There’s nothing like a good rejection to reignite one’s love for movies. On Monday I got another bad review of the screenplay I wrote for my graduation film, which I’ve submitted to my school’s board. And so this My Week in Movies started at a low point. The film I chose to celebrate that feeling with was Celda 211, which I rented after missing it at the Jerusalem Film Festival. But despair not, people. From that point, things got better. I called a friend of mine and told him about my situation. He then convinced me to take my screenplay and shoot it independently with him as a producer. Doubtful at first, I was hesitating for 24 hours but suddenly began to understand that this is what I should do (and the films I stumbled upon, The Wanderer, Following and Bleeder, helped me realize that) . And so I decided to go solo and make my own short film outside the school’s domain. Between all those events I managed to see 9 films. Excellentos.
Celda 211 (Cell 211)
What a movie to nurse your depression with. This Spanish film – winner of 8 Goya Awards – presents the true story of a prison riot. At its center stands the character of Juan, a new prison guard who gets mistakenly identified as a prisoner and sucked in into the riot. The film is not as intense and violent as other prison films such as Bronson or Midnight Express (and next to Oz it looks like a Disney cartoon), but it has some very strong moments and solid performances by the two leads – Alberto Ammann as Juan and Luis Tosar as Malamadre, the dangerous leader of the prisoners who’s got nothing to lose.
The main problem is that the film seems to hide behind the “based on a true story” tag to allow some lazy screenplay moves which damage the over-all power of the film (Spoiler: Juan watches, accidentally, his pregnant wife being beaten on live TV. Right). Celda 211 makes for a good viewing, but hardly a necessity.
The Wanderer
This Israeli art-house feature, part of the Director’s Fortnight at the recent Cannes Film Festival, was the film that convinced me that I can do my own film on my, and nobody else’s, terms. This acclaimed film, not yet released anywhere, is one of the most boring pieces of cinema I’ve seen in a long time. It was the longest 88 minutes of the year for me.
The film is fixed on a young religious Jewish guy with a horrible pain in his testicles. I can’t tell you anything more, not for fear of spoilers but because literally nothing else happens. Even so, I can’t help singling out the director’s much appreciated uncompromising artistic view. He made the film he believed in and got accepted to Cannes. You have to admire that.
El Espiritu de la Colmena (Secrets of the Beehive)
I finally had the chance to watch this 1973 film, directed by Victor Erice, starring probably the most endearing girl in the history of cinema: Anna Torrent (take that, Shirley Temple). Oh, my god, she is so amazing. It is a slow paced film about two young girls in Spain of 1940. The film is regarded by some as the best Spanish film of the 70’s and I can understand why, though its magic didn’t worked on me 100% of the time. Beautiful cinematography and a haunting score are not enough when the film doesn’t seem to get anywhere. The most interesting thing was to realize how much this film had influenced Spanish directors throughout the years: think of the likes of Alejandro Amenabar and Juan Antonio Bayona.
The Pillow Book
I only now understand how art-house flavored this week was. Damn. This is the second Peter Greenaway film I’ve seen (the first was The Cook, The Thief, his Wife & her Lover). This film from 1996 is one of Ewan McGregor‘s first films. It tells the story of a young Chinese woman who’s obsessed with calligraphy and searches for men who can write on her body. Before you know it, it develops into a tale of revenge that includes suicide by drinking ink, skinning a dead body, writing on ears and tongues, and quite a lot of McGregor’s penis. Who would like to miss that? Greenaway’s cinema mostly makes the viewer feel stupid. You are not sure if it’s an indulgent piece of crap or beautiful art in its most divine shape. One thing’s for sure – entertainment has nothing to do with it.
Castillos de Carton (3some)
My third Spanish film of the week: Salvador Garcia Ruiz’s disappointing film about three art students who have a threesome going (in the line of The Dreamers and Band-a-Part). The film is magnificently shot with rich colors and texture but the script steps on every cliche it could find. The best thing about this film, though, is its mature approach to sex. Castillos de Carton is all about sex and it touches the subject with respect but not fear. The sex scenes and sex talk – about 75% of the film – did not embarrass me or make me uncomfortable. The narrative, on the other hand, did.
The Debt
The original version of the soon to be released film by John Madden. Wrote all about it here.
Following
To get ready for Inception, I watched the only film by Christopher Nolan I didn’t see yet, which is also his debut feature. Following is a black and white small twist flick along the lines of The Usual Suspects. Low budget, unknown cast (before and after the film) and Nolan as a writer, director, cinematographer and co-producer. I must say that I found myself bored more than once in this tricky tale of deception but, as in The Wanderer, could revel in the passion of this very young and unexperienced film-maker to make films, armed mainly with his own enthusiasm. The best thing about the film is that it got us Memento, and the rest is history. (Funny trivia: on the protagonist’s apartment door there’s the Batman sign. A premonition perhaps?)
Inception (spoilerless)
Anyone who can’t hear one word about Inception please raise a hand. I knew it. Let me say just this – Nolan’s best film since Memento with some of the best action sequences in the history of cinema. Kudos to the cast, editor Lee Smith and composer Hans Zimmer. Not sure yet if it’s just an incredible summer flick or an existential masterpiece, or both. Regardless of everything – it’s one amazing ride, go see it.
Bleeder
My next film is part of my unofficial Nicholas Winding Refn project. After watching 4 of his films last week, I rented his second feature Bleeder, which I can easily say is one of his best. The film is part of Pusher trilogy, yet different in his outlook on cinema. It is set around two main characters, a video-store clerk (Mads Mikkelsen) who spends all his life watching movies but never dares to do anything; and his friend (Kim Bodnia), a father-to-be with some self-control issues who actually lives in a gangster movie. Although it’s the director’s second feature, it seems much more appropriate as a debut film from the point of the maker’s obsessive love of cinema and reflexivity (the film starts with the a few minutes of the video clerk naming every single director in the store). Bleeder is one of the best films I’ve seen this week.
Next week, new movies, new adventures. The work on my project already begun and hopefully I’ll be more of a Refn sort who nailed it with his first project. You know what, I’ll settle for Nolan just as well. Doesn’t seem like a bad starting point either.
People, if you have something to say about any one of these films – be heard. Leave a comment.
The Words Laundromat. 