Month: May 2015

Lighter than it Sounds: LFM Reviews 1001 Grams

By Joe Bendel. Drug dealers will tell you the weight of kilos can vary quite considerably. Scientists also suspect this is true, but they must prove it with data. Towards that end, Marie Ernst will be lugging the Norwegian prototype kilo to a conference in Paris, where a new international standard will hopefully be set. With her life at a crossroads, the trip might just offer an opportunity for personal discovery as well in Bent Hamer’s 1001 Grams, which opens this Friday in New York.

Ernst’s day-to-day responsibilities largely entail certifying various public pumps and scales to ensure the measurements are on the up-and-up. It is the sort of solitary detail-oriented work she seems to be well suited for. Having recently divorced her caddish husband, she has no real social life to speak of. Aside from her father Ernst Ernst, the director of the laboratory, Marie Ernst has little meaningful human contact. When her more garrulous father falls ill, she assumes his place at the Paris conference, where there are plenty aloof delegates quite like her. However, the institute has a surprisingly smart and engaging gardener named Pi (an unmeasurable constant, you see), whose company she finds pleasant.

Unfortunately, Ernst will have to deal with some family business before she can finally take control over her own life. Worse still, she has a mishap with the Norwegian national kilo. In isolation, all the fuss over a weight in a bell jar seems rather ridiculous, but Hamer makes the characters’ passion for precision measurement look like a noble eccentricity.

From "1001 Grams."

As a filmmaker, Hamer is one of the few stylists who can rival the whimsical visuals of Wes Anderson and even Jacques Tati. Frame after frame in 1001 Grams has such a strikingly composed look, one wonders how long it took Hamer to artfully arrange each scene. There is always the danger that sort of self-consciously idiosyncratic approach can descend into overly precious quirkiness. However, 1001 Grams is permeated with such maturity and grace, it never becomes cloying or shticky in any manner.

Ana Dahl Torp plays Ernst with a profoundly Scandinavian reserve, but the way she slowly and subtly expresses her stirrings of an emotional awakening is beautiful to behold. Laurent Stocker of the Comédie Française comes across like a nice earthy chap as Pi, while Stein Winge adds gravity and humanity as old Ernst Ernst, but Torp must quietly carry 1001 Grams for long stretches on her own. It is a feat she repeatedly pulls off quite remarkably.

There are numerous references, analogies, and call-backs revolving around the act of measurement that could have been absolutely grating in the hands of another filmmaker. Yet, Hamer makes them feel effortlessly light. He fluidly guides the pieces together into a seamless whole. A truly lovely film, 1001 Grams is highly recommended for general audiences when it opens this Friday (5/8) in New York, at the Lincoln Plaza Cinemas.

LFM GRADE: A

Posted on May 6th, 2015 at 9:59pm.

LFM Reviews Maggie @ Tribeca 2015

By Joe Bendel. The zombie apocalypse has come, but the everyday mundane rituals of life continue. For instance, NPR is still broadcasting (and providing exposition), which is about as dull and trivial as life gets. The cities are like demilitarized zones, but those who reside in the countryside continue on relatively undisturbed—unless one of their family members is infected. A rugged Iowa farmer with an Austrian accent must deal with his daughter’s painful transition, ominously known as “the turn,” in Henry Hobson’s Maggie, opening this Friday in New York, following its world premiere at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival.

Like many infected teens, Maggie Vogel ran off to the big city rather than putting her family through the pain of her turn. Checking into one of the nightmarish government field hospitals is not an option, but unfortunately that is where she is forcibly detained until her father finds her. While she is still lucid, she will have time to make her goodbyes to family and friends, but it clearly will not be easy.

Maggie always adored her twin step-brother and step-sister and got on reasonably well with her step-mother. However, Caroline Vogel’s top priority is clearly protecting the twins, which creates friction with Wade. The local sheriff and his jerkweed deputy are also anxious to whisk Maggie back into custody, but it is hard argue with a man the size of Wade Vogel, who is holding a shotgun. Vogel obviously intends to cling to every last hope and does not care what some county employee thinks about it. However, Maggie Vogel is only too aware of the reality of her situation, because she can see it in the mirror.

There have already been a number of anti-genre deconstructions of the zombie film, such as BBC America’s post-zombie cure series In the Flesh and the Canadian feature The Returned, so Maggie’s focus on the intimate human drama of the zombie uprising is not so unusual anymore. Still, Hobson (the title design for The Walking Dead) and screenwriter John Scott 3 carve out a small niche, where zombies are contained (more or less), but not cured. Still, what makes Maggie work so well is the first rate cast.

Believe it or not, that starts with Arnold Schwarzenegger. This is finally the sort of film he should be pursuing for his post-politics return to the big screen. Let’s face it, he was a disappointing governor who just continued all the fiscal problems he promised to stop, but he still has an awful lot of accrued good will with movie fans. Up until Last Action Hero he was batting nearly one thousand, if we make allowances for Red Sonja. He has a reassuring screen presence that gives comfort and inspires confidence. As Vogel, he is able to build on that reservoir of good feeling, creating a surprisingly tender portrait of a father facing the unthinkable.

As the titular Maggie, Abigail Breslin gives a refreshingly smart and subtle performance, conveying a powerful sense of how quickly she has grown up as she faces her fate. Although she is likely to be overlooked, Joely Richardson is also terrific as the step-mother trying her best, despite her very human failings. In fact, it is the intelligent, heartfelt rendering of the Vogel family dynamics that really elevates Maggie.

Yes, Wade Vogel kills a handful of zombies, but the film is highly likely to disappoint fans expecting a vintage 1980s Schwarzenegger film. However, it suggests he might be able to pull off a third act comeback, after all. Appropriately moody and shockingly touching, Maggie is highly recommended for sophisticated genre fans when it opens this Friday (5/8) in select theaters, following its premiere screenings at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival.

LFM GRADE: A-

Posted on May 6th, 2015 at 9:58pm.

LFM Reviews Saint Laurent

By Joe Bendel. Last year, Jalil Lespert’s Saint Laurent biopic was the first out of gate, simply but aptly titled Yves Saint Laurent. Now, Bertrand Bonello follows with the even more basically titled Saint Laurent. Evidently, the next filmmaker who tries his hand at the celebrated fashion designer’s story will have to call it Laurent, or maybe the evocative YSL. Regardless, the second duly follows the first, boasting a more famous French cast but lacking the blessing of YSL’s longtime partner, Pierre Bergé. Break your Mondrian dress out of mothballs for the American release of Bonello’s Saint Laurent, which opens this Friday in New York.

For the backstory, refer to Lespert. Bonello picks the film up in 1967 and just runs with the era’s excesses. Saint Laurent is poised to explode globally and Bergé, his partner (both in love and business) will make the deals to fully exploit his notoriety. Unfortunately, as the chemically infused parties blur into each other, Saint Laurent becomes increasingly preoccupied with the sexual charms of model Jacques De Bascher. From time to time, Bergé will even create a bit of a scene, but he can usually get the faithless designer to come home whenever he buys a new piece for their remarkable art collection.

That is kind of it. Bonello’s film is a rather static portrait that luxuriates in the hedonistic surface of YSL’s life and never digs into the iconic figures’ inner workings. To judge solely from the film, it is absolutely baffling how an uptight square like Bergé and a drug-soused sex addict like Saint Laurent could ever be a couple. There is no explanation of their relationship, except for an admittedly brilliant scene of them admiring a newly acquired painting. Bonello’s take on Saint Laurent is entirely an example of style over substance, but what dazzling style it is.

Although Saint Laurent spends most of the film lounging on a couch, Bonello’s camera darts and pans restlessly, soaking up the debauched nightlife. He makes inspired use of split screens, evoking a fashion magazine’s layout. Frankly, this is probably the most visually dynamic film of the year—and that counts for a lot.

Arguably, the cast-members are just accessories to the ensemble Bonello creates. Gaspard Ulliel’s Saint Laurent is a lifeless cipher who is rather unpleasant to spend time with. Helmut Berger’s third act appearance as the designer in 1989 adds little depth, serving mainly as a curtain call. Jérémie Renier conveys some of the maturity and determination of Bergé, but the film stacks the deck against him, largely portraying him a jealous lover. Adding color if not substance, Louis Garrel out-preens Maria Callas as De Bascher, while model Aymeline Valade exhibits enough snap and verve as model Betty Catroux to suggest she might have potential in a film with actual human interaction.

Bonello’s film is all about the gloss, which is why it is so seductive. This is probably the version Saint Laurent would enjoy more, whereas Bergé would better appreciate Lespert’s approach, even if he were not more closely associated with it. Indeed, he deserved better treatment from Bonello, especially considering how he stood up to the Chinese government’s bullying when he was liquidating the collection he amassed with YSL. Pointedly, he offered to return two Qing Dynasty bronzes they claimed if they started to “observe human rights and give liberty to the Tibetan people and welcome the Dalai Lama.” Of course, that is a little outside the scope of either film. Bonello’s Saint Laurent is an immersive work that overwhelms the senses, but leaves little emotional trace behind. For those in the mood for something flashy and slick, Bonello’s Saint Laurent can’t be topped when it opens this Friday (5/8) in New York, at the Angelika Film Center.

LFM GRADE: B-

Posted on May 6th, 2015 at 9:57pm.

LFM Reviews Our Neighbor, Miss Yae @ MoMA’s Japan Speaks Out

From "Our Neighbor, Miss Yae."

By Joe Bendel. She is the girl next door, both in a strictly literal sense and in terms what that expression typically evokes. Her sister is not, even though she has recently moved back in with Yae-chan’s family. Awkwardly, both sisters will become rivals for the attention of the same neighborhood boy in Yasujiro Shimazu’s Our Neighbor, Miss Yae, which screens as part of Japan Speaks Out, MoMA’s upcoming retrospective of early Japanese talking pictures.

Yae-chan is a high school upper-classman with eyes for Keitaro, a university freshman still living at home. He is not very romantically inclined, preferring to spend his free time eating and training his younger brother for the Koshien little league championship (memorably depicted in Umin Boya’s Kano). It would not surprise anyone if Yae-chan and Keitaro ended up together, which would be just fine with their respective parents. However, the return of Yae-chan’s older sister Kyouko complicates everything.

Arriving unexpectedly one night, Kyouko announces her intention to divorce her husband and move back in. Naturally, her parents are a bit flummoxed. Divorce is not unheard of in their era, but it is still far from commonplace. Of course, they must be very mindful of appearances. Both fathers are lower middleclass middle-managers, who have not exactly distinguished themselves in their careers. Still, everyone gets used to having Kyouko around, except maybe Yae-chan, who becomes increasingly frustrated by Keitaro’s apparent interest in the older woman.

Shimazu was a master of Japanese shomin-geki (home dramas), predating the master of masters, Yasujiro Ozu. Neighbor will surely bring to mind the look and vibe of Ozu’s classic films, but it feels worldlier and less delicate. We need not place it in terrarium for its own protection. Frankly, there is no way this endearingly innocent family film would have passed Hollywood’s Hays Code.

From "Our Neighbor, Miss Yae."

In fact, Neighbor is a richly ambiguous film in a number of ways, particularly with respect to Kyouko’s marriage. While her parents assume she has left her unseen hubby out of general flightiness, Shimazu offers enough hints for twenty-first century Westerners to suspect there were darker, more abusive reasons Kyouko rejects her married life. As a result, it is hard to determine with certainty whether Neighbor is a feminist or anti-feminist film, but that makes it much more intriguing.

Yet there is no better reason to watch and enjoy Neighbor than Yumeko Aizome’s wonderfully sensitive yet lively performance as Yae-chan. Just as Shimazu prefigures Ozu’s masterworks, her work is reminiscent of Setsuko Hara’s Norikos. She makes emotional resiliency something rather breezy and cute.

Neighbor is the sort of film that will inspire nostalgia in viewers for a time they maybe never really knew. There is something very appealing about the casual mi-casa-su-casa intimacy shared by the two families, even when unsettling reminders of what of the early 1930s meant in Japan obliquely seep in (like Keitaro’s German homework). There is a messiness to the resolution that also rings true to the unruliness of life. Very highly recommended, Our Neighbor, Miss Yae screens this Wednesday (5/6) and Saturday the 16th at MoMA, as part of the upcoming Japan Speaks Out film series.

LFM GRADE: A

Posted on May 6th, 2015 at 9:57pm.

LFM Reviews Gangnam Blues

By Joe Bendel. This is a Korean gangster movie all New Yorkers will relate to, because it is all about real estate—and the high cost thereof. In 1970, an increasingly over-crowded Seoul needed to develop the sleepy backwater district of Gangnam. For those in the know, there was a land rush to scope up parcels before the civic expansion plans were announced. Of course, only politicians and gangsters would have that sort of insider information. It is dashed difficult to tell the difference between the two in Yoo Ha’s Gangnam Blues (a.k.a. Gangnam 1970), which screens this coming Thursday as part of the free Korean Movie Night series at New York’s Asia Society.

Kim Jong-dae and Baek Yong-ki are sworn brothers who left their orphanage together hoping to scratch out some sort of life in the rough & tumble Gangnam district. Arguably, in the late 1960s, there are more thugs to be found there than paved roads. Kim and Baek briefly run afoul of some of Kang Gil-soo’s men, but the clan leaders chooses to recruit them for a job rather than inflict punishment. They will join a busload of hooligans sent to disrupt a political rally. Unfortunately, the job quickly goes sour, leading to the temporary disgrace of Kang’s political ally.

Separated during madness, Kim and Baek will not see each other again for three years. Kim will return to Kang, living as his adopted son. Having seen the writing on the wall, Kang tries to retire from crime, living a modest life as a launderer (of clothes). Despite his outward obedience, Kim longs to see Kang lead his old clan back to prominence. Secretly, he has laid the groundwork to facilitate that goal, but it inevitably leads to conflict with the rival gang Baek joined. Discovering themselves on opposite sides of a potential gang war, Kim and Baek form their own personal non-aggression pact. Of course, they will eventually have to make some hard choices about where their loyalties truly lay.

If you are thinking about that rap song, just forget it. Gangnam is now one of Seoul’s most prosperous and prestigious districts, so its hard fought development represents one of the grandest cases of “gentrification” ever. Imagine buying up Greenpoint or Williamsburg before the hipsters moved in. Those are the stakes at play in Blues.

From "Gangnam Blues."

Frankly, this is exactly the sort of Korean film that best translates for American audiences. It is a big, sweeping gangster story, but told from a distinctly personal perspective. Although not blood relations, there is something almost Biblical about Kim and Baek’s relationship. The grungy period look adds to the appeal, evoking memories of cynical 1970s cops-and-robbers films.

Korean TV superstar Lee Min-ho is impressively earnest and edgy as the tightly wound Kim. In contrast, Kim Rae-won is rather cool and distant as Baek, but that is rather the point. Regardless, neither of the young toughs can match the veteran hardnosedness of Jung Jin-young’s Kang, who towers over the large colorful supporting cast. There are dozens of seedy characters conspiring with and against each other, but Kim Ji-su stands out as Min Sung-hee, Kim’s early tutor in real estate speculation.

At times, viewers could really use a scorecard to identify which gang is aligned with which crooked politico. Still, that degree of sophisticated plotting is quite refreshing. For action fans, Blues also boasts a massively awesome gang fight scene in the middle of a mud-splattered cemetery. Highly recommended for fans of Korean gangster epics, Gangnam Blues screens (for free) this Thursday (5/7) at the Asia Society on Manhattan’s fashionable Upper Eastside.

LFM GRADE: B+

Posted on May 6th, 2015 at 9:56pm.

LFM Reviews The Shaman @ Tribeca 2015

By Joe Bendel. Imagine the Terminator franchise, but with metaphysics replacing artificial technology. In the year 2204, humanity has been in a state of constant war for seventy-three years. Not content simply developing the latest lethal hardware, the warring factions have also weaponized shamanism. Great battles are joined in the Netherworld, where shamans try to convert or kill the souls of machines existing in our plane of reality. One such spiritual intermediary will face his most dangerous mission yet in Marco Kalantari’s epic short film The Shaman, which screened at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival (as part of the Interference programming block).

It might be a short film, but it is long on concept. Clearly, writer-director-producer-editor Kalantari can only establish the basic essentials of this shamanistic dystopia in the film’s mere eighteen minutes. Through the help of sympathetic musical accompaniment, shamans like our unnamed titular character are able to cross over to the realm where the souls of machines exist in corporal form, at least for the duration of the tune. The Shaman’s target is the soul of the Colossus, a devastating new Death Star-like battle droid. Unfortunately, the Colossus seems to be expecting him. Nevertheless, the Shaman insists on an unusually short composition, perhaps out of respect for Kalantari’s budget.

Frankly, a short film with this level of special effects would have been unimaginable ten years ago. Kalantari creates a sinister futuristic landscape of enormous scope that is initially maybe a bit reminiscent of the Terminator, but he takes it in a wholly original direction. If this short was produced in the hope it will lead to an expanded feature, it is likely to win the requisite backing, because in this case, seeing is believing.

The very idea of a massive space battles also being waged on the subconscious level and within the soul is heady stuff and even a little disturbing. It is a rich vein Kalantari should be able to profitably mine over multiple films. Hopefully, he will bring back Susanne Wuest, because she is terrific as the Soul of Colossus. He also gets a key assist from cinematographer Thomas Kiennast (who also lensed the moody strudel western Dark Valley). He gives this universe a darkly distinctive look, while Kalantari blends the trappings of science fiction and fantasy quite effectively.

Minute for minute, The Shaman has considerably more ideas than most big budget genre movies. Easily the best science fiction at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, it is prime candidate for later genre fests like Fantasia. Highly recommended, indie sf fans should definitely keep an eye out for it.

LFM GRADE: A-

Posted on May 6th, 2015 at 9:55pm.