Film Review | Untouchable [Intouchables] (2012)

We're a cynical bunch, us Brits. At least that's how we \apparently like to be seen. If a film isn't showing us the gritty, harsh and brutal side of life in graphic detail through gloomy lighting and a bleached palette, then it must immediately be dismissed as corny and saccharine, a twee and flimsy effort unworthy of our time. Just take the reviews from Empire and Total Film of Untouchable: both magazines give it short shrift, seeing the film as a sappy French fancy for the reviewer to arrogantly dismiss. After reading both reviews (which took approximately a minute and a half - not each, but for both in total) I genuinely feel like I watched a different film.

Admittedly, Untouchable doesn't necessarily break new ground, with Philippe (François Cluzet) and Driss (Omar Sy) forming a classic odd couple: the former a wealthy aristocrat paralysed from the neck down due to a paragliding accident, the latter a young black man from the Parisian suburbs hired to be his carer despite his lack of experience, unsympathetic nature and criminal record. The two form a close bond, with Driss reigniting Philippe's "joie de vivre" whilst learning a few lessons of his own. If this was pure fiction, the set-up might feel a little on-the-nose, but the fact that the story is based on real events alleviates that for the most part.

That said, it would be easy for writing-directing duo Olivier Nakache and Éric Toledano to make Untouchable a sugar-soaked shallow mess. Thankfully, that's not the case. The direction, whilst never astounding, is solid and allows the story to be told through the warm and natural dialogue and, above all, the brilliant performances from Cluzet and Sy. Individually both men infuse their characters with authenticity and likability, however it's the chemistry between the two that is the driving force behind the film. The conversations between the pair feel as though you are watching two real-life friends, and there are several irresistibly heartwarming and memorable moments throughout.

Thanks to its perpetual feel-good tone and positive outlook, it's true that Untouchable may avoid focusing upon some of the more unpleasant aspects of both men's lives - we see Driss spending time with some unsavoury characters at moments throughout the film, but these scenes never attempt to tackle the social problems inherent in what we are being shown. Nor are we ever shown much at all of the less pleasant side of Philippe's quadriplegia. But the lightness of touch and honesty within the characters means that this is unlikely to detract from your enjoyment of what is a genuinely entertaining and funny film. Lovers of gritty and depressing cinema, look elsewhere: Untouchable is endlessly optimistic and simply joyous.

8/10

Film Review | Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives [Lung Buỵmī ralụk chāti] (2010)

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives opens with an inter-credits scene of a cow's escape across farmland into the jungle, before being retrieved by its farmer master. The scene consists of plenty of lingering shots of the cow before ending with a cut to a shadowy black figure with piercing red eyes who has apparently been watching the cow the whole time. This sequence pretty much sums up the nature of the whole film: strange, mystical, drawn out and, most of all, inexplicable.

The film focuses on the final days of the titular Uncle Boonmee (Thanapat Saisaymar) as his health deteriorates due to kidney failure. Surrounding himself with friends and family, Boonmee also receives an unexpected visit from the ghost of his dead wife (Natthakarn Aphaiwong) as well as his long-absent son (Jeerasak Kulhong), no longer in human form.

There's evidence throughout Uncle Boonmee that director Apichatpong Weerasethakul is a filmmaker of some skill. The director's choice to shoot the entire film on 16mm film - partially an artistic choice, but also a budgetary one - gives the film an aesthetic link to classic cinema, as well as an unpolished feel which fits well with the traditional aspects of Thai culture referred to constantly throughout the film. The director's use of sound is by far the film's strongest feature; largely without a musical score, Weerasethakul skilfully weaves diegetic sound into his scenes. Regularly oppressive and invasive, the director's precise use of sound at times recalls the work of cinematic master David Lynch.

Lynch's surreal and heavily stylized approach to film is in many ways an accurate comparison from Western cinema to Weerasethakul's aesthetic throuhgout Uncle Boonmee. It's a shame then that the comparison cannot also be made with regards to the director's success. Weerasethakul's film is often a tedious exercise, sluggishly paced and with a hotchpotch narrative regularly impossible to follow. Time and again the director hangs around on very ordinary shots for no apparent reason, causing things to be frustratingly slow for the viewer. The acting from many of the cast also feels decidedly wooden, a decision the director has indicated that is a deliberate reference to the style of old TV programmes from Thailand. Deliberate or not, it's a decision which gives the director's work an amateurish quality which regularly impacts upon the film negatively.

Most frustrating of all, however, is Uncle Boonmee's at times near incomprehensible plot. The film shifts almost wantonly from one unconnected sequence to the next - one moment we're watching Boonmee and his sister-in-law Jen (Jenjira Pongpas) discussing honey production on his farm; the next we're seeing a princess we've never met before having a questionable encounter with a smooth-talking catfish. The narrative choices are at times so esoteric as to be impenetrable - unless you have an in-depth knowledge of Buddhist theology and mythology, as well as Thai culture and tradition, you'll regularly find yourself completely lost as to what's going on or what relation it bears to the central story of Boonmee's illness and death. Weerasethakul also chooses to introduce characters key to what is happening in the film without any introduction or even warning, as well as allowing others to disappear unexplained. As I've said before, I'm all for films that refuse to pack themselves with an overkill of exposition, but it feels as though Weerasethakul actively wants his film to be a chore to get through.

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives therefore ends up as a film which I found impossible to enjoy. I appreciate the artistry that has clearly gone into many parts of its creation as well as the ambition in what Weerasethakul has attempted; however, the slothful pace, perpetually poker-faced performances and unfathomable plot make it really quite a boring experience.

5/10

Film Review | The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo [Män Som Hatar Kvinnor] (2009)

The original Swedish title for The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, both the film and the novel upon which this film is based, is "Män Som Hatar Kvinnor", which translates literally as "Men Who Hate Women". After watching the film it's clear to see why author Stieg Larsson chose that title; it encapsulates much more effectively the story's wider themes and intertwined plot threads than the catchy, but ultimately narrow-focused, English title.

The film focuses on Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist), a publisher for "Millennium" magazine who has recently lost a libel case. Blomkvist chooses to take a leave of absence from the magazine and takes up an investigation into the disappearance of Harriet Vanger decades earlier on the instruction of Henrik Vanger (Sven-Bertil Taube), Harriet's great uncle. Meanwhile, Henrik's lawyer Dirch Frode (Ingvar Hirdwall) has hired surveillance expert Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) to investigate Blomkvist and assess his suitability in undertaking the investigation.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo's story is probably its greatest strength. I've not read Larsson's novel, but on the strength of what I've seen in the film adaptation I would very much like to. The mystery thriller at the film's heart is what drives it along, and at times it seems to be the only thing that is managing to do so, as when the film focuses more on the relationships between characters it slows down a little too much here and there.

Rapace is excellent as Lisbeth Salander, her turn both enigmatic and hard-hitting throughout. The rest of the cast are sound, but without any standout performances. I would have liked to see Nyqvist make a little more of Blomkvist than he does here; his performance is fine, but never manages to make the character as interesting as a disgraced publisher investigating a disappearance and potential murder should be.

The direction from Niels Arden Oplev is also pleasing, making as he does the various reveals as the mystery is gradually uncovered throughout the film intriguing and compelling. His handling of the film's more graphic elements, such as Lisbeth's relationship with abusive lawyer Nils Bjurman (Peter Andersson), is also well balanced. It's just a shame that these elements at times feel too episodic, with characters such as Bjurman inserted in to "tell" us something about Lisbeth or another character, only to be forgotten for a large part of the film because they've become unnecessary. In a film with such an intricately constructed mystery at its core, writing such as this just feels slapdash.

I left The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo feeling satisfied, but very aware that what I had watched was nothing particularly special. The film has standout elements, with Rapace being the most obvious one, but never does anything to warrant considering it anything more than a functional and enjoyable thriller. It's worth watching certainly, but this will never achieve the international acclaim Larsson's novel and its two follow-ups have received.

7/10

Film Review | The Experiment [Das Experiment] (2001)

Having recently been unimpressed with 2010's The Experiment, I'd heard considerably more positive comments about the German original upon which that film was based. It's a story heard more and more often: the foreign language original of a film being notably superior to its Hollywood remake. So, is this true of Oliver Hirschbiegel's Das Experiment? The answer is an unsatisfying "yes and no".

Whilst there are some key differences between the two versions, the German original follows essentially the same plot as its American counterpart. A group of men answer an ad placed in a newspaper to take part in an experiment, where a prison environment will be simulated. Some of the men take on the role of prison guards, the rest become prisoners. As the experiment progresses tensions between the two sides mount, with Tarek (Moritz Bleibtreu) becoming most influential on the side of the prisoners and Berus (Justus von Dohnányi) taking more and more control of the actions of his fellow guards.

In some ways, I wish I'd seen this original film before watching the 2010 film starring Adrien Brody and Forest Whitaker; in others, I don't think it would have made a huge amount of difference to my view of either film. Das Experiment is the superior film, but it is also quite clear to see the same flaws within it that were transferred to The Experiment.

The performances across the cast are generally strong, with Bleibtreu and Dohnányi providing two solid central characters around which the action can unfold. The cinematography is also effectively used at many points throughout, with a claustrophobic and clinical feel permeating the film. In comparison with the 2010 version, Das Experiment feels the more professional and crafted of the two versions.

There are also a handful of key changes that were made in the remake, with the original feeling the stronger film because they are there. Whereas Maggie Grace had the misfortune of being an entirely forgettable love interest to Brody's Travis, Bleibtreu's Tarek gets involved with Dora (Maren Eggert) in a much more unusual fashion, and she plays more of a part in the unfolding of events than her American counterpart. It's not entirely successful, with some parts of her involvement feeling decidedly confused, but the effort is at least commendable. The role of those running the experiment is also vastly reduced in the American version, giving the German film an extra dimension lacking in the remake.

That said, watching the original makes it clear where some of the fundamental flaws in the remake came from. The psychological element, whilst explored slightly further here, is still woefully underdeveloped. It takes a little longer for things to degenerate into graphic violence and nastiness, but this is due largely to this version of the story being around twenty minutes longer. By the end of the film, I was still left with an unsatisfied feeling and an unsavoury taste in my mouth.

If you were to choose to watch either this film or its American remake, I would advise the German original every time as overall it's the better film. But it's a relative superiority; there are plenty of hard-hitting psychological dramas that are much better than either film, so watch one of those instead.

5/10

Film Review | Timecrimes [Los Cronocrímenes] (2007)

One of my all-time favourite Treehouse Of Horror Halloween specials on The Simpsons comes unsurprisingly from the series' golden era . It's the one where Homer fixes a toaster, only to accidentally create a time machine. The one thing Homer manages to remember as he travels back and forth from a prehistoric past is that even the smallest change can drastically alter history. After squashing one insect, he returns to the present to find Ned Flanders as the planet's evil overlord. The remainder of the story sees Homer return to the past again and again to try and put things right. He doesn't manage it, which is okay for Homer as the Halloween specials are non-canonical, but is an important lesson for any would-be time travelers. Obviously the protagonist of Timecrimes hasn't seen that episode.

Timecrimes follows the life of Héctor (Karra Elejalde) one evening as he and his wife (Candela Fernández) move into a new house remotely located in the Spanish countryside. Héctor spies something moving, and then a young woman undressing, in the nearby woodland. After his investigations lead to him being stabbed in the arm and pursued by a man with a heavily bandaged face, Héctor stumbles into a research lab looking for assistance. And that's when things get really strange, as Héctor soon finds he has time-travelled around an hour and a half into the past.

Stylistically, Timecrimes has a feel very similar to that of another recent time travel film, Shane Carruth's Primer. The world the characters inhabit is pretty everyday, and the slightly washed out, sepia tinted palette director (and writer) Nacho Vigalondo opts for gives the whole thing a darkly authentic feel. The time travel technology, much like that in Primer, has an amateurish charm, which coupled with its apparent unpredictability helps to drive the plot and lend credibility to some of the twists and turns it takes.

The cast is small but solid, with Elejalde leading things with a performance that impresses more and more as the film progresses. The evolution of his manner and temperament, particularly in the film's final act, make Héctor a compellingly flawed protagonist throughout.

The plot just about manages to hang together. The whole thing is presented in a linear fashion, which helps us as the viewer keep track of things as they get more and more complex. The first act is potentially the strongest, as we are thrown into a mystery thriller which piles on the tension and unanswered questions minute by minute. It is in the film's second act where things dip in interest and quality. The answers given to questions posed in the opening act are either predictable or don't feel believable enough - some of the decisions Héctor makes, and his comprehension of the situation as a whole in this part of the film, seem downright idiotic. There are a couple of good twists thrown in, and a sequence where Héctor returns to his new house in the dark is pleasingly tense, but the action feels plodding and unremarkable which leads to things getting a little tedious at times as things head towards the final act. Thankfully, the finale provides the same thrills as the first act, whilst throwing in a few more unexpected twists. By the time the credits roll, the unsatisfying nature of the middle segment can be (mostly) forgiven.

In the end, Timecrimes is a well made and original film. Whilst comparisons have already been made to Primer, the influence of films such as Memento can also be seen, and whilst it never reaches the heights of either of these two, Timecrimes is certainly a worthwhile watch in its own right. Without the less impressive second act, this would have been a truly excellent film; as it is, it's flawed but still very good. Apparently, an English language remake directed by David Cronenberg is currently in the works - on the strength of the original, I'm looking forward to it already.

7/10

Film Review | A Town Called Panic (2010)

The last time someone decided to turn a television advertising campaign into a feature film, we got Johnny English - fairly potent proof that using a character and concept that works for thirty seconds to sell you something is not the most advisable route to cinematic success. I would be hard pressed to pick a more recent advertising campaign that I would see as holding potential in this area - maybe you could get Richard Curtis to string together the entire story of the BT Family, adding in plenty of middle-class heterosexual humour and a character whose main purpose is to swear a lot in places where jokes should be. I digress. I'm sure a campaign that would most likely not be too near the top of your list is the one for Cravendale milk. Not the one about cats with thumbs (although that could hold the potential for a genuinely creepy surreal horror), but the ones before that which featured animated farm animal toys. You know, these ones.

Well, that's essentially what A Town Called Panic is. To be fair, writers and directors Stéphane Aubier and Vincent Patar created the concept as a TV series years before being approached by Cravendale, but it's the adverts that are likely to be most British viewers' first thought when watching the film.

A Town Called Panic follows the misadventures of Horse, Cowboy and Indian who live together in the eponymous settlement. We start off with Cowboy and Indian building a last-minute birthday present for Horse with disastrous consequences, but there's no chance you'll be able to predict where things go from there.

The film works about as well as you'd expect. The animation is charming and generates some genuine humour through its simple execution. I enjoyed the quirky, jerky motion of Horse, Cowboy, Indian, their friends and acquaintances, never once tiring of the chosen style. It also fits well with the surreal, slapstick, non-sequitur style of humour. Think Monty Python meets Wallace & Gromit via The Young Ones and you're on the right lines. It's also worth noting that, even though the entire film is in French with English subtitles, none of the humour seemed to be lost because of this.

If you're expecting a film with a definite narrative, A Town Called Panic is not it. Just when you think you've got a handle on where the story might be headed, something else turns up completely out of left field. It's not going to be to everyone's cup of tea, as there will undoubtedly be viewers who dislike the lack of a strong narrative thread. Don't try to take the film on anything much more than face value either. This isn't deep meaningful social commentary, but that's pretty much the point of it. It's ridiculous entertainment that at times is ridiculously entertaining.

Despite the animation and humour working well for the majority of the film, even at just over seventy minutes in length there were times when A Town Called Panic felt overstretched. The original TV series episodes were only around five minutes long, so making the concept work at feature length was always going to be a challenge for Aubier and Patar. They manage it for the most part, but there are parts where proceedings have been padded out a little too much. That said, the execution is far more success than failure and there are at the very least three or four laugh-out-loud moments.

There really isn't anything else out there like A Town Called Panic, so that in itself warrants giving it a look. If you like your humour structured and multi-layered, this may not be the film for you. But as a surreal take on animated humour which sets out purely to entertain through its silliness and unpredictability, you could do an awful lot worse. Anway, I'm off to the fridge. I suddenly have a hankering for a large glass of milk.

7/10

Film Review | Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010)

Based upon two short films which garnered a huge amount of interest and critical praise on YouTube (and rightly so - they're very much worth watching and can be seen here and here), Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale essentially attempts to take the style of the shorts more than the premise and create a feature length story from it. Successful transition from short film to feature can be tricky, but with source material as original and well made as the two shorts, director Jalmari Helander had already done a great deal right before he even started.

The feature film focuses on a small Finnish community around Christmas time. A science team has been despatched to excavate a particular area in the local mountains, believed to be a huge burial mound. Meanwhile, Pietari (Onni Tommila) has become more and more fascinated with ancient myths surrounding the origins of Santa Claus, in which the figure is more concerned with punishing the naughty children than rewarding the nice. As the excavation progresses, strange occurrences begin to happen in the community with increasing frequency, arousing Pietari's suspicions as to who or what is buried beneath the mountains.

Helander's film deserves a huge amount of praise for its originality and execution. The story, whilst feeling a little uneven in places, is captivating throughout. The twists placed upon traditional Santa Claus iconography are inspired, putting a fresh and alternative perspective on Christmas traditions. Helander's direction fits the horror style of the story well, showing his appreciation for the genre, its conventions and legacy. The fact that the actors play everything entirely straight also helps to sell the sometimes ludicrous concepts presented in the film as authentic threats - the characters show genuine fear and uncertainty throughout, making the horror seem that much more real. The use of the bleak yet picturesque scenery of Finland as well is not just an interesting backdrop to the story, but provides a constant reminder of the unsettling spin placed upon the well-known childhood fable.

The film's main failings come from its running time, as at just under an hour and a quarter some of the character development feels rushed or unfinished. Pietari's relationship with his father Rauno (Jorma Tommila) is shown to be strained after the loss of Pietari's mother, and what we are shown of Pietari and Rauno's relationship is engaging and shows genuine talent on the part of both actors (the fact that Jorma and Onni Tommila are also father and son in real life no doubt helped with this). But the relationship is ultimately left underdeveloped, affecting the impact of how this relationship changes during the film's final act. A slightly longer running time to accommodate a few more scenes dedicated to Pietari and Rauno's strained emotional connection would have improved the film overall.

The film's climax is pleasing, although some of the shifts in character (Pietari's in particular) feel a little unlikely. The epilogue also feels somewhat disconnected with what has come before - it almost feels as though Helander wanted to finish with a strong connection to his original short films even if he had to crowbar it in slightly. In the end, however, Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale's successes outweigh its failures. Crammed with imagination and originality, it's a film likely to please both horror fans and those looking for an alternative to the festive schmaltz usually reserved for Christmas movies.

7/10