Life Partners

The main merit of this film was to tackle the subject of a girl buddy relationship between a lesbian and a straight woman.  Supposedly set in a liberal community full of dating lesbians, it ends up being a little trite andlomg winded – a drawn out telemovie of sorts.  Leighton Meester, in particular and Gillian Jacobs are attractive protagonists and act well enough but most of the rest of the cast are rather one sided with Adam Brody (of the OC) a particular bore.  Only Gabourey Sidibe from Precious gives us the hope of something new whenever she is on screen.  Can’t get too excited about this.

★★

Betibú

Based on a Claudia Piñeiro novel (she often sets murder mysteries in gated communities), this is an attractively shot tale of a former crime writer who has been hired by the police to try to crack the mystery of a man found dead in his house and whose death seems related to some of his high school classmates also in mysterious circumstances.  Mercedes Moran anchors the central role of Nurit Iscar competently and is supported by Daniel Fanego, an experienced and rather world weary police officer and his new inexperienced boss played by Alberto Ammann.  There are a host of other characters played by many of Argentina’s top actors and no one really puts a foot wrong.  The problem is that the story and the script are pretty flimsy, we’ve seen it all before and though there is some suspense towards the end, there is not nearly enough of that or anything else to intrigue us.  Pity.

★★+

The Hundred-Foot Journey

Lasse Hallstrom has made a successful career in Hollywood with what tend to be schmaltzy films.  This, in the line of his Chocolat, is no exception.  All about the rivalry between a French widow and her 1 star Michelin restaurant in a small French town and the Indian family and their curry place over the road, it is full of messages about our tendency to hate the unknown and the foreign, of working in families, of discovering the gems in the least expected places (or may be truffles in this case).  The photography is fairy tale beautiful and the script forgettably melodic.  Helen Mirren overacts as the grand dame but fails to send it up which is what would be best.  Om Puri is more bearable as the Indian patriarch and Manish Dayal holds the centre of the film together well without being as special as some make out.  Perhaps I was influenced by the artificial colouring and flavouring but I didn’t especially like this ersatz piece of foodie film making and felt it went on far too long.

★★

Gloria

This Chilean film about a middle aged woman seeking a new love in Santiago has garnered awards all over the world.  The story is a common one perhaps seldom seen in the movies: a 55 year old tries to remake her life by going out dancing.  Her children have left the nest and she has years to fill in before retirement.  In her heart she still feels young. When she meets a slightly older candidate and they begin to go out, it looks promising but he turns out to be a weak character who can’t leave his ex-wife and daughters and ends up treating Gloria really badly.  She has to pick herself up and start over.

This film of Sebastian Lello has a lot of honest and minute observation but it is a bit long and drags in parts.  However, as a contribution to the portrayal of this age group it is excellent.  What is the most noteworthy however is the performance of Paulina Garcia in the lead.  Unafraid to do nudes and sex scenes, she has a droopy face framed by big glasses and is able to convey infinite thoughts and moods in one of the most complete performances I have seen for a long time.  The final scene may seem drawn out but is in fact a glorious reflection of her inner state – shown on the dance floor.  I liked much of this movie and laud the director for making it despite a seemingly unpromising subject.

★★★★

Tracks

The story of Robyn Davidson’s trek across Australia with a dog and some camels, this super Nat Geo story has finally made the big screen.  Mia Wasikowska is the local actress given this plum role.  Trouble is that apart from the scenery of the Australian bush/outback, there is little to get excited about in this film.  Some cool scenes but generally a sense of going through the motions.  Mia W is OK but nothing special and on the whole the film tends to be a bit long even if we are curious to see how she copes with this amazing trek.  Another well intentioned piece that doesn’t quite make it.

★★+

Después de Lucia

Undeniably powerful by the end but often slow moving, this Mexican film is about the slow insidious build up of bullying and the failure of those around to do anything to stop it.  Alejandra comes to a new school in a new town after the death of her mum in a car crash.  Dad, a chef, is not coping so well and misses the warning signs as Alejandra starts to get used and abused by her new schoolmates who are spoilt kids from monied middle class backgrounds.  The actual story has some non-sequiturs but it shows the absence of authority and the difficulty many people have to report or detect bullying and I guess the message is clear in the end.  If the police, state, authorities and adults don’t take action, individuals take the law into their own hands.

Sad story all round, quite effectively filmed but not a great film.  Tessa Ia is good in the lead role with shades of Ines Efron.

★★+

Map to the Stars

Decidedly unlikeable people populate this movie which is par for the course for David Cronenberg.  That it be a sort of indictment on Hollywood adds more grist to the mill.  The story of a sick Hollywood family through and through (father is a successful personal life coach on TV all the time and creepily played by John Cusack.  He’s married to his sister and they have two children: Agatha, a completely deranged burns victim with plenty of criminal action and deliria to boot.  Mia Wasikowska does another of her weird roles here.  Evan Bird, the thirteen year old on is back from rehab and is a precocious bastard in the line of a charm free Justin Bieber.)

Agatha is back in town to make amends and ends up working as a chore whore for Havana Segrand, magnificently played by Julianne Moore.  Prize bitch and pathetic victim of child abuse and falling ratings she wants to play her own mother in a film, the mother having died young in a fire.  The psycho side of the ledger is full up, the jibes at the talentless and needy egos are constant and while the acting is good, it gets to be all too much by the end. I just wanted it to finish.

★★+

Post Mortem

Pablo Larrain is, I have decided, the one charged with drawing out the shadow side of Chilean society in local film.  His films operate on various levels and this is no exception.  It is a portrait of a period and Larrain does this era of the dictatorship very well with much detail as to cars, décor and props.  It is a psychological thriller with his pet actor Alfredo Castro providing another creepy performance as the morgue assistant who ends up acting with ulterior motives.  It is an indictment of the military period and in this film the scenes of corpses piling up in the morgue as demonstrators are bumped off by security forces is chilling.  Not to mention the grim resolve of many to carry on regardless even if some have a break down. Finally it is a commentary on Chilean society and the Chilean psyche as well.  What are they repressing?  How do they handle these moments? How much of the violence comes out and how much stays in?

As a reconstruction of history the film has lots to tell us and offers much to reflect on.  As a film to see in the cinema it is bleak and oppressive, not easy despite the merits it has.

★★★

All is Lost

Finally got to this film which was doing the rounds at Oscars time.  It is Life of Pi reduced to the power of one.  No tiger, no magic islands, just Robert Redford alone on a sinking yacht in the middle of nowhere.  Rather like meditation, the first part seems slow and unconvincing and before you know it you are hooked and absorbed.  Not because the day to day salvage efforts of Our Man Redford are in any way interesting but because it is a portrait of man facing death and his will to survive. Redford brings all his experience to this almost word-free film but like other veterans manages to convey so much.  The look on his face when the yacht finally sinks and several other scenes such as the close call with container ships are testimony to his great ability to convey inner sensations.  And of course casting Redford a cinema hero of the US in the last 45 years brings its own angle to this story.  J C Chandor directs well and gives us a simple story that is so rich in depth and shorn of any unnecessary extras.  An old man and the sea far simpler than Hemingway and just as powerful.

★★★★ +

Praia do Futuro

Uneven story about a lifesaver from Fortaleza (Wagner Moura) who falls in love with a German tourist (Clemens Schick) who has just lost his partner to a drowning incident.  Later on the Brazilian goes to live with Konrad in Germany and finds it cold and far from the sea.  In a 3^rd chapter, the younger brother Ayrton (Jesuita Barbosa) comes from Brazil to find out what happened to the brother who abandoned his family.  Great photography and some very poignant memorable scenes despite the lack of dialogue.  Sound issues impede us hearing all the dialogue in parts. An interesting but ultimately disappointing effort by Karim Ainouz.

★★