LFM Reviews Orson Welles’ Newly Restored Chimes at Midnight

By Joe BendelOrson Welles really made his reputation staging Shakespeare, particularly the “Voodoo Macbeth” produced for the Federal Theatre Project. Unfortunately, it was another Shakespearean production that perfectly symbolized the auteur’s mid-1960s fall from critical favor. In retrospect, it is rather embarrassing that The New York Times was more preoccupied with Welles’ girth than his artistic vision. It is worth remembering the next time the editorial page decides to give us a lecture on civility. Still, a lot of people missed the boat on Welles’ Falstaff and rights conflicts made it difficult for more appreciative later generations to catch up with it. Happily, Welles’ under-heralded Chimes at Midnight gets a special, restored DCP limited engagement, starting exclusively this Friday in New York at Film Forum.

Don’t hold your breath for St. Crispin’s Day. This is Falstaff’s story, not Prince Hal’s. Never shy about reworking Shakespeare, Welles basically plundered Falstaff’s greatest hits for the Henriad cycle, throwing in a few lines here and there from The Merry Wives of Winsor. However, the guts of the film come from Henry IV Parts 1 and 2, focusing on Prince Hal’s competing loyalties to two father figures, the hedonistic yet strangely gallant Sir John Falstaff and his severe father, Henry IV. Falstaff is way more fun, but the King represents his future.

Aware the Lancasters’ claim to the throne is iffy at best, the King would be much relieved to see Prince Hal start to take his duties more seriously. Instead, he prefers to carouse in bawdy houses with Falstaff and the more polished but just as disreputable Ned Poins. Unfortunately, his profligacy only encourages rebellion among the nobility, who have rallied behind the dashing and popular Sir Henry Percy, a.k.a. Harry Hotspur, as their champion. Prince Hal cuts a poor figure beside him.

ChimesatMidnightAs for Falstaff’s figure, it is impressive, in its way. As the Times so brutally pointed out, you can’t spell Falstaff without an “f,” “a,” and “t.” Yet, there is more to Welles’ Sir John than the low comedy we associate with the reprobate. It is like he is a metaphor for Welles’ own career. Shticky on the outside, like the persona hosting Nostradamus documentaries and Paul Masson wine commercials, but he was heroic on the inside, like the director who labored for years to complete Don Quixote. Just like Falstaff, Welles was once the toast of Hollywood and a critical darling, but the establishment would turn against him in his later years, much like Prince Hal will inevitably renounce his friendship with Falstaff.

Whether Welles consciously identified with Falstaff on that level scarcely matters. It is still all there on the screen, in all its glorious pathos. Without question, Welles is the definitive Falstaff, puffed up with bluster, but achingly sensitive on the inside. His love for the Prince feels absolutely, painfully real.

Keith Baxter is also a minor revelation as Prince Hal. Probably better known for his stage work, Baxter is electric as the young prince. He might just be the coldest, most ruthless Prince Hal/Henry V seen on film, arguably bordering on the sociopathic. Yet, the great Sir John Gielgud might just upstage everyone, Welles included, as the ascetically noble and remorseful Henry IV. Even though most people automatically harken back to Arthur whenever his name is dropped, Chimes might be the best film to remember him by. Welles only had two weeks with Gielgud, but they made every second count. As a bonus, Jeanne Moreau also finds the earthy dignity in Dolly Tearsheet, Falstaff’s favorite “hostess.”

Chimes is a major Wellesian work that takes his signature visual flair to an even higher level. Every frame is a work of art, but the gritty grace and caustic wit of the ensemble performances remain incisive throughout. Wonderfully stylish and elegiac, Chimes at Midnight should be considered a worthy film in Welles’ canon. Very highly recommended, it opens New Year’s Day at Film Forum.

LFM GRADE: A+

Posted on December 31st, 2015 at 7:39pm.

LFM Reviews Mojin: the Lost Legend

By Joe BendelIt is currently the #2 film at the global box office, nipping at the heels of The Force Awakens. It is also the second adaptation of the bestselling Chinese Ghost Blows Out the Light series of novels. In a weird distribution of rights, one consortium of film companies optioned the first four novels, and another group of partners bought the latter quartet. This is the one starring Shu Qi as American-born Chinese tomb raider Shirley Yang, which partially explains its brisk business. Yang and her associates will shimmy into crypts and flee hordes of zombies in Wuershan’s Mojin: the Lost Legend, which is now playing in New York.

Yang, the Byronic Hu Bayi, and the rubber-faced Wang Kaixuan are trained in Mojin, the art of grave “borrowing.” As per their time honored practice, they carefully light a candle in the corner of each tomb they visit. By blowing it out, the tomb’s ghost makes his displeasure known, forcing the trio to leave accordingly. However, if the candle still burns, then its all good. They are in for an exception to the rule. Things will get bad, but Hu and Wang have seen worse during their first subterranean excursion.

Flashing back to the Cultural Revolution, Hu and Wang are sent to Inner Mongolia as part of their re-education. Both fall in love with the comrade Ding Sitian. She is still adorable, even though she believes the revolutionary slogans far more than they do. Through a strange chain of events, they stumble into an ancient tomb. Of course, the cadres urge them to be “true materialists” and “smash the Four Olds.” Unfortunately, in this case, the Olds are not merely ancient. They are undead.

Hu and Wang carry the scars of their backstory. It is why Hu has never properly put the moves on the super-interested Yang. Similarly, the more impulsive Wang will sign up with a dodgy expedition financed Madame Ying, a Chinese born Japanese industrialist and cult leader in search of the mythical Equinox Flower, hoping he can use it to resurrect the late Ding. Putting aside their Tracy-and-Hepburn-esque differences, Yang and Hu set out to save Wang from his bad judgement. Frankly, they cannot completely blame Wang for the ensuing trouble. The whole deal was brokered by their dodgy agent Grill. At least he will quickly cone to regret it.

Believe it or not, Mojin’s narrative probably makes even less sense on screen, but it hardly matters. Wuershan maintains enough breakneck energy and the all-star cast exudes enough raw charisma to keep the film galloping forward, with or without logic. The special effects are Hollywood tentpole quality and the Inner Mongolian vistas are wildly cinematic. This is a big film, in many respects.

Yet, there were apparently risks involved, starting with its very premise. Tomb-plundering is not exactly politically correct in China these days, which reportedly caused more than a little uncertainty during the development process. The scenes set during Cultural Revolution are also a tad bit gutsy, especially when the Red Guards order the young Hu’s detachment to smash the Kitian artifacts.

Shu Qi is one of the few movie stars working today who can quietly kneecap viewers with a single look (this has been her specialty for Hou Hsiao Hsien, including the recent The Assassin). It must also be noted, Shirley Yang is quite the heroine, since it was Yao Chen filling her boots in Chronicles of the Ghostly Tribe, which American audiences have yet to get a good look at.

From "Mojin: the Lost Legend."
From “Mojin: the Lost Legend.”

As Hu, Chen Kun puts his shaggy look and brooding manner to good use, much as he did in Snow Girl and the Dark Crystal. Bo Huang mostly keeps the shtick in check as Wang, but it is fair to say Xia Yu’s Grill lacks his reserve. However, Angelebaby is acutely cute as Ding, while also bringing some tragic depth to their ill-fated romantic interest. Yet, Cherry Ngan shows off some of the best action chops as Madame Ying’s henchperson, Yoko.

At times, Mojin feels like Wolf Totem with zombies in place of the wolves, which is a cool place to be. Some of the broader, more localized humor fails to land, but there is more than enough adventure, supernatural bedlam, and ironic historical references to keep subtitle readers on-board and invested. In fact, viewers will probably be primed for the competing Ghost Blows Out the Light film franchise and Mojin’s inevitable sequels. Recommended for action fans, Mojin: the Lost Legend is now playing in New York, at the AMC Empire.

LFM GRADE: B

Posted on December 31st, 2015 at 7:39pm.

LFM Reviews Nahid @ The 2016 Palm Springs International Film Festival

NahidBy Joe BendelIran’s so-called “temporary marriages” are exactly that—marital unions that are good only for a finite, pre-determined time. Before they expire, they are considered completely valid by the Islamist powers that be. If you think some Iranians enter into these contracts to facilitate a little action, you would be right. Unfortunately, temporary marriages are temporarily the best option for a desperate single mother in Ida Panahandeh’s Nahid, which screens during the 2016 Palm Springs International Film Festival.

Nahid’s dirty, smelly heroin addicted first husband Ahmad was a mistake, but according to Iranian law, he still retains all parental rights to their obnoxious young son Amir Reza. Ahmad has magnanimously granted her custody on the condition she maintain a chaste single life. She has fallen in love with Masoud Javonroodi, the widower hotel owner for whom she temps. Unfortunately, she cannot act on his advances for fear of losing Amir Reza, but her own precarious financial situation is simply not sustainable.

When Nahid finally levels with Javonroodi, he convinces her to marry him in a formal ceremony, but only sign papers for a temporary marriage. They will continue to re-up until his lawyers successfully press for a custody hearing. However, Nahid insists they must keep their arrangement secret from the petulant Amir Reza. Indeed, he is the weak link in this otherwise impressive non-ideological, small “f” feminist drama. A mother’s love is one thing, but Nahid really ought to just sell him to the circus.

When your country’s family law statutes continually provide inspiration for searing social issues films, it ought to tell you something is wrong, but the message hasn’t trickled up yet in Iran. Both in terms of theme and quality, Nahid sits easily alongside Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation, Reza Mirkarimi’s Today, and Rakshan Bani-Etemad’s Tales. It is also interested to see Iranian life away from Tehran, up near the Caspian Sea, much as in Safi Yazdanian’s What’s the Time in Your World.

From "Nahid."
From “Nahid.”

Sareh Bayat does tour-de-force work as the title character and Pejman Bazeghi is deeply compelling as Javonroodi. They each make regrettable mistakes and act rather ghastly at times, because they are so darned human. Both give remarkably well modulated performances. Navid Mohammad Zedah’s Ahmad is also messily complicated and tragically self-aware, but the less said about the kid, the better.

Much like several recent Iranian films, lies have a way of perniciously compounding in Nahid. Yet, Panahandeh leaves the door open a crack for a few rays of optimism to shine in. She also has a clear affinity for directing actors in intimate settings (except perhaps children performers) and a striking eye for visuals (although the Pieta image was a bit over-the-top, especially since Amir Reza is only mildly sick during the scene in question). Overall, Nahid is recommended rather strongly for her mature relationship with Javonroodi when it screens this Saturday (1/2) and Thursday (1/7), as part of the 2016 PSIFF.

LFM GRADE: B+

Posted on December 31st, 2015 at 7:38pm.

LFM Reviews The Himalayas

By Joe BendelThere is no crying on Everest. It could cause frostbite. Nobody understands that better than alpinist Um Hong-gil, the first Asian member of the fourteen highest summits club. However, he will return to Everest on a dangerously emotional mission in Lee Seok-hoon’s based-on-a-true-story The Himalayas, which opens this Friday in New York.

They don’t call Um “The Captain” because he can’t climb. He was already knocking on celebrity status before he notched Everest. However, he did not suffer fools on mountains gladly. Rather awkwardly, that initially includes Park Moo-taek and Lee Don-gyoo. When they first meet, the rookie climbers are schlepping the lifeless body of their fellow university expedition member down the Nepalese mountain face. Not a good first impression. Nevertheless, Park and Lee maintain their alpinist ambitions and successfully make the cut for Um’s Kanchenjunga expedition (peak #3). Things are indeed different this time, leading to some serious male bonding and a summit for Um and Park.

For a while, Um and Park become an inseparable tandem on the mountain. However, it all comes to a premature end when the lingering effects of a leg injury force Um into retirement. Now, Park is the Captain, but despite his experience with Um, he is still no match for the erratic wrath of Everest’s “Death Zone.” To provide some closure for Park’s young widow, Choi Su-young, Um and his old teammates will head back to Everest on a longshot recovery mission.

There has been a bountiful harvest of good mountaineering documentaries over the last few years (Meru, The Summit, Beyond the Edge), but narratives have been more hot-or-miss. However, you can count on the Korean film industry to incorporate plenty of tear-jerking into the budding genre. Frankly, the best comparison is the excellent but sadly under-screened Japanese film Climber’s High, but without the acidic portrayal of newsroom politics.

Hwang Jung-min is terrific as the gruff but soulful Um. We can definitely believe he has spent time freezing on mountains and absorbing the wisdom of the Himalayans. He has the right presence and the proper reserve for an old cat like Um. On the flipside, Jung Woo has the right earnestness and preternatural youthfulness for Park. Despite her problematically comedic first appearance, Yung Yu-mi also packs quite a punch in her later scenes as Choi.

From "The Himalayas."
From “The Himalayas.”

Frankly, Yung is not the only one dealing with tonal inconsistencies. However, the first act humor is never as broad or shticky as the mugging that weighed down Lee Seok-hoon’s The Pirates. Most viewers should be able to deal with it, especially if they want to see some extreme mountaineering.

You had better believe Himalayas can be manipulative, but Hwang Jung-min masterfully sells the best of those scenes. Unless you are just a total scat-heel, there is one speech in particular (not even a climatic one) that will have you choked up like it’s Lou Gehrig’s farewell address. That’s pretty good filmmaking and absolutely first-rate work from Hwang. The Film will also make you welcome the unseasonably warm winter. Recommended for fans of Hwang and mountaineering pictures, The Himalayas opens this Friday (1/1) in New York, at the AMC Empire.

LFM GRADE: B

Posted on December 31st, 2015 at 7:38pm.

LFM Reviews This is Bossa Nova

By Joe BendelBossa Nova originally started as a spontaneous synthesis of West Coast Jazz, Samba, Romantic Era classical music, and influential Brazilian songwriters, like Ary Barroso. However, American jazz artists adopted Bossa Nova rhythms, re-importing the music back into jazz. For a while in the 1960s, everyone released a Bossa Nova album. Some were legit, some were legit-ish. Two of the first generation Bossa Nova artists take viewers back to where it all began in Paulo Thiago’s This is Bossa Nova, which opens this Friday in New York.

When it comes to Bossa Nova, Carlos Lyra and Roberto Menescal are the real deal. Essentially, they found each other and a group of like-minded musicians when they were all exploring “modern” sounds and less maudlin, more contemporary lyrics. A slightly older staff arranger named Antonio Carlo “Tom” Jobim took them under his wing, helping polish some of their compositions and writing scores of his own standards with them in mind.

Lyra and Menescal frequently visit the campuses, flats, and concert halls where the music was incubated, often carrying their guitars (and a tune along with them) troubadour-style. It is a much more active, entertaining way to take a trip down memory lane. Of course, all the greats, like Jobim, João Gilberto, and Oscar Castro-Neves were just as great as we always thought, but Lyra and Menescal also make a case for less prominent artists, including influential predecessors, such as Johnny Alf (the legendary Hotel Plaza jazz pianist) and Sinatra-esque bandleader Dick Farney.

There are a wealth of archival performances collected in TIBN, including Jobim performing and discussing “One Note Samba” with Gerry Mulligan (on clarinet), as well as a bounty of original renditions from Menescal, Lyra, his daughter Kay Lyra, Leny Andrade, Wanda Sá, João Donato, and the late great Alf. It is worth noting his piano trio is unusual well mic’d and mixed—you can actually hear the bass. Kay and Carlos Lyra also sound quite lovely on “Voce E Eu,” but this probably wasn’t their first time working together.

There are some cool associations that come to light throughout TIBN, like the influence Barney Kessel’s sessions with Julie London had on Carlos Lyra. Thiago also devotes sections to vocalist Nara Leão, Vinicius de Moraes (whose play was adapted as Black Orpheus), and journalist-lyricist Ronaldo Bôscoli, whom he dubs the “Muse,” “Poet,” and “Theorist” of Bossa Nova.

From "This is Bossa Nova."
From “This is Bossa Nova.”

This is a terrific film that gives viewers many complete performances and a considerable insight into the music we hear. Lyra and Menescal are perfect hosts. They exude laidback charm and have all the credibility in the world. Cinematographer Guy Gonçalves makes it all look pleasantly bright and inviting. It is really the perfect film for a warm summer’s night on the beach or a winter in New York City. Absolutely charming and gently infectious, This is Bossa Nova is indeed highly recommended when it opens this Friday (1/1) in New York at the Cinema Village.

LFM GRADE: A

Posted on December 31st, 2015 at 7:37pm.

LFM Reviews Paris Terror Attack: Charlie Hebdo on The Smithsonian Channel

ParisHebdo

By Joe BendelAt the time, it seemed as if the terrorist attack on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo wouldn’t wake up the world to the profound threat of terrorism nothing would—but as usual, it didn’t. However, the cost of the Western world burying its head in the sand would become tragically clear during the coordinated Mumbai-style attacks in Paris this November. In fact, the January 2015 murders and hostage crisis are explicitly identified as forerunners of the larger atrocities to come in the special report, Paris Terror Attack: Charlie Hebdo, which airs this Monday on the Smithsonian Channel.

Lest we forget, the terrorists targeted Charlie Hebdo not out of frustration with unemployment, but because their Islamist ideology could not abide a few jokes at the old prophet’s expense. You can hear them scream precisely that during their murderous assault. PTA includes most of the highly disturbing closed circuit camera footage of their crimes, but it cuts away at the fatal moment when the vicious Kouachi brothers shoot Muslim Parisian policeman Ahmed Merabet point blank in the head.

There are a lot of inconvenient truths in PTA, like the fact the Kouachis and their former prison mate Amedy Coulibaly were native born French. Also, no doubts should remain as to why Coulibaly chose to take the patrons of a kosher Hypercacher supermarket hostage. According to one survivor, he tellingly told her: “you Jews love life, but we Muslims prefer death.” Details like that have been grossly under-reported, but PTA duly includes them.

American coverage of the Hebdo and Hypercacher incidents were pretty sketchy at the time, because the media is always uncomfortable reporting Islamist terrorism. As a result, the special’s tick-tock chain of events is quite illuminating. There is also a good faith attempt to present Merabet’s grieving parents as the voice of moderate Islam. Yet, when they condemn extremists of all faiths, we cannot help thinking their beloved son was not killed by radical Unitarians.

Regardless, PTA’s underlying thesis arguing the Charlie Hebdo attack was an unheeded warning of greater terrorism to come is totally on-point and tough to argue against. By chronicling the horrific events, step-by-step, it gives us another chance to come to grips with Islamist terror, but we will probably ignore it again. Recommended for anyone who wants to better understand issues of terrorism and homeland security, Paris Terror Attack: Charlie Hebdo premieres this Monday (1/4) on the Smithsonian Channel.

LFM GRADE: B+

Posted on December 31st, 2015 at 7:36pm.