Selma (2014)

7.4/10

Martin Luther King Jr.: [somberly yet passionately speaking to church congregation at a funeral] Who murdered Jimmie Lee Jackson? Every white lawman who abuses the law to terrorize. Every white politician who feeds on prejudice and hatred. Every white preacher who preaches the bible and stays silent before his white congregation. Who murdered Jimmie Lee Jackson? Every Negro man and woman who stands by without joining this fight as their brothers and sisters are brutalized, humiliated, and ripped from this Earth.

Ava DuVernay is a director who dared to speak about the historical march of Martin Luther King Jr. on Selma, Alabama in the early 1960s. Despite the Academy's omission of nominating DuVernay for Best Director, this film resonates the transcendent message of what Martin Luther King Jr. was trying to achieve so many decades before.

'Selma' is the unforgettable true story chronicles the tumultuous three-month period in 1965, when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led a dangerous campaign to secure equal voting rights in the face of violent opposition. The epic march from Selma to Montgomery culminated in President Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965, one of the most significant victories for the civil rights movement. 

A bold directorial move on behalf of DuVernay and an even bolder subject to speak about. According to many public information online, despite the strenuous and tumultuous journey this film had had so far, after 10 years in development, DuVernay not only managed to take the reigns and achieve something worthwhile, but she re-wrote almost the entirety of the script, and edited out all the original speeches that were going to be used when this film was first developing. This however, and the numerous obstacles that the production faced along the way in making this film, is one of the many reasons why in its entirety this film is lacking in some way; from execution to development, the film is found wanting throughout its 2-hour span. 

The remarkable role of Martin Luther King, Jr is portrayed by the evocative David Oyelowo, who not only extols in his portrayal of the historical heritage of this man, but dignifies him by his vigorousness and his humility in the way he approached the script. Now baring in mind, what a profound significance this role has on world history, is reason enough to make any actor be in awe in the portrayal of Dr. King, Jr. Oyelowo's monumental portrayal is one that focuses more on the abundance of raising awareness and feelings of justice and equality, rather than playing upon the physicality of the character. He manages to underlay such a capturing of the multifaceted personality that does engage with the audience enough to prove how current still the words of Martin Luther King, Jr are. 

Albeit the gravity of the message being promoted through the story line, the film is lacking in its ability to engage the audience from the get go. The trouble with this, is not in the lack of empathy on the events that unraveled in 1965. The main lacking problem with the film is the long stretchy moments of hopelessnes and victimization that could make the film a lot more pacy and intriguing. Given the thematology, race issues on film are always a sore subject and DuVernay, given the resources and the backing she had, she did justice in her approach to the historical material  that gives the film a significance upon the long line of film that deal with racial equality. 

The grasp of things is that after screening the film, it is only understandable why the Academy chose not to include DuVernay's valiant effort in directing this colossal film, and if we weight upon the film-making achievements on this year's Oscar race, it is only but fair that DuVernay was not nominated for 'Selma'. A worthy nod though came to this film through it's best original song, with the film 'Glory' by John Legend and Common. The track is truly glorious!

'Selma'

(2014)

Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

7.9/10

Quite frankly, I didn't even want to use you guys, with your dip and velcro and all your gear bullshit. I wanted to drop a bomb. But people didn't believe in this lead enough to drop a bomb. So they're using you guys as canaries. And, in theory, if Bin Laden isn't there, you can sneak away and no one will be the wiser. But Bin Laden is there. And you're going to kill him for me. 

So, I gotta give it to you straight. When it comes to films, I shall always be nothing but pure raw honesty. 'Zero Dark Thirty' exhausted me. Lest I be misunderstood, not because it wasn't good. No nothing of the sort. I shall be more explanatory.

Given the fact that Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker, Point Break) is not really my cup of tea, I went into this film rather biased. Not against it, but I was very cautious when I sat down to watch this film. 

Having soaring at the Academy Awards back in 2010, Kathryn Bigelow returns with another highly-packed war/political drama/thriller. This time, her muse is Jessica Chastain, who literally gives a kick-ass performance through the ashes and the dust of the Middle East.

The story line? The story is about Maya, a CIA operative whose first experience is in the interrogation of prisoners following the Al Qaeda attacks against the U.S. on the 11th September 2001. She is a reluctant participant in extreme duress applied to the detainees, but believes that the truth may only be obtained through such tactics. For several years, she is single-minded in her pursuit of leads to uncover the whereabouts of Al Qaeda's leader, Osama Bin Laden. Finally, in 2011, it appears that her work will pay off, and a U.S. Navy SEAL team is sent to kill or capture Bin Laden. But only Maya is confident Bin Laden is where she says he is.

Let's start from Jessica Chaistain (The Help, The Tree of Life). Brilliant actress. Undoubtedly she did a fantastic job in this film. An extremely hard role to pull through, a role that really did show that she pushed herself to the limits to deliver. But deliver she did. The role of Maya, is quite intricate; socially withdrawn, obsessive, workaholic, persistent to find the truth but strong enough to kick ass when she needs to. She does not stop to catch the man responsible for so many global deaths, for her own peace of mind and to serve and protect her ethical duties. Jessica Chastain really outdid herself with this performance giving the role the humanity and the obsessive mannerisms needed to portray Maya.

In the two and a half hours of this film, Kathryn Bigelow guides her audience through a whole decade up until the capture of Bin Laden. It is a very torturous journey I will tell you this much. But a journey none the less. I cannot really describe this film as war or anti-wear because it is neither. What I can say is that this film is about psychological strength through the most inhuman political environments; war-zone. 

Considering Bigelow's previous film commendations, and having won the Best Director and Best Picture in the 2010 Academy Awards, we expect a lot out of this film. Although she does grant us an inside into Maya's obsessive and persistent nature, she does not really give us the satisfaction when she finally manages to achieve what she had been fighting for, for the past decade. The film slacks off somewhere in the middle, it drives a very slow up-hill mode and  does not give that high speed energy that one would expect. 

I cannot say it disappoints entirely, as it does speaks of a monumentous event in American history (at least) but its filmic pace is slow-beat and un-escalated. 

Cinematography rolls high with the camera viewing the war through soldiers' eyes and through unsteadiness. The war-zone is not even pleasing for the filmic iris, as it is raw, with little sentiment and lots of inhumane violence. 

Summing up, this is a strong film. It may not keep all viewers satisfied or enthusiastic enough, but it had a sizzling plot-line, by screen writer Mark Boal (The Hurt Locker, In the Valley of Elah) and an even more dynamic performances. Do give it a go if you're brave enough and you would like to get a slight insight on how the Bin Laden campaign went down. 

Argo (2012)

8.1/10

"Argo, fuck yourself!"

So, I shall start big this year. The biggest favor to win Best Picture in the Academy Awards for 2013 is (unavoidably) ‘Argo’. Producer/Director/Actor, Ben Affleck, has long been longing to take on his role behind the cameras and with this film not only he managed to achieve gloriously his goal, but also he proved to be a worthy contender.

In a few words, what Argo’s about: In 1979, the American embassy in Iran was invaded by Iranian revolutionaries and several Americans were taken hostage. However, six managed to escape to the official residence of the Canadian Ambassador and the CIA was eventually ordered to get them out of the country. With few options, exfiltration expert Tony Mendez devised a daring plan: to create a phony Canadian film project looking to shoot in Iran and smuggle the Americans out as its production crew. With the help of some trusted Hollywood contacts, Mendez created the ruse and proceed to Iran as its associate producer. However, time was running out with the Iranian security forces closing in on the truth while both his charges and the White House had grave doubts about the operation themselves. (sourse: www.imdb.com)

Granted, this film does not scream ‘fun-jolly time at the movies’ from miles away. What it does sound like, is “hmmm-now-I-see-why-HOMELAND-is-so-damn-good”. Without comparing the two though, let’s start from analyzing the film in general.

The story is most certainly a most compelling one. Only to think about that these events really did happen to the real Tony Mendez, has you gasping how in the first place he managed to come up with such a daring and risky plan. Chris Terrio, the newbie screen-writer, managed to make the plot speedy, compelling and above all easy for any viewer to follow, thus not scaring away any non-so-film-lover. As per the description, this is not a very happy theme film, but the wittiness and the vigorous plot line, keeps the viewer glued to the screen. The main point, which they succeeded in this film, is that it keeps you hanging…are they gonna make it? Is it going to work?

All this questions however, could not have been achieved if indeed it wasn’t for the ‘leader’ of this film itself: Mr. Ben Affleck. Of course any film go-er recognizes Ben Affleck from films such as Good Will Hunting, Armageddon, Pearl Harbor, Daredevil and by his recent directorial debut (featuring his younger brother starring in it Casey Affleck in the film) ‘Gone Baby Gone’ – another strong contender in the Academy Awards back in 2007. In all honesty, and hands down, Affleck did come a long way, and now it is his moment to shine as he’s always wanted to in Hollywood. Not only he manages to find the balance between a delicate political subject but also makes sure he delivers both acting-wise and directing-wise to its audience the facts, besides the gimmicks of a horrible situation. His direction is solid, cut and precise. He doesn’t beautify the events of that time, and does not look for immediate sympathy from his audience. He lets them judge the events from an outside scope, thus providing the safety of truth in its visual narrative.

As per the more technical elements of the film, cinematography is solid, neat and comprehensive enough for any demanding viewer who is not really too keen in dissecting every angle of the film and what it means. Costume design and production design was right on balance in their re-creation of the late 1970s Iran and USA. Especially considering the chaotic reconstruction of the Iranian revolutionaries of the time, the production team made an excellent work in keeping faithful with the period’s visual thematology.

And a little bit about the actors, how could we not of course when we have actors like Alan Arkin (Little MissSunshine, Rendition, Glengarry Glen Ross), Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad, Drive, Malcom in the Middle) and the master of all John Goodman (The Big Lebowski, Flight, The Artist, Roseanne). These three men are the touchstones of this film; they are what make this film big, what keeps this film going, what makes it a hard champion in its kind. All three actors, are well beyond their prime but they are truly exceptional talents in the film industry. It would be of course unforgivable of me not to mention some of the actors in this film, which are most of the times easily mis-forgotten and underrated in the Hollywoo-land; Victor Garber, Clea DuVall, Tate Donovan, Kyle Chandler, Zeljko Ivanek, Chris Messina. All of these actors were the fundamental element why this film works. The chemistry of the entire cast bounces off so well, that it cannot leave the viewer unaffected on their personal drama.

Just to finish off quickly by giving also the thumbs up for the astounding music composer Alexandre Desplat. His superb original music score guides through the plot marvelously, interchanging from the rusty mellow music of the drama into the light-hearted moments of the “making of” of the fake film.

Personally, I see this film taking home the Oscar for Best Picture. Not because there aren’t better films out there, but because it touches on a very daring subject, especially for the American people of Hollywood. It gathered a lot of force and effort to be made, I am sure that many people would have advised against this film being made so pompously as it did, wanting to avoid any political characters being heralded so gloriously in the Academy Awards. Given the fact though, that in the years’ passed, Kathryn Bingelow won the Best Picture Award for a highly infused political action drama (‘The Hurt Locker’), then this year’s win would not surprise me in the least. After all, when you have as your main producer people like George Clooney involved, you know you’re bound to be served a good political intrigue. And this year, we green-light this one.

Hope anyone who watched this film enjoyed it as much as I did. See you guys soon, with more Academy Award contenders for this year! 

The Lives of Others aka Das Leben der Anderen (2006)

Rating: 8.2/10

"An innocent prisoner will become more angry by the hour due to the injustice suffered. He will shout and rage. A guilty prisoner becomes more calm and quiet. Or he cries. He knows he’s there for a reason. The best way to establish guilt or innocence is non-stop interrogation."

Das Leben der Anderen' tells the story of "an agent of the secret police in Berlin in 1984, who is conducting surveillance on a writer and his lover, and finds himself becoming increasingly absorbed by their lives."

THis post-noir espionage social drama, over the years has increasingly become a favourite feature among the critics and the general public. The gloomy atmosphere and the voyeuristic themes that bounce within the visual narration of the story keep you all the more hooked into this character-based drama.

We are transferred to the last years before the Wall of Berlin is demolished; the secret services of Germany see enemies and political spies everywhere. The once-glorious Germany is in tatters and fear is but a looming prospect for the German horizon.

Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, writer and director of the film, created a multi-layered environment of the film. The creeping voyeuristic style of choice to shoot the film almost bring chills and goosebumps to every viewer. As a kind of the prototype of a 'Big-Brother-Is-Watching-You' style of cinematography, he slowly sucks you in into the lives of a couple. The act is a glorious manifest of a post-war Peeping Tom who undermines the authority of only just doing his duty but finds something so sinfully delicious into a world that does not belong to him.

In relation to how the tone of the film is based, Donnersmarck chose to collect ideas and thoughts of his characters and give you a matter-of-fact kind of shooting technique.

But the film would be un-glorious without its actors. The undoubtedly brilliant (and sadly too soon departed) Ulrich Mühe, who got his recognition posthumously, but who managed to captivate and make such a sneer character into such a liked person. Mostly I think his best achievement in this film is that he managed to create such a multi-layer character and made his audience to try to understand and capture the humanity and the vulnerability of this role. Went into this film quite blind, not knowing what to expect, but by the end of it my heart was sinking for Mühe's performance. Like a tragic greek hero that leads himself into his fall, he sustains a sense of logic but also of a sadness that no one seems to share with him.

Likewise his on-screen protagonist and much to excellent Sebastian Koch who lets us into his character's private life and lets us be intrigued by what we, and Mühe, are not suppose to hover in. Koch's on-screen presence is so stunning that leaves us wondering whether we are suppose to like him or not. By the end we learn so much about him that perhaps we shouldn't that we can't help but like the little glimpses we got to eavesdrop about his life.

For me this film is a serene post-noir political thriller. It does not let you in on any glorious symbolistic secret you're suppose to uncover as a viewer. It lets you get sucked in slowly, and with time. Just enough to keep you guessing on where these characters will go.

Personally this filmic endeavour is a masterpiece because it dared to explore again the 1960s shooting technique that does not give you this hype-action political thriller but makes you work for your appreciation, something which makes it all the more valuable and delightful to watch.

I highly recommend this film for those who like to discover good European cinema and who are willing to let go and enjoy this film's penetrating story.




The Lives of Others (2006)

The Iron Lady (2011)

Rating: 6.9/10

" It used to be about trying to do something. Now it's about trying to be someone."

'The Iron Lady' is a much talked about film these days; Having won the Academy Award for Best Actress with Meryl Streep this film has gone to be hailed as an anthem for the English's ex-ruler Margaret Thatcher.

As a political genre film this does not sets its basis only in with the politics factor. The film cleverly takes us on a journey to discover the unknown life of Margaret Thatcher, from the time she was a young lady till the time she became an old lady. Flashbacks were a must for the story, something which made the film quite rough around its edges. The non-linear narration was quite complex, thus leaving the audience at times perplexed and confused as to how they should feel for Streep's role.

Although the directing seems to be sailing with a smooth pacing, Phyllida  Lloyd does not fully succeed in her vision to make us fully sympathize or even understand the purpose of the film; whether we like the protagonist or not and what purpose did her life and actions served at the end. Albeit these minor flaws the film has a lot of emotional background, taking us slowly into the mentality of the Iron Lady and at the end releasing us into her world of hallucinations.

There's too little I can say for the real-life Iron Lady of the cinema though; whatever I put into words for Streep's acting would be pointless enough, as this actress never seems to fail in every portrayal she may give. In my opinion the Oscar was well deserved, not because of the girth and the humanity she brought into this role but because of the pieces she gave from her heart into Maggie Thatcher's character. You could feel her pain, her loss, her hallucinations, her long-forgotten glories, her strength, her ambition and her love for everything she may have tried to do. For Streep it wasn't just to portray the goodness in this character but to present her reality, with the good and the bad equally and in the end to let you decide on the qualities that this character deserves.

A wonderful achievement of the recreation of so many different decades would be in order for the costume designer, Simon Elliot (North & South TV Mini Series), who literally had an overwhelming task to achieve in his creation of the first lady in the English Cabinet. Superb production design.

And it would be a mishap on my behalf if I failed to mention the always breath-taking music score of Thomas Newman (American Beauty, Shawshank Redemption) who as always was not much appreciated for his astounding work. Truly a remarkable musical score.

And last but not least, it is only fair to mention Steep's co-star and brilliant....no brilliant's not too good enough of a word to describe this actor...the extraordinary Jim Broadbent. What a colossal performance each time this thespian gives. He truly is the modern embodiment of a thespian. Always carries his performance on screen with such ease. In the Iron Lady he was so carefree, so pious and willing to give an emotional portrayal of his relationship with Streep that it couldn't fail but move the viewer.

As a last thumbs up I would give to the young, and yet so far unknown, actress who portrayed Margaret Thatcher as a young lady, Alexandra Roach. In my opinion she is among the newly rising British actresses and would love to see more of her in the near future. She had the zeal and the stamina to portray such a crucial character and yet she did not fail.

The film as a whole does not say a lot, but the performances speak aloud. Watch it for the  brilliant acting and the production design and relish for a little while how it must have been for a lady of Thatcher's stature. Albeit many people suffered under her time of ruling, she did leave her political mark in the British people; restrain.


The Iron Lady (2011)

The Ides of March (2011)

Rating: 7.3/10

"I'm not a Christian. I'm not an Atheist. I'm not Jewish. I'm not Muslim. My religion, what I believe in is called the Constitution of United States of America."

I originally did not want to review this film so early on, because I like films to "sink" in me first, but since February is the Awards season, and we're daily bombarded with what's mainstream, and since I had one of those mornings where I want to watch something of essence, I sat myself down and watched 'The Ides of March'.

The title being literally taken from William Shakespeare's play 'Julius Caesar' - "[...]beware the Ides of March[...]", a soothsayer warns Julius Caesar. Just like that this political thriller sucks you in, into the American political stratosphere of a game where justice is being played upon day by day.

I'm sure that just like this film there are a million political thrillers out there. Ever since 'All the President's Men' hit back in 1976 as a political thriller genre, whose intention was to expose a political figure and the scandalous corrupted political schemes they hide from the public, many directors and script-writers have indulge into this genre.

What constitutes a film apart from all the others is the growth of the plot and the characters. In this film we have a leading cats of titans; George Clooney, Paul Giammatti, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood and the rising star of the last couple of years Ryan Gosling.

I mean how can a director fail with such a recipe?

The dialogue is the key in such films, so that your audience can follow you up. Especially people who will watch this outside of the US and have limited understanding to how their elective system works and so on, you will have to pay close attention to the dialogue so that you don't get lost in translation.

The film talks about "Stephen Meyers; an idealist who's brilliant at communications: he's second in command of Governor Mike Morris's presidential campaign, and he's a true believer. In the middle of the Ohio primary, the campaign manager of Morris's opponent asks Meyers to meet: he offers him a job. At the same time, Morris's negotiations for the endorsement of the man in third place, a North Carolina Senator, hit a snag. A young campaign intern, Molly Stearns, gets Stephen's romantic attention. Republicans have a trick up their sleeves, Stephen may be too trusting, and Molly has a secret. What's most important: career, victory, or virtue?" (www.imdb.com)

The brilliant acting carries you throw into this world of corruption and false idealism. Unlike other political thrillers here we sympathize the young idealist who still has so many hopes for his country. Who wouldn't?

But the shift in the film comes from all the external factors that seem to affect the protagonist. Because as in life, balances are fragile and especially when it comes to politics one false move can send someone packing. This is what unfolds brilliantly in this film.

The circumstances, the false advertisement of hope and progress, the corruption of the demagogs and the unravelling of the truth by the media. The themes in such films are numerous and after watching films like that you're always left wondering to what extend is the public being fooled at?

Are we all just pawns into the candidate's campaigns or do we really have the right to our free-will? How far will they go to sell their 'holy' image so that we believe them?

Gosling is simply a new-rising gem to my eyes and I am hoping he will get to have his skills crafted even more in the future.

Apart from the snide dialogue and the numerous hints on the corruption of the American Constitution, I really enjoyed the smooth pace of the direction. It carries on the plot in steady pace so that it keeps the audience intrigued on the protagonist's fate. So thumbs up for Clooney's direction. He most definitely knows how to work the art and will be expecting to see more of him in the future.

Worthy mention to the score of the film by the brilliant and artful Alexandre Desplat, who seems to be composing the music for quite a few films in the last few years.

I would suggest to see this with a quiet company, since you need to pay attention to the plot as it unfolds and in my opinion this is a worthy political thriller of the political genre evolution.

Hope you enjoy Clooney's direction!


The Ides of March (2011)