Happy Saturday, ladies and gentlemen. Today, we once again bring the review round-up to you fine folks. Today we’re catching up on a pair of films that I simply wasn’t able to get around to and put reviews up of until now. The two movies getting this particular treatment here are independent titles, as you might imagine, and as tends to be the case, they’re quite different from each other. The dueling indies in question are the drama Coda, as well as the historical thriller Incitement. Are either of them worth your time this weekend? Read on to find out what I thought… — Coda Patrick Stewart deserves to get more starring roles in major motion pictures. Even just a small independent drama like this is the sort of thing that he can really sink his teeth into. Sadly, while Coda does have a quality Stewart performance, it...
- 2/1/2020
- by Joey Magidson
- Hollywoodnews.com
The Throne of Loneliness: Kaurismaki Cartoons Christina
Considering it’s been forty years since her last notable on screen incarnation, the time has come for a new biopic on that other famous ‘virgin’ queen, Christina of Sweden. Iconically portrayed by Great Garbo in 1933’s Queen Christina, and then again in 1974 by Liv Ullmann in The Abdication, these are significant footsteps to follow, especially considering these productions are best remembered for their female leads and not their directors (Rouben Mamoulian and Anthony Harvey, respectively). Finnish director Mika Kaurismaki, the brother to world renowned auteur Aki Kaurismaki, aims to resuscitate her provocative legacy with The Girl King, though its use of archaic language concepts (such as ‘girl’ and ‘virgin’) hint at a certain ignorance of both femininity and lesbianism despite a screenplay penned by Michel Marc Brousard (Lilies; Tom at the Farm). A handsome costume drama, this international co-production is more often distracting than relevant,...
Considering it’s been forty years since her last notable on screen incarnation, the time has come for a new biopic on that other famous ‘virgin’ queen, Christina of Sweden. Iconically portrayed by Great Garbo in 1933’s Queen Christina, and then again in 1974 by Liv Ullmann in The Abdication, these are significant footsteps to follow, especially considering these productions are best remembered for their female leads and not their directors (Rouben Mamoulian and Anthony Harvey, respectively). Finnish director Mika Kaurismaki, the brother to world renowned auteur Aki Kaurismaki, aims to resuscitate her provocative legacy with The Girl King, though its use of archaic language concepts (such as ‘girl’ and ‘virgin’) hint at a certain ignorance of both femininity and lesbianism despite a screenplay penned by Michel Marc Brousard (Lilies; Tom at the Farm). A handsome costume drama, this international co-production is more often distracting than relevant,...
- 12/5/2015
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
One of the biggest surprises at this year's Toronto International Film Festival was Jacob Tierney's Good Neighbours. Surprising not because Tierney doesn't already have a reputation as one of Canada's bright up and coming talents - last year's The Trotsky was very warmly received - but because the film is so radically different from anything Tierney has done before. A dark serial killer thriller this is a world away from the John Hughes inspired high school comedy of The Trotsky. We had the chance to ask Tierney a few questions about his latest film, which you'll find below.
For those unfamiliar with the way language issues really affect things here in Canada, can you talk a bit about the setting of Good Neighbours, the political background of the story, and what it was like to be an Anglophone living in Montreal at the time?
At the time the film is set,...
For those unfamiliar with the way language issues really affect things here in Canada, can you talk a bit about the setting of Good Neighbours, the political background of the story, and what it was like to be an Anglophone living in Montreal at the time?
At the time the film is set,...
- 9/27/2010
- Screen Anarchy
Opening with a brief gloomy scene in a mosque and centered on an immigrant family from Algeria, "Tar Angel" (L'Ange de goudron) is a film with a serious message that was not lost on the opening-night audience of the 25th Montreal World Film Festival. To be released here by Alliance Atlantis Vivafilm early next month, the French-language "Angel" should immigrate to more festivals and possibly find appreciative audiences in Europe.
The second sobering feature from writer-director Denis Chouinard ("Clandestins"), "Angel" features French-Algerian actor Zinedine Soualem as a man who has brought his family to Montreal, but the immigration process is not complete and the involvement of his son Hafid (Rabah Ait Ouyaha) in a group of militant activists threatens to derail their collective dream.
The clash of cultures and generations is down to minor skirmishes, but Ahmed (Soualem) is still angry and scared when he discovers the secrets of Hafid, which include a tattoo-artist girlfriend, Huguette (Catherine Trudeau). The two young lovers belong to a group called Crisco, "comrades in crisis," that tries to stop condo-building projects with lively street protests and attempts more dangerous covert operations, such as deleting government computer files on immigrants facing deportation. After one such scheme is somewhat botched, Hafid disappears.
It's the unfeeling, barely tolerant attitude of the authorities toward desperate newcomers that inspires Hafid to join in a risky snatching of passports from officials at a government-controlled airport. Successful or not, the scheme involving a snowmobile raid on the tarmac is gradually uncovered by Ahmed and Huguette, who have joined forces to look for Hafid in the wintry wilds of Quebec.
Indeed, Hafid is offscreen for a long stretch, and the scenario concentrates on the searchers. More mature than she seems at first, Huguette says convincingly that she truly loves Hafid, while Ahmed risks losing his job and tests his faith by following her lead. There are moments of light humor involving snowmobiles, but the heavy-hitting finale has a few too many loose ends that somewhat diminish the largely believable film.
The performances, including Hiam Abbas as Hafid's mother, are engaging, and the cinematography of Guy Dufaux ("Jesus of Montreal") is excellent. The use of Middle Eastern music works very well with the snowy landscapes. Most importantly, although guilty of a few shortcuts and improbabilities, "Tar Angel" -- the title referring to Ahmed and his blacktopping job -- makes its points and comes to swift conclusion.
TAR ANGEL
Max Films
Screenwriter-director: Denis Chouinard
Producers: Roger Frappier, Luc Vandal
Director of photography: Guy Dufaux
Production designer: Mario Hervieux
Editor: Richard Comeau
Costume designer: Denis Sperdouklis
Music: Bertrand Chenier
Color/stereo
Cast:
Ahmed: Zinedine Soualem
Hafid: Rabah Ait Ouyaha
Huguette: Catherine Trudeau
Running time -- 99 minutes
No MPAA rating...
The second sobering feature from writer-director Denis Chouinard ("Clandestins"), "Angel" features French-Algerian actor Zinedine Soualem as a man who has brought his family to Montreal, but the immigration process is not complete and the involvement of his son Hafid (Rabah Ait Ouyaha) in a group of militant activists threatens to derail their collective dream.
The clash of cultures and generations is down to minor skirmishes, but Ahmed (Soualem) is still angry and scared when he discovers the secrets of Hafid, which include a tattoo-artist girlfriend, Huguette (Catherine Trudeau). The two young lovers belong to a group called Crisco, "comrades in crisis," that tries to stop condo-building projects with lively street protests and attempts more dangerous covert operations, such as deleting government computer files on immigrants facing deportation. After one such scheme is somewhat botched, Hafid disappears.
It's the unfeeling, barely tolerant attitude of the authorities toward desperate newcomers that inspires Hafid to join in a risky snatching of passports from officials at a government-controlled airport. Successful or not, the scheme involving a snowmobile raid on the tarmac is gradually uncovered by Ahmed and Huguette, who have joined forces to look for Hafid in the wintry wilds of Quebec.
Indeed, Hafid is offscreen for a long stretch, and the scenario concentrates on the searchers. More mature than she seems at first, Huguette says convincingly that she truly loves Hafid, while Ahmed risks losing his job and tests his faith by following her lead. There are moments of light humor involving snowmobiles, but the heavy-hitting finale has a few too many loose ends that somewhat diminish the largely believable film.
The performances, including Hiam Abbas as Hafid's mother, are engaging, and the cinematography of Guy Dufaux ("Jesus of Montreal") is excellent. The use of Middle Eastern music works very well with the snowy landscapes. Most importantly, although guilty of a few shortcuts and improbabilities, "Tar Angel" -- the title referring to Ahmed and his blacktopping job -- makes its points and comes to swift conclusion.
TAR ANGEL
Max Films
Screenwriter-director: Denis Chouinard
Producers: Roger Frappier, Luc Vandal
Director of photography: Guy Dufaux
Production designer: Mario Hervieux
Editor: Richard Comeau
Costume designer: Denis Sperdouklis
Music: Bertrand Chenier
Color/stereo
Cast:
Ahmed: Zinedine Soualem
Hafid: Rabah Ait Ouyaha
Huguette: Catherine Trudeau
Running time -- 99 minutes
No MPAA rating...
In Competition
Seventeen years after firmly establishing his filmmaking reputation with the internationally acclaimed "The Decline of the American Empire," Canada's Denys Arcand has reunited the film's cast for "Les Invasions Barbares"("The Barbarian Invasions") with richly rewarding results.
Last in Cannes in 2000 with the festival closer "Stardom", a strained satire about the cult of celebrity that took pot shots at an easy target, Arcand returns in top form.
While "Les Invasions Barbares" retains much of the astutely observed acerbic wit that was a hallmark of his 1986 survey of male-female sexual mores, the new film finds the writer-director with quite a bit more on his plate.
An eloquent, achingly reflective taking of stock, the picture is unmistakably Arcand's most personal to date and, coming near the end of a Cannes run that has been woefully lacking substance, it would have to be considered a serious Palme d'Or contender.
Arcand wastes little time in getting to the heart of the matter: College professor Remy (Remy Girard) is lying in a hospital bed with a terminal illness and while his lothario days may finally be behind him, there are still plenty of other things that manage to get him all fired up.
Chief among them is his thorny relationship with his estranged son, Sebastien (Quebec humorist Stephane Rousseau), a very successful financial mover and shaker who has flown in from his London base to take care of his father's affairs and support his long-divorced mother (Dorothee Berryman).
Using his business savvy to cut through a mass of bureaucratic red tape, Sebastien finds that a little greasing of the right palms gets the job done when it comes to getting his father a private room and, subsequently, a regular supply of heroin to help ease his dad's pain along with someone to administer it (Marie-Josee Croze), the junkie daughter of Remy's old friend and ex-lover Diane (Louise Portal).
Meanwhile, Remy's old gang has come back to visit him, with the passage of time finding them older but not necessarily wiser in respect to getting a handle on the meaning of life.
The specter of mortality may be hanging over his characters, but this is no ponderous disease-of-the-week , weep-fest. Among the many subjects that get caught in the sharply satirical crossfire are the Catholic Church, Canada's overextended health care system, labor unions, immigration, and law and order, just to name a few.
Arcand also manages to work the matter of 9/11 into the mix, without its inclusion feeling opportunistic or forced, as has been the case with a number of other recent films.
His ensemble, meanwhile, shines ever brightly. Led by Girard, who turns in a feisty, fiery performance that is more alive than most of those played by perfectly healthy characters, the rest of the cast, including Johanne Marie Tremblay as a non-judgmental Catholic hospital nurse plus "Decline" originals Pierre Curzi, Yves Jacques and Dominique Michel, are uniformly splendid.
Behind the camera, cinematographer Guy Dufaux, production designer Francois Seguin, editor Isabelle Dedieu and composer Pierre Aviat work beautifully in unison to make Arcand's little meditation on life and death at the turn of the 21st Century as aesthetically pleasing as it is affecting.
Les Invasions Barbares
Pyramide
A Cinemaginaire and Pyramide presentation
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: Denys Arcand
Producers: Denise Robert, Daniel Louis
Director of photography: Guy Dufaux
Production designer: Francois Seguin
Editor: Isabelle Dedieu
Costume designer: Denis Sperdouklis
Music: Pierre Aviat
Cast:
Remy: Remy Girard
Sebastien: Stephane Rousseau
Nathalie: Marie-Josee Croze
Gaelle: Marinia Hands
Louise: Dorothee Berryman
Soeur Constance: Johanne Marie Tremblay
Pierre: Pierre Curzi
Claude: Yves Jacques
Diane: Louise Portal
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 99 minutes...
Seventeen years after firmly establishing his filmmaking reputation with the internationally acclaimed "The Decline of the American Empire," Canada's Denys Arcand has reunited the film's cast for "Les Invasions Barbares"("The Barbarian Invasions") with richly rewarding results.
Last in Cannes in 2000 with the festival closer "Stardom", a strained satire about the cult of celebrity that took pot shots at an easy target, Arcand returns in top form.
While "Les Invasions Barbares" retains much of the astutely observed acerbic wit that was a hallmark of his 1986 survey of male-female sexual mores, the new film finds the writer-director with quite a bit more on his plate.
An eloquent, achingly reflective taking of stock, the picture is unmistakably Arcand's most personal to date and, coming near the end of a Cannes run that has been woefully lacking substance, it would have to be considered a serious Palme d'Or contender.
Arcand wastes little time in getting to the heart of the matter: College professor Remy (Remy Girard) is lying in a hospital bed with a terminal illness and while his lothario days may finally be behind him, there are still plenty of other things that manage to get him all fired up.
Chief among them is his thorny relationship with his estranged son, Sebastien (Quebec humorist Stephane Rousseau), a very successful financial mover and shaker who has flown in from his London base to take care of his father's affairs and support his long-divorced mother (Dorothee Berryman).
Using his business savvy to cut through a mass of bureaucratic red tape, Sebastien finds that a little greasing of the right palms gets the job done when it comes to getting his father a private room and, subsequently, a regular supply of heroin to help ease his dad's pain along with someone to administer it (Marie-Josee Croze), the junkie daughter of Remy's old friend and ex-lover Diane (Louise Portal).
Meanwhile, Remy's old gang has come back to visit him, with the passage of time finding them older but not necessarily wiser in respect to getting a handle on the meaning of life.
The specter of mortality may be hanging over his characters, but this is no ponderous disease-of-the-week , weep-fest. Among the many subjects that get caught in the sharply satirical crossfire are the Catholic Church, Canada's overextended health care system, labor unions, immigration, and law and order, just to name a few.
Arcand also manages to work the matter of 9/11 into the mix, without its inclusion feeling opportunistic or forced, as has been the case with a number of other recent films.
His ensemble, meanwhile, shines ever brightly. Led by Girard, who turns in a feisty, fiery performance that is more alive than most of those played by perfectly healthy characters, the rest of the cast, including Johanne Marie Tremblay as a non-judgmental Catholic hospital nurse plus "Decline" originals Pierre Curzi, Yves Jacques and Dominique Michel, are uniformly splendid.
Behind the camera, cinematographer Guy Dufaux, production designer Francois Seguin, editor Isabelle Dedieu and composer Pierre Aviat work beautifully in unison to make Arcand's little meditation on life and death at the turn of the 21st Century as aesthetically pleasing as it is affecting.
Les Invasions Barbares
Pyramide
A Cinemaginaire and Pyramide presentation
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: Denys Arcand
Producers: Denise Robert, Daniel Louis
Director of photography: Guy Dufaux
Production designer: Francois Seguin
Editor: Isabelle Dedieu
Costume designer: Denis Sperdouklis
Music: Pierre Aviat
Cast:
Remy: Remy Girard
Sebastien: Stephane Rousseau
Nathalie: Marie-Josee Croze
Gaelle: Marinia Hands
Louise: Dorothee Berryman
Soeur Constance: Johanne Marie Tremblay
Pierre: Pierre Curzi
Claude: Yves Jacques
Diane: Louise Portal
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 99 minutes...
- 5/22/2003
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Opening with a brief gloomy scene in a mosque and centered on an immigrant family from Algeria, "Tar Angel" (L'Ange de goudron) is a film with a serious message that was not lost on the opening-night audience of the 25th Montreal World Film Festival. To be released here by Alliance Atlantis Vivafilm early next month, the French-language "Angel" should immigrate to more festivals and possibly find appreciative audiences in Europe.
The second sobering feature from writer-director Denis Chouinard ("Clandestins"), "Angel" features French-Algerian actor Zinedine Soualem as a man who has brought his family to Montreal, but the immigration process is not complete and the involvement of his son Hafid (Rabah Ait Ouyaha) in a group of militant activists threatens to derail their collective dream.
The clash of cultures and generations is down to minor skirmishes, but Ahmed (Soualem) is still angry and scared when he discovers the secrets of Hafid, which include a tattoo-artist girlfriend, Huguette (Catherine Trudeau). The two young lovers belong to a group called Crisco, "comrades in crisis," that tries to stop condo-building projects with lively street protests and attempts more dangerous covert operations, such as deleting government computer files on immigrants facing deportation. After one such scheme is somewhat botched, Hafid disappears.
It's the unfeeling, barely tolerant attitude of the authorities toward desperate newcomers that inspires Hafid to join in a risky snatching of passports from officials at a government-controlled airport. Successful or not, the scheme involving a snowmobile raid on the tarmac is gradually uncovered by Ahmed and Huguette, who have joined forces to look for Hafid in the wintry wilds of Quebec.
Indeed, Hafid is offscreen for a long stretch, and the scenario concentrates on the searchers. More mature than she seems at first, Huguette says convincingly that she truly loves Hafid, while Ahmed risks losing his job and tests his faith by following her lead. There are moments of light humor involving snowmobiles, but the heavy-hitting finale has a few too many loose ends that somewhat diminish the largely believable film.
The performances, including Hiam Abbas as Hafid's mother, are engaging, and the cinematography of Guy Dufaux ("Jesus of Montreal") is excellent. The use of Middle Eastern music works very well with the snowy landscapes. Most importantly, although guilty of a few shortcuts and improbabilities, "Tar Angel" -- the title referring to Ahmed and his blacktopping job -- makes its points and comes to swift conclusion.
TAR ANGEL
Max Films
Screenwriter-director: Denis Chouinard
Producers: Roger Frappier, Luc Vandal
Director of photography: Guy Dufaux
Production designer: Mario Hervieux
Editor: Richard Comeau
Costume designer: Denis Sperdouklis
Music: Bertrand Chenier
Color/stereo
Cast:
Ahmed: Zinedine Soualem
Hafid: Rabah Ait Ouyaha
Huguette: Catherine Trudeau
Running time -- 99 minutes
No MPAA rating...
The second sobering feature from writer-director Denis Chouinard ("Clandestins"), "Angel" features French-Algerian actor Zinedine Soualem as a man who has brought his family to Montreal, but the immigration process is not complete and the involvement of his son Hafid (Rabah Ait Ouyaha) in a group of militant activists threatens to derail their collective dream.
The clash of cultures and generations is down to minor skirmishes, but Ahmed (Soualem) is still angry and scared when he discovers the secrets of Hafid, which include a tattoo-artist girlfriend, Huguette (Catherine Trudeau). The two young lovers belong to a group called Crisco, "comrades in crisis," that tries to stop condo-building projects with lively street protests and attempts more dangerous covert operations, such as deleting government computer files on immigrants facing deportation. After one such scheme is somewhat botched, Hafid disappears.
It's the unfeeling, barely tolerant attitude of the authorities toward desperate newcomers that inspires Hafid to join in a risky snatching of passports from officials at a government-controlled airport. Successful or not, the scheme involving a snowmobile raid on the tarmac is gradually uncovered by Ahmed and Huguette, who have joined forces to look for Hafid in the wintry wilds of Quebec.
Indeed, Hafid is offscreen for a long stretch, and the scenario concentrates on the searchers. More mature than she seems at first, Huguette says convincingly that she truly loves Hafid, while Ahmed risks losing his job and tests his faith by following her lead. There are moments of light humor involving snowmobiles, but the heavy-hitting finale has a few too many loose ends that somewhat diminish the largely believable film.
The performances, including Hiam Abbas as Hafid's mother, are engaging, and the cinematography of Guy Dufaux ("Jesus of Montreal") is excellent. The use of Middle Eastern music works very well with the snowy landscapes. Most importantly, although guilty of a few shortcuts and improbabilities, "Tar Angel" -- the title referring to Ahmed and his blacktopping job -- makes its points and comes to swift conclusion.
TAR ANGEL
Max Films
Screenwriter-director: Denis Chouinard
Producers: Roger Frappier, Luc Vandal
Director of photography: Guy Dufaux
Production designer: Mario Hervieux
Editor: Richard Comeau
Costume designer: Denis Sperdouklis
Music: Bertrand Chenier
Color/stereo
Cast:
Ahmed: Zinedine Soualem
Hafid: Rabah Ait Ouyaha
Huguette: Catherine Trudeau
Running time -- 99 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 8/27/2001
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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