Cold in July.

I hate to admit it but this American independent film is too date one of the best films I have seen at the 2014 EIFF, head and shoulders above many of the others. A cracking action packed film with three excellent performances from lead stars Michael C Hall, the always-great Sam Shepard and especially Don Johnson who particularly stands out. Why is Cold in July (2013) so good? Its action packed, its almost two hour running times just fly’s by - never a hint of a sore backside  - full of humour, well co-written and directed by Jim Mickle whose last film was the remake of the Mexican horror movie We Are What We Are (2010).

 

A grand threesome. 

Set in East Texas in 1989. Mild mannered family man Richard Dane (Hall) sleeping next to his wife with his young son sleeping in the next room, hears an intruder. He gets his father old gun and proceeds down the stairs to find an unarmed intruder Freddy Russell about to rob his home. Pointing the gun at the masked man it goes off spaying blood and brains all over the furniture, the wall and a large painting hanging there with. The police do not seem too concerned and put it down as self-defence. Shortly after the incident the local police in the form of Lieutenant Ray Price (co-screenwriter Nick Damici) inform Dane that Freddy Russell’s father Ben (Shepard), a violent man by all accounts, has been given parole from prison and that he planning a little eye for an eye action! Its not until things take a strange turn that Richard Dane is forced into a unlikely alliance with Freddy’s father and the flamboyant private eye and pig farmer Jim Bob Luke (Johnston) and things begin to get a little out of hand.

Don Johnson arrive at the premiere in Edinburgh. 

My best recommendation is to just go and see this movie, if for nothing else to enjoy the on screen banter between Shepard and Johnston, you will not be disappointed.

Salo o le 120 giornate di Sodoma.

‘All things are good when taken to the extreme’ says one of the characters in Pier Paolo Pasolini’s final and most controversial film, it’s a statement that goes a long way to sum up the great Italian directors film career. I have enjoyed much of Pasolini’s body of work but even I must admit that Salo o le 120 giornate di Sodoma (1975) content and imagery is extreme! ‘It retains the power to shock, repel and distress almost 40 years after its release, but remains a cinematic milestone – culturally significant, politically vital and visually stunning’[1] 

 

Inspecting the 'victims'

Happy families?

The movie exposes a degenerate mini world where sexual pleasure and death are the only significant things. It’s based on the novel 120 Days of Sodom by the Marquis de Sade but is transposed from 18^th century France to the last days of the Republic of Salo where Benito Mussolini made a last stand at the end of World War 2. (Pasolini’s brother was actually killed in Salo a formative event that haunted him all his life![2]). The novel has been described as pornographic and erotic and although it was written in 1785 was not published until the 20^th century. 

 

The wedding.

Pasolini’s adaptation of the story retains de Sade’s original spirit. Four wealthy and powerful male libertines, The Duke, The Bishop The Magistrate and The President desire to experience the ultimate in depraved sexual gratification. To this end they kidnap nine teenage girls and nine teenage boys and take them to a large inaccessible Mansion for four months. Also in attendance are four middle-aged prostitutes three of whom recount stories to arouse the four men of power who in turn subject the teenagers to a series of sexual tortures and humiliations. The forth prostitute accompanies the telling of the stories, entitled Circle of Manias, Circle of Shit and Circle of Blood, on a piano.

The three ladies tell their arousing tales.

The film was made by Pasolini as a metaphor for Fascism (the worship of power for its own sake) and consumer capitalism and its production of junk food (the infamous scene where a naked young girl is forced to eat faeces) as well as his normal anticlerical stance (one of the libertine’s is a Bishop and we witness a wedding ceremony between two of the teenagers that is consummated by the libertine’s and not the bridegroom). The final scene, where the DOP’s camera replicates a pair of binoculars looking through a window seems to represent the final day’s of the Fascist regime where every decent thing that is left is destroyed and we witness strangulation, scalping, tongues cut out and nipples burned with red hot pokers all set to the music of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana.

One of the last pictures of the great director.

A powerful and disturbing film that will never be repeated, no director will ever again give us quite such an erotically profound political statement! Pasolini paid for this with his life. Shortly after it was finished he was murdered in suspicious circumstances that some observers say is related to his making of Salo others say it was due to his sexual orientation. Would I recommend you to watch this film? Yes I would pacifically because it is the final piece in a very great directors body of work and is ‘still relevant, still troubling’[3] and I would like to think that it still gives us all food for thought - wealth and corrupted power should never be the only criteria of our rulers.

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[1] British Film Institute 1998.

[2] Roger Clarke DVD Sleeve Notes.

[3] Time Out.

Bethlehem.

Co-written by Ali Waked, an Arab journalist who spent some years in the West Bank, and the films Israeli director Yuval Adler, who served in army intelligence, Bethlehem (2013) is allegedly based on extensive research carried out by the two men. Set in 2005 in the Palestinian city located in the land locked West Bank a place that has a population reputed to be in the region of 25000 people. It is also the home of the Palestinian Authority and various armed groups who will do anything to force out their Jewish overlords, but naively spend more time arguing amongst themselves.

 

Razi - the Shabak Officer who puts to much trust in a young 'Asset'?

The film demonstrates how far the Israeli security forces will go to recruit, develop and run Palestinians informants known as ‘human assets’. One such asset or collaborator is Sanfur the younger brother of Ibrahim, a Palestinian militant high on the Shabak officers wanted list, originally recruited when he was 15 years old by Razi, who seems to think highly of the lad and treats him like his own son. But in this world of lies and deceit who can any body trust? The Palestinian Authority want a cease fire, Razi and his Jewish compatriots are hell bent on capturing Sanfur’s older brother dead or alive and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades and Hamas will do anything to keep their most successful freedom fighter alive and functioning.

 

Sanfur - his loyalty's are never clear!

Adler’s film succeeds in showing us the dark and bloody world of human intelligence and these poor souls that get duped into becoming part of it. The three main actors are non-professional. Tsahi Halery, who plays Razi, served in the Israeli army in the West Bank, Badawi, the leader of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, is played by Hitham Omari a man that has known personally militant leaders similar to the role he plays on screen. Shadi Mar’i a 17-year-old lad from Nazareth is the big surprise making the role of Sanfur totally believable and one of the main reasons this feature film could so easily be taken as a documentary.

 

Badawi - a freedom fighter that lacks over all support from his leaders. 

A movie that displays complex human interactions between the flawed characters of Razi and Sanfur, with their relationship made ever more difficult by the events constantly changing around them. A film to appreciate more than to entertain, but one that will give’s you a back ground to what we see on our nightly TV news broadcasts. This tightly wound thriller was shown as part of the Robert Burns Centre Film Theatres Middle East Film Festival.

Blue Ruin.

‘The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of the evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brothers keeper and the finder of lost children, And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know I am the lord when I lay my vengeance upon you”[1]

Rarely have I seen a movie that  so clearly shows why the American pro gun lobby are so wrong!

 

Macon Blair as Dwight.

Rejected by the selectors at Sundance before its successful premier at the Cannes film Festival, Blue Ruin (2013) is a refreshing new slant on the revenge genre. Director and writer Jeremy Saulnier has presented us with a non dialogue driven movie which he describes as a horror, a character piece, an adventure and a tragedy, which to a certain extent adds up to a modern day road movie were a bullet ridden Pontiac Bonneville (the blue ruin of the title) and its understated homeless owner take centre stage. When we meet Dwight he is living rough in the car, sleeping on its back seat and scrounging for food in waste bins. He is a man that bears a canny resemblance to what we used to call a tramp with his unkempt appearance, his long scraggy beard and uncut hair. Never speaking, we assume this loner has history and its when a friendly female police officer asked Dwight to accompany her to the local Delaware police station that we find out that Dwight’s parents have been murdered and that the man convicted of killing them is being given an early release. This news sparks him out of his lethargic life style and puts him on a course of action that will not only threaten his well being but the life of his sister and her family.

 

What a difference a day makes?

The film has a lead actor that is new to me, Jeremy Saulnier’s childhood friend Macon Blair has been deliberately miscast as Dwight the unconventional killer who is more likely to hurt him self rather than the bad guys. Amy Hargreaves, seen mainly on American TV, plays Dwight’s sister Sam with scene stealing Devin Ratray (Nebraska 2013) as Dwight’s old gun toting buddy Ben Gaffney. It’s a cast that goes a long way to making us believe what we are witnessing and Saulnier’s up close and intrusive camera work supports this, giving us a look into the mind of a man deeply affected by a grave personnel tragedy.   

 

Amy Hargreaves as Sam.

Saulnier’s second feature film as director, writer and cinematographer following his debut 2007 comedy/horror movie Murder Party, incidentally he was also the DOP on Putty Hill (2010), brings to mind the style and feel of Ben Wheatley’s Kill List (2011) and Sightseers (2012). A truly brilliant independent movie that admittedly did not attract a large audience for the two nights it was playing at my local cinema but the screening I saw certainly made the audience sit up and take notice. The director proved confidence in his judgement by mortgaging his family home to raise the finance for the film and with additional help though the crowd funding platform Kickstarter has made a low budget gem that I am convinced in years to come will become a cult classic.

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[1] Ezekiel 25:17 as quoted by Jules Winnfield in Pulp Fiction (1994)