BY RICK JACKSON
Meryl Streep gives another astonishing performance as Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady. Directed by Phyllida Lloyd (Mamma Mia) this biopic about Great Britain's longest serving Prime Minister owes a lot to the politics of an era when politics mattered because of who was in power. Her strong and firm grip you see in flashback is a microcosm of the title character who is suffering from the early stages of Alzheimer's Disease. Streep injects her with the solidarity and influence the real Thatcher had to possess and there is a certain amount of familiarity given she is utmost in moviegoer's minds for she is still alive today.
What struck me as I watched the dramatic and personal life unfold was another much older film about an English politician: Disraeli (1929) starring George Arliss who served twice as the Conservastive Prime Minister of England in the 19th century. Just as he was a political heavyweight like Thatcher in the 20th century, the similarity in tone is remarkable and this distinguishes The Iron Lady as a film of distinction.
I must add that Disraeli dealt more with politics which The Iron Lady steers from. However, Arliss was an actor who defied description and became known as the finest actor of the talking screen. Like Streep, an actress who has a considerable following, there is a demanding sense of urgency in recalling the real Thatcher for Streep's portrayal is a witness to history and a chance to see how the Academy Award-winning actress (Kramer Vs Kramer and Sophie's Choice) transforms herself from a well respected actress to a politician who became known for her strong opinions and Streep's demeanor speaks volumes.
One might have hoped to see more of Thatcher in the British parliament but it doesn't diminish Thatcher as the person she became.
Seeing her in old age first, you almost wonder if there will be more and you are not disappointed.
In her original screenplayAbi Morgan focuses on Thatcher the human being and from this point of view you get to know how a woman of her power and influence lived, thought and worked at home. Sure, you see as a young woman with aspirations to become prime minister and this drives the dramatic tour de force within the time frame it presents, including the tumultuous IRA years when bombs exploded without warning. The Iron Lady is not a substitute for a documentary for there is one you can check if you are interested.
As a wife and devoted mother, Streep shows her humanity and there is a welcome dose of humour to hold your attention along with the political climate of the era she represents. In some respects it is similar to Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy and without compromising on the real Thatcher you are immersed in her dialogue and strong sense of speaking formally and informally. Unafraid to speak out, you see the ire from her cabinet ministers and as Streep shows her character spoke well of her destiny as a prime minister history will definitely remember.
Jim Broadbent plays her husband Denis Thatcher with a touch of frivolity and he may well have been the rock she depended on at home as depicted here. Their scenes togrether add credibility to Mrs. Thatcher as an individual and you can secretly cheer for Streep's intuition to present it as honestly as she does.
Whether or not the real Margaret is suffering from dementia is questionable but it does serve trhe film well as a focus to point on for she is not any younger and, despite being out of the public eye where her life is strictly private since leaving public office, Morgan and director Lloyd deserve praise for not exploiting the woman and kept their film as a piece of history, even if it is largely fictionalized.
J. Roy Helland does an excellent job in making her look like Thatcher, for she was in charge of Streep's makeup and hair which, with the clothes, allows Streep to become Margaret Thatcher.
Editor Justine Wright maintains a decent balance between the historical and fictional Thatcher with archival footage of the staff at 10 Downing Street, U.S. President Ronald Reagen and Russian president Mikhail Gorbachev. It all helps keep you involved long enough so you can enjoy the dramatic impact of the end result.
I must admit the first bombing you see nearly made me jump out of my seat and it is this kind of realism adds to this fictional portrait and I know moviegoers will embrace it on their own singular level as entertainment and, of course, by Miss Streep.
Thomas Newman's music score is kept in the background until it is necessary to underscore certain parts of the unfolding story you are witnessing. The element of surprise keeps you on the edge of your seat.
This is a well paced and heartfelt look at the woman herself. Anyone looking for something else will have look elsewhere. The Iron Lady deserves to be seen and appreciated on an historical level in addition to Streep whose spirit and undeniable courage continues to guide her choices on the big screen. She is, once again, unforgettable.
It is rated PG, with the warning: violence.
January 28, 2012
Copyright Rick Jackson 2012
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Monday, January 23, 2012
TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY (E-ONE, 2011)***
BY RICK JACKSON
Moviegoers who appreciate a good spy story will not want to miss Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. True, it was a mini-series on the BBC starring Alec Guinness as Smiley and which many people may fondly remember. What distinguishes Swedish director Thomas Alfredson's remake is the chilling atmosphere, sound effects and the wealth of talent on the big screen who bring Carre's world to life one more time.
For some it may, inevitably, be a time-worn masterpiece of fiction conveyed in the 21st century as a nostalgic laden epic of proportions you may be tired of. Who knows, this just might be the film you also were expecting to come along to rescue you from your comfortable easy chair at home.
In their screenplay, Bridget O'Connor and Peter Straughan delicately and fortuitously return you to a period when espionage was in its purest form and, if you watch closely, you will notice how you are swept up in the labyrinthine plot of yesterday when England's secret intelligence agency nicknamed "the circus" has you in its grip of psychological terror and the characters inhabiting the spy world, courtesy of LeCarre (who serves as an executive producer) delightfully places you in an uncomfortable but relaxed atmosphere where fiction and reality are, once again, here for you to cheer as if your life needed a spy fix. It doesn't matter if the familiar doesn't work beyond the superficial level as a story. Here is an engaging tale where four individuals are puppets in an elaborate chess game which is, at times, ponderous but exciting thanks to the generosity of the ensemble cast. It brings back the McCarthy era of reporting on your enemies but the screenwriters stick to the novel's inherent atmosphere to convey the subtle nuances of the average spy film from the mid-1960s (The Quiller Memorandum, for example) and you can rejoice at the wonderful locations that help restore your faith in good stories being brought to the screen.
Alfredson purposely directs the film as if you are the third person watching from afar. The camera angles are technically superb and you are immersed in the spy subtext of rediscovery.
There is an unquenchable thirst for action as you patiently sift through the maze of plot details to see if you can recognize the mole that Control (John Hurt) wants to be caught. It's amazing how the director uses his cameras as if it had an imagination and intelligence all its own. Ours, to be exact. For it moves from one character to another in certain situations as if to cry out here is the mole. Although it isn't quite that simple, the film's dialogue keeps you thinking and wondering and this is where it all works as a film of merit.
Gary Oldman plays Smiley with a touch of arrogance, wit and charm and, sometimes, you aren't sure if he will come up with the identity of the mole. How it's done I won't divulge here but you will be surprised and elated by the astounding cast that includes Colin Firth, Toby Jones, Ciaran Hinds, David Dencik and Tom Hardy. The four main characters represent the four in the film's title and, yes, they are code names.
Oldman's codename is Smiley and it is a moniker that is opposite the actor's portrayal for he is not smilingbut quite serious. One even wonders if he is the mole because of his suspicious behaviour.
Like The Spy Who Came In From The Cold (1965) starring Richard Burton and Oskar Werner, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is, what Leslie Halliwell's Filmgoer's Companion, describes "as an extract of plenty of feeling from LeCarre's novel. "
The international locations are beautifully captured by cinematographer Hoyte Van Hoytema as they help underscore the mystery and intrigue in the plot's barest of plot threads.
Editor Dino Jonsater does an excellent job in maintaining the level of sophistication, along with the simplicity of Le Carre's words and images with its use of visual rhythm to match the sounds and special effects of a time already spent but not in the imagination of filmmakers who want to recreate this kind of film for old times' sake.
Despite the fact there isn't a single outstanding performance that sticks out as "acting" it is really the individuals who make up the ensemble or the whole who you can rejoice and feel satisfied for here is a movie which cries out to be enjoyed on a different level as entertainment.
Oldman does stand out with his role as Smiley but he doesn't steal the film. He adds to its element of inherent fear and anxiety as a character threatened by a mole who could do much damage and threaten security of the world. It is this you have to remember consistently throughout and which benefits right up to the last frame that says a lot without dialogue.
Alfredson, who injected new blood in the definitive vampire flick, Let The Right One In has uniformly revived the spy genre with enough authenticity to celebrate its return this time around.
It is rated 14A, with the warnings: coarse language and violence.
January 22, 2012
Copyright Rick Jackson 2012
Moviegoers who appreciate a good spy story will not want to miss Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. True, it was a mini-series on the BBC starring Alec Guinness as Smiley and which many people may fondly remember. What distinguishes Swedish director Thomas Alfredson's remake is the chilling atmosphere, sound effects and the wealth of talent on the big screen who bring Carre's world to life one more time.
For some it may, inevitably, be a time-worn masterpiece of fiction conveyed in the 21st century as a nostalgic laden epic of proportions you may be tired of. Who knows, this just might be the film you also were expecting to come along to rescue you from your comfortable easy chair at home.
In their screenplay, Bridget O'Connor and Peter Straughan delicately and fortuitously return you to a period when espionage was in its purest form and, if you watch closely, you will notice how you are swept up in the labyrinthine plot of yesterday when England's secret intelligence agency nicknamed "the circus" has you in its grip of psychological terror and the characters inhabiting the spy world, courtesy of LeCarre (who serves as an executive producer) delightfully places you in an uncomfortable but relaxed atmosphere where fiction and reality are, once again, here for you to cheer as if your life needed a spy fix. It doesn't matter if the familiar doesn't work beyond the superficial level as a story. Here is an engaging tale where four individuals are puppets in an elaborate chess game which is, at times, ponderous but exciting thanks to the generosity of the ensemble cast. It brings back the McCarthy era of reporting on your enemies but the screenwriters stick to the novel's inherent atmosphere to convey the subtle nuances of the average spy film from the mid-1960s (The Quiller Memorandum, for example) and you can rejoice at the wonderful locations that help restore your faith in good stories being brought to the screen.
Alfredson purposely directs the film as if you are the third person watching from afar. The camera angles are technically superb and you are immersed in the spy subtext of rediscovery.
There is an unquenchable thirst for action as you patiently sift through the maze of plot details to see if you can recognize the mole that Control (John Hurt) wants to be caught. It's amazing how the director uses his cameras as if it had an imagination and intelligence all its own. Ours, to be exact. For it moves from one character to another in certain situations as if to cry out here is the mole. Although it isn't quite that simple, the film's dialogue keeps you thinking and wondering and this is where it all works as a film of merit.
Gary Oldman plays Smiley with a touch of arrogance, wit and charm and, sometimes, you aren't sure if he will come up with the identity of the mole. How it's done I won't divulge here but you will be surprised and elated by the astounding cast that includes Colin Firth, Toby Jones, Ciaran Hinds, David Dencik and Tom Hardy. The four main characters represent the four in the film's title and, yes, they are code names.
Oldman's codename is Smiley and it is a moniker that is opposite the actor's portrayal for he is not smilingbut quite serious. One even wonders if he is the mole because of his suspicious behaviour.
Like The Spy Who Came In From The Cold (1965) starring Richard Burton and Oskar Werner, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is, what Leslie Halliwell's Filmgoer's Companion, describes "as an extract of plenty of feeling from LeCarre's novel. "
The international locations are beautifully captured by cinematographer Hoyte Van Hoytema as they help underscore the mystery and intrigue in the plot's barest of plot threads.
Editor Dino Jonsater does an excellent job in maintaining the level of sophistication, along with the simplicity of Le Carre's words and images with its use of visual rhythm to match the sounds and special effects of a time already spent but not in the imagination of filmmakers who want to recreate this kind of film for old times' sake.
Despite the fact there isn't a single outstanding performance that sticks out as "acting" it is really the individuals who make up the ensemble or the whole who you can rejoice and feel satisfied for here is a movie which cries out to be enjoyed on a different level as entertainment.
Oldman does stand out with his role as Smiley but he doesn't steal the film. He adds to its element of inherent fear and anxiety as a character threatened by a mole who could do much damage and threaten security of the world. It is this you have to remember consistently throughout and which benefits right up to the last frame that says a lot without dialogue.
Alfredson, who injected new blood in the definitive vampire flick, Let The Right One In has uniformly revived the spy genre with enough authenticity to celebrate its return this time around.
It is rated 14A, with the warnings: coarse language and violence.
January 22, 2012
Copyright Rick Jackson 2012
Thursday, January 19, 2012
CARNAGE (MONGREL, 2011)***
BY RICK JACKSON
Based on the play, God of Carnage by Yasmine Reza, Carnage depicts the claustrophobic world director Roman Polanski has visited in his films, notably Cul de Sac in 1966. What Barbara Leaming, Polanski's biographer describes as the "mechanics of power and humiliation" could also refer to the four parents of the two children who were in a vicious fight and over the next 90 plus minutes you hear how they each try to justify how their child was not the one at fault but the victim.
At the same time, they argue and, sometimes, show anger over the reasons of what drove their kid to fight. The reasons become clearer via each of the parents' mental attitude and decided demeanor in expressing how perfect their kid is and as they almost end in a bitter dispute by film's end, you sense more the claustrophobic world of today and, more importantly, how trivial life has become for each of them to argue over a child's school fight at school. Their sensibilities reveal insights into their characteristic behaviour as human beings. Here is Polanski and Reza's look at us through a stylish and voyeuristic world captured in a home in suburbia.
The four main players are Penelope and Michael Longstreet (Jodie Foster and John C. Reilly) and Alan and Nancy Cowan (Christoph Waltz and Kate Winslet). Together they supply the drama and comedy in the maligned world of the fallen as encapsulated in their two children who remain off camera but remain in their thoughts as they reveal their biases and human flaws during a social meeting of the minds. Cordial and civil it is often funny as their lines are recited as if it were a play within a play. The real world imitated by the fictional: How they collide is in their dialogue and it is through them you can figure out why their kids fought.
They each correct themselves when certain words are spoken light a red flag, and the opposition and transference of those feelings occupy the entire film.
Waltz plays the man who claims he can't smoke at home because it bothers his wife. Foster is perfectly cast when she is hysterical after Nancy vomits on her valuable books on a coffee table. Despite their politeness, it is the beginning of how friendliness erupts gradually into moments of insanity as they try to convince each other whose kid is to blame for the fight. The parents are, meanwhile, caught in their own world eroded by technology (cell phones), books, and social graces to not notice how their kids might be acting like them.
Without being too snooty or sophisticated, this middle class head to head chat is nothing more than exactly what it is: a social event to break the monotony of the middle class.
Their conversations are symbolic as the mechanisms of violence that intrude their lives without notice and where Polanski as director has made us voyeurs of his latest incarnation of watching human behaviour at work.
You also get a sense of the sexual repression hidden within both Penelope and Nancy as if both their husbands are intimidated by their wives whose feminity goes beyond the household in interests that used to be occupied by men only.As you watch them all react together in one room they are uncomfortable and inferior for the male is, in Polanski's sphere,the arbiter for sex. Watch for the bathroom scene when Penelope goes to aid Alan. No, you won't find them engaging in sex but their sexual attraction for each other is distant, just as it was earlier while coversing with drinks in hand in the living room.
Reilly plays Michael with the uneasines of a cat in heat and his sexual repression is more noticeable. He likes to talk and this gives him away.Notice how Waltz is opposite him. He is more business like even if both appear to be convincing as salesmen in different fields.
Polanski's extensive use of wide shots give the film its overall feeling of society invading their comfortable worlds at home. The fight between their teenaged children brings them together to prove how the director feels about the precarious way of life we all live in and the most innocent thought or deed can erode our domesticity like a snap of your finger.Suburbia for the middle class is for evceryone, including its valued citizens.
Carnage is an interesting character study that some moviegoers may easily be bored. Its stars are playing roles a little out of character but not entirely. They are still actors and they are playing parts here that are challenging from a human perspective rather from a character driven plot that is more easily recognizable for public consumption. Still, it is worth seeing to catch these four in dramatic turns that are may provoke stimulating conversation for yourself over a drink in a social setting.
It is rated 14A, with the warnings: coarse language and mature theme.
January 18, 2012
Copyright Rick Jackson 2012
Based on the play, God of Carnage by Yasmine Reza, Carnage depicts the claustrophobic world director Roman Polanski has visited in his films, notably Cul de Sac in 1966. What Barbara Leaming, Polanski's biographer describes as the "mechanics of power and humiliation" could also refer to the four parents of the two children who were in a vicious fight and over the next 90 plus minutes you hear how they each try to justify how their child was not the one at fault but the victim.
At the same time, they argue and, sometimes, show anger over the reasons of what drove their kid to fight. The reasons become clearer via each of the parents' mental attitude and decided demeanor in expressing how perfect their kid is and as they almost end in a bitter dispute by film's end, you sense more the claustrophobic world of today and, more importantly, how trivial life has become for each of them to argue over a child's school fight at school. Their sensibilities reveal insights into their characteristic behaviour as human beings. Here is Polanski and Reza's look at us through a stylish and voyeuristic world captured in a home in suburbia.
The four main players are Penelope and Michael Longstreet (Jodie Foster and John C. Reilly) and Alan and Nancy Cowan (Christoph Waltz and Kate Winslet). Together they supply the drama and comedy in the maligned world of the fallen as encapsulated in their two children who remain off camera but remain in their thoughts as they reveal their biases and human flaws during a social meeting of the minds. Cordial and civil it is often funny as their lines are recited as if it were a play within a play. The real world imitated by the fictional: How they collide is in their dialogue and it is through them you can figure out why their kids fought.
They each correct themselves when certain words are spoken light a red flag, and the opposition and transference of those feelings occupy the entire film.
Waltz plays the man who claims he can't smoke at home because it bothers his wife. Foster is perfectly cast when she is hysterical after Nancy vomits on her valuable books on a coffee table. Despite their politeness, it is the beginning of how friendliness erupts gradually into moments of insanity as they try to convince each other whose kid is to blame for the fight. The parents are, meanwhile, caught in their own world eroded by technology (cell phones), books, and social graces to not notice how their kids might be acting like them.
Without being too snooty or sophisticated, this middle class head to head chat is nothing more than exactly what it is: a social event to break the monotony of the middle class.
Their conversations are symbolic as the mechanisms of violence that intrude their lives without notice and where Polanski as director has made us voyeurs of his latest incarnation of watching human behaviour at work.
You also get a sense of the sexual repression hidden within both Penelope and Nancy as if both their husbands are intimidated by their wives whose feminity goes beyond the household in interests that used to be occupied by men only.As you watch them all react together in one room they are uncomfortable and inferior for the male is, in Polanski's sphere,the arbiter for sex. Watch for the bathroom scene when Penelope goes to aid Alan. No, you won't find them engaging in sex but their sexual attraction for each other is distant, just as it was earlier while coversing with drinks in hand in the living room.
Reilly plays Michael with the uneasines of a cat in heat and his sexual repression is more noticeable. He likes to talk and this gives him away.Notice how Waltz is opposite him. He is more business like even if both appear to be convincing as salesmen in different fields.
Polanski's extensive use of wide shots give the film its overall feeling of society invading their comfortable worlds at home. The fight between their teenaged children brings them together to prove how the director feels about the precarious way of life we all live in and the most innocent thought or deed can erode our domesticity like a snap of your finger.Suburbia for the middle class is for evceryone, including its valued citizens.
Carnage is an interesting character study that some moviegoers may easily be bored. Its stars are playing roles a little out of character but not entirely. They are still actors and they are playing parts here that are challenging from a human perspective rather from a character driven plot that is more easily recognizable for public consumption. Still, it is worth seeing to catch these four in dramatic turns that are may provoke stimulating conversation for yourself over a drink in a social setting.
It is rated 14A, with the warnings: coarse language and mature theme.
January 18, 2012
Copyright Rick Jackson 2012
A DANGEROUS METHOD (E-ONE, 2011)****
BY RICK JACKSON
From director David Cronenberg comes an engaging and quietly entertainibng film about the relationship between Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung while working together on their analysis of Sabina Spielrein between 1904 and 1913. The melodramatic pulse of the early scenes is kept in check as the story slowly moves in time to give you a psychological view of psychoanalysis within the tightly knit framework of what was originally produced on the stage under the original title of The Talking Cure in London, England by Christopher Hampton in 2002.
Cronenberg deftly maintains the sophisticated and brazen edges of the film's serious subject matter and you are left with a memorable and haunting story courtesy of his psychoanalytic lens and the brooding atmosphere that pervades on screen right from the first frame.
The screenplay by Hampton based on his own play is light in tone and wihout resorting to deep stretches of psycho babble, its common ordinary dialogue benefits by the cast and their vocal delivery for it is this through this undercurrent of simplicity that beats at the heart of the dramatic tension you see conveyed by the three main stars: Michael Fassbender as Jung, Viggo Mortensen as Freud and Keira Knightley as Miss Spielrein.
There is tension between Jung's wife Emma (Sarah Gadon) during the letters of correspondence between her husband and Spielrein and this adds a welcome respite from the dramatic scenes where Knightley looks uncomfortable but is actually proving her mettle as an actress. With her latest role, she is showing how her parts have seen her mature as an actress and for moviegoers used to seeing her in lighter roles such as the Pirates Of The Caribbean series, you will notice how perfectly matched she is as Sabina. Anyone who has seen her in Never Let Me Go and Domino will attest to the actress' ability to take on a role no matter what level of difficulty. Her Sabina comes across as an intelligent woman ahead of her time and it is her feminine instincts that endow the film with an edge worthy of discussion as a woman with profound intellect and understanding.
Fassbender injects Jung with the same understanding and as you watch his pedesrtrian moves within each scene and listen to his quiet delivery there is much to celebrate in his discovery of what he finds while working with Sabine which further is enhanced by his meeting with Freud.
Their scenes together provide the dramatic pulse throughout the film and their conversations are witty and fun on one level and, on another, they are stimulating and evocative of two old friends who connect well together. After their initial meeting, you hope to see more and Cronenberg doesn't let you down.
Mortenson plays him with an air of distinction and his low key portrayal conveys volumes when you think of how his acting allows him to almost be like him in order to get inside the role. His quiet manner and resolve also lets you appreciate Freud more as a human being quite different from Montgfomery Clift's title role in director John Huston's Freud (1962). Less demanding than Clift you can relish Mortensen's demeanor as if the actor knew him in a former life, which is silly but something to consider from a realistic stand point of view as an actor who has to decide how to make him come alive on the big screen.
The anti-Semitism that worries Freud after Jung's unethical treatment of Sabina is reflected in a letter Freud writes to her and says "We are and remain Jews." This notwithstanding, is not important in understanding the film for it is the brilliant acting that makes A Dangerous Method a surprise.
Cronenberg continues to defy his critics by making films that are challenging to the moviegoer. Whether its his horror films (The Brood, Scanners, The Fly, Dead Ringers) or, more recently, A History of Violence and Eastern Promises, here is a director who is not afraid to invite you to be more adventurous and leave yourself open for something different from mainstream Hollywood. His latest effort is a major achievement in Canadian Cinema.
From director David Cronenberg comes an engaging and quietly entertainibng film about the relationship between Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung while working together on their analysis of Sabina Spielrein between 1904 and 1913. The melodramatic pulse of the early scenes is kept in check as the story slowly moves in time to give you a psychological view of psychoanalysis within the tightly knit framework of what was originally produced on the stage under the original title of The Talking Cure in London, England by Christopher Hampton in 2002.
Cronenberg deftly maintains the sophisticated and brazen edges of the film's serious subject matter and you are left with a memorable and haunting story courtesy of his psychoanalytic lens and the brooding atmosphere that pervades on screen right from the first frame.
The screenplay by Hampton based on his own play is light in tone and wihout resorting to deep stretches of psycho babble, its common ordinary dialogue benefits by the cast and their vocal delivery for it is this through this undercurrent of simplicity that beats at the heart of the dramatic tension you see conveyed by the three main stars: Michael Fassbender as Jung, Viggo Mortensen as Freud and Keira Knightley as Miss Spielrein.
There is tension between Jung's wife Emma (Sarah Gadon) during the letters of correspondence between her husband and Spielrein and this adds a welcome respite from the dramatic scenes where Knightley looks uncomfortable but is actually proving her mettle as an actress. With her latest role, she is showing how her parts have seen her mature as an actress and for moviegoers used to seeing her in lighter roles such as the Pirates Of The Caribbean series, you will notice how perfectly matched she is as Sabina. Anyone who has seen her in Never Let Me Go and Domino will attest to the actress' ability to take on a role no matter what level of difficulty. Her Sabina comes across as an intelligent woman ahead of her time and it is her feminine instincts that endow the film with an edge worthy of discussion as a woman with profound intellect and understanding.
Fassbender injects Jung with the same understanding and as you watch his pedesrtrian moves within each scene and listen to his quiet delivery there is much to celebrate in his discovery of what he finds while working with Sabine which further is enhanced by his meeting with Freud.
Their scenes together provide the dramatic pulse throughout the film and their conversations are witty and fun on one level and, on another, they are stimulating and evocative of two old friends who connect well together. After their initial meeting, you hope to see more and Cronenberg doesn't let you down.
Mortenson plays him with an air of distinction and his low key portrayal conveys volumes when you think of how his acting allows him to almost be like him in order to get inside the role. His quiet manner and resolve also lets you appreciate Freud more as a human being quite different from Montgfomery Clift's title role in director John Huston's Freud (1962). Less demanding than Clift you can relish Mortensen's demeanor as if the actor knew him in a former life, which is silly but something to consider from a realistic stand point of view as an actor who has to decide how to make him come alive on the big screen.
The anti-Semitism that worries Freud after Jung's unethical treatment of Sabina is reflected in a letter Freud writes to her and says "We are and remain Jews." This notwithstanding, is not important in understanding the film for it is the brilliant acting that makes A Dangerous Method a surprise.
Cronenberg continues to defy his critics by making films that are challenging to the moviegoer. Whether its his horror films (The Brood, Scanners, The Fly, Dead Ringers) or, more recently, A History of Violence and Eastern Promises, here is a director who is not afraid to invite you to be more adventurous and leave yourself open for something different from mainstream Hollywood. His latest effort is a major achievement in Canadian Cinema.
It is rated 14A, with the warning: sexual content.
January 18, 2012
Copyright Rick Jackson 2012
Monday, January 9, 2012
GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO (COLUMBIA, 2011)***
BY RICK JACKSON
Moviegoers who liked the original Swedish version of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo which I reviewed on May 7, 2010, will not be disappointed by this American remake directed by David Fincher. It is a much bolder in content and with an international cast led by Daniel Craig, Christopher Plummer and Stellan Skarsgard there is a lot to appreciate on a different level for it nicely punctuates affirmatively the main points of the original while conveying a more disturbing point of view courtesy of screenwriter Steven Zaillian who sticks to Stieg Larson's book with every intention to make it unique enough to force you to return to the book to see how different both versions are. What is really unique is the casting of Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander. Her strong performance mirrors Noomi Rapace's, and together each of their interpretations of the main central character contributes to your understanding of the basic story.
Without spoiling it, I can point out that the American version is more graphic in tone and presentation and it means the average moviegoer may have to be prepared for something from the girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
Mara injects an equal amount of realism and courage as the victim of circumstances beyond her control who draws inner strength from her instincts for survival which, at first, are perplexing for there is no prologue to introduce her or her background. Like the Swedish version, you are still impressed by Lisbeth's character traits and how she can survive in the first place. Moviegoers who were first aghast by Rapace two years ago may feel at ease with Mara's more openly stated Lisbeth for she has become a stronger woman with a ferocity and skill most actresses die for in a role. Mara's portrayal is equally commanding to watch as she takes control right away as if she has an no ounce of sanity left. She not only demands your attention as you sit in a darkened theatre, you almost sense she will jump off the screen and take you away.
Plummer adds credibility with his role as Henrik Vanger. His screen presence conveys more an air of mystery than Sven Bertil Taube's and as you listen to his pleas to find Harriet, his missing niece, there remains more afoot in the story than before primarily because you are aching to see what happens next. Unlike the Swedish original which left you interested, you are left waiting to see how long your patience will hold out because you already are familiar with the story.
The interior shots at Vanger's house cry for out for justice in finding Harriet and, despite not finding her at the beginning, Fincher leaves you spellbound to see if there is a surprise in store thanks to Plummer's and the rest of the cast as they play out their roles to perfection. The utter realism and conviction make up for any inherent flaws in script and direction and, yes, your patience pays off with an arresting series of performances in a convoluted plot that almost forces you to yell at the screen but you don't. You are too busy being entertained in a much more different direction in respect to the plot details than ever before, and the graphic sexual nature of the early scenes grab your attention with an acute sense of interest you never thought existed since Marlon Brando's defining display in Last Tango In Paris (1972). Well, I didn't notice anyone covering their face while leaving the theatre so it must have been different in that regard.
Fincher directs each scene with a playful nature and despite expectations to the contrary, this remake doesn't let go from its incalcuable grasp until the end credits roll. Despite being longer, too, than the Swedish version, you get your money's worth and more.
Craig delivers a performance that is totally different from his other roles. Watch how he portrays Mikael Blomkvist with more an air of authority and suspense as if he wants you to pick up on something missing from Michael Nyqvist's in the Swedish original. This time the character is more interesting on two levels as a superficial character whose thirst for knowledge drives him to seek out the truth and, more identifiable, perhaps, on a deeper level, you wonder if he will succeed or be trapped in his own game of survival unlike Lisbeth, whose tenacity outscores Craig's on all fronts. Craig, notwithstanding, also conveys a sense of mystery by the expressions on his face that show how cleverly he can hold back emotions and still be able to convey the importance of his how his role must configure in the reality of his surroundings.
The atmosphere and tension throughout make this a superior American remake and if you are prepared for it, you will be more than satisfied by its forceful storytelling and the impact it will leave when it is all over.
It is rated 18A, with the warnings: disturbing content and sexual content.
January 7, 2012
Copyright Rick Jackson 2012
Moviegoers who liked the original Swedish version of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo which I reviewed on May 7, 2010, will not be disappointed by this American remake directed by David Fincher. It is a much bolder in content and with an international cast led by Daniel Craig, Christopher Plummer and Stellan Skarsgard there is a lot to appreciate on a different level for it nicely punctuates affirmatively the main points of the original while conveying a more disturbing point of view courtesy of screenwriter Steven Zaillian who sticks to Stieg Larson's book with every intention to make it unique enough to force you to return to the book to see how different both versions are. What is really unique is the casting of Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander. Her strong performance mirrors Noomi Rapace's, and together each of their interpretations of the main central character contributes to your understanding of the basic story.
Without spoiling it, I can point out that the American version is more graphic in tone and presentation and it means the average moviegoer may have to be prepared for something from the girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
Mara injects an equal amount of realism and courage as the victim of circumstances beyond her control who draws inner strength from her instincts for survival which, at first, are perplexing for there is no prologue to introduce her or her background. Like the Swedish version, you are still impressed by Lisbeth's character traits and how she can survive in the first place. Moviegoers who were first aghast by Rapace two years ago may feel at ease with Mara's more openly stated Lisbeth for she has become a stronger woman with a ferocity and skill most actresses die for in a role. Mara's portrayal is equally commanding to watch as she takes control right away as if she has an no ounce of sanity left. She not only demands your attention as you sit in a darkened theatre, you almost sense she will jump off the screen and take you away.
Plummer adds credibility with his role as Henrik Vanger. His screen presence conveys more an air of mystery than Sven Bertil Taube's and as you listen to his pleas to find Harriet, his missing niece, there remains more afoot in the story than before primarily because you are aching to see what happens next. Unlike the Swedish original which left you interested, you are left waiting to see how long your patience will hold out because you already are familiar with the story.
The interior shots at Vanger's house cry for out for justice in finding Harriet and, despite not finding her at the beginning, Fincher leaves you spellbound to see if there is a surprise in store thanks to Plummer's and the rest of the cast as they play out their roles to perfection. The utter realism and conviction make up for any inherent flaws in script and direction and, yes, your patience pays off with an arresting series of performances in a convoluted plot that almost forces you to yell at the screen but you don't. You are too busy being entertained in a much more different direction in respect to the plot details than ever before, and the graphic sexual nature of the early scenes grab your attention with an acute sense of interest you never thought existed since Marlon Brando's defining display in Last Tango In Paris (1972). Well, I didn't notice anyone covering their face while leaving the theatre so it must have been different in that regard.
Fincher directs each scene with a playful nature and despite expectations to the contrary, this remake doesn't let go from its incalcuable grasp until the end credits roll. Despite being longer, too, than the Swedish version, you get your money's worth and more.
Craig delivers a performance that is totally different from his other roles. Watch how he portrays Mikael Blomkvist with more an air of authority and suspense as if he wants you to pick up on something missing from Michael Nyqvist's in the Swedish original. This time the character is more interesting on two levels as a superficial character whose thirst for knowledge drives him to seek out the truth and, more identifiable, perhaps, on a deeper level, you wonder if he will succeed or be trapped in his own game of survival unlike Lisbeth, whose tenacity outscores Craig's on all fronts. Craig, notwithstanding, also conveys a sense of mystery by the expressions on his face that show how cleverly he can hold back emotions and still be able to convey the importance of his how his role must configure in the reality of his surroundings.
The atmosphere and tension throughout make this a superior American remake and if you are prepared for it, you will be more than satisfied by its forceful storytelling and the impact it will leave when it is all over.
It is rated 18A, with the warnings: disturbing content and sexual content.
January 7, 2012
Copyright Rick Jackson 2012
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