Review Category: Movie

Everybody
loves cinema, right? We’ve all seen a fair few films too. Some of us, many more
than others. Director Paul Anton Smith celebrates his love of cinema by using
what seems (and sometimes feels) like every film clip in existence that features,
what else but a cinema. Smith has found plenty of footage, but the question is,
was it really wise to use it all?

Like a super-cut that has grown too long
for YouTube, Have You Seen My Movie? Meticulously pieces together clips from
existing movies that feature characters at the cinema. At first, there is a
story as we watch characters arrive in countless different clips, then they
take their seats, then the trailers start, ushers sell sweets in the aisles and
the audiences settle in to watch the movies.

So far so good, but it’s here that Have You
Sen My Movie? starts to lose its way. There’s a certain novelty to seeing the
old picture palaces and witnessing how the cinema experience has changed over
the years. It’s a sad reminder of what has been lost, particularly when seeing
inside the projection rooms and seeing what film projection was like before the
digital age. It’s also disconcerting to see on the screen what is essentially a
mirror image as the audiences stare at the screen, and we watch as their
various reactions are captured.

But then Have You Seen My Movie? quickly
falls into repetition. While celebrating the cinema experience, it soon makes
the experience of watching the film almost interminable. It’s like being caught
in a time loop and the clip carousel goes round and round, exploring similar
scenes, but from different movies. It also reveals a huge range of annoyances
that go along with the the cinema experience, reminding of why sometimes it’s
sadly just better to watch a film at home without all the talkers, popcorn
munchers, gropers and back-seat comedians to ruin the movie.

What helps is playing a game where you have
to hope and wait for your own personal favourite cinema-set scenes to pop up. And
unless your knowledge is ridiculously encyclopaedic, or you only watch films
from say Nigeria, then Smith has probably found every one that you can think
of. The range of films is astounding, covering classics of the Golden Age
through to many modern examples.

It’s brilliantly edited with sound being
used to bridge clips and eye line matches making it appear as though characters
from films made decades apart are sitting in the same cinema interacting with
each other. And where else are you going to see a film that includes clips from
such a diverse range of films as Adam Sandler’s Jack and Jill through to A
Clockwork Orange. If only Smith had been a lot more discerning instead of using
every clip under the sun.

Have You Seen My Movie? is clearly a work
of huge endurance for its director, but sadly overstays its welcome and becomes
a test for its audience. It might be a beautiful testament to the power of
cinema to move us, but this ambitious and overlong movie-loving montage will
make you long to watch a real movie… one where the cinema audience isn’t
constantly staring back at you from the screen.

HAVE YOU SEEN MY MOVIE? / CERT: TBA /
DIRECTOR: PAUL ANTON SMITH / STARRING: VARIOUS / RELEASE DATE: TBA

Expected: 8/10
Actual Rating:
 

Hong-jin
Na’s The Wailing made a lot of noise
at Cannes film festival this year, garnering some pretty solid verdicts. The
latest from the South Korean director who made The Yellow Sea is an odd thriller which follows ill-equipped
policeman Jong Goo(Do-Won Kwak) as he investigates a strange infection and
spate of savage murders that erupt across town with the arrival of a mysterious
Japanese man (Jun Kunimura).

The film is a strange mix of horror and dark
comedy, only lightly skirting the edges of humour through a prism of the
blackest kind. But the film could never be labelled as a black comedy or even a
horror film; the ease with which it wanders through genre ideas and tones is a
credit to the cohesiveness of its world.

The
Wailing never feels ridiculous, or even silly. By invoking
black magic, occult, and shamanistic icons, Hong-jin Na constructs a place
where anything can happen. The savagery of the murder and on-screen gore is
shocking, but not as affecting as some of the more subtle scares. There’s
almost something Lynchian about the ease with which evil seems to permeate
through every frame, slowly infecting the sanctity of the domestic environment
as well as Jong Goo himself. Much of this is down to cinematographer Kyung-pyo
Hong whose miserable rain-soaked palette does as much for the crushing atmosphere
as events themselves. His work on Snowpiercer
was as successful  at helping establish a
natural lived-in quality, the bonus effect here is that The Wailing’s fantastical moments earn a real kick and a bonus
element of discomforting reality.

It’s not too weird for its own good though.
Hong-jin Na is a master at building tension or simply letting his scares crawl
out the woodwork. There’s plenty moments that illustrate a deep understanding
of the mechanics of fear and plenty images which illustrate a good eye for basic
unsettling visual gags, but it’s the framing of those events that is so
impressive. The characters that matter are well portrayed and drafted, so it’s
easy to get dragged along by this ultimately mysterious trail of moral and
spiritual turmoil.

Hong-jin Na’s latest is an engrossing
slow-burner, at first a moody thriller eventually a dense network of ominous
acts of cruelty and horror. There’s something infectiously interesting about
its refusal to define itself, and -even if the ending doesn’t quite tie up what
the film initially set out to explore- it does offer a beautifully crafted
story with plenty discomforting concepts.

The
Wailing is an undeniably ambitious film, discontent
with being a simple thriller. The results are two-fold: firstly, it’s an
entrancing experience elevated beyond the simple mechanics of what’s expected,
secondly, it makes a huge group of contemporary western thrillers seem
comparatively dispensable.

THE WAILING / CERT: TBA / DIRECTOR &
SCREENPLAY: NA HONG-JIN / STARRING: DO WON KWAK, WOO-HEE CHUN, JUNG-MIN HWANG,
SO-YEON JANG, HAN-CHEOL JO, JUN KUNIMURA / RELEASE DATE: NOVEMBER 11TH

Expected: 7/10
Actual Rating:
 

Following a little routine stalking Jorge (Kotsifakis) kidnaps his attractive neighbour Isabel (Ahmed) and installs her as his wife (for wife read hostage) in the basement of his home. Ceremony over, Jorge drugs, tortures, abuses and generally degrades Isabel, seemingly under the misguided belief they should be together.

The kidnap theme is a common one for filmmakers but Diego Cohen has taken this familiar premise and turned it into a dark, disturbing little tale with his new feature Honeymoon. His influences are clear, ranging from the restricted captivity of Misery to scenes that rival Hostel for brutality. And yet Cohen manages to avoid the obvious pitfalls to create a film that poses a few questions, not least of which the old nurture versus nature conundrum.

Honeymoon begins distinctly low-key, with little dialogue and story development in the opening act, and this is a thread that runs right through the film. Many subsequent scenes are drawn out with little action, almost as if time for the audience is passing as slowly as it is for the imprisoned Isabel. Instead of being tedious, these elongated moments add to the heightened tension leading to greater impact in the moments of extreme brutality. One failed escape attempt leads to Isabel having the fingers of one hand skinned, a scene that will rival anything you will see this year in the difficult-to-watch stakes.

That said, instead of slipping over into more Hostel-like territory Cohen always manages to centre his film as a very intimate, personal drama. Essentially a two-hander, Honeymoon feels much more like a character piece, with the interactions between Jorge and Isabel beautifully, if darkly, played out by Kotsifakis and Ahmed. Their hugely dysfunctional relationship ripples with mutual contempt despite Jorge’s apparent obsession. He is both unwilling and unable to express anything close to actual affection, seeming to prefer punishing his “wife” rather than trying to talk her round to his warped sense of reality. This hints toward an undercurrent of mystery that leaves you wondering throughout if there is more to the situation. Perhaps there is something both characters are aware of that has yet to be revealed? And whether that is or isn’t the case adds to the unavoidable discomfort of both character and audience.

As a variation on the hostage theme Honeymoon is an interesting and engaging film, with strong performances and clever, almost distant directing. Whether or not it works for you will be determined entirely by how much you buy into the character’s relationship and motivations, as their actions are key to how the story ultimately unfolds.

HONEYMOON / CERT: 18 / DIRECTOR: DIEGO COHEN / SCREENPLAY: MARCO TARDITI ORTEGA / STARRING: HECTOR KOTSIFAKIS, PAULINA AHMED, ALBERTO AGNESI / RELEASE DATE: OFFICIAL UK RELEASE DATE TBA

Laos country village girl Nok travels to the capital of Vientiane to take a job caring for her rich cousin Ana who is gradually going blind. She soon figures out that in the blurred spaces of Ana’s failing vision, her cousin is able to perceive the spirits of the recently departed, and that they are allowing her to predict winning lottery numbers.

Like Mattie Do’s debut movie Chanthaly, Dearest Sister is at its core a straightforward ghost story, but also like its predecessor it uses its themes as a medium to explore issues reaching far beyond. While Chanthaly dealt with the importance of familial ties and Laos’ patriarchal culture, Dearest Sister takes things further, offering a critique of the county’s society, its gender inequality, and the wide disparity existing between the rich and poor. That the points are made with subtle yet articulate clarity, despite the country being one with which many people will be unfamiliar, is a testament to the quality of Do’s storytelling.

Nok begins as a likeable but put-upon character, there to fulfil a worthwhile role but forced to exist in a social limbo, properly fitting in neither as a family member nor as one of the live-in servants. However, your sympathy for her begins to wane as she succumbs to her own selfish avarice, withholding the money she is supposed to be sending home and instead using it to finance her new materialistic lifestyle while her lottery winnings are hoarded like a treasured possession, all the while genuinely believing herself to not be doing anything wrong. Even after she becomes acclimatised to city life, Vientiane’s denizens still perceive her as nothing more than a poor and ignorant country peasant, and are accordingly dismissive towards her as a result. 

It’s made clear there are many girls who believe that ensnaring a rich white foreigner is their only means of advancement, and that once they have one, allowing themselves to become pregnant can be used as a means of controlling him. Ana herself is married to an Estonian businessman whose dealings are revealed to be more than a little shady, and who appears to have little interest in her country or its culture, and it’s pointed out that her place in society is not a result of anything she has achieved, despite having done what was expected of her. In addition to this, one scene also touches on the plague of sleazy sex tourists who hang around bars in the hope of encountering pliant young women. 

As well as the biting social commentary, Dearest Sister also excels as a deftly constructed horror movie. The ghosts Ana sees begin merely as indistinct shapes, but soon progress to far more chilling visitations. They appear shrouded in a thin ethereal mist and shedding fluttering clouds of corpse ash, their flesh torn and gouged from whatever lethal accident befell them while blood still glistens wet on their revenant skin. And if you ever thought that fear from otherworldly apparitions would be banished by bright sunlight, think again.

The film industry of Laos is still in its infancy, but if Dearest Sister – only the 13th movie the country has ever produced – should be taken as a benchmark of expected quality, then it shouldn’t be long before the southeast Asian nation makes a mark on the international stage. 

DEAREST SISTER / CERT: TBA / DIRECTOR: MATTIE DO / SCREENPLAY: CHRISTOPHER LARSEN / STARRING: AMPHAIPHUN PHOMMAPUNYA, VILOUNA PHETMANY, TAMBET TUISK, MANIVANH BOULOM, YANNAWOUTTHI CHANTHALUNGSY / RELEASE DATE: TBA

Eric, a man with learning difficulties, sits on the bench of an empty playground, reminiscing of the torments inflicted upon him as a child by other children who wanted nothing to do with him. Often referred to by one of dozens of derogatory appellations (including the rather incongruous “badger stabber”) rather than his actual name, he took to wearing a large name badge, which he has never taken off.

The measured articulation of Eric’s thoughts reveals a man introspective and observant, which evidently means little when overshadowed by his physical tics and the differing mental state his tone of voice implies, which have both caused people to ostracise him. The overcast sky and lonely isolation of Eric’s surroundings are practically a reflection of his life, while several brief interludes are soundtracked by the metallic dink of a glockenspiel chiming out the first bar of Ring a Ring o’ Roses in a mockery of the childhood games he was denied participation in.

So, as interesting a perspective as all this is, what’s it doing on a site like Starburst? To answer that would be too much of a spoiler, but should you be inspired to find out, the trailer is available to watch here. Even a few minutes in when it appears the question is answered, you should bear in mind that the film still has another twist waiting for you at the end.

The title of Swings & Roundabouts refers literally to the contents of the playground where the short takes place, but is ultimately revealed to also be relevant in the idiomatic sense of gains balancing out losses. It’s a simple story quietly declaring that in one way or another, everyone will eventually get what they deserve. 

SWINGS & ROUNDABOUTS / CERT: N/A / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: PETER MCKEIRNON / STARRING: JOHN WILLIAMS, IAN FINNEY / RELEASE DATE: TBC

Following a little routine stalking Jorge (Kotsifakis) kidnaps his attractive neighbour Isabel (Ahmed) and installs her as his wife (for wife read hostage) in the basement of his home. Ceremony over, Jorge drugs, tortures, abuses and generally degrades Isabel, seemingly under the misguided belief they should be together.

The kidnap theme is a common one for filmmakers but Diego Cohen has taken this familiar premise and turned it into a dark, disturbing little tale with his new feature Honeymoon. His influences are clear, ranging from the restricted captivity of Misery to scenes that rival Hostel for brutality. And yet Cohen manages to avoid the obvious pitfalls to create a film that poses a few questions, not least of which the old nurture versus nature conundrum.

Honeymoon begins distinctly low-key, with little dialogue and story development in the opening act, and this is a thread that runs right through the film. Many subsequent scenes are drawn out with little action, almost as if time for the audience is passing as slowly as it is for the imprisoned Isabel. Instead of being tedious, these elongated moments add to the heightened tension leading to greater impact in the moments of extreme brutality. One failed escape attempt leads to Isabel having the fingers of one hand skinned, a scene that will rival anything you will see this year in the difficult-to-watch stakes.

That said, instead of slipping over into more Hostel-like territory Cohen always manages to centre his film as a very intimate, personal drama. Essentially a two-hander, Honeymoon feels much more like a character piece, with the interactions between Jorge and Isabel beautifully, if darkly, played out by Kotsifakis and Ahmed. Their hugely dysfunctional relationship ripples with mutual contempt despite Jorge’s apparent obsession. He is both unwilling and unable to express anything close to actual affection, seeming to prefer punishing his “wife” rather than trying to talk her round to his warped sense of reality. This hints toward an undercurrent of mystery that leaves you wondering throughout if there is more to the situation. Perhaps there is something both characters are aware of that has yet to be revealed? And whether that is or isn’t the case adds to the unavoidable discomfort of both character and audience.

As a variation on the hostage theme Honeymoon is an interesting and engaging film, with strong performances and clever, almost distant directing. Whether or not it works for you will be determined entirely by how much you buy into the character’s relationship and motivations, as their actions are key to how the story ultimately unfolds.

HONEYMOON / CERT: 18 / DIRECTOR: DIEGO COHEN / SCREENPLAY: MARCO TARDITI ORTEGA / STARRING: HECTOR KOTSIFAKIS, PAULINA AHMED, ALBERTO AGNESI / RELEASE DATE: OFFICIAL UK RELEASE DATE TBA

The idea that money is the root of all evil is played out through five central characters in a minimalist box-like designer house, over a 24-hour period. The owners, Mark (Jesse Williams) and Sylvia (Jess Weixler) are having an evening meal with Mark’s friend and work colleague Sean (Jesse Williams) and his new girlfriend, Christina (Lucia Guerrero). On the surface it looks like a perfect middle-class existence, but we already know that Mark and Sean have secretly obtained $5 million in cash.

Sean is excited that they have successfully swindled their pharmaceutical company and wants to carry on with this criminal activity, whereas the more levelheaded Mark thinks they should stop now before things get out of control. These issues become academic when John (Jamie Bamber), claiming to be a new neighbour, inveigles his way to their dinner table. After initially charming the ladies he starts asking the men some probing questions about their work. It is not long before John shows he knows all about the $5 million and wants them to hand it over to him, otherwise he’ll cut off each of Sean’s fingers until they comply. So he’s certainly not a nice person.

Through this long night we discover how the different characters deal with this situation, and the artfully decorated and designed house in Long Island, New York, becomes a metaphor for our materialistic civilisation, which makes us desire and fight over money. Mark is forced to explain to his wife that he had to steal the money because all his investments had failed and they were facing bankruptcy. Sylvia is shocked and angry that he did all this ‘for her’.

Coke snorting Sean fights for the money to continue his hedonistic lifestyle. He is the least complex character, which is just as well since he had to leave filming when his real-life wife went into early labour. Christina is a fiery, impulsive, Spanish lady, who is quick to take advantage of the situation to line her own pockets. She is a born survivor who knows where her bread is buttered. Sylvia is the most sympathetic character, who is cultured and sophisticated, yet she now has to face the fact that she has been living in a glass bubble. She has to find the inner strength to escape her pointless existence. John, the catalyst for these events, is shrouded in mystery. We do not how he knows so much about their lives and the stolen money. Even at the end we are left to wonder who he is and what his true motivations were, was it all about the money, or is there more to life than that?

MONEY / CERT: TBC / DIRECTOR: MARTIN ROSETE / SCREENPLAY: JOSEP CIUTAT / STARRING: JESSE WILLIAMS, KELLAN LUTZ, JESS WEIXLER, JAMIE BAMBER, LUCIA GUERRERO, FREDRIC LEHNE / RELEASE DATE: UK RELEASE DATE TBA

Tama (Mugi Kadowaki) is a student writing a philosophy thesis about ‘tailing’ a stranger to gain an insight into the meaning of life. By chance she starts following her neighbour Ishizaka (Hiroki Hasegawa), and she soon finds out his seemingly idyllic family life has a secret.

Not surprisingly she makes a hash of this tailing business, underlining the principle that being an observer has an influence on the subject and that you cannot stand outside events. When confronted by her neighbor, Tama explains that tailing him made her happy. It filled an empty space inside her that enabled her to imagine being in the shoes of a different person. Not content with Subject A, she goes on to follow Subject B, her university professor Shinohara (Lily Frankly). Here, the process of observing a subject tells a different story to what is going on in reality. This is emphasised when she sees the professor’s fiancé in a play.

Tamar, can only see things at face value and is the victim of how people present themselves in public compared to their lives behind closed doors. Taking people at face value only scratches the surface of what it means to be human. Tamar’s nosey and community-spirited neighbour sets up a CCTV camera to view the rubbish area, to see that everyone in the apartment building is recycling properly. This acts as another point of observation that, by its presence, reminds people to behave in the correct manner.

Tamar’s boyfriend Takuya (Masaki Suda), a video game producer, becomes suspicious of her strange behaviour and he takes to seeing her in a new light – the fact that they do not look at each other is highlighted by the fact they sit back-to-back working on their computers at home in the evening.

Mugi Kadowaki is excellent as the naive and watchful student who has her eyes opened about the world and her relationship with it. We all seem to live ‘double lives’ and act, as Shakespeare put it, as if ‘all the World’s a stage’. Tamar is very much in the position of our own role as a film viewer. She, like us, watches and learns and Director Kishi deftly handles the different layers of the story, probing into how we perceive existence and how we watch others.

Double Life is an intriguing look at how we see others and how this changes our perceptions and behaviour.

DOUBLE LIFE / CERT: TBC / DIRECTOR: YOSHIYUKI KISHI / SCREENPLAY: MARIKO KOIKE, YOSHIYUKI KISHI / STARRING: MUGI KADOWAKI, HIROKI HASEGAWA, MASAKI SUDA, LILY FRANKLY / RELEASE DATE: TBA

The original Toho bad boy is back! After the lacklustre western versions, it’s great to see the beast return to his old (miniature) stomping ground of Japan, but using up-to-date effects.

Shin Godzilla starts off as a mystery with the discovery of a top scientist’s abandoned ship; Glory Maru drifting aimlessly with no sign of life aboard in Tokyo Bay as a huge sea quake occurs which producing what is thought to be a volcano.

Scientists, bureaucrats, and politicians converge with various theories what the problem where it’s finally agreed upon that it’s a giant, unidentified life form that needs pest extermination before it creates any danger to the public. But, before the bureaucrats can act, Godzilla makes his way inland.

The initial appearance of what is soon to be Godzilla is laughable resembling a fish puppet with doll’s eyes destroying local villages in its wake.

In a unique idea as a fish or whale that fed on unregulated radioactive waste dumped in the ocean, Godzilla begins to mutate to the creature we’ve come to known over the years breathing flames and a condensed radioactive death ray from its mouth.

Guns, tanks, bombs cannot stop Godzilla as he’s impervious to all of them as he makes his way to a nuclear reactor for food, bit also leaves a trail of radioactive waste.

Writer/director Anno has crafted an interesting story but focuses the majority of it in meeting rooms and offices dealing with the bureaucratic red tape of politicians in a time of crisis more so than Godzilla as we only get about thirty minutes screen time of the big guy. Although, he does not disappoint when he runs amuck!

Shin Godzilla is certainly better than the two recent American-made films and we feel it’s safe to say Godzilla is back with a vengeance with sequels more than likely.

SHIN GODZILLA / CERT: TBC / DIRECTOR: HIDEAKI ANNO, SHINJI HIGUCHI / SCREENPLAY: HIDEAKI ANNO / STARRING: HIROKI HASEGAWA, SATOMI ISHIHARA, YUTAKA TAKENOUCHI / RELEASE DATE: TBC

Expected Rating: 6 out of 10
Actual Rating:
 

Silence in the courtyard, silence in the street. The most intriguing documentary of the year is just about to speak. Any minute now, listen up.

It’s a full seven minutes (and then some) into Patrick Shen’s In Pursuit of Silence before anyone speaks a word. The very first ‘talking head’ is a man undertaking a vow of silence and communicating solely through writing on paper. It gets more talkative after that, but only out of a sense of necessity. Which is not to say that In Pursuit of Silence is a ‘quiet’ film, taking its silence to mean the absence of human sound and wittering, instead opening with a pretty montage of cricket-chirruping fields, dusty old buildings and a slow road with the occasional vehicle (and silent hipster type) passing through the frame. It’s almost a shame when somebody does open their mouth, ruining that lovely peace and quiet. The things they say, however, bear listening to.

This is the film’s salient talking point – how a quieter, more contemplative lifestyle could do us all a world of good, if only we could all just shut up for long enough to realise it. The point is perfectly illustrated by contrasting its scenes of silent woodland bliss with clips from FOX News and its mouthy inhabitants; the idyllic mountains of Alaska offset with busy cities and the gobshite-ridden streets therein. In Pursuit of Silence is as itchy-footed as your average Brian Cox or Michael Palin documentary, spanning the globe in search of its most peaceful silence.

The merits of shutting up are well considered throughout, from a Japanese tea party ceremony (when everyone is quiet, no-one dominates) to a woodland in which we take a moment to reflect on the benefits to one’s health afforded by solitude and contemplation (including an increase in cancer-reducing cells!). Modernity, the film posits, is constantly affecting our physical and mental health; our mood, our behaviour and perception. After over half an hour of the lovely, blissful stuff, the switch to the hustle-bustle and the racket, which comes later on, makes this point quite nicely, leaving the audience feeling unexpectedly antsy and uncomfortable (indeed, taking a much darker turn when we reach Mumbai).

In Pursuit of Silence is fascinating, beautiful and immersive. As a necessity of its subject matter, its sound is purposeful and considered (the occasionally uninspired background music aside), its every word thought through and precise. Occasionally, its imagery stumbles, and struggles to keep up with the powerful subject matter, but never for long. It does, briefly, threaten to become as pretentious as it sounds, whenever its vow-of-silence talking-head is onscreen (particularly in his visit to Subway) but returns to the right track once he disappears again.

In Pursuit of Silence is engaging, fascinating and thought-provoking. Listen up, this quiet little documentary has a lot to say.

IN PURSUIT OF SILENCE / CERT: PG / DIRECTOR: PATRICK SHEN / RELEASE DATE: OCTOBER 21ST

Expected Rating: 6 out of 10

Actually Rating: