Reviews - Foreign Language

2046 (Hong Kong - 2004)

Wong Kar Wai's follow up to the stunning In The Mood For Love is a much harder nut to crack. 2046 is the number of the hotel room where our hero from the first film has a lot of painful memories stored. It's also the year in which his new science fiction novel is set and events from that novel are dramatised and intercut with the main story, which I found a little hard to follow for much of the time. Also Tony Leung's character is harder to like in this film because he's now a philandering playboy. These issues aside the sheer quality of every aspect of Wong's filmmaking can't fail to shine through. This is a film which I'm sure will improve with each viewing.

4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days (Romania - 2007)

Pretty depressing and, one would assume, realistic look at the situation of trying to obtain, pay for and deal with the consequences of back-street abortions in Romania in the 80's. Shot in a very documentary like way, with no music and by the looks of it a lot of improvised dialogue this film provides an insight into the mechanics of the situation while also depicting the emotional impact of the journey the two girls we follow take, and the oppressive conditions under which the average citizen was living at the time. Overall this film accomplishes everything it set out to, with honesty and realism for which it deserves a lot of credit. It's fascinating to watch in the same way as witnessing an auto accident unfolding, but really it's no picnic to sit through, especially for those of a sensitive disposition.

Amelie (France - 2001)

Wonderful film by Jean Pierre Jeunet - of 'Delicatessen' fame. It's about a young woman who retreats into dreams when life gets her down. Audrey Tautou, who plays the titular character, gives a performance which can only be described as winsome. The rest of the cast is good too, and the director pulls everything off with a large dollop of panache. It's been a long time since I've seen an English language film as accomplished as this. Jeunet is one of these directors who has obviously seen a lot of movies in his time. This film has that passion about the filmmaking process plastered all over it.

Bad Guy (Korea - 2001)

An innocent young girl browsing in a bookstore comes across a wallet full of money lying on a stack of books. There's no-one around. The girl pops the wallet into her handbag. From this incident springs a lifetime of misery for the girl, which as it turns out was a set-up orchestrated by the 'bad guy' of the title. He effectively purchases the girl in exchange for no police involvment and gets her to sign her life away to him. As it turns out he's a pimp who runs a seedy whore house and the girl becomes an indentured slave and abused prostitute for rent to the citys psychopaths, drug dealers and gangsters for the rest of her days. That's certainly no picnic to witness but it's creepy that the girl oscillates between hating the guy and being devoted to him, and also that she developes an appreciation for her new occupation. 'Bad Guy' deftly illustrates how complex human psychology can be and how people can fashion the world into a grim and joyless place.

Bombon, El Perro (Argentina - 2004)

A film from Argentina starring a pudgy, balding fifty-something and a dog. It doesn't sound like much and nothing much happens but this is a real winner. Gregorio - the dog who plays the title role is either highly trained or a complete natural and Juan Villegas as the man who inherits him as payment for a favour is a joy to behold - again he doesn't do much, but I never tired of watching him plod along on his warily optimistic way through life. It's a short film by today's standards - just a shade over ninety minutes, and the pace is leisurely - it seems like a longer movie, but I for one would have been happy with another half hour or so of the same. A classy little feelgood movie.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Hong Kong - 2000)

Ang Lee's very well executed kung fu epic isn't really my cup of tea due mainly to the fact that most of the main characters can fly. I don't have a problem with kung fu films per se, but the kind that appeal to me tend to be more, ah down to earth, shall we say. I don't really understand the need for all the high-wire choreography... maybe I'm missing something. However, that's just a matter of personal taste. Technically, the film is excellent. The acting's good all round, especially Michelle Yeoh. Now if I could just get past this flying business.

Cyrano De Bergerac (France - 1990)

Edmund Rostand's heartbraking tale of unrequited love still stands head and shoulders above anything being produced today. Gerard Depardieu gives a barnstorming performance as a man who'll take on any amount of adversaries with a swagger and a grin, but who crumbles in the face of revealing his desire for the woman he loves due to having an unfortunately massive nose, about which he's very sensitive. When a new recruit in his regiment who's short on brains and long on libido falls for the same girl and asks his help to seduce her he agrees as he'll be able to say all the things he's wanted to say to her through someone else. But unlike all the modern sitcoms and movies using variations on this theme this film's ending is genuinely moving.

Downfall (Germany - 2004)

Powerful film detailing the unfolding of events in Hitler's inner sanctum during the final days of World War II as the Third Reich crumbles. Bruno Ganz is chillingly good as a Hitler who seems considerate and approachable at the start of the film but who becomes increasingly erratic and frenzied as events come to a head. This is professional filmmaking on a grand scale which tries to show not just the fuhrer's dilemma but each individual's plight and how they deal with events many of them have no control over. A nice companion piece to the likes of Schindler's List.

Failan (Korea - 2001)

Choi Min Suk is superb as a low level gangster who's instructed to marry a young Chinese girl who arrives in Korea for work. Initially put out at this inconvenient and dull assignment he quickly signs the paperwork and they part ways. The film becomes much more moving as we get to know the girl better. A thoroughly decent and hard working soul, all she wants is to make enough money to send some back home for her family. Over a period of time she suffers from the poor conditions she has to endure, contracts tuberculosis and slowly withers and dies. Min Suk is soon notified of her death and has to travel cross-country to identify the body. As he travels by train he goes through her personal effects and finds the journal she kept. By the time he reaches his destination he's fallen deeply in love with her. Obviously very sad as she's dead and he never did get to know her while she was alive. Indeed she was alone for the whole time with no-one to care for her.

Gomorra (Italy - 2008)

This gritty Italian film has been sweeping the awards circuits for the last couple of months and is a hot contender for the 2008 Best Foreign Film Oscar. It details, graphically and disturbingly, the clan warfare that exists between the various mob factions in an Italian slum. We follow drug and money runners - most of whom are young children, small time arms dealers and petty criminals along with supposedly respectable tradespeople and businessmen overworked, turning against their colleagues and families, poisoning the environment and generally taking a very short-sighted view of the world through circumstances beyond their control. The events are portrayed with a deal of authenticity and so make for a pretty depressing viewing experience. It's an accomplished and certainly very effective piece of filmmaking mind you, don't get me wrong - nice camerawork, good performances from a largely non-professional cast, and is brilliantly effective at conveying an atmosphere of all-pervading tension, stress and fear surrounding the characters and their tightrope-walk through life.

The Hairdresser's Husband (France - 1990)

This is a wonderfully engaging film featuring an affecting performance by Jean Rochefort as a man who has lusted after the local hairdresser and asks her to marry him on impulse one day. Surprisingly she accepts and they settle into a pictaresque life of contentment and happiness. The film lulls you into thinking it's going to just be a quirky little off-the-wall romance but then it pulls the rug out from under you at the end when things take a very dark turn and Rochefort's wife commits suicide. Both he and the audience are at a loss as to why she would do such a thing as they were both so happy in their lives. As it turns out she killed herself precisely because she was so happy. It's one thing to know that you may have driven your wife to suicide because you made her miserable, but driving her to suicide by making her too happy - that's a hard pill to swallow.

Hero (Hong Kong - 2001)

Lovely film to look at, featuring Jet Li as an assassin sent to kill a well-protected emperor. The structure of the film is one of a series of flashbacks, and even flashbacks within flashbacks all of which eventually reveal how it came to pass that he is the person chosen to carry out the assassination attempt and the justification for the emperor's murder. From a technical point off view it's almost flawless and it features an interesting and inventive colour scheme arrangement. Director Zhang Yimou has kept his cast of regulars around and they're all very good as usual, particularly Tony Leung. There's a fair amount of cgi trickery on show here and there's also a lot of high-wire fighting, but I'm getting the hang of that now.

L'Homme Du Train (France - 2002)

This is an interesting one. It's the new Patrice Leconte film - my favourite French director. It stars the delightful Jean Rocheforte as a lonely old retired teacher looking for a bit of intrigue and excitement in his twilight years by befriending the young gangster he bumps into who's in town to rob the local bank. Or is he? On the surface of it, this film seems like a straightforward tale about the meeting of two men and the relationship that developes between them. However there is, I believe, a whole other explanation for all the events that take place, and the more I think about it the more sense it makes: I think a good case could be made for the two men actually being Jean Rocheforte, and when you realise this the film can be seen in a whole new light. The old man is looking back at his past and imagining himself as a dangerous and interesting gangster, rather than the boring, staid French teacher he was. He sits in his old house talking to himself as that young man and imagining a whole scenario of heists and a criminal career that never was. He has an old-fashioned romantic notion of being a daring strong-but-silent man of action which comes from watching too many old thrillers, as he admits to himself one evening, and the events that take place in the film are shown as they are happening to Jean Rocheforte the teacher then again re-interpreted as Jean Rocheforte the gangster in his mind. Even if you disagree with this interpretation it's food for thought, and that's always a good thing in a film.

House of Flying Daggers (Hong Kong - 2004)

This is the follow up to last year's Hero - a very good film. In a lot of ways it's better than Hero but in other, more important ways it's inferior. To explain I'm going to have to give away the ending, so if you're planning on seeing it and you don't want to know what happens at the end of the film then don't read any further. There's a fundamental flaw in this film, I think and it is the fact that the ending we are presented with is really not the ending that the rest of the film is promising. The film is headed for a whopping great showdown between the protagonists and the members of the eponymous House and that showdown never materialises. Instead we get a very stylish, but kind of silly showdown between the three members of a love triangle in the midst of the quickest season change in history. I found this turn of events especially disappointing as I really enjoyed the rest of the film. The cinematography and set design is simply stunning - there's no other word to describe it. Everything else about the film is spot on, it's just disappointing that the ending wasn't what was advertised.

Infernal Affairs (Hong Kong - 2002)

Cracking police procedural featuring all of my favourite Chinese actors: we have Tony Leung as an undercover cop sent by chief of police Anthony Wong to infiltrate the gang of the local mob boss Eric Tsang. Meanwhile, cop Andy Lau is actually in the pay of the same mob boss to stay one step ahead of the police. The fact that both these characters latest mission is to find out who the mole within the organisation is makes for sustained tension as we the audience can see what's going on from both sides and can do nothing but sit back and watch events unfold. This clever setup increases the tense atmosphere and makes for a rewarding viewing experience.

In The Mood For Love (Hong Kong - 2000)

Wong Kar Wai's most accomplished film also features career best performances from Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung. Leung stars as Chow - a writer whose wife is having an affair with Cheung's husband. The two find out about these affairs and arrange to meet each other - to talk about how to deal with the situation, to have an affair themselves? - that's the question. Wong Kar Wai directs the film with a tremendous amount of poise and precision, Leung and Cheung capture the conflicting emotions they feel about each other and themselves perfectly and Christopher Doyle's distinctive cinematography all combine to make a complete package; that rare film that will stand close scrutiny and multiple viewings without wearing out it's welcome and should still be around decades after your Batmans and Die Hards have bitten the dust.

Irresversible (France - 2002)

Gaspar Noe's brutal movie about the rape and battery of a woman and it's consequences, told in a non-chronological manner and featuring some unconventional (to say the least) camerawork which may make you seasick at the beginning. But this is as nothing compared to how sick you'll be at the sheer brutality of the central rape scene. Monica Bellucci deserves a medal for her performance in this scene - it must have been really traumatising even though it was only actors doing their thing. This is the single most disturbing film I've ever seen and it stayed with me long after the end credits rolled. In fact it still pops unbidden into my head at random times years after I first saw it. The mysoginistic fervour displayed by Le Tenier (played by Jo Prestia) in the rape scene is absolutely monstrous, and all the more disturbing when you realise that there are prisons around the world full of men like this and thousands more roaming free.

I Stand Alone (France - 1998)

Gaspar Noe's first full length feature film gives the viewer a long look into the mind of a sociopathic butcher (played with a charged intensity by Philippe Nahon), during a period of psychic upheaval thrust on him by the mundane brutalities of an uncaring society. The reason this film is so disturbing is the way Noe realistically sets up a world so seedy and bleak that it's depressing enough in itself, then introduces a character who leads such a grim and humourless existence that it can't fail to send the viewer into a deep funk. And just when you're at your lowest ebb The Butcher - he has no name - snaps in such a visceral way that it almost takes your breath away. The problem for the viewer is that the majority of the film is seen from the point of view of a protagonist that despises the whole human race and we're forced to see the world through his eyes, and that's a really scary position to be in.

Jean De Florette (France - 1986)

Gerard Depardieu plays a kind and generous hunchback filled with a joi de vivre who dreams of making his fortune breeding rabbits. So he buys some land and sets about growing vegetables to feed his rabbits. Unbeknownst to him though the old man who owns the field next to him has diverted the natural spring that supplies depardieu's field with precious water so that his own crops will grow. Years pass and depardieu can't understand why he's so unlucky, when all the time he's being plotted against by the twisted old man and his sidekick. The terrible truth of the situation is never revealed to depardieu who dies penniless and broken, while montand becomes a wealthy man. Now that's harsh.

Kung Fu Hustle (Hong Kong - 2004)

Absolutely bonkers new film from Stephen Chow. Imagine a live action version of a Tom & Jerry cartoon crossed with a Bruce Lee film but where the whole cast is pumped up on PCP and steroids and armed with axes. Then imagine they all set about each other for ninety minutes. Add a choreographed musical number featuring some triads, a whole lot of CGI and a liberal dash of humour and you've got a really fun experience. It would be just another silly martial arts movie if it weren't for the bravado with which it's all pulled off. It's hard to imagine the level of ridiculousness required to top this film in terms of both sheer spectacle and utter daftness. Bravo!

Lady Vengeance (Korea - 2005)

Finale to Park Chan Wook's 'Vengeance' trilogy. It's the weakest of the three, I think but it's still a stylish and involving film. Choi Min Suk stars as a nasty child molester eventually brought to justice by the girl who served time for his crimes. I was expecting so much from this film after Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance and OldBoy that I suppose some degree of disappointment was inevitable. The acting is uniformly good, with Go Su Hee effective as the wronged accomplice out for revenge, and Choi Min Suk as good as always. I found the ending not nearly as satisfactory as the brilliant endings of both of the first two films but I think that says more about the quality of those than about this film.

The Lives of Others (Germany - 2006)

Brilliant film about the secret police in East Germany before the fall of the Berlin Wall. Ulrich Muhe stars as Wiesler, a Stasi agent sent to investigate the life of a famous liberal playwright and his lover. Stationed in the attic, Wiesler becomes more and more absorbed with every detail of the couple's lives and spending so much time around them his beliefs start to be challenged. Muhe's performance is captivating and is worth the price of admission alone, but even more than that the mood and the setting of East Berlin in the mid eighties is captured perfectly. This is a powerful film that provides a glimpse into a terribly oppressive situation suffered by a great many people and it does so with a great deal of subtlety and insight.

Malena (Italy - 2000)

Set in a small village in Sicily during the second world war. A beautiful young woman, played by Monica Bellucci, arrives in the village to be with her husband who promptly heads off to fight for Italy and is never heard of again. We follow Malena's trials and tribulations in her new life where the women scorn her relationship with her father and the young boys (and married men) lust after her. Malena, finding it hard to make ends meet succumbs to the offers of the men in the village in return for sexual favours, and when the village at large finds out about these circumstances they're filled with righteous indignation, shame, and finally a collective fury. The second half of this film is a dark and harrowing affair as the villager's torture and abuse Malena, and it's all the more shocking after enjoying the breezy style of the first half.

Night Watch (Russia - 2004)

A modern take on the vampire myth. The forces that control the daytime battle with the forces that control the night. The beginning of this film looks like one of those really professional looking adverts for European lager. After the first ten minutes or so it settles down to being a fairly engaging, if ultimately confusing vampires-on-the-run movie featuring some interesting ideas, some decent action scenes and some bizarre touches. Worth a watch.

Of Freaks And Men (Russia - 1998)

Truly bizarre film recreating the world of the underground pornographic film in the earliest days of cinema. The cinematography is very interesting; it's a kind of bile yellow sepia toned affair - very much reminiscint of early silent films. There's an odd story involving some sexual perversion, forced prostitution, blackmail, and a dash of intrigue for the more tenacious viewer to try and figure out but I just contented myself with drinking in the strange atmosphere and weird visuals. It's definitely worth seeking out though because the whole mix is richly entertaining if you're in an adventurous mood.

Oldboy (Korea - 2003)

Spellbinding film, about a man locked up for he knows not what, only to be released fifteen years later for the purpose of discovering who incarcerated him and why. Reminiscent of 'The Count of Monte Cristo' this is the second in Park Chan Wook's 'Vengeance' trilogy starring the brilliant Choi Min Suk as the man on a mission to unearth his past and piece his life together. This is first rate filmmaking of the highest order. I was hooked early on and for the entire duration of this fascinating and mysterious journey which builds to an inevitable and horrifying climax.

Open Your Eyes (Spain - 1997)

Very good film essentially about the nature of reality. A young playboy is disfigured in a car crash - or is he? - and has to learn to live with the consequences. How do we know what is real and what is a dream? A tour de force of editing and plot structure keeps the audience wondering throughout which events are real and which are imagined. Features a stunningly realised finale that'll mess with your head. The downside to all this is of course the fact that you'll have to put up with a dangerously high dose of Penelope Cruz - an actress who exudes irritatation from every pore.

The Orphanage (Spain - 2007)

I'm not one for horror films - used to be when I was young, but without that youthful innocence it's hard to sit through the crazy, nonsensical goings-on served up by horrormeisters these days. The Orphanage is a classy throwback though to a more subtle form of horror film than the brash, gory Hostels and Saws we have these days. This film is almost believable, which always helps a lot with horror films. The acting is good and the atmosphere of dark brooding tension really makes the experience of watching this film an extremely eerie and creepy affair. It seems that Guillermo Del Toro can almost do no wrong - every film he's done from Cronos onwards (with the exception of Mimic) has been excellent, and even though he didn't direct this film he's got his finger in the pie as producer. This is one of those films that's every bit as good as everyone says.

A Pure Formality (Italy - 1994)

Another fine film from Giuseppe Tornatore, this time featuring Gerard Depardieu being held captive by Roman Polanski at an old house in the country. We find out gradually through Polanski's interrogation that there's been a murder the previous night and that Depardieu is the prime suspect - especially considering he has no memory of what he was doing or how he arrived at the house in the middle of the night. Very dark, claustrophobic film, much of which the viewer may spend disorientated as to what's going on (as Depardieu feels). The interrogation itself is very well done, with all the action taking place in that one damp room and Depardieu giving another great performance. The revelation however is in Polanski's pitch perfect performance as the fastidious interrogator.

Pusher (Denmark - 1996)

Gritty film about a small time drug dealer who gets involved with the wrong type and pays dearly for it. The week starts off for our hero Frank with a drug deal that goes spectacularly wrong and for the rest of the week he's playing a desperate game of cat and mouse with the cops and a deadly game of catch up with the dealers higher up the food chain who are after the money he stole from them. I would say that this film seems pretty realistic as far as cinematic representations of the world of small time drug dealers goes, for what it's worth. First time director Nicolas Winding Refn extracts a fair amount of tension from the situation in which Frank himself and that tension is maintained for most of the film. A good first effort.

Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter... and Spring (Korea - 2003)

Very little dialogue, not too much of a story, only a few characters, subtitles. You might think that you'd be in for a tough time of it as far as staying awake and interested goes, but you'd be dead wrong and you'd be a fool not to take the chance and watch this stunning piece of cinema from seasoned director Kim Ki Duk. It looks at the life of a boy from the time he's taken in by an old monk in a temple floating on a lake through his life under the monk's tutelage to his return to the temple many years later where he assumes the mantle of wise old sage. The film is worth the price of admission simply for the breathtaking scenery and stunning cinematography, but it has much to say about life, and about human nature too. A bit of a masterpiece.

Sympathy For Mr.Vengeance (Korea - 2002)

Stylish tale of a young deaf and dumb boy's frantic search for a kidney for his sister and the consequences of his bungled attempts at kidnapping to raise the money to buy one. A ruthless industrialist's pursuit of the boy and their inevitable showdown is all shown in grisly but poetic detail. Song Kang Ho is excellent as the man who's daughter the young boy kidnaps as is Shin Ha Kyun as the young protagonist. First film in director Park Chan Wook's 'Vengeance' trilogy is a gripping odyssey through the seamier side of Korea.

Three Colours: Blue (Poland - 1993)

First of Krzysztof Kieslowski's three colours trilogy stars Juliette Binoche as a woman trying to deal with the death of her husband and child. She decides to withdraw from the world and live a life of solitude in Paris but friends from her past keep reaching out to her and she gradually is drawn back to the real world and the people who care for her. A moving film featuring an intense performance from Juliette Binoche as the grief-stricken central character. Kieslowski's subtle use of blue in many clever ways subconsciously evokes a sympathy for the central character's lonely plight and cold state of mind. A quiet and intense experience if you're feeling in a melancholy mood.

Timecrimes (Spain - 2007)

This is one of those films that a lot of people - myself included - will feel the need to watch at least another couple of times after the first viewing, not because it's a stylish, dazzling spectacle with amazing pyrotechnics (it's well put together but there's none of that stuff here) or that the acting is terrific (it isn't) but because it's an exquisitely intriguing scenario that will usually spark off endless debate between viewers trying to figure out the exact sequence of events. It messes with your head in a way that makes you want to watch it again to try and sort it all out. It's reminiscent of Shane Carruth's 2001 film Primer in that it's a no-frills low budget movie concerning the real-life implications of time travel but takes a more entertainment friendly route whereas Carruth's movie gives no quarter. It's a fun movie and yes, there are a couple of things that just don't add up about the whole thing, but then again time travel seems to be a subject that throws up a paradox or two no matter how you go about it so get your thinking cap on and enjoy the ride, because this is well-made and very good fun.

Zatoichi (Japan - 2003)

New 'Beat' Takeshi Kitano film, and in this one he has a stab at the Blind Swordsman story. Kitano himself, sporting a bleached white head of hair, plays the title role with a nice sense of the absurd. The action scenes are short and sweet, with lots of cgi blood-spurts and flying limbs, and there's a nice sense of humour running throughout the film, with villagers having the odd accident with those big unweildy swords, and the occasional maniac hurtling through the frame screaming at the top of his lungs for no apparent reason. However, this all pales when compared to the Brazilian Riverdance all the villagers break into at the end of the film, which just tops the whole thing off on a truly bizarre note. A hugely enjoyable chunk of fun.