Unconditional Love (2002)

Occasionally it is brought home to me that I don't know as much about movies as I think I do, since I frankly had never even heard of this film, despite a cast boasting among others Kathy Bates, Rupert Everett, Jonathan Pryce, Dan Aykroyd, Lynn Redgrave, Julie Andrews, Barry Manilow, and a rather attractive female dwarf!  Perhaps it is because it never had a cinema release, eventually debuted on US Cable TV, and made its first UK appearance in a late night television slot.  But it was a hoot...   It is the sort of quirky film that would probably alienate many viewers, but the sort of high-flown nonsense that really amuses me.  Bates is a frumpy housewife whose husband leaves her to seek a more adventurous way of life, but it is she who has a number of adventures after she decides to travel to England for the funeral of her favourite (murdered) singer (Pryce).  There she meets his not-so secret gay lover (Everett) who returns with her to Chicago to hunt down "the crossbow murderer".  Assisted by her dwarf daughter-in-law, donning the red oilskin of the pyschotic killer from "Don't Look Now", their misadventures are hilarious.  Julie Andrews, playing herself, has two of the best bits of business in demonstrating how best to overcome a crisis (get everyone singing).  It probably is far from a great film given its cinematic failure, but it is certainly one to tickle the funnybone.   

Female Convict Scorpion: Jailhouse 41 (1972)

The National Film Theatre is currently running a series labelled 'Wild Japan: Outlaw Masters of Japanese Film' featuring a range of cult items from the 60s and 70s that prior to DVD have remained virtually unknown on these shores and which have never previously received theatrical showings.  I have booked for four of the series (I could easily have opted for more if I could have faced traipsing to and from the South Bank with more frequency) and the above film is the first of those that I will be covering over the coming weeks.

This one is in fact the second of four movies in the Female Convict Scorpion series based on an adult 'women in prison' manga of the time.  While I have not seen the first, this entry stands on its own feet and was spectacularly true to its comic book roots.  Our heroine, who was originally innocent when sent down, has been abused by the guards and warden of the prison where she has been kept in isolation underground.  Her quest is revenge and after a gang bang rape scene staged by the wicked warden, she escapes with six other prisoners.  The balance of the movie follows them as they plough through the surreal countryside, revealing their various crimes (all of which were engendered by men) and their attempt to stay free, without any inter-prisoner loyalty, against impossible odds.  The movie is exceptionally violent as men are made to suffer for their sins or indeed for just being men, but it is filmed with an impossible beauty and dreamy quality which is at times at odds with the sordid subject matter.  Our heroine Matsu, also called Scorpion, was played by Meiko Kaji in all four films; she is forceful and determined, but hard to read, and in the entire movie she had but two short lines of dialogue.

If the remaining three films succeed in sharing this one's energy and passion, I am in for a very rare treat.

 

The pick of the rest

I watch so many movies that never make it to these pages -- most of which probably weren't worth my time in the first place, but still I persevere.  I have seen several over the last few days which are worth commenting upon, if not in any depth:

Dracula (1979): I hadn't watched this one for a while and wanted to revisit Frank Langella's romantic take on the fangy count fresh from his Broadway triumph.   Gosh, he was pretty once upon a time but the movie was utter tosh.  Filmed in dismal greys with brilliant reds at the relevant heights of passion, it was a complete mishmash of accents and hammy acting -- and the worst culprit by far was good old Laurence Olivier in the Van Helsing role.  Parenthetically I saw Guy Maddin's "Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary" not that long ago which is a far more interesting take on the oft-filmed story.

Comancheros (1961):  Not vintage John Wayne by a long chalk but still good violent fun in the West.  Oddly enough it was director Michael Curtiz's last film and while he is remembered as a woman's director, he did a fine job with this mainly male cast.  Wayne's Texas Ranger is paired with gambler-on-the-run Stuart Whitman and there is a memorable bit part for Lee Marvin as a partially-scalped gunrunner (with one of the worse make-up jobs ever).  The stirring Elmer Bernstein score is another asset.

Love and Human Remains (1993):  I only knew the films which Canadian director Denys Arcand has made in French (and very accomplished they are too), so this English-language movie was new to me.  Like his other films it is an ensemble piece, here dealing with various aspects of love and sexuality -- straight or gay or kinky or mixed -- and it had much to say about how complicated our emotions can be.  The background serial killer story wasn't a complete red herring, but the film would have been just as successful without it. 

Cinderella Man (2005)

Although there have been some really terrific boxing movies over the years, I always surprise myself that I can like any of them, since the idea of two men beating each other to a pulp is not really my idea of entertainment.  This film by Ron Howard, a director who has always struck me as a very competent hack, is amazingly well done and involving.  In his second teaming with Russell Crowe -- an excellent actor but a hard-to-take personality, Howard tells the true story of James Braddock, a washed-up fighter who made an amazing comeback to take the heavyweight world title in the l930s.  The film has a lot in common with the racing movie "Seabiscuit" where an underdog proves an inspiration for the man in the street.  Set at the height of the Depression, Braddock could barely support his family and had lost his license to fight through various injuries and lacklustre performances.  His regeneration which started only as a much-needed moneymaking exercise was dramatically and movingly told.  I didn't think much of Renee Zellweger as the faithful wife frantic to keep her family together, but Paul Giamatti as Braddock's manager was absolutely superb, and, credit where it is due, Crowe was also great.  Yes, if you ask me objectively, I hate boxing movies, but this film joins the growing exceptions to that rule.

Breaking and Entering (2006)

This film was one of the gala showings at the recent Film Festival, but I caught up with it at a preview showing before its general release this week.  The ads scream that Jude Law gives the performance of his career, but don't you believe it; he comes across as vacuous and unsympathetic as usual.  He plays an architect working on the redevelopment of the Kings Cross area with swish offices in the area which act as a magnet for a bunch of Serbian thieves who keep stealing all his high-tech gear.  He is in a long-term relationship with half-Swedish Robin Wright Penn who won't marry him and who devotes most of her time to her difficult autistic 13-year daughter.  Staking out his office, he spots the young thief whose acrobatic skills afford entry for the gang, follows him home, and soon is involved emotionally and physically with the boy's Bosnian mother, played by Juliette Binoche.  While both female leads are very good indeed, Law does not really shine in their reflected light.  This was his third project with writer-director Anthony Minghella who must see something in him that I am missing; however I must also blame Minghella for the poor pacing and the rather contrived plot which attempts to provide some sort of redemption for all of the main characters and which totally stretches belief. 

The King and the Clown (2005)

This Korean historical piece was meant to be the first film viewed at the just- ended London Film Festival, but as noted elsewhere, the showing was cancelled.  Anyhow they did manage to obtain a print eventually, and I am more than pleased to have now seen it.  I don't quite agree with Michael that it was the best of the eight films we saw (not that I quite know which I would put in first place), but it was certainly magnificent in acting, colour, and composition.  I understand that it is the most successful movie ever with Korean audiences, which is a little surprising since a period film set at the start of the Sixteenth Century does not necessarily conjure up the notion of mass appeal.  But there you have it.

The story concerns two street performers -- an older man, Jang-sang. and his young and rather effeminate friend, Gong-gil.  When they leave the countryside to try their luck in Seoul after the troupe's manager tries to pimp the favours of the younger man, they join up with three lowly actors.  Surprisingly their new act which is a rather bawdy spoof on the new (and somewhat unstable) king and his mistress is a popular hit, but they are soon arrested for blasphemy.  In prison Jang-sang argues that they should not be punished for a show that the King has not seen and that they should be freed if they are able to make him laugh which of course they do.  Now under the King's protection they remain at the palace where they spoof the King's Council, advisors, and the old King's courtesans.  However the King is becoming more and more attached to pretty Gong-gil, much to his mistress' annoyance and to Jang-sang's distress, and is oblivious to the rumbles of rebellion afoot.  These bare bones only suggest the main theme of the film which is the deep affection, nay love, between the two lead characters, but a love which is never physically realised.  And while others try to drive a wedge between them in the most brutal way, this bond can not be destroyed. 

Lunacy (2005)

I have always been a big, big fan of the Czech animator/writer/director Jan Svankmajer ever since I first saw his version of the Alice in Wonderland story from 1988.  Subsequently I have sought out his short animations and have really been very taken with his full-length features "Faust", "Conspirators of Pleasure", and "Little Otik".  However, one unhappy result of this year's London Film Festival has been to put me off some of my favourites.  I have written below about Aki Kaurismaki and this latest feature from Svankmajer was so black and disturbing that I would need to think twice before wanting to view it again.  Perhaps as one grows older and this great talent is now 72, one grows more cynical and pessimistic about the world in which we live.  The film begins with a voiceover introduction from the director himself, explaining that we are about to view a horror film, inspired by the works of Edgar Allen Poe and the Marquis de Sade, and references to both, but particularly the latter are discernible throughout the film.  However this is not a horror film in the traditional sense, but rather a philosophical exposition of how the madness in our world can only be dealt with by brutal force.

The two main characters are a rather simple young man whose mother has just died in the insane asylum at Charenton and who has nightmares about being locked away himself and another more worldly man, referred to only as the Marquis.  While we appear to be in the modern world, the Marquis seems backdated to another period -- in his dress, his courtly manner on the surface, and the fact that he gets about in a horse-drawn carriage in the same time and space as buses and motorcars.  The gist of the tale is about the lunatics taking over the asylum until by the end we can no longer tell just who are the madmen and which, if any, of the characters are sane.  This is punctuated throughout by the most disturbing animations of fast-moving, encroaching meat and animal tongues that I have ever seen; it was seriously disturbing enough to turn one into a vegetarian.  I don't know quite what Svankmajer was saying here, except to suggest that we are all nothing more than meat to be ground up and spit out by the modern world.  But whatever, it was dead upsetting and depressing.    

Crash (2004)

I fully expected to hate this film but was more than pleasantly surprised by it.  There was a huge outcry when it won Best Picture at the last Oscars over "Brokeback Mountain" (which I have not yet seen) with accusations of homophobia and the like, but I think it was in fact probably a worthy winner.  Writer and first-time director Paul Haggis has created a mosaic of Los Angeles life with all facets of racial prejudice on display and has coaxed memorable performances from most of his large cast.  While possibly some of the situations were contrived for solely dramatic ends, this in no way detracted from the overall force of the film.  Standout performances from Matt Dillon, Thandie Newton, Don Cheadle, and Terrence Howard were particularly strong in contributing to the multi-layered story, and even a lightweight actor like Ryan Phillippe had something to add to the mix.  Only Brendan Fraser seemed somehow out of his depth.  It is not possible to outline the complex and inter-relating story lines here, but they were woven with brilliant dexterity making this a movie well worth seeing.  Some of the tale may be considered sad and depressing, but so too is real life occasionally.

For Your Consideration (2006)

A bit of light relief in the London Film Festival stakes with the latest movie from Christopher Guest.  Although I understand that he dislikes the term "mockumentary" which is normally applied to all of his earlier films, this one was really more of a conventionally-scripted comedy, rather than a largely improvised trifle, written with his usual co-writer, actor Eugene Levy.  However all of his ever-growing stock company of actors were on view in this not-so-affectionate take on Hollywood paranoia.  Two veteran but faded actors, played by Catherine O'Hara and Harry Shearer, are starring in an Indie period piece called "Home for Purim" with rising actors, played by Parker Posey and John Michael Higgins.  When a rumour of potential Oscar nominations reaches the cast, three of the four become monstrous media personalities in pursuit of that elusive goal.  "For Your Consideration" is the tag line normally used in Variety ads to promote award hopefuls.  Onto the scene comes one of the money men, played by Ricky Gervais (did Guest really need to add him to the cast?), suggesting that the film is "too Jewish".  It is finally released as "Home for Thanksgiving" without making the expected flash.  Whereas Guest's earlier work finds a certain sweetness in his obsessed characters, this film left something of a bitter taste.  Still it was sharply scripted with some cutting insider jokes and it is always good to welcome back most of Guest's friends and familiar faces.

Princess (2006)

In comparison to my previous entry, this London Film Festival choice by Danish director Anders Morgenthaler was a fascinating film, but one that is difficult to describe.  Combining anime-like storytelling with some unfocused live action, the Princess of the title was a porn star killed in a car crash, leaving her worldly-wise five-year daughter alone.  Her brother returns from his missionary work abroad to claim responsibility for the child, but they do not bond easily since he is far too uptight to understand the debauched life the girl has witnessed.  In addition he feels guilty for his sister's fate, since it was his videotaping her making love some years before that sealed her career choice.  He determines to rid the world of her legacy by destroying all of the porn films she has made and the men responsible for exploiting her. There is a lot of bloodshed and not quite the hoped-for resolution, but rather a poetic one that is in its own way satisfying.  Interestingly only the Princess is never depicted in cartoon form, perhaps because it was her real tragedy which created the story.  A truly original film and a truly unusual vision.

Lights in the Dusk (2006)

What a major disappointment!  My fourth London Film Festival choice was one of the most miserable, minimalist films I have ever watched.  The Finnish writer-director Aki Kaurismaki has always veered to the downbeat (it must be all those dark Northern nights), but he has hit rock bottom here.  Intended as the third part of a loose trilogy which focussed on unemployment ("Drifting Clouds) and homelessness ("The Man without a Past"), this film was meant to emphasise loneliness.  However where the previous two movies were leavened with humour and a large measure of love and hope, this one only offers the viewer the merest glimmer of a better tomorrow.  It's the sorry tale of an alienated night watchman who is deceived by a femme fatale into unwittingly allowing a major burglary on his watch for which only he receives any punishment.  He spends most of the film being beaten up and generally abused or ignored, and is unable to accept the friendship of an equally lonely, but plain, young woman.  I kept waiting for some kind of sweet revenge or redemption, but alas my wait was in vain. 

Nanny McPhee (2005)

This was nearly a good film.  All of the elements were there for a charming tale, but somehow the whole slightly misfired.  Widower Colin Firth has seven adorable but horrible kiddies who have sent every nanny fleeing in terror.  Onto the scene comes Emma Thompson (who also wrote the screenplay) as the hideous but magical eponymous nanny.  As she gradually reforms her charges, her ugliness -- literally warts and all -- begins to disappear; and when she knows that she is no longer needed, so does she.  So far, so good, but an embarrassing role for Angela Lansbury as great-aunt Moneybags in a stupid false nose, and some screechy parts for Imelda Staunton as the ex-army cook and Celia Imrie as a proposed bride for Firth detract horribly.  The scene where the kids try to scare off Imrie with worms and toads and various booby traps, causing Firth to fall all over her in perceived amorous mode is just not funny.  Still, the nice bright colours, a sweet performance from Kelly MacDonald as the gentrified scullery maid, and the on-balance appeal of the children all help to make this a pleasant family film -- just not a great one.