Été 85

A nostalgic French film by prolific director François Ozon.  Not among his best but there is always something to value in his work.  This is based on a British YA novel from the 80’s and is set in Le Tréport on the Normandie Coast, a city not unlike Dover without the ferries.  16-year-old Alex (Félix Lefebvre) is wondering whether to stay on at school or get a job.  While sailing a friend’s yacht one day, he capsizes and is rescued by the dashing David (Benjamin Voisin) who takes him home for a hot bath and a change of clothes.  

David’s mother, Mrs Gorman (Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi) encourages the two boys to become friends and gives Alex a holiday job in her fishing and chandlery shop.  Quickly, the friendship becomes something more and the first part of the film is very much a teen romance – motorbike rides, discos and long walks by the sea.

But we know from the original scene that Alex is in trouble later on with the law and that something very bad has happened.  In what I felt was a somewhat clumsy mechanism, we get much of the story told in flashback via Alex’s writing of it.  This, encouraged by his teacher (Melvil Poupard) proves to be easier than talking about it and can be used the social worker on his case.  In the middle, an English au pair appears, Kate (Philippine Velge) and she also seems to have something to do with a drastic turn in events.

The best part of this movie is the mood Ozon creates, seemingly very much mid-80’s and a moment when gay relationships can start to emerge more naturally, even in a conservative French town.  And its summer with all that implies, nicely captured by cinematographer Hichame Alaouie.  

Both boys act well though Bruni-Tedeschi and Poupard seem underused.

Lots of nods to other French films too.  A disco scene is reminiscent of La Boum and Poupaud was in Rohmer’s summer tale set in a beach town too.

But overall, the film proves to be basically little more than a coming-of-age tale and fails to convince in its attempts to seem like a mystery.

3 stars

Leaving Neverland (Documentary)

As pieces of cinema documentaries are strange fish.  Sometimes, the story is so small or complex or unknown that the director has to work hard to find the best way to make the material accessible to the public.  Sometimes the material is so hot, it doesn’t matter how the director presents it, the subject takes over everything.  This is very much the case in Leaving Neverland, the 2-episode exposé of Wade Robson and James Safechuck, the two men suing Michael Jackson for sexual abuse when minors of 7-14 years approximately.  

Released in 2019, the documentary unleashed plenty of controversy and as I get round to it, news has come through that courts in LA, who had previously denied the men’s request to sue Michael Jackson’s company have reversed the decision and the case will get to court.

As documentaries go, Dan Reed, who directed and wrote this, plays a fairly conservative role with the material.  He builds up the story largely through interviews of Wade and James and family members in part 1 and then extends it to the spouses of both men in part 2 which covers the period from Jackson’s first court case in 2005 which he got off thanks to character evidence from Wade and Macauley Culkin to the present day.  

Jackson died of a heart attack at the age of 50 in 2009.  It is a thorough coverage of the topic from the point of view of the men, strangely sober and covers the thorny issues of why the parents thought it was okay for their sons to sleep with Jackson, a man more than 20 years older than their prepubescent sons and why, in the case of Wade especially, he has turned round from denying any wrong doing to admitting that he was molested constantly. (Some input from psychologists on denial in these cases would have been good).

The pro-Jackson camp claim these men are just gold diggers and should have blown the whistle much earlier but from #Me too cases we know just how hard it is to go public against famous figures knowing your private life is going to be dragged through the media.  

Wade is a successful choreographer and probably doesn’t need the money but it would add to their credibility if they said that any damages they are awarded in court would go to charity.  On the other hand, Smallchuck’s mother, in particular seemed to be a support to Jackson and gave him contention on a daily basis at one point so even though the family benefited from Jackson’s largesse (or buying them off) they did perform a function that his team and family were not providing.

Overall, I would have cut the material by a third – we did get quite a bit of repetition – but it is a valuable film. It shows the power the famous have over us mortals, often blinding us and taking advantage of us as I think Jackson did here.  It also gives us a clear view of the shadow side of people and how the more light one has, the more shadow too.  Jackson clearly did some wonderful things, both as a creative musical and dance genius but also in some other good works.  Nevertheless, he had this other side which he knew was wrong and I believe that he did feel up the boys and commit sexual acts on them.  There are just too many cases that are public now and who knows how many others which have been repressed.  He swore the boys to silence so he knew what he was doing and according to the documentary Neverland was designed to facilitate his being alone with the boys.  Many times, we don’t want to see these things and this has emerged in the case of other pedophiles like Rolf Harris and Jimmy Saville.

Sure, the parents were naïve and perhaps stupidly negligent in their parenting to allow this to happen and that can be a lesson, but somehow these events seemed destined to happen.  Now, our great challenge is to decide how we feel about Jackson.  Can we listen to his music knowing what he is accused of having done? I give this a modest rating as a piece of film but obviously as a work about our morals and ethics it has major ramifications.

3 stars

To Leslie

This indie film by first time director Michael Morris from a screenplay by Ryan Binaco inspired by the latter’s mother, achieved a certain notoriety for the Oscar nomination of Andrea Riseborough in the lead role with accusations that unfair lobbying occurred.  Thank goodness it did because otherwise fewer people would have been aware of Riseborough’s sublime performance.  Bigger name films and actresses were destined for the Oscar win but it is arguable that Riseborough’s Leslie is at the par or even above Yeoh, Blanchett and de Armas.  Critics have hailed her performance and tended to give the film less credit but I would disagree.  This is a very solid well-constructed movie that could have been a clichéd and awkward but which turns out to be a decent moving look at the underside of American life.

Leslie is a Texan whom won the lottery 6 years ago.  Since then, she has squandered the huge sum largely on alcohol and bad decisions and abandoned her 13 year-old son to be brought up by friends Nancy and Dutch (Allison Janney and Stephen Root). 

Fast forward to today and she turns up on her son James’s doorstep.  He (Owen Teague) is now a construction worker living in the city with a housemate.  Despite his warnings, Leslie quickly gets back on the booze and steals money to do so, leaving her son with little choice to put her on a bus back to her hometown and Nancy and Dutch.  They are not best pleased to see her and she soon outstays her welcome and is kicked out again.  As fate would have it, she ends up getting a job at a local motel and is given numerous chances by Sweeney (Marc Maron), the manager who sees something in her and is prepared to give her a chance where no one else in the town will, including Sweeney’s business partner Royal (Andre Royo).

The rest of the film is about her attempts to go straight and get a plan for her life.  It is a non-linear process with plenty of stumbles but by the end of the film, she is on the way.  The story takes place in the south of the US with the cowboy atmosphere all around and a fairly harsh and critical attitude towards people prevalent. Unsurprisingly, Leslie is a target for this criticism – she has no limits and is a pain in the neck but it doesn’t help that so few people will give her the type of assistance she needs.  Country and western classics by Dolly Parton, Waylon Jennings and others give an aural support to the story with their tales of loneliness and woe. Linda Perry composes other fitting songs to compliment these.

For me, Morris manages to navigate these tricky waters effectively apart from a slightly improbable ending.  Obviously, he has great help in the form of Andrea Riseborough who creates a complex, difficult and always credible character.  

She is fascinating in the way she inhabits the character and gives us both reactions on the surface and an idea of what’s happening beneath.  Marc Maron as Sweeney is a find for me and Allison Janney, somewhat cast against type is great as the tough old bird, Nancy. 

 Owen Teague as the helpless son is also convincing.

4 stars

Eismayer

In its story and making Eismayer is not perhaps material for a great film but this Austrian movie directed by David Wagner turns out to be a soulful and classy number that rises above its small film status.

Charles Eismayer (Gerhard Liebmann) is sergeant major in the Army and one of the leaders of a sort of boot camp for young men looking to start a career in the forces.  

He’s quite a small man, but a pocket battleship of drive and anger and as such he is the scourge of new recruits.  In his latest batch is Mario Falak (Luka Dimic), of Bosnian origin and openly gay.

  Mario, who is a bit older than the other recruits is quick to challenge some of the orders and is especially defiant of Eismayer.  Meanwhile, the older man is having problems at home with an unhappy wife (Julia Koschitz) and shy child.  The reason is soon revealed.  Eismayer is gay and in the closet but heads off to screw young soldiers in his free time.  A series of events in the camp bring Mario and Eismayer together and what seemed to be animosity turns into sexual attraction.  

Eismayer’s health is another secret but we soon learn he has cancer and Mario ends up nursing him through and willing him to get better.  The ending is a happy one and a revolutionary one – the two become partners in a civil union and continue in service today.  

I think the main plus about this film is the loving and patient way Wagner treats the protagonists and the story.  It is beautifully filmed by Serafin Spitzer, has good music by Lylit and most of all, the acting and direction are of high quality.  

Liebmann’s Eismayer seems an ordinary man but his behaviour is well explained in his “coming out” speech to his wife.  

In that scene Koschitz has almost nothing to say but conveys mountains in her body and face.  And Dimic as Mario is credible throughout.  A pleasant surprise from Austria and a new perspective on gays in the military and the change in generational attitudes.

4 stars

Operation Mincemeat

Intriguing and true story of how the British concocted a plan to deceive Nazi Germany into believing that they were going to attack Greece, leaving Sicily relatively undefended for Allied forces in 1943.

The deception involved planting a body with secret papers on it in the water near Huelva Spain so it would wash up and the intelligence would get to German intelligence.

Most of the action revolves around a committee in London hatching the plan and bringing it to life with the support of Winston Churchill.  The four main characters who come together for this task are a bunch of somewhat lonely people and romance and jealousy emerges as a sub-plot.

Colin Firth plays Ewen Montagu, whose family have been evacuated to the States on account of them being Jews but his marriage is cracking up anyway.  He has a brother than some think is a Russian spy. Firth gives a nuanced performance of the quality we have come to expect of him.  

His counterweight is Matthew Macfadyen as Charles Cholmondeley, a fairly sad character whose heroic brother recently died and who lives at home with mother and finds little luck in love.  

Jean Leslie, a war widow is the romantic spark between them and a key part of the team.  She is supposedly seeing an American soldier and has bursts of outgoing verve and plenty of inhibitions too.  Finally, there is Hester (Penelope Wilton), the great administrator of the group who holds a flame for Ewen and is a close friend of his wife.

John Madden directs this with pace and manages to convey the complexity and outlandishness of the plot. Nonetheless, it did seem long overall and perhaps a topic that most of us do not care about now despite the fact that the real event was one of several turning points in the war.

Effective British war period drama but that is about it.

3 stars

L’Innocent

Seen on a plane, which is never the best, but I thoroughly enjoyed this film directed by Louis Garrel,

who also takes the lead role.  He plays Abel, a guide in an aquarium who freaks out when his mother announces that she has found love among one of the prisoners in her prison drama classes.  

Initially hostile towards and suspicious of his mother’s new beau Michel (Roschdy Zem),

he soon finds himself proving that Michel is not going straight as he leaves prison but that he, Abel, is himself involved in a heist job – that of stealing tinned caviar.  

He and his friend Clemence (Noémie Merlant, very good) end up protagonising some hilarious scenes in which the heist takes some unexpected turns.  

The screenplay by Garrel, Tanguy Viel and Naila Guiguet deservedly won best Screenplay at the Césars this last year.  Anouk Grinberg is also effective as Sylvie, the mother.

4 stars

Starstruck (series 1)

A delightful rom-com series that I stumbled upon.  Just what these times need.  It has something of Notting Hill, complete with a dash of awkwardness and is set in Hackney in London.  Jessie (Rose Matafeo) is a Kiwi doing her OE in Britain and surviving on shit jobs as nanny, cinema attendant and florist’s delivery girl.  

She shares a flat with the well-meaning but manipulative Kate (Emma Sidi).  At a party, Jessie gets drunk and ends up in bed with a guy called Tom (Nikesh Patel).  She is unaware until the next day that he is a famous movie star and decides that it will never be more than a one-night stand.  

But fate and mutual attraction means they keep bumping into each other and seem constantly on the verge of hooking up properly.  Something always seems to get in the way!  And that’s the way the six episodes go.  

Rose Matafeo is great in the lead role.  She has a natural comic flare and timing without overdoing it or being the cringy almost girlfriend a la Bridget Jones.  That Kiwi down to earth flare for understatement and her expressive face keep things fresh and credible.  She is co-writer with Alice Snedden and there are many genuinely funny lines and some unexpected twists.  

Even for Tom’s character who is more of the straight guy in it all.  Some friends and co-workers add plenty to the mix and in one episode Minnie Driver appears as Tom’s agent and walks away with the episode.

I will be looking forward to the next two series.

4 stars

Mascarpone (Maschile Singolare)

This is a refreshing story from Rome which follows the fortunes of 30 year-old Antonio (Giancarlo Commare) who suddenly finds that his husband of many years wants them to separate as he has a new lover.

Antonio ends up sharing a flat with the mercurial Denis (Eduardo Valdornini) who loves opera, dressing up and is a part-time escort.  Denis finds him work in a bakery which suits his pastry chef talents and later he takes a proper course.  

Although he has sex with both Denis and the bakery owner, the gorgeous Luca (Gianmarco Saurino),

the two encourage him to go on dates and we get to see a whole raft of different characters pass through his bedroom.  

Eventually he meets photographer Thomas (Lorenzo Adorni) who would seem the perfect match but is he ready for a long-term relationship again?

This is a sort of coming of age story with a difference.  Antonio is older but has been sheltered and is now learning things about real life.  

Denis and his cooking teacher Orsola (Barbara Chichiarelli) both give him their wisdom and there are other life lessons built into the story. It is a refreshingly unjudgmental look at a gay lifestyle where having a variety of sexual partners is part of learning.

Alessandro Guida and Matteo Pilati co-direct and write (with Giuseppe Paternó Raddusa) and the whole package is light, intelligent and natural.  

A sort of comedy with a touch of drama.  

Acting is good and Commare conveys the innocence of Antonio well.

3 stars plus

Los Agitadores (Horseplay)

Marco Berger’s specialty is creating climates where ‘straight’ men find themselves in tempting homoerotic situations.  Some act on their impulses, others repress them and others deny the elephant in the room.

Horseplay – I prefer this title to the Argentine version which would translate as ‘The Stirrers’ –  is similar to his Taekwando, a film in which a bunch of men hang out at a weekend house and things keep coming close to happening.

In this film we have ten men spending the Christmas-New Year period at the house of Artur’s family – the parents are in Europe.  It’s one of those glassy bungalow houses set in a gated community with a pool, grass lawns and leafy walks.  The guys are all in their 20s and seem well-off.

The action largely consists of pranks with a sexual flavor: Instagram photos of nude sleeping guys with their hands in the wrong places or bare bum competitions or simulated sex raise the amusement of these rather immature minds and these games plus copious nudity allows us to see a sexual tension emerge – Berger’s pet topic.  

Some get it off with various girls who come to visit while others are obliged to repress their feelings.  Because, despite all the naked bodies and sexual innuendo everyone is officially straight!

To find a plot in all this is not easy but there is a deep vein of a message that Berger slowly brings to the surface as the film progresses.  It involves Andy (Agustin Machta), Poli and Nico.  The former is an easy-going bisexual who professes to a hearty sexual appetite which includes men though women are his first choice.  He has some encounters with closeted Poli during the holidays. 

 Poli (Franco de la Puente) may have hopes of something more with him but is also increasingly disconnected from the tribal straights at the house.  

Nico (Bruno Giganti), is Andy’s friend and they shag a woman together but Nico has deeply toxic views towards gays and senses that Poli is his enemy as a result.  

All this is very subtly conveyed and only becomes clear at the very end by which time many viewers who don’t want to just see eye candy have switched off.  Nonetheless, the topic of this rather adolescent and toxic masculinity is brought up in a few conversations particularly with the visiting women.  Berger’s point at the end seems to be that many young men are no more liberal and accepting than they used to be and that they have a lot to learn.  And at the same time, he takes the opportunity to regale us with attractive nude male bodies.  

A pity that many of the owners are quite limited or obnoxious.  Not a film to be entertained by so much as one to make you think.  Next time, a co-writer who provides more plot and drama would probably help.

2 stars plus