derekrankine Reviews

Fermat's Room (2007)

Can maths be exciting?

[6/10 · 18 June 2011]

Three distinguished Spanish mathematicians and one successful inventor receive anonymous letters requesting that they come together and solve a riddle. All respond positively to the invitation; upon reaching the meeting point by a rural lake, they follow clues to reach a curious isolated house. After an introductory dinner with the host, the four become locked in a room and are sent mathematical puzzles to solve via a mobile device.

It transpires that if they take too long to correctly provide answers, the room's walls start to close in (think Indiana Jones/Star Wars, but slower and stop-start). It swiftly becomes apparent that their lives are genuinely in danger, and that they have to cooperate to solve the real mystery - who wishes them harm?

This premise is compelling, and the first 40 minutes are rich and captivating. At the half-way point, sadly, much of the creative momentum is lost and an intelligent, highly original film becomes more akin to a run-of-the-mill mindless thriller. In the second half, the character back-stories we are presented with lack credibility and attempts at comedy are only partially successful.

It is, however, almost understandable that the film is unable to meet its ambitions by plausibly sustaining an unrelenting pace. A worthwhile viewing coloured by excitement and frustration in almost equal measure.

Shutter Island (2010)

A B-movie plot with ambitious themes

[8/10 · 5 April 2010]

The less you know about Martin Scorsese's latest, the better. The film opens in bright white light, which is gradually faded to reveal Leonardo DiCaprio's character, a senior investigator from a US Government agency, suffering seasickness on a ferry crossing. He is en route to the eponymous Shutter Island, to assist with efforts to find an escapee from the island's prison-cum-hospital; a facility that is home to some of the most notorious mentally deranged criminals of 1950s America.

Immediately, we are hooked. The car journey from the ferry to the facility is filled with foreboding and intrigue, melding eerie sound textures with dark, bleak images of the unwelcoming island. Once we arrive, the curious behaviour of the accompanying police officers and the local staff, in addition to the more understandable actions of the patients/prisoners, further builds suspense, paying homage to classic Hitchcock techniques.

The most impressive achievement is that the storyline is consistently riveting for a running time in excess of two hours, seemingly without a single wasted scene, shot or line of dialogue as the plot unfolds in lavish, cinematic scale. DiCaprio's mature and compelling performance, in a character not too dissimilar to his undercover police officer in The Departed, is complemented perfectly by Ben Kingsley, Mark Ruffalo and the wealth of heavyweight acting talents playing minor characters. A couple of minor plot contrivances aside, this is a robust and stimulating addition to Scorsese's canon; albeit one that it is unlikely to reach the same high plateau of critical acclaim as much of the director's preceding efforts.

The film is based on a novel by the increasingly impressive Dennis Lehane, whose Mystic River and Gone, Baby, Gone were also translated for the cinema, and who was also a writer for The Wire. The themes and settings of Shutter Island represent a diversion of sorts, but it transcends the B-movie genre in the same way as the TV/movie adaptations of his other writings were much more than just crime stories.

Lebanon (2009)

Potent, claustrophobic depiction of war inside a tank

[8/10 · 28 March 2010]

Lebanon is based on director Samuel Maoz's own experiences as a soldier in the 1982 Israel- Lebanon conflict. The film focuses exclusively on the experiences of the four young Israelis that are responsible for operating a tank that rolls into Lebanese territory at the start of the war.

For almost the entire duration, the characters and the audience are trapped inside the vehicle; we can see only what they can externally through the narrow tunnel vision of a gun turret periscope. With no wider political context and little character background, this viewpoint successfully creates a claustrophobic, tense atmosphere and provides originality and intrigue to what might have been overlooked as 'another war film'.

The soldiers, confined to the tank, are inexperienced, tired, hungry, thirsty, scared, homesick, dirty, feverish and unable to work competently as a team. In the opening scene, their collective callowness leads to the deaths of a fellow soldier and an innocent civilian. From here, difficulty after difficulty presents itself in the form of hostile forces, indignant superior officers, technological issues and internal disputes.

The way the characters respond, the powerful use of imagery - and the contrast between the constant mechanical noise and darkness inside the tank, and the bright environment and varied action outside - combine to shape a potent viewing experience.

Eldorado (2008)

Subversive road movie

[8/10 · 20 March 2010]

A middle-aged man returns to his home in rural Belgium to find that it has been broken into, with a stranger hiding under his bed. He initially threatens the intruder, who refuses to come out, with violence and calling the police. When the stranger eventually emerges, he is found to be a scared young man purportedly seeking to return to his parents after overcoming a heroin addiction. His parents live on the other side of the country, and the older man offers to give him a lift.

The ensuing road movie begins conventionally, with gradual bonding and chance meetings with various eccentrics as the Belgian landscape offers some choice cinematography opportunities. Although these initial encounters are mildly engaging and occasionally humorous, three incidents in the latter half challenge the low-key nature of the preceding action. This change of direction lends the film a more serious weight and a dark, meaty substance in place of a morality tale.

An impressive piece of work, especially given the short running time (around 80 minutes). The older man is played by Bouli Lanners, who also writes and directs.

Hvid nat (2007)

Absorbing low-key drama

[8/10 · 11 March 2010]

The central character in White Night is Ulrich, an ethically dubious estate agent. Drinking with friends in a bar one night, he is approached by an aggressive, clumsy drunk; upon pushing him away, the drunk falls awkwardly and sustains a fatal head injury. With the help of his brother, a successful lawyer, Ulrich avoids being charged with any crime and, a few hours in custody aside, is free to resume his life. But things don't go back to normal as he starts to become deeply troubled by a sense of guilt, which puts his career, relationship and friendships in jeopardy as he struggles to come to terms with the fact that he has taken someone's life.

From here, the plot moves in unexpected directions as we gradually learn the roots of Ulrich's behaviour. The stereotypical estate agent we are introduced to at the outset, manipulating a young couple into a poor property investment, becomes incrementally more rounded and sympathetic as his psychological nature is given more context. This unpredictable narrative is engaging throughout.

The excellent, assured script doesn't waste a scene from the opening moment to a memorable closing shot, and Lars Bryggman perfectly captures Ulrich's descent into torment. The result is a powerful film that stays long in the memory.

Elevator (2008)

Haunting claustrophobic drama

[9/10 · 5 March 2010]

The very first scene of Elevator features a young boy and girl, both perhaps 15, trapped in a lift in an abandoned building in Romania, screaming for help. Before you see the film, you are likely to be aware that it was made on a shoestring (there is low-budget, there is ultra low-budget, then there is 200 euros), that it was based on a true story, and that it is entirely set in the lift space. With no back-story, with no outside world, and just two characters, you immediately worry where can it go from here? How can it possibly sustain the viewer's interest for a feature-length film?

And yet it does, and does so surprisingly well. As the days pass, the sense of atmosphere heightens, and the audience starts to feel the claustrophobia and stench of the tiny shared space as keenly as the two characters. The editing is taut and the lead (that is, only) performances are well-pitched. Despite the low budget, there is an effective soundtrack that lends a sense of urgency to key scenes.

The script, especially the pacing and character development, is particularly strong, and what might be pre-conceived as depressing and dull art-house fare is, in fact, lively, warm, accessible and humorous, with plenty of tension and suspense. An excellent, unexpected closing scene puts the icing on the cake. Proof, then, that you can make a great film for the cost of an ipod.

Splice (2009)

A likable but flawed sci-fi tale

[6/10 · 4 March 2010]

Splice centres on two renowned young scientists (Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley) that are quasi-famous for successfully creating a new species of animal, a species with enormous pharmaceutical industry potential in the form of an ability to secrete profitable proteins. Despite a refusal by their company bosses to approve the next stage of the project, or anything that tampers with human DNA, their ambitions lead them to create a human-animal hybrid by combining human genes with those of the created species. This in turn leads to the creation of a new entity they name Dren, which they raise and attempt to study as a personal project concealed from their employers and colleagues.

The story becomes highly engrossing as we follow the creature's development alongside that of the two scientists, who are in a relationship that becomes increasingly strained by a series of ethical and logistical dilemmas. The two central performances are well-judged, but the real star is Dren; or the CGI responsible for her creation, which is always convincing and solid at all stages of the creature's evolution. Vincenzo Natali's visually intense direction is also worth mentioning, and he clearly enjoys playing with a generous budget as compared with his previous features like Cube.

This is, however, no modern masterpiece – the plot becomes predictable and contrived in the final third, the minor characters are little more than stereotypes (lax young brother, venal bosses) and the comedic elements of the film don't always sit comfortably with the horror aspects (there is, however, a notable exception in a hilarious scene towards the end). But these drawbacks are outweighed by the plus points, which makes Splice an enjoyable experience overall.

Legacy (I) (2010)

Intense and engaging psychological drama

[9/10 · 1 March 2010]

I was lucky enough to have seen Legacy at its world premiere closing the 2010 Glasgow Film Festival, where it was introduced by the producers and the writer/director Thomas Ikimi. The audience was informed of an intriguing production history – Ikimi had to source funding from personal contacts in Nigeria, the film was entirely shot in Scotland but mainly set in New York, and Idris Elba, who was also the Executive Producer, took advantage of his connections in the US to acquire much of the cast. Despite a seemingly infeasible gap between the ambitious aspirations and the miniscule budget, it largely succeeds in sustaining a credible and engaging dramatic narrative centred around a 'Black Ops' soldier dealing with the consequences of a failed mission and his earlier actions.

Elba plays Michael Gray, and his compelling central performance (he is in almost every scene) begins with an armed encounter in which his unit's attempt to tackle a Ukranian-born arms dealer ends catastrophically. Following ten months in a military hospital to overcome the torture that he is subsequently subjected to, he returns to Brooklyn and moves in to a run-down apartment for a period of reflection and contemplation. The impressive, elaborate plot that unfolds comfortably melds action sequences and art-house elements, and moves in a range of directions that simultaneously focus on psychological deterioration, the nature of political success (Gray's older brother is a senator on the verge of announcing a presidential campaign) and the responsibilities of the media.

Elba's robust performance aside, the film also features strong supporting acts (including his Wire co-star Clarke Peters) and some outstanding technical flourishes. I particularly liked the vibrant sound effects, from the deafening explosive gunfire to the subtle resonances that perfectly complemented the claustrophobic apartment setting, and the minimal but effective score. My one minor criticism is common to this sub-genre – an unreliable narrator who blurs the lines between the imagined and the real can lead to occasional frustration/confusion for the audience. It is, however, highly recommended, and a very welcome development for film-making in Scotland.