La Vie En Rose

This is of course the Edith Piaf biopic that saw Marion Cotillard win the Best Actress Oscar this year, the first win for an actress speaking in a foreign language for 4 decades. The win was more than deserving - it's a terrific turn in which she manages to inhabit a character so convincingly regardless of whether she's playing her in her 20s or late 40s. This may not be the stretch it sounds, but when Piaf died at the age of 48, she inhabited a body that wouldn't have been out of place in that of an 80 year old. Ravaged by arthritis, addicted to drugs, alcohol and audiences and plagued by heartache and sorrow, Piaf's turbulent last few years are hauntingly portrayed by the 34 year old Cotillard who truly gives an extraordinary performance.

So often, Oscar rewards actors for playing real people simply by doing a great impression of them. Cate Blanchett is a terrific actress but in no way shape or form did she deserve an Oscar for her extended impression, albeit a good one, of Kathryn Hepburn. The level of difficulty was tiny compared to someone having to create a character from scratch, with mannerisms a voice and an emotional complexity that no-one has seen before. However every so often Oscar get it right and their love for 'real life portrayals' isn't misguided. This is one of those times.

The film itself drew some criticism - indeed many critics suggested Cotillard carried it. I'm not totally convinced by this. The narrative is chopped up so much it's as if the script was thrown into a blender and the scenes pieced together in no particular order. Indeed it makes Alejandro González Iñárritu's films, with their characteristic timelines that whip back and forth, look positively linear. Much of this is designed to convey Piaf's disintegrating mind, where associations, memories and even dreams start to take hold of her life. She is frustrated by not being able to recall the memories she wants to, instead remembering things she'd like to forget. But is the film's structure a flaw? I'm not sure it is. It does mean that scenes that would be more poignant later on, are thrust upon us earlier, without us being able to see Piaf's startling decline. I wonder whether it would have been more effective if it had played out in a more straightforward chronology, but I don't think it is a serious flaw.

Perhaps more of a problem is that so much of Piaf life is covered, that few strands or moments can be dealt with in much detail. We flash forward or back so quickly that we never really get to spend much time in the moment. Quite momentous events in Piaf's life a fleetingly shown, and I think the film would be better had the director had not been quite so ambitious from the get go.

There is no denying however that Cotillard is far and away the best thing about the film. Her performance lands her in second place on my 2007 list, just behind Tang Wei, but on another day I could quite easily see myself reversing their spots. The film ends with a captivating rendition of Je Ne Regret Rien. It's poignant and captivating and the perfect way to end a film that may have its flaws, but one that features a star-making turn.

Be patient. It's good.

Enduring Love (2004)

After getting a good Ian McEwan fix with Atonement, I wanted more. Okay, this was on FilmFour and someone told me it was based on a book by Ian McEwan and this happened to be a couple of days after I saw Atonement but hey, who’s counting?

Sadly, this was no Atonement - the film that is. I haven't read either book and am in no place to comment on the literary merits (or otherwise) of either. I really want to read Atonement and also quite want to read this, but the film has not inspired me to head down to my local library to grab a copy.

It’s an absolutely fascinating premise which, again, suggested A+ possibilities. A couple picnicing in a field suddenly catch sight of a hot-air balloon ballooning (excuse the pun) out of control, up into the ether. Containing a small boy. With his grandfather hanging onto the anchor rope. Joe (Daniel Craig) and some other bystanders, including Jed (Rhys Ifans), attempt to come to the rescue and end up floating up heavenwards themselves. Joe and Jed and the grandfather jump but another would-be rescuer leaves it too late. Joe and Jed set out to find him but discover only his body imploded in on itself. Jed then feels an instant, spiritual, connection to Joe which grows and grows throughout the following weeks and ends up leaving Joe questioning his own sanity...

If that sounds like an interesting premise, it is. Sadly, the moment the body hits the floor and the balloon disappears into the sky, things go rapidly down hill. Essentially a story of a bizarre obsession, that obsession is left rootless and ultimately becomes deeply unconvincing to the audience. This is not helped by a below par performance from Craig, who is yet to convince me, and a poor piece of casting in Ifans, who is simply not up to the job of such a deeply unsettled and unhinged character as Jed. The chemistry between the two is poor and the film is ultimately unsatisfactory as a result. Samantha Morton, on the other hand, is typically excellent as Joe’s beleaguered girlfriend Claire. Sadly though the director does not invest enough trust in her character for the amount of screen time she gets to save the film.

A real shame as this could have been genuinely great. Sadly it just ends up being all hot air and little substance.

C+

Is In Bruges worth paying £2 to avoid?

I certainly thought so. After 30 minutes of "humour" that had all the wit and creativity of schoolyard name calling I left. Indeed schoolyard name calling might actually be wittier than calling fat people elephants then getting them to chase you, calling others "spastics" or "retarded" and then saying that someone would tip the balance like a big fat retarded black woman on a see-saw. Noel Coward-esque, I think you'll agree.

Anyway I couldn't take any more, I couldn't believe this had scored 78% on rottentomatoes, I couldn't believe that anyone in the cinema was actually laughing and so I up and left. The car park was free to exit after 8pm. I left at 7.15 and think it the best £2 I've spent this week.

Atonement (2007)

I have to say, I was surprised by this one. Very surprised. Okay, I didn’t expect it to be awful, but I didn’t expect it to blow me away either. But it did.

It’s a little difficult to describe the plot without giving the game away but here’s a taster. Essentially a love story which has to endure a misunderstanding with horrendous consequences, the film charts the lives of Robbie (James McAvoy) and Cecilia (Keira Knightley) as they attempt to get back to one another. I shouldn’t say any more.

The set-up, the first half an hour to forty minutes or so, is superb, faultless, film-making, with the possible exception that the audience is left in no doubt about some things it might have been better to leave them in doubt about. It then loses its way before ending everything pitch-perfect and allowing the tears to flow.

I don’t like, nor have I ever liked, Keira Knightley. I find her performances typically hollow and unconvincing. Not here though. She’s not top five for 2007 quality (or most other years for that matter) but she delivers a performance that is certainly noteworthy, although she is upstaged by the excellent Saorise Ronan, who plays the jealous, confused, spiteful, younger sister to perfection. Although there’s more for Ronan to play with and the character has much more to her than Knightley’s, the delivery is excellent and well worthy of a top five finish.

I do like, and have long liked, James McAvoy but felt a bit like he didn’t have much to do here. Although I didn’t find the two lead characters all that challenging, the chemistry between them was again, pitch-perfect, especially in the first act which fizzles and cracks like electric summer thunder. It’s a shame this wasn’t quite sustained. If it had have been there was definite A+ quality in the material and the staging. It’s not quite there but it’s not far away either and I can certainly see myself returning to it and I don’t normally say that for films like this. This had something about it, that great, indefinable, quality that lingers long in the mind, put there by a quality film’s sinewy tangles, threads and mysteries.

Recommended.

A-

Hallam Foe

Jamie Bell is certainly one of the best young actors working today. Since his breakout in Billy Elliot 9 years ago, which won him a BAFTA at the age of 14, he has gone on to star in 9 films. The three big projects, a Peter Jackson remake, Clint Eastwood war film and a Doug Liman sci-fi film are all interesting choices, even if I'm not a fan of any of them. His smaller, independent choices seem similarly thoughtful, even if some are more successful than others. Undertow is probably the best film on his resume, aside from that breakout debut and I though it a very decent effort. Indeed my colleague rates the film considerably higher than that and Bell, and the film, land on his 2004 year end list.

Bell's latest film sees him star as the title character in Hallam Foe, who lives in a tree-house, wears his dead mother's make-up and clothes and demonstrates difficulty or an unwillingness to accept the that his mother has gone, and that his father is engaged with to a much younger woman. Hallam also has problems with social interaction although one suspects these were present before his mother died.

This is a coming of age story that features a main character with a clear past (credit to screenwriter David Mackenzie), and exhibits quirks not just for the sake of being quirky, but for believable and sometimes touching reasons. Very few young actors can boast the feat of being able to carry a film single-handedly. Bell is one of them and he has again proved it here.

B

Shine A Light

To fully hammer home the dramatic impact of the world's best group playing on a screen taller than 5 double-decker buses stacked one on top of each other, Martin Scorsese, a lifelong Stone fan who conceived and documented the film, decides to precede the concert footage with an 11 minute introduction that takes place on about a 6th of the full IMAX screen. After that short black and white intro: bam: Jagger and co are out on stage in all their 60 foot tall glory, blaring out Jumping Jack Flash on a digital sound system that is just stunning.

Jagger works a crowd better than anyone and the wow factor of the energy he brings to the stage is never diluted, no matter how many times you've seen it. You see it on the reaction shots of those in the front rows - helpless grinning, everyone in awe of a showman who basically careers over every inch of the stage like a complete nutter. That infectiousness transcends from the Beacon theatre in New York to the IMAX in London and, whilst nothing can quite match seeing them live, this was very very close to the real thing.

The old standards sounded great but it was a couple of the lesser known tracks (at least I hadn't been aware of them) that were amongst the most satisfying. Everyone in the band seemed to enjoy playing She Was Hot - Jagger's interaction with the backing singers was brilliant. Watts, Richards and Wood all kill it - it's I think the 3rd track in but it played like the last encore; they leave everything out there and it is quite brilliant. Other highlights included Jagger's duet with Jack White on Loving Cup and a terrific Faraway Eyes which sees Wood enjoying playing a pedal steel (no I hadn't a clue what one was either) and Richards and Jagger delivering lyrics with comic flair.

I don't know enough about music or even the Stones to compare this to other tours, other eras or other bands. What I do know is that I spent so long smiling, my jaw ached; people in the theatre were enjoying it so much they were giving their own secret rounds of applause after each song; and that I have an urge to see them play again right now.

Scorsese is quite clearly a huge fan who has used their music in many of his films as background music or even in place of a traditional score, as he did with his frequent use of Gimme Shelter in The Departed (sadly they didn't have that great song on their setlist here). What he's achieved here is a captivating look at an amazing band on one amazing night. Songs are interspersed with archive footage, carefully selected for insight or comic value. He and his team must have pored over hundreds of hours of news items and interviews to get what they wanted. Scorsese has cut together a brilliant film that is essential for any Stones fan, and highly recommended for everyone else. The last shot with which Scorsese closes the film is quite brilliant too.

A

Movie Years Awards Redux

Some belated Movie Years Awards for last year. Matt has finally awoken from his film coma and supplied me with his finalised year end award lists. Very interesting reading they are too, especially his left-field choice for Best Actor! Check them out here.

I've also rejigged my side of the page as well. Having bought on DVD and rewatched my original #1 and #2 choices for last year (The Lookout and Michael Clayton), I've decided Michael Clayton should get the numero uno spot. The Lookout actually drops down a couple of notches. It doesn't quite play as well second time around. It's still a terrific film, but it has a couple of flaws that hold it back from being the best of the year. I still absolutely adore the A+, 10/10 score by James Newton Howard though. Joseph Gordon-Levitt also falls off my Best Actor list, allowing room for Casey Affleck, who I was actually going to put in for Tony Leung anyway. Now they're both there.

Random American Idol Post

At risk of revealing how sad I am, I watch American Idol. I tend to watch it on the internet and edit it quite heavily if that makes me any less sad?! Probably not, but anyway - there is a reason I am posting this confession. There's a very decent contestant this year called David Cook. This is his version of Mariah Carey's Always Be My Baby. It's excellent.

Oh and by the way I once had dinner with Ryan Seacrest, which is to say I didn't have dinner with him at all, but he was on the very next table to me once in Nobu.

The track is audio only - sorry about the rubbish photo. Very interested in getting Matt's opinion of this. I suspect he loves the original version too much to enjoy this (< /joke>).

More Short Reviews

Music Box

Costa-Gavras is a director of some repute who I have to admit I'd not heard of until recently. He is best known for directing politically charged films, including Z and Missing, both of which won Oscars and were nominated for multiple awards. I rented Missing recently largely because Jack Lemmon starred and received an Oscar nomination for his work in it. The film itself was nominated for Best Picture and obviously was well received at the time. I found it rather dull and Lemmon, and indeed fellow nominee Sissy Spacek, have done much better work elsewhere.

The same can be said in discussing Music Box. Jessica Lange was the recipient of an Oscar nominee for her work in this but it really isn't award worthy. She plays a lawyer whose father is accused of war crimes, and takes on the case to defend him only to learn things aren't as straight forward as they appear. Lange is fine, she breaks down in tears at one point and fights with her father but at no time did I think Lange was doing something extraordinary. Perhaps her character just wasn't interesting enough. Perhaps she hasn't the screen presence needed. Perhaps the story just wasn't gripping enough. Whatever the reason, Music Box didn't hit the right notes. C+

Love Story

According to some reports, and adjusting for inflation, Love Story is one of the highest grossing films of all time. Okay it's not in the league of Star Wars or Gone With the Wind. I'm talking top 40 rather than top 5, but even so, being amongst the top 40 highest grossing films of all time is quite something, especially when the movie was shot for just $2 million. For that sort of budget, being in the top 40 grossing films of the year would have probably been quite an achievement, but this is truly outstanding. The film was a bit of a phenomenon, as well as the incredible box office gross, it went on to secure multiple Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Actor and Actress. Incredible. So surely the film is totally captivating? Not even close.

Maybe it's aged badly. Maybe it just wasn't that good in the first place. Maybe I'm a cynical, hard to please bastard. Or maybe spending 90 ultra dialogue-heavy minutes with two infuriating, totally unrealistic individuals who have about as much charm as a particularly uncharming traffic warden just isn't for everyone. The leads, Ryan O'Neal and Ali MacGraw went on to have startlingly dreadful careers for two Oscar nominated newcomers. O'Neal has starred in nothing of note and racked up an impressive 6 Razzie nominations since, which I think is rather more reflective of the quality of work in Love Story than an Oscar nomination. A bit unfair perhaps, because his performance is certainly not awful, but it is an insult to anyone who's been nominated for an Oscar to see a performance of such blandness being nominated alongside them. MacGraw's post Love Story career is even worse than O'Neal's, although she doesn't have the Razzie noms to boast of. A 14 episode stint on Dynasty is just about the highlight. 1970 must have been a poor year at the movies for such banality to find itself grossing over $100 million and scoring Oscar nominations in 7 categories.

If you want a plot summary, two irritating college students fall in love, spend some time being ungrateful, churlish and rude to his parents, get married before "tragedy" befalls them. It's described as one of the greatest "weepies" of all time. You can probably guess what happens. I lasted 50 minutes then watched the rest on fast forward, playing the DVD only when the great Ray Milland was on screen. D

Curb Season 6

I was a sad young man on tuesday night as it was the last one in the series of Season 6 of - I would say - the best Curb yet. Hilarious from start to finish. It also introduced Leon, one of my favorite comedy characters of all time. The chemistry between him and Larry was pitch-perfect. Genius. Favorite line whilst they were discussing a fake mugging:

"I'll fuck you up Larry."

Doesn't sound funny on it's own. But, trust me, the scene was just about perfect. The whole damn series was just about perfect. And the last episode? Well, that was perfect.

Please please make series 7

Slow Movie Month

It really is. Just thought I'd reinforce the point. There has been nothing that has even remotely captured my interest for weeks. Really want to see The Orphanage but, surprise surprise, it's not on in Leicester!! Maybe Son of Rambow will be next for me.

Have seen quite a few things on DVD. Need to catch up with reviews.

Il Postino

Not sure I've used the adjective 'lovely' to describe a film before but there's nothing else that seems more appropriate. The elegant, simple story, the wonderful setting, the restrained, subtle and superb performances make this a really enjoyable experience. It's a great film that does so much with so little.

The title character is played by Massimo Troisi, who died just two weeks after filming ended. It's a dreadful shame that he never got to see how successful the film, and in particular his performance was. He received posthumous nominations at the Oscars, BAFTAs and Screen Actors Guild awards. All were completely deserved.

Massimo is Mario Ruopollo, a simple villager living on a beautiful Italian island in the 1950s. When a famous Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda (an excellent Philip Noiret), is exiled on the island the postmaster places an ad for a postman solely to deal with the poet's mail, an ad Mario applies for and accepts despite the offering of a wage described as a "pitance".

Mario has no care for money and takes the job principally to meet a man whose poetry he becomes captivated by. He sets about befriending the poet in his own understated, slightly awkward way. The two become close, with Mario inventing metaphors with Pablo's help - metaphors he will use to try and win the heart of the most beautiful girl in the village.

Il Postino was made for just $3 million. It went on to gross $75 million worldwide, including $20 million at the US box office. It was nominated for 5 Oscars, including Best Picture. It won the Oscar for Best Score.

Every success afforded this delightful film is no more than it deserves. It relies on nothing more than exceptional characterisation, realised by truly gifted actors, the principle being Troisi whose death just after filming is a real tragedy. How wonderful though that he left behind a piece of work that will unquestionably be remembered for many years to come.

A-