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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LOCARNO FILM REVIEW: Federico Bondi’s ‘Black Sea’

Posted on August 15, 2008 by admin

Black Sea x650By Ray Bennett

LOCARNO, Switzerland – A clash of cultures and generations gives way to understanding and friendship in Federico Bondi’s touching “Black Sea” (Mar Nero) in which a grouchy Italian widow slowly bonds with her young Romanian caregiver.

Acclaimed Italian star Ilaria Occhini and Romania’s Dorotheea Petre make a lasting impression in a variation on the odd couple theme. Petre was named best actress in the Cannes sidebar Un Certain Regard for “The Way I Spent the End of the World” in 2006,.

Full of gentle wisdom and the fresh air of New Europe, the film’s fine acting and general warmth will endear it to festival and art house audiences everywhere.

Petre plays Angela, who arrives with very little Italian to take care of the elegant but permanently disgruntled Gemma (Occhini), whose aches and pains are made worse by desperately missing her beloved late husband.

Guileless and patient, Angela lets the old woman’s unpleasantness bounce off her as she gets on with her job, never losing her temper and sticking up for herself when she needs to. Gradually, she wins not only Gemma’s trust but also her affection.

Their relationship deepens the more Gemma learns about life in Romania and sees the young woman’s devotion to the man she loves, Adrian (Vlad Ivanov) back in Romania. When Angela learns that Adrian has been fired from his job and has gone missing, Gemma decides they must embark on a trek to find him.

Bondi and co-writer Corso Salani let the pair’s relationship flourish slowly with some amusing misunderstandings and observant exchanges. Cinematographer Gigi Martinucci’s expertly captures the interplay of the two actresses with Occhini’s radiant beauty and intelligence shining through her character’s initial truculence and Petre’s fresh-faced honesty matching her line for line.

Bondi clearly has great sympathy for the plight of migrants from countries new to the European Union and his scenes showing the Romanian celebrations when joining the EU are as bright and alive as his two accomplished stars.

Venue: Locarno International Film Festival, In Competition; Cast: Ilaria Occhini, Dorotheea Petre, Vlad Ivanov, Maia Morgenstrern, Corso Salani; Director, screenwriter: Federico Bondi

Screenwriter: Ugo Chiti; Director of photography: Gigi Martinucci; Production designer: Daniele Spisa; Music: Enzo Casucci, Guy Klucevsek; Costume designer: Alessandro Vadala; Editor: Ilaria Fraioli; Producer: Francesco Pamphili; Executive producers: Giorgia Priolo, Marina Spada; Production: Film Kairos; Sales: Intramovies; Not rated; running time, 95 minutes.

This review appeared in The Hollywood Reporter.

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LOCARNO FILM REVIEW: Mijke de Jong’s ‘Katia’s Sister’

Posted on August 14, 2008 by admin

Katia's Sister x650By Ray Bennett

LOCARNO, Switzerland – Dutch director Mijke de Jong’s “Katia’s Sister” is an observant snapshot of a young woman who is the heart and soul of an all-female Russian ex-patriot family living in Amsterdam.

It features an endearing performance by Betty Qizmolli as Lucia, a plain teenager who adores her glamorous older sister and deals patiently with their slatternly mother and addled grandmother. The film should do well in its home market and thrive at festivals.

Asked at school what she wants to be when she grows up, Lucia (Betty Qizmolli) can think of no better answer than to be Katia’s sister. Katia (Julia Seijkens) is a sexually active 17-year-old, all blonde hair and good looks, and while she often calls Lucia stupid she depends on her for comfort and reassurance.

Mother (Olga Kouzgina) is still able to trade her fading beauty for rent money and a few luxuries but she gets angry when Katia first falls for a spry Italian boy (Chico Kenzari) and then takes a job at a strip club to earn her fare to join him in Pisa.

Lucia knows she’s the Ugly Betty of the family and despite an outgoing personality she turns inward, talking to her pet water turtle, doing imaginary favors for her family, and befriending a young man spreading the word of Jesus in a nearby square.

With no plot to speak of, the film, which is based on a novel by Andres Barba, succeeds as a character study thanks to De Jong’s quiet style and Qizmolli’s unaffected performance.

Venue: Locarno International Film Festival, In Competition; Cast: Betty Qizmolli, Julia Seijkens, Olga Louzgina, Tatiana Sharkova, Chico Kenzari; Director: Mijke de Jong; Screenwriters: Jan Eilander & Jolein Laarman; Director of photography: Tom Peters; Production designers: Jolein Laarman & Fleur Ankone; Music: Leo Anemaet; Costume designer: Monica Petit; Editor: Dorith Vinken; Producer: Hans de Wolf; Production: Keyman Films; Sales: Keyman Films; Not rated; running time, 85 minutes.

This review appeared in The Hollywood Reporter.

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LOCARNO FILM REVIEW: ‘The Market – A Tale of Trade’

Posted on August 14, 2008 by admin

The Market x650By Ray Bennett

LOCARNO, Switzerland – An uneven saga about capitalism’s capacity to corrupt the innocent, Ben Hopkins’s “The Market – A Tale of Trade” tries to blend whimsy with harsh reality but doesn’t quite pull it off.

Set in Turkey near the Azerbaijan border in the mid 1990s, the film tells of a man named Mihram (Tayanc Ayaydin) who spots opportunity in a fast-changing economy but lacks the guile and ruthlessness to take advantage of it.

Framed as a fable related by singer Rojin, the story aims for comedy in depicting Mihram’s inept attempts at sharp trading before turning earnest as he takes on the job of acquiring vital medicine for local children. Only mildly diverting, the film may enjoy some success in its home territory but reaching wider audiences will prove troublesome.

Eager to please his devoted wife (Senay Aydin), Mihram works the local market without success until he spots his big chance. The hospital is desperate for some scarce and expensive drugs and he volunteers to obtain them. He plans to wheel and deal the hospital’s cash until he has raised the exorbitant amount needed for the medicine.

With the help of grouchy Uncle Fazil (Genco Erkal), Mihram sets off to make his deals and win the day but runs afoul of gangster Mustafa (Hakin Sahin) along the way. Hopkins tells his story with passion and the film has lots of atmosphere but the inconsistent tone lets him down.

Venue: Locarno International Film Festival In Competition; Cast: Tayanc Ayaydin, Genco Erkal, Senay Aydin, Hakan Sahin, Rojin; Director, screenwriter: Ben Hopkins; Director of photography: Konstantin Kroning; Production designer: Atilla Yilmaz; Music: Cihan Sezer; Costume designer: Zeynep Sirlikaya; Editor: Alan Levy; Producer: Roshanak Behesht Nedjad; Production: Flying Moon; Sales: The Works International; Not rated; running time, 93 minutes.

This review appeared in The Hollywood Reporter.

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LOCARNO FILM REVIEW: Denis Cote’s ‘All That She Wants’

Posted on August 14, 2008 by admin

all that she wants x650By Ray Bennett

LOCARNO, Switzerland – Shot in atmospheric black-and-white but lacking clear exposition, Quebec filmmaker Denis Cote’s “All That She Wants” tries without success to combine a gritty crime story with a portrait of loneliness.

The French title suggests that Coralie (Eve Duranceau) wants chaos and she gets it at a dusty rural outpost where she is the only woman involved with some very nasty characters, one of whom is likely her father.

Moody and sometimes indecipherable, the picture contains some interesting set-ups and decent performances but its descent into violence invites merely indifference. Box office potential appears equally bleak.

Coralie lives on a rundown ranch with Jacob (Norman Levesque), who may be her father, pining for her mother who has been placed in an institution. They both live under threat from hoodlum Alain (Rejean Lefrancois) and his violent underlings Spazz (Nicolas Canuel) and Pic (Olivier Aubin).

Spazz is especially dangerous as he plots for Alain’s downfall by bringing in two Russian women to add prostitution to their drug-running enterprise. The arrival of French ex-convict Pierrot (Laurent Lucas), who is in love with Eve, heightens emotions all round.

Cote establishes a spare and interesting landscape and draws good performances from his cast but the ragged script fails to do justice to the bleak story.

Venue: Locarno International Film Festival, In Competition; Cast: Eve Duranceau, Normand Levesque, Laurent Lucas, Nicolas Canuel, Rejean Lefrancois, Olivier Aubin; Director, screenwriter, producer: Denis Cote; Producer: Stephanie Morissette; Director of photography: Josee Deshaies; Production designer: Alexandre Dumas; Costume designer: Julia Patkos; Editor: Sophie Leblond; Production: Nihilproductions; Sales: Funfilm Distribution; Not rated; running time, 105 minutes.

This review appeared in The Hollywood Reporter.

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LOCARNO FILM REVIEW: Kirill Serebrennikov’s ‘Yuri’s Day’

Posted on August 14, 2008 by admin

Yuri's Day x650By Ray Bennett

LOCARNO, Switzerland – Reality takes a back seat in Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov’s puzzling fable “Yuri’s Day,” in which an internationally famous opera star abandons everything to become the incarnation of Mother Russia.

Intriguing at first, the beautifully shot film becomes increasingly obscure as it turns into a thoroughly Russian exploration of that country’s restless soul. Serebrennikov celebrates the woman’s abandonment of riches and acclaim, and her return to the most basic and selfless kind of nurturing.

With fascinating locations in a small town deep in the wintry countryside and several intriguing opening sequences, the film appears to be a straightforward suspense film. But Serebrennikov has grander pretensions and while he clearly intends it as a hymn to all things Russian, the picture will leave many confused and let down. Audiences beyond Russia’s borders will be difficult to reach.

It starts out as a simple mystery story as glamorous and supremely confident diva Lyuba (Ksenia Rappoport) takes her complaining son Andrei (Roman Shmakov) to her hometown of Yuriev, which she left 20 years earlier. They explore the local sites but then the young man climbs a bell tower and is not seen again.

The town and its inhabitants reek of times past and as Lyuba rushes about seeking her missing son, she is gradually drawn into their ancient world. A museum cashier takes her in and a local cop comes to her aid but she has entered another time and place, one that perhaps only Russians know.

Rappoport (“La Sconosciuta”) does a fine job as the woman changes from an assured personality to a panicked mother and finally to a compassionate nurse. The scenes of her singing, however, are embarrassingly bad with the director failing to ensure exact lip-synching or a proper sound mix. Those scenes signal the film’s departure into a similarly unconvincing fantasy.

Venue: Locarno International Film Festival, In Competition; Cast: Ksenia Rappoport, Sergey Sosnovski, Roman Shmakov; Director: Kirill Serebrennikov; Screenwriter: Yuri Arabov; Director of photography: Oleg Lukichev; Music: Sergey Nevski; Costume designer: Irina Grazhdankina; Editor: Olga Grinshpun; production companies: New People Film Company, Rohfilm; Not rated; running time, 135 minutes.

This review appeared in The Hollywood Reporter.

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LOCARNO FILM REVIEW: Lance Daly’s ‘Kisses’

Posted on August 13, 2008 by admin

kisses x650By Ray Bennett

LOCARNO, Switzerland – Two little Irish kids flee their abusive homes on a bleak estate and ride a barge into the center of Dublin for a night of adventure and stark terror in Lance Daly’s captivating feature “Kisses.”

Foul-mouthed and full of life, the two pre-teenagers played memorably by Kelly O’Neill and Shane Curry escape their grim and cheerless environment to find even greater peril on the city’s mean streets. But Daly, who is writer, director and cinematographer, finds warmth and humor in their predicament as the pair discover a trust they’ve never known before.

Named Best Irish Film at this year’s Galway Film Fleadh, “Kisses” will flourish on the festival circuit and could go wider thanks to the gritty and irresistible charm of the youngsters, a lot of Bob Dylan on the soundtrack, and Daly’s gift for insightful storytelling.

The two kids, Dylan (Curry) and Kylie (O’Neill), are neighbors on a soul-destroying housing estate where the girl has a bullying older sister and an abusive uncle, and the boy tries to hide from the constant battling of his parents. When his father punches his mother, Dylan jumps in but then has to run as the man turns on him.

In a well-staged and frightening sequence, the boy races through the house with his father on his heels, making it out onto the street thanks to some quick thinking by his pal Kylie. She grabs some cash from her own home and the pair hotfoot it to the nearby canal.

Hitching a ride from a genial barge-worker, the two kids embark on an odyssey that Dylan hopes will lead him to his older brother who left home years before and is living somewhere in the city. On the way, they encounter some oddball characters, some friendly but others distinctly not. One is a street performer who introduces them to the music of Bob Dylan, and later they meet a Dylan impersonator played by the uncredited Stephen Rea.

Daly catches the spirit of two resourceful kids who have a lot of gumption to go with their grave suspicion of grownups and his two young stars are unforgettable. He paints a wretched picture of Dublin’s seedy underbelly but by keeping his focus on the two remarkable youngsters without an ounce of sentiment he succeeds in making something true and satisfying.

Venue: Locarno International Film Festival In Competition; Cast: Kelly O’Neill, Shane Curry, Paul Roe, Neili Conro; Director, screenwriter, director of photography: Lance Daly; Production designer: Waldermar Kalinowski; Music: Go Blimps Go; Costume designer: Leonie Prendergast; Editor: Pat Duffner; Producer: Macdara Kelleher; Executive producers: Les Kelly, Peter Garde Production company: Fastnet Films; Sales agent: Fastnet Films; Not rated, 76 minutes.

This review appeared in The Hollywood Reporter.

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LOCARNO FILM REVIEW: Denis Rebaglia’s ‘Marcello, Marcello’

Posted on August 13, 2008 by admin

Marcello x650By Ray Bennett

LOCARNO, Switzerland – Swiss director Denis Rebaglia’s romantic comedy “Marcello, Marcello” has a terminal case of the cutes as it relates the fable of a young man wooing his beloved on a Neapolitan island in the 1950s.

Sugary and overblown, the film’s suffocating whimsy overwhelms a trifle of a story about an island tradition whereby when a girl turns 18 every boy is invited to bring a gift for her father. The bringer of the gift that best pleases the dad then gets to take the daughter to tea with an 8 o’clock curfew.

Those with a strong stomach for rich Italian desserts might find the film digestible and its relentlessly sunny disposition might endear it to some, but many will find it too sweet for its own good. Box office will be mostly homegrown.

Marcello (Francesco Mistichelli) is a wide-eyed fisherman’s son who disdains the village tradition of gift giving until the girl in question is his childhood love, Elena (Elena Cucci), and he hits on the perfect thing. Each morning, the girl’s father, the village mayor, screams at his neighbor, the butcher, about the noise made by his rooster.

Marcello decides to buy the rooster from the butcher to give to the mayor. The butcher, however, won’t take money, insisting instead on two bottles of the rare wine made by a pair of eccentric sisters on the island. They, however, have something they want and it goes on like that as Marcello has to arrange a series of swaps from many of the village’s prominent citizens including the seamstress, the barber, the priest and the parents of his main rival. Meanwhile, his teacher is on his back about skipping school and his father wishes he’d go off to college and get a life.

The young leads work hard but they have a disappointing lack of chemistry while many well-known Italian performers are allowed to chew up the excessively colorful scenery. Perhaps if Rebaglia had offered the sweetness with a spoon rather than laying it on with a shovel, things might have turned out better.

Venue: Locarno International Film Festival, Out of Competition; Cast: Francesco Mistichelli, Elena Cucci, Luigi Petrazzuolo, Alfio Alessi, Luca Sepe; Director: Denis Rebaglia; Screenwriter: Mark David Hatwood; Producer: Anne Walser; Director of photography: Filip Zumbrunn; Production designers: Marion Schramm, Andi Schraemli; Music: Henning Lohner; Costume designer: Pascale Suter; Editor: Claudio di Mauro; Production: C-Films, Zero Fiction Film; Sales: Telepool; Not rated, 97 minutes.

This review appeared in The Hollywood Reporter.

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LOCARNO FILM REVIEW: Alessandro Baricco’s ‘Lecture 21’

Posted on August 12, 2008 by admin

lecture 21 2 x650By Ray Bennett

LOCARNO, Switzerland – Italian director Alessandro Baricco’s English-language “Lecture 21” is a treat for lovers of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony and filmgoers who enjoy sumptuous images accompanied by splendid music.

The film explores the substance of a fictional lecture about the symphony given by a legendary professor named Mondrian Kilroy (John Hurt). It is illustrated by sublime sequences set in snow and ice, strange interviews with apparently long-deceased witnesses, and a dissertation by Kilroy that allows Hurt to once again demonstrate his remarkable acting prowess.

“Lecture 21” should hold classical music fans spellbound on the art-house circuit and its fine craftsmanship could attract awards at festivals with a long DVD life also likely.

The tale involves two stories, one of them relating the fate of a musician named Hans Peters (Noah Taylor, pictured) who dies in the snow, so frozen that he is buried with his violin. Before his death, he tussles with a curious Hoffmeister (Clive Russell) in a surrealistic debate about the creation and reception of Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy.”

The other thread follows Prof. Kilroy, who has disappeared after a career devoted to giving lectures on such arcane topics as curved objects, waves, the circularity of biblical writing, and boiled eggs. Martha (Leonor Watling, pictured below with Hurt), a young student bowled over by his peroration on Beethoven, seeks out the aging scholar and engages him in a discussion on the nature of art and old age.

Lecture 21 x650

Both elements are accompanied by wonderful performances of not only Beethoven’s 9th but also some of his piano sonatas and bits of Symphony No. 7 plus works by Vivaldi, Thalberg, Rossini, Scriabin and the elder Strauss.

Helped enormously by costume designer Carlo Poggioli, production designer Marta Maffucci and editor Giogio Franchini, cinematographer Gherardo Gossi delivers many stunning sequences to which writer and director Baricco has clearly given great thought.

The international cast, topped by Australia’s Taylor, England’s Russell and Spain’s Watling, join Hurt as they give a human dimension to the contemplation of genius.

The film is a feast for the eyes from the opening scene in which black-robed pallbearers skate across an ice-field bearing a gleaming coffin, to a staged event involving an angel arriving to call the doomed musician away, to the young student’s discovery of Kilroy in a dilapidated bowling alley. Above it all soars that marvelous music.

Venue: Locarno International Film Festival, Out of Competition; Cast: Noah Taylor, Clive Russell, Leonor Watling, John Hurt. Director: Alessandro Baricco; Writer: Alessandro Baricco; Director of photography: Gherardo Gossi; Production designer: Marta Maffucci; Costume designer: Carlo Poggioli; Editor: Giogio Franchini; Producer: Domenico Procacci; Production: Fandango, Potboiler Productions; Sales: Fandango Portobello Sales; No MPAA rating, running time 92 mins.

This review appeared in The Hollywood Reporter.

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