Thursday, February 07, 2013

VIFF 2012: Night Across the Street


I don't know if there was something apocalyptic in the air last year (Mayans?) or what, but the Vancouver International Film Festival was rife with films about death. There was the clinical examination of the decline and fall of an elderly woman and the husband who cares for her (Amour); the passive-aggressive anecdotes of parents warning their visiting daughter that if she doesn't get married soon she could die alone (Memories Look at Me); the reenactment of a literary descent into the underworld by a modern gangster (Emperor Visits the Hell); the crushing tale of a man who kills his family but can't manage to kill himself (A Mere Life); the heroic struggle of an ordinary woman trying to forestall her son's execution (When Night Falls); a couple bizarre tales of men who don't know they're already dead, one featuring a talking fish (A Fish), one with its protagonist chained to the ground in a freezing park (Moksha: the World); two stories about reincarnation, one relaxed and contemplative (Mekong Hotel) and one hyperactively silly (East Meets West); a film about the grip the past still holds on us, even resurfacing after we die (Tabu); and finally one movie that celebrates even the ways buildings die (Reconversão). But none of those movies are as strange, as generous or as full of wonder as the last film the great Chilean filmmaker Raúl Ruiz completed before he died, Night Across the Street.


Based on a novel by Hernan de Solar, Night follows Don Celso, an office worker on the verge of retirement who recalls his fanciful childhood (when he was named "Rhododendron" and palled around with Beethoven and Long John Silver) in stories he tells us and anyone else who'll listen while awaiting his imminent assassination at the hands of the other borders in his rooming house. Ruiz moves as fluidly through imagination and "reality" as he does through past and present, creating as dense a tangle of characters as in Mysteries of Lisbon with the ghostly, dreamlike rhythm of Time Regained. He shoots most scenes in a kind of sepia tone, with soft sea greens and grays imbuing the film with a dusty, half-remembered haze. Though we're caught in Celso's cinematic dreamworlds, reality does occasionally threaten to intrude. Young Rhododendron takes Beethoven to a town soccer match that breaks out into a political argument between democrats and fascists (Ruiz himself fled Chile for Europe shortly after the dictator Augusto Pinochet seized power). Late in the film, Celso walks and talks with a friend through his village (something we've seen them do a few times before, always filmed with a weird focus effect that makes the background look like rear-projection) as the old streets transform and modernize before our eyes: the dusty lanes and small shops we've grown accustomed to turn to asphalt and streetlights as the past becomes present. But is it Celso's present, ignored for his remembered present, or is it the future that he won't be around to witness? As with everything else in the film, it's unclear exactly what is happening, but that doesn't make it any less affective. The film's illogic allows it to achieve the kind of emotional depth and complexity that mere precision and plausibility can never achieve.


In the end, Ruiz leaves us with storytelling and movie-making. Not just Celso's imagined narratives (a scheming pair of drifters, a triumphantly weird farewell speech to his coworkers, the noir mechanics of his "assassination") but also in the simple joy of words (his officemates join him in "play(ing) at saying words"), relishing the tactile pleasures of pronunciation) and images. Celso's life is filled with fantastical images and metaphors for cinema: clockwork toys, a dancing alarm clock, exquisite ships in bottles (impossible worlds), a restaurant full of mirrors, reflecting an imagined reality ("mirrors don't lie, it's the light that tricks us"). In the film's audacious climax, two characters have a conversation from inside the barrel of a gun. Rhododendron even takes Beethoven to the movies (as I recall, he's unimpressed: "we came to have fun, not to learn anything"). For Celso, as, I suspect, with Ruiz, life is storytelling: the ones we tell ourselves and the ones we share with others. The story may end in death, but the story itself lives on.

Wednesday, February 06, 2013

Review Index


This is an index of the longer reviews I've written here and elsewhere, in order of date of publication:

Days of Being Wild (Wong, 90) - May 04, 2006
United 93 (Greengrass, 06) - May 10, 2006
Thank You for Smoking (Reitman, 05) - Jun 13, 2006
Marie Antoinette (Coppola, 06) - Nov 22, 2006
Lost Highway (Lynch, 97) - Feb 17, 2007
Saving Private Ryan (Spielberg, 98) - May 16, 2007
Man of the West (Mann, 58) - Jun 13, 2007
I'm Not There (Haynes, 07) - Jan 16, 2008
WALL-E (Stanton, 08) - Jul 09, 2008
Schizopolis (Soderberg, 96) - Mar 03, 2009

Reservoir Dogs (Tarantino, 92) - Mar 03, 2009
The Virgin Suicides (Coppola, 99) - Mar 17, 2009
Schinder's List (Spielberg, 93) - Mar 17, 2009
Gone with the Wind (Fleming, 39) - Dec 01, 2009
Intolerance (Griffith, 16) - Mar 06, 2010
Dirty Harry (Siegel, 71) - Jun 17, 2010
Carlos (Assayas, 10) - Oct 10, 2010
The Social Network (Fincher, 10) - Nov 22, 2010
Irma Vep (Assayas, 96) - Mar 01, 2011
Leaves from Satan's Book (Dreyer, 21) - Mar 04, 2011

Chimes at Midnight (Welles, 65) - Mar 15, 2011
The Tree of Life (Malick, 11) - Jun 26, 2011
The Spanish Earth (Ivens, 37) - Dec 15, 2011
Tea and Sympathy (Minnelli, 56) - Dec 29, 2011
Annie Oakley (Stevens, 35) - Jan 13, 2012
Annie Get Your Gun (Sidney, 50) - Jan 13, 2012
The Artist (Haznavicious, 11) - Feb 01, 2012
Thundering Fleas (McGowan, 26) - Feb 03, 2012
War Horse (Spielberg, 11) - Feb 04, 2012
A Song to Remember (Vidor, 45) - Feb 08, 2012

The Great Waltz (Duvivier, 38) - Feb 08, 2012
The Adventures of Tintin (Spielberg, 12) - Feb 21, 2012
Jewish Prudence (McCarey, 27) - Feb 29, 2012
The Poor Little Rich Girl (Tourneur, 17) - Mar 06, 2012
The Miracle Worker (Penn, 62) - Mar 13, 2012
The Man Who Would Be King (Huston, 75) - Mar 18, 2012
Love 'Em and Weep (Guiol, 27) - Mar 22, 2012
The Buster Keaton Story (Sheldon, 57) - Mar 25, 2012
Fluttering Hearts (Parrott, 27) - Apr 03, 2012
Why Girls Love Sailors (Guiol, 27) - Apr 05, 2012

With Love and Hisses (Guiol, 27) - Apr 15, 2012
Sugar Daddies (Guiol, 27) - Apr 18, 2012
The Lower Depths (Kurosawa, 57) - May 10, 2012
Stage Fright (Hitchcock, 50) - May 14, 2012
The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (Hitchcock, 27) - May 15, 2012
The Manxman (Hitchcock, 29) - May 16, 2012
Number Seventeen (Hitchcock, 32) - May 17, 2012
Champagne (Hitchcock, 28) - May 18, 2012
12 Angry Men (Lumet, 57) - Jun 8, 2012
Wild Strawberries (Bergman, 57) - Jun 25, 2012

Throne of Blood (Kurosawa, 57) - Jul 04, 2012
Good Men, Good Women (Hou, 95) - Jul 08, 2012
Sailors, Beware! (Guiol, 27) - Jul 18, 2012
Café Lumière (Hou, 03) - Sep 07, 2012
The Second Hundred Years (Guiol, 27) - Sep 13, 2012
Children of Paradise (Carne, 45) - Sep 19, 2012
Swordsman (Hu, 90) - Sep 26, 2012
Swordsman 2 (Ching, 92) - Sep 26, 2012
Thursday Till Sunday (Sotomayor, 12) - Sep 30, 2012
Romance Joe (Lee, 11) - Oct 01, 2012

10 + 10 (Various, 11) - Oct 01, 2012
A Mere Life (Park, 12) - Oct 02, 2012
Beautiful 2012 (Various, 12) - Oct 03, 2012
Reconversão (Andersen, 12) - Oct 05, 2012
A Fish (Park, 11) - Oct 05, 2012
In Another Country (Hong, 12) - Oct 05, 2012
Tabu (Gomes, 12) - Oct 13, 2012
The Last Time I Saw Macao (Rodrigues & Guerra da Mata, 12) - Oct 16, 2012
In Search of Haydn (Grabsky, 12) - Oct 16, 2012
Three Sisters (Wang, 12) - Oct 22, 2012

Neighboring Sounds (Mendonça Filho, 12) - Oct 22, 2012
Something in the Air (Assayas, 12) - Nov 11, 2012
Memories Look at Me (Song, 12) - Nov 14, 2012
Lincoln (Spielberg, 12) - Nov 19 2012
People's Park (Sniadecki & Cohn, 12) - Dec 13, 2012
East Meets West (Lau, 11) - Dec 13, 2012
The Flying Guillotine (Ho, 75) - Dec 20, 2012
Executioners from Shaolin (Lau, 77) - Dec 21, 2012
Killer Clans (Chor, 76) - Dec 26, 2012
Mad Monkey Kung Fu (Lau, 79) - Dec 27, 2012

No Blood Relation (Naruse, 32) - Jan 04, 2012
Call of the Cuckoo (Bruckman, 27) - Jan 28, 2013
Like Someone in Love (Kiarostami, 12) - Jan 29, 2013
Mystery (Lou, 12) - Feb 01, 2013
The Angels' Share (Loach, 12) - Feb 04, 2013
Night Across the Street (Ruiz, 12) - Feb 07, 2013
Everybody in Our Family (Jude, 12) - Mar 05, 2013
The Big Heat (To, 88) - Mar 07, 2013
Infernal Affairs (Lau & Mok, 02) - Mar 19, 2013
Oki's Movie (Hong, 2010) - May 09, 2013

Applause (Mamoulian, 29) - May 18, 2013
Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (Mamoulian, 31) - May 22, 2013
Eastern Condors (Hung, 87) - May 24, 2013
Zu Warriors (Tsui, 01) - May 29, 2013
Warriors Two (Hung, 78) - May 30, 2013
The Butterfly Murders (Tsui, 79) - May 31, 2013
Encounters of the Spooky Kind (Hung, 80) - Jun 01, 2013
Winners & Sinners (Hung, 83) - Jun 04, 2013
Pedicab Driver (Hung, 89) - Jun 06, 2013
The Iron-Fisted Monk (Hung, 77) - Jun 08, 2013

Emperor Visits the Hell (Li, 12) - Jun 10, 2013
Hapkido (Huang, 72) - Jun 20, 2013
Dirty Ho (Lau, 76) - Jun 30, 2013
Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan (Chor, 72) - Jul 07, 2013
Come Drink With Me (Hu, 66) - Jul 10, 2013
The One-Armed Swordsman (Chang, 67) - Jul 12, 2013
The Spiritual Boxer (Lau, 75) - Jul 15, 2013
Heroes Shed No Tears (Chor, 80) - Jul 16, 2013
Dragon Gate Inn (Hu, 67) - Jul 17, 2013
Heroes Two (Chang, 74) - Jul 22, 2013


The Sentimental Swordsman (Chor, 77) - Jul 23, 2013
Five Shaolin Masters (Chang 74) and Shaolin Temple (Chang 76) - Jul 24, 2013
Return of the One-Armed Swordsman (Chang, 69) - Jul 25, 2013

Fort Apache (Ford, 1948) - Jul 25, 2013
Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre Parts One & Two (Chor, 78) - Jul 25, 2013
Vengeance! (Chang, 70) - Jul 27, 2013
The Heroic Ones (Chang 70) - Jul 29, 2013
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (Ford, 62) - Jul 30, 2013
My Darling Clementine (Ford, 46) - Aug 04, 2013
Sergeant Rutledge (Ford, 60) - Aug 06, 2013

Days of Being Wild (Wong, 90) - Aug 16, 2013
Nomad (Tam, 82) - Aug 20, 2013
Ashes of Time Redux (Wong, 08) - Aug 26, 2013
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Lee, 00) - Aug 28, 2013
My Heart is that Eternal Rose (Tam, 89) - Sep 02, 2013
Boat People (Hui, 82) - Sep 03, 2013
Nobody's Daughter Haewon (Hong, 13) - Sep 23, 2013
Blind Detective (To, 13) - Sep 26, 2013
The Great Passage (Ishii, 13) - Sep 29, 2013
Good Vibrations (Barros D'Sa & Leyburn, 12) - Sep 29, 2013

Gebo and the Shadow (Oliveira, 12) - Sep 30, 2013
Bends (Lau, 13) - Oct 01, 2013
Burn, Release, Explode, the Invincible (Kim, 13) - Oct 01, 2013
Four Ways to Die in My Hometown (Chai, 12) - Oct 02, 2013
Stray Dogs (Tsai, 13) - Oct 04, 2013
Yumen (Sniadecki, Xu & Huang, 13) - Oct 23, 2013
Green Snake (Tsui, 93) - Oct 25, 2013
The Enigmatic Case (To, 80) - Nov 14, 2013
A Better Tomorrow II (Woo, 87) - Nov 21, 2013

Peking Opera Blues (Tsui, 86) - Nov 22, 2013
The Happy Ghost Series (Ko, To & Lam, 84-86) - Nov 26, 2013
Prison on Fire (Lam, 87) - Nov 27, 2013
Seven Years Itch (To, 87) - Dec 02, 2013
Working Class (Tsui, 85) - Dec 07, 2013
Drug War (To, 12) - Dec 11, 2013
Royal Warriors (Chung, 86) - Dec 19, 2013
She Shoots Straight (Yuen, 90) - Dec 22, 2013
Comrades, Almost a Love Story (Chan, 96) - Jan 01, 2014
Die Nibelungen (Lang, 24) - Jan 15, 2014

Hellzapoppin' (Potter, 41) - Feb 12, 2014
The Castle of Cagliostro (Miyazaki, 79) - Feb 15, 2014
Blue is the Warmest Color (Kechiche, 13) - Feb 26, 2014
Young Detective Dee and the Rise of the Sea Dragon (Tsui, 13) - Feb 27, 2014
La última película (Martin & Peranson, 13) - Feb 28, 2014
Shanghai Blues (Tsui, 84) - Mar 03, 2014
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (Donen, 54) - Mar 07, 2014
Seven Swords (Tsui, 05) - Mar 11, 2014
Oklahoma! (Zinnemann, 55) - Mar 14, 2014
Grand Budapest Hotel (Anderson, 14) - Mar 17, 2014

Journey to the West (Tsai, 14) - Mar 19, 2014
The Blade (Tsui, 95) - Mar 19, 2014
Bye Bye Birdie (Sidney, 63) - Mar 26, 2014
Heroes Shed No Tears (Woo, 86) - Mar 28, 2014
Once a Thief (Woo, 91) - Mar 28, 2014
Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons (Chow & Kwok, 13) - Apr 03, 2014
Love in the Time of Twilight (Tsui, 95) - Apr 04, 2014
The Lovers (Tsui, 94) - Apr 04, 2014
Red Cliff (Woo, 08) - Apr 04, 2014
Zodiac Kilers (Hui, 91) - Apr 09, 2014

I Dood It (Minnelli, 43) - Apr 11, 2014
SPL: Sha Po Lang (Yip, 05) -  Apr 23, 2014
New Dragon Gate Inn (Lee, 92) -  Apr 24, 2014
Wuxia (Chan, 11) - Apr 25, 2014
The Legend is Born: Ip Man (Yau, 10) - Apr 27, 2014
The Duel (Chang, 71) - Apr 28, 2014
Ten Tigers of Kwangtung (Chang, 80) - Apr 29, 2014
Ip Man: The Final Fight (Yau, 13) - Apr 29, 2014
Tai Chi Zero/Tai Chi Hero (Fung, 12-13) - May 01, 2014
The Way of the Dragon (Lee, 72) - May 02, 2014

The Assassin (Chang, 67) - May 12, 2014
The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgement Day (Cameron, 84 & 91) - May 22, 2014
The Midnight After (Chan, 14) - May 25, 2014
Unforgiven (Lee, 14) - May 28, 2014
Martial Club (Lau, 81) - Jun 11, 2014
The Bride with White Hair (Yu, 93) - Jun 25, 2014
Primary Colors (Nichols, 98) - Jul 13, 2014
He Ain't Heavy, He's My Father (Chan, 93) - Jul 29, 2014
Isabella (Pang, 06) - Aug 01, 2014
Painted Faces (Law, 88) - Aug 02, 2014

Golden Chicken 2 (Chiu, 03) - Aug 03, 2014
Painted Skin (Hu, 93) - Aug 03, 2014
Oxhide (Liu, 05) - Aug 04, 2014
Legend of the Mountain (Hu, 79) - Aug 07, 2014
Shanghai Blues (Tsui, 84) - Aug 27, 2014
Ballet (Wiseman, 95) - Sep 02, 2014
Crazy Horse (Wiseman, 11) - Sep 03, 2014
Accident (Cheang, 09) - Sep 23, 2014
Journey to the West (Tsai, 14) - Sep 24, 2014
Blind Detective (To, 13) - Oct 11, 2014

A Better Tomorrow III: Love and Death in Saigon (Tsui, 89) - Oct 21, 2014
Flying Swords of Dragon Gate (Tsui, 11) - Oct 29, 2014
My Lucky Star (Gordon, 13) - Nov 07, 2014
Don't Go Breaking My Heart 2 (To, 14) - Nov 15, 2014
The Eighth Happiness (To, 88) - Nov 21, 2014
Aberdeen (Pang, 14) - Dec 04, 2014
Actress (Greene, 14) - Dec 11, 2014
The Taking of Tiger Mountain (Tsui, 14) - Jan 05, 2015
The True Story of Wong Fei-hung: Whiplash Snuffs the Candle Flame (Wu, 49) - Jan 07, 2015
The Big Heat (To, 88) - Jan 09, 2015

Troy (Petersen, 04) - Jan 22, 2015
Sleepless in Seattle (Ephron, 93) - Feb 06, 2015
Lady Snowblood (Fujita, 73) - Feb 18, 2015
Robin Hood (Scott, 10) - Feb 24, 2015
Gladiator (Scott, 00) - Feb 25, 2015
A Fuller Life (Fuller, 13) - Feb 27, 2015
Chimes at Midnight (Welles, 65) - Mar 06, 2015
Maps to the Stars (Cronenberg, 14) - Mar 06, 2015
Wild Tales (Szifron, 14) - Mar 12, 2015
Ballet 422 (Lipes, 14) - Mar 12, 2015

The Boys from Fengkuei (Hou, 83) - Mar 20, 2015
The Time to Live, The Time to Die (Hou, 85) - Mar 21, 2015
Dust in the Wind (Hou, 86) - Mar 22, 2015
Flowers of Shanghai (Hou, 98) - Mar 24, 2015
Millennium Mambo (Hou, 01) - Mar 27, 2015
Welcome to New York (Ferrara, 14) - Apr 03, 2015
Ned Rifle (Hartley, 14) - Apr 09, 2015
Masked Avengers (Chang, 81) - Apr 11, 2015
Jauja (Alonso, 14) - Apr 16, 2015
The Tales of Hoffmann (Powell & Pressburger, 51) - Apr 24, 2015

Kung Fu Jungle (Chan, 14) - Apr 27, 2015
Clouds of Sils Maria (Assayas, 14) - Apr 30, 2015
The Triplets of Belleville (Chomet, 03) - May 8, 2015
Temporary Family (Cheuk, 14) - May 14, 2015
Snow on the Blades (Wakamatsu, 14) - May 14, 2015
La Sapienza (Green, 14) - Jun 4, 2015
The Fifth Element (Besson, 97) - Jun 19, 2015
A Better Tomorrow (Woo, 86) - Jun 26, 2015
Yes, Madam (Yuen, 85) - Jul 02, 2015
Christmas in July (Sturges, 40) - Jul 08, 2015

Trainwreck (Apatow, 15) - Jul 16, 2015
Wild City (Lam, 15) - Jul 30, 2015
The Heroic Trio (To, 93) - Aug 01, 2015
Project A (Chan, 83) - Aug 02, 2015
Project A 2 (Chan, 87) - Aug 02, 2015


An Index of my podcasts and essays can be found over here. And here is an index of some of the better short reviews I've written over the years, arranged chronologically by publication date. Most of this stuff I usually just leave on letterboxd nowadays.

The Shadow Whip (Lo, 71) - Jan 16, 2011
The Deadly Breaking Sword (Sun, 79) - Jan 16, 2011
Shaolin Intruders (Tang, 83) - Jan 16, 2011
Brave Archer and His Mate (Chang, 82) - Jan 16, 2011
Holy Flame of the Martial World (Lu, 82) - Jan 16, 2011
Journey of the Doomed (Cha, 85) - Jan 16, 2011
The Masseurs and a Woman (Shimizu, 38) - Feb 14, 2011
Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (Oshima, 83) - Feb 14, 2011
Humanity and Paper Balloons (Yamanaka, 37) - Feb 14, 2011
An Autumn Afternoon (Ozu, 62) - Feb 14, 2011

Louisiana Story (Flaherty, 48) - Apr 11, 2011
Run of the Arrow (Fuller, 57) - Apr 11, 2011
The War Game (Watkins, 65) - Apr 11, 2011
Culloden (Watkins, 64) - Apr 11, 2011
The Marquise of O (Rohmer, 76) - May 14, 2011
La Commune (Paris, 1871) (Watkins, 00) - May 14, 2011
My Sister Eileen (Quine, 55) - Oct 08, 2011
Regeneration (Walsh, 15) - Oct 08, 2011
HM Pulham, Esq (Vidor, 41) - Oct 08, 2011
Street Angel (Borzage, 28) - Oct 08, 2011

Samson and Delilah (DeMille, 49) - Oct 09, 2011
The Sign of the Cross (DeMille, 32) - Oct 09, 2011
The King of Kings (DeMille, 27) - Oct 09, 2011
The Indian Epic (Lang, 59) - Oct 09, 2011
Meek's Cutoff (Reichardt, 10) - Oct 19, 2011
Cave of Forgotten Dreams (Herzog, 10) - Oct 19, 2011
Wait Until Dark (Young, 67) - Oct 19, 2011
Socrates (Rossellini, 71) - Oct 20, 2011
Free and Easy (Sedgwick, 30) - Nov 22, 2011
Parlor, Bedroom and Bath (Sedgwick, 31) - Nov 22, 2011

Speak Easily (Sedgwick, 32) - Nov 22, 2011
What! No Beer? (Sedgwick, 33) - Nov 22, 2011
A Trip to the Moon (Méliès, 02) - Dec 28, 2011
These Amazing Shadows (Mariano & Norton, 11) - Dec 30, 2011
The Great Train Robbery (Porter, 03) - Feb 07, 2012
Duck Soup (McCarey, 27) - Feb 09, 2012
Slipping Wives (Guiol, 27) - Feb 11, 2012
Kanal (Wajda, 57) - Apr 10, 2012
Man's Favorite Sport? (Hawks, 64) - Jun 26, 2012
When Night Falls (Ying, 12) - Sep 30, 2012

Antiviral (Cronenberg, 12) - Sep 30, 2012
Mother (Ruetaivanichkul, 12) - Oct 02, 2012
Mekong Hotel (Weerasethakul, 12) - Oct 02, 2012
Moksha: the World or I, How Does That Work? (Koo, 12) - Nov 14, 2012
Amour (Haneke, 12) - Jun 10, 2013
In the Good Old Summertime (Leonard, 49) - Apr 11, 2014
Fist of Fury (Lo, 71) - May 02, 2014
Night Moves (Reichardt, 13) - May 27, 2014
Sophie's Revenge (Jin, 09) - Jul 29, 2014
Love in a Puff (Pang, 10) - Jul 29, 2014

Love in the Buff (Pang, 12) - Jul 29, 2014
La Sapienza (Green, 14) - Sep 30, 2014
The Golden Era (Hui, 14) - Sep 30, 2014
National Gallery (Wiseman, 14) - Sep 30, 2014
Ballet 422 (Lipes, 14) - Sep 30, 2014
Hill of Freedom (Hong, 14) - Oct 02, 2014
Uncertain Relationships Society (Mak, 14) - Oct 02, 2014
Miss and the Doctors (Ropert, 14) - Oct 02, 2014
Listen Up Philip (Perry, 14) - Oct 02, 2014
The Midnight After (Chan, 14) - Oct 07, 2014

Jauja (Alonso, 14) - Oct 07, 2014
Adieu au langage (Godard, 14) - Oct 07, 2014
Mr. Turner (Leigh, 14) - Oct 07, 2014
Two Days, One Night (Dardennes, 14) - Oct 07, 2014
Welcome to New York (Ferrara, 14) - Oct 07, 2014
Winter Sleep (Ceylan, 14) - Oct 07, 2014
Horse Money (Costa, 14) - Oct 07, 2014
Adieu au langage (Godard, 14) - Jan 22, 2015
National Gallery (Wiseman, 14) - Jan 30, 2015
Two Days, One Night (The Dardennes, 14) - Feb 06, 2015

Casablanca (Curtiz, 42) - Mar 06, 2015
Results (Bujalski, 15) - May 18, 2015
Back to the Soil (Morrison, 14) - May 18, 2015
Beyond Zero 1914-1918 (Morrison, 14) - May 18, 2015
Natural History (Benning, 14) - May 18, 2015
The Coffin in the Mountain (Xin, 14) - May 22, 2015
Haemoo (Shim, 14) - May 22, 2015
The Color of Pomegranates (Parajanov, 68) - May 22, 2015
Overheard 3 (Mak & Chong, 14) - May 29, 2015
Dreams Rewired (Luksch, Tode & Reinhart, 14) - May 29, 2015

Mistress America (Baumbach, 15) - May 29, 2015
A Matter of Interpretation (Lee, 14) - May 29, 2015
Dearest (Chan, 14) - May 29, 2015
The Lady Eve (Sturges, 41) - Jul 16, 2015
A Hard Day (Kim, 14) - Jul 23, 2015
Unexpected (Swanberg, 15) - Jul 23, 2015

Monday, February 04, 2013

VIFF 2012: The Angels' Share


I haven't seen any of director Ken Loach's early films, or even any of his middle period films. My impression is that they're hard-edged, kitchen sink-realism type movies about poor people ground up in the engines of capitalism. That's the kind of perspective that made his Palme D'Or-winner The Wind that Shakes the Barley, the first film of his I saw, so unique among war movies: it's the story of the Irish Civil War that doesn't shy away from the political strife endemic to leftist revolutionary movements, remarkably clear-eyed in its understanding and sympathy for both sides of the war (personified in the film's two main characters), but unapologetic in ultimately condemning the more reactionary, less idealistic side. So I was a little surprised when Loach followed it up with a light, supernatural comedy about poor schlub whose imaginary friend, real-life Manchester United star Eric Cantona, helps him along the path to self-actualization. Looking for Eric is a charming film, Fordian, maybe even Capra-esque, in its sense of community and is aided immensely by Cantona's awkward reading of his own hilarious aphorisms. It's a really nice film, a word that I'd never use to describe The Wind that Shakes the Barley.


The Angels' Share is another nice film. Again Loach focuses on the working class, this time a young Scottish ex-con named Robbie (played by Paul Brannigan) trying to go straight and be a responsible father with the help of a gang of misfits and a kindly probation officer. Of all things, they form a whiskey-tasting group and Robbie discovers he's a natural sommelier (but for whiskey, not wine, they're Scottish, get it?). Once Robbie learns he has a talent, he's able to put the past behind him (literally, he keeps getting sucked back into a violent intergenerational feud with another lower class lout, hints of the struggles of the petty criminal working class hang generically around the edges of the film, like ghosts of more (self-)serious movies past) and be a better man. Then, the misfits embark on a hijink-filled cross-country trip to steal a bunch of old whisky from an ancient keg and sell it to an unscrupulous dealer. The heist is suspenseful, the jokes are funny, The Proclaimers proclaim and your heart is warmed. Everything about the film is just so average, though. It doesn't have the inspired-weirdness that Cantona brings to Looking for Eric, it just kind of floats along, totally harmless. Ken Loach made movies for 40 years before I managed to see one of them, and that one happens to be one of the best movies of this century and one of the best war movies of all-time. If he wants to spend his twilight years remaking The Full Monty, I won't complain too loudly. I really should just go watch Kes. I hear that's really great.

This Week in Rankings



What movies I've watched or rewatched recently and where each currently places in my yearly rankings.

The Pawnshop (Charles Chaplin) - 3, 1916
London After Midnight (Reconstruction) (Tod Browning) - 16, 1927


The Quiet Man (John Ford) - 2, 1952
Wind Across the Everglades (Nicholas Ray) - 8, 1958
The Reluctant Debutante (Vincente Minnelli) - 18, 1958
Two Weeks in Another Town (Vincente Minnelli) - 14, 1962


The Story of Film: An Odyssey (Mark Cousins) - 25, 2011
In Another Country (Hong Sangsoo) - 2, 2012