I have really had it with the Coen brothers' biblically themed tongue in cheek cruelty. And with "True Grit", they have added nauseating horse and mule abuse to the Old Testament in the Wild West stew. Does a mule being beaten with a broom and a pointed stick and a horse being stabbed by a knife advance the narrative in any constructive way? Depiction of violence to animals is inexcusable and pointless, as well as disturbing and offensive.
Oh yeah, yeah, Roger Deakins' cinematography is reliably sepia, a sort of over-designed period lighting exercise. The dialogue is terrific. The formality of speech contrasts the generally rampant misbehavior. "My mother is indecisive and hobbled by grief" is a line we are unlikely to hear anywhere but on screen. And the person speaking this wants to hunt down and kill someone.
Jeff Bridges gives a far better performance with a single eye than his phoned in old drunk in "Crazy Heart". Hailee Steinfeld effectively holds the center of the film with only momentary wobbles. Everyone else is well cast and just dandy.
But who cares about the Coens' obsession with biblical retribution? Did this story need retelling with additional cruelty?
More like true shit than true grit. Seeing this is likely to give me nightmares for months. The Humane Societies need to rise up in protest and dunk the Coens into a rushing and chilly river of biblical proportions.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Another Year
Mike Leigh's films consistently examine the complexities of relationships, character and class consciousness with credibility born of his unique rehearsal and writing techniques. The inexplicably uneven distribution of happiness and sorrow once again becomes a theme in "Another Year".
Tom and Gerri (excellent Jim Broadbent and Ruth Sheen) are a middle aged couple who enjoy a hard won good life. They garden through the seasons, cook lovely meals, love their good-natured son, and welcome friends to their lives who are not so very happy at all. Tom is an urban geologist, Gerri a social worker. They both dig for deeper information.
Mary (Lesley Manville, in a rather frighteningly brave performance) is so relentlessly self-pitying that she is quite predatory. Ken (a very touching and sad Peter Wight) is also starkly lost, but less directly manipulative than Mary in his sad neediness.
The authentic timing and delivery of dialogue informs every scene, some of which stop just a hair short of grueling. Leigh allows time for feeling to flicker across faces, some wooden, some lively, and for mixed motivations to suggest themselves, and individual vulnerabilities and defenses to show. As in real life, nothing is simplified into formula. The pains and pleasures of family, both chosen and biological, are in sometimes raw display.
The performances, production design and cinematography are consistently superb. Leigh alternates between domestic views, both expansive and claustrophobic, to reveal the dynamics of relationship and identity. Light infuses every scene according to the season of life and botanical growth. The seasonal theme borders a bit close to the literal.
Again, as in "Happy Go Lucky", Leigh stages a painful rejection in the enforced intimacy of a car. I even wondered if it was the same little red car! Savings for production costs!
Sometimes the contrasts are a bit severe in "Another Year". Mary is so dreary and sad and unlikeable, and Katie (Karina Fernandez), the potential daughter in law, is so unfailingly upbeat that some vague incredulity creeps in. Still, there is a tenderness in "Another Year", an accommodation of sadness and isolation in the midst of subtly smug domestic joy that enriches the film in unexpected and lingering thematic tones.
You may not be cheered (Mike Leigh is rarely really cheery), but you will be deeply informed about people engaged in the struggle for choice, happiness and connection in the quiet adventures of mortal life.
Tom and Gerri (excellent Jim Broadbent and Ruth Sheen) are a middle aged couple who enjoy a hard won good life. They garden through the seasons, cook lovely meals, love their good-natured son, and welcome friends to their lives who are not so very happy at all. Tom is an urban geologist, Gerri a social worker. They both dig for deeper information.
Mary (Lesley Manville, in a rather frighteningly brave performance) is so relentlessly self-pitying that she is quite predatory. Ken (a very touching and sad Peter Wight) is also starkly lost, but less directly manipulative than Mary in his sad neediness.
The authentic timing and delivery of dialogue informs every scene, some of which stop just a hair short of grueling. Leigh allows time for feeling to flicker across faces, some wooden, some lively, and for mixed motivations to suggest themselves, and individual vulnerabilities and defenses to show. As in real life, nothing is simplified into formula. The pains and pleasures of family, both chosen and biological, are in sometimes raw display.
The performances, production design and cinematography are consistently superb. Leigh alternates between domestic views, both expansive and claustrophobic, to reveal the dynamics of relationship and identity. Light infuses every scene according to the season of life and botanical growth. The seasonal theme borders a bit close to the literal.
Again, as in "Happy Go Lucky", Leigh stages a painful rejection in the enforced intimacy of a car. I even wondered if it was the same little red car! Savings for production costs!
Sometimes the contrasts are a bit severe in "Another Year". Mary is so dreary and sad and unlikeable, and Katie (Karina Fernandez), the potential daughter in law, is so unfailingly upbeat that some vague incredulity creeps in. Still, there is a tenderness in "Another Year", an accommodation of sadness and isolation in the midst of subtly smug domestic joy that enriches the film in unexpected and lingering thematic tones.
You may not be cheered (Mike Leigh is rarely really cheery), but you will be deeply informed about people engaged in the struggle for choice, happiness and connection in the quiet adventures of mortal life.
Made in Dagenham
England, 1968. Teased hair, rock and roll, overly constructed bras, Mary Quant hot pants, and the fight for equal pay and rights for women in industry.
"Made in Dagenham", directed by Nigel Cole, is an emotionally satisfying and quietly inspiring film about the battle against gender discrimination and the expansion of the labor movement to include women. The excellent Sally Hawkins plays Rita O'Grady, an unlikely heroine, with heart and grit. Bob Hoskins is an ideal casting choice as her supportive mentor in the battle. Daniel Mays is terrific as Rita's mildly conflicted husband, Eddie. And Miranda Richardson as the Secretary of Labor is superbly fiery.
The entire cast has a lively and credible balance, supported by a great script. The film veers dangerously close to melodrama in depiction of domestic strife, but is saved by a thread with quality performances and sure handed direction.
"Made in Dagenham" is particularly timely in our current economic challenges with labor unions assaulted by Big Business, the media and societal fears.
See it and cheer for the protection of women and men who make life as we know it possible in the First World, and for the protection of collective bargaining as an aspect of a functioning democracy.
"Made in Dagenham", directed by Nigel Cole, is an emotionally satisfying and quietly inspiring film about the battle against gender discrimination and the expansion of the labor movement to include women. The excellent Sally Hawkins plays Rita O'Grady, an unlikely heroine, with heart and grit. Bob Hoskins is an ideal casting choice as her supportive mentor in the battle. Daniel Mays is terrific as Rita's mildly conflicted husband, Eddie. And Miranda Richardson as the Secretary of Labor is superbly fiery.
The entire cast has a lively and credible balance, supported by a great script. The film veers dangerously close to melodrama in depiction of domestic strife, but is saved by a thread with quality performances and sure handed direction.
"Made in Dagenham" is particularly timely in our current economic challenges with labor unions assaulted by Big Business, the media and societal fears.
See it and cheer for the protection of women and men who make life as we know it possible in the First World, and for the protection of collective bargaining as an aspect of a functioning democracy.
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