Set in 1981 against the backdrop of the election of François Mitterand to the presidency, J’aime regarder les filles profiles the life Primo, a student trying to achieve his Baccalauréat diploma and become accepted by a group of rich friends. The film proves charming, albeit incomplete. Pierre Niney, who plays Primo, the unfortunate protagonist, engenders the audience’s sympathy despite behaviour which ranges from naïve to deplorable. Primo wishes to fit in but seems unable to take any responsibility for his actions which hurt himself, his friends and his family. Primo lives in Paris, working at a variety of poor jobs …
T.I.F.F. 2011, Part I: The First Man
Based on Albert Camus’ unfinished last work, The First Man is an semi-autobiography, balancing tales of the author’s upbringing in a fatherless home with scenes from 1957 Algeria. The film’s twin timelines succeed in profiling author Jacques Coméry and his time in Algeria during two separate times, the 1920s and the 1950s. Scenes from his childhood and the path that led him to become a writer and make a career for himself are juxtaposed with a recent trip to the country to visit his family and speak on the subject of the independence movement. As Coméry speaks to integral figures …
The Debt
Sometimes, a non-linear storyline serves a purpose. It can unravel a mystery piece by piece and keep the audience guessing. Sometimes, it just appears contrived. In The Debt, the non-linear storyline revealed how a trio of ex-Mossad agents had been living a lie since a seemingly high-profile arrest of a Nazi war criminal. The narrative gimmick also caused the film to drag, separating a clichéd spy story from a more interesting drama. The cast who portrays the characters in the current day are compelling, although barely featured. One of the premises of the film is that the lies told by …
The Guard
I saw The Guard because I was curious as to why Don Cheadle would star in a film with Brendan Gleeson and a number of Irish actors. Cheadle is very selective in his roles and always delivers a thoughtful and convincing performance. The idea of an American/Irish odd couple story could be mishandled by a daft screenwriter but this film must have had something about it to catch Cheadle’s interest. Most audience member seemed to enjoy the film wholeheartedly. The dialogue was witty, the characters were compelling and the story was memorable. Two disparate personalities, forced to unite in order …
Page One
Page One is a documentary about The New York Times as it struggles to remain relevant in the twenty-first century. The documentary originally chronicles how editors debate and decide what should be featured on page A1 although the paper itself later becomes a story itself as it addresses issues such as new media, subscriber fees, layoffs and media ethics. Advertising and classified revenue has plummeted and subscribers are choosing to access the paper online. Blogs, YouTube and Twitter provide a new way for consumers to access the topics that interest them but they do not provide much review to the …
Senna
Ayrton Senna was considered one of the best drivers ever, a wizard in the rain and someone who could push a car beyond its capabilities. He was not a driver who relied on tactics but one who would use his intensity to impose his will on his opponents. Senna combines race and archival footage from the 1980s and 1990s with some voiceovers to paint a portrait of an emotional yet exceptional athlete. Though his career in Formula 1 barely lasted more than a decade, Senna won three World Drivers’ Championships, dozens of races and countless pole positions. He became a …
Cave of Forgotten Dreams
Computer animation and 3-D technology have bestowed upon the public a bevy of blockbusters and dozers of disasters. Some soared atop the box office charts while others faded quickly out of sight. 3-D is capable of more than merely blowing up every landmark in the world; it can also transport the views to locations they would have otherwise been unable to visit. Cave of Forgotten Dreams is one of those films which endeavours to transport the audience where no man has gone before. Filmed in Chauvet Cave, in southern France, a series of Lascaux-like caverns which had been concealed for …
Breakfast at Tiffany’s
In literature, Holly Golightly is a contradictory: she wants everything but doesn’t treasure anything; she doesn’t know what she has until it is gone. In film, she is more of a dilettante, playing the female lead in the first romantic comedy. The book by Truman Capote and the film starring Audrey Hepburn are certainly opposites although I kind of liked both works. Breakfast at Tiffany’s – chosen as a title because of Holly’s proclivity towards daft comments echoed some of Capote’s friends and illustrated in the film when Hepburn ends an evening by having coffee and a pastry in a …
Mindnight in Paris
It seems odd that the poster of Midnight in Paris, a seemingly postmodernist film which glorifies cubist and surrealist art movements, features a photograph of Owen Wilson walking along the Seine River which dissolves into an impressionist painting. Perhaps it is meant as a nod towards the inner conflict experienced by protagonist Gil Pender, a victim of a contradiction in that he is engaged to a woman that he increasingly cannot tolerate. Initially Pender alleviates his anxiety by falling in love with the City of Lights and allowing his mind to escape to a time period which suits him better …
Mystic River
Mystic River is a study in contrasts: the divergence of adulthood from childhood, the distrust between society’s instruments and its constituents, the clash between those who are law abiding and those willing to take it into their own hands. Over the course of two hours, director Clint Eastwood delicately establishes parallels between conflicting groups and how they conspire to cheat people of a positive outcome, or even a fair one. Fate is cruel and does not explain its reasoning but everyone must abide by its consequnces. Jimmy, Sean and Dave are best friends until one day when they are eleven-years …
Super 8
J.J. Abrams (the writer) – like Gene Roddenberry and Stanley Kubrick – uses the science fiction genre as a medium to showcase how humans can better understand each other and their emotions. The trailer for Super 8 features a spectacular train wreck and although that scene is the most violent of the entire film, it is more harmless and generic than it is spectacular. The extra-terrestrial on the loose in the small Ohio town is a textbook example of a MacGuffin and although its true nature is slowly revealed throughout the film, it still receives far too much camera time. Like …
The Tree of Life
Existentialism on film is a risky proposition: while the theme can be incorporated throughout different types of scenes, it is challenging to construct a conclusion that does not ring hollow. Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life debates the meaning of life well, combining a unique method of storytelling with stunning visuals, but wanders slightly into the realm of cliché as it reaches its climax. Juxtaposing concrete scenes of life with abstract visions of creation, real-life moments and natural metaphors, Malick captures the attention of the audience without overwhelming them. On one hand, life is precious and fleeting but on the …
Capote
Capote chronicles the life of author Truman Capote as he chronicles the murders in Holcomb, Kansas which would become the basis for his book In Cold Blood. The quadruple-homicide may have permanently damaged the innocence of the country as the task of researching and writing the book harmed the conscience of the author. The Kansas scenery comes to life, albeit in the drab colours of winter. Instead of a stark conflict between good and bad, black and white, there are many varied interests at play. The contrast between the values of the upstanding citizens of Holcomb and those of Perry …
In Cold Blood
Unlike the film Gangs of New York, which adapted a spell-binding text and rendered it into conventional Hollywood tripe, In Cold Blood enhances the true crime novel by Truman Capote and brings it to life on the silver screen. The events which permanently altered life in tiny Holcomb, Kansas – and perhaps throughout all small towns in the United States – have been the subject of a true crime novel by Truman Capote, a documentary, television movie and the first widely-distributed American film to use profanity. Capote devoted six years to the project, compiling records and minutiae in order to …
Hot Docs ’11
Attendance at any film festival needs to be supported by a philosophy of zero expectations. The tenets of such a philosophy are a hope for the best possible outcome (a memorable screening of a film that would have otherwise been missed) tempered by little emotional involvement ahead of time and no entitlement to anything beyond ninety minutes of entertainment. Grinders seems to be inspired by Sportnet’s incessant coverage of poker events. The tales of anonymous Toronto poker players are balanced with an interview with superstar Daniel Negreanu about the life he lives in Las Vegas. Negreanu has long since outgrown …
Scorsese Retrospective
I decided to catch up with some films by Martin Scorsese that I had not recently viewed in their entirety. Casino: Very similar in structure to GoodFellas, Casino remains an excellent work. The similarities are evident: Robert DeNiro playing a leading role supported by Joe Pesci, a true organized crime story written by Nicholas Pileggi, and a detailed soundtrack which brings the film to life. Brutal violence illustrates how seriously casino boss Sam “Ace” Rothstein and his backers from the Chicago Outfit take the business of running the Tangiers Hotel and Casino in the 1970s. Although Rothstein seemed to have …