Apologies

Hello readers, I have to apologize for the complete lack of updates for the past week and a half. The reason is, I am in the south of France right now, on a brief vacation. I had the amazing fortune of being in Cannes for the tail end of the festival, and while I didn't get to see any films, I got to attend an awards ceremony and meet quite a few people in the industry. The spectacle is truly incredible. Anyways, I will be back and blogging in full force in about one week, so please don't think of this blog as finished, it is far from it. In the meantime, I hope you will explore some of the posts and reviews on the blog that you haven't yet read. It's quite hard to get internet in the small town I am currently in, so bear with me.

Thank you so much for reading, I really appreciate it!

The Guard From Underground (Kurosawa, 1992)

Much has been made of the connection between this early work from Kiyoshi Kurosawa and the American slasher films of the late 70’s and early 80’s. He himself has referred to this film as an homage of sorts to that particular brand of cinema (the primary influences here are Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and John Carpenter’s Halloween), and there are obvious parallels to be found. In the great slasher tradition, the killer is a hulking, almost invincible menace that seems to be everywhere at once, and there are a few creative death scenes (though they are fairly bloodless affairs). Kurosawa even throws in a wonderful visual reference to Hooper’s influential film. And yet, despite the abundance of similarities, I hesitate to refer to this as a slasher film. In fact, most fans of slasher cinema would probably hate The Guard From Underground.

Kurosawa’s film feels somewhat antithetical to the slasher genre, if not in terms of plot, then at least in terms of mood. The narrative is extremely slow, and the true slasher elements don’t really surface until the film’s latter half. The plot follows Akiko, a young woman who has just joined the newly formed Department 12 at the Akebono Corporation. Her first day at the corporation, just so happens to be new security guard Fujimaru’s first day as well, which is unfortunate, as he is a mentally deranged ex-sumo wrestler who was previously tried for the murder of a fellow wrestler and his lover.

In many ways, I consider The Guard From Underground a perverse comedy more so than a slasher film. The film focuses on a group of employees of the Akebono Corporation who never seem to be doing any real work. The head of Human Resources at the corporation, Hyodo, sleeps more than he works, and even though he does almost nothing all day, he still refuses to take most calls. And yet, everyone always seems to be putting in overtime. In one of the film’s funniest scenes, two characters, both fleeing from the killer, run into each other in a hallway. Surprised, one says to the other, “you’re working overtime tonight?” Beneath its slasher film exterior, Kurosawa’s film reveals itself to be a surreal portrait of corporate Japan and office politics, extremely funny in an eccentric, offhanded way.

Lest I give the wrong impression, it must be said that The Guard From Underground isn’t a great film. By most accounts, it isn’t even a good film. Shot on a shoestring budget, taking place in only a few rooms, and built upon an admittedly thin screenplay, the film will probably bore most. Yet, there is something intangibly fascinating about this work, which I am sure has to do primarily with the fact that it provides a glimpse of Kurosawa’s emerging style. Everything that has marked his later, superior work, is here in larval form, from the detached, languid visual style, to the palpable sense of dread, to the quick bursts of brutality, and of course the bizarre sense of humor that flows beneath the surface (for further evidence of humor in Kurosawa's work, watch Charisma and Doppelgänger). Although this is one of Kurosawa’s earlier works, it isn’t a recommended entry point into his oeuvre. However, for those more familiar with the director’s unique brand of cinema, there is much to enjoy here.

Cannes 2007: The Coen Bros. Are Back!

After the disappointment of their last two films, Intolerable Cruelty and The Ladykillers, it looked as if the once infallible Coen Brothers were running out of creative steam, but the early word out of Cannes is that their latest film, No Country For Old Men, based on a novel by Cormac McCarthy, is fantastic, if not a masterpiece. Every review for the film has been positive, with some calling it possibly their best work ever. Although festival reviews tend towards hyperbole, this is certainly encouraging. The film, one of my most anticipated of the year, is slated for a November 21 release, just in time for the awards season.

Reviews & Reactions:
Variety
Hollywood Elsewhere
The Independent
The Hollywood Reporter
Screen Daily
Premiere
Time

Defending Your Life (Brooks, 1991)

What happens to us when we die? This fundamental question provides the premise for Defending Your Life, a premise that seems perfectly attuned to writer/director Albert Brooks's particular brand of intelligent comedy. According to him, we are put on a trial of sorts, where it is determined whether we move on to the next world, or get sent back to earth to be reborn. Yet although the film is certainly entertaining, it also represents a missed opportunity of sorts.

In this case, Brooks's intelligence is to fault. If the film never quite realizes its full comedic potential, it is primarily because Brooks is so preoccupied with creating a fully formed vision of the afterlife, complete with its own interesting philosophical system, and peppered with a raft of entertaining details and visual gags (the pavilion of past lives is particularly enjoyable), that he forgets to put equal effort into the films plotting and dialogue. The result is a comedy that elicits many smiles, but hardly any big laughs.

Brooks's prior film, the hilarious Lost In America, succeeded primarily because of his way with conversation, his ability to write hilarious exchanges. Here, the dialogue is occasionally good, but too often, conversations feel uninspired, like filler, and while the actors give it their all (particularly Meryl Streep and Rip Torn), Defending Your Life ends up feeling extremely light. It runs 20 minutes longer than Lost In America, but manages to feels less substantive. Yet, although it never quite reaches the admittedly lofty comedic heights of that former film, the intelligence and clever minutiae of Defending Your Life make it an enjoyable way to spend two hours.

Cinderella Liberty (Rydell, 1973)

Both the subject matter (the life of a navy man) and the pedigree (the screenplay is an adaptation by Darryl Ponicsan, from his own novel) of director Mark Rydell's film had me expecting something akin to Hal Ashby's The Last Detail (also based on a Ponicsan novel). The reality is that Cinderella Liberty is a far different, far more conventional type of film, and a lesser one as well. Gone are the latter film's enjoyably salty sailor speak and grittiness. In their place we get an attempt at realism and grit that ends up feeling far too manufactured and syrupy to be convincing. And James Caan's lonely sailor with a heart of gold is probably as far from the real world as one can get. And yet, thanks to the strong performances from Caan and especially Marsha Mason, (as the prostitute/single mother Caan's sailor falls in love with) the film merits a look. Both of them imbue their characters with a charm and likability that is hard to fault. However, this isn't the place to look for complex emotion and characterization. Rydell has crafted a film that functions predominantly to tug at the heartstrings, which isn't necessarily a terrible thing. Although in this case, since we have been so inundated with films of this type the formula is exceedingly easy to recognize. As a result, this early 70's effort feels less aligned with the daring cinema of the "New Hollywood" era than with the clichéd product Hollywood churned out so frequently in the 80's.

The Trailer Compendium: Vol. 6

The 60th Cannes Film Festival kicked off on Wednesday, and in celebration, I present to you three films that have played at past festivals. Lindsay Anderson's if... won the Palme d'Or in 1969. The Strawberry Statement won the Prix du Jury in 1970, although that year, half of the jury felt the film deserved the Palme d'Or. And finally, proving the statement that the most interesting films aren't always the winners, Dennis Hopper's Out of the Blue was nominated for the Palme d'Or in 1980, and although it is mostly forgotten today, it remains one of the best examinations of the punk ethos. So, happy 60th Cannes! Enjoy!

if... (1968):


The Strawberry Statement (1970):


Out Of The Blue (1980):

Cannes 2007: Hark + Lam + To = Triangle

When multiple directors are involved with one project, the result is usually an anthology film, with each director contributing a self-contained narrative. Thus, the central conceit of Triangle, having three directors tackle separate thirds of the same narrative, is already fascinating. When those three directors happen to be Tsui Hark, Ringo Lam, and arguably the best Asian director working today, Johnnie To, Triangle moves from being fascinating to being a must-see. Here is a plot synopsis from distributor Celluloid Dreams:

"Life has not been kind to drinking buddies Sam, Fai, and Mok as they struggle to make ends meet. That is until one stormy evening a mysterious old man appears before them in a bar with a 'get rich quick' scheme: An ancient treasure is buried under a high-security Government Building. All they have to do is slip in and retrieve it, if they believe his story.

The friends agree to make a run for the treasure and test their fate but what they uncover is far beyond anything they had dreamt of: An ancient coffin containing a ceremonial robe made of gold. According to Mok, who deals antiques, the robe is worth millions. The thought of getting rich puts the men's friendship to the ultimate test as all three are plagued with uncontrollable thoughts of greed.

The treasure, however, also attracts the attention of Ling, whose marriage to Sam is on the verge of collapse, and who plans to steal the robe and run away with her secret lover. Gangsters from the mainland are also hot on their heels. It seems that everybody wants to get their hands on the treasure. Whoever has the strength and outright determination to survive this struggle will become the owner. Between survival, wealth and friendship, Sam, Fai and Mok will ultimately have to make a choice…

The first film ever to be shot in the style of the game 'exquisite corpse' with the three undisputed masters of Hong Kong cinema."


Triangle will have its premiere "out of competition" at the Cannes Film Festival. Currently, there is no trailer out, but when one surfaces I will post it here.

For a taste of what these three can do within the confines of the crime genre, check out Hark's excessively stylish Time and Tide, Lam's iconic City on Fire, and just about anything To has done in the past ten years (but especially The Mission, Election and Election II).

More stills @ Celluloid Dreams (click on "Triangle", and then "downloads")