AFI Fest 2011: Ramsay, Tarr and concluding thoughts.

As I said at the beginning of our AFI Fest 2011 presented by Audi coverage (and once again I apologize for gaps in publishing), this past year was an epic, diverse and must-attend event for all who love cinema.  AFI Fest has always been good to us and I hope that we got across of deep abiding love and appreciation for them and all they do.  Once more I encourage everyone to spread the word about these films.  While some you will undoubtedly love more than others, you’ll never know until you take the leap and give things outside your own comfort zone a chance.  Enjoy our final work on AFI Fest, and stay tuned on more to come on 2011 and subsequently 2012 film!

–Matthew Groves

All photos in each part have been provided by AFI Fest 2011 presented by Audi.

RESTLESS CITY

Restless City is a prime example of a film that is visually stimulating, rich with detail, but despite much potential for future growth for a filmmaker, the film falls short. It tells the story of an immigrant from Africa, who has emigrated to New York City to explore his passion: music. He works in mail delivery, but sadly is forced to explore less than legal opportunities on the side. He inevitably falls in with the wrong crowd and falls for the “bad girl” with the heart of gold, which complicates things. It is vastly apparent that this type of plot we’ve seen before, and sadly that’s where the film falls short. The acting is fine and the film in many ways does it’s job adequately. The film is so lush and visually sumptuous, one wishes that more effort could have gone into the writing. The newcomer who falls into trouble or with bad people has been played out far too much and narratively is a bit of cheat –even lazy. When it comes to visual storytelling, especially when there are wordless moments accentuated by music and solid composition of shots, this is where newcomer Andrew Dosunmu thrives as a director. Let’s hope that this is not the last we see his work and that it’s just the first step towards far grander and more ambitious work than this.

–Matthew Groves

A SEPARATION

With echoes of Ingmar Bergman, Kenji Mizoguchi, Sidney Lumet, and other classic cinematic dramatists, Asghar Farhadi‘s multi-award-winning, highly acclaimed film, A Separation, is a film not to be missed. The story starts off simply with a couple, Nader (Peyman Moaadi) and Simin (Leila Hatami) who after being stuck at an impasse between leaving Iran to give their daughter a better life and/or taking care of his ailing father, they decide to divorce. This sets off a chain reaction of events that turn a simple introduction into a complex multi-character moral drama where at each every turn people choices that reflect both their flaws and good intentions, yet still complicate and have consequences for others involved.

There are many strengths to this wonderful film, and one of them is the writing. This is the kind of film where that is key, since if the structure, the characters or the situations aren’t exactly as they should be, a film like this derails very quickly. Farhadi is wonderfully adept at knowing exactly what is needed for a scene directorially and allows moments to play themselves out. It’s the kind of master directing where we don’t notice the camera, the time, and just get sucked into the drama more and more. Also it is not only a character-based moral drama, but an excellent snapshot of diverse modern Iran with studies in class, religion, and how the rigidity of institutions clashes with everyday lives of citizen of Iran.

Asghar Farhadi proves strongly that he more than worth consideration amongst other masters from Iran including Abbas Kiarostami and Jafar Panahi and cinephiles should be alert to what comes next for him. It is easy for us in the West to paint Iranian life, their people, and art as the stereotypes peddled by opportunists hungering for war, but don’t fall for it and give the work of all these filmmakers a chance. I am sure it will deepen your understanding and take you to a place you’ve never been with much to think about long after the credits roll.

–Matthew Groves

THE TURIN HORSE

The film is about a horse, the horse that according to legend, Friedrich Nietzsche, saw being whipped in the Piazza Carlo Alberto. The horse would budge and the horse’s owner became more perturbed and violent towards the horse. Eventually this became too much for Nietzsche, who wrapped himself around the horse to make it stop and then collapsed to the ground. From that day forward, to his death nearly a year later, Nietzsche never spoken again. Tarr uses this as intro and proposes the question, what happened to the horse? Or the owner and his family, his home? What ensues in the next two and half hours is a dour, but striking final film by a filmmaker who without a doubt has set himself up as one of the most essential and important filmmakers of his day: Bela Tarr, a man whose work more than deserves to live in our collective memories forever.

Tarr’s work without a doubt is in many ways a journey, and one which can be difficult to newcomers or outsiders. His films are slow moving, with long, 10-minute+ takes, gripping, but encumbered by a sad –even wholly depressing tone that is not necessarily inviting. However, all of those factors are his strengths and what truly set him apart. He makes art that much like Andrei Tarkovsky, Ingmar Bergman, and Rainer Werner Fassbinder is not just about plot, literary and philosophical, but uses artistic expression to ask deep questions about humanity.

Tarr even succeeds more than Terrence Malick (which is taking nothing away from his recent masterwork, The Tree of Life) at crafting an enrapturing and compelling work that leaves the audience to think about it long afterward. While the formally rigorous may be hard for some, this epic, apocalyptic tale of existential woe is worth it. For certain this will not be the last Chronicle readers will hear about this film and the rest of Bela Tarr’s canon; for it deserves and will get more consideration on The Alternative Chronicle in the future.

–Matthew Groves

WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN

Past, present and future collide in Lynn Ramsey’s distressing new film We Need to Talk About Kevin. The film is a stream-of-conscious nightmare grappling with motherhood, parenting, and coming face to face with what may or may not be pure evil. Whatever expectations one may have walking into the theater; they will probably be subverted at some point in the movie.
The film tells the story of Eva, played by the marvelous Tilda Swinton, a mother of two whose teenage son goes on a violent rampage at his High School killing numerous students. Yet the film isn’t about this event, despite the audience knowing it’s coming. Instead Ramsey delves into the life of Eva, from her own subjective memories. There are images of Eva in her single life, her first sexual encounter with her soon-to-be husband, her struggle to rebuild a shattered life after the killings, and of course raising the troubled child into an even more troubled adolescent.
We Need To Talk About Kevin carefully undermines one’s expectations for a movie with this type of subject matter. Kevin is not the protagonist and the actual school massacre takes up little screen time. Neither is it a careful psychological analysis explaining why events such as these take place.
This refusal for explore the obvious questions and provide cookie cutter answers makes it difficult for the viewer for grasp onto what Lynn Ramsey is driving home. Why is Kevin like this? Why the jumbled chronological order? How much of this actually happened or just took place in our erratic narrators head? And what about that ending? After my much thought my guess is that Kevin is exploring the terrifying mysterious nature of motherhood and perhaps even the cruelty of fate.
As cinema We Need To Talk About Kevin is first-rate. The eerie sound design and the foreboding colors are never overbearing or heavy-handed like they easily could have been. The use of the color red is especially chilling in it presence through out often creating either a full on hellish mise-en-scene or a subtle reminder of the deaths that connect Kevin and Eva.
With a flat-out amazing performance from Tilda Swinton, the aesthetically chilling and ambiguous We Need to Talk About Kevin creates not only a unique perspective of our present day issue of school shootings, but of the timeless issues such as motherhood, depravity, and the unreliable nature of memory.

--Andy Motz

AFI Fest 2011: von Trier, Wenders and more

Melancholia

There are specific filmmakers that provoke a response from an audience, whether that be by their antics outside filmmaking or their films themselves. One such a filmmaker is Lars von Trier. For the most part, we here at the Chronicle are big fans, and really value him as a filmmaker, in spite (or perhaps because of) him being a firebrand that always engenders an intense response. A few years ago his last film Antichrist set the critical and cinephile communities ablaze with his shocking portrait of depression, gender, sexuality, etc., with many of his detractors lobbing some of the same accusations as before (albeit pretty empty ones in my estimation, as I’ve stated in my review). But what was so striking and interesting about Antichrist that many I think ignored was how much von Trier struck out in an entirely new direction with a grace and ease, even with the frame of a messy, disturbing horror shocker. Von Trier has always been somewhat of a person who challenges himself to do something different and new for himself, and he does that even more and vastly succeeds with his newest film, Melancholia.

Melancholia is the second in a new trilogy of films, at least structurally and stylistically. It tells the story of two sisters, Justine (Kirsten Dunst) and Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg). Justine is getting married to Michael (Alexander Skarsgard) but not all is well with her. She is filled with depression and in many ways is forcing her way through the event and trying to be happy, but she is ultimately unable to. At the same time, a planet known as Melancholia is heading towards the Earth with many surmising that it will collide and destroy Earth. I will say no more about the premise, because Melancholia needs to be experienced purely by watching the film, not reading about it in a review.

The most impressive thing to me is how von Trier is able to filter his misanthropic tone into a film that is oddly more broad, commercial, and specifically genre-based than anything he’s ever done.  Antichrist was an aesthetically rougher film, though brilliantly by design: in a way it was the audience being locked in von Trier’s unconscious without a filter. But by contrast Melancholia is the opposite, and echoes to many things found in Tarkovsky’s The Sacrifice, and Bergman’s films, Cries and Whispers, and The Silence.  The score is swelling, the look of the picture is stunning, and the writing and acting are impeccable at drawing the audience in further and further. He makes a grand film about the end of the world, but keeps that dramatic intimacy at the film’s core. Dunst and Gainsbourg are excellent and are accompanied by a great supporting ensemble cast, that even in their smallest roles make a memorable mark. Lars von Trier has made film that even his largest detractors can come to appreciate. It makes one such as myself excited and wonder where von Trier will go next and how the end of this trilogy will stack up to other trilogies he’s done like The Europa and Golden Heart trilogies. Without a doubt it would make a very different and interesting double feature with Terrence Malick‘s The Tree of Life!

–Matthew Groves

Miss Bala

Gerardo Naranjo’s newest feature, Miss Bala is a prime example of an artist who has grown so much from one film to another. Naranjo’s last feature, his youthful twist on the New Wave was a solid and promising work, but this time around he has far and above succeeded that film and blazes a path as a prime filmmaker to watch.

The film follows Laura Guerrero (Stephanie Sigman) a young girl who works with her family and wants to be in the beauty pageant for Miss Baja. She and a friend get in, her friend goes to a nightclub and the club is shot up. She goes to the police to report it and the cop is corrupt and led by a frightening and imposing soldier in the Cartel, Lino Valdez (Noe Hernandez). She is slowly sucked into a living nightmare of drugs and violence, desperately trying to survive and hopefully escape.

Miss Bala is a shocking, unnerving piece of tense thriller filmmaking. It is a propulsive film that is a wonderful example of cause and effect filmmaking, making the all the action seem real and authentic. Structurally, the film is built by a chain of events which create a realistic sense of escalation for the protagonist. This kind of structure gives the film a gripping quality from start to finish. Sigman and Hernandez are wonderful in their roles and amongst some of the best of 2011, although sadly Hollywood is not good acknowledging roles such as these.

From a technical level Naranjo who wrote, directed, and edited the picture has grown so much. I see a bright future ahead of him. He tackles the controversy of the drug war shows how each side is entrenched ready to go and that there is deep corruption on both sides and a lot like Laura, the rest of the Mexican population is caught in the middle. It is a powerful work that hopefully can open people up and provoke discussion and action.

–Matthew Groves

Once Upon a Time in Anatolia

For anyone who’s heard of or seen the work of Nuri Bilge Ceylan, without a doubt you’ve been transfixed at his ability to craft an image with great writing, pacing turn something that may be familiar into something that is transcendent or sublime.  Ceylan continues this in his latest, Once Upon a Time in Anatolia.

The film follows a doctor, a prosecutor, a number of police officers, and two murder suspects as they search for the body of the victim in the countryside in Anatolia.  The suspects were inebriated and it was late at night so they don’t remember what happened and where, therefore the search is long and exhaustive.  As the search goes on these men who really have little prior knowledge or relationships start to develop over the time.  The story resembles more of an old story of an epic journey than a usual procedural of finding a body, booking the prisoners, doing an autopsy, etc.

Without a doubt some may have to take some time to get used to/comfortable with the style of filmmaking, but I think it is well worth it.  Ceylan like Sokurov is a master at the image, no matter how mundane or ordinary, they take you on a cinematic journey.  Also, Ceylan makes films where the meaning and depth sneak up on you and wondrous revelations come to pass.  While obviously he is a filmmaker many times his work feels more poetic or literary and Once Upon a Time in Anatolia is no different.  I will say too, his films are rich with meaning and purpose and therefore I feel many may have to see this film more than once, to unlock all the mysteries and richness of the film, but that in no way diminishes from the experience of seeing it for the first time.  While Ceylan’s Climates may be easier to connect to (and is a good introduction to his work) I think Anatolia over time and hopefully with more of an audience can be just as respected, appreciated, and well known as his other work.  When the film releases domestically in the States, don’t pass up this opportunity!

–Matthew Groves

Pina

Pina is Wim Wenders’ full-length 3-d dance film. It’s a documentary dedicated to the gifted Pina Bausch, whose unique coaching and dancing inspired and changed many lives. It truly is the definition of a bittersweet film. There is much sorrow and sadness embedded in the DNA of the film, yet the celebration of beauty is also ever present through out.
Wim Wenders and Pina’s dance company shot the film shortly after the sudden death of Pina from a brain tumor, so everyone is still in mourning. The film itself feels like a funeral of sorts. It can be seen as a catharsis for those who deeply loved her and as a celebration of an artist who was supremely gifted.
For the introduction of the film Wim Wenders discussed how he and Pina had always talked about putting her dances on film. He said he just could never find the right way to translate her dancing for cinema until he saw the U2 concert in 3-D, after which he knew how. The 3-D in Pina is not cheap, it does not dull the colors, but rather makes the film a visual feast. Wenders understands the technique of 3-D filling the foreground, middle ground, and background to show audiences what truly great 3-D can be.
The dance sequences, of course, are astounding. At first one may be hesitant to watch a film where 85% of it is just dancing, but have no fear, for Wenders never lets the material get stale or boring (which would be difficult to do anyways simce Pina’s choreography features some of the most unique pieces of expressionist dance I’ve ever seen). Similar to another film I saw at the festival, Carnage, the odds against them are very high.  How will these auteurs translate something that was designed for the stage into something cinematic?
For Wim Wenders the answer was simple: set Pina’s dances in the outside and natural world.
It is said by some of the dancers in her company that Pina loved incorporating the earthly natural world into the performances thus it makes perfect sense taking the dancing made for stage and placing them in real natural environments.
Needless to say Pina is quite a unique movie. The audience is not only privy to creative, energy-filled dance, but to real, fresh mourning of a lost friend. The result is a beautiful, haunting, and utterly unique cinematic experience.

–Andy Motz

Play

Play opens with a voyeuristic establishing shot, slowly zooming in and shifting between two groups of kids in a Swedish mall. The style, you can tell immediately is cold, distant, and impersonal – much like actual the film itself. From a technical standpoint, Play seems very influenced by edgy semi-provocateurs such as Gus van Sant and Michael Haneke, but pushing a message that would likely make those two directors shudder in their boots. It feels a bit like a hostage film, as it follows (and basically demonizes) a group of young black boys who stalk and bully a few kids of a lighter racial persuasion. The film feels like it wants to provoke and raise dialogue about the dangers of unbridled immigration policies, but it does so in a rather poor, xenophobic, and arguably racist fashion. It may most optimistically be described as a unique (yet derivative) counter-example to the Swedish stereotype of extreme liberalism, but ultimately it’s not nearly as nuanced as it thinks it is.  It’s not only a dud, but a bit of a disgrace.

–Andrew Bowcock

Rampart

Sometimes a central performance in a work can transcend the material, despite all the things working against it. Films of this type can be narratively messy and overstuffed, making the viewer thankful for the lead, but wishing that the film that the lead inhabits wasn’t such a frustrating brew. This properly describes the Oren Moverman 1990′s-set crime corruption film, Rampart.

Rampart is about a Dave Brown (Woody Harrelson). Brown is a veteran cop, a hard-ass, former Vietnam vet, and he’s corrupt (which may be too kind of a phrase in his case). Despite his meager earnings he lives with his two upper middle-class ex-wives, Barbara and Catherine (Cynthia Nixon and Anne Heche) and his daughters, Helen and Margaret (Brie Larson and Sammy Boyarsky). He is hard to live with, constantly doing everything on and off the job to live a life of his choosing and resembling more of criminal than a cop. But his days may be numbered, in light of the huge scandal that rocked the LAPD from the infamous Rampart Division, Brown’s shenanigans are catching up to him quickly. Will he survive or will he get buried under the weight of the mounting evidence of his and other LAPD corruption? Well, you’ll have to see for yourself…or not.

Rampart is a prime example of the everything included in a kitchen sink kind of film. If one can exploit it, it’s in there: from Brown’s racism, sexism, homophobia, penchant for booze, alcohol, sex clubs, killing to cover up crimes, trying to have sex with either or both his ex-wives, and the list could go on for days. The problem is that despite throwing all this content in, Moverman seems far less adept at making it a coherent, structured journey and just throws the audience another loop, after loop, after loop. The film just piles on the cliches and then twists it by just adding more. The film is over-edited, paced far too fast to develop anything beyond the surface, and it is packed with too many fine actors whose roles are far underwritten, making them do the hard work of pulling any kind of competent performances out of this chaotic, bang your head against the wall kind of train wreck.

It’s a truly a shame because Harrelson is excellent as the lead. He’s always been a master of playing characters on the edge, dangerous, and a bit scary. He is a commanding presence, a consistent force despite inconsistencies all around him or present in the DNA of the film. Rampart also at first feels like the beginning of Abel Ferrara’s classic, Bad Lieutenant, but uses that only as establishment and then goes on its quick decline from there. While Ferrara’s film is about the soul of a broken man, Moverman’s is about a supremely evil, unlikable, corrupt man who is nothing but a bunch of surface sketches crafted by Moverman and James Ellroy (who you would expect better from) to trick the audience with the same tricks we’ve seen so many times before. In short, Moverman is no Ferrara.

Lastly, if you are a Harrelson completist, check it out for his performance and don’t let the mind-numbing nature of the rest of the film get to you. A better investment of your time however would be to check out the series, The Shield, starring Michael Chiklis as corrupt cop, Vic Mackey; that show also is based on the Rampart Division scandal, and over seven seasons masterfully shows the heart and soul of a cop we despise, but a human being that we care about nonetheless. The Shield is a far superior work on every level and actually pays attention to story, giving every wild turn time to develop as it would in real life, and not smashed into less than two hours.

–Matthew Groves

AFI Fest 2011: Almodovar, The Dardennes, and more

JEFF WHO LIVES AT HOME

The Duplass Brothers represent a rising subculture of indie comedy called “mumblecore”: a low budget, often obnoxious and pretentious mixture of late French New Wave and modern, hipster-ized comedy. As one might easily glean from my description, I’m usually not taken in by such antics. However, the Duplass’ last film, Cyrus, branched out a little further into the mainstream, which I felt was actually a healthy move, since it utilized the talents of great, experienced actors like John C. Reilly and Marisa Tomei to bring the realism to life — that, and a script that just clicked. Unfortunately, Jeff Who Lives at Home is a lackluster step backward. Jason Segel plays Jeff, an unemployed, stay-at-home slacker, with a pension for trying to find deep meaning in every little event that crosses his path in an attempt to validate his perceivably lame existence. His dealings with his mother (Susan Sarandon) and brother Pat (Ed Helm) tether constant frustrations between all the characters involved, as Jeff tries to encourage his brother with various sophomoric haikus during his attempt to help Pat track down his wife, whom they suspect of being less than faithful.

The ideas and concepts within the film are nice, but they are executed in a very imbalanced fashion. It’s one of those cases where the comedy isn’t funny enough, nor the drama genuine enough to work on either end, thus it ends up being a semi-“sweet” film with little depth, and simply doesn’t earn any of the emotions it wants. Mark and Jay Duplass apparently adapted this from a short film of theirs, and claim it’s the only script they’ve written where they didn’t have the actors in mind beforehand, an issue which might be responsible for the film’s ultimately forced, uninspired mediocrity.

–Andrew Bowcock

JIRO DREAMS OF SUSHI

Japanese philosophy is an attractive thing to many people, as it focuses heartily on simplicity and dedication. No area of their culture demonstrates this better than the crafting of one of their trademark foods: sushi. Jiro Dreams of Sushi is a documentary about Jiro Ono, one of the world’s leading sushi chefs. Jiro is 85 years old, and in addition to holding the Guinness world record for the oldest constantly working chef, he has been doing the same job for over 75 years. Initially the film follows Jiro’s daily processes of sushi-making, demonstrating his immense perfectionism, and having food critics from all over describe him as the best, mainly because he does the same thing every day, yet always strives to improve his craft (the lush cinematography makes it very difficult not to stay hungry while watching this).
Eventually the film becomes more people-driven, as we begin to interact with Jiro’s sons, and concentrate on the dynamic relationship that has evolved over many years, causing one son to leave and start his own restaurant, and the other to stay behind and help Jiro manage his. By the end, this delightful little doc is just as much about family as it is about food.

–Andrew Bowcock

KILL LIST

Kill List is an example of a pulse-pounding hybrid between horror and hit-man crime film, an anomaly of a “genre” film.  There seem to be but a few good genre filmmakers who mix and match influences to create a stamp of their own (one great example being Nicolas Winding Refn).  Ben Wheatley isn’t quite at Refn’s level, but as we I can tell by first feature, Down Terrace, as well as this film, he is well on his way.

This film is about two hitmen Jay (Neil Maskell) and Gal (Michael Smiley).  Jay is married with a kid and has been out of work since the last job went wrong back in Kiev.  Jay’s wife, Shel (MyAnna Buring) has been pressuring him to take more work because money is running thin and this is an endless source of conflict.  Jay and Shel, while they love each other, are always verbally at each other’s throats.  Gal is single, the cooler head of the two, and is kind of Jay’s conscious through it all.  Gal sets up a job with a creepy individual who gives them a list of three people to kill…but as they go along they get more than they bargained for and with every twist and turn things get weirder and exceedingly dark.

Wheatley pulls upon the rich horror tradition of his native England to craft a film that is tense, unnerving, and thrilling from start to finish.  The overwhelming creepiness of the entire film is quite impressive.  Visually he makes a giant leap forward from Down Terrace (his kitchen sink drama/The Sopranos/The Godfather-style character study) which was far more standard and straightforward.  Since one of the primary joys of this film is the overall experience, you’ll want the mysteries intact, so go into this one as fresh as possible.  While the film has divided people, I think this is exactly what you want to do when you make a genre film.  Go down your path and set your distinctive stamp through music, visuals, acting, and mood.  Wheatley does this beautifully and crafts a compelling dark gem that honestly deserves to be seen and talked about.  But don’t take my word for it, find it and check it out yourself!

–Matthew Groves

THE KID WITH THE BIKE

I’m still pretty new to the Dardenne Brothers, but I’m already taken by how magnificent of a pairing they are. The sense of naturalism they bring to the table is something to be envied by any amateur filmmaker, since their style is often emulated, but rarely matched. The Kid With the Bike features one of the greatest child performances I’ve witnessed in a long time – by Thomas Doret, who plays Cyril, a young boy in a disillusioned pursuit of his father. Cyril’s somewhat of an orphan, since his father refuses to care for him and he’s supervised by a state-mediated youth farm. Cyril’s floundering status leads him by random circumstance to Samantha, a hairdresser who takes on a fondness for him and agrees to be a weekend foster parent. However, Cyril’s ruthlessness may be too much for Samantha to handle.

So far one of my favorite films this year, The Kid with the Bike pushes us into realistic territory, striking a powerful balance that doesn’t require excessive grit or schmaltz. The documentary-style techniques that the Dardennes utilize create art that isn’t “pretty,” but it’s immensely beautiful.

–Andrew Bowcock

LAW OF DESIRE

One of the gala presentations at the recent AFI Fest 2011 was a screening of Pedro Almodovar’s classic 1986 film Law of Desire. Due to Pedro Almodovar being the artistic guest this year at the festival it makes perfect sense why they choose this film. Law of Desire put both Almodovar and star Antonio Banderas on the map as serious talented artists.

The story involves the promiscuous Pablo, a filmmaker, who one night picks up a young man named Antonio (Antonio Banderas). Unbeknownst to Pablo, Antonio is a bit of a psychopath and a stalker who will stop at nothing until Pablo is his. Murder, betrayal, family secrets, sex, and obsession fill the film as the viewer watches a not entirely likable protagonist fend off the dangerous young man. At times resembling an unrestrained version of Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train and at others a homosexual version of Fatal Attraction.

Viewing the film in regards to Pedro Almodovar’s body of work, Law of Desire is a fascinating work of art. Nevertheless the film itself is a bit uneven. The mix of dark drama and light comedy doesn’t always gel. In recent years Almodovar has mastered the art of melodrama, but here it feels a bit cheap. The characters never feel like living breathing human beings who are dealing with life’s complexities. The visual style constantly wrestles in-between an eighties aesthetic and Almodovar’s own artistic vision.

However if one has seen more Almodovar it is easy to recognize the seeds planted in this flawed work that are fully-grown in later films. Law of Desire contains troubled pasts, transgender characters, the idea that family is so much more than just the “American” nuclear family, an honest approach to the power of desire in our lives, and the strong bond between mother and son. All of which are explored and pondered with much greater tact, skill, and subtlety in later works. Still there is always so much to learn from different auteur’s earlier films such as Law of Desire, Mean Streets (Scorsese), and Shadows (Cassevettes). It is a pleasure to see how they have grown and harnessed their craft. Plus Law of Desire is still one entertaining and crazy film despite its problems.

–Andy Motz

THE LONELIEST PLANET

Julia Loktev without a doubt made a splash last decade with her film, Day Night, Day Night.  The film follows a woman whose name we never know, as she prepares and attempts to carry out a suicide bombing in New York City.  Obviously from the very subject matter it was hotly discussed film, but also for the film’s overt minimalism at the core of it all.  Day Night, Day Night was an impressive debut; the minimalism within and its style seemed very typical of other art/indie films of the 2000s and while an interesting debut, it didn’t full work for me.  But without a doubt, she marked herself a as filmmaker to watch who she would develop into.  If her latest, The Loneliest Planet is any indication of what is to come, Loktev is certainly on the right track and appears to be a compelling voice in the cinematic landscape not to be missed.

The film follows three characters, a couple Alex (Gael Garcia Bernal) and Nica (Hani Furstenberg) and their guide through the Georgian countryside, Dato (Bidzina Gujabidze in his screen debut).  It tells of their hiking journey and how these characters shift, change, reveal certain things under the exterior and show their true colors and intentions.  It is hard to talk about this one without going into detail and giving anything away.  Let’s just say there is a feeling and a mood you have about these characters, but an event happens that shifts and changes everything, and from there the characters spiral and we see that there is more to each and they can’t easily be pinned down.

The film is much like Kill List but more in the vein of a mystery.  It’s deliberately paced and has long, drawn-out sequences that also contain interludes of music with them walking throughout the countryside.  I know it sounds very boring and for some it may be but I found it quite gripping.  Loktev has a way with character study and a real eye for framing: the overall cinematography and choices of shots is impeccable.

There is a feeling that the film is highly indebted to films like Gerry or the works of Bela Tarr and Kelly Reichardt.  But even so Loktev tells this mysterious story that is a wonder and consuming in its own right.  So much is predicated on the actions that characters take and how they respond to things, both physically and emotionally.  It is a film that requires study and thought and one that even after a first viewing leaves you with a lot to think about, process, and figure out.  The Loneliest Planet is a prime example of what cinema can and should do: present the audience with a situation and see how characters respond and what conclusions we can come to from that.  If one is interested in the slow and meditative, I implore you to check out the film.

–Matthew Groves

AFI Fest 2011: Herzog, Soderbergh, Sokurov and more

I would like to begin by apologizing to the readers.  This was meant to come in quick succession after the first part of our coverage, but circumstances came up and so unfortunately we did not get it up in a timely manner.  Do not fear though, this will be followed in the next few days with the rest of our coverage!  Enjoy and feel free to comment and spread the word!

FAUST

Literary adaptations are littered all over the cinematic landscape these days. But really they have always been there, especially when it comes to classic literature. Sometimes it can get overbearing or too much or it just makes you want to say “STOP.”  But thankfully when done right such adaptations can be taken to a whole other level and make the viewer want to dig into that source material even more. Such is the case with Alexander Sokurov‘s adaptation (and winner of Golden Lion, top prize @ Venice Film Festival) of the Johann Wolfgang von Goethe classic, Faust.

Faust begins with a beautiful wide shot looking at the earth from the heavens. Slowly but surely we descend to the earth, it is the 19^th Century and we are thrown into the muck and mire from the beginning. It is laid out how hard, primitive, and unforgiving life is at this time in Germany. We are introduced to our lead Faust (Johannes Zeiler) who is doctor/mortician. He is a true thinker and man of science but has been beaten down by the harshness of life and has been filled with despair. This lays the foundation for the local Moneylender a.k.a Mephistopheles (played masterfully by Anton Adasinsky) who slowly but surely lures Faust into his grasp with the object of Faust’s desire the young beautiful Gretchen (Isolda Dychauk).

One thing that makes Faust so inviting and welcome is the fact that Sokurov tells his own story.  Yes, the basic story of Faust is intact, but he makes it his own (a mark of a step in the right direction when adapting any work). Despite the crisp writing, and solid acting, the greatest treat lies in the sumptuous, beautiful visuals. At times it is a matter of contrasts between the ugly and disturbing and the picturesque and beautiful. Sokurov and director of photography Bruno Delbonnel paint a glorious and epic depiction of a relatively known and somewhat conventional story. Much like with Russian Ark, Sokurov pulls the viewer in further and further, so that despite a lengthy running time, the audience is transfixed in the moment whether that is narratively or visually.

Adasinsky plays Mephistopheles so well; he is so creepy and unnerving, but we do understand after awhile how a man beaten down by life could eventually be sucked into his madness. Zeiler is also wonderful, and his occasional voice-over narration fills in an overall feeling of dread, despair, confusion, and a desire for more out of life that draws us all in further.

It goes without saying that if you are aware of anything Alexander Sokurov, whether Russian Ark, his recent trilogy or other films that he is both masterful storyteller and visual artist whose work deserve more credit and appreciation. Despite the fact that this film won top prize @ Venice, expect that it will get a very small and short run, so please if given an opportunity, go see the wonder that is Faust!

–Matthew Groves

FOOTNOTE

For some reason even in more the independent or art film world, there are films that truly are less than satisfactory, but they continue on a path with praise admiration and recognition that they do not deserve. Obviously that is a very subjective point, but I think we all have films that we feel like are praised yet when you actually see them and break them down yourself you find that most praise is kind of grasping at straws. They are writing articulately about an engaging piece of work, but it doesn’t aptly describe the given film. This is sadly the case with Joseph Cedar‘s Footnote.

Footnote is about a rivalry between a father, Eliezer and a son, Uriel. They both are in Talmudic studies and within a very small subset of scholars in contemporary Israel. Uriel is highly recognized and appreciated, the Eliezer is less so and seen almost as a pariah, not that his work isn’t valuable but inner politics amongst the small group of scholars has made him an outsider. As it turns out Eliezer has always wanted the Israel Prize, one of the highest honors to be awarded to an Israeli. And finally he gets a call and finds out for this year he has won it. But things are not as they seem.

While this material seems potentially ripe with dramatic tension. The film is very thin, in writing, direction, acting, all the way through. Cedar tries his best at using stylistic, screenwriting, and “artsy” tricks, but they are to no avail. The film tries its best to be quirky and amp up comedy, but it really just devolves into thin characters arguing about minutiae. Cedar seems to want to elevate this small world and make it epic and have stakes when really it has none. It all just seems to boil down to something relatively petty, selfish, and a bunch of people arguing over nothing. It tries to be smart, but it is too scant of a story and has little dramatic thrust. Unfortunately the film has been praised and even received a Best Foreign Language film Oscar nomination, which is kind of a slap in the face in a year with so much great work by many foreign and arthouse directors. Don’t waste your time on this, the film is slight, of little consequence, and most likely will result of a maddening viewing experience than anything else. Maybe you’ll find a chuckle or clever thing here or there, but for the most part, Footnote is an almost non-visual, exasperatingly dull affair.

–Matthew Groves

GREEN

Sometimes you see a film that starts off with your interest perked and you enthralled and waiting to see where it will go. But then you are sadly disappointed to find that the film is merely mediocre, goes over familiar territory and doesn’t branch out or take many chances beyond its setup. Such is sadly the case with Sophia Takal’s Green.

The film follows a couple from NYC, an intellectual (as the film description says, don’t know what exactly makes her that, but that’s beside the point) Genevieve (Katie Lyn Sheil) and her egotistical journalist boyfriend, Sebastian (Lawrence Michael Levine). The two urbanites move to a rural town so that Sebastian can trying sustainable farming for 6 months and write about it for a piece he’s working on. Unsurprisingly there is very little to do around and so Genevieve looks for a friend and finds it in a local working-class girl, Robin (played by writer/director Takal). Sebastian also seems to strike a friendship with her and what follows is a series of Genevieve’s thoughts and fantasies that may be all too real that Robin and Sebastian may be getting too close.

It is a premise that gets one involved. Sure there are various films about this subject but as we know in any art form, various topics have been done over and over again, it is all about the presentation or how it is done differently. And that seems to be the fatal flaw with Takal’s film. It brings very little insight and/or anything new. It feels far too short (clocking in at a 75 minute running time) and undeveloped dramatically and otherwise. It seems like with more time, thought, shooting, and such this could have turned into something very different. The acting is fine, everyone is about average and does what the middle of the road writing asks of each character. The visuals while having their moments seem pretty standard and some time even bland. One highlight is Genevieve’s dreams, fantasies, nightmares about Robin and Sebastian potentially having an affair, but those elements could have been taken to a more striking artistic level and even those moments become repetitive or mixed. The highest thing I can say about the film is that it is a good premise that seem to just peter out and become something mediocre and unmemorable. Not a horrible film by far (it isn’t as empty as The Color Wheel) but with such rich subject matter, one would hope Takal could have done more. Here’s to hoping that will happen with her next film.

–Matthew Groves

HAYWIRE

There are several filmmakers who, no matter what, create in me great anticipation when a new film of theirs is released. One such filmmaker is Steven Soderbergh. He has been able to jump through genres and different types of cinema whether more mainstream or experimental/arthouse ever since his debut back in 1989, Sex, Lies, and Videotape. Soderbergh’s output in the last few years has become incredibly quick as well as high quantity, and one reason for this is that Soderbergh has said after only a small handful of films he plans on retiring within a few years. So obviously for a Soderbergh fan like me, each and every film is one to see/experience.

His latest, Haywire, is a blend of various previous films of his. First off, it is written by Lem Dobbs, who he collaborated with one of Soderbergh’s best, The Limey, so that film obviously feels like a cousin to it. Also the film in parts is a bit of a cross of Out of Sight and the Ocean’s films. Finally, with Gina Carano (a mixed martial arts fighter by her usual trade) plays Mallory Kane, a former black ops soldier who works for a military contractor and is double-crossed and decides to get revenge on each and everyone responsible, is similar to the casting of Sasha Grey as a high priced escort in The Girlfriend Experience. With all that being said the film is mostly works.

Without a doubt it is very slick, fun, and Soderbergh lets the action play out without a lot of editing tricks. One of the joys of the films is seeing Carano in her element and really kicking ass. When she gets in fights throughout the film it is compelling and makes you feel like every hit, punch, kick are realistic and close to how it would look in real life situations. That being said, dramatic and acting-wise most everyone is flat, which is saying something when you have a cast full of talented actors including Antonio Banderas, Michael Douglas, Michael Fassbender, Ewan McGregor, and more. In the short time he’s onscreen Fassbender is pretty solid, proving once more that no matter the role he can always leave a positive and lasting impression. Bill Paxton (who plays Mallory’s father) can be a mixed actor, but in this he is given a place to really shine. All that being said and while this film is most definitely a welcome answer to Angelina Jolie films and it is slick, stylish, and fun, the film with more time could have been much more. If you’re a Soderbergh completist like I, then definitely see it, but if not I would say seeing the superior Contagion is much more of a priority.

–Matthew Groves

HEADHUNTERS

Far too often in my estimation there are various films that come over here to the state’s from other countries that are really just loud, dumb, mindless copies of what we get in the mainstream. Oddly enough too many audiences and some critics fall for the fact that it is a foreign film in which the irritating and predictable film is delivered therefore, the film gets praised and gets distribution even though to be honest it is far from deserving it. This is an apt description of the new Scandanavian import, Headhunters.

Headhunters tells the story of Roger Brown (Aksel Hennie), a rich prick who lives with his supermodel-looking wife, Diana (Synnove Macody Lund) and he works has a headhunter for a company by day and a high-price art theft on the side. So basically he is living the criminal privileged, selfish and borderline misogynist’s dream. But things get thrown for a loop when an ex-soldier Clas Greve (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) crosses Roger’s path as a headhunter and owns a priceless piece of art that Roger wants.

But you know what there is no real need to go further than that. The film just devolves to an immature, loud, violent/bloody film with plenty of sex too. As a thriller it doesn’t go anywhere you haven’t seen numerous times over and honestly it is all too tired and predictable. At a certain point this all becomes risible and the twists and turns just become tedious.

To be honest I don’t see what the appeal was besides the base level of violence and sex. The lead is supremely unlikeable just like everyone else in the film. The film is not fun or riffing upon anything and just feels far too familiar. I guess this is a way to bridge the gap between cultures and just give people a dumb, mindless action film once more. I hope people are smarter than that and don’t fall for the charms (or lack thereof) of Headhunters, and if so I think you’ll be more frustrated with how much of a waste of time the film is.

–Matthew Groves

INTO THE ABYSS

Much like I said with Steven Soderbergh, Werner Herzog is another director that no matter what, I’m there, no matter what film. This is especially the case for me with his documentaries. He has always taken the form to unique places that I have always highly appreciated not just on a technical level, but as a deep lover/consumer of documentary cinema. Herzog was @ AFI Fest just last year with his wonderful and stirring 3D cave painting documentary, Cave of Forgotten Dreams. This seemed to be a jump in an different direction when it comes to Herzog and documentaries. Usually his docs are more staged, semi-fictional, and are used as tools to reinforce his philosophical view of the world and nature. But interestingly enough, despite the film being about nature, Herzog came to the last film with a love of nature and with wonder, fascination, and tapped into vein of spirituality a little bit. He seems to be more focused on the soul or spirit of man whether that is at the height and brilliance of prehistoric artistic achievement or the lowest and more dark nature of man, like in his newest film, Into The Abyss.

Into The Abyss is probably Herzog’s most straightforward and conventional, but in this case that is not a bad thing by any means. The film is about the death penalty in the US, specifically following a few criminals on death row in Texas and exploring all aspects of the surrounding town, the victims, the perpetrators and everyone else who has been affected by the tragedy. Werner Herzog really does the hard work and explores this subject with as much of a journalistic eye as possible. He does come out in the beginning saying that he believes one of the perpetrators is a human being and he doesn’t believe in capital punishment, but that he doesn’t have to like or approve of what he has done. This admittance early on I think is notable and welcome and how he takes such care to lay out all of the figures and even show and allow those who are victim’s families speak candidly about support of capital punishment is a high mark for Herzog.

The film of course is very heavy, sad, and shows a breakdown in society, but it is touching and beautiful as well. I truly hope that the film finds an audience and begins a discussion about the topic. Herzog looks into the human soul and finds value in each and every person and their story. It is a film that just presents and makes the audience have to wrestle with the larger conclusions to be drawn. To me this film could be talked about for hours, but I will say no more because there is nothing like the experience of seeing and then discussing the film. Herzog has done some great work that is almost comparable to his last film and from what I have heard, this has spawned a whole series of documentaries that he plans on doing about the subject further called Death Row. So if you get a chance I implore you to check out this essential documentary and look out for the rest of his work in the upcoming Death Row series.

–Matthew Groves

AFI Fest 2011: A celebration and appreciation of the quality of vast world of 2011 cinema

Fall has come, winter has passed, and now we are onto spring and as this publishes, the Oscars are upon us, the American film industry‘s self-congratulatory and short-sighted celebration of themselves.  But as is usually the case here @ The Alternative Chronicle, we feel that in the face of this is important to highlight the films that Oscar would if not at all have the guts or ability with such narrow-minded, middle-brow tastes. And a great example of such films is the perennial event in Los Angeles in November is synonymous with for film enthusiasts in LA that stands outside the usual glitz and glamour, AFI Fest 2011 presented by Audi!

As you can find from previous years, we’re quite fond of the festival, with me dubbing it as the preeminent LA film festival.  As was expected, the festival continued with a diverse lineup and showcases a strong year from Sundance, Berlin, Cannes, Venice, and beyond.  Like previous years we had extensive plans for presenting our coverage.  This year more than others though has been so strong and our schedules too packed for us to be able to cover the festival day to day.  In a series of articles we will be presenting our reviews (by film, alphabetically) starting today and continuing throughout the rest of the week.

With all the big names (Herzog, von Trier, Polanski, McQueen, Almodovar and so many more) as well as diverse genres and types of cinema, there is a lot of ground to cover.  It seems that this year the stars aligned: the 25th anniversary of this great festival worked perfectly at accenting a number of really excellent films going on through the world!  Like any festival there will always be stinkers or ones undeserving, but it’s rare even in good years to see such a strong lineup as this. Unfortunately for various reasons we were unable to release these reviews months ago, but with many of these films having been released and/or about to be released we feel like now is the perfect time to counter-program the excessive circus that is the Academy Awards!  So welcome to our coverage and please take note of these films; write them down remember them, look them up and then go support them when they come to your theaters, on demand, and DVD!

–Matthew Groves

THE ARTIST

They say this could be the first silent film in 83 years to win Best Picture.  Despite my high level of anticipation before attending this screening I was a bit skeptical, since a modern film of this nature has a high risk of becoming overly gimmicky.  Luckily French director Michel Hazanavicius knew just how to strike a balance of deep nostalgia for cinema with drama and comedy, making this film nothing short of charming, and reminding us all of the days of “movie magic”.

It follows the career of silent film superstar George Valentin (Jean Dujardin, who won Best Actor at Cannes Film Festival for this performance), and Peppy Miller (the gorgeous Bérénice Bejo): a young film extra that strikes up a spark with Mr. Valentin, who ends up giving her a leg up and some valuable career advice.  As “talkies” begin to take over the industry, George’s pride makes him quickly become obsolete, while Peppy rises to fame behind him.  By the end it morphs into the story of a man who has peaked struggling to discover his true place in life, and being forced to find balance between his pride and his love.  The Artist is lovely, clever, hilarious and simply all-around delightful.  Also, it features one of the most adorable and talented little dogs you’re likely to ever see in a film.  I had a smile on my face practically the whole time.

–Andrew Bowcock

BEYOND THE BLACK RAINBOW

The only truly effective science-fiction does its job by fully immersing you in a new world, oftentimes a world you’re not familiar with — which, especially nowadays, takes a lot of effort and legitimate inspiration.  Luckily there are some artists who are polite enough not to grace us with something insultingly conventional anymore.  Beyond the Black Rainbow is one example of such a film.  Much like David Lynch‘s Eraserhead, Stanley Kubrick‘s 2001: a Space Odyssey, or Gaspar Noé’s Enter the Void, it cannot be given a synopsis in the classic sense…thus, it simply must be experienced to be understood.

I got the wonderful opportunity of interviewing rookie director Panos Cosmatos at AFI Fest about his debut experimental sci-fi/horror feature, Beyond the Black Rainbow.  Let not anymore textual descriptions of mine taint your perception, just listen to my interview with this bold young filmmaker, and check out the trailer:

–Andrew Bowcock

CARNAGE

Four upper middle class sophisticated adults politely handling a minor incident involving their two young boys in a comfortable apartment in New York City is the setting of Roman Ploanski’s newest film, which showed Saturday night at AFI Fest. The film is aptly titled Carnage, for it isn’t long before these four “civilized” New Yorkers descend into insanity, childish bickering, and useless fighting themselves in a harsh critique of an era where political correctness replaces true emotion.

This may sound dark, but Carnage is one of the funniest films of the year. It is such a joy to watch.  The audience in which I watched it in clapped, cheered, and cringed, as the situations and dialogue got even smarter and more ridiculous. Jodie Foster, John C. Reilly, Kate Winslet, and Christophe Waltz are all at the top of their game giving entertaining and convincing performances.

Yasmina Reza’s and Roman Polanski’s screenplay (adapted from her award winning play) is a great example of a chamber piece as the dialogue flows naturally from one subject to the next. Issues ranging from marriage to gender, from careers to parenting are all brought forward as the characters continue on with their arguments is this Samuel Beckett-esque circular world they inhabit.

Even though the film is officially being released in December there already has been conversation amongst critics concerning whether or not Carnage transcends its theatre roots and becomes “cinematic” film. Thanks to Roman Polanski’s genius direction and the film’s brilliant set design I’m happy to say it does. Each shot is so purposefully framed and each camera move is intentional. Just the way the frames are composed is something to behold. The film may only take place in one location, but Polanski has done so much more than just film a play: he has constructed a great film. In fact this might be the best Roman Polanski film we have seen in many years.

–Andy Motz

CARRE BLANC

From Soylent Green to Brazil and Children of Men, there are now many decent film derivatives of Orwellian dystopia to choose from…so is there anything to make Carre Blanc unique?  It doesn’t break any ground, conceptually (a brutal cautionary tale about a future where violence is the norm).  Visually, it’s adequate but hardly anything spectacular.  The story is familiar, if not slightly contrived: the future bureaucratic misfit must re-examine himself and “break free” from what society has made him into.  There are a few refreshingly cryptic touches thrown into the story, involving croquet, safety nets, and teeth whitening, but not enough to manifest a unique voice.  However, the editing techniques that are implemented into several scenes show remarkable style.  I enjoyed it, but if this genre isn’t a source of particular enthusiasm for you, there’s a sea of far superior and more original films to choose from.

–Andrew Bowcock

THE COLOR WHEEL

In the realms of indie cinema there are all sorts of films.  But as we all know that definition, “indie,” “independent,” etc., is a loose and ever-changing describer and is more broad than you think.  A lot of times that can mean a film that is minimal, but also it can just be one-note, simplistic, and utterly inane.  Sadly this is the case with one of the first films I saw in connection with the festival and certainly from what I can tell the low-light film, The Color Wheel.

The Color Wheel is about a brother and sister.  The sister is in the middle of a nasty breakup and begrudgingly the brother is there to help here out.  Sounds like a familiar basic plot that seems rip for potential comedy and drama, well it is but this film sadly does very little with it.

Despite it checking such references to Philip Roth, Robert Frank, and/or Jerry Lewis those are mere hallow and cynical references to a insufferable, inept film about nasty people who just say nasty things to each other.  Not only is the dialogue and the delivery clunky but most of the acting resembles one big in-joke that the audience has to struggle through tooth and nail without screaming at the top of ones lungs.

Once again the film bastardizes the very idea of indie film via Cassavetes route and could have helped if they were not so lazy technically.  I couldn’t help but bash my head metaphorically against the wall at the shabby handheld camerawork (just buy a tripod or make a mount and please set up angles with some kind thought put into it for once).

Down the line the film is a chore with unlikeable filmmaking and unlikeable characters all yelling/slandering each other and to no avail.  Supremely one of the worst films of the year and one I had a hard time actual finishing.  If this is what passes for a small festival indie in the US these days I fear that indie film may have a malady that needs heavy surgery immediately.

–Matthew Groves

CORIOLANUS

There have been many attempts, and an almost equal amount of failures in adapting William Shakespeare scripts to modern times.  Needless to say, one is justified in having reasonable doubts whether an actor turned first-time director is qualified to take the reigns of such an experiment.  It’s always going to be a stretch from both ends of the rope: you must make the script believable in a modern context, while shaping your “modern world” into something that will fit Willy’s words; it seems like an unspoken rule that you can’t change words on the page to suit your own world, though I suppose preserving the words of Shakespeare maintain a degree of rectitude in a time where there is little eloquence left in genre filmmaking.

Despite “breaking news, m’lord!”s being re-invented as television broadcasts, Coriolanus actually handles itself with far more dignity than a cheesy Baz Luhrmann pseudo-spectacle.  The first half admittedly felt a smidgen uneven, but perhaps I was just distracted by Ralph Fiennes delivering a bold, impassioned Shakespeare-dictioned war-time spiel while camera phones followed him and his assault-rifle toting soldiers.  However, it soon became clear that Fiennes was doing a rather “Fienne” job not only in front of the camera, but also as director.  Once the second act started to pick up speed, I fell victim to being convinced that the political parallels began to justify this particular re-contextualization of the Shakespeare play.

The performances really sold it (particularly in the final act), and by the end I actually felt a bit of sympathy for the ruthless Gaius Marcius Coriolanus.  Also, there’s plenty of adrenaline-laden combat sequences that almost give The Hurt Locker something to envy.  Watch out Kenneth Branagh, if you’re gonna be exerting your energy now on yawn-inducing super-hero flicks, you may have another veteran-actor-turned-director in line to grab the epic Shakespeare torch.

–Andrew Bowcock

Pictures provided to press by AFI Fest 2011 presented by Audi.

CHRONICLE CAST — Episode 12: Panos Cosmatos, “Beyond The Black Rainbow”

Check out Episode 12, here or here.  In this episode, Andrew Bowcock interviews Panos Cosmatos, a filmmaker whose sci-fi horror feature film debut, Beyond The Black Rainbow, which recently played @ AFI Fest 2011 presented by Audi in the Midnight Program.  The film is slated to release in the spring of 2012 via Magnet Releasing.  Feel free to comment on here and give us a star rating and review on iTunes!

Picture provided to press by Magnet Releasing.

“Revenge:” A solid middle of the road doc that supplies hope for the future

by Matthew Groves

Electric cars!  A pipe dream or a potential reality?  This is the central question behind the new documentary by Chris Paine, Revenge of the Electric Car.  Paine tackled this subject before with his 2006 film, Who Killed The Electric Car, a chronicle of the EV-1 and the rise and fall of the dream that it could be a viable alternative energy option to counter current fossil fuel based cars.  As crazy as it sounds it seems that even in just a few short years that the nearly-dead dream seems to have a good bit of life and much closer than we think.

Revenge of the Electric Car follows 4 men, who are all very different personalities and backgrounds, each with a specific goals in mind, but all trying to make electric cars for the masses.  The first is an old school GM exec, Bob Lutz, who while a late, unlikely believer in electric cars passionately tries to get GM into the 21^st Century because it’s what the consumer demands and that is where he sees the market going.  The second is Elon Musk, a young entrepreneur who made billions on Paypal and creating a private rocket program, who is the mind behind Tesla Motors (yes named after that Tesla).  He plans on making cool, expensive, fast roadsters and thinks he can take on and beat Detroit.  The third is Carlos Ghosn, the head of Nissan, who is a shark and an expert capitalist, who gambles with billions to make the Nissan Leaf, an affordable mass-produced EV car.  The fourth is Greg “Gadget” Abbott, a DIY fixer-upper who is working to convert current gasoline cars to electric.  The film follows these men from 2007 to 2010, and both the initial success, hardships that come along the way, especially in light of the current economic recession, and if/how they come out the other side of things.

One of the big factors of this film is access, something that Paine’s original film, Who Killed The Electric Car did not have.  I think this helps improve from some of the shortcomings of the original.  While well-intentioned and important of a film it was to really tell the real story of the EV-1 and its demise, it put its central message before the filmmaking.  In Revenge of the Electric Car, it is quicker, more structured and less likely to be as meandering or biting off more than it can chew, and in general is a streamlined, informative, and entertaining look into the race to find an electric car that works for the worldwide consumer.  The film still has its problems; it still puts the message mostly in front of the filmmaking and it is basically a really well done advocacy documentary, but a more improved and mature work.  He makes the film more visual and also does some creative and entertaining things with the film, including a fun opening title sequence.  Because he has a set amount time, a limited number of interviewees (something that Who Killed The Electric Car could have scaled back on) and a more formal structure, he is able to hone and focus really well on these men and this period time.  It is very conventional and talking heads based, but it works for the type of film of and it’s central goals and it accomplishes those goals rather smoothly.

We certainly both see that industry may be the savior to our ecological woes in some ways.  But as we find in the doc, there are many bumps in the road and it is still an uphill battle.  We also see that some amongst the innovators in this field do have self-interest and even ulterior motives especially amongst those titans of industry.  But sometimes we despite who it is we need to suck it up and acknowledge that there are those who are experts who may in many ways make us uneasy, but will help further make a step in the right direction.  While we don’t really tackle those less desirable elements of these men personally it is assuredly at the back of one’s mind.  Yet the film is not about that, which is completely okay, because really the film has set out to show the progress, the challenges, and the hope of a bright future.  All three of which Chris Paine with assistance of writer/producer P.G Morgan accomplish very admirably and solidly.

But as much it seems to portray a sunny optimism at the end of the film, there seems to be a certain amount of skepticism on my part.  Don’t get me wrong, I believe that we should and it is absolutely important to the sake of our planet and its deteriorating climate to have viable alternative energy vehicles immediately.  But to me the film seems as much as it tries to show some advances/successes, we are still too far than we need to be in this area.  We need vehicles like this and need them for the average person around the world to own at an affordable price and we need a system across the board to transition our gasoline-based cars to electric.  But most of that is my natural disposition to doubt as well as a heavy dose of political pessimism, but certainly there’s much room for hope.  If in only a matter of years, these advances can be made than hopefully within the next decade we will start to see electric cars across the board.  I’m here with my fingers crossed, but in the mean time, Revenge of the Electric Car can give us a small window into a future which is hopefully sooner rather than later.

Poster Source:

revengeoftheelectriccar.com

CHRONICLE CAST — Episode 11: Danfung Dennis, “Hell and Back Again”

Check out Episode 11, here or here.  In this episode, Matthew Groves interviews Danfung Dennis, a photojournalist/documentary filmmaker who made the film, Hell and Back Again, about US Marines Echo Company 2nd Battalion, 8th Regiment, and specifically Nathan Harris who was severely injured in his deployment in Afghanistan and the film tells the story of his emotional, physical, and psychological struggles reintroducing himself into civilian life.  This 2011 Sundance award winner is striking portrait that cuts back and forth from North Carolina and Afghanistan and gives us a full frontal look at military service and it’s aftermath in a way  you rarely ever see and is a must-see.  Feel free to comment on here and give us a star rating and review on iTunes!

Notes:

A forthcoming review is coming soon.

The audio is a little loud at points, but we are not having the issue we used to with Matthew being very loud and the guest being quiet.  Thanks so much for appreciating this despite the quality not always being perfect.

Picture Source:

hellandbackagain.com

CHRONICLE CAST — Episode 10: Katie Galloway & Kelly Duane de la Vega Interview, “Better This World”

Check out Episode 10, here or here.  In this episode, Matthew Groves interviews Katie Galloway and Kelly Duane de la Vega, two award-winning documentary director/producers who made the film, Better This World, about activists, David McKay and Brad Crowder. McKay and Crowder were arrested and charged in connection to domestic terrorism charges while demonstrating @ the 2008 RNC.  It examines their case as well as well as gives a nuance, yet frightening portrait of the FBI and the criminal justice system, American civil liberties, and political dissent in post-9/11 America.  The film is playing currently @ Docuweeks in Los Angeles and will be playing on the PBS program, POV in the fall.  For more information about the film, check out their website here and here.  Feel free to comment on here and give us a star rating and review on iTunes!

Notes:

A forthcoming review is coming soon.

For some reason there were a couple technical difficulties with Skype and it got fuzzy and a few words were lost in a few answers.  Sorry about that, but thankfully it is brief and only in a few places.

Finally if you are in LA, you can see the film @ the Laemmle Sunset 5 and the playtimes are listed below, note the times on the podcast only included the first showings of the day, not both showings, sorry for the mix up:

Fri, August 26 – 12:05 pm, 5:30 pm
Sat, August 27 – 1:50 pm, 7:35 pm
Sun, August 28 – 3:40 pm, 9:50 pm
Mon, August 29 – 12:05 pm, 5:30 pm
Tue, August 30 – 1:50 pm, 7:35 pm
Wed, August 31 – 3:40 pm, 9:50 pm
Thu, September 01 – 12:05 pm, 5:30 pm

Picture Source:

http://www.pbs.org/pov/

CHRONICLE CAST — Episode 9: John Sayles Interview, “Amigo”

Check out Episode 9, here or here.  In this episode, Matthew Groves interviews acclaimed and truly independent filmmaker, John Sayles, whose new film, Amigo is currently showing in limited release across the US.  For more information about the film, check out their website here.  Feel free to comment on here and give us a star rating and review on iTunes!

Note:

Matthew Groves has a review coming for this film soon.