In Contention

Author: Guy Lodge

  • VENICE: Swinton in ‘I Am Love,’ Gainsbourg in ‘Persecution’

    Tilda Swinton in I Am LoveIs any other actor today building as diverse a filmography as Tilda Swinton? After serving studio time last year in the one-two shot of “Burn After Button,” this year has seen hear frighten off the purple-rinsed Academy crowd that seemingly first noticed her in “Michael Clayton” with a defiant return to arthouse “difficulty” in “Julia” and “The Limits of Control.”

    Not content with that, it seems, she now shows off her linguistic skills with the wholly Italian-language lead in Luca Guadagnino’s extravagant family melodrama “I Am Love” — handily announcing herself as the film’s sole raison d’être in the first place. If the subtitles don’t unnerve her newfound mainstream following, the loving close-ups of her nipples just might. Good on her.

    Coincidentally enough, it’s been a morning of language-flipping crossover stars, as Charlotte Gainsbourg’s first post-“Antichrist” venture unspooled in the shape of Patrice Chéreau’s Competition entry “Persecution,” a Paris-set romantic drama that soothes the wounds inflicted upon the actress by Lars Von Trier, if not to terribly exciting effect. Short reviews after the jump.

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  • VENICE: ‘My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done?,’ ‘Lourdes’

    Michael Shannon and Chloe Sevigny in My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done?Another sweltering day on the Lido, though rainclouds are forming and things look set to break any moment now. Hopefully a change in climate will also bring about an upswing in the collective quality of films on display, as the first three days have served up a few well-liked titles, several misfires and nothing yet resembling a sensation.

    At this stage, the Competition title with the most buzz appears to be Todd Solondz’s “Life During Wartime,” which I took a shine to yesterday — though others I spoke to seemed less enthusiastic. However, as the reviews pour in, the film looks more and more like a success: Screen International editor Mike Goodridge is a fan, while Todd McCarthy has labeled it the director’s best work yet.

    Bookending a morning that began with the first sighting of “The Bad Lieutenant,” this evening opened the not-that-well-guarded secret of the Competition’s surprise film — and, as luck (or otherwise) would have it, it turned out to be a second helping of Herzog.

    “My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done?” (*)

    It feels odd, and slightly improper, to beat up on Werner Herzog twice in one day, but sadly, the David Lynch-produced “My Son, My Son” leaves me very little choice.

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  • SHORT TAKE: “The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans” (**)

    Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New OrleansVenice Film Festival

    Keen students of the MTV Movie Awards will be aware that the ceremony added a highly necessary and prestigious award to their lineup for “Best WTF Moment.” I like to imagine that Werner Herzog is aware of this, as his new film “The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans” (that “The” is no typo – that’s how the title appears onscreen) appears to have been carefully tailored to fill every nominee slot in that category next year.

    An iguana bursts into a bluesy rendition of Engelbert Humperdinck’s “Release Me!” Nicolas Cage shares his lucky crack pipe! A man’s soul breakdances after its owner is fatally shot! Iguanas! Nicolas Cage cuts off an octogenarian woman’s oxygen supply! More freaky shit involving iguanas!

    It’s been many years since Herzog’s narrative features exuded the sure-footed directorial aplomb of his documentaries, but there is, somewhat surprisingly, a fairly clear artistic objective behind “The Bad Lieutenant”: to make a cult film, the kind of midnight movie treasured by trash geeks, stoners and the occasional leftfield auteurist alike.

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  • Disconnected Venice

    Peggy Guggenheim CollectionI had every intention last night of bringing you a report on a couple more films, but packed-out screenings and overlapping screening schedules put paid to that idea.

    Moreover, filing material online is proving something of a challenge, as the festival’s wi-fi access works in fits and starts, while my hotel has helpfully decided to dispense with their own such facilities altogether.

    The slate of evening screenings, meanwhile, was sacrificed in favor of other plans. Call it lack of cinematic dedication on my part, but would you turn down dinner on the rooftop of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, with Todd Haynes and John Sayles in attendance?

    I was lucky enough to be seated at an especially chatty table, with affable Australian critic (and former Edinburgh fest director) Shane Danielsen and Screen International’s Mike Goodridge leading the conversation.

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  • VENICE: ‘The Road,’ ‘Life During Wartime,’ ‘Great Directors’

    Ciaran Hinds in Life During WartimeSorry to duck out there for the whole morning — a combination of wireless misbehavior and delayed screenings has played havoc with my planned writing time. As a festival, Venice has multiple charms, but smooth organization is not among them.

    This morning’s glitch-bedeviled  screening of Todd Solondz’s “Life During Wartime” is a case in point: after starting 20 minutes late (leaving journalists waiting outside in sunstroke-inducing heat), the projector broke down during the opening credits. A second quarter-hour delay followed,  only for the film to restart with severely mistimed Italian subtitles — the vocal protests from Italian audience members drowning out the dialogue in the film’s opening scenes. Oh, well.

    Anyway, enough kvetching and on to the movies.

    Kris will have a more detailed take on “The Road” (**1/2) up later today, but given that it’s one of the Lido’s biggest drawcards, I feel it necessary to take a moment to discuss the film, which seems to have left several journalists I’ve spoken to disappointed, or at least mildly befuddled — and with good reason.

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  • Touchdown in Venice

    VeniceGreetings from the cavernous, marble-clad press room of the Venice Film Festival. After a more-frenzied-than-average day’s travelling (thanks to a domino set of transport delays resulting in the kind of mad airport dash usually reserved for rom-com heroes only), I have arrived in Venice in more or less one piece — and if ever a city was designed to melt away the stresses of a rough transit, it’s this one.

    Even in sticky September heat, it’s as unremittingly, broodingly lovely as every postcard, photograph or film scene has ever suggested — as I navigated the shady labyrinth of criss-crossing bridges and canals to my hotel, it was hard not to expect a ghostly tyke in red to pop up a few paces ahead. Or Dirk Bogarde in a Panama hat. At least Helena Bonham-Carter in a carnival mask. But no. Such are the mild letdowns of initially meeting cities through the movies.

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  • Back to Welles

    Christian McKay in Me and Orson WellesIt’s funny how strong festival buzz can be frozen indefinitely as a film jumps through the increasingly complicated hoops of securing distribution — only to be thawed and reheated later.  Such looks to be the case with Richard Linklater’s latest, “Me and Orson Welles” — or, to be more specific, its breakout star Christian McKay.

    A year ago, the previously little-known Brit was the talk of Toronto for his apparently uncanny interpretation of Welles — even critics lukewarm on the film itself had nothing but superlatives for McKay. (Our own John Foote waxed lyrical here, while Eddie Marsan, who plays Welles associate John Houseman in the film, couldn’t stop gushing about the performance during our interview last fall.)

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  • The five Venice titles I’m most curious to see

    Jared Leto in Mr. NobodyAt the crack of dawn, I board a flight to Italy — so this time tomorrow, if all goes well, I’ll be writing to you from the water-riven city of Venice after having attended a festival screening of John Hillcoat’s “The Road.” It’s both my first visit to the city and my first taste of one of the major film festivals, so it should be an exciting few days all round.

    Venice may lag slightly behind Cannes in terms of glamor and auteur attractions, but it’s arguably the European festival that feeds most into the awards season to come: as recent Cannes winners have remained largely arthouse-bound, Venice has birthed several crossover successes that went on to factor to varying degrees in the race: in recent years, “Brokeback Mountain,” “The Queen,” “Atonement” and “The Wrestler,” among others, saw their buzz begin on the Lido.

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  • Netherlands, Kazakhstan enter Oscar ponies

    Marco Borsato and Andrew Kintu in The Silent ArmyThanks to regular commenter Jonathan for alerting us to the news that The Netherlands has selected Jean van de Velde’s “The Silent Army” as their entry in the Best Foreign Language Film race.

    The film, which played in the Un Certain Regard strand at Cannes this year, is set in East Africa, and follows the plight of a widower on a quest to rescue his young son’s best friend, after the boy is recruited as a child soldier by a rebel army.

    Extensively recut after receiving a critical drubbing in its home country in 2008 (the casting of local pop star Marco Borsato accounting for much of the jeering), the film’s reception at Cannes was improved but still somewhat tepid, with many critics citing excessive sentimentality and political correctness as major debits. (Not that either of those qualities is a disadvantage with voters in this category.)

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  • Scream Awards laud ‘Star Trek,’ ‘Up,’ ‘Let the Right One In’

    Let the Right One InI don’t follow the world of genre-specific awards ceremonies very closely, so I must admit I’d never heard of the Scream Awards before their recent slate of nominations was brought to my attention.

    No prizes for guessing from the name that it’s a horror-focused affair — with separate divisions for fantasy and sci-fi as well. Fan-voted and cheerfully silly, it looks at first glance to follow in the noble tradition of the MTV Movie Awards knockoff, with such prestigious categories as “Most Memorable Mutilation” and “Holy Shit! Scene of the Year.” (Meanwhile, one of the more serious categories is saddled with the moniker “Best Scream-Play.” That’s good stuff.)

    But get past such tongue-in-cheek frivolities — and the predictable spate of nominations for the likes of “Twilight” and “Transformers 2” — and there are some pretty cool selections scattered here and there. It’s heartening to see such a healthy showing for “Let the Right One In” in a people’s-choice institution like this — though not as surprising as the inclusion of Norwegian Nazi-zombie-comedy (there’s a mouthful) “Dead Snow.”

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  • ‘Trainspotting’ named best British film of last 25 years

    Ewan McGregor in TrainspottingThe Observer has just assembled one of the more interesting lists I’ve seen in some time — a collective of the 25 best British films of the last quarter-century, compiled from the votes of over 60 critics, film professionals and assorted outside voices, ranging from Ben Kingsley to Peter Morgan to our friend Anne Thompson.

    Looking down the list, there are remarkably few inclusions that I really take issue with, whether I’d necessarily put them on my own such list or not — the majority of titles here are films I admire that have a legitimate sphere of influence in modern British film history, and they’ve lucked into an intelligent balance between arthouse and populist titles.

    “Trainspotting” is an obvious pick for number one, but sometimes obvious is fair. I don’t think it’s the greatest of the 25 titles listed here, but it’s an inarguably fine film that embodies the restless spirit of mid-1990s Britain from its whip-smart dialogue to its mega-selling soundtrack: its lightning-in-a-bottle blend of thrilling cinema and social document assures immortality.

    (Further discussion, and The Observer’s Top 10 list, after the cut.)

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  • For those interested

    Some folks like to jump down my throat any time I even mention the title “Antichrist” recently, but this discussion about the film between David Poland, Kim Morgan and Larry Gross is one of the most compelling I’ve yet seen (or read).

    I’m also glad to hear some voices trying to temper the (self-assisted) “OMGmostshockingEVER” hysteria around the film. (As a friend of mine wickedly remarked after seeing the film: “That was it? I could’ve stood a little more clitoridectomy.”) Anyway, if you’re interested, it’s worth a watch. An excerpt is below, the whole discussion is here.

  • Continuing the 3D debate

    AvatarEarlier this month, I wrote a piece detailing my wariness about the current 3D vogue amid the various claims being made that it will alter life (or at least cinema, which for many of us is the same thing) as we know it.

    Now, with “Avatar” Day having stoked anticipation for James Cameron’s purportedly “game-changing” film in some quarters — and significantly dampened it in others — the debate about the technology’s value carries on.  I expect the film’s run-up and eventual release will provide plenty more occasion for alternately sceptical and enraptured opinion pieces about the trend.

    I’m still in no position to comment about the potential (or otherwise) of “Avatar” — even if I had wanted to attend “Avatar” Day, given that I was in a tent in rural Wales at the time, the opportunity escaped me. I subsequently watched the trailer online, only to be informed (perhaps a little defensively) by others that the images only really popped in 3D.

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  • Aaron Johnson as John Lennon in ‘Nowhere Boy’

    Hat tip to The Playlist for digging up this newish still from one of my most anticipated films of the year, Sam Taylor-Wood’s “Nowhere Boy.” The film, a study of John Lennon’s early years, will premiere on the closing night of the London Film Festival in October. As Lennon, 19 year-old Aaron Johnson faces a tall order, but he looks suitably soft-faced and wistful:

    Aaron Johnson in Nowhere Boy

    (Moral guardians, lower your pitchforks: 19 year-olds can drink here.) Older images, including glimpses of Kristin Scott Thomas as Lennon’s Aunt Mimi and Thomas Sangster as Paul McCartney, after the cut.

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  • Get a clue

    Meryl StreepThere are so many things wrong with this Digital Spy piece about the Best Actress race, it’s difficult to know where to begin. Article writer Marcell Minaya seems to have filched gossip columnist Roger Friedman’s recent (largely baseless) statement that the category is bereft of contenders, and disguised it as Academy insider talk:

    The Oscars executives have allegedly been struggling to form a list of best actress nominees.

    An Oscar insider said: “It’s only just dawning that there’s a distinct lack of potentials in the best actress category. It’s been a pretty lacklustre year for movies in general but it seems that no one wrote any decent lead roles for women … There are many to choose from when it comes to supporting actresses but very few in the lead.”

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  • Hollywood remembers ‘The Wizard of Oz’

    The Wizard of OzAs you have probably been made aware, Tuesday marked the 70th anniversary of the release of “The Wizard of Oz” in the U.S., a milestone which has inspired a number of tribute pieces this past week — including our own edition of The Lists dedicated to the classic.

    For their part, the LA Times has taken the simple but effective approach of asking a range of artists from the world of film (and elsewhere) what the film means to them personally, and has turned up some interesting responses.

    It’s an imaginative selection of interviewees they’ve assembled, ranging from directors Jon Favreau and Zach Snyder to oddball musician Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips, which only goes to show the vast extent of the film’s reach and appeal. Still, the response I liked the most came from probably the most obvious source: Guillermo Del Toro, whose “Pan’s Labyrinth” is arguably the film’s closest contemporary cousin.

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  • ‘Agora’ trailer

    In yesterday’s inaugural edition of Oscar Talk, Kris and Anne Thompson discussed the bad buzz swirling around Alejandro Amenabar’s Rachel Weisz-starring historical epic “Agora,” which has been fruitlessly seeking a distributor since premiering at Cannes in May — and will continue the hunt at Toronto.

    Right on cue, here comes the trailer, and … let’s just say that Anne’s prediction of a “noble failure folly” looks ominously on-target. I’ve loved much of Amenabar’s work, but if I could barely keep my eyes open through the trailer, it doesn’t bode well for the film. Your thoughts?

  • WEEKLY WRAP: ‘Inception’ unwrapped, ‘Shutter’ unseated

    Leonardo DiCaprio in Inception• One day after the film’s trailer surfaced, we turned up some fresh plot information about Christopher Nolan’s “Inception.” Fan hysteria ensued.

    • Just in case you’d forgotten, “Shutter Island” was booted into 2010. Fan hysteria ensued.

    • To a quieter reaction, Julie Taymor’s “The Tempest” joined Scorsese’s film on the sidelines for next year.

    • In submitting “The White Ribbon,” Germany gave the foreign-language race its first major official contender.

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