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Film: Life, Above All
Year of production: 2010
UK Release date: 27th May 2011
Distributor: Peccadillo
Certificate: PG
Running time: 100 mins
Director: Oliver Schmitz
Starring: Khomotso Manyaka, Keaobaka Makanyane, Harriet Lenabe, Lerato Mvelase, Tinah Mnumzana
Genre: Drama
Format: Cinema
Country of Production: South Africa
Language: Germany
Review by: Qasa Alom
Much has changed in the seventeen years since the Apartheid in South Africa ended and that is most certainly reflected in the country’s newest and arguably most powerful film. Replete with secrets, tension and unbearable sadness Oliver Schmitz latest picture, based on the international award winning novel ‘Chanda's Secrets’ by Allan Stratton, explores the country’s newest battle against segregation without holding back any punches.
Set in a small, sparse and dusty South African town where all the neighbours know each others business, Life, Above All centres around Chanda (Khomotso Manyaka), a bright and feisty young girl with wisdom and confidence that surpass her meagre 12 years. Although very keen to study hard and perhaps even one day attain a medical scholarship, Chanda faces the heavy burden of helping her widowed mother Lilian (Lerato Mvelase) look after the family, whilst also stopping her absent and drunken step-father from sporadically returning to steal their savings and fuel his vice.
The film opens with Chanda skipping school in order to buy a tiny coffin for the funeral of her newly born half-sister. Heartbroken and falling seriously ill Lilian is unable to take care of the family any more, which leads Chanda to re-prioritise her life and take on more responsibility for the wellbeing of her two infantile siblings.
Consequentially, the once studious Chanda becomes isolated from her peers and forms a strong bond with Esther (Keaobaka Makanyane), a charming but troubled orphan girl eschewed by the neighbourhood, who has had to turn to prostitution to support herself. The pair promise to always be friends, despite reproaches from Lilian that inevitably lead to tragic abandonment.
Though initially the tight-knit community support Lilians’ plight and invite her to continue her role helping out in the church in any way she can, rumours about her medical state begin to spread like wildfire and, soon enough, much like Esther, Chanda and her family are also shunned by the whole neighbourhood.
Even Mrs Tafa, Chanda’s next-door neighbour who had been helping to look after the two children, cannot alleviate the growing community resentment and convinces a sickly Lilian to leave for a short ‘vacation’ back to her old village to calm the situation.
Unable to take the strain of life without her mother, and with her two siblings constantly questioning her authority, Chanda yearns for knowledge of when their mother is going to return, leading to an epic journey of discovery that culminates in a realisation of one of South Africa’s biggest taboo topics…
The film benefits from dealing with delicate issues in a manner that retains global relevance. Thus despite many people in the West being in a more fortunate position than that of Chanda’s – dropping out of school, having an extremely sick mother, taking responsibility for raising younger siblings at a pre-teen age – the viewer is still able to not only sympathise but relate to the film and the central character’s plight. Moreover, the subsequent consequences in the film, such as isolation and being an outsider, are also common issues that people can engage with regardless of their background or connection to South Africa. Therefore, one of the film’s biggest strengths is fully immersing the viewer into the story to create a powerful emotional bond between spectator and characters.
Of course, none of this would have been possible without the support of a talented cast, and though the performance of Mapaseka Mathebe, who plays the unruly younger sibling of Chanda steals some scenes, adding colour and depth, Khomotso Manyaka is completely magnetic in her portrayal of 12-year-old Chanda.
With the whole film ultimately revolving around her, Manyaka portrays a wide variety of emotions, from youthful exuberance to the coy flirtations of a first love, with aplomb and even revels in the more morose or serious moments, with a subtle facial expression or look in the eye betraying her vulnerable, yet determined character. However, it is in the chemistry with the other characters that she elevates herself and indeed the film to another level, packing the picture with an emotional punch.
The relationship with Lerato Mvelase, who plays her mother Lilian, is utterly moving, with their roles reversing as the film progresses. Then there is the tender bond with Esther, which effortlessly elicits all the nuances and complexities of a friendship between two people heading in different directions. Finally, though, it is when Chanda and Auntie Tata are on screen together that sparks really fly. Both scowl and frown their way through the 100 minute running time, with the tensions between the pair constantly bubbling away beneath the surface; sure enough, it finally culminates in an electric argument where the two characters provide vastly different mindsets of two generations in South African society.
That is not to say that the film is without its faults. Technical aspects are often quite laborious or out of synch with the natural ease of the film’s content. Sound and lighting in particular is used on more than one occasion to illustrate a certain atmosphere or mood; however, instead of enhancing the moment, they simply jar with the plot to create a scene that is simply excessive, reminding viewers that they are watching a film and obviously telling us what to feel. The technique of using stormy weather and rain to foreshadow tragic scenes is overused and detrimental.
Schmitz also has difficulty in achieving the right balance between light and shade; although the picture’s subject matter is very serious and quite ambitious for what it’s trying to achieve, the overriding messages are ladled on too thick without giving the viewer much of a break. This inevitably creates a rather stodgy film in parts that may even come across as quite didactically preachy.
Life, Above All is a grand, inspirational and very important picture for South Africa that has worldwide appeal. The characters are all more than likeable, which helps the viewer to engage with the story, and Schmitz also succeeds in portraying the contrast of mindsets in South Africa, from people who still shy away from progress and modernity, to those who are trying to give everybody a chance. Although, at times, the picture becomes rather instructive, the warmth and emotional power renders the film a huge success for South African cinema. QA
Film: Taxi zum Klo
Year of production: 1980
UK Release date: 23rd May 2011
Distributor: Peccadillo
Certificate: 18
Running time: 83 mins
Director: Frank Ripploh
Starring: Frank Ripploh, Bernd Broaderup, Orpha Termin, Peter Fahrni, Dieter Godde
Genre: Comedy
Format: DVD
Country of Production: West Germany
Language: German
Review by: Karen Rogerson
Thirty years after its original release, Frank Ripploh’s semi-autobiographical film about the sexual exploits of a gay teacher in Berlin receives a digital restoration and its first UK fully uncut release (and there’s plenty of cut and uncut being released onscreen, too). In the early 1980s, Taxi zum Klo’s explicit scenes gained it notoriety (the title translates as ‘Taxi to the toilet’) but it also received critical and popular acclaim for its groundbreaking and frank depiction of the Berlin gay scene.
The mild-mannered hippie demeanour of Taxi zum Klo’s leading character, Frank, contrasts with his colourful personal life. Describing himself as a “normal, jaded, neurotic, polymorphously perverse” teacher, he is torn between the daytime responsibilities of his work and his night time wanderings of the toilets and bath houses of the city in search of constant novelty and fresh conquests.
A hook up with Bernd, the manager of a gay cinema, appears to be the start of a more serious period in Frank’s life, and his nocturnal adventures give way to a settled domesticity. But while the solemn and earnest Bernd dreams of buying a house in a village and growing vegetables, Frank hates the idea of living such a banal existence in an atmosphere of small town ordinariness.
The conflict between the two reaches a climax – a dramatic climax rather than, for once, any other kind – at the Queen’s Ball, where Frank, flamboyantly dressed as a princess in diaphanous veils and shocking pink make up, flirts outrageously with middle-aged queens and pretty stable lads alike. Frank must decide which of two possible fates are preferable, the loneliness of his old, peripatetic lifestyle or the tedium of clockwork domesticity with Bernd…
Frank Ripploh wrote and directed the film, as well as starring in it, so it’s very much a one man show. Without the tongue-in-cheek humour of his performance, Taxi could easily have ended up pretentious or merely pornographic. Light-hearted and carefree, Frank spends his evenings sitting on a toilet cubicle correcting student papers and peeking through a hole in the wall at men playing with themselves, brazenly hitting on everyone from the man filling his car up with petrol to whichever random stranger happens to be hanging around in a designated pick up spot.
The film’s scenes of unsimulated oral and penetrative sex inevitably meant that it encountered problems with distribution in the ‘80s. Originally only intended for screening in private cinema clubs, it was seized by the US censors and refused an ‘X’ classification by the BBFC unless various scenes were cut, which the distributor was not prepared to do at the time. In 1994, it was released on an 18 certificate, after cutting 1 minute 43 seconds of footage, which showed a golden shower scene and, bizarrely, a clip from a genuine German public information film warning against the dangers of paedophiles and their alluring stamp collections, apparently irresistible to the fresh faced youth of Germany (commenting on the paedophile’s bouffant combover, Frank’s cross dressing friend says “you can tell what they’re like by their hair”…).
The sex in Taxi zum Klo is explicit, but the purpose of the film and, to some extent Frank’s own unconscious desire, is to understand how his sexuality defines him. The sex scenes are shown literally warts and all, but they also show the playfulness of those random encounters, the genuine and sometimes touching understanding between those involved, and the intense eroticism of Frank’s verboten experiences. It’s little wonder that, during a pleasant but insipid evening bowling with his colleagues, Frank is distracted by powerful recollections, flashing up on the screen, of threesomes or whippings.
Shot on a shoestring budget, the film isn’t concerned with fancy cinematography or artistic direction. The production values give it the appearance of what it aims to depict, a man whose life is, in many ways, as ordinary as anyone else’s, whose parents send him pants, socks and towels for Christmas, and whose father has a heart complaint. His double life is lived secretively but matter of factly, without the gloss of romance or glamour.
Plot and storytelling take second place to an episodic structure. Each of Frank’s individual, random encounters represents both the day to day substance of his life, and how he is defined by his restless sexuality and impatience with the mundane and predictable. Underneath his light heartedness, Frank is torn between two fears: of ending up as Mr Average and never shedding that feeling of restless discontent, or of never managing to be faithful and ending up, in his own words, as an old fag hanging out in toilets. The sexual content of the film might mark it as ‘gay interest’, but Frank’s fear of defining himself by his lifestyle choices and ending up as a caricature of himself is likely to touch a chord with wider audiences - if they’re not offended by the sex scenes.
Shot before AIDS became a major public health issue, the freedom of Frank’s lifestyle in Taxi zum Klo inevitably seems to belong to a more innocent era, but it stands the test of time. The explicit scenes may still shock, but the film’s sense of the absurd and ridiculous and its naturalistic performances make it likeable, amusing, and unexpectedly touching. KR
Film: Loose Cannons
Year of production: 2010
UK Release date: 18th April 2011
Distributor: Peccadillo
Certificate: 15
Running time: 110 mins
Director: Ferzan Ozpetek
Starring: Riccardo Scamarcio, Alessandro Preziosi, Nicole Grimaudo, Ennio Fantastichini, Lunetta Savino
Genre: Comedy/Drama/Romance
Format: DVD
Country of Production: Italy
Language: Italian
In Ferzan Ozpetek's latest comedy, gay brothers attempt to come out to their rich conservative family at the centre of a circle of secrets. In a light-hearted look at people's conflict between preserving an image and being true to themselves, Loose Cannons is full of just that - a colourful array of Loose Cannons all craving their own, small rebellions. This return to the genre that made Ozpetek's international name was nominated for the Audience Award at the European Film Awards in 2010, and has received mixed reactions from critics.
Vincenzo Cantone (Ennio Fantastichini) is the head of a conservative Italian household in Puglia, and is the owner of a pasta firm that he inherited from his father and uncle. He knows that he must soon sign the company over to his two sons - Antonio (Alessandro Preziosi), his eldest, who has been running it with him for years, and his younger son Tommaso (Riccardo Scamarcio), who's been absent in Rome. What he doesn't know is that Tommaso doesn't want to run the company - he wants to be a novelist. On top of that, he's also gay, and confides in his brother that he intends to come out to his parents, get disowned, and be free of family burden. What Tommaso doesn't know is that his brother is also gay, and just when he's about to come out over dinner, Antonio beats him to it. Their father has a heart attack, Antonio gets disowned instead, and Tommaso is stuck dealing with the chaos left behind…
Loose Cannons is an easy-going comedy that, like all family based comedies, deals with some big issues whilst never taxing its audience. The brothers at the centre are just one example of people's need to live differently, reflecting the conflicts of the other characters around them. The film opens and closes with another plot, that of Tommaso's grandmother, Crescenza Guarnieri (Ilaria Occhini). Crescenza is a free spirit whose never-the-less lived her life the way others have said she must. We're introduced to her back-story with a lusciously coloured and shot scene of her younger self crying in a wedding dress and attempting to commit suicide, before she is stopped by a young man. As the film continues, we learn through a series of flashbacks that this was her husband's brother, who she was in love with. This sacrifice and compromise underlines those of the other characters as she tries to warn them against making her mistake.
The tone of Loose Cannons changes frequently between the serious, touching and humorous. Scenes such as Crescenza's are filmed and scored like a dramatic Western or historic romance, whereas the modern day uses the bright pallet of a comedy. Both past and present, however, are shot against the golden locations of historical Italian buildings - the heritage that links them together. Visually, this film is beautiful. The score changes with the pallet, abandoning its dramatic feel for stereotypical European comedy - it's like Yann Tiersen hyped up on candy. This bouncy, overtly European music well suits the importance of Italian tradition to the Cantone family, as well as reflecting the ridiculous circumstances.
The cast bring a varied and colourful array of characters to the screen. Most of them are more like caricatures than real people, but their exaggerations are entertaining. The most notable of these oddities is the alcoholic aunt, drawing attention to herself with vivid blue clothing and loud red hair. Every night, she waits in her negligee for the local burglar to break through her window in a very paperback-romance fashion. Amongst this cartoonish family, the two sons (both breathtaking, incidentally - valuable additions to the fictional Italian gay community!) and the mother act their roles very seriously, bringing a gravity to the narrative. However, in a movie focusing on family relationships, having some members permanently serious whilst others are permanently ridiculous makes the dynamics hard to engage with, especially as the father/son relationships are so crucial to this plot - having the father constantly over the top, whilst the mother and sons are sombre, seems a strange directorial decision.
This juxtaposition of tones makes the film hard to interpret, at times. Another key reason for this confusion is the style of comedy. The colours, music and cartoonish characters make us expect big laughs. However, there are few actual laugh-out-loud moments. Granted, there are many amusing scenes that will make an audience smile, but none of it is overly original or side-splitting. In fact, the plot and jokes often feel flat. Most of the humour is derived from dramatic irony; that "oh no!" as we watch Tommaso stand and listen to his family insist that homosexuals are easy to spot, or that he's all they have left. As irony goes, it's pretty major, though we cringe and feel sorry for Tommaso rather than being tickled pink. This sort of humour makes sense for Tommaso and the other serious characters, but doesn't gel with the ridiculous half. Another strange example is a scene where the father sits with baby photos of Antonio, weeping ridiculously over his loss. It may be over the top, but even so, it reflects an upsetting truth, which makes it hard to laugh at. Everything feels slightly disconnected, as though from several different films. Several different films that are all using variations of the "they don't know Tommaso is gay" joke as their one punch line.
Suddenly, as if self conscious that there wasn't enough laughter taking place, Tommaso's gay friends from Rome show up. The humour instantly becomes outright campy - the friends have to pretend they're straight, and end up bitching at each other about who's acting the gayest. Again, the joke is “people don't know they're gay,” but the parents making ironic comments is swapped for the friends saying camp things, realising, gasping and covering their mouth. This isn't to say they're not entertaining - they're very entertaining – but, once again, they're such an abrupt tone change. The Campiest Moment Prize has to go to the friends doing a dance routine in the ocean in all their swimwear glory. If it didn't feel so randomly stuck in, or we got to know the characters better, it'd be brilliant fun, but as it is, it feels a little like pimping their orientation out for laughs, which detracts from the previous reflections on how people view homosexuals. Mostly, their presence on screen is a delight, but the ocean scene verges on tacky.
Another confusing element in this film is Alba Brunetti (the beautiful Nicole Grimaudo). Alba is the only character to proudly flaunt her differences; the outcast who scratches people's cars, carries various changes of shoes, and can't get close to people. She arrives in a bright red car and undertakes the first acts of rebellion on screen, possibly inspiring Tommaso to carry out his plan. Her presence therefore feels as though it should be central and important, but in the end is a little puzzling. She's clearly meant to be quirky and intriguing, a little dangerous even, but her ‘quirks’ are somewhat forced and rather uninteresting. She speaks of herself as if she's a lost child, yet we've all met much stranger people than her in our lives.
What she does contribute is to present Tommaso with a conflict. Early on, she makes her interest in him clear, and as he receives pressure from the rest of his family, he must decide - does he return to his boyfriend, or conform and go with her? Frustratingly, there is a lack of any truly clear resolution to this problem. After watching the pair tensely eat a sandwich for what felt like an eternity, it'd be nice to see Tommaso pick one or the other of his love interests with more fire and certainty, instead of leaving them dancing together and walking away. The tension of the conflict is successfully built up throughout the film, but lingering shots on all parties leaves it feeling open ended long past the point where it felt like a decision had been made. This leaves the audience stuck on their toes. Overall, it seems as if this plot thread should be adding more to the film then it does.
Loose Cannons has a talented cast, looks incredible, and has some very funny moments. Like a Greek tragedy, it loves irony, the biggest irony of all being that a traditional Italian family is worrying over an issue that used to be of little concern to their ancestors (as we're reminded whilst the sons wrestle out their differences amongst Roman ruins). It makes for fun, easy viewing, but would benefit from editing to give it more consistent pace and a more continuous feeling. As it is, it has varying quality - independent moments all have a lot of merit, but do not fit together the way they should have. AIB
No other nationality respects their food and family gatherings with the fervour and zest of the Italians, but when it comes to the Cantone family, some things are better left well away from the dinner table - and in the closet!
Tommaso, an aspiring writer, is the youngest child in the large, eccentric Cantone family who own a pasta factory in Puglia. He has come home from Rome for an important family dinner at which his father will hand over the management of the factory to him and his brother. Determined to assert his own personal choices, Tommaso plans to announce at the dinner that he is gay. But that evening, just as he begins to say “silence please,” he is upstaged by his brother who, to Tommaso’s surprise, and everyone else’s shock, reveals his own secret!
Film: Loose Cannons
Release date: 18th April 2011
Certificate: 15
Running time: 110 mins
Director: Ferzan Ozpetek
Starring: Riccardo Scamarcio, Alessandro Preziosi, Nicole Grimaudo, Ennio Fantastichini, Lunetta Savino
Genre: Comedy/Drama/Romance
Studio: Peccadillo
Format: DVD
Country: Italy
DVD Special Features:
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Making of
•
Deleted scenes
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Pop video
Film: Soundless Wind Chime
Release date: 28th February 2011
Certificate: 15
Running time: 110 mins
Director: Kit Hung
Starring: Yulai Lu, Bernhard Bulling, Marie Omlin, Gilles Tschudi, Ruth Schwegler
Genre: Drama
Studio: Peccadillo
Format: DVD
Country: Hong Kong/Switzerland/China
Having won acclaim for previous works around the world, director Kit Hung isn’t new to the award scene. His latest and debut feature film doesn’t disappoint his record, and is a proud Teddy Award nominee of the 59th Berlin International Film Festival. As a semi-autobiographical account of Hung’s life experiences, Soundless Wind Chime focuses on the themes of life, death, and memory; blurring the boundaries between each and examining the concept of oblivion.
When Pascal (Bernhard Bulling), a Swiss petty thief in Hong Kong, escapes from an abusive relationship, he runs straight in to the arms of Ricky (Lu Yulai), a lonely Chinese delivery boy. Things seem to be going well for the young couple and, after getting a place of their own, Pascal soon gets a job teaching. However, cracks in the relationship inevitably start to grow when Pascal increasingly seeks excitement in dingy underground clubs, flirting with other men while Ricky prefers a quieter life.
Then, during one of his deliveries, Ricky comes across an old lady with Parkinson’s disease who presumably reminds him of his own ill mother with cancer. A trip to see her in Beijing gives Ricky and Pascal’s relationship another shove in the wrong direction when Pascal misses the train and they are forced to spend even more time apart. When Ricky returns to find the flat a mess, and Pascal’s continual cheating unending, the relationship gets worse and worse until all they are left with are bouts of fighting followed by physical comfort, continually battling between one extreme and the other.
When Pascal tragically dies in a road accident, Ricky goes to Switzerland to find solace in what reminds him of Pascal. There he meets Ueli (Bernhard Bulling), a trinket shop owner plagued by his own grief after the death of his mother, and who bears an uncanny resemblance to Pascal. The two become an item, and when Ricky returns to Beijing to look after his own dying mother, Ueli follows him. Just as he arrives, and when Ricky is at work in the city, Ueli is in time to meet Ricky’s mother only briefly before she dies in his presence...
Soundless Wind Chime has a lot going for it, however, its many good points tend to reach excess and dip it into confusion. One thing that’s for certain is that Hung wants us to consider the theme of love versus loneliness, and studies the concept of whether it’s better to love out of necessity and fear of being alone, or suffer an unhappy relationship for the sake of comfort.
At points in the film, Hung employs the idea of the circus, and intentionally or not successfully reinforces the notion of superficial, immediate pleasures; something that Ricky and Pascal enjoy together. But once the novelty has worn off, not much is left and their relationship begins to break down. However, this interesting enquiry in to a multi-cultural gay couple’s life set in Hong Kong isn’t the only main focus in the film, which is perhaps a shame. It seems to be the most comprehensible part of the story, but is overshadowed by Hung’s attempts to aesthetically depict the surreal subconscious and portrayal of loss.
Saying that, possibly the strongest element of the film is the sympathy inspired in the viewer at the sense of loss and sadness. Hung manages to portray the concept of missing someone who isn’t there anymore – not just through words, but visually on screen. He does this with intimate hand-held camera shots and close-ups of the actors to make the viewer feel even more involved with the characters. Memory is then depicted with simple but effective contrasting scenes from the past and present. Hung blurs not only the visual but audio, too, and we often hear radio static and voice-overs to encourage the surreal impressions of the subconscious.
The story is interesting; it just gets too confusing for the viewer. It seems at points there is a gap between what the director intends and what the audience understands. The principle concern comes from the cryptic structure of the storyline and the tendency to overload the film with an art house style. It’s as if there’s too much attention paid to camera tricks and a jumpy narrative that the meaning of the film starts to inherit something of a blur itself.
It would be almost impossible not to admit that Soundless Wind Chime is an evocative film, even for those unfamiliar with bereavement. Hung’s crafty techniques instil a sense of loss and longing successfully enough, however the overall film manages to get bogged down with confusion. MI
Film: Slingshot
Release date: 28th February 2011
Certificate: 15
Running time: 86 mins
Director: Brillante Mendoza
Starring: Nathan Lopez, Coco Martin, Jacklyn Jose, Jiro Manio, Kristoffer King
Genre: Crime/Drama
Studio: Peccadillo
Format: DVD
Country: Philippines
The Philippines may not be widely known for its contributions to contemporary cinema, but Filipino director Brillante Mendoza has developed a reputation as something of a film festival favourite and prolific maverick with features such as Lola (2009), Service (2008) and Foster Child (2007). Slingshot (2007) is one of the films that has helped to cement his reputation: a hard-hitting, unrelentingly chaotic drama set in the squalid slums of Manila.
Slingshot opens as residents of one of Manila’s slum areas scramble about, desperately trying to prepare themselves for an imminent police raid. As the hand-held camera jerks about through filthy streets with open sewers and ramshackle structures that appear to be on the verge of collapse, we meet many of the characters we will learn more about during the course of the film.
Characters such as Odie, Caloy, Rex, Leo, Tess, Elmo and Rod do whatever it takes to survive - some of them struggling to hold down menial jobs to support themselves and their families while others engage in lives of petty crime. There is no real linear narrative to speak of; instead Mendoza jumps from character to character, giving us just enough time to gain an impression of who somebody is and what their circumstances are before cutting to somebody else…
The are few luxuries, and there’s not a lot to laugh about, but people do their best to get by in remarkably difficult circumstances. For many, the only means of escape is provided by sex, drugs or alcohol, but each one leads, in its own way, to further degradation and hardships.
Mendoza offers no respite as he immerses you in this overcrowded, polluted and crime-ridden world in which friends and family think nothing of turning against one another, politicians scrabble for votes leading up to a national election and many of the police are corrupt and sadistically violent. The poverty is grindingly oppressive, and when there are moments of flickering brightness they are quickly extinguished. In one instance, the happiness of a young woman who is overjoyed with a new pair of dentures she obtained from the proceeds of stolen goods is cruelly turned to despair when she loses them down an open drain.
Slingshot has the feel of a documentary shot on the fly, but the lack of editorialising means that it is up to you to interpret what you are seeing amid all the noise, squalor and chaos. Most of the cast are not professional actors, but at no point does Slingshot feel staged, and it’s almost as though the cast members are repeating things they have actually done, or are recreating situations they have already experienced.
The only contrivance is arguably the decision to shoot the film in black-and-white: Mendoza may have felt it echoed traditional black-and-white documentary photography but it undermines the naturalism of the film, and seems like an ill-judged concession to aesthetics. Some may argue that the absence of colour highlights the brutal intensity of Slingshot, or that it prevents the chaos of what unfolds on screen from becoming too overwhelming, but wouldn’t such arguments be missing the point that the film is an attempt to show the underbelly of Manila as it is, not to exaggerate or soften it?
Mendoza seems to be on firmer ground in the way he captures the claustrophobic, overcrowded nature of Manila (apparently the most densely populated city in the world) and the distinctive mix of Asian, US and Spanish cultures that is a result of the turbulent history of the Philippines.
Another strength of Slingshot is the way it exposes the jarring differences between the modernised Manila of pristine shopping malls and the decaying, labyrinthine slums that are home to the film’s main protagonists. Mendoza doesn’t dwell on or sensationalise these differences; he simply presents them as the stark reality that they are to Manila’s poor.
Unsurprisingly, there is no happy ending or sense of resolution in Slingshot, and even viewers who have a degree of faith in politics and religion will find it difficult to be seduced by the words of hope and redemption spouted by politicians at a mass public rally in the film’s final minutes. As the politicians attempt to sell themselves into power, there is a final streak of black comedy as we see a pickpocket at work in the candle-cradling crowd.
Brillante Mendoza’s Slingshot is a roller coaster ride of despair and depravity, but it also possesses a vitality and urgency that is difficult to ignore. Flawed as it may be, there are few films that match its intensity or raw drama. JG
Although Ricky makes it easier for Pascal to immerse himself into local culture, the pair are tortured by the dilemma of whether their relationship is built on true love or only dependency on each other and the fear of being lonely.
When Pascal tragically passes away in an accident, Ricky carries his grief and sorrows to Switzerland, looking for hints of Pascal in a nameless village. When he visits a beautiful thrift store, Ricky meets Ueli, a man that looks identical to Pascal, but has a totally different personality.
“Soundless Wind Chime is a film about letting go,” said director Kit Hung. “It contextually presents the differences of Eastern and Western culture on the philosophy of life, death and the afterlife. It also presents the integration of Eastern and Western mentality. It seeks to blur the boundary between ethics, race and sexuality.”
Film: Soundless Wind Chime
Release date: 28th February 2011
Certificate: 15
Running time: 110 mins
Director: Kit Hung
Starring: Yulai Lu, Bernhard Bulling, Marie Omlin, Gilles Tschudi, Ruth Schwegler
Genre: Drama
Studio: Peccadillo
Format: DVD
Country: Hong Kong/Switzerland/China
From acclaimed and prolific Filipino bad-boy director Brillante Mendoza (The Masseur, Kinatay, Serbis) comes Slingshot, a gripping and exhilarating portrayal of teenage thugs, slippery chancers and petty thieves, all out to get what they can and pocket a profit in the teeming slums of Asia’s notorious city of sin, Manila.
Starring Nathan Lopez from The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros, Slingshot is a riveting exposé of life on the other side of the tracks.
Film: Slingshot
Release date: 28th February 2011
Certificate: 15
Running time: 86 mins
Director: Brillante Mendoza
Starring: Nathan Lopez, Coco Martin, Jacklyn Jose, Jiro Manio, Kristoffer King
Genre: Crime/Drama
Studio: Peccadillo
Format: DVD
Country: Philippines
Film: The Fish Child
Release date: 17th January 2011
Certificate: 15
Running time: 96 mins
Director: Lucía Puenzo
Starring: Ines Efron, Mariela Vitale, Carlos Bardem, Diego Velazquez, Pep Munné
Genre: Crime/Drama/Romance/Thriller
Studio: Peccadillo
Format: DVD
Country: Argentina/France/Spain
The writer/director of the synopsis-defying Argentine intersexuality melodrama XXY follows up her directorial debut with this adaptation of her own novel. With Inés Efron returning as another gay protagonist, Puenzo this time treads more traditional ground with her lesbian noir drama, but is the result Argentina’s answer to the Wachowshi brothers’ Bound or a case of a difficult second album depreciating the promise of the first?
We meet Lala already wrapped in an illicit affair with a maid under her parents’ pay. Her inferior in both class and race, the one thing they have in common is their gender, and so these star-crossed lovers spend much of their time together dreaming of finally eloping.
Lala begins to lay the foundation for their escape by stealing many of her wealthy parents’ less noticeable possessions and giving them to her lover to pawn, but when Lala’s father mysteriously dies, the two find themselves with a mountain of evidence against them and no-one willing to listen to their story.
As Lala tries to clear her innocent lover’s name, she finds herself confessing her own sins, and revealing truths neither of them are ready to expose…
Dropping its audience in to the central relationship after many of its most potentially dramatic developments have been and gone (the point where the affluent daughter falls for the family’s serving girl), the film begins with many languid, atmospheric scenes where very little happens, and which are often allowed to go on for some time before immediately cutting to the next uneventful scene.
The incoherent pace leads to a similarly nonsensical plot (not helped by often unreadable subtitles, typically causing problems during the most pivotal scenes), and even the most culturally equipped viewer will spend a large part of the film completely unaware that half of it is actually occurring in flashback (the moment of epiphany where this occurs to the viewer could have actually been a great narrative device, if the director wasn’t clearly blindly assuming everybody was still following).
The often anaemic storytelling leaves the audience adrift for far too long before answering such basic questions as ‘who’s who?’, ‘what are their relationships’ and ‘why should I care?’ A director not in any rush to give the audience too much of a handle on the proceedings can often have interesting, atmospheric results, but when partnered with an expectation that the audience can then leap head-long in to a complex narrative with nobody to latch on to, it makes the end product too confusing, and ultimately exasperates.
The Fish Child disappoints because it actually shows plenty of promise. After the false-start in establishing the dramatic situation, there unravels a solid ‘princess and the pauper’ doomed romance, where the latter member of that equation finds themselves tugged in several directions, and often exploited by the family she serves. The tender romance slowly shifts to unearth a sadistically dark underbelly, and, in the process, there are several standout scenes when the film finds a firm foot-hold in the story long enough to tell it (one such scene being surprisingly supernatural appearance of the titular child). The problem is that while the words ‘Lesbian Noir Thriller’ roll so easily off the tongue, Puenzo only scores two out of three in this film as, while the film begins by moving too quickly for anyone to keep up, it then settles in to a leisurely tempo, and provides plot twists too predictable to be genuinely ‘thrilling’.
There’s plenty of intrigue in this film for it to be of interest, and while it often fails to deliver on its promises, Lucía Puenzo is not on the list of Argentine directors you’d be wise to ignore. But given her impressive prior work, The Fish Child represents an overall disappointing work from an artist we’ve been given reason to expect more from. JB
Celebrated Argentine director Lucia Puenzo (XXY) returns with a gripping tale of forbidden lesbian romance and a crime heist gone awry.
Boasting beautiful cinematography and electrifying performances from its two female leads, The Fish Child (El Nino Pez) is a film festival favourite that will take you on a journey you won't ever forget.
Lala, (Ines Efron) a teenager from the most exclusive suburban neighbourhood in Argentina, is in love with the Guayi, the 20-year-old Payaguayan maid working at her mansion. The pair hatch a plan to rob Lala’s family to fund their dream of living together in Paraguay, but while Lala waits to be reunited with her lover, she is detained in a prison in the outskirts of Buenos Aires for a crime she committed long ago.
Desperate to be with her girlfriend, Lala hatches a dangerous rescue plan to get her back.
Film: The Fish Child
Release date: 17th January 2011
Certificate: 15
Running time: 96 mins
Director: Lucía Puenzo
Starring: Ines Efron, Mariela Vitale, Carlos Bardem, Diego Velazquez, Pep Munné
Genre: Crime/Drama/Romance/Thriller
Studio: Peccadillo
Format: DVD
Country: Argentina/France/Spain
DVD Special Features:
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Making of documentary
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The legend of the Matay Pira
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Original storyboards
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Production stills
•
Behind the scenes gallery
No other nationality respects their food and family gatherings with the fervour and zest of the Italians, but when it comes to the Cantone family, some things are better left well away from the dinner table - and in the closet!
Tommaso, an aspiring writer, is the youngest child in the large, eccentric Cantone family who own a pasta factory in Puglia. He has come home from Rome for an important family dinner at which his father will hand over the management of the factory to him and his brother. Determined to assert his own personal choices, Tommaso plans to announce at the dinner that he is gay. But that evening, just as he begins to say “silence please,” he is upstaged by his brother who, to Tommaso’s surprise, and everyone else’s shock, reveals his own secret!
Film: Loose Cannons
Release date: 10th December 2010
Certificate: 15
Running time: 110 mins
Director: Ferzan Ozpetek
Starring: Riccardo Scamarcio, Alessandro Preziosi, Nicole Grimaudo, Ennio Fantastichini, Lunetta Savino
Genre: Comedy/Drama/Romance
Studio: Peccadillo
Format: Cinema
Country: Italy
Film: Villa Amalia
Release date: 4th October 2010
Certificate: 15
Running time: 94 mins
Director: Benoit Jacquot
Starring: Isabelle Huppert, Jean-Hugues Anglade, Xavier Beauvois, Maya Sansa, Clara Bindi
Genre: Drama
Studio: Peccadillo
Format: DVD
Country: France/Switzerland
Benoit Jaquot directed this vague remake of Under The Tuscan Sun, giving the theme of ‘starting over’ an individualistic French twist, with the usually irreproachable Isabelle Huppert dominating the screen throughout.
Ann Hidden (Isabelle Huppert), a successful concert pianist, witnesses her long-term partner in the arms of another woman. In a knee jerk reaction, she immediately begins to dismantle not only her relationship with her partner, but her career and, indeed, her whole life. Ann cancels her concerts, with the obligatory burning of her photographs and even her sheet music. She sells her apartment and finally we see her three pianos taken away.
Whilst busying herself with this annihilation of her old life, she also revives a friendship with childhood friend Georges (Jean-Hugues Anglade). Georges vows to help her with her new life, and a bond re-establishes itself between them, as they are both bereaved in their different ways.
As Ann travels away from her old life, she changes her appearance, discarding the sophisticated French look for that of a more down to earth traveller - she cuts her hair, and, as she travels and changes, so her mood lightens.
On arrival in Italy, Ann rents an abandoned villa overlooking the sea – the Villa Amalia. Here Ann’s emotional rehabilitation can really begin.
There is an added twist when, having been rescued from the sea by Guilia (Maya Sansa), the two women begin an affair. However, the death of her mother forces Ann back to France to face not only the funeral, but also her long estranged father. Ann has to decide whether or not to stay in France, or go back to her new life in Italy…
For at least the first sixty minutes, this is a superbly melancholic film, with a sombre and even depressive atmosphere, as Ann undergoes the cathartic clearout of her life. This clearout is depicted in forensic detail, perhaps too much so – it isn’t really necessary to witness every word of the viewings of her apartment and conversations with the estate agent to understand what is happening.
The piano music Ann plays is edgy, disjointed and even uncomfortable to listen to, and is a good choice to reflect the character’s mental turmoil. The lighting is subdued and the acting low key without being superficial. Sometimes, however, being artistically disjointed can be taken too far – the scenes where Ann is making her way to Italy verge on the messy, and the images of Huppert trudging through the snow, and latterly the mountains, to get to her destination are not only superfluous but mildly comical.
Once in Italy, the plot becomes hurried. Ann’s relationship with Guilia is given short shrift, even though one would have thought that being able to forge a new relationship after her recent traumas would be a major event in the character’s life. Having said that, time is wasted on scenes such as those between Ann and the elderly woman who owns the Villa – the light-hearted treatment of their friendship simply doesn’t suit Huppert, who is infinitely better at depicting drama and angst than light humour or sentimentality. It’s possible that this lightening of the mood, used alongside more visually colourful scenes and brighter lighting – shots of the Italian coast in brilliant sunshine are the obvious example – is intended to show that Ann’s world is getting better, too, but it is clumsily done.
The film would have had a much better balance if less time was spent depicting Ann’s removal of herself from her old life, and more used to show the audience how she began her new life in Italy - and it would also have benefitted from sticking either to light humour or drama, instead of vaguely trying to mix the two genres. There are also unnecessary characters – it seems that the only purpose for Ann’s mother being in the plot is to give a reason for her to return to France later in the film, yet time is squandered on Ann’s trip to her mother’s seaside home, instead of exploring key relationships in the film.
Isabelle Huppert commands all one’s attention when on the screen, and in this film she looks fragile, introspective and otherworldly, even after her character reaches Italy. This is a restrained performance by Huppert, but one is not entirely sure if this is because she is deliberately holding back, or whether there is simply not enough substance in the film for her to display her talent. Any film starring Huppert has to be worth watching, and her ethereal beauty in this film does not disappoint, despite the vague regret that she is somehow wasted here. It is not the theme of failing relationships which lets her down, rather the poor structure and lack of emotional depth in the script that give her nothing to work with.
For anyone who is a fan of Huppert, this DVD will, of course, be a must-buy, and one that will be watched more than once for the sheer pleasure of her company. Otherwise, you will be left unfulfilled, despite the art house treatment of the theme. GR
Film: Eyes Wide Open
Release date: 20th September 2010
Certificate: 12
Running time: 96 mins
Director: Haim Tabakman
Starring: Zohar Shtrauss, Ran Danker, Tinkerbell, Tzahi Grad, Isaac Sharry
Genre: Drama
Studio: Peccadillo
Format: DVD
Country: Israel/Germany/France
Haim Tabakman’s Eyes Wide Open bravely tackles the issue of homosexuality amongst a community of orthodox Jews in Jerusalem. Here, life is meant to be lived virtuously and simply, so it’s a bold decision from Tabakman to make a film as uncompromising in its views and style as his debut.
Shortly after the death of his father Aaron (Zohar Strauss) takes over the family’s kosher butchers shop.
After taking on a good-looking young assistant, Ezri (Ran Danker) the local community began to gossip and Aaron faces a test to his faith as their relationship blossoms…
The film begins with Aaron re-opening his shop, dispensing with dead meat as the rain cascades down. It’s a quiet, grey opening and sets the tone from the outset as this quiet, static movie rarely changes pace or raises its voice. Into Aaron’s lonely world walks Ezri, a broodingly handsome student who is offered a job and allowed to stay in an empty room at the rear of the shop while he is taught the trade.
Things gradually becomes more tender as both characters realise that their relationship is more than that of teacher and apprentice, a fact complicated by Aaron’s marriage and the all-knowing community of which he is part. The restrained romance between the two characters begins with knowing glances, an occasional lingering look and then a failed kiss – Aaron sees this as a test of his faith and refuses to submit to temptation. It’s a tense scene with Ezri’s determination bordering on aggression – the violence of the attempted kiss is completely at odds with the gentle opening of the film and comes as a shock. Sadly the film fails to follow up on the promise of this set-piece and soon settles back into its sedate pace.
The first real example of physical affection between the two male leads occurs when they strip off to go swimming. Ezri sheds his clothes and his inhibitions quickly, Aaron is far more reserved, steadfastly refusing to look at his younger friend as his clothes drop at his feet. It’s nicely acted and cleverly directed – Aaron’s glance never falls upon Ezri until he is fully naked with his back to the older man. The realisation that he needs to get in the water, too, is written all over Aaron’s face, and his reserve can be seen to dissolve even as he enters the cold water still partially clothed... Eventually the temperature between the characters warms and they fool around, pushing each other under the water and wrestling one another. It’s a rare example of anyone having fun in the film – interestingly the only other scene of male characters losing their sense of sobriety is when a male-only religious study group sing joyously together following a meeting. The film would have benefited from more scenes like this – introspection is a difficult thing to convey on screen and Aaron is chiefly guilty of this. A character of few words, he is often difficult to read, particularly given the nuanced performance from Zohar Strauss.
As Aaron’s reserve slowly melts, so the relationship between himself and Ezri gradually becomes sexual. Beginning with a kiss instigated by Aaron in a walk-in refrigerator, the thawing of their reserve is so hesitant as to be almost unnoticeable until finally they reach this crescendo. The scene comes as a relief – finally the ice has been broken. Taking place in a cold refrigerator, however, it all feels rather clinical. The movement between the two characters is somewhat mechanical – it doesn’t lack passion but is oddly sterile and has little warmth.
Occasional discrete sex scenes hint at passion but are usually witnessed ‘after the event’ and thus give little clue as to how the relationship has developed: it comes as a surprise when Aaron explains to a Rabbi that his relationship with Ezri makes him “feel alive.” There has been little evidence to suggest that his life has altered dramatically up to this point – he still rarely smiles, and although he has taken to occasionally closing the shop to disappear into Ezri’s room with him, it’s still a shock to hear that his life has altered dramatically.
Aaron’s relationship with his wife is muted, with no affection and little dialogue. Almost all their scenes are played out in either the dining room or a joyless bedroom. As their marriage becomes more complicated, it somehow seems closer – it’s clear that there is genuine love between the couple despite the lack of warmth and the fact that she is aware of his homosexual affair. Their final scene together is beautifully played – almost devoid of dialogue, but utterly compelling nonetheless, as she cradles her emotional husband in her arms. It’s a shame that this relationship is not explored more fully as it has real emotional depth.
As Aaron’s home life becomes increasingly oppressed, so his personal and professional life are affected. In his tight knit community there are no secrets. Coded warnings and threatening voices in alleyways – “there is a bad man in our community” – become increasingly common as orthodox Judaism begins to strangle the fledgling romance between the two men, culminating in Aaron being forced to choose between the joyless love of his wife and family or the passionate Evri and the abandoning of god.
The film is delicately handled, yet remarkably restrained. The relationship between the male couple is treated tactfully and perhaps this is the film’s major flaw. It’s possible to be risky without being risqué, yet Eyes Wide Open is handled with too much caution.
Despite the grey, rainy backdrop against which the story is played out it’s hard to see a big enough change in Aaron to believe that very much has changed between the moment Evri enters his life and the film’s denouement – things are just as drab at the end and there is little colour or vibrancy even at the height of their relationship.
The film aims for a very niche audience and sadly there is little here of interest for those who are not interested in the study of Judaism. Despite being subtly acted and sensitively filmed, Eyes Wide Open suffers from the same lack of warmth which we see in Aaron, and will only appeal to those who have something invested in the subject matter. RW
