Saturday, October 27, 2007
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Klimt (2006)
"Klimt" is a biopic that brandishes its creative license somewhat proudly. Whether the general public is pleased by an imposition of drama that substitutes historical accuracy and artistic legacy for syphilis, and instability is questionable. Raul Ruiz's depiction of Klimt (John Malkovich) is that of the crazy, sexually relentless artist - a portrait of artists that has been popularized through cinema for quite sometime now. Whether this depiction is reverent seems to be the big concern regarding "Klimt."
The debates of art, function, design, and necessity were stimulating in the early 20th century, but modern audiences may find them "boring" or that Ruiz has made a film that consists of "Talk, talk, talk" as several IMDB commentors have complained.
"Klimt" starts out with the artist hospitalized due to syphilis. He gets a visit from the young Egon Schiele (Nikolai Kinski) who catapults Klimt into a hodgepodge of insecurities, and triumphs, some of which are fantasy and others reality. The first act comes off as overacted, and redundant. The images were somewhat sophomoric featuring broken mirrors, and cake in the face.
Then, oddly, the film becomes fairly inaccessible. Perhaps this is because the version I saw was the 91 minute rendition, and not the original which was about 30 minutes longer. Fist fights breakout without explaination, and the Sekretar (Stephen Dillane) turns out to be a figment of Klimt's imagination. We know of illegitimate children, affairs, and love. The "plot" is as dizzying as Ruiz's style of "circular cinema," which consists of him slowly rotating his subjects so that they make full-circle. At times it makes for a nice image, but at other moments it seems a bit unnecessary.
This film definitely shouldn't serve as an "Introduction to Klimt" for anyone - young or old. It's just too embedded in certain conventions that are ultimately characterless pretentions that leave one confused, and maybe a little annoyed too.
Directed by Raoul Ruiz
Opened in New York on Wednesday, October 17th, 2007.
The debates of art, function, design, and necessity were stimulating in the early 20th century, but modern audiences may find them "boring" or that Ruiz has made a film that consists of "Talk, talk, talk" as several IMDB commentors have complained.
"Klimt" starts out with the artist hospitalized due to syphilis. He gets a visit from the young Egon Schiele (Nikolai Kinski) who catapults Klimt into a hodgepodge of insecurities, and triumphs, some of which are fantasy and others reality. The first act comes off as overacted, and redundant. The images were somewhat sophomoric featuring broken mirrors, and cake in the face.
Then, oddly, the film becomes fairly inaccessible. Perhaps this is because the version I saw was the 91 minute rendition, and not the original which was about 30 minutes longer. Fist fights breakout without explaination, and the Sekretar (Stephen Dillane) turns out to be a figment of Klimt's imagination. We know of illegitimate children, affairs, and love. The "plot" is as dizzying as Ruiz's style of "circular cinema," which consists of him slowly rotating his subjects so that they make full-circle. At times it makes for a nice image, but at other moments it seems a bit unnecessary.
This film definitely shouldn't serve as an "Introduction to Klimt" for anyone - young or old. It's just too embedded in certain conventions that are ultimately characterless pretentions that leave one confused, and maybe a little annoyed too.
Directed by Raoul Ruiz
Opened in New York on Wednesday, October 17th, 2007.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Lars and The Real Girl (2007)
Lars' (Ryan Gosling) is a distraught yet functional man who lives in the garage of his inherited home that he shares with his brother Gus (Paul Schneider), and sister-in-law Karin (Emily Mortimer.) Lars is able to go to work, and church; he is able to wake up in the morning and get dressed, but he's unable to interact with people that truly care about him.
Margo (Kelli Garner), a co-worker who desperately wants to be with Lars, can't seem to get under his skin. After some relentless persistence, she finally decides to give it a break. His loving sister-in-law Karin repeatedly attempts to have him over for breakfast or dinner - or whenever, but he just can't seem to walk across the yard and into their back door. Gus is clearly less sensitive than both his wife, Karin, and his brother, Lars. He doesn't seem to think that Lars should be of much concern to anyone; he's just a man who wants to keep to himself.
When Bianca arrives in a crate, and then at Gus' and Karin's dinner table, Gus realizes he underestimated the situation at hand. They decide to seek medical attention from Dagmar (Patricia Clarkson), a medical practitioner and psychologist, who convinces Lars that Bianca is in need of weekly treatments due to a serious "illness." She takes the opportunity to unleash some of the mysteries behind Lars' delusion while Bianca "rests" from her treatment. Slowly we find out the reasoning behind his neurosis. Though Dagmar is of great assistance, the rest of Lars' community is equally eager to cater Lars' delusion, and assist in "keeping the dream alive."
This story succeeds through great acting, and semi-serious writing. Writer, Nancy Oliver, throws in the occasional gag, but generally opts for the high-road. Lars' even has religious beliefs as does Bianca. Despite the fact that she is a plastic sex-doll, she is treated with the utmost respect thoughout most of the film. Though suspension of disbelief is successful throughout most of the film, it's still a bit much to really believe when thought about logically. You can't help but wonder why anyone besides his immediate family would bother to "go along" with Lars' delusion. Nonetheless, the humanity is part of the film's success; without the emotional journey, "Lars and The Real Girl", wouldn't have a breath of life to it. But what would have made it more interesting is had the emotional journey revolved around Lars rather than the community's love of an alleged sex-toy, then maybe the suspension of disbelief would have never been interrupted...
Margo (Kelli Garner), a co-worker who desperately wants to be with Lars, can't seem to get under his skin. After some relentless persistence, she finally decides to give it a break. His loving sister-in-law Karin repeatedly attempts to have him over for breakfast or dinner - or whenever, but he just can't seem to walk across the yard and into their back door. Gus is clearly less sensitive than both his wife, Karin, and his brother, Lars. He doesn't seem to think that Lars should be of much concern to anyone; he's just a man who wants to keep to himself.
When Bianca arrives in a crate, and then at Gus' and Karin's dinner table, Gus realizes he underestimated the situation at hand. They decide to seek medical attention from Dagmar (Patricia Clarkson), a medical practitioner and psychologist, who convinces Lars that Bianca is in need of weekly treatments due to a serious "illness." She takes the opportunity to unleash some of the mysteries behind Lars' delusion while Bianca "rests" from her treatment. Slowly we find out the reasoning behind his neurosis. Though Dagmar is of great assistance, the rest of Lars' community is equally eager to cater Lars' delusion, and assist in "keeping the dream alive."
This story succeeds through great acting, and semi-serious writing. Writer, Nancy Oliver, throws in the occasional gag, but generally opts for the high-road. Lars' even has religious beliefs as does Bianca. Despite the fact that she is a plastic sex-doll, she is treated with the utmost respect thoughout most of the film. Though suspension of disbelief is successful throughout most of the film, it's still a bit much to really believe when thought about logically. You can't help but wonder why anyone besides his immediate family would bother to "go along" with Lars' delusion. Nonetheless, the humanity is part of the film's success; without the emotional journey, "Lars and The Real Girl", wouldn't have a breath of life to it. But what would have made it more interesting is had the emotional journey revolved around Lars rather than the community's love of an alleged sex-toy, then maybe the suspension of disbelief would have never been interrupted...
Saturday, October 6, 2007
The Good Night (2007)
Jake Paltrow's directorial debut, "The Good Night," is a film about reality versus fantasy, specifically relationships versus infatuations. At times, it poignantly relates Gary's (Martin Freeman) unfulfilling life and eventually unfulfilling dreamscape to certain universal truths that are worth thinking about.
Gary, a former pop-star turned commercial jingle-maker, finds his job to be unfulfilling, and somewhat demeaning. His relationship with live-in girlfriend Dora (Gwyneth Paltrow) also provides him with similar feelings. Gary's defeated disposition is only amplified by Paul (Simon Pegg), former band-mate, friend, and current boss, who rides a wave of nonstop success. He finds that his dreams of a mysterious, and elegantly dressed woman named Anna (Penelope Cruz) enthrall him in a way his waking life doesn't. And so, he ultimately does whatever it takes to dream about Anna. This is where sage/mentor Mel (Danny Devito) comes in. He teaches Gary the ways of severe, life-damaging escapism while managing to be somewhat likeable and interesting.
Much like dreams - though not the lucid dreams featured in this film - the overall structure and flow of the picture is murky. Paltrow's character is pretty one-dimensional; she merely nags Gary at every possible opportunity. Her treatment of him could also be loosely categorized as abusive. It makes one wonder why Gary would bother to save such a relationship that has apparently been in a rut for three straight years. Her incredibly undesirable presence makes his willingness to dream utterly understandable, but doesn't make much sense when the arc comes into play.
Anna's brief real-life presence is awkward nor is it used wisely; furthermore, her role in Gary's dream-life seems highly unrealistic given the circumstances of their pre-dream relationship, and post-dream revelation. One would guess that this "twist" is a directorial stint at making a larger-than-life impact on the audience, but it's a twist that is unnecessary nor terribly moving. If director Paltrow had stuck with something that made more sense then maybe the movie would actually be good. Its strongest point is the four or five moments that are genuinely funny. Interestingly enough, director Paltrow makes a "Royal Tenenbaums" reference to actor Paltrow's "Margo" character by having her involved in another "in the bathroom and depressed" situation.
The trailer of "The Good Night" has more structure than the actual film itself. Unfortunately, the trailer is not only misleading, but also god-awful. The film starts out with a series of psuedo-documentary "talking heads" interviews that are both terribly uninformative, and confusing. I guess it's worth watching on DVD if you can't leave your house due to horrible weather conditions or a crippling health issue, but other than that, not so much...
Gary, a former pop-star turned commercial jingle-maker, finds his job to be unfulfilling, and somewhat demeaning. His relationship with live-in girlfriend Dora (Gwyneth Paltrow) also provides him with similar feelings. Gary's defeated disposition is only amplified by Paul (Simon Pegg), former band-mate, friend, and current boss, who rides a wave of nonstop success. He finds that his dreams of a mysterious, and elegantly dressed woman named Anna (Penelope Cruz) enthrall him in a way his waking life doesn't. And so, he ultimately does whatever it takes to dream about Anna. This is where sage/mentor Mel (Danny Devito) comes in. He teaches Gary the ways of severe, life-damaging escapism while managing to be somewhat likeable and interesting.
Much like dreams - though not the lucid dreams featured in this film - the overall structure and flow of the picture is murky. Paltrow's character is pretty one-dimensional; she merely nags Gary at every possible opportunity. Her treatment of him could also be loosely categorized as abusive. It makes one wonder why Gary would bother to save such a relationship that has apparently been in a rut for three straight years. Her incredibly undesirable presence makes his willingness to dream utterly understandable, but doesn't make much sense when the arc comes into play.
Anna's brief real-life presence is awkward nor is it used wisely; furthermore, her role in Gary's dream-life seems highly unrealistic given the circumstances of their pre-dream relationship, and post-dream revelation. One would guess that this "twist" is a directorial stint at making a larger-than-life impact on the audience, but it's a twist that is unnecessary nor terribly moving. If director Paltrow had stuck with something that made more sense then maybe the movie would actually be good. Its strongest point is the four or five moments that are genuinely funny. Interestingly enough, director Paltrow makes a "Royal Tenenbaums" reference to actor Paltrow's "Margo" character by having her involved in another "in the bathroom and depressed" situation.
The trailer of "The Good Night" has more structure than the actual film itself. Unfortunately, the trailer is not only misleading, but also god-awful. The film starts out with a series of psuedo-documentary "talking heads" interviews that are both terribly uninformative, and confusing. I guess it's worth watching on DVD if you can't leave your house due to horrible weather conditions or a crippling health issue, but other than that, not so much...
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