Review: La Demoiselle d'honneur / The Bridesmaid (2004)

During Sophie Tardieu's (Solène Bouton) wedding, her brother Philippe (Benoît Magimel) becomes besotted with one of her bridesmaids, the exotic Senta (Laura Smet). The two could not be more different: Phillipe is a salesman for a builder and lives in small house with his mother and sisters, while Senta is an unemployed actor who slums in the basement of her aunt's dilapidated mansion. As Phillipe and Senta fall deeper and deeper in love, she proposes that they each murder a person to prove their love to each other.

Writer-director Claude Chabrol and writer Pierre Leccia have adapted a Ruth Rendell novel of the same title. One theme they focus on is how different people perceive and use lies; Phillipe does not hesitate to lie to avoid awkward situations and to get what he wants. When he is confronted by Senta's seemingly far-fetched stories, he assumes that she is making them up until, of course, it is too late. The writers flesh out Phillipe's family, his mother (Aurore Clement) who has been quietly dumped by her wealthy boyfriend and his younger sister Patricia (Anna Mihalcea) who is on the verge of being a delinquent, to reinforce his view of the world.

The film has a cool, slightly detached feeling, which suits the material. I found the climax somewhat awkward and rushed, and the denouement cut short. The soundtrack by Matthieu Chabrol is also sometimes annoying.

French with English subtitles.

3 out of 5 stars.

Review originally published in Morva House.

Review: The King of Marvin Gardens (1972)

After David Staebler (Jack Nicholson), a late-night radio host, receives an urgent call from his older brother, Jason (Bruce Dern), he rushes to Atlantic City to find Jason in jail. Jason has been living with Sally (Ellen Burstyn) and Jessica (Julia Anne Robinson) in a hotel room while wrangling a deal to build a casino in Hawaii. However, Jason's employer, Lewis (Scatman Crothers), a shady developer, feels he's been left out of the deal, and has contrived a felony against Jason.

Nicholson has a atypical subdued role, being the shy uptight sibling who tries to keep his brother grounded, while Dern is the impulsive and manic Jason who drags his initially reluctant brother deeper and deeper into his schemes, all the while keeping one step ahead of creditors and holding his entourage together.

This film is a series of loosely connected, noisy, and sometimes pointless scenes. Why does Jason need David to accompany him? Why does David go along with his brother? Why doesn't Lewis simply shut down the whole deal?

Not my cup of tea.

1 out of 5 stars.

Review: Casino Royale (2006)

New Zealand-born director Martin Campbell gets a second call (his first was 'Goldeneye' in 1995) to direct a reinvented James Bond, this time with Daniel Craig as Bond. The villain this time is Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen), a banker for terrorists' funds. When MI5 learn that Le Chiffre is going to the Casino Royale in Montenegro to raise funds, Bond is sent to thwart him at the poker table. Accompanying him is Vesper Lynd (Eva Green), who's more intriguing than the usual Bond Girl and provides this film's love interest.

Writers Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and Paul Haggis restart Bond's career, though it's not clear why. Early scenes establish that Bond is already a government-appointment assassin, so giving him a double-O license to kill seems superfluous. They also drop the terrorism and tinpot dictator premise, rendering the plot rather twee and removed from our post-9/11 reality.

Where the film excels are the high-impact and innovative action scenes, especially the parkour chase through a construction site and the bombing in an airport. Daniel Craig certainly has the right physique to suggest a much more athletic Bond in future films of the series.

A so-so outing for a new Bond.

3 out of 5 stars.

Review originally published in Morva House.

Review: L'Idole / The Idol (2002)

Two residents in an apartment block, Mr. Zao (James Hong), an aged Chinese gentleman, and Sarah Silver (Leelee Sobieski), a young aspiring actress, strike up an unlikely daughter-grandfather relationship. Mr. Zao lives alone with the memories of his sister, Mai Mai, who was killed in the Second World War. Sarah is an understudy for the star of a play, Sylvia, and is having liaisons with Sylvia's husband, Philippe (Jalil Lespert), also an actor in the same play. However, Sarah is becoming frustrated with the state of affairs because Philippe refuses to divorce his wife and she is not given any opportunities to perform Sylvia's role. When Sarah starts to meet Mr. Zao, it causes tensions with their two neighbours, Roger Castellac (Jean-Paul Roussillon), a retired conductor, and Caroline (Marie Loboda), a young girl.

The premise and the first part of the film are the most intriguing. James Hong, who is often limited to secondary ethnic roles in American productions, finally gets the opportunity to be the leading man. His Mr. Zao, who is initially considering going to a retirement home, visibly comes back to life when he begins his relationship with Sarah. It's not hard to see why: Leelee Sobieski is very appealing as the nymph-like young women who is barely out of her teens and living overseas away from her parents in Australia. Another Australian connection is Samantha Lang, who has directed films in Australia.

Unfortunately, in the second part of the film, the relationship between Mr. Zao and Sarch stops progressing, and Hong's hesitant French begins to interrupt the flow of the film. Lang and co-writer Gerard Brach also focus on Sarah's histrionics, which is rather contrived and not interesting.

Interesting start, but the story peters out half-way.

French with English subtitles.

2 out of 5 stars.

Review originally published in Morva House.

Review: Children Of Men (2006)

In 2027, mankind is on the path to extinction because no children have been born in 18 years. While the world descends into chaos, Great Britain remains relatively calm but has become a police state. The government regularly extradite refugees (nicknamed 'Fugies'), though some citizens, the 'Fishes', are opposed to it. Some protestors take it a step further and become terrorists.

Theo (Clive Owen), a public servant, is contacted by members of the Fishes, his ex-wife Julian (Julianne Moore) and Luke (Chewetel Ejiofor) to obtain some exit papers for a refugee, Kee (Clare-Hope Ashitey). When the Fishes' initial plan to steal Kee out of the country fails, Theo, his mentor Jasper (Michael Caine) and Kee's companion Miriam (Pam Ferris), find an alternative route.

After previously directing possibly the best Harry Potter film, 'The Prisoner of Azkaban', I expected Alfonso Cuaron would make 'Children of Men' another exceptional film. The production and technical aspects of the film are fantastic; London feels like city under seige from within and there's some tour de force single-shot camera work by DoP Emmanuel Lubezki.

However, other than one scene in a refugee camp, the film lacks emotional punch. Ironically, while the single-shot scenes are impressive, they removed instead of involved me because I spent more time admiring the technique rather than getting swept away by the story. Characters have rather predictable roles (Theo is the everyman hero, Kee the package, Miriam provides some exposition) or are discarded too quickly. The most annoying issue is that Luke's motivations, which drives most of the plot, are unclear.

Good film, lots of technical aspects to admire, but too studied for me to fully enjoy.

3 out of 5 stars.

Review originally published in Morva House.

Review: All That Jazz (1979)

In this semi-autobiographical musical, written and directed by Bob Fosse, his alter-ego, Joe Gideon (Rob Scheider) is a chain-smoking, hard-drinking, workaholic choreographer, simultaneously directing a new Broadway musical 'NY/LA' and re-editing his over-budget and overdue film 'The Standup'. Fosse is also pretty harsh on Joe (and perhaps himself) by making Joe a serial womanizer. Joe's wife Audrey (Leland Palmer) had left him because of his repeated infidelity, and his present girlfriend Kate (Anne Reinking) soon discovers that he is bedding one of his dancers, Victoria (Deborah Geffner). The story starts realistically, but fantasy scenes where Joe chats with an angel (Jessica Lange) are used to fill in his background. As Joe's health deteriorates, the fantastic comes to the fore, culminating in rock opera-style performance of 'Bye Bye Love' by Scheider and Ben Vereen.

The film is like an hyperactive and edgy vaudeville show, entertaining, surprising and shocking us at the same time. Wonderful stuff.

5 out of 5 stars.

Review: Va Savoir / Who Knows (2001)

After three years' absence, stage actress Camille Renard (Jeanne Balibar) returns to Paris to perform in an Italian play. The company's director and her lover, Ugo Bassini (Sergio Castellitto) frets that the season would be a failure. Between performances, the two drift apart. Camille visits her ex-lover, Pierre (Jacques Bonnaffé), a philosophy lecturer who is still working on his thesis on Heidegger. She finds him rather cold towards her, and he is now married to Sonia (Marianne Basler), a ballet teacher. Meanwhile Ugo spends his time visiting libraries looking for a missing manuscript by an 19th century playwright, where he meets Dominque (Hélène de Fougerolles), a delectable graduate student. Ugo later discovers that Dominque's family may have a copy of the manuscript he is looking for. The circle of relationships between the characters closes when we find that Dominique's half-brother, Arthur (Bruno Todeschini), a gambler, is seducing Sonia with the intention of stealing her ring.

Director and co-writer Jacques Rivette constructs a refined farce where the characters search for something that is right under their noses, and their story is reflected in the (uncredited) Pirandello play that Camille and Ugo are staging. It's a slow-paced film (the version I watched is 154 minutes long, and there's an even longer version!) and while I was not bored, this film is probably aimed at viewers more literate in theatre and literature than me.

French and Italian with English subtitles.

3 out of 5 stars.

Review was originally published in Morva House.

Review: Bitter Medicine by Sara Paretsky (1987)

During a hot August month in Chicago, private detective V. I. Warshawski investigates a murder which may have been triggered by a tragic event. In the course of her work, she runs into street gangs, pro-lifers, her ex-husband and the shady side of private medical care.

In this novel, the fourth featuring VIW, Paretsky has an accomplished, no-nonsense style befitting her tough-as-nails protagonist. Paretsky's style does make VIW seem a little cold blooded and sometimes a bit petty. It also makes VIW appear to be inordinately concerned about dressing correctly, which probably makes sense given that she usually relies on other characters' preconceptions to gain evidence.

One weakness is that the villain hardly features in the novel and, given what we are told, it makes the motivation for the crime a little far-fetched. Still, the pages turn quickly, there's some suspenseful moments and all loose ends are tied up in the end.

Stars: 3 out of 5

Review was original published in Morva House

Review: Cowboy Bebop – The Movie (2001)

The crew of the spaceship Bebop, cowboys (bounty hunters) Spike Spiegel, Jet Black and Faye Valentine, and their companions computer hacker Edward and enhanced dog Ein, who previously appeared in a TV series that ran from 1998 to 1999, return for another adventure in this animated film. This time, an ex-soldier, Vincent Volajo, threatens to unleash a biological weapon to wipe out the people of Alpha, a Martian city. As the police and Spike hunt down Vincent, Spike meets Electra, an army investigator and Vincent's ex-lover.

The film takes place somewhere mid-series but the back story doesn't matter much, though newcomers might wonder why the future looks like a mashup of high-tech metropolises and the wild west. Director Shinichirô Watanabe has a bigger budget for this film than in the TV series, and the higher art, animation and production values are obvious. The fight sequences between Spike and Vincent are quite amazing without the motion capture technology available for later anime films. The series is well known for its strong jazz soundtrack, and in this film, the jazz-pop music by Yôko Kanno doesn't disappoint.

Too bad that the screenplay by Keiko Nobumoto, based on a story by Hajime Yatate, doesn't actually make sense. The film also suffers, just a little though, from the dreaded anime mid-film sag when characters ruminate on life in the most boring way possible for minutes.

For fans of the series, it's fun to watch the characters in action again.

3 out of 5 stars.

Review was originally published in Morva House.