BEST FILMS OF 2003
by Mike Lorefice

21 Grams
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu

***

Alexandra's Project
Rolf de Heer

A revenge film somewhat in the style of Neil LaBute's best work (In the Company of Men, The Shape of Things) that isn't what it seems to be and makes the audience complicit in the ugliness. Helen Buday gives a great performance as the middle aged wife who leaves a tape for her highly successful pretty boy husband, his birthday present. The film largely consists of the husband sitting in an armchair watching the tape, but it's very well written and understands how to keep the husband (and audience) glued to the screen. It asks us how much we really know about the people around us, and how our perception of our own actions differs from their perception of our actions. The impact of the film is such that you find yourself looking at your significant other in a whole different light. Though written and directed by a man (big surprise), it's one of the rare films about sex that offers a believable female perspective. Few will be listing this among their all-time favorites, but it's the kind of film that you don't forget, that gets stuck in your gut. [9/21/05] ***

At Five in the Afternoon
Samira Makhmalbaf

***

Cafe Lumiere
Hsiao-hsien Hou

It's great that one of today's top directors has chosen to pay tribute to one of the greatest ever on the centenary of his birth. The key is that the Taiwanese great has not attempted to simply replicate the Japanese master. Instead he has succeeded in getting past his routes and making a very Japanese film that deals with the themes he feels Ozu would tackle were he alive and working today. This minimalist work deals with urban alienation and isolation as well as how difficult the Japanese culture makes it for a woman to function independently. The film excels at certain Ozu traits such as observing human behavior in society and allowing silence to speak louder than words. Hou's concern is that the film look like real life and the actors simply be themselves. The problem is he lacks Ozu's sense of humor and ability to elevate the themes into a universal statement on life. When I watch Ozu I always laugh and I feel he's captured the joys and difficulties of Japan at that particular moment in time. Hou lacks Ozu's liveliness and geniality, so the film seems dull and the narrative is so slight it winds up just kind of meandering along toward nothing. I never felt like I truly knew the few characters Hou presented, much less that they represent so many others. If we can get past Ozu though, this is a quality and successful work. In some ways, the film is more reminiscent of Chantal Akerman's conceptual mood piece Toute une nuit where the characters just wander through the city in real time. Cafe Lumiere makes some general points about everyday life, such as collecting has become an act of compulsion rather than passion. In general it just shows how detached everyone has become, with most of their conversations not taking place in person and not being the least bit notable. The success of the film is the failure of modern life, that no feelings are expressed. [3/8/06] ***

Coffee & Cigarettes
Jim Jarmusch

***

Cold Mountain
Anthony Minghella

***

The Corporation
Jennifer Abbott & Mark Achbar

One of the most ambitious documentaries ever made in terms of the sheer mass of subject matter, this documentary manages to educate and inform on the whole spectrum of dangers provided by the institute that has taken over control of our lives without seeming scant or skimmed. Though enemies of the right such as Michael Moore and Noam Chomsky are featured it's one of the few works that rises above ideology and finally delivers the important argument, the one in favor of all humanity. It examines (largely purchased) propaganda and intrusion that's piled up until it's become "truth", a fact of life, and enlarges the picture, the narrative, rather than being the usual prepackaged polemic. Though arguing that corporations are Frankenstein run amok, a human creation misdesigned to care nothing for the benefit or renewal of humans or anything on or about the earth, except monetarily for the stockholders (which in terms of abundance are the top couple percent even if 50 percent own something), it's less biased and certainly more far reaching in information and opinion than the usual entry. . Corporations always front the idea that the people will hold them responsible for ethical behavior by rejecting the corrupt or harmful ones, but the big problem is documentary has become almost the only outlet for the (any) information, and it's neither designed for quick dissemination (this one took seven years) nor readily available (like anything beneficial to people these days it barely finds an audience beyond those that already understand it's worth). [9/25/05] ****

The Dreamers
Bernardo Bertolucci

***

Father and Son
Aleksandr Sokurov

Conceptual examination and depiction of the interior relationship between a father and his newly matured son, both military men (like Sokurov's father). The title makes you think it would be about a child, but they are near equals with the son (Aleksey Neymsyshev) about to exceed the father (Andrey Schetinin) and leave him alone in a sense because certain fatherly roles will no longer be necessary. Their roles are depicted in terms of what one is doing for the other emotionally not be recreating the actions, allowing the audience to observe from a distance. The influence of his former backer Andrei Tarkovsky on this mystical and surreal work is obvious, as any scene could be real, imagined, or dreamed. In this symbolic and enigmatic world, the father and the son are individuals yet are also one whole at two separate stages of life. The actors are placed and posed to show distance, closeness, and sameness, to externalize the interior relationship. The acting is not at all naturalistic, but functional in depicting their emotional states. Sokorov's film is successful in showing both sides of the relationship, its loving but adversarial nature that's a conflict between want and need. He attempts to show love rooted in the spiritual rather than gender, but any time you have wannabe prepubescent pretty boys flexing their muscles it's hard not to think the film is gay, much less when you start out with clasped bodies and heavy breathing. The soft focus gold and amber tinted look of Alexander Burov's gorgeous cinematography only contributes to that feel. That said, I think much of the point is we should not outgrow or rescind our ability to comfort one another when it is needed. [5/2/06] ***

The Flower of Evil
Claude Chabrol

Claude Chabrol is once again in minimalist mode, exposing the dark side beneath the bourgeoisie's gentile, civilized veneer. Reunited with child psychologist Caroline Eliachef, author of his greatest late work La Ceremonie, I had high hopes but as with their follow up Nightcap, Flower of Evil is another minor work. La Cememonie was class warfare where the uneducated instinctively lashed out, but in ignoring the maid to focus solely on the rich family Chabrol & Eliachef have crafted a toothless satire where the audience looks on perversely as the family's own bourgeois indulgence does them in, leaving the viewer to wish comeuppance was more often right on time. Flower of Evil has some good dry humor about the folly of small time politics due to the ambitious but insincere wife Anne Charpin-Vasseur (Nathalie Baye) running for a office, but lacks the sinister nature the Le Corbeau poison pen letter plot seems to beg for. The author's identity is unimportant, the fact that Gerard Vasseur (Bernard Le Coq) doesn't support his wife's bid and is selfish and dubious enough to possibly have written it to undermine her is. Neither Francois (Benoit Magimel) nor Michele (Melanie Doutey) like his father Gerard, who wishes people wanted to be with him, but despite his jealousy and philandering has no clue why they don't. Politics are largely Anne's escape from Gerard, something to amuse herself with while he scouts for young women to have one afternoon stands with. Chabrol lets the story unfold, not really trying to create a great deal of tension or intrigue, but rather providing a detached observation that sticks to the limitations of the characters. He refuses to milk the gaping gap between audience and character reaction, as the characters think nothing of their history of nazi collaboration and family murder that's dredged up, not to mention the dubious nature of the young lovers Francois and Michele being brother and sister by marriage and probably actually related. They experiencing no guilt and feeling no remorse, so they're bound to fall into the same traps as their predecessors. Chabrol captures the shallowness of the younger characters, but fails to really do or say anything more about them. At best they are as uninteresting as in real life, but much of that is his plan; over time Chabrol has moved away from wit and toward reality, simply showing the ridiculousness of these spoiled brats. Most of Chabrol's films have a big jolt at the end, but this had held back so much that it didn't really pack much of a punch, unlike Ceremonie which led you enough that the surprise(s) were far more credible and impactful. Even without the ending, the characters in Ceremonie were hundreds of times more interesting. That said, Suzanne Flon deserves special mention though for her memorable performance as the spry old enabling Aunt who has been through all kinds of intrigues and may have killed her father. [10/14/07] ***

House of Sand and Fog
Vadim Perelman

***

The Inheritance
Per Fly

***

Last Life in the Universe
Pen-Ek Ratanaruang

Having come to the realization that being with enemies is better than being alone, as even the most difficult and unpleasant interaction provides some reason for being, Kenji (Tadanobu Asano) opts to console a woman (Sinita Boonyasak) for the accidental death of her sister he witnessed moments before he was finally going through with offing himself. "Escaping" the scene together, they proceeding to live in her isolated country home as if they were the world's final two life forms. Kenji hasn't recovered from the loss of his sibling some time ago that, like Noi, has left him alone in the world. As a way of battling the emptiness, they attempt to fill their void with a friendly relationship; difficult enough for a laid back obsessive compulsive and an aggressive free spirited pothead, their problems are greatly exacerbated by the fact that, at best, either the Japanese man or Thai woman is forced to attempt to communicate in a language they are far from fluent in. Though equally coincidence ridden, the tired premise of comically mismatched polar opposites is drained of plot, replacing Hollyplastic cliche with deadpan minimalism, dreamy surrealism, whimsical fantasy, and gentle humor that respects cultural differences. Pen-Ek Ratanaruang's ennui laced film lives in the imagination of his shy, introverted, feeling hiding star, bursting into fantasy interludes such as the clean-freak willing the house of his sloppy host to up and tidy itself. Christopher Doyle begins this meditative mood piece where the characters truly seem to be floating through life utilizing a grim blue-gray color pallette, shifting to a saturated yellow-green as Kenji purges his suicidal tendencies and regains his will to love. What's so striking about Doyle's cinematography is the way he chooses awkward angles to accentuate the distance between characters, accentuating the point Pen-Ek is making through the awkward, inarticulate, highly delayed interactions. [8/31/07] ***

Man on the Train
Patrice Leconte

***

A Mighty Wind
Christopher Guest

Christopher Guest returns to his Spinal Tap roots to deliver the second high quality music mockumentary, this time focusing on a reunion of 1960's folk music groups. Like This is Spinal Tap it's absurd in a fairly credible and respectful way that allows you to enjoy the music if you are into that style. The people are as silly as they are in real life, not more so like in Guest's previous directorial efforts that were hurt by relying so heavily on mean-spirited caricature rather than fictionalized but believable versions of real (silly) people. Even though we laugh at things the characters themselves take (all too) seriously rather than finding the least bit humorous, unusual, or inappropriate, the joke is at least as much on the audience for allowing entertainers to get away with being such ridiculous airheads then on the entertainers for being themselves (and sometimes scheming how to sucker the public into going for them). Any Guest film is funny in more ways than you can count, but this is the strongest of the ones he's directed because Guest and Eugene Levy's writing is better observed, allowing for subtler and increasingly layered gags. [1/2/07] ***

The Mother
Roger Michell

***

Full Movie Review

My Architect
Nathaniel Kahn

In this very personal documentary Nathaniel Kahn, son of highly influential architect Louis I. Kahn, tries to piece together his father's life 25 years after his death so he as much as we can discover who he is and his father was. Similar to Lucia Small's look at architect Glen Small in My Father, the Genius, especially in that both were terribly neglectful of their families. Neither uncompromising artist was successful if you judge success by proliferation or making money, they hated rigid boxes and tried to instead create spiritual works of exceptional character. Louis was the more successful of the two, with his crowning achievement being the capital Bangladesh. Small's work is more practical and would have been a blessing for the environment, but his mouth got in the way and masterpiece, the ecologically sustainable Biomorphic Biosphere, was never built. The big difference between the two docs is Mr. Small is still alive and thus got to know his daughter through the process of making the film, while Nathaniel saw his father once a week if he was lucky before he died when Nathaniel was just 11. The fact that Louis is dead, and his death was very bizarre in and of itself, makes this a more fascinating and credible piece because he can have no input into the film. As Louis was something of a mysterious nomad the work draws comparisons to Citizen Kane for trying to define a life through the varying perspectives of people who knew something about him. Kahn is interesting for several reasons including not having any success until he was in his 50's and having a face that looked like a Lon Chaney creation since he was burned at age 3. One of his former coworkers speculates accepting his face influenced his work, causing him to highlight any "defects" to make them his own rather than trying to mask them. Certainly these defects didn't hurt Louis with the women, the three he had children with all still seem to be in love with him all these years later, and there's a distinct possibility none of them ever had another man. Because Nathaniel was a bastard who was never acknowledged until he showed up with his mother at the funeral, and his assimilated Jewish father also sired a daughter out of wedlock with a different architectural coworker, the film deals with the things that keep people apart. Was Louis so in love with his work that he didn't have time for any of his three families, was it social convention, or some combination of those and other factors? No conclusions are forced on the audience, but the happy part about the making of the documentary is the three siblings who never met when their father was alive seem to become friends, or family. [12/24/05] ***

My Flesh & Blood
Jonathan Karsh

***

Osama
Siddiq Barmak

***

Paloma de Papel
Fabrizio Aguilar

Born into a world where neither side is worth supporting with blind dehumanizing conformity the calling card of both, this Peruvian feature depicts the loss of innocence and youth during times of terror. Specifically it's about an 11-year-old boy abducted by the Shining Path guerrillas. This radical revolutionary communist group wreaked havoc in the early 1980's, involved in a struggle that left a recorded 70,000 dead, but no statistic can ever be placed on the number negatively effected. However, if we can take a step backward the film is basically (at the very least metaphorically) the story of any place where the left and right are blowing each other away and everyone is caught in between whether or not they choose to be. The early portion is extremely beautiful because even though the warring factions are exerting their fear and violence on the small town, the child is naïve enough not to be greatly effected by it. This largely wordless portion conveys through visuals the positive loving way youth view the world, showing the child enjoying the simple farm life. It features spectacular panoramas of the countryside, and highly artistic lighting, even at night (to convey a positive mood, reality comes later). The joyfulness of childhood quickly gives way to the ugliness of adulthood, and the film becomes grim, claustrophobic, and chaotic with the powers that be demanding everyone do, say, and believe the exact same things. Even escaping back to the village offers no refuge because the child is seen as tainted, one side always fearing the dastardly and diabolical plans of the other side, no longer able to trust. The first time writer/director/producer is a former dope opera actor, which explains where some of the scenes and performances go awry, but overall this is certainly a more credible offering than usual. [10/24/05] ***

Raja
Jacques Doillon

***

The Return
Andrey Zvyagintsev

Mysterious, mythological, metaphysical, and allegorical film revolving around a father's unexplained return after a 12-year absence to the perhaps empty but certainly peaceful household of his wife and two boys. The bulk of the film consists of the father taking his two sons on an adventure that's purportedly a fishing expedition. The older accepting son Andrey (Vladimir Garin) does everything he can to get along with the father; his constant sucking up can be annoying and is likely more out of cowardice in the face of power but in the short run it greatly reduces the tensions and eases the reunion. The younger independent minded Ivan (Ivan Dobronravov) constantly questions his father, is completely disagreeable and makes everything into a chore. His behavior is partially due to being annoyed by his brother's method of handling the situation, but mostly because he wants to be sure he can trust his father not to abandon them again. He's content with his mother because she stuck with them, loved them, and kept things together in the absence of authority (there's certainly a metaphor for the decline of the fatherland), and wants to be certain before he gives over his heart, opens up and becomes attached to his father. The father (Konstantin Lavronenko) is a military type bullying disciplinarian who says few words, most of which are orders or (generally negative) evaluations of the kid's performances. His rough tactics don't work with the sensitive Ivan, who has enough problems being picked on by the neighborhood kids. Neither do his mind games (perhaps he just keeps changing his mind), which infuriate the constantly churning mind of unstable young Ivan. Though the dynamite is different there's Knife in the Water like tension that suggests a tragic end is the only one possible, yet that alternates with excitement coming from the challenge of nature and thrill of discovery creating an uneasy and perhaps more unpredictable mix. Andrey Zvyagintsev debut feature looks similar to Russian master Andrei Tarkovsky's with the damp settings and drained color pallet, yet through Mikhail Kritchman's superb cinematography Zvyagintsev evokes nature in an unsettling way that adds to the adversarial relationship between Ivan and his father. Far from a derivative, Return is a resonant gutwrenching work that announces the former actor as a directing force. [10/18/06] ***1/2

Roads to Koktebel
Boris Khlebnikov & Aleksei Popogrebsky

Plot and dialogue take a back seat in this subtle mood piece of an unnamed imaginative son (Gleb Puskepalis) and his penniless father (Igor Chernevich) who are supposedly travelling to Koktebel to stay with the boy's aunt. The father is trying to put his life back together, to regain both his self respect and the trust of his 11-year-old son who has more or less raised himself since his mother died. The film tells the story with the camera, revealing details at a leisurely pace and often simply observing the characters and the landscape. They don't have much in common except they are all each other has, and in a sense the film is about choosing something over nothing. Though the father is teaching the boy, who doesn't go to school, the boy grows increasingly skeptical of his father. Even from the beginning though, he's allowed to have his own intelligence, determination, and independence. The boy is as much of an adult as his father in many ways, and though in some respects he's still a baby the fact that he doesn't fall prey to adult vices like his father does in a way makes him more responsible. The other major difference is the kid has hope, even if it's irrational since he places it all in Koktebel. The exquisite expansive cinematography by Shandor Berkeshi makes the landscape a major character, utilizing long static takes and wide angle shots much like Abbas Kiarostami. Ultimately this film doesn't have as much to say as I was hoping, but there's enough strong points to recommend it to the patient viewer. [4/30/06] ***

The Saddest Music in the World
Guy Maddin

****

Saraband
Ingmar Bergman

***1/2

The Shape of Things
Neil LaBute

***1/2

Shattered Glass
Billy Ray

***

The Singing Detective
Keith Gordon

***

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring
Ki-duk Kim

When it comes to utilizing natural beauty, few films in recent years can compete with this one. Set on a houseboat in a ravine with plenty of trees, and utilizing the seasons as a metaphor for a boy's physical and spiritual growth to old monk, it's quite a calm, serene, and lyrical work. The composition is exquisite and the soundtrack consists almost entirely of natural sounds such as bugs. The storytelling doesn't condescend to the audience in the least. There are very few words and none of them are there to explain the movie, the surroundings and the actions of the characters, working completely in unison, make things self explanatory. It's not a long movie, but it's in no rush, which coincides perfectly with the religion and settings and helps put the audience into the film. After the first section I had a strong feeling this was going to be a great film, teaching important life lessons in a simple yet honest way. There are some valuable truths, for instance, "What you like, others will also like." Unfortunately there are far too few of them and the ugliness of man quickly overwhelms the natural beauty, nihilism once again passing itself off as enlightenment. It's supposed to be a circular work of renewal, but it's more a sadistic film where physical punishment is the preferred method of education. The first section has the Buddhist monk's protégé, then a little boy, learning the damage he's capable of doing to animals when the master torments him in the same manner. I found this to be a worthy lesson, cruel but only equaling the boy's cruelty in a manner that rather than being punishment disguised as "justice" legitimately was likely to keep him from ever doing it again. But as the film progresses Kim's propensity for masochism more and more subs for wisdom. While some of this has to do with Buddhism and I make no claims to expertise on the religion, in every other movie Buddhism always seemed gentler and more peaceful, smarter and less obviously self destructive in its teachings. I'd venture to guess the fact that Kim was raised Catholic has a good deal to do with the end result. In any case, as the film progressed I was less and less thinking about Buddhism and more and more remembering that mutilation and torture were the same problems with Kim's breakout film The Isle. This was supposed to be an about face, but really it was the same crap disguised by dogma. It's worlds better than that vile Scourging of the Christ, as there are certainly things to appreciate for those of us who don't bask in the glory of two hours of torture. But is it too much to ask for a religious film where people gain some wisdom without some form of brutality? Darkness once again overwhelms the world, as even with the wise master to guide him the protégé cannot escape one of man's most inexcusable offenses, murdering his spouse, which ultimately leads to the master killing himself at the end of the third season. Wisdom is not one of the words that such acts bring to mind, much less when the people churning out wife killers then offing themselves are purportedly the "most sensible" members of the race. A few more "wise" films like this and Mystic River and you might be able to convince me I'm an optimist with a high opinion of humanity. [12/2/05] ***

The Station Agent
Thomas McCarthy

Outcasts band together in this loving but hardly idyllic first feature. Peter Dinklage is a repressed dwarf who inherits a rundown rail depot where all the services have been turned off and moves in with neither the impetus nor means to get them turned on. Always stared at if not mocked or abused, he's all shelled up and doesn't talk except providing the briefest answer possible to a direct question. In contrast to this is Bobby Cannavale, the most irritating attention deficient wannabe hipster who won't take no for an answer. Bobby is sitting in for his sick dad at the hotdog stand, which for convenient scripting is operating right next to the long abandoned station in the middle of nowhere. As Bobby has no real opinion of his own and just needs any sort of distraction, he gladly does whatever Dinklage wants, observing trains and walking. Patricia Clarkson is a painter who hasn't got over the death of her child and split up with her husband. Initially, when it's convenient to get the characters to interact, she's a dangerous klutz, but this aspect of her character is dropped as soon as it's no longer needed by the plot (I suppose it could be explained as progress in getting over the death of her son). The film is sloppy with details and not the most plausible, but it has a good heart. There's a few other misfits as well, but generally the film is about Dinklage & Clarkson letting people back into their lives. What makes the film good is it doesn't go for big moments or try to make things exciting. Their interaction is realistic in the sense that much of what they do is rather ordinary (the "dull" stuff that is usually skipped so they can get right to someone shaking their ass) and a lot of the time one of them concedes rather than wants or intends to be there. It's a film that knows how hard it is for adults to make friends, and is willing to stop at portraying that as the achievement it is. Clarkson, allowed to just be, not surprisingly gives an excellent highly nuanced performance and Dinklage matches her as the dignity maintaining deadpan. Mugging Cannavale is too showy, though that's partly his role, but luckily the camera grounds itself in Dinklage calm before things get carried away. This is an extremely likable film that tries to create better human beings. Of course, since it doesn't have a bunch of plastic poseurs serving up a cornucopia of unbridled materialism it's been granted the usual bogus R rating. [11/8/05] ***

The Story of the Weeping Camel
Byambasuren Davaa & Luigi Falornia

A quasidocumentary in the tradition of Robert Flaherty that's a great answer to the plethory of useless superficreality shows. Set in the Gobi desert, the film tells the story of Mongolian herders trying to get over a mother camel's rejection of her precious new calf after a tough lengthy birth, and get her to let the calf nurse. The film rejects dramatic tension and any filmmaking technique or style that would distract. Basically it's a film about the lives of the last few people who don't only take and take from the earth without replenishing it, though even in the middle of the desert technology is threatening their lifestyle, with their youngest son progressively nagging that they need a television. It offers the chance to see humans doing things you've probably never seen before or since, almost a historic film that's happening today in the world that exists apart from the corporate sponsored greed that's served up 24/7. The downside is, as it's not a real documentary, the story is all a bit too cute and heroic (one could envision a horrible Disney remake with English speaking animals and constant plugs for their products), even if far less so than the usual mythmaking. [9/25/05] ***

Swimming Pool
Francois Ozon

***

A Talking Picture
Manoel de Oliveira

Oliveira started out making documentaries then did theatrical pieces. He masterfully blends both styles in this film - utilizing lengthy static takes, non mugging actors, and rhythmic editing - showing they aren't nearly as different as we perceive. Using a history teacher (Leonor Silveira) trying to both learn more for her classes and teach her daughter as they travel from Lisbon to Bombay, the world's oldest director delivers a very interesting tour through what's left of ancient civilizations. Some have thus complained that his gives too much credit to this area - France, Italy, Greece, and Egypt - but the film is really a Bunuelian joke on the folly of man. Man builds something impressive, spreads it generally in unimpressive means (forces it on others), and eventually another group who also wants the same thing, power, destroys the world leader, leaving decaying remnants of the once glorious empire. We see this in the past in every turn, and also in the present, as much as the mother hopes history will save her child from repeating it there's something in the child. Of course, she seems like a good kid and, like most people, is good willed and means no harm, but something makes her selfish without realizing it. The conclusion is startling, though it works because it's another step in our neverending negation. Though history is the subject Oliveira doesn't by any means believe it all, and one of the accomplishments of the film is how he's able to show history and myth going hand in hand, both in the past and in the present. This, along with representing one of the dead empires, is where the three famous actresses - Catherine Denueve, Stefania Sandrelli, & Irene Papas - come in. They are the modern goddesses that people (at least in Europe) know rather than history, but looking past the picture we get of them they are only notable for their ability to communicate with others, a characteristic that's largely lacking only because people don't take the time and one that would perhaps save us from repeating the neverending cycle of negation. [10/1/05] ***1/2

Tarnation
Jonathon Caouette

***

Full Movie Review

Thirteen
Catherine Hardwicke

***

Time of the Wolf
Michael Haneke

Haneke's films are often an attempt to bring a subject constantly exploited by Fear TV (the news) and put the audience into the situation so they actually contemplate it (rather than "that's awful, honey can you pass the butter.") This uncompromising highly provocative film looks at dehumanization and alienation caused by an apocalypse. It's one of Haneke's most successful because the spare minimalist style coincides with what's happened to the characters, what they thought of as life has vanished and all that's left are the very basics. All the contrived backstories and most of the expected scenes are eliminated, leaving formerly spoiled people trying to pass the time and secure the essentials. The film shows the erosion of man because while the have nots can function in this situation since it's more or less been their whole life, the haves are simply lost without their security blankets of money and technology. But perhaps more importantly they are lost without all the stuff that distracts everyone from having to interact with one another. Most films exploit desperate situations focusing on man at his most base, and while obviously there are some awful deeds, they don't get in the way of Haneke's focus on the loss of the self as seen through the lack of privacy. The close quarters don't lead to any more intimacy, but rather they squash the characters ability to be themselves, making passing the time arguably the hardest part of survival. Credible performances across the board from a fine cast including Isabelle Huppert, Olivier Gourmet, and Beatrice Dalle. [10/2/05] ***1/2

Touching the Void
Kevin Macdonald

The remarkable true story of the only two climbers to ascend the 21,000 foot peak in the western face of the Siula Grande in the Peruvian Mountains is really about surviving the descent. By all means Joe Simpson should have died after breaking his leg, but he lived to write the best selling book this documentary is based on that's designed to defend his partner Simon Yates decision to cut the rope. In a sense Simon saved Joe's life, though arguably the only reason he was still around to do so is he was so decimated he didn't have the strength to pick up camp. The story is told by mixing interviews with the three men involved and shockingly effective reenactment footage. Even though we know the end result, it's still an extraordinary suspense film because under such exceptional circumstances how can be made just as interesting. You couldn't plot more obstacles and impossible challenges than these two faced, but the story works so well because there is no reprieve. An obstacle may be overcome, but they don't go back to being fine like in a fantasy film, instead it only keeps the slight chance of survival open. The reenactments are so effective because they stop at allowing you to visualize what the men must overcome. At one point Tom Cruise was going to play Joe in a money version, but at best it would have been cleverly orchestrated gimmicks that lessened the accomplishments by bowing to the majesty of the multi million dollar icon. We never think Joe and Simon are particularly special, talented and daring yes, but the film is inspirational for their perseverance rather than their skill or bravery. It not only asks us if we could have done the same, it allows us to imagine ourselves doing it. Though director Kevin Macdonald isn't a climber, by letting the real participants tell the story and resisting sensationalism climbing doesn't come off as the usual thrill ride for crazy daredevils. Joe looks at it as an escape from modern clutter, and Mike Eley's excellent cinematography depicts how freeing the open space is. The wide-angle reconstruction shots were done in the Andes with Simon and Joe, but the close-ups were done in the European Alps with actors so it's actually the contributions of the real climbers that are hidden. Apart from that bit of awkwardness for the most part they are incredibly credible, certainly more realistic than what we see in feature films. Some of the credibility comes from the fact the actors are really out there struggling in the ice, the difference between the frozen faces here and the greasy glowing painted faces in Hollyplastic thrill rides is quite obvious. Unfortunately, it does fall into the typical superficial phoniness when it comes to Joe maintaining his "perfect" designer stubble despite not shaving for at least a week. This is a good one to show closed-minded people who think documentaries are automatically boring. Unfortunately, because it's not a Hollywood movie it was given a ridiculous R rating for not smoothing out a couple of swears uttered under the most dire of circumstances. [2/9/06] ***1/2

The Triplets of Belleville
Sylvain Chomet

***

Twentynine Palms
Bruno Dumont

****

Full Movie Review

What Alice Found
A. Dean Bell

***

Undermind
Nevil Dwek

***

Young Adam
David Mackenzie

An NC-17 film that's threatening only as a blast from the past. It reminds people of things like when actors and actresses actually looked like human beings and nudity wasn't left to that treacherous stuff called "adult entertainment" that delivers nothing but wannabe juvenile creations cut to exactly the same ridiculous dimensions. Things like when period pieces were something more than Halloween. Things like when thrillers didn't rely on the plot much less a bunch of moronic twists pulled out of a hat or other dark cavities. Things like when mysteries didn't have to be all about determining the culprit. Young Adam is a dark moody existential work adapted from beat writer Alexander Trocchi's 1953 novel. It relies heavily on characterization, which is mostly delivered through introspection with silences and stillness. Ewan McGregor seems to be a harmless and content person; he's the quiet meek guy who wants to be a writer and sits off by himself deep in a book or thought. As the opening image of the swan shows, the seemingly tranquil exterior doesn't mean he's not flapping beneath the surface. Not reporting the accidental death of his longtime girlfriend Emily Mortimer and letting another man be tried for murdering her because he's afraid he'd be blamed sets him on a new nihilistic path of womanizing. In part it's a rebellion against the conventional aspects of his previous relationship and in part it's destructive self-hatred over his own failures of functioning and fitting into that predefined world. He broods over why he's the way he is, why he has nothing to give anyone, what causes his utter disinterest and selfishness. He's so distant and detached he is not capable of anything more with a woman than sex, in his world nothing comes before or after. The initial death is the catalyst, knocking McGregor for a loop and pushing him into a new job on a coal barge and a series of increasingly alienated affairs. However, unlike almost everything else being made today it is not important to the film beyond what it says about his character. I was particularly impressed with the flashback structure, which doesn't announce itself in any way and by doing so seems to take on more meaning by coinciding with the present rather than the usual zigzaging. The acting is of the highest caliber, everything being underplayed so we can understand at out own pace, as well as imagine. McGregor and Tilda Swinton bring a directness and awkwardness, particularly in their sex scenes, that tends to make almost all other acting seem like extremely safe artifice. Swinton is asked to portray different sides of her character to the point if she didn't do it so well she'd almost seem to be portraying two characters. The film is rich in detail yet the mood still succeeds in making it feel empty and the storytelling allows everything to seep in through your pores. [11/21/05] ***1/2