Dogtooth review
Apparently, “Greece has a long and rich cinematic history.” Well pickle my olives and call me Zorba. It’s good to hear Greece is rich in something.
However familiar you are with Greek cinema, Dogtooth is certainly recognisable as Greek tragedy; dark, twisted and captivating. Nutjob parents raise their three kids cooped up in a house with zero exposure to the outside world. Headbands are exchanged for cunnilingus, hammers are taken to limbs, cats are graphically slaughtered and siblings have sex with each other. But alongside these disturbing events is abundant hilarity rising from madcap scenarios ranging from substitute meanings for problematic words and unique dance routines to spear-fishing for shop-bought fish in a swimming pool.
We are given very few clues as to why such a situation arose in the first place and there are plenty more questions left to answer once the movie ends. Hell, we aren’t even given any of the family members’ names. It all adds to the intrigue and although “thought-provoking” isn’t wholly accurate, this off-the-wall original sticks in the mind and evokes a range of emotions, not all of which are particularly comfortable. And that’s a wonderful thing.
29th Apr 2010 | Comment | Official site | On IMDb
Double Take review
I was ready to ask why such an intriguing, inventive film covering such interesting topics didn’t achieve a wider release. Before seeing it.
What does this film want to be? Probably a documentary, even though it has a plot, of sorts, but about what? Alfred Hitchcock? Or the Cold War? Well, it’s really predominantly the latter, to be fair, but the additional Hitchcock angle is peculiar and distracting rather than complementary. The two subjects just don’t gel; links are forged (fear, doubles) but, lordy, are they tenuous. The film is unfocused, messy and unbalanced. At just over 80 minutes it’s also too long. 80 minutes.
The film’s saving grace is the very thing that it over-relies on; the independently interesting excerpts from old American news reports, deranged TV ads and clips from Hitchcock films, interviews and Alfred Hitchcock Presents. The sum of its parts are greater than the whole.
27th Apr 2010 | Comment | Official site | On IMDb
I Am Love review
I Am Love is an olive, stilton, salty liquorice, oyster chowder; an acquired taste and a serious mistake could be made reading the largely doting reviews. A moody foreign language film? With beautiful, marginally pretentious cinematography? A slice-of-life drama (albeit a particularly eventful slice) eschewing traditional plot structure? This is many an intellectual cineaste’s wet dream. But my sheets don’t need changing. Maybe I need to take Viagra with my cocoa.
It certainly looks nice and Tilda Swinton is, as always, fantastic, possibly at her best. The whole cast is especially impressive, come to that; although an alien aristocratic world, the characters sucked me right in to it. But I’m not sure I really wanted to be there. The typical European cinema pace is slow and events are largely uninteresting. But then I’m not too keen on chowder.
26th Apr 2010 | Comment | Official site | On IMDb
Lourdes review
Wheelchair-bound and reliant on support from others, multiple sclerosis sufferer Christine joins a pilgrimage to Lourdes in hope of a miracle cure. And, praise be, following a holy water shampoo, it appears that is just what she receives as she stands from her wheelchair much to the amazement and annoyance of her companions.
Although Christine doesn’t exactly suddenly leap out of her chair, the pacing is slightly odd, with an effective first act stretching the length of the first half of the film. The interest grows in the second half when we see not only Christine’s reaction to the “miracle” but others’, too, and the general reaction leans more towards non-interest, jealousy and even indignation than congratulation and celebration.
The ultra-low-key tone prevents a powerful emotional punch but director Jessica Hausner applies an effective delicate touch to her own script. The film’s highlight, however, is lead actor Sylvie Testud who impressively plays a complex cocktail of sadness, loneliness, acceptance of her condition (and refusal to accept it) and reaction to cruelty around her (both before and after her big event) with incredible subtlety.
Kick-Ass review
When the 11-year-old Hit Girl bursts onto the scene with “Okay you cunts, let’s see what you can do now” and promptly slaughters a group of people in an almighty bloodbath to The Banana Splits theme tune, Kick-Ass really kicks off and you know you are in for an unapologetically black comedy.
Doubly thankfully, Kick-Ass is an atypical superhero movie but it isn’t, as it might look from the trailer, a Superhero Movie-like cheap gimmick. An intelligent, sometimes dark and frequently hilarious take on the what-if-the-world-really-had-costumed-heroes genre, it is a welcome respite from the recent glut of more traditional superhero films.
As fresh as it is, the movie pays serious homage to superhero comics and films and its plot points are lifted directly from the likes of Spider Man, Batman and Wolverine, from geek turned hero to metal-lined bones to the birth of the superhero’s mirror-image supervillain and an ending shaped for a foreboding sequel. For the uninitiated, lack of familiarity isn’t a problem because it’s a tried, tested, and enjoyable structure but for those who have a bit more knowledge of relevant pop culture history, there is another layer rife with respectful nods and sly in-jokes.
With the imminent embarrassment of Iron Man 2 to be followed next year by Kenneth Branagh’s Much Ado About Thor and Joe Johnston’s Honey, I Shrunk Captain America, I’m far from looking forward to Marvel’s culminating The Avengers clusterfuck. If only the superhero movie could end on this high note. Excelsior, bitches.
1st Apr 2010 | 1 Comment | Official site | On IMDb
