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BLADE RUNNER 2049

 

24th October 2017

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This is a very powerful film. Its imagery is very dark, set in a dystopian (not that distant) future, which is perfectly and unsettlingly portrayed. Like the original classic, this film works on many levels. There is social comment and there are parallels by the bucket-load. It is neo-noir and follows film noir sensibilities in its use of darkness and shadow, the femme fatale and the moral uncertainty of the male lead. Ryan Gosling is excellent as K, later Joe K, which also happens to be the central character in Kafka’s The Trial. He is brutal at first but then I felt he evoked sympathy more than anything.

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It is a long film, two and a half hours, and though there is certainly action in it, it is far from being an action piece. There are long scenes of dialogue when often not a great deal is said. There is also a rather odd sex scene and some kinkiness.

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Harrison Ford doesn’t appear for a long time and it isn’t his film; he is a guest. It is undeniably Ryan Gosling’s film. I last saw him in La La Land and this completely contrasting role just shows what a convincing and diverse actor he is.   

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This isn’t easy viewing; it challenges the viewer and its unusual pacing echoes the first film. I’m not even sure I understand every aspect of it, but I felt satisfied at the end and enriched for having seen it.

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And finally, the music was very fitting, stirring and very powerful, but never intruding except where it was supposed to.

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Like all good films, Blade Runner 2049 left me wanting more.

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JACKIE

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12th February 2017

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John F. Kennedy was the 35th President of the United States. As the world knows, he was assassinated on Friday 22nd November 1963, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas. This film, by Chilean director, Pablo Larrain (his first film in English) centres around the aftermath of the assassination and how his wife, Jackie, deals with the situation and takes control of the funeral arrangements.

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Natalie Portman plays a very acutely studied Jackie Kennedy. (If you watch footage of the real Jackie Kennedy on Youtube the likeness is uncanny.) Unfortunately, despite this award-nominated (and well-deserved) performance, the film is quite difficult on several counts. Firstly, it is painfully slow and there is actually very little content.  It basically amounts to: JFK gets assassinated; Jackie plans his funeral; the end. It isn’t told in chronological order, jumping backwards and forwards in time, and is framed and interspersed with an interview Jackie gives to a journalist, in which she stipulates that she will have the final say over which of her revelations he may or may not print. It comes across that she is keen to create a suitable history, rather than an accurate one.

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Jackie, herself, comes across as an unknown quantity. I wasn’t sure whether we were supposed to find her calculating, manipulative and sensation-seeking or genuine, resourceful and proud - a strong woman who should be applauded. I don’t think the film really knows which story it is chiefly trying to tell. Her decision to remain in clothes stained with her husband’s blood and brain-matter and be photographed by the world’s press, is either a brave choice, wanting to show the world the brutal horror of the situation, or stage-managed to ensure her photograph is featured on the front page of every newspaper. Jackie Kennedy in a blood-stained pink Chanel suit has become one of the most enduring images of the ‘Sixties.

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Repeatedly, the film recreates shots from a documentary that Jackie made some time before the assassination, giving a guided tour of the White House, based on a real documentary and startlingly accurate, but it isn’t clear whether this is a woman passionate about the history and the architecture of the White House or a woman who enjoys the limelight.

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Her attitude towards her two children is decidedly odd. No genuine feelings of a mother’s love come across and they seem to be incidental to her life and motivations.

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After the funeral, Jackie speaks with a priest, played by John Hurt. She confesses to him that her choice to walk alongside the coffin, despite concerns from security staff, was all about her, rather than honouring JFK.

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Finally, towards the end of the film, a re-enactment of the fatal shooting is shown. It is very graphic and by this stage it is out of context and just not necessary. It seems mis-placed and rather gratuitous. The disrupted narrative of the film, for me, makes it irritating and disjointed and that much more difficult to become engaged with.

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I didn’t enjoy this at all. Judging from the impatient shuffling in the cinema, neither did most of the audience. It is far too long and – despite the very realistic portrayal by Portman – it just isn’t very interesting. The assassination of JFK is a world famous and world-shattering event; it shouldn’t be possible to make a film about it so boring or so seemingly pointless. I found it badly-paced, badly constructed and obtuse. I know less about the real Jackie Kennedy now, than I did before I entered the cinema.

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ROGUE ONE – A STAR WARS STORY

 

7th February 2017

 

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CONTAINS SPOILERS! (But come on, if you’re going to watch this you already have!)

 

I’m not a massive Star Wars fan at all. I did enjoy the original film, which was confusingly tagged Episode IV, and even more confusing, sometimes subtitled A New Hope. This was a simple but solid adventure yarn of good versus evil; a fable for our times – and indeed all times. I found each of the sequels quite disappointing, especially the previous one, Episode VII – The Force Awakens, which seemed to be a partial remake of the original with a rather rubbish, spoilt-child villain, who was like a watercolour version of Darth Vader. I was underwhelmed and rather bored.

 

I knew very little about Rogue One before I went in, but it is a prequel to the original film, so it is very much an origin story. It is, of course, set a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away; the galaxy is run by the oppressive Empire who have developed a new super-weapon, the planet-destroying Death Star. A group of rebels are trying to smuggle secret plans to ensure its destruction.

 

I thought the story of Rogue One was a good one, though at first I found the narrative was leaping from place to place, setting up various elements, but in a rather clumsy manner, because it smacked of exposition and could have been much more seamlessly handled.

 

There are a few homages to the franchise, but very subtle so they don’t get in the way. The famous Cantina from the original film is recreated. Previously, this was the only low-point for me and featured various ludicrous Muppets getting drunk and having fights. Here the aliens are very well realised and mainly comes across as very credible.

 

One of the major surprises was the appearance of Peter Cushing, reprising his role as Grand Moff Tarkin. Except of course he isn’t really reprising it at all. It is so well done I assumed it was a lookalike actor, but apparently it is painstaking CGI, which is flawless. Tarkin is no pantomime baddie like Darth Vader; he is quietly ruthless and much more grounded in reality. It seems odd that Peter Cushing, a quiet and gentle man… and indeed, a gentleman, so often played unhinged or sadistic characters. It was a joy to see him and the recreation is very tasteful.

 

R2D2 and C3PO make a brief cameo… I was expecting them to have major roles, however, I didn’t miss them, as the starring droid, K2, is brilliantly played, has some very funny dialogue and looks excellent. He is uppity, like C3PO, but much less affected and prissy.

 

Once properly underway, the story is very well-paced and the action scenes are exceptional; they are properly set up without being levered-in, gratuitous set-pieces, which is so common today.  The special effects, at all times, are amazing.

 

This was my first experience at an IMAX cinema; I have to say, although the 3-D worked brilliantly for the characters and anything in the foreground, I found the backgrounds to be compromised and completely out of focus, so it didn’t feel like I was actually there – as they had promised – it looked like I was watching a 3-D film. For me, old fashioned 2-D will do just fine. Yes, it’s available in 2D as well. Ah, 2D too – you might say.

                                                                                             

BIG SPOILER ALERT!

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I loved the way this plot came together at the end and led up to the start of the original film, with the Star Destroyer chasing the rebel ship and Darth Vader seeking the plans for the Death Star from the rebels. Best of all was that Carrie Fisher appears as Princess Leia. At first, she has a veil over her face, then her back to the camera –  and for a moment I was horrified, because it looked like that was all we were getting and it just seemed so cheap and nasty and such a cop out, but then she removes the veil and there is Carrie Fisher, a nineteen year old with the barmcake hairstyle and everything. Like the Cushing CGI, this is amazingly done. Apparently, Carrie Fisher had been consulted all along the way and was thrilled with the results. For the viewer though, it is a very poignant moment, because of her untimely death in December last year. It ends the film at a great moment, a happy moment (for us), as we know that this is where the adventure begins.

 

Less happy, is the fact that the members of the Rogue One crew, the stars of this film, die. Every single one of them. I didn’t see that coming. It was quite shocking, but war is hell. The Princess Leia moment though, came after their deaths and eclipsed them, so I felt they were gone and forgotten. Their part in this epic was swept under the carpet, which left me with a rather bad feeling.

 

As I said, I am not a Star Wars fan. It was an afternoon showing and I shared the cinema with only four other people… and I think I was the only one who hadn’t seen Rogue One before. But I can’t knock them… This is an absolutely brilliant film and I would go back and watch it again tomorrow.

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directed by Chilean, Pablo Larrain, and is his first film in Englishdirected by Chilean, Pablo Larrain, and is his first film in English