Chappie (2015)

Directed by: Neill Blomkamp
Country: USA / Mexico

Movie Review: Neill Blomkamp picks out once again his Johannesburg, South Africa, to be the stage of his third feature, “Chappie”, in which he sticks to the habitual sci-fi genre packed with violent action. The film, just like its title character, feels mechanical on most occasions, and the script throws some sentimental bait in an attempt to catch emotional viewers. It’s impossible to completely dissociate “Chappie” from Blomkamp’s two previous flicks - “District 9” (also co-written with Terri Tatchell) and “Elysium”, whose creativity I admire - and even resemblances with “Robocop” are a reality. But the sad truth is that “Chappie” is disappointing, not only when we compare all of them, but also when we analyze it by itself. Its adventure is a mishmash where robots, gangsters, and creators of robots fight one another in quasi-apocalyptic scenarios painted with chaotic gunfights, flashy blasts, and furious blazes. The intense score is incessant and tries to set the mood according to the various discrepant situations, going from sweet and mellow to hyper-aggressive. The script was quite dull, especially on the part that Chappie, the robot conceived to join the South African police forces in the combat of rampant street criminality, starts to learn like a child, not the good things that its creator, Deon, is trying to patiently introduce to him, but rather all the insolences coming from the gangsters who stole him. There are so many ideas on the table, but the problem is to orient them in the proper direction. “Chappie” is not the worst of the sci-fi’s, but it’s basic at its core, and we sadly realize that artificial intelligence becomes superficial intelligence, and the robots seem metallic aberrations whose behaviors are rather phony than genuinely implacable.

The Overnighters (2014)

Directed by: Jesse Moss
Country: USA

Movie Review: “The Overnighters” is a pertinent documentary that painfully observes the incidents occurred in Willistone, North Dakota, during the booming oil industry, which attracted a large number of people looking for a job, just to realize on site that basic needs such as housing was a mirage. Pastor Jay Reinke is the man that tries to ease the situation for this desperate flock in search of a better life, sheltering most of them in the parking lot of the Concordia Lutheran Church, for which he is responsible. What should have been a temporary measure, soon is extended for several months and then years, provoking the discontentment of the population that felt invaded and became fearful of the rampant increase of violent crimes and drug trafficking. We are introduced to some of the problematic men who arrived; some of them are former sexual offenders, major or minor crooks, or just simple workers whose hope is to give better conditions to their families. The 57-year-old pastor is seen as a compassionate angel, listening to everyone’s concerns and afflictions, and trying to give them the support they need to continue their dreams. Particular little dreams that, all together, widen the film's coverage to a frustrating, illusional ‘American Dream’. For the end, the pastor’s noble struggle collapses and the docudrama unfolds to something deeper, even disquieting about the man who deserved praise for the tireless work done in favor of people, especially the discriminated ones. Documentarian Jesse Moss, who visually was nothing brilliant, punches our faces with the final confessions and revelations, remembering us that there is no such thing as an infallible man. Luck or not, he nailed it.

Warsaw 44 (2014)

Directed by: Jan Komasa
Country: Poland

Movie Review: Love and hate are expressed in so many different ways in “Warsaw 44”, the latest narrative feature from Polish filmmaker Jan Komasa (“Suicide Room”). This war drama, set in occupied Poland, is just another story about the Resistance facing Nazi oppressors, failing to add anything relevant to the theme when compared with other recent holocaust pieces of the same country like “In Darkness”, “Ida”, or the not so successful but acceptable “Aftermath”. To tell the truth, Komasa seemed just interested in present us with a festival of explosions, agony, death, and gutted people on the verge of madness. It’s also a love story shattered by the cruelty of war, but lightly handled and unconvincing in its cynical posture. Along its exhaustive 130 minutes, we follow Jasio, a young man who takes care of his depressive mother (a renowned actress) and sensitive little brother, after his father has been carried off by war. Despite having promised to his mother that he would stay out of trouble, Jasio swears loyalty to the Fatherland and joins a group of friends in the fierce battle to retrieve the already devastated city. Prone to be a hero, the courageous Jasio will face the horrors of war and witness his family being killed, shot in the head. Hopeless, wound and apathetic, can the power of love still save him? “Warsaw 44” is not completely balanced in its approach, toggling between festive companionships and heroic acts in its first two parts, just to enter in 'gruesome mode' in the last third. While some chaotic scenes seemed too orderly put together to be real, others touch the grotesque – how about human flesh and blood falling from the skies after a bomb burst? In a saturated genre, the film relies too much on the graphical side to impress. Mr. Komasa should know this is not enough.

Focus (2015)

Directed by: Glenn Ficarra, John Requa
Country: USA

Movie Review: Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (“I Love You Philip Morris”, “Crazy Stupid Love”) join efforts once again on writing and direction, and the result was “Focus”, top box-office until early this week, when it was overthrown by the artificial intelligence of “Chappie”. Despite its popularity among the masses, “Focus” lacks artistry on every single front. The film tries to play with the ‘prohibited’ love story between a master con man, Nicky Spurgeon (Will Smith) and his seductive apprentice, Jess Barrett (Margot Robbie), as they focus on potential targets. Operating in New Orleans, where they defalcate an inveterate sports gambler named Liyuan (B.D. Wong), the couple inevitably splits up due to professional-ethical reasons, only to see each other again three years later in Buenos Aires. There, they will recommence the relationship and take advantage of the owner of a motor sports team who hires Nicky to corrupt a decisive race. Stiff, unimaginative, and devoid of thrills or fun, this silly creation does everything to trick us with its clichés, but the best it can do is bore us to death. The film’s sluggish narrative never attained an acceptable flow, and the script shows practically no twists to justify its viewing. Everything was set with a miserable sense of objectivity, deficient intensity put on the scenes, and mediocre performances, particularly by Will Smith whose character not only for once generated any sort of empathy. This poor piece of screenwriting by Ficarra and Requa (I even liked their “Bad Santa”!), feels amateurish and uneventful, making “Focus” totally out of focus. With one of the dullest of the year, are you willing to be conned?

Tokyo Tribe (2014)

Directed by: Shion Sono
Country: Japan

Movie Review: Shion Sono’s latest, blends street gang action with hip-hop musical, and the effect is no less than effervescent. Based on Santa Inoue’s manga series of the same title, “Tokyo Tribe” opens with a kid on top of a slum’s barrack in Bukuro, saying to another: ‘when I grow up I’ll bring hope and joy to this city’. As you can imagine, the words hope and joy hardly fit here, and not even a minute later, we can witness the decadent reality of these colorful streets – drug trafficking, prostitution, crime, violence, and police negligence. We are introduced to the numerous rival gangs (called tribes) that control the different areas of Tokyo at the sound of rap tunes. From all the 23 existent gangs, Wu-Ronz and Musashino Saru got more attention. Wu Ronz’s bosses, the cannibal assassins and sex exploiters, Lord Buppa and his son Nkoi who uses sculptural women as his furniture, together with the savage expert in blades, Mera, are planning to destroy the remaining tribes and take total control of the city. After Musashino Saru’s leader has been killed, is Kai, Mera’s mortal foe, who will assume the leadership of his gang and try to unite the tribes for a bloody street battle without precedent. Among the large number of characters, some are memorable: sexy kung-fu fighter Erika, filthy grotesque Lord Buppa, and the ultra-brutal corpulent warrior who are constantly asking for sauna. “Tokyo Tribe” it’s pure fun from start to finish, a hive of lust, power and crime, depicted with a furious hilarity that I would never think possible in Sono. The songs are great, the digital treatment of the images is perfect, and the camera gets as wild as the gang members. Flashy, funny, insolent and vicious… this is Sono at his best.

Serena (2014)

Directed by: Susanne Bier
Country: USA / others

Movie Review: Susanne Bier is a Danish filmmaker who counts with some auspicious dramas of great intensity in her career, such as “Open Hearts”, “Brothers”, “After the Wedding” and the Oscar winner “In a Better World”. Her latest feature, “Serena”, starring Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence (the same pair of actors who did a brilliant job in “Silver Linings Playbook”), is her second Hollywood experience after “The Things We Lost in the Fire”. If “Love is All You Need” from three years ago, a cheesy romance with Pierce Brosnan and Trine Dyrholm, was a huge disappointment, “Serena”, despite slightly more interesting, still doesn’t give us enough for a film that tries to excel in such a demanding genres such as drama and thriller. The film was based on Ron Rash’s 2008 novel of the same name, illustrating the tragic story of George Pemberton (Cooper) whose timber empire keeps thriving. When he first sees Serena (Lawrence) in Boston, it was love at first sight. The couple got married right away, moving to George’s little town in North Carolina. Their life was running smoothly but suddenly becomes a nightmare after Serena, until then a confident wife and business partner, has had a miscarriage. The situation is aggravated by the fact that Mr. Pemberton already has a son with Rachel (Ana Ularu), a modest local woman, as well as by the presence of Galloway (Rhys Ifans), a strange ex-con henchman whose visions seem darkly connected to Serena. Christopher Kyle’s screenplay was unfaithful to the book, skipping some major details and the film was embroiled in complacent tones until the overcooked final part, when unsuccessfully tries to stir some excitement from the dramatic increase in pace. I couldn’t find anything really memorable in this depressive sort of western, beyond the unmitigated performance by Jennifer Lawrence.

Faults (2014)

Directed by: Riley Stearns
Country: USA

Movie Review: Under the direction of debutant writer/director Riley Stearns, “Faults” falls in the particular category of thrillers about cult groups, the same that incorporates “Martha Marcy May Marlene”, “Sound of My Voice” and on a completely different level, the brilliant “The Master”. Mr. Stearns shows to be resourceful in a handful of shots while maintains a positive narrative stability among compelling drama, unfathomable mystery, and dark humor. The film opens with Dr. Ansel Roth (Leland Orser) eating in a hotel restaurant and trying to pay the bill with a voucher already used. A situation that doesn’t embarrass the moody Ansel, an advocate of free will with a polemic past, who was preparing himself for another presentation about 'lost people under the control of others', materialized in his new book entitled ‘Follower’. Coming off a broken marriage, and losing credibility in his theories and methods (some guy in the audience even beat him up), Ansel’s future seems not very encouraging, fact aggravated when his former manager, Terry (Jon Gries), gives him an ultimatum to pay off a huge debt. His chance to get away with this last situation comes when a couple asks for his help with their daughter, Claire (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), who avoids contact with family and friends after joining a cult group called ‘Faults’. Ansel’s solution: kidnap Claire and submit her to a 5-day program to clean her mind, paying the debt with the income for his services. The Q&A that comes next gives us a clearer picture of the cult but can’t explain the mysterious occurrences they are experiencing. It's all about assuming control. The same control brought into play by Leland Orser, here resembling Dustin Hoffman, and turning him into the heart of the film.

Stratos (2014)

Directed by: Yannis Economides
Country: Greece / others

Movie Review: “Stratos”, best film at Thessaloniki film festival, is a solid crime thriller whose title is the name of its main character, a solitary man who served years in prison after he has murdered the men who messed with his girl. While in jail, he became the protégé of the feared inmate, Leonidas, a former mafia leader who saved his life. Now enjoying freedom again, Stratos operates secretively as a hitman for someone close to Leonidas during the daytime while at night he works in a baking factory to maintain the appearances. Despite being warned in relation to Leonidas’ brother, Yorgos, he ends up deceived while continues to finance a risky plan for digging a subterranean tunnel that was supposed to take Leonidas out of the prison. In a parallel front, Stratos will try everything to prevent a little neighbor girl from falling into the hands of the new mafia shark, Petropoulos, as a form of paying a debt owed by her negligent parents, Vicky and Maki. Petropoulos and his haughty wife also keep trying to persuade Stratos to join their dirty clan. This bleak portrait of a cold assassin is earnest and implacable, raising a moral issue that disappears during the final act when the killer opts for a righteous move. Respectful filmmaker Yannis Economides creates a remorseless character whose sense of doom becomes strongly outlined from the time he decided to do something right in his miserable life. Notable actor Vangelis Mourikis was the perfect vehicle for his intentions, in their third collaboration after “Soul Kicking” and “Knifer”. Clearly influenced by film noir dramas, the well-balanced “Stratos” holds onto a mood that is closer to Mellville’s “Le Samourai” than Corbijn’s “The American”.

Jupiter Ascending (2015)

Directed by: Andy and Lana Wachowski
Country: USA

Movie Review: Another action sci-fi adventure from the creators of “Matrix”, Lana and Andy Wachowski, was recently released but, unfortunately, the result is too feeble to recommend. Characterization and production design stood out as the strongest aspects of “Jupiter Ascending”, a film that very early made me lose the interest in its super-stuffed plot and confusing battles. Mila Kunis and Channing Tatum star in a distant future, respectively as Jupiter Jones and Craig Wise. She leads a very boring life, cleaning houses for wealthy people, but soon realizes that her fate is to save the universe from evil hands, and consequently her life is at stake. He is an ex-soldier who will do whatever he can to protect her during the mission. The ones to be defeated belong to the Abrasax family; voracious brothers Titus and Balem, who fight for reigning after the death of their queen mother. You can find a panoply of flamboyant stuff in “Jupiter Ascending” – flying boots, explosions filling up the screen, colorful rays crossing the menacing skies, huge fancy spaceships, even talkative Godzillas with wings among other ridiculous creatures – but unfortunately these aspects weren’t enough to make it a better film. It’s pretty evident to me that the Wachowskis are going through a creative crisis, and I’m not referring to particular details but as a film in its whole, consecutively abdicating of smarter plots and memorable approaches in order to satisfy the easy consumerism of the genre they love most. I made an effort to like this but end up missing “Matrix” more, or “V for Vendetta” whose screenplay they wrote. Opposing to Jupiter, the Wachowkis’ career is descending at the speed of light. Therefore, urgent measures are now needed to save their universes.

The Better Angels (2014)

Directed by: A.J. Edwards
Country: USA

Movie Review: Working lately as a film editor for filmmaker Terence Mallick (“To the Wonder” and the upcoming “Knight of Cups”), who pays back here in production, A.J. Edwards makes his directorial debut with “The Better Angels”, a reflexive, historical biography about the early years of the former American president, Abraham Lincoln. The film opens with Lincoln’s sentence: ‘All I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother’. From this quite suggestive introduction, we’re transported to 1817 Indiana, where the young Abe (debutant Braydon Denney) tries to help his stern father, Thomas (Jason Clarke), taking care of the crops. Food was not abundant and the few inhabitants were dying from sudden sickness. The good times were spent in the company of his older brother and his beloved mother, Nancy (Brit Marling), a believer and a dreamer, according to his own words. After the latter’s death, his misunderstood father brought another wife, the widow Sarah (Diane Kruger), to their home, and with her came the love and care the children needed to better endure their hard lives. The film, narrated by the protagonist, starts moderately unsettling, but insists on remaining in a dreamy indolence that runs out our patience sooner than expected. Edwards indulges himself in a sort of lyricism, which with the time, becomes exasperating. The celestial tones and slow-paced narrative, so characteristic of Mallick’s work, are quite visible, but the film becomes more stylized than absorbing and more languid than exciting. Besides the dignified visuals, with the black-and-white as an understandable choice, “The Better Angels” offers little motives to be cherished.

It Follows (2014)

Directed by: David Robert Mitchell
Country: USA

Movie Review: Uncanny moments filled with creepiness is what American filmmaker, David Robert Mitchell, has to offer in “It Follows”, which is undoubtedly the best horror movie I’ve watched in years. If his debut feature, “The Myth of the American Sleepover”, has revealed vision and talent, “It Follows” exceeded all the expectations, letting us ruminating about how efficacious this anxious supernatural tale is, and how attentively and tastefully was put on the screen through amazing shots and an unpretentious approach that deliver everything we look for this genre. After an intriguing opening scene, beautifully shot through a 360º pan, the story remains fixed on 19-year-old, Jay, who was living a laid-back life, natural in her age, frequently in the company of her best friends and neighbors, Kelly, Paul, and Annie. After a bizarre sexual night with a strange young man, Jay starts to sense an unexplainable discomfort associated with horrible visions of an entity that assumes different human forms. Some are apparently normal while some others are grotesque and even immoral in its appearance and behavior. Not only Jay is in danger but the whole chain of victims that passed the curse. The film is tonally brilliant and even pokes us with a couple moments of humor that temporarily relieve the audience from the tension. Mitchell, an assumed admirer of the horror genre, reveals maturity dealing with his own creative process, triumphing in the way that nothing seemed excessive or uncontrolled. The teen cast responded effectively to Mitchell’s call for a film that can make you freak out with its eerie atmosphere, haunting images, and first-rate score by Rich Vreeland aka Disasterpeace.

They Have Escaped (2014)

Directed by: JP Valkeapaa
Country: Finland / others

Movie Review: J.P. Valkeapaa demonstrates why he is a filmmaker to keep in mind, after presents us with “They Have Escaped”, the second feature of his career. In a small Finnish town, two misfits meet at a halfway house for troubled teenagers, initiating a caustic adventure that will change their lives forever. Reserved and quiet, Joni (Teppo Manner), of 19 years old, arrives to the facility with the mission of confiscating illegal substances, after having fled the military service due to stuttering. He was given no choice, since it’s that work or jail. Despite the warnings that strictly forbade him to make friends or hang out with the teenage dwellers, he becomes attracted to the 17 year-old, Raisa (Roosa Soderholm), a rebellious bleached-hair punk with red lips and heavy dark eyeshadow, helping her to get away with stolen cigarettes. Together, they will take the road of adventure towards Raisa’s home, plus a brief visit to her grandma. Guided by vague dreams and hopes of a more exciting future, this escapade won't be devoid of perturbation and mishaps along the way. Forced to steal and ask for a ride, they end up being caught in a final macabre experience that marks a radical change in the direction taken initially. The moments of enjoyment are as many as the afflictive ones, but “They Have Escaped” transforms itself into a really dark, claustrophobic experience that can be disconcerting in its last minutes due to its baffling final scene. It’s a shame that Valkeapaa only has created hypnotic dreamlike ambiances for brief moments, but the film benefits with strong performances, an impactful sound design, and the contrasting humor/terror of the tale. It works both as a social criticism and a cutting experiment on horror, set up in unrelenting tones.

The Water Diviner (2014)

Directed by: Russell Crowe
Country: Australia / Turkey / USA

Movie Review: With a screenplay by Andrew Knight and Andrew Anastasios, the shabby “The Water Diviner” is a product of Russell Crowe whose direction and performance didn’t shine. Inspired by true events, his fictional feature-length debut often struggles to find the path for the heart, in spite of the noble tolerance and perseverance evinced by its main character. Joshua Connor (Crowe) got so happy when he found water in his dried Australian land, that he runs home in an effusive state to tell his wife, Eliza. It was noticeable right away that something was wrong with them because, instead of sharing his happiness, she starts yelling at him. Soon we realize that, four years before, the couple had lost their three sons in the battle of Gallipoli, Turkey. In consequence of the pain, Eliza takes her own life and Joshua travels to Turkey in order to locate the bodies of their boys and take them home, next to their mother’s grave. In Istanbul, he is conducted to a cozy hotel by a smart little boy, but is seen with suspicion by the kid’s mother, Ayshe (Olga Kurylenko), who also had lost her husband in the mentioned battle. Joshua is taken to Gallipoli with expected difficulties, ironically conducted by Major Hasan (Yilmaz Erdogan), an influential Turkish official who risks his own life to help. The possibility of one of his sons might still be alive was prognosticated early in the film, while flashbacks were recurrent to better clarify the past happenings, but not even the war was depicted in a convincing or exciting way to involve us. Playing with cultural differences and hazy romance, Crowe tries to push away any glimmer of sentimentality but ends up creating a soft exercise that becomes too dried on all fronts. It would be great if water could be found in this desert…

Black Sea (2014)

Directed by: Kevin Macdonald
Country: UK / Russia / USA

Movie Review: Scottish film director, Kevin Macdonald, knows how to handle a thriller, gathering all the possible familiar aspects inherent to a submarine thriller. “Black Sea” was still capable to catch my attention by adding factors like greediness, frustration, xenophobia and perseverance to a risky underwater mission outlined with routine moments of tension and claustrophobia. Jude Law plays Robertson, an offended submarine captain who got fired from the salvage company he had been working so hard for eleven years. Disappointed and physically detached from his wife and 12 year-old son who were both doing fine without him, Robertson seemed condemned to drink in pubs with depressed friends in the same conditions as he was. However, when a financed operation to find a WWII German U-boat lying in the bottom of the sea, supposedly full of gold, is put in his hands, he didn’t hesitate to fully accept it. For that, he will have to gather a crew of twelve men, half British half Russian, since the old submarine to use is from Russian origin. A senseless American called Daniels, connected to the investor, is also joining them in the risky treasure hunt whose accidents, threats, crazy maneuvers and dives into the unknown, are just some occurrences to expect. A substantial part of the tension comes from the men who were divided by country. Apart from Robertson, there’s a particularly interesting character that stands out for his sly behavior and defiant posture; Frazer is his name, a mad diver, superbly performed by Ben Mendelsohn. The adventure grows pretty exciting in the last thirty minutes and the finale, if not totally unexpected, did have a good impact on me.

The Salvation (2014)

Directed by: Kristian Levring
Country: Denmark / UK / others

Movie Review: “The Salvation”, a Danish western directed by Kristian Levring and co-written with the credited Anders Thomas Jensen (mostly known for Susanne Bier’s dramas), swings between the positive and the negative, escaping from a more severe sentence due to the solid performances from Mads Mikkelsen and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, some interesting details on direction, and a great visual design by cinematographer Jens Schlosser. The time is 1817. Jon (Mikkelsen) is a pacific Danish citizen and former soldier who settled himself in America seven years before, in the company of his brother, leaving his wife and son behind with the promise that one day they would join him. That day finally arrived, but instead of celebrate, Jon will mourn his family, killed by two abusive strangers who shared the same carriage that would take them home. Driven by indignation and grief, Jon makes justice with his own hands, never imagining he could still be in trouble. One of the men was the brother of Delarue (Morgan), the town’s savage ruler who swore revenge, ordering the frightened sheriff to bring him the responsible man alive. Jon wouldn’t be able to get away if he hadn’t the help of a 16-year-old boy and Delarue’s mute sister-in-law who was saved from the Indians and now refuses to submit herself to his whims. Clear skies and extensive prairies don’t hide the gloominess of a story whose predictability and far-fetched scenes (a silly escape from prison and a cigar who sets one of the villains on fire) are weighing factors. The finale didn’t satisfy either, proving the steep decline of a Scandinavian western that even started at full steam. It probably might work fine for the admirers of western category, but for me it got stranded in the difficult lands of screenwriting.

Jauja (2014)

Directed by: Lisandro Alonso
Country: Argentina / others

Movie Review: Different from anything else, “Jauja” is a picturesque, philosophical neo-western film from Argentinean Lisandro Alonso who counted with Viggo Mortensen in the main role and co-production. In a Patagonian desert, the Danish traveller, captain Gunnar Dinesen (Mortensen), tries to keep his beautiful young daughter Ingeborg (Viilbjork Malling Agger) away from the eyes of the obscene Lieutenant Pittaluga. However, his efforts are in vain since she runs away with the seductive soldier Coto, and later is taken by the mysterious Colonel Zuluago who everybody believed disappeared in uncertain territory. Dinesen resolves to hop on his horse to follow his beloved daughter’s trail in a journey where he finds death, experiences mystical situations, and discovers tortuous ways toward the soul. Once the narrative is a pipe dream, “Jauja” mostly relies in its bucolic visual aesthetics to impress. It’s simultaneously eccentric, excessively contemplative and vague in its insinuations (some ‘coconut heads’ are mentioned but we never put our eyes on them), requiring a lot of patience from the viewers. The deliberate slow pace and an infinity of humdrum distant long shots don’t make things easier, and not even ghostly dogs can awake us from this nightmarish trip to nowhere. Jodorowsky would have made it beautifully bizarre, while Tavernier (some resemblance in terms of mood) certainly would have made it narratively focused. Hereupon, “Jauja” is a very difficult film, that didn’t show any special motive to be distinguishable, beyond the beautiful cinematography from the Finnish Timo Salminen, habitual collaborator of filmmaker Aki Kaurismaki.

71 (2014)

Directed by: Yann Demange
Country: UK

Movie Review: With experience in TV series since 2007, the French-born director raised in the UK, Yann Demange, gives us sufficient motives to expect great deeds in the future, since his first feature, “’71”, is a breathtaking political action thriller, skillfully shot, competently structured, and filled with creepy tense moments. The story, set in Dublin, 1971, follows the 20-year-old private soldier, Gary Hook (Jack O’Connell), member of a Derbyshire security squad assigned to patrol the rioting streets that host two enemy political factions during the time of ethno-nationalist conflicts known as ‘The Troubles’. During a turmoil involving the crowd, Hook is forced to run after a young boy who stole a gun from one of his squad mates. Separated from his unit, he gets caught by merciless separatists, managing to escape death in a miraculous way. Severely wound and marked to die by the radicals, he has no other choice than follow his intuitions and trust a few local strangers, to survive in the perilous narrow streets of the city. Demange reveals a tremendous ability to deal with a plot that leaves no ambiguities, creating a nightmarish adventure, which was carried out with confidence, stirring motion and objectivity. Its appalling images strike us with brutal actions and realistic scenarios, brought into existence by efficacious handheld camera movements that increase the chaotic atmosphere lived, as well as the fear and pain endured by the brave soldier impersonated by Jack O’Connell. This is the same O’Connell who, earlier this year, left me well impressed in “Starred Up”. This is a fantastic debut from Yann Demange who was granted with a prestigious special mention from the ecumenical jury at Berlin.

III (2015)

Directed by: Pavel Khvaleev
Country: Russia / Germany

Movie Review: Pavel Khvaleev's sophomore feature film, “III”, can be as much contemplative and idyllic as sinister and eerie. Ayia (Polina Davydova) and Mirra (Lyubov Ignatushko) get completely devastated when their mother falls sick and dies from a mysterious disease that is making more and more victims over the city. While the older sister, Ayia, finds strength in her religious faith to deal with the grief, Mirra shows to be a non-believer, rejecting God, as she feels responsible for her mother’s death. She eventually catches the fatal disease, falling in a sort of delirious state where dark dreams mirror a hidden past of traumas and suffering. Soon an order to abandon the house arrives to the desperate Ayia, who can only count with the help of the town’s priest and family friend, Father Herman (Evgeniy Gagarin). The latter revealed to be wobbly in his faith but swore to take care of the sisters. Resorting to mystical practices and an esoteric book written by a shaman, the priest will try to connect the sisters’ minds, since according to him, the only way to save Mirra is to find and kill the deepest fear that resides in her subconscious. A burdensome journey to her sister’s worst nightmares doesn’t shake Ayia’s determination. Will this be sufficient to save Mirra? The powerful score, together with the intense images extracted from Igor Kiselev’s beautiful cinematography are the most positive aspects in “III”, a horror tale that couldn’t avoid gaps in the plot and a confusing narrative. It creates some good moments, though. The abrupt conclusions might divide the fans of the genre, but even flawed, a few thrills and surprises are guaranteed.

Dawn (2014)

Directed by: Anders Elsrud Hultgreen
Country: Norway / Iceland

Movie Review: In “Dawn” (aka "Morgenrode"), Norwegian director Anders Elsrud Hultgreen creates a deserted post apocalyptic world, depicted in black and white, where two wandering survivors wrapped in tatters, Rahab and Set, are trying to beat the fatigue and thirst. Their encounter wasn’t casual, since the former, after asking for the Creator’s guidance, is followed by the latter, a tricky man who pointed the direction of the coveted water and didn’t show any scruples when stole Rahab's precious belongings. In sparse words, Rahab had explained his cruel dream from ten winters ago, where something impossible to describe appeared to him. These enigmatic presences that we cannot see but implicitly hover in the foggy mountains, are an important key in a world where the incomprehensible reigns. During the first half I was bored by the repetitive cadency, completely unable to get into the story. The film works much better in the second half, where its scenes are not constantly interrupted by black screens, and deliver the exact radiance to become minimally appealing. At this point, the minimalism of its final images can be hypnotic in several occasions, proving that mono-tones are not synonym of monotony. A few audacious oblique camera moves enhances the sense of experimentalism in the approach used by Hultgreen, a filmmaker who showed potentiality in visuals but could have done much more in terms of narrative. Instead of striking, “Dawn” lacks clarity in every sense, (un)consciously blurring our perception with a too-long reiterative prelude.

Stations of the Cross (2014)

Directed by: Dietrich Bruggemann
Country: Germany

Movie Review: The fourth feature film by Dietrich Bruggemann, “Stations of the Cross”, was co-written with his sister Anne, making an interesting parallelism between a modern world tale, set in a Southern German town, and the 14 stations of the cross endured by Jesus towards Calvary. Maria is a14 year-old somber girl who lives obsessed with God and religion. Coming from a very conservative family, Maria feels helpless most of the time, struggling against the fear of sin and brainwashed by her merciless unloving mother and the town’s priest, Father Weber. While preparing to receive the sacrament of Confirmation, Maria is getting more and more obsessed with the idea of sacrificing her life for God to save her 4 year-old little brother who suffers from a mysterious disease. After start talking with Christian, a schoolmate who has a crush on her, Maria seems to vacillate in her intentions, giving signs of wanting to relate with outside people. As her mother denies her any type of affection and castrates her even more, Maria tries to extend her arms to Bernadette, a French friend of the family, who gave her the protection, trust and understanding that she couldn’t find in her real mother. However, and after getting seriously ill, not even a very concerned doctor seems capable to deviate the tormented young girl from her ordeal. We can glimpse a hint of the psychological strength of Haneke and Ulrich Seidl’s cinema, but never too intense to shock directly with its meticulous scenes and dialogues. Saint or not, the truth is that Lea van Acken’s performance was convincing, and the long shots of “Stations of the Cross” invites us to a sort of bitter commiseration.