Dawn_Assayas Reviews

The Canyons (2013)

Paul Shrader's THE CANYONS is actually a pretty good film!

[10 August 2013]

It's the year of rutting apparently. Big name acclaimed directors are making B films - Refn's Only God Forgives and Shrader's The Canyons but the works are alive with cinematic life.

Let's not be snooty about the specifics of how a film was made or who is in it or who made it. If any of that influences your opinion, it is prejudice. The proof of the pudding is in the eating and watch the film and then form your opinion.

The script by noted misanthropist Bret Easton Ellis is actually pretty good as it lays out a web of lies and deceit that swirl amongst its compact and well defined set of characters. All are extremely vapid and soulless, all of these people have sold their souls, they are the so called "Hollywood" people that this film wanted to satirize and the film at least successfully nails the inhumanity or the disconnection that can entrenched in people when they suffer from ennui. Think Michangelo's L'Avventura but without a PHD degree.

At the center of this web, we have a genuinely sympathetic turn by Lindsay Lohan who gives a strong performance as a lost soul who at least had a shred of decency that the other characters lacked.

James Deen, the porn star, is actually used for his acting and delivers a dead eyes performance not unlike that of Christian Bale in American Psycho. He's another one of Ellis grade A psychos.

Perhaps surprisingly, another lead emerges in the film in the form of Nolan Funk who also gives a good performance as the other lost soul caught in this unwilling game of cat and mouse.

The direction is strong and the film is indeed well shot and credibly performed. There is a looseness about the enterprise that befits the picture and I am sure is entirely intentional. There is almost a reluctance in the film-making for tightness or neatness and perhaps a rigorous embrace of casualness that some people might mistake for amateurish film-making.

A tight and perhaps what is called an A picture could be made out of this - it would have higher production values and a bigger name cast, but that would be besides the point - THAT would have been ordinary. In its current form is the film truly what it wants to be, a completely non precious portrayal of an industry and culture in the grip of vapidity and mental shutdown.

The resolution of the script didn't quite please me but as the film stands, the film is competently made and absolutely worth your time.

On Tour (2010)

Glorious dramedy from Frech Super-Star Amalric

[25 October 2010]

I loved this film. This glorious film is moving and hilarious by turns as it narrates the misadventures of a troop of five aging American burlesque dancers(they are actual strippers all making their motion picture debut) and their acerbic manager (Amalric in perhaps the performance of his career) as they tour France with their risqué show.

The dialogue which includes English spoken around the 5 American performers and French for the rest of the characters is realistic and witty. The screenplay is very loose and allows for lots of digressing interludes which are endearing. There are many burlesque acts shown in full in the movie and they are very entertaining.

The movie is bawdy with the dancers often behaving in a loud crass way and of course there's plenty of nudity, on stage and off stage, but the entire film and its performances are just so genial and ingratiating that you can't help but have a good time at the cinemas.

ONE OF THE BEST FILMS OF THE YEAR. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

The Experiment (2010)

Middling Second Rate Drama from Denmark

[25 October 2010]

The movie defaults on exposition early on as it is explicitly states its entire theme in bold letters in 3 - 4 paragraphs displayed before the beginning of the film. What we get after that is a decently lensed but horribly scripted drama that is extremely confused about its own intentions.

The child actors are very good indeed but the lead performance by the actress playing Gert was horrible as well, one moment dominatrix, another moment motherly, it was all unconvincing as hell.

The entire drama was so vague but so on-the-nose about its theme (WE WRONGED GREENLAND) it was actually infuriating. Avoid at all costs.

Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962)

Subtle And Sublime

[13 May 2006]

This is not only one of the best Hindi films that I have ever seen, it is also one of the greatest movies I have seen.

But first things first, MEENA KUMARI, a queen among beautiful women, looks so breath-taking, sometimes you really have to catch your breath and stop staring at her face in wonder. The soft sensuality of her sari clad figure is unparalleled. Which other women I say, clothed from head to feet , can look so alluring, beguiling, mysterious, lovable. The movie with lush black and white cinematography showcases her spell binding beauty flawlessly. My oh my, the scene where she first appears on the screen, some half an hour into the film, we see her from the feet upwards and hear her beautiful voice that could have anything from any man in the world. From the first instant, she wins your heart and your heart goes out to her as the inevitable tragedy unfolds.

Set in the affluent house of high society Bengal Family, the story tells the tale of ruin of a household when all the people in the house are blinded by their many conflicting ambitions. Of particular interest to us is the story of the servant Bhoothnath(Guru Dutt) who falls in love with his mistress, the enigmatic Choti Bahu(Meena Kumari), wife of the youngest wayward son (Rehman)in the house who spends most of his time drinking at whore-houses. The ploys employed by the young wife with the help of the faithful and loyal servant to bring her husband lead nowhere. Soon she to turns alcoholic and very soon has her own problems with the bottle to add to the troubles. All the men in the house blinded by joys of money ignore the family business completely which ultimately brings about the the ruin of the house.

The movie also has the wonderful subplot of Bhoothnath and Jaba(Waheeda Rehman), another beautiful and gifted actress. Their little tale also unfolds with the tragedy occurring in the big house.

All in all, an outstanding movies comparable to Citizen Kane, Casblanca, Sunset Boulevard and All Aboue Eve for the style, narration, and of course superb acting all around. Particularly by the amazing Meena Kumari, who excels in her drunken outbursts towards the end of the movie. The ending of the movie is also sublime. Go watch the movie tho know what great movies are capable off. This is a gem produced in India that is not widely discovered and acknowledged.

Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999)

simply outstanding

[6 January 2006]

Yes. Simply Outstanding. This is truly one of the best Bollywood movies to come out in a long, long time. A great commercial hit back in our India, it also swept all the major awards. Though I'm from India where Bollywood movies are compulsory watching, I dislike them for their absurdity but this film has me raving about it. Its simply fabulous.

Set in western India in a prosperous Gujarti household overflowing with people, lives Nandini, our heroine (the beautiful Ashwariya Rai), daughter of a renowned singer Pandit Durbar. Sameer (Salman Khan), a handsome young Italian who comes to learn classical music from the Pandit falls in love with his daughter. As the movie enfolds, we watch the beautifully enacted comedy of the star crossed lovers. But once the father comes to know, all hell breaks loose. Sameer is thrown out of the house, Nandini's heart is broken and she is married of to a young, respectable and well mannered suitor Vanraj (Ajay Devgan) who truly loves her but is detested by Nandini. But the husband also discovers about the affair, is heartbroken too, but decides to take Nandini to Italy to meet her lover.

As the plot moves to Italy (Hungary actually, which the director would have us believe as Italy), we are engaged in Nandini's and Vanraj's troubles of living in a foreign country, finding Sameer and living with each other. As she searches for her love, Nandini comes to know her husband and how much he truly loves her and realizes his grief and sense of loss in losing her. When she finally does find Sameer, she's torn between the two and must choose one of the them and break the heart of the other.

This is Bollywood at its best. Here the wonderful music that goes with this film, it underlines each scene with its sparkling melody. Also the set pieces are lavishly mounted and the music numbers burst upon the seen. The movie is also very beautifully shot.

This movie also captures Ashwariya Rai at her best. She is miraculously beautiful and lights up the screen whenever she's on it. All in all a must watch Bollywood affair. Iwould also recommend the same director's (Sanjay Leela Bhansali) Black, which is the story of a dumb, deaf and blind girl.