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Film: Valentino: The Last Emperor
Release date: 6th September 2010
Certificate: 12
Running time: 123 mins
Director: Matt Tyrnauer
Starring: Valentino Garavani, Giancarlo Giammetti, Nati Abascal, Giorgio Armani, Jeannie Becker
Genre: Documentary
Studio: Optimum
Format: DVD
Country: USA
Matt Tyrnauer invites us to delve behind the seemingly superficial world of fashion and witness, or lament, what was to become the final working year in the life of a style icon.
Single-minded, passionate, pleasant, caring, grumpy, awkward, disillusioned and talented are just a small number of facets on display in this fly on the wall documentary surrounding the lead up to the 75-year-old leathery skinned designer’s forty-five year anniversary as a leading player and brand name in the fashion industry.
Through Matt Tyrnauers seemingly limitless access to Valentino, as well as his life partner Giancarlo Giammetti, we learn how the fashion industry has evolved throughout his lifetime, and how the financial aspects of the business have been virtually swept from beneath his feet. We are allowed access to not only his working environment, studios, runways and shows full of celebrity guests (including the likes of Joan Collins, Gwyneth Paltrow and Liz Hurley), but also his various homes, plus his private jet and elaborate yacht.
We watch him declare his love for crafted style while showing distain for over indulgence and tackiness, before sincerely stating that what women want most in life is to be beautiful. He clearly believes every word he says but others, from a more grounded background, may find some, if not all of his distorted views hard to swallow; especially as the further we are permitted to explore his overtly decadent lifestyle, the further removed from our normal reality he seems to be. Yet this is part of the fun, it can be enjoyable in small doses to watch the mega rich indulge their little idiosyncrasies - for example, Valentino having a special settee on his private jet for his five pug, ironically quite ugly dogs to lounge...
Tyrnauer obviously admires Valentino, his reverence drips from every pore of this well shot documentary, yet despite this, and admirably so, he is also willing to show the designer’s flaws, his humanity and vulnerable side. In fact, this is the film’s strongest aspect - a brave decision, as Valentino could have so easily vetoed the recordings of his bad-tempered, almost childish remarks, and perhaps even limited the camera’s access to areas and meetings that display his less attractive traits. Others too seem open to scrutiny - Giammetti is so laid-back in front of the camera, at points, that he is in danger of toppling over, whilst bad-tempered head seamstress Antoinetta de Angelis never disguises her true feelings when the crew pay her any attention. Yes, they are all passionate, they care about their craft and their tantrums are, for the most part, semi calculated outbursts to enhance the Valentino name and that is, in essence, what has been so beautifully captured by a skilled documentary maker obviously relishing in his task.
On the negative side, the director, as is unfortunately too often the case in recent documentaries, takes it for granted that his audience will have an extensive knowledgeable background of the subject matter on display. Point in case is when the camera enters an enormous room with high walls covered in literally hundreds of dresses designed by Valentino, stretching back to his earliest days. This is our subject’s life, his history and a guide to, not only how fashion has changed over the last four decades, but more so it is a visual demonstration of how he has influenced that very change. Yet, bizarrely, Tyrnauer merely skips over this opportunity with only a few sweeping camera moves and the briefest of narrative. Sadly, a waste of a potentially scene stealing opportunity, and a reinforcement of an attitude rife in the fashion world that the so called rich/elite ‘know’ and we, the underclass, do not ‘need’ to know. That said, there is still plenty to enjoy from merely observing the various, often self-important characters go about their duties, and, in reality, without a working or fan based understanding of this privileged world, although helpful, does little to dilute the overall enjoyment of the piece.
Valentino is an insightful, charming, interesting and occasionally informative documentary structured around one of the most passionate and influential fashion icons of recent times. MG
Film: Time
Release date: 23rd August 2010
Certificate: 15
Running time: 97 mins
Director: Kim Ki-duk
Starring: Ha Jung-woo, Park Ji-yeon, Jang Jun-yeong, Jung Gyu-woon, Kim Ji-heon
Genre: Drama/Romance
Studio: Palisades Tartan
Format: DVD
Country: South Korea
Award-winning (Berlin and Venice Film Festivals for Samaritan Girl and 3-Iron respectively) Korean director Kim Ki-duk flirts with controversy once more as he invites his audience to examine a world of unhealthy obsession, narcissistic tendencies and the violence of manufactured beauty, in a film only screened in his homeland after 10,000 South Koreans signed up to an online protest, thus forcing a limited art house release.
Sehie (Park Ji-yeon) is a beautiful, yet extremely insecure and jealous woman, who feels that her long term relationship with Jiwoo (Ha Jung-woo) is growing stale. With each passing day she believes that her beauty is fading while the other women Jiwoo comes into contact with during his normal mundane life are more interesting and considerably better looking than her.
Despite her relatively contented boyfriend’s protests, she persists with her paranoid thoughts and accusations, verbally abusing waitresses and cafe customers at the local cafe, the couple’s regular meeting spot. From a mind bordering on the psychotic, an idea is hatched as Sehie realises that something drastic needs be done to stop the situation escalating to such a degree that she will lose the love of her life forever.
After secretively consulting with a plastic surgeon, Sehie books herself into a clinic and begins the painful six month procedure that will completely reshape her face and, hopefully, achieve a higher level of beauty. Jiwoo is distraught at her sudden disappearance, he devotes time and effort searching high and low for his girlfriend, but, eventually, he admits defeat. Gradually, as his pain lessens, he begins to date other women, yet, in the back of his mind, he can never quite let his desire for Sehie go.
Several months later, a mysterious new waitress calling herself Saehie (Seong Hyeon-ah) begins to work at his local cafe. There is an instant attraction, a strange familiarity that Jiwoo cannot explain - he is compelled to be with her, yet Sehie still haunts his thoughts...
Time is an atypical and somewhat curious film from a director known for pushing the envelope with bizarre characters, often on the wrong side of the law, and left of centre situations. In this case, the leads are the epitome of middle class, law-abiding Asia - they hang out in coffee bars, have normal jobs, run of the mill hobbies and, on the surface at least, aspirations for a mediocre life. There are no fantastic monsters or ‘outsiders’ on the edge of society to invoke the audience’s attention, instead Kim Ki-duk utilises the desires and fixations that swim behind the eyes of these seemingly conventional citizens.
Ki-duk briefly begins his story at the halfway point, where we witness gruesome and detailed face surgery, before jumping back in time to the psychological lead up to Sehie’s extreme solution for solving her insecurities. Initially, the director draws us in by skilfully orchestrating his main actors - all well on top of their game - through a maze of raw emotions that he hopes will justify his severe story arc. Unfortunately, it is this intense story arc that is the weak link and, ultimately, the movie’s downfall. We are asked to suspend belief as each new emotional outburst grows in intensity and, like the story’s nervous bystanders, we begin to feel increasingly uncomfortable and somewhat alienated by a plot, now, punctured with too many unacceptable coincidences.
The cinematography is on a par with Kim Ki-duk’s usual work - in fact, it is particularly reminiscent of his earlier films The Coast Guard and The Isle, in style rather than the far removed content. The latter being his most controversial film, in the UK at least, after its release was delayed due to accusations of animal cruelty on set. The director later admitted, and voiced regret for slicing open a live frog and mutilating several fish for particular scenes within that film.
Other positives are that Ki-duk utilises the scenery and vistas to great effect, his use of colour is, at times, exquisite, and even the background music, often a weak point, is fine. The dialogue, for the most part, is believable, if not the motives and reasoning behind the characters’ words. If his idea was to make us question our identity, who we are, and if true beauty is more than skin deep then this movie does just that, albeit going too far in its search for answers to these raised questions. In fact, if we accept the plot’s weak points, as huge as they are, there is still much to be enjoyed by watching these occasionally mesmerising characters attempt to fulfil their passionate and seemingly unattainable desires.
Time is an engaging little film with a plot that is as compelling as it is frustrating, and a ‘love it’ or ‘hate it’ ending, yet easily worth 97 minutes of anyone’s time. MG
Film: La Zona
Release date: 23rd February 2009
Certificate: 15
Running time: 97 mins
Director: Rodrigo Plá
Starring: Daniel Giménez Cacho, Maribel Verdú, Alan Chávez, Daniel Tovar, Carlos Bardem
Genre: Drama/Thriller
Studio: Soda
Format: DVD
Country: Spain/Argentina/Mexico
Uruguayan born director and screenwriter Rodrigo Pla utilises the increasingly popular, yet socially divisive American style gated community to take a large critical swipe at middle-class Mexico’s attempt to distance itself from its poorer and less fortunate countrymen.
The movie begins with a finely crafted opening salvo, as the camera scans the homes of the advantaged few before rising skyward and sweeping over a high defensive wall to concentrate on the wretched souls beyond.
A thunderous rainstorm ensues, lightening strikes bringing down a billboard, and a bridge of opportunity is crafted from the surrounding destruction. The residents of an enclosed community are visited by three aggressive male reminders of a inferior dog eat dog world.
An attempted robbery, born from a necessity to achieve sustenance, backfires leaving several people dead and one frightened teenager on the run from a hate filled vigilante mob.
The inhabitants’ seclusion is guaranteed by the Mexican government on the provision that their private security force can keep the area crime free. With latest developments placing their privileged lifestyle in serious jeopardy, the community’s leaders begin a cover up that threatens more than just the isolated invader’s life…
La Zona, Rodrigo Pla’s second directorial feature film, which won the People’s Choice award at Montreal’s 2007 Festival du Nouveau Cinema, is a thought provoking thriller that tries to rise above its contemporaries by injecting a topical dilemma into an old fashioned morality play.
The director sets to his task with an assured confidence that defies his inexperience. The opening is refreshingly well paced and suspenseful, while the cinematography by Emiliano Villanueva is skilfully executed, and perhaps the strongest element in the movie’s arsenal. Not only do we see the vast gaping financial and unethical hole between the societies but due, in no small part, to the staged setting of prosperity surrounded by slum vistas, we can virtually feel, taste and smell the divide. This in turn forces us to choose a side; we empathise with the poorer downtrodden population and begin to despise the inhabitants of the gated community.
The plot evolves nicely throughout the film’s first hour as a community leader’s son, Alejandro (Daniel Tovar), takes the moral high ground and becomes the lone protector of the hunted boy. Our interest is well and truly captured, and the script has drawn us in and made us want to see Pla deal with the questions raised. What is a life worth? Without money are we all the same? Is survival and protection the true road to human wealth? Unfortunately, once all the elements are in place, the implementation of the story becomes stale, the dialogue weakens, almost clichéd, and our attention begins to wane. What started out as an opportunity to make a valid statement, and raise important issues within the boundaries of an entertaining thriller, now sinks below the weight of its own expectations.
The majority of roles - a frustrated cop (Mario Zaragoza) and two teen leads aside (Tovar and Alan Chavez) - are almost completely void of any real development, leaving the actors with a mountain to climb as they attempt to breathe life into their one dimensional characters. If the same amount of attention had been paid to character and story arcs as the set up and enthralling first half then the director would have had something special on his CV. Yes, this movie did win the People’s Choice award, but so have many better and more deserving movies than La Zona, a significant number of which, as well as those involved, have now slipped into obscurity.
The issues raised and the points made by Pla regarding his adopted country, having moved to Mexico in his youth, are extremely well presented, but, unfortunately, as the story progresses, the thrills are lost in a swamp of lacklustre stereotyping. Yet just when all hope seems lost, Pla turns things around; he rejuvenates his tale with an unexpected and bold, if somewhat downbeat, final fifteen minutes.
A topical suspense filled thriller with an impressive opening that is perversely matched by its dire second breath before being plucked from the ashes, Phoenix like, and saved by an admirably brave and poignant ending. MG
Film: La Danse
Release date: 26th July 2010
Certificate: PG
Running time: 159 mins
Director: Frederick Wiseman
Starring: N/a
Genre: Documentary
Studio: Soda
Format: DVD
Country: France/USA
Guggenheim and McArthur fellowship winning director Frederick Wiseman puts the 'mini' in minimalistic as he embarks on his latest cinematic venture with only a single camera assistant and trusted long-time collaborator John Davey (cinematographer) by his side.
The documentary opens with a sequence of beautifully panoramic shots over the French capital’s skyline, before diving headlong into the frantic rehearsal studios of the Paris Opera Ballet (Ballet de l'Opéra National de Paris). Unobtrusive camera in place, we become voyeurs, hoping for the extraordinary in strangers’ everyday lives, as we watch ostensibly every aspect of over half a dozen ballets, as they grow from their sweat drenched births and travel along artistic pathways before reaching their grandiose final performances.
From stage hands and technicians to set design and costume makers, from backroom staff and choreographers to novice dancers and prima donnas, each and every cog in the ballet’s works is on display and open to scrutiny. The actual dance seems of secondary importance to a director intent on capturing the necessary human interaction needed to successfully produce such a skilful display…
Critically acclaimed filmmaker Frederick Wiseman, who studied documentary making at Munich’s Honchschule fur Fernsehen und Film from 1985 until 1992, is no stranger when it comes to observing, and often exposing, in a warts and all style, the inner workings of structured and often respected institutions. Research laboratories placed under the spotlight in Primate and welfare offices which were laid stripped in Welfare, in particular, spring to mind. Yet ballet, already studied and filmed by Wiseman in 1995’s Ballet, seems more of a guilty pleasure than a subject matter visited to enlighten a naive publics preconceptions. That said, Wiseman does not allow a reignited passion to cloud his observations, never shying away from conflict, as his camera effortlessly captures the underlying tensions emitting from all involved.
Wiseman’s approach to La Danse is in line with his previous work - little preparation, a short stay of several weeks on location, no interviews with the objects of his attention, and no knowledgeable voiceover to guide the audience. His style, usually successful, if occasionally alienating, is to simply film the world go by, standing back, never coaxing or manipulating, that is until he reaches the editing suite. Here Wiseman takes his sizeable source material, often over one hundred hours in length, and skilfully whittles it down into a more compact and comprehendible package. One major problem with this particular piece of work is the boredom factor. Firstly the running length is such that it saps all our strength and diminishes the impact of the few genuine instances of spectacle that arrive sandwiched between long drawn out segments of mundane emptiness. Yes it is commendable, necessary perhaps, to show the humdrum and routine of the subjects, their process and pain, but in small segments rather than have that as the film’s model.
Stranger still is the choice of ballets we are permitted to observe. With all the great productions that have graced the Paris Opera Ballet’s floor, directed by the likes of Nureyev and his ilk, Wiseman insists on ignoring the classics, casting them aside in favour of modern works, which, in turn, partially ostracises all but those devout souls educated in dance.
On the plus side, unlike the majority of his other documentaries, this film does have a semi narrative arc, in the sense that we do see the elaborate ballet’s creation, via the subject’s hard graft, right through until we reach the desired performance. However, without any standout characters on display, rather a large and merging array of humanity, we never grow close enough to anyone in particular to feel that a satisfactory conclusion to proceedings has been reached.
La Danse is a solid piece of filmmaking, yet it is difficult to imagine this documentary being of any interest or capturing the imagination of anyone apart from those already passionate about ballet. MG
Film: Storm
Release date: 2nd August 2010
Certificate: 15
Running time: 103 mins
Director: Hans-Christian Schmid
Starring: Kerry Fox, Anamaria Marinca, Stephen Dillane, Rolf Lassgard, Alexander Fehling
Genre: Drama/Thriller
Studio: Soda
Format: DVD
Country: Germany/Denmark/Netherlands
The inner workings of the European Union appear centre stage as Hans-Christian Schmid (director and co-writer) shines his critical spotlight upon an ostensibly expanding crevice of stark reality wedged between true justice and political expediency.
Hannah Maynard (Kerry Fox), employed as a prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague, is belatedly placed in charge of a three year old case against Serbian general Goran Duric (Drazen Kuhn) for war crimes perpetrated during his country’s conflict.
Stress levels, already high after losing out in the promotion stakes to a less dedicated colleague; go into overdrive when her star witness perjures himself as a precursor to a remorse fuelled suicide.
With the case seemingly doomed, Hannah pleads with the witness’ sister Mira (Anamaria Marinca) to place herself and her family in danger by taking her brother’s place on the witness stand. It is Mira who has suffered the true atrocities that her brother pretended to witness in his misguided quest, for not only justice, but also to protect his immediate family from persecution by the accused and his followers...
Hans-Christian Schmid knits his plot together with a slow stitch, wisely allowing each character to reveal flaws and traits at well paced intervals. His direction is adequate, by the book, never flashy or unnecessarily ostentatious, and somewhat akin to the procedural obsessed characters that fill The Hauge’s judicial courtrooms and hallways. There is an underlying feeling of resigned indignation, issues simmer without fully bubbling over, as all concerned allow outside factors to influence true justice - and a director shows his feelings for the state of the European Union.
Schmid counters his purposely drab use of colour, stale soundtrack and bland settings by telling his politically tense story from the emotive dual female perspective of Hannah and Mira. By giving us this sensitive slice of humanity, amongst the throng of grey suited mediocrity, we feel compelled to empathise with their plight, while simultaneously feeling frustrated as they come up against bureaucratic brick walls.
Both lead actresses are outstanding; one expertly portraying repressed, yet swelling emotional undercurrents as the put upon, somewhat paranoid, prosecutor striving for justice through the mire of thick nonsensical red tape, while the other is never less than proficient when displaying conflictive feelings caused by necessity verses integrity. The supporting cast are all adequate but it is when the two lead actresses are brought together, displaying their selfless acting abilities, while enhancing a suspenseful atmosphere crafted by a director on a mission, that the film springs to life.
The dialogue is well structured, while the script, which is occasionally laboured, gains credence by dealing with topical issues with an obvious knowledgeable insight. Yet, ironically, this is also the movies Achilles heel. Events and procedures are so close to the inner workings of a legal system governed by technicalities that Schmid occasionally abandons entertainment for frustrating boring reality. Points against the European Union are often well made, but, at times, lack balance, and his criticism is unconstructive in nature, yet he does soften slightly as the film approaches the credits, and so, in so doing, leaves his audience with the slimmest slither of hope.
Storm is a dark, thought provoking drama that, having the courage of its convictions, aims high only to fall short at the final hurdle. MG
Series: Spiral: Engrenages - Series 2
Release date: 9th August 2010
Certificate: 18
Running time: 392 mins
Director: Philippe Triboit, Pascal Chaumeil, Gilles Bannier, Philippe Venault, Manuel Boursinhac & Jean-Marc Brondolo
Starring: Caroline Proust, Grégory Fitoussi, Philippe Duclos, Fred Bianconi, Thierry Godard
Genre: Crime/Drama/Thriller
Studio: 2 Entertain/BBC
Format: DVD
Country: France
Critically acclaimed stylistic French police drama Spiral (French title: Engrenages - which literally means gears) ups its game as it moves into a highly anticipated second series. Loyal fans, indubitably salivating by its upcoming release onto DVD, need not be its sole audience as absolutely no knowledge of the first series is necessary for this eight part Gallic drama.
A young boy, mobile phone in hand, hides in the shadows and films infamous drug dealer and wannabe rap star Aziz (Reda Kateb) inflict severe retribution on a debtor by imprisoning him in a car boot and burning him alive. Chief Inspector Laure Berthaud (Caroline Proust) leads the investigation while simultaneously looking into a seemingly unrelated case involving a teenage drug dealer who is selling heroin to his peers. Red-haired human rights lawyer Josephine Karlsson (Audrey Fleurot) champions the downtrodden while accepting bribes from wife beaters and entering into a dangerous game of career mongering by accusing the police of heavy handed brutality.
This introduction into small time dealers and urban violence is merely a stepping stone to something more elaborate, complicated and compelling. It is in fact a gateway to the treacherous world of international drug trafficking, arms dealers, paranoid rivalries and loyalties fused with questionable morality. On the legal side, we witness the interaction between police officers, governmental officials and judiciary, which, in truth, is nothing short of an indictment of a stale and corrupt legal system. The villains are so much more than one dimensional cannon fodder for the police; they are expertly crafted characters with individual personality traits, each living in a world of grey while hoping for something better - some hope of escape from a doomed existence…
Initially the series structure appears similar to that of the American drama Law And Order - cops investigate, make arrests then hand over the legal baton to their brothers in arms, the lawyers, and all cases are wrapped up by the end of each episode. Not Spiral! By the end of the first episode, these clearly defined lines merge into a murky quagmire of ambitious double dealings and hidden agendas. As the credits roll after each adrenaline pumping cliff-hanger we are often left with more questions than answers. The world is complicated, some investigations fade, some interact with the main ongoing story, and some are little more than devices to permit greater character development. For example, a wife swapping night gone bad and a teenager’s suicide leap from his flat are unrelated, or very tenuously related at best to the main plot. Yet these scenes are essential in giving us unique insights into individual, often for the most part office bound characters’ hidden talents and emotional depths.
There are so many insidious criss-crossing storylines and well drawn strong personalities, each with their own personal demons and ideas of justice, that any detailed attempt at describing the multi layered plot could never begin to do this series justice. Sure we have seen numerous cop/lawyer dramas before and, to be fair, the stories in Spiral are far from unique. However, where the true strength of this programmes lies is in the superb writing and beautifully observed character arcs.
Inspector Berthaud is an energetic obsessive investigator who, at the expense of her personal life, is willing to go to almost any lengths to protect her men and/or get a conviction. Judge Roban (Philippe Duclos) is a respected yet cold and remote figure who begins to realise that his dedication to his profession has alienated him from the people he loves. Deputy Prosecutor Clement (Gregory Fitoussi) believes in the integrity of the justice system yet the higher he climbs the further he will have to compromise his values. He is conversely friendly with straight laced Judge Roban, obsessive Inspector Berthaud and the cynical yet highly ambitious lawyer Josephine Karlsson. These four main players make up less than a third of the large ensemble cast in this delightfully crafted drama. The casting is inspired, the actors universally fantastic and seemingly born for their parts, making it difficult to imagine them playing any other roles.
The editing is edgy yet crisp, the style realistic, earthy like the 1970s heyday of cutting edge police television. Each individual episode is well paced, relentless yet slowing down at just the right moment to allow us a quick gulp of air before the next revelation or onslaught of heart racing drama. The action scenes are exciting and expertly executed with intelligent camerawork emphasising the heightened emotion as it moves between characters, picking up each facial tick and psychological nuance. Second guessing where the plot is going is a joy especially during a finale that has you on the edge of your seat.
This second series of Spiral is an intriguing multilayered story and a skilfully directed, atmospheric and suspense fuelled thrill ride that will stay in the mind long after the final episode has drained your emotional tank dry. MG
Film: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Release date: 19th July 2010
Certificate: 18
Running time: 147 mins
Director: Niels Arden Oplev
Starring: Noomi Rapace, Michael Nyqvist, Lena Endre, Peter Haber, Sven-Bertil Taube
Genre: Mystery/Thriller/Crime
Studio: Momentum
Format: DVD & Blu-ray
Country: Sweden/Denmark/Germany/Norway
Faithfully adapted from the first in the trilogy of Millennium novels (originally entitled Men Who Hate Women) by the late Swedish author Stieg Larsson, this thought provoking film continues a resurgence of Swedish cinema kick started in 2008 by the excellent atmospheric coming of age vampire love story Let The Right One In.
Henrik Vanger loves his niece Harriet; loves her innocence, her intelligence, her lust for life, and the fact that she loves him for him and - not his money or power. Annually, she presents her favourite uncle with a framed picture containing a different pressed flower, which he in turn proudly displays on his office wall.
Four decades after Harriet disappears from his life during a Vanger family gathering, he is still receiving an anniversary framed pressed flower reminder of his niece from an unknown source.
Disgraced investigative journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist), facing a prison sentence for libelling a powerful business magnate, is summoned to the home of the wealthy industrialist, and offered the opportunity investigate the mystery. Vanger accepts that a member of his own dysfunctional family may be responsible for the crime, a clan of privileged Swedish aristocrats that are willing to go to almost any length to protect the skeletons in their sizeable closets.
Blomkvist is a loner forced to accept assistance by his employer in the shape of Milton security investigator Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace), and it is with the introduction of this bi-sexual, androgynous, computer-hacking petit leather wearing Goth that this thriller becomes something special. Not since the Knight (Antonius Block) in Ingrid Bergman’s 1957 classic The Seventh Seal has Swedish cinema produced such an iconic character...
Salander is a compelling mid-twenties girl, with a mysterious past even more compelling than the enigmatic disappearance of Harriet Vagner. She is the opposite in every way to the subdued introverted Blomkvist. Even when we discover his long standing affair with a journalistic colleague, an affair blessed by her husband, he never rises above the level of moralistic everyman. It takes nearly an hour, a welcomed character developing slow burn, for theses two main players to come together and form a strange and productive relationship.
Nazi sympathisers, biblical references, suggested sexual abuse, and evidence pointing towards a possible serial killer, or even killers, emerge at such skilfully spaced intervals that these revelations intensify an already building suspense created by Salander’s ominous back story.
It is her past, and trying to comprehend the reasons behind her aggressive black-and-white view of life that is the movie’s true mystery. She deems Blomkvist as good, and therefore willingly helps in his investigation, while those fool hardy souls that cross swords with the Goth soon suffer at her hands. A particularly graphic revenge rape against her court appointed guardian and sexual predator Bjurman is disturbingly violent, and yet it is conversely satisfying to watch justice being done - albeit through fingers from eye covering hands. She is a tiny whirlwind of repressed rage, a dark edged heroine and worthy adversary to the strongest foe, yet more than this she is a victim, a survivor, and a character with an emotional underbelly that director Niels Arden Oplev cleverly only hints at. Indeed, this is a character that we could watch time and time again, and with two made-for-TV movies having already been screened in Sweden, and rumours of a fourth story in the possession of the late Stieg Larsson’s family, it appears we just might have that opportunity.
The cinematography utilises every inch of the provocative Swedish landscape, while the script never flinches when dealing with the movie’s many controversial issues. One very small fault is a flashback to Salander’s childhood that is never properly explained, perhaps included as a subliminal teaser to the second made for television movie, or even as a guilty little pleasure for loyal readers of the books.
With only a few minor changes to the story, literature fans should be delighted by the adaption, especially as the casting agent has utilised the Swedish acting fraternity to good measure. Noomi Rapace, in particular, is outstanding - seemingly born for the role - and it is not unfair to say that the film stands and falls by her performance.
Hollywood already has plans to remake the trilogy, if they follow the novel and successfully cast Salander then maybe, just maybe they can replicate this truly excellent movie. Wishful thinking perhaps after Hollywood remakes ruined the great Asian thought provoking horror movies of the ‘90s and early-noughties by abandoning atmosphere and storytelling for gore and special effects. Time will tell.
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is a skilfully directed, well acted atmospheric suspense fuelled thriller that will stay in the mind long after the final credits have rolled, and worthy of numerous viewings to discover the subtleties of this intriguing multi layered story. MG
Film: Brotherhood Of The Wolf
Release date: 19th February 2007
Certificate: 15
Running time: 137 mins
Director: Christophe Gans
Starring: Samuel Le Bihan, Mark Dacascos, Jeremie Renier, Vincent Cassel, Monica Bellucci
Genre: Action/Horror/Mystery
Studio: Optimum
Format: DVD
Country: France
Set in pre-revolutionary France, director Christophe Gans utilises the legendary tale of the Beast of Gévaudan to weave his multilayered and very loosely fact-based plot around.
Gregoire de Fronsac (Simon Le Bihan), artist, soldier and forward thinking man of science is dispatched to Gévaudan by his king in an attempt to accelerate the destruction of a murderous wolf-like beast that has been terrorizing his subjects. With the assistance of his Iroquois companion, Mani (Mark Dacascos), he swiftly concludes that rather than a demon set free from the depths of hell, due to the king’s favour of reason over religious teachings, he is in fact dealing with something manufactured, or at least influenced by man.
Shortly after arriving in the area, Fronsac meets the Morangias family and their circle of self-centred opinionated fair-weather friends. He immediately clashes mental swords with one armed adventurer, recently returned from Africa, Jean-François de Morangias (Vincent Cassel), while simultaneously falling for the charms of his younger sister Marianne (Emilie Dequenne).
As the first hour slowly progresses, going off at seemingly unrelated tangents, as Gans cleverly mimics Jaws by keeping the beast off camera, we are introduced via Fronsac’s investigation to more and more colourful characters. Femme fatale Sylvia (Monica Bellucci), clergyman Sardis and an epileptic mute girl, amongst others, become possible suspects, although, at this point, we are not quite sure what we are supposed to be suspecting them of.
The less is more approach of the first half, having served its purpose by building tension and offering clues, suddenly shifts up several gears as we cross over the hour mark to become an adrenaline fuelled fight fest that rarely slows down, yet still manages to pack emotional clout when it does pause briefly to come up for air…
Fronsac and Mani are joined by young idealistic nobleman Thomas d’Apcher as they set out on their journey to hunt the beast, a precursor to an almost Indiana Jones-style romp featuring numerous sprung traps and “close but no cigar” moments, with respect to the quarries capture. Following on from this, we have several exciting martial arts sequences, involving an array of brutal yet ingenious weaponry, before we take one final plot building breather - just before the exciting pay off scene. Gans, whether intentionally or not, may ape Steven Spielberg’s gift for tension building before rewarding the audience with exciting moments of peril, but it is when the action explodes across the screen that the directors veer off in different, yet equally effective, directions. Gans’ style is a hybrid of quirky European idiosyncrasies fused with Asian frenetic camera work, and speckled with well placed slow motion sequences thrown in for good measure.
The cinematography is simply stunning, from the mud-entrenched autumn slow-motion fight scene with individual droplets of rain mixed with blood, so vivid we can almost feel the spray, to the snowy winter search for lost children, and the lush forest wolf hunt where Gans utilises every vista to maximum effect.
Naturally, being a French film, we have the obligatory sex scene, but even then Gans shows his skill, allowing the camera to scan the length of Monica Bellucci’s naked body as she entertains her suitor, before seamlessly merging the curves of her thighs with the peaks and troughs of a scenic mountain region. While all the actors are well cast with Bellucci, her real life husband Cassel and Simon Le Bihan are particularly strong in their roles - and obviously relishing the opportunity to wear such elaborate costumes. However, it is the surprisingly good performance from Mark Dacascos that draws us in and demands our attention.
This is in a mainstream movie with artistic undertones. Placed in the skilful hands of Gans, it is in essence a piece of pure entertainment and something to enjoy time and time again. MG
