The Forgiven

John Michael McDonagh and his younger brother, Martin, have carved out a prominent place in British/Irish film in the past 20 years or so. With very few features to their name, they've managed to become the type of filmmakers who get eyebrows raised and hands rubbing together whenever a new project is announced. Anyway, that's what happened to me when I heard McDonagh the elder was the director of The Forgiven. It's a morality tale set in Morocco at a posh party on the edge of the Sahara. Ralph Fiennes and Jessica Chastain play David and Jo Henninger, an upper class couple who don't really seem to be getting on - he's a wanker and she's got the complete shits with him. After landing by ferry, they drive through the night to the party, but hit and kill a young guy on the way.

Meanwhile, hosts Richard (Matt Smith) and Dally (Caleb Landry Jones) welcome their guests to a weekend of vulgar debauchery, causing some amount of cultural discord with the local staff. The tardiness of the Henningers is noted and when they eventually arrive, the film sparks into gear. Now, it appears this film has taken a bit of a whaling with some critics but I'm not on that particular whaler. I thought this was top gear. Sure, the set-up is probably stronger than the resolution - much of the dialogue between the snarky, arsehole guests is crackling and it's an oasis if you stumble upon anyone vaguely likeable at the party. Smith is probably the pick in this regard, he acts as the audience conduit, sensible and archly camp at the same time. A career best from him, though I haven't seen him in much else and I'm no Whovian.

Fiennes is pure class, as always, and his arc is the clear rainbow of the film. Honestly, something had to give because he starts out as such a twat that he verges on caricature, but it's not actually the accidental death that drives his change. This comes as a result of meeting the dead boy's ("His name is Driss!") father, Abdellah (Ismael Kanater) and his driver, Anouar (Saïd Taghmaoui - from long ago La Haine). These guys run the dignified native trope a little close but they exude a calm menace - the scenes between them and David are bloody edgy. But it all comes down to taking responsibility for your actions and David's concern that Abdellah won't forgive him is telling. Fiennes' confession to Taghmaoui is an important moment in the story, and it carries a lot of weight.

Chastain is an interesting actor. Her deep eye sockets and perfect teeth give her a waxwork iciness and it works better here than any of her previous films. I think she's supposed to be running the border of entitled bitch and lonely wife in an unhappy marriage, but some of her movements are curiously affecting, like when she dabs Fiennes' head injury after a young local throws a rock at him, and when she shouts "Fuck that!" in response to Fiennes telling her he's been asked to go with the dead boy's father. It's an unusual, ambiguous performance and it fits right into the bacchanalian castle in the desert setting.

The Forgiven is tightly edited by Elizabeth Eves and Chris Gill, has spectacular sandy vistas shot by Larry Smith and the party vibe has a bit of the old Upstairs, Downstairs about it. Hamid (Mourad Zaoui) is the head of staff at the compound and he comes across as a grand prophet of aphorisms but his colleague telling him he should have a twitter account is a nice touch. I reckon it's some effort to make you want to spend more time in the company of a bunch of entitled shitsticks, but McDonagh has achieved this, and for that reason alone, I'd have this as his finest film (certainly vying with Calvary at any stroke).

Oh, and the credits are all in a 70s red AND over the vision at the start, like an old Poirot film with Peter Ustinov. Mint.

The Forgiven opens July 28th at the Luna cinemas. Hey, that's today.

See also:

There's a touch of Robert Altman's Gosford Park (2001) about this, and the 'rich westerners in the desert' motif reminded me of Bernardo Bertolucci's The Sheltering Sky (1990).

Revelation Film Festival 2022 - Wrap up

Time to run down the 13 films I saw at this year's Revelation Film Festival. It was a great edition for the 25th anniversary, with some excellent films on show. Here are my thoughts, in ascending order of quality.

After Blue ★

This was quite hard going. It reminded me of struggling through Aleksei German's impenetrably muddy Hard to Be a God (2013). After Blue shares much of that film's aesthetic, with amateur looking sets, foggy darkness and animalistic performances. Director Bertrand Mandico is one of the creators of the Incoherence Manifesto and it certainly shows in this film, which follows a young woman and her mother on the hunt for wanted killer, Kate Bush (not that one). It's set on a planet peopled only by women (the men have died off after growing hair internally) and the story, if you can call it that, sends the mother and daughter to a mountain lair and back again. There are worthy feminist and environmental messages here but I didn't have the stamina to wade through all the guff and piffle.

18½ ★★

This is a nice idea in the wrong hands. The premise is that a transcriber, Connie (Willa Fitzgerald), has somehow got her hands on the missing 18½ minutes of the Nixon White House tapes that might have implicated him (more) in the Watergate scandal. She meets Paul (John Magaro), a journalist, who wants to listen to the tape before deciding the next move, so they go to an off-season holiday park on a lake. Hijinks ensue, and I hate writing that, but I feel that's what the director, Dan Mirvish, is angling for. He's trying to set the film up as a low-key, almost grungy indie pic that goes a bit zany, and Richard Kind is the best thing in it as the slimy, one-eyed park owner but the whole film is tonally haphazard. Maybe that's what they were going for - unfortunately, it doesn't work.

Slaughterhouse-Five ★★

Kurt Vonnegut's big breakthrough as a writer got Hollywood on the sniff and a few years after the book was published this adaptation was made. Oddly lacking in star wattage (you'll recognise some faces from 80s TV) yet directed by the esteemed George Roy Hill (The Sting, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Slap Shot), this is could have been great but it hasn't aged well. It's very earnest and avoids the kooky, and I reckon it must be a tough gig to adapt Vonnegut. As solid as Hill was, it might have been better waiting for peak Gilliam or even Jeuent & Caro to direct.

Luzifer ★★½

I have mixed feelings about this film by Austrian Peter Brunner. On one hand, there's a creeping embedded dread (it makes sense that Brunner was a student of Michael Haneke) and the stakes are laid out succinctly. On the other hand, there are a couple of scenes that are excruciatingly repetitive and could have done with minute shaved off. There's also a surfeit of religious imagery and dialogue, which was hard to stomach, considering the fundamentalist mother and son were portrayed as the heroes, railing against the devil in the guise of modernity. Not for me thanks, Clive. And on the other hand (yep, three hands), I thought the lack of a traditional revenge climax was a neat little rug pull. So, conflicted I remain.

The Passengers of the Night ★★★

This is an assured, slightly overlong look at a French family in the 1980s, mainly focused on Charlotte Gainsbourg's single mother of two. There's joy and melancholy in equal measures and the characters feel real, albeit French (so I can't really speak for the veracity of that comment). Gainsbourg's Elisabeth has just split from her husband and needs to provide for her two (near-adult) kids. The fact that the film doesn't really dwell on this point - her radio job pays next to nothing and her father is good for a loan - says a lot about its non-genre credentials. This is fine and apes the kind of dreamy, wistful French dramas of the post-New Wave (see Eric Rohmer mainly, but also maybe Patrice Leconte, Jacques Rivette and Claude Berri). The downside of all this is the meandering path the film takes, and while it's interesting to spend time with the leads, the lack of focus pulls the film down a bit.

Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time ★★★

This doco had a long gestation period with writer/director, Robert Weide finishing it around 40 years after devising the idea. It covers Vonnegut's life, from his childhood up to his death in 2007, and is framed by Weide's friendship with the author. I guess the pivot point of the film (and Vonnegut's life) was his time in Dresden during the firestorms - this shows in his writing and his general fatalism about the world. He's a witty bugger and Weide does a fine job of illustrating Vonnegut's mild anti-establishment bent, as well as the effects he had on those around him - family and fans alike. A pretty good doco about a pretty great author.

Shadow ★★★

Based on a play - The Shadow Whose Prey the Hunter Becomes - this is a clever film, made by the Geelong-based, Back to Back theatre group. The cast are mostly neuro-diverse and the point of the film is to show how utterly normal they are, or that, in the words of Simon Laherty (above), "normal people aren't really normal." Shadow begins by showing some people with intellectual disabilities (this term is challenged during the film) setting up a mock city council meeting. We discover later that the reason for the meeting is to discuss Artificial Intelligence and how it will treat humans in the future. The comparison with how the neuro-diverse are treated by the rest of society is duly noted. A thought-provoking, original treat.

A Life on the Farm ★★★

Here's a life and death affirming doco about an old Somerset farmer, Charles Carson (above) who loved to pootle about with camcorders. The director, Oscar Harding (whose grandparents were neighbours of Carson), found an old VHS tape in his auntie's stuff and, realising the gold he had uncovered, made it into this film. This nutty but lovable old geezer liked to film events around the farm, often set up - like the cardboard skeletons riding cows, sometimes natural - like the calf birthing sequence. His hobby, his passion, I'm guessing, helped him deal with loss and grief and he seems to have coped with life events in a very nonchalant way. The old VHS film clips are interspersed with interviews of people who knew Charles and others who have a fascination with his output. The moment with the cat early on will set you on the path. [Listen to my interview with the producer, Dominik Platen here].

The Assassination & Mrs. Paine ★★★½

This is a tricksy number whereby the director, Max Good, pushes us in one direction, then pulls in another, all hovering around the inscrutable character of Ruth Paine. One view has her as the innocent patsy who gave Lee Harvey Oswald a roof over his head the night before JFK was assassinated. Another paints her as a CIA agent, deep undercover in order to infiltrate communist sympathiser groups. Whichever the case, Mrs. Paine certainly carries herself with incredible dignity, given that she's had this shit hanging over her for so long. Apparently she was asked the most questions in the Warren Commission Report - in the tens of thousands! - and is badgered every few years by journos for an updated soundbite. It's a fascinating side angle to the tale that will likely never reach exhaustion and the threads are plaited and unpicked again and again. Top grade doco. 

Namarali ★★★½

This doco was shot some time ago in the Kimberley region of Western Australia and it follows indigenous Aussie artist Donny (Yorna) Woolagoodja as he makes his way to a cave to repaint the big boss Wandjina (spirits), Namarali. Director, Tim Mummery, weaves together images of the artist and the landscape with stock footage from a film Donny's father made in 1972, bringing some neat symmetry to the journey. But the journey's end isn't a conclusion as such, as the Namarali will need to be 'buffed up' for each new generation, and that's the message of the film for me. The forcible removal of Donny and his Worrorra people from the area meant that the upkeep of Namarali was paused for a long while, and though this doco (no spoilers) ends on a positive note, the future of the cave, the art, even the culture, is sadly uncertain. A tightly made bittersweet film.

Planet X ★★★½

Well, well, this kind of thing doesn't come along every day. I'm not sure how the director, Maxence Vassilyevitch avoided turning this into a vainglorious French art film, there's potential for high levels of toss here, but he's somehow made this a success. Perhaps the short run time, maybe the surprising spot it ended on, possibly the economy of words and shots, but this was very nearly the best of Rev for me. [See full review here for more].

Navalny ★★★½

In August 2020 Alexei Navalny, Russian opposition leader and Putin chassis thorn, was travelling by plane back to Moscow from Tomsk in central Russia when he fell suddenly ill. It turned out to be nerve agent novichok, in the crotch of the grundies, no less. Jock Crotch Novichok might be a good name for a death metal band, but it almost proved fatal for Navalny. The plane deviated course and he was taken to hospital, likely saving his life. The wash-up of this act is the basis for this gripping documentary from director, Daniel Roher. Eventually gaining release from the hospital (it was a close run thing), Navalny is transported to Germany where he starts his recuperation. Soon, Bulgarian investigative journalist, Christo Grozev, contacts Navalny with news that the illness was possibly poison and so begins their investigation.

This doco is packed with impressive moments, mostly courtesy of the uber-charming Navalny. His description of Christo as a 'Bulgarian nerd with a computer' and his delicate ribbing of his wife's desire to steal an apple are worth the ticket alone. However, the showstopper is the scene where they attempt to cold call Russian agents who may have been involved in the poisoning. It's enough to say that this is a piece of extreme fact that could easily pass as dubitable fiction. In more 'fact or fiction?' posers, Putin himself is seen at a press conference referring to Navalny as 'that individual' or 'the person you are talking about' and other such 'he who shall not be named' blatherwick, clearly missing the Voldemort angle. I mean, Peter Dutton sure, in fact, find a fucking mirror Poots, but Navalny is clearly 'the boy who lived' in this scenario. Unless, of course, they end up killing the poor bastard (he's in a Russian prison at time of writing). A brilliant documentary.

Freaks Out ★★★★

Gabriele Mainetti's second feature is a hard-edged, warm-centred treat, mixing Nazi clairvoyants with Italian circus freaks. And amputee partisans. And super powers. In war time Rome. If this hasn't tickled your fancy, pop through to the full review here. A barrel of fun, best of the fest for me.

MILD SPOILERS IN POD!

Planet X

What a little oddity this is. Coming in at a tic under 1 hour, it's an electronic fever dream of a film. The premise is that some time in the future humanity is forced to retreat to reinforced bunkers at dawn due to the sun's extreme heat (something like thousands of degrees, if I remember rightly). The opening shows us a group of people racing back to the shelter, heeding the broadcast to get a wriggle on. On the way back, one of the characters knifes another guy in the stomach and we see the blood drift upwards from the wound, as though in very low gravity. It starts as it means to go on.

Once back inside the rudimentary safe room, we meet others in the group via some very French musings. There's a young woman who is attempting to shag everyone else and a Japanese bloke in wooden geta. There's an old fella who seems the sensible anchor, a techy guy who is on the way to discovering the eponymous planet, a theatrical woman who kind of acts as a circuit breaker to events, and a psycho who can't stop fixing an old TV set. Oh, and a cyborg who is there to keep the humans in check (and save the life of one guy who is trying to die). 

The dialogue is sparse, obscure at times and occasionally close to pretentious, but it is functional and there's very little that goes to waste - here's where the decision to make it so short pays off. Had the film been much longer, it probably would have outstayed its welcome but ending as it does, all flashing and nebulous (AND WEIRD), it caught me by surprise. The more I think about Planet X, the more I appreciate director Maxence Vassilyevitch's choices. I'm almost certain my reading of the film, especially the finale, is bollocks but I'm glad there are films like this that give you the option to get it wrong.

Incidentally, there was once a bit of conjecture about the possibility of an actual Planet X beyond Neptune and some of the material is wild. The Wikipedia entry is a good enough lifting off point.

See also:

The sun plays havoc in Danny Boyle's Sunshine (2007) and Duncan Jones balances things with Moon (2009).

Freaks Out

When I read the blurb about Freaks Out in the Revelation Film Festival programme I earmarked it as the one to watch for this year. Usually, this kind of anticipation results in disappointment but it wasn't to be here. This is a blast. You might think a film with a bunch of circus freaks and Nazis (both with super-powers), as well as a gang of amputee partisans might be a bit ironic, with a nudge and a wink to the audience. But Freaks Out plays it very straight, very sincere, almost in the vein of a neo-realist war film. The gist is that four Italian circus performers, seemingly left in the lurch by their ringleader, decide to join the Zircus Berlin, which is headlined by the erratically psychotic Franz, (Franz Rogowski). Our special quad are Fulvio (Claudio Santamaria), a grumpy, super-strong Chewbacca who can bend metal; Cencio (Pietro Castellitto), a weedy insect overlord; Mario (Giancarlo Martini), a magnetic, masturbating dwarf; and the heart of the film, Matilde (Aurora Giovinazzo), a young orphan who can command electricity. 

The film starts by cleverly showing us each performer's act under a small big top on the outskirts of Rome, just before their workplace is demolished by (presumably) Allied bombs. As the troupe move towards the city, their kindly leader, Israel (Giorgio Tirabassi), convinces them to give him 300 Lira each so he can go into Rome to pay for their passage to the USA. When he doesn't return, Fulvio, Cencio and Mario, assuming he's done a runner with their dosh, head for the famous Nazi circus to find work. Matilde believes in Israel and suspects he's been snatched due to his Jewish heritage, so she goes her own way to look for him. There's a fantastic scene around this time where the crew stumble upon a round-up of Jews and the three guys are thrown into the trucks. It doesn't work out too well for the Germans and ultimately, this is a satisfyingly violent example of how their powers can be put to good use, but the scene also depicts the fucked up fervour of Italy's supposed ally. Can't hurt to be reminded.

It's an odd balancing act that second time director, Gabriele Mainetti pulls off here. There's the fantasy element, combined with some crude humour and ludicrous stunts (human cannonball, anyone?), sharing the screen with the horrors of WWII and Nazism, replete with torture, medical experimentation (à la Josef Mengele) and 'deportations'. Yet Mainetti and co-writer Nicola Guaglianone keep all the plates spinning just about right, with the only misstep perhaps the number of new characters introduced in the disabled partisan group. The cast are uniformly top-notch, even if Rogowski milks his six-fingered soothsayer role for all it's worth. Of course, the honkingly obvious symbolism of freaks representing the Jews (and other minorities) of Europe doesn't require much cognisance, and the tone of the film is slightly cloying but the audacity and style of the filmmakers help to make Freaks Out a gratifying watch.

[There's one more screening for Rev at the Luna on Fri July 15th at 8:50pm]

See also:

The first X-Men (2000), directed by Bryan Singer, is responsible for a lot of the themes in Freaks Out, and any chance to get a Marx Brothers film in, try At The Circus (1939), directed by Edward Buzzell.

Revelation Film Festival 2022 - Preview (plus interview with Richard Sowada)

It's Rev time again and this year's programme is stuffed full of goodies. The majority of films will be screened at Luna Leederville, with one or two a day in Freo at Luna on SX. The Backlot Perth has a few events, as does PICA and the WA Museum. The festival runs from Thu July 7th to Sun July 17th and there are 25 features, 15 documentaries and dozens of short films to check out, along with guest speakers doing Q&As, panel talks and other events. See the Rev site for details. 

Festival director and founder, Richard Sowada, talked to us about the very first Rev in 1997 and how this year's programme showcases personal themes, small gestures and intimate relationships, while also allowing space for some suitable oddness. He also picked out a few highlights to check out. Listen below.

Films that caught my eye were: Freaks Out, an Italian/Belgian co-production about super-powered circus performers in Nazi Germany; 18½, about the missing minutes of Nixon's Watergate tape; A Life on the Farm, a doco about a strange video made by a neighbouring farmer; Navalny, about Putin's potential rival; The Passengers of the Night, with Charlotte Gainsbourg; and After Blue, a film that promises weird.

There are 12 Aussie films in the feature and doc field, including: opening night film, Sissy; Bassendream (currently sold out in Leederville); Namarali; When the Camera Stopped Rolling; Lonesome; and Edward and Isabella.