A young masseuse mother, her disabled father and teenage daughter live together in a van underneath a railway bridge somewhere in urban Japan.
Just when you thought it couldn't get more miserable, it does, and something doesn't quite add up in the story here.. A brave effort nonetheless.
Friday 30 March 2012
21 Jump Street (US, 2012)
Vaguely entertaining, fairly farcical and mostly forgettable; based on a series by the same name it seems.
Kudos though to Cameo Cinema Edinburgh, which has existed in one form or another since 1914; the building retains much of its old-style character and it puts on an otherwise decent programme.
Kudos though to Cameo Cinema Edinburgh, which has existed in one form or another since 1914; the building retains much of its old-style character and it puts on an otherwise decent programme.
The Kid with a Bike/Le Gamin au Velo (BE/FR, 2011)
The brothers Dardenne return to familiar territory (and at least one actor) here; Cyril, a troubled orphan, is partially adopted by the kindly hairdresser Samantha. Cyril's father wants nothing to do with him, and, his tenacity observed, he's soon taken under the wing of a local undesirable.
Ordinary people and ordinary lives then, it's a humane, believable, naturalistic and ultimately likeable film.
Ordinary people and ordinary lives then, it's a humane, believable, naturalistic and ultimately likeable film.
Goodbye First Love/Un Amour de Jeunesse (FR, 2011)
Solid performance from lead Lola Créton as the pretty, earnest and thoughtful girl, obsessed with her absent boyfriend. The action occurs over an approx. 8 year period; Camille studies architecture, a new relationship develops, yet always in the the background remains her first love, Sullivan. Will she ever succeed in breaking adrift?
Showing as an part of a series of 3 or 4 French previews (it'd be inacurate to call it a mini-festival) at Edinburgh's Filmhouse Cinema, this is a good example of a nicely stated, serious and likeable French film. Again, it deserves a higher rating on IMDB - it would be horrible to think of a potential viewer skipping it on this basis, or indeed of a talented young director getting discouraged.
One of the year's better films.
Showing as an part of a series of 3 or 4 French previews (it'd be inacurate to call it a mini-festival) at Edinburgh's Filmhouse Cinema, this is a good example of a nicely stated, serious and likeable French film. Again, it deserves a higher rating on IMDB - it would be horrible to think of a potential viewer skipping it on this basis, or indeed of a talented young director getting discouraged.
One of the year's better films.
Saturday 17 March 2012
In Darkness (PL, 2011)
WWII, Polish Lviv. Factual adaptation of the story of Leopold Socha a Polish sewer worker/petty criminal
and his endeavour to protect hidden Jews at enormous personal risk. Socha would later be honoured for his role.
Largely filmed undergound, it is therefore, a dark movie - and a reasonably good historical thriller.
Opening QFT's Kinoteka mini-festival of Polish movies, In Darkness drew a large crowd of Poles and non-Poles to Screen 1. There was immediately before the film a brief clip of director Agnieszka Holland apologising that she could not be there in person to present the film owing to current work commitments.
Largely filmed undergound, it is therefore, a dark movie - and a reasonably good historical thriller.
Opening QFT's Kinoteka mini-festival of Polish movies, In Darkness drew a large crowd of Poles and non-Poles to Screen 1. There was immediately before the film a brief clip of director Agnieszka Holland apologising that she could not be there in person to present the film owing to current work commitments.
Les Amants Réguliers (FR, 2005)
Can't say I've seen a whole lot of Garrell's, but what I've seen I've liked: Le Révélateur (1968) one cold, Spring afternoon in 2004 at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, and Sauvage Innocence (2001) one equally lonely weekend at a rather pointless Winter film fest in Bergamo, 2003.
Les Amants Réguliers presents a collection of twenty-somethings: a draft-dodging poet, students, artists, the well-heeled idle rich and would-be political activists, some (but by no means all) fine young things, who spend their time hanging out, chatting, dancing, shagging and smoking illicit substances (opium, not hashish it seems), in their palatial apartments in the historical centre of Paris.
The 1968 disturbances are touched upon - there is a lengthy barricade scene at the beginning where we wait about 20 minutes for anything to actually happen - but they are not the centrepoint of the film. And neither is anything else really, a romance develops, people come and go...
There was a time in my late teens/early 20's when this kind of bored romanticism would've been appealing, but it now seems rather casual, and, well,...boring. An unexceptional film nicely photographed however, again in black and white.
Les Amants Réguliers presents a collection of twenty-somethings: a draft-dodging poet, students, artists, the well-heeled idle rich and would-be political activists, some (but by no means all) fine young things, who spend their time hanging out, chatting, dancing, shagging and smoking illicit substances (opium, not hashish it seems), in their palatial apartments in the historical centre of Paris.
The 1968 disturbances are touched upon - there is a lengthy barricade scene at the beginning where we wait about 20 minutes for anything to actually happen - but they are not the centrepoint of the film. And neither is anything else really, a romance develops, people come and go...
There was a time in my late teens/early 20's when this kind of bored romanticism would've been appealing, but it now seems rather casual, and, well,...boring. An unexceptional film nicely photographed however, again in black and white.
Thursday 15 March 2012
Carancho (AR, 2010)
I've been a big fan of recent-ish Argentinian movies, becoming as they have something akin to a mini-French cinema, bringing us such simple, credible, excellent films as Tan de Repente, Bombon El Perro and others as well as the more involved Nine Queens.
Starring the ace face of Argentine drama, Ricardo Darín, Carancho charts a motor insurance attorney (read: "fixer") and the shady doings which he and others are embroiled in. Kind-of smelt a rat from the academic introduction before the movie which risked straying into film theory, but that's an easy swipe in retrospect. The film is OK, but lacking "something" and veering into 6-out-of-10 territory.
It is exceedingly well photographed though.
Starring the ace face of Argentine drama, Ricardo Darín, Carancho charts a motor insurance attorney (read: "fixer") and the shady doings which he and others are embroiled in. Kind-of smelt a rat from the academic introduction before the movie which risked straying into film theory, but that's an easy swipe in retrospect. The film is OK, but lacking "something" and veering into 6-out-of-10 territory.
It is exceedingly well photographed though.
Martha Marcy May Marlene (US, 2011)
Martha, a mid-late teenage girl is taken in by a cult-cum-commune in rural America. Obliged to flee after things go too far, she hooks up with her rich, estranged sister in the Catskills. It soon becomes clear that all is not well with Martha.
This quality, credible and thought-provoking film succeeds in alternating seamlessly between "before and after" and is very well photographed,with excellent, naturalistic performances - fully deserving of its Sundance 2011 award for best drama. The ambiguous ending may initially grate but improves on further reflection.
Not expecting much on the basis of the trailer, MMMM has proven to be film of the year thus far.
This quality, credible and thought-provoking film succeeds in alternating seamlessly between "before and after" and is very well photographed,with excellent, naturalistic performances - fully deserving of its Sundance 2011 award for best drama. The ambiguous ending may initially grate but improves on further reflection.
Not expecting much on the basis of the trailer, MMMM has proven to be film of the year thus far.
Saturday 10 March 2012
The Shore (NI, 2011)
An American immigrant returns home with his daughter to Northern Ireland for the first time since leaving 25 years previously. The troubles are briefly alluded to but not dwelt upon.
Looking like it was shot on DV, it's a nice, homely tale and clearly struck a chord with some in the QFT audience. Can't say I've ever been aware of an Oscar for short films up til seeing this, but one thinks that that award may have been given in order to tie in with the NI2012 events (Titanic, Derry European City of Culturte 2012 etc) more so than its own merits.
Looking like it was shot on DV, it's a nice, homely tale and clearly struck a chord with some in the QFT audience. Can't say I've ever been aware of an Oscar for short films up til seeing this, but one thinks that that award may have been given in order to tie in with the NI2012 events (Titanic, Derry European City of Culturte 2012 etc) more so than its own merits.
Sideways (2004, US)
Like others I've seen by Alexander Payne, this is a light, enjoyable, entertaining and inherently good-quality film.
Sunday 4 March 2012
Dancer in the Dark (ES/DK/DE/UK/AR/NL/IT/SE/FI/NO/IS/US, 2000)
Possibly the first major arthouse film production of the new millenium, set in smalltown post-war USA, charts the travails of near-blind Czechoslovak immigrant and her son, who will in time suffer from the same congenital condition.
Kooky Björk and her character's mannerisms and flights of fancy can be irritating at times, and I've never seen a musical that I've liked - there are some such elements here, which are, admittedly well choreographed. The slightly washed, subdued-tone photography is impressive, as are the props and costumes.
While the story is inconsistent in places, the ending is not entirely unmoving. Overall though, it is hard to see why this movie is so highly thought of.
Kooky Björk and her character's mannerisms and flights of fancy can be irritating at times, and I've never seen a musical that I've liked - there are some such elements here, which are, admittedly well choreographed. The slightly washed, subdued-tone photography is impressive, as are the props and costumes.
While the story is inconsistent in places, the ending is not entirely unmoving. Overall though, it is hard to see why this movie is so highly thought of.
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