VENICE FILM REVIEW: Christian Petzold’s ‘Jerichow’

Posted on August 30, 2008 by admin

jerichow x650By Ray Bennett

VENICE – The postman keeps threatening to ring in German director Christian Petzold’s “Jerichow,” a love triangle involving an older man, his younger wife and the hunk who comes to stay.

Benno Furmann and Nina Hoss give off plenty of body heat as the illicit lovers whose passion threatens to spill over into violence towards the well-intentioned but vulgar husband, played with considerable subtlety by Hilmi Sozer.

It’s a well-constructed drama, paced thoughtfully and almost a thriller, but in the end credibility and tension get lost in the mail. Despite that, the setup and strong performances could propel the film beyond festivals and art houses to exposure in select international markets.

Petzold, whose well-received 2007 film “Yella” also starred Hoss, starts the film with a coldly efficient sequence that shows Thomas (Furmann) assaulted and robbed by a furious gang boss after his mother’s funeral. Ex-army tough and resilient, Thomas takes work in order to renovate his late mother’s house and ends up working for Ali (Sozer), a local businessman.

Ali runs 45 take-away outlets and, after he loses his license on a drunk-driving charge, he hires Thomas to be his driver. The job involves spending time with Ali’s attractive wife, Laura (Hoss), and soon Thomas is keeping his eye on more than the road.

Petzold, who also wrote the script, sets up the triangular dynamic with invention, and his chain of events is far from predictable. The ex-soldier’s respect for his boss runs parallel with his growing desire, and the wife’s frustrations are tempered by affection.

Furmann uses stillness and charm to underscore his character’s potential for mayhem, while Hoss does well to capture the woman’s shifting emotions. Sozer is especially persuasive as a rough-edged and crude but decent man who has made a success in business despite rampant prejudice against his Turkish heritage.

It’s the strength demonstrated in Sozer’s character that is ultimately betrayed in the way Petzold ends his yarn, which had to end somewhere but didn’t have to be so dissatisfying.

Venice Film Festival, In Competition; Cast: Benno Furmann, Nina Hoss, Hilmi Sozer; Director-screenwriter: Christian Petzold; Director of photography: Hans Fromm; Production designer: Kade Gruber; Music: Stefan Bar; Costume designer: Anette Guther; Editor: Bettina Bohler; Producers: Florian Koerner von Gustorf, Michael Weber. Production: Schramm Film Koerner & Weber. Sales agent: Match Factory. No rating, 93 minutes.

This review appeared in The Hollywood Reporter.

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VENICE FILM REVIEW: ‘Achilles and the Tortoise’

Posted on August 30, 2008 by admin

achilles x650By Ray Bennett

VENICE – In his third film examining the conflicts that arise from being distinctively creative, Japanese filmmaker Takeshi Kitano uses the mathematical paradox of the title “Achilles and the Tortoise” to chase after the true nature of art and doesn’t quite make it.

Kitano takes the Zeno paradox that demonstrates why, mathematically, the speedy runner Achilles can never catch up with the dawdling tortoise, and portrays a compulsive artist always one step in back of his dreams. He keeps it all interesting with much black humor and he makes the point clearly that, like beauty, art is in the eye of the beholder.

It’s an enjoyable, if in the end sentimental, portrait of a man consumed with and driven mad by his passion for art. The film will find admirers at festivals and in art houses, and the trilogy — including “Takeshis’ ” and “Glory to the Filmmaker!” — will be a DVD boxed set guaranteed to be popular with Kitano fans.

Set at three stages in the life of driven artist Machisu Kuamochi, the tale shows him first as a young boy (Reo Yoshioka) whose addiction to making pictures is encouraged by his wealthy father (Akira Nakao), even though he often skips class in order to draw.

Orphaned when his father commits suicide, Machisu follows his artistic drive through periods with stern relatives and in an orphanage. As a young man (Yurei Yanagi), he goes to art school and plunges into outrageous projects with his manic fellow students who push their creative energies to extremes.

In middle age (the director, using his actor’s moniker Beat Takeshi), with the help of his devoted and similarly art-crazed wife, Sachiko (Kanako Higuchi), and to the horror of their conventional daughter, Mari (Eri Tokunaga), he turns to increasingly bizarre techniques to fulfill his artistic vision.

Through all of this, it’s patently clear that despite all his efforts, Machisu’s output is rubbish, as a kindly art dealer constantly observes, and he never sells even one. He blatantly copies such successful artists as Miro, Mondrian and Klee, finds grotesque and hilarious ways to splash paint randomly onto various surfaces and risks life and limb, especially his wife’s, along the way.

The film’s mood changes after a confident first segment that has a memorable performance by Yoshioka as the young boy. The wild art-student days are an uneasy mix of comedy and sudden death, and the final third suffers from a sense of repetition as the failed artist keeps going back to the drawing board.

But it’s shot and acted well, with cinematographer Katsumi Yanagijima and production designer Norihiro Isoda making impressive contributions along with an attractive score by Yuki Kajiura, who uses strings and a solo piano to purposeful effect in contrast to the hapless artistic endeavors depicted onscreen.

Venue: Venice Film Festival, In Competition; Cast: Beat Takeshi, Kanako Higuchi, Yurei Yanagi, Kumiko Aso, Akira Nakao, Masatoh Ibu, Reo Yoshioka; Director-screenwriter-editor: Takeshi Kitano; Director of photography: Katsumi Yanagijima; Production designer: Norihiro Isoda; Music: Yuki Kajiura; Editor: Yoshininori Ota; Producers: Masayuki Mori, Takio Yoshida; Production: Band Visual, TV Ashai, Tokyo Theatres, Wowow, Office Kitano; Sales: Celluloid Dreams; No rating; running time, 119 minutes.

This review appeared in The Hollywood Reporter.

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Top film composers lined up for 35th Ghent Film Festival

Posted on August 23, 2008 by admin

By Ray Bennett

The World Soundtrack Awards 2008 at the Ghent Film Festival in October will see British composer Dario Marianelli, who won the Academy Award and the Golden Globe for best score this year for “Atonement,” once again meet competition from Spain’s Alberto Iglesias for “The Kite Runner.”

Marianelli, who faces Iglelias in both the composer of the year and best original score categories, is one of several film composers whose music will be celebrated at the 35th edition of the festival, in Ghent, Belgium. His scores will be played along with that of regular David Lynch collaborator Angelo Badalamenti at the awards presentation on Oct. 18.

The event follows several nights of great film music including a concert of John Williams scores on Oct. 12 and on Oct. 15 an evening of music written by Gabriel Yared for films directed by the late Anthony Minghella including the Oscar-winning “The English Patient.”

England’s Clint Mansell, who was named composer of the year and won the best score award in 2007 for “The Fountain,” will perform music from the films of Darren Aronofsky with the Sonus Quartet on Oct. 16. And on Oct. 17 there’s a show by Flemish folk-rock band Kadril.

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THEATRE REVIEW: Elena Roger in ‘Piaf’ at the Donmar

Posted on August 23, 2008 by admin

elena roger piaf x650By Ray Bennett

LONDON – Playing legendary French singer Edith Piaf seems to bring out the best in performers. Following Marion Cotillard’s Oscar-winning turn in the film “La Vie en Rose” comes Argentine pocket rocket Elena Roger in a new production of Pam Gems’ musical drama “Piaf” at London’s Donmar Warehouse.

Roger was the toast of the West End two years ago in the title role of the hit revival of “Evita” and she brings that charismatic star power to the role of the Little Sparrow of Paris. Barely five-feet tall but with a voice as delicate or as large as she wishes it to be, Roger brings Piaf to life unforgettably.

The play was first presented by the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1981 and went on to Broadway where Britain’s Jean Lapotaire won the Tony Award as best actress. Playwright Gems has shortened its length to 95 minutes and the result is a hurried account of the too-short life of the self-destructive waif with the glorious voice.

On the bare stage, Piaf is seen first at her final performance and then in a clamorous sequence well staged by director Jamie Lloyd she is whisked back to her discovery on the streets of the French capital.

Roger acts as well as she sings so the early scenes show convincingly Piaf’s growth from awkward child to cocky young woman and later cynical veteran performer. She never loses the vulgarity into which she was born and that she wears as a badge of pride.

Through World War Two, when she consorted with the occupying Germans but helped the resistance, to the indifferent 1950s, Piaf survives but her ambition is always undone by her wanton ways and taste in inappropriate younger men and cheap drugs.

Roger conveys it all beautifully and sings the fabled songs matching her remarkable vibrato to the familiar sound of Piaf. Supporting characters are given short shrift although Katherine Kingsley stands out as a tall and vital Marlene Dietrich and Phillip Brown (pictured with Roger) combines brawn and vulnerability as her boxer lover.

Venue: Donmar Warehouse (running through Sept. 20); Cast: Elena Roger, Shane Attwooll, Michael Hadley, Katherine Kingsley, Steve John Shepherd, Luke Evans, Leon Lopez, Phillip Browne, Stuart Neal; Playwright: Pam Gems; Director: Jamie Lloyd; Scenic Designer: Soutra Gilmour; Lighting designer: Neil Austin; Sound designer: Christopher Shutt.

This review appeared in The Hollywood Reporter.

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BSkyB doubles its culture shows with Sky Arts 2

Posted on August 19, 2008 by admin

A file photograph shows violinist Vanessa Mae performing on stage during a concert in PragueBy Ray Bennett

LONDON — Classical music and opera will be front and centre on a new channel called Sky Arts 2 being launched Oct. 20 by British Sky Broadcasting featuring new shows from performers such as Vanessa Mae (pictured).

With the addition of the new channel, Sky Arts will be renamed Sky Arts 1 and will focus on contemporary and niche interests including documentaries and live rock concerts. Sky Arts HD will provide high definition content from both channels.

Sky Entertainment Managing Director Sophie Turner Laing said: “Arts is integral to the Sky platform and we now have the wealth and breadth of diverse arts content to warrant two dedicated arts channels. This is further evidence of our commitment to invest in the content that people love and demonstrates how pay-TV can meet viewers’ individual needs.”

Shows on Sky Arts 2 will include HD Metropolitan Operas with performances including “Romeo & Juliet” “La Boheme” and “Macbeth”; Vanessa Mae’s “Classical Top Ten”, featuring classical music performances chosen by Sky Arts viewers; and a four-part series titled “The Forgotten Painter – Edward Seago”, in which Selina Scott will examine the life and work of the late British painter, and Brian Sewell’s series “The Naked Piligrim”.

Sky Arts 1 programs will include Madness frontman Suggs’ “Italian Job”, a cultural tour of Italy; “Art Rocks”, featuring the artistic talents of Iggy Pop, Moby, George Clinton, Graham Nash and Dave Stewart; Mariella Frostrop’s “The Book Show” and “Tim Marlow on Francis Bacon”.

The live music strand on Sky Arts 1 will run Monday through Saturday nights with important concerts from acts including Queen, Johnny Cash, the Who and Eric Clapton.

This story appeared in Cue Entertainment.

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LOCARNO: ‘Parque Via’, Ilaria Occhini, Tayanc Ayaydin win

Posted on August 18, 2008 by admin

Occhini, Ayaydin x650

By Ray Bennett

LOCARNO, Switzerland – Festival juries like to spread their gongs around so it’s no surprise that Italian star Ilaria Occhini won the best actress award representing “Black Sea”, which otherwise might have won as best picture.

That prize went to “Parque Via” and honoured director Enrique Rivero (pictured below) rather than his sublime lead actor Nolberto Coria, which allowed Tayanc Ayaydin (pictured with Occhini) to step up as best actor for “The Market – A Tale of Trade.” Canada’s Denis Cote picked up the best director award for “All That She Wants”.

Enrico Rivero x325No argument with those awards although Ireland’s “Kisses” would have made a worthy Golden Leopard winner too and so would Peru’s “Dioses”.

Kelly O’Neill was impressive in “Kisses,” as were Laurence Leboeuf and Marina Hands in “Story of Jen”, Betty Qizmolli in “Katia’s Sister,” Ksenia Rappoport in “Yuri’s Day” and Dorotheea Petre in “Black Sea.”

On the men’s side, Song Sam-Dong shows great comic timing in the Korean comedy “Daytime Drinking” and John Hurt does the business as usual in “Lecture 21”.

The Special Jury Prize went to “33 Scenes From Life” by Malgoska Szumowska of Poland with special mentions to “Feast of Villains” by China’s Pan Jianlin and Korean Noh Young-seok’s “Daytime Drinking.”

“Parque Via” also won the critics’ prize while the audience award went to “Son of Rambow” by England’s Garth Jennings and the top prize in the Filmmakers of the Present sidebar was presented to “La Forteresse” by Fernand Melgar of Switzerland.

Italian icon Claudia Cardinale (below) was on hand to receive a lifetime achievement award.

Claudia Cardinale Locarno 2008 x650

 

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LOCARNO FILM REVIEW: Francois Rotger’s ‘Story of Jen’

Posted on August 17, 2008 by admin

Story of Jen x650By Ray Bennett

LOCARNO, Switzerland – A woman who gave birth to her daughter at 14 strives hard to stop history repeating itself but the girl’s impetuous passions pose a challenge in Francois Rotger’s complex drama “Story of Jen.”

Set in a French-speaking community in British Columbia, that Canadian province’s vast hinterland plays a role too as the domestic drama transitions into a deadly manhunt. Well-intentioned and boasting some fine acting, the film suffers from its segue into the parkland with a chase lacking pace or tension. Prospects may be brighter on cable.

Laurence Leboeuf plays Jen, a bright but troubled youngster who keeps pretty much to herself at school and has a difficult relationship with her mother, the young and attractive Sarah (Marina Hinds). Mom is still suffering flashbacks to the discovery of her late husband, who committed suicide with a gun.

The husband was not Jen’s father and when his half-brother Ian (Tony Ward) comes to stay with the intention of helping the family, she develops a crush on him. Jen’s behavior changes at school and she begins a sudden friendship with a confident class leader (Annie Murphy).

Members of the community caution Sarah about the wisdom of a having a strange man on the premises but it’s not the new young widow Ian is interested in, although his intentions appear honorable. Until, that is, he takes Jen on horseback into the forest.

Not helped by a rambling narration, the story becomes murky once it leaves the confines of the family home where Leboeuf and Hinds do good work establishing the pair’s prickly bond. Murphy, too, impresses as the assured schoolmate. The men fare less well with Ward’s outdoorsman an indistinct figure while Daniel Pilon’s vengeful grandfather makes a plodding man hunter.

Rotger’s approach to a worthwhile topic ends up almost too earnest so that what should be meaningful drama becomes meandering instead.

Venue: Locarno International Film Festival, In Competition; Cast: Laurence Leboeuf, Marina Hands, Tony Ward, Daniel Pilon, Annie Murphy; Director, screenwriter, music: Francois Rotger; Director of photography: George Lechaptois; Production designer: Valerie Massadian; Editor: Yannick Kergoat; Producer: Tom Dercourt; Production: Cinema Defacto; Sales: Roissy Films; Not rated; running time, 110 minutes.

This review appeared in The Hollywood Reporter.

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LOCARNO FILM REVIEW: Pan Jianlin’s ‘Feast of Villains’

Posted on August 17, 2008 by admin

By Ray Bennett

LOCARNO, Switzerland – Slow moving and marred by nondescript performances, Chinese filmmaker Pan Jianlin’s “Feast of Villains” describes the terrible state of affairs that afflicts the poor when dealing with faceless institutions.

Feast of Villains x325Obviously heartfelt and deserving attention for its dire topic, the film’s painfully inert structure and absence of energy in most of its players will limit much exposure beyond sympathetic festivals.

The simple story tells of Fu-gui, a young delivery boy (Zhou Cheng) whose father is chronically ill. Lacking the funds for the expensive drugs that would extend his father’s life, the lad takes him home to his squalid digs and tries to raise some cash.

In desperation, he turns to black-market operators who promise to pay big money for a healthy kidney. Maimed in the operation and cheated of his money, Fu-gui returns to find that his father has meanwhile died.

Now the sickly young man must deal with intransigent authorities from the police, the hospital and the local government in order to obtain a death certificate before he can have his father’s body properly cremated and interred.

It’s a sad tale, all right, but not told with any new insights or suggestions as to what can be done about such things.

Venue: Locarno International Film Festival, In Competition; Cast: Zhou Cheng, Li Geng, Zhao Jinge, Zhou Bin, Sun Peng, Han Shiqiang; Director, screenwriter: Pan Jianlin; Screenwriters: Zhao Xu, Zhou Bin, Zhao Jinge, Sun Peng; Directors of photography: Zhang Yongqian, Xie Peng; Production designer: Jin Zaifeng; Editor: Zhang Jifan; Production: Lao Pan Film Studio; Sales: Ray Production (Beijing) Ltd.; Not rated; running time, 85 minutes.

This review appeared in The Hollywood Reporter.

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LOCARNO FILM REVIEW: Howard McCain’s ‘Outlander’

Posted on August 16, 2008 by admin

Outlander x650By Ray Bennett

LOCARNO, Switzerland – Here’s a twist for fans of creature features: Aliens versus Vikings. There’s no reason to suppose that if extra-terrestrials visit Earth it has to be in modern times. In Howard McCain’s “Outlander,” futuristic terrors land in 10th century Norway with no idea what they’re getting into.

It’s entertaining nonsense with major league special effects, larger-than-life characters and inventive monsters that draw on the “Aliens” and “Predator” models, being terrifying but also vaguely sympathetic. The film had its world premiere at the Locarno International Film Festival and, handled suitably by the Weinstein Company in the U.S. and Wild Bunch internationally, it should do crowd-pleasing business all around.

The opening sequence is all science fiction as a space ship zooms through the skies and crashes on a remote seaside cliff top. Jim Caviezel (“The Passion of the Christ”) plays Kainan, the lone survivor of the crash, and he quickly uses a portable machine that is both tracking device and database to acquire — via his retina — everything he needs to know about his new location.

Appearing invulnerable with a nifty 25th century sidearm, the intruder explores the terrain and discovers a village that has been decimated with buildings burned and bodies everywhere. He is quickly knocked off his feet, disarmed and captured by a Viking warrior on horseback named Wulfric (Jack Huston), who carries him to a vast encampment.

There, Kainan meets wise old King Rothgar (John Hurt) and his lovely but dangerous daughter Freya (Sophia Myles, pictured with Huston) and learns about a rival king named Gunnar (Ron Perlman), whose village was destroyed.

Without revealing anything about himself, Kainan convinces Rothgar and his people that he has inadvertently brought with him from the north a fearsome creature called the Moorwen, and after assorted games that lead to male bonding, they all set off to find the beast.

All the crafts are topline in the film with the highly convincing Moorwen designed by Patrick Tatopolous and visual effects supervised by David Kuklish. Many scenes are subterranean and under water with Pierre Gill’s cinematography paying off handsomely.

Both the Viking period and the sci-fi stuff are handled well although not much is made of Kainan’s presumably advanced powers except for the ability to spend a long time underwater.

Caviezel knows by now how to play saviours, Huston has the family swagger and Hurt has a fine old time as the Viking king. Myles looks the part too even if her plummy English vowels and crisp consonants jar a bit but then again you’d be amazed if a daughter of John Hurt didn’t speak well.

Venue: Locarno International Film Festival Out of Competition; Cast: Jim Caviezel, Sophia Myles, Jack Huston, John Hurt, Ron Perlman; Director, screenwriter: Howard McCain; Screenwriter, executive producer: Dirk Blackman; Producers: Christ Roberts, John Schimmel; Executive producers: Barrie Osborne, Don Carmody, Kia Jam, Christopher Eberts, Karen Loop; Director of photography: Pierre Gill; Production designer: David Hacki; Music: Geoff Zanelli; Costume designer: Debrah Hanson; Editor: David Dodson; Production: The Weinstein Company, Ascendant Pictures, Virtual Film; Sales: Wild Bunch; Not rated; running time, 115 minutes.

This review appeared in The Hollywood Reporter.

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LOCARNO FILM REVIEW: Enroque Rivero’s ‘Parque Via’

Posted on August 15, 2008 by admin

parquevia x650By Ray Bennett

LOCARNO, Switzerland – Mexican director Enrique Rivero’s first feature film “Parque Via” is the study of a simple man who lives alone and really likes it that way. Slow and repetitious, it uses the structure of a short story that lulls the reader with ordinariness before a stinging climax.

Nothing much happens until that final bang but Nolberto Coria, as the caretaker of a grand house that has been otherwise empty for many years, holds the attention with his grave dignity and dry humor. Audiences will take to the quiet man and his determined solitude with festivals and art houses likely to profit handily.

Beto (Coria) is a man of few words who goes about his daily routine of taking care of the house with an attitude as clean and brisk as his white shirts. He’s the kind of person who knows to take in the laundry just before it rains and uses a little starch when he irons.

Whether raking leaves, cleaning windows, or washing tubs and toilets, Beto is diligent and thorough. In the evenings, he bathes, has a drink of whisky, and dines on tacos and tamales. He watches the news channel with its relentless parade of stories about terrible goings-on in the outside world, and goes silently to bed.

Beto’s only human contacts, aside from the occasional tamale seller, are the genteel woman (Tesalia Huerta) who owns the house and a cheerful hooker (Nancy Orozco) who drops by on a regular basis.

Nothing changes for the man until the owner tells him that the house is being sold. She is concerned about what he will do and, being affectionate and generous, she offers to help him financially. Her greatest act of kindness, however, is one she could not foresee.

The film’s slow pace might deter some viewers but when the climax arrives, Coria’s stately discipline and Rivero’s unhurried direction pay off significantly.

Venue: Locarno International Film Festival, In Competition; Cast: Nolberto Coria, Nancy Orozco, Tesalia Huerta; Director, screenwriter, producer, editor: Enrique Rivero; Producer: Paolo Herrera; Director of photography: Arnau Valls Colomer; Production designer, costume designer: Nohemi Gonzalez; Music: Alejandro de Icaza; Editor: Javier Ruiz Caldera; Production: Una Communion; Not rated; running time, 86 minutes.

This review appeared in The Hollywood Reporter.

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