057. War Witch

057. (09 Feb) War Witch (2012, Kim Nguyen) 40



The low-key approach here is laudable for its restraint, since this could take a more exploitative approach as a narrative about a child soldier. Still, it's hard to be drawn in by War Witch with its voiceover-heavy script and episodic nature. It's occasionally involving, but there's a lot to be desired here. The film that has such strong subject matter yet never really fleshes itself out.

023. Le Bal

023. (22 Jan) Le Bal (1983, Ettore Scola) 27



The irony that the wordless Le Bal was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar is perhaps what most distinguishes it. It's far too gimmicky for its own good, taking place in a ballroom as the time period changes occasionally and characters silently meet and interact. It has a small handful of charming moments, but it's a theater piece through and through, not really cinema. For the most part, it's unamusing, exhausting and forgettable.

014. No

014. (20 Jan) No (2012, Pablo Larrain) 76



Potent politic filmmaking, effortlessly showing the personal consequences of brave action under dire circumstances and the broader conditions that force change. This is irresistible enough as a smart take on the ad campaign that deposed dictator Augusto Pinochet in what was meant to be a sham referendum, but the decision to shoot on videotape in 4:3 elevates it at every turn in appearance and tone. Feeling very much in the moment of 1988, there's urgency and danger here without the sense history has been distorted or exaggerated. Gael Garcia Bernal is in great form.

008. A Simple Story

008. (06 Jan) A Simple Story (1979, Claude Sautet) 32



Very much what it promises in the title, this is mundane despite the fact that it boldly opens in an abortion clinic and centers on a woman's break-up with her boyfriend and reconciliation with her ex-husband. The drama is understated to a fault since Romy Schneider is such a cold, unlikable presence. It's interesting how matter-of-factly this treats her relationship drama while peripheral characters get all the melodrama like a suicide attempt. Whenever it seems to get a bit of focus, it sidetracks to a throwaway scene. It'd be one thing if this was boring by design, but it's just boring in its amateurism.

003. A Royal Affair

003. (05 Jan) A Royal Affair (2012, Nikolaj Arcel) 67



How fun when history is soapier than most fiction could hope to be. This really has it all with marital strife, a torrid affair, an illegitimate child, substance abuse, and a complicated coup d'état. A Royal Affair doesn't balance it all perfectly, but this is one of the more delightfully melodramatic and lavish costume dramas of recent years. The convincingly irresistible Alicia Vikander is the easy standout among the cast. If only Mads Mikkelsen had an iota of sex appeal to match.

Sumptuously photographed with exquisite sets and costumes, this ought to be in contention for most of the craft Oscars. If it's relegated to Foreign Language Film and Costume Design, that's certainly better than nothing.

336. Kon-Tiki

336. (28 Dec) Kon-Tiki (2012, Joachim Rønning & Espen Sandberg) 37



Thor Heyerdahl's own Kon-Tiki, the absolute pinnacle of adventure documentary filmmaking, makes this look every bit as crummy as it is. This fictionalized film is so much less profound, reducing an extraordinary expedition to every conceivable cliché. The approach is fundamentally wrong by not starting immediately on the raft; there's initially no grittiness or danger, just a silly, predictable subplot where Heyerdahl assembles a misfit crew. Things improve once they set sail, particularly since they have enough close encounters with wildlife that this occasionally plays like a creature feature. But even then, the drama between characters is overwrought and unconvincing. Where the original Kon-Tiki conflated these men as bold heroes, this makes them look sniveling, incompetent and uninteresting. That'd be an interesting deconstruction if only this weren't so dreadfully paced and written.

334. Amour

334. (27 Dec) Amour (2012, Michael Haneke) 60



I'm reminded of the line from Bergman's Face to Face where Liv Ullmann watches her grandmother sitting by her grandfather's deathbed and laments, "For a brief moment, I realized that love embraces everything. Even death." That more probing, albeit obvious work tackling similar subject matter is far more moving and fascinating than the overly restrained Amour. That's not to say this doesn't have its own share of obvious imagery or commentary, with one particularly dopey dream sequence. Nevertheless, this is certain to resonate with anyone familiar with the hardships of elder care. Few films have shown the frustrating, debilitating nature of aging so artfully. Haneke knows very well what he's doing here, but this seems like a minor work for a man who's capable of so much more than a slow, sorrowful character study. Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva are underwhelming in their roles.

295. I Even Met Happy Gypsies

295. (01 Dec) I Even Met Happy Gypsies (1967, Aleksandar Petrovic) 24



The zany tone and completely spastic plotting makes I Even Met Happy Gypsies overwhelming. An outrageous amount of early plot revolves around obtaining feathers, for example, which isn't dramatically compelling. The point of intrigue here is that serious subject matter like beating your wife or prejudice (the phrase "dirty gypsy" is repeated too many times to count) is treated so casually. It's easy to mistake a film this carefree and unstructured as being honest, but I'm more inclined to think disturbing material has been put on film without any forethought. The aesthetic is polished, at least bringing this sad, muddy village to live on a visual level.

294. Kapo

294. (01 Dec) Kapo (1960, Gillo Pontecorvo) 57



It's hard to judge Pontecorvo's concentration camp scenes because they're rather prototypical. Still, the overwrought scoring and general indulgences of melodrama prevent this from initially feeling harrowing, particularly as this plays into so many cliches of women in prison dramas. Once it evolves into a survival drama, Susan Strasberg's loss of innocence makes Kapo disheartening and compelling. First, she eagerly gives up her virginity for food, but it's all the more crushing to see how she becomes increasingly brutal towards her peers once she's placed in charge of them. The arc and overall plotting are choppy with a forced, sentimental romance to fill in the third act, but this has some strong moments. Strasberg's affection for her cat over the human prisoners, for instance, makes quite a statement.

282. To Forget Venice

282. (21 Nov) To Forget Venice (1979, Franco Brusati) 38



The dramatic possibility in To Forget Venice is mostly squandered, despite a strong premise where a gay brother and lesbian sister return home for a visit with their partners. The film is strongest at its midpoint, where at a wedding the siblings recognize how far they are from the norm of small town heterosexuals. They cannot share a dance with their partner, vaguely explain they're unmarried to people they haven't seen since childhood, and longingly look at the happy couple realizing they won't get a day like this. But instead of fleshing out these characters or their romances, the film instead focuses too much on their ailing opera singer mother. It's totally unwilling to show gay affection, suggesting this is a cowardly as well as a wasted opportunity.

267. Live for Life

267. (10 Nov) Live for Life (1967, Claude Lelouch) 34



Lelouch has an undeniable understanding of the medium, as few contemporary dramas could be made to look more cinematic, but this is incredibly clinical and even shallow in its approach toward its characters. That, combined with the broad, pseduo-intellectualism that marks his other work, makes this tough to get involved in. Long interludes like a safari in Africa, while visually stunning, seem utterly pointless. The incidental nature of the whole plot, rather than feeling dreamy and romantic as it did in A Man and a Woman, seems sloppy.

237. Tristana

237. (06 Oct) Tristana (1970, Luis Buñuel) 54



Tristana tackles immense themes, as a young woman is taken advantage of by her older male guardian, a man obsessed with the notion of personal freedom only when it's convenient. Less visual and more talky than most Buñuel, it's nevertheless fascinating seeing the twisted, abusive dynamic between these two characters. They're expertly played by Fernardo Rey and Catherine Deneuve. Rey is the standout here, at his best when brooding and declaring he acts as both husband and father to Deneuve as it suits him. Franco Nero is the dashing third point of their love triangle.

The scripting is a little obvious in that anyone's innocence can be easily lost, as everyone's choices are half-chance. Notions regarding love and maturity are simplified in Tristana; with youth comes naivety, middle age brings bitterness, and seniority makes one soft and sentimental. That arc isn't unbelievable, but it plays out jarringly in the film's second half. Buñuel offers some abstractions, particularly in a subplot about a deaf boy, to make his story seem more profound. While there's intrigue throughout, this is mostly an odd misstep for the auteur.

179. The Ox

179. (29 Aug) The Ox (1991, Sven Nykvist) 59



At the very least, The Ox is further evidence that Sven Nykvist may have been the greatest cinematographer ever to live. He crafts a bleak world slowly drained of color, as a peasant family struggles after killing an ox to feed themselves. The stakes here are always high, but Nykvist has a tough time making soapy drama convincing and compelling. He gets broad performances from Stellan Skarsgard and Ewa Froling, while Max von Sydow and Liv Ullmann fare better.

007. Bullhead

007. (04 Jan) Bullhead (2011, Michael R. Roskam) 53



European crime thrillers are often similarly convoluted and overly complicated in structure. Bullhead has difficulty laying out its main mafia plot. Much better is a series of flashbacks about a young boy whose testicles are smashed by a bully. As a thirty-something year old man, he's compensated by taking an abundance of steroids and becoming a muscleman. Matthias Schoenaerts' tough guy dopiness and impressive physicality give that commentary on masculinity a good deal of credibility. He makes this much more worthwhile than it would otherwise be.

493. A Separation

493. (13 Dec) A Separation (2011, Asghar Farhadi) 47



A Separation is strident and full of judgmental characters whose toxicity prevents the film from having the compelling, even-handed narrative it hopes to have. Considering how much manufactured outrage and deck-stacking there is at work, it's almost surreal the film lacks any genuine emotional quality. While we've seen some astonishingly preposterous plots in 2011 releases, this one suggests some sort of low-key character study before becoming an exhausting legal drama. Anytime something dramatic happens, it's in a flurry of shrill shouting. While some of the events in the last half of the film come close to being involving, this always plays like a so-so stage play.

449. In Darkness

449. (28 Oct) In Darkness (2011, Agnieszka Holland)* 74



A few scenes into In Darkness and it seems like this is as typical as WWII fare comes. Then the story shifts to Jews who survived in the sewers of Lvov for fourteen months. Once underground, the film takes on an intensity and relentless quality that is totally unexpected. Harrowing events and obstacles bombard us, giving a really clear sense of how these people clearly defied the odds.

What really distinguishes the film is its moral complexity. Leopold, the Pole who initially helps the Jews for monetary gain, slowly begins to see the humanity of people he stereotyped. His wife, played by the charming Kinga Preis, gets him to see that Jews are hardly different from Poles, but she initially does not feel helping these strangers is worth the risk to her family. By letting us invest so much in the human drama, Agnieszka Holland makes this an emotional journey rather than a by the numbers historical one.