|
May 18, 2012
CANNES 2012 REVIEW - AFTER THE BATTLE
by Marc van de Klashorst
After the Battle (Yousry Nasrallah) 
Just a couple of weeks ago I read a headline saying 21 Dead in Caïro After Army Brutalities, and I was thinking, "Wait, wasn't this a year ago?" It goes to show what a fickle thing a revolution can be. Indeed, it was on February 11th, 2011 that Hosni Mubarak resigned from office, but over a year later the country is still in turmoil. Revolutions are measured in years, decades even, not in days or weeks, no matter what impression press reports from Egypt at the time may have given. But the headline also shows that the line between 'good guys' and 'bad guys' isn't as clear cut. During the protests at the start of last year, the army chose the side of the revolutionaries. Yet now they are striking down these same protesters violently.
It is exactly this blurring of lines between good and bad, pro and anti, that director Yousry Nasrallah is exploring in After the Battle. The film begins with images of an incident on February 2nd of last year, an incident that later became known as the Battle of the Camels. A group of pro-Mubarak protesters from the town of Nazlet El-Samman, near the Giza pyramids, charged through the anti-regime protesters in the now-infamous Tahrir Square on horse- and camelback. But were they really just pro-Mubarak thugs, or did they have some other reason for their actions?
Mahmoud (Bassem Samra) was one of the horsemen who participated in the charge. During the 'battle,' he lost his horse and was violently beaten by the opposing forces. For this, he is scorned in his village, and his children are taunted. The local bigwig and leader of his Bedouin clan openly belittles him. On the opposite end of the spectrum is Reem (Menna Shalabi), a middle-class NGO activist from Caïro, who was at Tahrir Square at the time of the attack. When she visits the Nazlet village one day with her veterinarian friend Dina (Jordanian actress Phaedra), she meets Mahmoud, who is the only horseman not to get fodder for his horse when it is distributed, as a further punishment for his shaming of the village. Later, when the two women are invited to a horse show in the village, she witnesses another humiliation of Mahmoud and seeks him out. They share a kiss, and Reem becomes more involved with Mahmoud's family and the village, as she discovers that these people are not really the thugs she thought they were, but just a group of poor people (as a result of actions by the Mubarak government, ironically) acting on false promises. Unfortunately, Mahmoud is also married, leading to an awkward love triangle (or rectangle, if you count the husband Reem is trying to divorce) that feels more at place in a TV soap opera. But Reem doesn't get sidetracked completely, as she becomes a counselor and confidante for Mahmoud's wife (Fatma), helps sort out problems with his sons at their school, sets up a union for the horseriders, and makes the women of the village more aware of their rights. This results in the real problem – the village losing its source of income (tourism) due to a 16-kilometer wall built between the village and the pyramids, in an attempt to drive the people off their valuable land – ending up on the back burner.
And this is exactly where the film's problem lies. Nasrallah broaches a lot of interesting topics, but he takes on too much, and he isn't able to make it all gel into a coherent narrative. It jumps left and right without giving the different subjects enough time to sink in, despite burdening the actors with expository and at times downright didactic dialogue. The interwoven romance between Mahmoud and Reem never finds firm ground, and only leads to frustration as it has no bearing on the story, and gives the work the feel of a TV movie that somehow ended up in the Cannes competition. All of this is exacerbated by the rather pedestrian direction and filming, and the often soap opera level of acting.
The only inspired moment comes at the very end of the film. A man is seen climbing the Giza pyramid, and at first it seems he has covered quite some distance already. But then, as the camera pans up, it becomes clear that he still has a long way to go. As a metaphor for Egypt's current situation it is perhaps too squarely on the nose, but at least it shows that Nasrallah can do more than just point and shoot his subjects. Unfortunately, these subjects are important enough to warrant a better film, as they are the kind of stories that deserve (perhaps even need) to be heard in the West, with its desire for a black-and-white, easily digestible bullet-point view of the world beyond its own borders. But the film's poor quality will ensure that it will be severely underviewed. As a film, perhaps deservedly so, but the country and its people do deserve to have their stories told. Let's hope a different filmmaker than Nasrallah picks up the gauntlet. |
|
|
May 17, 2012
CANNES 2012 REVIEW - MOONRISE KINGDOM by Marc van de Klashorst
Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson)
Even with a cast comprised of big-name actors like Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Tilda Swinton, and Bruce Willis, the heart of Wes Anderson's opening night film Moonrise Kingdom is the budding relationship between two child actors and newcomers (Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward). But while the two have a remarkable chemistry on screen, it is the director's usual quirky style and staccato filmic rhythm that prevents the film from actually having a heart. As viewers we're supposed to connect with these two teenagers, because really, who hasn't experienced puppy love at that age? Yet Anderson's stylistic approach creates a certain detachment that caused the supposedly dramatic finale to completely leave me cold.
The film is set on the fictional New England island of New Penzance, and the year is 1965. As with any Wes Anderson world, everything and everyone on the island is slightly off. As said, the story revolves around the romance of Sam and Suzy, two 12-year-olds who decide to run away from home together because they feel like outsiders within their own families. And because they love each other, of course, in that way only 12-year-olds can love each other. As Sam is a member of a boy scout troop, he knows quite a bit about surviving in the wilderness, so at first all goes well and they create their own idyllic haven in a cove (to which the title refers, although this only becomes clear in the last shot). However, a search-and-rescue operation is started by the girl's parents (Bill Murray and Frances McDormand, in a wonderful pairing), helped by what seems to be the island's only member of law enforcement (Bruce Willis, who also has an affair with McDormand, although this plot strand goes nowhere), as well as the troop of boy scouts led by Edward Norton. The kids are quickly found and separated, but young love cannot be contained, and after a sequence reminiscent of films like Escape From Alcatraz, the second act basically is repeated in the final one, only with more mayhem, louder music (the score is really overbearing), and some terrible visual effects. All of this intermittently explained by a narrator (Bob Balaban) who is actually doing his narration on-screen, because... well, probably because this is a Wes Anderson film.
Now, the film is at times quite entertaining, with the director's flair for visual gags (albeit probably requiring a specific sense of humor) providing more than enough funny moments, even if they're not of the 'ha-ha' variety. Visually, the film is very strong, with a penchant for symmetry that doesn't have much bearing on the underlying themes, but at least pleases the eye, helped by some fabulous art direction (always a strong suit in a Wes Anderson film). The actors have great fun with all the silliness as well, relaying Anderson's off-kilter dialogue with a deadpan delivery, the strongest being Murray and McDormand, and Balaban in his odd role as the narrator. But it must be said that the young Kara Hayward (Odd sidenote: the girl looks like a younger sister of Lana Del Rey, who actually walked the red carpet for no apparent reason. Or maybe that was the reason?) is an absolute attention magnet whenever she is on screen, stealing scenes left and right from her far more experienced co-stars.
So, overall there is much to like, but the problem is that Anderson's approach doesn't lend itself to the story. Where he could get away with this in something like The Royal Tenenbaums, it's just too artificial to let any emotion seep into a tale that in essence relies on emotion. It is never clear why these kids are in love, or even why they like each other. One could argue that they just think they're in love, but the connection between the two still relies on a single scene which gives no argument as to why they share a bond. The style overtakes the substance, even though there is not much substance to speak of. The film is obviously made with care, but why? If it was just to tell this whimsical and somewhat magical tale of two kids on the run, I think that with all its quirks, the film would have worked much better as a short story or novel, since much of it comes down to the imagination of the viewers and their suspension of disbelief in Anderson's world. The film is certainly enjoyable, but feels too much like an exercise in style to actually make the viewer care about its characters. |
|
May 14, 2012
SIFFTACULAR - THE 2012 SEATTLE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
by Steve Striegel
While the world’s most glamorous, important film festival opens on the other side of the world at roughly the same time, the 38th annual Seattle International Film Festival begins its 25-day run here in the Pacific Northwest, offering a smorgasbord of world cinema from 75 different countries. Truly a massive undertaking (273 feature films to be screened), the fest billed as the “largest, most highly attended film festival in the United States” will this year debut approximately 50 World or North American features, and give Seattleites the chance to finally see some of the more interesting films from last year’s Cannes. Additionally, two highlights of SIFF 2012 will be the Lifetime Achievement tribute to director William Friedkin (featuring the West Coast premiere of his latest, Killer Joe), and a well-deserved Outstanding Achievement in Acting tribute to the incandescent Sissy Spacek.
 
It would be hard to find a more deserving recipient than Miss Spacek, one of cinema’s most original, talented, and consistently fearless character actresses, equally at home in lead or supporting roles. Festival goers will be able to view Spacek in her iconic performance as the heartbreaking, chilling Carrie, as well as an outdoor screening of her Oscar-winning Best Actress turn as Loretta Lynn in Coal Miner’s Daughter. On the night of her tribute (June 7), Sissy will be present for a screening of her breakthrough role in Terrence Malick’s first feature, Badlands, preceded by an onstage interview, audience questions, and the acceptance of her SIFF award.
The festival kicks off with an Opening Night Gala presentation of acclaimed Seattle filmmaker Lynn Shelton’s Your Sister’s Sister, starring Emily Blunt, Rosemary DeWitt, and Mark Duplass as a trio of friends and relations who must learn to cope with a most unexpected life situation. Although the film has already screened at the Sundance and Toronto film festivals, its Opening Night prominence is likely due to a strong civic desire to celebrate this local-girl-made-good. Shot in the Pacific Northwest (like all of Shelton’s films), Your Sister’s Sister is a heartfelt and humorous exploration of three intertwined characters (plus a bottle of tequila) as they move cautiously, awkwardly toward a deeper, more meaningful love. While not a very cinematic piece per se, the three actors inhabit their characters with such loving detail and honesty, that by journey's end I felt something similar to the afterglow from an Eric Rohmer film.
Cannes 2011 prize winners Polisse and Las Acacias will get their Seattle premieres at SIFF 2012 (as well as this year’s Cannes opener, Moonrise Kingdom), but it’s the winner of last year’s Un Certain Regard Jury Prize that is not to be missed – Andrei Zvyagintsev’s Elena. Zvyagintsev’s brilliant The Return won the ICS Foreign Language Film award for 2004, and Elena is only the second feature film he has made since. Precise and studied, Elena is a film of shifting loyalties that makes one question one's own moral sympathies. The film’s ultimate pessimistic take on human nature, the ease with which our base, animalistic urges can supersede any veneer of civility, is truly chilling. Zvyagintsev’s work troubled my thoughts for days afterward, as I slowly realized that the empathy the director generated for the title character was tragically, purposefully misplaced, and that the fleeting encounter between a father and daughter in a hospital room was in fact the film’s one truly loving moment. Not only a commentary on the troubled state of contemporary Russian society, the film turns a mirror on all of us, on what mankind is capable of, and capable of justifying. As the ravens (at the film’s start and finish) sit looking passively in on the routines of these so-called civilized humans, I was reminded of the eerily omniscient shot on high from Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds, where the gulls look down at tiny Bodega Bay, and the troubling creatures who inhabit it.
Cited as one of 2011’s ten best "unreleased" films by the ICS, Elena is indeed a welcome inclusion in this year’s Seattle International Film Festival. Though it may take a frustratingly long while for great films to wend their way from the sunny Croisette of Cannes to the coffee-infused movie halls of Seattle, the simple fact that SIFF makes them available to be seen on the big screen at all, is a gift to Pacific Northwest cinephiles. And with such a cornucopia of intriguing movie choices to partake of, this year's SIFF seems likely to provide quite a few stimulating, thought-provoking films we can take to heart. |
|
|
|
|
<< Start < Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next > End >>
|
|
Page 1 of 14 |
