mskirollos Reviews

I'm Thinking of Ending Things (2020)

Unsettling, nightmarish.. among the best in recent years

[7/10 · 6 October 2020]

If there's a writer-director who I'd be willing to watch his intellectual *** on screen for over 2 hours, it'd be Charlie Kaufman (writer of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Adaptation). Like philosophical novels, I'm thinking of Ending Things takes the form of film as a vehicle for a philosophical discourse on loneliness, hopelessness, and the passage of time.

Based on the novel by the same, the film starts with a young woman who is heading with her new boyfriend to meet his parents in a secluded house under heavy snow, and from the outset, we get hints that things are not quite how they seem.

Kaufman does very well to create an unsettling, nightmarish mood that provides a perfect backdrop for the intellectual dialogue, helped by the brilliant cinematography and the muted tones.

Admittedly, the film can feel a bit too long and slightly overdone at times particularly with the heavy subject matter, but the clever intellectual dialogue, the continuous references to other works of art, and the clues that are regularly dropped to paint a clearer picture of what's going on help the film from drowning under its own weight.

From the opening sequence, the vertical frame compositions in 4:3 aspect ratio brought to my mind a personal film favourite from the last decade, Ida (Pawel Pawlikowski, 2013), and was interested to discover that Kaufman collaborated here with the same cinematographer, Lukasz Zal. The aspect ratio helped add to the intense sense of claustrophobia that gets more powerful as the film goes on. Kaufman's film with its mood and heavy subject matter might not have a mass appeal, but it is among the best this year, and perhaps in recent years.

Youth (I) (2015)

Less powerful variation on "La Grande Bellezza"

[5/10 · 23 January 2016]

Following the huge success and critical acclaim of his film "La Grande Bellezza – The Great Beauty" in 2013, a winner of Oscars' Best Foreign Film for 2013 among numerous other awards, a modern favorite of mine and what I think was the best film of its year, the Italian director Paolo Sorrentino's following film is "La Giovinezza - Youth", a film in English, with an English-speaking cast, for which he did the writing. After reviving the Felliniesque spirit in The Great Beauty and the modern, powerful tour-de-force cinematic ride that it was, it was inevitable that the following work, after losing the element of novelty, will never reach the same heights especially with the high expectations placed, unless the writer/director opted for a different style, which he did not. Youth was a continuation of the same theme.

The story follows two old friends, an orchestra conductor and a film director, played by the greats Michael Caine and Harvey Keitel in very fine performances, on long vacation in a luxury hotel at the Alps. They reflect on their lives, as well as their children's and the peculiar hotel guests', contemplating in a poetic way what makes life worth living.

As expected, collaboration with the cinematographer Luca Bigazzi yielded another feast for the eyes. The great cinematography, along with the impeccable acting, is probably what propels the film forward and makes it worth the admission fee. Writing, however, was the main low point of the film, with the bland, monotonic, over- baked dialogue that helped give the story an overall feeling of hollowness and pretentiousness. It is not Sorrentino's first attempt at writing and directing English films, but it can still be argued that a significant difference in the level of writing between the last two films suggest that the outcome might have been better if the film were in Italian.

Comparison with Sorrentino's previous film, however, is inevitable and the parallels are too many. In the previous film we had the ageing protagonist reflecting on the meaning of life and the modern decadence while wandering the streets of Rome and in between raucous parties with his rich, idle companions. Here the streets and rooftops of Rome are replaced by the Alps. A long polemic monologue ruthlessly slating a friend is replaced by one given by Rachel Weisz's character and another given by Jane Fonda's in an impressive cameo. Instead of the Catholic nun, we get a Buddhist monk, where the predictable storyline meant that the acquainted viewer would know before the end of the film whether we will be able to see him levitate or not.

Generally speaking, the film felt less surreal and magical even though it tried so hard at profundity and abstraction, the flat dialogue at most times was not helped by the persistence of the mountainous background, but the film definitely had its moments, the Maradona interludes an example, and the visual mastery and brilliant acting make the film worth watching. This was hardly surprising after The Great Beauty, but I sincerely hope Sorrentino bounces back in his next feature.

Avanti Popolo (1986)

A compelling and well-constructed anti-war film

[6/10 · 29 August 2015]

A compelling and well-constructed anti-war film, that feels ahead of its time specially with the sociopolitical situation in the middle east. It was Israel's Academy Award entry for best foreign film in 1986, and was described by Ariel Sharon, the Minister of Industry and Commerce back then as "a self-destructive portrait of inept Jews".

The narrative traces the surreal journey of two Egyptian soldiers crossing the Sinai desert to reach the Egyptian lines beyond Suez Canal, following the defeat of the Egyptian forces in the Six-Day war in 1967 and the subsequent chaotic retreat.

Being born and raised in Egypt, the obvious issue I found with the film from the outset was the Arabic accent/dialect used by the Egyptian soldiers' characters, and their expressions of fear and surprise, and while this might not make a great difference for the foreign viewer, the second drawback with the dialogues of the two soldiers, which felt too bland and obvious and quite theatrical at times, was sometimes a letdown, specially with the well-written situations where a good dialogue would have been a big addition.

But apart from that, good cinematography that fully utilised the desert background, and interesting sequences specially towards the end, of the encounter between Egyptian soldiers and their Israeli counterparts, made it a worthwhile experience. The powerful humane message of the film and the interesting setting definitely make the film worth checking out for foreign film fans.

'71 (2014)

One of the best British film productions of the year

[6/10 · 9 April 2015]

One of the best British film productions of the year, along with Pride, and the biopics of Turner, Turing and Hawking. I watched this film in London Film Festival 2014 where it had a very good reception.

The intense action-packed narrative follows a British soldier's behind-enemy-lines entrapment over a single night during the riots at Belfast in 71. With breathtaking action sequences and thrilling moments in the deadly streets of Belfast, the film did a very good job in conveying the sense of isolation; being on the run for most of the film time with continuous sheer intensity. However, I had the feeling afterwards that the film could have reached greater heights with more depth for the side stories and supporting characters, one of which was the Irish doctor who saves the soldier's life at some point. A bit of that and more background information could have turned it into an classic that lingered in the minds long after leaving the theatre, and possibly made some of the audience reconsider their stances on what's happening around them.

A compelling performance from the leading actor Jack O'Connell deserves praise, as well as the editing of the action sequences. A film that is definitely worth watching for fans of the genre and those interested in the history of civil conflicts, and a promising debut feature film for its director Yann Demange.

Interstellar (2014)

Nolan pulls it off again

[6/10 · 18 November 2014]

Minutes after finishing the much anticipated and publicised new film by Christopher Nolan, Interstellar, I started thinking how long would Nolan's gripping "directing formula" possibly continue to carry films and awe audience before they grow tired of it with repetitive use. As in Inception, Batman trilogy and other films by the same director (the brilliant 2001's art-house "Memento" aside), the fast-paced editing with heavy, persistent epic soundtrack, the suspense-rich storyline with an interesting dangling cause and managing the climax with fast- switching multiple narrative threads work again in Interstellar, and with the state-of-the-art visual effects it becomes an enthralling cinematic experience.

In a dystopian future, where Earth is rapidly growing inhabitable, a spaceship pilot with a team of explorers set out in an almost desperate attempt to find a substitute planet to sustain humanity. The storyline, albeit average in depth, was once again gripping with suspense from the first sequence showing the future Earth where human life is facing extinction, all the way to the end, keeping the audience on the edge of their seats, aided by the overpowering background music by Hans Zimmer throughout the journey. However, there was the inevitable predictability specially with the fans of the genre and particularly since it is a major Hollywood production following the guidelines of the genre. Hollywood being Hollywood meant that everyone should expect a happy ending, a reunion between the father and daughter in different ages as hinted early on, the same way the lone survivor in a spaceship managed to eventually return to Earth in last year's acclaimed 'Gravity', and during the intense moments of suspense we know they will make it through the black hole to the other side and back (after a team member absurdly briefs the pilot, or rather the film spectators here, about what a black hole is, minutes before the spaceship goes through it). The plot can be susceptible to scrutiny as well once the dust settles and the effect of the awe-inspiring visual effects starts to fade.

An enjoyable spectacle with brilliant visuals and good acting, that can be quite absorbing at times specially if watched on a big screen and even better on IMAX. An ambitious effort towards an epic space film with human emotions. However, unlike Inception, Christopher Nolan's sci-fi/thriller masterpiece, which I still regard as a modern classic, and one of the top sci-fi films of the century whose value will be retained and even more appreciated over the years, and indeed '2001: A Space Odyssey' and even, to a lesser extent, Gravity, I doubt that Interstellar will live with wide audience for long with its forgettable characters and storyline. A cinematic moment or two might survive but not the film as a whole.

The predictability, the over-reliance on certain elements, the somewhat anti-climactic last few minutes, along with a certain lack of depth, undermine for me the suggestion that Interstellar can pose a challenge to the status acquired by "2001: A Space Odysseys", an idea that I find preposterous to in these circumstances. The overuse of Dylan Thomas's poem "Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night" did not help much in adding depth to the script. It remains, however, one of the films of the year and will deservedly be nominated for multiple technical awards this year.

The Cut (I) (2014)

An impressive journey, but less impressive film

[5/10 · 20 October 2014]

Faith Akin's epic tale of hope and survival, set in the time of the Armenian Genocide amidst the Great War and the resulting diaspora all over the world. I watched 'The Cut' lately during the London Film Festival, and found it worth the time in general and definitely had its good moments. It did not go for over-sentimentality and didacticism but rather showed an impressive journey of search and survival. For me, the wide shots in the desert and in the streets of Cuba were special, and there was very good work with costumes and set decoration. Some might argue that Armenians and Turks speaking English felt unnatural but it was totally justified for me.

However, the film fell short in several aspects, and during viewing I constantly had the feeling that much more could have been done with the powerful story that could have greatly enriched and added more depth to the end-product. The poor screenplay dialogue was the most obvious shortcoming in the film, and while its over-simplicity can be regarded by some as appealing minimalism, it remained a huge disappointment. One scene epitomised the problem here, when the protagonist discovered that his daughters were still alive, his friend shouted exuberantly with no more than "This is good .. this is good ". It is possible here that using the English language presented a problem. The contrived ending was, to a lesser extent, irritating as well but the slow camera work saved it. I found a particular scene very interesting, when the Turks were evacuating the Syrian city and a Turkish boy got injured by a thrown stone, and the protagonist's reaction, and I wish there were more of these side stories, like watching Chaplin's 'The Kid'.

In addition to screenplay, several techniques could have added more to the story; exposition by flashbacks at different parts of the journey (some dreams were deployed but to a limited effect), voice- overs contemplating the condition of humanity at the time of war. A good soundtrack could have made a big difference as well, and in such a film I think dispensing of such a poor soundtrack altogether could have yielded a better result and added a minimalistic touch, although of course this would have been difficult with the protagonist speech handicap and the lack of a narrator.

The challenging task for the main actor, to rely entirely on facial expressions and body gestures because of handicap early in the narrative, was met by a solid performance, but could be easily overlooked by general audience because of the shortcomings of the other narration elements.

An impressive story of survival, and a very important yet overlooked subject in recent history compared with others of even less scale, but less impressive film. The beautiful shots and powerful story were not enough to elevate it to the epic legendary status, but it is still worth watching.

Maradona by Kusturica (2008)

If Jesus stumbled, Why shouldn't I too?

[5/10 · 2 June 2014]

Kusturica's Maradona certainly had its moments like the flashback montage during Maradona's drunken singing of "La Mano de Dios/Hand of God" with this family, and the egotistical comments from Maradona can be always entertaining. But there were way too much of Kusturica that ruined it for me; excerpts from his films and his mundane narration had a negative effect unless you're a massive fan of his works.

The irregular narration is more than justified; almost everyone knows who Maradona is and a chronological biography would have been quite boring. I think plunging head first into Maradona's world and Latin American revolutionary sentiment is the best way to get there. Yes Maradona is obviously egotistical and megalomaniac, and yes some of his political views can be easily refuted by a schoolboy but yet the mood can be quite entertaining, and let's be frank, if you were him, watch the film and tell me how can all of that surrounding madness from the outset, all the fan adulation not only in Argentina but arguably anywhere you go, not get into your head.

Worth watching but not a masterpiece, neither in documentary, or sport- documentary, or even Maradona-documentary.