Venice: Angry Filmmakers, Smoking Lights, Disappointing Films

[Editor's Note: Manolis, our correspondent from Greece, is wrapping up his time in Venice. But hopefully he'll go out on a higher note that this day, which disappointed him.  -Nathaniel R]

The last two days were bad days for me at the festival. Films I had high hopes for proved to be less that satisfying and smaller films that I hoped would surprise me didn't.

People Mountain, People Sea
This was the ‘surprise film’ of the Competition section of the festival announced just a few minutes before its first press screening. But this was not the only surprise for the press attending. Halfway through the film smoke started coming out of a headlight in the screening room and many journalists started running towards the exits panicked. The screening was interrupted, the firemen came and fixed the problem that could have resulted in a fire. After 25 minutes the screening resumed and the remaining critics watched the rest of the story. The movie is about a man Lao Tie in a small province of China who realizes that the local police force are unable to catch his younger brother’s killer, so he decides to do it himself. He embarks a journey that not only brings him face to face with the killer but also brings out all the fears and anger hiding inside him for many years. Unfortunately the fire incident was far more interesting than the film. I would say that this was the worst film I saw in the festival thus far, if it wasn’t for...

4:44 Last Day on Earth
In a large New York penthouse a couple of lovers (William Dafoe & Shanyn Leigh) are spending their last night talking and making love. Tomorrow at 4:44 pm the world will come to an end. Director Abel Ferarra's (Bad Lieutenant, Dangerous Game, Mary) new film, which describes the way this couple faces the impending collapse of the world it thematically interesting (Don McKellar made a fine film on the topic with “Last Night” in 1998) but the potential is never fulfilled. What Ferrara has to offer is ideological deliriums and a cheap morality lessons. 

[SPOILERS] The movie goes like this: the couple make love, they watch an Al Gore interview about global warming, they make love, they meditate, they make love, they watch a Dalai Lama speech about human nature, they quarrel, the clock shows 4:44 and they die. The audience should only hope that the world ends at 3:20 so that they won't have to endure the 84 minutes of this movie. A few of the reporters left during the screening and some of those who chose to remain till the end, did not hesitate to boo.

And More...
Both Dark Horse by Todd Solondz and Himizu from Sono Sion were also nothing to write home about.  The former started off promising but soon fell into the same category as nearly all of Todd Solondz's films: not exactly a failure but nowhere near the quality of his masterful Happiness (1998). The latter film, from Japan, was advertised here in Venice as one of the first films to deal with the Fukushima catastrophy but its use of the shots of the tsunami's aftermath played more like a marketing device than an essential or important part of the story. The average acting didn’t help either. 

Wuthering Heights
The biggest disappointment for me was Andrea Arnold's newest film. I've been a fan since Red Road and especially loved Fish Tank so I expected that her new film would be absolute festival highlight, rather than just a good film with intriguing elements. She gambled on unknown and teenage actors in the leading roles which was gutsy but doesn't always pay off. The story is told from Heathcliff’s point of view, but unfortunately we never understand his very complicated relationship with Catherine. Worse Catherine comes off as a very unlikable and it's hard to understand how two men both become so obsessed with her. The cinematography is the standout element in the film, with Robbie Ryan (who lensed both Red Road and Fish Tank) delivering truly exceptional work. Arnold reveals a strange obsession with mud and with hanged puppies and though her angry filmmaking is fascinating it doesn’t suit this kind of film. It’s not that her black teenage ex-slave Heathcliff is the problem but it feels rather strange when he says, in the true Bronte fashion, “F*ck you, you c*nt”. It’s an original approach for sure but, for me, an experiment that could lead to future greatness but doesn't do so here.

Stars... They're Just Like Us!

They also have to deal with obnoxious people walking backwards or stopping suddenly when everyone else is moving forwards!

This post is brought to you by Nathaniel's hatred of tourists in Times Square where he unfortunately found himself once this weekend. Tourists can magically transform a breezy 8 minute walk to a subway to a 35 minute nightmarish ordeal of erratic human movement. Turning 8 minutes to 35 is a feat as miraculous as feeding thousands with five loaves of bread ...only way less altruistic.

P.S. This amusing gif comes to us via my friend Matt's blog where he runs to Madonna's defense (as he do) about the gleeful takedowns of W.E. in Venice. Matt also shared an incredible video of previously unseen "Vogue" video footage. Lots of blooper-like stuff after the two minute mark. It's always so fun (though rarer than it used to be) to see Madonna laugh at herself / her surroundings.

Venice: "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" and "A Simple Life"

[Editor's Note: Here's Manolis, a Greek reader who is covering Venice for The Film Experience. If you can read Greek, visit Cinema News for more of his festival coverage.]

TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY
The spy thriller was eagerly anticipated here in Venice and reaction was generally positive though some critics felt that something was missing. English is not my first language and with the heavy accents I did have a hard time following all of the twists of the intricate plot. But despite my difficult I was delighted that the film doesn’t underestimate your intelligence and demands your full attention throughout. The film's technical aspest are very impressive from sets to costumes to cinematography and Tomas Alfredson (Let the Right One In) directs with stylish gusto, creating magnificent shots and frames. Though the spy movie genre doesn't generally promise the slow pacing that Alfredson chooses, it's an interesting approach. The performances follow this same tone, all of them toned down. The triumph of the ensemble cast is that you can feel that underneath the icy surface of the British mentality of the period, there is an array of emotions ready to explode. A simple gesture is, for these characters, far more important than a whole sentence. In fact, Gary Oldman only raises his voice once in the lead role of George Smiley in a wonderful monologue towards the end. Colin Firth and John Hurt are also very good as is Tom Hardy in a small but memorable role.  

The one thing I felt Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy lacked is a heart as it is a particularly cold experience. This not automatically a flaw for an intelligent espionage thriller but a small dose of warmth would have added to the whole a great deal considering that the film turns on loyalty, values and ideals. 

Andy Lau at the Venice premiere of A Simple LifeTAO JIE (A SIMPLE LIFE)
The second movie today was Tao Jie by Chinese filmmaker Ann Hui. The film takes place in Hong Kong and deals with the relationship between the thirtysomething Roger Lee (Andy Lau) and his elderly nanny Tao (Deannie Yip). The roles in this relationship are reversed when Tao gets seriously ill and can’t serve him anymore. It’s time for Roger Lee to rise to the occasion, learn to appreciate the things that he has taken granted and take care of this woman who was more than a mother to him all his life; she needs to know that someone will be there by her side in the last days.

A Simple Life has humor, pathos and sensitive performances and provides an interesting window for Westerners of the way the Chinese view their elders. The tender story has broad appeal but breaks no new ground and begins to drag towards the end.  Although comparisons to Yasujiro Ozu’s films would be unfair, they are inevitable and naturally not favorable for Hui’s film. 

Venice: "Shame" Is a Masterpiece

My favourite movie of the Venice Film Festival was undoubtedly, Shame by British video-artist Steve McQueen, which screened yesterday and met with universal acclaim. A desperate, gloomy tale of sex-addiction, urban-desolation and self-mortification, Shame is directed with such powerful, astonishing visual style by McQueen and acted with such raw, full commitment by Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan (vulnerable, sassy and fascinating), that it’s all but impossible that it will be ignored by the Venice jury.

Care Mulligan and Michael Fassbender are siblings in SHAME

McQueen and his cinematography Sean Bobbit (who also lensed Hunger) capture a ghostly, liquid New York City, which sets the perfect atmosphere of loneliness and despair for Brandon’s (Fassbender) compulsive acts of sexual abjection. Shame is uncompromising bleeding cinema. It’s also deeply moving and compassionate in the depiction of the relationship between Brandon and his sister Sissy (Mulligan) who unexpectedly breaks into his apartment asking for help and forcing him out of his shell of frozen emotions.

Continue for more on Shame and Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis follow-up.

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Venice, Day 5: Shame, Alps, Wilde Salome & Sal

[Editor's Note: Manolis, TFE's Greek correspondent at the Venice Film Festival chimes in briefly on a very busy screening day. Notes on four films, the last of them a probable prize winner. -Nathaniel]

Alps
The Greek entry of the festival divided the critics assembled here, just as Dogtooth did two years ago. The Italian critics that are featured at the Daily Variety issue of the festival here have given it from 1 to 5 stars. So it’s difficult to say what it’s chances are with the jury. In Dogtooth the protagonist was trying to escape from a fake world, but in Alps the protagonist is trying to enter one; she feels she must belong to another reality, not her actual one. Aggeliki Papoulia gives an excellent performance and Yorgos Lanthimos’ fans will not be disappointed. But that said, he won’t win any new fans with Alps.

Wilde Salome
This isn't quite a film or a documentary but something inbetween as Al Pacino chronicles his attempts to make a film out of Oscar Wilde’s Salome shortly after the play was staged in Los Angeles. In Wilde Salome we watch the plays’ rehearsals and see Pacino’s attempts to solve the various production problems that are created by his insistence to film the play simultanously with the live performances. We also watch him researching Oscar Wilde and we get information on the famous playwright through interviews featuring Tony Kushner, Gore Vidal, Tom Stoppard and… Bono. Jessica Chastain is magnetic as Salome and the film will surely be interesting to theater fans. Unfortunately, though Pacino may have had a vision, but he doesn't quite know how to share it through storytelling.

Franco and his star Val Lauren in VeniceSal

James Franco presents and emotional biography of Sal Mineo, or rather a small detail. Sal takes place on the last day of the star's life. Franco relies heavily on close-ups in this very low budget attempt to capture Mineo's spirit, to sketch an emotional impression of he was.  

I did this film for artistic reasons. Making a film is not just for entertainment or to make money."
-James Franco at the press conference

Though the film is slow and overly long, it captures the atmosphere of the time well and it's easy to forgive it its flaws; it's obviously a labor of love. 

Shame

Today I also saw the winner of the festival. I don’t know whether it will win the Golden Lion, Director or Actor prizes, but there is no way Steve McQueen’s Shame will leave Mostra empty-handed.

Shame is the story of Brandon (Michael Fassbender), a man who has lost his moral compass and wanders New York looking for one night stands, while what he needs is intimacy. Fassbender gives an astonishing performance and manages to combine Brandon's fragile nature with his sexual confidence. The actor presents his journey of despair brilliantly. Carey Mulligan is also remarkable as his sister, a nightclub singer. Her vulnerable blues rendition of “New York, New York” is more than enough to put her in the Oscar race of Best Supporting Actress. The explicit nature of the film and the many nude scenes (including full frontal nudity from both stars) may hurt the film's reception with some audiences and possibly Oscar voters, but McQueen and especially Fassbender won't end the year without popping up at various critics awards. 

The response at today’s premiere was enthusiastic. That five minute standing ovation was an obvious vote of approval for McQueen and Fassbender's post-Hunger reunion.