Cache.
Austrian filmmaker Michael Haneke has created an instant ‘classic’
with his extraordinary French mystery ‘Cache’.
Daniel Auteuil, who plays a TV literary reviewer, and his
wife, portrayed by Juliette Binoche, start receiving unsolicited
videotapes that depict themselves and their son shot secretly
from the street outside their suburban Parisian home. Gradually,
the videotapes become more personal, and suggest that the
sender has known Daniel, in-particular, for some time. A sense
of impending doom descends upon the family, but, as no threat
has been made, the police are reluctant to help. Eventually,
Daniel decides to take matters into his own hands. Whether
or not he has made the right choice, or comes to the right
decision regarding the perpetrator of the videotapes, is the
key mystery of the movie. However, the amazing concept of
this movie is that it essentially presents no correct explanation
of the depicted events. What the movie is all about is left
entirely up to the interpretation of each individual viewer.
Fundamentally, this movie is actually all about the experience
of watching film for itself.Michael Haneke explores, throughout
the movie, the concept of ‘real-time’. All the
videos sent to the family are shot in ‘real-time’,
which means no edits, and, all of the scenes within the movie
depicting ‘reality’ are also shot in extremely
long one-takes. What is ‘videotape’ and what is
‘film-reality’, become very much blurred. Also,
it appears, that clues to the solution of the mystery may
be found within the videotapes themselves, which compels the
audience to take particular notice of what they are watching
and attempting to interpret. The movie becomes a fascinating
mind-game for anyone who immerses themselves in it. Everything
about the movie is outstanding, from the direction, to the
intriguing script, through to the acting. It is fantastic
cinema that will create a huge public debate, as the mystery,
and perhaps a possible meaning of the movie, will inevitably
ignite much controversy.
Colour Me Kubrick.
I don’t get the point of this movie, ‘Colour Me
Kubrick’. Directed by Brian W. Cook, written by Anthony
Frewin, and produced by Luc Besson, this British movie, based
on real-life, could be considered an ‘important’
event, but, I fail to grasp what it is all about. Set in 1998-99,
John Malkovich plays a small time ‘gay’ conman
who ingratiates himself into London’s high-life by going
around impersonating famous reclusive screen director Stanley
Kubrick. The only message I get from the show is that excellent
psychiatric care is cheaply available through the British
Welfare System. However, as a movie buff’s fantasy,
the film is a real treat. Director Cook stages and shoots
the movie very much like a Kubrick film itself. Much of the
camerawork and positioning of the actors echo Kubrick’s
style. Sets and costumes all pay homage to Kubrick movies,
especially ‘A Clockwork Orange’, and the soundtrack
is straight out of ‘2001’. Much fun can be had
picking aging actors and actresses who appeared in original
Kubrick movies. All this, of course, is highly amusing, yet,
John Malkovich’s somewhat sleazy reading of the conman,
somehow leaves an impression of besmirching Kubrick’s
own reputation, who had nothing to do with the impersonator,
and is now hardly in a position to defend himself. Don’t
get me wrong, the film is rather enjoyable. I just don’t
get what it is saying, except, maybe, a missive about the
gullibility of willing victims to be star-struck by the proximity
of fame.
Friends with Money.
Jennifer Aniston, Joan Cusak, Catherine Keener and Frances
McDormand play a quartet of life-long friends, who, having
established a certain amount of financial security in their
lives, begin to question their personal values. Written and
directed by Nicole Holofcener, the movie is basically a talk-fest,
without saying much of any particular interest. Everybody
just goes blah-blah-blah a lot, about nothing. I must say,
without trying to appear sexist, that Nicole Holofcener isn’t
much of a director either. She may fully understand the female
psyche, but when it comes to her male characters, which include
Greg Germann, Simon McBurney, Jason Isaacs and Scott Caan,
they are poorly handled. All the men in the movie come across
as one-dimensional characters, with no depth or substance.
Normally, Jennifer Aniston would be right at home with this
kind of material but even she appears mystified by the proceedings.
She wanders through the show in a dazed state. Obviously her
mind wasn’t on it. Jennifer fails to grasp the comedy
of her only major scene, where she parades around in a saucy
French Maid costume, and the scene falls flat. In-fact, the
whole movie is very flat, and not of any interest.
Relative Strangers.
From the creators of ‘Meet the Parents’ and ‘Meet
the Fockers’, comes another carbon copy of their film
franchise. This time around Greg Glienna directs this awful
movie, ‘Relative Strangers’, which is concerned
with an upwardly mobile young professional discovering, on
the night of his engagement, that he is adopted, and, consequently,
sets about finding his biological parents to invite them to
the wedding. Naturally enough, the parents he finds are nothing
but trailer-park-trash, and are an embarrassment to his adoptive
parents and his snotty fiancée. The film simply repeats
the formula of the other ‘Meet the Parents/Fockers’
movies, and has nothing at all new to offer. The only redeeming
features of the movie are Danny DeVito and Kathy Bates, who
have a great time playing (totally over-the-top) the white-trash
biological parents. They are the only actors in the entire
show responsible for any humor that can be found in this appalling
movie.
RV.
Even though I was only six years old at the time, I think
I enjoyed Lucille Ball’s 1954 ‘The Long Long Trailer’,
which was the original version of ‘RV’, much more
than Barry Sonnenfeld’s abysmal rip-off of the same
story. ‘RV’ goes through the familiar motions,
of a dreary dysfunctional family touring America in an extremely
large campervan, without half the charm or appeal of Lucy’s
screwball classic. Robin Williams is clean-shaven in this
movie. No beard. So it is obviously meant to be a comedy.
Robin Williams gives me the creeps. If you are a fan of his
you need serious remedial help.
