Darling (1965)
Rating: 3/5
The hypocrisy of the privileged,
sexuality, religion, fidelity and abortion are just some of the issues addressed in this overambitious drama from John Schlesinger. Overambitious
maybe, but entertaining nonetheless. The story of Diana Scott (Julie Christie),
a bored, selfish clinger-on, willing to be dependant but not pinned down, and
her various lovers, the film flits between serious issues and flamboyant
artiness. This mix is sometimes uncomfortable, and often misses the mark, but
it travels at such a pace we don’t really mind – like Scott herself, the film
never stays in one place for very long. Bogarde seems bored and unengaged, but in
context this works well, and he is still a riveting presence. Christie is at
times unbearably whiny, and the voiceover grates (some of the ‘clever’ devices
now seem laboured). In all, a mixed bag, with experiments galore, both visual
(with extensive use of documentary-style shots) and structural (hopping around
from location to location). Just sit back and enjoy the ride – there’ll be
something in here for you.
Three Days of the Condor (1975)
Rating: 4/5
Robert Redford is subdued
throughout this twisting, snappy thriller, but Joseph “The Condor” Turner’s
low-key demeanor
doesn’t detract from the suspense, it adds to it. The story of an unassuming
bookworm caught up in a CIA-sponsored assassination plot, Three Days of the
Condor manages to be both playful and illuminating, a fun rollercoaster ride
but one that hints at the darker side of America’s foreign policy in the 1970s.
Today it retains relevancy, and even gains deeper meaning in light of current
controversial military presence in the Middle East, something that Higgins
emphatically denies is being planned. Slowish pace, but exciting intrigue and
strong performances (Sydow is riveting) add up to a satisfying experience.
Bizarre choices of music sometimes clash with the action, but if you enjoyed Klute,
Marathon Man or The Conversation, you’ll forgive it and soak up the 70s style.
In the Loop (2009)
Rating: 4/5
Rarely-heard raucous gales of
laughter surround me: this is something special. Seething, smart satire is
rattled off by an outstanding cast in this political comedy from TV legend
Armando Iannucci. Linton Barwick editing minutes to suit his bloodthirsty
agenda is painfully funny, because its real.
In the Loop impressively treads
the fine line between comic genius and dark satire. Hellish depths of hypocrisy
and corruption are alluded to, but not at the expense of the film’s humour.
Watch Gandolfini heave the burden of war-lunacy on his broad shoulders with
dignity, and marvel as Simon Foster’s personal tragic arc is crammed in –
seduced by power, struggling with morality, it rings true as a bell. Shot with
energy to match its buzzing performers, and sparkling with honesty, this is
refreshing stuff in a world where the media tows the line, and accountability
is a vague memory. Essential.
Hidden (Caché) (2005)
Rating: 5/5
Gripping from the first frame, Haneke eases us into his uncomfortable
world with lingering shots that force us to ponder everything we see. We are
given a question, a half-answer, and then time to think. Our brains work
overtime to puzzle out the unfathomable, to powerful effect. Binoche is a
strong anchor to Auteuil’s superb, riveting performance as the depressed and
guilt-ridden bourgeois TV-man. As he strides the streets of Paris, grappling
with demons from the past, seeking out an unknowable entity, we cannot look
away. Unsurprisingly, Haneke’s confessed aim as a filmmaker is to force an
audience to examine their own reaction to cinema, Hidden certainly does this. My intense
desire for that tantalizing last piece of the mystery to be resolved cannot
spoil the hypnotic quality of this film. Both infuriating in its incompleteness
and masterful in its slow-burn, gloomy density, this is one to seek out.
300 (2006)
Rating: 2/5
David Wenham’s smug, unpleasantly nihilistic narration was just one
of many problems I had with Zack Snyder’s silly comic-book adaptation. Too
faithful to the source material, what worked on paper certainly doesn’t zing on
screen: with an uncomfortable mix of inaccurate historical epic and half-baked
monster stuff, 300 comes across like a clumsy oaf of a film, blundering and
blustering, and ultimately drowning in its own quest for cool. Ideological
qualms aside, the action left me cold. Plenty of spurting computer-generated
blood (in tedious, overused slow-then-fast-mo), but even as Gerard Butler
screams, no real pain is felt – these warriors are shining plastic action
models, not people. A few brief thrills as metal crashes into tearing flesh are
not enough to save it from indifference. At an unnecessary 117 minutes, this is
a brilliant reminder of how even the glossiest of pictures is null and void
without a soul.
The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
Rating: 3/5
As a stony-faced Meryl Streep
strides through immaculate glass doors at the start of this fluffy fashion flick,
we know just what’s coming, and if this is your thing, The Devil Wears Prada
does not disappoint. Nothing revelatory,
but a fun, escapist look at a world in which a grim tyrant can ultimately be
melted by the naïve charms of Anne Hathaway’s sweet wannabe-journalist. Perhaps
Emily Blunt’s English bitch wears a little thin, and the moral message is
over-simplified and clumsy, but these are minor problems in a shamelessly
sugary story. The fashion-concious will lap up the dazzling (or bewildering)
array of colourful fabrics and handbags and whatnot, but there is enough charm
here to entertain everyone else too. While other dressing-up movies (say Confessions
of a Shopaholic) fail because there is
nothing under the glossy surface, this has just enough heart to sweeten the
bitter taste of materialistic overload.
Irréversible (2002)
Rating: 5/5
Gaspar Noé doesn’t want to shock,
he wants to scorch: by the end of this excessive, nausea-inducing mindfuck, we
have experienced a nightmare of the worse kind. In reverse. As the sickening,
wheeling camera settles down for a five-minute rape scene, we are uncomfortable
in our own skin, squirming in the darkness and wondering how long this can
possibly go on. The point seems to be push the viewer until breaking point,
subjecting us to a variety of unpleasantness including a gruesome beating that
creeps into the shaking frame like snuff. As the opening credits start to tip,
one is at a precipice, and as the grimy red light and the pounding bass whines
into gear, we are falling, hooked, unable to look away until the final, insane,
visual onslaught, leaving us exhausted, exhilarated, and dirty. Challenging and
thought-provoking cinema: you can’t enjoy this, but you might love it.
Standard Operating Procedure (2008)
Rating: 3/5
Errol Morris’ examination of the
notorious Abu Ghraib torture is unpleasant viewing, with the ghoulish
photographs given much lingering screen-time. This is important subject matter,
but perhaps Taxi to the Dark Side was
more intelligent, and ultimately more successful in its quest for truth. Here
the impact is dampened by being too grisly – like the zoned-out interviewees,
we feel numb by the half-way mark. Not until the end do we get a sense of how
these young men and women seem to be pathetic scapegoats for an unaccountable
military system whose very policies involve creating chaos and confusion. Heavy
use of reconstruction, and mixing actors with real interrogators doesn’t sit
well but the interviews are powerful – desensitized souls, their faces stretched
like masks, straining to understand their own terrible actions, we get a
profound understanding of how easily soldiers can become psychological victims
of a senseless war.
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