October 10, 2006
Black Book (2006) ****
Paul Verhoeven's first Dutch film in 25 years, ''Black Book'' is a genuine masterpiece of both the action cinema and the erotic cinema. It’s a story of feisty Jewish girl (Carice van Houten) who watches the Nazis massacre her family, struggles to survive in occupied Holland, joins the Dutch resistance movement and romances a suave SS officer (Sebastian Koch from ''The Lives Of Others''). There is enough plot here for a dozen of films. The pacing is frantic. Cheap thrills and exciting double-crosses are presented with amazing clarity, despite the unbelievable moral confusion that renders many Dutch characters no better than their German counterparts. In fact, by the time Gestapo officers are railing against those who want to "negotiate with terrorists", it is quite clear that Verhoeven isn’t just making a film about World War II here. But moral relativism aside, the film also celebrates freedom, both political and sexual. Carice isn’t just fighting for her life. She isn’t just fighting against fascism. She is also fighting for truth and freedom. And she gradually realizes that those fights are not over in 1945. Unlike other World War II films, where the nightmare always ends with the Nazi defeat, ''Black Book'' presents a much more sober and realistic depiction of post-war political realities. Provocative and incredibly erotic, it is – at heart - a love story between a sympathetic Nazi officer and a Jewish girl who dyes her hair blond, pubes included, to seduce him, and who ends up falling in love with him. It's not your father's World War II movie.
'The Lives Of Others (2006) ****
This little German film by first-time director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck has won an Oscar for the Best Foreign-Language Film. It was an upset victory – the clear favourite was Guillermo del Toro’s internationally-acclaimed ''Pan’s Labyrinth'', a sublime fantasy that won rave reviews, and has grossed well over 35 millions in the US alone. (By contrast, and despite its Oscar, ''The Lives of Others'' has barely reached 1.3 million in the US so far). So why did the Academy voters chose an obscure, star-less German film about Stasi agents in 1984’s East Berlin over a brilliant and flamboyant political fantasy starring Maribel Verdu and Ariadna Gil ? Certainly not for purely stylistic reasons. While well-directed and acted, ''The Lives of Others'' is a fairly modest picture, almost ascetic in its formal restraint and visual modesty. It’s cold, measured and unpretentious. ''Pan’s Labyrinth'' drives circles around it in terms of cinematographic brilliance and visual invention. If a reason is to be found, it’s probably in the treatment of political themes. The two films are polar opposites as far as ideology is concerned. ''Pan’s Labyrinth'' is an anti-fascist diatribe set in 1946 Spain, with Franco’s soldiers as villains and Communist resistance fighters as heroes. In ''The Lives of Others'', the Communists are the villains and the film shows a society that Spain might have become if Franco had lost the Civil War. However, the way the politics are treated in each film is quite different. ''Pan’s Labyrinth'' offers kitschy, cartoonish, exaggerated caricatures of fascist villains, without any psychological depth whatsoever. In ''The Lives of Others'', by contrast, the Communist villains are three-dimensional, complex individuals with complicated psychological motivations and surprising character development arcs. In this film, it’s the system itself that’s on trial, not the people who serve it.
Manderlay (2006) ****
No doubt about it - this is a very provocative film. And unlike its predecessor ''Dogville'' (2003), it is not merely a stylistically brilliant anti-American diatribe, but a rare movie that dares to denounce both sides in the centuries-old debate about racism in North America. Simply put, Lars von Trier's ''Manderlay'' denounces White Americans not so much for being racist, but mostly for inadvertently making the lives of Black Americans even worse by trying to expiate that racism and set things ''right''. As for Blacks, they are denounced for foolishly trying to profit from the white guilt only to find out that it comes with a price far higher than they could ever imagine. The film is set in Alabama in 1933. Returning from Dogville with her father, Grace (Bryce Dallas Howard taking over from Nicole Kidman) finds a plantation where slavery has never been abolished. With the help of gangsters, Grace frees the slaves, and steps into the power vacuum, establishing a benevolent transitional authority. She will teach the slaves to vote, and then hold elections. Soon, she hopes, they will govern themselves. The fascinating thing about the movie is that it simultaneously denounces Rooseveltian liberalism in America and... George W. Bush's misguided ''nation building'' in Iraq. Like in ''Dogville'', the film's highly theatrical visual strategy consists of placing all the action on a sound stage, with chalk lines indicating the outlines of locations - a few rudimentary props - including doors, windows, and chairs - flesh out the action.
A Scanner Darkly (2006) ****
'A Scanner Darkly'' is an adaptation of the famous novel by Philip K. Dick (''Blade Runner'', ''Minority Report'', ''Total Recall''). Like director Richard Linklater's earlier effort, ''Walking Life', it uses the rotoscoping animation technique, meaning that live-action movements of real actors (Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder, Robert Downey Jr. and Woody Harrelson among them) are traced on paper, achieving completely realistic results (this technique was invented by animation pioneer Max Fleischer, though he didn't use it in his most famous cartoons starring Betty Boop or Popeye). The story concerns an undercover narcotic officer and his paranoid drug addicted friends. But the undercover cop is really spying on himself - a fact unknown to his superiors because the identities of drug cops are hidden by "scramble suits," psychedelic-looking devices that turn the user into sort of a human quilt. If this was a live-action film, those suits couldn't be credible, but rotoscoping animation is a perfect medium for it. And the reason the film succeeds so well is the humour - dark, absurd, creepy, understated and full of irony. Highly recommended.
Chaos (2006) ****
There is something both exhilarating and sad here - with his debut feature, Xawery Zulawski, son of the famous Polish director Andrzej Zulawski (''Possession'', ''L'Amour braque'', ''La Femme publique'') has made a film far superior to anything that his father has ever directed. A daring and complex masterpiece, ''Chaos'' might very well be the best Polish film of the decade. It's a story of three half-brothers (their father having impregnated three different women without marrying any of them). One is an anarchist vagabond, another a successful businessman and a third a brutal and fascistic asshole. They seem to represent three different political aspects of the post-Communist Polish reality, but the way the characters evolve is both surprising and very politically incorrect. The old, out-dated assumptions about the Left and the Right get quite a thorough thrashing here, and by the time the film is over, a viewer might be totally confused if a swastika is supposed to be an old Hindu symbol of peace, a Nazi symbol of hate or just a simplified drawing of a hammer and a sickle. Witty, very intelligent, profound, deeply touching and tremendously entertaining, ''Chaos'' keeps the viewers on their toes, constantly surprising them at every turn. The humour is very understated, dripping with irony. The dialogue is often hilarious. The young actors are excellent; their performances surprisingly restrained, even thought the film is anything but.
Scream Of The Ants (2006) ****
Along with Abbas Kiarostami and Jafar Panahi, Mohsen Makhmalbaf is one of the greatest Iranian film directors, whose filmography includes such diverse works as ''Salaam Cinema'', ''Gabbeh'', ''The Silence'' and ''Kandahar''. Unlike most of his compatriots, he is an avid globetrotter, travelling from Tajikistan to Afghanistan to India to film his unique masterpieces widely praised for their startling imagery and poetic qualities. But in a startling departure from the past (not only for Makhmalbaf himself, but for the Iranian cinema as a whole), ''Scream of the Ants'' is an erotic drama. Of course, it's quite tame by Western standards, but it definitely will never be allowed to play in Iran (unless at least 10 minutes are cut from the film). The film tells a story of a young Iranian couple on a honeymoon in India. He is an atheist. She (Mahnour Shadzi) is a believer. Slowly, they soak their souls in the exotic, sensuous and mystic atmosphere of the Hindu culture. The results are quite pleasing on the eye, and often humorous as well (this might be Makhmalbaf's most hilarious work since ''Salaam Cinema''), especially in a starling sequence about an Indian ''guru'' who allegedly can stop the train with his eyes. The brilliant monologue, in which the guru explains his predicament, is both amusing and poignant. But this film is definitely not for all tastes. Its soft eroticism and its unique sense of humour might enchant some viewers (especially those who already appreciate Makhmalbaf's earlier films), but others might be totally put off. This review is an interesting example of a gag reflex that an average viewer (probably more accustomed to ''The Silence of the Lambs'' than to ''The Silence'' of Makhmalbaf), might have towards this challenging film.
Children Of Men (2006) ****
It's impossible to discuss the sophisticated political message of this film without seriously spoiling important plot twists, so a big SPOILER ALERT! for those who haven't seen the movie yet. On the other hand, since many people actually loved the film far more on the second viewing, it could be argued that knowing the twists actually enhances the experience, instead of spoiling it. This is definitely the case with the character of Luke (Chiwetel Ejiofor), the black rebel leader, a uni-dimensional, simplistic cliché of a character on the first viewing, who turns into a complex, macchavellian, and very nuanced villain on the second viewing. The big twist in the story (which actually comes in the middle of the film) is truly powerful. It will probably resonate stronger with former leftists than with anybody else. It's an Orwell-in-Catalonia, Hitchens-on-9/11 moment when we realize that the real villain in the story isn't the fascistic government that oppresses illegal immigrants, but the rebel movement which has just purged itself of its moderate leadership - the murder of Julian (Julianne Moore) right in front of us being a defining Trotsky's-skull-split-open-with-an-ax moment, whose true significance we only realize later on. Many viewers, especially leftist ones (or ''still-leftists'', if you will), will probably argue that the government is actually just as bad (if not worse) than the rebels, who are merely reacting to the profound injustice around them. That might well be true, but is totally irrelevant. The issue is the degree of disappointment. We never expect anything good from the government - they're evil Nazis after all - so when the soldiers lower their arms in the climatic scene near the end, and let Theo (Clive Owen) and Kee (Claire-Hope Ashitey) pass unharmed, that gesture is both noble and unexpected, whereas every time the rebels appear, even their refusal to shoot directly at the fugitives makes them look cold and calculating, rather than compassionate. After all, the rebels were supposed to be our saviours, our hope, and that betrayal of our trust makes them evil in the worst sense of that word. The film was directed by Mexican filmmaker Alfonso Cuaron (''A Little Princess'', ''Y tu mama tambien'', ''Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban'') and its political message closely reflects the political polarization of his own country, where the only alternative to a mean right-wing government (closely allied with an anti-immigrant right-wing government in United States) is an insanely radical, Marxist opposition (closely allied with Hugo Chavez's movement). Whether the character of Luke is actually meant to represent Chavez is quite debatable (Luke is much saner than Chavez), but Cuaron's larger political message - a passionate protest against all radicalisms - on the right and on the left - is crystal clear. And stylistically, ''Children of Men'' is a masterwork, with unforgettable cinematography, outstanding art direction and memorable performances.
Les Anges exterminateurs (2006) ****
Before writing about this film, it is necessary to mention the notorious ''Brisseau Affair'': in 2003, a well-respected and critically-acclaimed French director Jean-Claude Brisseau (''Noce blanche'', ''L’Ange noir'') was charged with sexual harassment by actresses he ultimately didn’t cast for his previous film, "Choses secrètes'' (2002). In December 2005, he was sentenced to a one-year suspended prison sentence, 9,500 euros (US$11,000) of reparation and a 15,000 euro (US$17,000) fine. With this latest film, ''Les Anges exterminateurs'', Brisseau is effectively appealing that sentence, not to a court of justice, but to a court of public opinion, and especially to the movie going public. And he definitely succeeds. In the film, he tells the whole story, warts and all, of how he began to cast young actresses to play in his film, refusing to hire professional porn actresses for roles requiring real sexual acts (lesbian and masturbatory) to be performed in front of the camera. It is a dark and bitter comedy about embarrassment – first for the actresses and ultimately for the director, as he is accused, judged and condemned (just like in real life). Maroussia Dubreuil, Lise Bellynck, Marie Allan and Apolline Louis play the aspiring actresses whose auditions for a film begin to look increasingly like perverse sex games. The director asks the girls to masturbate in public places (restaurants, hotel corridors, etc.) and participate in lesbian orgies. In the process, one actress falls in love with another and the relationship of trust between the director and his actresses gradually collapses. It’s a brilliant film, masterfully directed and acted, and the fact that it tells a true story only makes it more exciting. And perverse.
The DaVinci Code (2006) ****
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