Film No. 53 (2016) Sunset Song August 24th.

Film No. 53 (2016) August 24th.  6.30 PM LUNA Paradiso, Northbridge.

"You're my flesh and blood, and I shall do with you what I want" (Chris's father, Peter Mullan) expounds another of his cruel utterances on his sick bed.

Sunset Song is a slow burning sumptuous film. The issue for me is trying to understand it's message. Is it a historical drama to give insight into the trials and tribulations of a woman 100 years ago? Or is it quite simply an anti-war film? Maybe there's no message, just an historical drama set in the farmlands of Scotland telling one woman's story from adolescence to womanhood.


Director Terrence Davies is an accomplished film maker. Distant Voices, Still Lives and The House of Mirth are testament to his ability to bring human drama from a bygone age to the screen. In the vein of Gillian Anderson's, Lily Bart from The House of Mirth  we endure the plight of Chris Guthrie (Agyness Deyn) a young, free of spirit farm girl who gradually matures through her love of literature and the love of her family, despite the cruel deeds of her father.


Deyn has screen presence and is testament to the idea that models with talent can carve out a new career beyond the catwalk. In fact it's the performances of all the cast, particularly Peter Mullan as the oppressive father John Guthrie which gives the film a quality beyond the less than captivating narrative. Jack Greenness as Will, Chris's brother, brings heart to the plot convincingly but is whisked away, for legitimate reasons, never to be seen or heard of again. 


I mentioned the anti-war theme, which quite possibly gives Sunset Song its greatest voice, as Chris finds her life long love only to have him depart for the battlefields of France. It's here that we need to feel the excruciating pain of Chris's plight but Davies short-changes us. Apart from an effective flashback scene we've nothing to bite down on. Given this, the film has kept me thinking, but maybe I'm still seeking that elusive message. 7GUMS.               

Film No. 52 (2016) Captain Fantastic August 20th.

Film No. 52 (2016) August 20th.  11.00 PM LUNA Leederville.

"Unless it comes out of a book, I don't know anything" (Bo, George McKay) convinces his father of where his future lies).

Viggo Mortensen is very discerning about which roles present the type of challenges he is seeking. One would have to say his choices over recent years have been winners. A History of Violence remains one of my "go to" films for repeat viewing, simply due to the credibility Viggo brings to his Tom Stall character. In Captain Fantastic Viggo plays Ben, who is another father of substance and no less captivating.

Captain Fantastic however is more than just another Mortensen vehicle. The condemnation of modern American society by Ben and the unconventional life he leads with his kids  while living in the forest of the Pacific North West are Captain Fantastic's biggest virtues. We are talking Swiss Family Robinson without the vacuousness of Disney. "Why are people so fat?" is a question the youngest of the tribe asks after they venture down from their home to the "real world".


Ben and wife Leslie (Trin Miller) have adopted buddhism as their philosophy for family life as they eek out their existence in the forest. We meet the family minus Lesley who is in care on the other side if the country (near to her family) as she deals with mental illness. Ben receives the tragic news he's been dreading in the film's first stanza. This sparks the drama and gives us a less conventional way of understanding the real, unreserved love Ben and Leslie have nurtured within their unit.


But finally the real entertainment in Captain Fantastic comes from some of its set piece scenes. Ben's youngest asks him what sexual intercourse is; Ben's explanation leaves nothing to be desired. Bo's proposal scene in a trailer park while on the road is also enlightening. These scenes win our hearts and remind us as parents that maybe, just maybe, we should take calculated risks to exemplify real learning as we bring our kids up in a corporate driven society. 11GUMS.

Film No. 51 (2016) Our Kind of Traitor August 16th.

Film No. 51 (2016) August 16th.  6.15 PM LUNA Paradiso, Northbridge.

"Help? I'm a teacher, what can I do?" (Perry, Ewan Mcgregor) responds to Dima's request for help; help of a most life threatening kind).

The classy B Grade thriller is a joyful cinema experience. This bedrock of entertaining cinema has endured through the ages, especially post World War II when so many stories of espionage and betrayal surfaced. Well, Our Kind of Traitor maintains that rich tradition of exaggerated plot lines depicting ordinary people placed in extraordinary situations. 


The casting is all important when it comes to partially predictable plot lines. Stellan Skarsgard is the gem here. He plays Dima a Russian Mafia boss and part-time British informer who will be killed along with his family under new Mafia boss  "The Prince" if he doesn't act in haste. Enter Perry (Ewan McGregor) and Gail (Naomie Harris), a married couple, on holiday. They are about to become Dima's unsuspecting saviours.


Bringing the everyday lives of Perry and Gail into Dima's world needs to be believable. le Carre's writing is for the page so director Susanna White does a meticulous job using Dima's family as the conduit to legitimately keeping us on the edge of our seats via the screen. Then there is Hector (Damian Lewis) the compassionate (if there is such a thing) MI6 connection to bringing Dima in from "the cold".


I'm not inclined to tell the story of Our Kind of Traitor. To do that is to spoil a storyline laced with intrigue. The film is entertaining and does the novel proud. Transferring everyday people into extra-ordinary situations, le Carre's style on the page is easily overlooked if not effective. Depicting an exaggerated storyline to screen is more easily criticised if not done well. Our Kind of Traitor is effectively entertaining. 8GUMS.     


    

Film No. 50 (2016) High-Rise August 13th.

Film No. 50 (2016) August 13th.  10.45 PM LUNA Leederville. 

"What is it about poor people and their obsession with money?" (The Architect's wife Jane (Sienna Guillory) bemoans the fact that her cleaner wishes to be paid).

High-Rise is a lavish comment on working class obsession as a repercussion of The Thatcher years. The multi-storey residential  housing complex of the title is a snapshot of class structure and the oppression which brings the lower middle and working class to breaking point.


  Whilst the first 45 minutes of High-Rise makes a promising "entrance" after that the set up fails and becomes a confusing and chaotic mess. This is unfortunate as the 70's could not have been captured better via wardrobe and motor-vehicle adjuncts.   


Tom Hiddleston gives another effective James Bond audition as Laing, a doctor who sides with the best looking young mums and the working class in general. Listen out for the soundtrack which uncovers a couple of unique versions of classic songs, in particular ABBA's SOS.


Ben Wheatley (Sightseers) has emerged as a director who won't appeal to all but he has his own style, a style not congruent with mainstream cinema. I enjoyed the dark humour and images of Sightseers, I can't say the same for High-Rise. 4GUMS.

Film No. 49 (2016) Indignation August 8.

Film No. 49 (2016) August 8th.  6.30 PM LUNA Paradiso, Northbridge.

"I want to hear all about your mother and your father the butcher and what it's like to work in a butcher's shop and what the girls are like in New York". (Olivia (Sarah Gadon) gushes with questions for Marcus (Logan Lerman) on their first date).

A Phillip Roth novel has never appeared to me as being an easy narrative to translate to the screen. Considering the pedigree of first time director James Schamus and his screen writing background with Ang Lee one needn't have worried. Indignation is a gem of a film. Anyone who loves film with simple but rich images, clever writing and an honest to the core premise shouldn't miss Indignation.

Marcus Messner (Logan Lerman) is a thoughtful, intelligent young man who is destined for a profession, perhaps a career in law, due to his propensity for study and his insightful conversation. When Marcus leaves his closed world as an only child to his homemaker mother Esther (Linda Emond) and kosher butcher father Max (Danny Burstein) there are bound to be coming of age pains. Especially when smart young man Marcus is inclined to become quite indignant about much that occurs around him.

Dean Caudwell (Tracy Letts) and Olivia (Sarah Gadon) strike up contrasting relationships with Marcus. Gabon is convincing as the girl Marcus dates and who unselfconsciously conducts herself in a manner Marcus finds puzzling. Marcus is not one to leave things be, there must be an answer to her behaviour. Their scenes together are excruciatingly honest. Then it's Caudwell as the college dean who tests Marcus to his moral and philosophical core in their film stealing scenes in the dean's office.

Topped and tailed with voice over by Marcus, Schamus starts us at the end. There is not a cliche in sight as Marcus discusses how a sliding door moment governs his current predicament. The early and late images unravel a clever puzzle. Indignation is a smart, intelligent film but not of the blockbuster variety. It's a film to luxuriate in; discussion with others will undoubtedly follow. 10GUMS.

Film No. 48 (2016) The Fencer July 31st.

Film No. 48 (2016) July 31st.  6.30 PM LUNA Paradiso, Northbridge.

"Your life is at stake and you worry about some kids?"

 

After 4 previous attempts to win best Foreign Language Oscar, the people of Finland felt they had a chance with The Fencer in 2015.
They were wrong. In fact they missed nomination and I can see why. 
However this takes nothing away from this rich and thorough human drama based on a real life story. The era of awards for this type of film has sadly passed.


There was an unabashed Walt Disney feel-good quality about Klaus Haro's feature film but in no way is this a criticism. The story of Endel Nelis (Mart Avandi) is a rich tale of a man, born into the Baltic state of Estonia, a country where the locals had no say when the Germans enslaved them into their army during occupation. The Estonians were then seen as traitors by the Russians as they marched into Estonia at the end of the war. Endel thus needs to escape and live his life incognito in the hope he'll not be noticed.


His problem is, the life he chooses as a teacher in the local school in backwater town Haapslu, has him teaching Fencing; a skill he mastered before the war and which gave him some fame. Like Mr Miagi of Karate Kid fame, Endel uses fencing as a metaphor for the disciplines of life. He is gentle, calm and becomes a saviour as he builds meaningful relationships in the intimate community. The drama expands when his students plead with him to accept an invitation to compete against other schools at a tournament in Leningrad.


What to do? His hard-nosed school principal has already smelled a rat and made enquiries about Endel's past. A visit to Leningrad could be his unravelling but his priory in life is his dedication to his students and Kadri (Ursula Ratasepp) a fellow teacher and lover. We hope for a von Trapp family like ending but the story is based on a real life Fencer and teacher. The story needed to remain true to history, and it does! 9GUMS.  

Film No. 47 (2016) Louder Than Bombs July 30th.

Film No. 47 (2016) July 30th.  11.00 PM LUNA Leederville.

"There's no story in a car accident, so people have to make one up." (Johna (Jesse Eisenberg) pleads with his father Gene (Gabriel Byrne) to see reason).

The introspective qualities of a film like Louder Than Bombs make it a difficult film to recommend. Reason being, there is hardly an entertaining moment but there are plenty of sharp close-ups and tight editing which exemplify the fractured lives of a family dealing with tragedy.


Jesse Eisenberg adds another immaculate performance to his CV as Jonah the elder son of the emotionally strained clan. If you are a fan then don't miss. Gabriel Byrne plays Gene, the matriarch, of the family who has never quite been "in-touch" with his sons and must begin a repair job. Byrne does what Byrne does best when it comes to serious, edgy drama, he's stoic and fragile all in one.


If I continue any longer I'll end up boring everyone as comprehensively as an elongated close-up of Isabelle Hubbert, the boy's deceased mother.  Why were there so many of those close-ups?  6GUMS