Eagle vs Shark

Seencine.com took advantage of an advanced screening this week with a post-screening Q & A with director Taika Waititi. Here it goes:

Two oddballs are united by "Meaty Boy," a fast-food restaurant in New Zealand where Lily (Loren Horsley), a methodical cashier, ogles over Jarrod (Jermaine Clement), a too-cool-for-school yet goofy lunch-time regular. Things get taken out of the restaurant when Jarrod hands Lily an invitation - to give to Jenny, her co-worker. Lily keeps in line with her good-nature and shows Jenny the invitation in the backroom later. After Lily asks if she could come too, Jenny throws the invite in the trash. When Jenny leaves, Lily goes for the trash, grabs the crumpled invitation - among other things...

Lily goes to the dress-as-your-favorite-animal party, and dresses as, you got it, a shark. When she arrives, Jarrod who is dressed as an eagle, asks where Jenny is, and ultimately acts like an insecure jerk not only throughout the party but throughout the entire film.

According to the director, Taika Waititi, Jarrod is riddled with all of the traits males stereotypically have; thus, the character is utterly cartoonish, and hard to empathize with - yet not your average male. He's fashion oriented, and creative. Men like this do exist, and they're usually twenty and going to art school. So, the director did succeed in creating characters that acted like they were in high school but were in older peoples bodies - which is apparently exactly what he wanted to do. Lily's character is juvenile in her own way - she's dumb enough to follow a guy like this around. Not only follow him around, but convince her silly brother Damien (Joel Tobeck) to drive him hours, and hours away to his hometown so that he can seek revenge on a high-school rival whom he's been stalking for years, and is finally heading back home.

The director uses a trendy, hipster aesthetic for the film, and there is ultimately nothing new about it. Boy meets girl - turned around - in this film the girl does all the chasing. This is fine, and at times it's funny but the film generally lacks any sort of story thread. Is this about Eagle vs Shark? Is it about Eagle vs former high school bully? Is it about Shark chasing Eagle? It depends what part of the film you're watching I guess.

Ultimately, young people are into characters that dress in the slighly alternative fashions of urban twenty-somethings, and say a lot of catchy things that don't add much to the story. Because of the film's bubble gum qualities (I assume), Taika Waititi landed a writing gig for Flight of the Conchords as did Jermaine Clement as one of the co-stars. Coming to a boob tube near you. Eagle vs Shark opens in New York on June 15th.

La Vie En Rose

From her street-perfomer father to her brothel-running grandmother whom raised her, Edith Piaf (played by Marion Cotillard) was destined for an audacious life filled wiith both triump and tragedy. Director Olivier Dahan (The Cranberries' Best Videos: 1992-2002) illuminates all segments of her life in the tone of Piaf's jovial nature.

Ocassionally, and somewhat expectedly, parts of her life are glossed over in the name of damage control. The syringes, the tools of an addict, are featured prominently in the film, but the word "morphine" isn't once mouthed by anyone. Her aloof, incapable parents are practically co-stars from the beginning; but her own failure as a parent isn't revealed until the end of the film. Watching a child unexpectedly battle blindness is an opportune moment for a filmmaker, whereas being deaf after overcoming blindness spoils the pacing of the film. Though, ultimately, the film serves as an intriguing depiction of the life of Edith Piaf.

Born in the poverty-stricken Belleville district in Paris, doom was merely young Piaf's (Manon Chevallier) birthright. Piaf is a frail child who battles an onslaught of ailments from a hacking cough to conjunctivitis. Her mother, Anetta (Clotilide Courau) is a drunk street singer herself, and abandones Edith at a disturbingly young age. Her father, Louis Gassion (Jean-Paul Rouve), is a talented contortionist who made his living at the circus; but, after seeing Edith inching towards her deathbed, decides to join the army in hopes of stability. He takes Edith away from her "foster home" of sorts, and takes her to visit her not very grandmotherly grandmother. It is during this visit that it is decided that Edith will live in the brothel where she develops a particularly strong bond with one of the protistutes, Titine (Emmanuelle Seigner).

Eventually, her father comes back for adolescent Piaf (Pauline Burlet), and to the streets they go. Him, performing his contortionist feats, and her, holding out a hat for change. Then, an audience member asks if she is also part of the perfomance, and alas, her street singing career begins.

Shortly, thereafter, she branches out to become her own street performer with best friend Momone (Sylvie Testud), and the tables have turned. Piaf is now the performer, and Momone the hat holder. It doesn't take too long for her overwhelming talent to become noticed by people who can do something about it, like night-club owner Louis Leplee (Gerard Depardieu) who gave her the last name Piaf because of her undersized stature.

Fame brings her riches, and problems alike. Pressure, love, death, and haunting memories seem to work against her at all times in her life but is mitigated when she is with her true love, boxer, Marcel Cerdan (Jean-Pierre Martins).

Though, by age 44 she looks as if she were a sickly 70 year old, and her performing career has practically ended; her legacy will clearly live on forever. With a character like Piaf it is nearly impossible for this film to be unmemorable. All in all, this should certainly be at the top of everyone's must-see queue.

Mala Noche (Bad Night)

Shot on location in Portland, Oregon's Skid-Row in 1985, and first released in Germany in 1987; Gus Van Sant's first film, "Mala Noche," has been re-released nationwide on June 1st, 2007, twenty years after its first release; twenty years to witness the evolution of Gus Van Sant's career from gritty to somewhat glamorous. This film was made with a shoe string budget of $25,000.00, and shot mostly on black-and-white 16mm. The film is based on an autobiographical novel by Oregon poet Walt Curtis.

Walt (Tim Streeter), a young homosexual store clerk, mainly deals with patrons that buy hits of nitrous, and ask for store credit. Despite the obvious poverty, lack of jobs, and communal drug addiction, Walt clearly feels at home here. Johnny (Doug Cooeyate), a teenage Mexican who's new in town, saunters into the store, and Walt is immediately taken by him. After work, Walt hangs out with Johnny nearby, but things are cut short when Johnny realizes Walt wants to be more than friends.

In a bar, Walt tenderly speaks of Johnny to his friend Betty (Nyla McCarthy). After reminding him that he's always in love, she decides that he should invite him to dinner over at her place. Seconds later, Walt and Betty idle down Skid-Row in search of Johnny. Walt spots him.

Johnny accepts under the condition that Roberto "Pepper" (Ray Monge), his friend, also comes. They have dinner. They get drunk. They dance. It is the beginning of rocky friendships that provide endless torment mainly for Walt; but also for Roberto, and Johnny who aren't mature, or open enough to deal with their situation in a way that's very constructive. They get a kick out of pushing Walt around, and sometimes playing with guns.

Overall, the film is sincere in its tone, and ocassionally shot well. The beginning of the film suffers from a couple of scenes that are cut too short, but that goes away after the first few minutes. In terms of its narrative, "Mala Noche" chronically jumps from events without concluding the previous sequence very well. Also, the ending doesn't tie very much together; though you do get the feeling that Walt just isn't going to let go anytime soon, and this cyclical situation has him on the ropes. Despite some of its faults, "Mala Noche" will stick with you. Maybe it's the ocassionally insightful dialogue, or maybe it's the street feel; but I would say watch it while you can because this isn't a rentable re-release, and who knows what'll happen over the next twenty years.

Nuovomondo (The Golden Door)

Poetic even in its English translation, "The Golden Door," from its literal Italian meaning, "new world"; this film lacks narrative, but, for most, makes up for it with aesthetics. Director Emanuele Crialese takes cues from the widely-acclaimed Fellini as well as a not as well known Italian Neorealist, Luchino Visconti. The film mixes early, narratiive Fellini with late surreal Fellini. It also captures a similar cultural precision of early 20th century, poverty-stricken Sicilians that is reminiscent of Visconti's 1948 film, "La Terra Trema."

Salvatore Mancuso (Vincenzo Amato), an illiterate Sicilian peasant, climbs over a rocky Sicilian countryside with his son, Angelo (Franceso Casisa.) Each of them carry a rock in their mouth as they continue on their laborious climb. With their clothes just as tattered and dirty as their feet, they finally arrive at a monumental Cross made of logs. They humbly drop the rocks onto a pile that indicates a common ritualistic sacrifice among locals. Salvatore begins to pray in the form of asking questions that he can't answer himself.

Outside of a windowless shelter made of rocks cemented together, two generations of women sit in awe over postcards of America that show people towing giant onions, and money growing on trees. With just a touch more of drive from Salvatore and lifelessness from Rosa (Isabella Ragonese), the family finally finds the courage to emigrant overseas.

Salvatore first sets his sights on Lucy (Charlotte Gainsbourg), an Italian speaking Englishwomen who somehow found her way to Sicily, on a chaotic port just before boarding the boat. She seems to need his assistance from the get-go as she pretends to be with him whenever anyone with authority looms near. They get separated; and so, they don't board the ship together. Though, eventually, to the dismay of his mother Fortunata (Aurora Quattrocchi), they reunite. Lucy wants to marry him when they arrive at Ellis Island for reasons unknown, though she states it isn't for love. Salvatore eagerly accepts, and defensively states that they hardly know each other, but these things take time...

The half-baked love story serves as a device for the greater focus of the film; the strife of the early 20th century Sicilian emigrants. When they arrive at Ellis Island, they're treated like animals. The purpose of these tests are not purely medical (contrary to the beliefs of the doctors during that time), but are meant to weed out those who are believed to be intellectually inferior, because studies showed that stupidity is contagious; and officials want to be sure that anyone entering the country isn't going to spread their "stupid gene." Many of these people live on the basis of survival for their entire lives, and lack even the most basic education. Sadly, most fail miserably at these tests.

Ultimately, "The Golden Door" changed genres whenever Crialese felt it was convenient to do so. Not as hard to decipher as Fellini's mid to late Surrealist works, but more artful than Visconti's Neorealist film, "La Terra Trema"; "The Golden Door" aims to please everyone. Though, it's one of the better films that have been released lately, it surely isn't flawless, and somewhat superficial. Lucy is a women with no past; thus, unknown motivations.

A nice touch is that the Sicilians speak dialect, and not proper Italian which adds credibility as well as a sort of charisma to the characters. It isn't a must-see, but it certainly is a should-see.

Severance

A satiric slasher that cuts itself in half with too much comedy, and too little concept. "Severance" is a film that reveals more plot holes than bullet (though it is certainly action-packed), and leaves us with a lame storyline. A "team-building" weekend funded by a multi-national weaponry corp by the name of Palisades Defence turns into an unoriginal slash fest in a mountainous Eastern European countryside.

The films start with clips taken out of its ending...though the directorial reasons behind this are murky; perhaps Christopher Smith thought it, well, looked cool. Meanwhile, a tour bus with seven weapons designers (or sales people? It's never made clear) roar past on a nearby road - unaware of the doom that awaits. Trivial is almost too sophisticated a word to describe most of the scenes in this film. It's like "Scary Movie" for twenty-somethings that cultivate their political convictions by watching Saturday Night Live.

First, Steve (Danny Dyer) openly takes hallucinogens despite the fact that he's on a corporate outing, but no worries, no one seems to find this bothersome or unprofessional anyway. Then, perhaps in an effort to emphasize the types of cityslickers we're dealing with, everyone whines about walking down an unknown road that the bus driver refuses to take instead of using their energy to move a fallen tree out of the main road so that they can pass. It makes little sense considering the whole point of the weekend is to unify the team, and the length of the walk is unknown. It's also odd that no one questions why a perfectly normal bus driver would suddenly turn ballistic when asked to go slightly off-route. The lack of subtitles is also the lamest of cop outs because it frees the filmmakers from having to write, I don't know, something that makes sense or maybe has meaning...

The characters are ocassionaly likeable but never intriguing enough to care about when slaying time abounds. When bear traps are complemented by flame throwers and mine dodgers the film really does become entertaining, but any expectation of a poignant political satire should be left at ticket booth. A missle crashing into an airplane flying overhead is about as funny as seeing a decapitated head smile eagerly at the camera...This film left many major questions unanswered like: who is behind this vengeful militia or why didn't this go straight to DVD?

Gone Filming

Check back next week.

Armin

"Armin" is potentially a slogger film, but relies on omission as its saving grace. If you think about the pace of this film in a logical way - it really shouldn't work. Not too much happens; not too much changes. The shots are average in length, but offer a seductive silence that teases curiousity, and cultivates patience. What's odder about the pacing is "Armin" isn't even a mystery, far from a horror flick, but a comedy of sorts.

Ibro (Emir Hadzihafisbegovic) waits with his son, Armin (Armin Omerovic), by a bus stop in Bosnia. All we know is that they're headed for Zagreb, the largest city in Croatia. For the first ten minutes of the film, we are unaware of their names, the nature of their relationship, and lastly, whether they even know each other. On the bus, naturally, they sit next to each other, and still not a word has come out of Armin's mouth. Though Ibro is a bit of a chatterbox; he drinks from a flask, talks to the businessman in a seat nearby, and then, tosses insults at the bus driver for his lack of skill. All the while, Armin sits in silence.

When they arrive, we finally learn that Armin is auditioning for a German film about the Balkan conflict. Armin reads the script in a way that someone who doesn't know how to act does: without emotion, or rhythm. Throughout the lobbies, bars, and hallways of the hotel, Ibro manages to brag about his son's accordian playing skills - something, he believes, none of the kids have, or are even capable of.

Their trip to Croatia symbolizes a global trend in the "widening gap." Ibro is baffled by modern technology such as the hand dryer in the men's bathroom, and car alarms. Armin refuses whenever his father wants to buy him something - a characteristic of a child who feels guilty of spending money they know their parents don't have. But Ibro is supercilious, and always insists until his son finally gives in, and so his ego is satisfied.

Armin's first indulgence is eating an enormous amount of McDonald's - something every small-town Euroteen can never seem to resist. Then he's interested in a world atlas he sees in a newspaper stand. Ibro immediately buys it for him even though Armin protests this as well. Back at the room, they look it over, and Ibro comments on how large China is; a sort of subconcious realization of how small they actually are.

This is reiterated through awkward social situations in the hotel lounge with film people. Ibro is loud, a little dorky - even his speech lacks assimilation. He's is ultimately laughed at, but luckily, too drunk to notice. This is relatively subtle like everything else in the film, and this subtlety is precisely what makes it so interesting.

What's more interesting is Ognjen Svilicic wrote "The Melon Route," Armin Omerovic's acting debut. This leaves us wondering what the fact-to-fiction ratio of "Armin," the film, really is. Ultimately, this film serves as an interesting critique of what it is to be a foreigner; futhermore, what lacking privilege can really mean - especially when combined with facing true hardships. In this context, success by many would be considered just plain survival, and this epiphany is exactly what Ibro and Armin get to take home, back to Bosnia, with them.

Written and Directed by Ognjen Svilicic.



I was unable to locate a trailer with subtitles...sorry!