2012. Dir: Steven Soderbergh. Starring: Channing Tatum, Alex Pettyfer, Olivia Munn, Cody Horn and Matthew McConaughey. ●●●●○
I've been terribly lazy over recent weeks. That's not quite true, after a long period of unemployment I managed to find work, whilst at the some time performing in a fringe show so I haven't really had the time to write up reviews. That's a shame as I've seen two films that definitely deserve talking about. First up is Steven Soderbergh's Magic Mike a film that should be utterly disposable and vicariously pleasurable, and yet behind the façade of male stripping excess there's a curious and vital film about Western attitudes to money and the relentless pursuit of it.
Channing Tatum stars as a thinly veiled version of himself - as the press notes were proud to exhort Tatum spent 8 months as a stripper before hitting it big in acting - the eponymous Mike, the star attraction at Matthew McConaughey's revue show. Not only is Tatum a dedicated performer, out in the town prior to his gigs drumming up interest with the hen parties and birthday girls, but he also has a interesting work ethic, taking day jobs as a roofer and making custom furniture (his major ambition). Whilst roofing he bumps into a confused kid, Alex Pettyfer, desperate for cash but without Tatum's obvious ambition. Mike see's something in his demeanour and takes him along to the club and before you know it "The Kid" is making his stage debut, awkward, ungainly and with all the presence of a brick he still manages to produce the screaming from the excited crowd that forces McConaughey's Dallas to let him into the troupe.
From here the plot could only go one of two ways, "Star is Born" or "All About Eve" and without giving too much away whichever story it is Tatum's future in the stripping business does not look good. Luckily he does have The Kid's sister, bland blonde Cody Horn as the friend/love interest that might just become his saviour.
Tatum does a great job as himself, the more films I see him in the more I enjoy his lunky presence, and here he is able to mix the confidence in his ability and sexuality with a hint of fragility when dealing Horn. There's one stand out scene later in the film where Tatum is trying to explain how he feels, seemingly improvised he stutters and meanders through the dialogue and all at once the audience want to reahc out to him in a far less sexual way than previous reactions.
McConaughey steals every scene he's in, Machiavellian and mischievous his Texan drawl seductively addresses the throngs of women, as he warns the punters of the house rules, you can almost feel him dare us to break them. His silver tongued compere is a modern update of Joel Grey's Cabaret performance, complete with his own streak of ruthless intent. Pettyfer is fine in an underwritten role, his arc merely existing to push forward Tatum's. Unfortunately the cast is let down by Horn who gives one of the least expressive performances of the year.
Whilst the show scenes are surprisingly unexplicit - perhaps partly down to the nature of male revues with their aim to titillate rather than turn-on the audience - there is a pleasing structure and narrative to the dances. Tatum for instance is centre stage, his obvious ability on the podium is exploited both by Soderbergh's camera and Dallas's staging, but as you move further back through the pack of strippers, Matt Bomer, Adam Rodriguez, Joe Manganiello and Kevin Nash there's a clear depredation of choreography and talent. Whilst Tatum bodypop in the foregound it's hilarious to watch pro-wrestler Nash as the bulky Tarzan barely able to move his arms in time to camp classic "It's Raining Men".
Aside from the dance numbers it's the attitudes to money that stick in the mind, Tatum works hard and considers every choice he's making and how that will affect his future business plans, Pettyfer is more about today, blowing his earnings on a drug-happy party lifestyle and McConaughey is slyly working the margins, ensuring he always ends up on top. There's a pre-occupation with cash that drives these guys to do what they do, which gives them the feeling their masters of their own destinies rather than exploited slabs of meat that will one day find the income has dried up. There's a fascinating beach scene which sums up the dancers ambitions, nicely reflected in the third act where Tatum must finally choose his destiny.
Soderbergh brings a unique sensibility to this movie, once again proving he can balance an exploitative genre with a art-house feel and whilst this doesn't quite hit the devastating highs of his previous sex industry expose, The Girlfriend Experience, it makes a fine counterpoint and I very highly recommend the picture.
Friday, 3 August 2012
Magic Mike
Thursday, 26 January 2012
Haywire
2011. Dir: Steven Soderbergh. Starring: Gina Carano, Ewan MacGregor, Michael Fassbender, Channing Tatum and Michael Douglas. ●●●○○
Imagine you're an international famous movie director, let's take Steven Soderbergh for example, and you're bored one afternoon, channel hoping distractedly waiting for Matt Damon to come over with some beer and you come across a female Mixed Martial Arts contest live on channel 179 and there on the screen is Gina Carano, a fighter perhaps best known for her stint on American Gladiators (she was crush). What would you then think? Well Steve thought that girl punching the hell out of the other girls has real skills, why not put her in a film and so Haywire was conceived.
To be fair this is not the first case of verite casting Soderbergh has indulged in, previously he launched the mainstream career of porn star Sasha Grey in the naturalistic and fascinating Girlfriend Experience, although I can't remember the casting story being quite as random. An Awareness of Carano's skills meant that Soderbergh could commission a script from The Limey scribe Lem Dobbs that simply propelled the character from fight to chase to fight showing off her considerable talents.
And be advised that is exactly what Haywire does.
Carano beats up Channing Tatum in a diner, courtesy of a little help from Michael Angarano (who has barely changed since "Will & Grace"), whom she then tells - thankfully using flashbacks - of the plot so far. You see it started in Barcelona where shady Government guy Michael Douglas and even shadier Spaniard Antonio Banderas hired Ewan McGregor and his freelance military taskforce (including Carano and Tatum) to rescue a kidnapped Chinese journalist which led to a massive chase through the streets for Carano just to knock out an unnamed goon. Then she's sent to Dublin to pretend to be the wife of MI6 agent Michael Fassbender who introduces her to more bearded Euro baddies then promptly tries to kill her then she runs and climbs through Dublin, outfoxing the Garda before ending up at the diner and getting into a snowbound car chase with Angarano and some local cops. Then there's the best bit of deer acting you'll see in 2011.
And breathe.
More people then get shot, there's a fight at Bill Paxton's house, a meeting in an abandoned aerodrome, another fight and Antonio Banderas gets a shave. Then the final credits roll.
Feel free to breathe again.
There is some connective plot involving everyone double crossing each other, and not everything in Barcelona or Dublin was quite what it seemed, but ultimately that doesn't matter ("It's always about money." as McGregor states in the trailer). Nor does it matter that Carano gives a performance that's dead behind the eyes, after all acting isn't really why she was hired and most of the heavy work is given to her co-stars, including a very impressive supporting turn by Paxton as her father, his thoughts projected plainly as he watches his daughter at work with a mix of fatherly pride and understandable shock.
How then does it work as a vehicle to showcase Carano fighting skills? The answer is surprisingly well. The melee in the diner, most of which is in the trailer, is perhaps forgettable but the chase in Barcelona, with Carano gaining on her quarry over 3-4 minutes shows her determination, commitment and fitness. You actually believe in these scenes that she could do this and take the guy out - I expect that's because she could. There's no wire work no stunts, the fights seem exceptionally real and Carano can clearly take care of herself, putting the usual action heroines (Anjelina, Milla) to shame.
The action scenes are also surprisingly interesting, the hotel set face off with Michael Fassbender (no spoiler it's in the trailer) is frantic and brutal, with the usual cliche's of broken glass shelves and smashing through doors incorporated well into the choreography. The final fight at a beach (I won't divulge who it's with) is also exceptionally well shot and edited together with each punch or kick bringing in a new shot at a more fascinating angle, providing the viewer with a 360 degree idea of the surroundings of the tense battle. We even get a chance to see her vulnerability, whilst climbing buildings through Dublin, Carano falls about 5 foot and it clearly hurts, winding her character and forcing her to rethink her strategy, being small rather than fast.
It's a great section of action scenes that really remind us of how punch-ups should work in cinema, there's always a understanding of the effort and geography of the battle, something which many of the more seasoned action director need to sit back and remind themselves of.
That said the utter lack of sensible plot or characterisation makes it very difficult to fully recommend this movie. Probably not worth the trip to the cinema, but if you ever tune in on a Friday night you will be drawn into the action and have to watch it until the end.
Thursday, 27 October 2011
Contagion
2011. Dir: Steven Soderbergh. Starring: Laurence Fishburne, Jennifer Ehle, Matt Damon, Kate Winslet and Jude Law. ●●●○○
Contagion does a great job of changing the way you think. For a few hours after leaving the cinema I was afraid to touch door handles, hand driers, bar snacks, nervous of using public transport and definitely avoiding coughing in peoples faces. All of these apparently harmless activities now seem to invite painful inevitable death. One minute you could be throwing dice in Macau, gleefully planning to shag your ex, and the next your cranium will be cut in half by nervous pathologists. Steven Soderbergh's clinical thriller, analysing the likely response to a global pandemic, certainly ratchets up the tension but objective approach and multiple storylines prevents the audience from empathising with the characters and ultimately we left with the impression of a heavy handed Government Information broadcast.
Picking up the story from day 2 and the first anonymous victim stumbling under a lorry in his Hong Kong Soderbergh has deliberately avoided the usual disaster movie conventions, instead he's trying to understand the likely battle against a rogue flu. So we follow Laurence Fishburne's head of the Centre for Disease Control, with his field operative Kate Winslet trying to contain the virus and his top scientist Jennifer Ehle finding a way to beat it. All the while Matt Damon's everyman and Jude Law's harbinger of doom blogger are caught up and carried along by the collapse of society as fear and desperation become even more viral than the initial bug.
Soderbergh is trying to replicate his success with Traffic, weaving a multi-character arc around an issue we will all face from time to time, however the storylines don't provide enough of a variation to create a satisfying whole. In his 2000 masterpiece each of the major plot informed reactions to the others, here they feel tacked on, even when Fishburne and Law debate their point on TV news or when Marion Cotillard surveys Gwynneth Paltrow's last steps these seem ultimately disconnected events. Some sections manage to make an interesting case to have seen more of - ultimately the CDC sections are the most compelling - however others seem unnecessarily sparse (Cotillard is especially hard done by) and Matt Damon's personal travails come across as petty and small - and he loses his wife and stepson in the first 10 minutes of the film!
The messiness also seems to detract from the central thesis, the status quo for mankind isn't panic and disorder but trust and sacrifice. The scientist that tests a drug on herself, the reasercher who gives up a coat, the man in a queue picking up a passport, the importance of a handshake. These are the minor moments that define us as human beings.
We do see some nice performances, Jennifer Ehle's resourcefulness is a highlight, as is Elliott Gould's proud academic (a character I really wanted to see more of), indeed none of the cast are doing a bad job it's just a shame so many of them have very little to do.
Steven's work as a cinematography also throwbacks back to his earlier experiments with colour filters, here a sickly green hue permeates through the action, queasily altering our general perception. There are also some nice touches with out-of-focus shooting, even if we have seen all these before. The script also provides some belters, "Blogging isn't writing, it's graffiti with punctuation." easily winning plaudits as the most quotable line. So naturally I repeat here - spraypainting my thoughts on the wall of the internet.
Overall I would say this is a competent movie and would recommend it (if only to make everyone think twice about going to work when they have a cold) but I couldn't help thinking probably had something better inside of it, maybe a much longer miniseries or jettisoning the other stories and focusing on the work of the CDC could've have kept the film sharper.
Sunday, 30 January 2011
20 for 2011: 1 - Contagion
Finally we reach my top pick for 2011, the film I'm most looking forward to seeing is...
Steven Soderbergh's Contagion.
Steven Soderbergh, that former darling of the American indie scene, is a cinematic chameleon, his back catalogue encompasses the full gamut of genres from biopics (Che) to star laden comedy (The Ocean's trilogy) to experimental art (Bubble). Even his misfires are generally considered to be worth watching, as they exhibit an understanding of form and content almost unparallelled in modern cinema.
For Contagion he reunites with The Informant writer Scott Z. Burns for what is described on imdb as "An action-thriller centered on the threat posed by a deadly disease and an international team of doctors contracted by the CDC to deal with the outbreak." That's just the tip of the iceberg, as the hyperlink movie will take in a variety of stories including familial sacrifice, panic-stirring bloggers, the collapse of Governments as well as the race to find a cure.
Originally planned to be shot in 3D, the latest I've heard is that has been quietly dropped as Soderbergh wasn't happy with the results, proof that he is serious about this multi-character drama. Indeed it seems to indicate the sort of serious mind he brought to Traffic, his superb take on the war on drugs.
Like that previous picture the cast is huge, and hugely talented, including Marion Cotillard, Matt Damon, Lawrence Fishburne, Elliott Gould, Jude Law, Gwynneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet and John Hawkes (recent Academy Award nominee for Winter's Bone). In case you weren't aware that little lot have 3 acting Oscars and a further 12 nominations between them, it's the sort of cast list you didn't think you'd see anymore and the sort of cast that wouldn't just sign on to anything.
In short this is a fascinating prospect, a director whosework I trust and have a long time affection for, working within a curious and underused genre with a castlist out of this world. How could anyone not be excited by this.
Saturday, 9 January 2010
Film News (09/01/2010)
It's been an incredibly busy week, with rumour and counter-rumour flowing about many of the studio tent-poles of this year and next, as well as some delicious indie features. I won't bore you with US release date changes - but May 2011 was all a flurry on Wednesday - but we've still got loads to get through.
Bond 23
At the beginning of the week the news was not good - the sale of MGM meant that some high profile projects, such as the Bond franchise, were on hold until completion. Of course MGM denied it and surprisingly a day later the story leaked that Sam Mendes (Away we Go, Road to Perdition) was in negotiations to direct the next episode.
There's been no official confirmation yet, but equally none of the major players have denied it. It's an odd choice for both parties, especially coming after the last off-the-wall director choice (Marc Forster) made the underwhelming Quantom of Solace. Saying that we know that Mendes can build tension in a scene, and he's probably got enough clout to force the film to delay if he's not liking the script.
Oh, and I'm using this post as an excuse to remind everyone what Daniel Craig looks like in his Casino Royale swimming trunks... Here you go:
Read on for child killers, nuclear bombs and Soderbergh doubles.
Hanna
Killer teenage girls have been dominating the press this week with the release of the Kick Ass trailer and the casting of Saoirse Ronan in Hanna, reuniting her with her Atonement director Joe Wright. It's a story about a girl bred as pat of a secret CIA assassin experiment, sounds half Bourne, half Leon. Maybe half good.
Ron Howard/Vince Vaughn collaboration
Vaughn, who is probably desperate for a hit, has pitched a comedy about infidelity to his mate Ron Howard, probably aware that Ron says yes to everything. The concept is simple, and instantly recognisable, revolving around a guy who finds his best mates girls has been cheating but can't tell his friend. It probably sounds more like a soap opera twist than a mvie, but if it's handled correctly there could be the basis for a likeable farce of co-incidences.
The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Even though variety reported that Chris Robots Wedge was directing this childrens fantasy back in May the rumours of Martin Scorsese holding the megaphone have not died down. I guess Marty has nothing to prove at this stage of his career so there is no longer a need to make biopics or gangster dramas - see his pulpy Shutter Island for proof.
Invention concerns a small boy living in the rafters of a Paris train station and fixing the clocks, as well as a small curious device left to him by his father. I don't know what that device does so I guess that's the invention of the title.
Knockout
Steven Soderbergh's martial arts movie has been gaining some fantastic actors to support MMA fighter and cinema newcomer Gina Carano, including Ewan MacGregor, Michael Douglas, Dennis Quaid and Michael Fassbender. It's that sort of delightful mix of ators that gets so interested in Soderbergh's work, even the likely popcorn efforts such as this female Bourne rip-off. (Carano plays a Black Ops soldier who's been cut off by shadowy governement figures - yawn!)
Talking about Steven Soderbergh it's emerged in the Sydney Herald that whilst he was over in Australia directing for the stage he may have shot a quickie using the same, unknown cast. Nothing official or plot-based yet, but I'm thnking that if this is the same sort of quality as The Girlfriend Experience then we could be in for another great year of Soderbergh output.
Last Train to Hiroshima
We were all saddened to hear of the death of Tsutomo Yamaguchi, the last survivor of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki nuclear bombs, this monday. It's easy to forget just how awful and indiscriminate a nuclear device is and only by talking to the survivors can we understand why we must never let them be used again.
Curiously, following his death, it emerged that James Cameron had visited him to talk about his experiences in December. It look likely that Cameron was researching in order to adapt The Last Train to Hiroshima, the heavyweight non-fiction account of the afteraffects of the blasts, based on interviews with survivors. Whether Cameron has ideas of making a documentary or a fiction piece based on the transcripts remains to be seen, but we should support whatever his efforts are as this is a shameful chapter in 20th century history that has yet to be fully explored in film.
Thor
Adriana Barazza has become the latest cast member to sign onto the Norse epic due to start filming next week, as a yet to be disclosed human character. It's good to hear there will be some human characters among all the gods, it will make the drama of the story a little more interesting. Oh, and going full circle Thor is one of the films shifting it's release date in response to the Spider-man delay rumours. 
Sunday, 20 December 2009
The Girlfriend Experience
2009. Dir: Steven Soderbergh. Starring: Sasha Grey, Chris Santos, Mark Jacobson, Glenn Kenny and Christine Nadeau. ●●●●○
I had planned to get some professional help, and a little insider knowledge, when reviewing The Girlfriend Experience, but alas "Sean"'s plans changed so I am writing from my own experience and knowledge only.
Steven Soderbergh's fourth feature from 2009 is by far his most outré, in terms of both content and style. Che was in immersive biopic of a controversial 20th Century figure as viewed through a very small period of time, The Insider a comic vignette, an exercise in big gestures and little resonance. In The Girlfriend Experience we follow a high class hooker (Chelsea), as played by porn actress Sasha Grey, over a couple of weeks leading to the 2008 Presidential election. During that time we meet her clients, her friends, her business associates and hear her diary entries.
It should be noted this film is not an exercise in titilation, at no point are Ms Grey's physical attributes glorified or debased. In fact we see much more of her chatting to her clients about the future of the economy or their family than we see her even kissing the patrons. This is also not a film about the horrors of protitution. Chelsea is strictly top end, offering a Girlfriend Experience, not a quick blow job up a back alley. The clients and the environments reflect this. And as there is no risk for Chelsea this can therefore be not seen as an essay on the rights and wrongs of prostitution. If you had imagined either a cheap thrill or a polemic then this is not the movie you think it is.
Instead the film looks at the nature of identity and how that is affected by selling yourself. The film plays with chronology, often returning to scenes over and over, and one of those is an interview where Chelsea is repeatedly asked what if a client wants the real her. Each time she answers that he gives the client a fake version of the real her, but you can it's that question preoccupying Soderbergh. What is the real Chelsea and how do the layers she puts in front of herself affect her self confidence?
Sashe Grey gives a remarkable performance, destroying any notion you may have that pron stars can't act. For the naysayers who would claim that Chelsea is so close to Grey that it's not acting I would say just look at the nuance in her eyes. The way she sits with her clients, the abstract listing of her designer shoes, her mouth curling when she receives a 'phone call at a hotel (I don't want to spoil that scene but it's a killer). I really hope that Hollywood sit up and take notice as I'm sure Sashe Grey could make that transfer to mainstream cinema with ease.
The rest of the cast are patchy, Glenn Kenny is suitably sleazy as an erotic reviewer, but her boyfriend Chris Santos ia little more than buff furniture.
Soderbergh uses a fly on the wall style which compliments the idea of detachment from the protagonists. The camera is often a couple of tables away in a restaurant or through the glass of a taxi, making each scene seem to be like snippets of conversation we've overheard with nothing really said of any importance.
For a 77 minute film there somehow manages to be some filling, as Soderbergh tries too hard to reflect selling your body against the meltdown in the banking industry and the confidence in the forthcoming changes in administration, perhaps streamlining some of this might have left the film feeling less baggy. Overall though this was an excellent look at a difficult to comprehend subject, proof that Soderbergh really is the king of indie cinema.
Thursday, 17 December 2009
The Informant!
2009. Dir: Steven Soderbergh. Starring: Matt Damon, Melanie Lynskey, Scott Bakula, Joel McHale and Tony Hale. ●●●○○
Matt Damon is The Informant!. So quotes the advertising campaign. Sometimes you have to wonder where the marketing got their inspiration, but in this case it is obvious. Matt Damon is the Informant! There is nothing else about the movie that you will remember even ten minutes after leaving the cinema.
As ever I resort of meaningless sarcasm to make my point, but the implication, I hope, is obvious. Matt Damon's performance is so persuasive and central to the film that you forget the other elements, and if you don't they only pale to the commitment Damon has given to the role.
The film is based on the mostly true story of Mark Whitacre; board member of a major agricultural business, FBI supergrass and compulsive liar. We follow Whitacre as he tentatively pulls the FBI into a price-fixing investigation as a direct result of a botched bla ckmail plot of Whitacre's design and then view his ascent into the trust of his handlers and then his descent to jail as one by one his lies and frauds catch up with him. Even his hair seems less and less likely as the film wears on, until the toupee is revealed for what it is.
On the most part it plays like a gently satirical spoof of holier than thou whistleblower movies such as The Insider, indeed the substantial weight gains that Damon made for the role could be considered part of that spoofing - look at tubby Russel Crowe in it's most obvious target. Those comedy colours are nailed to the post fairly early on - if Marvin Hamlisch's jaunty score doesn't instantly make you think of a sixties caper movie, then Damon's ADHD-a-like voiceover will soon convince you how out of depth and muddled Whitacre is.
Thankfully there is a lot of fun to be had along the way, it's easy to warm to Damon, even if you don't fully trust him. Whitacre may want to have his cake and eat it (or defraud the company whilst selling it out) but the extra weight gives him more of a hounddog expression, and you know all he really wants is a little love and attention.
The supporting players, from Melanie Lynskey as his supportive wife (she's having a good year) to Scott Bakula as his first FBI contact, all put in fine performances, but it's Damon's show from beginning to end - they are literally a gallery of other faces that surround his central turn. This doesn't help the film. We learn nothing of Lynskey's reasons to stay with her husband or of the FBI's process for putting together the case; except through the intelligence gathering eyes of Whitacre as the self styled 0014 - twice as smart as 007.
This detachment from the characters, and the general comic tone, means that you fail to feel anything for the situation that Whitacre finds himself in. Maybe that's the intention of Soderbergh, to disallow any remorse from us, yet he doesn't shy from the pathos in the final prison confession scenes.
There is a great deal of fun to be had in this film, the jokes are good, and Damon gives one of the most naturally funny performances of the year, but that in itself isn't enough for me to recommend it.
Friday, 27 February 2009
Che: Part 2
2008. Dir: Steven Soderbergh. Starring Benicio Del Toro, Franka Potenta, Joaquim de Almeida, Demián Bichir and Lou Diamond Phillips . ●●●●●
The second part of Steven Soderbergh's Che Geuvera biopic takes up his story several years later at the point of his resignation from the Cuban Government, indeed we open by watching Fidel Castro (Birchir) reading the letter of resigntion in full to the people of Cuba. For a staid and uninteresting letter the impact is huge, which goes one step to guaging the idolatory that surrouded Che at the time.
The film then follows Guevera as he leads a group of Cuban and Bolivian revolutionaries around the jungles of Bolivia in an attempt to recapture his former glories.
The film is almost unremittingly bleak - for anyone who knows the fate of Che we can see him getting closer and closer to his destiny as the band of brothers are hittled down in defeat after defeat.
As with the first part we understand few of Guevera's motivations or explanations regarding his actions, although it seems the weight of Cuba (both the campaign and the peace that followed) lies heavily on him. He is no longer opposed to recruiting young men with little or no education and on the flip side he is more tolerant of derserting. Benicio continues to live in the role rather than act it, and the supporting cast are solid throughout. I'd especially like to commend the peasant who flips from supporting Che's band to selling them out is believeable and tragic. If anyone can tell me who that was I'll be very grateful.
Some people have complained about the bizarre Matt Damon cameo, although I'm letting it pass as his German was very impressive, and it didn't really take away from the ordinariness of the scene.
The technical set-up is almost identical to the original, hand held cameras, mid range shots etc. Even the scenes at the Presidential Palace and US embassy have an urgency to the filming.
I would perhaps have liked more of outsider view, the reasons why he succeeded in Cuba but failed in Bolivia are only hinted at, and it can't just be because of American Military training. But maybe Soderbergh was deliberately vague on this point, after all Guevera did not know the difference when he started his Bolivian campaign so why should we.
Sunday, 4 January 2009
Che: Part 1
2008. Dir: Steven Soderbergh. Starring: Benecio Del Toro, Julia Ormond, Demián Bichir, Catalina Sandino Moreno and Rodrigo Santoro . ●●●●○
It has been over 24 hours since I saw Che: Part 1 and I'm not sure I've given enough time to fully be able to review the film. The experience was so visceral, so raw I find it difficult to seperate my thoughts about the process from my thoughts about the film making. It is common, when watching biopics, to be unable to distance my ideas about the characters to those of the film, but somehow, because of the way Che was made, I find it even harder than normal.
The films alternates between scenes of the July 26th movement's struggle against Batista's dictatorship in Cuba and Che's triumphant speech to the UN headquarters in December 1964.
It is in Cuba that the film is truly alive. We are plunged alongside Ernesto "Che" Guevera as he fights alongside Fidel Castro, romps with the wounded, leads the troops and in his decisive battle in Santa Clara. During these sections we get a real insight into what Guevera was like: his crippling asthma, his belief in education as being the only way of leading Cuba out of poverty, his resolve and bloody mindedness, even his ideas on justice.
In the main this is due to the seamless performance by Del Toro who disappears completely in the role, physically and spiritually embodying the famed revolutionary. Soderbergh's cinematography and direction help with this feat, the camera always appears to be placed so that Che is central to the action, or ahead of the rest of the crowd. You end up feeling like you're following Guevera in a documentary.
The grainy black and white work in the New York scenes are less sucessful. Seeming more like a greatest hits of Guevera's speeches and some interlocking scenes I was aching either to here the speech in full or just return to the Cuban jungles.
The rest of the cast are exemplarary too, even if the nature of guerilla warfare and the films focus on Che means that many of them have little characterisation to work with.
Perhaps the biggest issue I had with the film was that it seemed to focus on how Che acted but not on the why. It seems that Fidel persuaded him to join the Cuban revolution over a single cigar. Even in the New York scenes, where Del Toro is interviewed by Ormond he states he fully realized why he was joining the campaign whilst transporting the sick from the attack on the Moncado barracks yet what this why is is never investigated.
Maybe the whys will be become more apparent following Che: Part 2. Until then the review can only ever be 4 out of 5 blobs.
Thursday, 30 October 2008
Catching up - Film news
I'm going to now squeeze into one post all the news I've picked up over the last 5 weeks that I feel is fit to print. Enjoy wading through for anything that you might like.
By the way I'm deliberately avoiding release schedule changes (Bye Bye The Soloist, Cheerio The Road, see you in 2009) and I'm trying not to dwell on castings in films I've already mentioned before (Helen Mirren in The Tempest - Yeah!!! - Helena Bonham Carter in Alice in Wonderland - really?).
Biutiful - Javier Bardem is set to join Alexandro Gonzales Inarritu's latest crime drama. Seems to be a modern update of Angels with Dirty Faces/Dead End only without the Bowery boys.
Book of Shadows - apparently a book chock fulls of spells and wicca and in need of closing to restore balance to the world. I'm not sure why Rob Reiner is the choice to direct this.
Coming after the jump - Brad Pitt's Bum and lots of drugs...
Only not straight away...
Buried - Todd Field's next project will concern a couple so desperate for money they bury a rich man alive and nick his dosh. Given that in Field's last 2 films (Little Children and In the Bedroom) he directed some great performances of desperation this could be worth seeing.
Steven Soderbergh - I manage to spell his name incorrectly in a different way every time I do it - has 2 new films on the go. The Girlfriend Experience about prostitution and [potentially] a Cleopatra musical starring Catherine Zeta-Jones. If that's not diversification then I don't know what is.
Dear John - I'd love this to be a cinematic rehash of the classic BBC comedy series about a depressive who's wife leaves him and then reenter's the singles circuit, but apparently it's about a soldier and a college student. Now starring Henry Thomas.
Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test - Following their successful (looking at the internet buzz) collaboration on Milk Gus Van Sant and writer Dustin Lance Black are to team up again with this true life tale of Ken Kesey, a small van and lots of drugs. Competition to the Hunter Thompson biopic?
High and Low - English Language remake is usually a phase that turns me off, but with Mamet writing, Mike Nichols directing and the source coming from Kurosawa (who's films often translate well) I'm unusually expectent. And the tale of a executive choosing between buying out a company or paying the ransom for his driver's son (it's complicated) sounds like a great dilemma movie.
Matarese Circle - No, I don't understand the title. However it's written by the guy behind the Bourne trilogy, will star Denzel Washington and has Cronenburg at the helm. Could be brilliant, could be barmy, can't wait to find out.
Brad Pitt Double bill - Brad's always choosing interesting films, and hasn't appeared to seek box office championship status since Troy but he's about to return to swords and sandals with the Homer's follow up - The Odessey (since Achilles is dead he's taking the Odysseus role). Hopeful it will be another chance to see his naked torso mmm. He's also lining up Moneyball about computer modelling in baseball. Yes you heard that right. Brad playing a computer nerd - gotta love it.
Scorcese's next move - After tiring of Leo, Scorcese has lined up Robert De Niro to star in his next film about the killer of Jimmy Hoffa (influential corrupt union boss in the 50's). Given their shared history includes Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and Goodfellas this is a must see.
Sunny and 68 - Vince Vaughn is a better actor than he is given credit for. I'm not sure this family drama is the way for him to prove that though.
Thor - has been greenlit with a tentative 2010 release date. I like the idea of a comic book movie based on Norse mythology (even if I am unusually ignorant about the source material) so I'll keep my eye out for news on this.
