Film: Norwegian Wood Year of production: 2010 UK Release date: 4th July 2011 Distributor: Soda Certificate: 15 Running time: 133 mins Director: Anh Hung Tran Starring: Rinko Kikuchi, Ken'ichi Matsuyama, Kiko Mizuhara, Tetsuji Tamayama, Kengo Kôra Genre: Drama/Romance Format: DVD Country of Production: Japan Language: Japanese
Review by: Patrick Gamble
Often cited as an un-filmable classic, Haruki Murakami’s much loved bestselling novel, Norwegian Wood, is now available to buy on DVD after a director was finally found who was willing to accept the challenge and adapt this poisoned ‘paperback’ chalice. Anh Hung Tran’s film provoked predictable whispers of discontent from Murakami’s considerable fan base upon its theatrical release, but does the film fair any better now the critical dust has settled or will its purported inability to convey the book’s deeply emotional subtext condemn it to the same cinematic wastelands as other failed adaptations of celebrated literary works? Set amongst all the social unrest, demonstrations and vandalism which occurred during the student riots of 1960s Tokyo, we join Watanabe (Ken’ichi Matsuyama), an undergraduate who despite his calm and peaceful exterior has an internal conflict gnawing away at his conscious. His heightened depression shares the same degree of amalgamated frustration and anger as the disenfranchised protestors causing chaos outside of his isolated existence, yet unlike his contemporaries, he seems unable to physically express himself in any noticeable way other than through his sullen appearance and self-imposed solitude.
He’s haunted by his past, which was devastated by a singular tragic incident. The suicide of his closest friend, whilst enough to affect any young man’s life, has left him emotionally tied to Naoko (Rinko Kikuchi), the deceased boy’s then girlfriend who, even numerous years after that fateful day, is still very much a fragile and troubled girl who never fully recovered from the death of her childhood sweetheart and the feelings of rejection which came with it.
The arrival of Midori (Kiko Mizuhara), a fun loving and free spirited university student, only exacerbates Watanabe’s complicated attachment to Naoko and leaves him with a moral decision to make as to whether he should continue to let this dependant relationship with Naoko stand in the way of a future with Midori. Either answer will undoubtedly result in some degree of heartbreak, but will Watanabe’s inner struggle afford him the courage to make such an emotionally monumental decision, or will he continue to torment himself with these feelings of guilt and misery?
As adaptations go, Norwegian Wood is surely one of the most difficult to attempt. The story is almost entirely told through 30-year-old Watanabe’s flashbacks, extended memories and internal monologue - a narrative technique that’s understandably difficult to convey on film whilst also maintaining an immersive sense of reality.
Tran’s translation of this multi-layered, poetic love story may well fail to capture the true extent of the characters’ existential struggles, but a film should always be able to stand alone and not purely be judged on the original source material which inspired it. Accurately recreating a novel is no mean feat, cuts need to be made to condense the story into an easily manageable format which encapsulates the feel of a story, a near impossible task as inevitably each reader has their own personal interpretations. However, Norwegian Wood’s failing is not how dismissive it is to the source material but rather how hard it strives to literally recreate the prose word for word.
The skilful cinematography of Mark Lee Ping Bin uses the strikingly beautiful Japanese countryside to create a dreamlike backdrop of intoxicating visual splendour, which only becomes amplified the instant Tan’s good looking cast become gloriously framed within it. There is little doubt that this painterly presented, hypnotic and visually alluring interpretation of Norwegian Wood is a cinematic equivalent of photographic art – like twenty four painstakingly hand drawn masterpieces being rushed in front of our eyes every second. Combine this with Johnny Greenwood’s captivating score and you have a technically accomplished piece of filmmaking which could easily be presented at any film art college as an example of how to use the medium to create something far removed from the drudgery of television or the formulaic approach of Hollywood.
However, a film must rely on more than just its ability to titillate the senses and also manage to affect us in deeper, less superficial ways. This introspective romance relies heavily on its sublime visuals to portray the emotions of its cast. It’s not to say the acting is poor (at times, it’s very accomplished), but rather a reflection of how the film has been far too strict with its use of dialogue, stripping the minimal conversational pieces out of the original book and failing to add anything else which may have helped communicate the film’s more subtle and personal moments.
Such a deceptively simple story really isn’t suited to a film which lasts over two hours. As a piece of literature, Norwegian Wood’s emotional story works perfectly. Each time the reader picks up the book, they feel like they’re following a diary of a man’s downward spiral into depression on a day by day basis. Some painful yet necessary cuts to the script would no doubt prevent the film from straying towards monotony. The frame narrative of Watanabe’s relationship with his wayward friend Kizuki (Kengo Kora), despite adding a comforting rest bite to an otherwise depressing story, could easily have been removed and acts as a prime example of where sacrifices could have been made. At the expense of the audience members unfamiliar with the book, Norwegian Wood’s attempts to appease its loyal fans has not just alienated those new to its desolate love story but, at the same time, angered those who hold its tenderly heartbreaking tale so close to their hearts.
Whilst this sumptuously bleak love story should rightly be heralded as a technically assured piece of filmmaking, its striking prominent visuals can only hold your attention for so long and the film’s repetitive and subdued approach will ultimately test the patience of even the most dedicated of art house fans. Perhaps not fully deserving of the clichéd responses from some critics who heralded it as a case in point for ‘style over substance’, however, the films atmosphere of resigned sadness and its melancholy facade of emotional numbness does become quite contagious towards the end.
Film: Armadillo Year of production: 2010 UK Release date: 13th June 2011 Distributor: Soda Certificate: 15 Running time: 105 mins Director: Janus Metz Pedersen Genre: Documentary Format: DVD Country of Production: Denmark Language: Danish
Review by: Mary Igoe
Janus Metz Pedersen infiltrates dogmatic Danish army operations in Afghanistan in his latest documentary. Much to his expectation, the reception Armadillo got was one of huge uproar among Danish MPs after an incident he caught on camera resulted in national debate. Inevitably, such subject matter further asks the seemingly unanswerable question as to what can war ultimately achieve in Afghanistan, and how long can it go on for? The film follows a group of Danish soldiers in 2009 on their first visit in operation at Helmand Province. Their final hours at home see a farewell party with a stripper, and then the sad goodbyes from friends and family at the airport.
On arrival at Armadillo, forward operating base home to around 170 British and Danish troops, they are shown the ropes by various commanding officers, and hear harrowing stories from other occupying soldiers. Much of their time from then on is spent drinking beer, playing combat computer games, watching porn, and waiting around at the barracks for something to happen.
On patrol, the soldiers are advised to give any unwanted food to Afghan civilians in order to soften relationships and get them to cooperate with the troops. Only it becomes more and more apparent Taliban influence in the area prevents this, and the Afghan people remain stuck in the middle - either getting killed themselves or losing their livelihood. At one point, an Afghan man comes to Armadillo for recompense on losing his mother, his daughter and his house during combat. He is given cash compensation and the assurance his mother has now “become a martyr.”
The group of soldiers get their chance to experience heavy combat in which two soldiers are wounded. After some confusing communication between the troops, the Taliban fighters are eventually defeated. A scene shows the Taliban fighters who lie dead in a ditch being de-armed by two soldiers, giving cause to the investigation into the breaching of the rules of engagement.
What follows is a somewhat uneasy few days left on camp, where the soldiers seem all the more pensive after what they’ve experienced. It’s a wonder if they’ll ever be able to really join in to normal civilian life in Denmark again...
It’s a shame the contention surrounding Armadillo threatens to overshadow what the film actually achieves. Yes, it’s good for marketing - the film even had to be released two months earlier than scheduled in Denmark due to the clamouring of the people - but there’s irony, as with a spectacle there’s always the danger of missing the bigger picture, and what is (or was) at the centre of dispute actually allows for a subtle psychological study of soldiers who witness some of the most horrific, almost unreal experiences a man can behold.
What has to be marvelled at, first and foremost, is the bravery of the filmmakers, as they shadow the soldiers on the frontline whilst bullets whistle past their ears and grenades fly overhead. This is commitment to filming in the highest, and it certainly pays off. At times, the film feels like a full-on production, with all the tension and suspense of a Hollywood action movie.
Despite the patriotic topic of ‘our men at war’, Pedersen manages to keep a diplomatic stance as much as possible; we get the feeling no lie is being told, especially with the inclusion of the disputed breaching of the rules of engagement scene. The choice to show the Afghan civilian point of view also helps to give a better understanding of the situation out there and the complex catch-22 circumstances faced by Western troops and the Afghan public alike.
The grim temptation to call the film team ‘lucky’ in what they caught on camera can’t be dismissed. Firstly, they were given a dynamic group of lads, fit with the joker, the mummy’s boy, the hell-raiser, and the like, to provide interesting characters. Then, the structure of action the soldiers experienced seems to fall in their hands, too; a lot of waiting around after high expectations gradually leads on to more and more combat, with a calamitous climax towards the end.
This ‘good luck’ may point the way to a further argument had by critics on the film, that the use of special effects and clever editing is not necessarily appreciated by all those expecting to see a documentary. The film needs no narration at all, as all the action plays out so smoothly - like a story. A grenade thrown in a combat computer game neatly turns in to a real life explosion on camera, and often evocative cello solos accompany reflective scenes of the soldiers.
However, you could argue that sometimes there’s a need to add another dimension to a documentary in order for the audience to get a truer experience of the action on screen. After all, all any filmmaker wants to do is engage the viewer as much as possible. And anyway, the diplomatic neutrality the film seems to exude in its material only renders any ‘artistic editing’ as decorative trimming.
Nevertheless, for all its positives, Armadillo lacks something in its subject matter.It won’t tell many people something that they might not already know. No revelations or big surprises lurk in camouflage; it’s not the first frontline documentary - and it won’t be the last.
You can see why Armadillo won the Grand Prix Semaine de la Critique at Cannes with its commitment to filming for the sake of a documentary. The way the filmmakers bring action to the screen in as much of a diplomatic, removed fashion as possible is commendable, and the action from the soldiers’ perspective is as exciting as it is interesting. MI
Film: Spiderhole Year of production: 2010 UK Release date: 21st March 2011 Distributor: Soda Certificate: 18 Running time: 82 mins Director: Daniel Simpson Starring: Amy Noble, Emma Griffiths Malin, George Maguire, John Regan, Rueben-Henry Biggs Genre: Horror Format: DVD Country of Production: Republic of Ireland Language: English
Writer/director Daniel Simpson’s low-budget shock horror feature brings a whole new meaning to the term breaking and entering. A nightmarish vision of fear and darkness, Simpson has created a feature of claustrophobic proportions. A message to all students out there looking for accommodation: take note! Spiderhole focuses on four art students: Molly, Zoe, Luke and Toby (Emma Griffiths Malin, Amy Noble, George Maguire and Reuben-Henry Biggs) who are searching for a new place to stay for their next term. The group decide the best way to do this on a student budget is to become squatters, as its “unlawful not illegal,” and a perfect opportunity to party, smoke ‘spliffs’ and have sex. With the aid of their bohemian camper van, the foursome go in search of their new home. After a few failed break-ins and impenetrable properties, they stop outside an impressive mansion in an upmarket district of West London and decide to break in.
The four students soon realise the error of their ways as events take a dark turn. The house they believed to be empty seems to be home to a rather angry tenant, an individual who is hell-bent on punishing them through a host of sickeningly demented games. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth…
The house is generally creepy with its dilapidated interior, long winding corridors and a labyrinth of hidden rooms. Credence must go to the set designer as the house’s dank and gloomy atmosphere really does take the viewer out of their comfort zone. It is as if we are a million miles away from the swanky West London streets and we now inhabit an alternate reality. The four students unpack their belongings and set up a small fire in the living room to unwind before they explore the rest of the house in the morning. In typical haunted house fashion, there are strange noises coming from the first floor, but they are immediately dismissed as creaking pipes by Toby.
The supernatural tone that the film initially holds is disposed of quickly, when the group awaken and realise that they have been drugged and locked inside the building, with the doors and windows covered and bolted from the inside by large metal barriers. As the panic sets in, the group of friends discover more haunting remnants of previous visitors including blood-stains, photographs and scratch marks on the walls. The impending claustrophobia is disturbingly brought to life through Simpson’s camera work. Everything from the long, lingering shots of the house interior to the frantic cuts between the characters as the panic sets in are masterfully executed, and teamed with creepy sound effects and a good score providing enough tension and atmosphere throughout. The lighting is obscure and, much like the characters, we find ourselves in a very dark and unsettling place.
With the supernatural tone subsided, the true nature of the film is exposed – one of brutal, sexualised violence. The gore is somewhat grotesque and you find yourself wincing away from the bodily mutilations. It takes on a very Saw-esque tone relied heavily upon with this idea of games and torture, all encompassed within a medical/surgical framework (the sadistic captor has a host of surgical tools and a waiting room before his own personal operating theatre). The effects are somewhat unimpressive with bodily expenditures looking like pieces of fake rubber, but this hardly deters from the overall shock factor. It is undeniably deplorable and barbaric, but nothing entirely original. The ‘torture porn’ genre is not so much a dying genre, rather one that has run its course through a whole host of successful films, including the Saw franchise and The Devil’s Rejects. The impression here is that the gore is intended to demonstrate depravity, rather than provide any new outlets to depict the genre.
The cast is made up of relatively unknown British actors. The cliché’s are there but in moderation. The four main characters of Molly, Zoe, Toby and Luke are all performed extremely well given the cast’s inexperience in feature films. Yes, there are some improvements that could be made with the Brit slang script, but the actors work with what they have. They each play their part with nerve shredding realism; you watch them and empathise – you strangely feel that that is the way you would behave in a similar situation – from anger to fear to panic and back again. The sudden change in tone and mood trigger’s a very human response, something the four actors achieve, that they are losing hope. The claustrophobic setting of the house fuels their fear, which turns into anger at one another as they try and pass the blame and work out their next move. The film highlights physical violence but also quite smartly the mental threat, and the damaging nature of fear, something that is far more interesting to watch. John Regan’s Captor is good, providing a realistic and sadistic killer, far from the excessive caricature nature of say Freddy Krueger or Jigsaw, yet his motives are weak at best.
The only criticism is that we don’t get enough time to truly feel for their plight, as the characters are thrown into the action and are fighting for their lives within the first fifteen minutes. Although a deliberate choice made by the director to create a feature about pace, survival and indeed gore, the decision somewhat falls short - we just don’t know enough about the characters to really care for them. We get odd references, like the first scene showing Molly in a doctor’s office being told she has a case of heartburn, to a very slight nod towards Toby’s welding experience –hardly enough to create a detailed opinion on a character.
Budget clearly isn’t everything; Simpson has created a feature free from overtly obvious CGI effects and opted for a more subtle approach. The film’s naturalistic lighting and ominous score provides a very gut-wrenching realism. And although the scares are substituted for blood and guts, it is still a very uncomfortable watch. Yes, you know exactly what is going to happen, but nevertheless the film delves into the psychological side of fear and terror that stands up against the depraved amounts of blood and guts and offers 80 minutes of nail-biting viewing. Squatters beware. LF
Film: Mammoth Release date: 14th March 2011 Certificate: 15 Running time: 125 mins Director: Lukas Moodysson Starring: Gael Garcia Bernal, Michelle Williams, Marife Necesito, Sophie Nyweide, Thomas McCarthy Genre: Drama Studio: Soda Format: DVD Country: Sweden/Denmark/Germany
This is a majority English-language release.
Lukas Moodysson’s Mammoth introduces the director’s first English speaking film and reverts back to the good old narrative style (thankfully some might say) somewhat abandoned in his last two disappointing projects. Babel-style comparative and interlinking stories pave the way for thought-provoking themes inspired by everyday people and life defining situations. The story focuses on three different situations amongst one small family: dad, Leo, a computer game wizard who owns his own business; mum, Ellen, an ER surgeon; their young daughter, Jackie; and their Filipino nanny/housekeeper, Gloria.
When Leo travels to Thailand to sign a business contract, the deal unexpectedly takes longer than promised, and Leo is left to amuse himself. He travels to a remote, picturesque island where he takes up with some pot-smoking travellers one night and ends up in a brothel. At first he sympathises with the situation and pays a prostitute named Cookie to go home alone. However, when Cookie finds him the next morning, they spend the day together, and Leo, caught up in the romance, sleeps with her. The next day, he regrets what he’s done, pushes the deal through asap, and returns home to his family in New York.
Meanwhile, Ellen spends a few hard days at work trying to save a young neglected boy who arrives with multiple stab wounds to the abdomen which he received from his own mother. Ellen develops an attachment to the boy because of his situation, and wishes she could spend more time caring for her own daughter. Instead, she is torn between work and home while her daughter grows ever more attached to the housekeeper, and simultaneously estranged from herself.
The final strand of the tale is all about Gloria, the housekeeper, and her two young sons who live back home in the Philippines. As Gloria struggles emotionally to spend so much time away from them, her mother assures the grandsons she is doing it for their own financial good. Nevertheless, the older brother, Badong, one night seeks easy money from tourists in the city; innocently ignorant to what it entails, only eager to obtain money to allow his mother to return home. His beaten body is discovered the next day, and Gloria comes home for good to be with her family…
There has been controversy surrounding a perceived theme in the story – that of women living for their work and neglecting their children along the way, and this is an oversight of Moodysson, a self proclaimed supporter of feminist politics. Considering the film is about human relationships and families, an audience can’t help but make the link. All three working women in the film – Ellen, Gloria, and Cookie - have moments lamenting time not spent with their children, and only when something tragic happens to Gloria’s son does she return to him. Otherwise, by the end of the film, even after instances of self-realisation, nothing really happens to change Ellen’s or Cookie’s situations, and life will go on as before.
In fact, nothing hugely positive can be taken from the story at all. Be it issues of working women, tourism, child-rearing, third world society, even the modern day family – none are looked on too kindly. Instead, we are shown the dark side of tourism, prostitution, philandering husbands, negligent mothers, and people who have to make a living on rubbish dumps. If Moodysson’s aim was to pose questions and make us think, then he fails. And the reason why is because there’s not enough depth.
It’s all very well illustrating the problems in every aspect of global modern society, however, the film could have been displayed in mute and the audience would still understand what’s going on. This point would usually be taken as an appraisal of on-screen coherence and a nod to the production, but when a film like Mammoth tries to make a study of deep themes within society, it needs to give an audience more to chew on.
Better character development could have done the trick and given an extra dimension the film needs. The characters seem to be there to serve a purpose instead of the other way round.
However, saying all this, the film isn’t as bad as it sounds. It is cleanly produced and the $10 million budget makes sure of this. With a funky soundtrack, smooth filming and two big names attached in Williams and Garcia Bernal, all is not lost in the name of entertainment. The colour palette and scenery are nothing but pleasing to the eye, and there is one (although just the one) amusing episode in a conversation between three prostitutes discussing punters’ performances according to nationality.
Despite the film’s avoidance to build or flesh out its solid themes, Moodysson presents us with a just-about plausible feature; although what’s being presented is a bit slow and obvious. Mammoth should only be given a hard time by those seeking to do so. Otherwise, it’s a watchable film leaning on the side of ‘nothing’, because that’s what it leaves the viewer feeling – if a bit sad. MI
Film: Norwegian Wood Release date: 11th March 2011 Certificate: 15 Running time: 133 mins Director: Tran Anh Hung Starring: Kenichi Matsuyama, Rinko Kikuchi, Kiko Mizuhara, Reika Kirishima, Kengo Kora Genre: Drama/Romance Studio: Soda Format: Cinema Country: Japan
More than twenty years after Haruki Murakami’s novel was released, Vietnamese director Tran Anh Hung has turned Norwegian Wood into a feature film. Long considered unfilmable due to its introspective nature and inner dialogues, it was a brave move for Tran to take it on – especially as Murakami (and his fans) are famously protective of his work. But after a long dialogue with the author, the movie was given the green light. Have Tran and his cast done justice to the source material? Set in 1960s Japan, Norwegian Wood focuses on 19-year-old Toru Watanabe and his relationships with two different women – the excitable, expressive Midori and the inward-looking, melancholic Naoko.
Naoko was Toru's best friend Kizuki's girlfriend, until Kizuki committed suicide at the age of 17. That tragedy that has led to Naoko suffering a breakdown: a depression which has led to her seeking refuge in a quiet country sanatorium.
Meanwhile, in Tokyo, Watanabe begins a flirtatious friendship with fellow student Midori, leaving him to negotiate his way through two complicated and contrasting relationships…
Opening with a quiet montage of Toru (Kenichi Matsuyama), Naoko (Rinko Kikuchi) and Kizuki (Kengo Kôra) playing pool and fooling around on a farm and eating an ice lolly, Tran quickly introduces the three central characters. That one of them will be almost entirely absent from the remainder of the movie, as Kizuki is seen committing a low-key and lonely suicide as he asphyxiates himself in his car (his presence permeates the action nonetheless). It’s an unusual way to begin a film, requiring little of the audience other than objective observation. With barely a hint of emotion expressed on screen, there is little opportunity to feel sympathy as might be expected. Instead, the audience is made immediately aware that the style of the film will be somewhat detached.
Central to the plot and style of the piece is Toru. He appears in almost every scene, yet barely seems to inhabit them. He’s something of a blank canvas, often expressionless and usually playing second fiddle to whichever other characters appear alongside him. It’s a strangely beguiling performance from Matsuyama, and he’s a likeable character despite doing very little in real terms. Instead, he provides the backdrop for the more intriguing performances which revolve around him.
The most interesting of these is Kiko Mizuhara as Midori. She’s certainly the most recognisably ‘normal’ character – lively, flirty and funny. Sadly, she’s underused and appears far too fleetingly. The same might also be said of Nagasawa (Tetsuji Tamayama). He’s enigmatic, interesting and amoral. Although his purpose is presumably to provide a moral barometer for Toru, the film would certainly have benefited by revealing more of him.
Although Toru’s relationships with Midori and Nagasawa are important, they play second fiddle to his dysfunctional friendship/courtship with Naoko. Following the suicide of Kizuki, Naoko has unravelled mentally. Following a tenderly filmed sex scene with Toru, she retreats into herself and eventually disappears to a country retreat where she lives a quiet life alongside roommate Reiko (Reika Kirishima). After a written correspondence with Toru, he eventually visits her to discuss where their future lies. The scenes between the two are beautifully shot, but ultimately hard to engage with. The dialogue is stiff, and the sense that there is any love between them is hard to believe given that it is only expressed vocally in very plain speech. Some explanation of their inner dialogues occurs by having them read out their letters as a voiceover, but a sense of true warmth and love between them still remains hard to swallow. It weakens the film enormously that the central relationship is so unbelievable.
What does work wonderfully well is the cinematography. Norwegian Wood is simply sumptuous to look at and has a clear artistic vision. Interior scenes are often shot in medium close-ups leading to a sense of claustrophobia – particularly in those scenes between Toru and Naoko. Tran also utilises very clear colour schemes, often bathing night time sets in just one colour – it’s unsubtle but beautiful. Interiors during daylight hours appear to be more naturally lit, utilising the daylight which streams in through the picturesque windows.
Exteriors are exquisitely shot. Wintry country scenes are framed fantastically and lush green countryside is displayed vibrantly. These beautiful vistas provide an instant and obvious contrast with the cluttered city sets of Tokyo. They are imbued, perhaps, with even more sadness as the camera lingers slowly and silently over vast expanses of emptiness. Such wonderful cinematography ensures that even in its more frustrating moments, Norwegian Wood remains extremely watchable.
Unfortunately, those frustrating moments occur too often. When translating a novel to the screen, one of the inherent dangers is that so much of what is written is not said (or at least said out loud). With Toru as the central character and commentator, Murakami’s novel has a depth and richness which is sadly lacking from Tran’s movie. It’s also a far more hurried version of the story with central characters marginalised to the point that their role in proceedings becomes puzzling – particularly Reiko’s surprising part in the story’s denouement.
Bringing Norwegian Wood to the silver screen was always likely to be challenging. And it’s a challenge which Tran Anh Hung only partially passed. His film is stylish and often visually stunning, yet lacks emotional depth despite some good acting performances. The plot moves inconsistently - too fast in parts, too slow in others - and ultimately characters’ motives are not as fully explored or explained as they might have been. Altogether, it’s an interesting yet flawed attempt. RW
Drama from Swedish writer-director Lukas Moodysson.
Successful couple Leo (Gael Garcia Bernal) and Ellen (Michelle Williams) lead busy lives and have little time to spend with their young daughter, Jackie (Sophie Nyweide), who is cared for by her Filipino nanny, Gloria (Marife Necesito).
When Leo goes to Thailand to do a business deal, Ellen becomes envious of Gloria because of her closeness to her Jackie. However, Gloria's own children miss her, and soon a tragedy sees her return to her home in Manila.
Meanwhile, Leo becomes involved with a working mother while in Thailand, and his actions have a dramatic effect on all those involved.
Film: Mammoth Release date: 14th March 2011 Certificate: 15 Running time: 125 mins Director: Lukas Moodysson Starring: Gael Garcia Bernal, Michelle Williams, Marife Necesito, Sophie Nyweide, Thomas McCarthy Genre: Drama Studio: Soda Format: DVD Country: Sweden/Denmark/Germany
Published in 1987 and since translated into 33 languages, Norwegian Wood is a story of loss and heartbreak in a time of global instability.
Haruki Murakami’s bestselling novel is brought to the screen by Tran Anh Hung (Golden Lion winner for Cyclo and Academy Award nominee for The Scent Of Green Papaya) and features Japanese rising star Kenichi Matsuyama (Death Note, Detroit Metal City) and Oscar nominee Rinko Kikuchi (BABEL), alongside newcomer Kiko Mizuhara.
Tokyo, the late 1960s. Students around the world are uniting to overthrow the establishment and Toru Watanabe’s personal life is similarly in tumult. At heart, he is deeply devoted to his first love, Naoko, a beautiful and introspective young woman. But their complex bond has been forged by the tragic death of their best friend years before.
Watanabe lives with the influence of death everywhere. That is, until Midori, a girl who is everything that Naoko is not – outgoing, vivacious, supremely self-confident – marches into his life and Watanabe must choose between his past and his future.
Film: Norwegian Wood Release date: 11th March 2011 Certificate: 15 Running time: 133 mins Director: Tran Anh Hung Starring: Kenichi Matsuyama, Rinko Kikuchi, Kiko Mizuhara, Reika Kirishima, Kengo Kora Genre: Drama/Romance Studio: Soda Format: Cinema Country: Japan
Film: The Thorn In The Heart Release date: 14th February 2011 Certificate: E Running time: 86 mins Director: Michel Gondry Starring: N/a Genre: Documentary Studio: Soda Format: DVD Country: France
With the eyes of the world focused on Michel Gondry’s upcoming big budget superhero blockbuster The Green Hornet, chances are that many may have missed Gondry’s previous 2009 feature, the ultra-small scale documentary The Thorn In The Heart. The piece, which largely forgoes Gondry’s usual camera trickery, follows a subject very close to the French filmmaker’s own heart, and could well be one of his most personal films to date. For fans, this will be one not to miss. Gondry focuses his documentary camera on his aunt Suzette, a charismatic matriarchal figure that still continues to hold a powerful place at the head of the family. A school teacher for many years, in the days when teaching was a very different, somewhat nomadic affair, Gondry takes Suzette back to the many schools she has taught at, and arranges meetings with her former colleagues and pupils. Through these interviews, Gondry shows how many lives Suzette has profoundly touched during her career.
One figure not so enamoured with Suzette’s domineering presence in the family is her son and Gondry’s cousin Jean-Yves. Gay, depressive, recovering from a mental breakdown, and now back living with his mother, Jean-Yves is a tragic figure, and a constant source of disappointment to Suzette. As she puts it: “A thorn in her heart…”
What starts out as a fairly simple portrait of Suzette’s life and career slowly hones in on the relationship between her and the tragic figure of her son Jean-Yves; a sensitive, emotionally fractured artist and filmmaker whose life has been sadly without the success of his famous cousin. The way Gondry handles and edits this story keeps us guessing where his own loyalties lie, sometimes implicating Suzette’s domineering personality as a factor in her son’s breakdown, at other times suggesting that the luckless Jean-Yves is entirely the creator of his own bad luck. The relationship is strained, often uncomfortable, and by far the strongest part of the film. It feels as if Gondry stumbled across this story halfway through filming and had to figure out a way to work it in at the edit. It makes for a disjointed film, unsure of it’s true subject, and feels as though were the decision made to focus on this story strand entirely, it may well have produced a far more satisfying result.
There are some lovely technical touches to enjoy. Gondry splices in chunks of Jean-Yves’s old 8-mm home videos to flesh out the backstory, which adds some real colour, and chooses to link different locations with shots of toy trains. There is also a charming sequence in a primary school where Gondry gives the children ‘invisibility cloaks’, which briefly lights up the screen ,and transforms the otherwise largely staid documentary. The soundtrack is sparse, simple, but one of the film’s strongest features, with Gondry using simple recurrent themes to punctuate his story.
The Thorn In The Heart has an inescapable flaw at its core. It is a topic so subjective to its creator that its status as a true documentary is always in question. His editing choices, his approach as an interviewer, and his selection of the footage all seem informed by Gondry as an active participant in the story, and fuelled by his own nostalgia. The result, sadly, is manipulative, sentimental and intensely self-indulgent. Often Gondry – rather than the impassive observer – is essentially poking his family with a stick to get the results he wants, while at other times including scenes which clearly speak to him, but which many viewers will find tedious and uninteresting, and add little to the overall picture. Time and again there is the unavoidable feeling that we are simply being asked to watch cleverly edited amateur home-movies, and wonder if there is a film here at all. There is sometimes the exhilarating feeling of being included in a very private sanctum which would normally be firmly behind closed doors, but the film is frequently unsatisfying and falls short of adding up to a complete picture.
A quiet film that, at a snail’s pace, paints a picture of a complex character and the people she touched – for better or worse - in her extraordinary life. Flawed, indulgent and undisciplined certainly, but The Thorn In The Heart never-the-less remains an intriguing and a deeply personal tribute by a unique filmmaker to a family figure he clearly holds in high regard. LOZ
Director Michel Gondry takes a personal look into the life and career of his aunt, Suzette, in this French documentary.
A former schoolteacher, Suzette taught in rural areas of France between 1952 and 1986. The film reveals the effect she had on her students, and also explores her relationship with her son, Jean-Yves.
Film: The Thorn In The Heart Release date: 14th February 2011 Certificate: E Running time: 86 mins Director: Michel Gondry Starring: N/a Genre: Documentary Studio: Soda Format: DVD Country: France
Toni Collette, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Eric Bana and Barry Humphries provide the voice talents for this darkly comic, Australian, claymation-animated feature charting the twenty-year correspondence of two extremely unlikely pen pals.
When their epistolary alliance begins, Mary Dinkle is an 8-year-old girl living in the suburbs of Melbourne with her alcoholic mother and inattentive father, while Max Horowitz is an obese 40-something Jewish New Yorker prone to panic attacks. The only thing the two have in common is their friendlessness and profound sense of alienation.
Spanning two continents and two decades, their extraordinary friendship helps them both through life's highs and lows as they grapple with the everyday troubles of modern existence.
Film: Mary And Max Release date: 24th January 2011 Certificate: 12 Running time: 92 mins Director: Adam Elliot Starring: Toni Collette, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Eric Bana, Barry Humphries Genre: Animation Studio: Soda Format: DVD Country: Australia
Soda Pictures have been in touch with subtitledonline.com to reveal their foreign-language release schedule for 2011.
Norwegian Wood (a film by Tran Anh Hung)
Cinema Release: 18th March
Tokyo, the late-1960s. Students around the world are uniting to overthrow the establishment and Toru Watanabe’s personal life is similarly in tumult. At heart, he is deeply devoted to his first love, Naoko, a beautiful and introspective young woman. But their complex bond has been forged by the tragic death of their best friend years before. Watanabe lives with the influence of death everywhere. That is, until Midori, a girl who is everything that Naoko is not – outgoing, vivacious, supremely self-confident – marches into his life and Watanabe must choose between his past and his future.
Eleanor’s Secret (a film by Dominique Monfery)
Cinema Release: March (TBC)
Animated tale. When their beloved aunt Eleanor dies, Nathaniel and his family are left the house where they have spent every summer and Nathaniel has been bequeathed all the books in the library where he makes a startling discovery – after dark all the characters come to life! They tell him that to save them from extinction he must read the magic spell in the library. There is only one problem – Nathaniel can’t read. In a race against time, Nathaniel must battle against all the odds, including a wily antique dealer who wants to buy all the books from his parents, to save Alice in Wonderland, Red Riding Hood, Peter Pan, and all the other fairytale characters before they vanish forever.
The Referees (a film by Yves Hidant March)
Cinema Release: March (TBC)
For the first time, filmmakers have been given unfettered access to go behind the scenes at an international tournament, following the refereeing teams on and off the pitch as they compete for the prize to referee the final. Revealing the mic'ed conversations between referees, players and their assistants, this film delves into the referees' world as they face abuse from managers, death threats from fans, and their every decision to be scrutinized around the world.
Armadillo (a film by Janus Metz)
Cinema Release: April (TBC)
Mads and Daniel are serving their first mission in Helmand, Afghanistan. Their platoon is stationed in Camp Armadillo, right on the frontline, fighting tough battles against the Taliban. The soldiers are there to help the Afghans, but as fighting gets tougher and operations increasingly hairy, Mads, Daniel and their friends becomes cynical, widening the gap between themselves and the Afghan civilisation. Mistrust and paranoia set in causing alienation and disillusion.
R (a film by Tobias Lindholm & Michael Noer)
Cinema Release: May (TBC)
Starring | Johan Philip Asbæk
The R of the title stands for the young protagonist, Rune, fearlessly played by Pilou Asbæk. Imprisoned for violent assault, he's a cocky, good-looking young man placed in the hardcore ward, where his survival depends on quickly learning the prison's parallel world of rules, honour, and obligations.
A Screaming Man (a film by Mahamet Saleh Haroun)
Cinema Release: 13th May (TBC)
In present-day war-torn Chad, Adam, a former swimming champion, is a pool attendant at a smart N'Djamena hotel. His grown-up son Abdel helps him out, but when the hotel gets taken over by new Chinese owners, he is forced to give up his job to his son. Hurt and resentful, he feels socially humiliated. Meantime, with the country in the throes of civil war and rebel forces attacking the government, the authorities are demanding that citizens contribute money or volunteer for the war effort. Adam is penniless, and, harassed by the District Chief, he commits a terrible act of betrayal.
Dancing Dream (a film by Anne Linsel & Rainer Hoffman)
Cinema Release: June (TBC)
Before her unexpected and sudden passing in 2009, world-famous dancer and choreographer Pina Bausch selected 40 teenagers who had never heard her name to be part of the dance performance Kontakthof’. This film follows the year of their rehearsals until the opening night, charting the young dancers as they discover Bausch’s genius and their own bodies.
The Light Thief (a film by Aktan Arym Kubat)
Cinema Release: July (TBC)
They call him Mr Light: a local electrician who uses his position as the last link in the energy supply chain to usurp the state and enrichen the lives of the town’s inhabitants in a remote region in the south of the Kyrgyz Republic. When opportunistic local politician eyes the chance to sell the villagers’ land to the Chinese, Mr Light makes it his mission to uncover the corruption he witnesses in this irresistible underdog story.
Keep checking back with subtitledonline.com for more information on all the above titles, and confirmed releases dates, in the New Year.
The Thorn In The Heart (L'Epine dans le Coeur) is a personal look at the life of Gondry family matriarch, Michel's aunt Suzette Gondry, and her relationship with her son, Jean-Yves. Filmmaker Michel Gondry examines Suzette's years as a school-teacher, and her life in rural France.
During the course of filming the documentary, Michel unearths new family stories and uses his camera to explore them in a subtle and sensitive way.
The Thorn in the Heart had its world premiere screening in the official selection at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.
Film: The Thorn In The Heart Release date: 10th December 2010 Certificate: TBC Running time: 86 mins Director: Michel Gondry Starring: Suzette Gondry, Jean-Yves Gondry, Michel Gondry Genre: Documentary Studio: Soda Format: Cinema Country: France
Film: Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky Release date: 22nd November 2010 Certificate: 15 Running time: 120 mins Director: Jan Kounen Starring: Anna Mouglalis, Mads Mikkelsen, Yelena Morozova, Natacha Lindinger, Grigori Manukov Genre: Drama/Romance Studio: Soda Format: DVD & Blu-ray Country: France
French director Jan Kounen’s Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky explores a period in the lives of the controversial Russian composer and the celebrated French fashion designer, when they briefly lived together in Chanel’s country villa, and were rumoured to have had an affair. This was the second film released in 2009 to feature the character of Chanel, alongside Anne Fontaine’s Coco Avant Chanel. Kounen’s film was released to mixed critical reviews, but was chosen as the closing film of the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.
1931, and Russian composer Igor Stravinsky (Mads Mikkelsen) unveils his new ballet ‘The Rite Of Spring’ to the Paris glitterati. The music is greeted with a virtual riot by an audience outraged at his bold and controversial new use of rhythm and choreography. Among those present are über-chic fashion design Coco Chanel (Anna Mouglalis) who is impressed by the shocking performance.
Some years later, the two meet again as Chanel is mourning the death of her lover, and Stravinsky and his family have been forced to flee Paris following the Russian revolution. Chanel invites them all to come and stay with her in her country Villa, where the composer can concentrate on his work.
They accept, and for a while all goes well. Away from the city, Stravinsky enjoys extraordinary musical productivity, while his wife Catherine (Yelena Morozova), who is suffering from tuberculosis, benefits from relaxation and bed rest. It’s not long before passions begin to run high between the composer and designer, however, and, under the noses of his wife and their young children, they embark on a passionate affair…
It is worth bearing in mind that the film is not necessarily a true statement of fact. The events that take place are largely the product of conjecture and hearsay, and although it is true that Stravinsky and Chanel did spend time together in her country retreat, rumours of their affair remain just that – rumours. That isn’t to say that there is nothing of historic interest on show here; despite the dramatic licence taken in sexing up the facts, the real truths being examined are the personalities of these two giants of the creative world, and Kounen has captured something very special in transferring their personalities to screen.
The piece is definitely a two hander, with both lead characters given equally intricate dissection, but despite Mikkelsen’s precise, powerful performance, the film really belongs to Mouglalis. Her Coco Chanel is a revelation; dynamic, multi-layered, powerful and fragile. A beautifully toned, exquisitely written study of this complex character, capturing in the heroine a mix of fierce independence and simmering fragility. Credit must also go to Morozova as Catherine, Stravinsky’s wife, suffering critical illness and the critical failure of her marriage in front of their young children. It is heartbreaking to watch Catherine try to retain her composure and dignity whilst turning a blind eye to the undeniable passion building between her husband and Chanel.
The music itself is treated reverently, and with a careful hand by Kounen, who obviously knows his stuff. It is not as much its own character as, say, in Milos Forman’s ‘Amadeus’, but still Stravinsky’s music is a powerful, malleable presence in the film. At the time of its composition, his music was controversial and mould-breaking, and today it is no less affecting. With its strange, complex rhythms and unusual, absorbing melodies, the soundtrack will get under the skin and linger in the head long after the final credits role.
The film looks beautiful, with Kounen’s immaculate framing and careful camerawork mirroring both Chanel’s elegance and Stravinsky’s precision. The staging of Stravinsky’s ballets, in particular, come across with all the proper power and dark intensity, and it is obvious from the way they are treated that Kounen is a man with the greatest respect for the work. Similarly, full credit must go to the costume design by Chattoune and Fab, who have decked out the cast exquisitely - there is plenty here for budding fashionistas to drool over in Chanel’s incredible couture.
A careful, elegant, and thoroughly grown-up study of two fascinating characters, Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky offers a powerful insight into what made these geniuses tick. Possibly a little slow paced for some, and slightly let down by a clichéd and unconfident ending, but for those with even a passing interest, it’s a definite must-see. LOZ
It's 1913, Paris and Coco Chanel is infatuated with the rich and handsome Boy Capel, but she is also bound to her work.
Igor Stravinsky's The Rite Of Spring is about to be performed, and the revolutionary dissonances of his work parallel Coco's radical ideas - she wants to democratise women's fashion and he wants to redefine musical taste. Coco attends the first performance of The Rite, which is criticized as being too modern and too foreign. Coco is moved by the ballet; however, Igor is inconsolable.
Seven years later, Coco is wealthy and successful but heartbroken after her lover's death in a car crash. Igor, following the Russian Revolution, is now a penniless refugee living in exile in Paris. One day, he is introduced to Coco by Diaghilev, a ballet impresario. The attraction between them is instant, prompting Coco to invite Igor, along with his wife and kids, to stay at her new villa in Garches - an invitation that ignites a passionate affair between the two artists.
Film: Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky Release date: 22nd November 2010 Certificate: 15 Running time: 120 mins Director: Jan Kounen Starring: Anna Mouglalis, Mads Mikkelsen, Yelena Morozova, Natacha Lindinger, Grigori Manukov Genre: Drama/Romance Studio: Soda Format: DVD & Blu-ray Country: France
