Whores, racist midgets, creepy little children, sexually repressed bible thumpers and apocalyptic riots. Hollywood was a pretty odd place according to Nathanael West whose book, 'The Day Of The Locust', was adapted in to a film directed by John Schlesinger which went on to influence people & films like the Coen Brothers (specifically; 'Barton Fink' and 'Millers Crossing'), Alejandro Jodorowsky ('Sante Sangre'), Nicolas Winding Refn (he included 'The Day Of The Locust' as one of his influences for 'Drive') and even Matt Groening (for those that don't know, "Homer Simpson" is a character from 'The Day Of The Locust'). Whats also interesting is that this film and 'Chinatown' (another film with a similar vibe that shows the ugly side of southern California during the 1930's) were released within a year of each other. But of all the directors and films I just mentioned, 'Barton Fink' is probably the biggest homage to 'The Day Of The Locust' in that both films are essentially about "real artists" who get caught up working behind the scenes in a somewhat surreal/dark vision of Hollywood in the late 30's/early 40's (a playwright turned b-movie script writer in Barton Fink and a painter turned movie set designer in Day Of The Locust). Both films feature quite a few scene of random and somewhat dark/creepy humor that kinda make you go "...Huh??", unexpected spurts of violence and both films feature explosive endings (literally). Like 'Straw Dogs' and 'A Clockwork Orange', 'The Day Of The Locust' definitely had an effect on me as a child. Until the other night I hadn't watched this since I was a kid but the scene where Donald Sutherland stomps the little kid to death (played by a pre-bad news bears Jackie Earle Haley) is a scene that always stuck with me (i guess that scene influenced the elevator scene in 'Drive'?). The world of 'The Day Of The Locust' is an interesting one. Its the kinda world where our protagonist can essentially try to rape someone, and we're STILL supposed to consider him the "good guy". The kinda world where a dopey, pathetic sap that we cant help but feel sorry for can murder a child in a fit of rage and we still kinda sympathize for him as he's being torn to pieces by an angry mob (although with all due respect, that evil little kid had it coming).
'The Day Of The Locust' focuses on four primary characters and shows us how Hollywood and/or the entertainment industry will chew them up and spit them out (or in some cases already has):
"Tod Hackett" - The main character. A painter who becomes a Hollywood set designer played by underrated character actor; William Atherton (most known for playing prick-ish assholes in films like; 'Ghostbusters', 'Real Genius' and the 'Die Hard' movies. This performances is quite different from his other roles). Hackett's unique artwork and figures that he draws play a major role at the very end of the film...
"Homer Simpson" - A shy, timid, and sexually repressed accountant, played by Donald Sutherland in one of his finest performances. I guess because he hasn't done anything memorable in recent years outside of his cameo in 'Beerfest' (lol), its easy to forget all the great things Sutherland has done in his career. From fucked up & sadistic ('1900') to comic relief ('Dirty Dozen') to a gentle giant on the verge of exploding ('The Day Of The Locust')
"Faye Greener" - An aspiring actress who's "look" and delivery in the film are clearly based off of Marilyn Monroe even though she wasn't around around during the 1930's. Faye is interesting in that she starts off as somewhat naive & childlike, but as the film goes on you see she actually has a dark side and her ditsy vibe my be an act. Tod & Homer are both in love with her but she decides to be with Homer because she knows she can take advantage of him on her rise to stardom.
"Harry Greener" - Faye's father. A former vaudevillian turned alcoholic door-to-door salesman who drives Faye crazy. He's already been chewed up and spit out by the entertainment industry before the Hollywood days.
Things come to a bloody boiling point in the final 10 minutes of the film when a riot breaks out at a movie premier when the body of a dead child is discovered. Then all of Los Angeles proceeds to tear itself apart. Most people who have seen 'The Day Of Locust' consider the finale to be the most memorable aspect of the film not just because of the unexpected violence or how it symbolizes the coming of the apocalypse, but because as Tod Hackett watches Los Angeles burn to the ground during the riot, people in the crowd start to look like the characters in his paintings (see below). I guess the main comparison that this films has with 'Drive' is that it focuses on main characters that work behind the scenes in the movie business and they get caught up in Hollywood life and don't know how to shut it off. In 'Drive' its almost as if "The Driver", Gosling, seriously thinks he's in an action movie probably due to the lines of reality being fuzzy for him after working on so many movie sets (fantasy) as well as being a getaway car driver for criminals (reality). I know i may get a lot of hate for this, but I honestly wouldn't mind a LOOSE adaption of this film done today as long as the right director is chosen...
'The Day Of The Locust' is just one of many great cynical, darkly comical, horrific, "off", sometimes violent films from the 70's that's kept alive only by their cult audiences like 'The Ninth Configuration' (1979), 'Wise Blood' (1979), The Ruling Class (1972), '99 & 44/11% Dead' (1974) and so many more.
What a list of films to start off a new decade with, huh? Like 2005, 2000 was another exceptionally great year with more standout films than usual. And it wasn't just that one year. 2000 was part of an amazing 3 year period ranging from 1999 (Rosetta, Beau Travail, Pola X & Humanite) up to 2001 (The Piano Teacher, Spirited Away, La Cienaga & Mulholland Drive, etc) which featured some of the greatest films in modern cinema (in my opinion). 2000 was a year that featured some of the best in romance (In The Mood For Love) to touching stories of youth/coming of age (George Washington & Ratcatcher...which are almost doppelgangers) and family dramas (Yi Yi & You Can Count On Me). Great filmmakers like Michael Haneke (Code Unknown) and Steven Soderbergh (Traffic) even managed to squeeze out the last bit of magic that was left in those multiple plot/multiple character/interweaving storyline/"HEY! its a small world"/everyone is connected/6 degrees of Kevin Bacon films that Quentin Tarantino was somehow given credit for inventing in 1994 with 'Pulp Fiction' (I know, right? I still don't get that one either). And speaking of giving undue credit, its funny how both; critics and moviegoers gave Michael Moore & Morgan Spurlock credit for breathing life back in to documentary films between the years of 2002-2004, while 'Dark Days' had already done that two years earlier. 'Bamboozled' became the first misunderstood masterpiece of the decade (a year later 'Bamboozled' would pass the torch on to 'Trouble Every Day'). For some reason when that film was released everyone in America acted as if WB & UPN weren't showing some of the most offensive, backwards thinking television shows in YEARS, but somehow had the right to judge a film (BEFORE EVEN WATCHING IT) after seeing an image of a blackface.
Unfortunately some of the films on this list have actually not stood the test of time (which would have most people questioning why I'd even have them on this list). But I urge you all to go back and re-watch some of these films. With films like 'The White Ribbon' & 'The Piano Teacher', its kind of easy to forget 'Code Unknown', but if you go back and watch you'll see that it not only laid the groundwork for later stuff like Haneke's 'Cache' (with his exploration in to race & racism) but its one of best films about multiculturalism in Europe to come out in years. To this day, many people (mostly black folks) still don't stand behind 'Bamboozled', which is a shame, but I still urge people to not just go back and give it a second chance, but think about what was going on in television during the time Spike Lee made it. Thanks to David "Sellout" Green's recent comedies (which aren't even funny, so I don't know why they're called comedies), he's becoming more and more disassociated from his earlier work like 'George Washington'.
Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this list. Let me know if I missed anything...
*EDIT* Well, I did ask for you guys to let me know if I missed anything and i sure did. Thanks to Ian over at Notes & Scribblings for pointing out that 'Battle Royale' and 'Ivansxtc' were missing from this list...
TOP 12 FILMS OF 2000:
IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE
BAMBOOZLED
CODE UNKNOWN
DARK DAYS
WERCKMEISTER HARMONIES
GEORGE WASHINGTON
YI YI
TRAFFIC
YOU CAN COUNT ON ME
DANCER IN THE DARK
IVANSXTC
BATTLE ROYALE
TOP 5 FILMS FROM 1999 NOT RELEASED THEATRICALLY IN THE U.S. UNTIL 2000:
Ben Gazzara, an icon of American independent film, a fixture in the work of John Cassavetes and one of my favorite actors, passed away tonight. Outside of his work with Cassavetes he appeared in classic films like 'Anatomy Of A Murder' and 'Carol For Another Christmas' and he played both; Al Capone and Charles Bukowski. In more recent years he worked with everyone from The Coen Brothers ('The Big Lebowski'), Vincent Gallo ('Buffalo 66') and Lars Von Trier ('Dogville') to Spike Lee ('Summer Of Sam') & Todd Solondz ('Happiness'),
Much like the Peter Falk blog entry, I'd rather not flood facebook with a bunch of youtube video clips because I know how annoying that can be to some of you (especially if you're not that familiar with him).
You got men, you got parasites that live in, on, and around men. Now. Why not breed a parasite that does something useful? Eh? Why not breed a parasite capable of taking over the function of any one of a bunch of human organs? Why not, for example, a parasite living in the human abdominal cavity that plugs into the circulatory system and filters the blood like a kidney? If it takes a little blood for itself, so what? Be generous! You can afford it...You put the bug into the body of a man with a diseased kidney, the bug attacks the bad kidney, dissolves it, it's assimilated by the body, and now you got a perfectly good parasite where you used to have a rotten kidney. I know what you're gonna say. You're gonna say it's crazy.
That dialogue above is taken from a scene in David Cronenberg's feature film debut; 'Shivers': The story of an experiment involving parasites to be used for good that goes terribly wrong. I know this film doesn't just strictly focus on kidneys, or even organ transplants for that matter, but it still deserves a spot on the list of kidney-related films. A blog series involving human organs just doesn't seem right without a lil early David Cronenberg. From organs & parasites ('Shivers') and exploding heads ('Scanners') to the transformation of a human being into a giant fly ('The Fly') or a man transforming in to a woman ('M Butterfly'), the exploration of the human body (especially whats on the inside) is a common theme in his work Even his recent more "straight forward" films like 'A History Of Violence' and 'Eastern Promises' deal with the idea of "transformation". Had I followed David Cronenberg's career from the start with his early short films (which come off like really bad cliche student films) I woulda never guessed that he was capable of not only writing a script like 'Shivers' (which was ahead of its time for various reasons that we'll get in to), but going on to adapt the work of William S Burroughs & JG Ballard, or making a film like 'Dead Ringers', 'M Butterfly', or the 'World On A Wire'-influenced 'eXistenZ'.
'Shivers' is unique because it combines the campy & amateur elements of those early bad shorts (bad acting, cheap quality, low budget special effects, etc) with the more sophisticated techniques and story telling that Cronenberg still uses today. And as bad as those early short films may be, you could still tell that the person responsible for them was highly intelligent. 'Shivers', in my opinion, was Cronenberg's first true success as a filmmaker. Its basically 'Night Of The Living Dead' with a little bit of social commentary snuck in to the plot. The film centers around a secluded island community outside of Montreal that gets exposed to an epidemic which essentially turns people in to sex-crazed zombies. The epidemic/breakout is due to a science experiment that was supposed to be used for a groundbreaking organ transplant procedure where "good" parasites were to be placed in to the human body to essentially replace bad organs. The problem is that when the parasites are implanted into a human body (or "host body") they unleash a virus/aphrodisiac turning them in to sex crazed maniacs. The first person to be experimented on with this procedure is a promiscuous teenage girl who lives in the gated community that gave it up to just about everyone which causes this parasite sex virus to spread fast, slowly turning everyone in the island community in to a carrier of this new parasite sex disease.
What starts out as a movie about organ transplantation (with an emphasis on the kidneys) quickly turns in to an allegory/comment on the spreading of STD's (an element that could be found in future films like 'Poison', 'Trouble Every Day' or even 'Safe' to a certain extent). The idea of one person spreading this sexually transmitted virus/disease could be compared to the idea of the alleged "Patient Zero" for AIDS (which hadn't even come up at the time this film was made). And whats interesting about the real "Patient Zero" (Gaetan Dugas) that ties everything in this blog entry together is that not only was he french canadian (which is where 'Shivers' is set), but in real life he actually died of kidney failure. For a film like this in the mid 1970's, you have to admit that this is a pretty progressive story (even if it is essentially a low budget zombie movie). Neither Kidney disease or sexually transmitted diseases (especially HIV/AIDS) were addressed in film during the early/mid 1970's. Was David Cronenberg really that ahead of his time, or was the plot of 'Shivers' purely a coincidence. Just for the simple fact that David Cronenberg can make a film with an excessive amount of (obvious fake) blood, guts and bad acting but at the same time can get you to relate it to issues like sexually transmitted diseases makes this film unique. And not only does 'Shiver' deal with the spreading of STD's, but Cronenberg also explores things like incest (there's a scene involving an infected mother and daughter participating in an orgy together), pedophilia (a scene involving 2 young girls tied to a dog leash) and other various fetishes.
The film, which at times comes off like a softcore porn with a lot of blood, features more than a few obvious scenes of sexual innuendos (and the phallic shape of the actual parasites that spread from one host body to the next makes the symbolism even more obvious)
You can also trace certain aspects of 'Alien' back to Cronenberg's 'Shivers'. In fact, Cronenberg had this to say about 'Alien' and its screenwriter Dan O'bannon....
Ron Shusett, who’d had a lot of success with Alien, which, I have to say, took a lot of stuff from Shivers. There’s a parasite that lives inside you? Burns its way out? Jumps on your face and goes down your throat? I did all that before Alien and Dan O’Bannon (who wrote Alien) certainly knew my work.
Its always nice when directors aren't afraid to speak up and call someone out (although not to say that 'Alien' isn't a classic film). And on a side note, David Cronenberg is not only one of the most interesting directors to read about, but he never holds back his opinions on directors he doesn't like...
a parasite bursts through a host
body's stomach in 'Shivers' (1975)
classic scene from 'Alien'
(1979)
And on the flip side, certain scenes from 'Shivers' towards the end when things start to get more and more out of control (especially the sexual scenes involving young kids), reminded very much of Passolini's 'Salo...
'Shivers'
'Salo' (1975)
Given the release of recent popular "plague films" like 'Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes' and Soderbergh's 'Contagion', 'Shivers' is a film that some of you may wanna dust off the shelf and revisit. Like I said before, its quite campy and cheesy in some parts, but the ending of the film, which shows all the infected residents driving away from their gated community in to the city of Montreal (as if to insinuate the virus spreading all through Canada and eventually the rest of the world) is quite chilling and very mature for such a low budget film. I guess that's what makes watching 'Shivers' such a unique experience. Its both fun & entertaining (even kinda funny in parts where its clearly not supposed to be funny) but also ahead of its time and very progressive. Its watching the birth of Cronenberg and his foray in to the genre of "Body Horror" (a genre where he reigns supreme to this day).
Sorry but this has been bothering me for the last few days and I have to speak on it. Although I'm still very annoyed about Michael Fassbinder ('Shame') & Albert Brooks ('Drive') getting snubbed, I'm slowly becoming MORE annoyed about 'Drive' not getting nominated for BEST PICTURE (and besides, Fassbender & Brooks aren't even the worse snubs in the academy's history). Over the last couple of weeks I've heard way too many people ask the same question: "C'mon, did you REALLY think Drive was gonna get nominated?" At first I shrugged it off and just agreed like; "Yeah, I guess you're right." But when I started to really think about it, what film had more of a cultural impact last year? What film was referenced more on television, parodied as much on viral sites like funny or die, vimeo & youtube and just generally talked about among everyone? 'Drive'! Us guys wanted to be "The Driver" (don't lie, you know its true) and women wanted to be in Carey Mulligan's position. From Ryan Gosling's scorpion jacket that became a popular Halloween costume last year, to the films soundtrack which you could overhear coming out of the headphones of the person sitting next to you on the train (that happened to me)...what other movie besides 'Drive' had that much of an impact last year? I don't remember anyone watching George Clooney in 'The Descendants' and going; "I'm gonna start wearing a Hawaiian shirt so I can be cool like George Clooney!" For those of you who have seen 'Drive'; are you honestly gonna tell me that Ryan Gosling's crazy glare at Carey Mulligan after he stomps the bad guys face in (along with all the other unexpected violence) didn't stay stuck in your head for at least a day? For those of you who saw 'Drive' and actually drive a car on a regular basis; you honestly didn't feel "cool" driving on the highway at night after the first time you saw 'Drive'? Be honest with yourself. Say what you want, but 'Drive' was a MINI-cultural phenomenon for the last quarter of 2011. It gained a cult following faster than any recent film I've seen. Just because the movie isn't about a middle aged man trying to find himself and make peace with his family while his wife is in a coma ('The Descendants') or the loss of a father during 9/11 ('Extremly Loud, Incredibly Close') or an epic war drama about a boy and his horse ('Warhosre') doesn't mean the film cant be great or worthy of an academy award nomination. What's wrong with showing respect to a film that's ultra cool as long as the film is good (or GREAT in Drive's case) and brings something different & new to the table?
Conan O'Brien wearing a scorpion jacket from 'Drive'
Anime dedication for 'Drive' which became one of the more popular viral videos of the last few months. I don't remember anyone making one of these for 'Hugo' or 'The Help'
'Drive Thru' parody from funnyordie.com
Aziz Ansari on "Parks & Recreation"
Cover for Symmetry's latest album; "Music for Imaginary Films", which not only got its inspiration for the cover art, but the actual music itself is very derivative of Cliff Martinez's score. Did any musicians pay homage to the music in 'The Tree Of Life' or 'Warhorse'??
Although 'Drive' will never have the same impact as something like 'Pulp Fiction', on a smaller scale, it was essentially this year's Pulp Fiction. 'Drive' referenced and pulled together the films and styles of everyone from early Michael Mann ('Thief' and Mann's use of Tangerine Dream's synthesized score) & William Friedken ('To live & Die in LA') to more "obscure" directors like Kenneth Anger (the scorpion jacket), Gaspar Noe (the extreme violence & the face smashing) & Takashi Kitano (also the extreme violence and specifically the elevator scene), just like Tarantino referenced & pulled together everything from the styles of Godard & Scorsese to Sonny Chiba & Blaxpoitation films in 'Pulp Fiction'. How many neo-noir's can you honesty name that mix the "arthouse" element of Andrei Tarkovsky & Kenneth Anger, with the cool visual technical qualities of Michael Mann along with the blood, guts & violence from vintage Cronenberg or 'Oldboy' and STILL manage to have conventional qualities to please the average movie goer? I'd love to hear what you all come up with (if you can actually come up with anything at all).
No disrespect to SOME of the films that got nominated ('The Artist', 'Moneyball' & 'Midnight In Paris'), but when it comes to so some of the others that got nominated...shit just doesn't add up. 'The Help' has done absolutely NOTHING new or progressive and has told us NOTHING new about race problems in America. It's 2012. Unless you have something new to bring to the table in terms of race relations or racism, you're just making a slight variation of the same movie over and over from 'Mississippi Burning' & 'Driving Miss Daisy' to 'To Kill A Mockingbird' & 'Rosewood'. Lets do something new. And I still have yet to find anything outstanding or exceptional about 'The Descendants' (or Alexander Payne's entire filmography for that matter if you really wanna go there). And has anyone actually seen 'Extremely Loud, Incredibly Close' or 'Warhorse'? I don't think I know one person who has.
I know I shouldn't get too bent outta shape about 'Drive' not getting nominated because at the end of the day people will remember it years from now (and I'm sure we're going to be seeing quite a few films that draw influence and inspiration from 'Drive' in the near future), while almost half of the films that did get nominated will be forgotten about over time.
For over a decade Bertrand Bonello has been one of the top modern french directors out. His work has been a regular fixture at Cannes (winning the international critics week prize in 2001 for 'The Pornographer'). He's worked with everyone from french legends like; Jean Pierre Leaud, Aurore Clement & Michel Piccoli, to modern day french heavyweights like Mathieu Amalric & Laurant Lucas as well as future stars like Adele Haenele. His name is also commonly associated with other forward-thinking modern french directors like Gaspar Noe & Bruno Dumont as part of "The New French Extremity". So far, his body of work has touched upon everything from pornography ('The Pornographer') and the occult ('On War'), to transgender ('Tiresia') and brothel life ('The House Of Tolerance').
His latest film; 'The House Of Tolerance' wound up on many "Best Of 2011" lists (most notably mine and Cahiers Du Cinema).
His films have been written about and pretty much given praise on PINNLAND EMPIRE (a review of 'Tiresia' is scheduled at some point this year), so its pretty awesome of him to take the time out of his probably busy schedule to answer a few quick questions...
1. What are the last 3 movies you saw? (feel free to elaborate on any of them)
Bertrand Bonello: 'Violence et Passion' (Visconti) - I think the English title is 'Conversation Piece'. Burt Lancaster is genius in this film. And God, Where is the new Helmut Berger?! The film is heartbreaking and brilliant. - 'Intouchables' - I wanted to know what interested so many French people (18 millions). The film is like "Walt Disney". Not for me, but why not … It shows anyway how much my country is feeling bad. - 'Meek's Cutoff' - I missed it when it was released. I caught up on DVD. I like the idea that every 3 years you have a new definitive western. Maybe the film is too obviously "author" but I liked it. It says a lot about relationships with Indians.
2. Who, in your opinion, is the best active filmmaker working right now?
BB: TOUGH QUESTION! Impossible to answer, but let's play the game: Lars Von Trier, because everything from him is possible. You don't know what is going to come.
3. Alice Houri once told me that you had the cast members of 'The Pornographer' watch Bresson's 'The Devil Probably'. Why that SPECIFIC Bresson film instead of 'Lancelot Du Lac' or 'Un Femme Douce'? What was it about 'The Devil Probably' that influenced or inspired 'The Pornographer'?
BB: It was not the only direction of the cast, but it is true that 'THE PORNOGRAPHER' was influenced by this movie. Its mainly because of the way it shows youth. Not realistic, but at the same time full of truth. This mix was very important for me.
4. I know this question has been asked a million times, but with your latest film; 'The House Of Tolerance' (a movie i consider to be one of the best of last year), what drew your attention to prostitution? What sparked you interest on the subject?
BB: About House of tolerance...my first desire was to do a picture with a bunch of young women. I didn't want to show them with today's problems (find a job, a boyfriend). Then I had the image of them in a brothel in 1900. And for me, the image was strong. In fact, I was much more interested in brothel life than I was prostitution. After that, I started doing some research and I quickly became very moved by these women. Also, it appeared to me that the brothel would be a perfect place for cinema. Like a box for fantasy. Like a brain.
5. If you don't mind me asking, what specific instruments and/or music equipment did you use for the soundtrack to 'The House Of Tolerance'?
BB: It is a mix of several things. Synths, electric guitars, and Chinese violin for the main theme. Piano and classical percussion (including gongs) for the music that comes in the rooms with all the scenes with the clients. I recorded as much stuff and as many sounds as I could in several studios, then put everything in my computer to organize the music
Right off the bat I gotta say that it takes a special kind of talent to make subjects like diabetes, life support and beatings to the head with blunt objects a laughing matter. This was by FAR one of my favorites from last year (sorry it took so long for me to write about it). With back-to-back hits under his belt, Yorgos Lanthimos has managed to earn one of the TOP spots amongst the "leaders of the new school" (a collection of new-ish and/or emerging directors set to take over once current masters like Michael Haneke, Claire Denis, Mike Leigh and a few others step down, fade away or retire). In just 2 years he's blessed us with 'Dogtooth' (a film that was surprisingly nominated for best foreign film last year) and his most recent feature; 'Alps' (one of the few films i saw at TIFF last year that I LOVED, and a film I included in my TOP 10 films of 2011). I honestly wish at this point it had been released in theaters so you could all witness its greatness but oh well...consider this a sneak peak in to whats going to be one of the most original comedies of 2012 (apparently this wont be released until spring). Like 'God Bless America' (which also has a fucked up sense of humor) this is one of the few films I saw last year that I actually liked bragging about to people.
There's a few reasons why I'm so drawn to silliness on television like 'Tim & Eric' (and other various shows on cartoon network/adult swim), 'Family Guy' and 'American Dad': To balance out all the serious, heavy and often depressing films I constantly watch. The second reason is that I just don't find many recent comedies very funny outside of a few exceptions like; 'Wet Hot American Summer', 'Super Troopers' and 'Harold & Kumar'. After that, other comedies i enjoy are essentially guilty pleasures that I know deep down inside are quite stupid ('Beerfest' and 'Grandma's Boy' are a few examples). I love watching movies but I also love to laugh. Recently I haven't been able to rely on film for laughter. But somehow Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos was able to change all that, tap in to my brain and make a film that actually spoke to me in terms of humor. Can you believe I'm actually saying such a corny phrase? A film "spoke to me"? But It's true. Films like 'Alps' and 'Dogtooth' are proof that I'm not crazy and my odd sense of humor is shared by a few other people in this world. Thank god filmmakers like Yorgos Lanthimos exist. He seems like the kinda guy who sits around making up really fucked up, yet funny "What if..." scenarios in his head all day.
Aggeliki Papoulia gave one of the best performances
of last year in 'Alps'
'Alps' centers around 4 people (a nurse, an EMT, a future gymnast star and her coach) who run a "business"/borderline secret society that provides a unique service: They stand in or take the place of a loved one who's either dead or in a coma. This provides grieving family members, friends and loved ones a little piece of mind and the opportunity to say what they didn't have the chance to say in the past. Think of it as a form of therapy. Their clients include a widowed husband who's wife died of complications from diabetes, a wife & husband who's daughter (a teen tennis protege) is on life support and an elderly blind widow who hasn't gotten over the loss of her husband. If that doesn't sound absurd enough, the 4 employees of ALPS don't ever really look anything like the deceased or comatose people they're pretending to be which obviously adds an extra element of humor to the already crazy sounding plot. The employees of ALPS have strict rules, similar to "fight club", that aren't meant to be broken (and we do get to see the hilariously violent punishment one of employees faces when they break those rules in a scene almost identical to the scene in 'Dogtooth' when the women gets hit in the face with a VCR). Other standout scenes include an awkward game of charades (see the picture at the of top of this blog), a few moments of hilariously awkward dancing, a debate on whether or not Prince (the musician) is still alive and a funny scene involving one of the ALPS employees trying to play tennis with a girl on life support (see video below). Things eventually get out of hand towards the end of the film when one of the ALPS employees gets a little too caught up in one of her stand-in roles and starts to have trouble accepting the real world and she essentially goes rogue (...and a little insane).
The ALPS motto reads:
Don’t weep, don’t cry
Don’t be sad
Don’t be sad
Wave sadness goodbye
Say “hello” to joy
’Cause we are here, by your side
We are the Alps
Oh yeah, we are the Alps
No need for sadness
No need for pain
We’ll be there, there, there
No more unhappiness
Grieve no more
The Alps are here
We are your friends
We are your lovers
We are your father
We are your colleagues
We are the Alps
Oh yeah, we are the Alps
Their "Fight Club-esque" rules are:
1. Must declare in advance the things he or she is unwilling to do by filling out Form 1 (e.g. kissing, lifting weights, travelling, etc.).
2. Must also declare in advance the things he or she is good at by filling out Form 2 (e.g. dancing, waterskiing, discussing, etc.).
3. Must have some basic knowledge of psychology and sociology.
4. Is obliged to support, under all circumstances, the interests of the Alps group.
5. Must respect other Alps members.
6. Has the right to change their nickname only twice. They cannot choose a nickname belonging to another Alps member.
The nickname must strictly be the name of a mountain in the Alps, and not something general or irrelevant (e.g. Blonde, Master, Dragon, etc.).
7. Can never talk about Alps activities with non-Alps members.
8. Is obliged to take the Gymnastics Club Test, if necessary.
9. Must be over 14 years of age.
10. Should always be smart, clean, punctual, and in complete control.
11. Must never get emotionally involved with clients, or have intimate relations with them.
12. Cannot change his or her physical appearance without the Leader’s permission (e.g. dye their hair, lose or gain weight, wear coloured contact lenses, etc.).
13. Must be able to make convincing facial expressions (sadness, happiness, despair, etc.).
14. Must honour the title of their membership, and be ready to kill or die for it.
15. Must never attack another Alps member, and must believe in teamwork.
Outside of the intentionally dry delivery of the actors, 'Alps' and 'Dogtooth' are completely different stories yet they do share a loose connection. They both explore similar themes. On the subject of his last two films, both centering around the same lead actress (Aggeliki Papoulia) Yorgos Lanthimos said;
Doogtooth is the story of a person who tries to escape a fictitious world. Alps is about a person who tries to enter a fabricated world (cineuropa.org).
So although both films are technically comedies, they still explore the tragedy of people getting caught up in worlds that aren't real. Even in his unique comedic world, Lanthimos isn't afraid to take himself seriously from time to time. Sometimes its difficult to tell if Lanthimos' films are dramas hidden inside of a comedy, or comedies hidden inside of a drama. His work walks that fine line.
As far as performances go, there's something about the films star; Aggeliki Papoulia's delivery and comedic timing that I cant really put in to words without overpraising her. Even though 'Alps' is a comedy, she plays the role with the same intensity (which is written all over her face) that you'd expect a method actor to have for a serious drama. If you happen to check the internet for images from 'Alps', you'd notice how serious and intense her face is through out most of the film. If only comedic performances were treated with the same respect as other performances she'd be given way more praise. In my opinion, based off of what I've seen her act in so far (which I admit isn't much) she's just as funny as current female comedic heavyweights like Maya Rudolph, Kristen Wiig or Amy Poehler (although no one is quite as funny as Amy Sedaris).
As you can see, its very difficult to not mention both 'Dogtooth' and 'Alps' in the same breath. Both films feature that odd, unique atmosphere of (early) Michael Haneke (if he actually had a sense of humor), Robert Bresson, Todd Solondz and a more toned down Tim & Eric collaborating on a script. I hate to sound so over the top, but its almost impossible to not enjoy 'Alps' if you like 'Dogtooth'. Furthermore, if you are one of the few odd souls out there that actually DIDNT like 'Dogtooth', I have confidence that you'll enjoy as well. 'Alps' is slightly more mature and Yorgos Lanthimos' disturbing nature is toned down a bit in 'Alps'.
This is not to be missed when it comes out.
The ONLY thing I hate about this film is that it's SO good that you almost have no choice but to talk about it/compliment it like an intellectual snob. Critic Stephen Holden (The New York Times) said that 'The Intruder' was; a pure immersion in cinema. Beautiful and terrifying in their intensity, the images will make you gasp. Normally that kind of quote makes me roll my eyes and almost not want to see a film out of spite. But when it comes to 'The Intruder', that phrase is such an accurate description that I have to make an exception. It really is a work of art. A cinematic poem (see what I mean? I would never say "cinematic poem" in real life but this film brings that out of me. If you had followed Claire Denis' work up to this point (2004), you'd know that in terms of dreaminess or making a surreal film, 'The Intruder' was something she'd been working towards up to that point in her career. Think about it - since 'The Intruder' has Denis made a truly surreal film? No. Dreamy films since 'The Intruder'? Sure. Buts that's a given with almost everything she does. That's part of her style. Since then she's made a documentary ('Vers Matilde'), '35 Shots Of Rum' and 'White Material'. It's like she needed to get this surreal non-linear stream of conscious story out of her system. Before 'The Intruder' it's like she was testing the waters with the dreamy elements from 'Nenette & Boni' (specifically Boni's dream sequences), the dreamy atmosphere of 'Beau Travail' and the somewhat free spirited 'Friday Night'. This is essentially her "Mulholland Drive" or "Inland Empire". I make that comparison because just like 'Mulholland Drive', there is a basic plot to 'The Intruder', but there are multiple layers...
On the surface, you have a film about an older man ("Louie") in need of a heart transplant who, for whatever reason, seeks one out on the black market (in the form of a mysterious woman played by Katerina Golubeva). And like any film involving organs & the black market (see my Kidney's on film series) things don't go according to plan and we question if Katerina is an angel or an demon (this aspect of the story was inspired by author Jean Luc-Nancy's real heart transplant)
On the next level, the film is about Louie and his almost non-existent relationship with his adult son (played by Claire Denis-regular Gregoire Colin). Although not much is said about Sidney (and he doesn't say much in the film either) you do get the feeling that even outside of just being an absentee father, he's kind of an asshole with very little redeemable qualities. Yet for whatever reason we're intrigued by him.
Louie's son "Sidney", played by Gregoire Colin, scowling at him from across the street. Another "claire denis glare shot" found in many of her other films (to see what i mean, check out my cinema of claire denis blog entry)
underneath that, it's about Louie trying to fix things from the past (he also has a son in Tahiti that he abandoned years ago
Once again, like in 'Beau Travail', Denis implements old footage of Michel Subor from when he was younger to give a more realistic portrayal of the past...
The final level of The Intruder is a dreamlike world were you question what's real and what isn't. A world similar to the surrealist directors like; David Lynch, Krzysztof Kieslowski & Tarkosfky (Claire Denis briefly worked for Tarkovsky). Even Terrance Malick/'Tree Of Life' fans would appreciate this film. In fact, what sets 'The Intruder' apart from other recent surreal/non-linear films ('Uncle Boonme...', 'George Washington', 'Tree Of Life', etc) is that Denis didn't need to use any kind of poetic/haunting voice-over narration. The imagery & ambiance are haunting & poetic enough. One minute we're in France, the next minute we're in South Korea, then Claire takes us to Tahiti with seamless editing and storytelling (I recently saw Wojciech Has' Hourglass Sanatorium and I can see how the seamless transitions in that film rubbed off on 'The Intruder'). If you don't pay attention to this film, you'll find yourself going; "whoa, wait a minute, how did we get to this point?" If you haven't seen this before, this isn't exactly a film to start watching when you're tired or in the mood to half-watch something while surfing the internet. The film does linger a bit, and some might say it could have used some editing (although not me), so be aware.
For a film that I still don't completely understand o(although i do understand it up to a certain level) 'The Intruder' is one of my recent favorites. From Michel Subor's almost dialogue-less, yet calmly commanding performance, to the soundtrack (courtesy of Tindersticks front man; Stuart Staples) scenes from 'The Intruder' randomly pop in my head from time to time. I was even so inspired that I made a quick loop composition using the main theme from the film...
This movie is the perfect example of Denis' style of hints & implications (a phrase I'm sure most of you are use to me using when describing Claire Denis' style by now).
