FILM REVIEW: WHIPLASH

Andrew (Miles Teller) and Fletcher (J.K. Simmons) in Whiplash.

Beats

 

By Don Simpson

 

Inexplicably abandoned at an early age by his mother and raised by a father (Paul Reiser) who never achieved success as a writer, Andrew (Miles Teller) is riddled with an unquenchable drive to become famous. Though Whiplash does not make much of Andrew’s backstory, Fletcher (J.K. Simmons) — the tyrannical band conductor at his elite music conservatory — makes good use of that information to emotionally destroy him.

 

Whiplash examines how Fletcher preys upon the emotional insecurities of a friendless first year college student who regularly goes to the local movie theater with his father. Fletcher plays with Andrew’s sense of self-worth by boosting him up only to knock him right back down again. Andrew is constantly unsure of his standing with Fletcher, leaving him in a constant state of fear. Knowing that Fletcher could be his ticket to success, Andrew is willing to do anything to impress — or even appease — Fletcher, who takes full advantage of Andrew’s naive desperation.

 

During one of Andrew’s high points, he musters up enough courage to finally ask out the girl (Melissa Benoist) who works at the movie theater concession stand. Though this fleeting relationship serves mostly as a distraction from the primary narrative, it does highlight Andrew’s somewhat futile attempts at controlling a less confident person. Their relationship also serves as an example of just how willing Andrew is to throw anything away in order to achieve his goals.

 

The story of Whiplashseems vaguely familiar, as if a similar narrative arc has been used to tell a story about a boxer with an emotionally abusive trainer. It seems as though elite music schools are successful because they have faculty like Fletcher who will relentlessly push the students beyond their natural abilities to see if they can reach a higher level of greatness. On Twitter, critics are jumping on the similarities between Whiplash and Full Metal Jacket, which is not all that far-fetched. Fletcher looks and screams like a drill sergeant, ruling his students with extreme levels of fear. One could argue that Fletcher’s motivations are more sincere, as Whiplash strives to form the conductor into a well-rounded individual, showing the extremes of his personality and allowing him to explain his actions.

 

Whiplash explores the pros and cons of Fletcher’s behavior, existing in a moral grayness that opts to not really take sides. A teacher saying that someone does a “good job” might turn out to be a curse, but where does one draw the line between motivation and psychological torture?

 

FILM REVIEW: CESAR'S LAST FAST

A scene from Cesar's Last Fast.  Photo Credit: Robin Becker.

Starving for justice

By John Esther

For the second time in three weeks, a film about the life and times of the American human rights activist, Cesar Chavez, will receive a theatrical release. The first one was director Diego Luna’s Cesar Chavez, a hitherto underappreciated film – at least at the box office. Now we have Cesar’s Last Fast.

Inspired by both his Catholic upbringing and the teachings of Indian human rights activist,  Mahatma Gandhi, Chavez conducted several fasts throughout his life.

Hardly a diet scheme, Chavez’s fasting was a response to the injustices farm workers, primarily in Central Valley California, endured. Already subject to unfair labor practices, unlawful imprisonment and, in a few cases, murder, new farming procedures implemented in the 1980s were subjecting farmworkers to carcinogenic pesticides.  These pesticides affected children most of all.

In response, the 61-year-old Chavez adopted a water-only fast. The fasting protest attracted media attention, especially after it past the 30-day mark and Chavez was reaching the point of no return. By the way, his return was quite an event.

Unlike Luna’s Cesar Chavez, director Richard Ray Perez (Unprecedented) takes an irreproachable attitude toward his subject. Perez was able to gain access to Chavez’s family, his coworkers and some precious archival footage and amateur video from Chavez’s press secretary, Lorena Parlee (who died in 2006 from breast cancer). Was it cause and effect?

Picked up at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, Cesar Chavez is an inspiring testimony to one of this nation’s heroes.

SUNDANCE 2014: OBVIOUS CHILD

Donna (Jenny Slate) in Obvious Child.

Laugh now in the lake of fire

By Don Simpson

A bookstore clerk by day and comedian by night, Donna’s (Jenny Slate) life is sent into a tailspin when her boyfriend admits to sleeping with one of her close friends; but at least that event provides Donna with some fresh material for her bluntly autobiographical stand-up routine.

Donna turns to alcohol to drown her sorrows, totally giving up on life. When the righteously indie bookstore that employs her loses its lease, Donna’s life seems all the more hopeless. Even her gig as a comedian could be at risk if she does not learn how to curb her emotionally driven binge drinking.

On one fatefully drunken night, the snarky Jewess makes cute with a WASPy guy, Max (Jake Lacy). Sensing that his values will dissuade Max from wanting to date a vocally rebellious Jewish woman, Donna perceives this night as a fun, one-night stand. Unfortunately for Donna, the repercussions of their night together haunt her until Valentine’s Day.

Obvious Child is a well-paced comedy packed with a steady stream of hilarious jokes, yet the film also carries a strong and unwavering opinion on its subject matter. While the subject of this film may chase some potential audiences away, Obvious Child does such an admirable job of presenting its case that it could actually change some minds if audiences would just give it a fighting chance.

The strongest tension within director Gillian Robespierre's  Obvious Child is its relentless rebellion against American cinema’s representation of this subject matter. We anxiously await the all too standard redemption trope, for Donna to listen to the old white men who attempt to legislate away her inherent rights to her own body. Few filmmakers are bold and brazen enough to discuss this subject with such openness. Everything is laid out on the table in such a way that Donna’s one and only choice seems like an obvious one. There is absolutely no valid excuse for her mistake and Donna knows that, but there is also no reason for her to punish herself or anyone else involved. Ill-equipped and immature, Donna is by no means emotionally prepared to make any other decision. Our society, thanks in no small part to Hollywood’s representation of this subject, seems to think Donna is in the minority, but this is actually an all too common scenario. Donna makes the same life-changing mistake that so many others have made, including her mother.

SUNDANCE 2014: I, ORIGINS

A scene from I, Origins.

Looks of love, science and creation

By Don Simpson

 

Due to the current lack of concrete evolutionary mapping, the eye is often lauded as proof of intelligent design. So, Ian Gray (Michael Pitt), a PhD student studying molecular biology, is attempting to disprove creationism by fully mapping the evolution of the eye. He is reluctantly teamed with a first year student, Karen (Brit Marling), who quickly dedicates her time to Ian’s cause, agreeing to do the tedious work of looking for the PAX 6 gene — a key gene that enables eyesight — in a species without eyes. It will be like finding a needle in a haystack, but if Karen can locate that species, they can then attempt to mimic the evolutionary process by mutating that creature in such a way that it grows a fully functioning eye. In other words, they want to play god.

 

As a side project, Ian is obsessed with photographing people’s eyes. This is how he comes to meet Sofi (Astrid Berges-Frisbey), a mysteriously masked woman with sectoral heterochromia whom he grows increasingly obsessed with following a fleeting sexcapade on a toilet. Though the scientifically inclined Ian may not believe in fate, it is a string of numerical clues that eventually reconnect him with Sofi. The spiritually motivated Sofi approaches life in sharp contrast to Ian’s overly pragmatic ways. They say that opposites attract, an hypothesis that is proven by the undeniably magnetic chemistry between these two souls — if, unlike Ian, you actually believe in the existence of the soul. Though Ian would ardently disagree, Sofi is undoubtedly his soulmate; and, as the introduction to Mike Cahill’s I Origins prophetically suggests, Sofi also serves as a key element in Ian’s Sophistic quest to dis-prove religion once and for all.

 

Winner of this year's Sloan Award at Sundance, I Origins is an infinitely profound examination of the faith versus science debate. Cahill wraps his heady existential diatribe around the adage that the eye is the window to the soul, specifically utilizing the presumed uniqueness of an individual’s iris patterns in this contemplation of god’s existence. Being that eyes are directly connected to the human brain, and the brain retains memories, I Originssuggests the possibility that if two people (one living, one dead) share identical iris patterns that they may also share memories, possibly even the same soul (thus proving reincarnation). Whether or not this is sound science is up to the molecular scientists in the audience to decide, but Cahill’s entertainingly thoughtful hypothesis is sure to incite a chain reaction of theological contemplation among even the most argent non-believers.

SUNDANCE 2014: WHIPLASH

Andrew (Miles Teller) and Fletcher (J.K. Simmons) in Whiplash.

The beatings behind the beats

By Don Simpson

 

Inexplicably abandoned at an early age by his mother and raised by a father (Paul Reiser) who never achieved success as a writer, Andrew (Miles Teller) is riddled with an unquenchable drive to become famous. Though Whiplash does not make much of Andrew’s backstory, Fletcher (J.K. Simmons), the tyrannical band conductor at his elite music conservatory, makes good use of that information to emotionally destroy him.

 

Whiplash relays how Fletcher preys upon the emotional insecurities of a friendless first-year college student who regularly goes to the local movie theater with his father. Fletcher plays with Andrew’s sense of self-worth by boosting him up only to knock him right back down again. Andrew is constantly unsure of his standing with Fletcher, leaving him in a constant state of fear. Knowing that Fletcher could be his ticket to success, Andrew is willing to do anything to impress — or even appease — Fletcher, who takes full advantage of Andrew’s naïve desperation.

 

During one of Andrew’s high points, he musters up enough courage to finally ask out the girl who works at the movie theater concession stand (Melissa Benoist). Though this fleeting relationship serves mostly as a distraction from the primary narrative, it does highlight Andrew’s somewhat futile attempts at controlling a less confident person. Their relationship also serves as an example of just how willing Andrew is to discard anything in order to achieve his goals.

 

The story of Whiplashseems vaguely familiar, as if a similar narrative arc has been used to tell a story about a boxer with an emotionally abusive trainer. It seems as though elite music schools are successful because they have faculty like Fletcher who will relentlessly push the students beyond their natural abilities to see if they can reach a higher level of greatness. Fletcher looks and screams like a drill sergeant, ruling his students with extreme levels of fear. One could argue that Fletcher’s motivations are more sincere, as Whiplash strives to form the conductor into a well-rounded individual, showing the extremes of his personality and allowing him to explain his actions.

 

An opening night selection of Sundance Film Festival 2014, and recipient of numerous awards at this year's Sundance Film Festival, writer-director Damien Chazelle's Whiplash also explores the pros and cons of Fletcher’s behavior, existing in a moral grayness that opts to not really take sides. A teacher saying that someone does a “good job” might turn out to be a curse, but where does one draw the line between motivation to do better and psychological torture?

Whiplash was purchased at Sundance Film Festival 2014.

SUNDANCE 2014: R100

A scene from R100.

A L-O(a)de to (en)Joy

By John Esther

Once upon a time, a mild-mannered man named Takafumi (Nao Omori) needed some sexual excitement in his life. His wife was in a coma, so sexual relations in the biblical sense may not have been the most decent thing for him to do. 

Thinking, or feeling, he should just have his sexual needs fulfilled by sadistic, random encounters instead, Takefumi enters into a yearlong contract where dominatrices will appear unexpectedly to humiliate and hurt him until his head comic(book)ally swells -- thus indicating sexual gratification. (It would have been funnier, more subversive and more apropos with the film's conceits if the filmmakers had done that with Takefumi's crotch area instead.)

Unfortunately, for Takafumi, and soon others, these sadistic encounters become increasingly intrusive, degrading and violent. Random encounters move from the public to private sphere -- threatening Takafumi's workplace and home. Soon, Takafumi wants out of the contract, but getting out of the contract has never been an option. But does he really want out? The upping of the sexual ante leads to a bigger payoff.

Certainly not for everybody's viewing pleasures (but what film is?), the latest film from writer-director Hitoshi Matusmoto (Big Man Japan) is a surreal, absurd tale of an everyman combating his sexual desires. The more dangerous the abuse and sex become, the more Takafumi wants it to stop. But the danger is just too erotic to stop. The more the women come after this department store salesman, the more explosions, metaphorically and literally, will be necessary.

Reflecting the absurdity of Takafumi's sexual-cinematic adventure is a metanarrative involving a film ratings board (or is it the film crew?) consisting of three men and one woman watching Takafumi's story. Their bewildering comments about what the viewer (them and us) has seen, suspects, and speculates adds a layer of humor and intelligence to the primary narrative. Their responses to the lack of continuity or reality in the film are amusing, but what is especially amusing is that the male board members are less comfortable with the film's sexual tropes than the female board member -- in particular the first scene with the Gobble Queen (Hairi Katagiri), a metaphor for the all-consuming vagina; or, perhaps, vagina dentata run afoul.

However, when a film goes for this level of absurdity and humor it is bound-ed to have a few, exasperating, or very unfunny, scenes, such as the prolonged ordeal between Saliva Queen (Naomi Watanabe) and Takafumi. Prancing and oral spitting is so limiting. Plus the casting of Lindsay Hayward, AKA professional wrestler Isis the Amazon, as CEO of the bondage company. Casting a six-foot nine-inch blonde American woman in a Japanese film may have added more leverage to film's satire of petite bourgeois sexual desire -- or theory of desire, notably in the relation with the constructions of desire in Occidental imagery -- had Hayward been less cartoonish, or a better actor, than her professionally wrestling persona.

But those are mere drawbacks to one fun film to watch. Director of photography Kazushige Tanaka, costume designer Satoe Araki and composer Hidekazu Sakamoto wonderfully abet the film's atmosphere of sex, violence, dread, desire, humor and whimsy.

 

SUNDANCE 2014: PING PONG SUMMER

Rad Miracle (Marcello Conte) and Teddy (Myles Massey) in Ping Pong Summer.

 

Miracle wimp

 

By John Esther

 

Perhaps the most conventional film screened at this year's Sundance Film Festival, the third feature film from writer-director Michael Tully (Cocaine Angel; Septien) relays an all-too familiar story about a young teenage boy who goes through a transformation during one summer vacation at the beach.

 

Rad Miracle (Marcello Conte) is an awkward 13-year-old boy into rap music, popping and breakdancing. He is not very good at it, but that does not stop him from working his moves on a regular basis. Rad is also not very good at table tennis, but that does not stop him from walking around with a ping pong paddle. Maybe because it matches his red parachute pants?

 

Like every year, Rad, his parents (John Hannah and Lea Thompson), and his "too cool to have fun" older sister, Michelle (Helena May Seabrook), are vacationing at Ocean City, Maryland. Since dad's state trooper budget has been stretched a little thin, the Miracle's accommodations are not as nice as usual. Michelle complains whereas Rad could care less. Rad is so rad.

 

Eager to get out and see the sights, it is not long before Rad meets his summer sidekick, Teddy (Myles Massey); the popular, yet messed up, girl of the neighborhood, Stacy Summers (Emmi Shockley); the rich bully, Lyle Ace (Joseph McCaughtry); and the bully's doting sidekick, Dale (Andy Riddle). Later will come that eccentric mentor who will show Rad the winning ways of table tennis, (SPiN co-owner Susan Sarandon).  

In between and beyond, the story moves along in its predictable manner where Rad and Teddy will fight and then bromance; Stacy will face her dilemma between bad boy Lyle and nice boy Rad before choosing our protagonist; the classic showdown between hero and anti-hero with its comforting conclusion; and even Michelle will learn to crack a smile.

Despite the rudimentary storyline (and awful soundtrack), there are few extraordinary aspects to the film. First is the performance by Andy Riddle, who delivers the film's best lines perfectly (It was reminiscent of Mark Wahlberg in The Departed, yet on a smaller level). Riddle's performance is all the more notable when compared to the other young performers in the film. Then there is Wyatt Garfield's cinematography, which captures the atmosphere of the place and time quite well. Other highlights include a young teenager's seemingly random dive, climb and smile; a hilarious moment from Casey Kasem doing a song dedication; and Sarandon guzzling a big old mug of beer.

Hardly a groundbreaking cinematic experience, Ping Pong Summer is more suited for a springtime home rental than catching it at the theaters.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SUNDANCE 2014: THE DOUBLE

Jessie Eisenberg plays dual roles in The Double.

Simple Simons

By John Esther

Poor, somewhat perverted, Simon (Jessie Eisenberg).  His mother is dying at a disreputable rest home. People harass him on the train to work. The waitress (Cathy Moriarty) at his favorite restaurant gives him sass. His co-workers at a cold data processing center only recognize him when he makes mistakes. And his love life consists of watching, sometimes spying, on his coworker, Hannah (Mia Wasikowska). However, Simon is not all bad; he makes a collection out of Hannah's scraps and he has some good ideas for increasing efficiency at work.

What Simon really needs, or thinks he needs, is to speak to the Colonel (James Fox) via Mr. Papadopoulos (Wallace Shawn).

Imprisoned by his own inertia, Simon's world becomes more complicated with the arrival of James Simon (Eisenberg). A confident, charming young man, James and Simon begin a partnership where James fights for Simon while Simon does James' work, even taking tests for James at work.

However, the partnership is short as James soon works himself into the good graces of Mr. Papadopoulos and into the pants of Hannah. Simon is not so lucky: James' accomplishments are in direct connection to Simon's downfall.

A Spotlight selection at this year's Sundance Film Festival (Spotlight indicates the film previously played somewhere else), director Richard Ayoade (Submarine), screenwriter Avi Korine and production designer David Crank's updated adaptation of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's novella of the same name adds quirky, often very dry humor, to Dostoyevsky's miserable, quasi-existential dread. Alienation does not have to be all nausea, sometimes it deserves a guffaw or two.

FILM REVIEW: AUSTENLAND

A scene from Austenland.

So bore-joy-see

By Don Simpson

The first film I ever saw at the Sundance Film Festival, director and co-writer Jerusha Hess' Austenland might purport to be about becoming so immersed in the world of fiction that we no longer see reality, but in fact it is about making fun of people’s fantasies. The fatefully named Jane (Keri Russell) is a diehard fan of Jane Austen’s. This is supposed to be showcased by the decor of her apartment which resembles that of a 10-year-old girl with an unhealthy fetish for bric-a-brac from 18th century England; instead, it feels like the production design team threw a ton of nonsensical clutter into Jane’s apartment in the guise of being Austen-esque. We are also informed that Jane’s unhealthy obsession with Austen has hindered her relationships. Her dream man, Mr. Darcy, does not actually exist, so Jane will always be disappointed in whomever she dates.

Rather than accepting reality, Jane runs off to vacation at Austenland, a hyper-dramatized recreation of Austen’s literary universe, complete with actors who are charged with the task making the female guests’ Austen-esque romantic fantasies come to orgasmic fruition. Jane is joined in the Austen motherland by two other women from the former colonies — Miss Charming (Jennifer Coolidge) and Lady Heartright (Georgia King) — who are embarrassing caricatures of American tourists in England and whose motives seem much less innocent than Jane’s.

The three women are expected to compete for the attention of two men, Mr. Nobley (JJ Feild) and Colonel Andrews (James Callis) yet Jane’s attention quickly turns to a man of a much lower class, Martin (Bret McKenzie). This is where things get confusing for Jane — and us — because she also develops a rocky, love-hate relationship with Mr. Nobley; and so the entire third act of Austenland is committed to keeping everyone confused about Jane’s true feelings.

There might be a great movie idea somewhere deep inside of Austenland, but it is totally smothered by so much over-baked cheesiness. Parts of Austenland are just too ridiculous for me to stomach. Ludicrousness is confused with comedy, and plot is eschewed in favor of nonsense. Austenlandturns into an embarrassing mockery of all things Austen, when instead it could have learned a lot from Austen’s toned down approach to romance and melodrama.

FILM REVIEW: UPSTREAM COLOR

Jeff (Shane Carruth) and Kris (Amy Seimetz) in Upstream Color.

Much ado about something

By Don Simpson

Writer-director Shane Carruth's Upstream Color is a fully immersing experience that questions the way in which we perceive the world. A head trip of sound and vision, the meanings and intentions of Upstream Color are impossibly oblique. There is only one thing that is for certain -- there is nothing absolute about Upstream Color, so what follows are merely my interpretations of the on-screen events.

Our transcendental journey begins at a nursery where pale, maggot-like insects are collected from the soil of orchids. The insects are carefully separated and dropped into jars depending on whether they are healthy or dead. Presumably bearing psychotropic characteristics, the healthy insects are soaked in a liquid which is then willingly consumed by a group of young test subjects. While under the powerful influence of the insects, the test subjects showcase superhuman reflexes and powers of mental telepathy.

What appears to be a research study is then escalated to the direct consumption of the insects. One such test subject, Kris (Amy Seimetz), is force-fed the creepy crawly insect by a kidnapper (Thiago Martins). The strange psychotropic qualities of the insect place Kris under a hypnotic haze which can be controlled by the kidnapper. When Kris finally becomes conscious again, she is left poor and jobless, suffering from PTSD.

Kris eventually meets Jeff (Carruth), with whom she seems to share a unique kinship. They both try to decipher their blurry pasts, slowly fitting the puzzle pieces of their memories together. Henry David Thoreau's Walden serves as the cornerstone of Kris' memories and an existential key for both of them.

Parallel to the story of Kris and Jeff is the tale of a rancher (Andrew Sensenig) whose pigs begin to develop strange qualities. This mysterious man is also somehow connected to the insect research and is seemingly able to transport himself -- via energy from his pigs -- like a ghost into the worlds of the unknowing subjects of the research. Presumably their memorization of Walden eventually leads the test subjects to this man's farm, where they learn to work collectively for the good of their community. Or something like that...

Upstream Color begs to be compared and contrasted with Thoreau's Walden. Both narratives evolve into social experiments, though they seem to have different opinions on individualism versus collectivism. Additionally, both stories revolve around the human connection with nature. Also the shedding of wealth and possessions to free oneself plays a major role in both Upstream Color and Walden, although in the former it is not by choice. Carruth's film also echoes the concepts of Buddhism, discussing the cycle of life and the inter-connectivity of all living creatures. Then, on another plane of existence, Upstream Color tells the story of the psychological turmoil resulting from a kidnapping and the overcoming of the resulting crippling stress and paranoia.

Functioning as writer, director, producer, actor, cinematographer, composer, and editor, Carruth is the epitome of the modern day auteur. No matter how confusing and frustrating Upstream Color may be, there is no denying the amazingly singular artistic vision that produced this film. Echoing the godlike control that is held over the film's test subjects, Carruth is the grand creator and chief inquisitor of this uniquely cinematic world.

SF INDIEFEST 2013: SIGHTSEERS

Tina (Alice Lowe) in Sightseers.

Edgy comedy

By Don Simpson

Chris (Steve Oram) and Tina (Alice Lowe) have only been dating for a few months when Chris suggests that they drive across the rolling countryside of Britain for a week-long vacation. Chris wants to show Tina his “world,” which basically means taking her to various sites of historical significance that he holds dear to his heart. The trip will also whisk Tina away from her emotionally manipulative mother (Eileen Davies), who has kept Tina from doing much of anything with her life.

It is not long after they hitch up Chris’ Abbey Oxford Caravan and hit the road that their getaway takes on other connotations. It quickly becomes apparent that Chris has anger management issues, and Tina’s mental state is no less fragile. The claustrophobic space inside the caravan serves as a boiling pot for their emotions; either one of them can snap at any time.

Ben Wheatley’s Sightseershumorously observes masculine and feminine aggression, sticking with (and possibly satirizing) the gender stereotypes of men being overly-methodical and women being overly-emotional. Violence for each of the characters is triggered and unleashed much differently, and they both rationalize their violent acts in different ways as well. Whether it is purposeful or not, Wheatley’s film becomes an intriguing -- and comical -- social commentary on aggression; yet, simultaneously, the violence is totally rationalized by the characters’ irrationality. So by making the characters “crazy,” this differentiates them from “normal” society and fully explains their abnormal behavior. That, of course, also makes the violence much easier for us — the audience — to laugh at without any pesky moral dilemmas to burden us with guilt.

SUNDANCE 2013: THE NECESSARY DEATH OF CHARLIE COUNTRYMAN

Charlie (Shia Lebeouf) and Gabi (Evan Rachel Wood) in The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman.

Romance in Romania

By John Esther

Drugged and melancholic, Charlie Countryman (Shia LeBeouf), receives advice from his recently departed mother (Melissa Leo) that he should leave Chicago and go and visit Bucharest (she meant Budapest).

 

Upon arrival in Romania's capital, Charlie is thrust into a romantic adventure in a foreign land. Charlie meets the love of his life, Gabi (Evan Rachel Wood).  In mourning, the cellist in the local symphony happens to be fluent in English, and would be perfect, except her estranged husband, Nigel (Mads Mikkelsen), a ruthless mobster, still wants her. Nigel also wants a highly incriminating tape floating around.

Directed by Frederik Bond, written by Matt Drake, narrated by John Hurt and consisting of a score composed by Moby, The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman has its moments, but essentially it is a sheepishly Hollywood film in indie clothing.

The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman builds itself up as some edgy, gritty love story where our hero, we are told, will die. Charlie keeps getting pummelled, chased by both cops and mobsters, before being shot at point blank range yet love conquers all. If Charlie had actually died for love that would have been made the film slightly subversive, but that is not, necessarily, the case. In fact, the film sets itself for a sequel as one very bad villain remains alive.  LeBeouf in another franchise?

SUNDANCE 2013: THE FUTURE

Maciste (Rutger Hauer) in The Future.

Looking ahead

By Don Simpson

The Future (Il Futuro) had me at the opening homage to Stanley Kubrick's The Shining, with a yellow Fiat taking the place of the iconic Volkswagen Beetle. As it turns out, that Fiat is the very vessel in which Bianca (Manuela Martelli) and Tomas' (Luigi Ciardo) parents die, leaving Bianca and Tomas to manage their
home in Rome.

Bianca is old enough to become Tomas' guardian and they are able to get money from their father's trust while their mother's funds are inexplicably tied up. Bianca is still forced to find a job to supplement the trust funds and Tomas willingly volunteers at the gym in exchange for being able to work out there. It is at the gym that Tomas meets two strange friends (Nicolas Vaporidis, Alessandro Giallocosta). Soon Bianca and Tomas are entwined in a risky scheme that involves a former Mr. Universe-cum-actor who goes by the name of his most famous character, Maciste (Rutger Hauer).

As Chilean director Alicia Scherson's title soon suggests, Bianca and Tomas' present is quite grim; it is only their future that holds promise. The Future exists in a surreal fugue state in which strange events are explained by the siblings' damaged psychological state after their parents' catastrophic accident. Time has become blurred and they see things much differently -- bright lights blast through their windows all night long and their parents' crushed yellow Fiat is now grey.

SUNDANCE 2013: THE STUART HALL PROJECT

Stuart Hall in The Stuart Hall Project.

Left behind

By Don Simpson

I am not quite sure how I did not know of Stuart Hall's work until John Akonfrah's documentary, The Stuart Hall Project. As it turns out, the Jamaican-born, Oxford-educated cultural theorist is one of the founding figures in British Cultural Studies and co-founder of New Left Review. Hall was very involved in introducing discussions of class, race and gender into the realms of Media Studies and Cinema Studies. Hall was fascinated by the complexity of identity, and the notions of cultural acceptance and assimilation of immigrants and minorities.

This is precisely why I am shocked that I have never heard of him, because I consider myself to be fairly well-versed in British Cultural Studies and the New Left movement. So, you might say that the most important thing that I learned anything from The Stuart Hall Project is that I have a lot more learning to do.

Akonfrah impressively assembles an entire film about Hall utilizing only archival footage. Other than occasional inter-titles, there is nary a directorial stamp in this documentary. Most of the film is comprised of television interviews with Hall, allowing him to essentially serve as the narrator. We listen to Hall's various theories on race, class, gender and culture while observing relevant b-roll
footage. Consuming all of this footage decades after it was originally recorded opens the subject up to a more unbiased interpretation by the audience.

Other than an overtly reverential conclusion, The Stuart Hall Project respectfully avoids telling us what to think about Hall's theories and opinions; instead, we
are able to take in the information through our own lens in the present. Additionally, since Hall's favorite musician is Miles Davis, Akonfrah cleverly uses tracks from Davis's long and varied career to set the mood and tone for the images. It's quite an effective soundtrack that only falters on the rare occasions that Akonfrah confusingly uses filler music that has absolutely nothing to do with Davis.

SUNDANCE 2013: BLACK METAL

Ian (Jonny Mars) in Black Metal

Murder and music

By Don Simpson

While on stage, Ian (Jonny Mars) dons creepy corpse paint as the lead singer of a black metal band; otherwise, he is just a normal, thirty-something husband to Rose (Heather Kafka) and father to Lily (Addisyn Stevenson). Like most performers, Ian's stage persona is merely a fictional character and he does his best to keep the two distinct personalities of his Jekyll and Hyde lifestyle quite separate.

On the fateful night that we meet Ian, it is revealed that one of his fans has murdered a high school teacher and tagged the crime scene with the logo of Ian's band. Ian instantly faces the hateful disdain of the media and surrounding community. Like any normal human being, he wrestles with the guilt and blame associated with the murder.

Mars plays the lead singer of the black metal band with blood-curdling authenticity, while also being incredibly tender and empathetic as a loving family man. In other words, Mars goes from being someone I would not want to run across in a dark alley to someone I would love to have as a close friend. Ian is sculpted into a real person, thus putting a human face on the discussion about the entertainment industry's role in perpetuating violence. Not to get all meta on you, but Mars' performance in Black Metal serves as a reminder that the members of black metal bands are merely acting a part -- this is something that rabid black metal fans should keep in mind when worshiping the fictional stage personas of their pale-faced heroes.

Writer-director Kat Candler's Black Metal comes from the rarely portrayed perspective of an artist who is blamed by proxy for a murder. Regardless, Black Metal does not take sides, the film prompts many of the right questions while purposefully leaving them all unanswered. Of course, with only a nine-minute running time, Black Metal does not have the time to delve deeper into the issues; instead, Black Metal plays like a succinctly edited teaser for a feature-length film that leaves us wanting a whole lot more.

SUNDANCE 2013: BLUE CAPRICE

John (Isaiah Washington) in Blue Caprice.

System of a dad down

By John Esther

Inspired by the Beltway sniper attacks of October, 2002, writer-director Alexandre Moor's feature debut premiered at the Sundance Film Festival Saturday night.

Lee (Tequan Richmond) is a teenage boy living on the Antigua Islands by himself. Abandoned, he is drawn to John (Isaiah Washington), a father of three young children. After saving Lee's life, John takes Lee under his wings, providing the father figure Lee never had. After John's three children return to his mother, Lee fills a void for John, too.

Months later John and Lee arrive in John's hometown of Washington, USA, in search of John's kids. It turns out, there is a restraining order on John. He is not to contact his wife or kids.

Refusing to take responsibility for his numerous shortcomings, John gets it into his head that the whole system is against him. But since it is a system built on a house of cards, it needs a push if father and son want to see the whole thing come tumbling down. John needs Lee's help to give it that little push. Push comes to blood.

Stranded in a foreign land without resources, the already vulnerable Lee sees no other option than to help his father go on a vicious murdering spree. Typical to character, John makes sure Lee does the real dirty work.

A solid debut featuring strong acting, Blue Caprice delves into America's familiar consequences when insecurity, anger and high profile weapons come together.

In the wake of the numerous acts of violence, it is interesting to note that Blue Caprice does not attribute the violence to big guns and mental illness. John and Lee are essentially a couple of losers.

That they are black is also besides the point. This is never about getting revenge for 400 years of slavery. John simply fantasizes that this type of violence would make a difference.

Ten years later, the Beltway sniper spree did not change the system.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: SUSANNE BIER

In a Better World director Susanne Bier.

Senseless and sensitivity

By John Esther

Another intense family drama by the director behind Open Hearts, Brothers, After the Wedding and Things We Lost in the Fire, the latest film by Susanne Bier, In a Better World, examines the various levels of tolerance some people will accept before retaliating.

Anton (Mikael Persbrandt) is a doctor working in an African desert camp where girls are often brought in after being cut open by a local warlord named Big Man (Odiege Matthew in a role he seems born to play).

Back home in Denmark, Anton's estranged wife, Marianne (Trine Dyrholm), is trying to raise their son, Elias (Markus Rygaard), a socially misfit kid who gets into a heap of trouble after befriending the new boy in town, Christian (William Jørgennsen), a bitter boy with a chip on his shoulder called Dad (Ulrich Thomsen).

When a plan of attack goes dreadfully awry -- although it could have been much worse -- it becomes clear that mother, father, husband, wife and son need to learn the value of forgiveness in a world riddled with revenge.

Days before In a Better World won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film (Denmark) I met up with the Danish director in Beverly Hills. As she moved around on the slippery couch quite a bit, we talked about her latest film.

JEsther Entertainment: Why did you want to make this film, tell these stories?
Susanne Bier: Because I thought it was interesting. I thought the whole thing about revenge and forgiveness seemed like something which sort of creeps upon us in our vocabulary. It's about time to make a movie that dealt with those kinds of things.

JE: Do you think there is a greater thirst for revenge now than in the past? SB: There's a greater acceptance of revenge as a notion. If you look back the past five or six years the notion has become an accepted term.

JE: Worldwide? In particular places?
SB: In the Western World, yes. It's very hard for me to say what it's like in Asia.

JE: What kind of political intentions did you have behind making In a Better World?
SB: I don’t think I had political intentions. I had intentions dealing with ethic or moral issues. I very consciously did not deal with political things. This film deals with moral issues: the whole issue of revenge and forgiveness; the whole notion of violence and non-violence; and the whole ideal about being a decent human being and what that implies. I didn’t want to set it in a definite political context or religious context either. That way we could keep the universality of the moral issues.

JE: Do you think Anton has the right response in these situations, incidences where people are seeking revenge?
SB: I don’t think he has a correct or non-correct response. He's trying hard to remain stoic upon what he believes is right and, like all of us, at some point he has a breaking point. His breaking point is an interesting point because that's where you as an audience feel, "Oh great, we got rid of this guy. We don’t want Big Man to go around doing the sort of atrocities we know he's going to be doing. Once he's well he's going to go out and cut up stomachs of small pregnant girls." You don’t want him to be able to do that so there's a strange sense of relief at the same time you clearly realize Anton is feeling defeated.

JE: Big Man's death is a self-defense mechanism for the "girls of the future."
SB: You can say that. I'm not sure that's the correct mechanics, but you can say that.

JE: How do you deal with your thirsts for revenge? How do you negotiate that energy into something else?
SB: The way we feel offended in everyday life and the way we want to deal with feeling offended is usually pretty easy to deal with. Unless you've been exposed to real atrocities, it's hard to predict your capability to deal with them. As a general rule I do believe in forgiveness. All adult human beings know that the spiral of revenge is terribly tragic.

JE: A lot of your films deal with tragedy. Is there a reason why you are drawn to characters with intense internal conflicts that manifest themselves outward?
SB: My movies are dramatic movies. If you look at great dramas, they are pretty violent, pretty powerful. There's been a particularly European tradition of being withheld and sort of subdued by your scale of dramatic expression and I don’t really believe in that. I actually believe in telling the stories with a lot of emotion. You're probably much more capable of reaching an audience if you feel you've got an important story or if you feel you have something in your heart which you think is important to convey.

JE: Do you see your films as a response to the lack of intensity in European drama?
SB: You don’t make sort of intense movies because you think other movies are boring. You make movies because you think this particular story is right. When I get the criticism of my movies being incredibly dramatic, I kind of go, "Yes, great. Thank you," even if it's not meant that way. I actually happen to think it's great.

JE: I was not posing it as a criticism –
SB: No, I know you were not.

JE: Do people actually criticize your films for being too dramatic?
SB: Actually it's interesting here, because I'm Danish, my movies are sort of "art house." In Europe I'm so mainstream, that I'm not entirely accepted among certain movie circles in Europe. I'm quite pleased with that. I mean, if you think moviemaking is about talking to two people in a very sophisticated cinema, far away from everything, be my guest. I just don’t believe it. I actually believe in making accessible movies with real content.

JE: Now that you say that, when I was at Sundance in January (where In a Better World screened), I was sitting around with a few Scandinavian filmmakers and there was a surprisingly intense debate over your films.
SB: Yeah.

JE: What do you think about the film's Oscar nomination?
SB: I'm very happy. I'm very proud. I get to wear a long dress.

JE: Do you think the Oscars usually get it right with the winners?
SB: Nobody gets it right always. I do tend to like the Oscar movies.

JE: They are usually dramas.
SB: [Laughs]. Yeah. Sometimes certain comedic performances do not get appreciated because they are comedic performances. And those can be the most difficult to put out. So tell me about this Sundance Scandinavian discussion. I think that's very interesting.

JE: Some thought you were too commercial. They thought your Oscar nomination came through name recognition since you had done Things We Lost in the Fire (with Halle Berry) and Brothers was adapted into English (withTobey Maguire). Others did not see how being commercial was a bad thing. And how could your films be so commercial since they were so intense? There were fans for Sweden's Simple Simon, which did not make the cut.
SB: Okay.

JE: You are also one of the few female filmmakers consistently working. Do you see progress for women trying to make it in this business?
SB: It's probably a bit easier, but society still places a big emphasis on women having to choose between their careers and having children. Society should change that. It's a huge pressure on younger women.

JE: Lastly, what do you think of these interviews where you discuss yourself and your work? Does it serve the film? Should the work speak for itself?
SB: That's a very theoretical question. Yes, I would prefer for my work to speak for itself, but that's not the reality. The reality is that I need to generate interest. If you are serious about your work, this is just as an important part as shooting the film.

JE: Do you read interviews with other directors?
SB: Sometimes. In Europe, particularly, directors can be very pretentious. That doesn’t make me terribly keen to see a film. I'm very sensitive to the education of a particular project. If I read a director, and the director seems sincerely dedicated, it is going to make me interested.