Araf - Something In Between (2012)

Directed by: Yesim Ustaoglu
Country: Turkey / France / Germany

Review: Yesim Ustaoglu’s fifth film “Somewhere In Between” is a heavy drama that depicts the story of Zehra and Olgun, two friends who work together in a cafeteria. Their dream is to leave the city forever in order to flee from their depressing home environments. Olgun doesn’t hide his love for Zehra and makes plans for a future together, but things won’t be as expected. She had started a relationship with a truck driver, seeing him as a great opportunity to escape from her cheerless life. The film adopts a contemplative pace in the same line of Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s works, but it runs for too long by trying to describe many aspects around the characters, some of them irrelevant. Close friends, family, and city landscapes, were portrayed with a wonderful light and photography, but I found myself struggling against the sleepy tone that was being exhibited. This ambience changed radically in the final 30 minutes, when the quietness was abandoned for despair, violence, tragic revelations, and some creepy moments. After an overextended first part, Ustaoglu tried to shake our senses all at once, but left me indisposed rather than impressed. “Somewhere in Between” revealed strong technical aspects but I cannot say this is an enjoyable trip. It wasn't solidly satisfactory, but also not entirely bad, I would say… something in between!

Inch Allah (2012)

Directed by: Anais Barbeau-Lavalette
Country: Canada / France

Review: “Inch Allah” takes a very personal look at Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the eyes of Chloe, a Canadian doctor who lives in Israel but works in an improvised clinic in the Palestinian side. Her spare time is spent with friends from both sides. She gets along with a Palestinian family, as well as with Ava, an Israeli neighbor who works as checkpoint soldier. Caught in the middle of chaos, checkpoints, searches, and prejudices, Chloe just tries to help everybody and be neutral, but right after witnessing a Palestinian kid dying and being ignored just as if nothing had ever happened, she dangerously starts to expose herself by taking a side in the conflict. Besides, her well-intentioned actions were not always understood, leaving her in a disoriented state. The film depicts an old conflict with the same dramas and traumas, showing that war makes huge transformations on people and there is nothing you can do to change the situation. I just could not cope with the idea of Chloe consenting that her personal relationships interfere with the aid she was giving to innocent people in need. Intentionally or not, her renunciation to help, disclosed a sort of disappointing selfishness instead of the intended victimization. Well shot with powerful images, though.

White Tiger (2012)

Directed by: Karen Shakhnazarov
Country: Russia

Review: Based on Ilya Boyashov’s fictional novel “Tankman”, “White Tiger” is an eerie tale that mixes war and supernatural to portray the improbable story of one of the best Russian tank drivers of WWII. During an operation against the Germans, this tank driver got burned in 90% of his body when he was hit by a mysterious tank known as White Tiger. Practically given up for dead, he has a miraculous recovery in a few weeks, revealing a strange sixth sense that will help him to accomplish his mission of destroying White Tiger and avenge his own fate. Having lost his memory, he was renamed Naydenov and promptly reattached to military service. As a ghost, only him could see White Tiger, which according to his words was an indestructible tank commanded by dead. After these spooky revelations, the hunt begins, painted in beautiful colors and alluring visuals of destruction and claustrophobia. The film showed nerve in the way that made the absurdity of the story seem naturally serious. The performance by Aleksey Vertkov was convincing, while the music of Richard Wagner enhanced the tense moments. Even using a minimal story and a few details in the plot that were hard to swallow, “White Tiger” spread some freshness with its exquisite taste, hypnotic war scenes, and final mention of an abominable philosophy described by the Reich himself. An absurdly original piece of cinema.

De Marathon (2012)

Directed by: Diederick Koopal
Country: Netherlands

Review: This Dutch film mixes mockery and sentiment with good intentions but not always in the best way, to depict the adventures of a garage owner and his four employees, when they discover that their job is at risk due to a huge tax debt. The solution found consisted in participating in Rotterdam marathon and try to obtain sponsorships, but the plan ended up in a risky bet. To delineate the characters, the film switches between the good-disposition at work and the troubles at home. Gerard, the garage owner, finds out he has cancer and is struggling to give the best education to his adolescent son; Kees has to deal with the fanaticism of his religious wife; Nico, unable to have a relationship with a woman, starts to become aware of his homosexuality; Leo left his unfaithful wife and now has a child at his charge; the Egyptian Youssoef is the garage’s freshman and will be the team’s trainer. In this intermittent comedy, which created more predictable situations than fresh ones, we could sense the enjoyment of the actors while playing their parts. Unfortunately some strained scenes in the final moments, restrained the prospects of “De Marathon” become more successful. Even trying to rise above its possibilities, the result is a regular dramatic comedy that lives from the comical facet of its characters.

Evil Dead (2013)

Directed by: Fede Alvarez
Country: USA

Review: Uruguayan film director Fede Alvarez chose a remake of Sam Raimi’s horror classic “The Evil Dead”(1981) to start his career on feature film. A risky move, since remakes aren’t much appreciated and he was dealing with a very well known ‘nightmare’. The film was shot almost entirely inside a claustrophobic and haunted cabin in the middle of the woods (this remind me something!), but were the exterior scenes that caused more impact, with millions of tree branches obfuscating our vision and evil spirits lurking at each corner. For my dismay, nothing valuable was added to the visual tricks, in an approach that attempts to impress solely through the common one-at-a-time character torture. We don’t have time to know the characters in this kind of movie; it’s just a rushing journey towards the end, without much space to breath and using pretty much the same cadence of images, sounds, and violence. Alvarez tried to use everything he could to scare us – rough voices, crawling spirits, limbs being sawed, blood spreading, but the results were unchanging, with some sanguinary scenes seeming more like a skin disease or apocalyptic disaster than effectively diabolical. A well-fitted score by Roque Baños added some intensity, but this was not enough to make "Evil Dead" a remarkable or necessary remake.

Great Expectations (2012)

Directed by: Mike Newell
Country: UK / USA

Review: Premises weren’t much encouraging for this remake of Charles Dicken’s novel “Great Expectations”, and in truth, this film didn't provoke nothing more than an expectation far from being great. It wasn’t an easy task for British filmmaker Mike Newell, especially when we have a masterpiece from the past that adapts the same novel with technical perfection and emotional distinctiveness; I’m talking about David Lean’s unforgettable version from 1946. The problems with this movie start with the performances, where Jeremy Irvine and Holliday Grainger didn’t make us feel the fire of love that was supposed to be there to reach our feelings. Fiennes and Bonham Carter fulfilled their roles acceptably but without exuberance. The film fell in such a pace that induced a sense of passivity, becoming dry in terms of emotions. The same happened with the visual aspect and atmosphere created, both very far from the splendor that the book made possible and with which David Lean took advantage with artistry. Newell’s “Great Expectations” is not an exuberant cinematic experience but rather a simplistic, impassive, and visually unattractive work that I cannot recommend, even for those who don’t know anything about this fantastic novel.

Trance (2013)

Directed by: Danny Boyle
Country: UK

Review: “Trance”, the 10th feature film by Danny Boyle (“Shallow Grave”, “Trainspotting”, “Slumdog Millionaire”, “127 Hours”) is a crime thriller, starring James McAvoy, Vincent Cassel, and Rosario Dawson. The story is centered on Simon (McAvoy) who is involved in the theft of a famous painting from the auction house where he works. Franck (Cassel), the leader of a criminal gang, was the man behind the plan. However, some unexpected incidents lead to the painting’s disappearance, while Simon ends up beaten, hospitalized, and with amnesia. When he gets out, is caught and tortured by the gang's men, who think that he hid the valuable piece of art and is faking his condition. After they realize that he wasn't lying, the solution was to hire a hypnotherapist (Dawson) to find the painting whereabouts and recover it. The film has its catchy moments, but at the same time is not so difficult to guess how is going to end. Also, there were scenes that didn’t convince me at all, getting me baffled (yes!), but failing to be consistently plausible. The love triangle that arises stirs up the plot but is exactly on that moment that we start to see where the tricks are. Despite these imperfections, “Trance” doesn't completely disappoint, being visually attractive and well directed. At least, I never got impatient, longing for the end of the movie, and that is a positive aspect.

The Place Beyond The Pines (2012)

Directed by: Derek Cianfrance
Country: USA

Review: The anticipated return of Derek Cianfrance two years after the sensational “Blue Valentine”, ended in disappointment. Although interconnected, the film presents three distinct and uneven parts. The first part was definitely the strongest, telling the story of a stunt motorcyclist who decides to rob banks to support his baby child. Magnificently performed by Ryan Gosling, this part has everything to grab the viewer; an interesting and mysterious character, tense moments, accelerated motorbike scenes, and a surprising conclusion. The second part was moderately interesting and follows a rookie cop who was involved in the first occurrences. Bradley Cooper did a decent job, unmasking high corruption practices in his Police Department and dealing with his own conscience problems. The third part was a total disaster, overturning what had been made until then. It depicts the fortuitous encounter between the sons of the main characters portrayed before. Uninspiring and too calculative, it was frustratingly unstable, ending in a naive way. In resume: every part was weaker than its previous one, making the film lose a lot of strength and balance. If only had been the other way around…! I have no doubt that Cianfrance is a gifted film director. It’s just a matter of returning to uncomplicated screenwriting.

Olympus Has Fallen (2013)

Directed by: Antoine Fuqua
Country: USA

Review: Antoine Fuqua continues his persistent incursions into poor action, with lots of noisy splurge and meaningless results. “Olympus Has Fallen” is a cartoonish farce that even the staunchest action fans must be tired of. The story consists in a North Korean terrorist attack to the White House, where the president was made hostage along with several Governmental workers. What the terrorists didn’t know is that Mike Banning (Gerald Butler), the Presidential security guard was inside the building, ready to save his fatherland and become a new hero. While Banning was gaining ground inside the building until reach the president, the negotiations continued between the leader of the bad guys and a group headed by the acting president Speaker Turnbull (Morgan Freeman). The usual clichés, irksome violence, and basic dialogs, were set just to help filling a plot full of holes. Everything was ridiculous, starting with the tortures imposed to the hostages and ending in the body-to-body fights decorated with the stamp of Bruce Lee (nose wipe with thumb). With a tasteless direction, this is a case to say: Fuqua has fallen.

Sightseers (2012)

Directed by: Ben Wheatley
Country: UK

Review: After a dense experience on horror with “Kill List” in 2011, English filmmaker Ben Wheatley exceeds the expectations with his new indecorous comedy “Sightseers”. The film skillfully mixes dark humor, lurid crime, and an inviting weirdness, to depict an overwhelming love story stained by blood. The adventure begins when Tina decides to leave her senile mother alone for a whole week, to go in a caravan trip with her boyfriend Chris. What seemed to be normal holidays with normal people, soon turned out in a killing marathon with such naturalness and relaxation that I couldn't stop being perplexed. The faultless performances by Alice Low and Steve Oram (also screenwriters), helped create a new couple of freaks capable of standing side-by-side with other famous compulsive killers, such as Bonnie and Clyde, or the Knox couple from “Natural Born Killers”. Their characters slowly showed how dangerous they might be with their immature, capricious, and obsessive personality. The plot emerges in a crescendo towards the staggering last moments, which expressed as much of cold cruelty as intense relief. Wheatley shot it beautifully, using unpolished images to depict tense moments and composed frames for the leisurely ones. “Sightseers” was able to spread tension throughout every scene, being visually and emotionally provocative, and representing one of the cleverest pitch-black comedies of the last times.

Foreign Letters (2012)

Directed by: Ela Thier
Country: USA

Review: “Foreign Letters” depicts a beautiful story of friendship between 12 year-olds Ellie and Thuy. They met for the first time at school in US, right after Ellie has moved from Israel with her parents and little brother. Feeling completely lonely in a strange city, she and her family suffer in silence as they try to adapt to a new life. Vietnamese Thuy, on the other hand, was living in the US for quite a while, being acquainted with the American procedures, and above all with the English language. The two friends will learn how to accept their limitations, needs, and personalities, to maintain their friendship. The film was able to convey very clearly the cultural gaps and distinct manners of facing life. Ellie was relaxed, open, and accessible, while Thuy was more unavailable and demanding with herself, basically living for her studies and future success. “Foreign Letters” was enjoyable in its nostalgic and innocent mood, but presented some weaknesses related with the acting and dialogs. If the acting was unnatural in a couple of situations, the dialogs revealed an automated weird tone, even when a plain English was used. In turn, its sincerity combined with the funny situations created around the English teaching for foreigners brought good results. In the final, we got a positive balance for this sensitive coming-of-age story, based on the filmmaker’s own experiences.

Twice Born (2012)

Directed by: Sergio Castellitto
Country: Italy / Spain

Review:“Twice Born” is an Italian drama set amidst war in the Balkan Peninsula. Penelope Cruz stars in the main role, in her second collaboration with film director Sergio Castellitto, eight years after “Don’t Move”. The plot was based on Margaret Mozzantini’s novel with the same name, and describes the complex story of Gemma, whose unexpected trip to Sarajevo, will make her remind the years in which she gained a son in anomalous circumstances but failed to keep the love of her life. By diving in Gemma’s past, we get to know the difficulties she went through until go back to Rome with a child in her hands. The direction was tolerable, yet the film exhibits some senseless situations that left me perplexed. Sometimes these situations were so ridiculous or inept that I was completely left adrift, trying to seize what Castellito wanted to show with them. We have the example of a psychologist who starts to cry after a child has been refused to Gemma for adoption, or a friendly soccer game in the streets that suddenly becomes aggressive, or even some emotional bursts from the characters that seemed completely overdramatized and out of balance. This indulgent posture, even if occasional, removed any possible impact when weighty revelations were made. Despite the auspicious story, “Twice Born” was never catchy, showing lack of strength in the most fundamental moments.

All That Matters Is Past (2012)

Directed by: Sara Johnsen
Country: Norway

Review: Sara Johnsen’s third feature-film had a promising start, but in fact did not provide us with a great storytelling. It reconstructs the happenings that led to a double killing, involving William and Ruud, two brothers who hated each other since childhood, when they both moved from Sweden to Norway and fell in love with the same girl, Janne. The latter, as only witness, will clarify the story, which was oddly narrated by the policewoman responsible for the investigation. Using frequent flashbacks to their youth, the plot was a prolonged mess of encounters and separations, jealous situations, abandoned babies, illegal immigration, kidnaps, and sexual abuses. The incidents, presented in a confusing order, diverted our attention from the story’s center. Actually, the film drags for long periods, evincing a slowness of processes that never pushed me to care much about its characters. Using a tragic soundtrack along with a sorrowful narration, “All That Matters Is Past” is a bleak tale that often uses unnecessary scenes to impress (like a childbirth or a goat’s slaughter) and almost never shakes the viewer for the right reasons. Merely a promise…

Offline (2012)

Directed by: Peter Monsaert
Country: Belgium

Review: “Offline” is an interesting drama about a shattered family. The story focuses on Rudy, a quarrelsome ex-con, who returns to Ghent after seven years in prison to establish contact with his dejected daughter Vicky. The only way he has to do this is through the Internet, since someone told him she was working in a porn-chat website. It was noticeable that he wasn’t very welcome in town; his wife didn’t want to see him and his older friends became unfriendly. The exception is Rachid who often trusts him his computer without having any idea of what he was doing with it. During great part of the film, it is inevitable to wonder why Rudy had been arrested, but the plot will reserve the answers for the right moments, unveiling terrible family secrets. With a consistent camera work and good performances, Monsaert's most accessible movie, addresses a current topic but moves in well-known territories. The characters showed to bear a great heaviness on their shoulders and every contrariety could degenerate into irretrievable fatality. The end was left open, in a despairing story about giving a second chance to someone who has made huge mistakes in the past. "Offline" was capable of arousing curiosity, even when in needing of a bolder move to better stand out.

Modus Anomali (2012)

Directed by: Joko Anwar
Country: Indonesia

Review: “Modus Anomali” is a perfect example of a great idea wasted by its execution. It tried to disorient and induce paranoia with its claustrophobic scenes and almost experimental approach, but revealed a sort of amateurism both in direction and acting. The story begins with a man asking for help after having escaped from being buried alive in a secluded forest. He seemed to be searching for his own identity and family, but after a while we get to know that the reality was very different from what appeared to be. Despite the surprising conclusion evidenced by the plot, the struggle to find some comprehensive guideline among the incoherent signs and situations, led me to exasperation. The visual aspect didn't help, when unattractive dark plans were used to show the overnight manhunt, creating an almost imperceptible environment that couldn't be less scary. The film plays more with disturbing sounds, attempting to pass a sensation of being lost in the immensity of a forest. Once in a while, these sounds are interrupted by screams and questions thrown in the air in order to increase thrill. Imaginative Joko Anwar didn’t reveal enough skills as director as showed as a writer. Hardly frightful and impaired by Rio Dewanto's awful performance, “Modus Anomali” proved to be obtuse in many ways.

Violeta Went To Heaven (2011)

Directed by: Andrés Wood
Country: Chile / Argentina / Brazil

Review: “Violeta Went to Heaven” is a penetrating biopic about Chilean songwriter, folklorist, and visual artist, Violeta Parra. Some events and important songs may have been left off, but the film gives a solid idea of Violeta’s work, personality, beliefs, and struggles. The cadence is captivating and the structure goes back and forth in time, focusing her unhappy childhood, the first steps on music and the interest in old songs from her culture, the successful years of recognition and acceptance, the passionate and unstable relationship with the Swiss musician Gilbert Favre, and finally her decline years when her artistic tent (also used for political activism) became increasingly without audience. Violeta ended up poor and lonely, but always faithful to her beliefs. The story was reconstructed in an intelligible way, showing the impulsive personality, resolute temper, and creative genius of this iconic woman, who always preferred the poor to rich, and the sincerity to cynicism. The plaintive yet powerful songs had a big influence in the way I felt the movie, especially “El Gavilan”, which motivated uncommon sensations along the poignant final moments. Some softening was detected somewhere in the middle, but this film deserves to be seen for what it represents and for Francisca Gavilán’s incredible performance.

The Grandmaster (2013)

Directed by: Wong Kar-Wai
Country: China / Hong Kong / France

Review: Cult filmmaker Wong Kar-Wai is back, bringing with him Tony Leung and Ziyi Zhang as stars. We cannot find many movies with the elegance and passion of “In The Mood For Love”, but “The Grandmaster” brings to our mind some of its best moments, adopting the same poetic approach to depict another impossible love. The novelty here is the addition of some action through martial arts, since the story was inspired in Yip Man’s life, the kung-fu master who would come to teach the legendary Bruce Lee. The film covers three different periods: 1930’s Foshan in China where he was recognized as a master, the difficult life in Hong Kong after the Japanese invasion, and finally from 1952 till his death in 1972. We also get to know the sad fate of Gong Er, a master's daughter who became secretly in love with Yip Man after a challenging fight. Kar-Wai’s camera work remains very strong where the richness of the plans and aesthetical care were crucial to catch our eye. To tell the truth, the visual aspect was much stronger than the story itself, which despite being interesting didn’t reveal the mystique of previous adventures. “The Grandmaster”, not being a masterpiece, is a sumptuous accomplishment that puts together a dissimulated love, revenge, sacrifice, and martial arts in the form of floating dances (preferably in the rain).

Dreams For Sale (2012)

Directed by: Miwa Nishikawa
Country: Japan

Review: “Dreams For Sale” is nothing more than a dark tale about money and greediness. The story follows a strange couple, Kanya and Satoko, who lost their successful restaurant in a fire, deciding to work in a solution to extort money for a new one. The plan emerged by chance when Kanya brought home a large amount of money after a one-night stand with a drunken woman he met in the subway. After making her husband confess what had happened, Satoko got to know that the woman who has given the money was vulnerable and deprived of her true love. Since then, they decided that Kanya will seduce and scam women who got lonely, desperate for love, or even sick. As the scams were happening, we were able to gather more information about the personality of these two crooks. Kanya revealed to have a heart, often feeling badly and regretting his behavior, but was never able to stop. Satoko, in the other hand, showed her cruelty, tenacity, and indifference regarding the victims. The tale itself intends to show something meaningful and the character studies are well conceived, but the film has its faults. It was extremely long; I wouldn’t be exaggerating if said that at least 30 minutes should be cut off. Other negative aspect was the silly side presented in some moments, leaving us between the gravity of the emotions and a sort of misplaced comedy.

The Hunt (2012)

Directed by: Thomas Vinterberg
Country: Denmark

Review: After the immediate success of “The Celebration” in 98, Thomas Vinterberg has been lost in mediocre plots. Finally, with the gripping “The Hunt”, he shows once again what he is capable of. The story, written by Vinterberg and Tobias Lindholm (“R”, “A Hijacking”), depicts two hellish months in the life of Lucas, a divorced daycare worker who is struggling for his son’s custody. The troubles start when a little girl, who also happens to be the daughter of his best friend, tells the daycare director that Lucas showed his penis. When the director called him, he seems not to give much importance to the case or even try to defend himself. This scene intentionally aims to bewilder us. In a blink of an eye, Lucas loses his job, is abandoned by his new girlfriend, becomes threatened in many ways, and ends desperately alone. The film is filled with tension and is done in such way that the doubt persists till the end. It was incredible how many times I convinced myself that Lucas was innocent, but then some behavior or conversation made me go back again in my opinion. Mads Mikkelsen and the young Annika Wedderkop had first-rate performances, while the direction was very effective and determined. The heaviness of the matter was handled thoughtfully, provoking a variety of intense emotions, and making “The Hunt” one of the most gratifying experiences of 2013 so far.

Starbuck (2011)

Directed by: Ken Scott
Country: Canada

Review: With “Starbuck”, parenthood never got so drastic repercussions on the screen. David Wozniak (Patrick Huard) is a common meat delivery guy who works for his family company. Being constantly threatened by a pair of thugs from whom he received a loan, David really struggles to straighten up his life, especially after hear from his girlfriend that she was pregnant. But the real shocking news came when he received a letter saying that he was the father of 533 children, 142 of whom wanted to know who their biological father was. This was a consequence of several years donating sperm. “Starbuck” was the second feature film directed by Canadian Ken Scott, who is already working on another similar project entitled “The Delivery Man”. It was considered the most popular Canadian film at Vancouver Film Festival, revealing to be more touching than funny, and more carefree than serious. The plot took advantage of David’s “special” children (those who presented evident abilities, features, or handicaps) to create gentle and bizarre moments, which not always had the best outcome. Providing a sufficient portion of entertainment, “Starbuck” is easy watching, even if not totally satisfying with its episodic sentimental manipulations and a romantic side that turned out to be flat.