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Friday, November 29, 2013
My Travels And A Little Bit of This And That: Thoughts on Catching Fire
My Travels And A Little Bit of This And That: Thoughts on Catching Fire: First a little disclaimer went to see Catching Fire a couple of days after having been to see 12 Years a Slave, you can't help but compa...
Thoughts on Catching Fire
First a little disclaimer went to see Catching Fire a couple of days after having been to see 12 Years a Slave, you can't help but compare even though the two are entirely different genres. Nevertheless after the powerful moving film which is 12 Years it's difficult not to make comparisons, even unfair ones.
I went to see the first Hunger Games film without having read the books, knowing only the broad outlines gleaned here and there. The film was dynamic, the story was well laid out, its simplicity was appealing and suited the unfolding events.In the second film Jennifer Lawrence is still incendiary as the main character Katniss Everdeen the oh so reluctant "revolutionary". The plot takes off from the film with Katniss back in her district living in better digs as befits her role of champion. Ditto for her fake game boyfriend Peeta. Throughout the film she will continue to oscillate, feelings wise, between him and her District boyfriend Gale. She tries reassuring Gale by telling him "it was all a game" she did what she had to do to survive. Here's the irony by allowing Peeta and herself to survive she has become the powerful if unknowing leader of a potential rebellion a title which she fervently doesn't want and doesn't really understand.
The first part of the film is very slow with repeated televised appearances of the most famous couple the Games has ever produced. There are also visits to the various districts to honor the fallen tribunes. This ostensibly to please the masses and make them forget about their miserable lives under an intrusive ever present totalitarian dictatorship headed by the oily and ubiquitous President Snow played with some relish (of the pay check variety ) by Donald Sutherland.
President Snow is perturbed at the idea that Katniss especially is inspiring the masses in ways he had not anticipated, he wants to be the ultimate manipulator of the games and its aftermath. I had a problem with this basic premise. The author Suzanne Collins probably does a much better job of delineating how suffocating the lives of most people under this dictatorship must be and what a breath of fresh air Katniss certainly must have been. It's difficult to see that playing out in the film. There are a few gestures of futile acts of rebellion such as the three finger salute to the mouth and the hand holding by tributes past winners who will now be pitted against each other in a novel twist on the old game. Current leitmotif, the games never end, either in one's head or in reality. They are always there for the one percent's enjoyment. The three finger salute is too reminiscent of the Nazi salute to be totally effective even though in this case the salute is an act of defiance rather than obedience. Nevertheless the salute coupled with the heavily borrowed decor straight out of Nazi propaganda films was enough to turn me off thus not achieving its intended purpose at least not for me.
One hour into the film the action does get under way with the games although I never felt that Katniss was in mortal danger knowing another two film episode (a la Twilight) will soon be coming to a Cineplex near you. The idea that the masses are unwilling to rise up because they lack cohesive leadership is lightly touched upon in the film with the mockingbird being the ultimate symbol of the rebellion were it to emerge under the leadership of an extremely reluctant Katniss. In so far as spectacle is concerned the film delivers on a minor scale with special effects that don't overwhelm the story. I loved the wedding dress segment, truly beautiful and the makeup and costumes are still fabulous. Most of the same players are back with the addition of Philip Seymour Hoffman, always delightful, although frankly he could probably play this role in his sleep since it doesn't demand too much of him. This is mostly Lawrence's film and there's no doubt she will set the box office on fire with this second installment. For my part a lukewarm endorsement I would give it a 6.
I went to see the first Hunger Games film without having read the books, knowing only the broad outlines gleaned here and there. The film was dynamic, the story was well laid out, its simplicity was appealing and suited the unfolding events.In the second film Jennifer Lawrence is still incendiary as the main character Katniss Everdeen the oh so reluctant "revolutionary". The plot takes off from the film with Katniss back in her district living in better digs as befits her role of champion. Ditto for her fake game boyfriend Peeta. Throughout the film she will continue to oscillate, feelings wise, between him and her District boyfriend Gale. She tries reassuring Gale by telling him "it was all a game" she did what she had to do to survive. Here's the irony by allowing Peeta and herself to survive she has become the powerful if unknowing leader of a potential rebellion a title which she fervently doesn't want and doesn't really understand.
The first part of the film is very slow with repeated televised appearances of the most famous couple the Games has ever produced. There are also visits to the various districts to honor the fallen tribunes. This ostensibly to please the masses and make them forget about their miserable lives under an intrusive ever present totalitarian dictatorship headed by the oily and ubiquitous President Snow played with some relish (of the pay check variety ) by Donald Sutherland.
President Snow is perturbed at the idea that Katniss especially is inspiring the masses in ways he had not anticipated, he wants to be the ultimate manipulator of the games and its aftermath. I had a problem with this basic premise. The author Suzanne Collins probably does a much better job of delineating how suffocating the lives of most people under this dictatorship must be and what a breath of fresh air Katniss certainly must have been. It's difficult to see that playing out in the film. There are a few gestures of futile acts of rebellion such as the three finger salute to the mouth and the hand holding by tributes past winners who will now be pitted against each other in a novel twist on the old game. Current leitmotif, the games never end, either in one's head or in reality. They are always there for the one percent's enjoyment. The three finger salute is too reminiscent of the Nazi salute to be totally effective even though in this case the salute is an act of defiance rather than obedience. Nevertheless the salute coupled with the heavily borrowed decor straight out of Nazi propaganda films was enough to turn me off thus not achieving its intended purpose at least not for me.
One hour into the film the action does get under way with the games although I never felt that Katniss was in mortal danger knowing another two film episode (a la Twilight) will soon be coming to a Cineplex near you. The idea that the masses are unwilling to rise up because they lack cohesive leadership is lightly touched upon in the film with the mockingbird being the ultimate symbol of the rebellion were it to emerge under the leadership of an extremely reluctant Katniss. In so far as spectacle is concerned the film delivers on a minor scale with special effects that don't overwhelm the story. I loved the wedding dress segment, truly beautiful and the makeup and costumes are still fabulous. Most of the same players are back with the addition of Philip Seymour Hoffman, always delightful, although frankly he could probably play this role in his sleep since it doesn't demand too much of him. This is mostly Lawrence's film and there's no doubt she will set the box office on fire with this second installment. For my part a lukewarm endorsement I would give it a 6.
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Thoughts on film 12 Years A Slave
At this point I'm mostly writing these reviews for myself. I have tried to enter the very busy milieu of blogger.com which is especially crowded with film reviews from people, I suppose like myself, who are trying to pass themselves off as film critics. Unfortunately film criticism, not so long ago considered an art form, has fallen into disrepute due to overuse by zealous yet unqualified people. The worst offenders are not the bloggers but actual film websites which still appear to attract scores of curious readers and feature more or less prominently on IMDB the go to search engine for films. It's a bit puzzling since a lot of the writing is shoddy at best, at worst it's downright awful. I suppose it's the cult of the dumb and dumber. Culturally we're all slowly succumbing to it whether we want to or not whether we partake in it or not, it's out there like a malevolent bacteria and it will only keep growing.
Since I'm mostly writing for myself I won't excuse my overindulgence in the previous paragraph, a little ranting goes a long way.
Some films one can immediately form an opinion about, good, bad, horrible yet enjoyable or downright awful and to be avoided at all cost. Other films require a separate category of their own I believe 12 Years A Slave to be that kind of movie. It's uncompromising yet not exploitative and beyond its obvious artistry it is trying to capture a terrifyingly malevolent period in American history a period which can never be condoned, rationalized or brushed aside for there can never be an excuse for slavery. That such an important part of American history has been the subject of so few deeply serious films is in a sense understandable for who wishes to confront what can only be viewed as the absolute worst in people, white people, supremacists mostly ignorant and abject creatures who because of their whiteness and because slavery was legitimately sanctioned by the state experienced absolutely no remorse at the enslavement of another. Quite the opposite in fact they were almost gleeful in the intoxicating power they derived from it. The film is very clear on this, as a spectator I felt shame and revulsion not because the film was raw in its violence but because it was true.
From the opening frames when we first see Solomon Northup we know that something horrible has happened to him and to the others with him. The flashbacks to his former life only confirm that, making his present situation all the more horrendous and brutal. Previously Solomon was a young violinist player living a peaceful semi-bourgeois life in upstate New York with his young wife and two children, a son and a daughter. We see him going about the town enjoying the respect of the townsfolk, he's at ease in his surroundings, well accepted one might even say well liked. He has all the prerogatives of a free man even though he is black. All this comes to an abrupt end when he is tricked into accepting to play music for a traveling circus. Lulled into a sense of ease and familiarity Northup has no reason to suspect that the two men have something else in mind. Drugged he wakes up to find himself in chains in a holding pen where slave traders beat him into submission before shipping him off along with other slaves to be sold like chattel to the highest bidder.
Chiwetel Ejiofor gives the performance of a lifetime in the role of Northup. It's unbearable to watch him trying to hold on to his former educated self in the midst of unceasing pain, brutality and generally dehumanizing treatment. Traded, beaten, hung and forced to an unspeakable act himself he still manages to maintain an innate dignity never losing sight of the fact that he was once free and will be free again.
The director Steve McQueen well known for uncompromising works such as Hunger and Shame resists all attempts at sentimentality. Still using his "muse" Michael Fassbender in the role of Epp the most brutal of Northup's masters McQueen is able to draw a powerful fearless performance from Fassbender. He was so terrifying that I literally held my breath every time he came on screen. The other actors also acquit themselves well although Benedict Cumberbatch only has a minor role as a master who recognizes and approves of Northup's intelligence although, in the end, he does nothing to stop Northup's inevitable decline into ever more increasing brutality by selling him to Epp. Brad Pitt who also produced has a brief but pivotal cameo towards the end of the film He's too well known by now to play anything other than himself, that's the price an actor pays when one becomes such a global commodity and phenomenon.
The end couldn't come soon enough for me. Not the end of the film but the end to Northop's calvary. I was moved to tears at Northop's reunion with an aged wife, son and daughter as well as a brand new grandson, 12 years of hell it's been a long time coming. See it, highly recommended.
Since I'm mostly writing for myself I won't excuse my overindulgence in the previous paragraph, a little ranting goes a long way.
Some films one can immediately form an opinion about, good, bad, horrible yet enjoyable or downright awful and to be avoided at all cost. Other films require a separate category of their own I believe 12 Years A Slave to be that kind of movie. It's uncompromising yet not exploitative and beyond its obvious artistry it is trying to capture a terrifyingly malevolent period in American history a period which can never be condoned, rationalized or brushed aside for there can never be an excuse for slavery. That such an important part of American history has been the subject of so few deeply serious films is in a sense understandable for who wishes to confront what can only be viewed as the absolute worst in people, white people, supremacists mostly ignorant and abject creatures who because of their whiteness and because slavery was legitimately sanctioned by the state experienced absolutely no remorse at the enslavement of another. Quite the opposite in fact they were almost gleeful in the intoxicating power they derived from it. The film is very clear on this, as a spectator I felt shame and revulsion not because the film was raw in its violence but because it was true.
From the opening frames when we first see Solomon Northup we know that something horrible has happened to him and to the others with him. The flashbacks to his former life only confirm that, making his present situation all the more horrendous and brutal. Previously Solomon was a young violinist player living a peaceful semi-bourgeois life in upstate New York with his young wife and two children, a son and a daughter. We see him going about the town enjoying the respect of the townsfolk, he's at ease in his surroundings, well accepted one might even say well liked. He has all the prerogatives of a free man even though he is black. All this comes to an abrupt end when he is tricked into accepting to play music for a traveling circus. Lulled into a sense of ease and familiarity Northup has no reason to suspect that the two men have something else in mind. Drugged he wakes up to find himself in chains in a holding pen where slave traders beat him into submission before shipping him off along with other slaves to be sold like chattel to the highest bidder.
Chiwetel Ejiofor gives the performance of a lifetime in the role of Northup. It's unbearable to watch him trying to hold on to his former educated self in the midst of unceasing pain, brutality and generally dehumanizing treatment. Traded, beaten, hung and forced to an unspeakable act himself he still manages to maintain an innate dignity never losing sight of the fact that he was once free and will be free again.
The director Steve McQueen well known for uncompromising works such as Hunger and Shame resists all attempts at sentimentality. Still using his "muse" Michael Fassbender in the role of Epp the most brutal of Northup's masters McQueen is able to draw a powerful fearless performance from Fassbender. He was so terrifying that I literally held my breath every time he came on screen. The other actors also acquit themselves well although Benedict Cumberbatch only has a minor role as a master who recognizes and approves of Northup's intelligence although, in the end, he does nothing to stop Northup's inevitable decline into ever more increasing brutality by selling him to Epp. Brad Pitt who also produced has a brief but pivotal cameo towards the end of the film He's too well known by now to play anything other than himself, that's the price an actor pays when one becomes such a global commodity and phenomenon.
The end couldn't come soon enough for me. Not the end of the film but the end to Northop's calvary. I was moved to tears at Northop's reunion with an aged wife, son and daughter as well as a brand new grandson, 12 years of hell it's been a long time coming. See it, highly recommended.
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