"The Artist" Is A Work Of Art

France-Drama-French-2010-Director: Micahel Hazanavicius-Cast: Jean Dujardin, Nerenice Bejo

                                                              “The Artist”

           

            For the first time in this film festival, I finally felt something for the characters and their story. After hours of standing in the beating sun in a line full of early moviegoers “The Artist” definitely did not disappoint. Perhaps the best story I saw thus far in this festival and I know that is saying a lot. I sat in that theater the entire time and finally felt that I was entering into the world of these characters and genuinely interested in all that they had to show and tell me. I was so captivated by this great storytelling because at the end of the day that was all that it really was for me. A great story to watch and witness on that screen and the surprising part was that it was a modern day silent film.

            The film portrayed the onset of “Hollywoodland” in the late 1920’s when silent films and silent movie superstars such as Jean Dujardin’s character “George Valentin” were dominating the big screens.  The film follows the life and career of Dujardin’s character as the famous George Valentin beginning from his all time high to his ultimate low. The story gives some insight as to how that transition period from silent films to our present day boisterous films was effective upon actor. We see the demise of one character’s acting career intertwined with the growing of another known as Peppy Miller which was played by Berenice Bejo.  The not so sublte name of Bejo’s character served her just well as she was a peppy one bouncing all over that screen with her bubbly personality. The story shows how George actually made way for Peppy to get her first big break playing a small role in one of his films and from then on she was on her way to becoming a superstar. In the mean time, George had to face reality in which the world was ready to not only see film but to hear it and silent films were becoming a think of the past just as the famed George Valentin was fading quickly too. Then the Great Depression hit and George lost it all as he lost his wife, his job, his possessions, his respect, and most of all he lost himself. Therefore the story really takes a turn for the worst for this star but things may look up for George if his pride does not stand in the way.

            The acting was spectacular in this film and one would only hope so with the lack of dialogue physically spoken. In fact, there was definitely a nice balance of scenes with sound as well as minor subtitles popping up when it was difficult to read what an actor was saying. Therefore the audience was never left unknowing of what was occurring before them. We always received exactly what we needed to get through a scene and to continue following this story. I thought this was a clever aspect to the film because from the very beginning it begins in silence so no one would ever think there would be a scene with sound. For instance, the scene when George Valentin places down a glass cup on top of his table and it makes a sound shocking not only the audience but George himself. It was unexpected and really threw the audience for a loop because I remember just thinking in that moment what were they going to do next. I was not sure where they were going with this action and it definitely served its purpose as a shock factor wherein we discover that it was all a dream that George was experiencing. The fact that George is having nightmares about the upcoming world of sound in film merging with this actual silent film itself worked rather nicely.

The actors seemed like they were more so enjoying making this film as oppose to aspiring for a critically acclaimed film. It was refreshing to see that these actors made acting look effortless and that they themselves were not taking themselves too seriously. In fact, the entire film was light-hearted yet with very enlightening messages and life lessons.  I enjoyed watching Dujardin and Bejo just have fun playing their characters. They were constantly smiling and their charisma shined on that screen putting you in a good mood too. The same went for when they were in a dark place or felt sorrow because a sadden look came across their faces that the audience could not help but feel sympathy for them. It was an emotional rollercoaster watching the downfall of one’s career and their life. I felt heartbroken when it was clear that George was lost and thought he was a failure. The film did a superb job at depicting how George came from the top and was at the highest point in his career with all the praise and glory he received. He was happy and proud to be in the place he was at as he was well respected and admired by all his fans and crew. He was living the high life and with a click of a button his whole world came crashing down. He had to face change, change in the times, change in film, and the arrival of new and upcoming actors ready to take his place. One of the best parts about this film is that this is a story that can be everlasting. The message of the infinite battle between out with the old and in with the new or how pride can do more harm than good. In addition to knowing when to ask for help and how aspects of loyalty, compromise, humbleness all come into play within this film. They are all elements of life that can be identifiable for one watching this film. Furthermore, the fact that they brought these key elements to light within this particular film depicting the lives of actors in Hollywood was brilliant to me.

            I love the parallelism between not only Peppy and Goerge’s lives but that of a silent film portraying the downfall of the silent film era in Hollywood. I thought this was a keen take on this forgotten film genre and quite worthy of seeing. It was not only a well-filmed motion picture but a well written one too and it still shocks me that I did enjoy it so much because it is a silent film. The film, “The Artist” was truly a surprising silent treat that I could see people of all ages really enjoying. I believe we all go to the cinema to see a story come to life and to truly feel something heart wrenching that we may not even be able to explain and that is what this film did for me. 

Shut Up And Drive

USA-Thriller, Action/Adventure, Drama-English-2010-Director: Nicolas Winding Refn-Cast: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Albert Brooks, Ron Perlman, Oscar Isaac, Christina Hendricks

 “Drive”

            The time had finally come for the necessary action packed, high adrenaline rush, bloody, sweet romance, 80’s music inspired flick. I was in the Lumiere theater for the premiere of this film and I sat back to watch this Hollywood-produced action drama and somehow knew I was home. At the very moment that hot pink font for the opening credits appeared on that screen with “Hero” song in the background, well I knew I was for going for a Drive. I was going on a journey with this film in the best seat in the house and that was in the passenger’s seat next to Ryan Gosling. He plays a nameless stunt driver who acts in movies by day and assists as the getaway driver for robbers by night. He carries the cool factor of Elvis Presley and John Travolta from “Grease” where all I was waiting for was for Ryan to pop his collar to his silk driving jacket and slick back his blonde hair. Ryan’s character walked with a swagger of a cowboy in a western and spoke a few words that were enough to provide that sexy macho mystique.  At that point alone, I could see that this was a film to make the one and only Ryan Gosling look good and having his character fall in love somewhere along the way is usually a safe bet.

The newly Cannes awarded best director Nicolas Winding Refn staged this film to capture the best assets of his main characters and to really give the people what they wanted. I enjoyed every minute of this film as Refn played with his audience and gave the best of both worlds with his play on Tarentino styled blood gore scenes juxtaposed with a warm angelic romance between Ryan’s character and the talented Carey Mulligan. I watched as Carey Mulligan held her own on screen playing nonetheless, the love interest of Ryan’s character known as Irene. The innocent and sweet look of her character worked for that bad guy meets good girl aspect. It felt that the audience was watching Ryan’s famed loveable character Noah return from The Notebook into part two with Drive. We were seeing Ryan’s character experience some internal conflict of whether to finally settle in on a normal life with Irene and her son or to continue on this path of a dangerous dark road. It felt metaphorical of a fork in the road going along with this drive imagery where Ryan’s character needed to make a life changing decision. Then just like a sudden car accident, the return of Irene’s imprisoned husband throws Ryan’s character’s life all off course. Carey’s husband is in debt to the guys that kept him alive while in jail and now must pay them back a huge sum for their protection or else he and his family will be harmed.  A simple enough reason that causes Ryan to jump back into that driver’s seat and take off into the world that he knows best and that’s driving. The stakes are now much higher for Ryan’s character as he has much more to lose and we can’t look away without knowing if Ryan will somehow get out of this whole that he has now dug himself into. 

Furthermore, I just thoroughly enjoyed how Refn had us on edge the entire time because we saw this brewing romance for those few moments within the film between Ryan and Carey’s character. Then like with the swift turn of a steering wheel, we saw Ryan’s character endure some bloody scenes that somehow worked perfectly with the entire mood of the film. One minute we would see Ryan and Carey’s characters smile at one another, gaze into each others eyes, and passionately kiss and then the next thing you know Ryan Gosling’s character is smashing a guys face so hard into the ground that the head becomes hollow. Perhaps the best part of it all is that the audience is cheering him on during the entire scene and you think to yourself, this is freaking awesome! It was so unexpected, but worked and again you just could not look away from this film because the shock factor was so successful and you needed to know what lengths would Ryan’s character go to next. A film unlike any other at the festival and for that reason alone, it stood out as a winner for me because I was finally awakened by a film as oppose to falling asleep in one. At times, there were just comedic moments and it was cool to see that these actors were not taking themselves too seriously. As for the cinematography elements, I thought the actual driving scenes were inviting, as Ryan would open the car door for the audience and have you sitting in the front seat with him seeing the open road from his perspective. Refn wanted to give us a thriller, action, drama all in a car ride that we would not forget. I think that he did just that and now I am ready to take the drive once again to see this film while listening to the fantastic soundtrack...with Ryan Gosling at my side. 

Let's (Not) Dance.

Italy - Drama – 100 min – Italian – 2011 - Director: Cinzia Bomoll – Cast: Allice Bellagamba, Andrea Montovoli

       Let’s (Not) Dance

            One thing that I can surely say I took away from this film is that David Bowie’s  “Let’s Dance” song pretty much says it all. I keep finding myself singing the chorus over and over again out loud reminding me of this trite yet cute film titled “Let’s Dance”.  However, I cannot completely dismiss this film’s lighthearted style, because this is where cultural differences comes into play. The film can be compared to the popular American dance films, “Saved the Last Dance” and “Step Up”. The film was definitely mirroring these US dance flicks as the premise of it all was fairly recognizable.  The story is about a ballerina’s loss of love for dancing because of her structured lifestyle forced upon her from her ballet school. She then searches for a social life and a free life with her brother’s hip hop crew wherein she discovers the passion she had for dance that was just hiding all along. The only difference here is that we have an all Italian cast of hip hop break dancers, ballerinas, and mediocre actors. The site of Italian dancers reflecting American dancing techniques and styles was somewhat comical. Although, I found myself a little taken aback because I could tell these actors were just mirroring what they see in other movies and overall it was just quite a site.

Well aside from “Let’s Dance” depicting similarities with other dance films, it had a film style all of its very own. It was hard to take the film very seriously when there were awkward long takes for moments of upcoming romance backed up by cheesy love music. Then our characters were not really too complex because they pretty much wore all their emotions on their sleeves. I was never uncertain as to what emotion a character was experiencing in a given situation so there was no depth to them. However, the main actress who played the ballerina was the only actor with any dimensions to her character and she served the role well enough. In addition, there were just too many overlapping storylines occurring throughout the film and at random moments too. One character was hoping to win back his ex-girlfriend, the other was hoping to make a basketball team all of a sudden, and then of course the main storyline of the ballerina longing to be happy dancing again. It was all just too much happening and I just found myself wondering why was any of this necessary. Needless to say, it felt that these actors were just reiterating lines from a paper and acting how they felt that they should as oppose to acting how they actually felt. Also, thank goodness for subtitles because if one was to watch this film solely based on the acting alone, one would think that the ballerina was in love with her brother. It just goes to show how body language alone can tell an entirely different story and I’ve taken that observation in heavily when going into other foreign films. Lastly was the awkward transitions from one scene to the next wherein the film would just jump immediately into a next scene while the audience was still processing the prior scene. The jumping scenes made it difficult to adjust to the tone of this film and the fluidity of the film was lost somehow. I could tell that this film wanted to be this great romantic drama meets dance. Sadly it felt more like just drama of an Italian soap opera meets dance and I just accepted it for what it was worth.

Perhaps “Let’s Dance” is comparable to an Italian cannoli because its that tasty, delicious, teasing treat that you know is not good for you, yet you can’t stop eating. The film is that guilty pleasure for a corny cheesy film that you know is not the best thing to see as far as film aesthetics and good quality acting, but you just cannot look away. It was unfortunate to see this film attempting to be something that it is not in regards to the acting and choreography, yet there was still some potential within the actual story itself. A film that on the surface can be seen as silly and naïve, but there are definitely some touching life lessons that were very direct throughout the film. In other words, I never lost the overarching message that this film intended to portray. I never lost that this film was preaching for people to find their passion and reach for what they want no matter what as long as they are happy. It’s a storyline all too familiar with these dance flicks and I must admit that I sat in that theater for all 100 minutes of it because I wanted to see this story unfold from a different country’s perspective.  As a result, it was definitely interesting for me to see how this message is universal and transcendent in films. Although, again these are life lessons that can be evident in many dance flicks, thus it would have been nice to see an original dance film storyline especially from an entirely different country.  I can honestly say that I have a soft spot for “Let’s Dance” because it seems that they made great efforts to make this a great love story and dance film for their home in Italy, but I’m not sure how it would do across the borders.

No Smile For Vile.

USA-Horror-88 min-English-2010 –Director: Taylor Sheridan –Cast: Eric Beck, April Matson, Akeem Smith, Mata Hazen, Heidi Mueller, Elisha Skorman, Greg Cipes, Rob Kirkland, Ian Bohenm

                                                            No Smile For Vile

           

            Well I didn’t really want to see this film after reading a tagline that includes reading, “eight strangers waking up in a house forced to hurt one another with lots of pain in order to survive”. I thought it sound similar to a Saw 8 coming to theaters and that franchise has already outdone itself so why create another.   However, I’ve come across so many films throughout this festival full of pain, agony, and suffering thus I thought why not see an actual film where that is the intended emotion. A horror film appearing during a time where we are seeing constant horror film remakes. Perhaps the film world is losing its original terror stories that are just plain scary and unpredictable and unlike any other we have seen before. I’m hoping that a new genre is approaching where we have torture meets slim comedy meets sexual appeal.  Now these are all great elements that can make up your 21^st century horror film. Therefore we arrive to “Vile”, a horror film that mirrors ideals of the “Saw” series, but can still stand alone on its original premise. The story depicts a group of strangers picked to live together and have their lives taped, where one finds out when people stop being polite and start using pliers to cut off human parts...Real World: Vile!

            The film “Vile” proved to be an actual decent film that had me on the edge of my seat as I covered my ears and eyes for fear of what would happen next. The plot is that the strangers are all held hostage in a house and can only survive and escape if they acquire 100% bodily chemical releases such as adrenaline, dopamine, and serotonin from each other. The only way they can possibly do this is by physically causing pain to one another in all sorts of various ways to secrete these bodily chemicals and that is when the torturing begins and we see the depths that humans will go through to save themselves. Once I realized that this was the concept, well I knew I had to stay to see how these series of events would unfold. Then to my surprise, this was actually not a bad film at all. The storyline was way off on its science of acquiring these drugs, but overlooking this absurdity allowed for the audience to focus more on the acting and the tone set throughout the film.

            I squirmed in my seat, I covered my ears, and I placed my hand over my face only leaving a space between my fingers to watch scenes of this movie. The thing is that this film was not actually too graphic nor gory. It had ability to invoke the sentiment of fear and anguish within its audience viewers by arousing the thought alone of this tremendous pain. An excessive amount of pain that people could actually perform on one another and the thought that people would do this if it meant survival. We did not see some of the physical acts carry out throughout this film but we heard bones crushing, fingers being cut off, and witnessed body parts being burned to extreme measures. We envisioned the worst of the worst happening to these characters and could only imagine ourselves in their positions and our bodies going through such tortuous acts. The thought alone and the sounds that I experienced of extreme pain were scary enough and that is where fear came in. The fear that you can’t control what happens to you and I thought that this film portrayed that convincingly.  I was somehow placed into this film and going through these mixed emotions of survival and optimism turned to anger, fear, and just failure.

            It was en ensemble of unknown actors and actresses, but I think that is the only way that this film could work. I was not going into this film with any inclination of the characters I would see or even like. I was discovering who these eight individuals were right along with the characters in the film. I was a stranger among this cast and it was becoming evident who I wanted to see survive and who I would not miss. The acting itself was not superb, but somehow it was just right to carry along this film. In this film, the quality of acting possessed a sort of mocking and sarcastic humor mixed with outlandish hysteria and it worked. I would laugh, I would raise an eyebrow, and I would close my eyes. I was emotionally hooked to the film and I had to finish it out and see how this story would conclude and who would be the last one standing. I had to see if this story could wrap up itself without the suggestion of a follow up film. I thought the film “Vile” delivered, as I experienced this fear build inside of me because these were heinous acts that could literally happen to the human body. The film did not overdo itself and attempt to become something it is not. In other words, the excruciating actions were not that unconventional that it became unbelievable. However, the quick recovery after these acts was baffling, but again the reasoning behind this entire film was already questionable from the beginning. When watching a scary film such as this one, I find myself sort of accepting the film for what it is and to not question its doubtful aspects because somehow there is still a story there. I think if a horror film has the ability to still keep me on the edge of my seat and intrigue me enough as to what’s coming next on that screen, then it has the potential to be a great thriller. Therefore I think “Vile” holds up to its stance that it is a horror film, one that is still capable of awakening those little hairs on my arm.

Midnight In Paris...Yes Please!

Spain, Usa- Romance Comedy-English 2011-Director: Woody Allen-Cat: Adrien Brody, Carla Bruni, Kathy Bates, Marion Cotillard, Michael Sheen, Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams

                                                    Midnight in Paris

            The title says it all as Woody Allen truly delivers a whimsical, picturesque, dream-like tale of all that Paris has to offer. It was quite the suitable opener to the Festival as it presented all the classical artists from the 20’s portrayed by well known actors of our time. The opening scene depicted the passing of time in one day in Paris as we saw beautiful sights of this city of lights.  In fact, the opening really caught my eye with all these different sceneries within Paris from day to night. It was a poetic beginning to this film as we saw the intricate landmarks of Paris in the daytime to the charming beauty of Paris in the night. I wanted to go to the city after this introduction and it was then that I realized that I was going on vacation with the characters in this story too.  Many refer to Paris as the city of lights and in this clever Woody Allen film yet again, “Midnight In Paris” portrayed the city of dreams.

 The audience was taken on a time-travelling journey in this romantic comedy with all eyes on the protagonist Owen Wilson. Wilson took us to the world of great writers, artists, and designers during a time of flappers, booze, elegance and a passionate love for the arts. We met the Fitzgeralds, Hemmingway, Gertrude Stein, Picasso, Dali, T.S. Eliot and more all played by well established actors of today.  It became a game for the audience as we were now intrigued to see who else would appear on that big screen portraying an iconic figure of the past. Perhaps it was this tactic of look-a-like actors playing famed icons that proved beneficial for Allen’s endearing film.  It definitely added to the comedic effect especially with the memorable sight of Adrien Brody perfectly personifying the famed artist Dali. I remember the audience riveting at this site to see such a keen actor as Brody embodying the peculiarity of Dali. I thought the way in which these famed actors gradually appeared in this film gave each a timely limelight, but never overshadowing nor leaving the true star, Owen Wilson as Gil. 

In addition, I believe the true essence of this film was Woody’s overlapping of time from past to present or dream to reality. The audience went right along with Owen as he took us into his current melancholy of a life with his uncouth fiancé Inez played by the lovely Rachel McAdams and his judgmental in-laws. I felt sorry for Owen at times when in the presence of his degrading wife, a role all too unfamiliar for Rachel McAdams. It felt wrong to hate her when she’s always played quite the loveable character, as if I didn’t want her casted as this condescending individual in the first place. I found that I was more emotionally invested in this film when it took place in the present time because this was the story I was involved in from the very beginning and it was Gil’s reality. I got lost at times when Owen’s character Gil went into his fairy tale of 1920’s Paris whereas all these iconic beings had their own stories to reveal. I found it heartbreaking as I sat back and watched Gil go from a present of sadness to a past of enlightenment and excitement in which everyone else in the 20’s was also experiencing some form of personal sorrow. It was as if no one was ever happy in the time that they were set in and that storyline definitely came to light with Gil’s latter love interest Adriana played by Marion Cotillard.

I went into this film with high hopes of another romantic comedy, yet I had to remind myself that the witty Woody Allen would give me that and much more. I don’t believe that this was just a comedy alone, nor just a romance, but more so a tragedy in all. I went from a high to a low within this film as I realized that this was just a glum story in which the characters were never happy and always searching for more in life, more from each other, and more from themselves. It was a state of never-ending and always eternal passing of time and the lives of those in their set time period. I saw this in the aesthetic of this film itself in which it was a smooth and fluid picture. I never felt in a state of here and now and I think this was actually the significant aspect to this story. Woody placed his audience into a story with complicated characters and complex storylines that were constantly changing and being effected in someway. It was Paris itself, the city of lights that was the one character that always remained true and real and just as we imagined it was years ago which brings me back to that first opening scene. I believe this is why “Midnight In Paris” works as the opening to the Cannes Film Festival as we receive a taste of what we were getting ourselves into.  The film gives a perpetual world of fascinating tales, stories, and characters over time but the setting and the place of Paris remains the home of it all.