Rachel Getting Married movie review

We are accustomed to seeing Anne Hathaway as a ‘sugar and spice’ sort of actress after The Princess Diaries, Ella Enchanted and ‘Agent 99’ in Get Smart. In Rachel Getting Married she is nominated for a Best Actress Oscar by playing Kym who is anything but ‘all things nice.’
After an extended absence from home, Kym (Hathaway) releases herself from a Sanatorium, 9 months clean from drug abuse. She is home for the weekend for her sister, Rachel (Rosemarie DeWitt) who is marrying Sidney (Tunde Adebimpe). Rachel is barely in the car to come home when the family rivalries and the imperfect self interest begin to impose themselves on her actions and conversation.
In the context of the story, Kym allows the screenwriter to inject a destabilising catalyst into the dynamics of an ordinary family where the histories are tightly interwoven and certain issues have been overgrown and avoided.
As the family “Sheba the destroyer” (‘black sheep’ doesn’t quite capture it) Kym’s nadir comes in the form of the pre-wedding rehearsal dinner speech where any or all of the guests are welcome to say a few words about the happy couple. Kym’s inability to look beyond her own needs makes for the kind of train-crash wedding speech that is so awkward that you can be content she is not your own sister.
When the characters do finally have an honest and open conversation about their repressed feelings of hurt and disappointment, we know this is the first conversation they have had like this for a long, long time. Free of purely self interest, it allows the characters, and the sisters in particular, to hear and respect each other. It is in many ways the film’s high point as we sense that there is a way forward.
Despite all our imperfections and all our failings, we all need the acceptance, grace and forgiveness of those who love us. When Rachel washes the bruised Kym and helps her into her bridesmaid dress, we know an important transaction has taken place beyond the competition and self-interest of the earlier part of the film.
The film's realism of its characters is impressive – the choice of an unobtrusive camera reinforces this sense of a realistic weekend together.
The wedding itself has moments of great sensitivity and joy. The musician friends are both part of the story and beyond it, as they are both wedding guests and the film’s soundtrack evoking mood and turning points in their playing, practising and jamming.
This is a great character study of a whole family exploring both great hardship and incomparable joy. Hathaway is more than just a pretty face who becomes entirely believable in her role and deserved her nomination. I cannot say however that I enjoyed the first half of this film. I find family drama and conflict (and wedding speeches) a difficult set of topics to confront. This whole drama however is rewarding as is its message. 4 out of 5.

Milk movie review

Last December, colleague, friend and fellow cine-lover, Mr T and I saw Mickey Rourke tear up the screen in The Wrestler. We both agreed that it was a fine performance and reasoned that he would have to be favoured for the Best Oscar award. A couple of months later, Mr T announced he had just been to see the winner, Sean Penn in Milk. And so it turned out to be.
Penn plays Harvey Milk, gay rights activist and San Francisco councillor from 1977 and 1978. Based, on actual events, Milk became the campaigner for equal rights for gay people in the face of conservative and fearful opposition. He was assassinated in his office on 18 November 1978 and 30,000 people marched silently through the streets of San Francisco holding candles aloft, to mark his passing.
This is a sensitive performance from Penn where never for a moment do we believe he is not gay. His slight lisp and effeminate movements become a part of the character he his playing so that we do not remark on HIS ACTING or his “presence”. Perhaps we are used to Penn’s intensity on screen but here we see his enjoyment of life – laughing freely with his friends, his empathy for those in need and his great vulnerability with the few loves of his life. In this film we see two of them, played by James Franco and Diego Luna.
Harvey Milk typifies what is best observed about the ‘gay lobby group’; they are typically well educated, eloquent and motivated. Their campaign however goes beyond just ‘gay rights’. It was (and remains) about ensuring that equal rights and mutual respect are not put to the sword by prejudice and bigotry; for all oppressed groups : blacks, Asians, young, old, the disabled and so on. Its about hope he says, to make life worth living.
It is a nice touch I think that 3 actors in the film actually play themselves (albeit 30 years older), such as a union man or political script writer.
I found however that the storyline of tracking through Milk’s life and his rise of influence was not that interesting despite Penn’s fine and moving performance. 3 for the film and 1 for Penn : 4 out of 5.

Frozen River movie review

Ray and her two sons, 15 year old TJ & little Ricky, have been abandoned by their gambling addicted husband/father a week before Christmas along with the final deposit on their new home, a double-sided trailer home. They live in a much smaller trailer with inadequate insulation, up on the Canadian border of New York State. Despite the hardness of their existence Ray does not give up. She continues to demand good standards from her sons and stretches the contents of her purse as far as it goes. A family cannot live on popcorn and Tang alone however.
A chance encounter with Lily, a native American, on the Mohawk reservation sees Ray driving her car across the frozen river of St Lawrence which divides New York from Quebec, Canada. Lily explains that Mohawk land spans either side of the river and that the local police have no jurisdiction on the reservation which polices itself. Once in Canada, Ray discovers that her pop-up boot can be used to ferry two illegal immigrants into the United States and receive $2,400 for her trouble.
Earning this kind of money in a short period of time is a little too tempting and Ray and Lily’s relationship goes from one of suspicion, to convenience and finally to respect and friendship. Ironically, as it is gambling that has Ray in this predicament, it is the gamble of just “one more run” that sets the story up for a tense finish with not quite the outcome you might expect from an American film.
The heart of the story though is played out in one vignette of a Pakistani immigrant couple who lose their baby on the river. A mother’s grief at the thought of losing a child and her strength to protect are strong emotional foundations for this film. Ray is prepared to do whatever it takes to raise her boys and provide for them while Lily has a grief all of her own concerning her one year old son.
Melissa Leo, who plays Ray, was nominated for Best Actress for this performance. She brings a fierce working class dignity to her role where who you are and what you do counts for so much more than status or possessions. You quietly begin to admire how she raises her kids and understand why she doesn’t pursue her husband who has headed south. Its not for no reason that micro-finance lending operations in the third world lend money to the wives and mothers for start up ventures.
Misty Upham (Lila) likewise brings a simple dignity to her role despite being on the receiving end of many of life’s hardships. Note how she snatches her opportunity in both hands at the end of the film.
This is writer/director Courtney Hunt’s first feature.
A 4 out of 5 film where we care about the characters and what becomes of them.

The Reader movie review

The Reader is director Stephen Daldry (The Hours, Billy Elliot) and screenwriter David Hare’s (The Hours) adaption of the German novel "Der Vorleser" by Bernhard Schlink. They capture the very German-ness of the story by filming in Berlin and the German countryside and casting all German actors except for leads Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes (with the film spoken in English). The story is both about the realisation of 50 year old Michael Berg (Fiennes) that he is emotionally reserved and unable or unwilling to share personal experiences, and the collective German guilt surrounding their actions during World War 2.
This guilt is demonstrated in the 1966 trial of former SS, female prison guards who, during the war, rather than let their Jewish prisoners escape, allowed them to burn to death in a country house. The guards are all found guilty with alleged leader Hanna Schmitz (Winslet) to serve the longest prison term. The crowd and judge are perhaps all too willing to focus their ire on these former guards as the ones to blame for the whole tragedy of that war. As one character observes however there were considerably more officers and guards in action during the war with very few arrests and convictions to show for it.
Watching the trial are law students including Berg as a young man (David Kross) and their lecturer (the always excellent veteran Bruno Ganz). “How we feel doesn’t matter,” says the lecturer. “Its what we do” he says.
Starting in 1958, the 15 year old Berg meets by chance the much older and lonely Schmitz. It becomes clear what Berg is to gain from their series of intimate encounters stretched over one summer. The studious young Berg begins to share his high school literature with Schmitz by reading to her. She prefers to be read to, she says. When Schmitz leaves suddenly it is supposed that Berg suffers an emotional withdrawal that is never dealt with until much, much later.
I did enjoy the scene after Berg’s first taste of love with Hanna. Suddenly the world was more vibrant, each sense more acute and Michael barely able to suppress a smile at the family dinner table.
Many years later Michael demonstrates, it seemed to me, a great act of love by sending tape recordings of him reading to the imprisoned Hanna. It seems an unusual thing to describe but in the context of how the story unfolds it is significant. I am sure his guilt toward her plays a part in his actions too but I will leave that for you to ponder.
Winslet won her Best Actress Oscar for this role and while I find it hard to believe it is her best role the Oscar of course rewarded her consistent performance over many roles. Not that Winslet does much wrong. She is contained in her performance and entirely convincing with the character not allowing her to express a great emotional range. Fiennes perhaps is more accustomed to emotional brevity as all his characters exhibit a similar reserve. The young Michael, Kross, is wide eyed and does not look out of place next to Winslet. It is a struggle to see the same man play both 15 year old and 23 year old but it was the least of my complaints. Overall I enjoyed the second half of the film more as the story and characters progressed through the ages. 3 out of 5.

Changeling movie review

Clint Eastwood has made a career out of making the most of minimal emotion. His grim jawed cowboys, cops and hard man made famous, single lines of menace but almost always on the side of the right and oppressed. A most masculine of heroes.
Behind the camera however he exudes a calm and a confidence. With the gentlest of motions he start a scene and allows the actor to maintain their character and step into frame. While his steel eyed squint and muscular frame give the impression of ruffian or rogue, he conveys a very real and honest emotion in the stories he tells and the music he writes.
And so it is with Changeling, a film in which he directs, that allows Angelina Jolie to play single mother Christine Collins. The story is a simple one: Set in 1928 Los Angeles, Collins goes off to work one Saturday leaving her 9 year old son Walter at home by himself. When she returns he is gone.
Jolie is a fine actress who successfully communicates a strong but vulnerable woman without overwrought emotion. A good choice for a director like Eastwood. As Collins, Jolie uses her large soulful eyes to convey a pitiable character that we empathise with and urge onwards in her quest to find her son. She wears a cloche hat during most of the film, a fitted bell shaped hat popular in the ‘20s. Jolie said that her costume allowed her to ‘put on’ her shy character and she often looks up at you from under the brim of her hat as though hiding behind it. But this belies her inner strength as she time and again gets back up to fight the bureaucracy that keeps her from learning the truth. She played a similar role in A Mighty Heart, as a wife who waits to hear of news of her reporter husband, kidnapped by terrorists in Pakistan. She was nominated for a Best Actress nomination in Changeling.
What happens to her son is the narrative that drives the story forward. While we observe corrupt and political police officers and hospital attendants there are good men too that both do their job and champion her cause.
We watch in quiet horror as this “true story” is played out before us. Later in the film, during a court case, a prosecutor articulates our disgust and revolution over what has happened. We are gratified to have someone stand up for the injustices that Christine Collins has received. The story keeps returning us to Collins who earns our respect as a woman who endures in this real life suburban horror. 4 out of 5 from me.

The Class movie review

Before you realise it in The Class, France’s nomination for this year's Oscar for Best Foreign Film, you are sitting through a French grammar class full of 14 year olds, lead by teacher Francois Marin. And you are asking yourself, how is this film going to take us on a journey from the classroom?
The students represent the many colours and origins of modern Paris : Mali, the Caribbean, China, Morocco and many more. When the teacher uses the every-name “Bill” in a sentence on the blackboard, the students take him to task for not using a name they are familiar with such as Assïata, Fatou or Ahmed.
Director Laurent Cantet and writer Francois Begaudeau (who also plays Marin) have written a broad based script around the relationships between the students in this real life high school and their teacher. By role playing and improvising over the course of one academic year they have refined their ideas and allowed the students to confidently play a version of themselves.
The students are from a poor neighbourhood but the usual school yard experiences apply. Some aspire to a good university; most are struggling with the fact that French is not the language spoken at home; while some appear not to try at all and discipline becomes a problem.
They are a little more outspoken than I recall my classes being but perhaps that is the attitude of the modern student or perhaps they have allowed themselves a little more leeway because they are doing it in front of the camera. One student is reprimanded for a poor attitude. One teacher storms into the tea room, fed up with his students who won’t listen.
The teachers reveal themselves to be concerned about the students welfare, wanting to impart life’s lessons but become frustrated at the students apparent lack of interest. It seems that the school ethos is to respect every voice but this leaves them, to a certain extent, powerless when the students begin to assert their rights by not participating in class, answering back and being undeterred by threats of punishment.
Honestly, who allows 14 year old class reps into a teachers meeting where other students are discussed and are then surprised their motivations are misunderstood? It is from this event that the classroom spins out of control, and events transpire that builds the movie’s tension.
I did wonder a little at the teacher’s handling of the situation who seemed unable to apologise for his actions or better act out the subtlety required. I acknowledge however it is easy to criticise from a distance. Having to actually enter the classroom, impart knowledge and maintain control is a mix of such complex skills that it is a wonder that any attempt the vocation at all, and all the good teachers deserve our respect, thanks and admiration.
But as always, the strength of the story comes from strong characters with whom we identify. We come to realise what these students have going for them and that they have their whole lives ahead of them. We join in the celebration at the end of year because of what they have accomplished. 3½ out of 5.

Doubt movie review

In his play, Doubt, writer John Shanley said that he wanted the last Act to be the conversation that two people had with each other as they left the theatre. “Did he or didn’t he? ... Did you just see the same production as me?”
The expectations of the average cinema goer is I think different to that of the average theatre audience. I don’t know if its an unwillingness to be challenged, more that we expect a resolution, or at least have the film declare its moral viewpoint.
In adapting for the big screen, Shanley (who also directs) has fleshed out the look and feel of the story by developing ancillary characters, such as other students and nuns, and staging the whole production in the very catholic primary school in the Bronx, New York he attended as a child.
School principal and head nun, Sister Aloysius (Meryl Streep) is the type of school mistress that adheres to the rigid customs of discipline and order, of whom the “students are uniformly terrified.”
Sister Aloysius suspects Father Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman) of inappropriate behaviour with the school’s first and only black student, 12 year old Donald Miller. What she lacks in proof, she makes up for in moral certainty. Sister Aloysius asks Sister James (Amy Adams) to watch for any suspicious behaviour and when Sister James observes young Miller’s unusual actions after returning from a visit to Father’s office, with alcohol on his breath, Sister Aloysius’ suspicions are confirmed.
At the halfway point in this film, all three characters meet in Sister Aloysius’ office. Amy Adams plays wide eyed sweetness and innocence better than most, and her role here of the good hearted, naive Sister James is described by Shanley as “the warm centre between two battling giants.” And what a scene it is. Streep just explodes as her character is able to sharpen the blade of her moral outrage on Seymour Hoffman’s whetstone. Every thrust of hers is met with his parry, and her Oscar nomination is justified from this scene alone.
This leads to Sister Aloysius meeting with the boy’s mother, Mrs Miller (Viola Davis) whose attitude and reaction is entirely unexpected and catches Sister Aloysius unawares.
Sister Aloysius is motivated by care and love, even if it is demonstrated in an austere manner. Her dry humour and sharp observations serve to humanise her away from the spotlight of students and peers. In her bid to “outshine the fox in cleverness,” to force Father Flynn to confess, she calls in to question her own integrity, which is one of many ‘doubts’ one has in the watching, which is perhaps the point.
Father Flynn likewise claims to have the student’s best interest at heart but is at odds with Sister Aloysius in his desire to modernise their Catholic customs, schooling and worship. The film is set in 1964, the year of the Second Vatican Council which relaxed some of the strict customs that had been followed up to then; this provides some context to their backgrounds.
The opening line to the film is the start of Father Flynn’s sermon, “What do you do when you’re not sure?” This question hangs in the balance for the duration of the film. Our emotions are swayed by the calibre of the acting and the small glimpses we think we see. As I stated at the beginning, when watching a film, we are “trained” to look for cues that will assist us in unravelling the film. This film tries to absolve itself of this and leave it up to us to make a decision on what to believe. While this may work well in a stage play, I’m not so sure it works well here. The ending just didn’t quite work for me and a key character’s final scene felt out of touch with the rest of the film.
All four actors, Streep, Seymour Hoffman, Adams and Davis, received Best Acting Oscar nominations which gives the film its force. The set design and the behaviour of the characters is entirely believable and helps tell the story. 3 out of 5 for me.

The Visitor movie review

University professor, Walter Vale (Richard Jenkins) is living a wasted life in The Visitor. Emotionally he has shut down, he never smiles and has no empathy or interest in others . Walter is called away to New York for a conference where he has long owned an apartment but has not visited in some time. There he meets Tarek (Haaz Sleiman) and Zainab (Danai Gurira) illegal immigrants from Syria and Senegal who have been living in his apartment thinking they had genuinely rented an empty apartment from ‘Ivan’ - obviously part of some real-estate scam.
Initially intent on throwing them out, Walter allows them to stay until they find a place to stay. Although Zainab is reserved and wary of Walter, Tarek’s zest for life slowly seeps into Walter’s lonely existence. Tarek plays the Djembe, an African drum and the rhythm and beauty of this instrument slowly awakens Walter, as though calling him to life from a long and cold sleep.
The second act, the thawing of Walter comes to an abrupt halt as Tarek is arrested and taken to a correctional facility for illegal refugees. Walter acts as chief go between for his new friend and Zainab, who understandably, does not want to venture inside such a place for fear that she will not be allowed out.
The third act unexpectedly hints at the germination of a new love welling up within Walter as his warming continues. Again, the way the film communicates these experiences for Walter does so economically yet without losing their impact.
The film plays out the harsh reality for refugees in the post-9/11 Western world (where “either you belong or you don’t”). We come to accept many implausible endings from Hollywood productions and it is a testament to writer / director Tom McCarthy that he presents a sensitive film about people and relationships which doesn’t scream MESSAGE MOVIE at any stage.
The film also does not ever tell us what to think or how to feel, another of the typical Hollywood foibles. We do not get a post-film epilogue to let us know that everything turns out alright, for example. The last scene is the most beautiful. Walter takes his drum to an underground railway station and starts playing. The location and the action are significant and it is how Walter plays that gives us the merest glimpse to his (and our) state of mind.
A beautiful and understated film that is all the more welcome as it is unanticipated. Were it not for Richard Jenkins’ Best Actor Oscar nomination it would have passed by altogether. I strongly encourage you to locate it and watch.
4 out of 5.

The Duchess movie review

The Duchess, starring Keira Knightley as Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, desperately wants to be an historic bio-pic that fetes the life of a “modern” woman, repressed by 18th century English culture. “Based on true events,” the real life Duchess was apparently a celebrated beauty and a socialite who gathered around her a large circle of literary and political figures (thank-you Wikipedia).
The film, The Duchess, by way of one or two scenes tries to suggest this great social character. It starts with Keira Knightley as the 17-year old virginal girl, married off to The Duke (Ralph Fiennes) by her mother, Lady Spencer (Charlotte Rampling). His sole goal in marrying her is to breed a son. She naively thinks that her marriage might be one that builds a relationship.
The movie then skips 6 years and low and behold The Duchess has become this socialite who “expresses herself through her dresses.” The development of this outspoken and charismatic woman might have been interesting. Instead the film fails to build any tension of its own. It relies on us identifying with the moral conundrum faced by the women by their miserable husbands : pursue happiness on their own terms or lose access to their children.
The unsympathetic, emotionally-handicapped Duke is well portrayed by Fiennes. It is said that “he is the only man in England who is not in love with his wife” as he chases other young women to be his bed companions. His relations with his wife extends only as long as it takes to sire a son. His conversation is virtually nil, his interest in his wife minimal and then utters the most redundant line in the film, “I’m not particularly adept at expressing myself when it comes to matters of a more personal nature.” Thanks Duke - I think we worked that out. The film failed to tell a cohesive story and this is but one small instance.
The film won Best Oscar for Costume Design and it is perhaps best to enjoy it from this perspective. There’s nothing like a romping period drama with a large budget to go all out with. The backdrop of spacious manor houses and luxuriant living allows Knightley to act with poise and grace as she models these voluminous, multi-layered dresses made of the finest silk, taffeta and satin. Her wigs are the most stupendous creations, with feathers or flowers to accent them impressively. Alternatively a hat and parasol extols her virtue when venturing outside. Her makeup is impeccable : the slightest rouge to highlight her cheekbones, and either a “natural” red for lips that must pucker, or auburn for a subdued expression. Knightley is the perfect model for the artists behind the scenes and the film is a worthy winner.
2 out of 5.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona movie review

Is it just me or is Woody Allen’s latest film, Vicky Cristina Barcelona a tepid bowl of Match Point leftovers, which wasn’t that good to start with ? I admit I was in a bad mood when I started this film and it didn’t improve as Woody’s fantasy sex-life took over. I concede you would be hard pressed not to like at least Scarlett Johansson, Penelope Cruz or Javier Bardem were they to make a move on you (or all 3 at once), and to finish off with Rebecca Hall for dessert, but really. Come on Woody. Challenge us! Give a story to care about.
Two American friends, Vicky (Hall) and Cristina (Johansson) get away from it all in Barcelona. For Vicky who is writing a thesis on Catalonian culture it is a chance to experience Barcelona first hand : Gaudi’s church, the cobblestone streets, the old carousel, the hidden jewel of Oviedo. What a mysterious place to visit, experience romance and fall in love. For Cristina, she is running away from the pressure of everyday life although as we witness, life can be just as complicated in Spain as in New York and towards the end, she runs off to France. I wonder if life is any different there?
The women meet Juan Antonio (Bardem) who oozes charm and has these girls spinning circles within no time. He speaks with reverence and love about his ex-wife, Maria Elena (Cruz) who is both alluring and dangerous all at once. Thank goodness she turns up. Cruz brings energy, passion and fury to this story and keeps it going. Going that is until Woody capitulates to his fantasies and the actors are forced into the quality of Debbie Does Dallas.
I think Woody is trying to tell us that life is what you make it : the good, the bad, what you do as much as what you don’t do. As one character says, “I’m looking for a magical solution [to my life].” Good luck. I stopped caring.
1 out of 5.

Waltz With Bashir movie review

Ari Folman, writer, director and producer of this biographical, animated documentary about his experience of the Israel/Lebanon war in 1982, has no memory of what happened to him. Some 24 years later, in 2006, his friend wakes him in the middle of the night. He has been having the same dream over and over again. 26 rabid dogs are chasing him through the streets of Beirut and he can’t escape them. Just as he confronts them, he wakes up. Why can’t he move on with his life?
This sets Folman on his own journey uncovering repressed memories of his own experience. He interviews soldiers he served with and others who were there, asking them, “was I there too?”
His one memory is floating in the sea, looking toward the city, while a massacre of innocents takes place. With the assistance of an analyst he begins to realise that the sea represents his empathy and feelings. His proximity suggests that he saw something horrific or disturbing but was unable to act.
To animate a documentary might seem an unusual choice however it allows us as viewers to be drawn into the story – allowing us to distance ourselves from the immediate horror of war in a way that real footage does not. The conversations between these old friends is relaxed and honest. Two blokes sharing a coffee while the kids play on the floor, for example. Not the usual talking head with a black background.
It will not surprise you to learn that I was reluctant to watch this film. War films can be especially harrowing however it was nominated in the Best Documentary category at the Oscar’s (which was won by Man On Wire) and won a number of other film awards, including a Golden Globe. It is therefore regarded highly.
The tension builds as Folman, and us, move closer and closer to uncovering his memory of the Sabra and Shatila massacre, where a whole refugee camp of men, women, children and animals were killed. And then with less than two minutes to run, the animation flips to real, colour news footage of that time. Women are loudly mourning and strewn about them are bodies left to rot in a bombed out city. What we have been watching is not a dream. It is not an animation. It has been a documentary all along and my blood runs cold. I have been engaged with this story the whole way and am inevitably moved and saddened by these destructive actions and impulses of our fellow humans.

"Whether an eternity or just a minute, there was Frenkel at the junction with bullets flying past him in every direction. Instead of crossing the junction, I saw him dancing, as if in a trance. He cursed the shooters. Like he wanted to stay there forever. As if he wanted to show off his waltz amid the gunfire, with the posters of Bashir above his head. And Bashir’s followers preparing their big revenge just 200 yards away. The Sabra and Shatila massacre."

4 out of 5.

Man On Wire movie review

This is the first on a new series of movies nominated for Oscars from earlier in the year. As these films are released on to DVD I will review them here. Films I have seen in the cinema that have already been reviewed are : Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, Revolutionary Road, Slumdog Millionaire and The Wrestler.
Man On Wire won Best Documentary for its account of Philippe Petit’s breathtaking and daring high wire act between New York's twin towers in 1974.
He crossed between the towers 8 times over 45 minutes. The policemen waiting to arrest him did not describe him as a tightrope walker, but as a dancer. Petit performs as he crosses : he lies prostrate in the middle of the wire, he salutes the crowd. The policeman goes further : “we were watching something once in a lifetime”.
Photographs and film footage taken that day, both from the ground and from the top of the tower, next to the wire, show Petit’s face as “an ageless mask of concentration : a sphinx.” “I need complete detachment,” says Petit. “A castaway on the desert island of my dreams”
It evokes a mood that is “magical, profound.” His girlfriend, watching from the ground calls people’s attention to the highwire walker. “It was extraordinary. It was so beautiful.”
His lifetime friend who helped rig the wire from the other tower is watching Petit step out onto the rope. They are exhausted, it having taken all night to evade the guards, haul the wire across and secure the tightrope. Petit’s face is tense as he steps on the rope. As he crosses about one-third of the way, he sees “relief ... he’s secure, he’s good.” His friend cries at the memory as his fears throughout the planning and of what might go wrong, go unfounded as Petit succeeds in this one audacious act.
Petit recalls that “in the middle of this madness, I had hope and joy.”
And this is the effect this documentary has on the viewer. Petit has such impish enthusiasm that it infects you from through the screen. He lives “everyday as a true challenge - living his life on the tightrope.” His artistic flair draws you in to re-live his tale, some 35 years after it occurred. “If I die what a beautiful death. To die in the exercise of your passion.”
At the end, the American press cannot believe what they have witnessed. “Why?” they ask over and over again. Petit simply answers, “I have done something beautiful and mysterious. There is no ‘why’"
5 out of 5.

Green Guide Blogs will go into hiatus for a couple of weeks as I am away over the school holidays.

Slumdog Millionaire movie review

In cricket, who has scored the most first class centuries? Is it, A) Sachin Tendulkar, B) Ricky Ponting, C) Michael Slater, or D) Jack Hobbs ?
If you know the answer then you could win the million dollars in India’s ‘Who Wants To be a Millionaire?’ At least, that’s the million dollar question for Jamal in Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire.
This film is an almost perfect mix of comedy, drama, romance and action and my pick for Best Picture winner at this year’s Oscars(*).
Some of the early scenes of this film reminded me of Fernando Meirelles’ City of God, a very fine picture that follows the youths of a slum (in Rio de Janeiro) and their inevitable descent into gang life. Slumdog Millionaire is similarly set in the slums, of Mumbai, but rather than follow the path of violence and destruction, it allows itself to be leavened by the impish behaviour of brothers, Salim and Jamal. That is not to say however that this film ignores the reality of their impoverished circumstances or the susceptibility to criminal behaviours. It does however follow the life of Jamal who escapes from these pitfalls.
Narratively the story is a series of flashbacks as Jamal answers questions on the gameshow and we see how he came to know the answers. At the end however you come to realise that the emotional thread that holds this film together is Jamal’s love for Latika, and his continuous search to be reunited with her.
The highlight of the film for me was the Bollywood dance scene involving the whole cast run during the credits. It had the feel of a cast party – unexpected but joyous. It had nothing whatsoever to do with the telling of the story but because we had come to know these characters, ridden the emotional wave of ‘will they/won’t they’ : to break out into dance seemed the most appropriate way to celebrate the end of the film.
Highly recommended. 5 out of 5.
(*)This does not mean I think it will win, although it might. I simply have no idea who will win. As you all well know, Oscar winners have only a little bit to do with how good they are and a lot to do with other things.

Revolutionary Road movie review

Have you ever felt trapped by life? Is your marriage everything you hoped for? Do you fight often, or have you moved passed that into a sullen silence, covering intimacy with a blank smile and finally to indifference?
For April Wheeler (Kate Winslet), the “perfect” life – successful husband, big house in the suburbs, two kids – is a perfectly constructed prison which she and husband Frank (Leo DiCaprio) have fashioned for themselves, in Revolutionary Road.
In deconstructing films like this where a key relationship is in focus, it is helpful for the filmmaker if the script writer contrives to have the reality of everyday life muted or better still, removed. This film is set in the 1950s and yet we do not see any of the extra-curricular activities that occupied the housewives of the day – the church groups, the tennis club, the whatever else that could give a woman a sense of purpose and prestige in the community, outside of cleaning house and raising children. The children, of which Frank and April have two, are absent for long stretches, presumably staying over at “friends houses.” Naturally this hard headedness misses the point of the film and so, by removing these realities, allows the tense, incommunicative relationship to disintegrate before our eyes.
Their relationship experiences a reprieve for the summer. April decides they could move to Paris in the fall, in September. April could work as a secretary, she thinks, and Frank would have the time to discover what he really wants to do. Their dream of a new start replaces the fights. Passage is reserved on a steamer. Boxes are slowly packed. They tell their friends, who can’t understand why anyone would give up their perfect life in the ‘burbs.
But this dream is just a dream. Frank is offered a promotion at the office and this allows him the chance to slip back into the comfort zone of the familiar. For April, unable to find freedom and unable to break the marriage or leave her children, descends into an desperate hell.
The men in this film are ‘typical’ of their time and do not know how to give emotional support or even perceive when its necessary. This imbalance, the woman trapped by circumstance and the man blinded by it, leads to the irretrievable breakdown. It is a literary touch I think that names the main character “April”, while placing her dream in faraway September while Frank is anything but.
Kate Winslet won the “Best Actress” award at the Golden Globes for her troubles here and she brings a maturity to her character. She is married and had children in real life (to director of this film, Sam Mendes) and this adds depth to her performance.
Mendes previously won Best Director for American Beauty and this film shares some similarities – the “American” dream of pursuing the house / the wife / the car by way of a “better” job is an empty pursuit if meaning and purpose are forfeit.
While not a ‘happy’ film, it is well made, well acted and worthy of those who enjoy a serious, relationship drama. 3 out of 5.
Many thanks to ABC radio for the preview.

Post script
Scanning the Oscar nominations, which have just been announced, the only mention for Revolutionary Road (of the “big 6” awards) is that of Best Support for Michael Shannon.
Shannon plays John Givings, a neighbour who plays Lear’s fool to Frank and his rationale for firstly agreeing to move to Paris, and then not. He sees Frank and April as we, the audience do, and pushes and challenges them, often in colourful language, which serves the dual purpose of releasing the tension by amusing us for a moment and providing a counterpoint to the words that they don’t say to each other.
Revolutionary Road has also been nominated for Best Achievement in Art Direction and Costume Design.

Frost/Nixon movie review

[There are spoilers of sorts within this review]
The most compelling character in Frost/Nixon is none other than Richard M Nixon himself. With the most to hide and the most to tell, Frank Langella is a convincing Nixon. His mannerisms, deep throaty voice and cocksure attitude embody the spirit of the man.
The story follows British talk show host, David Frost, played by Michael Sheen and his team of researchers (Matthew Macfadyen, Sam Rockwell and Oliver Platt) as they prepare a list of “no holds barred” questions to ask Nixon in an exclusive series of interviews in March/April of 1977. This type of movie is very similar to The Queen, which also starred Sheen, where a series of facts is known and the ‘behind the scenes’ is speculated upon. The characters represent real persons and the actors do their best to represent their mannerisms and personalities.
While the story of Frost - securing the interview, wooing the impressive looking Rebecca Hall, pleading with network execs - drives the story forward, it is Nixon himself that captures our attention. It is well known that Nixon was forced to resign from office because of illegal activities of which he participated in and covered up (Watergate the headline issue), he escaped trial because of a full pardon from successor Gerald Ford. This interview became his public trial.
Nixon agrees to the interview in the hope it will provide him with an intellectual challenge. Having a purpose in life, he announces, is how to stay young. In the first of the interviews it is Nixon who retains the upper hand as Frost allows Nixon to restore his battered image as a strong and bold leader.
It is make or break for Frost also as each of his television shows is cancelled by the networks around the world and he personally finances the production of this interview.
On the question of Watergate however, and his own admission of guilt and remorse, Nixon seeks an opportunity to come clean and own up to his part in it. He has betrayed his own “standard of excellence” he has always held for himself and seeks to be rid, once and for all, of the constant calls by the media for an admission.
An excellent insight into the ending of this film has been written by Jim Schembri from The Age, which can be accessed here.
Kevin Bacon plays the president’s aide, and displays the largest man crush in recent movie history.
This film is highly recommended, with Langella deserving of a Best Actor nomination.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button movie review

The first thing I wanted to do after watching The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was to hug my children. To love and be loved is the greatest of human treasures and not one to be taken for granted.
As I am sure you will all know by now, Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt) is born as an infant who has the body of an 80-year old and eventually dies as an 80 year old, looking like an infant. In between he ages backwards, peaking in his 50s, 40s and 30s before the inevitable decline of reverse-childhood.
A consequence of this peculiarity however is that Benjamin finds himself alone at many times in his life. His mother died giving birth to him. His father, from rage and grief at losing his wife and gaining an abomination, abandon’s his son on the steps of an old folks home, run by Queenie.
It is here that Benjamin experiences his first and sustaining life force, the love of a mother. Queenie raises him as his own son, “he’s one of the Lord’s children, after all” she declares. Being a boy in an old man’s body Benjamin does not look so out of place amongst the residents of Queenie’s home. Years later after Benjamin is reunited with his birth father, he resolutely maintains that she is his mother and cares nothing for his real father’s business or family history.
His second significant relationship occurs with Daisy – a granddaughter of one of Queenie’s residents, who comes to visit during school holidays. She recognises that Benjamin is a fine playmate, despite his appearance, and it commences a long and lasting love and chase that sustains the film.
The strength of this movie is not the curiosity of an elderly man who ages in reverse. It is the subtly and nuance of two people who age and change and make choices in their life. Choices that will benefit them, and others that will hinder. We are each faced with opportunity to make what we will of our lives. There are moments when we must take risks either in love, or in business or a myriad of other interactions. The net result is two characters for whom we care for and the end of their lives is a moving one for us because we have invested so heavily in their experience.
It is an interesting reflection for me that as Benjamin and Daisy’s ages ‘meet’ in their 40’s, their relationship is robust and strong and passionate. Perhaps in the prime of our lives we all only have a certain number of years to enjoy before other interests or priorities or the inevitable infirmities of age take us away from this time.
Benjamin Button is telling us in no uncertain terms to make the most of what life we have. It won’t last forever - it never does.
Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett play their roles well as do all other support roles. Pitt is entirely convincing as a naïve, child-like old man as he is a wise and experienced young man. Blanchett similarly is apt as a carefree artiste in her early years and a bittersweet mature woman in her latter years.
The makeup and prosthetic team associated with this picture deserve a special mention also; expect to seem them listed in Oscar nominations next month. 3 out of 5.

The Wrestler movie review

The Wrestler is Mickey Rourke’s movie. A big time wrestler in the 80’s, Randy “The Ram” Robinson is now in his 50s and still wrestles, hoping for one more shot at the big time. Its the one thing he can do well and he lives for the roar and adulation of the crowd.
Yes, we all know that wrestling is “fake”, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t real or it doesn’t hurt. Each time you hit the canvas, or get hit with a fold-up chair, or any of the other creative ways the pros use to entertain you, the wrestler still has to take the blow, get up, and do it again. And the strains of this entertainment are starting to show. The Ram's body is scarred from ring mishaps of years past; the muscle tissue is starting to weaken and tear from years of abuse; and the drugs to repair the damage, build the muscle and eat the fat, are common place. Back stage, its not a glamorous lifestyle and the pay for his efforts is solely dependent on the gate – often not a lot of reward for his effort.
Rourke is such a physical actor. His body is as much a part of the role as any words he has to say. His big shoulders, square jaw and scarred brow all play the role. And you know too, or at least deeply suspect, that Rourke is doing all his own stunts. Each crunch is hurting.
The other notable performance, also a physical role, is stripper/friend Cassidy, played by Marisa Tomei. Striking to look at, 44 year old Tomei puts her body on the line. She is every bit as gutsy and compelling as Rourke, in a support role.
The director is Darren Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream) who revels in the dark hallways or crowded change rooms that twist and turn before leading out onto the glittering pole-dancing stage or the brightly lit wrestling ring.
The story tracks The Ram through the final stage of his wrestling life as he tries to reconnect with his estranged daughter and make something of his relationship with Cassidy. It is straightforward enough. There is some humour, especially in the early wrestling scenes where each opposing pair works out their moves beforehand.
The power and appeal of this film however is in the dominating hulk that is Mickey Rourke and is worth every cent watching him strut his stuff. 4 out of 5.
The film is due out in Australia in January. Many thanks to Hopscotch Films for the preview.