Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Sweet Land

Ali Selim, USA, 2005
3 out of 4 stars

The premise of this film is that, somewhere in the Midwest immediately after the first world war, a Norwegian immigrant has summoned a mail-order bride who turns out to be (somehow unbeknownst to him) from Germany. It’s not quite on the order of what happened to Japanese Americans in the next one, but as the film presents it there is still quite a large degree of anti-German sentiment that prevents the marriage from occurring as planned, starting with the openly bigoted preacher. Other arrangements are made while the two perhaps get a better chance at becoming acquainted with each other than they otherwise would have without the obstacles.

In a sense, this is the Minnesota version of the British “heritage” film, complete with a tiresome framing story within a framing story in which the next generation agonizes over the old “selling out to the developer” conundrum. This stuff threatens to mar the film proper but is thankfully forgotten for most of it.

Most of the movie is taken up by an understated, but ultimately not underplayed love story set against the backdrop of a less-discussed form of intolerance. I particularly found the minister’s character interesting; there are things about his character arc that are cliché, but I give the filmmakers credit for making his character more complex than you might expect. The lead actors also have good chemistry with each other, and the film ultimately isn’t too sedate. It’s a pleasant experience – take that with both its positive and negative connotations.

Source: Fox DVD
25 Dec, 7:56 PM

Monday, December 24, 2007

Annie Hall

Woody Allen, USA, 1977
3.5 out of 4 stars

At first I was worried. I consider Allen, perhaps unfairly, to be a misogynist at best, a child molester at worst (how the icons of the 70s have fallen – in his case, due to both new ideas in general and new misdeeds on his part) so I wasn’t sure if I would enjoy a film that began with his self-indulgent mug filling up the screen while he told unfunny jokes and made observations about himself that didn’t seem to be particularly insightful.

That said, whatever baggage Allen carries for me as a kid from the MTV generation who’s never even seen one of his films before was basically set aside after that brief sequence, after which the film became funnier and more insightful at a lightning pace.

I can only imagine that some aspects of this film were much more revolutionary when it came out, such as the confessional, talking-to-the-camera aspect of it. While we may have suffered more than benefited from this development (in my opinion, many much less talented comedians have become way too self-centered and self-indulgent in their films these days), it works surprisingly well here. Allen is quite funny and his persona is more likeable and more complex than it seems at first glance.

The off-kilter chronology of the film is something else that we see in a lot of self-consciously “quirky” movies that are released today, and it’s here that we also see Allen work with greater skill (and of course, with more innovation) than most of his imitators, seeming to tap into an emotional logic with his chronology rather than merely indulge in clever gimmicks).

Finally, the title character, as performed by Diane Keaton, is given much more personal and self than I would have expected. Of course, Allen’s persona dominates the film’s narrative and threatens to squeeze out Annie’s perspective entirely, but Allen still provides Keaton with enough moments to bring across herself as an equal partner in the relationship and a person of her own. Compare this to something like Zach Braff’s Garden State, where Natalie Portman’s character (through no fault of her own) is more a collection of attractive quirks than something approaching a self-possessed character with her own presence.

And of course, it’s just a really funny film. From what I hear, I shouldn’t ruin it by watching his later work, in which his bad urges seem to get the better of him.

Source: Warner DVD
23 Dec, 8:13 PM

Saturday, December 22, 2007

The Golden Compass

Chris Weitz, USA / UK, 2007
2.5 out of 4 stars

I was disappointed when the bad reviews started coming in for this would-be blockbuster adaptation of one of my teenage self's favorite fantasy books, so I steeled myself for a sub-par product well before I finally went to see it with my folks (who also once enjoyed the book). The result was that I enjoyed it enough, but I was consistently looking for imperfections, to the extent that I may have noticed faults that would have escaped my attention if I hadn't been preconditioned to expect them.

That said, this movie certainly reminded me how difficult it is to set up an entire fantasy world and an exciting adventure story all at once in a feature-length film, and while Peter Jackson certainly figured out how to do it, comedy director Chris Weitz is no Peter Jackson, to say the least. It's no surprise to say he lacks vision, and that both he and the studio that hired him (and once hired Jackson) should have known better. Nor is there any of the loose interpretative genius evidenced by, say, Alfonso Cuarón. Particularly during the first half or so of the film, there are far too many awkwardly paced sequences of short, abrupt scenes in which the exact amount of information necessary to keep things going is dispensed in a stilted manner. The actors are for the most part good; Nicole Kidman does vamp it up a bit too much as the villain, but that is pretty much the character. Meanwhile, child protagonist Dakota Blue Richards acts at times as if she doesn't believe she's in peril, she is never overly cute and displays the right degree of sass at all times.

And in fact, once we get through most of the setup, the movie gains some focus as it narrows down to the journey of Lyra, Richards's character, as she tries to fulfill a promise while chasing half-understood magical-scientific revelations from her "uncle." The big fight scene is a bit murky but still feels triumphant. The ending, though, is only a revelation in that they seem to have kept the actual ending for the opening of the next film, if there will be one. Fans of the book will be left wondering how much of this controversial scene will be changed when and if it is adapted for the screen. Speaking of the next one, I can only hope they get a more talented director, because if Weitz faltered here, he's going to crash and burn when adapting the somewhat sparse and dreary events of book two (of which I'm no longer assured of its quality after all these years).

Source: New Line 35mm print
21 Dec, 1:05 PM

Monday, December 17, 2007

The Color of Paradise

(Rang-e khoda)
Majid Majidi, Iran, 1999
3 out of 4 stars

My family and I were, I think, in a bit too much of a silly mood to be watching such a "serious" and "understated" picture, so the emotional impact of this tale of a rural blind child in Iran was perhaps not what it should have been. I suspect, however, that this might be true to some extent under any viewing circumstances.

There are some very impressive aspects to the film, however, and overall, it's worth viewing. While I'm sure it's not the first or last film to try to put this across, it nonetheless did a pretty good job of conveying the young blind protagonist's sense of hearing and touch, showing us how it both isolates him and puts him on the same wavelength as nature. There were also some odd touches that I'm glad weren't explained (although while watching, I assumed that I wanted an explanation).

So, it's a solid effort, and the characters and their plights are engaging enough. Yet while a movie like this usually feels like it needs to be short, the 90 minute running time here actually makes the film seem a bit slight. There is actually a fairly solid plot, and ultimately this just leads one to feel like the viewer may have seen an overly small sliver of the pie (while at the same time, it's doubtful that a longer film would have been superior).

Source: Sony DVD
16 Dec, 8:04 PM