Jamie Daily

A Royal Affair (2012) Review | Jamie Daily

A Royal Affair (2012)
85th Academy Awards 2013
5/5 Stars
Nominated for 1 award.
Nominated for Best Foreign Language Film (Nikolaj Arcel).
Watched March 18, 2014.

 

A Royal Affair is one of those films where I forget that I am reading subtitles.  The story was so engaging, the characters so interesting, and the plot so twisted that I was unable to look away.  I certainly love a good period piece and this nomination from Denmark was excellent.  

 

It is the true story of an English princess, Caroline Mathilde (Alicia Vikander) who marries the Danish King Christian VII (Mikkel Boe Følsgaard) who, it becomes apparent very quickly, is a little insane.  He is childish, jealous, and completely obsessed with sex and prostitutes.  It doesn't take long for Caroline to despise him and after she gives him a son she refuses to allow him into her bed.  

 

When Johann Friedrich Struensee (Mads Mikkelsen) becomes the royal physician, everything changes.  He and the queen fall in love and together with a persuaded king who thinks himself an actor, they take command of the kingdom and begin a revolution.  This revolution historically influenced the future of Europe.

 

All of the characters and their motivations are deep and well portrayed.  Although Caroline's anger toward her husband seemed a little extreme to me, and her affair with the doctor was very risky, her motivations are well explained and in a narrative as a letter to her children she tells how she found herself in that position.  

 

The costumes, palaces, countryside, and town life are all incredible.  If the film is lacking in one area, it is that it spends so much time with the aristocracy discussing the poverty of its people that we actually see very little of how wretched the subjects were and how much they were in need of a revolution.  The censorship was so real that even the queen could not read whatever she wanted, but how else did it negatively effect the people?  Besides this, however, there is very little else in the film that falls short of amazing.

 

If you're a lover of period pieces, this is definitely one that I would recommend. 

 

No (2012) Review | Jamie Daily

No (2012)
85th Academy Awards 2013
3/5 Stars
Nominated for 1 award.
Nominated for Best Foreign Language Film (Pablo Larraín).
Watched February 6, 2014.

 

No is an interesting contribution to this year's foreign language films.  In the beginning I was not a fan.  It is a Chilean film about the 1988 referendum and the ad executives who produce the campaigns to defeat Augusto Pinochet.  It is shot, produced, and directed as if it was all actually done in 1988, complete with 4:3 aspect ratio and obsessive lens flares that over expose the frame constantly.  Perhaps the thing that took the most getting used to was the jump cuts.

 

Jumps cuts are cuts used in editing.  There is no transition between clips, but one clip right up against the next, often different locations and potentially different characters in each scene.  Usually, in film editing, even if they use jump cuts they will insert clips to imply time has passed or that we have moved to a different place.  In the beginning of No, the campaign is trying to talk René Saavedra (Gael García Bernal) into directing the TV spots, while his boss is trying to talk him out of it.  With little to no back story or understanding of the Chilean political climate, we are thrown into these scenes edited back to back to back, often only a few seconds long.  

 

If the rest of the film was like the beginning, I might not have made it through.  As an editor and lover of story, I could not be grabbed by the dialogue that I could not understand and the conversation that I could not keep up with simply because of the editing.  Things turned around pretty quickly, however, and while they still employed the same type of editing throughout the film, it slowed down and eventually employed some traditional timeline tactics and only occasionally used their chaotic use of jump cuts to better effect.  

 

The No campaign is granted fifteen minutes of airtime a day, while the Yes campaign receives the rest of the time.  René spends much of his time convincing those around him that they need a jingle and a focus on happiness instead of the fear and hatred that they all feel in their hearts.  General Pinochet has allowed the election mostly because of international pressure, and after his long time in office, he has instilled a lot of fear in his people of disappearances, exiles, and deaths.  The No campaign is innovative, current, and employs a lot of commercial tactics from the west, including the Coca Cola versus Pepsi commercials that were airing at the time.  They use a lot of humor and symbols associated with happiness.  The Yes campaign eventually begins to adopt the same tactics.

 

While there is a lot of fear and some vandalism, René and his associates stay relatively safe from political backlash.  We follow the majority of the process, right up until the election.  René is stoic and unemotional the majority of the time.  He rides a skateboard which implies both that he is young but also that he is clinging to youth and innocence.  Despite his differing views from his employer, his boss protects him and advises him against becoming tangled in the wrong side of politics.  Once it is all said and done, they are both still on the same side--that of supporting each others' artistry.

 

There is a lot to love about No and one of those things is that they took the risk of not shooting everything in HD.  It is old and gritty and dark.  Some characters are quiet observers while others are passionate orators.  There is family drama and love.  If you are okay with reading subtitles and can make it through the first half hour, this is actually a pretty good film.  It is straightforward and almost one-note, but perhaps that is the film's strength.  It does not try to throw in any plot twists, but carries you along with René to discover what it means to be a political activist in Chile in 1988.

 

Kon-Tiki (2012) Review | Jamie Daily

Kon-Tiki (2012)
85th Academy Awards 2013
3/5 Stars
Nominated for 1 award.
Nominated for Best Foreign Language Film (Joachim Rønning, Espen Sandberg).
Watched January 25, 2014.

 

I have an affinity for films and shows that involve being stranded on an island, or finding ones self in a desperate situation in the middle of the sea after something like a ship sinking.  I don't know why--perhaps it is to see someone survive without modern comforts and vicariously experience the adventure and danger therein, or perhaps it is because I was introduced to Robinson Crusoe at a very young age.  All things considered, a film about six men traveling months at a time on a simple raft should be right up my alley, and while the story itself was up to scratch, the film was not.

 

Kon-Tiki is based on a true story, from book, documentary, and personal accounts of Thor Heyerdahl (Pål Sverre Hagen), a scientist of the 1940s who wanted to prove that Polynesia was populated not my Asians as the world believed, but by Africans.  No respectable publisher or scientist would give him the time of day and told him the only way for anyone to take his theory seriously would be for him to make the trip across the sea from Peru himself.  National Geographic would have none of it, and although he had no money, Thor got together a crew and congregated in Peru where he convinced the government it would be worthwhile to finance their mission.

 

They built a balsawood raft precisely as it would have been built, using no modern technology to construct it, and set out on a 4,300 mile crossing.  The crew is briefly introduced to us: Thor is the ever optimistic and never doubting scientist, Herman Watzinger (Anders Baasmo Christiansen) is an engineer turned refrigerator salesman who is controlled by fear, Knut Haugland (Tobias Santelmann) is a war hero obsessed with his parrot, Bengt Danielsson (Gustaf Skarsgård) is the photographer, Erik Hesselberg (Odd Magnus Williamson) is the only one who has been to sea before, and Torstein Raaby (Jakob Oftebro) the young adventurous one who works the radio.  We never learn more about the characters than this, really, and that is one of the big faults in Kon-Tiki.

 

What could have been a three hour adventure in which we get to know each character as I am sure they got to know each other in their 101 day sail across the sea, we only get a hour and a half, most of which documents their adventures with sharks, whales, and glowing sea creatures.  Most of the film they are trying to find the southern current that will take them toward Polynesia, and there is one dramatic moment in which they must go over or around a reef.  All things considered, the film was shot beautifully, the introduction was well done and exactly as it should be, but the raft ride itself was a bit lacking.  We saw a lot of Watzinger's fear and Thor's struggle to captain him.  Their raft was absorbing water, and while this would probably be a big concern in reality, as would their inability to catch the current, only Watzinger seems to take these things seriously (although perhaps too seriously).

 

I enjoyed the film, but it did not give me enough.  The run time wasn't enough for the characters, so instead they chose three of the seven to focus on--one being the sea--and left it as good.  Although there is one terrific scene involving a nail biting encounter with sharks, the rest of their adventures that should have been exciting were somewhat dull.  In the sequences they chose to dwell on, their timing was exquisite.  The colors and contrasts were beautiful, both in Norway in the beginning, but especially in their raft trip, alone on the big blue sea.

 

As the film is only an hour and a half, and it depicts a bit of history that is brave and encouraging, I would recommend this film.  It certainly isn't my favorite, but the good scenes were magnificent, while its short comings kept it from being well rounded.  If you have ever read the book or seen the documentary, this is probably one movie you should add to your Netflix list.

 

Amour (2012) Review

Amour (2012)
85th Academy Awards 2013
5/5 Stars
Nominated for 5 awards, of which it won 1.
Nominated for Best Director (Michael Heneke), Best Actress (Emmanuelle Riva), Best Original Screenplay (Michael Haneke), and Best Picture (Margaret Menegoz, Stefan Arndt, Velt Heiduschka, Michael Katz).
Won Best Foreign Language Film (Michael Haneke).
Watched November 12, 2013.

 

Amour is a heavy, well crafted tale of the tests that love goes through in the last days of our lives.  Georges (Jean-Louis Trintignant) and Anne (Emmanuelle Riva) have been married a long time.  Well cultured and now retired music teachers, they lead simple lives in a beautiful french apartment full of books and a baby grand.  One morning, Anne has a lapse, which we assume was probably a stroke, because the next time we see her she has undergone surgery, and it went badly.  She slowly progresses from being half paralyzed in a wheelchair to being bed ridden and cared for my nurses and husband alike.

 

Georges bears most of his wife's condition very well, although you can see the sadness, fear, and helplessness in his eyes.  His daughter, who seems very preoccupied with her own life, keeps insisting that something must be done, but Georges has the ability to see that there isn't much that can be done but help Anne be comfortable.  Anne loses her ability to communicate in the end, but although her words make no sense, you can see every emotion plainly in her eyes.

 

This is one of those films where I forgot pretty quickly that I was watching a foreign film.  I hardly noticed I was reading subtitles most of the time.  It is somewhat slow moving, particularly in the stillness that director Michael Haneke uses effectively.  He chose to shoot several scenes in one shot.  The camera doesn't move for several minutes while Georges cuts flowers, Anne learns to use her wheelchair, or receives a bath from a nurse.  There is so much communication in this film, and most of it isn't through dialogue.

 

The cinematography is brilliant, the story telling is wonderful, and the emotions are heart breaking.  It is easy to connect with the characters, which is sometimes difficult in foreign films.  Almost the entire film is shot in their small apartment and yet we see a whole life story.  Georges and Anne are still individuals who are learning about one another, and though the truth is that we all die alone, Georges is with Anne every step of the way, with love that only he could show to her.

 

Although the film is hard to watch, I also found the story quiet beautiful.  Those of us who are lucky to make it to their age with our partner will one day experience this, and it isn't any easier than if they had lost each other earlier in their lives.  The story is relatable, but it is also an example of the partnership in marriage.

 

This film will require a little patience, and should probably not be viewed if you are having a tough time in life, but besides that I would highly recommend it.

 

In Darkness (2011) Review

In Darkness (2011)
84th Academy Awards 2012
4/5 Stars
Nominated for 1 award.
Nominated for Best Foreign Language Film (Agnieszka Holland).
Watched October 23, 2013.

 

In Darkness is a film about the Holocaust, but more specifically about humanity in the face of adversity.  Based on true events, it causes us to relive a nasty part of history that should never stop being retold.  

 

Nazi Germany had reached its way into Poland.  A sewer worker, Mr. Socha (Robert Wiechiewicz) stumbles across a group of Jews from the ghetto preparing for the inevitable and makes a deal with them for when the time comes.  He is driven by greed and promises his partner that if it gets too hairy they will just hand the Jews in and walk away with the money.

 

Socha helps smuggle the Jews into the sewer and finds a suitable hiding place for them, where they hide for over a year.  Socha finds himself immediately under scrutiny by wife, shop owners, and suspicious Nazis.  Instead of running, however, he realizes that the eleven people in the sewer are human beings with families and who deserve to breathe fresh air just as much as the next man.

 

The film is dark and slow moving.  Everyone is always tense and fearful.  There are storms and flooding, Nazi sewer searches, babies, and murder.  As much as the Jews want to trust Socha, they keep him at arms length and jump to conclusions.  He is only there for the money, after all.  

 

I loved the character arch of Socha.  He is certainly the standout actor who holds most of the screen time.  We see his home life, his work life, and his night life.  We see the fear in his eyes when he must help the Nazis search the sewers and we watch as his cares become less about money and more about life.  He is willing to lose everything, and in doing so teaches those around him an important lesson.  

 

As far as holocaust films go, In Darkness is less about the war camps and more about the struggle these particular families went through.  It shows quite clearly that although the Jews received the worst of it, everyone was affected by Hitler and Nazi Germany.  Although the film moves slowly, it keeps you on the edge of your seat.  Every second I was sure that their hiding place would be found or that Mr. Socha would fail them.  

 

I would definitely recommend In Darkness.  I thought it was a particularly well made and understandable foreign film.  The characters grab at your heart and the story keeps your attention.  I may never view it again, but it is exquisite enough to make a lasting memory.

 

Footnote (2011) Review

Footnote (2011)
84th Academy Awards 2012
2/5 Stars
Nominated for 1 award.
Nominated for Best Foreign Language Film (Joseph Cedar).
Watched June 1, 2013.

Photo Source: FilmoFilia 

Footnote is an interesting Israeli film full of comedy and family drama.  The story of the film is fairly boring, but perhaps that is what makes it so good.  Despite the fact that it is a foreign film, the story is so every-man and ordinary that the circumstances, both comical and heart wrenching are relatable for even yours truly.

 

It was not my favourite film, but it borrowed techniques of humor and story telling from some of my most beloved styles that I appreciated it for what it was.  The wonderful camera work communicates the extensive family drama.  There is even  an arch nemesis. 

It is the story of a father and his son, Eliezar and Uriel Shkolnik who are both scholars in the same field.  Uriel has been significantly more successful than his father, whose life's work was stolen from him and published directly before Eliezar was set to release his Talmudic Studies work.  As such, his only published acknowledgement is in the footnote of another noteworthy scholar's book.  Eliezar has studied the same thing his entire life, and although he has been nominated every year to receive the Israel Prize, he never receives it.  In turn, he is very critical of his son's work, which is much more philosophical and less grounded in fact, as he believes.  Despite this, Uriel has been exceedingly successful in his career.

 

The rest of the plot I will leave for you to discover.  The characters are very interesting.  Uriel always feels as if he has to overcome his father's poor reputation in the scholarly community, while Eliezar  believes that he himself is one of the most knowledgeable scholars.  He will publicly criticize his own son, despite his own failings.  The marriages and father-son relationships are strained and cyclical.

 

Yes, I did say that there is a comedic element to this film.  It is constantly teetering between character implosion and circumstantial humor that makes it a somewhat stressful viewing experience.  

 

The film is beautiful, the acting is wonderful, and the characters are deeply complex.  It is the story that I found as slow as molasses.  I believe that Footnote is worth one viewing, but after that I would rather spend my hours on something else.  

 

If you generally enjoy foreign films and don't mind a slower pace, this is something that I would recommend for you.  Otherwise, I would recommend viewing something else.

 

(WARNING: Trailer contains major spoilers!)
  

A Separation (2011)

A Separation (2011)
84th Academy Awards 2012
5/5 Stars
Nominated for 2 awards, of which it won 1.
Nominated for Best Original Screenplay (Asghar Farhadi).
Won Best Foreign Language Film (Iran).
Watched April 2, 2013.

 

Photo Source: The Urchin Movement

Even though foreign films, different languages, and subtitles are not my thing, I was pleasantly surprised to find out how amazing A Separation is.  It is starkly honest in conveying its own culture's weaknesses, as well as its strengths, and the subtlety of its delivery is very moving.

 

The film opens in a courtroom.  A man and a woman, husband and wife, stare directly into the camera as the woman tries desperately to prove that she has grounds for a divorce.  Simin (Leila Hatami) wants to take her daughter somewhere out of the country, and she will go with or without her husband.  Nader (Payman Maadi), on the other hand, will not leave because his father has alzheimers and he has to care for him.  He will give her permission for a divorce, but won't let her take their daughter.

 

Because Simin moves out, Nader hires a woman to take care of both the house and his father.  Razieh (Sareh Bayat) has to bring her young daughter to work every day, as well as commute ninety minutes each way.  Although it is clear from the beginning, the arrangement is more to Nader's liking than Razieh's, things soon get more serious as Nader's father's health takes a drastic downturn and Razieh feels as if her morals have been compromised.

 

Although the beginning is slow, and at first I wasn't quite sure where the story was going, things eventually took a drastic turn.  I won't reveal what that is, except that the family suddenly finds themselves in the courts again, but this time for a much more serious reason than divorce.  

 

The acting is exquisite and almost all of the characters have such a depth and likability that it is hard to root for just one of them.  The plot takes some unexpected turns, but also shows a side of Iran that many in the states don't get to see, which I quite enjoyed.  The cultural differences are interesting but are not the driving force behind the film.  The story, production design, cinematography, and acting are all forces to be reckoned with, and when it comes down to it, this just might be a foreign film to top the charts.  

 

Even if foreign films aren't your thing (like me!), I would definitely recommend A Separation for you!  You should be aware that it is a drama full of a lot of dialogue (and therefore a lot of subtitles), but I found it completely worthwhile.  There is an interesting clash between honesty, religious beliefs, family, and manipulation that pull the whole story together into something great.

  

Monsieur Lazhar (2011)

Monsieur Lazhar (2011)
84th Academy Awards 2012
3/5 Stars
Nominated for 1 award.
Nominated for Best Foreign Language Film (Canada).
Watched March 8, 2013. 

 

Photo Source: Tiff

Although foreign films and subtitles are not my forte, Philippe Falardeau and Canada's Monsieur Lazhar was refreshing after the last foreign film Bullhead.  Despite the fact the this film also deals with some hard life occurrences, it does so in such a polished, well practiced way that it is much easier to appreciate this film.  

 

In the opening scenes, a sixth grade student Simon (Émilien Néron) discovers his teacher who hung herself in their classroom.  He goes running for a teacher and the camera stays still on an empty hallway, communicating a stunned silence.  What feels almost like minutes later, teachers rush into the hallway to push returning students back out to recess.  

 

The school scrambles.  They get a psychologist to talk to the class and their story is publicized all throughout town.  This results in Bachir Lazhar (Mohammed Fellag) walking in right off the streets and putting himself up for the open position of teacher.  

 

The class he inherits is, clearly, very emotionally distraught, but Lazhar is prohibited from even mentioning the incident that they are struggling over, to the students or much less the teachers who knew her best.  The students give us a glimpse into their own turmoil--Alice (Sophie Nélisse) writes an honest diction discussing how their late teacher's decision was violent and selfish.  He mother is  a flight attendant and is never home, so she reaches out to Lazhar for some much needed support.

 

The film also makes fun of the many laws prohibiting instructors from any sort of physical contact with their students.  On the one hand, we hear a sad story of Simon and their late teacher that makes us believe these laws are there for a reason, but with Alice we believe the complete opposite.  

 

The characters and acting were all very well done.  While Lazhar struggles to become established in Canada as an Algerian refugee after his wife and children were burned alive back home, he finds a connection with his students and eventually breaks the rules and discusses their teacher with them.  Simon finally opens up about his, yes childish, but completely honest and heartbreaking feelings about discovering her body, saying that she knew he would be the one to find her.  

 

Although the story sounds sad, and it certainly has its tear inducing moments, it isn't quite the heartbreaker that you might think.  Lazhar brings a redeeming quality and an interesting way of teaching that makes you want to see how the kids will flourish under his instruction.  The relationships, between certainly every character in the film, are all fascinating and worth the almost two hour film.

 

If you have patience for foreign films and character studies, this is definitely one that I would suggest.  It's a slow pace, but definitely an interesting premise that affects every character down to the core.

 

Bullhead (2011)

Bullhead (2011)
84th Academy Awards 2012
1/5 Stars
Nominated for 1 award.
Nominated for Best Foreign Language Film (Michael R. Roskam - Belgium).
Watched February 10, 2013.

 

Photo Source: Jared Mobarak Design

Bullhead is a tough watch from almost the very beginning.  Although the opening ambiguous shots are overlapped by an almost poetic narrative, the beauty is short lived.  The entire film views like an independent, but the opening half hour is more like a student film.  

 

Once the technique cleans itself up, I could focus more on the story.  Unfortunately I wasn't encouraged by what I saw.  It is the underworld of pumping hormones into cows in Berlin.  You wouldn't think it would be as seedy as it is, but it's like the mob, only with our friendly barnyard animals and their owners.  There are dealers, mob bosses, informants, comedic reliefs, and police investigations.  Underneath it all, there is a dark storyline that alters the whole mood of the film when it reveals itself.

 

Jacky Vanmarsenille (Matthias Schoenaerts) is the one bright spot in the entire film.  He is a dark, hulking, heavy lidded man who doesn't talk much but tends toward anger after drinking and stalking a pretty shop girl.  His dark secret causes him to push everyone away because he fears he will never truly belong.  His family's farm has been benefiting from hormones for years, but after eating with the boss, he gets skittishish about the police investigation.  Schoenaerts pulls off this deep and complex chracter exquisitely.

 

Jacky's story seems completely separate from the rest of the film.  It is as if someone thought of an idea for a never before seen character study but kept adding more and more sub-plot--so much so that the main idea got lost by it.  The two story lines are at war with one another--not to mention the actors who are all fighting for screen time.  Although the cinematography is appropriately dark, I found zero redeeming qualities in this film.  What might be considered a bright comedic point is probably lost in translation and the frequent bits between two idiotic mechanics didn't bring me a lot of laughs.  

 

As a result, after watching Bullhead, I am incredibly wary of the rest of the foreign language film nominations from this year.  Perhaps I should not judge them all by this experience, because it was an F in my book.  I do not recommend this film.

 

Sources: Jared Mobarak Design, IMDB, Rotten Tomatoes, Acid Cinema

A Special Day (Una Giornata Particolare) (1977)

A Special Day (Una Giornata Particolare) (1977)
50th Academy Awards 1978
3/5 Stars
Nominated for 2 awards.
Nominated for Best Actor (Marcello Mastroianni) and Best Foreign Language Film (Italy).
Watched September 8, 2012.

photo source: Tuttogratis

A Special Day is an Italian film that takes place on the day that Adolf Hitler first met Mussolini: May 8, 1938.  It opens with old black and white footage of Hitler's train rolling in, the crowds gathered to greet him, and the multitude of flags fluttering from every window and ledge.  The entire film revolves around this day, but Hitler graces very little of it.  In fact, after the introduction, we see no more of him and are instead treated to color shots (although muted) of a dilapidated apartment building that is continuously ringing with the radio broadcast of the momentous parade.  Antionetta (Sophia Loren) is a housewife with six children and a demanding, adulterous husband (John Vernon).  Her only constant companions are the family bird and the warden (Francoise Berd).  She is almost the only person in the entire building who hasn't gone to the parade--she has too much to do!  She is a passive fascist, which is fitting because her husband works in the government and loves Hitler (he wants to name their next child Adolf).  

 

As Antionetta begins her daily cleaning routine, the pet bird suddenly escapes, and miracle of miracles, it happens to land right outside the window of the only remaining tenant, Gabriele (Marcello Mastroianni).  We notice immediately that these two characters are both incredibly alone, although in different capacities.  Gabriele is what the caretaker says is an antifascist, although he claims the fascists are anti-Gabriele.  The two connect through the bird, and then coffee, and their day-long relationship continues to crescendo.  Although Antionetta is concerned about what others might think if they were seen alone in her apartment, she quickly ceases to be apart from him.  They come to a brief understanding of one another--to find companionship and love in the arms of someone they should not or cannot.  

 

photo source: Monicca Bellucci Fan

It is slow moving and transparent.  The radio broadcast that is boring into your brain serves as a reminder of how the politics of the time where overbearing on its subjects and yet they attempted to live their lives normally.  The static cinematography emphasizes the standstill of their lives--the monotony and routine repetition.  Through the use of long moving, following shots they reveal that through this monotony and oppression, life goes on, and opposes many communist ideals that it does not all come back to one man but is individualized by everyone who has their own life, opinions, worries.  

 

I wasn't a fan of the sound mixing.  It is a problem I notice with a lot of older films, and that is that their foley art* is exaggerated and occasionally unrealistic.  The sound mixing also has things happening either too loudly or too softly.  It was a bit distracting for me.

 

Sophia Loren was considered a great beauty and therefore to see her dressed down to look like a tired and worn mother in her forties shows her dedication to the film.  She has an innocence that the audience can connect to, which despite the subtitles and muted colors, made the film enjoyable.  If you are looking for a slow film and want to immerse yourself in the late 30's of Rome, I would encourage you to search out this film, although it was pretty hard for me to find.  There are a few twists here and there that are somewhat predictable but are interesting character facets.  

  

*Fo·ley  [foh-lee] 
adjective
of or pertaining to motion-picture sound effects produced manually: a Foley artist.

 

Sources: Monicca Bellucci Fan, Tuttogratis, IMDB, Rotten Tomatoes, Dennis Grunes, Flick Feast