The Perfect Family

I think the key word to describe Anne Renton debut feature film is Comedy as this film above all is that, a comedy. I laughed a little as is almost impossible not to laugh at all the silliness movie has and please remember that I don't like comedies, I don't like American humor and is very hard for me to laugh -only dark, very dark, humor makes me laugh. So even when I don't really know -or don't want to know- why I laugh with this comedy, I did. Surprise.

My biggest surprise was to discover how controversial this movie is around the net as I wasn't expecting that at all. But then, when thinking more deeply, controversy is understandable as movie story deals with Catholicism and everything that religion doesn't accept or more clearly, condemns. Divorce, adultery, homosexuality, same sex marriage, child out of wedlock, abortion, and alcoholism are some of the themes that pop out from story; but the funny thing is that all pops out after I think a lot, not while watching this movie where I somehow liked the lightness and the non-preaching style used to tell a story told so many times before.

Film tells the story of one very religious mom that is competing for a Church award that could bring the ultimate prize: absolute absolution from your sins. And she needs that kind of absolution as even when she has behaved exemplary, as many, she has hidden sins. So story starts when she's told about the nomination to Woman of the Year thanks to all she has done for the Church in her community and her perfect family. But her family is far from perfect as his son left his family and is seeing an older woman, her daughter lives with another woman, is about to get married and is pregnant; and her husband a recuperated alcoholic is getting tired of living a life of lies. She is unable to accept anything, she's in denial, tries to meddle in their family affairs and in the end the very predictable story is all about accepting everything. Yes, story is worth of Lifetime channel and so it is movie as a movie.

But somehow movie is more watchable than many other movies with similar themes and style, which was highly surprising for me. Movie has a lesbian interest secondary story that I find quite enjoyable as I found it to be quite playful with something else that will share. The daughter, Shannon is played by Emily Deschanel -better known as Bones for many-, her partner who becomes her spouse is Angela (Angelique Cabral), and in another story Bones and Angela love each other too, in a different way, that many will like to see evolve like it does here. So funny even if is coincidental, or perhaps is not.

Anyway movie is not a masterpiece in any sense but is good enough to have a fun entertainment moment if you just enjoy the ride in the predictable story and forget about all the controversial message that many see, even when unfortunately most is a portrait of reality for many all over the world. Sigh.

Enjoy!!

Watch trailer @MOC

Snow White and the Huntsman

Not much to say about Rupert Sanders debut except that special effects are fantastic but he definitively has to improve his directorial skills as I found his story telling style dull when story had so much potential to be an action oriented film with a bit of drama, romance and perhaps even some mystery. But definitively there is nothing of the above, just a very noisy action that makes your seat shake and your ears explode.

As some of you know I have been following Kristen Stewart career well before she became a celebrity and have enjoyed her not-blockbuster movies as well as the Twilight saga. But I'm still objective and have to admit that in this movie in the hands of an inexperienced director she tends to be not good and seems like she's lost with no clear direction. Unfortunately the same happens with Charlize Theron and all the other great British actors that populate the movie.

But then movie is a blockbuster that has collected lots of money around the world, a movie that definitively is targeted to teenagers who will watch once and a few times again. So for whatever is worth, is not bad as an escape moment but not much else.

A second installment is in the works, be assured that this time I'll wait for the Blu Ray so I can lower the volume when the noisy action gets almost unbearable to sustain. Don't get me wrong I have an eclectic taste for movies and as a reference check what I say about Hunger Games, which yes I enjoyed beyond my expectations. Unfortunately this franchise is no Hunger Games at all.

Haven't watch it yet? Strongly suggest you wait to watch it in the comfort of your home.

Enjoy. (Just for the great special effects)

Watch trailer @MOC (Trailers are a lot better than what movie actually is)

Elles

A film promoted to be about student prostitution that ends up being an examination of society, loneliness, and sexuality. Which is absolutely fabulous as movie turns out to be all about Anne and Anne is none other than Juliette Binoche. It's been a while since I see Binoche in such an intense role, a role that allows her to showcase her immense greatness as an actress.

There are few scenes that are stuck in my mind and know that will replay them often as her face says so much that's unbelievable how Binoche can deliver so well emotions with subtle eyes and mouth movements. This is her movie and well, is not the regular kind of movie she has been doing lately.

Film tells about Anne, a journalist for Elle, that his latest assignment is about student prostitution. But Anne works at home and I have the impression that most of the movie happens in or nearby the kitchen. Film is not sequential and the only way I could follow what was going on is noticing the costumes; but there are three basic storylines, one is the park interview with Charlotte (Anaïs Demoustier), another is the living room interview with Alicja (Joanna Kulig) and the third is what happens to Anne after those interviews. Charlotte and Alicja answer Anna's questions and most are recreated, so in between you will see quite graphic sex. If you ask me the recreations are done to show what Anne was thinking while trying to work on the article, as that's exactly how the movie starts. Won't say more as you have to watch movie to see what happens to Anne.

As a film is good but editing, even do I know was used to show how Anne compares her world and life with that of the girls, was on the too-much side. Sometimes scissors are better in the kitchen than in the editing room and this one is one of those occasions. But tech specs are impeccable with some great compositions that showcase Juliette Binoche splendidly. So Malgorzata Szumowska has composed an interesting film if you enjoy what I'm going to call a very French story/film in the hands of a developing Polish director; a film that shows her talent and tells about a possible bright future. Film was screened at the 2012 Berlinale in the Panorama Special section and Anaïs Demoustier collected the 2012 Etoile d'Or for the Best Female Newcomer, an award given by the Presse du Cinéma Français.

This is not a lesbian interest movie but then maybe, as the living room interview is one of the most incredibly hot scenes that I have seen lately but unfortunately when something surely happens camera goes blur and all is left to your imagination; but you get some clues, like when Anne is in the kitchen cleaning the coquilles, that will allow you to pinpoint whatever you imagined. So I'll give the label, but be aware that there is a lot of graphic sex between the young women and their customers.

No need to tell you how much I enjoyed film, mainly because has an incredible performance by Juliette Binoche in an intense role and if you have to see everything with Binoche -like me- then this movie is absolutely must be seen for you. Nevertheless I know that many will not like the film that unfortunately was sensationalized by absurd marketing that promotes story as student prostitution when film has not much to do with it.

Enjoy!!!

Watch trailer @MOC

17 Filles (17 Girls)

Coulin sisters debut movie has great visuals and is full of light but the story it tells I'm sure that generates quite different reactions; reactions that will be propelled by individuals beliefs and culture as one of society most conflicting issues is teen pregnancy and this film story is inspired by the 2008 American incident where 18 girls from the same high school got pregnant.

In my opinion what this film shows and the real-life incident have only one thing in common, a collective teenagers pregnancy and nothing else. Had to comment on all of the above as after reading reviews in English I got impressed on how much you can project your culture when writing about movie story, just browse the net and be prepared to read strong negative comments about the story and consequently the movie. I'm going to break my golden rule and will share what I saw in movie which probably will have spoilers; so if you don't like spoilers please stop reading.

On the surface movie tells about one girl that gets pregnant, influences her close circle of friends to also become pregnant and the effect extends to other school mates to end up having 17 pregnant girls. This story is not pleasant to watch as girls are brilliant and beautiful, but no matter how you analyze their behavior -getting pregnant- there is no positive outcome.

But this story, also written Delphine and Muriel Coulin, explores their motives -above the obvious peer pressure- and is in this exploration where you get the unsettling message that speaks about young girls dreaming about their own world far away from the adults world. Coulin sisters decided to transport the American story to a small town near the sea in the orient of France where population are mostly middle-to-lower class who in all of Europe are the ones that have been hit the most by recession. In these girls dreams, their future is not bright as they probably will have it even harder that the already hard life their parents -the adults- have; so they recur to dream a fantasy where each will have their child but after all together will help each other. To me dream was like life in a commune. Maybe if they were far from adults their lives could be better. When the fantasy is over , detonated by one of the girls having an accident, the others have their children and they had to face reality. Film ends.

This is the second movie I watch recently that touches the unsettling future that youth has. Not easy to digest and less easy to accept; but our world moves in circles and this dark perspective was also present in the past, so let's hope that eventually there will be a solution and the circle will open again.

Returning to movie, this is what directors' say related to their exploration.

"Nos filles ont pris conscience que la vie des adultes, dans leur petite ville, n’est pas très enviable, mais elles ne voient pas ce qui pourrait leur donner une existence trépidante. (...) Elles ont des rêves communs, et hors du commun : elles construisent une utopie. Ces filles idéalistes, que rien n’arrête, décident de se lancer dans une grande aventure, envers et contre tout."

Story no matter if you only see the surface or both is not easy to watch, but the Coulins sisters dressed the movie with beautiful actresses, some well-known and most non-actors, good performances, nice almost infantile (against teen) situations, some beautiful sights full of light and opted to tell story without emotions, as even when there was drama -like the accident or the angry father- you are a spectator, you are detached, you are not inside the story and you will never be. To me the style is remarkable and quite effective for telling disturbing stories.

This is another very French brainy movie that definitively is not for all audiences but for those that do not mind to think while or after watching a movie, as otherwise you'll only see a not pleasant to watch story. Film was screened at the 2011 Cannes fest in the Semaine de la Critique parallel section and collected some honors in French fests.

While watching there was one sentence in my mind: beautiful smart stupid girls. Yes I reacted to the evident story and was not until movie was almost over when I got what this movie was all about. I enjoyed the experience and yes, I do recommend watching film with a very open mind.

Enjoy!!!

Watch trailer @MOC

Hua wei mei (Bad Romance)

Film starts so promising that can't deny I thought I was watching a French film but after a few minutes style becomes repetitive and annoying, so much that definitively becomes pretentious, too arty and pretentious. Then editing is atrocious.

Film tells three stories, but you can tell that director real interest is the gay interest story as is about the only one that is more developed, but don't expect much development as director decided that only his images will tell the story, so dialogue is down to minimum, with silences that in this movie are absolutely unnecessary as you would have preferred to see "something" happening more coherently. Maybe if he had told one story first, then the next and last, the last one film would have made more sense; but in the end I think that director should have concentrated only in the gay story and film perhaps would have been more entertaining at least to those that like the genre.

Other stories deal with a young mother that meets a young man and last -really shorter- has been promoted as a trio, but actually is about a girl that likes another girl and a man that comes between them. But as movie name tells all stories end bad and unfortunately film is quite bad from any point of view you want to comment it.

François Chang's movie shows a director that wants to fusion French and Chinese cinema, as there are some references to French movies and style also recalls some Chinese movies, but in the end he is not successful in what could been a very interesting fusion. To get an idea of how good this movie could have been just check the trailer, but don't forget that what trailer promises is not delivered by movie.

Can't recommend film but I know that some of my loyal readers enjoy gay interest movies and this film surely will please them as sex scene -when finally comes- is long and hot.

Enjoy.

Watch trailer @MOC

Des Filles en Noir

In real life maybe there is nothing more disturbing than talking about suicide but I find that most movies that touch the theme have not really shown how disturbing it is as opt to show the horror when seeing the act being committed. In my opinion this movie also doesn't show how disturbing could be as director chose to show us motives that make you think about it, which indeed here are interesting as portraits something that nowadays is more relevant than ever before

The film starts when Noémie commits suicide, at least she tries as she is saved. Then we meet Priscilla and we come to realize how close Noemi and Priscilla are, they love each other intensively, but they are not in-love with each other. Theirs is a friendship relationship as intense as friendship could be, tied with a strong common bond, their disillusionment about what their future has in store for them and their total disrespect to what they are living.

They do not respect school as, why study if after graduation comes unemployment or being exploited by an exploiter? They don't respect love as they, besides the love they feel for each other, see no love around them as those who claim to love and/or care about them have taken everything from them. They don't respect sex as around them is used as an end that once achieved, there is not much left; which I believe is the reason why there is no sexual tension between them. Already said too much, but wanted to try to give an idea of what I believe is behind these two characters and the story that I don't think stays in giving a sociological point-of-view as goes deeper into a the infamous philosophical question: what is the purpose of life? A philosophical question that here is not place to philosophize but to concretely think about what many youths in the world have as a future.

Suicide is present here all over but as you perhaps conclude, I don't believe that is what this movie really is about.

Film name comes because both girls dress in black, which many think is because they're goth. Not me. To me they don't look or behave like goths and the only thing they could have in common with goth subculture is that they always dress in black but nothing else. I'm not alone thinking this as director clearly states it when he says:

... elles ne font pas partie d'une idéologie gothique, trop réductrice pour les définir avec justesse ... Si elles avaient été « gothiques », elles auraient effectivement appartenu à un groupe défini. Je tenais à ce qu'elles n'aient aucune appartenance. Ce sont des atomes libres, et c’est peut-être aussi cette liberté-là, immense, trop grande, qui les fait souffrir.

So in a way I find that the use of black costumes is an extension of the darkish color palette that predominates for more than half the movie as when the black dress leaves the screen, film palette also changes. Then transition from one palette into the other is done so beautifully that really eases the terrible scene we are seeing in the screen, when camera slowly retreats to show the beautiful flower colors in the garden.

I'm not familiar with Jean-Paul Civeyrac movies but those who are say that he likes to use symbols in his movies. Even when I read about it I'm not sure what they mean applied to what I saw in this movie, as everything I saw was too clear for me. One so-called symbol is in the scene when Priscilla violently kicks a Lalique chess board; whatever they find symbolic, to me is a clear statement against materialistic things and life.

It is an interesting film with many unsettling images, especially when darkish palette predominates, but I highly appreciate that film doesn't exploit the suicide theme and uses it so effectively to talk about other more interesting subjects.

Absolutely fantastic performance by the two young actresses, Elise Lhomeau and Léa Tissier, especially when their roles are very difficult and director seems to have made them even more difficult. I liked director storytelling style which I believe is also a strong protagonist in story. Film has above standard tech specs that make it a good visual cinematic experience. Civeyrac's movie premiered at 2010 Cannes at the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs and "just" took me two years to be able to watch it but wait was worth it.

Not for all audiences as I realize that film can be (or is) very brainy, you have to think beyond what your eyes see in the screen as otherwise you will be seeing only a sequence of quite unpleasant images/scenes with two girls that you will surely will not feel any sympathy at all. So if you don't mind thinking beyond the obvious, then this film is for you and only remind you that this is a very French film consequently be prepare to see it with an open mind.

Last have to comment about something else. This is not a lesbian interest movie or story, but it was hard for me to concentrate into everything that was happening because the most beautiful images of the two characters in the screen, which showed more love and caring than in many lesbian interest movies I have seen lately and perhaps ever. For whatever is worth, I shared my experience.

I strongly recommend this film to some of my loyal readers as definitively is a film that many could enjoy well beyond the obvious storyline. I liked movie a lot more than I imagined but then I had no expectations as this is one film where I knew nothing about story.

Enjoy!!!

Watch trailer @MOC

Impardonnables (Unforgivable)

Not easy to start to talk about this André Téchiné movie as you can tell is a Téchiné movie but story has some elements that suggest that the director is not his young self anymore. As is hard, let me share my experience while watching.

Started watching film understanding everything until I reached the moment when I said, what is this? Am I missing something? What is really going on? Honestly had no idea. So I relaxed continue watching but I was feeling a strong unsettling feeling. Suddenly I forgot about the unsettling feeling and for a minute got distracted as I noticed movie had grabbed me inside the story and I was enjoying the ride. But unfortunately there were moments when story released me enough to think what was going to come next and surprise, surprise I guessed right.

There are not many French movies that I can guess what comes next or that allow me to start thinking, much less a Téchiné film, and me guessing a "complex" plot next move in an auteur film is just unforgivable. Perhaps movie name comes to be because it was going to make me feel unforgiveness as I couldn't find anything else remotely unforgivable.

As always in Téchiné's films there is a relatively complex story with many little stories about the many characters that populate film; stories that eventually merge at one point and to my surprise in this movie that has a clear beginning and clear end, the end is happy. So story is complex due to many character stories; but then not really, perhaps is more confusing as there are some (too many) scenes that give information that doesn't add to the story of any of the characters.

Film tells the story of Francis (André Dussollier) a writer that can't write when he is in love and he falls in love at first sight when he meets Judith (Carole Bouquet), an ex-model, and now the real estate agent he visits when he arrives in Venice and is looking for a small apartment to rent. Judith shows him a house in rural Sant'Erasmo, he says he takes the large house only if she comes to live with him. Judith nose bleeds. Eighteen months later they are married and he has writer's block so he roams the streets and canals of Venice in search of inspiration while Judith continues to work. Everything is bliss until new characters with new stories start to appear and story unfolds in many directions that constantly crisscross and won't meet until almost the end. We have Ana Maria, Judith ex and a private investigator, plus Jérémie her son that is in prison; Alice, Francis daughter, an actress that comes for a visit and suddenly disappears leaving all her responsibilities behind, including her own daughter. So Francis hires Ana Maria to find Alice and we learn she is having a passionate affair with Alvise, an aristocrat involved in small-time drug dealing. Jérémie is released and Francis hires him to follow Judith as he is jealous, which only allows Jérémie to have a one-time affair with Judith as he's mainly a depressive homosexual.

So what's story really all about? To me is about nothing. Nothing special, just an elaborate tale of the regular life of men, women, old and young, who happen to have not-so-exciting but full of problems lives. In the end, as it happens in life, some die, some leave, some endure the problems they got into, some end up happy and some end up badly. Nothing special.

Think that wrote too much about a movie that I know many will not like as even when is great to look at -especially one scene with younger Ana Maria shot in black and white- but that is not easy to follow with the many inconsistencies the story has.

Anyway movie is not for all audiences, not even for those that enjoy European movies, this is only suited for those who love Téchiné no matter if he seems to be losing his impressive storytelling style seen in many of his movies.

After realizing how much I could write about movie I came to realize that I like this movie no matter those unforgivable elements. Movie that was screened at 2011 Cannes Directors' Fortnight.

Enjoy!!

Watch trailer @MOC