess he lives in fear of his psychotic loan shark girlfriend ambushing him with a knife? What would Pip and Franco really do to get their hands on some money for a gnocchi recipe?

The Grim Reaper isn’t for everyone. The naturalistic, almost awkward acting style, full of quirks and nervous tics, could be a bit frantic for some. The non-linear structure is bound to confuse those who don’t like to afford a story some thinking time during and after.

If you’re one of those people who sits in train stations and dreams up names and lives for the people around you, this film is for you. It’s reflective and quietly thrilling and a visual delight of ruined streets and magnetic movements. If, however, you’re one of those people who can’t wait to get from one place to the next, you’re probably better off watching something with more guns and explosions and breasts than The Grim Reaper has to offer. I hear Transformers has all that happening on the moon later this summer. Go you.

If you’re neither of those people, console yourself that you got a paragraph to yourselves. And then watch it anyway. It’s something old that’s still somehow something new, shot by a 21 year old director full of visions and ideas and gnocchi.

The Grim Reaper is released on DVD this coming Monday.

Simon Moore is a budding screenwriter, passionate about films both current and classic. He has a strong comedy leaning with an inexplicable affection for 80s montages and movies that you can’t quite work out on the first viewing.

Movie Review Archive

The legend lives again with the trailer for Young Bruce Lee

Back in 2009 there were reports that Media Asia Films and the estate of Bruce Lee were developing a three-part biopic based on the life of Hong Kong's most famous native son entitled Bruce Lee, My Brother and now it's set for a release in feature from here in the UK under the title Young Bruce Lee.

Produced by Robert Lee, Bruce Lee's younger brother, and based on his own first-hand experiences, the film stars Aarif Rahman (Echoes of the Rainbow) as the Little Dragon and charts his life from birth on November 27th 1940 to his departure for San Francisco in 1959, surviving a journey through war, persecution and the brutal street-gangs of 1950's Hong Kong before going on to live his dreams.

Directed by Raymond Yip (The Warlords), the film also features Tony Leung Ka Fai (Three... Extremes) and Christy Chung (The Medallion) as Bruce's parents.

Young Bruce Lee trailer...


Young Bruce Lee is released on Blu-ray and 2 disc DVD on May 30th.

DVD Review - The Door (2009)

The Door, 2009.

Directed by Anno Saul .
Starring Mads Mikkelsen, Jessica Schwarz, Valeria Eisenbart and Heike Makatsch. 


SYNOPSIS:

Plagued with guilt over the death of his daughter, an artist discovers a door that allows him to travel back in time to the day of her death and alter history.


We all make mistakes. We all have regrets. Regrets in particular are an undeniably universal part of the human condition and the lives of everyone; from rock star to street cleaner. It doesn’t matter if you’re the flawless Empress of dozens of kingdoms or a waitress in a greasy spoon; there will be things you wish you had done differently. Sometimes, when things get really bad, it’s a cliché phrase of woe to wish that the ground would swallow you up. Usually though you’re probably more likely to be hoping for a window onto the past. A hole big enough to crawl through, or a door if you’re feeling especially demanding. There’s not a soul on Earth, no matter how content they may profess to be, that wouldn’t consider the chance to go back. The chance to revisit a moment when everything changed.

Boiled down to its basics, this is what The Door is all about; that irrepressible human desire to erase what has been eternally written on the pages of history and memory. That craving for just one chance of redemption and the opportunity to take another path, a happier route, on the journey of life. In many ways The Door is an extremely simple tale but it’s one that uses fantasy to suggest dark and disturbing truths about human nature. It will simultaneously cut uncomfortably close to the core of your personal experience and be impossible to imagine and relate to.

The Door is a German film, telling the story of David Andernach, played by Mads Mikkelsen. I was dubious of Mikkelsen’s ability to carry this film off. I am most familiar with him from Casino Royale, in which he played a suitably menacing but also expectedly caricatured Le Chiffre. The way The Door is constructed requires intense focus on the personal viewpoint of Andernach and Mikkelsen is in practically every scene. You really notice it when things centre round his wife for a few minutes towards the climax. Thankfully his performance is varied, convincing and touching at times.

Also good are his wife Maja (Jessica Schwarz) and daughter Leonie (Valeria Eisenbart). Eisenbart is especially excellent as a child actor accurately expressing the knowing innocence of children, reacting to the sensational and dramatic events of the plot. Andernach’s mistress Gia is played by Heike Makatsch, and if I’m being really picky, which I guess I am, her performance was bland and predictable. She does play perhaps the least diverse of all the characters though, particularly when compared to the other more mysterious, male neighbour to the family.

However whilst poor performances could conceivably have ruined The Door, the really standout thing about this film is the story. It’s the sort of plot that can’t be justified in summary. I certainly can’t make my description of it much more alluring than the mildly interesting efforts of the production notes, without spoiling the surprise factor that made The Door so immensely enjoyable for me.

What I can tell you is that Andernach is a famous artist who is over the road fucking the neighbour one day when his daughter trips over her shoe laces and drowns in the family pool. Five years later Andernach is a broken man, begging his former wife for forgiveness. He tries to drown himself in the same pool, only to be rescued by a friend. He then follows a butterfly (his daughter wanted him to catch them with her but he chose a rendezvous with his mistress) to a hidden door that opens onto the day she died. He intends to simply save her and then perhaps alter his future, but he finds himself trapped in the past, lurching from one unintentional catastrophe to another.

In a way I’m tempted to write one review of The Door for those who have not seen it and one for after you’ve all hunted it down and enjoyed its one hour and thirty five minutes or so. It’s a film that raises a lot of big questions and emotional themes that would be interesting to discuss in more depth. You think you can work out its progression from the premise but you probably won’t. I will say that its poignant overall message seemed, for me at least, to be something along the lines of; we can all relive the past if we pay a big enough price and surrender enough of ourselves, but it’s a part of being human to let go and move on.

Trying to bottle up the raw feeling I got from The Door makes it sound far from creative or moving. But watching it with its tender score and acting and simple surprises, you are really sucked in. For once the glowing descriptions of the film adorning the marketing are totally apt and spot on; The Door is a “dark moral fable” and “an accomplished supernatural thriller”. You’ll be gripped by it, fascinated by it and haunted and moved by it. You’ll wonder what you’d do confronted with your own door.

Liam Trim (follow me on Twitter)

Movie Review Archive

DVD Review - Blades of Blood (2010)

Blades of Blood, 2010.

Directed by Lee Joon-Ik.
Starring Jeong-min Hwang, Seong-hyeon Baek, Seung-won Cha, Ji-hye Han and Kim Chang-Wan.


SYNOPSIS:

In Sixteenth Century Korea, an illegitimate son seeks vengeance for the murder of his father with the help of a blind swordsman. Meanwhile, the country’s leadership is falling apart while an invasion from the Japanese draws closer.


With a large proportion of foreign films, it’s not just the language barrier that can stop a white middle class male (such as myself) from completely comprehending everything that is going on. It’s more than safe to say that my knowledge of Korean history is equably negligible to my knowledge of Korea in general. I’m not ignorant, I just haven’t got round to that page on Wikipedia just yet. But now I know a little more from watching Blades of Blood.

It’s Sixteenth Century Korea and a political organisation known as The Alliance are looking to seek power from a regime that is falling apart. Probably not the best time for this, considering the Japanese are prepared to invade. Now, on paper this sounds pretty exciting, but unfortunately it isn’t as spectacular as I was hoping for. Impressive, but not spectacular. The story focuses around Han Kyun-ju, a young bastard child to one of the leaders in the regime. Kyun-ju is cast away from his family for being a lovechild, but soon witnesses his father being murdered by the film’s villain, Lee Mong Hak.

Mong Hak is leading The Alliance in order to seek the throne for himself, which led him to kill Jung Yeo-rip, a member of The Alliance who stood in his way. One character stood out for me in this film and that was Hwang, a blind swordsman with a somewhat cheeky sense of humour. Hwang takes Kyun-ju under his wing and is constantly bothered by Kyun-ju wanting to know how to fight like him. This leads to some funny fight scenes between the two. The rest of the fight scenes, the proper ones that is, are shot very well, but could have used a touch more flare on the choreography. Not that I’m an expert on that subject. Well not until I read that Wikipedia page, anyway.

Like I said earlier, it all sounds well and good on paper, but the story feels a little too drawn out. The story is a journey, but it’s not a very interesting one and the destination isn’t anything to swing a sword about for. The character of Kyun-ju feels a bit too hammed up to be taken seriously, and when I say hammed up, I really mean hammed up for an emotional teenager. If it wasn’t for Hwang mocking and talking down to him at every given moment, I would have considered the film to be a lost cause. How I love Hwang.

Blades of Blood is a film about constant struggle set to a backdrop of politics and invasion. When someone isn’t talking, there’s bound to be a sword fight scene to occur in hopes to advance the plot. The story’s not too complicated, but not too interesting and most of the acting is pretty average. However, it is beautifully shot and some of the sword fights did keep me on the edge of my seat. Not that I’m an expert on that subject. Well not until I read that Wikipedia page, anyway.

Will Preston is a student at the University of Portsmouth. He writes for various blogs (including his own website), presents a weekly radio show on PURE FM and makes various short films.

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