Raffi Asdourian2013-05-21T14:55:55-04:00Raffi Asdourianhttp://www.news.moviefone.com/author/index.php?author=raffi-asdourianCopyright 2008, HuffingtonPost.com, Inc.HuffingtonPost Blogger Feed for Raffi AsdourianGood old fashioned elbow grease.Cannes 2012 Review: Cosmopolistag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.15456242012-05-25T11:04:34-04:002012-07-25T05:12:18-04:00Raffi Asdourianhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/raffi-asdourian/
Director: David Cronenberg
Runtime: 108 minutes
In David Cronenberg's adaptation of Cosmopolis, a novel by postmodern author Don DeLillo, the Canadian filmmaker tackles a dense criticism of capitalism, greed and class. Featuring an ensemble cast built on quick cameos, the film is anchored by a solid, ennui-filled performance by Robert Pattinson, shedding his Twilight skin for something more substantive and reminiscent of Christian Bale in American Pyscho. The challenge of compressing such dense literary concepts in filmic form is immense, and Cronenberg should definitely be applauded for his ambitious attempt at bringing these abstractions to life. Yet there is an undeniable stale and static quality to Cosmopolis that makes it feel like watching someone read a book.
The opening credits unfurl over an evolving Jackson Pollack-esque painting while ominous music, courtesy of frequent Cronenberg collaborator Howard Shore, creates an unsettling mood. This is followed by an introduction to Eric Packer (Pattinson), dressed like Mr. Smith from The Matrix, waiting for his white limousine in a sea of white limousines. Wishing to get a haircut across town, the economic whiz kid is accompanied by his solemn, no-funny-business bodyguard Torval (Kevin Durand), who constantly warns Packer that traveling across town will put his life in danger. That's no concern to Eric who, in his high-tech limousine, is cocooned from the woes of the collapsing society right outside his window, instead engaging in multiple intelligentsia conversations with a multitude of guests. As the day goes by and the mysterious, sometimes unnamed, characters come and go, Packer's true intentions come to life as someone who has become completely detached from the reality of the world around him.
It's easy to see why Cronenberg was attracted to the source material, as it touches on themes that he himself has been evolving throughout his filmography. Characters soliloquize endlessly about the value of things, art, money, time, vanity, age, sex and greed. But where this adaptation suffers is in the theatrical manner in which it is presented. Characters exist merely as a means to convey ideas, taking, it feels, almost directly from the book. From Juliette Binoche's nymphomaniac art dealer to scene-stealer Paul Giamatti's obsessive stalker, they all serve as a conduit for concepts. Sarah Gadon (who also starred in his Brandon Cronenberg's Un Certain Regard film Antiviral) plays Parker's wife Elise with a similarly detached quality as Pattinson and is one of the few characters to have any kind of real arc.
Cosmopolis is a challenging film brimming with ideas so big that it can barely contain them all. Between the anarchists chucking dead rats to the decrying of the specter of capitalism looming like an apocalypse, there is a lot to chew on long after the film has unspooled. It feels similar in tone at times to Cronenberg's previous film A Dangerous Method, which also attempted to succinctly depict a highly complex subject while feeling slightly overstated and perhaps better suited as a play. There is a familiarity to the over-indulgent splatter of doctrine and theories that for some will surely tickle their brainy appetite. Despite the interesting concepts, there is no escaping the lack of cinematic energy that keeps Cosmopolis from feeling like anything more than a perfunctory adaptation.
Overall Grade: C+
Follow thefilmstage.com's complete Cannes 2012 Film Festival coverage here.
Pablo Larraín (Post Mortem) has achieved something spectacularly unique with No, his beta-max rendition of the 1988 referendum vote in Chile concerning dictator Augusto Pinochet. The most striking element is its bold visual aesthetic that is designed to look like a TV program from the '80s. Colors are washed out, the aspect ratio is square and there is a shallow depth of field to every image, which may sound jarring to watch, but becomes surprisingly hypnotic. As the film criss-crosses from fictitious reenactment to real-world clips from the historical time period, it is almost impossible to tell where the lines of reality blur with the vintage visuals Larraín has painstakingly crafted.
The story revolves around Gael García Bernal as René Saavedra, a fresh-faced skateboarding Don Draper-type, who is hired to revitalize an anti-government television campaign to kick out the notorious dictator Augusto Pinochet from power. The political movement, known simply as NO, has been granted fifteen minutes per day to air a mix of commercials and news reports on a national public TV channel indicting the government of crimes ranging from false imprisonment to straight up murder. Saavedrea, using the advertising prowess that he cultured from producing cheesy soda commercials, puts his family and livelihood directly in the line of fire by undertaking such a risky gamble. As the day of the vote looms closer and closer, the pressure intensifies for Saavedrea to use his creative savvy to get the political message of the NO movement to the general populous.
In many ways, No feels like a a Mad Men episode mixed with the political gravitas of a Costa-Gavras film. The usage of the actual real-life commercials made during the campaign is contrasted by behind-the-scenes decisions that went into making them. The blending of these clips is nearly seamless and by the climactic final act, when riots are happening on the streets, its hard to discern what is a real news clip and what is not. This is an amazingly complex feat to achieve, yet Larraín seems to do it effortlessly. In addition, it's impressive how the director is able to frame grainy video in a manner that feels purely cinematic.
The main criticism to levy against No is that it can sometimes be difficult to follow all the different agendas of the multitude of characters. The first hour is oddly paced and throws intellectual political agendas straight at the audience without always fully explaining them. Also, Bernal's performance as the anchor of the film oftentimes comes off as perfunctory, giving him much screen time to stare aimlessly and act worried, causing him to come off as one-note. But these are minor complaints in the grand scheme of what the movie achieves. Even if you are completely unfamiliar with the political situation of Chile under the regime of Pinochet, No is a compelling examination of an important historical event.
Overall Grade: B+.
Follow thefilmstage.com's complete Cannes 2012 Film Festival coverage here.
Crossposted from thefilmstage.com. ]]>Amour: Cannes 2012 Reviewtag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.15371762012-05-22T16:12:44-04:002012-07-22T05:12:24-04:00Raffi Asdourianhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/raffi-asdourian/Amour
[Sony Pictures Classics; 2012]
Director: Michael Haneke
Runtime: 127 minutes
There is a certain indescribable manner in which Michael Haneke is able to lure you into his films that leaves you in a state of both shock and awe. It's everything from the subtle use of camera movements to the minimal use of diegetic music, not to mention the carefully crafted and poignant jump-cuts in editing. These are the staples of an auteur in complete control and if this auteur's body of work is any indication, you can never know what the director will do next. Such is the case with Amour, a heart-wrenching and unflinching portrait of an elderly couple faced with the trials and tribulations of their own mortality when confronted with the inevitable demise we all face. In showcasing the intimate pain of watching someone you love slowly suffer, Haneke takes a departure from his usually emotionally-detached narrative tropes, offering his most humane film to date.
After a deliriously haunting opening shot effectively establishes a forbidding sense of doom, the camera settles on a static shot of an audience being seated for a musical performance. It is a great moment of meta cinema as the same 'do not use your cell phone during the performance' messages rings out just before the rapturous music of Schubert permeates through the air. It's both haunting and beautiful, much like the rest of the film, and an apt introduction to our two principal characters.
Georges and Anne are a loving couple in their eighties, played with delicate humanity by Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva. One morning while preparing breakfast, Anne suffers a stroke, paralyzingly the right side of her body. Thus begins the ultimate test of the couple's love for one another, as Anne's condition begins to deteriorate, forcing Georges to make difficult decisions about life and death.
Aside from the opening scene, the entire film takes place in the Parisian apartment that Anne and Georges share. Yet the film never feels static or claustrophobic. Instead, the framing of doorways, hallways and intense close-ups give each frame a tableaux quality. In addition, the gravitas of the couple's situation anchors the somber tone in an affecting way that fills each moment with uncomfortable dread. Isabelle Huppert plays the couple's daughter, periodically dropping by to check in on the status of her parents. As Anne's health continues to worsen, their relationship becomes more and more strained, forcing Georges to make extremely difficult choices resulting in some cringe-worthy instances. Haneke is a master manipulator of psychological emotion, but what makes this film stand out among his other brain-benders is the detached rawness of each painful situation he puts his characters in.
If you have ever loved someone with the entirety of your heart and then lost them to a medical condition, then you will identify with the pain on display here. It's at times exasperating to see Georges toil over his wife as she slowly slips from the grips of life to the throws of death, reverting to a childlike demeanor. Eventually we all must face the fear of losing control of our bodies due to the effects of time, and Haneke's focus is so precise that it's hard to not be moved by the situation. There are also some amazing moments of cinematic genius at work, from a surreal nightmare to an encounter with a stray pigeon. Unflinching, unnerving and unforgettable, Amour is an incredible testament to the power of love we have for those closest to our hearts -- while forcing us to question the very essence of our own morality when confronted with the clocks of fate.
Overall Grade: A.
Follow thefilmstage.com's complete Cannes 2012 Film Festival coverage here.
Crossposted from thefilmstage.com.]]>Rust & Bone Lacks Coherencetag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.15360652012-05-22T11:05:50-04:002012-07-22T05:12:24-04:00Raffi Asdourianhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/raffi-asdourian/Rust & Bone
[Sony Pictures Classics; 2012]
Director: Jacques Audiard
Runtime: 120 minutes
In Jacques Audiard's follow-up to the internationally-acclaimed and Oscar-nominated A Prophet, the French filmmaker decided to adapt a short story collection by Craig Davidson. But instead of doing a series of vignettes about different characters, Audiard attempts to string them together with a love story between two conflicted and complex characters. The result is Rust & Bone, a disarming and expressionist portrait of two people attempting to survive the unexpected challenges life throws our way. And while there are sincere moments of genuine heartfelt emotion, the film cannot escape a sense of disjointedness that results from the cramming of several smaller narratives into the lives of two people.
After a surreal montage of water dissolving over abstract imagery, we are plunged into the somber situation of Ali (played with brooding angst by Matthias Schoenaerts), who is hitchhiking with his five-year-old son, Sam. They travel by train to escape an inevitable homeless fate and arrive, oddly enough, in Cannes. But this is not the same Cannes glorified by glitz and glamour for two weeks in May. Instead, Audiard focuses on the working class people that inhabit the city year-round. Ali reunites with his sister and finds work as a bouncer, where he randomly meets Stephanie (Marion Cotillard) after a night club brawl. He accompanies her back to her home and learns that her day job is training killer whales at a Seaworld-esque amusement park. Without spoiling anything else, a tragedy arises that leads to an unexpected romance between Ali and Stephanie.
The strength of this film resides in the performances of both lead characters, strengthened further by Audiard's naturalistic camera work. There is one breathtaking moment where Stephanie approaches the underwater tank and interacts with a killer whale through the looking glass. Another ferocious scene involves a tense moment between Ali and his son, unrelenting in its ferocity. These moments among others truly resonate and for some will be unforgettable, yet the film cannot escape a lack of cohesiveness that prevents the whole experience from gelling together.
It's perplexing why Audiard decided to constantly shift perspective between his two main characters and introduce side stories and plot points that quickly fall to the wayside. There is a point in which Stephanie becomes a fight promoter for Ali's bare knuckle back alley brawls that is forgotten almost as quickly as its introduced. There is also an emotional sucker punch towards the end that feels completely undeserved and again distances the emotional weight that the film tries to carry on its shoulders. To the film's credit, there is perhaps some of the best and most subtle use of CGI since Forrest Gump. Overall, Rust & Bone is a solid drama that features some great performances, but due to a lack of coherence never climaxes to the emotional knockout that Audiard intends.
Overall Grade: B -.
Follow thefilmstage.com's complete Cannes 2012 Film Festival here.
Cross-posted form thefilmstage.com.]]>Moonrise Kingdom Is Par for the Coursetag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.15358422012-05-22T10:13:37-04:002012-07-22T05:12:24-04:00Raffi Asdourianhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/raffi-asdourian/Moonrise Kingdom
[Focus Features; 2012]
Director: Wes Anderson
Runtime: 94 minutes
In Wes Anderson's seventh film, Moonrise Kingdom, the quintessential quirkiness that's made the filmmaker a household name is in full effect. Unlike his last live-action and somewhat somber film The Darjeeling Limited, this is a return to the youthful vigor and real emotion on display in his earlier work. The film acts as a metaphor for the innocence of childhood, while also embodying and distilling what it feels like to be in love for the first time. These are universal traits that will undoubtedly appeal to the cinematic multiverse of global audiences. That said, the grin-inducing charm that Anderson seems to elicit so effortlessly here feels like little more than "par for the course" in his pantheon of quirky filmmaking.
After a virtuous series of dolly shots vividly paint a family portrait over the opening credits, our narrator (Bob Balaban) sets the stage for a fictitious island off the coast of New England in 1965. A troop of khaki-wearing boy scouts led by Scout Master Ward (Edward Norton) awaken to find that one of their troops has disappeared, leaving behind only a note of resignation from their group. The scout in question is a resourceful orphan named Sam Shakusky (Jared Gilman), who has embarked on a mission to reunite with a girl he's smitten with, one Suzy Bishop (Kara Hayward).
They met by chance during a theatrical performance of a Rushmore-esque retelling of Noah's Ark, which triggered a subtle romantic connection. After remaining in correspondence for almost a year as pen pals, the duo run away to escape the adult world and in turn elicit a search party comprised of Suzy's lawyer parents Mr. (Bill Murray) and Mrs. (Frances McDormand) Bishop, a bumbling local cop (Bruce Willis) and a social service worker known only as Social Services (Tilda Swinton).
As the fellow scouts join the pursuit of the star-crossed fugitives, the film becomes more and more fantastical. Their journey starts to resemble the storytelling of childhood books that Suzy reads to Sam at night, the same tales Anderson hopes you'll go out and read after the film. And though the film grows increasingly ludicrous and whimsical, Anderson continues to successfully distill the purity of young love while balancing the wonder of what it means to be a child. There are some dark thematic streaks on display as well, but they tend to be buried by the outlandish tone bursting out of the mise-en-scene.
The vintage decor, music and color palette of the 1960s era seems almost too perfect of a marriage for Anderson's own idiosyncratic tropes. From battery-powered record players to a whimsical tree house far too high up to be safe, there is a definite sense of immersion in this magical world. Yet Moonrise Kingdom does little to distinguish itself from Anderson's other work and will likely not garner him any new fans.
Audiences who already appreciate the inherent visual neuroticism that Anderson toils over in every delicately-composed shot will praise this ensemble film as the second coming of The Royal Tenenbaums while newcomers might be more wary of the overly niche style. Still, there's no denying the effervescent charm that makes this auteur's style of filmmaking so unique and compelling, and in that sense Moonrise Kingdom fits the bill.
Overall Grade: B.
Moonrise Kingdom opens on May 25th, 2012.
Follow thefilmstage.com's complete Cannes 2012 Film Festival coverage here.