year's end round-up
From
septimus_millenicom@q.com@21:1/5 to
All on Fri Dec 25 13:24:07 2015
There hasn't been many good films lately. Hou Hsiou-Hsien's
_The Assassin_ is uninspiring. I haven't read the source
material, which might have helped, but to what end? In
interviews Hou seems focused on evoking the past. The
music, set design, and costumes are supposed to be authentic.
That's probably laudable, but of limited interest to me.
_Flowers of Shanghai_ is a revelation because it is
more than that; it brimms with intelligent observations
about human interactions in any era. _The Assassin_ feels
more cloistered despite its outdoor settings. It is also
unnecessarily obscure (apparently the swords woman that
Shi Qi duels with is the king's wife, that exposition is
left out of the final cut for no reason). In my view, the
lead actress is bland and miscast. The fights are furtive
and inconsequential; the kingdom is doomed. The film
reminded me of Bresson's _Lancelot of the Lake_, but lacked
the latter's iconoclastic conviction.
I'm glad Michael Almereyda's _The Experimenter_ is widely
praised and seen. The screenplay is inventive but the
cinematography hardly compares to those in his best films,
like the Shakespeare adapations which boast dazzling background
details. _The Keeping Room_ is an interesting take on
the Civil War, with 3 Confederate women (one of them a
former slave) pitted against deserters from Sherman's
march to the sea. Brit Marling plays a gritty frontier
woman who farms, hunts, and defends her homestead from
the marauding drunken murderers and rapists. (It would
be more interesting and daring to have depicted the
men as soldiers instead of deserters.) Apart from the
usual but worth-repeating lesson that the only thing
worse that fighting a war is losing one, the film also
brilliantly illustrates the dark side of self defense
with guns. Sensational as ever even in minor films,
Brit Marling would have been an inspired lead actress
in _The Assassin_.
Watching the disgusting _Gone Girl_ makes me feel like
taking a shower afterwards (and rewatching Techine's
_In the Name of My Daughter_, also about a missing woman
but rendered with such grace and humanity, for cleansing).
Not even Fincher's own _Seven_ is this vile.
I wish I understand why Kristen Stewart is so highly
praised in _The Clouds of Sils Maria_. Juliette
Binoche though is out of this world as the aging
diva alternating between boundless self-confidence
and self-doubt. I'm beginning to think that the
title of "greatest actress of all time" is hers to
lose.
Finally, what would the award season be without
Jessica Chastain films? This year she only has
two, both in supporting roles. The surface beauty
of _The Crimson Peak_ is breath-taking. Chastain
was offered the Mia Wasikowska lead role but
opted for the evil sister, which she plays with
great discipline and reserve; only at the very
end does she let her emotions out. On Charlie
Rose the two actresses and Tom Hiddleston (dashing
and creepy as he is in _The Deep Blue Sea_)
discuss the film, and when Rose asks her about
given the choice of roles she gracefully deflects
the praise to the younger Wasikowska. Chastain
is even more disciplined in _The Martian_.
The film will probably win a handful of oscars
for its affirmation of American self-reliance values,
but has questionable editing (the myriad side
stories are juggled badly) and shot (the 3-D
cinematography looks obviously layered and
artificial). Ridley Scott's _Prometheus_ is
a far better film. Anyway, Chastain plays the
commander of the space mission. An ex-military, she
would not let a shred of sorrow or emotion mar her
command even when she discovers that her terrible
error has left Matt Damon stranded. She gets to do
some cool stunt work, flying around in zero G, but
it is her beautiful voice that is the true special
effect of the film.
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