Month: April 2015

LFM Reviews Reality

By Joe Bendel. Something about Philip Glass’s Music with Changing Parts brings to mind Torgo’s theme from Manos: the Hands of Fate. That is not a criticism. In fact, it is another reason why it works so well as the soundtrack to Quentin Dupieux’s latest mind-trip. Reality with get twisted up and bent over double in Dupieux’s ironically titled Reality, which opens tomorrow at the IFC Center.

Her name is “Reality” and her hunter father just bagged a wild boar. Nobody believes her, but she knows she saw a blue VHS tape pop out of its stomach while her Pops was removing the entrails. She will duly retrieve that tape, but the director filming her story will take his sweet time before he lets us watch it. His name is Zog and he is driving his French producer Bob Marshall to distraction with his cost-overruns. Marshall is the decisive type. He is fully willing to fund Jason Tantra’s horror movie if he can produce the perfect groan of misery to express its essence.

In between his groan sessions, Tantra works his day job as a camera man for a cooking show hosted by a man in a rat costume suffering from phantom eczema. All that scratching is starting to turn viewers against him. Frankly, the viewing experience can be trying in Reality, as when Tantra accidentally takes his wife to see his film before he starts making it. Rather upset with the sound mix, he tries to stop the screening, so he can fix it in the future. Then things start getting strange.

As weird as Dupieux’s first act undeniably is, it is nothing compared to the lunacy that follows. Dreams and films will interrupt and fold back into each other, as each strange subplot doubles back and refers to itself. Edited by Dupieux (a.k.a. Mr. Ozio), Reality has an extremely complex structure mere mortals could not even begin to diagram.

Granted, Reality lacks the warmth and sweetness that made Wrong such an unexpected pleasure, but it is still a blast to watch Dupieux juggle an infinite number of balls in the air. Each new reverse is a thing of beauty onto itself. It is easy for actors to get overwhelmed in such an auteurist spectacle, but John Glover gives one for the ages as the supremely confident Zog. Alain Chabat’s Tantra is like an everyman from an alternate universe (and maybe he is), while Napoleon Dynamite’s Jon Heder really looks like he is suffering from a nasty rash in that rat suit.

By now, you really should know within a 99.99 degree of certainty whether Reality is your cup of tea or not. If you’re not sure, go anyway, because part of Reality’s subversive fun is watching other audience members getting confused and upset. Highly recommended for Dupieux fans and connoisseurs of cult cinema, Reality opens tomorrow (5/1) in New York, at the IFC Center.

LFM GRADE: A-

Posted on April 30th, 2015 at 4:49pm.

LFM Reviews Hungry Hearts @ Tribeca 2015

By Joe Bendel. It is based on an Italian novel, but echoes of the notorious Atlanta vegan baby starvation case ring throughout Saverio Costanzo’s mostly English language drama. A new Italian mother parents too much with her intuitive feelings, ignoring conventional pediatric nutrition and medicine in Costanzo’s Hungry Hearts, which had its U.S. premiere at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival, with a screening at the Montclair Film Festival soon to follow.

Jude, an Upper Westside engineer, and Mina, a PR flack for the Italian consul, meet-cute, under slightly gross circumstances. Enjoy the scatological humor while it lasts, because there will be major friction in their married lives. There are ominous portents of trouble to come during her difficult pregnancy, but Mina’s manic New Aginess really starts to manifest in highly problematic ways when she starts imposing a strict vegan diet on the infant.

At first, Jude is more worried about his underweight son’s persistent cold-like symptoms. However, when he finally sneaks the crib monster to a doctor, he is told the sniffles are “the least of his concern.” The boy is so malnourished, he simply isn’t growing. However, whenever Jude questions Mina’s dietary decisions, she takes it as a personal attack on her legitimacy as a mother and a person. Yet, some things should be said before it is too late.

Hungry paints an alarming portrait of everyday extremism and the slow but steady evolution of conventional vegetarianism to reckless child endangerment. It springs some abrupt course corrections on viewers, but there are reasons for the sharp tonal shifts. While the jokey prelude seems like it belongs in a different film, it helps explain why Jude defers to Mina for so long. There is always love there, but it turns into something very dark and ultimately dangerous.

Ordinarily, the nebbish Adam Driver and the pixyish Alba Rohrwacher would never look like a convincing couple, but cinematographer Fabio Cianchetti’s lens serves as a harsh leveler, ruthlessly focusing on and magnifying the imperfections of their skin. Frankly, in the case of Rohrwacher (who steamed up the screen in Soldini’s Come Undone) this is a much more complicated process, but she compellingly portrays Mina’s physical and emotional decline as she starts to shun direct sunlight and protein. It is a seriously scary transformation.

From "Hungry Hearts."

In contrast, Driver’s Jude always seems to be a step behind the beat, for no good reason. Just for the record, Mina never says to him: “Hey Jude, don’t let me down,” which seems like an obvious oversight. Regardless, they often seem to nurse special resentments only possible through intimate familiarity. There are also brief but pitch perfect supporting turns from Medium co-star Jake Weber as the calm but concerned pediatrician and Roberta Maxwell as Jude’s concerned but not necessarily calm mother.

Hungry is an honest and direct film, but the nearly two hour running time starts to feel punishing after ninety minutes or so. It is like the film is holding us hostage until we pledge to feed our future children healthy slabs of meat. Still, you can’t say it isn’t convincing on that score. Meat is good. The film is also quite good, despite a few stylistic excesses here and there. Recommended for fans of Italian cinema (in exile), Hungry Hearts screens this Sunday (5/3) at Montclair, but the Tribeca Film Festival had it first.

LFM GRADE: B+

Posted on April 30th, 2015 at 4:48pm.

LFM Reviews A Sinner in Mecca @ The 2015 Hot Docs

By Joe Bendel. The extra security provided openly gay Muslim filmmaker Parvez Sharma at this year’s Hot Docs is an ominous development, but in a perverse way, the death threats prompted by his latest film constitute a ringing endorsement. Nonfiction-filmmaking does not get much gutsier than Sharma video-documenting his hajj. Frankly, it is a bit surprising the ever-so open Saudi government granted his hajj visa. They probably already regret it, but not for reasons you suspect. Ignore the overheated internet trolling and honestly engage with the issues raised by Sharma’s A Sinner in Mecca when it screens again at the 2015 Hot Docs in Toronto.

Sharma had already been on the receiving end of a minor fatwa, because of his prior documentary on the Muslim LGBT experience, A Jihad for Love. After marrying his partner, Sharma decided to take his hajj, hoping to reconcile his faith with his sexuality. Of course he will secretly document the process. He is a filmmaker. That is what he does. Frankly, nobody is more aware of the potential danger for an internationally recognized LGBT activist in Wahhabist Saudi Arabia than Sharma. He was consciously risking his life to make the film, but he was completely unprepared for the rampant exploitation and abuse all pilgrims must endure.

Critics of Sharma will latch onto his sexuality because they are homophobic (and misogynistic and anti-Semitic), but the real arsenic in the film are the many scenes exposing the Saudi government’s neglect and overt commercialization of Islam’s holiest site, bar none. Tellingly, one fellow pilgrim tells Sharma: “I’m glad they don’t allow non-Muslims, so the Western world cannot see this.”

As Sharma struggles to complete the pilgrimage rituals, he must navigate filthy streets teeming with rubbish, amid what is supposedly a holy and protected city. Unquestionably though, the most disturbing incident comes when Sharma relates a conversation he had with a man whose wife was sexually molested while circling the Kaaba, which Muslims consider to be the first house of worship, constructed by Abraham. Apparently, this is not an uncommon experience.

From "A Sinner in Mecca."

Much of Sinner would be legitimately horrifying, even if Sharma was not constantly worried his true identity might be revealed. That is why the coda in which he declares his faith is renewed feels completely out of place and inconsistent with everything that preceded it. One suspects that Sharma is trying to convince himself for his own personal reasons. We have to respect that, but the footage he covertly shot (on mini-handhelds and his iPhone) speak thunderously.

First and foremost, Sinner thoroughly indicts the Saudi custodianship of Mecca. If you really wanted to be provocative you could argue the global Muslim community would be much better served if Mecca were in Israel, because the Israeli government understands how to respect and preserve artifacts and landmarks associated with other religions (exhibit A: the Dead Sea Scrolls). Regardless, Sharma’s hajj is a very personal act, but his documentation has much greater implications. Bold and stingingly truthful, A Sinner in Mecca is very highly recommended when it screens again tonight (4/30) and Saturday (5/2), as part of this year’s Hot Docs.

LFM GRADE: A-

Posted on April 30th, 2015 at 4:48pm.

LFM Reviews Hyena @ Tribeca 2015

By Joe Bendel. If they hadn’t become corrupt cops, Michael Logan and his team probably would have been football hooligans. Unfortunately, there probably isn’t enough time for the husky louts to go less crooked. Karma will be harsh to some in Gerard Johnson’s Hyena, which opens this Friday in New York, following its U.S. premiere at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival.

After plundering a large quantity of cocaine in a night club shake down, Logan’s team is in the mood to party. That is often the case, but this time Logan has bigger fish to fry. He has a meeting with his partner in a new Turkish drug trafficking scheme. This is not an undercover operation. It’s an investment. Inconveniently, Logan secretly witnesses the psychotic Albanian Kabashi Brothers murdering his contact. At least Logan manages to secure their first shipment. The Kabashis will be looking for that.

Things will steadily go from bad to worse for Logan. Initially, he tries to forge a temporary working arrangement with the Kabashi Brothers, but nobody believes that will last. He also must contend with an Internal Affairs investigation, while his mates become increasingly erratic and drug-addled. Seriously, how hard could it be to bust these knuckleheads?

From "Hyena."

Yes, we have seen this all before—and we’ve seen it better. The opening sequence is a stylistic tour-de-force, but from there on Gerard is indecisively torn between old school exploitation movies and affected art cinema. To a large extent, you can determine a film’s pretentiousness by comparing the amount of screen time devoted to the back of the protagonist’s head as they grimly trudge onward versus more conventional (and engaging) frontal and profile shots. In Hyena, the ratio is nearly one-to-one, which means tough sledding.

When we can actually see his face, Peter Ferdinando is pretty good as Logan. Likewise, Ben Wheatley regular Neil Maskell is obviously on comfortable ground as Logan’s sleazebag subordinate, Martin. His Kill List co-star MyAnna Buring also brings some verve to the film as Logan’s exasperated girlfriend, Lisa. Inexplicably, cult favorite Mem Ferda is almost completely wasted in what is effectively a cameo as Turkish crime lord Akif Dikman. Like Buddy Sorrell on the old Dick Van Dyke Show, he spends most of his screen time lying on a couch. Yet, he is still cool.

Speaking of Ferda, Hyena obviously follows in the tradition of Luis Prieto’s Pusher remake, but it cannot match the frenetic energy. Johnson tries to compensate with 1970s era pessimism and nihilism, but that gets old after the first act. However, fans of The The will get an nostalgic charge out of their original soundtrack. Not recommended, Hyena opens this Friday (5/1) in New York at the Cinema Village, after screening as a midnight selection at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival.

LFM GRADE: D

Posted on April 29th, 2015 at 11:57am.

LFM Reviews Wonderful World End @ The 2015 San Francisco International Film Festival

By Joe Bendel. Evidently, you can make a career out of being cute and popular in Japan, but it isn’t easy. Would-be model-actress Shiori Hayano does not have that many followers for her social networking outreach, but she has one undeniable super-fan. Their relationship will be hard to classify, but all kinds of intense (as befits its internet origins) in Daigo Matsui’s Wonderful World End, which screens during the 2015 San Francisco International Film Festival.

Hundreds of people watch Hayano put on make-up and discuss her Gothic Lolita wardrobe, but that mostly just earns her demoralizing work handing out fliers and the odd appearance on dodgy late night talk shows. However, thirteen year old Ayumi Kinoshita thinks she is the living end. Eventually, the shy girl runs away from home, hoping to be near her idol. Hayano’s hipster boyfriend Kohei Kawajima obliges, letting Kinoshita crash at their pad. Initially, Hayano is put off by his presumption, but she soon enjoys the constant adulation. As she tires of Kawajima’s pretensions, Hayano starts to develop a yuri-ish attraction to her younger fan, but it will be rudely interrupted when Kinoshita’s mother tracks her down.

At various junctures Wonderful threatens to turn dark and heavy, but for a film about runaways, it maintains an unusually upbeat mood. In fact, crazy surreal third act developments turn it into a legitimate genre picture, but what genre is anyone’s guess. Somehow, Ai Hashimoto manages to anchor the hyper-real proceedings, neatly balancing Hayano’s pronounced vanity with affecting sensitivity. She is relentlessly endearing, especially as she starts to develop offline human connections. Jun Aonami also looks frighteningly young and vulnerable as Kawajima, while Marie Machida has some strange but compelling moments as her mother.

From "Wonderful World End."

Essentially, Wonderful is a two-hander with Hashimoto assuming the senior partner role. However, veteran thesp Go Riju steals a few scenes as Hayano’s sleazy agent. He almost makes exploitation look quirky and charming—almost. Since her label helped underwrite the production, Japanese alt-rocker Seiko Oomori also gets her feature spots in performances that were also produced as music videos. She is a charismatic live performer who nicely fits the film’s milieu, so her musical interludes do not feel so very out of place.

The vibe of Wonderful veers all over the place, but its energy is consistently impressive. In many ways, it suits the nature of contemporary uber-connected youth culture. Odd but indisputably grabby, Wonderful World End is recommended for fans of jpop and yuri manga when it screens tomorrow (4/30), Friday (5/1), and Saturday (5/2), as part of the 58th San Francisco International Film Festival.

LFM GRADE: B

Posted on April 29th, 2015 at 11:57am.

LFM Reviews 12th Assistant Deacon @ The 2015 Stanley Film Festival

By Joe Bendel. Demonic horror can be profoundly unsettling, but it largely validates a Christian (particularly Catholic) framework of good and evil. After all, William Peter Blatty is admirably serious about his Catholic faith. While it definitely follows in the thematic tradition of The Exorcist, Jang Jae-hyun gives the possession horror story a distinctly Korean identity in 12th Assistant Deacon, which screens during the 2015 Stanley Film Festival.

Father Kim is determined to exorcise the demon possessing comatose teenager Young-shin. If he can liberate her spirit, her body might start responding, as well. Tragically, the demon is particularly cruel and belligerent. Despite his repeated efforts, many of his appointed assistants have been scared off by its mocking torments. Yes, it is safe to say Deacon Choi has more than ten predecessors. To his credit, he has deep faith and can pray in multiple languages, but he too has painful memories the evil one will exploit.

On the surface level, 12th Assistant resembles any number of possession films, but its atmosphere and execution are considerably superior. It gets decidedly tense, but what really sets the film apart is its unequivocal embrace of faith and spiritual resiliency. Father Kim explicitly argues that the darkness they witness necessarily implies the existence of the light. He is quite convincing, in the context of the film.

Park Ji-il is absolutely terrific as the battle-hardened Father Kim. He handles the surprisingly impressive special effects scenes quite well and completely nails his big speech. Likewise, Lee Hak-joo hits all the right notes as the earnest but unprepared deacon.

This is one of the rare films Catholics, Evangelicals, and cult film connoisseurs can enjoy in equal measure. Its depiction of demon-exorcising Catholic clergy is particularly interesting, considering it was produced in South Korea, where Christianity is the largest organized religion. Yet nearly half the country is agnostic and many regard Christianity with suspicion or worse. That thorny dynamic is directly reflected in Father Kim’s complex interactions with Young-shin’s very different parents. It is a serious film, but also seriously scary. Highly recommended for horror fans, 12th Assistant Deacon screens this Friday (5/1) as part of Short Program II, at this year’s Stanley Film Festival.

LFM GRADE: A

Posted on April 29th, 2015 at 11:56am.