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Showing posts with label international cinema. Show all posts
Showing posts with label international cinema. Show all posts
TRASH IN MY EYE No. 46 of 2023 (No. 1935) by Leroy Douresseaux
The Mummy's Shroud (1967)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United Kingdom
Running time: 90 minutes (1 hour, 30 minutes)
DIRECTOR: John Gilling
WRITERS: John Gilling; from a story by Anthony Hinds
PRODUCER: Anthony Nelson Keys
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Arthur Grant (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Chris Barnes
COMPOSER: Don Banks
HORROR
Starring: André Morell, John Phillips, David Buck, Elizabeth Sellars, Maggie Kimberly, Michael Ripper, Tim Barrett, Richard Warner, Roger Delgado, Catherine Lacey, and Dickie Owen
The Mummy's Shroud is a 1967 British horror film that was directed by John Gilling and was released by famed British film production company, Hammer Film Productions. The film focuses on the members of an archaeological expedition who become victims of a curse after they discover and enter the tomb of ancient Egyptian child prince.
The Mummy's Shroud opens in 1920. A team of archaeologists led by scientist, Sir Basil Walden (André Morell), discovers the lost tomb of a boy who was to be pharaoh, Kah-To-Bey, in Ancient Egypt. His father, the Pharaoh, was betrayed and murdered in a palace coup, but Kah-To-Bey was saved when his father's manservant, Prem (Dickie Owen), spirited him away deep into the desert.
Stanley Preston (John Phillips), the wealthy businessman who is funding the expedition, arrives to join Walden and his team. The expedition enters the tomb of Kah-To-Bey, although they are warned against doing that by Hasmid (Roger Delgado), who claims to be the tomb's guardian. After the expedition returns to Cairo with the contents of the tomb, strange things begin to happen, and people begin to die. Now, Preston's son, Paul Preston (David Buck), and Claire (Maggie Kimberly), another member of the expedition, may be the only people who can discover who or what is behind a series of brutal slayings. And it will require them to find and decipher the sacred burial shroud of Kah-To-Bey.
I have been a fan of movies about the curse of Egyptian tombs since I first saw Hammer Film Productions' The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb (1964), so I dove into my first viewing of The Mummy's Shroud, which the cable network, Turner Classic Movies (TCM), aired Monday morning, October 9, 2023. Of course, I am a huge fan of actor Brendan Fraser's “The Mummy” trilogy. The second film of that trilogy, 2001's The Mummy Returns, seems to borrow a few elements from The Mummy's Shroud. Tom Cruise's 2017 film, The Mummy, also has a few elements similar to The Mummy's Shroud.
I really got a kick out of watching The Mummy's Shroud. For one thing, it has a very handsome cast, and Maggie Kimberly as Claire and Elizabeth Sellars as Stanley Preston's wife, Barbara Preston, are gorgeous blondes. They fascinated me, and I became more attracted to them with each screen appearance. Both actresses also give good performances, as do the male actors. The film's script gives the cast character types to play, but they are up to the task of injecting those types with personality. No actor is really over-the-top, so much as they are engaged in their performance.
As for the film's horror elements, the mummy and the curse, well, they are quite gruesome. I would describe The Mummy's Shroud as a genuine scary movie, and the murders don't feel like a body count so much as they seem like true revenge – the cost that the members of the expedition must pay for violating the curse of an Egyptian tomb. I love Hammer Film Productions' horror movies, and I look forward to seeing them again. I have seen The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb a few times, and I plan on shaking the dust off The Mummy's Shroud again.
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TRASH IN MY EYE No. 6 (of 2002) by Leroy Douresseaux
Pacte des loups, Le (2001)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: France; Language: French, German, Italian
The Brotherhood of the Wolf (2002) – USA title
Running time: 142 minutes (2 hours, and 22 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong violence, gore, and sexuality/nudity
DIRECTOR: Christophe Gans
WRITERS: Stephane Cabel and Christophe Gans
PRODUCERS: Richard Grandpierre and Samuel Hadida
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Dan Laustsen
EDITORS: Xavier Loutreuil, Sébastien Prangère, and David Wu
COMPOSER: Joseph LoDuca
DRAMA/HISTORICAL AND HORROR/MYSTERY/THRILLER with elements of adventure
Starring: Samuel Le Bihan, Vincent Cassel, Emilie Dequenne, Monica Bellucci, Jérémie Rénier, Mark Dacascos, Jean Yanne, Jean-Francois Stévenin, and Jacques Perrin
Le Pacte des loups is a 2001 French period film, action and horror movie directed by Christophe Gans. The film was released in the United States in early 2002 by Universal Pictures under the title, The Brotherhood of the Wolf (the title by which I will refer to this film in this review). The film's plot is loosely based on the legend of the “beast of Gévaudan” and a real-life series of killings that took place in France in the 18th century. The Brotherhood of the Wolf focuses on a French knight and his Native American companion who are sent to investigate the mysterious slaughter of hundreds of people by an unknown creature in the county of Gévaudan.
At the beginning of The Brotherhood of the Wolf, Old Thomas d'Apcher (Jacques Perrin) recounts a fantastic fable/story of his youth. It is France of 1765, and the King sends two envoys to the Gevaudan province (which no longer exists) to investigate a series of brutal murders of which the locals believe is committed by a mysterious beast. The envoys are the Chevalier Gregoire de Fronsac (Samuel Le Bihan), a naturalist, and his companion, Mani (Mark Dacascos), a Mohawk Iroquois shaman of New France (Canada). They arrive in Gevandan to find the provincials bigoted and superstitious, even in the midst of the death all around them.
Among the colorful cast of characters include a mysterious and powerful priest, Henri Sardis (Jean-Francois Stevenin), and a sly and dangerous one-armed hunter, Jean Francois de Morangias (Vincent Cassel). The young Thomas d’Apcher (Jeremie Renier) becomes a hunting companion of Fronsac and Mani. Two strong female characters compete for the attentions of the virile and intelligent Fronsac: Marianne de Morangias (Emilie Dequenne), Jean Francois’s beautiful younger sister, and the nubile and hypnotic courtesan Sylvia (Monica Bellucci). As Fronsac and Mani pierce the veil of mystery and terror that covers the province, intrigue and deceit surround them, and the beast continues to kill.
Directed by Christophe Gans, The Brotherhood of the Wolf bends genres as easily as the film’s beast tears through its victims. Horror, thriller, western, martial arts, and mystery, the film is filled with suspense, terror, romance, eroticism, and political intrigue. It is at times intoxicating and mind bending and at other times, languid and thoughtful. It is difficult to categorize, but the movie is largely fantasy and action, but different from most of the movies that both genres recall.
Fronsac is a man of reason who sees a human conspiracy behind the killings that is darker and more insidious than any beast of Hell. Still, this man of science also understands the mystic worldview and belief system of his friend and blood brother, Mani. Fronsac is enlightenment’s soldier against the backward and ignorant peasants and nobles of Gevaudan. The provincials fear the ways of a city like Paris, and Sardis and Jean Francois resent the capital’s intrusion into their world. They disdain the confidence and intelligence of the King’s envoys. The beast is a physical manifestation of the provincials superstitions, isolationism, hatred, and evil that feeds upon the populace, and the creature resists the authority of the government.
The movie’s creature is a computer-generated image (CGI); at its best is fearsome. At its worst, the creature, especially during some daylight scenes, is hokey. However, Gans wisely holds revealing the beast in scenes that go by so quickly that we rarely get a good look at it. Sometimes, just the unseen beast’s roars, growls, and footsteps are enough to set the heart racing.
Le Bihan as Fronsac is strong and strongly confident. He is the romantic lead upon which the audience hitches its wagon. When he and Mani arrive early in the movie, after the film’s opening murder, they appear in a driving rainstorm, masked minutemen with the presence of demigods. Mani’s assault upon the villagers recalls fight scenes from The Matrix, but his are down to earth and more physical, more visceral; the threat of danger to him from the attackers is much greater. Decascos is mostly very good on the screen as Mani, though a few bits of his screen time are a little flat. When Gans unleashes him late in the movie, Decascos is a beautiful force a nature, a small storm in human guise tearing through his antagonists.
Vincent Cassel’s Jean Francois is the serpentine equal to Fronsac. He dominates all of his screen time, except for his scenes with Fronsac, in which both must share the screen. The movie nearly bursts from having to contain both their magnetic presences. They alone are worth the price of admission, but the rest of the cast, both veterans and newcomers, make the most of their roles.
Although a little long, The Brotherhood of the Wolf is wonderful; a dark horse, it is one of the best films of the year 2001. Gans and his screenwriting partner, Stephane Cabel, created a script that melds raw action with social intrigue, and the result is quite an accomplishment. The Brotherhood of the Wolf is plainly good entertainment. Not quite high art, it is eye candy that is very smart and very fun.
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TRASH IN MY EYE No. 41 of 2023 (No. 1930) by Leroy Douresseaux
Laputa: Castle in the Sky (1986)
Tenkū no Shiro Rapyuta – original Japanese title
Running time: 125 minutes (2 hours, 5 minutes)
MPAA – PG
DIRECTOR: Hayao Miyazaki
WRITER: Hayao Miyazaki
PRODUCER: Isao Takahata
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Hirokata Takahashi
EDITORS: Hayao Miyazaki, Yoshihiro Kasahara, and Takeshi Seyama
COMPOSER: Joe Hisaishi
ANIMATION/FANTASY and ACTION/ADVENTURE
Starring: (voices) Mayumi Tanaka, Keiko Yokozawa, Kotoe Hatsui, Minori Terada, Fujio Tokita, Ichiro Nagai, and Hiroshi Ito
Laputa: Castle in the Sky is a 1986 Japanese animated, action-adventure fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Laputa is also the first film fully produced by the Japanese animation studio, Studio Ghibli. In North America, the film is known simply as Castle in the Sky, the title by which I will refer to it in this review. Castle in the Sky follows the adventures of a young boy and girl who must race against time, pirates, and foreign agents in a bid to find a legendary island that floats in the sky.
Castle in the Sky opens on an airship. Aboard the aircraft is a young girl, Sheeta (Mayumi Tanaka), an orphan girl abducted by the government agent, Colonel Muska (Minori Terada). The airship is attacked by Captain Dola (Kotoe Hatsui) and her gang, “the Dola Pirates” (all of whom are apparently her sons). Dola is seeking Sheeta's necklace, which holds a small orb made of pure “etherium” crystal. Attempting to escape, Sheeta falls from the airship, but is saved by the magic of etherium in the now-glowing crystal, which lowers her slowly to the ground.
On the ground, Sheeta is caught by a young boy, Pazu (Keiko Yokozawa). Soon, Pazu is on a mission to protect Sheeta from both Dola and Muska. Pazu and Sheeta's goal is to reach the mythical flying island, “Laputa,” which is connected to both children's past, but in different ways. The mystery of Laputa is what exactly is it – a paradise, a treasure trove, or something dangerous.
For me, the most wonderful thing about Castle in the Sky is that it is steeped in Hayao Miyazaki's affinity for flight, a theme that dominates many of his films. He fills this film with wonderful flying contraptions, such as the government's flying fortress, “Goliath,” and the Dola pirates' airship, “Tiger Moth.” Even the robots of Laputa can become wonderful flying machines. As with many of Miyazaki's films, Castle in the Sky is breathtaking, visually stunning, and mind-blowing, especially when the narrative takes to the air.
One of the film's most dominant themes is the innocence of children, as seen through the eyes of Pazu and Sheeta. That shows in the two characters' resilience and determination in the face of constant turmoil and ceaseless obstacles. Their relationship is the counterbalance to the film's darker elements, especially its focus on on humanity's relationship with nature and with technology. Most of the film displays technology in harmony with nature, taking place in a fantasy version of the nineteenth century. There is a “retro-future” aesthetic that finds a balance between mankind's technological creations and the natural world at large. Castle in the Sky would go on to have a strong influence on the then emerging science fiction sub-genre known as “steampunk.”
I believe that if you, dear readers, have never seen a Miyazaki film, the first one you watch will validate the great things you may have heard about him. When you see your second Miyazaki, you will certainly become a true believer. Castle in the Sky is the kind of animated film that will make just about any movie fan a true believer in Hayao Miyazaki. It is one of the greatest adventure films ever made, and one of the greatest animated films of all time. Castle in the Sky mixes vivid imagination, eye-popping inventiveness, and stunning beauty in a way only the best animated films do. Every frame of this film belongs on a wall in a museum. If it were a Disney animated feature, Disney would call Laputa: Castle in the Sky an instant classic. It certainly is a classic.
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TRASH IN MY EYE No. 36 of 2023 (No. 1925) by Leroy Douresseaux
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)
Kaze no Tani no Naushika – original Japanese title
Running time: 117 minutes (1 hour, 57 minutes)
MPAA – PG for violence
DIRECTOR: Hayao Miyazaki
WRITER: Hayao Miyazaki (based upon the manga by Hayao Miyazaki)
PRODUCER: Isao Takahata
CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Yasuhiro Shimizu, Koji Shiragami, Yukitomo Shudo, and Mamoru Sugiura
EDITORS: Naoki Kaneko, Tomoko Kida, and Shoji Saka
COMPOSER: Joe Hisaishi
ANIMATION/FANTASY and ACTION/ADVENTURE
Starring: (voices) Sumi Shimamoto, Goro Naya, Ichiro Nagai, Hisako Kyoda, Yoji Matsuda, Yoshiko Sakakibara, Iemasa Kayumi, Kohei Miyauchi, Joji Yanami, Minoru Yada, Mina Tominaga, Mahito Tsujimura, and Rihoko Yoshida
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind is a 1984 Japanese animated, post-apocalyptic, fantasy film from director Hayao Miyazaki. The film is based on Miyazaki's manga (Japanese comic), also titled Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, which first began publication in 1982. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind the movie focuses on a princess who is both warrior and pacifist and her desperate struggles to prevent two warring nations from destroying themselves and her homeland.
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind opens one thousand years after the event known as “the Seven Days of Fire.” It was an apocalyptic war that destroyed civilization and caused an ecological collapse, creating something called “the Sea of Decay.” This is a poisonous forest of fungal life and plants that swarm with giant mutant insects, the largest and most dangerous being the the trilobite-like and armored “Ohm.” The poison from the plants can kill humans, and every day, the Sea of Decay spreads, encroaching on what little open land remains.
Nausicaä (Sumi Shimamoto) is a teenage warrior and princess of the Valley of the Wind, a land that has remained, thus far, free of the Sea of Decay. Riding the wind and sky in a powered glider, Nausicaä explores the jungles of the Sea of Decay and communicates with its creatures. That is how she is reunited with the explorer and great swordsman, Lord Yupa Miralda (Goro Naya), who has returned to meet with Nausicaä's father, Jihl (Mahito Tsujimura), the King of the Valley of the Wind.
But tragedy strikes. The Valley of the Wind is soon at the epicenter of two warring nations, the Kingdom of Tolmekia and Pejite. Princess Kushana (Yoshiko Sakakibara) has led the Tolmekian Frontier Forces into the Valley. Thus, Nausicaä must forge a relationship with Prince Asbel of Pejite (Yoji Matsuda), but there is something worse than two warring nations. Destruction is headed towards the Valley of the Wind, and it will take all of Nausicaä's talents, skills, and tricks to save her home.
Apparently, the work of the legendary French comic book creator, Jean “Moebius” Giraud (1938-2012), influenced Miyazaki in the creation of his manga, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. The influence of Moebius remains with Miyazaki's film adaptation of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. I also see the influence of the famed animation director, Ralph Bakshi, especially of his 1977 fantasy film, Wizards. J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings novels (1954-55) are clearly influences, and Frank Herbert's famed science fiction novel, Dune (1965), is also an influence. In fact, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind the film would arrive in theaters almost nine months before the first film adaption of Herbert's novel, director David Lynch's 1984 film, Dune.
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind is a beautifully and practically designed film in the sense that the environments have both a sense of naturalism and realism to them while the insects are fantastical creations that seem more practical than impractical because they are based on real insects. This makes the world of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind seem like a credible future world or at least genuine post-apocalyptic future. Yes, Nausicaä's glider is impractical, but the animation gives it such beauty in motion that I believe in it and I believe in the way Nausicaä flies it.
The film's plot and subplots are strongly environmental and ecological and the conflict is a series of familiar tribal tropes. However, what carries plot and narrative are the inventive and engaging characters. Every players, regardless of the size of his or her role, is inviting and intriguing. Yes, Nausicaä is a star born, a heroine out of fairy tale, folklore, and mythology who captures hearts and holds our imaginations captive. Still, the denizens of the Valley and the feuding and conniving citizens of Tolmekia and Pejite are a delightful bunch, not good and evil, so much as they are selfish, but likable, each in his or her own way. The legendary Yupa, like Nausicaä, stands as a typical heroic figure, although he stands behind Nausicaä.
A long time ago, I told a fellow Miyazaki fan that Spirited Away was my favorite of the director's films. He insisted that I see Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. Now, I'm not so sure which is my favorite. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind is like no other animated feature film, and I certainly consider it one of the greatest that I have ever seen.
Hotaru no Haka or Grave of the Fireflies is a 1988 Japanese animated World War II drama and historical film directed by Isao Takahata and produced by Studio Ghibli. The film is based on the 1967 short story, “Grave of the Fireflies,” by Akiyuki Nosaka. This was the fourth animated film produced by Studio Ghibli and the first one directed by studio co-founder, Isao Takahata. Grave of the Fireflies focuses on a young boy and his little sister as they struggle to survive in World War II Japan.
Grave of the Fireflies introduces a boy, Seita (Tsutomu Tatsumi), and his little sister, Setsuko (Ayano Shiraishi). They find themselves on their own as a result of one of the American raids that was part of “the Bombing of Kobe” campaign during World War II.
One day, a group of American Boeing bombers firebombs Kobe. Though Seita and Setsuko survive the bombing, their mother (Yoshiko Shinohara) is severely injured and later dies. Seita conceals their mother's death from Setsuko in an attempt to keep her happy. Seita does not know the status of their father who is an officer in the Imperial Japanese Navy. The children move in with an aunt (Akemi Yamaguchi), but although Seita tries to accommodate his aunt's demands, she becomes resentful of the children being in her home.
After leaving their aunt's house, Seita and Setsuko move into an abandoned bomb shelter located near a pond. The place is swarming with fireflies, which delights Setsuko. For a time, Seita and Setsuko are happy, but like the life of an adult firefly, the children's happiness is short-lived.
Previously, I have only reviewed two Studio Ghilbi films that were not directed by Hayao Miyazaki. They are Tales from Earthsea (2006), which was directed by Miyazaki's son Gorō Miyazaki, and The Secret World of Arrietty (2010). As Netflix is shutting down its DVD-by-mail division (in September 2023), I am hoping to get to more Studio Ghibli films that I have not previously watched.
I think Grave of the Fireflies has received much praise because it is not only a powerful war film, but it is also a truly unique war film. Grave of the Fireflies is not an anti-war film, although it depicts the suffering that wartime can bring, mainly through Seita and Setsuko, but also via background characters. The film is haunting and achingly sad, but at the same time, life goes on, even in wartime. Seita and Setsuko make the best of life, a nearly inseparable pair enjoying life the best that they can. The film portrays how Seita watches over Setsuko so that she can still live the life of a small girl, frockling, having adventures, and using her imagination. Her smiles and happiness permeate this film even in its darker moments. One might question the choices that Seita makes, but he did not make them out of concern of his own pride. He made them so that his little sister could live in dignity.
Grave of the Fireflies proves that animated films can tackle the most achingly human conditions, including the heartbreaking experiences that afflicted many Japanese during World War II. The animation's glorious colors might suggest a vivid pastoral fantasy, but the story is a depiction of the human pastoral. Thematically, the film's fireflies can represent many things, from birth and decay to the flight of planes that attack Japan. However, I usually thought of the spirits of children in flight when I saw a scene of fireflies gently moving upwards.
Grave of the Fireflies is a film that no fan of animated feature films should miss. It has a timeless quality, and I found it hard to believe that this year (2023) is the thirty-fifth anniversary of the film's original Japanese theatrical release. The story that it depicts may be from a long-gone time, but like Seita and Setsuko, the spirit of Grave of the Fireflies still stirs.
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TRASH IN MY EYE No. 34 of 2023 (No. 1923) by Leroy Douresseaux
Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979)
Rupan Sansei: Kariosutoro no Shiro – original Japanese title
Running time: 102 minutes
MPAA – not rated
DIRECTOR: Hayao Miyazaki
WRITERS: Hayao Miyazaki and Haruya Yamazaki (based upon the manga by Monkey Punch)
PRODUCER: Tetsuo Katayama
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Hirokata Takahashi
EDITOR: Masatoshi Tsurubuchi
COMPOSER: Yuji Ohno
ANIMATION/FANTASY/COMEDY and ACTION/ADVENTURE
Starring: (English voices – Manga Entertainment dub) David Hayter, Bridget Hoffman, Kirk Thornton, Kevin Seymour, John Snyder, Dorothy Elias-Fahn, Milton James, Michael Gregory, Barry Stigler, and Joe Romersa; (Japanese voices) Yasuo Yamada, Eiko Masuyama, Kiyoshi Kobayashi, Makio Inoue, Goro Naya, Sumi Shimamoto and Taro Ishida
Rupan Sansei: Kariosutoro no Shiro or Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro is a 1979 Japanese animated action-adventure and comic-fantasy animated from director Hayao Miyazaki. An English-language dub of the film was first theatrically released in the U.S. in 1991 under the title, The Castle of Cagliostro, the title that I will use for this review.
The Castle of Cagliostro focuses on a master thief, Lupin III. The film Lupin is based on the manga character, Lupin the Third, created by late manga artist, Kazuhiko Kato (1937-2019), who is best remembered by his pen name, Monkey Punch. In the film, a dashing thief struggles to free a princess from an evil count who needs her in order to gain a mysterious treasure.
The Castle of Cagliostro opens in Monaco. There, Master thief Lupin III (David Hayter) and his partner, Jigen (John Snyder), flee the National Casino with huge quantities of stolen money. As they will soon learn, however, the stolen bills are actually distinctive, high-quality counterfeits known as “Goat bills.” Lupin decides to seek out the source of this counterfeit money, the country known as the Duchy of Cagliostro.
Shortly after arriving, Lupin and Jigen see a young woman being chased by armed thugs. It turns out that she is Lady Clarisse de Cagliostro (Bridget Hoffman), and she is running away from her fiancé, the Count de Cagliostro (Kirk Thornton), the regent of the Duchy of Cagliostro. The Count has arranged a marriage with Lady Clarisse in order to cement his power. The marriage will also help him recover the fabled ancient treasure of Cagliostro, for which he needs both his and Clarisse's ancestral signet rings.
Lupin is determined to save Clarisse from this arranged marriage. In addition to his partner Jigen, Lupin calls in the highly-skilled martial artist and swordsman, Goemon (Michael Gregory), and the rival professional thief, Fujiko (Dorothy Elias-Fahn). Meanwhile, Inspector Zenigata of Interpol (Kevin Seymour) sees Lupin's activities in the Duchy of Cagliostro as a perfect opportunity to catch the thief he has been chasing for so long. Can Lupin rescue Clarisse? Will Count Cagliostro destroy them both? And just what is the treasure of Cagliostro?
I had heard of The Castle of Cagliostro in connection with Miyazaki, but I had put off seeing it. I wish I'd seen it earlier, as it is a delightful and maniacal comedy. The film is not without flaws, as it stretches credulity a bit far, even for a Japanese animated film. Lupin is not just a master thief; he is also apparently a super-human thief with supernaturally good luck.
Still, I treasure The Castle of Cagliostro's loopiness because Miyazaki and his co-writer Haruya Yamazaki are imaginative when it comes to the comic and action-adventure possibilities of the twists and turns this quasi-mystery takes. As both designer and storyboard artist, in addition to being director, Miyazaki is inventive in the way he stages the action as a series of chases and fights that are as defined by feats of aerial stunts and gymnastics as they are by martial arts and combat skills.
The characters are quite nice, especially gallant Lupin, who is apparently more ruthless in the original manga, and his partner, Jigen, the amiable, but quite skilled tough guy. However, the star here is Miyazaki in his first feature-length film. He makes the action unrestrained by gravity, natural law, or architecture. Thus, the film is a rollicking adventure with a humorous tone that belies the threat of brutal violence and death that frequently pop up in the story. I really like The Castle of Cagliostro, and I highly recommend it to fans of Hayao Miyazaki and to those searching for the great animated films. I also plan on buying my own physical copy.
TRASH IN MY EYE No. 33 of 2023 (No. 1922) by Leroy Douresseaux
Gothic (1986)
Running time: 87 minutes (1 hour, 27 minutes)
MPAA – R
DIRECTOR: Ken Russell
WRITERS: Stephen Volk
PRODUCERS: Penny Corke
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Mike Southon (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Michael Bradsell
COMPOSER: Thomas Dolby
DRAMA/HORROR/HISTORICAL
Starring: Gabriel Byrne, Julian Sands, Natasha Richardson, Myriam Cyr, and Timothy Spall
Gothic is a 1986 British psychological horror film and historical drama directed by Ken Russell. The film focuses on a group of five people whose activities on the night of June 16, 1816 invite something dark into the mansion where they are staying.
Gothic is a fictional account of the events that happened at the Villa Diodati on night of June 16, 1816. To understand Gothic, there is the need for some historical reference.
English novelist, Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin (1797-1851); her future husband, the radical English romantic poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822); and their son, William (1816-19); accompanied Mary's stepsister, Claire Clairmont (1798-1879), to spend the summer of 1816 with the English romantic poet, Lord Byron (1788-1824). They arrived in mid-May 1816, and by then, Mary was calling herself, “Mrs. Shelley,” although she was not yet married to Percy. Byron was renting a mansion, the Villa Diodati, located near Lake Geneva, Switzerland. The Shelleys rented a place nearby. Byron's young physician, John William Polidori (1795-1821), also joined the gathering.
This summer of 1816 became legendary in literature. On the night of June 16, 1816, Byron, Mary, Percy, Clairmont, and Polidori entertained themselves with German ghost stories from the Fantasmagoriana, a French anthology of such stories published in 1812. This amusement led Byron to propose that they each write a ghost story. Because of poor weather, the group famously spent three days together creating stories to tell each other. Coming out of that contest were two completed landmark works of Gothic horror fiction.
The first is Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's 1818 novel, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, a landmark in Gothic fiction, Gothic horror, and science fiction. The second is John Polidori's 1819 short story, “The Vampyre,” which is considered the first modern vampire story and also the beginning of the romantic vampire genre. Polidori's short story is also based on Byron's contribution to the ghost story contest, a vampire horror story that he turned into prose, but which Byron did not complete. It was first published in 1819 as “A Fragment,” but is now known as “Fragment of a Novel.”
The film Gothic opens in the summer of 1816. Mary Godwin (Natasha Richardson); her future husband, Percy Shelley (Julian Sands); and her stepsister, Claire Clairmont (Myriam Cyr), arrive at Villa Diodati on the shores of Lake Geneva in Switzerland. They have been invited to spend some time there during the summer by the poet, Lord Byron (Gabriel Byrne), who also introduces them to his physician and friend, Dr. John Polidori (Timothy Spall).
On June 16th, the group is forced to stay inside the mansion as a storm rages outside. Mary, Percy, Claire, Byron, and Dr. Polidori amuse themselves by engaging in a game of hide-and-seek, and later read from Phantasmagoria, a book of German ghost stories Byron purchased. Reading these stories inspires the five of them to hold a séance while gathered around a human skull, during which Claire has an apparent seizure. Later, each member of the group begins to have strange and horrifying experiences, dreams, and hallucinations. Percy believes the group collectively gave birth to something during the séance. That something is a creature that not only manifests their worst fears, but also their worst behaviors. And that creature could destroy them all.
The English actor Julian Sands went hiking in the San Gabriel Mountains northeast of Los Angeles in January of this year, 2023. He was reported missing afterwards, and his remains were later found in the area he was visiting. He is best remembered for his breakout role in the 1985 British film, A Room with a View, which was released in the U.S. in 1986. Although I did see that film, the first film in which I saw Sands was Gothic. It was also the first film I ever watched at the LSU Student Union Colonnade Theater, a movie theater on the campus of Louisiana State University. [From what information I've gathered on the Internet, the theater no longer exists.]
The identification of Sands remains and the subsequent memorials of his life got me to thinking about Gothic, which I had not scene in its entirety since that first time I saw it. I remember not being too crazy about it, but I have been feeling the need to acknowledge Sands' passing, as I was and still am a fan of his.
Also, I have seen a few of Gothic director Ken Russell's films, including the notorious The Devils (1971), which I also saw at the Colonnade. However, the only one of his films that I have previously reviewed for the Negromancer blog is The Music Lovers, his 1971 biographical film about the 19th-century Russian composer, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. So re-watching Gothic is also a chance to acknowledge Ken Russell (1927-2011).
While Gabriel Byrne as Lord Byron and Sands as Percy Shelley get top billing in Gothic, the film's main focus of this ensemble is Mary Godwin/Shelley, played by the late actress, Natasha Richardson (1963-2009). Gothic is indeed a psychological horror film because writer Stephen Volk's screenplay forces the character to confront their deepest fears and their most troubling desires. Volk also lays bare the characters' relationships, especially the dynamics between Byron and Clair, Byron and Polidori, and Percy and Mary. Volk seems to use Mary to center this, including her own tribulations
Mary has recently delivered a premature baby girl who died, a loss which haunted her (also based on real events). The death of the child is a recurring motif in this film, usually via the sound of small child crying or in the images of vague, doll-like baby corpses. Russell, who was known for being typically over-the-top, uses the raging storm, the characters' ingestion of hallucinogens, and their worst nightmares to create a grand vision of a house haunted by its occupants' craziness, selfishness, and psychological issues. Russell and Volk put Mary Shelley either front-and-center or at least near the most bizarre confrontations (real and imagine) and hallucinations.
Gothic is more about impressions than reality, and to that end, the cast gives good performances. Sands and Cyr are a little overdone at times, but it's clear this screenplay considers them the most troubled. As the film progresses, I appreciate Gabriel Byrne's performance as Lord Byron. I've been watching Byrne for decades over a career full of performances in which one is not like any other, but here, I really believe he is Lord Byron. Natasha Richardson gives Mary Shelley such depth of character that I wish this film was longer so that Richardson could give us more of Mary.
Gothic has excellent production values. The costumes are perfectly fitted to the character's personalities. The lighting and sound bring the raging storm and the raging emotions and madness to life. The art direction and set decoration offer sets that are straight out of a fairy tale dream, although it is mostly for a story that is nightmarish and melodramatic. The hair and make-up sell the madness and troubles of these characters and is a perfect match the surrealistic mood.
And just as soon as it began, Gothic's long nightmare is over, and the light of day returns, but with a foreboding. In real life, the three main male characters would all be dead within eight years of this summer known for being a pivotal time in the history of Gothic fiction. When I first saw this film, I only kind of understood the importance of what it was fictionalizing. Since then, I have become more fascinated with that place and moment in the summer of 1816, and I have become more enamored with this dreamlike film. In a nod to nostalgia, the recent passing of Julian Sands has raised Gothic in my estimation. It's time for me to buy a physical copy so that I can watch it any time I want without bothering with streaming.
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TRASH IN MY EYE No. 21 of 2023 (No. 1910) by Leroy Douresseaux
Triangle of Sadness (2022)
Running time: 147 minutes (2 hour, 27 minutes)
MPA – R for language and some sexual content
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Rubin Östlund
PRODUCERS: Philippe Bober and Erik Hemmendorff
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Fredrik Wenzel (D.o.P.)
EDITORS: Mikel Cee Karlsson and Rubin Östlund
Academy Award nominee
DRAMA
Starring: Harris Dickinson, Charlbi Dean, Vicki Berlin, Dolly De Leon, Zlatko Buric, Sunnyi Melles, Iris Berben, Amanda Walker, Oliver Ford Davies, Ralph Schicha, Henrik Dorsin, Jean-Christophe Folly, Alicia Eriksson, and Woody Harrelson
Triangle of Sadness is a 2022 satirical film and black comedy from writer-director Ruben Östlund. It is the Swedish Östlund's first English-language film, and it is an international co-production between four nations: Sweden, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. The film follows a celebrity couple, who are both fashion models, as they join a doomed luxury cruse for the super-rich.
Triangle of Sadness introduces Carl (Harris Dickinson) and Yaya (Charlbi Dean). Yaya is a successful fashion model, and Carl is male model, who is not as successful as Yaya. Yaya expects Carl to pay for their meals, although she makes more money than him, and her ambition is to be a trophy wife. Yaya is an “influencer,” and she is in a relationship with Carl for the social media engagement it earns them.
Carl and Yaya are invited on a luxury cruise aboard a super-yacht in exchange for its social media promotion. Among the wealthy guests are the Russian oligarch, Dimitry (Zlatko Buric), and his wife, Vera (Sunnyi Melles), and Jarmo (Henrik Dorsin), a lonely tech millionaire who flirts with Yaya. Paula (Vicki Berlin), the tightly wound head of the ship's staff, demands that the staff obey the guests' every request, even the absurd ones. The ship's Captain (Woody Harrelson) will not leave his room and seems to be drunk all the time. The captain's neglect of his duties, Paula's insistence on placating the super-wealthy guests, and the guests crazy demands culminate in a single disastrous evening.
Eventually, a small group of the yacht's guests, including Carl and Yaya, find themselves on what seems to be a deserted island. Now, the balance of power has shifted from the wealthy and powerful to a rather skillful cleaning woman, Abigail (Dolly De Leon). Will the guests adjust to this new status, and how well will they adjust?
There are some fun, outrageous, and outrageously funny material, moments, and scenes in Triangle of Sadness. The film critiques and mocks the obscenely wealthy, but I think that its strongest points are made when it takes swipes at how some people get rich and famous. Some are wealthy because they sell things that are destructive to humanity (things used in war), and some are rich and famous … for being rich and famous. Some people's wealth does not make their lives better, such as the lonely Jarmo. Some, like the Russian, Dimitry, merely happened to be in the right place at the right time with the right stuff to sell.
For all his film's political commentary and moral lessons, writer-director Ruben Östlund seems to be a tad too mannered. It's as if he doesn't know that while his film is edgy, he seems to be dulling the sharp edges that would really go after his social and political targets. Is Östlund saying that the super-rich and famous are obscene and that they need to be brought down to the level of ordinary people in order to regain their humanity? By the end of the film, it seems that way.
I would recommend Triangle of Sadness (which takes its title from a modeling term used in the film) to fans of foreign movies. Most movie fans can get a similar message, more or less, from the classic Eddie Murphy-Dan Aykroyd film, Trading Places (1983). I like Triangle of Sadness because it is a genuinely good film, but it feels like Ruben Östlund left the hardness of its allegories and metaphors on the cutting room floor.
7 of 10
A-
★★★½ out of 4 stars
Wednesday, May 17, 2023
NOTES:
2023 Academy Awards, USA: 3 nominations: “Best Motion Picture of the Year” (Erik Hemmendorff and Philippe Bober), “Best Original Screenplay” (Ruben Östlund), and “Best Achievement in Directing” (Ruben Östlund)
2023 BAFTA Awards: 3 nominations: “Best Supporting Actress” (Dolly De Leon), “Best Casting” (Pauline Hansson), and “Best Screenplay-Original” (Ruben Östlund)
2023 Golden Globes, USA: 2 nominations: “Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy” and “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture” (Dolly De Leon)
2022 Cannes Film Festival: 2 wins: “Palme d'Or” (Ruben Östlund) and “CST Artist-Technician Prize” (Andreas Franck, Bent Holm, Jacob Ilgner, and Jonas Rudels)
TRASH IN MY EYE No. 49 of 2022 (No. 1861) by Leroy Douresseaux
Crimes of the Future (2022) COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Canada (with France, Greece, and UK); Language: English Running time: 107 minutes (1 hour, 47 minutes) MPAA – R for strong disturbing violent content and grisly images, graphic nudity and some language WRITER/DIRECTOR: David Cronenberg PRODUCERS: Robert Lantos, Panos Papahadzis, and Steve Solomos CINEMATOGRAPHER: Douglas Koch (D.o.P.) EDITOR: Christopher Donaldson COMPOSER: Howard Shore
SCI-FI
Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Léa Seydoux, Don McKellar, Scott Speedman, Welket Bungué, Lihi Kornowski, Nadia Litz, Tanaya Beatty, Sotiris Siozos, and Kristen Stewart
Crimes of the Future is a 2022 Canadian science fiction film from writer-director David Cronenberg. The film focuses on a performances artist who showcases the metamorphosis of his internal organs with the help of his partner who performs surgery on him during the performance.
Crimes of the Future opens sometime in the future when humanity has experienced a number of biological changes and evolutionary changes to human physiology. The film introduces Saul Tenser (Viggo Mortensen) and Caprice (Lea Seydoux), a performance artist couple. Saul's body is afflicted by “accelerated evolution syndrome,” which forces his body to constantly develop new vestigial organs. Tenser is in constant pain, and he relies biomechanical devices in order to sleep and to eat. Using a “Sark autopsy module,” Caprice performs surgery on Saul before an audience as an act of performance art, performances which have made the duo world renown.
Saul and Caprice's performances have started to draw official, governmental, and law enforcement interest. They meet Wippet (Don McKellar) and Timlin (Kristen Stewart), the two bureaucrats in charge of the “National Organ Registry,” which catalogs and stores newly developed and evolved organs.
Not everyone is excited about “body-growth” and consider it a “body-crime.” Cope (Welket Bungué), a detective with the “New Vice Unit,” a governmental police agency, wants Tenser to infiltrate the worlds of evolutionists, the people that want to accept and encourage “accelerated evolution syndrome.” After he meets Lang Dotrice (Scott Speedman), a grieving father, Saul goes so deep into the world of this new human evolution that he might discover something about himself.
Some consider Crimes of the Future to be both a science fiction and horror film, but I consider it to be only a science fiction film. However, I do recognize how much the film travels into the realms of the genre of “body horror.” In that, Crimes of the Future does share many similarities with David Cronenberg's last science fiction-horror film, eXistenZ (1999). Both are set in a world where biotechnology invents new machines that can directly interface with human bodies and control those bodies. In both films, public performances of man-machine interfaces are both popular and controversial, and a diverse group of entities: law enforcement, fetishists, secretive agencies, rebels, dissidents, and subcultures seek to control the future and future-tech.
In Crimes of the Future, Cronenberg presents a world in which the evolutionary change is spurred on by technology and other man-made efforts. Once this new evolution starts, it is free to do as it pleases, outside the considerations of humanity. As in many of his films, a lead character, group of characters, and/or society and the world at large struggle to adapt to that change. To one extent or another, they are against it, afraid of it, and some ultimately, even if reluctantly, embrace that change.
Two things hold this film together, David Cronenberg's vision and his muse, actor Viggo Mortensen as Saul Tenser. Cronenberg and his collaborators have created a world in which biotechnological and evolutionary changes take place in drab and rundown settings. In Crimes of the Future, Cronenberg does not need flying cars and off-world colonies in order to communicate to his audience that the world and mankind are in a future undergoing radical transformation. True to his ways, Cronenberg is both provocative and exploitative and visionary and elegant as he executes a story of a world in which evolution forces humanity to live in the world it made.
Crimes of the Future has a number of eccentric performances. Lea Seydoux makes Caprice grow … and evolve, and Kristen Stewart is impish and mysterious as Timlin. However, Viggo Mortensen is both the center of this film's narrative and the outer boundaries of its ideas and ambitions. He holds it together both as one afflicted by evolution and as an explorer of the world of evolution and new humans. Mortensen's gift is to make people buy into the idea that he is indeed the character he plays and that what he does as that character is authentic and not a contrivance of a really talented actor.
Once again, David Cronenberg offers a film that examines horrifying change, and he does it without nostalgia and sentiment, but with a superb score by the great Howard Shore. Yeah, Cronenberg is a genius, and Crimes of the Future is his latest masterpiece. The ending, which feels like a quick wrap-up, is the only reason I won't call this film perfect, but it would be a crime of the present for me to quibble about that.
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TRASH IN MY EYE No. 48 of 2022 (No. 1860) by Leroy Douresseaux
Men (2022) COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United Kingdom Running time: 100 minutes (1 hour, 40 minutes) MPA – R for disturbing and violent content, graphic nudity, grisly images and language WRITER/DIRECTOR: Alex Garland PRODUCERS: Andrew Macdonald and Allon Reich CINEMATOGRAPHER: Rob Hardy EDITOR: Jake Roberts COMPOSERS: Geoff Barrow and Ben Salisbury
HORROR
Starring: Jessie Buckley, Rory Kinnear, Gayle Rankin, Sarah Twomey, and Paapa Essiedu
Men is a 2022 British horror film from writer-director Alex Garland. The film focuses on a recently widowed young woman on a solo holiday to the English countryside who finds herself tormented by a group of strange men.
Men introduces a young woman named Harper (Jessie Buckley). Following the shocking and unexpected death of her husband, James Marlowe (Paapa Essiedu), London-based Harper decides to take a holiday alone in the small village of Cotson, located in the English countryside. She will be spending her two weeks staying in a pricey rental, Cotson Manor.
Not long after Harper arrives at the spacious manor house, things start getting strange. She is welcomed by the manor's owner, an odd sort of fellow named Geoffrey (Rory Kinnear). Later, while taking a walk, Harper has a bizarre encounter with a strange man who seems to be naked. As things start to turn more bizarre, Harper realizes that all the men in the village look alike...
I can see why Alex Garland's film, Men, is so controversial and even considered incendiary. Basically, Garland's film is a horror movie about toxic masculinity, and the main point of toxicity is that men want to control how women react to men, maleness, and masculinity. Here, men think that women should downplay some acts of violence and aggression, and that women exaggerate even the most violent and threatening behavior of males. Harper's husband, James, is emotionally abuse and manipulative, and even his threats against himself are attempts to control Harper, in addition to being an act of violence against her.
In Men, Garland does not offer answers or, at least, many of them. He uses surrealism and tropes from the horror sub-genre known as “folk horror” (isolated English village, pagan symbolism, atmosphere music, etc.) to create a scary movie that practically yells, “Fact! Toxic masculinity is bad, and men are controlling and manipulative just as much as they say that women are.” And that makes Men a flashpoint work of art and entertainment in a flashpoint time, so it automatically has groups of people that will not like it or be very critical of it – even before seeing the film.
The performances are good, but not great. It is not that the actors aren't capable; it is just that the movie does not give them many verbal showcases. Thus, Jessie Buckley spends a lot of time looking scared, but when she can speak as Harper, the film has more dramatic impact. Also, as Geoffrey and others, Rory Kinnear gets to look like a chameleon without getting to play a chameleon.
The politics of men and women aside, Men is yet another film that reveals Alex Garlands ability to take conventional ideas for stories and twist them into unconventional film narratives. His films offer his audience a visceral and unforgettable experience. In this case, Garland presents Men as a kind of magical realism; the surreal and real live side by side and are sometimes as one. Garland is a visual stylist as a film director and a maverick as a screenwriter. With his contentious film, Men, Garland's reach sometimes exceeds his grasp, but the movie is simply more evidence that he can take his audience in the most unexpected directions.
TRASH IN MY EYE No. 47 of 2022 (No. 1859) by Leroy Douresseaux
Drive My Car (2021) Original title:Doraibu Mai Kā (Japan) COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Japan; Languages: Japanese, Korean Sign Language, English, and others Running time: 179 minutes (2 hours, 59 minutes) DIRECTOR: Ryûsuke Hamaguchi WRITERS: Ryûsuke Hamaguchi and Takamasa Oe (based on the short story by Haruki Murakami) PRODUCERS: Teruhisa Yamamoto CINEMATOGRAPHER: Hidetoshi Shinomiya EDITOR: Azusa Yamazaki COMPOSER: Eiko Ishibashi Academy Award winner
DRAMA
Starring: Hidetoshi Nishijima, Toko Miura, Reika Kirishima, Masaki Okada, Park Yu-rim, Jin Dae-yeon, Sonia Yuan, Ahn Hwitae, Peri Dizon, and Satoko Abe
Doraibu Mai Kā is a 2021 Japanese drama film directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi. The film is also known by its English title, Drive My Car (the title which I will use for this review). The film is based on author Haruki Murakami's short story, "Drive My Car," which is included in Murakami's 2014 short story collection, Men Without Women. Drive My Car the movie focuses on a recent widower who is directing a play and dealing with the fact that he must accept someone else driving his beloved car.
Drive My Car is set in Japan and introduces actor and well-known theater director, Yusuke Kafuku (Hidetoshi Nishijima). He was married to Oto (Reika Kirishima), an attractive screenwriter who suddenly died of a cerebral hemorrhage.
Two years later, Yusuke accepts a residency in Hiroshima, where he will direct a multilingual adaptation of Uncle Vanya, the 1898 play by the renowned Russian playwright, Anton Chekhov. Yusuke also discovers that the theater company financing Uncle Vanya, the Hiroshima Arts and Culture Center, requires that Yusuke not drive his car, but instead be chauffeured in his own car. He objects at first, but a reserved young female chauffeur, Misaki Watari (Toko Miura), reveals herself to be a skilled driver. So Yusuke accepts someone else driving his car.
Yusuke begins casting the play and discovers that one of the auditioning actors is Koshi Takatsuki, a former colleague of his late wife, Oto. As he works through the play with the cast, Yusuke deals with his grief, but discovers that the young actor, Koshi, and his young driver, Misaki, are also dealing with grief, regret, and inner turmoil.
Apparently, the complicated feelings and trauma of the characters in Drive My Car echo the emotional turmoil of the characters in Anton Chekhov's Uncle Vanya. I have never read Uncle Vanya, nor have I ever seen a production of it.
That does not stop me from seeing Drive My Car as probably the best film of 2021. The film is meditative and contemplative and has a smooth, calm pace which heightens the film's sense of intimacy. This tranquility allows director Ryusuke Hamaguchi to direct a film in which it really looks like the actors are engaging in self-examination. The film's themes of regret, of accepting others as they are, and of self-acceptance feel genuine.
One might think that Drive My Car is dull or even complicated, but it is not. The film is rather straightforward, and the confrontations between characters can be intense but feel constructive. Drive My Car may be too slow for most American audiences, but I think that serious film lovers will find themselves engrossed by this hauntingly beautiful and most painfully human film. They may even find it helpful. Watching the film, I felt as if I were experiencing something I needed to see and hear a long time ago.
This film received many honors, including winning the Academy Award for “Best Foreign Language Film.” Still, I would have liked to have seen some of its cast, especially lead actor, Hidetoshi Nishijima (Yusuke), and supporting actress, Toko Miura (as the drive Misaki), earn Oscar acting notices. Yusuke and Misaki's scenes at the latter's old home during the last half hour of the film are some of the best in years and some of the best performed. Other cast members: Reika Kirishima, Masaki Okada, and Park Yu-rim, are also worthy of award notice.
Drive My Car's cinematographer, Hidetoshi Shinomiya, made the film one of the most beautiful, if not the most beautiful, of the year. From majestic exterior vistas to shadowy and cozy interiors shots, Drive My Car looks both intimate and epic. Eiko Ishibashi's film score, with its futuristic flourishes and electronica sensibilities, accentuates Shinomiya's cinematography,
That is the thing about Drive My Car. Director Ryusuke Hamaguchi has great collaborators, including his co-writer, Takamasa Oe, and he could not have made Drive My Car the achievement in cinema that it is without them. He could not have made a film in which some of its best scenes occur inside a moving car such an sublime film experience. Drive My Car.
10 of 10
Friday, August 12, 2022
NOTES: 2022 Academy Awards, USA: 1 win: “Best International Feature Film” (Japan); 3 nominations: “Best Motion Picture of the Year” (Teruhisa Yamamoto), “Best Achievement in Directing” (Ryûsuke Hamaguchi), and “Best Adapted Screenplay” (Ryûsuke Hamaguchi and Takamasa Oe)
2022 BAFTA Awards: 1 win “Best Film Not in the English Language” (Ryûsuke Hamaguchi and Teruhisa Yamamoto); 2 nominations: “Best Director” (Ryûsuke Hamaguchi) and “Best Screenplay-Adapted” )Ryûsuke Hamaguchi)
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TRASH IN MY EYE No. 41 of 2022 (No. 1853) by Leroy Douresseaux
What We Do in the Shadows (2014) Running time: 86 minutes (1 hour, 26 minutes) MPAA – R for bloody violent content, some sexual material and language WRITERS/DIRECTORS: Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi PRODUCERS: Emanuel Michael, Taika Waititi, and Chelsea Winstanley CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Richard Bluck and D.J. Stipsen EDITORS: Tom Eagles, Yana Gorskaya, and Jonathan Woodford-Robinson COMPOSER: Plan 9
COMEDY/FANTASY
Starring: Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi, Cori Gonzalez-Macuer, Jonny Brugh, Stu Rutherford, Ben Fransham, Jackie Van Beek, and Elena Stejko
What We Do in the Shadows is a 2014 New Zealand comic vampire film and mockumentary (mock documentary) written and directed by Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi. The film focuses on three vampires who live together in a flat while trying to deal with the mundane aspects of modern life in Wellington, New Zealand.
What We Do in the Shadows introduces four vampires living as housemates in a flat in a suburb of Wellington, New Zealand. They are 379-year-old Viago (Taika Waititi), 862-year-old Vladislav (Jemaine Clement), 183-year-old Deacon (Jonny Brugh), and 8000-year-old Petyr (Ben Fransham). A documentary film crew follows them as they prepare for “the Unholy Masquerade,” a ball held by some of the monster secret societies of Wellington.
The vampires struggle with the ordinary aspects of modern life: overcoming flatmate conflicts, keeping up with chores, dealing with demanding familiars (human servants), etc. Most of all they struggle to navigate the city's nightclub scene where they hunt for human victims who will become their food. One of their victims-to-be is Nick (Cori Gonzalez-Macuer), the ex-boyfriend of Deacon's familiar, Jackie (Jackie Van Beek). Nick is unexpectedly turned into a vampire, and the new bloodsucker brings complications into the older vampires' lives. Nick even brings his human friend, Stu (Stu Rutherford), whom everyone wants to eat, but likes too much to eat, into the vampire world.
Plus, they still have to attend “the Unholy Masquerade” where they will meet “the Beast.”
The most famous example of a mockumentary and perhaps, the most beloved is director Rob Reiner's 1984 film, This is Spinal Tap. With the exception of that film, I am usually bored of mockumentaries by the second half of such films. I was surprised to discover that except for a few places, I found myself thoroughly engaged with What We Do in the Shadows.
I think the combination of the script and the acting really brings the film to life. The actors seem to create fully functioning people by emphasizing the ordinary aspects of the human character and personality. Although the film's leads are vampires, they manage to be only a little special, amazing, horrible, and fantastic. They are interesting and lovable by being only a little above ordinary. They are not too bright, not smart enough to be conniving, and rather short-sighted, and that all makes them endearing to me.
I also like that What We Do in the Shadows quotes from or references a number of vampire films, including the Blade film series, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Interview with the Vampire, and Twilight, to name a few. That helps to make it feel like a genuine vampire film, rather than being only a documentary and horror comedy. I actually started watching (on and off) the FX cable television series, also titled “What We Do in the Shadows,” that is based on the film. Truthfully, the film is such a delight, it feels like something that has a lot more to offer, so we are lucky to have a TV series.
I would not recommend What We Do in the Shadows to everyone who enjoys the mainstream work of the film's co-writer and co-director, Taika Waititi, such as his Thor films for Disney/Marvel Studios. I will recommend it to film audiences who are always searching for something different, offbeat, and/or daring in modern independent and foreign films. For being another in a long, long line of vampire films, What We Do in the Shadows manages to be fresh blood.
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TRASH IN MY EYE No. 39 of 2022 (No. 1851) by Leroy Douresseaux
Parallel Mothers (2021) Original title: Madres paralelas COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Spain; Language: Spanish Running time: 123 minutes (2 hours, 3 minutes) MPA – R for some sexuality WRITER/DIRECTOR: Pedro Almodóvar PRODUCERS: Augustin Almodóvar and Esther Garcia CINEMATOGRAPHER: José Luis Alcaine (D.o.P.) EDITOR: Teresa Font COMPOSER: Alberto Iglesias Academy Award nominee
DRAMA
Starring: Penelope Cruz, Milena Smit, Israel Elejalde, Aitana Sanchez-Gijon, Julieta Serrano, Adelfa Clavo, Carmen Flores, Ainhoa Santamaria, and Rossy de Palma
Madres paralelas is a 2021 Spanish drama film written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar. The film is also known by its English release title, Parallel Mothers (the title I will use for this review). The film focuses on two mothers who give birth on the same day causing them to bond in unexpected ways.
Parallel Mothers introduces Janis Martínez (Penelope Cruz), a highly considered magazine photographer. She does a photo shoot with renowned forensic archaeologist, Arturo (Israel Elejalde). She asks him if his foundation will help excavate a mass grave in her home village, where she believes her great-grandfather and other men from the village were killed and buried during the Spanish Civil War (1936-39). After he agrees to review the case with his foundation, Arturo has sexual relations with Janis, who becomes pregnant.
Later, Janis shares a hospital room with Ana Manso (Milena Smit), a teen single mother, and the two end up giving birth at the same time. Janis has a daughter whom she names “Cecilia,” and Ana a daughter she names “Anita.” The women promise to stay in touch, but Janis makes a series of shocking discoveries that will change both their lives.
Parallel Mothers is obviously an acting showcase for Penelope Cruz, who wastes no time exercising her prodigious talents. Cruz won numerous awards and received even more nominations for her performance as Janis Martinez. Writer-director Pedro Almodovar has spent his four-decade career in film making writing wonderful roles for women that result is wonderful films featuring an eclectic group of actresses.
Parallel Mothers' women are united across time by the bonds of motherhood, family, friendship, and loss. They are the speakers for the dead and the nurtures of men, but they also nurture and support and lift-up the other women in their lives. This is the uplift that Janis will provide for Ana, played by actress Milena Smit as a pixie of a girl in need of mothering. Janis and Ana are the solid center and radiant soul of this film about the complications and twists, the pain and the glory, and joy, sadness, and bittersweet nature of being a mother.
The film has a subplot involving the Spanish Civil War, which is the impetus for the Janis and Arturo conceiving a child. The search for the missing graves in her village, a grave that will hold the remains of her great-grandfather and the grandfathers of other women she knows is also part of the film's theme of loss and separation. These men, murdered in the civil war, should ultimately have a decent burial, and Janis and the other women will see to that.
Pedro Almodovar offers a film that is as raw and unflinching as it is beautiful. He draws out performances that are unashamedly naked and vulnerable in their depictions and displays of emotions, in a way American films tend to avoid, even Oscar-bait films. Sometimes Almodovar can be riotous and uproarious, but other times he can be uncannily intimate, as he is here. Sometimes, I feel unworthy of viewing his amazing films, which are so different and so much more daring than what I usually watch. Parallel Mothers is one of 2021's very best films and reveals that the Spanish maestro is, as usual, in top form.
10 of 10
Friday, June 24, 2022
NOTES: 2022 Academy Awards, USA: 2 nominations: “Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role” (Penelope Cruz) and “Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures-Original Score (Alberto Iglesias)
2022 BAFTA Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Film not in the English Language” (Pedro Almodóvar and Augustin Almodovar)
2022 Golden Globes, USA: 2 nominations: “Best Motion Picture – Non-English Language” (Spain) and Best Original Score – Motion Picture (Alberto Iglesias)
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