cineman2 Reviews

Cocaine Cowboys (2006)

Documentary Film-making as Tabloid Journalism

[16 November 2006]

Cocaine Cowboys is narrowly focused on how Miami became the drug capital and the most dangerous city in the United States during the late 1970s and the early 1980s. The film is lasciviously fascinated with the lavish lifestyle and the grotesque violence generated by the drug trade. Many obviously find such material quite fascinating. There's no denying that several anecdotes shared by dealers, smugglers, cops and veteran reporter Edna Buchanan are very amusing. Fans of TV's Miami Vice and Brian de Palma's Scarface are advised to rush to a theatre playing this film. They'll find that the real-life models of the fictional villains are even more flamboyant and vicious (the life of Griselda "the godmother" Blanco could be turned into a nifty fiction film). CocaineCowboys combines talking-head interviews with old TV footage in rat-tat-tat editing style. Shots of piles of cash and large stashes of cocaine are used as would-be punctuation marks; and there are more snapshots of bloody, perforated bodies than you've ever seen in your life.

Cocaine Cowboys is documentary film-making as tabloid journalism. Its cheap thrills provide a measure of entertainment but its reportage is devoid of context and thoughtful commentary. Director Billy Corben is a native, but as one born in 1979 his view of the material is decidedly second-hand. Towards the latter stages, Cocaine Cowboys strains to present Miami as "the city that cocaine built" by hyperbolically describing late-70s Miami as a "sleepy hamlet". There is some truth to the argument but it is a self-serving and simplistic one. Moreover, the content as presented here is likely to perpetuate certain ethnic stereotypes about the Colombian community and Cuban "marielitos" (Cubans who arrived when Castro allowed migration to the US through the port of Mariel in 1980).

The Joy of Life (2005)

A Love Letter to San Francisco and Its Residents

[15 November 2006]

This highly enjoyable feature would be most accurately described as experimental. What makes it so is that The Joy of Life is composed of several parts that are quite different from each other. Only the visual approach remains constant: static and depopulated vistas of one of the world's beautiful cities: San Francisco and the Bay Area.

The first part involves voice-over readings from the diary of a butch lesbian experiencing romantic and sexual longing. I don't know whether these are the experiences of a fictional character or those of writer/director Jenni Olson. The voice we hear is that of San Francisco-based filmmaker Harriet "Harry" Dodge (By Hook or by Crook). This part of The Joy of Life resembles the director's short Blue Diary, which is also included on the DVD. Part two is very brief. Lawrence Ferlinghetti reads his evocative poem "The Changing Light" while the screen remains completely black. Part three revolves around the complex production histories of two classic films with suicidal characters: Capra's Meet John Doe and Hitchcock's Vertigo. Part four concerns the Golden Gate Bridge as a suicide mecca (the film is dedicated to one of the over 1300 people who've jumped to their deaths, a friend of the director who committed suicide in 1994). The Joy of Life documents the failed efforts by suicide prevention advocates to erect a barrier to prevent people from taking the 220 ft. plunge. Ms. Olson is clearly an advocate of erecting a barrier, as it was done for the Eiffel Tower and other suicide landmarks around the world.

The Joy of Life is brilliantly executed and practically impossible to classify as a whole. It is a personal confessional, a poetry reading, an essay film, and a social-advocacy documentary. What holds it together is the filmmaker's love for San Francisco and its residents.

Marie Antoinette (2006)

Sofia Coppola's brilliant film ends too soon

[27 October 2006]

Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette is the story of a girl extricated from her country and estranged from her family, subjected to "ridiculous" ritual, and trapped by duty. A girl subjected to constant scrutiny and supervision. An often lonely, bored and frustrated girl who escapes into acquisitiveness and hedonism. The French Revolution is kept away from her by custom and lifestyle thus the film, which adopts the protagonist's point of view, is not intended as a lesson on a most significant historical event. This intimist approach is only betrayed briefly, late in the film, when meetings between American revolutionaries and the French monarchy are dramatized to provide a bit of geopolitical perspective. Otherwise, Marie Antoinette is about the girl inside the Queen. It's bedroom scenes connect Marie Antoinette to Lost in Translation's Charlotte, alone in a hotel room in a foreign land and, even more dramatically, to the Lisbon girls of The Virgin Suicides, confined to their bedroom in suburbia. Miss Coppola has, in the span of three features and a short (Lick the Star, about a 7th grade "princess" being outcasted by her peers), developed a unified body of work linked by common themes. Whether transpiring in the early 70s or the late XVIII century, whether set in Detroit or Versailles, Sofia Coppola's films bear the mark of a true auteur.

Marie Antoinette is a sensory experience, an audiovisual feast. Cinematographer Lance Acord (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation) covers the scenes with a varied repertoire of shots while the lighting is uniformly diffuse, somewhat somber at times. The occasional use of hand-held cameras is quite effective, as when Marie Antoinette walks towards the castle as people stand on both sides to welcome her. Also highly deserving of credit are the costume design by Milena Canonero (Barry Lyndon, Titus), the set decoration by Veronique Melery (A Very Long Engagement), Anne Seibel's art direction, and the original music composed by Jean-Benoit Dunckel and Nicolas Godin.

Given the attention received, the film's music deserves further consideration. The opening credits are scored to the Gang of Four's hard-rocking "Natural's Not in It", a thematically-appropriate song about the commodification of love and being trapped by the social order, with the recurring refrain "this heaven gives me migraine". So much talk of "80s pop" when, in reality, the first half of the film is dominated by the music of Jean-Phillipe Rameau (1683-1764) and the period-congruent original score. Then comes a celebration of materialist excess to "I Want Candy" and a few judiciously selected snippets of 80s tunes. These accentuate what is, for the most part, an impressionistic portrait of the young queen.

Given the narrow focus, Marie Antoinette's greatest asset is Miss Kirsten Dunst, who's perfectly cast in the lead role. She's a charming actress who can credibly play a character over a twenty year span beginning in mid-adolescence and convey a whole range of emotions with ease.

It seems obvious to me, that the four years that passed from her narrow escape from Versailles until her beheading are most interesting and poignant. I think it's lamentable that the film leaves out a major, most tragic, and challenging final chapter in her life. As a result, the film ends on a shallow note, in that it doesn't concern itself with Marie Antoinette once she's surrendered her pampered, luxurious lifestyle. Given the abrupt ending, the lack of end titles providing a brief summation of her final days is perplexing.

Mother (1952)

Naruse's sunniest picture embraces both the pain and the joy of living.

[8 August 2006]

MOTHER is the first film directed by Naruse I ever watch. I'm not alone. Of the great Japanese masters, Mikio Naruse (1905-1969) remains the one who received the least exposure outside his native country. Naruse was reticent, shy and prolific. But only two of his films were ever available in the US (vhs versions of A Woman Ascends the Stairs and Late Chrysanthemums released over 20 years ago). Like Mizoguchi's, Naruse's films provide a milieu viewed through the eyes of women, but his protagonists consider suffering and hardship a normal aspect of living, thus becoming less tragic than Mizoguchi's wronged heroines. Naruse specialized in the genre called "shomin geki" or family dramas depicting the living conditions of the lower-class, as opposed to Ozu's solidly middle-class family units.

MOTHER's central protagonist is a wife and mother of four during the tough post-war years. She's played by the wonderful Kinuyo Tanaka (the potter's wife in Ugetsu and, years later, Japan's first woman director) but the narrator and audience surrogate is her observant and cheerful teenage daughter. Despite the presence of illness and death in the plot, it's not surprising that Naruse called MOTHER his "happiest" film. Besides the presence of the youthful and optimistic narrator, there are several instances of humor and amusing vignettes seamlessly incorporated into the narrative. As for the effect the film had one me, perhaps Akira Kurosawa described it most accurately as "a flow of shots that looks calm and ordinary at first glance, reveals itself to be like a deep river with a quiet surface disguising a fast-raging current underneath".

The Hours Go By (2005)

Deeply Humanistic Work of Art

[10/10 · 2 July 2006]

Renee (Roxana Berco) returns home one Saturday after giving an early morning piano lesson. She lives in the provinces with her husband Juan (Guillermo Arengo) and their five year-old son Santi (Agustin Alcoba). Over breakfast, they discuss a possible move to Buenos Aires but rule it out after Juan provides a reasoned argument against it. He suggests a family trip to the beach. Renee proposes for Juan alone to take Santi to the beach while she takes her ailing mother Virginia (Susana Campos) to the country. The film bifurcates as the narrative alternates between the two excursions. Renee picks up Virginia at an assisted-living facility; they drive to a rustic cabin, sit by the fireplace and later take a walk in the forest. Juan and the inquisitive Santi travel further, to an almost empty beach, walk down a pier, build a castle out of sand, and meet two fishermen who entertain the boy with sea tales and teach him how to gut a fish.

The title of Ines de Oliveira Cesar's film translates to "As the Hours Go By". It refers to how time slips away seemingly unnoticed as we live our lives. The film central theme is the randomness of fate_"If one knew what's the time for each being..." sighs Renee to her mother. There's an irrepressible but diffuse perception that the hours we share with this family will bring about permanent change in their lives.

The experience of viewing "Como Pasan Las Horas" is particularly difficult to put into words because so much of what we think and feel while watching it is conveyed through the juxtaposition of image and sound. The dialogue is consistently colloquial and seemingly improvised, particularly the amusing-often-funny exchanges between father and son which convey deep filial bonds. During both excursions, the audiovisuals impart symbolic meaning and resonance to environmental elements: cloud formations, waves and the roar of the tides, leaves rustling under feet, the changing light of day, the sound of the wind. It's as if wood, sea and sky conspired to match the characters' moods, as if these elements had privileged knowledge. In addition, cinematographer Gerardo Silvatici occasionally uses customized lenses to create anamorphic distortions that suggest a heightened reality (Alexandr Sokurov used this technique to similar effect in "Mother and Son").

Ultimately, "Como Pasan Las Horas" would not be a masterpiece if the performances by the quartet of actors didn't serve up rich, multi-dimensional characters. Ms. Campos is a veteran actress who died of a brain tumor shortly after conclusion of the shoot. She was Roxana Berco's mother, and it would not be surprising to learn that they channeled real-life experience into their roles. There's a rapport between Mr. Arengo and little Agustin Alcoba that suggests long rehearsals and a filmmaker who knows how to shape a performance. The unforgettable one by Alcoba is the best performance by a young child since Victoire Thivisol's Ponette. "Como Pasan Las Horas" is a deeply humanistic work of art and the best of the 54 films I watched at the Miami International Film Festival.

Crime Delicado (2005)

Innovative Mix of Documentary and Fiction

[9/10 · 10 June 2006]

Beto Brant, whose previous directorial efforts were violent crime dramas, branches out with the poetic, experimental "Delicate Crime". Antonio, an intellectual critic, is depicted attending theatrical performances and subsequently composing reviews back at his smartly furnished apartment. At a café one night, he befriends Ines, a woman sitting at another table. It's only when they get up to go to her place that Antonio realizes she's disabled, but says nothing to that effect. Antonio learns Ines' place is actually a studio belonging to Jose, an artist in late middle-age. At Ines' invitation, Antonio attends an exhibition of Jose's paintings, most of which involve Ines and Jose nude, in erotic poses. These reveal that the beautiful young woman had one leg amputated at the hip.

"Crime Delicado" digresses at this juncture to include a combative discussion between our critic and an actress, which seemingly culminates in an exchange of a sexual favor for positive press. Magically, Antonio suddenly finds himself not at his pad, but on stage and embarrassed in front of a theater audience that mocks him. The tables have been turned. Brant returns to the main plot of the film, where we find Antonio obsessed with Ines and frustrated at his inability to discern the nature of her relationship with Jose. Late one night, he insinuates himself into her apartment, then penetrates her without her consent. This is the crime alluded in the title.

"Crime Delicado" switches to black & white for three courtroom scenes. In the first one, Antonio is informed Ines has pressed charges against him. The next two scenes are depositions, their separate versions of the events of that night. In another scene late in the film, Jose (played by painter Felipe Ehrenberg) is seen posing in the nude with Ines as he actually creates one of the paintings we saw in completed form at the exhibit. This scene recalls Jacques Rivette's masterful "La Belle Noiseuse". Subsequently, Jose faces the camera to discuss his creative process and to ponder the relationship between model and artist.

"Crime Delicado" was lensed by the great Walter Carvahlo, the cinematographer responsible for crafting beautiful images in many of the best recent films from Brasil: Central Station, Lavoura Arcaica, O Veneno da Madrugada, Madame Sata, and Carandiru. The consistently inventive "Delicate Crime" closes on a sublime note: a long shot of a gallery wall where Jose's paintings are hanging. Ines, played by the mesmerizing Lilian Taulblib, enters from the right, removes the clothing that hides her disability, unstraps her prosthetic leg and tosses it on the floor before exiting proudly. "Crime Delicado" closed the 10th Brazilian Film Fesival in Miami last night. The festival will now travel to New York City where filmgoers will have the rare opportunity to enjoy a most provocative and accomplished film.

Blue Car (2002)

Agnes Bruckner almost makes Blue Car worth seeing.

[18 November 2003]

Writer/Director Karen Moncrieff does not deserve the acting talent of Agnes Bruckner. It's the 18 year old actress who has a brilliant future. The script is pedestrian, riddled with cliches and clumsy tone shifts. Blue Car looks even worse when compared to other recent American independent films with teenage protagonists like RAISING VICTOR VARGAS and David Gordon Green's ALL THE REAL GIRLS. Films that display visual imagination and inspired writing. Moncrieff should return to television, or at least leave the scriptwriting to others.

El bonaerense (2002)

An Indictment of Police Culture

[17 September 2003]

I decided to comment due to finding the previous comment exceedingly misleading. EL BONAERENSE is not a comedy and there's nothing "Jarmusch-like" about it. The protagonist is not a "small time hood" but a locksmith ordered by his boss to help a client open a safe. Presenting him as a "hood" would go against the major message of the film: how institutional corruption can poison and seduce an average guy, in this case a vulnerable man from the interior who moves to Buenos Aires, hence the title. The narrative structure is chronological and easy to follow (there's nothing "offbeat" about it). The scenes are rather brief with quick editing, rather than the long takes and laconic pace characteristic of Mr. Jarmusch. Where I disagree with the otherwise excellent comments from the Argentinian viewer is that I think EL BONAERENSE is an indictment of big-city police culture more than a character study. The film is more sociological than psychological, in my interpretation.

Aro Tolbukhin - En la mente del asesino (2002)

Deserves to be seen.

[8 May 2003]

The film blends documentary and fictionalized sequences to tell the remarkable story of a Hungarian sailor's mental deterioration. The film traces his pathology to his childhood in Budapest while detailing murders perpetrated in rural Guatemala in the 1980s. "Aro Tolbukhin" easily engages the viewer's interest . The filmmakers provide a visually arresting portrait of a serial killer that is psychologically accurate and rich in characterization. Kudos to all involved. May this film receive wide distribution.

The Shooting (1966)

Uncompromising Indie Western

[29 October 2002]

The Shooting is an indie western that reflects Americans' feelings of dread and uncertainty following the assasinations of JFK, Bobby, Malcolm, and Martin. Man overwhelmed by his environment. This West is a lonely,cruel world primarily populated by poor, uneducated men struggling to survive. The style is minimalist in that we are given information, through images and words, with great restraint and economy. An intense experience that calls for sustained attention. Comments below:"no idea what it's about", "dialogue incomprehensible",wish "storyline could be followed easily"-indicate some may benefit from a proper sinopsis, which I have not found. Others should view film before reading further. Willet returns to his camp and finds dimwit Coley quite agitated.Coley states that Willet's brother Coin and partner Leland arrived drunk from Winslow. Coin had run over a man and a child and needed to flee.Leland stays behind and gets shot by an unknown assailant. Willet and Coley are approached by a woman(we had seen her shoot her horse for no obvious reason) who offers $1000 to be escorted to Kingsley but refuses to reveal her name.They travel toward Crosstree where Leland learns Coin bought a horse 2 days ago. They proceed through the desert. The woman shoots at random, Willet believes she is sending signals to someone following. Gunslinger Billy emerges from hiding and joins them. His relation to the woman is unclear.They encounter day-old horse tracks as Billy and Coley threaten each other. The woman's horse pulls lame. Billy threatens to shoot Coley if he doesn't stay behind, demands Willet's gun and reveals he killed Leland. Willet:"I have my reason for staying.There ain't gonna be no killing". They encounter a bearded man with a broken leg and his horse.We see Coley following on foot. He takes the bearded man's horse. Billy spots Coley approaching and goes after him. Coley aims at Billy who shoots Coley in the face. Willet buries him. Woman to Willet:"I know that feeling.I've carried the burden of it longer than you". The elements continue to take its toll on people and animals.The woman rides while the men follow on foot.Willet charges at Billy, tosses his gun away,beats him and crushes his hand with a rock. Willet follows the woman, now on foot, into a canyon. She spots Coin, who looks identical to Coley, and shoots. Coin returns fire as Willet comes behind the woman. All three are hit.Billy wanders aimlessly waiting to die. The film leaves plenty of questions open to interpretation. Why wouldn't the woman attempt to kill Willet if Coin looks just like him? Did her son(and husband?) survive being run over? Why is Billy involved? An existentialist view of man and his predicament permeates this uncompromising western. 9/10

Punch-Drunk Love (2002)

Interesting but woefully underwritten.

[25 October 2002]

I really wanted to like Punch-drunk Love. I thoroughly enjoy P.T. Anderson's films(especially Boogie Nights). Emily Watson is one of my favorite actors. I appreciate films that strive for originality and confound audience expectations. The pairing of Hollywood's low-brow prince and Anderson is inspired. Yet, though elegantly lensed and sprinkled with absurdist touches, this one-trick pony is woefully underwritten. A bit more exposition as to how Barry got so twisted and why Lena falls for him would be welcome.6/10

The Lady and the Duke (2001)

An engaging film for a mainstream audience

[23 October 2002]

The Lady and the Duke focuses on the relationship between Lady Grace Elliot and the Duke of Orleans during the French Revolution. No longer lovers, they have forged a close friendship, despite their political disagreements. They grapple with the consequences of the fall of the monarchy and the creation of a new society. An era that offers opportunity for heroism, and the threat of the guillotine one false move away. Octogenarian Eric Rohmer embraces 21st century technology to create unique but period-congruent visuals. His facility with actors is also in evidence here. Recent comments may erroneously lead readers to conclude The Lady and the Duke is a demanding, stodgy film. To the contrary, mainstream audiences willing to read subtitles will be easily engaged and moved. Admittedly, those with impaired attention spans and no historical curiosity should stick to action flicks and teen comedies. There are films-Bresson's Lancelot and Ruiz's Time Regained come to mind- made for a literate,intellectual audience. This film's rich rewards are much more accessible.

Fetch a Pail of Water (1999)

Ana Capri deserves a better vehicle.

[20 October 2002]

Pila-balde transports the old plucky-but-naive poor girl in love with rich boy to the slums of Manila. The plot is entirely predictable and the script exhibits little psychological depth. Some of the many sex scenes seemed superfluous. The film is almost redeemed by the quality of a few performances(particularly Ana Capri's ) and some interesting sociological details.

The Rose Seller (1998)

A window into the lives of Colombia's street girls.

[17 October 2002]

La Vendedora de Rosas is a companion piece to Victor Gaviria's 1990 Rodrigo D:no futuro, about the lives of street boys from Medellin,Colombia. Vendedora focuses on girls equally affected by poverty, ignorance, abuse and neglect. It earns a place next to Mira Nair's Salaam Bombay and Hector Babenco's Pixote, excellent urban youth films in the tradition of Bunuel's Los Olvidados. Vendedora does not shy away from depicting the effects of drugs, violence, and family dysfunction while allowing for brief moments of tenderness and solidarity, even joy. Gaviria has enlisted street kids in enacting events from their daily lives, during 48 hours preceding Christmas. The film refuses to cheapen their plight with plot contrivances or stylistic flourishes. The spanish spoken is specific to the youth of Medellin, a welcome challenge to most native speakers. The fate of the characters evolves naturally from earlier scenes, without being predictable. I recommend La Vendedora de Rosas to anybody who considers film a window to the world of folks we wouldn't otherwise be able to access and an opportunity to understand it.

Mostly Martha (2001)

Pleasant and comforting, so what!

[9 October 2002]

Bella Martha is a pleasant and comforting german drama with comedic touches. All about how an uptight fraulein becomes a good mother and lover under the influence of an italian. Martha is a 30-something head chef in Hamburg. Her art defines her identity (the film itself abounds with cooking metaphors.) Martha's sister dies in an accident and she is saddled with the responsibility of caring for her grieving, 8-year-old niece. Too much of a challenge for lonesome Martha. Along comes Mario to the emotional rescue. As a cook, I thoroughly enjoyed the kitchen scenes, but the therapy scenes ring false and add little to our knowing Martha. Indeed, the film doesn't dig deep into the characters' psyches, particularly Mario, who is a walking cliche. It's the excellent acting of Martina Gedeck and Maxime Foerste that keeps this predictable feel-gooder afloat. Then again, given the scarcity of foreign-language screens in the U.S., Bella Martha is the kind of film that keeps more challenging and compelling films from abroad from being shown. 6.5/10

The Prompter (1999)

Worthy Norwegian Drama

[11 September 2002]

The Prompter is an engaging, well paced but flawed Norwegian drama. The nuanced performance by Hege Schoyen has been recognized with awards at film festivals in Europe and America.The milieu of the opera is appropriately recreated and incorporated into the plot. Verdi's music is always a refined pleasure. What keeps this film from achieving greatness is a major flaw in the script.

Siv's fiancee is too insensitive and unsympathetic to make her decision to leave him a difficult one. There is no ambiguity and little tension. Writer/director Hilde Heier makes it too easy for the audience to root for the tuba player. Still, there are plenty of reasons to recommend The Prompter to opera buffs and those looking for good romantic drama. 7/10

State of Siege (1972)

A film of historical importance

[9/10 · 2 September 2002]

State of Siege shows how the U.S. aided and abetted right-wing dictatorships in Latin America during the Cold War. Yves Montand plays an American sent by our government to teach torture techniques to police in Uruguay. He is kidnapped by Tupamaro guerillas, interrogated and presented with proof of his activities. We witness how the military, the diplomats, and the press deal with the crisis. State of Siege generates a great deal of tension and suspense, even though we know the outcome. Director Costa-Gavras tends to romanticize the Left, but what is presented here is now widely acknowledged as fact. State of Siege is a film of historical importance that deserves your attention.

Christmas in August (1998)

Hooray for Korean Cinema!

[9/10 · 27 August 2002]

Hooray for Korean cinema! Last year I saw "Chungyang" and "Nowhere to hide", now I catch up with Hur Jin-ho's directorial debut "Christmas in august". The variety of themes and level of achievement speak highly of a national cinema ripe for discovery. This film's major themes are death and love. The graceful and thoughtful way Jung Won(Han Suk-kyu) copes with his impending death, and the sublimation of his desires toward Darim(Shim Eun-Ha) out of true love for her. I was deeply moved by his careful management of behavior and emotions, shielding Darim from unnecessary pain without rejecting her.

The success of this type of film is predicated on the skill of the actors. Han and Shim excel, being both quite expressive yet naturalistic. A number of secondary characters, Jung Won's relatives, friends, and clients, are quickly delineated to enrich the story without detracting from its main focus. To LIVE is to love, but all things must pass. Pain subsides. Life goes on.