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Film: The Serpent
Release date: 29th September 2008
Certificate: 15
Running time: 119 mins
Director: Eric Barbier
Starring: Yvan Attal, Clovis Cornillac, Olga Kurylenko, Pierre Richard , Simon Abkarian
Genre: Thriller
Studio: In2Film
Format: DVD
Country: France
In the mould of Tell No One, and more recently Anything for Her, The Serpent is a tense French thriller based on the novel Plender by Get Carter scribe Ted Lewis. The film follows an ordinary individual thrust into extraordinary circumstances in a brutal tale of honour, revenge and personal courage.
The film begins with Vincent (Yvan Attal) going through a difficult divorce and a custody battle for the right to see his children. At work, he is met by a last minute replacement for a lingerie shoot by a stunningly beautiful, but emotionally fragile girl named Sofia (Olga Kurylenko). The two connect, but the following day Vincent is accused of rape. He meets Sophia again, although a terrifying accident complicates Vincent’s position further.
He then meets Joseph Plender, an old classmate from school. Plender plays the affectionate fool at first, but it soon becomes clear he is not all he seems. Haunted by events from his past, Plender is seeking vengeance on those who wronged him or his now-deceased mother. This includes Vincent, who unwittingly subjected Plender to a horrendous ordeal when a childhood prank went wrong. Plender, using Sofia to seduce his targets, is blackmailing and systematically destroying them; that is, until Vincent fights back.
On the run from the law, and desperate to protect his family, Vincent’s only hope is to confront Plender with his own twisted mind games…
Part of a wave of modern French thrillers, The Serpent is a tense, psychological tale where Barbier has brilliantly transferred Ted Lewis’ British story to a French setting. The confident direction superbly captures the cold, stark environments for maximum visual impact and atmosphere.
Although unconventional, the music by Renaud Barbier perfectly compliments the dark subject matter, heightening the tension in the story by using sparse, piano-driven melodies, and incorporating unusual sounds to create an unsettling feel. For example, one sound appeared to resemble shattering glass, which reflected Vincent’s world breaking apart around him.
The performances are excellent, supported by a strong script. Clovis Cornillac is a terrifying screen presence. Imposing and sinister, he turns Plender into a brutally efficient psychopath, but still allows for moments of sympathy and pity for the torment his character has suffered. Barbier’s direction adds to the portrayal, allowing us to see his eyes at certain emotive moments, while at others lighting him from above so his face and eyes are shadowed, to intimidating effect.
As with Francois Cluzet in Tell No One, Yvan Attal plays the honest everyman brilliantly, and is the film’s greatest feature. His character’s growing desperation and resolve to fight back are translated through a powerful performance, while the reality of his emotional journey and his conviction mean the film’s brief moment of fantastical action does not upset its tone, and remains grounded in a believable reality. Some of the best scenes in the film, however, are when Attal shares the screen with veteran actor Pierre Richard, who plays one of Plender’s other victims, while Simon Abkarian also provides strong support as Vincent’s lawyer.
Olga Kurylenko, known to most audiences for her role in the James Bond film Quantum Of Solace, is magnificent in bringing emotional depth and fragility to her character, despite the limited screen time. Her character’s past and personality could have been elaborated on to great interest, but this may have distracted from the central storyline. Nonetheless, she is a wonderful presence, and her performance, like Attal’s, allows for the action to retain a sense of reality that another performer may not have transferred.
The Special Features that accompany the DVD include a trailer and a half-hour ‘making of’ documentary. The latter is of only passing interest, as most of the running time is made up of clips from the film. Far better are three short interviews, with Kurylenko and director Barbier giving some interesting insights into the filming process and their intentions.
While the film does not reach the cinematic heights of Tell No One, The Serpent is nonetheless a compelling watch. An excellent cast, director and script unite to create a suspenseful psychological thriller that maintains it tension and emotion throughout. CD
Film: Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
Release date: 18th June 2001
Certificate: 12
Running time: 115 mins
Director: Ang Lee
Starring: Chow Yun-fat, Michelle Yeoh, Ziyi Zhang, Chen Chang, Sihung Lung
Genre: Action/Adventure/Drama/Fantasy/Martial Arts/Romance
Studio: Sony
Format: DVD
Country: Taiwan/Hong Kong/USA/China
Winner of four Oscars, including Best Foreign Language Film, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon has taken its place as an iconic piece of martial arts cinema. The film follows three central characters as they battle over the right to possess a sacred sword and prove themselves in the eyes of their superiors. To do so, each must search for a deeper understanding of themselves and their desires.
The movie begins with Master Li Mu Bai (Chow Yun-fat) relinquishing his sword, the Green Destiny, to his old friend Yu Shu Lien, so that she can pass it on as a gift to Sir Te (Sihung Lung).
In Bejing, Lien meets a fellow guest of Sir Te’s, a young and beautiful girl named Jen (Ziyi Zhang) who is desperate for an escape from her regimented aristocratic lifestyle.
When the Green Destiny is stolen by a highly skilled mystery attacker, Lien becomes determined to reclaim the sword and regain her honour. However, she begins to suspect that Jen is not all she appears to be.
From here, the film moves through a number of interconnecting subplots, involving Jen’s romance with a rugged horseman from the plains, Lien’s growing realisation of her feelings for Li Mu Bai, and Bai’s own desire to avenge his master’s death at the hands of the allusive assassin, Jade Fox. Through numerous action scenes, we see the Green Destiny changing hands as each character must confront their own doubts, fears and failures in order to prove themselves worthy to possess the sacred weapon…
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon promises much and delivers on a number of levels. The performances by the three leads are excellent, especially Ziyi Zhang who portrays Jen with a perfect mix of naïve excitement and growing maturity. Her impressive performance lends the character believability that keeps the fantastical elements of the film grounded in emotional depth. Her energy is perfectly balanced by the strong, commanding presence of Michelle Yeoh, whose air of dignity and reserve make the scenes between the two the best in the film. Yeoh brilliantly captures her character’s restraint and humility when in the presence of Yun-Fat. The latter is superb while on screen, being wise and powerful but maintaining a fragility that makes his character interesting. He is, however, sadly underused.
The Oscar-winning cinematography is awe-inspiring. The sets, ranging from mansions to city streets and taverns, are wonderfully incorporated into the landscape. It is the sequences in the desert and mountains, however, which are truly breathtaking. They are perfectly complemented by Tan Dun’s score, which encapsulates the epic grandeur of the scenery and likewise received an Academy Award. The design of the film, including its props and costumes, create a convincing vision of the historical world in which the action unfolds, and the attention to detail and majesty of visual ambition is carried through to the movie’s numerous action sequences.
One of the major pioneers of wire-work martial arts – perhaps best seen in western films in The Matrix trilogy – the film’s fight scenes unfold like beautifully choreographed ballets. The combatants float and leap between rooftops and trees, performing mind-blowing flips and summersaults, mixing fantasy and poetry as they fight. However, while at first the sequences are thrilling and mesmerising, the film resorts to action too often, and by the finale, they have lost some of the wonder they first evoked. Furthermore, the graceful movements mean the fights rarely reflect a sense of danger or pain that makes action sequences thrilling, but Tan Dun’s rhythmic, percussion heavy score elevates, and saves, many of the sequences by creating tension and excitement.
The film’s major issue is its tone. Ang Lee’s direction is generally impressive, but it, along with the script, seems to fluctuate between different moods, sometimes uneasily. At times, the film is an emotive romance, superbly coupled to a contemplative, philosophical meditation on duty and desire. However, in some scenes (such as Jen’s tavern brawl) the film suddenly shifts into slapstick comedy with weak jokes and on into a fantasy-western. Sometimes these digressions are lengthy, and while excellent in their own right, they mean the film loses momentum. When the finale comes, therefore, it feels disappointingly underwhelming. The lack of focus on a single protagonist – something which has worked in some films – is not entirely successful here, and contributes to the film appearing slightly muddled and ambiguous.
A visual triumph with compelling performances, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon has much to be admired. While it does not move easily between differing emotions or genres, there is nonetheless something for everyone in the film’s beauty, action and emotion. Not quite the masterpiece many credit it with being, it remains a curious watch which, at times, is richly rewarding. CD
Film: OSS 117 - Cairo: Nest Of Spies
Release date: 23rd February 2009
Certificate: 12
Running time: 99 mins
Director: Michel Hazanavicius
Starring: Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, Aure Atika, Philippe Lefebvre, Constantin Alexandrov
Genre: Adventure/Comedy/Crime
Studio: ICA
Format: DVD
Country: France
Based on a series of 1950s and 1960s spy films, which were in turn based on a series of novels by French author Jean Bruce, the movie both parodies the original OSS 117 franchise along with other spy movies from the time, especially the Connery-era James Bond films.
The story is a simple fish-out-of-water comedy, whereby the suave, (not so) sophisticated Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath is sent by his superiors to Egypt during the 1950s to find out what happened to another agent – and Hubert’s old friend – Jack, who is believed to have been killed.
Upon entering the country, agent OSS 117 encounters beautiful women, religious fanatics, people of all races and nationalities, and even has run-ins with Nazis inside the pyramids…
The plot is very basic, loosely holding together a series of comic situations. The film literally throws every cliché of the spy genre at the screen which, while unorganised, ultimately prevents the film from becoming too predictable as you never know what insane plot twist will occur next.
Much of the film’s humour derives from Hubert’s old-fashioned, 1950s sensibilities, and although his xenophobia and sexism will not be to everyone’s liking, the humour is generally handled well, ensuring that it is Hubert who is being ridiculed and humiliated and not his supposed targets.
As well as the ‘humour of awkwardness’, there are also plenty of visual jokes and slapstick comedy that make the film extremely accessible for people with varied senses of humour. Furthermore, the supremely likable Jean Dujardin delivers a performance that ensures the audience continue to enjoy Hubert’s company despite his flaws, and Berenice Bejo is an excellent counterfoil as the seductive, strong, and intelligent love-interest, reversing more traditional roles for a nice contemporary twist.
Our introduction to the eponymous OSS 117 – eyebrow and gun cocked, white teeth sparkling – occurs during a black-and-white, pre-credit sequence set towards the end of WWII, where he and his comrade must steal a briefcase from a fleeing Nazi. From there, we are launched into the glorious and gaudy Technicolor of a 1960s movie, with the filmmakers lovingly recreating the look and feel of works such as the early Bond movies, down to minute details; usually evoking these as jokes as well as a faithful homage. As such, the direction and cinematography comes across as deceptively simple, but it all adds to the enjoyable nature of the film.
Unlike its overblown, overly politically-incorrect and disappointing sequel, OSS 177 - Lost In Rio, Cairo: Nest Of Spies is a far more concise and compact movie, overflowing with jokes and fun.
Nothing in the movie should be taken seriously, except maybe the beauty of the filmmaker’s attention to period/cinematic detail and the joyous soundtrack (there’s even a musical number!) - in short, the movie is a breezy, colourful comedy that should delight all those who are not easily offended.
A must for fans of the Naked Gun and Austin Powers films, or anyone who enjoys the early James Bond movies, OSS 117 - Cairo: Nest Of Spies is a wonderful guilty pleasure. CD
Film: Lebanon
Release date: 23rd August 2010
Certificate: 15
Running time: 89 mins
Director: Samuel Maoz
Starring: Reymond Amsalem, Ashraf Barhom, Oshri Cohen, Yoav Donat, Michael Moshonov
Genre: Drama/War
Studio: Metrodome
Format: DVD
Country: Israel/France/UK/Germany
The talk of Cannes and winner of the Leone d’Oro at the 2009 Venice Film Festival, Lebanon partially documents personal war experiences of the film’s director, Samuel Maoz.
The film follows an Israeli tank crew entering a hostile town on the first day of the 1982 conflict. With the exception of the opening and closing shots, the action takes place entirely from inside the tank, while we receive occasional glimpses of the outside world through the crosshairs of the crew’s gun-sights
Upon entering the vehicle, Israeli tank-commander Asi familiarises himself with the men under his command; a veteran weapons loader, a young driver, and a gunner on his first mission. Following an air-strike on a nearby town, they must accompany a paratrooper platoon into the settlement and clear-up any remaining resistance.
Confronted by horrific scenes of destruction, and the confused parameters of their mission, the tensions inside the tank increase. The confined space – worsened by the addition of a corpse and a prisoner – takes its toll on the men, physically and mentally, and as they battle with each other, the enemy, and their environment, the true horrors of war begin to dawn.
Realising they may have gone off-mission, and with the enemy bearing down upon them, the men must fight for their lives…
Lebanon is an unrelentingly tough viewing experience, but one that offers rich rewards. Despite the motif of characters stuck in an enclosed space being done a number of times in cinema history (in a war context,. most memorably in the stage-plays Journey’s End and The Long And The Short And Tall, both of which have received movie adaptations) Lebanon maintained a refreshingly original feel throughout.
The tensions and interactions between the crew make for compelling drama, delivered with stunning conviction from an excellent cast. Each of the crew are presented as developed, three-dimensional characters, and while the issues they face are common in war films – the gunner, for instance, struggles with the morality of killing people – the setting and levels of emotional engagement ensure that the film rises above stereotype or cliché. Other characters occasionally enter the tank, such as the crew’s superior officer, a Syrian prisoner, and a Phalangist, with each being a catalyst that worsens the relationship between the crewmen as well as offering diversity in the dialogue.
Visually, the film shocks and frustrates. Maoz captures the claustrophobic horror of the setting superbly, presenting a richly textured depiction of the sights, smells and suffering inside the vehicle. The engines deafen, dust and fumes fill the air, and you can almost smell the blood, sweat, and urine. Despite the grim reality, there is still great artistry within the direction; for example, the arresting sight of blood-like oil slowly running down the vehicle’s walls, as if the tank itself were alive and bleeding. Indeed, the machine ultimately becomes a character in itself, so affective is its personification.
However, although everything inside the tank is delivered with nightmarish perfection, the film fails when looking at the outside world. These come solely through the crew’s cross-hairs – accompanied by the sound of the turret moving along with the camera – and although disturbing and upsetting, they lacked any form of subtlety. Examples included a close-up of a painting of the Virgin Mary holding Jesus, before a woman and her child are forced in front by a Syrian soldier; a situation the tank’s gunner is ordered to fire into. Another instance involved the camera/gun-sight zooming in on a seemingly dead donkey, only to see it is still breathing, and when it blinks, a tear rolls down its face. While these hammered home the anti-war message of the film, they felt so staged and heavy-handed that it belied the realism of the action inside the tank. The images, constant close-ups, and lingering shots seemed to underestimate the audience’s intelligence, as if they would not understand the movie’s message if presented in a subtle manner.
Despite these flaws, the film must be applauded for its attempt to show that war affects and brings suffering to both sides, and its impartial outlook contrasts nicely to other war movies that are often overly biased to one side. The film is supposedly based on many of Moaz’s personal experiences during the war, and it should be further commended for its unflinchingly real representation of warfare that makes for compelling, if exhausting, cinema.
The contradictory treatment of the visuals ultimately left the film feeling uneven, but it remains a highly worthwhile viewing experience, horrific and gripping in equal measure, with instances of imaginative direction and superb performances. CD
Film: The Wave
Release date: 12th January 2009
Certificate: 15
Running time: 102 mins
Director: Dennis Gansel
Starring: Jürgen Vogel, Frederick Lau, Max Riemelt, Jennifer Ulrich, Christiane Paul
Genre: Drama/Thriller
Studio: Momentum
Format: DVD
Country: Germany
Faced with educating a class of students on the subject of autocracy for a whole week, a teacher decides to challenge his pupil’s sceptical attitudes towards the power of a dictatorial political system, and the ease with which it can take hold, by beginning an experiment - one that soon gets out of his control.
Set in a German high school, The Wave follows unconventional teacher Rainer Wenger, who has the love of his students but lacks respect from his peers, who care little for his rock‘n’roll outlook.
Failing to get his favoured subject of Anarchy for the school’s ‘project week’, he is instead given Autocracy. The class begins well with lively discussion, but there appears to him an unready acceptance of the ease with which dictatorships can organise and indoctrinate the masses, especially from the pupils who are sure another Nazi regime could never take hold in contemporary Germany.
Almost spontaneously, Wenger begins to order and alter the way his class is run, from seating, to uniform, and even to naming the class – ‘The Wave’. However, the pupils become affected in radically different ways by the changes, and while a minority questions the morality of Wenger’s experiment, others become caught up in their newfound sense of strength and community, building to a shocking climax…
The Wave is based on an actual experiment that took place in California in 1967, where history teacher Ron Jones tried to show his class how the Nazi party was able to indoctrinate the German masses. He called his experiment ‘The Third Wave’, and since the event there have been two other adaptations based around the event; a novel, and a TV movie, both released in the 1980s. However, both of these adaptations maintained the event’s American setting, whereas The Wave transfers the action to modern-day Germany.
The transfer is hugely successful, despite some arguments that the move makes the experiment’s parallels to Nazi Germany too obvious. However, there is a frightening sense of grim possibility that derives from the European setting, and it ultimately serves to heighten the drama.
Dennis Gansel’s lively direction lends the film an exciting pace, and the use of music and editing creates an interesting division between the scenes involving the student’s private lives and those of order within the classroom. Furthermore, the use of light and bright colours prevents the film’s disturbing subject matter from ever becoming oppressive. Events are presented in a day-by-day chronology to emphasise the speed that the changes within the class take place during ‘project week’, and also subtly build tension. Although a huge amount of thought-provoking subject matter is covered along with rich characterisations and interactions, the film does not become self-indulgent, and the running time is kept concise to deliver a direct, surprisingly thrilling viewing experience.
The younger stars turn in convincing performances, particularly Frederick Lau as the unstable yet sympathetic Tim. Jurgen Vogul, as the class’s teacher, is especially notable as he manages to maintain his character’s likeability and humanity while capturing a dangerous undertone which lends the film’s climax added drama. The acting is complimented by an excellent script, which allows for the characters to develop and interact in a highly believable and realistic way. Indeed, the film seems to carry no great pretensions or self-importance, settling to tell a simple story well rather than become overwhelmed by the weight of the subject matter, and despite a different ending to that of the novel (upon which the film is primarily based), it nonetheless stays within the realms of reality and possibility. In so doing, The Wave allows the audience to discuss their own opinions of the story and events rather than doing what so many mainstream films do, and dictate how the audience should react.
Lively, fascinating, and with brilliant direction and performances, The Wave is a superb piece of cinema that should appeal to a wide demographic. A must for students, it is also a master class in direction and creating a concise, succinct and understated movie with realistic drama and thrills. CD
