A Borrowed Identity (2014)

Directed by: Eran Riklis
Country: Israel / other

Movie Review: In Eran Riklis’ new drama, “A Borrowed Identity”, the unruly Israeli-Arab coexistence remains as a topic, but this time slightly different since the story focuses on a Palestinian-Israeli boy who tries to impose himself against discrimination. The script was co-written by Mr. Riklis, who delighted me in the past with titles like “The Syrian Bride” and “Lemon Tree”, and Sayed Kashua, the author of the novel on which the movie was based upon. The story starts in 1982 in Tira, Israel, where the young Eyad, a very intelligent and perspicacious kid, proceeds to another climbing of the street utility post that holds a TV antenna on its top. His father, Salah (the very known Ali Suliman), who’s equally very smart but was relegated to be a fruit picker when he decided to involve himself in politics, tries impatiently to tune the Arab channel on his old TV. He’s a revolted man who’s not afraid to demonstrate and express his convictions, often called terrorist by the Israeli locals, and whose dream is to send his son to the best college in Jerusalem. Meanwhile, Eyad, now totally recovered after falling from the utility post, feels abashed at school when he has to refer his father’s profession - in his juvenile innocence, he rather insists that Salah is a terrorist, a statement that conducts to a strict punishment inflicted by the school’s principal. The story then shifts to 1988, time when the grown-up Eyad (Tawfeek Barhom) is accepted at the college. Once there, besides being a victim of stupid provocations and having accent problems in speaking Hebrew, he falls in love with the beautiful Naomi (Daniel Kitsis) and finds real friendship when he joins a college’s volunteer program and meets Yonatan (Michael Moshonov), a youngster suffering from muscular dystrophy. As the years pass by, Eyad faces some challenges such as how to live the ‘prohibited love’ with Naomi and how to cope with the deterioration of his best friend’s health condition. Related to this particular last topic, he finds the right solution to the injustice he was being subjected and steals his friend’s identity in a desperate attempt to have the same perks given to the Israelis. Both fanaticism and generosity are detected on the Israeli and Arab sides, and the director never assumes extreme postures. Mr. Riklis’ unnerving filmmaking style didn't smother the several critical points that are brought up about the conflict, turning the film into a bittersweet experience that leads to a variety of distinct feelings and sensations like sadness, loss, compassion, and liberation.

Brooklyn (2015)

Directed by: John Crowley
Country: Ireland / UK / Canada

Movie Review: Brooklyn is charmingly depicted in the John Crowley’s drama whose title matches exactly the name of the famous and most populous NYC’s borough. Directed with a remarkable accuracy without losing a bit of narrative fluidity, “Brooklyn” doesn’t just give you a precise idea of the place in the 50’s, but also functions as an ode to the thousands of Irish immigrants that departed from their country to find a better and more exciting life in the US. In Nick Hornby’s script, taken from Colm Tóibín’s novel, that’s exactly what happened to Eilis (Saoirse Ronan), who left her strict mother and fragile sister, Rose, in their provincial Irish town and decides to accept the kind offer of a priest who got her a legal job in Brooklyn. After a bumpy trip in a deplorable ship, the amenable Eilis goes to live in a feminine boarding house and is instantly struck by a severe homesickness until bumping into the love of her life. Toni (Emory Cohen) is an honest Italian-American plumber with whom she danced at an Irish ball. He shows to be a well-intentioned gentleman and invites her to meet his family just after a couple dates. She was warmly welcomed at his place, even taking into account the unpropitious and yet funny commentaries of Toni’s cheeky little brother. However, life plays its pranks and Eilis receives the sad news of her sister’s death. Before returning to Ireland, Eilis marries Toni in secrecy, holding onto promises that, if kept, envision a beautiful future for them. Unexpectedly, in her hometown, she starts working for a company in part-time and gets to know Jim Farrell (Domhnall Gleeson), who would be the perfect man for her if she had met him before. Flattered by this man’s endearing approach, and slightly confused, Eilis doesn’t seem ready to get back to her husband’s arms. Mr. Crowley, the author of “Boy A”, redeems himself from the tepid thriller “Closed Circuit” released two years ago, by conferring a classic profile to the drama, and conveying an acute sincerity through the actors’ performances. Saorsie Ronan and Emory Cohen couldn’t have been more genuine in their roles and that’s one of the reasons why the film doesn’t tickle in an emotional level… it rather punches you hard! “Brooklyn”, which is not limited to be another typical love story, offers historical insight and provides a unique experience that, at a time, feels painful, enriching, uncertain, and finally soothing and triumphant.

Crimson Peak (2015)

Directed by: Guillermo Del Toro
Country: USA / Canada

Movie Review: The specialty of the Mexican filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro (“Hellboy” and “Pan’s Labyrinth”) is to interweave fantasy and horror. His latest, “Crimson Peak”, proves his effortlessness in both genres and also adds a strong dramatic component to a plot that, despite some regular clichés, manages to solidly hold our attention. Actually, Peak is the most successful collaboration between Del Toro, who also co-writes and co-produces, and the screenwriter Matthew Robbins, after “Mimic” and “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark”. Beginning in 1887, the tale focuses on Edith Cushing (Mia Wasikowska), an unconventional independent American writer who is often visited by the ghost of her mother. So, ghosts are a reality and play an important part in her novels, even if metaphorically. When Sir Thomas Sharpe (Tom Hiddleston), an English aristocrat who comes to the US with the intuit of finding a wealthy investor to his unappealing invention, is declined by Edith’s father, Carter, he turns his eyes into the eager-for-love Edith, who falls for him in a blink of an eye, despite the warnings of her father and also of her childhood friend, Dr. Alan McMichael. Carter makes some arrangements to free his daughter and get rid of Thomas, who is constantly followed by his abhorrently jealous sister, Lucille (Jessica Chastain), but ends up violently murdered by a sinister figure, leaving Edith even more vulnerable on the matters of the heart. She resolutely agrees to depart for London, to live with Thomas and his diabolically manipulative sister at Allerdale Hall, a once resplendent, isolated old mansion that hides evil secrets, dark energies, and gruesome occult presences. Del Toro works together with the Danish cinematographer, Dan Laustsen, to carefully compose the dense visuals, enhanced by the period costume design and embracing the dismal atmosphere extracted from the place. You can imagine how difficult is to create a horror film nowadays without falling in the same stratagems used over and over again. Thus, during these last two years, only a couple of them could impress me, cases of “Conjuring” and “It Follows”. “Crimson Peak” lacks truly creepy moments and is definitely not on the same level of the cited films, but what’s curious is that I was never bored and the film gallops in an ominous crescendo towards its agitating finale. Jessica Chastain, here in a delightfully evil form, shares a great responsibility in this achievement.

Man From Reno (2014)

Directed by: Dave Boyle
Country: USA

Movie Review: “Man From Reno”, a bewitching independent neo-noir film, may trap you in its mysteries and moods while transmits all the anxiety and uncertainty that its characters are subjected to. This is the second time (the first was “Daylight Savings” in 2012) that the screenwriters Joel Clark and Michael Lerman join efforts with the co-writer and director Dave Boyle. They were able to fabricate a wonderful story, set in San Francisco, and involving a popular Japanese writer from Tokyo, Aki (Ayako Fujitani), who in the face of a creative/identity crisis, decides to stop writing and vanish during her press tours in the city. After an unenthusiastic meeting with some old friends from college, she stealthily checks into a hotel, where she meets an astute, seductive, and handsome man called Akira Suzuki (Kazuki Kitamura). Aki feels so lonely and depressed that she ponders for several times about using the razor she carries in her purse to kill herself. It’s Akira who cheers her up and gives her the confidence she needs to overcome the present situation – a sort of a new breath that soon collapses since he’s not the man she thinks he is. After sleeping with her, Akira disappears without a word from the hotel, leaving a suitcase and a trail of mysteries behind. From this moment on, Aki starts being followed by enigmatic individuals who scarcely are whom we think they are. In parallel, San Marco County’s sheriff, Paul Del Moral (Pepe Serna), runs over a nameless Asian man, after spotting an abandoned car, and starts to investigate his disappearance from the hospital where he was taken. Later on, he’s informed about a dead body found in the river shore. The man, in spite of identified as Akira Suzuki, is not the same as the one who met Aki in the hotel. The determined sheriff and Aki, who is guided by an acute intuition gained in her books, will try to search for something palpable in order to solve the puzzle. Sometimes vague and disorienting, sometimes precise and self-assured, “Man From Reno” plays with your curiosity in a complex, thrilling exercise, which not being totally satisfactory, presents strong elements to compose a solid detective story. This includes inexplicable clues, secret words, dangerous chases, mistaken identities, undercover paparazzis, an eerie soundtrack, and a constant, if subtle, tension associated to its Hal Hartley-esque conspiracy.

White Gate (2014)

Directed by: Nicolae Margineanu
Country: Romania

Movie Review: The mischaracterized “White Gate”, directed by the veteran Nicolae Margineanu, was supported by true events in order to examine the fates of three Romanian youngsters who, in a desperate attempt to flee the communist regime of their country, resolve to swim across the Danube. The year is 1949, and the unhesitating carpenter, Ninel, was the one who came up with the idea, persuading the siblings Adrian and Anuca to follow him. On the shore, behind tall vegetation, ravenous mosquitoes bite them while they wait for the dusk to sneak into the water. Halfway, they were spotted by a patrol boat and told to surrender, facing the possibility of being shot dead. Adrian and Ninel are captured and taken to Poarta Alba (White Gate), a forced labor camp where they’re assigned to work in the construction of the Danube-Black Sea Canal, while Anuca disappears in the waters. The harsh working conditions of the camp supervised by ruthless criminals who had been promoted to brigadiers, drive them close to insanity. The film takes most of its time building the usual sadistic tortures inflicted to the undisciplined workers, together with the negligence of the communist authorities in regard to illness and exhaustion. Margineanu presents all of this in a classic black-and-white that tries to recreate the period when the events took place. At the beginning, a briefly colored scene introduces religious components into the story, when we are told that a fresco, exhibiting Baby Jesus wearing a typical labor-camp vestment, was found in a Bucharest church. This aspect is reinforced, but not totally succeeded, with the presence of an inscrutable monk among the inmates. Another character that is given prominence but fails to engage is Petre, a poet who can’t refrain himself from writing ‘forbidden’ poetry. This historical illustration assuredly condemns the vile regime and honors its victims, however, the trite approach, elementary production values, and impersonal execution, shove it into delicate territory.

Room (2015)

Directed by: Lenny Abrahamson
Country: Canada / Ireland

Movie Review: Brie Larson, who had already impressed me in “Short Term 12”, gives a spectacular performance, together with the young Jacob Tremblay, in the suspenseful drama “Room”, directed by Lenny Abrahamson (“Frank”) from a screenplay by Emma Donoghue based on her own 2010 international best-seller novel of the same name. The story follows a protective, caring mother, Joy (Larson), and her sensitive five-year-old son, Jack (Tremblay), whose lives are limited to a small space that they call room. The room is actually a shed, placed in a desolated backyard and well protected with a code lock system, which is owned by a man known as Red Nick, who seven years before had abducted Joy, confining her to a life of forced imprisonment. So, it’s easy to conclude that Jack is his son. The scoundrel father, who doesn’t have a job and only appears occasionally to bring food and sleep with the hapless woman, never has any contact with his son who is kept in a wardrobe until he leaves. The minimum accidental interaction between them leaves Joy out of control, in a raging effort to protect her precious son from the predator. The tiny room is actually the real world for Jack, whose unique contact with the exterior is through an old TV that is turned on whenever the power is available. His mother has told him that everything he sees on the TV is imagination and that beyond the room there’s just the outer space. Now that Jack, whose long hair made me easily mistaken him as a girl, turned 5, his mother decided to tell him the truth about the outside world, which naturally provokes confusion and apprehension. In addition, she engenders a risky plan to set Jack free and ask for help. The plan is consummated, however, the outside world is not the paradise she thought it would be, starting with the refusal of her own father in accepting Jack as his genuine grandson. A terrible depression takes care of this psychologically affected woman who does the best she can to hold onto life. For the film’s benefit, the mother/son relationship is depicted in a very strong way, a fundamental aspect that Abrahamson assures to extract from the performances, which are unquestionably Oscar-worthy. “Room” is an honest portrait of a terrible, abusive case, which reminds us a few real cases that have been disclosed by the media. Infused with confidence and narrative tightness, the film is not only gripping but also touching, and after two well-spent hours (time flies here, which is a good sign), it will leave you cogitating on the matter.

Nasty Baby (2015)

Directed by: Sebastian Silva
Country: USA / Chile

Movie Review: Chilean actor-director Sebastian Silva, who charmed the indie fans with a couple movies to be treasured such like “The Maid” and “Crystal Fairy and the Magical Cactus”, returns with a let-down right after the disappointing “Magic Magic” dated from two years ago. In his latest Chilean-American production, “Nasty Baby”, he plays Freddy, a homosexual artist, residing in New York, who wants to have a baby with his partner, Mo (Tunde Adebimpe). The vehicle for their intentions is Freddy’s best friend, Polly (Kristen Wiig), a nurse who agrees to function as a surrogate womb and shows to be as much excited as the couple. Despite the efforts, which lasted for six months with multiple artificial inseminations, Polly can’t get pregnant due to Freddy’s low sperm count. The solution for this problem is obviously Mo who would become the sperm donor, a serious call that he responds affirmatively with the advice of his beloved mother. This first part of the film is inconsistent and often drags with boredom. Despite the naturalistic performances, in which the sensational Wiig stands out, the drama’s expressiveness feels somehow parched both in depth and enthusiasm. Nevertheless, Mr. Silva’s screenplay manages to raise the levels of excitement when, in its second act, depicts the couple’s disputes with a crazy neighbor known as The Bishop (Reg E. Cathey), a situation that aggravates more and more, ending up in a sad tragedy and subsequent questionable behaviors. Throughout the film, we’re given the opportunity to observe Freddy’s witless artistic performance entitled ‘nasty baby’, which he’s trying to take into the gallery of a weird friend, Marcus (Neal Huff), who uses an oracle in his office to help him decide about the art. Visually unimpressive, “Nasty Baby” becomes a much stronger film when turns into a crime thriller, but even though, and despite how much genuine the scenes might look, its conclusion is not so complete or stirring as its creator definitely intended it to be. To put it clearer: the two distinct story fragments in the basis of this disjointed tale have trouble to stand by their own, making “Nasty Baby” nastier than it was supposed to, and consequently, materializing in a combination that collapses into forgettable.

Tu Dors Nicole (2014)

Directed by: Stéphane Lafleur
Country: Canada

Movie Review: One of the most wonderful surprises of this year is undoubtedly the Canadian drama “Tu Dors Nicole”, which has much to be appreciated. Exhibiting indolent tones and a leisured pace, the film grabbed me in a very satisfying way both in terms of script, whose creativity, spontaneity and even some surrealistic elements (like a kid talking with an absurdly deep voice) successfully enraptured me, and in terms of the engrossing black-and-white visuals, which were capable of making me feel the warm breeze and the relaxed ‘dolce fare niente’ of the summertime in a quiet, small Quebecois town. Julianne Côté, whose outstanding performance deserves all the accolade she can get, embodies Nicole, a young student who seems to be enjoying her time alone at home, a consequence of her parents’ absence for a prolonged vacation. The scene that first introduces her is illuminating - when she wakes up in the bed of a guy and responds in an indifferent manner to his question if they’re going to see each other again. Back at home, she receives a phone call from her father, reminding her of the home tasks to be completed, and finds an envelope in the mailbox with a credit card in her name. What a joy! This was exactly what she needed to fight the boredom of the hot days, mostly spent doing nothing special in the company of her best friend, Veronique (Catherine St-Laurent). Both are planning to leave their fastidious jobs and make a trip to Iceland, an idea that is reinforced when Nicole’s contentious brother, Remi (Marc-André Grondin), suddenly appears at home, bringing his longtime pal, Pat (Simon Larouche), and a new friend, the flirtatious JF (Francis La Haye), respectively bassist and drummer of his indie rock trio, to rehearsal. The multiple interactions among these characters suddenly change the airs from undisturbed to weighty. Directed with delicacy, intelligence, and insight by Stéphane Lafleur, who completely avoids one-dimensional characters, “Tu Dors Nicole” has this sort of mood that many emerging directors would like to bring into their cinema. It’s so effective and simple in its processes, so mature in depicting the human relationships, and so deliciously funny in its sometimes-offbeat posture and dialogue, that the result is an extraordinary modern gem not to be missed.

Honeytrap (2014)

Directed by: Rebecca Johnson
Country: UK

Movie Review: Rebecca Johnson’s “Honeytrap”, despite satisfying as a whole, struggles to attain a sustainable balance during its different sections, provoking mixed feelings when the script and its execution are confronted. If its story evinced great potentiality, the approach not always pulled off the most desirable results. Making a good use of the structure, in which the ends meet, the film follows Layla (Jessica Sula), a good-looking 15-year-old girl who moves to a small town located in the South London’s poor district of Brixton to live with her estranged mother. Even giving the sensation that she’s happy with the change, Layla doesn’t have the support and attention she needs at this crucial point of her life because her indifferent mother, Shiree (Naomi Ryan), shows no more availability than a few minutes of conversation when not in the nightclub where she works or in the company of some lousy boyfriend. When attending a new school, Layla is definitely not prepared to handle the brutality of a milieu where physical and psychological aggressions are a painful reality. Even though, there’s always someone friendly, which is the case of the good-natured Shaun (Ntonga Mwanza) who has true feelings for her. But the degrading scenario gets darker after she bumps into the vile Troy (Lucien Laviscount), a relatively successful rapper whose intentions are everything but pure. Domineering and authoritarian, Troy uses and abuses of the ‘blind’ Layla, whose uncontrolled passion, naivety, and submission will lead her to shame when she agrees to become his accomplice in a hideous crime. Before that, in a complete disorientation, she almost takes her life away when she finds out Troy's true nature. This is the kind of film that you can sense it’s going to end haplessly since its very beginning. The storytelling of Ms. Johnson, who was inspired by real-life events, reveals a sort of urgency in taking us to the despair of this teenager. It feels realistic most of the time, however, occasionally a few noticeable melodramatic moments, enhanced by the uninspired score, tend to push its mood to an objectionable side.

Meadowland (2015)

Directed by: Reed Morano
Country: USA

Movie Review: Directed by the cinematographer Reed Morano from a screenplay by Chris Rossi, “Meadowland” is a poignant drama that demonstrates how people can descend into very dark places after going through a deeply grievous situation. The unimaginable happened to a happy couple of New Yorkers, Sarah (Olivia Wilde) and Phil (Luke Wilson), whose life will never be the same after their son’s disappearance. Everything happened when Phil decided to stop the car at a service station to buy some drinks, taking the opportunity to send the little Jessie to the restroom. Phil becomes restless when Jessie, who had locked the door, doesn’t answer to his calls. When finally inside, they face an excruciating reality: Jessie has vanished through a backdoor that connects with a garage where nobody was working at the moment. One year after, we find the devastated Sarah at home, still under the effect of lithium, getting drunk in front of Phil, who misleads us to believe he’s coping a bit better with the situation, taking into account his genuine concern with her and observant remarks. With them, is Phil’s brother, Tim (Giovanni Ribisi), a melancholic character, with a guessable troublesome past, who asked to stay at their place for an undetermined period of time. He clearly functions as a sort of an extra burden to the pair of sufferers whose emotional distance increases every day, making them suitable to fall into questionable behaviors both at work and outside work. Sarah is a school teacher, and after the initial attention with a problematic girl whom she followed the steps of listening to heavy metal and cut herself on the arms, she develops a fixation into another student, Adam, who has Asperger’s syndrome and is rejected by both his mother and schoolmates. She urgently tries to fill her emptiness by acting like his mother. In turn, Phil is more and more unmotivated in his duties as a police officer and even the therapy sessions he continues attending don’t seem sufficiently rewarding to make him recover the lost balance. He shows a pitiful moral degradation and a hopeless lack of confidence that made me uncomfortable. The experienced casting director, Phil Hicks, did a great job since these actors, with no exception, made the difference in turning a pretty conventional theme into a compelling dramatic creation. Only the surprising final scene sneakily attempted to be something more transcendent than it was really felt. Mr. Morano revealed sensibility in terms of camera work and a complete control of light in order to extract warm, opaque gleams from the visuals.

Anti-Social (2015)

Directed by: Reg Traviss
Country: UK / Hungary

Movie Review: Greg Traviss’ expendable heist movie “Anti-Social” was unable to find a stabilized energy and never attained the desired maturity to impress, being relegated to those mediocre attempts that rely on fabricated scenes and flimsy resolutions, which infuriates instead of satisfying, with the easiness of the happenings and the wasted time (almost two hours in this case). The story, written by the heavy-handed Mr. Traviss, is set in Central London and follows two half-brothers who opt for unequal paths in life despite their proximity. Dee (Gregg Sulkin) is a graffiti artist who sometimes has to flee from the police for painting the street walls of his neighborhood. Carrying strong social-political messages, his art is still not as much respected as he would like, but has the power to draw the attention of a German artist who invites him to Berlin. His beamish girlfriend, Kirsten (Meghan Markle), offers all the support he needs and really believes in what he does, while his older brother, Marcus (Josh Myers), makes part of a gang of four motorcyclists who are known for robbing valorous jewelry around town. Besides this risky activity, the latter is associated with the organized crime, rivaling with another dangerous gang. By using a sexy woman as bait, the rival gang manages to perpetuate a precise attack, stealing drug packages and later shooting Marcus, who, recovering at the hospital, is out of the next heist, the biggest and riskiest so far. With no time to think and a necessity for solving the imbroglio, Marcus and his gang can only rely on the conscientious Dee. Even against his nature, the artist-turned-malefactor consents to participate in the holdup as a carrier, only to protect his brother and (why not?) taking the opportunity to guarantee his own future, financially speaking. Visually unpolished and with powerless performances, “Anti-Social” probably won’t attract many moviegoers with its constant plot shifts, mismanaged drama, sugary romance, and debilitating action. It’s an embarrassing incursion into the Londoner underworld crime and the art world in general.

Bone Tomahawk (2015)

Directed by: S. Craig Zahler
Country: USA

Movie Review: “Bone Tomahawk” is an atypical western. To be more precise, it’s a nutty blend of western in its ancient tradition of ebullient battles between cowboys and Indians, dry comedy, and a gory horror thriller. The screenwriter and debutant director, S. Craig Zahler (also a musician, novelist, and former cinematographer), showed sufficient arguments to let us expectant for his future cinematic creations. The fantastic cast manifests a salutary diversity: from valued veterans, cases of Kurt Russell and Richard Jenkins, to solidly established actors such as Patrick Wilson, to auspicious young talents like Matthew Fox and Lili Simmons. The film opens with a man cutting a human throat and explaining to his accomplice that there are 16 major veins in the neck and that he needs to cut them all. Minutes later, he’s killed by an arrow shot that flew mysteriously from nowhere. It’s a sufficiently interpretive premise for the grueling scenes that will come later on, especially in the last 30 minutes, when the brutality assumes total control of the story. Set in a tiny town, the story focuses on the earnest sheriff Franklin Hunt (Russell) who seemed more than happy to embark on a perilous mission across the old Wild West in order to solve the mystery related to the disappearance of the town’s doctor, Samantha O’Dwyer (Simmons). Assisted by his two quirky deputies - the irreverent and boastful gunman, John Brooder (Wilson), and the decrepit and jocular, Chicory (Jenkins) - who are so contrasting in nature that end up complementing each other, the brave sheriff sadly concludes that the woman was abducted by savage Indians who, in addition of having no name nor language, also have the particularity of being cannibals. Even seriously wounded in a leg, Samantha’s husband, Arthur O’Dwyer (Fox), decides to join the mission, regardless if his dragging pace lets him momentarily behind. “Bone Tomahawk” can be described as a super-violent, unsparkling western adventure whose excessively sanguinary atrocities will be the first thing to become retained in the mind of the majority of its viewers. In my personal case, the often-unreasonable wry humor and the well-chosen settings were the aspects I most cherished.

Beasts of No Nation (2015)

Directed by: Cary Fukunaga
Country: USA

Movie Review: American filmmaker, screenwriter, producer, and cinematographer, Cary Fukunaga, shoots beautifully and proves not only to have an eye for detail but also that he’s a director with no defined bounds or roots. He quickly got recognition with his first feature-length film, “Sin Nombre”, which addressed a particular universe pelted with ruthless gangs, set near the Mexican-US border. His sophomore feature, “Jane Eyre”, was a well-succeeded adaptation of Charlotte Bronte’s classic novel of the same name. This year, he brings us the wilder “Beasts of No Nation”, a movie centered in an untold African country where a young boy, Agu (Abraham Attah), who lost his family when his village was taken by the army, falls in the hands of the rebels, becoming a brainwashed, highly-trained fighter alienated by war, misery, and his own thirst for revenge. This tale, an adaptation of Nigerian Uzodinma Iweala’s debut novel entirely shot in Ghana, starts perspicaciously funny with the kids trying to sell an ‘imagination TV’ to the soldiers or to obtain some money from the passing drivers, simulating the cutting of trees that they lay down in the middle of the streets. Shortly, there's a constant exhibition of violence (in its physical and psychological forms), and the characters exult in occasional dances that end up in harrowing killings. It also shows a significant insight when revealing in what conditions the rebel squad was operating, as well as when focuses on the leadership confrontation between soldiers and politicians. Obedience and sham rules are highlighted factors presented throughout the story. Agu looks at his prepotent Commandant (Idris Elba) as a sort of a father. On the one hand, he really wants to follow him, but on the other, he feels something’s wrong since a father shouldn’t act like a mad man, initiating him into drugs, sex, and often ordering him to kill innocent people. Despite the astonishing cinematography, Mr. Fukunaga, whose camera moves adroitly in accordance to the more or less boisterous situations, should have let the images talk more by themselves. Too many explanations are given - in the form of Agu’s thoughts - and that frequency interrupts a handful of interesting visual sequences. In truth, there’s nothing really new in this tale that we haven’t seen before - for instance, in the more absorbing “War Witch” or the chaotic “Johnny Mad Dog”. Struggling to put every little piece together in a calibrated way, “Beasts of No Nation” is a so-so war drama that happens to be fascinating for its imagery rather than for the additional ways found to express its brutal story.

The Walk (2015)

Directed by: Robert Zemeckis
Country: USA

Movie Review: “The Walk” wasn’t so vertiginous as I wanted it to be. Director Robert Zemeckis whose name is immediately associated with other successful blockbusters such as “Back to the Future”, “Forrest Gump”, “Cast Away”, and “Flight”, didn’t impress me much with this real story focused on the remarkable achievement by the obsessive, temperamental, and courageous Philippe Petit, here played earnestly by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Petit got famous for walking over the Manhattan’s skies when he crossed the 42 meters that separated the extinct World Trade center towers on a wire. The French artist narrates his own story from the top of the Statute of Liberty, taking us to 1973, the very beginning of his Parisian career as a small crowd entertainer – juggling while high-wire walking. There, he meets a sweet street musician, Annie (Charlotte Le Bon), who at first felt annoyed with his presence since he was stealing all the audience. After conquering Annie’s heart, he fails his first public presentation, but redeems himself accomplishing the following mission of walking on the Notre Dame cathedral and consequently gaining a few devoted accomplices who offer themselves to help him fulfilling his big dream. His riskiest task ever is going to take place in New York and requires a careful and meticulous preparation that is given by Papa Rudy (Ben Kingsley), a circus owner and old expert in the high-wire art, who teaches him a few precious secrets. Sometimes accused of being selfish and arrogant, Petit was able to join an efficient, friendly team that includes the ‘anarchist’ photographer Jean-Louis (Clément Sibomy) who will cover the grandiose expedition. Perhaps because I still have so clearly in my head the magnificent documentary “Man on Wire”, superbly directed by James Marsh in 2008, which addresses Petit and his deed with precision and vitality, “The Walk” feels a bit too much pretentious in its somewhat irritating approach. The dazzling visuals aren’t devoid of disquietude, but the film only provides regular entertainment without agitating us in any occasion with surprises or giving another concept to a form that was nothing more than banally standardized. Mr. Zemeckis, whose filmography comprehends fantasy, animation, and real drama, never made me feel the creeps or soar over the slightly misty blue skies of Manhattan.

The Assassin (2015)

Directed by: Hou Hsiao-Hsien
Country: Taiwan / China / others

Movie Review: “The Assassin”, directed by the genius Taiwanese filmmaker Hou Hsiao-Hsien (best director at this year’s Cannes film festival) is a pure delight to watch, even if its narrative is not so expeditious in making us quickly understand the context of the story as well as the function of some characters. This artistic meditation, whose lingering development covers a period of the 9th century’s Tang dynasty, is the first wuxia martial arts film by the experienced director, who returns eight years after the enchanting French-language drama “The Flight of the Red Balloon”. The story sumptuously follows a young woman, Yinniang (Qi Shu), who was highly trained since she was a kid by a princess-turned-Maoist nun called Jiaxin (Fang-Yi Sheu), now her master, in order to become an implacable assassin. The victims picked by Jiaxin are worthless persons who committed evil crimes, and Yinniang, always in black garments, slashes them without hesitation or remorse. Anyway, certain day, she fails to accomplish a mission when she spares the life of a despiteful governor who was carrying a baby in his arms. The upset master, realizing that her pupil gained matchless skills with the sword but still wasn’t totally resolved in her heart, assigns her the toughest task of all: she will have to go back to her hometown in the Weibo province, after 13 years living in exile, and kill a cousin, Tian Jian (Chang Chen), who was promised to marry her when she was 15. Once there, she'll have to deal with her own strong feelings, not only in regard to the man she loves but also to her parents who didn’t have another option at the time but entrust her to the princess Jiaxin. For some viewers, especially those not familiar with the director’s style, “The Assassin” may seem unexciting, extended, and slow since its long takes take the time to incisively capture the picturesque landscapes, lush costumes, and splendorous sets. Hsiao-Hsien employs winning technical aspects over a very simple plot at its core in a very sui generis way. Even the fights are exquisitely crafted like in slow motion, and you never see blood or people agonizing. The filmmaker spares us to those primitive elements, finding instead a subdued tension that slowly enraptures us. It’s a distinguished, velvety art-martial movie that needs to be praised due to its originality and refinement of processes.

Experimenter (2015)

Directed by: Michael Almereyda
Country: USA

Movie Review: Brought by the innovative - yet not always succeeded - American director Michael Almereyda, “Experimenter” tells us about the work of social psychologist, Stanley Milgram (an unsmiling Peter Sarsgaard), based on his overwhelming studies on the human obedience to authority. In this biographical drama, whose theme is sufficiently enticing to keep us watching with a responsive curiosity, Almereyda uses his creative freedom to edify a somewhat loose narrative that drinks from the thoughts and explanations given by the observant experimenter who carried out multiple experiments on obedience. The first one started in 1961 at the Yale University, where he was teaching social relations. The fundaments of the experiment were very simple, but never easy to the participants, who had to administer possibly damaging electric shocks to a human being placed on the other side of the wall whenever he chooses a wrong answer to the pre-prepared questions. Milgram proved that more than 80% of the participants, despite extremely uncomfortable with the situation, continued giving electric shocks when they were politely and yet firmly told to proceed with the experiment. Many questions arise: didn't they stop because they were being paid and consequently a sense of duty was calling them? Or because they possessed some kind of meanness or aggressiveness? Or is it because they just embraced the task with such devotion that they simply neglected that there was a man suffering and asking for the experience to come to an end? Professor Milgram, with the eyes fixed on the camera, explains that this is due to the so-called ‘agentic state’, which occurs when a person is in his obedient mode in the face of a command. Once in this state, it’s impossible to go back - he explains. Among curious conclusions, unanswered questions, and philosophical postures, “Experimenter” also addresses the complicity that existed between Milgram and his devoted and condescending wife, Sasha (a solid comeback by Winona Ryder). The film’s structure was a bit fluctuating, occasionally alienated, which is not totally surprising if we remember the previous spasmodic narrative adventures of Mr. Almereyda – “Nadja”, “Hamlet”, “Cymbeline”. Despite the quibbles, he was able to picture both the experiments and the struggles of the man behind them with a voice of his own. Even far from enchanting, “Experimenter” is Almereyda’s most accomplished film.

Bridge of Spies (2015)

Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Country: USA

Movie Review: Passionately directed by Steven Spielberg, “Bridge of Spies” doesn’t belong to those conventional espionage thrillers we normally come across with. The film, which recreates a laudable true story, counts with brilliant performances by Tom Hanks, Spielberg’s habitual first choice, and the highly praised English stage actor Mark Rylance whose brief appearances and words are simply unforgettable. The script by the Coen brothers and Matt Charman, despite lacking vigorous action scenes, reveals a humane side that is much welcome and unfolds with a gracious coherence and an inherent subtle tension. The year is 1957, in plain Cold War. Rudolf Abel (Rylance), a long-time soviet spy operating in the US, is caught by the FBI and arrested. The one designated to defend him is the Brooklyn attorney, James B. Donovan (Hanks), who truly believes Abel has the right to a fair trial as everybody else, regardless the opinion shared by the majority of the population that he should immediately be convicted and sent to the electric chair. During the preparation for the defense, Donovan and Abel develop a sincere admiration for each other based on the respect and loyalty they’ve always dedicated to their duties. As expected, the impassive Abel is convicted, but Donovan was capable of persuading the biased judge not to give him the death sentence, suggesting instead that they keep him alive for a possible future exchange of prisoners, in the case of an American spy falls in the hands of the Russians. Believe it or not, that was exactly what happened when the American pilot Francis Gary Powers was captured during a spy mission in Soviet territory. The CIA’s only concern is to retrieve Powers, but the straightforward Donovan decides to negotiate beyond that. He’ll attempt to exchange Abel, not only for Powers but also for Frederic Pryor, an American student who couldn’t avoid an inopportune detention occurred in East Berlin. “Bridge of Spies”, flowing with seriousness, wittiness, and elegance, uses mainstream strokes to paint the portrait of a real hero and his magnificent deeds for his country. It’s an immaculate film in terms of period recreation, visual consistency, and narrative fluency. Here, the stimulating chases and wild shootings are discarded; instead, you have the chance to appreciate the finesse of a true classic. A feel-good touch comes in the last scene, when the exhausted Donovan, lying in bed, is regarded by his wife with a mix of incredulity for what he just did and a profound veneration for who he is.

Steve Jobs (2015)

Directed by: Danny Boyle
Country: USA

Movie Review: In the last three years, three films were made about Steve Jobs, the genius behind the Apple technology, and each one of them deserves a very distinct verdict. In 2013, two years after Jobs’ death, director Joshua Michael Stern relies on Ashton Kutcher to play the character in “Jobs”, a feeble biopic that left the moviegoers unsatisfied with its contrived approach and lack of vision. This year, the acclaimed documentarian Alex Gibney (“Mea Maxima Culpa”, “We Steal Secrets”) has built a fair account of Jobs’ private and professional life using the typical journalistic approach in which well-edited interviews and archive footage are properly articulated. Now, it’s the turn of the respected director Danny Boyle (“Trainspotting”, “Slumdog Millionaire”, “127 Hours”) who formulates the most fascinating if incomplete portrait of the man in question. The inevitably awesome, Michael Fassbender, even drawing some initial doubts on Boyle’s first set, was the perfect vehicle to give body and soul to Jobs, here aided by Kate Winslet, who gives a magnificent performance – her best since “Revolutionary Road” - playing Joanna Hoffman, Job’s trustful ally and confidant since the times of the original Mac team. Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, who based himself in the book by Walter Isaacson, leaves some important details out of the script such as Job’s wife and the illness that consumed him for quite some time. However, with the help of Mr. Boyle’s expressive close-ups and thorough guidance, “Steve Jobs” turns out to be an extremely entertaining fragment with emotional efficaciousness in regard to how the tech maestro brusquely handled family and work matters. The Apple’s catching slogan ‘think different’ was not always transposed to his private life, especially in those difficult times when he stubbornly refused to recognize his 5-year-old daughter, Lisa. The man who feared rejection due to a convoluted childhood was able to slowly change in several aspects of his life, but will always be regarded as a selfish bastard by some of the tech creators who also put a lot of effort in the variety of tasks without receiving the recognition they deserved. Among the extensive list, we have John Sculley, Steve Wozniak, and Andy Hertzfeld, terrifically played by Jeff Daniels, Seth Rogen, and Michael Stuhlbarg, respectively.

Xenia (2015)

Directed by: Panos H. Koutras
Country: Greece / others

Movie Review: Panos H. Koutras’ “Xenia”, selected as the Greek entry for the best foreign-language film at the upcoming Academy Awards, is as much provocative as it is brittle. The story focuses on two drifting Greek brothers from Albanian descent whose mother died of too much drinking. Their father left home when the older one, Ody (Nikos Gelia), was two years old and the younger, Danny (Kostas Nikouli), was just a little baby. The latter, now a 16-year-old androgynous misfit with an atypical style of his own, is introduced to us in a scene that takes place in a medical office where he offers his body to a doctor who gives him money and asks if he feels better from his obsessions and hallucinations. Danny is about to leave Crete and adventure himself into Athens, where he will meet his brother. The death of their mother and the fact that their father doesn’t recognize them as his sons, let them in a situation of imminent deportation. Also, they are constantly victims of the provocation and protests, often accompanied with violence, of the fanatic nationalists who aspire to have a Greece for the Greek and the Christians. After an imprudent incident involving Danny, who shot one of those agitators in the leg, the brothers decide to meet with the former companion of their mother, the exuberant gay Tassos (Aggelos Papadimitriou) who reveals the whereabouts of their father, a candidate to the right-wing party who lives wealthily with his new family in Thessaloniki. This is exactly the city where the brothers are heading next in order to fulfill an old family dream that consists in Ody’s participation in a famous singing competition. However, the impulsive Danny takes the opportunity to visit his insensitive father, carrying a pistol in his backpack. Despite addressing the socio-political turmoil and pop-culture lived in the country, the film’s undertones oscillate unevenly between rebellious and pulpy. Sometimes it feels saccharine, losing robustness, and other times it gives false indications of wanting to go wild, which never works well when attempted. The plot, co-written by Mr. Koutras and his habitual associate Panagiotis Evangelidis, repeatedly deviates from its main course of events to indulge in long musical passages, a few forced feel-good moments, and overdramatic confrontations that seem to be taken from the Greek theater.

Yakuza Apocalypse (2015)

Directed by: Takashi Miike
Country: Japan

Movie Review: Japanese director Takashi Miike doesn’t give up trying to shock us with abhorrent films suffused with physical and psychological violence in addition to a few obnoxious scenes whose only goal is to make you feel nauseous. In “Yakuza Apocalypse”, his new maniac Tarantinoesque exercise, he bridges the yakuza underground scene with zombie horror. The result is darkly unsubstantial, disgracefully unfunny, and chaotically absurdist. The excruciating action scenes, despite kinetic, soon becomes highly tiresome while the script by Yoshitaka Yamaguchi is clearly trying to gain followers among younger crowds. The fantasy is centered on Kageyama (Hayato Ichihara), a young and brave yakuza who ambitions to be like his popular boss, a vampire who passes him the curse of becoming an immortal sanguinary criminal. The thing is that not every blood is nourishing – the civilians are good blood suppliers while the yakuza are to avoid. Along with these preoccupations, Kageyama has to fight the opponents of his gang, a bunch of crazy characters that include a dark medieval cowboy who speaks only in English and carries a sophisticated gun inside a coffin, a fierce Indonesian warrior (Yayan Ruhian from “The Raid”) who hauled the boss’ head after twisting it a dozen of times, and a destructive giant frog with superpowers. As allies, there’s a woman known as Captain whose lethal weapon is a slimy white liquid that she spouts out of her ears. But of course that “Yakuza Apocalypse” has something else besides gangs and fighting. There’s also love since Kageyama is trying to figure out the best way of dealing with his passionate impulses (both of the heart and thirst for blood) when he’s in the presence of the damaged Kyoko who’s recovering from a traumatic experience at a local hospital. It’s sad to realize that so many good ideas are wasted amidst repetitive graphical blood-spattered scenes and human torture. Prolific filmmaker Takashi Miike pulls out a tedious finale, in an ignominious head-to-head fighting sequence that determines which fighter punches harder and screams louder than the other one. The cinematography by Hajime Kanda is the only aspect that deserves attention in this pathetic vampire yakuza tale.