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The Artist ★★★★★

February 22, 2012 By 2 Comments

Silent flicks with great scores like this are just a joy to watch

Website: weinsteinco.com
Director: Michel Hazanavicius
Lead: Jean Dujardin
Co-Star: Bérénice Bejo
Genre: Romance | Comedy | Drama
Runtime: 100mins
Rating: PG
Stars: ★★★★★

There is a hell of a lot to love in this new flick by Michel Hazanavicius which takes us on a journey into an era forgotten to most. When I get a chance I do like to see a silent flick with live music. The Sydney Film Festival and the Sydney Symphony have both been including such films in their programs in the last few years – and they are amongst my highlights – so silent film is not so novel to me – but this is still great cinema.

The Artist is made authentically as if it were made at the time – complete with it being in black and white and an odd (by modern standards) aspect ratio. It even follows the romantic journey of many heroes of the silent film era.

We meet our ‘hero’ George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) as the film opens.He is a egotistical silent film actor who milks the applause at his latest film while ignoring the remainder of the cast. As he leaves the theatre he bumps into Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo in the crowd of people wanting to catch a glimpse of the star and then again the next day at the studio when she tries out as a dancer in one of his films. He is smitten – but is married – not that this means much.

He star is on the decline while hers is rising – as silent films give way to the talkies. He has to sell off his belongings and fire his chauffeur and almost dies in a fire set out of depression. She wants to help but he is a man with loads of pride and I will leave it to you to discover just how that gets resolved. They are a great screen couple. The both have amazing smiles and eyes and are electric together. There are a bunch of other big names including John Goodman as the studio boss and James Cromwell as his manservant.

The other big star is the Jack Russell who does tricks throughout the film – and the score which is gorgeous. One of the best things about silent film is their use of music – and this one nails it.

Must watch.

IMDb

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MGFF: The Night Watch ★★★

February 21, 2012 By Leave a Comment

While a pretty period piece – its never quite as affecting as it could have been

Website: imdb.com
Director: Richard Laxton
Lead: Jenna Augen
Co-Star: Neal Barry
Genre: Drama | Romance | War
Runtime: 89mins
Rating: NR
Stars: ★★★

The Night Watch was originally made for TV on the BBC but is getting a run in this years MGFF. Based on the novel of the same name by Sarah Waters which follows the WWII experiences of three lesbians, one straight woman and a gay man and boy there is some melodrama here.

The film begins in 1947 before moving back to 1944 and then back to 1941 – in the same way the book does. The film follows a young unmarried woman who is impregnated by her married lover and has an illegal abortion – and is helped by a lesbian ambulance driver at the time of greatest need. We also meet her brother who is a timid young man who ends up in jail after entering into a suicide pact with his best friend in protest of the war – but is unable to go through with it. Then there is the ambulance officer and her former and current lover – loads of entanglement.

It is amazing that they managed to compress the 506 pages into a 90 minute film. While it is probably a little rushed but it is pretty – with a gorgeous period palette. But in the end I wanted more details to really get involved with these characters. Maybe a mini-series would have worked better for the material.

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MGFF: Weekend ★★★★★

February 20, 2012 By Leave a Comment

This is the film that should have opened MGFF – a simple and humane love story

Website: weekend-film.com
Director: Andrew Haigh
Lead: Tom Cullen
Co-Star: Chris New
Genre: Drama | Romance
Runtime: 97mins
Rating: NR
Stars: ★★★★★

OK. So this is actually a flick that has already opened in cinemas in Australia (it was being shown at Chauvel about a month ago) yet somehow it still makes its way onto the program at MGFF. This is a great little film – not without its problems – but still totally enjoyable and I would have liked to have seen it as the opening night flick.

Weekend unearthed some great newcomer talent in a film that really relies on the bond between the two men. Andrew Haigh actually manages to get a great level of emotional authenticity out of these guys from the first kiss through to the end of the weekend.

Tom Cullen is Russell. He starts the night at his straight mates for a party – but ends it at a gay club where he picks up Glen (Chris New – who to his credit has been described by some as a softer Ryan Gosling). We wake up with them the next day and the events of the night are told back to us by Glen quizzing Russell over a tape recorder – he says for an arts project he is working on – his recorded recollection of one night stands.

The chemistry between the two is great. Russell is quiet, works as a lifeguard at the local pool and lives a very basic life with a great circle of friends. He does have a slightly melancholy air to him – something seems missing at the start of the film. The fact that he is gay is kinda irrelevant to the development of the film. Glen is far more rushed and part of that has to do with the fact that he is about to leave the UK for America. Things just seem far more urgent.

Despite it starting as a one night stand the boys are quickly back together and the slow-burn chemistry between the two shifts into the blood-rush of attraction and then on to something more meaningful all the space of a weekend. If only things were more like this. Despite my lack of similar experiences – the film feels utter real and it is shot in a very naturalistic way (although this will just piss some people off). There is a lot of dialogue – but it feels natural in that it is difficult and gets freer as the relationship develops.

Ultimately this is a film about connecting – about tenderness and love. It would be good if more people saw this film to see that gay relationships are no different from their own.

You think talking about sex is dirty? … Gay people never talk about it in public unless it is just cheap innuendo – I think they are ashamed.

IMDb

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The Love of Siam (Rak haeng Siam) ★★★★

January 22, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Sweet and gorgeous – but overly long and way too melodramatic

Website: theloveofsiam.com
Director: Chukiat Sakveerakul
Lead: Witwisit Hiranyawongkul
Co-Star: Mario Maurer
Genre: Drama | Romance
Runtime: 150mins
Rating: M
Stars: ★★★★

The major problem with The Love of Siam is actually its length. At two and a half hours long I found this one dragging on for me – and as a sweet coming of age/coming out story I really wanted to have more patience of this – but unfortunately it was not forthcoming.

So when this film was released in Thailand in 2007 the producers went about marketing the film without disclosing that the principle relationship in the film was a homosexual one. This causes only a small ripple of comment and the film was overwhelmingly well received by the local media – this says a lot about Thailand and shows a few other of our Asian neighbours the way they should be heading.

We meet Mew (played as a teenager by Witwisit Hiranyawongjul) and Tong (Mario Maurer) as kids in a 20 minute long prologue. Mew has just been left with his grandmother after something goes wrong with his parents. Tong’s family is next door neighbours to Mew’s grandmother and soon form a bond after Tong comes to Mew’s aid when he is being attacked by homophobic bullies at school. Mew is actually not old enough to know what gay is let alone have an opinion.

Tong’s family moves away after a tragedy and the boys lose touch – only to come in contact again in their mid teens when Mew is on the verge of signing a record contract for his boy band August. It is fun watching the boys reconnect and Mew is a different person any time he just talks on the phone with Tong – very very sweet. Tong has a girlfriend but nonchalant Tong isn’t putting enough effort in and an ultimatum is given.

So you have dynamics like Tong’s mother trying to ‘do what is right for her boy’, the school gossip and bullies and the poor girl who has the crush on the gay boy. What chance has this relationship got to establish itself let alone flourish? I will leave it to you to find out.

A gorgeous cast but also some great production values and settings.

IMDb

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SFF: The Big Parade ★★★★

June 10, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Website: imdb.com
Director: King Vidor
Lead: John Gilbert
Co-Star: Renée Adorée
Genre: Drama/Romance/War
Runtime: 126mins
Rating: M
Stars: ★★★★

This film was made in the years after the end of World War I and tells the story of an idle young man who finds himself enlisting to join the army after the US joined the war. It is an interesting blend of trench warfare flick and romance which is something you don’t see done well that often. 

Our hero is Gilbert who is not that likeable character at the start of the film. Feeling the pressure of his fathers expectations, his sweethearts suggestions and the peer pressure of his friends – he volunteers or the army at the point when the US joins the war. He is sent to France – where he befriends two other soldiers – who seem to be there just for comic relief. They are the lanking working class dude and the tubby former bar tender. The three become close knit and provide a real bond to the fighting scenes in particular.

While in France Gilbert falls for a girl, but just as they are getting close he is sent to the front and by the time he gets back – injured badly she is gone. I’ll leave it to you to find out what happens from there. 

What ‘The Big Parade’ refers to is the parade of the men into the front and the parade of them out again. This film works best as a war film and the trench warfare is depicted in a way that is totally horrible. I just don’t understand how these men how the courage to walk straight into harms way, with no real regard for their safety. Because of its release just after the war, ‘The Big Parade’ was a huge success at the time and it made John Gilbert a huge star. 

If you get the chance, this is worth checking out.

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