French Film Festival 2010 - 2

The French Film Festival open in Melbourne next week. In this post, I offer brief comments on five more films. My pick of them are the family-oriented films: OSS 177, Lost in Rio and First Snow.

• OSS 117, Rio ne répond plus (OSS 117, Lost In Rio, Michel Hazanavicius, France, 2009)
• Regrets (Les regrets, Cédric Kahn, France, 2009)
• La journée de la jupe (Skirt Day, Jean-Paul Lilienfield, France/Belgium, 2009)
• Le premier jour du reste de ta vie (The First Day of the Rest of Your Life, Rémi Bezançon, 2008)
• La première étoile (First Snow/The First Star, Lucien Jean-Baptiste, 2009)
  

OSS 117, Lost in Rio
Michel Hazanavicius has reprised the role of Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath, agent OSS 177, again played charismatically by Jean Dujardin. He is perfect for the role, a caricature of James Bond in much the same vein as Maxwell Smart or Austin Powers. He has an egotistical, overstated view of his capabilities and sexual prowess, yet always gets his man (and woman, as you'd expect). Dujardin's ability to effortlessly depict charm and incompetence with his handsome Connery-like looks are really what keeps this film going. His comic timing ain't bad either.

OSS 117, Lost in Rio uses every cliche in the book, but that's a given and hardly a criticism. It's set in the 1960s, the Connery era and so plays with the style of that time - the technology, cars, clothing and social changes. It's all a lot of playful fun without adding much to the first film in what I presume will grow to become an OSS 177 franchise like James Bond.

I note that like most films screening at the festival, OSS 177 has an MA festival classification. Theoretically, you could take an accompanied child and - if you don't have a problem with children being exposed to women's naked breasts - children should enjoy this. It's a good family film with good old-fashioned humour.

Regrets
The first thing that occurred to me as I started watching this film is that not only does France seem to offer more opportunities for female directors to practice their craft (though this one is directed by the male of the species), but it also offers more opportunities to good actresses. But perhaps more importantly, French cinema seems to strong roles for women. Elsewhere in the world, particularly English-speaking countries, women - despite their obvious acting talents - are largely confined to support, side-kick, tokenistic and window-dressing-type roles. Jane Campion's films, including the recent Bright Star are rare exceptions. French cinema values and nurtures a style of film that gives rise to greater equality to the depiction of the sexes. Regrets is one such film.

Valeria Bruni Tedechi is a prolific actress, though unfortunately I've not seen much of her work. She seems a very credible and naturalistic actress and her performance in Regrets is strong and convincing. I know even less of Yvan Attal who in this film plays Mathieu, a Parisian architect crisis. His mother has suddenly fallen into a coma and he rushes to her provincial home to be by her side and her prognosis is not good. While in town, he chances across a college flame and they quickly fall into a passionate affair, despite both being married.

I had problems with the film, which possibly says more about me than it. I found the descent of this couple into crazy and unsustainable situations very disturbing. Mathieu in particular is depicted in a very clumsy manner. That's not a critique of the film or the story as the film accurately depicts how a person can totally lose it. I found him embarrassing and though there is nothing shocking on screen, it was at times as disturbing to me as any social-realist or violent film. I doubt others would find it so. I think Regrets will be well-received by the festival regulars, but it's not my thing.

Skirt Day
Watching this film, I was often reminded of Matt Ravier's comments about it being better suited to television. His suggestion that it might have bitten off more than it could chew intrigued me and, if anything, encouraged me to see it. I like risk, even if it's not completely successful.

I didn't find the film very successful at all.The acting is patchy and the story is improbable, though I presume intentionally so. It takes some topical French issues and rather than being didactic or social realist, it dresses them up in satire, black comedy and melodrama.

While the incompetence of Isabelle Adjani's character (a teacher) may seem implausible, I discussed this at some length with my partner (also a teacher in a school with a similarly difficult demographic) and the conclusion was that this level of incompetence certainly does exist. Some of the scenarios, however, are a little over-the-top, and that's where this film will make it or break it for you depending on your perception.

The First Day of the Rest of Your Life
This is a fairly run-of-the-mill French family drama/comedy and I suppose, if you're just out for a social evening and don't have a critical bent, you might enjoy it. For me, though, it has a lot of problems, most of which it brings upon itself. First, it's stretched over a number of years (1988 to 2000), inviting criticism of attention to detail. Hair styles don't match periods, characters don't age convincingly and it seems the point was just to play music of those times. I find the device all a bit tired, though maybe I'm taking the film too seriously.

Other problems push incredulity to the extreme, like a mother taking a minute to notice the smell of marijuana smoke in her child's room, or undressing in front of her doctor son. The film is overtly sentimental, and unfunny when it means to be There are staged contrivances that are designed to titillate an undemanding audience. It's obviously not my kind of film, but there's a market for it, and it may well do OK business.

First Snow
First Snow is not listed as a children's/family film, but it has a G-classification and is a good-hearted family film that children of most ages should enjoy. My 9-year old enjoyed it. Basically it's a fish-out-of-water comedy that plays on various stereotypes - a French-Carribean family take a holiday in the snow. The dad (played by first-time director Lucien Jean-Baptiste) is pretty much a loser. He's out of a job, gambles and is struggling to hold the family together. The three children's performances are quite enjoyable and I recommend this as a child's introduction to French cinema.


And from the festival, more information the visiting directors:

MEET THE DIRECTORS at the 2010 Alliance Française French Film Festival!

We are thrilled to announce that Directors Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Philippe Lioret and Jan Kounen will be in town to present selected sessions of their films during the Festival.

Jean-Pierre Jeunet, who wowed audiences with the spectacular Amelie, will introduce his hugely anticipated new comedy-thriller MICMACS on the Opening Night, 7pm Thursday 4 March, at Palace Cinema Como. Good seats still available!

Philippe Lioret will introduce the 6.45pm screening of the absorbing new drama WELCOME on Wednesday 17 March at Palace Cinema Como and Thursday 18 March at Palace Westgarth. Both screenings will be followed by a Q&A.

Jan Kounen will introduce the 6.45pm screening of the opulent new drama COCO CHANEL & IGOR STRAVINSKY on Monday 29 March at Palace Cinema Como and on Tuesday 30 March at Palace Westgarth. Both screenings will be followed by a Q&A.

The Alliance Française French Film Festival opens on Thursday 4 March with Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Micmacs and runs until Sunday 21 March at the Palace Como, Balwyn, Westgarth and Kino cinemas.

The Week in Review - 27/12/09

FILMS:

• The Lovely Bones (Peter Jackson, USA/UK/New Zealand, 2009)
• Sherlock Holmes (Guy Ritchie, UK/Australia/USA, 2009)
  

DVD:

• Network (Sidney Lumet, USA, 1976)
• L'argent (Robert Bresson, France/Switzerland, 1983)
• Breaker Morant (Bruce Beresford, Australia, 1979)
  

The Lovely Bones
I found this film OK, if not a little disappointing. With Wahlberg in it, it could almost be The Happening in terms of look and feel. I actually didn't mind Wahlberg in The Happening but his acting seems a bit weak here. Weisz and Sarandon don't really do much so it's left to the young actress Saiorse Ronan and Stanley Tucci, who seems to be channeling Bruce Willis (esp. á la The Jackal). Actually Tucci's is the surprise performance in the film and is very creepy.

I do like the metaphysical element and the way it's enmeshed with a slight horror element (much more maturely than most contemporary horror) and yet somehow the film doesn't seem to have the impact that it could. Perhaps it's because the film aims a little low, trying to please the masses with an otherwise difficult subject. It's actually quite conventional with some pretty blatant contrivances.

Heavenly Creatures remains my favourite Jackson film, and there's one scene that makes a nod to a particular scene in that film. The Lovely Bones is worth seeing as part of Jackson's work, but don't expect anything major.

Sherlock Holmes
I had no intention of seeing this film, but taking the kid for a bike ride and ending up at the local cinema, it was either Sherlock Holmes or a two-hour wait. The kid was about as impressed as I was - not very much. I think the film suffers from two major things: firstly there's Ritchie's kinetic style. Some love it, I don't. It appears sporadically, enough to remind you it's a Ritchie film, but not enough to spoil it completely if you're tired of his devices.

Secondly, the film tries to be too many things without focusing on what Sherlock Holmes was always about. It's got a bit of Harry Potter, a bit of Batman and Robin, Starsky and Hutch and so on. In the end, it's just another generic action film with little to distinguish it from all the other bland action films and certainly little that defines it as Sherlock Holmes.

People have raved about the production design. I'd say it's just OK, nothing special you haven't seen before. Mostly, it disguises its flaws by keeping it dark and grimy. A bit more colour would have been nice. And what's become of Robert Downey Jr, that he has to stoop to such bland roles? He may be a good actor, but here he's just playing a generic Robert Downey Jr character, the same as all the other bland comic ones. If you're a fan of his, I suppose you'd swoon to see more of the same, but for me it's all a bit tired and formulaic. Jude Law would have made a better Holmes, rather than the smart-arse Dr. Watson sidekick he plays.

Ultimately, I found the film quite laboured and it was a struggle to stay awake. I nodded off at least four times - and this is an action film! The action is itself completely run-of-the-mill, the humour is bland and the characterisations are bland. Lord Blackwood seems to be modelled on Valdemort, and the the twists surrounding him are predictable. What should distinguish the film from a zillion others like it, is the Holmes character and methodology, which has been mutilated beyond recognition and we're left with mediocrity. I can't recommend this to anyone.

Network
I'd seen clips of Network over the years, it always looked good, and of course it is. I love satire, and this is so understated on one level (ie, the humour) and overstated on another. The anger is what fuels the narrative, whether it's Howard Beale, Maureen Dowd (the female, black communist - what a joke), the Ecumenical Liberation Army or Faye Dunaway's over-the-top television producer character.

Everyone's "mad as hell". You've got the network owner in his mad rant who is actually telling it as it is. Democracy and countries are an illusion. The Russians weren't sitting around a table discussing Marx - they were plotting business the same as the Chinese and the Americans.

Actually, there is so much insight in this film with its analysis of society, politics, money and yes, television networks, that I find it amazing that all this can make it into a mainstream film. I suppose like Lumet's Dog Day Afternoon, it shows how backward we've become (in terms of what can get made in the mainstream). The film pre-empts reality television by two decades, perhaps like the books 1984 and Brave New World, extrapolating into the future and actually being spot on. Where the networks were going all those decades ago was despicable, and yet we have descended much lower into the bowels of television hell. Man, if only we could make raw films for the mainstream like this today.

L'argent
I've only seen a couple of Bresson's films, and they're decades apart. Wow, what an aesthetic! It'd be very hard to get away with this today. There is so little embellishment with fixed cameras and sparse dialogue, and the acting is so raw - at times quite clunky. I had no idea where this film was going, so when it went to where it did, it was a bit of a shock. It seems to have a social message, a critique of the social system and how an innocent person wronged can have disastrous effects. But it's also a meditation on money and its corrupting influence. The camera certainly dwells on the physical transactions of money.

I imagine Bresson is not everyone's cup of tea, but this affected me considerably. I've been discussing Cassavetes recently, and while the two directors' styles are very different, both have some commonality with their raw aesthetics. Cassavetes' films are usually quite volatile and emotional, Bresson the opposite. There is an emotional detachment, underscored by the frequent shots of people's legs as they walk past, devoid of dialogue. I feel I need to work through more of Bresson's work - L'argent was his final film.

Breaker Morant
Yes, it must be Xmas time, because I've watched 3 DVDs so far this week, about as many as I've watched in some years. Anyway, it's a good opportunity to whittle down the number of unseen DVDs in my collection, and I must be one of the last people to see this one. And wow, what a film, for it's day and even for today. A veritable who's who of the Australian film industry, it showcases many who have probably never done finer work since (Bryan Brown anyone? Or even Bud Tingwell perhaps).

This is, of course, an impressive local film and I remember when I was in the US in the 80s, whenever anyone found out I was Australian, they would always say "Oh, I loved Breaker Morant" (and Crocodile Dundee, but we won't go there). It really has a mature aesthetic, not unlike European art cinema, with a strong Australian flavour. I don't know how historically accurate it is, but it really has a lot to say about politics and political expediency, even in the context of current events such as the war in Iraq. It seems this guy Morant and Hancock got badly done by, even if they were scumbags. They were poorly done by by both their superiors and the British and Australian governments.

Josh Jarman

Josh Jarman (Pip Mushin, Australia, 2004)
I love ACMI's Australian Perspectives series, screening Australian films most Saturday afternoons at 4pm. Today, a little known gem, Josh Jarman, was co-presented by AFCA, the Australian Film Critics Association. As an AFCA member, I got in for free, but I also brought along the family and we all enjoyed the screening. Mind you, ticket prices are all a very low $8, close to the best value cinema in town. Australian audiences seem to have a reluctance supporting local films but these ACMI selections really are worth checking out and I highly recommend them. That some of them are accompanied by Q&A's with those involved in the films is an added bonus.

The film was written, directed and co-produced by Pip Mushin, who I recognised as an actor from one of my favourite Australian series of all time, Frontline. It's about a struggling playwright, Josh Jarman (played against type by Marcus Graham), who finally hits the big time, but at a cost. With obvious parallels to the film industry, the film has a strong underlying truth and uses humour to good effect. It had the potential to appeal to a broad audience but unfortunately, was released in only twelve cinemas Australia-wide.

The film has a strong line-up of support actors, including Kim Gyngell as Stan Billows, the unprincipled theatre producer, and two spunky performances from Kestie Morassi (as Stan's daughter Sasha and Josh's girlfriend) and Daniella Farinacci (as Maxine, Josh's neighbour). The film works well as a satire, critiquing the quandary of being a struggling artist and what it takes to get so-called success. It also works well as a story in its own right, with the situations that the eponymous character finds himself in, largely concerned with sex. My eight-year old son asked me during the film, "what's an orgasm"? I told him later.

The Q&A panel included Pip Mushin, Marcus Graham, co-producer Eva Orner via phone link-up from Los Angeles and, from AFCA, Peter Krausz and Greg King. As well as discussing how the film got made and other background info, it was discussed in the context of the struggles of getting Australian films made, a pet subject of mine at these Q&A events. The turnout wasn't huge, but the questions just kept coming and in the end, we went over-time and had to be cut short.

See also, film notes by the director.

ACMI's Australian Perspectives are curated by James Nolen. Upcoming screenings include John Hillcoat's The Proposition on 28 February, Baz Luhrmann's Australia on 7 March and Jasmin Tarasin's Flight of the Obüs Bird - Winter 2009 on 14 March.

The Week in Review (x2) - 19/10/08

Oh, life is bigger
It's bigger than you
And you are not me
The lengths that I will go to
The distance in your eyes
Oh no I've said too much
I set it up
- REM, Losing My Religion

This used to be my favourite song. It was important to me at an important turning point in my life, when I lost religion (even though that's not what the song is about). It's also a song that pops into my head when life is full, too full, when it's big, bigger than you. And you are not me. Get the drift?

Well, it's been two weeks. Life has been so full, and I still scarcely have time to post my weekly summary. But I want to do it, for myself at least. I can't do credit for many of these films, but here goes.

• Del rosa al amarillo (From Pink… to Yellow, Manuel Summers, Spain, 1963)
• Ta'm-e gilas (The Taste of Cherry, Abbas Kiarostami, Iran/France, 1997)
• Waitress (Adrienne Shelly, USA, 2006)
• Zert (The Joke, Jaromil Jires, Czechoslovakia, 1969)
• Kladivo na carodejnice (Witches' Hammer, Otakar Vávra, Czechoslovakia, 1969)
• Wake in Fright (Ted Kotcheff, Australia, 1971)
• Burn After Reading (Joel & Ethan Coen, USA, 2008)
• Towelhead (Alan Ball, USA, 2008)
  

From Pink… to Yellow
Screening as part of the ACMI Focus on Víctor Erice & Abbas Kiarostami, I suppose this film by Manuel Summers sneaks in as Erice has only made three films. It fits in thematically, with its depiction of life from a child's perspective. I can't say it overly grabbed me and when the narrative shifted to an elderly couple, I dozed off.

The Taste of Cherry
I loved this film, which reminded me of Kiarostami's later film, 10. Shot mostly from within a car, a guy drives around town looking for someone to assist him in his mission to take his own life. The story is elusive (we never find out his exact reasons) and it has a controversial and ambiguous ending. The story is somewhat episodic as different people find themselves in the car with our 'hero'. The different characters and their respective responses to our hero are convincing and compelling. The final character's role is just fantastic, as he shares a story with our hero. I really related to it, as he describes how he also, some decades earlier had contemplated suicide, and what got him through. It reminded me of the adolescent neighbour in American Beauty, how he saw beauty everywhere, even in a plastic shopping bag blowing in the wind, or the way light reflected in the still warm blood of his neighbour. Very moving.

Waitress
The missus was watching this on DVD and it had lost none of the sparkle that did it for me the first time on the big screen. One of the best romantic comedies of all time, not that it follows any romantic comedy conventions. For the record, my other favourites are Truly, Madly, Deeply and Like Water for Chocoloate.

The Joke
Wow, this Czech New Wave is seriously good stuff. No wonder the commies didn't let this film see the light of day for twenty years. A guy is cynical, unhappy and unable to form meaningful relationships. When he revisits his hometown, old memories flood his mind, and we learn how he got to be the person he is. Fundamentalism, in all its guises, stinks.

Witches' Hammer
Attacking exactly the same themes as The Joke, this story of medieval witch hunting is just as overt a criticism of communism, in spite of its use of metaphors. It also didn't see the light of day until 1989, when the iron curtain came down. I hadn't realised how widespread the hysteria over witchcraft was in Europe, and explains why many fled to the US (where a different form of hysteria-fundamentalism has arisen).

Wake in Fright
I was initially put off when I realised this MUFF screening was from a DVD. But once I got into it after a couple of minutes, it didn't really matter. The story is that good, and the visuals were quite OK. Now I know why this film has such a strong reputation; it is a genuine compelling film.

Burn After Reading
I found Burn After Reading absolutely entertaining. I didn't have high expectations as I think the Coen brothers get mixed results when they do comedy. The humour in this film is full of deadpan irony, greatly understated at times, farcical at others, but always unpredictable yet believable.

While it is in no way an explicit commentary on The War On Iraq, clearly that's the subtext. I'd say it's the first successful film to tackle the issue of homeland security in the US, post 9-11, simply because it doesn't reference it at all. Like most Coen films, people motivated by greed have a plan, and things don't go to plan. There's blood and a reasonable body count. As in all matters concerning national security, it doesn't matter who gets hurt, innocent or not. What's important is that leadership is decisive, bodies are disposed of and people are seen to be doing their jobs. Right?

The lineup of actors looks awesome on paper, and they don't disappoint. Most of them play against type. The film is very original, very exciting and very contemporary. Well-worth seeing.

Towelhead
With all the hysteria over Bill Henson and his photography of naked or semi-naked children, it's amazing that Towelhead has been released with scarcely a whimper of complaint.

This is quite a gutsy film, tackling taboo subjects head-on and pulling few punches. This is intelligently written. It looks like what I call a quirky-indie comedy but isn't. There's so much truthful depictions that reflect the complexity of real-life issues such as racism, teenage sex and paedophilia. Like American Beauty, there are generally no good or bad guys, but both good and bad exist in most characters.

I liked the way Towelhead doesn't force a message down your throat. You don't necessarily know Ball's stance on an issue, such as teenage sex. He just depicts it a certain way, and you make up your own mind.

Toni Collette plays a fairly typical-looking role to what she generally does in US films, but her role is better written than most (like Little Miss Sunshine et al). The visuals of the film were a little distracting for me, such as the over-use of golden-sunset hues and over-contrast, something that has been done to death on US network TV shows. Most won't have the same problem with it as I (my missus didn't even notice). There are a couple of minor scenes that slightly lacked plausibility, but for the most part, the film successfully pulled off some pretty major risks. Big kudos for that.

The Week in Review - 21/9/08

The Cinema 1968: The Whole World is Watching season at Melbourne Cinémathèque this week and is running for five weeks, possibly longer than any other season, I believe. Actually, last week's La mama et la putain introduces is thematically connected, so it could be considered a six-week season. Michael Koller, co-programmer says the length is needed to do justice to films from around the world, including Czechoslovakia, the UK and USA. If... is a knockout. The other standout (and surprising so) was The Naked Bunyip. This one impressed me so much that I wrote a separate post on it today, 2000-odd words, the longest single post in a long time. Apologies if you find any typos or lack of coherence. I don't have time to edit it.

• If… (Lindsay Anderson, UK, 1968)
• Witchfinder General (Michael Reeves, UK, 1968)
• Wall*E (Andrew Stanton, USA, 2008)
• Salvation (Paul Cox, Australia, 2008)
• The Naked Bunyip (John B. Murray, Australia, 1970) + Q&A
  
• Leave Her to Heaven (John M. Stahl, USA, 1945)
  

If...
If... is a fantastically subversive and wickedly funny satire from 1968. Apparently it was Malcolm McDowell's screen debut, and his performance was strong. Little wonder he was cast in Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange, a role that has parallels to this. His character's name is Travis and I wonder if Scorsese was referencing him with De Niro's character (Travis Bickle) in Taxi Driver. These characters also have much in common.

The sexual undertones, the exaggerated brutality of the boys' public school system, the sometimes bizarre humour all made this film one helluva ride and thoroughly enjoyable. It would make a good companion piece to David Fincher's Fight Club.

Witchfinder General
I always liked Vincent Price when he was popular in the 1970s and his understated performance in The Witchfinder General is darkly charismatic. I like the themes the film explores - official corruption, mob mentality, demonisation of individuals - but the film feels insubstantial. It is unintentionally funny at times and the wandering towards melodrama did little for me.


Wall*E
After all the buzz about Wall*E, I feel let down. I don't think it's Pixar's best film by any stretch of the imagination. Why? The writing is pretty ordinary. And the visuals which everyone has been raving about - the bar is pretty high with what Pixar have created - quite honestly, it's nothing special.

Each Pixar film usually has some visual aspect that they focus on. For example, in Ratatouille it was the minute details like the body hairs. In this one, it's the beauty of rust and decay. I found the colours were too mute for too much of the time. Dusty, misty colouration brought the aesthetics down.

The film, as usual, is a Disney co-production, so you know what kind of film you're getting. You don't expect challenging story-lines, but they don't need to be as tired and unchallenging as this. There's some cute pop cultural cross-references, like the retro music and videos, computer games, HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey (and the classical music like The Blue Danube, etc). They're all moderately amusing. I found the score from the start overly kitsch.

It's still an enjoyable film and a good one to take kids too without being too bored (though I found it very flat around the 45-60 minute mark), but nothing to get too worked up about. Perhaps my greatest disappointment is that Pixar is churning out a mediocre story that does little for children's imaginations: just more of the same cliches.

There is an environmental/consumeristic theme, but I don't feel it's an issue the film-makers take too seriously or sincerely. Rather, it's just topical and they're capitalising on that. My 7-year old son loved it. This film should do well internationally as there is very little dialogue. The first sparse words occur 20 minutes into the film. Strangely, the film goes downhill as the dialogue increases.

Salvation
Somehow or other, I've never managed to get a Paul Cox film in before, and I didn't like this one. I'm also told that it's quite typical for a Cox film. The dialogue seemed over-theatrical or tele-movie style right from the start and the characters seemed to lack any believability, for me at least. Basically, it's the story of a tele-evangelist and her husband who are drifting in different directions. The tele-evangelist has godly feelings with her assistant (played perfectly straight and understated by Kim Gyngell) and the husband falls in love with a Russian prostitute.

I could have walked out at any time, but did my duty for the AFI screenings and stayed. The thing I liked most about the film was recognising many of the locations, as I've lived both sides of Hobsons Bay for the last 22 years and it was fun doing the location-spotting thing.

Leave Her to Heaven
I'm not big on melodrama at all, yet somehow I enjoyed this technicolor feast for the eyes. Perhaps it was the fusion with noir (another genre I've not had much exposure to) that added to the appeal, I'm not sure. The film made no pretensions of being anything other than pulp fiction and it worked a treat. The film screened under the ACMI banner of First Look; I assume it's a brand new restored print, and it looks fantastic.

It was great to see a young Vincent Price, the third film I've seen him in this week (the others being Witchfinder General and the missus was watching Edward Scissorhands last night). He always has a strong and charismatic screen presence; his long courtroom tirades were impressive in spite of their complete ridiculousness (it just couldn't happen in real life, but that's not the point, as this is the fantasy of melodrama). All-in-all, good fun.