the LAST FILM YOU'VE SEEN thread

[Chris Knipp]

Paula Fouce: Naked in Ashes. Curently showing. Nice little documentary about Indian yogis focusing on one of them and his disciple and culminating in the festival of Kumbh Mela. Not particularly outstanding as a documentary film -- not very analytical, and a lot of English voiceovers are provided which may feel like a separation from the actual people -- but the raw material is extraordinary, and Fouce has followed the main yogi up into the mountain snows twice, when he went barefoot in nothing but a loin cloth. He has a great deal to say, and is thoroughly aware of issues like global warming.

Stephen Gaghan's much-anticipated Syriana.

[arsaib4]

Spare Parts (Rezervni Deli), the Slovenian entry for the foreign-language Academy Award a couple of years ago, is a competent and intermittently compelling drama which details the lives of a pair of traffickers smuggling illegal immigrants across their borders. Set in Krsko, a bleak industrial town in southern Slovenia which borders both Croatia and Italy, the film follows Ludvik (Peter Musevski) and his young assistant Rudi (Aljosa Kovacic) as they receive groups from the East heading towards Western Europe. Ludvik, a middle-aged man who often reminisces about his days as a national speedway champion, is a widower whose wife died of cancer, a disease said to be associated with the local nuclear power plant. His health is also deteriorating, but he doesn’t allow it to slow him down. Certainly a situation ripe to be exploited, but writer-director Damjan Kozole’s employs a detached approach which, at times, also works against him. To his credit, the mistreatment of immigrants early on, especially in the case of a young Macedonian girl, is presented rather matter-of-factly -- and he doesn’t allow the situation to become the central conflict after Rudi, unlike his counterparts, doesn’t take advantage of her. Also, the tentative relationship Rudi develops with a local girl (Aleksandra Balmazovic) is devoid of any melodrama. Having said that, other than a few glib musings from Ludvik regarding the current state of Europe, Kozole’s attempt to paint his protagonists as products of the system seems halfhearted, and thus the film never quite achieves the depth of similar efforts like La Promesse (1996) and Lichter (2003). The title refers to what becomes of the immigrants after they crossover to the west, as some are forced to sell their organs or are killed for them.


Grade: B
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*SPARE PARTS premiered at the Berlin Film Festival in 2003 (In-Competition).

*The film was released stateside by Film Movement in November.

[trevor826]

Thanks arsaib4, I've had "Spare Parts" sitting around for a couple of weeks now along with a few others including Claire Denis's "The Intruder". Your comments have given me the incentive to see it asap, hopefully I'll be able to add my thoughts soon.

Cheers Trev.

[wpqx]

Somewhere in the Night (1946) - Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Well in my years of watching movies I've seen a lot of Mankiewicz and a lot of noir. Some films are inspired, some are mediocre, and some are just plain bad. In the case of Something In the Night I remembered why I watch movies, to discover that one magnificent film in a completely unexpected place. I've been extremely hard on film noir in my time, rarely if ever handing out a perfect rating despite obvious greatness, I've been even harsher for Mankiewicz, I wouldn't even give All About Eve a 5 star rating. This film, considered a lesser Mankiewicz effort, and one of his earlier ventures into directing is in my opinion his clear masterpiece. A perfectly constructed, often brilliant, constantly compelling piece of film noir that desperately needs reevaluation, and the reputation of such gems as Laura, Double Indemnity, and Out of the Past.

Somewhere in the Night may have that chance. It recently appeared on DVD as part of Fox's amazing film noir collection. Every several months the studio puts out three of their classic noir films, and many of which, this film included, I had never heard of prior to it's release. Gems are being unearthed from the vaults, some of which hadn't even appeared on VHS. Watching Somewhere in the Night is like discovering a new piece of film history, a critical turning point in the career of Mankiewicz, and a complex and convoluted story that has a deeply satisfying pay off.

The reason for perhaps its being forgotten is the fact that the story seemed familiar at the time. There was a period when amnesia films were somewhat popular, and Somewhere deals with post war veterans, a subject that by 1946 was already starting to become overly familiar. I recall a short story by Ernest Hemmingway about a returning WWI veteran who took an extra two years to come home, which by that time no one wanted to hear his war stories, everyone was bored of "heroes". The American public may have felt the same way, after all what an easy gimmick, a grenade goes off, and bam amnesia, and there's your mystery. It's denser than that.

John Hodiak was nearly a bad choice for this role. His credits are sparse, he was one of the shipwrecked passengers in Lifeboat, but he works here. His one chance in a feature, and he shines. Makeup makes the film work. He was blown up by a grenade, and had a painful recovery. His face loses the bandage, but he comes equipped with an oh so subtle scar that makes him neither grotesque but reminds us that he was indeed a disabled veteran. This slight touch of realism works for the picture, in a world were people are still knocked out by one punch.

Richard Conte, a man who seemed to be in every Fox film in the 40's and 50's makes an appearance here, and delivers another perfect turn. He has that quality where he can both be a baffoon and a genius at the same time. A tough edge and a likeable quality if not somewhat flawed. He played this well in Jules Dassin's Thieves Highway, and shines here at his best, in a supporting role.

The love interest, as there must always be a love interest is Nancy Guild who has an instantly recognizable face despite never appearing in a movie I've seen. She has a look that works, and you can see rather early on that she is a girl to fall for, and her presence is neither as the "helpless girl" or the "tough dame". She is a real woman, a rare presence indeed in film noir, neither manipulative or gullible. I love her character, as I love nearly all other aspects of the film.

The mystery is one of identity. A similar theme was brought back in the Bourne Identity, but here was a man who didn't work for the government, but rather stole from them, or someone. A missing $2 million is enough to motivate any plot, especially when army pay at the time was $60 a month. You can see why everyone is going to such great lengths in this story for the money, and the identity of Larry Cravat, a man no one has either met nor heard from in 3 years. George Taylor is also a man with no past and no one to identify him, and his search for Cravat becomes his search for himself. A wonderful plot device that helps to unravell the story, and of course lead to much suspense, mystery, and intrigue.

I've ranted much longer on this film than most characteristic recently viewed movies, but I can't help it, I rarely feel this elation watching movies, especially American movies from the 40's considering I was convinced I saw everything great from Hollywood's golden era. Somewhere in the Night is out of DVD, and it's dirt cheap, buy it now!

[arsaib4]

Originally posted by trevor826
Thanks arsaib4, I've had "Spare Parts" sitting around for a couple of weeks now along with a few others including Claire Denis's "The Intruder". Your comments have given me the incentive to see it asap, hopefully I'll be able to add my thoughts soon.

Looking forward to your comments. I wish I had films like The Intruder sitting around. ;)

Good review, wpqx. It's been a while since I've seen any Mankiewicz.

[Chris Knipp]

[In New York]

King Kong (the new one by Peter Jackson).

Not my kind of thing, to begin with, but surely being overrated when people say it's one of the ten best. It's never too late to resist size and expense. The reviewer was right (the only one I haveread) who said the sequences are drawn out too long. Especially the monsters, large and small, and their tangles with each other in the vines. Unbelievable that a great director like Jackson would turn out such an under-edited piece of work. It's not slow, just d r a w n o u t. The New York Times today says

Peter Jackson's remake of "King Kong" is, almost by definition, too much — too long, too big, too stuffed with characers and fx-driven set pieces — but it is also remarkably nimble and sweet.

That's having it both ways, as we all like to do, but if something is too too too, I quesiton whether it can really still be "remarkably nimble and sweet." That too too too outweighs and cancels out the nimble sweetness.

Margaret Brown: Be Here to Love Me: A Film About Townes van Zandt.

Interesting, classic lonely handsome creative depressed addictive artist type who wrote great songs, "a songwriter's songwriter," Kris Kristoferson says, but not an exceptional documentary. Contrast with Tarnation, which I didn't like, but unquestionably has a stylistic originality. This makes me question whether when you have free access to old home footage, you really have to use all of it. A better movie would have been made using the music, some selected interviews, and a few images of the man.

[Chris Knipp]

Debra Granik's Down to the Bone 2004, currently at Quad Cinema, New York.

A drama about a woman struggling to recover from drug addiiction starring Vera Farmiga and Hugh Dillon. This won directing and acting awards at Sundance for Granik and Farmiga last year. Downbeat and short on some aspects of the recovery process, but unmistakably authentic and unflashy.

Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady: The Boys of Baraka (2005) Currently premiered at Film Forum.

Documentary about Baltimore ghetto youths sent to a special two-year school in Kenya to give them a scholastic future. Charming and saddening, this includes some dedicated and meticulous followup techniques, but still has certain gaps in what we'd like to know.l

[arsaib4]

The titular protagonist of Días de Santiago ("Days of Santiago"), an intense and gripping debut feature from Peruvian filmmaker Josue Mendez, is a world-weary war veteran at the age of 23. He belongs to what has been described as Peru’s "lost generation," referencing youths who were recruited to strengthen the military during the 90’s under President Alberto Fujimori. Santiago (Pietro Sibille), like many others, became a man and much more while fighting drug lords, guerrillas (the "Shining Path" movement), or the Ecuadorian army from the north. But the power granted to them ultimately took its toll, and now Santiago and his fellow surviving comrades aren’t quite able to comprehend the atrocities that were committed. Yet, they miss the discipline, the order, the mission. Early on, Mendez expertly employs both grainy b&w and color stock to distinguish his protagonist’s psychological terrain as he tries to adjust to the life back home in the economically challenged Peruvian capital of Lima. Along with battling his own demons, Santiago now also has to endure a distanced wife and a mostly indifferent family, not to mention the realities of having no educational background. He eventually starts a cab service, which not only helps him to go to school, but also enables him to associate with others, especially young woman who often pursue a protector in his mature demeanor, not realizing that he may not even be capable of saving himself (it’s obvious that Mendez is well familiar with Scorsese’s 1976 classic). Días de Santiago is important but explosive stuff -- so the 28-year-old filmmaker deserves much credit for handling it with care for the most part. It is disappointing, however, that his aforementioned methods to depict Santiago’s struggles ultimately resort to nothing more than stylistic tics. But the authenticity of the milieu and Sibille’s performance are among the reasons why the film, which happens to be Peru’s nominee in the foreign-language category for 2005 Academy Awards, "leaves a singularly raw impression of having spent time inside someone’s sweaty, ill-fitting skin." (Village Voice)

Grade: B+
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*DÍAS DE SANTIAGO was released theatrically in NYC earlier this month by Cinema Tropical, a distributor of Latin American films. The film is also available on DVD from Lions Gate films.

[hengcs]

I did not realize that I have actually watched it in Cinequest Film Festival in March 2005 until your post. I didn't even realize it was Peru's submission to Oscar this year.
;)

* guilty grin *

[trevor826]

Following arsaib4's comments, .Spare Parts comment.

Spare Parts - Rezervni deli 2003

Directed by Damjan Kozole

Starring Peter Musevski, Aljosa Kovacic

A film that when you strip away all the periphery is in essence a buddy movie, old hand (Ludvik- Peter Musevski) takes on greenhorn (Rudi - Aljosa Kovacic), several minor adventures ensue, greenhorn makes big mistake which nearly ends but then strengthens the partnership. In the end (and very predictably) the greenhorn has become the old hand and is himself teaching the ropes to a newbie.

What makes this different and worth seeing? Well the subject of the film is human traffiking, which is one mega-sized problem at present; the process is treated very matter of factly with no real judgement as to the rights and wrongs of it. To the guys who do it, it’s a job, a nice little earner; to the people using this method it’s a measure of sheer desperation. There are moments that make you despair for humanity such as when a young Macedonian woman is pressured into selling herself or when a family group is smuggled in a car boot only to be found dead from suffocation then unceremoniously dumped.

Along the way you find out more about the protagonists, they are not evil men but appear to have very little in the way of a conscience. Ludvik is a widower, his wife had cancer. As far as the traffiking is concerned he deals with it as if he was a regular delivery guy, load em up, ship em out, what happens then is none of his business. Rudi on the other hand is naïve to the business and the consequences, he has a pang of conscience but can he survive this type of work with it?

The process certainly appears to be honest in the way people are dealt with (certainly in regards to recent news articles). It makes you wonder how desperate must someone be to take this route? You lay your life and the lives of those you love on the line dealing with these petty crooks. What little you have in the way of possessions, dignity and money is literally stripped from you and even then, there is no guarantee that you will get where you want or arrive in one piece!

The title refers to the fact that quite a few of these illegal immigrants end up selling or having organs stolen once they escape, kidneys, liver, lungs, heart there is a market for all of these and more, who cares where or who they came from?

A lot of the younger women, girls end up being sold into prostitution, again this is brought up very matter of factly in general conversation. I’ve added a relevent note below of a very recent news item from Cardiff



JAIL FOR SEX SLAVE PAIR

By Richard Smith

TWO men were jailed yesterday for bringing a 21-year-old sex slave into Britain.
The Lithuanian woman, who was bought for £5,000, was expected to have sex with up to nine men a day and hand over her £1,225 weekly earnings to the Albanian gang bosses.
She was threatened with being cut into pieces and having her eight-year-old sister kidnapped if she tried to escape, Cardiff crown court heard.
Akil Likcami, 20, was jailed for six years after admitting trafficking and controlling a prostitute for gain. Gjerji Mungiovi-Cuka, 19, from Caldicot, Gwent, was given four years for trafficking.
Ethnic Albanian Likcami, of Cathays, Cardiff, will be deported at the end of his sentence. His friend has a UK passport and can stay in Britain.
Passing sentence, Judge Phillip Richards branded their trade "evil". The third member of the trio, known only as "Benny", is still at large.


I can understand anyone who dsliked the film with its lack of guilt or recrimination but it does give a different perspective on a growing problem. Not essential viewing but certainly worth seeing.

Cheers Trev.

BBFC rated 15

[Chris Knipp]

Ugly, relevant stuff, and right in your own backyard from the sound of the article. I haven't seen this movie but it appears to relate to Frear's Dirty Pretty Things and Moodysson's Lilja 4-Ever.

they are not evil men but appear to have very little in the way of a conscience.

But they become evil because they lack a strong conscience.

[trevor826]

Not a pleasant subject but if it brings any awareness to the situation then it's for the good. What happened in Cardiff is only a tiny microbe of what's going on throughout the World, I'm damn sure that if we're getting this here then the problems in London and some of the major cities must be far worse.

You're right with your correction Chris, you can only be judged by what you do and taking advantage of people in the direst of circumstances is evil.

Cheers Trev.

[arsaib4]

Thanks for the excellent review, Trev. Yes, it is the subject matter which makes it stand out. And like you said, this isn't just going on in your backyard, the problem exists everywhere. I'm glad you agreed that Kozole handled it well.

I did not realize that I have actually watched it in Cinequest Film Festival in March 2005 until your post. I didn't even realize it was Peru's submission to Oscar this year.

Good. What did you think?

[Chris Knipp]

I'm damn sure that if we're getting this here then the problems in London and some of the major cities must be far worse.

That's scary and true.

It's when we're really tested that we know what we're made of. But frrom the drug/addiction analogy, it makes sense to stay away from temptation as much as you can.

[trevor826]

J'accuse.

I must accuse myself of plagiarism, although I didn't re-read arsaib4's comments on Spare Parts till I posted my own, it's very obvious that a certain phrase he used stuck in my mind and is not a phrase I commonly use.

Arsaib4:

especially in the case of a young Macedonian girl, is presented rather matter-of-factly

my post:

human traffiking, which is one mega-sized problem at present; the process is treated very matter of factly

and

girls end up being sold into prostitution, again this is brought up very matter of factly

So, my apologies to arsaib4 but the phrase was perfect as a descriptive for the film.

Cheers Trev.