Gone Girl.

The Terrence Malick 'To The Wonder' type poster.

I’ve always had problems with the American director David Fincher, having never really liking any of his movies other than perhaps Seven (1995) a film which starred Brad Pit and Morgan Freeman who played two detectives tracking down a serial killer who centres his dreadful crimes on the seven deadly sins. I could never get to grips with Fight Club (1999), which again starred Brad Pit but this time alongside Edward Norton, which I believe is now classed as a cult movie, but on release never did good box office and was panned by the critics. My next film from the director was Zodiac (2007) a very long film, with another good cast that included Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo and Robert Downey Jr based on a real life serial killer and a movie I should probably have another look at? Then there was another long-winded affair, 2008 fantasy drama The Curious Case of Benjamin Button that again starred Brad Pit and was about a man who ages in reverse where as his love interest, Cate Blanchett aged in the normal way! Then came two films that I particular disliked. The first was The Social Network (2010) that tells us about the privileges of having rich parents. Even worse was his next movie which in fact was a complete waste of time and money as the original version of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2011) could not be bettered even with Hollywood showering oodles money on the project, don’t waste your time viewers watch the original.

 

Amazing Amy goes missing!

So the Robert Burns Centre Film Theatre Film Club screening of Fincher’s latest offering was viewed with some trepidation. But you will be pleased to hear that I wasn’t disappointed! Overly long, with the best part of the first hour spent trying to stay awake and retain your patience. With characters that grind on your nerves Gone Girl (2014) certainly was not the best film I’ve seen this year? Still I stuck with it and to be fair it did get a little better as time went on and on and on. 

 

Nasty Nick Dunne pleads for her safe return.

Described by a colleague as “a holiday read” which I took to mean lightweight and easily forgettable the movie is based on a best selling American thriller by the same person that provided the screenplay, Gillian Flynn. This rather unexciting movie has been described as a story about modern marriage (one can only hope that’s not true!) but it’s more to do with murder, betrayal and deception. Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) has been married to the ‘Amazing Amy’  (Rosamund Pike) for five years. On the very day of his fifth wedding anniversary she goes missing and the authorities, along with all the local residents, her family and all there so called friends; think that nasty Nick has done her in.

 

Has Nick really murdered his wife?

With not a spare seat in the house I’m sure that the mostly female audience enjoyed the film, but it was hard to confirm as none of our visitors returned for the discussion. It was Julie McMorran’s turn to be host but an impossible task unless she was prepared to give away the films twists and turns but she did say that it was well received critically and commercially and was thought of as a modern film noir – well it did have an competently acted femme fatal in the form of Rosemund Pike!  Don’t think I’ll be reading the book?

and what was the significance of Amazing Amy's pussy ???

To the Wonder.

Mont St. Michel enriches the romance of Neil and Marina.

Normally I would not give away too much of a movies plot, but in the case of To the Wonder (2012) I feel a little prior knowledge could help understand what

 transpires on the screen!

Neil (Ben Affleck) is an American traveling in Europe who meets and falls in love with Marina (Olga Kurylenko), a Ukrainian divorcee who is raising her 10-year-old daughter Tatiana in Paris. The lovers travel to Mont St. Michel, the island abbey off the coast of Normandy, basking in the wonder of their newfound romance.  Neil makes a commitment to Marina, inviting her to relocate to his native Oklahoma with Tatiana. He takes a job as an environmental inspector and Marina settles into her new life in America with passion and vigour. After a short while, their relationship cools. Marina finds solace in the company of another exile, the Catholic priest Father Quintana (Javier Bardem), who is undergoing a crisis of faith. Work pressures and increasing doubt pull Neil further apart from Marina, who returns to France with Tatiana when her visa expires. Neil reconnects with Jane (Rachel McAdams), an old flame. They fall in love until Neil learns that Marina has fallen on hard times. Gripped by a sense of responsibility, and his own crisis of faith, he renews his association with Marina after another trip to France. She returns with him to Oklahoma, resuming her American life.[1]

 

Neil and his childhood sweetheart Jane on the plains of Oklahoma.

Although Malick is credited with writing the script for this movie, it has been alleged that the cast worked without a screenplay. Not difficult considering that this abstract romantic drama has no real dialog. It consists mainly of narration spoken in French and Spanish from two of the films main characters, the Ukrainian divorcee Marina and the Catholic priest Father Quintana. The film certainly does not fall into what could be described as a normal narrative format and anyone expecting to see a plot driven romance: forget it!

There is no doubt that the seventy year old Terrence Malick is a very unique filmmaker and like his last film Tree of Life (2010) his latest cinematic offering is a joy to look at. Mexican born Emmanuel Lubezki is the Director of Photography on both these films and they certainly benefit from his masterful touch. It brings to mind Antonioni’s Red Desert (1964).

 

A conflict of faith for Father Quintana.

Malick’s film was the final review of the American film critic Roger Ebert before his death on April 4^th from which I borrow a quote ‘Malick, who is surely one of the most romantic and spiritual of filmmaker, appears almost naked here before his audience, a man not able to conceal the depth of his vision’[2] I could not agree more, the movie does appear autobiographical and encourages the viewer to feel the pain of the protagonists. A movie not necessary for every one, but one that does emphasise the craft of an immensely skilful filmmaker.

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[1] Written with the help of the synopsis from the press notes that do give a clear outline of the story.

[2] Roger Ebert 6^th April 2013 Chicago Sun-Times 

Argo

The original Argo poster.

If the Americans had done the right thing in the first place and had not sheltered an Iranian war criminal, returning him to his own country for trial, their Criminal Intelligence Agency would not have had to set up the rescue of six of their embassy staff from the home of the Canadian Ambassador and his wife in Tehran in 1979 and the remainder of their embassy staff would not been held hostage for 444 days!

Ben Affleck’s third directorial outing, following two crime drama’s, 2007’s Gone Baby Gone and 2010’s The Town, is a very exciting thriller based on what has become known as the ‘Canadian Caper’ a CIA operation which was classified until 2007. Argo (2012) starts by informing the audience about the background that led up to the daring rescue performed by the CIA technical Operations Officer Tony Mendez. In 1953, orchestrated by the intelligence agencies of the United Kingdom and the United States and following Iran’s nationalisation of it’s oil industry, the democratically elected government of Iran was overthrown and the Shah, Mohammed-Reza Pahlavi, was elevated from being constitutional Monarch to an authoritarian one, at the same time becoming heavily reliant on the support and backing of the USA. In 1979 the Iranian peoples, who had become sick of the ruling junta’s socially unjust regime, overthrew the Shah. His regime had been oppressive, brutal, and corrupt and allegedly was pocketing vast fortunes that should have been used for the good of his impoverished citizens.

Tony Mendez and Ben Affleck.

The movie, which is based loosely on Mendez book The Master of Disguise, illustrates what happened when a group of Islamist students and revolutionaries took over the American Embassy in Tehran and held hostage 52 Americans demanding that the Shah return to Iran for trial. Six of the embassy’s diplomats evaded capture and ended up in the Canadian Ambassadors home. It was Mendez that cooked up the improbable scenario of getting the six out of the country under the guise of a Hollywood film party who were in the country to scout locations for a fake Star Wars type film to be called Argo. The six plus Mendez were too travel using Canadian passports.

Bitter Iranians rush the US Embassy to demand the return of the Shah for trial.

This riveting political thriller is a film you can really enjoy, even if it has been tweaked a little for dramatic effect. Its certainly one that will keep you on the edge of your seat for what seems a very brief couple of hours. Relieving what is with out doubt a serious story, are the great in jokes about the movie business when Hollywood make up artist John Chambers, played by John Goodman and the fictional film producer Lester Siegal, Alan Arkin, are both on the screen.

American hostages.

Full marks must go to Ben Affleck for acknowledging the Wests shameful role in installing the Shah in the first place, but then that should not be too surprising as he is a friend of the late US historian Howard Zinn, a man who dedicated his life to educating American citizens about their nations destructive foreign policy. Interesting to see what Affleck tackle’s next?     

The embassy is held for a total of 444 days!

The Town

I’ve certainly seen some laudable films where the city of Boston has been used as a backdrop including Ben Affleck’s directing debut Gone Baby Gone (2007). Based on a crime novel written by Dorchester born Dennis Lehane it’s about two local private detectives Patrick Kenzie (played by Affleck’s brother Casey) and Angela Gennaro (Michelle Monaghan) who are assigned to investigate the kidnapping of a four-year old girl. This movie had an authentically believable plot that tackled the subject of child abduction and police corruption with a great deal of candour.

Director Ben Affleck.

Ben Affleck’s latest project finds him in the director’s chair, as well as in front of camera, for the first time. The Town (2010) is again based on a local crime novel, The Prince of Thieves written by Chuck Hogan and co-scripted by the busy Affleck. The film starts with the statement “There are over 300 bank robberies in Boston every year. And a one-square- mile neighbourhood in Boston, called Charlestown, has produced more bank and armoured car robbers than anywhere in the U.S” which sets the tone for our story. Doug MacRay (Affleck) following in his incarcerated father Stephen’s footsteps (a great cameo from the reliable Chris Cooper) is the leader of a gang of ruthless robbers. His partners in crime includes best friend James ‘Jem’ Coughlin (Jeremy Renner, who was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor in The Hurt Locker 2009) a psychopath with a dangerous and deadly temper. Things do not quite go to plan while attempting their latest bank robbery, after beating the assistant manager near to death with the butt of his automatic weapon Jem takes a hostage, the bank manager Claire Keesey (London born actress Rebecca Hall). When they discover she lives in Charlestown, Jem gets nervous and wants to check out what she might have seen. Feeling it unwise to let his friend do the investigating Doug takes charge. He seeks out Claire, who has no idea that their encounter is not by chance or that this stranger is one of the men who terrorized her only days before. This encounter with Claire leads Doug into dangerous territory and his relationship begins to threaten his loyalties. Forced into one final heist by local crime lord Fergie Colm (Pete Postlethwaite’s penultimate performance) and with the FBI, in the form of Agent Frawley (Mad Man’s Jon Hamm) getting ever closer Doug has to make some life affirming decision’s.

I would agree with critic Philip Kemp when he say’s that it’s a lesser work which lacks the complexity and moral ambiguity of his directorial debut, I also think Affleck tries two hard on the romance level spoiling what could have been a good film with an unnecessarily sentimental ending. It’s a passable crime drama with all the normal hoist cliché’s but where it succeeds most is in fostering a feeling of homegrown authenticity, obviously there has been a lot of research done and it was a good move to involve local people in the cast. It’s not Heat (1995) but it’s worth a look.