0-9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z - €5
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After the 'genius' that was Tim Burton's remake of Planet of the Apes a couple of years back expectations were high as to what his new feature would be like. I took precautions, avoided all reviews, saw no trailer, walked into The Ritzy's under-heated Screen Two with an empty mind. Alas not empty enough. Burton's ability to conjure up all manner of phantasmagoria and infect it with a genuinely dark edge has made pretty much all his moves worth viewing (Planet excepted). That he has called upon the considerable talents of that Johnny Depp boy is an advantage. But now he's lumbered himself with bloody Ewan McGregor who is fast becoming an inane and grinning idiot of a Hollywood actor (remember if you dare 'Down with Love').
Big Fish
[Tim Burton, 125', 2003, PG], 26Jan04Ewan McG is the recollected younger Ed Bloom (a neat homage to Joyce's hero for a day) as his older self prepares to do the shuffling off (a tidy Albert Finney). Irascible heard-it-all-before son and oh-la-la French missus fly in from one of those slightly absent Euromovies to do the bed waiting whilst an ageless Jessica Lange tries to paper over the cracks. Bloom has spent a life telling tales, his son a life listening. For the boy Bloom this is an eternity of horse shit. And so our movie is off, into yet another picaresque ('Oh Brother. . . ', 'Cold Mountain'). What is it with Hollywood? Having discovered this genre by numbers format they will not now leave alone as we get buried under yet another movie that substitutes solid narrative drive for vaguely connected fabulation. Bunch of stories blah blah, Tim Burton sure can make it look good, and fuck me Tim B must have sucked a lot of cock given a lot of backrubs, 'cause there are a galaxy of stars each twinkling for all their worth.
This looks great, Burton's ability to compose and a shot undoubted but
Big Fish is one of those daddy - son movies. It has something to say but I couldn't quite catch it over the howl of design excellence and flurry of Hollywood cameo's. That something may be it's better to be a big fish in a small pond, or a life of fisherman's tales doesn't necessarily mean a life led less ordinary. Or it may have been
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Funny one this because I suddenly found myself in the middle of a trailer for a movie I saw last week and try as I might I couldn't remember what happened: yeah that good! If I visit the cinema and don't get to see the trailers I feel desperately cheated. I don't mind if it's for some guff with Hugh Grant in or an SFX movie constructed around how well the ferocity of its edit can prise those reckless teeny dollars away from their innocent palms; and sometimes the trailer is so much better than the movie. I don't mind: I just want my movie experience. I recall my matinee days as an impressionable pre-teen, the magic of Disney's next offering (or more typically) the announcement of a repeated outing for an old favourite (The Jungle Book was the main culprit) left me all excited for what was to come. And when I started viewing trailers for Bond movies I was like: 'Oh my gawd!' Slightly uncertain stirrings were summoned, this was movie magic with something just a little ill defined but certainly worth my hands in my pocket money.
Anyway what got me talking about this was I saw the trailer for Lord of the Rings III: The Reckoning! I think that was what it was called. Corrrr! Looked great. Lots of top CGI scenes with thousands of fighting blokes and quality actors pulling pained faces over proper old fashioned values all shot against the landscape of Middle Earth (somewhere outside Auckland). I saw nasty beasts and wizards and everything and I'm exceedingly excited about its coming. I wonder what's going to happen to that ring? Will there be a 4th film??
So yesterday I saw a Chinese film. Now here's
where the cut comes down because Blind Shaft had moments of magic but it's
not really a movie. The better for it yes, but a movie no. Not a feast of
wish fulfillment or the like but a proper something to say about humanity
in measured and humble tones fillummm. The story is China: you're fukked (welcome
to the club).
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Blind Shaft
[Li Yang, 92', 15], 18Nov03
Two likely lads, Song and Tang, have come up with a fine way to make money. Hooking up with Chalou, Tang's brother, the three seek employ in a ramshackle mine, do away with bro under the guise of a pit accident and then put the squeeze on the gaffer. Money is offered in respect of familial association, and effectively paid for silence, lest the authorities take too much of an interest in the pit's suspect trading practices.
This sturdy plan goes awry when they attempt to repeat it. Sounding like cold blooded murderers, our desperado's come across more as innocents themselves . They're dealings with the altogether nastier pit boss are fumbled and they quickly turn their money over to the undoubted pleasures of karaoke with working girls! Their new victim, a young lad up from the country, named now nephew, should easily repair their fortunes. However this new innocent’s virtue becomes their undoing.
The cost of China's burgeoning modernity is examined here: the great experiment of Mao's Communism finds its final resting place in the savage free market capitalism it has collapsed into. The shift from the land to the industry sees a blighted hinterland of pollution, unchecked development and economic migration. . For "China has a shortage of everything except people", as Tang eloquently seeks to legitimise their nefarious doings, human life is low in value and even The People's Song has a new lyric celebrating the dollar.
Yang paints with both broad and narrow strokes, the depth of his characters allow him to comment on the development of modern China. Hints of a cinematic Zola surface here, the humble live of our protagonists successfully colouring the greater picture of a country undergoing dramatic change. A fine film with moments of wry comedy and some lovely moments of humanity from the 'nephew', a satisfying conclusion brings closure to the individual's story and only a sadness to the plight of some of China’s people. What I really thought whilst I was watching this was how just about everything I ever buy is Made in China. I thank god i got lucky to be born here and not in the turmoil of the Chinese Economic Miracle. . .
$$$¢
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