Month: November 2013

LFM Reviews The Johan Falk Trilogy, Now Available on DVD

From the Johan Falk trilogy.

By Joe Bendel. By Swedish standards, Johan Falk is practically Dirty Harry. For obvious reasons, he has rather strained relations with Gothenburg’s top brass. In fact, he is kind of-sort of forced to take justice kind of-sort of private in Anders Nilsson’s Johan Falk Trilogy, the first three installments of the Swedish theatrical/straight-to-DVD franchise, which are now available as a three-DVD set in America from MHz Networks.

Falk has no living family. His only friends are cops. It is also implied he has more than enough money for his needs. That does not leave a lot of pressure points for a gangster like Leo Gaut to squeeze in Zero Tolerance. Not one to follow protocol, Falk drops by Gaut’s pad to express his disappointment after the murder suspect forces the three witnesses testifying against him to change their stories. In retrospect, leaving his fingerprints behind was something of a mistake. Framed for assaulting Gaut, Falk goes on the lam to clear his name. Easily the weakest of the trilogy, Zero is mostly standard issue Fugitive stuff, but it perks up a bit during the third act.

While Falk is back on the force when Executive Protection begins, the handwringing commissioner has relegated him to a future of endless paperwork, despite the protestations of his superior officer, the ever patient Sellberg. Tired of cooling his heels, Falk will do what he does best when a childhood friend asks for his help. Sven Persson had hired Nikolaus Lehman, a former Stasi agent turned international consultant, to deal with a protection racket targeting his Estonian factory. Not surprisingly, the cure turns out to be worse than the disease. Of course, the cops are incapable of taking preventative action, so Falk signs on with the private security firm run by his old colleague Mårtenson, to handle Persson’s case personally.

A well turned crime drama-grudge match, Protection gives viewers ample opportunity to see Swedes lock and load. It also features private contractors as the good guys and an old Commie as the bad guy. As Falk, Jakob Eklund makes a completely credible hard-nosed action figure. He also broods nicely during moments of existential angst. Series screenwriters Nilsson & Joakim Hansson keep the tension building while establishing several key themes they will revisit in The Third Wave.

From the Johan Falk trilogy.

It is Mårtenson who first uses the Toffler-esque term to describe the concerted campaign of shadowy octopus-like syndicates to secretly acquire legitimate businesses, but Falk’s former boss Sellberg picks up on it when he is appointed the EU’s top cop for organized crime. His get-tough rhetoric attracts the attention of a British banker, whose abusive husband Kane specializes in facilitating dodgy transactions. Fearing her testimony, Kane’s co-conspirators send a hit squad after her, but the unsuspecting Falk just happens to be vacationing in The Hague.

Forced to improvise, Falk will struggle to protect Sellberg’s witness as well as his girlfriend and her daughter. He will have some help from Devlin, a British security specialist, who is slightly disappointed to discover the firm he founded was acquired by a conglomerate with secret mob ties. Again, Nilsson & Hansson keep the stakes high, uncorking an early shocker and staging considerable melee during the big climax, which casts radical WTO protestors in a decidedly negative light.

Falk wears well on Eklund and he gets some effectively gritty support from British actors Nicholas Farrell (of Chariots of Fire fame) and Prime Suspect alumnus John Benfield, as Devlin and his chief deputy Stevens, respectively. Veteran Swedish actor Lennart Hjulström also lends the entire series some stately gravitas as Sellberg.  A solidly entertaining series overall (especially Protection and Wave), the Johan Falk Trilogy is recommended for fans of both British and Scandinavian mystery series. Recently released on DVD from MHz, it is now available for Thanksgiving binge viewing.

Zero Tolerance LFM GRADE: B-
Executive Protection LFM GRADE: B+
Third Wave LFM GRADE: B+

Posted on November 26th, 2013 at 2:23pm.

LFM Reviews Inside the Mind of Leonardo in 3D @ The 2013 DOC NYC

By Joe Bendel. Probably the best established fact of Leonardo da Vinci’s mysterious life is his brilliance. It is hardly surprising that he has inspired quite a few speculative novels, films, and television shows from the likes of Dan Brown, Ron Howard, Roberto Benigni, and David Goyer. His art is instantly recognizable, but there are plenty of holes in the historical record, where stuff can be safely made up. Of course, that just won’t do for DOC NYC or the History Channel. Scrupulously adapted from da Vinci’s notebooks, Julian Jones gives viewers an impressionistic, 3D portrait of the great Renaissance artist in Inside the Mind of Leonardo, which screened on the final night of this year’s DOC NYC.

Raised by his single servant girl mother, Leonardo had little formal education, but maybe that was just as well, sparing him the burden of a lot of false preconceptions. Verrocchio certainly recognized his young apprentice’s talents. However, he was not nearly as prolific a painter as one might assume (or hope). His journals are another matter. The extensive da Vinci notebooks offered Jones and his co-screenwriter Nick Dear a treasure trove of material. With Oxford Professor Martin Kemp vetting for accuracy, they give viewers a good nutshell overview of the original Renaissance man’s life and abiding ambitions.

Forgoing familiar imagery, like Vitruvian Man, Jones and the animation team render da Vinci’s muscular sketches of birds in flight and humans in motion in evocative 3D, while Peter Capaldi performs extracts from the various codexes in the manner of a one-man stage play. Periodically, Jones also indulges in slow panning shots of modern day Florence and Milan, presumably to anchor the film in its specific locales. Unfortunately, these often feel like travelogue interludes that get a little snoozy at times.

From "Inside the Mind of Leonardo."

On the plus side of the ledger, Capaldi is perfectly cast as da Vinci. He has always been a reliably intelligent presence, but here he vividly projects both the polymath’s arrogance and his melancholy world-weariness. When watching him in Inside, it is easy to see why he was selected to be the next Doctor Who. Once he has finished his run as the timelord, he should be able to take a da Vinci show on the road, much like Hal Holbrook’s Mark Twain.

Eschewing jerkins, Capaldi’s modern dress actually heightens the film’s intimacy. (He rather looks like he might be in his Doctor Who wardrobe, complete with a stylish scarf, but not the full Tom Baker, mind you). Inside works quite well when it really does go inside—either into da Vinci’s chambers or into the pages of his notebooks. When it goes outside, soaking up Tuscan landscapes and bustling Florentine street scenes, it waters down its atmosphere and character. Still, it is an interesting docu-hybrid and an unconventional (but sometimes effective) use of 3D. Recommended for art and history buffs, Inside the Mind of Leonardo is destined to have a limited theatrical release and an eventual airdate on the History Channel, following its premiere at DOC NYC 2013.

LFM GRADE: B

Posted on November 25th, 2013 at 9:46pm.

The Philosopher Reports: LFM Reviews Hannah Arendt; Now on Blu-ray/DVD

By Joe Bendel. In her landmark book The Origins of Totalitarianism, Hannah Arendt examined the close kinship between Stalinism and National Socialism. Surprisingly, it did not cost her many friendships amongst the intelligentsia. Of course, her think-piece reporting on the Eichmann trial in Jerusalem would be a different matter entirely. The defining controversy of the philosopher’s career is logically the focus of Margarethe von Trotta’s Hannah Arendt, which just released on DVD and Blu-ray from Zeitgeist Films.

As the film opens, Arendt has settled into a relatively comfortable life as a naturalized citizen, teaching at the New School and tolerating her husband Heinrich Blücher’s discrete infidelities. The Mossad has just captured Adolf Eichmann—news that electrifies Arendt’s Jewish colleagues. Intrigued by the implications of the trial, Arendt offers her services to New Yorker editor William Shawn as a correspondent, which he accepts because she is Hannah Arendt.

To the bafflement of old friends, the frustrated Arendt becomes preoccupied with Eichmann’s bureaucratic blandness and his willingness to surrender his status as an individual. It seems rather strange how divisive her resulting theory of the “banality of evil” was at the time, considering how thoroughly it now informs our collective impression of Eichmann and other war criminals of his ilk. Perhaps even more contentious, her critical observations regarding the miscalculations of some National Socialist appointed “Jewish Councils” to engage in some forms of temporary tactical acquiesce are not as widely held, but they are far from uncommon complaints today.

Von Trotta’s Arendt captures the intellectual swagger of Arendt and her circle, as well as the still relatively buttoned down tenor of the very early 1960’s. The New School still looks much the same from the outside, but chain-smoking is most likely frowned upon in lecture halls. It is a quality period production that looks true to the era during the scenes in both New York and Israel.

Frankly, von Trotta and co-writer Pamela Katz are not above playing favorites, portraying Norman Podhoretz as a knee-jerk hyper-ventilator, whereas Mary McCarthy is faultlessly down-to-earth and sympathetic. Still, the depiction of Arendt, as written by von Trotta & Katz and played by Barbara Sukowa, is remarkably complex and even-handed. Viewers fully understand just how thoroughly Arendt’s emotions are subservient to her intellect. What was once a defense mechanism becomes problematic, preventing her from anticipating the furor stemming from her articles. Von Trotta shrewdly resists the lure of an easy ending, ending the film on a decidedly ambiguous note.

Sukowa is admirably restrained as Arendt, to a degree approaching the tragic. Yet, she has some deeply human moments, particularly with Klaus Pohl as her disgraced former mentor-lover, Martin Heidegger. Cerebral and literate, yet rather forgiving of human foibles, Hannah Arendt is a compelling portrait of a difficult figure to do justice on-screen. Respectfully recommended for those who appreciate intellectual history, Hannah Arendt is now available for home viewing from Zeitgeist Films.

LFM GRADE: B

Posted on November 21st, 2013 at 2:18pm.

Violent Accordion Music: LFM Reviews Narco Cultura

By Joe Bendel. It makes gangster rap sound polite and progressive. Narcocorrido is a virulent cousin of cajunto, lionizing the drug traffickers and assassins terrorizing Mexico. Banned in their home country, narcocorridos are largely based in American border cities and do a brisk business through legitimate American retailers. (Indeed, Sam Walton would not be happy to hear what his stores now carry.) Shaul Schwartz observes the state of underground narcocorrido culture and the violence it celebrates in Narco Cultura, which opens this Friday in New York.

Raised in Los Angeles, Edgar Quintero fetishizes narcoterrorism on stage as the front man of up-and-coming narcocorrido band BuKnas de Culiacan. Riccardo Soto sees the fruits of narcocorrido culture every night as a crime scene investigator. On the plus side, Soto’s skills are in high demand. Unfortunately, he and his colleagues must wear balaclavas to protect their identity when responding to a call. For obvious reasons, the dedicated family had tendered his resignation, but his sense of duty compelled him to return six months later.

Almost entirely observational in his approach, Schwartz never asks Soto for a review of Quintero’s latest CD. Nor does he confront Quintero with crime scene photos of the latest innocent bystanders cut down by his idols. Presumably, Schwartz was concerned about preserving his subjects’ trust and access, as well as maintaining a consistent tone. However, this obvious avenue of inquiry forgone casts a long, distracting shadow over the film.

At one point, Schwartz revisits the blinged-out cemeteries previously seen in Natalia Almada’s El Velador, but Cultura has considerably more get-up-and-go than its defiantly oblique predecessor. Things definitely happen in Schwartz’s film, but it is dominated by the bloody aftermaths of the cartels’ ruthless business rather than action per se.

The picture that emerges of a Mexico plagued by bloodshed and corruption is not pretty. Frankly, it would have been an important wake-up call, but it may have come too late. Watching the reckless aggression of the narcos, clearly abetted by crooked government officials, it appears Mexico is teetering on the brink of becoming a failed state. Schwartz never bothers to seek any elusive solutions. Who knows, maybe France can re-install the heir of Emperor Maximilian.

Narco Cultura is fully stocked with dramatic images, many of which approach the threshold of outright shocking. Yet, the film is essentially a cinematic shrug, taking it all in, but never delving too deeply into the dysfunctional pop culture it documents. Far superior to El Velador, but not nearly as emotionally engaging as Bernardo Ruiz’s Reportero, Narco Cultura is still eye opening stuff, recommended for Lou Dobbs watchers when it opens this Friday (11/22) in New York at the AMC Empire.

LFM GRADE: B-

Posted on November 21st, 2013 at 2:15pm.

LFM Reviews The Road to Fame, China in Three Words @ The 2013 DOC NYC

By Joe Bendel. In years past, if you had to describe China in one word, it would not be “fame.” State ideology demanded the individual merge into the collective. Only high ranking Party leaders were to be venerated above the masses. However, the culture is changing in China, even if the Party is not. In a groundbreaking collaboration with Broadway, Beijing’s Central Academy of Drama stages the stage musical Fame as an ambitious senior project. Hao Wu follows the production from rehearsals to the closing curtain and beyond in The Road to Fame, which screened during the 2013 DOC NYC.

Everything bad about show business in America applies in China as well, except maybe more so. Cronyism is rampant in the entertainment industry, so a potential showcase like the Fame show can make the difference between a going career and graduating into has-been status. The first cut will be brutal, when the faculty determines the “A” and “B” casts. Naturally, the students desperately want to make the former rather than the latter. Beyond the obvious stigma, it has yet to be announced how many performances the “B” cast will be allowed, but assumptions are pessimistic.

Much to viewers’ surprise, the clear can’t-miss-born-to-be-a-star prospective Carmen Diaz finds herself assigned to the “B” cast. Likewise, the front-running Tyrone Jackson is edged out by a more self-effacing schoolmate. As representatives of the Nederlander organization take charge of the production, the disparity between the A’s and B’s becomes a sore issue.

On the surface, Road is a Fame-like documentary about the mounting of a Fame production, but it reflects some deep cultural currents. As astute viewers would expect, all of the POV students are only children. The one-child law was still in full effect at the time. As a result, every student is highly conscious of their status as the sole repository of their parents’ hopes, dreams, and retirement plans. Likewise, the corrupt intersection between public and private sectors has led to widespread disillusionment amongst their generation. Frankly, the level of irony in a film ostensibly about young people pursuing their dreams speaks volumes.

Hao Wu is rather circumspect in addressing specific political and economic controversies, but Vanessa Hope’s short documentary, China in Three Words (which preceded Road, trailer here) is brimming dysfunctional case studies. Based on Yu Hua’s book China in Ten Words, Hope examines contemporary China through the writer’s framework. Yu (whose novel To Live was adapted for film by Zhang Yimou) explains the word “leader” was once solely reserved for Mao, but has now become ubiquitous. “Revolution” has a heavy history that hardly needs explaining, while “disparity” is the country’s new fact of life. As a bonus, Yu offers “bamboozle” as a fourth word, but it arguably relates to all three that came before.

Despite its brevity, Three Words is brimming with material that deserves the full feature doc treatment. Hope’s expose of how corruption and ideology caused the Wenzhou bullet train collision is grimly fascinating and her footage of Gov. Jon Huntsman returning to China with his adopted daughter Gracie Mei to revisit her former orphanage is unexpectedly touching. It is rather amazing how much Hope crammed into fifteen minutes. In fact, the films relate to each other quite directly, with Words providing much useful context for Road.

It is a shame Road and Words only had one screening at this year’s DOC NYC, because both have a lot to say and together they played to a sold-out house. Hao Wu’s feature is an intriguing generational study that captures some very personal drama, while Words helps explain the macro circumstances making it all so acute. Both are highly recommended as they make their way on the festival circuit, while DOC NYC continues through the 21st at the IFC Center and the SVA Theatre.

Road to Fame LFM GRADE: B+

China in Three Words LFM GRADE: A-

Posted on November 19th, 2013 at 11:56am.

LFM Reviews Harlem Street Singer @ The 2013 DOC NYC

By Joe Bendel. Reverend Gary Davis was a man of God, but his finger-picking attack sure was fierce. Eventually embraced by the Blues Revival, the Reverend Davis had spent years performing on the streets of Harlem. He also took on students, including future neo-roots artists like David Bromberg and Stefan Grossman. Davis’s loyal students and admirers piece together his story and trace his elusive influence in Trevor Laurence & Simeon Hutner’s Harlem Street Singer, which screens during this year’s DOC NYC.

Davis was a real deal bluesman from North Carolina, who recorded some real deal blues sides, before dedicating himself to songs of praise and worship. They were still drenched in the blues, making him rather tricky to classify. A modest man with an idiosyncratic teaching style, Davis accepted any student bold enough to sign-up with him. In addition to Bromberg and Grossman (who discuss their teacher throughout HSS), Davis also provided musical instruction to Roy Book Binder, Dave Van Ronk, and Woody Mann, who also serves as the film’s musical director and co-producer.

Davis was legally blind since birth, grew-up in the Jim Crow-era south, and lived most of his life in poverty, yet HSS is a defiantly upbeat movie. According to those who knew him, Davis just played his music and preached the Word (indeed, the two were always closely related), regardless of his circumstances. Of course, there is a lot of music in the film and it is consistently great. Laurence & Hutner scored a coup with the inclusion of previously unseen footage of Davis laying it down at the Newport Folk Festival and they do not keep viewers waiting for it, using it to kick off the film with a big statement.

Keeping the apostolic flame burning, Mann leads a tribute ensemble that periodically plays some dynamite Davis covers. Mann and Bill Sims, Jr. have the unenviable role of handling the guitar and vocal duties respectively, but they both sound fantastic, getting first rate support from Dave Keyes on piano and Brian Glassman on bass. It is a killer quartet that ought to get a ton of gigs together if HSS receives the attention it deserves.

Few docs are as wildly entertaining as HSS, but it still does justice to the seriousness of Davis’s life and times. Hopefully, someone from PBS has it on their radar, because it is as good as anything that has been on American Masters since Cachao: Uno Mas and is considerably better than most. Highly recommended to general audiences beyond established blues fans, Harlem Street Singer screens again as part of DOC NYC this Thursday morning (11/21) at the IFC Center, so consider calling in sick for it.

LFM GRADE: A

Posted on November 19th, 2013 at 11:52am.