Reviews

Quite simply, "The Cave Of The Yellow Dog" is a wonderful film: it is heart-warming, life-affirming. It is simple, touching, unpretentious, with a documentary quality to it (how do people live there); it came as no surprise to see on the closing credits that this is a genuine family. Very probably non-professional actors (how could the small children act?). I saw it twice in two days and on second viewing, one can appreciate its subtle construction, how small details pave the way for slight plot twists: more going on under the surface than it originally looks like. For instance the reason behind the father's reluctance; the mixing of dogs and wolves; the people's economic conditions; the (potentially dangerous) presence of vultures in the background, and so on, all of which get to play a part at some later stage. Just go and see it, this film is an utter breath of fresh air. Beautiful ethnic music as well.

It was always going to be difficult to adapt Brett Easton Ellis visually, so full marks to Roger Avary for trying, and -more importantly- for experimenting with a few gimmicks meant to reflect the novelist's unique style. The fact is, it almost works. Take the first exposition scene, for instance, with its irritating/amusing/appropriate (you decide) use of rewind, so as to present the same scene as seen by its different protagonists, or the split screen tracking down the two self-centered protagonists. The best has to be the mini-episode of Victor's trip to Europe : an audio/visual triumph that perfectly conveys Ellis's staccato delivery, his manic listing of names and labels, as well as his omission of anything possibly resembling genuine, heartfelt emotions. More of the same, please ! Spread over ninety minutes, this would have made for an ingenious translation of Ellis's world onto the big screen. As it is, Avary only dares indulge in these little stylistic experiments now and then, opting for a more conventional approach the other eighty percent of the film. (The studios wouldn't have tolerated it, no doubt.) The result : we find ourselves dangerously close to yet another US teen college comedy. Tackling the challenge posed by adapting Ellis' distinctive use of I-narrators, Avary resorts to the good old voice-over. In fact, he could have used it all along the film, from one of the main four protagonists to the next. Once more, his enthusiasm may have been curbed.

Talking of, for a film with a certificate 18, "The Rules" is strangely coy. Give or take the odd line snorting and bogey picking, there is hardly anything shown; the girls have sex still clothed; the suicide scene is elegiac. The original novel was way harder, but let us concentrate on the film.

One would suspect that the real outrage of the movie resides in seeing J. Van Der Beek, straight outta safe vanilla white cringing soap "Dawson Creek", effortlessly land into Ellis territory : he is -worryingly ?- a revelation. Wearing a constant frown on his face, he plays Sean Bateman as a tetchy, snarling, worried, and ultimately clueless adolescent not quite sure of his place, rather than as a cocksure, braindead, idiot savant. The surly hunk thunders along the apparently careless and fancy-free merry go-round, oblivious to his agonising admirers; for instance, he watches hetero porn in the company of the besotted gay character. The poignant secret admirer subplot, to mention it, gives a sense of progression to a story that would otherwise run the risk of getting repetitive. -Which would actually be valid, in a Ellisian perspective : oh, but for the existential ennui of these endless parties, tsss... ! Which makes, by contrast, the food waitress an even lovelier young lady (Theresa Wayman, we salute you.).

The other adaptation : on the screen, the characters appear, well, ...more human; faillible; tentative; endearing. Still wet behind the ears despite putting on a defiant act, they actually search for a loved one -ooh, it will end in tears (or, more accurately, pills and razor blades)! The trademark Ellisian spiritual rich kids' emptiness has been jettisoned in favour of empathy. ...But this maybe is the story of how Sean grows up to become a Bateman (we all know about his brother Patrick, who will actually be pathologically jealous of him -hence...). Another moot point : the exact era in which the movie is supposed to take place ? The book was written in the early eighties, with people listening to Talking Heads; the film's characters use camcorders. In any case, another bonus point for the ending song ! (Irony alert here). It is one of the great pop singles of all time; and as someone would say : "it's a personal statement (...), although of what I'm not quite sure..." "-Deal with it !"

Japan always had a bit of a sadistic element in its culture; pop-psychologists like to trace it back to the 1945 nuclear apocalypse, but the fact is, painters like Yoshitoshi or Ito were already depicting gruesome pictures way before, and current best selling mangas, of course, still explore that forbidden zone. Not to mention Seppukku (aka "hara-kiri").

"Battle Royale" stands perfectly in the Fukasaku cannon; the man has been shooting nihilistic Samurai shoot-outs for decades. This time, he addresses the chasm between adults and teenagers ...with the predictable disastrous consequences.

With the exception of the brilliant "Lolita" video, the director keeps well away from the obvious media angle ("Series Seven" meets "Big Brother"), presenting the situation as straight-forwardly as possible. No wonder the Americans banned it.

But it's not that one-dimensional / cold-hearted, as the film constantly presents another point of view, with the teacher seemingly in two minds, and harbouring personal reasons ...which was not in the book. The novel showed him totally anti-kids, not partial to the lovely girl (Aki Maeda), and even guilty of sexual harassment. His character, here, has been greatly humanised. The actor is, of course, "Beat" Takeshi Kitano, who has surfed this thin line between staggering cruelty and black comedy all his career. He is in his element, and quips the best lines with relish ("Don't forget your lunch before killing your little friends !")

The kids are supposed to fend off for themselves, but most of them recreate a microcosm; some, predictably, choose to die. All attitudes are thus presented, which leads the viewer to wonder what he/she would do in such circumstances. Quite touching : the number of hidden crushes suddenly revealed... but always too late. Oops. One question, though : are we to understand that the hacker was issued with his own laptop ? As for the double, triple, quadruple ending, one can't help wondering whether the director was just forced to add it.

Welcome to the Terrordome.

"Gohatto" ("Taboo") is a fascinating film about the danger of beauty : to sum it up, a young "ephebe"'s ethereal beauty spreads like a plague, infecting a whole company of iron hard men in the process. As you must know by now, Oshima tackles in this film the forbidden subject of homosexuality among Samurais.

The movie's premise -and this is a bit of an understatement...- unleashed controversies and protests, in some Japanese traditional quarters : "taboo" indeed (-What about American cowboys, too ? Officially all white heterosexuals ? Yeeeah, right...) But I would argue that, somehow, the "homosexual act" itself is not the film's core subject : its characters discuss it quite openly; we are nowhere near the sniggering comedies of the West, the politically correct heavy handed lessons of Hollywood, or the louche coded homoerotic European art films. This ...is a Japanese movie : about beauty vs. discipline; self-denial and ideals; internal conflict and tragic resolution. Homosexuality here does not equate limp wristed / camp / victimised diffidence and other suchlike cliches -from the start, we are shown that Kano is a ruthless killer, and a master swordsman.

What disturbs, and gradually destroys, the supremely rigid order of the Samurai militia is Kano's personal aura, his -apparent !- frailty, this unnerves these iron hard warriors, the story of which is cleverly presented in a two-pronged attack by Nagisa Oshima.

On one hand, the master director plays it seriously, insisting on very static set pieces (where seated, immobile, Samurais discuss sex and murder without flinching); on the other, Oshima introduces elements of pure comedy....The name Shakespeare crops up (more about that later).

Firstly, this is a very formal film : static, slow, constructed, well-defined, about structures to be respected upon penalty of death, codes of honour (such as sexual : official initiation by geishas; or ethical : no betrayal of the group), hierarchical ("Which school do you belong to ?" they ask of each other), etc.. In a weird way, Takeshi's own facial half-paralysis serves the purpose of the film. Not to mention Kano's immaculate white attire, as opposed to the black armours all around.

But on the other hand, there are elements of comedy. The old unassuming guy who Kano meets turns out to be an officer ...and also a clumsy swordsman (joke fight scene), the colossus assigned to take the youth to a brothel sends the wrong signal ("-Er... don't !" he reminds himself), and so on. After a while, the story almost turns into a "whoddunit", except this time it's physical attraction we're talking about : which one of these hard men, beneath the surface, has not secretly fallen for Kano ?

I mentioned Shakespeare earlier : I saw this film with some Japanese young ladies, who confessed afterwards that , without the subtitles, they wouldn't have understood the language : old Japanese. But I am also thinking of the juxtaposition of levels : comedy and drama, love and ethics, saucy overtones, ...and the ineluctability of tragedy to unfold. It's pretty clear that the alleged lover, Tashiro, is not in fact, and that he will serve the hand of fate : sublime last scenes.

Finally, for all lovers of Japanese cinema, it's fun to spot Takeshi's mates, who usually feature in his trademark ultra-violent, Zen nihilistic, gangster movies : they're all here, under various fabulous wigs.

If you liked this film, you'll love Claire Denis's "Beau Travail", that was the best film of 2000.

The story goes like this : Donald Cammell died , heartbroken by the producers' typical butchering of his film, which was released as a "straight to late Friday night" sleazy thriller; ...and, with hindsight, it's easy to believe this. Thankfully, the director's assistant was able to re-cut the movie, according to the artist's wishes and, as a result, ... "Wild Side" is a mindsuck ("suck" is not the actual appropriate word I had in mind here ) of a masterpiece.

It grips you from the first scene (what on Earth is going on here, who's what, is the cop bad, is the bad girl good ??), through its barely credible tortuous twists and double-crossings, until the unescapable -and yet unpredictable- end. Followed by another end, of course.

The involvement of the actors, their very limited number -hardly anyone else than the damned foursome dares cross the threshold into Cammell's world- works to perfection, as it introduces some kind of claustrophobic atmosphere (there is supposed to be a world outside these half-lit hotel rooms, but we won't see much of it until the last sequence). These four characters drift in and out, each less trustworthy than the last : past ten minutes, it will be hard to remember who's supposed to be forming an alliance against who. Key word here : intensity. Hey, the, er..., climax of the film involves the -explicitly not homosexual- gangster (almost or not : up to you to find out) raping his male driver, an undercover cop, just to prove his love to a prostitute ! Confused ? Yes, you will be, and that's nothing compared to the actual script : everyone works very hard to double-cross everyone else, not least their lover.

And now, let's tackle the major asset of this film : its acting.

Amazing. By now, it is pretty obvious to everyone that Anne Heche is a truly terrific actress, all ambiguity and secret resolves. She certainly doesn't disappoint her growing number of admirers here. Steven Bauer , who plays the cop, has -quite simply- never been near as impressive as he is here. But the cherry on the cake, the surge after the lollipop, the tour de force extraordinaire, has to be credited to who else but Christopher Walken.

Christopher Walken, as we know, IS Christopher Walken -no introduction needed, but in "Wild Side", he just... delivers his most demented performance to date, if you can start to imagine. His endlessly fascinating ambisexual reptilian face, his weird yellowy skin, his eyebrowless laser eyes -not to forget a hair rock stars would advertise soda for-, the man is scary beyond frightening. He's not deranged, he's from another planet ! Nearly incomprehensible. Let us be very clear here : "Wild Side" is an absolute must for all Christopher Walken fans out there.

There will never be another Donald Cammell film, and that's a real tragedy. Especially when you bear in mind that the man co-authored mandatory-cult-movie "Peformance", yes, the very one "Performance" that sent E. Fox over the edge for a few years. Thanks God, Christopher Walken still walks amongst us lesser mortals (and occasionally steals an entire Tarantino scripted movie by only appearing five minutes).

"Static" is a precious film. It's a well kept secret, the kind of far-out gem (like , say, Talk Talk : "Spirit Of Eden") that will always escape classification. In a word, it's weird.

Visually, it belongs to the white walls, new wave, ambient American minimalist wave of "Sex, Lies, And Videos", "Bodies, Rest And Motion", "Parents", or the cult Hal Hartley films. The cherry on the cake has to be its soundtrack, complete with sublime atmospheric synthethizer waves by Japan.

The story : something magical happened in a small community ...except noone "gets" it, and a fairly disturbed young man can't get to communicate his sublime vision, and share his surreal "invention". What he has come up with is mind boggling... and noone else recognizes it. Past the suspenseful first half, the film veers into another, more tragic, direction ("Sugarland Express" ?), as he takes on the world. Weird, wacky, wonderful.

Details (like the half-melt crucifix collection, the survivalist, his kids' alien masks) abound, creating a suitably subtle poetic atmosphere. Add to that the fascinating presence of Amanda Plummer, who adds a doubly poignant subplot (returning "home", and sympathising with the loner), and you have a true cult classic of the eighties. -Other possible recommendations : "The Reflecting Skin" , or "The Darkness Of Darkley Noon".

"Onibaba" is a bit of a devious masterpiece : beyond its apparent simplicity, lie many ominous depths of unspoken meanings -in other words, it's a true Japanese work of art.

Let's take it from the start : at first sight, it could be presented as a battle of the sexes in a primitive environment. We have water... we have long ferns of grass blowing in the wind (more about these later)... we have the Earth, and its terrible pit of death... and we have relentless heat, that drives everyone mad. Passions run high, and they seem pretty primal : survive, kill, copulate. ...But nothing is that simple.

Stylistically, the music, for instance, is rather modern : discordant trumpets. Very minimalist (I like minimalist), black and white (rather than colour) working to perfection, for the Gothic horror theme.

To start with, what exactly is the relationship between the two women ? Why is the older one so jealous of the soldier.... ahemm... (echo of Lawrence's "The Fox"). One can understand how the younger one would feel, shall we say, quite "moved" by the only male around -even though he's no oil painting ! To carry on with my remark / simile on the elements, her passion erupts like fire, and she can't wait to run to him every night in, er, heat indeed. "Onibaba", quite simply, is a sweaty film. (Anyone remember Brando's scandalous see-through T-shirt in "A Tramway Named Desire" ?) The characters can't get any release, choking in their huts devoid of fresh air, simmering in the oppressive heat. Now compare their state of frustration with the beautiful images of the long grass waving in the breeze in the dark of night, as the -rather cute, if I may say so- young woman runs with abandon to her lover. I couldn't help wondering whether T. Malick had these images in mind, when he shot his "Thin Red Line"...

More on elements : the film, I thought, is quite coy about the actual bottom of the pit. The"boxes within boxes principle": surely, an ignoble magma of decomposing corpses should carpet it; but the filmmaker chooses not to stress this -literally- underlying visceral detail, leaving it to our imagination. Where we see skulls and bones, there must be... gooey death beneath it all, worms under the dried out skeletons (remember this takes place near a lake, too) : liquefying, life and death, primal physical dimension at the core of the story / film.

The two protagonists survive by killing soldiers and stripping them of their weapons / armour. ...But are they wrong to do so ? This world at large, that they are no longer part of, is only glimpsed through the spectre of war and devastation. The Samurai encountered (sporting the fateful Kabuki mask) insists on the idea and presence of evil. (Little did he know -Oops, too late, down the hole you go, sonny !) In that respect, the two women are actually making the most of the situation, fending off for themselves. Who can say who's wrong, and who's right ? They too get ripped off, when they sell off their loot.

Jealousy. ...And what if the "butch" woman had a point ? In a way, the war veteran could well be lying, as to the circumstances of his comrade's death, and the idler does steal her precious accomplice away from her. See, more nuances of grey within the black and white.

And, finally, the mask. Terrible question : what if it actually did reveal the true face of its wearer, once torn off ? (Evil beneath good, as the case may be.)

To conclude swiftly, "Onibaba" is a wonderful piece of poetry, which drags you in all sorts of directions (not least thanks to its exposed glimmering breasts !), before ending very darkly indeed. It will leave you wondering about the characters' motivations for quite a while. Ghosts have always been traditional in Japanese culture... but with many different meanings; ...up to you to unravel "Onibaba" for yourself.

"Breaking The Waves", I have to admit, is the only film which made me physically sick ! The intensity, the camera-work, the scenario... it proved an unbearable experience. But I was desperate to watch the ending, so I managed to sneak back in after my grand exit !

Quite simply, I can't think of any more compelling performance by any actress; that beginner Emily Watson was just... too much. I couldn't believe she didn't get all the acting awards in the world after THAT performance ! As I said, it was... too much. Lars plays on our worst fears : physical and mental helplessness.

As for the ending, it is just sublime... That's about it, really. I leave it to others to discourse on the religious implications : apparently, it stood for Lars's conversion to catholicism, whatever. An extraordinary experience, which I'm not sure I would like to repeat !

(cf., not far away, "Bad Boy Bubby". Obviously, more was to follow, with "the Idiots" a few years later !)-p.s. I share Lars von Triers' birthday, so I always was a big fan of his, since "Element of Crime".

Something I wrote somewhere else : "...Which brings us to the dilemma Todd Solonz almost hung himself with when casting the hapless anti-heroine of "Welcome To The Dollhouse". I remember wondering about it before seeing the (excellent) film. Either he would choose a "normal" 10 year old girl and then have us pretend she was the ugly, unlovable, protagonist everyone understandably bullies in the film; or then he would just go for a really ugly person. Now that, obviously, would be cruel to the point of unbearable, aggravated by the young age of the actress. In the end, the girl chosen was just ill-clothed, just a little bit dowdy and wearing thick glasses : nothing that can't be rectified easily."

This is a truly brave film, tackling a subject Hollywood feelgood comedies would rather overlook... but so much more realistic and poignant ! I mean, who hasn't felt bullied, unloved, unpopular, lonely etc. To Solonz's credit, he doesn't actually dwell on it -even though the poor thing goes from bad to worse- as the protagonist, Dawn, somehow manages to get along : the film does not descend into embarrassing weepie category. Yes, it is a cruel spectacle, but there is compassion in the act of showing it.

As for the end... it is pure narrative genius, and could not be any truer to life, as life, well, .... just continues, whether we like it or not.

"B B B" is one of these alternative classics Channel 4 devoted a season to, along with "Clean, Shaven" and "Brimstone And Treacle" : NOT for the faint-hearted !

It's only recently I realised it shared the same premise as "Kaspar Hauser"... but goes far far beyond, daring to show what would not have been permitted until now/in mainstream cinema. Gruesome at times, near unbearable at others, this film is also extraordinarily moving : the love scenes with the mentally handicapped. Massive respect for the main actor.

A shattering experience, a testimony to human redemption (if the murderer had been denounced from the start, he wouldn't have (...) in the end), this film takes you to the limits of human experience. Anybody, no matter how "retarded" (for lack of a better word), is worthy of our respect, and has so much to give, in terms of basic, brute emotions that "civilised" conformists like us would not perceive, let alone dare act upon.

The end is simply awesome, thanks to Lisa Gerrard interpreting Haendel's "Largo" (if I'm not mistaken !). Brace yourself : THIS is adult (brave) cinema. I really can't think as other films as affecting as this one ("Wings Of Desire" ? "Ponette"... "Rosetta" possibly, both of Solonz's films.)

I must have seen this film six or seven times already, and every time I just holler, swoon, laugh my head off, cry my eyes out, and generally have a good time. To start with, interpretation : they're all excellent, Cher being surprisingly good, Hoskins being Hoskins. As for Winona.... ah, Winona.............. big sigh, let's just say that this is possibly The Sweetest Thing On Earth's finest hour. (Of course not, but I'm making a point here !) It's obvious the girl truly was a star from the start, able to change tone, mood, expression and body language at the drop of a hat. Complex emotions at play here : funny but touching, shy but determined, laughable but never ridicule, the film, like all great comedies, deals with serious issues. Namely teenage angst, (resort to/loss of) religion, puberty, (social/family)responsibility... It's hard to think of another "studio" (big names) film as subtle as this unassuming one, and I would imagine that Miss Ryder, in a few years' time, after she's finally ascended to the rank of goddess which so clearly awaits her, won't be too embarrassed by this kitsch, amusing, little thing. (Plus ten extra points for the start : "Dominique, nique, nique..." -Ask a French speaker !)

If one were to judge this nearly silent, black and white film by its premise -a day in the life of a priest, played by laugh-a-minute Max von Sydow- one wouldn't exactly jump for joy, but... I watched it, late one night, and I was gripped. (If I remember correctly, no music either !) Minimalist hence intense. Successive change of minds get on a tremendous importance for this man whose function is to decipher good from evil, etc. Any decision has to be his final one, with regards to his conscience, his community, his lady-friend, or The Big Man...Plus the small matter of still believing in God or not ! -(And I'm not a religious person.) Gripping.

90 minutes of fresh air in this cinema world "ruled" by the likes of Luc Besson.

This is a film, quite simply, I went out to buy on video. I thought it was lovely -in its proper sense- and a nice change from the big man's subsequent, more serious projects. The film recaptures youth's giddy, carefree, brief love affairs ...and its comeuppance, its consequences in future life. Anyone who's been in love around that age will know it always remains within you, like a shameful secret, a cherished hurt ("ah, if only I had...") for a long, long time, no matter what turn things take, however successful one can become (the protagonist : a ballerina). Bergman was already showing his knowledge of human nature. ...Of course, the story (the first part of the film) doesn't meet a "happy ending". What can I say : lovely, and not least for the Swedish language !

PS-Recently, in a program on the history of exploitation (i.e. naughty films) and censorship in the US, it was revealed that quite a few scenes, showing the heroine skinny-dipping in the lake with not much on, were routinely added to this movie !!