Month: May 2014

By Joe Bendel. Reportedly, Raul Brandão’s 1923 play was a strong influence on Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, but it will strike most contemporary viewers as being downright Dickensian. Regardless, probably no filmmaker is better suited to adapt it for the screen than 104 year old Manoel de Oliveira. He was around when it premiered and has seen its critical reputation evolve over time. The dean of world cinema continues to polish his craft with Gebo and the Shadow, which opens tomorrow at the Anthology Film Archives.

This is the part of the review where we all marvel at Oliveira’s productivity and longevity. Pushing 105, Oliveira has multiple projects in development and at this point there is no reason to doubt he will see them through. Given the exquisite elegance of The Strange Case of Angélica (which hit theaters when Oliveira was the tender age of 102), we can also expect them to be quite good. While Shadow is a relatively minor work, it clearly shows the hallmarks of a master at work.

Old Gebo should be retired by now, but he labors on as a debt-collecting clerk for his callous employers. He has no choice. Gebo is the sole support of his beloved wife Doroteia and daughter-in-law Sofia, since his son João absconded eight years ago, under ominous circumstances. Gebo struggles to preserve the illusion João might someday return to protect Doroteia’s fragile psyche. Yet, he fears their son’s homecoming might lead to more harm than good, should it actually come to pass. Unlike Godot, the prodigal (the metaphoric shadow of the title) will indeed suddenly darken Gebo’s door at the end of the first act.

Shadow’s theatrical roots are highly conspicuous, but Oliveira tries to make a virtue of its staginess—for understandable reasons. He might be 104, but Micheal Lonsdale looks at least that old as the much abused Gebo. It is a striking performance, marked by palpable physical exhaustion and acute world weariness. Yet, it is his tender moments with Leonor Silveira as the sensitive Sofia that really give the film its soul. Claudia Cardinale is perfectly fine as the high strung Doroteia, but it is not a great showcase role. For further art house appeal, Jeanne Moreau makes her presence deeply felt when appearing briefly as the mystical neighbor, Candidinha, like the veteran screen diva she is. In contrast, Ricardo Trêpa is rather stiff and shrill as Dostoyevskian João.

Oliveira and cinematographer Renato Berta absolutely love the soft, smoky light given off by the era’s oil lamps. The entire film glows like the chiaroscuro of the Old Masters. At times, Oliveira tries to enhance the mystery surrounding João, the shadow, but he still maintains an overriding mood of melancholy. Despite the big name international cast, Shadow is a small film in the grand scheme of cinema history, but it certainly demonstrates Oliveira can still do his thing. Respectfully recommended for those who appreciate chamber dramas, Gebo and the Shadow opens tomorrow (5/28) in New York at the Anthology Film Archives.

LFM GRADE: B-

Posted on May 27th, 2014 at 2:02pm.

By Joe Bendel. Do not expect Somewhere in Time or any Rachel McAdams time travel film. An obsessive compulsive scientist will invent a means of jumping through time to win back his girlfriend, but he, or rather different versions of himself, will sabotage his efforts at every turn. The time paradoxes will compound massively and it will all be his collective fault in Hugh Sullivan’s The Infinite Man, which screens this Friday, summer-style under the stars, as part of the 2014 season of Rooftop Films.

Dean probably loves Lara too much. For their anniversary, he takes her back to the tucked away motel where they spent their last anniversary, intent on recreating every last detail. Unfortunately, the motel has since been shuttered, throwing quite a spanner in the works. Lara also resents his habitual need to plan and relive the past. Initially, she tries to be a good sport, but when her crude ex-boyfriend crashes the party, the festivities completely bottom out. Through an odd chain of events, the miffed Lara ends up leaving with Terry the hothead.

For an entire year, Dean holes up at the abandoned inn, licking his wounds and perfecting his time travel device. On the day of their former anniversary, Dean convinces Lara to go back in time with him, so they can undo their past mistakes. Of course, this is easier said than done. In fact, Dean will make this trip several times, as he struggles to win Lara back from other versions of himself.

Infinite is a little slow out of the blocks, but it has to establish at least one straight lap around Dean’s year at the motel, before it starts turning everything inside out. Once it gets going, it’s off to the races. With each successive go-round, Sullivan completely changes the context of every scene, showing us what is now also happening simultaneously outside our prior field of vision.

It is an exceedingly clever screenplay that required very little special effects, beyond the trick photography allowing Dean to talk to other Deans. Still, the basic choreography determining who goes where when is rather impressive.

Frankly, Josh McConville is so cringey as Dean, it pushes viewers away during the set-up rather than pulling us in. Still, he creates a distinctively neurotic portrait and doggedly stays in character. He also has some very effective scenes playing with and off himself, so to speak. Hannah Marshall is a good sport as Lara, nicely maintaining the ambiguities in each scene while staying in the (ever recurring) moment. Although it is a small role, Alex Dimitriades brings several shots of energizing madness to the film as Terry.

Infinite is not quite as wildly entertaining as Nacho Vigalondo’s Timecrimes but it constructs a similarly dazzlingly complex time-bender narrative, with hardly any visible seams. Richly inventive, it is smart science fiction rendered on a very human scale. Recommended with enthusiasm, The Infinite Man screens Friday night (5/23) in Gowanus, Brooklyn, presented by Rooftop Films.

LFM GRADE: B+

Posted on May 23rd, 2014 at 12:05pm.

By Joe Bendel. If a name conveys a child’s future potential then Marie-Curie Fortune’s is indeed apt. Conversely, Isaac Newton Midgely is more of a Midgely than a Newton. The slogan of their near futuristic world is “knowledge is destiny,” but in practice your bio-metric “frequency” really determines your lot in life. Midgely will try to alter his hard-coded destiny in Darren Paul Fisher’s Frequencies (a.k.a. OXV: The Manual), which opens in New York this Friday, hitting iTunes the day before.

Sort of like The Force or just plain luck, one’s frequency measures how well you fit into the world around you. Someone with a high frequency is never late or klutzy. Everyone responds to them positively. However, Fortune’s abnormally high frequency almost entirely crowds out her capacity for emotions. In contrast, Midgely is a genius, but he has a negative frequency. Whenever they meet at school, sparks fly, much in the manner of matter encountering anti-matter. Things become so chaotic a sixty second limit is imposed on their presumably random meetings. Of course, Midgely happens to be smitten with Fortune, who sort of leads him on, out of scientific curiosity and a lack of empathy.

Flashing forward to adulthood, we find Midgely still has not gotten over Fortune, but he may have developed a means of moderating frequencies, with the help of his old school chum, Theodor Adorno Straus. By lowering her frequency, Fortune is finally able to take pleasure from life. She even thinks she has fallen in love with Midgely, but when the nature of Straus’s breakthrough device becomes apparent, all bets are off.

Many decent genre films are built around a good gimmick, but become increasingly conventional as they progress. Frequencies is the rare film that begins with an intriguing Macguffin, the social predetermination of frequencies and Midgely’s attempt to change them, but morphs it into something even bigger and archetypal, uniting science fiction and fantasy, while raising the stakes for everyone.

Granted, post-Tarantino, temporal shifts are annoyingly over-used and often distractingly unnecessary, but Fisher’s triptych structure heightens the significance of each big revelation. This is a film with genuine logical integrity that fits together remarkably well. Those familiar with the Marxist sociologist Adorno’s boneheaded criticism of jazz might have a leg up discerning his namesake character’s ultimate significance. Regardless, Frequency’s combination of social science fiction and philosophical inquiry set it worlds apart from most star-crossed love stories.

As the teen-aged Fortune and Midgely, Georgina Minter-Brown and Dylan Llewellyn give remarkably assured performances. Although we cannot properly call it chemistry (given the circumstances), the way they play off each other totally pulls the audience in. Fortunately, they have nearly as much screen time as their adult counterparts, who are the film’s real weak link. Their drab lack of charisma might make sense in the case of Daniel Fraser’s Midgely, but it leads to credibility problems in the case of Eleanor Wylde’s Fortune. Fortunately, some key supporting players help carry them, especially David Broughton-Davies as the mysteriously wise Mr. Straus. Keep your eye on him.

It would be spoilery to explain why, but Frequencies is also a wonderful valentine to classical music. Smart and engaging, it is one of those inventive science fiction films that have no need of splashy effects or fancy set pieces. Instead, it relies on the power of its ideas (how novel). Highly recommended for science fiction fans and musicians, Frequencies opens this Friday (5/23) at the Cinema Village and will be available from iTunes on Thursday.

LFM GRADE: A-

Posted on May 19th, 2014 at 12:07pm.

By Joe Bendel. It is like a Joseon era Downton Abbey, except bloodier. The Dowager Queen openly schemes against her “grandson,” the king, as the palace servants furtively choose up sides. The drama all builds towards the infamous 1777 assassination attempt in Lee Jae-kyoo’s The Fatal Encounter, which opens this Friday in New York.

Things get complicated in the palace. Reluctantly, King Jeong-jo’s mother and grandfather sacrificed his father, the crown prince and heir to the throne, to placate the Noson faction, led by his “Grandmamma,” his grandfather’s Queen-consort. They did it solely for his sake. However, now that he has ascended to the throne, the Dowager Queen has grown tired of his independent inclinations.

When deciding to assassinate the king, the Noson conspirators assume they are holding all the cards, including key allies in the military and sleeper assassins planted deep within the palace. As a trump card, they also retain the services of Eul-soo, a hired killer who was once the sworn brother of the King’s private clerk, Gap-soo. However, many of the hidden assassins have concluded King Jeong-jo’s personal discipline and concern for the common people make him better suited to reign than their masters. Betrayals come fast and furious as the twenty-four hour countdown to the palace assault ticks down.

Fatal might just be the ultimate film for laundry intrigue, largely due to the important role played by Wol-hye, a senior maid and royal laundress with divided loyalties. Remember, they didn’t let just anyone scrub the King’s undies. While the focus is squarely on political maneuvering, there are also a few nicely staged action sequences. Viewers will not feel let down when the assassins finally arrive.

Domestically, the big story regarding Fatal was television megastar Hyun Bin’s return to acting after his compulsory military service. He provides a perfectly fine model of strong, silent rectitude, but international audiences will be more taken with the supporting cast. Living up to his chameleon-like reputation, Jung Jae-young (known for Broken, Confession of Murder, and Moss) again transforms himself, fully bringing to life the conflicted and guilt-ridden Gap-soo. Likewise, emerging star Jung Eun-chae anchors the film as Wol-hye, neatly playing off and with nearly the entire ensemble as her numerous secret relationships come to light.

Han Ji-min (who majored in social work according to Asianwiki) is also appropriately hiss-able as the cold-blooded Dowager Queen. Sensitive viewers should be warned Fatal features several young characters in various stages of distress, but Yoo Eun-mi is particularly impressive as Bok-bing, a seven year-old apprentice maid caught between the competing factions.

Fatal provides sufficient skullduggeries to keep a steady string of shoes dropping, without getting bogged down in its own complications. It is a nicely crafted period production, with enough tragedy to keep the Korea box office satisfied, but should still appeal to most American filmgoers’ tastes. Recommended for fans of grand historicals, The Fatal Encounter opens this Friday (5/23) in New York at the AMC Empire and is now playing at the CGV Cinemas in Los Angeles.

LFM GRADE: B+

Posted on May 19th, 2014 at 12:02pm.

By Joe Bendel. There is a Prime Directive applied to earthlings on this foreign world, but it is much less rigid than the version in Star Trek. Killing the locals is strictly prohibited, but a little gentle development guidance is encouraged. Unfortunately, the home-worlders have collectively turned their backs on intellectual enlightenment in the late Aleksey Yuryevich German’s science fiction-in-name-only magnum opus, Hard to be a God, which screens during the 2014 Seattle International Film Festival.

You should really fortify yourself for this one. Over a decade in the making, including some six years of principle shooting, German’s adaptation of the Strugatsky Brothers’ novel is not for the faint of heart or the short of attention span. Since Stalker was also based on a Strugatsky novel, Tarkovsky is often suggested as a comparison, but the dream-like vibe and highly composed black-and-white visuals are also somewhat akin to Guy Maddin at his most self-indulgent.

Let’s be clear: if you require a strong narrative through-line then stop right here. Throughout Hard German is far more interested in setting the scene and rubbing our noses in it than telling us what happens next. In the future, supposedly intelligent humanoid life is discovered on the planet Arkanar. Yet, just when its Renaissance period should have started, the state initiated a campaign against so-called “wise-guys.” Secretly integrating themselves into society as powerful noblemen, thirty scientists try to do what they can to protect the beleaguered intellectual class against the forces of the “Greys,” but Arkanar just does not want to be helped.

German focuses on Don Rumata, a rather rakish Earthling in disguise, as he ostensibly seeks out the hunted Dr. Budakh. However, he spends an awful lot of time farting around with his servants. From time to time, he will also do a solid for the Falstaffian Baron Pampa, while sparring with the Greys. Frankly, this probably makes Hard sound more plotty than it really is. Think large, festering set pieces rather than fights and chases.

Hard clocks in just under the three hour mark and German makes the audience feel the passing of each and every minute. He also supplies several years’ worth of the hardiest moviegoer’s cinematic quota for pee, poop, and snot. His vision (completed by his filmmaker son Aleksey Jr. and co-screenwriter wife Svetlana Karmalita) allows us no illusions regarding just what the Dark Ages entailed.

Nevertheless, cinematographers Vladimir Ilyin and Yuri Klimenko make it all look absolutely breathtaking, often in the manner of a Brueghel painting. (Ironically though, Lech Majewski’s The Mill and the Cross, an attempt to render a Brueghel canvas on film is somehow less static and more accessible than German’s world-building.) Yet, somehow lead actor Leonid Yarmolnik never wilts under the exhausting force of German’s mise-en-scéne. As Rumata, he is unflaggingly intense and roguishly charismatic, even when literally wallowing in the muck and mire.

This is an unusually redolent film. At times, you can practically smell the mud—at least we’ll call it mud for now. On the other hand, if you are waiting for a rocket ship or a ray gun then good luck to you. Although German passed away in early 2013, it is rather eerie watching Hard at a time when Putin also seems to be choosing militarism and barbarism. Indeed, the linkage between ignorance and state power is intentional and directly informed by the Soviet experience, but viewers still have to dig for it. Ultimately, Hard to be a God is a fascinating and often punishing film to experience. Recommended for those who want to be able to say they have seen it for themselves, it screens today (5/16), tomorrow (5/17) and the following Saturday (5/24) during this year’s SIFF.

Posted on May 16th, 2014 at 10:22pm.