LFM: Libertas Film Magazine – Page 21 – LFM: The Voice of Freedom in Movies & Pop Culture

LFM Reviews Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom

By Joe Bendel. Until the Yanukovych’s regime’s brutal assault on the peaceful Maidan protests, St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery had not rung all its bells simultaneously since the Mongol invasion of 1240. Of course, this fact comes with an asterisk. Technically, the Soviets destroyed the Kiev landmark in the 1930s, but it was subsequently rebuilt following independence. Appropriately, the working Orthodox monastery played a significant role in the events that unfolded on and around Maidan Square. Russian-Israeli filmmaker Evgeny Afineevsky captured history in real time, documenting step by step how the demonstrations evolved into a revolution. Rightfully considered an Oscar contender, Afineevsky’s Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom screens during the San Francisco Film Society’s Doc Stories—and also streams on Netflix.

The Euro-Maidan movement and its supporters have been well documented by filmmakers such as Sergei Loznitsa, Andrew Tkach, and Dmitriy Khavin, yet the Western media still gives credence to Soviet propaganda claiming the popular uprising was merely a prolonged tantrum thrown by skinheads and neo-National Socialists. However, with the exposure granted by Netflix’s platform, those lies should finally be permanently put to rest.

In fact, one of the big “scoops” of Afineevsky’s film is the extent to which Kiev’s Major Orthodox Archbishop, Catholic Archbishop, and the Islamic Mufti of Religious Administration supported the Maidan activists. Their early blessings (literally) were important, but it is impossible to overstate the leadership of His Eminence, Agapit, the Vicar of St. Michael’s and Bishop of Vyshgorod. It was he who approved the tolling of the bells and gave shelter to protestors fleeing from steel truncheon-wielding of agents of the Berkut, Yanukovych’s personal shock troops, who were truly the barbarians at the gates.

Unlike Loznitsa’s film, Afineevsky takes the time to single out individual protestors. While this gives the film greater emotional resonance, it is also necessary in some respects, for viewers to fully understand the dynamics in play. One such protestor we meet is the popular but self-effacing Serhiy Nigoyan, whom many fellow Maidan activists identified through social media as an inspirational figure for them all. When Nigoyan became the Berkut’s first gunshot fatally, his face began appearing on makeshift shields across the Square.

Working with twenty-eight credited cinematographers, Afineevsky captures just about everything that transpired, including the savagery Yanukovych and his Russian puppet-master so strenuously denied to the world media. Viewers should be warned, Afineevsky will introduce them to Ukrainians who will be murdered in the ensuing assaults and sniped attacks. Yet, he and editor Will Znidaric whittled and stitched the voluminous raw footage into a tight, cogent, and cohesive narrative.

Another aspect of the Euro-Maidan that comes through more clearly in Winter than prior documentaries is the genuine grassroots nature of the revolution. It was truly bottom-up rather than top-down. In fact, opposition leaders (including Vitali Klitschko) are often seen trailing after movement, earning jeers for their parliamentary caution. It is probably the most cinematic document of the Maidan protests to-date and perhaps also the most damning of the Yanukovych regime (and the big boss Putin, by extension). Very highly recommended (especially for Academy members), Winter on Fire screens this Thursday (11/5) as part of the SFFS’s Doc Stories.

LFM GRADE: A

Posted on November 3rd, 2015 at 6:45pm.

LFM Reviews Sembene!

By Joe Bendel. For a while, Ousmane Sembene was a Senegalese B. Traven. While working on the docks in Marseilles, the expat became of a self-taught novelist and radicalized Communist Party member. Although his early films reflect those prejudices, Sembene would become the leading critic of the Islamization of Africa. His cinematic legacy is particularly challenging to fully digest and analyze, so Samba Gadjigo & Jason Silverman mostly hit his career high notes in Sembene!, which opens this Friday in New York.

Having long-admired Sembene’s films and novels, Gadjigo eventually became his assistant, protégé, companion, and spiritual son. He assisted the auteur on his later pictures and now oversees efforts to restore and promote Sembene’s oeuvre. Much like Quincey Troupe’s work as Miles Davis’s biographer, Gadjigo’s story will become fundamentally intertwined with Sembene’s, at least while he is doing the telling. While that might not make for the most objective documentary filmmaking, it gives viewers an emotionally resonant relationship to grab hold of.

However, when it comes to surveying Sembene’s work, Sembene! (with the Broadway-style exclamation point) mostly relies on film clips and archival interview footage, proceeding forward in an orderly film-by-film manner. Still, what we see of Ceddo is undeniably intriguing. Chronicling a village’s forced conversion to Islam, it was duly banned by Socialist president Leopold Senghor’s government. Decades later, it is easy to see it as an eerie predecessor to Abderrahmane Sissako’s devastating Timbuktu. If all that is not interesting enough, it also has an original score performed by Manu Dibango.

Gadjigo & Silverman probably devote the most time to Sembene’s final film, Moolaadé, which makes sense considering Gadjigo helmed the “making of” documentary. It was also one of Sembene’s most controversial works, directly attacking the practice of female genital mutilation. The mere fact he was helming an eventual Cannes award-winner while losing his eye-sight is also rather dramatic.

Throughout the documentary, Gadjigo & Silverman emphasize Sembene’s stature as a pan-African icon, but hint at his increasing frustration with the corruption and brutality of the newly independent African states. Yet, they are obviously treading on eggshells whenever addressing this tension. As a result, Sembene! often feels too sanitized and not nearly messy enough. Still, there are not a lot of feature length profiles of Sembene out there. Gadjigo & Silverman give viewers a solid survey and leave them wanting to see more, which probably constitutes a mission accomplished, given their plans to restore and re-release Sembene’s work. Recommended for Sembene’s fans and film snobs looking for the Cliff Notes on the Senegalese filmmaker, Sembene! opens this Friday (11/6) in New York, at the Lincoln Plaza.

LFM GRADE: B-

Posted on November 3rd, 2015 at 6:45pm.

LFM Reviews Mexico Barbaro

By Joe Bendel. The country that gave us the Day of the Dead, Narcoterrorism, and Lucho Libre wrestling must have some pretty strange stuff rattling around in its national subconscious. However, perhaps as a sign of violent times, most of the monsters portrayed in a new Mexican horror movie anthology are of a decidedly human variety. The muck-raking John Kenneth Turner would probably be horrified by the world depicted in the omnibus film bearing the name of his 1908 pre-revolutionary expose, but horror fans will be more troubled by the inconsistency of Mexico Barbaro, which releases today on DVD and VOD.

There is no effort to link the eight stories, beyond their south of the border setting, so each can easily be considered discretely. In a way, Laurette Flores Bornn’s Tzompantli is the most frustrating, because it starts with enormous promise. Speaking from the vantage point of decades gone by, a crusty old journalist remembers the story that scarred him for life. Through an informant, he uncovered information linking a drug cartel to a series of ritual murders intended to be sacrifices to the ancient Aztec gods. It is especially unnerving, because it probably more or less true to life. Unfortunately, Bornn ends it prematurely, cutting down what could easily sustain feature-length treatment into a mere sketch.

Edgar Nito’s Jaral de Berrios might be the strongest installment and also the most distinctly Mexican in flavor. A bandit and his wounded partner take refuge in a notoriously haunted villa, with predictably macabre results. It is a wildly cinematic location, beautifully shot by cinematographer Juan Pablo Ramírez.

Aaron Soto’s Drain is possibly the most defiantly insane installment. Whether it is a story of supernatural terror or psychotic madness is anyone’s guess, but the takeaway is clear: if you find a suspicious looking joint near a dead body, don’t smoke it.

Isaac Ezban is one of the two marquee names attached to Barbaro, but his That Precious Thing is likely to be the most divisive constituent film. Frankly, the things that befall the young woman and her older, morally suspect lover are absolutely appalling, but the wildly grotesque creature effects almost turn it into a gross-out cartoon. This one is not for the faint of heart or easily offended.

Lex Ortega’s It’s What’s Inside That Matters is probably even more disturbing, but it offers no black humor the soften the blow. Frankly, it is way, way too gory, considering the victim in question is a young child.

From "Mexico Barbaro." — From “Mexico Barbaro.”

Jorge Michel Grau’s Dolls is also rather tough stuff, but at least the We Are What We Are helmer executes it with some style. Still, it is not exactly what you would call a fun film. Next, Ulises Guzman reconnects with folkloric subject matter in Seven Times Seven, but despite the short format, his narrative still manages to get confused and murky.

At least Barbaro ends on a high note with Gigi Saul Guerrero’s Day of the Dead. In a strip club that will remind some viewers of the establishment in From Dusk Till Dawn, Guerrero manages to pull off a nifty spot of misdirection. In this case, the resulting carnage is rather satisfying.

There are some good segments in Barbaro, but also some real ugliness. It is the kind of film that the fast-forward button can help make more palatable. The contributions of Nito and Guerrero are definitely worth seeing separately if the opportunity arises, but the whole ball of wax is only recommended for hardcore horror fans when Mexico Barbaro releases today on DVD, from Dark Sky Films.

LFM GRADE: C+

Posted on November 3rd, 2015 at 6:44pm.

LFM Reviews Office @ The 2015 New York Korean Film Festival

By Joe Bendel. There is no reason a place of business should have to be a zone of self-esteem coddling currently termed a “safe place.” After all, grown-ups are working there. However, the Cheil Corporation is a whole different matter. There is nothing safe about this corporate headquarters, as proved by the rising body count. One hard-working but unpopular intern is at the center of the lethal mystery in Hong Won-chan’s Office, which screens as the opening night selection of the 2015 New York Korean Film Festival.

One fateful night, Kim Byeong-gook came home, bludgeoned his family to death with a hammer and then returned to the office, where he apparently disappeared. CCTV has him entering but not exiting, so presumably he is haunting the building, like a salaryman Phantom of the Opera. This rather unnerves his superiors at Cheil, who treated him like dirt. Frankly, Lee Mi-rae was the only employee he was on friendly terms with, except she is not really an employee. She is still an intern, desperate to be hired full-time.

Unfortunately, being an earnest plugger like Kim, she just does not fit in with Cheil’s cutthroat corporate culture. Still, they ought to be a little nicer, considering the embarrassing information they are counting on her to keep secret from the investigating detective, Choi Jung-hoon. The subsequent dubious suicide of the office suck-up tipped for promotion will also presumably leave them greatly short-staffed. However, the sales director, Kim Sang-gyu seems to think he can make up ground through threats and emotional abuse.

At times, it is unclear whether Office (absolutely not to be confused with the Johnnie To musical of the same title) is meant to be a straight-up murder-mystery thriller or an unusually subtle horror film, but that ambiguity is actually pretty cool. The Jones & Sunn firm of To’s film might be problematic in some ways, but it has nothing on Chiel. Frankly, it makes both Office sitcoms and Mike Judge’s Office Space looks like lyric odes to cubicle life.

Probably best known to American audiences for her youthful turn in The Host and her adult breakout work in Snowpiercer, Ko Ah-sung is pretty darn incredible as the socially awkward Lee. We feel for her deeply, even as we suspect there is something funny about her. Likewise, Bae Sung-woo humanizes the ostensibly monstrous Kim Byeong-gook, just like Erik the Phantom. Ryoo Hyoun-kyoung also loses her composure rather spectacularly as shrewish but increasingly rattled Assistant Manager Hong Ji-sun, while the always reliable Park Sung-woong rock-solidly anchors the film as the hardnosed Det. Choi.

Whether you see it coming or not, Office is still a slick and gripping dark thriller. Hong and cinematographer Park Yong-soo capture the ominous look of florescent lighting and the cold, severe ambience of bullpen style cubes. Yet, with its one central setting and assortment of multiple suspects and potential victims, it is also refreshingly old school in its approach, like a white collar Deathtrap. Highly recommended for fans of suspense-related genres, Office screens this Friday (11/6) at the Museum of the Moving Image, as part of the 2015 NYKFF.

LFM GRADE: A-

Posted on November 3rd, 2015 at 6:44pm.

LFM Reviews Frankenstein @ The Lincoln Center’s Scary Movies 9

By Joe Bendel. In a world of human embryo cloning and Dolly the Sheep, Mary Shelley’s Modern Prometheus is no longer as outlandish as we would want it to be. Arguably, the time is ripe for contemporary take on the legend and Bernard Rose, the prolific modernizer of Tolstoy and director of Candyman, is a logical choice to do it. Transporting the monster from Geneva to Los Angeles, Rose takes intriguing liberties while remaining oddly faithful to the iconic tale in Frankenstein, which screens as part of the closing night tribute to the British filmmaker at the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Scary Movies 9.

This might shock you, but the wealthy Dr. Viktor Frankenstein and his wife Elizabeth have been trying to create a living human being (with the help of their senior staff scientist, Dr. Pretorius). Initially, they believe their latest attempt is the breakthrough they have hoped for, until cancerous lesions start appearing all over his formerly pristine body. Despite his bonding with Elizabeth Frankenstein like an infant with his mother, both Frankensteins agree to euthanize their creation for ostensive reasons of mercy. However, the increasingly disfigured creature just will not die.

Escaping from the compound, the wretched soul accepts the wider world’s name for him: “Monster.” He soon has a nasty run-in with LA’s Finest, but falls in with a homeless blind bluesman. The protective Eddie is the first person to truly treat him like a human being. Unfortunately, Eddie’s misunderstanding of the extent and nature of Monster’s blighted appearance will lead to compounded tragedy.

Rose riffs on Shelley and the original Universal films in clever ways, honoring the spirit of both. He follows the same general trajectory of his Frankenstein predecessors, but he does so within a distinctly gritty, naturalistic urban environment. The grey concrete labs and scuzzy welfare hotels are fitting backdrops for the ultimate genre morality tale, while also presumably accommodating his budget constraints.

Danny Huston (a regular Rose repertory player) is absolutely perfect as the arrogant Dr. Frankenstein and Carrie-Anne Moss plays off him well as the deceptively warm and supposedly empathetic Elizabeth Frankenstein. Despite his small stature, Xavier Samuel is still impressively expressive as the largely inarticulate Monster, especially considering the escalating layers of makeup that masks him for most of the film. However, it is Tony Todd, the Candyman himself, who really anchors the film with tragic gravitas as blind Eddie.

Rose somewhat misfires with a rogue cop subplot that seems calculated give the film further zeitgeisty urgency, but it comes across as a heavy-handed distraction. In fact, a film depicting the creation of life through, amongst other things, the use of 3D printing, without regard for the ethical implications, is already pretty timely. Regardless, Rose’s mise-en-scéne is austerely stylish and often quite visually striking. Altogether, the film is quite in keeping with cautionary essence of the original novel, while Randy Westgate’s ghoulish make-up design gives this Monster his own distinctive look. Recommended for Frankenstein fans, Rose’s Frankenstein screens this Thursday (11/5) at the Walter Reade, as part of Scary Movies 9.

LFM GRADE: B

Posted on November 3rd, 2015 at 6:43pm.

LFM Reviews Cherry Tree @ The Lincoln Center’s Scary Movies 9

By Joe Bendel. There is only one thing trees are good for in horror movies: producing paper. Much like the “Hanging Tree” in Hollow, these titular fruit bearing limbs are decidedly bad news. Unfortunately, people still cling to the Luddite notion deforestation is a bad thing. Otherwise, they might clear out the not-so mythical satanic vegetation of David Keating’s Cherry Tree, which screens as part of the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Scary Movies 9.

According to legend, the notorious cherry tree was the focal point of a powerful coven of witches’ dark rituals. Of course, the legend is more or less true, as teenaged Faith (at least she’s not named Chastity) is about to find out. Sissy Young, her new, conspicuously evil field hockey coach tells her so, straight out. Faith can save her Leukemia-stricken single father Sean, if she agrees to get pregnant on the coven’s behalf. They have a ritual to perform that requires a very special sacrifice.

Faith accepts out of desperation, but is quickly troubled by the supernatural circumstances of her lightning fast pregnancy. She is also concerned about the disappearance of Brian, the nice chap at school, whom she chose to hold up her end of the bargain with. She is also unnerved to find Young seducing her newly cured father and generally hanging around, acting creepy. As she figures out the full implications of her deal with Young, she comes to understand what makes Faustian bargains so dashed Faustian.

There is definitely a Rosemary’s Baby vibe to Cherry Tree. Keating and screenwriter Brendan McCarthy steadily crank up the paranoia, as Faith discovers how many respected townspeople are in on the occult conspiracy. Yet, they give it a distinctively Pagan flavor all its own. Young’s centipede familiars are also all kinds of creepy, in a slithery, cinematic kind of way.

From "Cherry Tree." — From “Cherry Tree.”

Arguably, the character of Faith is problematically passive and Naomi Battrick’s portrayal is a bit bland. However, Anna Walton exhibits massive horror movie chops as the slinky, sinister Young. She chews the scenery like an old school Hammer pro and exudes an air of sexual menace. She definitely embraces the Pagan spirit of it all. Although more reserved, Sam Hazeldine is similarly terrific anchoring the film as Faith’s ailing father.

Thanks to the moody cinematography of Eleanor Bowman and some suitably creepy set design, Cherry Tree follows nicely in the tradition of lushly crafted Anglo-Irish supernatural horror films. The final parting shot is a bit of a groaner, but for the most part, it is tight, tense, and evocative of ancient evils that feel disconcertingly real. Highly recommended for horror fans, Cherry Tree screens this coming Wednesday (11/4) at the Walter Reade, as part of Scary Movies 9.

LFM GRADE: A-

Posted on October 29th, 2015 at 10:31pm.