Recent Posts
September 27th 2009 09:42
Angel (David Boreanaz) represents a visually updated version of the classic vampire image associated with Dracula, that of the 19th century dandy as popularized by Hollywood. He looks as impeccable as if he just stepped out of a Hugo Boss commercial. Albert Camus writing on the figure of dandy as a rebel could be describing Angel: Exquisite sensibilities evoke the elementary furies of the beast. The Byronic hero, incapable of love, or capable only of an impossible love, suffers endlessly. He is solitary, languid, his condition exhausts him. Thus we enter the classical, brooding realm of goth iconography, which in a vampire fantasy genre is only to be expected. Angels image is that of a fallen, well, angel: tall, dark, handsome and vulnerable, because of the fact that he is a vampire, yet possesses a soul.
David Boreanaz as Angel: What a poster child for soulfullness you are (Darla in Angel 2.5, Dear Boy)
According to Alicia Porter, a member of the subculture, The stereotypical Goth never smiles and always broods. Surrounded by an aura of impending gloom, sadness and mystery, Angel appropriately wears timeless sleek black, simple and sexy, with a hint of European old-world feel. He is the quintessential tortured (super)hero on a moral mission of redemption and is represented as character with depth, prone to existential musings and associated with intellect and beauty. His reading includes Sartres Nausea in French and most of his time is spent on an internal struggle with his demon nature and the pursuit of good and humanity. He has access to ancient secret knowledge and experiences that fascinate the teenage Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar), who tells him: When you kiss me I wanna die (2.5, Reptile boy), verbalizing the transgressive sexual desire provoked by the vampire, linked to the death wish. Buffys vampires transcend the debt owed to the imaginary world of Anne Rice and her Vampire Chronicles, as they are sexual beings in all the traditional ways as well.
Angel spent a lot of his time on Buffy quite...shirtless. Kinky much?
Angel is portrayed as the doom and gloom type of goth, who tends to be focused on morbid, depressing or apocalyptic themes. In order to mock his pervasive attitude Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter) does an impression of him by sitting in his chair, getting a book and brooding: Oh no, I cant do anything fun tonight, I have to count my past sins, then alphabetize them. Oh, by the way, Im thinking of snapping on Friday (Angel 2.6). This constructed image of Angel is explored in-depth and reflexively toyed with in Buffys spin off series, Angel. In Guise will be Guise (2.6) the swami to whom Angel reaches out for advice analyzes the heros immaculate image through his car, a slick black chick magnet convertible with a personalized license plate that says Irony. He concludes that appearances are important to the self-loathing Angel, who finally admits: Well, maybe my persona is a little affected. His pretentious and narcissistic wooden-faced manner and lack of an apparent sense of humour are openly mocked, as is his sense of dress. Angels lame explanations that he dresses all in black, so he doesnt have to worry about matching, which helps because he doesnt have a reflection, are dismissed as a pose.
The series updates the iconic black cape of the vampire to a long black detective coat: Love the coat, its all about the coat explains the mind-reading demon Lorne (Andy Hallett). Even the down-to-earth Doyle (Glenn Quinn) admits he is strangely attracted to the way that coat tends to float behind Angel (A1.4). This concept is interpreted literally in Judgement (A2.1) through humorous visual discrepancy, which results from the inversion of established character roles: when Wesley (Alexis Denisof) puts Angels coat on in an emergency, while pretending to be him, he adopts his whole image. Bafflingly, he gains all the superhero powers and attributes, including an aura of mystery, the ability to scare off enemies by sheer force of gaze and reputation, his fighting skills improve like magic and he even manages to romance a damsel in distress. When Wesley utters the archetypal hero line: Release her or die, the surprised Angel weakly tries to claim his identity back: Dont I say that? Wesley, can I please have my coat back? The tongue-in-cheek fun culminates in Angel being called an eunuch by the episodes villain.
Angelus, Angel's evil yet charismatic alter ego
Both series explore Angels history both as a human being and a vampire. His soulless vampire version, Angelus, is presented as darker, more charismatic, frightening and transgressive than his mellower incarnation. Angel confides in Buffy: For a hundred years I offered an ugly death to everyone I met and I did it with a song in my heart
no conscience, no remorse, its an easy way to live. Youve no idea what its like to have done the things Ive done and to care. I can walk like a man, but I am not one (1.7, Angel). Angelus does not care, has more fun and arouses even more interest and excitement as a character: according to Giles, since Angel lost his soul, hes regained his sense of whimsy (2.17, Passion). Angelus tone is mocking and he laughs a lot in a drastic change from the stone-faced, tormented Angel. A ruthless, self-centered narcissist, he displays no trace of humanity, leading a degenerate existence in pursuit of ever more refined dark pleasures, which is reflected by a more flashy and exuberant fashion sense. His style is effortless and much less of a conscious preoccupation: he simply puts on the black leather pants with their fetish/bondage connotations, which Angel seems to save for special occasions.
Liam the Irish rogue soon to become Angelus
We are informed that before becoming Angelus, The Scourge of Europe, young Liam, a tall and dark Irish rogue born in the early 1700s, was a worthless being, a drunken, whoring layabout and a disappointment to his parents (A3.32, Amends). Darla (Julie Benz) sired him, choosing an attractive scoundrel as her mate for his beauty and intellectual inferiority. Like Lord Ruthven, the hero of Dr. John William Polidoris The Vampyre (1819), based on Lord George Byron, Angelus evolves as a vampire, taking a subtly perverse pleasure in tormenting those close to him. He is the Fatal Man, an archetypal anti-hero from the Gothic romance school of literature.
Angelus exhibits disdain for authority as exemplified in his early confrontation in 1760 London with the Master (Hans Teuscher), the oldest ruling vampire of Buffyverse and the sire of Darla. Mystical religious missions bore Angelus. He considers himself aesthetically superior to the Master, a red eyed Nosferatu with a penchant for mannered theatricality, and convinces Darla to leave with him with the following argument: Tell the truth, whose face do you want to look at for all eternity, his or mine? (A2.5). Angelus is a hedonist and leads a reckless high life among humans with Darla, leaving a bloody trace of bodies wherever they go. As Cordelia sums it up: Imagine Bonnie and Clyde if they had 150 years to get it right (A2.5). Becoming a part of the vampire elite infuses his style of assured confidence, exemplifying a typically subcultural attitude rooted in the conviction of his superiority over the rest of the human race.
Julie Benz as the seductive and cruel Darla
Darla is set on survival and remains loyal primarily to herself, although frivolous fun and pleasure are a priority as well, foremost the exhilarating chase, the central part of her transgressive lifestyle with Angelus, whom she treats as her stallion, an alpha male toy. She is a professional seductress, and embodies experience in an innocent looking body, making an incongruous whole: to Buffy that hair on top of that outfit is the saddest thing in the world (1.7). Manipulative and perfidious, she evokes a high-class courtesan, whose purpose is to play the game and win. As Angelus sire, she has power over him both as a mother and a lover, subverting the conventional notion of family relations. Their vampire sex is shown to be controversially transgressive: it is performed with vampfaces on, and includes biting and sucking each others blood (A2.4, Untouched). As a subcultural practice, goth has been defined in terms of sexual subversions and in opposition to taboos relating to perverse sexual practices, such as sadomasochism, fetishism and bondage, which are implicitly present in all vampire relationships in Buffyverse.
In Angel Darla is revealed to be a feminist as well: Cant a woman wreak a little havoc without there being a man involved? (A2.11, Redefinition). It is Darla who discovers Drusilla (Juliet Landau) and points her out to Angelus, who lacks the sophistication and brains that Darla possesses (2.5). They have to find new ways to amuse themselves throughout eternity and Drusilla becomes their next pet project. Angelus takes delight in corrupting innocent young women by first tormenting them to insanity. He turns Drusilla into a vampire when shes about to take her vows in a convent: Convents theyre just big cookie jars (A2.5, Dear Boy) and thus irresistible to Angelus. The sweet, pure, chaste Drusilla becomes his obsession (2.7, Lie to Me). She is an exceptionally alluring victim because of her fragility, innocence and unique psychic abilities, which add another dimension to her terror at the fate that awaits her and her family. She is turned into a vampire to make her torment last throughout eternity and she subsequently takes revenge for it on Angel, who unlike Angelus is able to suffer in remorse, by chaining him to a bed and burning his exposed torso with holy water (2.9, Whats my line p.1), one of many implicitly kinky rituals depicted on the show.
Spike (James Marsters) and Drusilla (Juliet Landau) complete Angelus' vampire family
Spike (James Marsters) is in turn sired by Drusilla, who was lonely and simply followed Darlas suggestion for making herself a mate: You could just take the first drooling idiot that comes along (A2.7, Darla). Angelus is the typical alpha male leader of this newly created vampire family. After regaining his demon self when Angel loses his soul, he immediately returns to the clan to challenge Spikes status and easily reclaims his primary position and Drusillas affections (2.16). The Gothic romance interrelationships in their vampire family contain Byronic allusions of illicit passions, incest, tormenting loved ones, struggle for domination and power between strong individuals of extreme physical beauty and desirability: appearances are important to vampires, as they need to be known and recognized, especially by their victims.
The Fanged Four wreaking havoc
After regaining his soul Angel wandered for a century seeking Darla and a way to return to his vampire family. He desperately wanted to recover his status and belong to the group again, but could not prove himself as a vampire and became an outcast in both the human and the vampire worlds. He never lost his style though: when the demon Whistler (Max Perlich) offered to help in adjusting to the soul situation, Angels response was: I want to learn from you, but I dont wanna dress like you (2.21, Becoming Part 1).
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER: Vampire Hip Part 3 Spike (Coming Soon)
Article by Patricia Bieszk
© Copyright P. Bieszk 2009
The media have a long history of using subcultural imagery for its sheer spectacularity factor. It tends to add an aesthetic edge to any program and such constructed images are easily marketable to the mainstream public, always insatiate for something shocking, titillating and new, which would allow the process of slumming to take place and make ordinary citizens feel hip too. John Leland, who wrote a whole book on the subject, claims that hip brings the intelligence of the troublemakers and outsiders into the loop, saving the mainstream from its own limits. Like a vampire, it requires an audience which defines it. The prime time television series is the case in point, television being a medium rarely allowed to be innovative and subversive in itself, and governed by executive laws and censorship. Putting across messages that might normally be considered too controversial for prime time can be tricky and may require a guise. The fantasy genre, which is by definition not taken seriously, offers such a guise. In this way a phenomenon like Buffy the Vampire Slayer can arise (pun intended). The silliness of the title itself ensures instant dismissal from most non-teenage audience members and is non-threatening, but at the same time it reflects the postmodern bricolage nature of the show: it is hardly original, Varney the Vampire was a popular magazine serial published weekly as early as 1896, however, the juxtaposition of various elements and a specific attitude is what gives Buffy its fresh slant. The series turned out to be a cult favorite, specifically due to the layering of meanings, discourses and genres, a foremost feature of the show. The very surface layer, the specific look promoted by Buffy (1997-2003) and its spinoff series Angel (1999-2004), draws on subcultural aesthetics of goth, punk and camp.
Joss Whedon and his vamp buddies
Joss Whedon, the creator of the Buffy franchise, repeatedly affirmed that one of his main aims was to undercut viewer expectations in every conceivable way, in plot, cinematography, character structure, etc., and again the fantasy genre facilitates this procedure. Buffy succeeds on many levels in its mission of disturbing normative rules; its often provoking themes contain some of the subversive connotations and defiant attitudes of the original subcultural sources. Subcultures have the power of provocation and subversion towards the dominant order of things. The relationship between the mainstream and the marginal can be seen as a dialogue (which can sometimes turn into a heated discussion): the dominant discourse tends to use and varnish subcultural meanings, absorbing and diffusing them, but marginal discourses use mainstream texts and subvert and appropriate their meanings as well, creating a new language, a code of secret meanings in an attempt to resist that order. This continuous tension creates a space of friction, a possibility of a creative clash and a mutual infusion of a chaotic mix of ideas.
The untypical mainstream text that is Buffy has a rather specialized, cult appeal. Buffyverse takes us into the demon underworld, its sinister presence hidden under the sunny California surface of a teenage high school soap opera. The look of that underworld and their most spectacular representatives, the vampires, contributes to the shows undeniable appeal. A subculture is recognizable and defined by its distinctive shape and structure, the fact that it is focused around certain activities and values common to a given group, and that it is bound with the parent culture, being based on it structurally and with the mission to transform its values. The conceptions of masculinity, family and power are reproduced and re-evaluated. The resultant distinctive way of being-in-the-world results in the imprinting of style on objects significant in the group through the process of stylization. The shaping of marginal identities involves specific group dynamics and inter-relations, which depend on situational context and experiences, which are subsequently reflected in the styles of interaction and distinctive look of the members of a given subculture.
Vampires are the ultimate subculture. As Angel tells us, Vampires are a paradox: demons in a human body (4.60, Who are you). We regard them with an ambivalent mixture of revulsion and rapture. After all, a vampire is an eternally young and beautiful, potently sexual being freed from human limitations such as time, social and economic constraints and, of course, physical deterioration, sickness and death. Vampires also qualify as a deviant and criminal subculture in terms of their direct link with the human parent culture, on which they depend for sustenance, but tend to treat it with contempt, as something beneath them. They are unabashedly narcissistic and elitist as their transgressive nature allows them to break human taboos. In other words, they are our (anti)ideal. Like any subculture, they arouse fear and fascination, except more so, because they are actually different in constitution, unaffected by human weakness, and as such they are the perfect fantasy object to live through vicariously. The use of subcultural imagery to portray vampires in the media seems like the most natural thing in the world.
Buffy with Angel, her vampire lover
It is often noted that our knowledge of the creatures of the night comes mostly from popular culture, especially the cinema. The stereotypical vampire is traditionally a charismatic and mysterious stranger, who can be read as possessing all the qualities we would want in an ideal lover; his seductive gaze symbolizes transgression of every kind and has the power to fool us into believing he is everything we want him to be. Buffys world subverts that classic image in many ways. The series is an aesthetic mixture of various genres and draws on themes not associated with vampires, reconstructing and playing with their image.
Located on the Hellmouth, Sunnydale is densely populated by countless demons, the vampires forming just one distinct subcultural group amongst them. In Buffyverse they possess the classic vampire shared perspective and lifestyle based on bloodlust, however their most notable aesthetic feature in the series is the fact that they morph, their faces become monstrous when they are aroused or enraged, and they are not only strong, but immediately after being turned into a vampire and awakening they lose all inhibitions and seem to know martial arts, or at least the American television version of them.
Buffy temporarily held hostage by her nemeses, demonstrating typical vampfaces
Among the various categories of vampires the most common are the vamps, usually confined to Sunnydales many cemeteries for Buffy to kill on her patrols. They are almost always in a morphed state, wearing their vampfaces, which are too silly to be taken seriously, and not very scary with their campy comic book make-up. Aesthetically these creatures are inspired rather by the B-movie trash tradition and Hammer studio horror movies than the classic Hollywood Dracula films. The series creators stress in interviews that they try to diversify them visually, thus there are 80s style Van Halen lookalikes, fat vampires and singing vampires, of all races, genders, ages and persuasions. They are mostly played for humour and lack much individualization. Prone to rituals and mysticism, vamps tend to form nests or secret underground societies around stronger members, by whom they are easily controlled and manipulated.
The hip vampire clan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer
The more complex vampire villains and heroes of the series are allowed to develop their individualized styles. The Fearesome Foursome: Angel (David Boreanaz), Spike (James Marsters), Darla (Julie Benz) and Drusilla (Juliet Landau) are the tongue-in-cheek vampire family of Buffyverse. Apart from being dreamboat style icons, the relationships between these characters consist of a constant frenzy of goading and challenging the power positions in their clan.
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER: Vampire Hip Part 2 Angel
Article by Patricia Bieszk
© Copyright P. Bieszk 2009
For all fangophiles out there the departure of Buffy left a gap in TV watching pleasures, but lo and behold Alan Ball came to the rescue! The lore goes that the Oscar-winning writer of American Beauty (1999) and Six Feet Under, stumbled onto Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire Mystery books at a second-hand bookshop while waiting for a meeting, and got an epiphany. Ball claims he's never seen "Buffy" or read any of the Anne Rice Vampire Chronicle books but admits Kathryn Bigelow's Near Dark (1987) is "the best vampire movie ever made, in my opinion." The Bigelow influence makes sense, as the vampires in True Blood are fully integrated into the storylines without overtaking them, embodying just another aspect of life in the Deep South to be dealt with. The fantasy themes are not just an excuse to explore the darkest aspects of human nature, as some critics have implied, but give Ball the artistic license to engage in such explorations with gusto and without the limiting constraints of censorship within the seductive world of "True Blood," where anything is possible.
The series is based on the concept that the Japanese have developed synthetic blood called True Blood that replaces the vampires need to feed on human victims allowing them to come "out of the coffin" and integrate into society. "True Blood" is set in the small town of Bon Temps, Louisiana (and filmed in Baton Rouge), where our heroine, the telepathic waitress Sookie Stackhouse (The Piano and X-Men franchise Anna Paquin in a Golden Globe winning performance) works at Merlotte's Bar and Grill, the towns hub of social life. There she meets and falls for the dashing, yet mysteriously grumpy vampire Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer, who also played a vampire in the British 6-part TV series, "Ultraviolet" in 1998), whos in his 170s and therefore appears to her exceptionally
mature. Bill is a Louis type of vampire: prone to existentialist brooding and a rather old-fashioned approach to courting. His most attractive quality for Sookie is that she cannot hear his thoughts.
The Southern Belle with her fangy gentleman suitor: Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer in "True Blood"
Their complex, obstacle-ridden romance is interspersed with equally intriguing side storylines involving a serial murder spree, in which Sookies hunky but dim-witted brother Jason (Aussie Ryan Kwanten) becomes the main suspect. Other key players include Sookie's best friend Tara (Rutina Wesley) whose sour temper and race belie her Southern Belle name, and her cousin Lafayette, the flamboyant and saucy gay cook at Merlotte's, who also dabbles in internet porn and drug-dealing, including the coveted "V" (vampire blood). Sookies boss, Sam Merlotte (Sam Trammell), is a nice guy who has a crush on her and a strange secret of his own
Tara (Rutina Wesley) and Sam Merlotte (Sam Trammell) at Merlotte's Bar and Grill
The towns vampire community is kept in check by Eric (Alexander Skarsgård, son of Stellan), who rules from Fangtasia, a vampire nightclub straight out of The Queen of the Damned (2002), which also attracts fang bangers the vampires human groupies. Eric, whos around a thousand years old, fills the shoes of the series Lestat and does what Sawyer (Josh Holloway) does for Lost fully embraces the hunk factor. He has numerous sidekicks, of whom pump and whip loving, plump-lipped Pam (Kristin Bauer) is a standout.
Eric and Pam on a glamour rampage in "True Blood"
Limbs do fly, but the vampires are often much less scary than the toe-curling Evangelist religious camps or what lurks beneath the happy family life facades of the human population of Bon Temps. The series is as quirky and unsettling as its setting, offering insightful human drama in multi-layered format. As it takes its time to explore its characters and their circumstances, it might prove not horror/fantasy oriented enough for hard core genre fans, however therein also lies the shows strength and originality. The series pushes the envelope stealthily in a variety of directions. It is quality television but no prime time fare, and includes adult-oriented themes and steady doses of grisly and often disturbing rather than glamorized violence. The sex scenes are also distinctly non-PG. In fact, if you are a delicate flower, their forthright depiction can make you blush... Sugar-coating is not Balls style, yet he likes his layers. "True Blood" explores shades of gray relentlessly and the punches keep on coming from unexpected sources. Another of its strengths lies in the inspired, diverse, non-plastic-fantastic casting choices: this is no Beverly hills 90210 (1 or 2), and also avoids the shallows of typical genre crime/thriller drama, the formula being to do away with the formula.
The joys of Fangtasia afer hours: let the human clean it up
The priceless moments in the series so far include vampire Bill shopping at Target, Taras alcoholic mother getting a hoodoo exorcism, Eric expressing concern that blood got into his foils, Sam streaking stark-naked through the Spanish moss-ridden woods on the bayou, and Sookies open-minded grandmother inviting Bill to the local book reading club to talk about the Civil War in which he actually fought. There's nothing quite like the silver lining approach towards vampires.
See the show's opening credits here
Alan Ball was born in Atlanta, Georgia and his interest here seems to lie mainly in examining the quirkiness and intricacies of life in the American South. The critics main concern with the series is that it is hard to pinpoint its tone. Alternately serious and self-deprecatingly humorous, heartbreaking and cringe-inducing, True Blood mimics life Southern style, with a dash of irony bitters. The "True Blood" Vampireland the American South with its decaying mansions, suffocating hothouse climate, swamps, hoodoo, and mixture of exotic accents, colours and breeds - allows vampires, shape shifters and other strange, possibly mythical creatures to fit right in, merely externalizing the Gothic eccentricities this part of the world is so famous for. The series incorporates the lyrical Southern milieu of sprawling estates, decay and lethal beauty known from William Faulkners descriptions of Yoknapatawpha County and Truman Capotes Southern Gothic-inspired novels and stories ("Hand Carved Coffins" come to mind). It features confrontational and intelligent writing, borrowing the themes of Gothic intensity and the complexity of family relationships to tackle real issues of discrimination, the pleasures and pitfalls of drugs, alcohol addiction, politics, sexuality, abuse, faith and zealotry, which all make for haunting, compulsive viewing. If you choose to give in to the languorous and sultry story-telling style be prepared to be sucked in. You have been warned: True Blood is seriously addictive, leaving you thirsty for more.
See "True Blood" Season 2 Teaser here
Review by Patricia Bieszk
© Copyright P. Bieszk 2009
Q: Who does not love a good fairytale? Especially one that features pure, incorruptible love between an amiable prince and a pretty princess, who trapped by ruthless fate, experience a series of many cruel and unexpected turns of events and yet still manage, against all odds, to reach a happy ending? Come in Danny Boyle, the one of Trainspotting (1996) fame, who brings the same raw vividness, an acute power of observation and an exhilarating pace into the Indian slums taking us on an entirely different trip. Slumdogs pauper-to-prince hero Jamal Malik is an everyman and an underdog, brilliantly channelled by newcomer British-born Dev Patel, whose mother dragged him to an audition in London. As a young boy Jamal meets Latika (Freida Pinto), like himself just another orphan on the streets of Mumbai. Against the wishes of his wicked older brother Salim (Madhur Mittal), he invites her to share their shelter away from the rain - in a dunny can. Thus a triangle of affections forms and its tensions are explored throughout the film, the plot of which is framed by a TV gameshow scenario, where Jamal ends up in a desperate attempt to reconnect with Latika after many years of separation.
Love it or hate it, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire it is with all its sweat and tacky gore, adding an irresistible element of suspense and mcfamiliarity to an otherwise exotic reality for mainstream Western eyes. The catchy and timeless story was based on Indian diplomat Vikas Swarup's debut novel Q and A, written in England over 2 months to kill time while wrapping up his official post: I'm not one of those writers who wants to spend four pages describing a sunrise. There are so many of them in India. I'm a sucker for thrillers and I wanted to write one. I'm much more influenced by Alastair MacLean and James Hadley Chase. I'm no Arundhati Roy. Boyles cinematic adaptation seems to share these sensibilities, and is strangely reminiscent of the visceral imagery and favela themes of City of God (2002) and the magic realism of Emir Kusturicas Time of the Gypsies (1988), combined to form an emotionally affecting tale, which effectively draws the viewer into its characters world
[ Click here to read more ]
The Academy has not disappointed this year with its occasionally offbeat choices, political stands, the obligatory glitz and glamour and the singing and dancing Hugh.
[ Click here to read more ]
The Academy is known for its excessess and notorious unpredictability due to the political campaign tactics involved in the trophy race. Obviously not all deserving parties are awarded each year, however the worthwhile films are remembered long after - regardless of the actual results. I kind of wish money was involved in this betting! Oh wait. There is. In the meantime play we may, with a degree of wishful thinking. My bets are highlighted below. Feel free to comment, especially if you violently disagree  An update discussion will follow after the awards.
Best Motion Picture of the Year Nominees:
[ Click here to read more ]
Director Sam Mendes burst into the scene in 1999 with his directorial feature debut American Beauty, an instant crossover success with viewers of various ages, nationalities, creeds and degrees of snobbism, the film won a best picture Oscar and (for once) deservedly so. It was a confrontational black comedy that revealed lifes magic alongside its banalities and the ever-present possibility of redemption. These qualities are sorely missing from Revolutionary Road, which is best described as a disappointing 1950s version of Desperate Housewives without an ounce of humour added to the cake mix. Unlike Mike Nichols Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf (1966) with Elisabeth Taylor and Richard Burton or Stanley Donens Two for the Road (1967) starring Audrey Hepburn and Albert Finney, films tackling the theme of marriage with insight and psychological nuance, Maddens newest project, inspired by a cult 1961 Richard Yates novel, documents lives of quiet desperation by shortcuts, giving the title an ironic resonance on many levels. Apparently, contrary to the myth, there were no happy, functional people in the 1950s. At all.
Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet play it one more time in Revolutionary Road
[ Click here to read more ]
The Paper Dolls are gay Filipino expats deemed half women half men. Marginal amongst societys margins, their complex lives are open-heartedly revealed to us. Working in Tel Aviv as caretakers for the elderly in Orthodox Jewish communities, their temporary visas expire the moment they lose their jobs, and as a result, they are constantly hiding from officials eager to deport them. After work they get dismissed by prettier, more mainstream drag queens, who regard them as amateurs, and by club owners, who find new ways to humiliate and exploit them. Homophobia is expected in this environment so any sign of interest and acceptance is treated as a wonderful gift, rewarded with unfailing devotion and care. Despite the general stance of spirited naïveté this documentary enthuses, it stumbles on uncharted territory, much like the director Tomer Heymann, who came across the amateur cabaret troupe The Paper Dolls in an alley, after one of their shows.
[ Click here to read more ]
Abderrahmane Sissakos Bamako is one of those rare film-going experiences that educates, challenges preconceived notions and simultaneously manages to express the culture, the feelings and the plight of the people on whose behalf it speaks. Using the conventions of courtroom drama, we are presented with a faux trial of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, and their ruthless debt policies in Bamako, Mali. Various representatives of the community, from intellectuals to peasants, are called in as witnesses. Each provides crushing evidence of pervasive injustice and inhumanity experienced on a daily basis and demonstrates the sheer impossibility of a dignified life in this vicious circle of poverty. In the background, life in Bamako continues in its easy sun-bathed rhythm, illustrating the complexities and absurdities of issues discussed in the trial as they affect peoples daily lives. The astounding landscapes and beautiful people clash with the extreme hardship of life surrounding the makeshift open-air court, as a couple marries, families struggle to survive at the cost of their own integrity, and a sick man patiently awaits his death as he cannot afford treatment. All this heartbreak is interspersed with flashes of music and humour Danny Glover, one of the films producers, appears in a mock-spaghetti western depicting a morality tale African style.
Aïssata Tall Sall and William Bourdon as the attorneys and Assa Badiallo Souko as one of the witnesses in Bamako
[ Click here to read more ]
The Cave Of The Yellow Dog is no longer as firmly entrenched in the realm of magical realism as its predecessor The Story of the Weeping Camel (2003) was. If comparisons are unavoidable, Cave holds its own as a worthwhile film-going experience. It is a heartwarming and intimate portrayal of the Batchuluun family and their everyday life on green Mongolian pastures, reminiscent of Nikita Mikhalkovs award-winning Urga (1991). Brilliantly observed and beautifully captured, director Byambasuren Davaas world consists of small details revealing a richness of cultural heritage and admiration for the simplicity of the nomadic existence. The Batchuluuns have a lot of respect for each other, their work and surroundings. The parents adore their children immensely. The kids are charming, especially the little bundle of trouble Babbayar, who appears to have more personality than his small frame can safely hold. His oldest sister and our heroine Nansal has astuteness and wit to boot, adopting a stray puppy for friendship and good fortune, as it turns out.
The Batchuluun family, happy to share their life on the Mongolian pastures
[ Click here to read more ]
|
|
Recent Comments
I've not commented on anything yet :(
|
Add Comments
Read More
Comments (2)
