June/July, 2009

Belated greetings, Auteur House customers,

Clearly this dispatch has temporarily become a bi-monthly affair.  Apologies.  Will try and keep things brief and pared down to the June and July highlights.

New Releases

A trifle late we have finally acquired Woody Allen’s babe-heavy return to form, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”.  While its beginning gives an impression of some kind of romantic comedy sell-out, with Woody’s now perennial muse Scarlett Johansson and new find Rebecca Hall as Americans beguiled by swarthy Javier Bardem and a Spanish backdrop, the complications that ensue are decidedly non-mainstream.  Penelope Cruz deserved all the award recognition that came her way for playing Bardem’s mentally unstable former spouse.

Another American auteur of long standing, Clint Eastwood, directed two features in 2008, quite an achievement for a man approaching the age of 80.  As I detail below in a review, “Gran Torino”, Eastwood’s acting farewell, shades the 1930s true story “Changeling”, but the Angelina Jolie vehicle is still impeccably crafted if more compelling in its serial killer subplot than in its principal story.

http://auteurhouse.com/blog/2009/07/15/gran-torino-2008-2/

A plethora of quality documentaries have also been released in the last two months.  Those with a year long memory may well recall three of them from the 2008 International Film Festival programme: the expose of Chinese environmental despoilment, “Up the Yangtze”; the expose of American steroid abuse in body building circles and all the ideological contradiction that this entails, “Bigger, Stronger, Faster”; and “Gonzo”, the expose of self-styled, self-destroying, coke-snorting, big-drinking Hunter S. Thompson, a man who invented his own unique brand of autobiographical journalism.

Two equally note worthy documentaries deal with different facets of American politics.  “Trumbo” tells the story of the black listed Hollywood writer Dalton Trumbo, using the man’s breathtakingly literate letters, expressions of frustration at a country that betrayed its own political ideals.  The likes of Joan Allen, Michael Douglas and Donald Sutherland read the letters with such skill that you are reminded that they are actors first and movie stars second.

“Chicago 10″ employs a much more experimental technique, rotoscope animation, to explore the diverse influences that contribute to a 1968 conspiracy trial in which student activists were charged over protests during the Republican national convention.  It seeks to put the anti-Vietnam war, anti-establishment movements into a more international perspective, linking them with the contemporary French uprisings.

“Spirit of the Marathon” is a purer, less cynical work.  A documentary which follows the fortunes of six competitors as they prepare for the Chicago Marathon, it is one for running enthusiasts of all ages and abilities.

For what it is worth we have bowed to public and Academy pressure, making something of a sacrifice by stocking the Best Picture winner of 2008, “Slumdog Millionaire”.  When it was still in the theatres I railed against it thus:

http://auteurhouse.com/blog/2009/02/12/slumdog-millionaire-2008/

A much more acceptable Oscar nominated drama, though perhaps overrated in its own way, is “Doubt”.  John Patrick Shanley adapts his own, semi-autobiographical stage play, the story of a power struggle in a New York Catholic high school in the early 1960s between a disciplinarian nun and a progressive priest.  Nominees Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams act their rosary beads off.

“The Guitar” is also set in New York.  Directed by Robert Redford’s daughter Amy it was, unsurprisingly, selected for competition at the 2008 Sundance Festival.  Saffron Burrows plays a thirtysomething who responds to a diagnosis of terminal cancer by indulging many a fantasy, including spending large parts of her final days in the nude.  If you have to die young it is a blessing to have world class cheek bones.

Sexual excess and sensual delight are themes in three new features.  “Chaotic Ana” is the latest from smutty Spaniard Julio Medem, the man behind the excellent “Sex and Lucia”.  His new heroine is an unabashed hedonist who finds herself in more carnal adventures than Robin Askwith with a squeegee mop.

“Dangerous Parking” is based on a cult British novel.  Its protagonist is an indie film director in steep decline, an Oliver Reed type figure who loves the booze, the drugs and the skirt.  A chance at redemption comes in the form of none other than (wait for it) Saffron Burrows.  When you are a pregnant cellist improbably drawn to an ugly, middle-aged drunk it is even more of a blessing to have world class cheek bones.

“Choke” is based on cult American novel.  Its protagonist is a sex addict who likes to get his thrills the Michael Hutchence/David Carradine way.  Although sadly no room could be found in the cast for Ms Burrows the supporting performers include “Trainspotting”’s Kelly MacDonald and Anjelica Huston.  “Choke” the book was written by Chuck Palahniuk, who earlier penned “Fight Club”.

If action and adventure are more your thing “Female Agents” is recommended.  Drawing on the true story of a five woman commando unit who parachuted into occupied France prior to D-Day, it stars one time Bond squeeze Sophie Marceau and Gerard’s little girl, Julie Depardieu.

“Transsiberian” is a contemporary thriller set on the world’s most famous railway route.  The excellent cast includes Woody Harrelson, Emily Mortimer and Ben Kingsley and if its reputation and plot synopsis is anything to go by it is a modern equivalent of the type of films Hitchcock specialised in in the 1930s.

“Red”’s scenario might sound like a b-grade revenge fantasy but the presence of the renowned character actor Brian Cox suggests otherwise.  Cox plays a lonely middle aged man who reacts badly to the killing of his only companion, an aged dog, by three youths.  It explores the same kind of moral issues as “In the Bedroom”.

“Suddenly” is a Swedish drama that will appeal to the many fans of “As it is in Heaven”.  Sharing a lead actor with that classic, “Suddenly” is a tale of loss, grief and acceptance.

My personal favourite new release of the last two months is perhaps not the easiest sell in the world.  The true story of 1970s IRA activist Bobbie Sands “Hunger” is the best debut feature in recent times, albeit from one with a familiar name.  The Steve McQueen who directs is not, obviously, the same man who escaped the Nazis on a motorbike or fought with the magnificent seven.  The new Steve McQueen is a lyrical, fresh talent, one as unafraid to ignore dialogue altogether as he is to construct a tour de force sequence comprised of a ten minute conversation.  “Hunger” is stark and harrowing, often beautiful and never less than poetic.
New to DVD

Films from the greatest auteurs have been acquired in June and July.  DW Griffith’s “Broken Blossoms” is the earliest made of these.  A touching story of platonic love and sacrifice first released in 1919, it is the least overblown of Griffith’s features. The subtle expressiveness of Lillian Gish as an abused waif easily ranks amongst the finest screen acting of all time and Donald Crisp is almost as memorable as her bullying father.  For some the casting of Richard Barthelmass as a Chinese national might undermine the film’s heartfelt theme of racial tolerance - the counterpoint to Griffith’s notorious “Birth of a Nation” - but such politically correct nonsense is irrelevant.

Two gems from Jean Renoir’s post-Hollywood career are of equal merit.  “The River” (1951), the first colour film shot in India, is based on a novel by Rumer Godden, writer of “Black Narcissus”.  Renoir seeks to convey the rhythm of life on the banks of the Ganges, an existence not without its perils, as a British family discover to their cost.

“The Golden Coach” (1952) is the initial film in Renoir’s trilogy about the theatre.  Essentially a comedy about a nineteenth century French acting troupe’s tour of colonial Peru and the complicated romantic adventures of their leading performer, Renoir’s interest in the relationship between life and art gives the superficial plot fascinating substance.  The theatrical mannerisms of Anna Magnini are exploited to the full.

Robert Bresson’s cinema is altogether more minimal.  “A Man Escaped” (1956) is probably the most accessible of his major works, a true story of a POW’s escape that concentrates on the minutiae of his planning and its execution.  “Lancelot Du Lac” (1974) is a version of the Arthurian legend.  Fans of “Excalibar”, “Camelot” or “Sword in the Stone” should be well advised to expect something different: the Bressonian take on the material is contemplative, to say the least.

The surrealist Luis Bunuel started his career in his native Spain and made more commercial fare for a while in Mexico.  The golden run on which his career climaxed saw Bunuel work exclusively in France though and we have new copies of two films from this period: “Tristana” (1970), and “That Obscure Object of Desire” (1977).  Both are satirical accounts of the sexual obsession of lecherous older men with beautiful young ladies.

“O Lucky Man!” (1973) dates from roughly the same time.  Lindsay Anderson’s sequel to his ground breaking “If…” it is one of the great British satires.  Malcolm McDowell reprises his role as Mick Travis and there are many familiar faces amongst the supporting cast - many of whom used in multiple roles - including Ralph Richardson, Helen Mirren and Arthur Lowe.

Equally hard to find is Milos Forman’s adaptation of EL Doctorow’s novel “Ragtime” (1981), set in New York in the early part of the twentieth century.  Its evocation of time and place and seamless combination of fictional characters and actual historical events is superb.  I review it below:

http://auteurhouse.com/blog/2009/07/27/ragtime-1981/

Westerns, both spaghetti and otherwise, offer a different slant on American history.  “Broken Arrow” (1950) is commonly regarded as the first Hollywood feature to depict indians as human beings.  Jimmy Stewart plays a real life figure, Tom Jeffords, who helped broker a treaty with the Apache after befriending their chief Cochise. 

Two Italian efforts from Sergio Corbucci have a baroque view of the genre.  Together with Sergio Leone’s ‘dollars trilogy’ Corbucci’s “Django” (1966) launched spaghetti westerns upon the world, giving more bang per buck than anything then allowed in Hollywood.  Corbucci’s “The Great Silence” (aka “The Big Silence”) (1968) teams Klaus Kinski and Jean-Louis Trintignant and has a cult reputation that is considerable.

Many New Zealand classics have recently become available on DVD for the first time.  Those acquired by Auteur House include Vincent Ward’s seminal features “Vigil” (1984) and “The Navigator (1988), Barry Barclay’s “Ngati” (1988) and Gaylene Preston’s feminist thriller “Mr Wrong” (1985).

Finally, a pair of early films from the ever controversial Lars Von Trier, scourge of this year’s Cannes Festival, proudly grace our shelves. “The Element of Crime” (1984) and “Epidemic” (1987) comprise two thirds of Von Trier’s Europa Trilogy (the third, “Europa/Zentropa” (1991), has long been available) in which the crazy Dane examines the social crisis of post-war Europe.  The first sees a police officer employing a controversial hypnosis technique to track down a serial killer, in the process acquiring many of killer’s traits himself.  “Epidemic” is more self-reflexive, with Von Trier playing Von Trier, a filmmaker intent on directing a movie about a doctor spreading the very disease he is trying to control.