The Week in Review - 17/5/09

FILMS:

• Zabriskie Point (Michelangelo Antonioni, USA, 1970)
• Der Stand der Dinge (The State of Things, Wim Wenders, West Germany/Portugal/USA, 1982)
• Samson and Delilah (Warwick Thornton, Australia, 2009)
• Rudi y Cursi (Rudi and Cursi, Carlos Cuarón, Mexico/USA, 2008)
• Sita Sings the Blues (Nina Paley, USA, 2008)

SHORT FILMS:

• Warwick Thornton shorts
  

Zabriskie Point
Wow! After the disappointment that was The Passenger, this was surprisingly good. Antonioni wears his political leanings on his sleeve (something I'm prone to myself) and really captures the zeitgeist. Sometimes a film is too close to the bone; this film seems to be have been too confrontational for American audiences at the time of its release. Often a film can be appreciated for what it captures long after the emotions of the time have dissipated. This is certainly true of many Australian films that were not acknowledged on first release, such as some of the so-called Ozploitation films or Pure Shit, which (like Zabriskie Point) has elements that are almost documentary-like now.

The lack of expository narrative in Zabriskie Point really adds to its mystique. Antonioni's camera gradually covers various, seemingly unconnected scenarios and we, the audience, have to work a little to make sense of it. Or, not so much make sense as try to connect the dots. By covering a student meeting calling for revolt, police brutality, riots and capitalism in action, it's not too hard to see where Antonioni is going.

The film has an unmistakable 70's feel to it, though it was made at the start of the decade. The themes are clearly related to the aftermath of the political turbulence that swept the globe in 1968, most strongly recalling Haskell Wexler's Medium Cool (1969). The final explosion, while literally a blast, is not the film's biggest drawcard for me, though clearly a delight for the film's fans.

The State of Things
There's been a lot of films made about making films. For me, this one directly recalls Catherine Breillat's Sex is Comedy. Both films are about the struggles of making the respective director's previous trouble-prone film. The self-reflexive nature of this Wenders film is quite funny, especially when the film is shot on black and white film and the script has a producer slamming the use of just that. There are a number of moments like that. I don't think the film is brilliant, but certainly very enjoyable.

Rudi and Cursi
After the very sublime Y tu mamá también (my favourite Mexican film), directed by Alfonso Cuarón and starring Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna, I figured a comedy by Alfonso's brother with the same duo of actors couldn't be too bad. Alas, it came in at the low end of my expectations.

It screened as part of the Spanish Film Festival at the Kino. I'm not accustomed to full-houses at the Kino, so I was pleased for their sake to see them doing good business. Rudi and Cursi is really a populist film and I suppose it certainly got bums on seats. I just found it all a bit tiresome. Here's two very luminous and intelligent actors (Luna played the Michael Jackson look-alike in Mister Lonely), and it was obviously some kind of joke to have them playing dumbass country hicks who hit the big-time when they're scouted for rival Mexico City football clubs.

Don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem with intelligent actors playing dumbasses; that's what actors do. But the gags were all fairly puerile and predictable. The film did nothing for me whatsoever.

Sita Sings the Blues
I'm more than familiar with the Ramayana, having spent some part of my youth exploring Hinduism and Indian culture - I've been there six times. I'd heard good things about this film, especially from Lynden Barber of Eyes Wired Open, so took the opportunity to take my eight-year old son to see it. The Ramayana recounts the story of Rama, an incarnation of Vishnu (God), and his consort Sita who is abducted by Ravana and taken to Lanka. The monkey-king Hanuman finds Sita who is rescued by Rama but ultimately banished to the forest over doubts of her purity.

The film is visually stunning, with Sita singing love songs that are actually 1920's jazz songs by Annette Hanshaw. And cleverly, director Nina Paley weaves her own real-life heartbreak story into a parallel narrative. What most are not aware of is that Star Wars is almost a direct rip-off of the Ramayana. I don't think as highly of the film as Lynden obviously does, but it is entertaining and original nonetheless. And the kid's verdict? Like me, he liked it, but nothing special.

Slumdog Millionaire

Slumdog Millionaire (Danny Boyle, UK/USA, 2008)
You've got to hand it to Danny Boyle - he really knows how to reinvent himself. Nearly every film he makes is a different genre. From thriller (Shallow Grave) to contemporary drug drama/comedy (Trainspotting) to drama (The Beach) to zombies (28 Days Later) to sci-fi (Sunshine), and now romance/drama/thriller with Slumdog Millionaire. This latest outing, set in India, shares some themes with his earlier Millions (2004), a story of some working-class kids who hit the big-time when they find a suitcase of cash, though this latest film is much more ambitious.

In Slumdog Millionaire, Jamal, a poverty-stricken youth, an orphan from the slums of Mumbai, falls under suspicion of cheating the Indian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire when he makes it all the way to the final question, with the top prize of 20 million rupees at stake. How does he know the answers? The film's exploration of this question leads the viewer down various rabbit holes, revealling Jamal's past while giving the audience a view into aspects of contemporary Mumbai culture.

The film has a frenetic pace, with aesthetics similar to City of God. The music is sensational, completely in-your-face. Boyle has gone for a highly stylised and heightened sense of reality, using highly saturated colouration (with matching sub-title backgrounds as a subtle stylistic device). I'm not usually a fan of fast editing, but like the City of God (also set in slums), it works to very good effect here.

The film is unashamedly sentimental and uplifting, but that's not a criticism. In fact, it works quite well. We see life in the slums from a child's perspective, there is a central love story, there is the drama of a life of crime and there is the excitement and suspense that is known to anyone who has watched Who Wants to be a Millionaire. Boyle has packed so many angles into the film that skillfully play out in parallel that the story remains compelling from start to finish.

The game show aspect is really quite fascinating. The set, lighting, music and game structure is virtually indistinguishable from the Australian version. The biggest difference is the compere. Instead of Eddie Maguire and "lock it in Eddie" we have Amitabh Bachchan (played by Feroz Abbas Khan). The actual show is itself dramatic, but portrayed cinematically, it goes to a whole new level of suspense.

The film is highly entertaining and is sure to be popular with arthouse audiences, possibly mainstream audiences also. In fact, this may be Boyle's most successful film yet, though it's not particularly my type of film. It's not in the same league as Trainspotting, but then, I'm a sucker for bleak cinema. Comparisons have been made to other so called “sleeper indie hits” like Juno and Little Miss Sunshine. Slumdog Millionaire is far superior to both those films.

Slumdog Millionaire opens on 18 December, with preview screenings on 12-14 December.

The Week in Review - 14/9/08

It's been a remarkable week of films, with the highlights being three films by Satyajit Ray and Jean Eustace's La maman et la putain.

• Beyond Our Ken (Luke Walker & Melissa Maclean, Australia, 2007)
• La maman et la putain (The Mother and the Whore, Jean Eustace, France, 1973)
• Pather Panchali (Song of the Road, Satyajit Ray, India, 1955)
• Ghare-Baire (The Home and the World, Satyajit Ray, India, 1984)
• Apur Sansar (The World of Apu, Satyajit Ray, India, 1959)
• Piano, solo (Riccardo Milani, Italy, 2007)

La maman et la putain
I simply don't have the time to write sufficiently about this extraordinary film. I don't believe I've ever sat for three and a half hours in a cinema without a break, but I did without any problems during this screening at Melbourne Cinémathèque. I'd been anticipating it since Isaki Lacuesta, Spanish director of Le leyenda del tiempo (The Legend of Time, 2006) brought it to my attention after the screening of his impressive film at ACMI earlier in the year. I believe he described it as his favourite film, and I can see why. I may write on this in more detail after watching it again. I have been participating in an online discussion at the At The Movies discussion board. Or check out Jonathan Rosenbaum's piece.

Pather Panchali
Now, I don't want to go into a rant about how important films like this, screening as part of a partial-retrospective of India's most celebrated film-maker, should be shown in their original ratio (4:3, rather than the 16:9). Nor do I want to whine about the air-conditioning failing, leaving us to swelter in 29 degrees Celsius (but thanks to the staff who gave us two tickets for the price of one). So I'll just proceed with stating that this is probably the best Indian film I have ever seen. Not that I've seen many, but this is seriously impressive cinema.

The child's perspective, the beautiful cinematography, the amazing characters, the austerity and restraint of dialogue, the Ravi Shankar score, the heart-breaking story all combine to produce a film that just has to be experienced. This was Ray's first film and the beginning of his Apu trilogy. Unfortunately, the middle of the trilogy is not screening as part of the retrospective.

I've been to rural Bengal on six occasions, the last being 1990. I was struck with how authentic this film is, and how recognisable it's look is. At least as at 1990, the essence of what is depicted in Pather Panchali, could still be seen in Bengal, a land that has largely remained unchanged. Check out the 105 second clip at this site.

Apur Sansar
The final installment in the Apu trilogy, and another remarkable piece of output by Ray, though not quite at the same level of accomplishment as Pather Panchali, in my opinion. Ray shows great compassion for his characters, depicting the struggles of one character across three films - childhood in Pather Panchali, adolescence in Aparajito and adulthood in Apur Sansar. But it's not just the struggles of Apu, but also those around him. In doing so, Ray is tapping into the greater themes of human struggle. I hope to see these again without the projection issues that have dogged the sessions I attended.

Ghare-Baire
Another Ray film, based on a novel, and it shows. I enjoyed it in the context of a Ray retrospective and as a serious film from India (I hate Bollywood cinema), but it's not on the same level as the Apu films. Or maybe it's just that I'm not particularly taken by melodrama.