Broken Embraces [Los abrazos rotos] (2009)

"El Deseo presenta ..."

As soon as these three words appear on the screen, I get goosebumps all over. This is my fandom and if there is one filmmaker for whose films I would camp outside days before they are released, it would be Pedro (well, Coens too). Whatever the flaws his films might have, you always leave the cinema satisfied. And that's the key word here. His films have hardly been 'perfect' (whatever that implies), but you always get the sense that you got the maximum experience from a film. Underneath the colourful palette of his films (be it the set design, characters, dialogue, etc.) lies a great understanding of what a 'good' story is (whatever that implies too).

Broken Embraces is not his best film. In fact, I'm going so far as to say that it's his poorest effort since Live Flesh. However, it is more captivating than any 3D, SFX extravaganza that the future of cinema will throw our way. I don't want to bash special effects, or 'Hollywood' cinema - I like them as much as the next guy. But, Almodovar's films are pretty much guaranteed to move you without you realizing. Broken Embraces follows the same effortless pattern.

The plot is possibly the most convoluted that he has done: Mateo Blanco (Lluis Homar from Bad Education (2004) and Fermat's Room (2008)) is a filmmaker who is going blind. When an unexpected visitor from his past reappears, he reminisces the time when he met, worked with, and fell in love with a beautiful actress, Magdalena (Penelope Cruz in all her beauty). Almodovar plays with this narrative structure as he pleases, with flashbacks and flashforwards coming at their own pleasure. As usual there is a scene where a female character breaks down and reveals what actually happened in a scene. In this case Blanca Portillo's Judit reveals certain secrets at a dinner scene that lacks the emotional impact it probably should have had. In fact, there is a bigger reveal later on, but it's played down beautifully. 

Almodovar plays with familiarity. He makes it pretty clear that you are watching an Almodovar film. In the hands of many filmmakers this could be jarring, but seeing some old faces cropping up in all the unexpected places is a joy: Angela Molina plays Cruz's mother (she looks surprisingly old!!), Rossy de Palma appears as the grudge-filled ex-wife in the film-within-a-film, Lola Duenas has some of the funniest lines, and, of course, Chus Lampreave. No Almodovar film would be complete without Chus.

It has flaws - too many of them - but it is as heart-warming, effortless, funny, emotional, and surprising as you can expect. Not the best film of the year, but it's the most satisfying of them all.

Life Sucks ... And Then There Are Movies

This year sucked in general. Everytime life throws a punch in the nether parts of my body, I descend into misery. But then, the movies alleviate the pain. Or, some of it at least. There haven't been many films that totally blew me away this year. Yet. The coming months will see a plethora of new films that I just cannot wait to see. For instance this Friday we will blessed - once again - by those immortal words on the screen: "El Deseo, S.A. presenta". Kathryn Bigelow's new flick, Hurt Locker, is the best-reviewed film of the year so far. The second instalment of the brilliant Mesrine is also coming out. Or, is it out already? Down the line we have Peter Jackson's latest, Lovely Bones. If it's half as good as the book, I'll be a happy man. The Coens' new film had the most fascinating trailer so far this year. The Road is finally coming out. Nine, the remake of Fellini's 8 1/2, will be competing for all the Best Actress nominations in the coming awards season. And, lest we forget, Avatar is also on the way. As underwhelming as the trailer was, I still have very high hopes for it. Despite the fact that Sam Worthington's in it.

My viewing habits have changed considerably this year for cicumstances beyond my control. And as new developments in my social life emerge, it is getting more difficult to actually sit down and watch something.

This year I have watched more TV dramas than at any point in my life. I watched the full series of "The Wire" back-to-back. The hype is true - it is fucking brilliant. I have marathoned my way through "Dexter" and "Battlestar Galactica" (perhaps for the third time over). "True Blood" was pretty decent. I have been procrastinating over "Deadwood" and I have just started watching "Babylon 5". Next up will be "Six Feet Under". This particular fascination with TV dramas also had a big impact on the number of films that I have seen all year. 

What follows is a list of films that I have seen in the last six months which I thought were pretty decent, if not outright brilliant. Not all of them are releases from 2009 - there are plenty of films from previous years. For fear of losing my touch with the world, I have decided to come up with this list to get out of the funk that I'm in. Did it help? We'll see. The list is chronological in the order that I've seen them:

Let the Right One in: An absolute corker of a film. Brilliant in every way and a good example to give if someone asks for a film that is better than the source material it's adapted from. As good a horror film as you'll ever see, this little twisted vampire tale is a nightmare-inducing masterpiece. I can't praise it enough.

The Class: There was so much hype surrounding this film that it almost became 'hip' not to like it. I could only resist so long. And the verdict? As good as they say it is. I watched this as part of a Laurent Cantet double bill. Cantet is a director that really taps into how we perceive society through race and class. The Class is a great example of what he is trying to say. Definitely his best film.

In the Loop: As far as the 2009 releases go, this is my favourite by a mile. I don't remember laughing this hard at the cinema as a group of buffoons try to wage war, whilst another group of buffoons are trying to stop it. Arguably it contains some of the best usage of "fuck" in any film that I can recall. Not to be missed.

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance: I rented this from my local Blockbuster after years of picking it up, only to put it back down for no apparent reason. It was worth the wait. Part one of Chan-wook Park's "Vengeance Trilogy", it is not as hard-hitting as its follow-up, Oldboy, but it has a fantastic twist at the end that does exactly what twists should - slap you in the face.

This Is England: I have praised this film elsewhere on this blog. All in all, it's Shane Meadows' crowning achievement. As Picasso said: "Bad artists copy, good artists steal". Meadows steals the last shot of The 400 Blows and somehow makes it more emblematic.

12:08: East of Bucharest: This little Romanian flick is as low-budget and honest as it gets. It is darkly comic - at times resembles Songs from the Second Floor - but with a golden heart. It's hard not to fall for its warmth and honesty. Did I mention its honesty?

4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days: Another gem. Like another Romanian film on this list, its purity oozes from every frame. It delivers its message effortlessly and I could not find a flaw in this film. This was one of the best-reviewed films last year and it deserved all the accolades. It says more about the issue of abortion in about 90 minutes than all the talk shows and panel shows combined.

The Hangover: There is one every year. Knocked up; Superbad; Anchorman; Old School ... the list goes on. This is gross out without being vomit-inducing and naughty without making you feel guilty if you watch it with your parents. Oh, and it'pretty fricking hilarious too.

Drag Me to Hell: No matter what anybody says, I think Spiderman movies are vastly overrated. We have been waiting for Raimi's return to horror for quite some time and we have been rewarded accordingly. A poignant horror film that is actually pretty frightening. Rare combination, indeed. Please, no more Spidermen and more of these. Please.

Che Part One and Part Two: Quite why Benicio del Toro was overlooked in the awards season is beyond me. What I know is that these two films are the best things Soderbergh has done ever since sex, lies, and videotape. A nice little conclusion to Ernesto Guevara's story following the sublime The Motorcycle Diaries, this two-headed monster is worth your 4 hours. Trust me.

Antichrist: Oh, Von Trier. You sly bastard. You did it again. You've made every film critic talk about your film whether they liked it or not. You even sneaked in penal penetration, a blood-ejaculating penis, and female circumcision in all their glory into your film. Oh, and a talking fox too. Result: awesome.

Inglourious Basterds: Another Tarantino film and more hype. This time, though, he deserves to be praised to high heavens once again. Personally, I find the Kill Billi films dull and reduntant. Death Proof was exactly what it was meant to be. No more, no less. But this is a quintessential Tarantino movie. A walking, breathing pop-culture phenomenon. He's back and let's hope he keeps it up.

Mesrine: Killer Instinct: The first half of what is destined to be a gangster classic. Although the finale is very abrupt, I'm sure watching the two films back-to-back on DVD will pay off. Vincent Cassel is once again on top form. It has a very old-fashioned, 70s gangster feel to it. I cannot wait to see the second part.

So, these were the best films that I have seen within the last six months at cinema or at home. How many more will be added to this list by the end of the year? That is a question I will answer later on.

Peace.

Antichrist (2009)

So much furore over a film ... The talk of the Cannes this year wasn't how deserving Michael Haneke's black and white WW1 drama, A White Ribbon was. Two films made a splash on the croisette: Tarantino's long-awaited WW2 flick, Inglorious Basterds and the Danish wunderkid and aerophobic Lars Von Trier's Antichrist. The talk of the town regarding QT's latest was that it was rather lukewarm, unfunny, and long - a bit like the Kill Bill debacle. As for Antichrist the critics had drawn their swords to tear it to pieces for its overt sexuality and violence. It's a Lars Von Trier film - anything less would be a disappointment.

It is not fair to label Antichrist as a film hell-bent on gynocide and real sex. And, to get the white elephant out of the room, there is a scene with penal penetration up close, a scene with male ejaculation, and a female castration. The film ain't all that, though.

Charlotte Gainsborough anf Willem Defoe are Woman and Man respectively. During a lustful love-making, their infant son falls down an open window to his demise. The pair mourn their loss in different ways: Man (ever so rational, of course) tries to cope with it by pretty much ignoring what happened. Woman (ever so irrational, of course) goes through hysteric fits that border on insanity. Man is a psychiatrist and suggests they go to Eden - a cabin in the woods where Woman and Nick, their son, spent the previous Summer. Eden also happens to be where Woman's fears originate.

The film is separated into three parts, plus an prologue and an epilogue. Named after the Three Beggars (Grief, Pain, and Despair), it creates a neat frame for the story, but really what it does is force its narrative on to the viewer. It is a little distracting, but hey ... it's Lars Von Trier. He can do whatever he wants. The acting, also, is a little ... how do I say it ... dodgy. Defoe is very removed and Gainsborough does a good job, but it's nothing spectacular.

The first part is actually very dull and never takes off, until they arrive at the Eden. And it is here that the film really finds its mettle - Woman's actions start to worry Man, who is also seeing animals that are mouthpieces for Satan. The climax is as painful an experience as watching the rape scene in Irreversible (2002) ... perhaps even more. However, I didn't think for one moment that they were gratuitous. They are not shocking and seem like logical progressions in the story. (Note: if you want to see a really disturbing female genital mutilation, I recommend Kim ki-duk's brilliant, The Isle. If you want to see a male genital mutilation that comes out of nowhere, I recommend Paul Verhoeven's last Dutch film before he ventured out to Hollywood, The Fourth Man).

Misogyny is always apparent in Lars Von Trier films, but I'm of the opinion that he doesn't do it on purpose. Or, let's just say they are no more misogynistic than your regular Hollywood film. Pick any one. As disturbing as the whole film was, the last scene haunted me more than any other. It is a clear act of misogyny, yes. But, as a cinematic tool, it's beautiful. I am not dismissing the subject on the merits of a film aesthetic, but whatever Von Trier wants to say (nature is woman is evil), he says it better than anybody else. This is the second best horror film of the year (after Let the Right One in, of course) but it is no less astonishing.