Dailies (Film/DVD)—January 2007
A roundup of the current best and rest in film and DVD. In this installment: Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, A Mighty Wind; Oliver Twist, Offside, China Blue.
Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show,
A Mighty Wind (Warner Bros, $9.95 until 14/3/07)
“We have so much in common, we both love soup and snow peas, we love the outdoors, and talking and not talking. We could not talk or talk forever and still find things to not talk about,” Best in Show. “There was abuse in my family, but it was mostly musical in nature,” A Mighty Wind. Director, co-writer, co-composer and star, Christopher Guest is hysterical as Waiting for Guffman’s pretentious, preening Corky St Clair; a gay thespian from off Broadway, who washes up in small town, yokel America — Blaine, Missouri. Without Blaine (fictional, but 100% the real thing), America’s finished, Blaine’s mayor says. He adds, naturally Blaine’s “sesquicentennial” or 150th anniversary celebrations will be the future American standard. For the celebration’s centrepiece, Corky is charged with creating a musical “Red, White, and Blaine”; charting Blaine’s history for make benefit glorious Blaine citizens. Such as in 1946, when Blaine hosted America’s first UFO and citizens were invited aboard for a potluck dinner and “probing.” Waiting for Guffman follows the evolution of this anti-masterpiece musical to its performance whilst sharply satirising everyone from Blaine (think The Simpsons). The ensemble cast, most who have worked together on a lot of other films, is uniformly accomplished and amusing. Eugene Levy (better than as Jim Dad’s in American Pie), is the awkward Jewish dentist, Dr. Allan Pearl. Fred Willard and Catherine O’Hara are Ron and Sheila Albertson, Blaine’s travel agents, who have never travelled outside Blaine aside from one “medical” exception. Parker Posey is Libby Mae Brown, a pretty young lass for whom the only way to escape her dreary existence as a fast food worker is the musical. The script is intelligent, insightful and extremely witty. The hilarious dialogue unrelenting from start to finish. The humour ranges from the very subtle and sophisticated to the obvious, yet always hits the mark with superb comic timing. Keep an eye out for the scenes where the Pearls and Albertsons have dinner at a Chinese restaurant and Corky showcases his film memorabilia. On DVD. (optional English subtitles; audio commentaries; additional scenes; making of featurettes; trailers).—Alexander Bisley
Oliver Twist (Roadshow, $39.95)
Roman Polanski has always been attracted to popular literature whether it is pulp like Rosemary’s Baby or high art classics like Macbeth and Tess of the D’Urbervilles. It’s also easy to see why a filmmaker who as a ten-year-old was orphaned in World War Two Poland and forced to wander unfamiliar and dangerous streets would be attracted to Dickens’ famous novel of an orphan having to do something similar in 19th Century England. It’s not that this film isn’t good – it’s petty solid – it just doesn’t have the bravura that made Rosemary’s Baby or Macbeth for example, such interesting adaptations. It’s a standard interpretation of an oft-filmed and familiar story, and as a result feels like an OK, handsomely mounted TV production. Which, given Polanki’s background and ability, is slightly disappointing. It’s hard to figure out why initially. The cinematography is excellent, with the same muted colours of his critically successful The Pianist. The beginning in particular makes interesting use of angles, and there’s a nice sense of grotesqueness about the characters and situations. The film also culls the annoying plot contrivances that Dickens relied on in the novel (there’s no Rose for example, and Mr Brownlow is just a random stranger), instead focusing more on Dickens’ withering social commentary. The acting is excellent too – Barney Clark has the same innocence and naivety you’d expect from the sadistically treated Oliver, and an unrecognisable Ben Kingsley makes for a very good Fagin. The film shifts the focus on Fagin, and emphasises a paternalistic ambivalence that exists in Fagin and Oliver’s relationship. The adaptation also moves quickly, throwing a wide cast of characters and situations together. That may however be the major problem. There’s a sense of dispassion about this production. We see the things happen to Oliver, rather than feel the terrible things happen to him. The injustice is skirted over to push the plot along, which makes for rather distant viewing. The novel is so successful because you feel Oliver’s plight, rather than objectively watch his treatment. It also seems that Oliver isn’t the major focus in the film – his character is not filmed as indelibly as you’d expect – rather characters like Nancy, Fagin and the very minor Judge Fang appear to be more interesting. This is ultimately a production that is neither poor nor fascinating, which given Polanski’s ability to re-create literature is a rather strange thing. New to DVD. (optional English subtitles; featurettes; trailers).—Brannavan Gnanalingam
Offside (Jafar Panahi/Iran/2006)
Following Crimson Gold, Jafar Panahi’s hot streak continues with Offside, the closest he’s got to a comedy yet. Filmed at Tehran’s Azadi Stadium during the actual World Cup qualifier match between Iran and Bahrain, the film exists in a semi-documentary state, resting comfortably on a host of (quintessentially Iranian) naturalistic performances from a cast of non-professionals. As we follow the somewhat meek young girl, poorly disguised in drag in an attempt to fool officials and enter the stadium for the all-important match (since women in Iran aren’t allowed to attend any sporting event in a stadium), the gracefully swift movement of ‘narrative’ in these early scenes from a bus to a swarming pre-match crowd outside the stadium to the makeshift cell at the walls of the stadium (where captured women are held awaiting punishment), gives way to a remarkably spontaneous series of episodes and conversations between the bold captured women and their decidedly less articulate captors, where the principle subject happens to be the absurd paradoxes within the Iranian social structure. One of the film’s great pleasures is witnessing its own structure emerge parallel to the football match (Panahi: “When I was shooting the film, I didn’t really know what was going to happen. We desperately wanted Iran to win...”), and its upbeat ending surely is evidence of some of the game’s ecstasy dusted off onto Panahi’s canvas. Still, the filmmaker’s principle obsessions (nationalism/feminism/humanitarianism in a modern world) are on full display here, sans-didacticism. Absurdist, thrilling, and very moving. In Theatres Now.—Mubarak Ali [Read More]
China Blue (Micha X. Peled/USA/2005)
China Blue offers an accessible, cleverly constructed and ultimately heart-wrenching view into the lives of sweatshop workers in Sichuan province, China. The documentary follows the lives of three teenage workers in a blue jeans factory – Jasmine, Lipeng, and Orchid – who like most of the cheap labour pool in China are female and originate from poor, rural areas. Multi-layered, the film does not rely on mere reality sketches of the harshness of the workers’ lives but explores the personalities, aspirations and imaginations of the main characters with sensitivity and tact. Most provocatively, China Blue hints at who is responsible for the slave-like conditions these girls are bound to. It is not, as one might assume, only the factory owners and the negligent Chinese authorities who are to blame. Rather, director Micha X. Peled calls into question the whole system of global free trade and points at the responsibility retailers and ourselves – the consumers – all share. In the words of Jasmine: “Who are the fat, tall people who buy these jeans we make?”. In Theatres Now.—Melody Nixon [Read More]
Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show,A Mighty Wind (Warner Bros, $9.95 until 14/3/07)
“We have so much in common, we both love soup and snow peas, we love the outdoors, and talking and not talking. We could not talk or talk forever and still find things to not talk about,” Best in Show. “There was abuse in my family, but it was mostly musical in nature,” A Mighty Wind. Director, co-writer, co-composer and star, Christopher Guest is hysterical as Waiting for Guffman’s pretentious, preening Corky St Clair; a gay thespian from off Broadway, who washes up in small town, yokel America — Blaine, Missouri. Without Blaine (fictional, but 100% the real thing), America’s finished, Blaine’s mayor says. He adds, naturally Blaine’s “sesquicentennial” or 150th anniversary celebrations will be the future American standard. For the celebration’s centrepiece, Corky is charged with creating a musical “Red, White, and Blaine”; charting Blaine’s history for make benefit glorious Blaine citizens. Such as in 1946, when Blaine hosted America’s first UFO and citizens were invited aboard for a potluck dinner and “probing.” Waiting for Guffman follows the evolution of this anti-masterpiece musical to its performance whilst sharply satirising everyone from Blaine (think The Simpsons). The ensemble cast, most who have worked together on a lot of other films, is uniformly accomplished and amusing. Eugene Levy (better than as Jim Dad’s in American Pie), is the awkward Jewish dentist, Dr. Allan Pearl. Fred Willard and Catherine O’Hara are Ron and Sheila Albertson, Blaine’s travel agents, who have never travelled outside Blaine aside from one “medical” exception. Parker Posey is Libby Mae Brown, a pretty young lass for whom the only way to escape her dreary existence as a fast food worker is the musical. The script is intelligent, insightful and extremely witty. The hilarious dialogue unrelenting from start to finish. The humour ranges from the very subtle and sophisticated to the obvious, yet always hits the mark with superb comic timing. Keep an eye out for the scenes where the Pearls and Albertsons have dinner at a Chinese restaurant and Corky showcases his film memorabilia. On DVD. (optional English subtitles; audio commentaries; additional scenes; making of featurettes; trailers).—Alexander Bisley
Oliver Twist (Roadshow, $39.95)Roman Polanski has always been attracted to popular literature whether it is pulp like Rosemary’s Baby or high art classics like Macbeth and Tess of the D’Urbervilles. It’s also easy to see why a filmmaker who as a ten-year-old was orphaned in World War Two Poland and forced to wander unfamiliar and dangerous streets would be attracted to Dickens’ famous novel of an orphan having to do something similar in 19th Century England. It’s not that this film isn’t good – it’s petty solid – it just doesn’t have the bravura that made Rosemary’s Baby or Macbeth for example, such interesting adaptations. It’s a standard interpretation of an oft-filmed and familiar story, and as a result feels like an OK, handsomely mounted TV production. Which, given Polanki’s background and ability, is slightly disappointing. It’s hard to figure out why initially. The cinematography is excellent, with the same muted colours of his critically successful The Pianist. The beginning in particular makes interesting use of angles, and there’s a nice sense of grotesqueness about the characters and situations. The film also culls the annoying plot contrivances that Dickens relied on in the novel (there’s no Rose for example, and Mr Brownlow is just a random stranger), instead focusing more on Dickens’ withering social commentary. The acting is excellent too – Barney Clark has the same innocence and naivety you’d expect from the sadistically treated Oliver, and an unrecognisable Ben Kingsley makes for a very good Fagin. The film shifts the focus on Fagin, and emphasises a paternalistic ambivalence that exists in Fagin and Oliver’s relationship. The adaptation also moves quickly, throwing a wide cast of characters and situations together. That may however be the major problem. There’s a sense of dispassion about this production. We see the things happen to Oliver, rather than feel the terrible things happen to him. The injustice is skirted over to push the plot along, which makes for rather distant viewing. The novel is so successful because you feel Oliver’s plight, rather than objectively watch his treatment. It also seems that Oliver isn’t the major focus in the film – his character is not filmed as indelibly as you’d expect – rather characters like Nancy, Fagin and the very minor Judge Fang appear to be more interesting. This is ultimately a production that is neither poor nor fascinating, which given Polanski’s ability to re-create literature is a rather strange thing. New to DVD. (optional English subtitles; featurettes; trailers).—Brannavan Gnanalingam
Offside (Jafar Panahi/Iran/2006)Following Crimson Gold, Jafar Panahi’s hot streak continues with Offside, the closest he’s got to a comedy yet. Filmed at Tehran’s Azadi Stadium during the actual World Cup qualifier match between Iran and Bahrain, the film exists in a semi-documentary state, resting comfortably on a host of (quintessentially Iranian) naturalistic performances from a cast of non-professionals. As we follow the somewhat meek young girl, poorly disguised in drag in an attempt to fool officials and enter the stadium for the all-important match (since women in Iran aren’t allowed to attend any sporting event in a stadium), the gracefully swift movement of ‘narrative’ in these early scenes from a bus to a swarming pre-match crowd outside the stadium to the makeshift cell at the walls of the stadium (where captured women are held awaiting punishment), gives way to a remarkably spontaneous series of episodes and conversations between the bold captured women and their decidedly less articulate captors, where the principle subject happens to be the absurd paradoxes within the Iranian social structure. One of the film’s great pleasures is witnessing its own structure emerge parallel to the football match (Panahi: “When I was shooting the film, I didn’t really know what was going to happen. We desperately wanted Iran to win...”), and its upbeat ending surely is evidence of some of the game’s ecstasy dusted off onto Panahi’s canvas. Still, the filmmaker’s principle obsessions (nationalism/feminism/humanitarianism in a modern world) are on full display here, sans-didacticism. Absurdist, thrilling, and very moving. In Theatres Now.—Mubarak Ali [Read More]
China Blue (Micha X. Peled/USA/2005)China Blue offers an accessible, cleverly constructed and ultimately heart-wrenching view into the lives of sweatshop workers in Sichuan province, China. The documentary follows the lives of three teenage workers in a blue jeans factory – Jasmine, Lipeng, and Orchid – who like most of the cheap labour pool in China are female and originate from poor, rural areas. Multi-layered, the film does not rely on mere reality sketches of the harshness of the workers’ lives but explores the personalities, aspirations and imaginations of the main characters with sensitivity and tact. Most provocatively, China Blue hints at who is responsible for the slave-like conditions these girls are bound to. It is not, as one might assume, only the factory owners and the negligent Chinese authorities who are to blame. Rather, director Micha X. Peled calls into question the whole system of global free trade and points at the responsibility retailers and ourselves – the consumers – all share. In the words of Jasmine: “Who are the fat, tall people who buy these jeans we make?”. In Theatres Now.—Melody Nixon [Read More]
Pineapple Express: The funniest stoner movie I can remember. Seth Rogen's horsepowered performance anchors a consistently amusing flick. George Washington's David Gordon Green ably directs. Rogen effortlessly draws on his natural affability. He tells Lumiere his numerous acting roles aren't hard; generally they are "pretty similar" to his own life: "
