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I had always meant to watch Au revoir les enfants, by Louis Malle, but it seemed like one of those "art" movies that might be a bit pretentious or tedious. So it was a revelation to watch it the other evening, as it is a great, great movie, one that leaves you changed after you've seen it. It's based on Malle's memories of an event at a Catholic boys school where he was a student, in France in 1943. Three new students had been enrolled, and Malle's alter ego, Julien, made friends with one of them, a boy named Jean. As it turns out, the school's headmaster, Pere Jacques de Jesus, was providing refuge for the three boys, who were Jewish. A disgruntled kitchen helper named Joseph, who is resentful of the boys at the school because they are well-to-do, informs on the three boys, and the Gestapo raids the school. By a mere glance, Julien unintentionally reveals that Jean is one of the Jewish students. The three students and Pere de Jesus are taken away and killed in death camps. As Pere de Jesus leaves, he bids farewell to the students: "Goodbye, children. See you soon."

No matter how much you know about the Holocaust, at a certain level it is still hard to fathom how it happened. This film shows you one of the mechanisms. French society was rife with anti-semitism. The particular Germans shown in this film are pretty decent; it's the French who are the "heavies." The resentment of the kitchen helper, who had been disciplined by Pere de Jesus for petty theft, was enough to turn him against the three boys and to take malicious pleasure in sending them to their terrible fate.

This is a memory told with crystalline clarity and beauty. It removes any distance we may feel from a long past historic event, and replaces it with palpable reality. Perhaps Louis Malle made it to atone for what had to be a terrible, shocking moment in his young life. In the movie, as the narrator, he says "More than 40 years have passed, but I'll remember every second of that January morning until the day I die."

In French, with subtitles.

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said: "The only way to have a friend is to be one." It's a lesson that Fin, the protagonist of The Station Agent, has never taken the time to learn. Fin is a train enthusiast that inherits a little shack of a train depot and decides to retire early, not so that he can enjoy life, but so he can seclude himself from it. He's fairly smart, a diligent worker, and is quite handsome, but nobody notices any of these qualities upon meeting Fin, because all people tend to notice is that he's a dwarf. Society can be very cruel (but not particularly clever) when it comes to the way we treat people who are different from us, and it is because of these mindless actions that Fin has written off the rest of the world. Of course, what Fin doesn't realize is that the actions of strangers and friends are not synonymous with each other, and everybody's capable of making a friend. After all, it is harder to open yourself up to a potential friend than it is to withstand a stranger's hurtful comments.

When Fin moves in to the train depot, he gets a little more than he bargained for when he meets Joe, his overly-friendly neighbor who just likes to talk. Along the way he also meets Olivia, played by the always wonderful Patricia Clarkson, who is dealing with issues of her own. Through Joe's incessant but harmless nagging, the three of them form an unlikely friendship despite Fin's initial protests. It's in the way that it authentically captures human interactions that makes The Station Agent one of the best films about friendship ever made.

Director/writer Thomas McCarthy laces the script delicately with very subtle human moments that makes the film feel so down to earth. None of the characters are perfect, and they all make mistakes, but it is that sense of realism that draws us in to the film. These are people that we ourselves would want to spend time with, once we get to know them, and it makes for a very pleasant viewing experience, even when unpleasant events occur. The Station Agent is truly like a good friend: reliably sweet and will leave you with a smile after every visit.

- Nick

 

2012 Academy Awards Nominations Best Picture

 

The Artist--Jean DuJardin *

The Descendants--George Clooney

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close--Tom Hanks *

The Help--Viola Davis

Hugo--Chloe Grace Moretz

Midnight in Paris--Owen Wilson

Moneyball--Brad Pitt

The Tree of Life--Brad Pitt

War Horse--Jeremy Irvine *

 

2012 Academy Award  Nominations

Adventures of Tintin --Best original score

Anonymous--Best costume design

Beginners--Best supporting actor -Christopher Plummer

A Better Life--Best actor-- Demian Bichir

Bridesmaids--Best supporting actress--Melissa McCarthy

                       Best original screenplay

Drive--Best sound editing

Girl with the Dragon Tattoo--Best actress-- Rooney Mara

                                                Best cinematography

                                                Best editing

                                                Best sound mixing

                                                Best sound editing

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2--Best art direction

                                                              Best makeup

                                                              Best visual effects

The Ides of March--Best adapted screenplay

The Iron Lady*--Best actress--Meryl Streep

                             Best makeup

Jane Eyre--Best costume design

Kung Fu Panda 2--Best animated film

Margin Call--Best original screenplay

The Muppets--Best original song

My Week with Marilyn--Best actress--Michelle Williams

                                          Best supporting-- actor Kenneth Branagh

Rango--Best animated film

Real Steel--Best visual effects

Rio--Best original song

Rise of the Planet of the Apes--Best visual effects

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy--Best actor--Gary Oldman

                                              Best adapted screenplay

                                              Best original score

Transformers: Dark of the Moon--Best sound mixing

                                                         Best sound editing

                                                         Best visual effects

Warrior--Best supporting actor-- Nick Nolte

*Still in theaters, not yet released on DVD

I hesitated as to whether to review The Mill & the Cross, because while it is one of the most beautiful and unique movies I have ever seen, it asks a lot of the viewer. It has a slow and meditative pace, and sometimes I found myself wondering what was going on, and towards the very end, to be honest, I was yawning. But it also gives a lot to the viewer, and I found myself thinking about it for days afterwards. Director Lech Majewski takes us into a painting by Flemish master Pieter Bruegel the Elder, called "The Way to Calvary." It was painted in 1564 during a time of turmoil when the King of Spain was sending mercenaries into Flanders to persecute Protestants. The canvas is populated with 500 figures, most of whom are peasants simply going about their ordinary lives. But, meanwhile, Christ is being crucified, and Bruegel conflates the sufferings of Christ with the sufferings of the peasants.

There is little dialogue in the movie, and most of the characters are nameless, with only Rutger Hauer, as Bruegel, Michael York, as Nicholas Johnhelinck, a collector of paintings, and Charlotte Rampling, as Bruegel's wife, who posed for his portraits of Mother Mary, emerging as identifiable characters. But this isn't a narrative--it's a world we are being drawn into, and it is the extraordinary visuals that transfix us. It's to see the most beautiful late Renaissance painting come to life--suddenly, the donkeys start plodding, the children start playing, and the mercenaries begin erecting the cross. We are drawn into the lives of these people, and learn that the red-coated men on horseback are the Spanish mercenaries. Up on the rock, is the windmill, where God, in the form of the miller, surveys all and "grinds the bread of life." At any rate, it's like watching a vivid dream, and if you are up for something completely different . . . here it is!

Best Animated Film

The Adventures of Tintin

 

Best Supporting Actor

Christopher Plummer

Beginners

 

Best Drama, Best Actor

George Clooney

The  Descendants

 

Best Mini-Series

Downton Abbey

 

Best Supporting Actor TV Series

Peter Dinklage

Game of Thrones

 

Best Supporting Actress

Octavia Spencer

The Help

 

Best Director

Martin Scorsese

Hugo

 

Best Actor TV Movie

Idris Elba

Luther

 

Best Screenplay

Woody Allen

Midnight in Paris

 

Best Actress Mini-Series

Kate Winslet

Mildred Pierce

 

Best TV Series Comedy

Modern Family

 

Best Actress Comedy

Michelle Williams

My Week with Marilyn

 

 

 

Critics have said that Brian DePalma has spent his entire career in the shadow of Alfred Hitchcock, but that is an unfair assertion. He has certainly torn a few pages out of Hitchcock's playbook, but his films have their own signature styles. While Hitchcock made films that are timeless, DePalma makes films that are very much of their time. He relishes in technology and entrances viewers with modern-day visual storytelling techniques that would make Hitchcock envious. Although Scarface would be more popular, Blow Out is the film that solidified him as one of the best directors of all time.

John Travolta plays Jack Terry, a sound technician who's reduced to working on B-movie horror films despite his genuine talent. While out one night recording sounds for the film, he accidentally witnesses a possible murder attempt... or did he? Paranoia sets in and Jack is determined to get to the very bottom of this "conspiracy" no matter what the costs are.

It might be hard to tell these days because of his seriously puzzling career choices as of late, but John Travolta is a tremendous actor, and Jack Terry is one of his most realized characters. Travolta is very believable as a man getting caught up in a wave of self-doubt and paranoia, while still retaining the charm that made him a star. John Lithgow is frightening as the villain of the film, and any fans of season four of Dexter will enjoy seeing the prototype of Lithgow's superb Golden Globe winning performance.

DePalma creates an intelligent thriller by avoiding all the usual clichés of the genre. His film treats its audience with respect by letting scenes play out with barely any dialogue, allowing the viewers to figure out for themselves what exactly is happening. When we see Jack doing his job and recreating an event with sound effects, it's exhilarating without calling attention to itself. Jack doesn't narrate his process for the audience's benefit, because he never would do that in real life.

Blow Out is a textbook example of how to elevate a film out of its B-movie plot, to a truly stunning piece of filmmaking. DePalma paired with Travolta is a match made in heaven, which is evident in the scenes of Jack engineering sound and video right in front of our eyes. While Hitchcock is certainly an influence on Blow Out, only Brian DePalma could have made Blow Out into the masterpiece that it is.

- Nick

Moolaadé is a film by the late Senegalese director Ousmane Sembene. In a village in Burkina Faso (in western Africa), a conflict has erupted--six girls who are to be "purified" by genital mutilation have escaped. Two drown themselves in a well, and the other four seek sanctuary with a woman named Collé. Collé has not allowed her own daughter to be "purified" and has suffered condemnation by conservative elements in the village. She casts a protective spell called "moolaadé" to give the girls sanctuary. The red-robed priestesses who perform the "cutting" cannot touch the girls as long as they are so protected.

The above synopsis makes Moolaadé sound impossibly grim, and the subject--of female circumcision--strikes most westerners as repellent. The genius of the film is that it is anything but grim, and seems instead like a magical African fairy tale. There is a young prince (the son of the local tribal chief, returned from Europe), a fair damsel (the beautiful daughter of Colle), and an assortment of gremlins, witches, and ogres. The village itself has a fairy tale quality, with its walled compounds, drum-shaped storage buildings, and its 150-year-old mosque, bristling like a porcupine with wooden stakes.

Part of the charm of the movie is that Sembene takes the time to show us life in the village in a way that is tender and loving: he shows us the scampering baby goats, the mother guinea hens and their chicks, the village mothers washing their struggling babies, and even the little toads hopping by a drainspout. The result is an airiness, gentleness, and lilt to the pace of the storyline that is a pleasure. I also found myself transfixed by the beautiful clothing of the villagers, especially of the women. The humblest woman was a fashion diva wearing vividly colored robes, jewelry, and elaborately wrapped skirts and headdresses.

Sembene was also a writer, and we have a book called African Short Stories (823.0108996 AFR), which includes one of his stories.

Roger Ebert has included Moolaadé, in his "Great Movies Archives," noting that the villagers "...despite some of their practices, are deeply decent and civilized, and Sembene loves them for it." This is the film of a wiseman, and it's a privilege and pleasure to watch it.

Subtitles

 

If you're addicted to feel-good underdog wins despite-all-odds movies, then The Perfect Game will resonate with you.  The movie is based on the true story of the 1957 Monterrey Mexico Little League team, who traveled to the U. S. and served a piece of humble pie to their American opponents.

On average the Monterrey players weighed 35 pounds less, and stood six inches shorter than their American counterparts. These were impoverished kids who began their baseball careers playing with a ball made of string, and bats honed from a board.  They'd never played on a sand and grass diamond, but improvised a ball field in the parking lot of the local church.  Throw some bigotry into the mix that is the embarrassment of 50's racism in America, and you'll understand why they seemed to be stymied at every turn, almost being deported at one point because of their expired visas.  It's amazing that they overcame seemingly insurmountable odds to compete with well - groomed,  impeccably uniformed American Little Leaguers.  Baseball, after all, is the quintessential U. S. sport.  How arrogant of them to think they could beat us at our own game!

One criticism of the film has been that it is riddled with cliches.   Yes, you have the washed-up ex staff person for the St. Louis Cardinals who reluctantly agrees to coach the team, and the wise and encouraging Padre Esteban played by Cheech Marin (!)  who is the boys' spiritual mentor, and yes, you have the undercurrent ripple of romance.  But truth is stranger than fiction, and no one would have believed the improbable story of a rag tag bunch of immigrants who gelled at the perfect moment and rose to claim a championship.  Just when you're pinching yourself and thinking this can't possibly be true, director William Dear reminds us, by mixing actual footage of the '57 Little League World Series with close-up shots of the young actors. In the same vein that you already knew Secretariat would win the Triple Crown, you can surmise that a movie titled The Perfect Game would end with a baseball record that stands to this day.  That doesn't mean you won't be a Monterrey fan, cheering for them at the breathless moment of the final pitch. 

Boxoffice Magazine had dubbed The Perfect Game "inspiring, richly entertaining, heartfelt...a perfect family movie. "

 

Joan

A romance novel brought to vibrant life, The Princess of Montpensier is a sweeping drama set against the backdrop of war-torn, sixteenth-century France. Catherine de Medici reigns, and it's a time of warfare between the Catholics and Protestants (Huguenots). Our heroine, Marie de Mezieres, is a beautiful young aristocrat promised to the Prince of Montpensier, a young man who she doesn't love. The marriage is part of a bargain between her father and his neighbor. Sent off to war, the Prince asks his trusted adviser, an older nobleman named the Comte de Chabannes, to be Marie's adviser, and Chabannes falls in love with her.  But she is passionately in love with the rakish, brutal Duke de Guise. The pot really gets boiling when the future king of France, the Duke d'Anjou, falls for her, too. Marie is lovely and intelligent, but also very young, willful and a bit vain. Her head is turned by the power of her youth and beauty over this gaggle of powerful men, but she is very much in a man's world, and do any of these men really love her or do they just see her as a prize to be won? Oblivious to the pitfalls, she sails like a beautiful swan to her destiny.

 The castles, the scenery, and the costumes are all simply fabulous, and the acting topnotch. I'm not usually a fan of battle scenes, but the recreations of sixteenth-century warfare in this movie are fascinating. Even the sword fights were something special. Distinguished French director Bernard Tavernier (interview) brings a wonderful freshness of vision to this long ago world. The characters are young people living life at a fever pitch, and their energy gallops and surges through the movie, propelling it to a dramatic finale.

French subtitles