No Country For Old Men

by James McNally on August 30, 2007 · 1 comment

in Film Festivals, TIFF

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No Country For Old Men

No Country For Old Men (Directors: Joel and Ethan Coen, USA, 2007): Based on the Cormac McCarthy novel of the same name, No Country For Old Men is a welcome return to form from the Coen brothers. The West Texas setting and the noirish storyline recall their first film, Blood Simple (1984), but with more than twenty additional years of filmmaking experience as well as strong source material, this is a much more accomplished film. Josh Brolin turns in an excellent performance as Llewellyn Moss, a prematurely “retired” welder who stumbles upon a crime scene while hunting in the desert. It’s obvious that it’s a drug deal gone bad, and among the bodies and shot-up pickup trucks is a suitcase full of cash. Finding the temptation too strong, he takes the money. From there, he is pursued relentlessly by Javier Bardem, sent in as “the perfect tool” to retrieve the money. Tommy Lee Jones is the ineffectual but philosophical sheriff whose despair finally gets the better of him.

Bardem’s performance, while seemingly over the top, is remarkable. He is less a person than a force. While Tommy Lee Jones represents the law, Bardem is lawlessness, chaos and death all rolled into one. And yet he follows his own twisted logic, tying up all loose ends according to his own code of ethics.

The film follows a very simple storyline, and the lack of a musical score keeps the suspense at almost unbearable levels. Bardem’s introduction also leaves the viewer unsure what he will do in any given scene for the rest of the film. Brolin is the not quite innocent but still sympathetic victim-hero of the story, and as he memorably says to his wife early in the film, “Stuff happens. I can’t take it back.” Indeed, stuff happens. And you won’t be able to look away while it does.

Trailer
Official site for the film

9/10(9/10)

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Venice Film Festival 2007

by James McNally on August 30, 2007

in Film Festivals

Manuela Velasco
(image courtesy of image.net)

The 64th annual Venice Film Festival is underway, and although I haven’t been following what films will be there, I was delighted to find this cheeky photo of Spanish beauty Manuela Velasco on the red carpet. She’s there to promote the Spanish horror film [Rec], which shared the opening night bill with Atonement, adapted from the Ian McEwan novel and starring Keira Knightley.

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Control

by James McNally on August 30, 2007 · 4 comments

in Film Festivals, TIFF

Control
Control (Director: Anton Corbijn, UK/USA, 2007): My fears about this one were mostly justified. Anton Corbijn began his career as a rock photographer and is perhaps best known for shooting the covers of U2’s albums. From there he moved into directing music videos before taking on this film as his feature debut. Corbijn has crafted a pretty conventional biopic about the life of Joy Division’s singer Ian Curtis, who committed suicide by hanging himself on the eve of the group’s first US tour in 1980. All of the formative moments are checked off: Ian as glam-loving teenager singing in front of a mirror, Ian meeting and marrying his wife Debbie, upon whose memoir (Touching From a Distance) the film is based, Ian’s first epileptic seizure, Ian’s affair with Belgian groupie Annik Honoré (played by an impossibly gorgeous Alexandra Maria Lara). As with most biopics, time is compressed to a ridiculous extent, making it difficult to feel any depth in particular scenes before we’re rushed off to the next major event. As well, Corbijn films in black and white, and instead of making late 70s Macclesfield look like the grim industrial suburb it was, he almost makes it look pretty. In the same way, he photographs Curtis (played ably by young Sam Riley) like the rock photographer he can’t leave behind. Samantha Morton does a fine job of portraying the forgotten wife, but given that she was hardly acknowledged by the members of the band, it’s hard to trust much of the script, which must by nature deal in speculation.

However, the actors portraying the band members played all their own music, and did a wonderful job. And the film drove me back immediately to listen to my Joy Division records, which must mean something worked. I thought the scenes leading up to Curtis’ death were handled sensitively as well. But perhaps my favourite moment was one of the lightest. The presence of John Cooper Clarke (playing John Cooper Clarke!) performing his inimitable spoken word piece “Evidently Chickentown” made me long for the days when someone like Clarke could open for a band as “dark” as Joy Division.

Curtis’ story reminded me vividly of another reluctant rock star. Someone hungry for fame but then disdainful when it arrived. Someone who married and had a child only to doubt his abilities as a husband and father. Someone who struggled with health issues to the point of despair. Yes, I think if there is an afterlife, Ian Curtis and Kurt Cobain are sharing a cigarette somewhere.

Trailer
Official Site

8/10(8/10)

NOTE: I saw this film before the film festival started at a special press screening. I’ve actually revised my numerical rating upward in the days since I first saw the film.

UPDATE: The film opens in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver on October 23rd.

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TIFF 2007: Early Picks

by James McNally on August 30, 2007 · 6 comments

in Film Festivals, TIFF

And yes, it was extremely difficult to narrow it down to just ten films. Toronto Screen Shots correspondents Jay Kerr and Jason Chu will post their early picks in the comments to give you an idea of what we’ll be covering during this year’s fest. A few of us got to see some early press screenings as well so there will be a few more than just our “official” films.

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