Leaving Las Vegas.
Ben is a Hollywood screenwriter. His wife has left and taken his son with her: “I don’t know if I started drinking cause my wife left me or my wife left me cause I started drinking”, an ambiguity that is maintained throughout. As the quote alludes, Ben is an alcoholic, waking up with withdrawal and drinking heavily throughout the day. Though desperate for human emotional contact and exhibiting an air of self-loathing, he hides behind an arrogant facade resulting in hatred from everyone he encounters. The drinking has become too much for his superiors, so Ben is fired from his screenwriting job, causing him to set out for Las Vegas. Upon arriving he encounters Sera, a proud prostitute who is regularly abused by clients as well as her drug dealing pimp. Ben suggests they return to his motel room, though not requiring of her services he confides in Sera that he intends to drink himself to death. The two continue to see each other as they begin to fall in love, though Ben is reluctant as he doesn’t want to ruin Sera’s life by being a part of it. Leaving Las Vegas is not a love story, more a film about loneliness. Whether Ben and Sera really love each other is open for debate; Sera is very quickly attached to Ben, after a lifetime of abuse and neglect, she meets a man who talks to her openly so she understandably develops feelings for him; while Ben, who also hasn’t felt a human connection for a long time, seemingly wants a companion to share his final few weeks of life with who will not attempt to stop him from his slow suicide. Leaving Las Vegas is a terrifically acted film, Nicholas Cage is scarily convincing as alcoholic Ben, with a top notch screenplay by Mike Figgis, incredible cinematography of the bright lights of Las Vegas and a wonderful jazz score, symbolic of the chaotic relationship the two protagonists share. A great piece of cinema and a small ray of hope that loneliness isn’t terminal.
Secrets & Lies.
Wow. This is an incredible film that is really about very little. The main plot of Secrets & Lies revolves around Hortense, a young black optometrist, searching for her birth mother, lonely white factory worker Cynthia, after her adopted mother’s death. The story itself is more an inspection of relationships; whether that be between siblings, parents and children, romantic partners, in-laws or friends; the film centres around family. Writer and director Mike Leigh does an incredible job of capturing the repressed British attitude, the characters talk without saying anything, until the emotion that is built up throughout erupts in the final agonising scene that will bring a tear to even the most hard shelled individual’s eye; just thinking about it is making me well up. The cast is absolutely amazing; Timothy Spall is wonderful as Maurice, the loveable photographer, with much of the humour deriving from his interactions with people, while the single-shot scene in the cafe after Hortense and Cynthia meet for the first time features some of the most natural and real acting ever produced, courtesy of Marianne Jean-Baptiste and the beyond Oscar worthy Brenda Blethyn. Not the only single-shot scene, such a technique in an otherwise simply shot film adds to the feeling that Secrets & Lies is not a piece of fiction but a documentary, a window in which to see the relationships we have with our families. This all too accurate depiction of families at large, but British families in particular, is a true piece of cinematic brilliance. Recommended viewing for everyone, although bring tissues and probably carry some spare for a few days after too.
Porco Rosso.
A World War I Italian Air Force veteran is a pilot for hire, who’s jobs mostly consist of rescuing those held hostage by air pirates. Wanted in his home country for refusing to serve the fascist government, Marco lives a life of solitude on a deserted island. The pirates and bounty hunters despise Marco for his constant foiling of their plans, so they band together in an attempt to defeat him once and for all. While they, or rather Marco’s rival Curtis, succeed in shooting his plane out of the sky, Marco survives and begins his story of redemption which will inevitably lead to a final confrontation with Curtis. Oh, and Marco has the head of a pig. The reason behind Marco, or Porco as he is known, having the head of a swine is not explicitly told, however this adds to the mystery of the story, allowing the viewer to contemplate exactly how it occurred themselves. The whimsical world created by Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli is amazing, filled with the stereotypical Ghibli humour it makes the audience want to crawl through the screen, leave all responsibilities in this reality behind and live with Marco in the 1930s. The beautiful, artistic landscapes are again something to behold, and with much of the film set in aeroplanes dancing over the sea, there are plenty of them and each shot is a piece of art, in particular the wonderfully choreographed dogfight finale. Porco Rosso is a homage to classic adventure war films, filled with cliches of the genre and subversions to keep the film fresh (again see the final confrontation between Marco and Curtis). And adult theme in a film for kids, anyone and everyone will enjoy this, unless they think feminism was a bad idea.
Thesis.
Ángela is a film student writing her thesis on audiovisual violence. As established in the opening scene of Thesis, Ángela herself, has something of a morbid fascination with death and dead people. Her thesis leads her to the discovery of a snuff film, where a girl is brutally tortured before she is killed. Ángela shows the tape to Chema, a film student with his own collection of violent videos, with whom she has a strange relationship. Chema recognises the girl in the video as a former student in his class; after which a reluctant investigation unravels with Ángela unsure of who she can trust. Thesis is a tense thriller with a poignant message about the state of cinema and of the film industry, in particular that of writer/director Alejandro Amenábar’s home country, Spain. As Amenábar states, the sole purpose of a director is to give the audience what they want, with snuff films being the principal example of the theory. Thesis was released as the thriller genre was being rejuvenated by the likes of Scream, and is worthy of mention in the same breath. A clever concept with a simple but bold execution.
Underground.
Part 1: Marko and Blacky are communist agitators, rebelling against the fascist rule of the Nazis in WWII Yugoslavia. A group of Belgrade residents, including Marko’s kind hearted, zoo working brother Ivan, take shelter in Marko’s grandfather’s underground bunker, with Blacky joining them after being captured and subsequently escaping the Nazis. The shelter is converted into a munitions factory to assist in the war effort, with only Marko entering or leaving. Part 2: Marko is now a prominent figure in Yugoslav politics during the Cold War era of the 60s. The group underground is now a bustling society continuing to produce weapons, unaware that WWII has ended, with Marko profiting from their labour. The above ground Yugoslavia believes Blacky died a martyr and so is considered a national hero, with a film adaptation of Marko and Blacky’s exploits in production where the cast are doppelgängers for their real life counterparts. Part 3: having escaped from the shelter with his son, Blacky is a general during the Yugoslav Wars of the 90s, while Marko is still attempting to profit from the war going on all around him. Although it may not sound like it from the synopsis, Underground is largely a slapstick comedic satire which becomes more dramatic as the story progresses. It is a nostalgic love story by writer/director Emir Kusturica for his home country of Yugoslavia, while he ruminates on what could, and possibly should, have been. Fucking fascist motherfuckers.
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