Category: 4. Joe Bendel

The Soviet War against Finland: LFM Reviews Y in Vyborg

Yin Vyborg.

By Joe Bendel. They were part of the Finnish Greatest Generation. In the notorious Winter War and the subsequent Continuation War, small democratic Finland went toe-to-toe with the Soviet Empire, putting the Allied forces in a difficult diplomatic position. Prominent Finnish husband and wife architects documented the physical destruction of the war and the emotional toll it caused in the letters and Super-8 films director Pia Andell edited and molded into the compelling documentary Y in Vyborg, which screens today as part of DocPoint’s tenth anniversary celebration in New York.

Ragnar Ypyä, or “Y” as he was simply known, had a bustling architectural firm in the eastern border city of Vyborg. Martta (or “Mirri”) Ypyä complimented her husband as a near perfect draftsmen.  Together they raised a family and led prosperous, professionally rewarding lives, until the Soviet bombs started falling.

During the Winter War, Finland was fighting an Axis-aligned power. However, when the Continuation War began, Stalin had since joined with the Allies, while Germany provided limited support to Finland. Yet the Finns were still fighting to protect their independence and democratic system of government, while the Communist forces were still fighting a war of imperial conquest. Though Vyborg largely focuses on the personal, the grit and resolve of the Finnish people comes through forcefully. So does the constant stress and frustration expressed by the Ypyäs as they struggled with their involuntary separation and numerous privations during the war years. Continue reading The Soviet War against Finland: LFM Reviews Y in Vyborg

Crouching Banker: LFM Reviews Empire of Silver

By Joe Bendel. Initially, the late Qing Dynasty’s new paper money is an economic boon, especially helpful facilitating transactions for the lower classes. Unfortunately, when the people come to suspect it is not fully backed by silver, it leads to bank runs. This is an ominous development for Lord Kang’s financial dynasty. Yet he will face even greater tribulations within his own family in Christina Yao’s Empire of Silver, which opens tomorrow in New York.

In 1899, the “piaohao” bankers of Shanxi were like Tom Wolfe’s “Masters of the Universe.” Lord Kang, or “Old Master” as he is often called, assumed four sons would be sufficient to ensure a safe line of succession for his venerable banking company. Of course, as a pious Buddhist deaf-mute, “First Master” never really counted. Unfortunately, when the Second and Fourth Masters are undone by calamity partly of his own making, old Kang is left with the dissolute playboy Third Master. Still, he is probably the most talented of the lot, but he has heretofore squandered his life out of resentment for his father’s Machiavellian management of family affairs. This is Third’s time to chart his ascendance, but it remains unclear whether he wishes to assume the mantle of leadership.

Needless to say, Old and Third Masters have very different management philosophies. However, his relationship to his young stepmother is even more strained. Quickly we come to understand Third and his former teacher had quite a bit of history before she became Madame Kang, which obviously explains much.

Silver is a big historical melodrama, but there is only a spot of actual fighting here and there. Still, the costumes, sets, and sweeping vistas are worthy of epics like Hero and Red Cliff. Jeremy Thomas, the producer of ambitious films like The Last Emperor, Little Buddha, and Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, served as executive producer, lending Silver further prestige.

While Silver is indeed a finely crafted period production, Aaron Kwok is surprisingly flat as Third Master. Yes, his character is emotionally damaged, but at some point we should see some signs of life percolating. Still, Hao Lei largely compensates as Madame Kang with her exquisite expressiveness. Frankly it is just nice to see her working, considering she appeared in Lou Ye’s bold Tiananmen Square drama Summer Palace, which was duly banned by the Communist authorities. Silver also boasts a number of rich supporting performances, particularly Ding Zhi Cheng and Lei Zhen Yu as two rival branch managers – one talented but dangerously independent, while the other is deemed controllable by virtue of his mediocrity.

Yao revels in the classical tragedy of her story, but she periodically offers up shrewd nuggets of insight as well. It is intriguing to look at a proud family and their celebrated house of finance – increasingly destabilized by China’s mounting anarchy – but it might well be too restrained and respectable for fanboys. An engaging feature directorial debut for Yao (if not a perfect star vehicle for Kwok), Silver opens today (6/3) in New York at the AMC Empire and AMC Village 7.

Posted on June 3rd, 2011 at 1:37pm.

Say Amen! LFM Reviews Rejoice and Shout

By Joe Bendel. How hip a blues guitarist was Sister Rosetta Tharpe? Well, she was one of the primary influences on a kid from Tupelo, Mississippi named Elvis. Yet she was not really a blues or R&B artist, but a Gospel singer. By profiling trailblazers like Tharpe, director Don McGlynn and producer Joe Lauro celebrate the rich legacy and diversity of American Gospel music in Rejoice and Shout, which opens this Friday in New York at Film Forum.

Rejoice opens on a true high note, as a young member of the Selvy Family of Gospel singers belts out a powerful old-time religion rendition of “Amazing Grace.” The film then proceeds to backpedal, explaining where the music came from. Yes, it is rooted in the plantation experience of African Americans, but the story of Gospel’s development is more complicated, involving entrepreneurial figures like Thomas A. Dorsey. A reformed bluesman, Dorsey penned and promoted scores of Gospel standards, often popularized through performances by the great Mahalia Jackson.

Frankly, it is pleasantly surprising how intelligently Rejoice addresses the actual music. The film is particularly effective illustrating the complexity of the arrangements and the syncopated jazz influences of the vocal ensembles like the Golden Gate Quartet. More to the point, many people will probably be surprised how much fun this legitimately sacred music truly is.

Of course, the music is the thing in Rejoice. To their credit, McGlynn and Lauro unearthed some remarkable rare footage, ranging from sound film that predates Al Jolson in The Jazz Singer to some totally cool video of the Edwin Hawkins Singers performing “Oh Happy Day” during a stadium concert. Still, Rejoice never forgets the music’s raison d’être, allowing former 1970’s Gospel superstar turned everyday preacher Andraé Crouch the time and space to speak eloquently of the glory and power of God. Continue reading Say Amen! LFM Reviews Rejoice and Shout

LFM Review: Jean-Luc Godard’s Film Socialisme

By Joe Bendel. A Mediterranean cruise sounds like a pleasant indulgence, but of course, none of the standard rules apply to Jean-Luc Godard. Certainly narrative and aesthetic conventions will be flaunted, as will polite decorum. Indeed, some might argue Godard’s latest and possibly final film (he has been somewhat coy on the subject) represents the height of self-indulgence. Yet, for hardy cineastes, the arrival of Film Socialisme, Godard’s latest cinematic-essay-provocation is as serious as a heart attack. Needless to say though, there will be plenty of shaking heads in the audience, even amongst the initiated, when Socialisme opens this Friday in New York at the IFC Center.

Dubbed “a symphony in three movements,” Socialisme is not Breathless, which proceeds along a more or less traditional narrative course, despite Godard’s periodic winking subversions. It is closer to his 1987 anti-adaptation of Shakespeare’s King Lear, but even there Godard left enough structural building blocks laying around for viewers to impose their own order. Rather, like his other post-2000 works, Socialisme is largely a cinematic collage providing viewers hints of narrative only for the sake of immediately snatching them back.

As Socialisme’s initial non-setting, the luxury ocean liner offers Godard a vehicle for some striking images and a frequent water motif. Just how the non-characters came to be on this cruise scarcely matters. Though a colorful assemblage – including a French philosopher, a war criminal of undisclosed nationality, a spy of some sort, and a chanteuse (played by Patti Smith) – they are only here to give voice to Godard’s polemical slogans. As he segues into his second and third movements, the film becomes something of a movie mixtape, juxtaposing text and visuals for ideological purposes.

It is not snarky to question just whom Socialisme is meant for, because of Godard’s signature gamesmanship. While the French dialogue is relatively conventional (if stilted), Godard’s subtitles are translated into crude Tarzan-like English, formatted in a style befitting e.e. cummings. Are English audiences seeing Socialisme as it is truly intended, or were the French, for whom it was presumably exhibited sans subs? Perhaps the film is best appreciated by those fluent in both languages, watching outside the francophone world. Is this a film primarily produced for French expats?

Naturally, Godard’s mischief is not limited to subtitles, but extends to soundtrack drop-outs and film-stock adulterations as well. As one would also expect, his extremist politics are also front-and-center, including a preoccupation with the Arab-Israeli conflict and the rather unsettling observation: “strange thing Hollywood Jews invented it.” Continue reading LFM Review: Jean-Luc Godard’s Film Socialisme

Communists in Japan!: LFM Reviews: United Red Army

By Joe Bendel. It was certainly red, but not always united. Former underground filmmaker Kôji Wakamatsu witnessed the Japanese New Left degenerate into a loose network of terrorist groups plagued by factionalism and internal power struggles. A sometime ally and contemporary of the militant paramilitaries, Wakamatsu has produced a chilling look at the inner workings of the militant left in United Red Army, which opens this Friday in New York at the IFC Film Center.

Wakamatsu leaves absolutely no doubt where the Marxist United Red Army (URA), as well as its Red Army Faction (RAF) and Revolutionary Left Wing (RLF) predecessors, were coming from. During one of many “self-critique” re-education sessions, their leader, Tsuneo Mori, pretty clearly spells out the need to sacrifice any sense of individuality and embrace death to advance the so-called class struggle. To do anything less is construed as counter-revolutionary, unless you happen to be one of the commanders.

In his largely narrated opening sequences, Wakamatsu tries to suggest that the URA terrorists began as misguided anti-war protestors. However, they quickly evolve into violent hardcore Maoists (in fact, when Nixon makes his historic visit to China late in the film, it’s a real buzz-kill for the surviving URA faithful). In fact, as Wakamatsu tells the group’s history, one wonders if he realizes how much he actually reveals.

In the second, centerpiece segment of the film, the RAF consolidates with the RLF into the URA – taking to the mountains, ostensibly for military training. Yet, well before the revolution can possibly begin, the Red Army launches a reign of terror within its ranks. Here URA begins to resemble a horror movie, as one-by-one, loyal members are forced to undergo “self criticism,” clearly inspired by the Cultural Revolution, culminating with torture and fatal beatings.

URA concludes with the ill-fated Asama-Sansō hostage crisis, in which a remnant of the terrorist group held an innocent woman captive in her husband’s mountain lodge. Despite his personal disillusionment, Hiroshi Sakaguchi commands his men in this act of horrific folly. As disturbing as the final stand-off might ordinarily be, it is something of a let-down compared to the sheer gut-wrenching cruelty of the self-criticism sessions. What we see in URA is the sublimation of the individual to the collective—a textbook example of how cults work. Continue reading Communists in Japan!: LFM Reviews: United Red Army

Experiment in Fascism at a German High School: LFM Reviews The Wave; Film Opens Friday (5/27) in New York

By Joe Bendel. Any experiment in social control that deliberately exploits obedience and conformity is cause for concern. In Germany, it is all kinds of disturbing, for obvious reasons. As Libertas readers are well familiar through Patricia Ducey’s recent review of the documentary The Lesson Plan, the so-called “Third Wave” classroom exercise was actually the brainchild of American leftist Ron Jones, who converted his Palo Alto high school into a fascist mini-state in 1967. The incident subsequently inspired Morton Rhue’s young adult novel The Wave and Dennis Gansel’s film adaptation – the Sundance standout The Wave – which opens this Friday at New York’s ReRun Gastropub on a double bill with Gansel’s hipster vampire noir We Are the Night.

Mr. Wenger is a popular teacher. He lets kids call him Rainer and reminisces about his time on the barricades. He’s all geared up to teach a special topics class on anarchism, but a senior faculty member nips that in the bud. Instead, Wenger is stuck with the ‘autocracy’ course. Yet, low and behold, the topic inspires him. Suddenly it’s “Mr. Wenger” again, but only during autocracy class. Surprisingly, the students also take to the new discipline he dishes out, embracing the rather stylish white button-down shirt and blue jeans as their uniform. As befits a collective, they also adopt an ominous sounding name: The Wave. Yes, they even have their own special salute.

Naturally, students who are not part of The Wave, feel keenly excluded. Those not enrolled in Wenger’s class are still able to join, provided they blindly submit to the rules of the budding cult. A few, like Karo, the formerly popular ex-girlfriend of Marco (the star water-polo player) recognize the insidious nature of the Wave. Yet as long as they are not too outrageous in their tactics, the administration condones Wenger’s ill-conceived project.

Continue reading Experiment in Fascism at a German High School: LFM Reviews The Wave; Film Opens Friday (5/27) in New York