Genre: Drama
Director: Jang Hoon
Cast: Song Kang-Ho, Thomas Kretschmann, Yoo Hai-Jin, Ryu Jun-Yeol
Runtime: 2 hrs 17 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence)
Released By: Golden Village Pictures
Official Website:
Opening Day: 7 December 2017
Synopsis: May 1980. A Seoul taxi driver named Man-seob (SONG Kang-ho) comes across an offer too good to be true. If he drives a foreign passenger from Seoul down to Gwangju and back again before the curfew, he’ll be paid the unthinkable sum of 100,000 won – enough to cover several months of unpaid rent. Without stopping to ask the details, he picks up the German reporter Peter (Thomas Kretschmann) and sets off along the highway. Although stopped by police roadblocks at the edge of Gwangju, Man-seob is desperate to earn his taxi fare, and eventually manages to find a way into the city. There they encounter students and ordinary citizens taking part in large-scale demonstrations against the gov¬ernment. Man-seob, alarmed by the danger in the air, pleads with Peter to go quickly back to Seoul. But Peter ignores him, and with the help of a university student Jae-sik (RYU Jun-yeol) and a Gwangju taxi driver named Tae-sul (YOO Hai-jin), begins shooting with his news camera. As time passes the situation grows more and more serious, and Man-seob keeps thinking of his young daughter at home all alone.
Movie Review:
Other than in South Korea, and for people in that region during May 1980, not many may have known about the Gwangju Uprising, where hundreds, and some witnesses suggest thousands, of civilians were massacred during demonstrations against a military coup.
This state secret back then would have gone undocumented, if not for Jürgen Hinzpeter, a German reporter who risked his life to enter the lockdown area and capture uncensored footage of the killings. Part of his success also rested on an unlikely middle-class citizen - his Seoul taxi driver.
Jang Hoon spins the real-life tale into A Taxi Driver - where a self-centered cabbie, Kim Man-seob (Song Kang-ho), awakens to his heroic nature when he witnesses the bloodbath of his fellow countrymen during an unforeseen job.
The film starts by establishing the mercenary nature of Man-seob. He makes illegal u-turns just to avoid demonstrations because time is money for the efficient driver. When he heads home, we find out why - the widower is badly behind on his rent and is barely fulfilling his fatherly duties to his plucky young daughter. So he does what any logical person would do; borrow from his landlord - the shameless survival instinct is strong in this one. A good thing as he will require all of it in what happens next.
At an eatery, Man-seob overhears a private driver boasting about a job ferrying a foreign customer to Gwangju for a large sum of money, and the rascal feigns to be the assigned driver and picks up our reporter Jürgen (Thomas Kretschmann), who’s operating under the alias of Peter.
Motivated by the payout, Man-seob uncharacteristically jumps through risky hoops, past military barriers, into Gwangju, where he finds out the truth behind the lockdown.
A Taxi Driver has won many awards, including 4 “Best Picture Award” at international film festivals. It’s not hard to see why. It’s got a great premise, featuring two disparate characters building an unlikely bond, while facing and uncovering one of South Korea’s more horrific historical events.
Director Jang Hoon has displayed a deft hand in this movie. He approaches the grim affair with enough reverence, yet leaving details out to make it a more universal story of people versus power. He explores relationships between the characters, including a cheery student protester Gu Jae-sik (Ryu Jun-yeul) and a kindly Gwangju taxi-driver Hwang Tae-sul (Yoo Hai-jin), to evoke sympathetic emotions, but also launches us into grand stirring scenes of the crowd and how they band against a tyrant force.
All the actors bring it home with their performances, and even the occasional appearances by a protester becomes memorable when they later reappear. Song and Kretschmann though, do suffer a little at their own individual revelations.
I was never sure about Peter’s motivations at the riots. His initial decision seemed abrupt, then later noble, and yet during a dinner at his home stay with Tae-sul, he answers that question being financial. For an experienced reporter, he doesn’t seem very aware of his surroundings as well. He oddly chooses to film at open areas, putting his companions in danger from the military, including a persistent undercover agent. When he realises the extent of carnage in one scene, his breakdown seems unnatural and a convenient device for Man-seob’s return.
Man-seob fares a little better. His awakening is more nuanced, and Jang Hoon uses the veteran’s acting well to elicit emotional links from inanimate objects. However, the unwavering heroism he shows later does feel a little one-dimensional, pulling away some quotient of believability.
But A Taxi Driver has added a reasonable and helpful piece of fiction to the Gwangju Uprising event, and as far as a good story goes, completes the mission.
Movie Rating:
(A fictional retelling of the Gwangju Uprising focuses on two main actors, and is a well-balanced ride through one of South Korea’s darker events)
Review by Morgan Awyong
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CONNECTING THROUGH VR - INTERVIEW WITH SANDRA RODRIGUEZ & AARON WILSONPosted on 23 Nov 2017 |
Genre: Drama/Romance
Director: Isao Yukisada
Cast: Jun Matsumoto, Kasumi Arimura, Kentaro Sakaguchi, Onishi Ayaka, Furutachi Yutaro, Kamioka Miki, Seto Koji, Komaki Ryusuk, Kaneko Daichi, Ichikawane Mikako
Runtime: 2 hrs 20 mins
Rating: TBA
Released By: Encore Films and Golden Village Pictures
Official Website:
Opening Day: 14 December 2017
Synopsis: In the spring of her second year at university, Izumi (Kasumi Arimura) receives a phone call from the object of her unrequited love—her former high school teacher, Hayama (Jun Matsumoto). He requests for her help in one of her junior’s graduation performance for the drama club. During Izumi’s high school days, Hayama brought her out of her shell, and she eventually fell for him. Thrilled by the unexpected opportunity of seeing him again, Izumi is stirred with memories of Hayama, especially that of her own graduation day, and a secret that he had confessed to her then.
Movie Review:
‘Narratage’ tells of a love story between a high-school teacher and his teenage student, though that’s not nearly the most unsettling element about it. As those who are acquainted with the Rio Shimamoto bestseller on which this movie is based may tell you, the later parts of the story can either be genuinely touching or genuinely disturbing, depending on whether you embrace its idea of enduring love. But in order to even get to that two-hour mark of a very languidly-paced 140-minute film, you’ll have to be prepared to settle in real snug, or risk getting impatient, frustrated and even annoyed by the sheer lethargy at which it unfolds.
At the core of the story is the pair of lovers Izumi (Arimura Kasumi) and Hayama (Jun Matsumoto), who begin their dalliance when the latter invites the former to join his drama club after noticing that she cannot quite get along with the rest of her classmates. Izumi starts visiting Hayama at his office during lunch and unsurprisingly develops feelings for him. Notwithstanding, she only musters the courage to tell him how she feels on the day of her graduation, though he responds by asking her to find her own happiness instead. Hayama shares that he is in fact married, but that he is currently separated from his mentally ill wife, who had attempted to burn down their house before moving back to stay with her parents.
Like the novel, Isao Yukisada’s film employs a flashback-within-a-flashback-within-a flashback construction to portray their protracted romance – and by that, we mean there are a total of three distinct time periods over which their love unfolds, bookended by present-day scenes of Izumi poring over an antique pocket watch whose significance will become clear right at the end. Occupying the majority of the screen time are the events one year later after Izumi’s graduation, when the first-year university student receives a call from Hayama to help out at the drama club. Unsurprisingly, Izumi accepts the offer, but seeing Hayama again rekindles her feelings for him. Complicating their relationship is a fellow university student also helping out at the club, Ono (Kentaro Sakaguchi), whose feelings towards her she realises over time that she cannot wholeheartedly reciprocate.
Truth be told, watching Izumi go back and forth between Hayama and Ono is likely to earn the consternation of less than die-hard romantics. Although it’s clear that the film wants us to root for Izumi and Hayama to be together, it is difficult to sympathise entirely with any one of these three characters. On one hand, you have Izumi wavering between letting go of her love for Hayama and committing herself fully to Ono; on another, you have Hayama feeling torn between his commitment towards his wife and his feelings for Izumi; and on yet another, you have Ono getting manipulative with Izumi in order to win the full extent of her affections – one particularly vexing sequence sees Izumi calling Ono for help while walking home late at night after sensing someone stalking her, only to have Ono demand that she love him more in return first, leading her to feel disillusioned and find her way to Hayama’s place instead for solace.
The third and final time period of events happen a couple of weeks after a tragic incident involving one of the drama club students leaves the three of them devastated and thereafter detached from one another. Like we mentioned at the beginning, this is also the most ethically troubling part of the whole sprawling narrative, even we suspect for those who have bought into the love between Izumi and Hayama. On a purely emotional level, it’s understandable why the both of them would like to finally be able to consummate their relationship with each other; but in the context of Hayama deciding to play the dutiful husband who returns to his wife’s side in order to be with her, it almost completely changes how we think about him, and therefore leaving us feeling bitter at being led on to empathise with his predicament in the first place. To be sure, the fault of that last-minute twist doesn’t lie with the film’s helmer Yukisada or his screenwriter Anne Horiizumi, but it certainly affects our opinion of the movie as a whole.
Next to that, there is little to quibble about Kasumi or Matsumoto’s performances, which are sufficiently sincere and transparent. Ditto for the technical specs of the film, which under Yukisada’s supervision come off sleek and polished. Quite honestly, we can’t quite see ‘Narratage’ becoming a classic anytime, not like say Shunji Iwai’s ‘Love Letter’. Unless you confess yourself to be a die-hard romantic, this deliberately-paced, long-drawn affair will likely test your patience and thereafter your temperament. Certainly, the book has its fans who may love or hate the movie from their point of view, but for everyone else, you’ve been duly warned.
Movie Rating:
(Unless you count yourself a die-hard romantic, this story of unrealised affection, unrequited adoration and misplaced intimacy will test your patience and then your temperament)
Review by Gabriel Chong
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MM2 IN PRODUCTION ON 'MR KIASU' AND 'LIANG XI MEI' FEATURE FILMS, AND INVESTS IN NEW TALENT AND IPPosted on 29 Nov 2017 |
Genre: Martial Arts
Director: George Nolfi
Cast: Philip Ng, Yu Xia, Billy Magnussen, Wu Yue, Simon Yin, Terry Chen, Ron Yuan, Jingjing Qu, Lillian Lim, Xing Jin, Vincent Cheng, Vanness Wu
Runtime: 1 hr 36 mins
Rating: PG (Some Violence)
Released By:
Official Website:
Opening Day: 7 December 2017 (Exclusively at Cathay Cineplexes)
Synopsis: Set against the backdrop of 1960s San Francisco, BIRTH OF THE DRAGON is a modern take on the classic movies that Bruce Lee was known for. It takes its inspiration from the epic and still controversial showdown between an up-and-coming Bruce Lee and kung fu master Wong Jack Man - a battle that gave birth to a legend.
Movie Review:
Birth of the Dragon is sort of a half-baked Bruce Lee biopic that entertains purely as a martial arts B-movie. But to call this a character study on the pre-fame martial arts legend is just a plain insult.
George Nolfi (The Adjustment Bureau) directs from a script written by Christopher Wilkinson and Stephen J. Rivele and it centers on Bruce Lee (Philip Ng from Once Upon A Time in Shanghai) during his time as a sifu teaching martial arts to the whites in San Francisco before he breaks into Hollywood with The Green Hornet. And also the movie is partly inspired by the controversial fight between Lee and a fellow martial arts teacher Wong Jack Man who lives down the road. No less than six men however witnessed the widely debated sparring session and that includes Lee’s wife, Linda who is not represented in any form here (since this is not a movie authorized by the Lee Family).
To turn this supposedly no-holds-barred fight into a full-length feature, Birth of the Dragon ridiculously takes liberty with the entire affair and resort to making Wong Jack Man (played by Xia Yu of In the Heat of the Sun) into a disgraced Shaolin monk who forced himself into exile after nearly fatally hurting an opponent. While Wong’s intention is to come to San Francisco to relearn his ways, Lee assumed Wong is here to challenge him for teaching martial arts to the whites, an absurd and unexplained reason on the screenwriters’ part.
But Nolfi and probably the backers (we saw the flashing logos of low-budget production house, Blumhouse and WWE) have no confidence in relying on two relatively unknown Chinese actors to sell the movie that they have to resort on a relatively unknown white actor, Billy Magnussen to play the part of Steve McKee, a student of Lee who got himself into triad trouble after falling in love with one of Auntie Blossom’s girls.
The late Steve McQueen who at one point studied under Lee inspired the role of Steve McKee but this is no excuse to work a lame romance subplot into a movie on Bruce Lee. And other than providing some action eye candy, the ludicrous climax featuring Lee and Wong working together to storm the triad’s quarters is one hell of a joke.
A familiar face in HK productions, Philip Ng who migrated to Chicago when he was young fittingly plays the part of a young, cocky Bruce Lee given his Wing Chun, martial arts background and his co-star, Xia Yu is excellent as the philosophy-spouting monk. Again, both actors are totally wasted in this martial arts biopic made by angmohs despite their best efforts. Other notable faces include up-and-coming star Wu Yue (SPL 3) stars as the unfortunate Tai Chi master who fights against Wong in the prologue and pop star Vanness Wu in a laughingly blink-and-miss cameo.
Given Blumhouse’s notorious budget, the production value on the whole is decent at least 60’s San Francisco looks authentic enough to non-locals. The choreography by Corey Yuen and Philip Ng while not flashy is swift and engaging. What’s sorely lacking is an insight into the private fight between Bruce and Wong Jack Man. It remains buried for decades and apparently not a reliable account of the event is ever recorded. Birth of the Dragon attempts to justify having a movie based on it but it’s nothing other than a fictitious actioner that embarrassed even the decades old Rob Cohen’s Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story.
Movie Rating:
(Stay for the stars and action. Just don’t expect a Bruce Lee biopic)
Review by Linus Tee
Genre: Comedy
Director: Sean Anders
Cast: Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Linda Cardellini, John Cena, John Lithgow, Mel Gibson
Runtime: 1 hr 40 mins
Rating: PG (Some Sexual References)
Released By: UIP
Official Website:
Opening Day: 30 November 2017
Synopsis: In the sequel to the 2015 global smash, father and stepfather, Dusty (Mark Wahlberg) and Brad (Will Ferrell) have joined forces to provide their kids with the perfect Christmas. Their newfound partnership is put to the test when Dusty’s old-school, macho Dad (Mel Gibson) and Brad’s ultra- affectionate and emotional Dad (John Lithgow) arrive just in time to throw the holiday into complete chaos.
Movie Review:
‘Daddy’s Home’ was no classic, but Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg’s pair of duelling dads Brad and Dusty, there was enough odd-couple laughs to bring on the holiday cheer – and it seems, to justify a sequel as well. Again directed by Sean Anders, ‘Daddy’s Home 2’ ups the ante by adding another pair of contrasting dads, or to be precise, granddads. No less than John Lithgow and Mel Gibson have joined the ensemble, the former as Ferrell’s hugs-and-kisses touchy-feely dad Don and the latter as Wahlberg’s bad-boy womanising dad Kurt.
It isn’t hard to see where it is going; not only will Don and Kurt find it difficult to get along, their presence will also reignite the rivalry between Brad and Dusty, testing their new ‘co-dads’ arrangement for their two preteen kids Megan (Scarlett Estevez) and Dylan (Owen Vaccaro). Seeing as how this is meant yet again for the holidays, you can be sure that there will be a mawkish happily-ever-after at the end of it all – and let’s just say this one involves the 1984 Band Aid Christmas tune ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’ that was written for the African famine relief.
The script by Anders and returning co-writer John Morris packs the whole family off for an extended getaway up in an enormous cabin in the woods that Kurt has booked impromptu on AirBnb. Hijinks that ensue include a Christmas tree-cutting mishap, a runaway snowplow that rides a string of Christmas rides onto the roof of the cabin (and then crashes down on Dusty’s car), a wild turkey shoot that lands up with someone being shot in the shoulder, and last but not least a living nativity gone awry. Like the first movie, such mayhem-filled slapstick gags are its definition of funny, and while clearly over-the-top, they are at least fitfully amusing, in large part because Ferrell throws himself wholeheartedly into his usual buffoonery act.
Sustaining the momentum from one gag to another comes at the expense though of genuine character work, and though the emphasis here is on the importance of family relationships however trying they may be at times, it seems that the storytelling could well benefit from the very message it wants to impart. Except for a running gag involving Dylan’s crush on the girl-next-door that brings to the fore Brad and Dusty’s dissimilar parenting styles, too little regard is given to Dusty and Kurt’s unresolved issues, or Brad and Don’s strained relationship after the former discovers that the latter has been hiding a secret about his mother, or even the tension between Dusty and his new stepdaughter Adrianna (Didi Costine).
Ultimately, much of the movie’s charm rests on the brew of chemistry between its A-list cast. This is Ferrell and Wahlberg’s third film together (after the cop spoof ‘The Nice Guys’ and the first ‘Daddy’s Home’), and both actors work their routines like clockwork – one the earnestly clumsy oaf, and the other the perpetually exasperated tough-guy. Adding the granddads into the mix gives Ferrell and Lithgow some choice scenes together, such as their moments of physical affection and their stand-up comedy practices. There is less of that father-son bonding between Wahlberg and Gibson, the latter of whom is employed at times as an audience surrogate and therefore kept on the sidelines of the unfolding tomfoolery.
Yet as a holiday release, ‘Daddy’s Home 2’ does bring on the cheer, even though it is on the whole less consistently amusing as its predecessor. The jokes don’t always hit the mark, but the cast make them a lot more enjoyable than they probably are in substance. And of course, there is the cathartic feel-good ending, where John Cena shows up as Adrianna’s biological father and Liam Neeson turns up in a faux-Christmas thriller at the multiplex called ‘Missile Tow’. Oh yes, it plays entirely by formula all right, but you’ll find yourself chuckling along with the absurdity and inanity nonetheless, and remembering that at the end of it all, family makes all the difference.
Movie Rating:
(It doesn't always bring home the laughs, but there is enough good-natured humour, odd-couple chemistry and feel-good moments to leave you in a jolly Christmas mood)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Comedy/Martial Arts
Director: Yuen Woo-Ping
Cast: Aarif Lee, Da Peng, Ni Ni, Zhou Dongyu, Tse Miu, Wu Bai
Runtime: 1 hr 53 mins
Rating: PG (Some Violence)
Released By: mm2 Entertainment
Official Website:
Opening Day: 15 December 2017
Synopsis: Dao, a naïve young constable, discovers a secret society with supernatural abilities that has protected mankind for centuries. As he’s drawn into a power struggle within their ranks, they learn that an ancient creature with the power to destroy the world is rising - and it will take all of their powers combined to stop it.
Movie Review:
There are a few stalwarts in the Hong Kong movie industry, and two of them are in this film.
Tsui Hark’s hand in creating commercial cinema during the “Golden Age” is legendary. Both entertaining and original, his classics such as A Better Tomorrow, A Chinese Ghost Story and Green Snake have all been milestones of any Gen X’s cinema experience.
Yuan Wo Ping is the other heavyweight, and is renowned for his martial arts choreography in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Kill Bill, Ip Man and the Matrix trilogy. His innovative sequences rejuvenated the genre, keeping audiences riveted with his fresh treatments.
The Thousand Faces of Dunjia sees them as producer and director respectively, so expectations can hardly be faulted. The scale doesn’t disappoint because we transcend both galactively and spiritually spheres, but the storyline feels fragmented and occasionally aimless, and I think I know why. The fantasy action flick seems firmly handled with the F word in mind - I’m talking Franchise.
Let me first lay it out there - there is a sequel planned for this movie. That said, the film does provide closure with part one.
Dao Yichang (Aarif Lee) is the village’s newest constable. The motivated young man, thick-browed and sharp jawed doesn’t always play by the rules, but always does the right thing in the end. While fighting a criminal-turned-demon one day, he gets tangled up with Iron Dragonfly (Ni Ni), who subdues the imp and brings it back to her clan.
Turns out that an unspeakable evil force is gathering, and already demons both trapped in the earth and comets are emerging to prepare for its arrival. While this is happening, Dragonfly’s Wuyinmen clan hunts for their new leader, and clansman Zhuge Fengyun (Da Peng) sees hope in the form of Xiao Yuan (Zhou Dong Yu), a child-like waif locked up in a prison for an incurable disease. This flimsy urchin turns out (expectedly) to be their potential salvation.
While the film has lofty goals, featuring stunning sets and a plethora of characters, it’s not something that impresses all that much.
First of all, the plot feels like its setting up too much for the sequel, with story nuggets dropped but never picked up. Even when it does, such as the painting or the powerful sword, questions are still left unanswered. All this might be considered a purposeful cliffhanger, but it’s only a metre drop down. Without background or context, the tidbits answered with more jargon just leaves the audience uninvested in what’s coming. Maybe if Hark and Yuan had spent more time in fleshing out the story than focusing on distractions like piddling jokes or abrupt titles, The Thousand Faces of Dunjia would have had a better chance at being exceptional.
There’s also the matter of - the effects. CGI has come a long way, and even though Asian cinema has always struggled, in The Thousand Faces of Dunjia it’s like the whole team gave up. The renderings are so awkward with the scenes they are in, you never obtain the full wonder it’s meant to deliver. Blasphemously, they also ruined a lot of great action sequences. Half blocked by water serpents masquerading as blows, or fuzzy discs that spin so fast you can barely see what’s the damage, the impact meant to be delivered landed like an apology from SMRT - unbelievable and detached.
I will say the production design is still as gorgeous as ever, and the colours are trademark Tsui. Lush and romantic, it will no doubt still engage the visual senses. The actors also do a decent job of filling up their personas, though Lee and Da Peng do stand out for their natural performances.
Hark’s recent repertoire have received more box office success than critical acclaim, and it would seem that The Thousand Faces of Dunjia would continue that streak.
Movie Rating:
(Enjoyable enough but hardly hitting all the notes, this film would serve as good entertainment if you don’t need to keep track of what’s actually happening)
Review by Morgan Awyong
SYNOPSIS: After taking a job as a mall security guard, a former Marine steps up to protect a young girl who's being hunted by heavily armed mercenaries.
MOVIE REVIEW:
The production logline states that this is “Die Hard in a shopping mall”. For once, the marketing tagline is not that misleading from the final product. Security stars Antonio Banderas (The Legend of Zorro) as a grizzled, down-on-his-luck army veteran; Eddie Deacon who for some unexplained reason finds it hard to get a job after he got out of active service. The placement office at the last minute offers him an hourly paid security job at the local mall, which he willingly accepts.
It looks liked one hell of a dead end job for Eddie as he is surrounded by a show off head of security Vance (Liam McIntyre from The Flash), nerd Mason (Chad Linberg from Supernatural), drunk Ruby (Gabriella Wright) and Johnny (Jiro Wang from Taiwanese boyband, Farenheit). But when a young girl from the FBI witness protection program pounds on the door asking for help in the dead of the night, Eddie must round up his ragtag group of colleagues to fight against a deadly mercenary team led by the evil Charlie (Ben Kingsley).
Similar to our recently reviewed Netflix’s Wheelman, Security is set entirely over the course of one rainy night. Budget is obviously limited, as the mall looks more liked a soundstage than an actual mall. Even a comedy liked Paul Blart: Mall Cop has better dressing. While the production value misses the mark, not all hopes are lost. Security is supported by a breakneck pacing, decent action sequences and director Alain Descrochers actually devoted enough screentime to the individual supporting characters despite the fact that you will likely know not all of them will survive past the ending credits.
Banderas seems to vanish from big-budgeted Hollywood titles nowadays but here he is putting in more than a decent performance as an ex-soldier suffering from PTSD, something which the script hints of, though never really delves into. Here’s looking at you, Bruce Willis. Sir Ben Kingsley huffs and puffs liked the big bad wolf from The Red Riding Hood doing his usual villainous outing and MMA fighter Cung Le (The Grandmaster) appears as Dead Eyes, one of Charlie’s henchmen who gets to battle Eddie in the finale.
For a DTV release, Security is surprisingly entertaining from start to finish. The violence on the whole is pretty restrained and action more grounded than over-the-top cheesy which many DTV releases suffered from and its leading man is perfectly cast opposite his young co-star, Katherine de la Rocha. Thus despite the unconvincing looking mall, all the other reasons made this B-movie a recommended watch.
Review by Linus Tee
Genre: Drama
Director: Cédric Klapisch
Cast: Pio Marmaï, Ana Girardot, François Civil, Jean-Marc Roulot, María Valverde, Yamée Couture, Jean-Marie Winling, Tewfik Jallab
Runtime: 1 hr 54 mins
Rating: M18 (Sexual Scene)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website:
Opening Day: 23 November 2017
Synopsis: Jean is 30 years old and has spent the last decade travelling around the world. Now settled abroad, he is called back home to France to the bedside of his terminally ill father. It’s the end of the summer and the approaching grape harvest gives Jean the opportunity to reunite with his sister Juliette and his brother Jérémie to agree on the future of the family vineyard. Over the course of one year, the three siblings slowly rebuild their relationship, bonded by their genuine and vital passion for the craft.
Movie Review:
For those who perceived French cinema as high-brow, arthouse drama or can only recognises the faces of Audrey Tautou or Jean Reno should take a look at Back to Burgundy also known as Ce Qui Nous Lie, the latest drama from Cedric Klapisch who have earlier helmed Russian Dolls and Chinese Puzzle.
Klapisch who also co-wrote the screenplay celebrates three things in his story. First of all, family followed by reconnection and lastly good old fine wine. Can’t blame the guy for the latter, he is French after all.
Pio Marmai who kind of resembles the French version of American actor Oscar Isaac plays Jean, the eldest estranged son of a family who owned a small vineyard in the renowned region of France. When he learnt that his father is ailing, Jean returned to his family after a decade of living outside the country. His second sister Juliette (Ana Girardot) who is running the day-to-day business of the vineyard is suffering from a lack of confidence and his youngest brother, Jeremie (Francois Civil from As Above, So Below) feels frustrated by his rich and powerful father-in-law. Jean has his own set of problem as well, he has a wife, young son and a vineyard of his own waiting for him in Australia.
Beside their personal struggles, the siblings still have to cough up $500,000 for the inheritance tax which they clearly do not have. For a two hours movie, there are as many subplots to fill three movies but Klapisch balances everything nicely if not too overly perfect by the end of it though I must add it’s the wondrous journey that counts.
It’s all about the hard knocks in life that we see in Jean as he ponders between going back to his own family in Australia or sticks with his siblings during those difficult times. Juliette is the weakest among them emotionally but she is the one who really can’t bear the selling of the house and vineyard. Jeremie the youngest of the lot attempts to please his older siblings but have problems dealing with his filthy rich overbearing father in law. We see the siblings quarrel, they make up, they crack jokes, they quarrel again. The family dynamics between them are intoxicating and the three main cast members did a great job making audiences feel for them and that’s perhaps what makes this drama works.
There’s also bits and pieces of the wine making process as we see part-time harvesters being hired, jargons of the grape picking process being said and picturesque shots of the lush vineyard in various stages of the season and yes idiotic competitors lurking everywhere. Klapisch even throws in flashback sequences to showcase the siblings’ childhood. Still, these are just icing on an already delectable cake and nothing beats the message of how important family is no matter how hard life goes.
Movie Rating:
(An enjoyable French family drama not to be missed by even teetotallers)
Review by Linus Tee
Genre: Drama
Director: Ruben Östlund
Cast: Claes Bang, Elisabeth Moss, Dominic West
Runtime: 2 hr 22 mins
Rating: M18 (Sexual Scene and Some Coarse Language)
Official Website: http://sgiff.com/browse-all-films/square/
Opening Day: 26 November 2017 (28th Singapore International Film Festival)
Synopsis: Chief curator Christian and his team are working on publicising the X-Royal Museum’s latest acquisition – “The Square” – an artwork that defines a literal square within which everyone agrees to help one another. Meanwhile, he falls victim to an elaborate pickpocket ruse, and in a fit of pique, hatches a harebrained scheme to recover his belongings which quickly goes wrong. The Square serves up deliciously dark irony through Christian’s struggle to maintain his genteel image despite his own callous egoism. His personal drama is mirrored in the museum’s mission of bringing showy, bewildering contemporary art to the public, while aggressively courting gauche, wealthy patrons. Yet, the film is more than a critique of the art world and the self-righteous elite; it is at its most powerful when it threatens to break the veneer of civility, bringing the characters in confrontation with their flawed selves.
Movie Review:
There are many things happening in Ruben Östlund’s satirical drama, which won the Palme d’Or at the 2017 Cannesfilm festival. Amongst them, which in our opinion takes the prize for being the most baffling, is the scene of a chimpanzee walking around in a living room.
Here’s the scene: the male protagonist visits a female reporter’s apartment where he sees the chimpanzee but to his bewilderment, isn’t acknowledged by her. This is just one of the sequences that left us thinking after the end credits rolled.
The film takes on the world of contemporary art and shames it with the unabashed commerce, ego and – dare we say it – nonsense – that drives the industry. In the centre of this action is Christian, a dashing, classy and very likeable chief curator of an art museum in Stockholm. He has an upcoming exhibition to sell. The artist statement reads: “The Square is a sanctuary of trust and caring. Within it, we all share equal rights and obligations.”
Smell the bulls**t already?
Adding to the mix is a PR team who strongly believes in creating a social media campaign that generates controversy (are you ready to see a child being blown up?), a lost phone and a wallet (which leads to a very dramatic turn of events), a female reporter who hooks up with Christian after a hilarious one night stand (if you need to know, the hilarious scene involves a condom which almost broke) and a performance artist’s extremely awkward appearance at a gala dinner.
The ensemble cast is committed to their characters. Claes Bang is very charming as Christian, Elisabeth Moss (from TV’s Mad Men and The Handmaid’s Tale) displays her acting prowess as the opinionated female reporter, Dominic West (Money Monster) does a decent job with his limited screen time and stunt double. Delivering an unforgettably impressive performance is stunt coordinator/ double and movement coach Terry Notary who takes the limelight by role playing a wild animal at a dinner event where things go horribly wrong. Known for his motion capture performances in movies like Avatar, the Planet of the Apes reboot series and The Hobbit film trilogy, it is not difficult to see why he was cast in this small but pivotal role.
The 142 minute film wants to explore many issues. What is the real value of art? What role does PR play? Is social media’s influence getting out of hand? How do corporate values and self censorship go hand in hand? Are human beings turned on by power? While some themes are better approached than others, the film selected by Sweden for the Academy Awards’ Foreign Language category provides enough dosages of drama and comedy to leave viewers thinking about what happened on screen.
Movie Rating:
(This ambitious film will leave you with thought-provoking issues – you will have to watch it to decide whether you love or hate the 148-minute experience)
Reviewed by John Li at the 28th Singapore International Film Festival
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