The Boy and the Heron (Me) (Kids)

The Boy and the Heron is legendary animator/writer/director Hayao Miyazaki's twelfth feature, and amazingly, his first since 2013's The Wind Rises. This takes elements of many of his earlier work and tells the story of a young lad called Mihato (voiced by Soma Santoki) who moves away from Tokyo during the war after the death of his mother. His father, Shoichi (ex-SMAPper, Takuya Kimura), had wasted little time in starting a new family with Natsuko (Yoshino Kimura), the younger sister of Mahito's mum. The introduction to the new residence throws up some of the Miyazaki hallmarks - a lush rural setting, a weird encounter with nature (the heron of the title), oddly cute geriatrics, and gorgeously rendered architecture.

As soon as Mahito gets to this new abode, the grey heron starts pissing about with him - flying too close; peering in his window as he's napping; tap, tap, tapping at his chamber door (or roof, to be exact). The heron (Masaki Suda) tries to convince him (yeah, now he's speaking) to come to an eerie tower in the forest where his presumed dead mother will be waiting for him. Finally, Mahito plumps for confrontation but this only results in near suffocation by frog. So far, so bloody odd. Around this time, Natsuko also goes missing, likely in said tower, which was supposedly built by her great-uncle (Shohei Hino), who 'read too many books and went mad'. The first act (first half?) ends with Mahito and one of the old grannies, Kiriko (Kô Shibasaki) venturing into the heron's keep.

And from this point it gets even better. Miyazaki pulls out more of his magic tricks as Mahito, the heron and Kirkio get sucked through the floor into some kind of halfway world between the living and the dead. We see ghoulish oarsmen, homicidally hungry pelicans, tiny egg creatures called the Warawara, massive fish, a fire sorceress and militaristic parakeets. Yep, all correct. Great-uncle, the keeper of the tower, begins to exert more influence on the story - he needs a successor to take over the task of keeping time and space (or Ghibli itself?) balanced. No big deal, then. Apparently, the heron and great-uncle are based on fellow filmmakers, producer, Toshio Suzuki and director, Isao Takahata, respectively, though it seems the wise old geezer character pops up in many Miyazaki films, and I get the feeling it's a surrogate for the director himself.

This really is a greatest hits album, and if it is to be his last film, he's left us with a wonder. The things he does well are all here. Rain, mud, puddles, nobody animates water like this guy. The distinct way people run, the wind blowing through the grass, the stop-start, almost hesitant reactions from the characters, as well as minor moments of horror and grossness, they're all covered. 

Familiar themes are also evident - trauma related to the death of a loved one, children maturing, hope, grief, nature, adults not quite understanding kids, and birds, lots of birds. Oh, and Joe Hisaishi returns with his terrific music. A fantastic piece of work from the master, hopefully not his last.

The Boy and the Heron is showing at Luna and Palace cinemas in Perth, as well as many other screens around the country.

See also:

Miyazaki's masterpiece is still Spirited Away (2001) but this runs it close. Another great 'last' film from a maestro this year was Ken Loach's The Old Oak (2023).

Anatomy of a Fall

Justine Triet's Palme d'Or winning drama about the unravelling of a relationship is a coldly intriguing piece of work. The film starts at an Alpine cottage where Sandra (Sandra Hüller) is being interviewed about her writing. Her husband, Samuel (Samuel Maleski) is upstairs playing loud music, her son readying the dog for a walk in the snow. The music brings a premature end to the interview as the son, Daniel (Milo Machado Graner) heads out. On his return, his father lies dead at the front of the house. No spoilers here, this all happens in the first 10 minutes of the film.

The rest of the runtime picks apart the events leading up to the fall. But did he fall, did he jump or was he pushed? The intrigue doesn't play out like a detective story, where the fun lies in the minutiae of putting the 'how' together. Rather, it focusses on the 'why', or how things got to this point. Sandra enlists the help of an old lawyer friend, Vincent (Swann Arlaud) when it appears she'll be indicted on a murder charge, and here's where the bulk of the film occurs - in court. 

Hüller is frankly incredible in this role. She has a lot of work to do and her naturalism is astonishing, especially considering she's not acting in her native tongue (she's German but she uses English and French here). She runs through anger, sadness, stoicism, despair, regret and mild panic, and never seems like she's 'acting'. There's a central flashback scene with Samuel that crackles off the screen, which they'll probably show when she wins the Oscar (surely a strong chance?). Her performance in this is all the more surprising as the last film I saw her in was the underwhelming Sisi & I (she's also in the upcoming Perth Festival film The Zone of Interest).

Although Hüller will garner the lion's share of praise, the support is top notch. Arlaud, is tough but lovelorn; Jehnny Beth as Marge, a court appointed guardian for Daniel, does plenty of unshowy work; and Graner has to carry quite a hefty load, as the innocent child being slowly forced to mature during the case. 

As fine as this is, it's not without flaws. The main issues would be the pacing and general length of the film. Two and a half hours feels a touch long and there are moments where the film drags, mainly outside the court. I can think of one or two scenes with Hüller and Arlaud that seem superfluous. Leaving this aside, Triet gives us many points to ponder and this is a well developed, worthy awards film.

Anatomy of a Fall is screening at UWA Somerville from Jan 1 - 7 as part of the Perth Festival.

See also:

This is similar to Alice Diop's Saint Omer (2022) in its court case scenes, and Dominik Moll's The Night of the 12th (2022) is also set around Grenoble, in the French Alps.

Dream Scenario

Kristoffer Borgli's second English language feature is a high-key concept with low-key delivery. This is not to do it down, only to note that the film has a slightly muddy look, and an almost soporific feel to it. This is in contrast to its razor-sharp treatment of culture wars and the trauma industry in the US, crucially viewed through the eyes of a European outsider.

The ace up the sleeve is the star (and producer) Nicolas Cage. He's always been a clever performer but in the last few years, he's been getting grungier, more shop-worn, possibly even less self-conscious. This is reflected in his choice of roles but it's hard to distinguish between the chicken and the egg in this respect. As Paul Matthews, an evolutionary biology professor at Osler University in an indistinct area of North America, Cage gives off an air of mundanity that you can almost whiff.

The conceit of Dream Scenario is that people are having dreams, not about Paul, but with him in them, observing events. Even people that don't know him. This is an odd bit of metaphysical fun, unexplainable but interesting. Paul appears on TV, his students and daughters start to show an interest, even his sensible wife takes advantage of the situation at her work. And, as he's trying to get a book off the ground, Paul also seeks representation in the shape of 'Thoughts?', a teeth-clenchingly irritating agency run by Michael Cera's Trent.

But when Molly (Dylan Gelula), an assistant at the agency, explains that Paul is certainly no mere observer in her dream, a cascade effect begins. Other people's dreams turn into nightmares, all with Paul as a bland Freddy Krueger (actually name checked by one character). The full force of the negative viral spiral clicks into gear, albeit in some pretty funny scenes, similar to Borgli's Sick of Myself, where the laughs vie with discomfort a lot of the time.

There's a bit to digest here. The black comedy mirror on modern society is the main game, but there's a bit about familial relationships and the effects of external stimuli on them. There's also a healthy stream of absurdism running through the cancel culture canal (shades of Cock Piss Partridge, for anyone who might be across that touchstone). And in one particularly relevant scene, Molly awkwardly proves dreams don't translate to reality.

Dream Scenario is biting in its wit and on point in its social commentary, with a top drawer turn from Cage. Not the perfect film, but definitely one worth watching. It'll be fun to see what Borgli gets up to next.

Dream Scenario opens Jan 1st at Luna and Palace cinemas.

See/read also:

I highly recommend Jon Ronson's book So You've Been Publicly Shamed (2015) and sticking with the theme of 'cancel culture', Todd Field's Tar (2022) has a bit to say.

Migration (Me) (Kids)

A whole family trip to the cinema for this animated duck movie, written by Mike White (of The White Lotus fame) and directed and co-written by Benjamin Renner. It's a fairly simple storyline - mum and ducklings fancy a trip to Jamaica, risk-averse dad is reluctant. Of course, for the sake of the plot, dad comes around. The journey is physical as well as offering a chance to experience personal (duckal?) growth - the spirit of adventure is enhanced, and the kids, mainly the older lad, transition from childhood to adulthood.

There are numerous POV flying scenes - through clouds, between buildings in New York, in a nightmarish kitchen, down water slides, through a jungle - seriously, it's enough to make an adult dizzy. Admittedly though, it feels kind of reductive to even talk about all this as a grown up human. The colours, sounds, Looney Tunes style sight gags, are all mechanically tooled for little grommets to lap up, let's face it, this type of film isn't for the likes of me.

In saying that, I'll waffle a bit more. There's nothing too objectionable in the message, nothing too twee or cheesy in the method, but it certainly flirts with those possibilities. The voice cast is varied, some good (Danny DeVito as Uncle Dan), some miscast (Carol Kane is fine as Erin the heron, but the producers missed a trick not reuniting White with Jennifer Coolidge). And David Mitchell is wasted as GooGoo, a gormless cult leader duck. There's no sign of his stock in trade tone of outraged umbrage. Kumail Nanjiani as dad, Mack is comical enough and Elizabeth Banks as mum, Pam is just serviceable.

As noted, the wee humans will get a kick out of this but accompanying adults might need to bide their time until the next series of White's Lotus.

See also: 

Illumination, the animation studio responsible for Migration, did a little better with Garth Jennings's Sing (2016). Not ducks, but chickens also feel the need to get away in Peter Lord and Nick Park's Chicken Run (2000).

(Film stills and trailer ©Universal Studios and Illumination Entertainment, 2023)

May December

I had to look this up, but it seems that 'May December' refers to a relationship between a young person and a much older one. The couple in question are Joe (Charles Melton) and Gracie (Julianne Moore) and it's not so much the age gap that's the issue, more the fact that Joe was 13 when their 'affair' began. The wrinkle that this is all loosely based on real events adds a sense of car-crash voyeurism to proceedings.

As the film kicks off, it's been 20-odd years since the controversy and Elizabeth (Natalie Portman) is sent to shadow Gracie before playing her in a movie about the tabloid romance. This is a real actorly film, shot through the looking glass of melodrama. The layers are thick and peely - the tabloid news story, which was previously made into a TV movie, is now being 'researched' by Portman for a feature. Everything feels like a show until Joe berates Portman that it's NOT a story, it's his "fucking life".

Portman is superb and Moore is just as good, but in a slightly more thankless role. The tension between the subject and the mimicker is palpable - there are a few scenes with mirrors (in a dress shop, in the bathroom, etc.) where the two of them are subtly eyeing each other up and they're awkwardly electric. The writers Samy Burch and Alex Mechanik give director Todd Haynes plenty of gold to work with here. It reeks of symbolism, not just the mirrors, it's also no coincidence that Joe collects Monarch butterflies - but who is transforming into whom? Elizabeth even begins to affect a slight lisp, though I wasn't sure if Gracie developed this earlier in the film, maybe as a way of discombobulating Elizabeth. Certainly her line about insecure people at the end indicates that Gracie isn't the mug here.

Incidentally, May December has been nominated for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy at the upcoming Golden Globes. Now, assuming it's not a musical (the score is by Marcelo Zarvos, lifting Michel Legrand's music from the great Joseph Losey film The Go-Between), then this is the driest 'comedy' - so dry it's virtually dehydrated. In fact, the times when that incongruously melodramatic music kicked in were when I realised Haynes was messing with his audience a touch. 

One particular highlight was a scene in the high school drama class where Elizabeth takes part in a Q&A with the students and manages to satisfy some and alienate others. It's a brave film in that it gives the viewer almost nobody to empathise with. Removing all character nuance, Gracie is a convicted paedophile, Elizabeth's a vain, selfish 'Hollywood' type and Joe's a boring, easily manipulated dolt. Of course, it's much less monochrome than all that but it's still hard to warm to any of them. Maybe that's the point.

May December is screening at UWA Somerville from Dec 26 - 31 as part of the Perth Festival.

See also:

This has been likened to Joseph L. Mankiewicz's excellent All About Eve (1950) and to get a feel of that music in its authentic context, have a look at Losey's The Go-Between (1971).

Napoleon

Ridley Scott's latest film, following the underrated The Last Duel and the rated House of Gucci, is a biography of Napoleon Bonaparte (probably no need for the surname). It traces his rise, post Madame Guillotine, through Robespierre's Reign of Terror, to his sweeping victories in battle and finally, to his exile.

All the while, his romance with Josephine (Vanessa Kirby) frames the narrative. It's basically a grand historical rom-com, if you find yourself as tickled by the ripe dialogue as I was. Joaquin Phoenix plays the general with his usual weird panache and his delivery of some of these crackers is top fun. He tells an English foreign minister, "You think you're so good just because you have boats!" And to Josephine he proclaims that, "Destiny has brought me to this lamb chop." 

Phoenix is on his regular top form but Kirby is brilliant as the enigmatic widow who allows herself to be wooed by the little guy. She puts her expressive eyes to good use in the role, especially when she finds herself marginalised for the benefit of the country. The rest of the cast are basically ballast to the leads, though Rupert Everett as Wellington slices the ham like his life depends on it.

Strangely, this is a low-key epic. For all the stylish action sequences (in particular, the icy Battle of Austerlitz is fantastic), this is a really localised film, focussing on the central relationship, with the political wranglings adding to the drama.

Napoleon isn't a dead cert Ridders classic but it's a great lark and the man knows how to direct a big film. Certainly worth a gander.

See also:

Also set in France, but a few hundred years before the Napoleonic era, Scott's The Last Duel (2021) is a fine film. Ian Holm (briefly) played Napoleon in Terry Gilliam's joyously odd Time Bandits (1981).

Wonka (Me) (Kid)

So, another origin story arrives on our screens. Considering the 1971 original Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory is one of the best children's films ever made, it might have been wise to steer well clear of this Roald Dahl IP. Luckily, in the hands of writer/director Paul King and co-writer Simon Farnaby, Wonka justifies it's existence. Just. 

Timothée Chalamet plays the young Wonka with a louche absurdism, channelling all the nuttiness of Gene Wilder but sadly, none of the edgy paedophobia. This scans in that it probably takes a long time to nurture that distaste for children that Wilder's Wonka displayed so winningly.

Story goes, Wonka arrives on a ship at one of those cities that often appeared in 1960s and 70s films (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the original Wonka, even Mary Poppins) that represented American ideas of old Europe. Is it Germany? England? France? Austria? Call it Generic Europa and leave it at that. He is on a mission to sell his chocolatey wares and, in the process, live up to a promise to his departed mum (flashback Sally Hawkins). 

As you might guess, things don't go to plan and he ends up at the mercy of disreputable landlords, Mrs. Scrubbit (Olivia Colman) and Mr. Bleacher (Tom Davis). On top of this, the chocolate cartel of Slugworth, Prodnose and Fickelgruber want rid of him toot sweet, calling in the corrupt establishment forces of the constabulary and the church to help. The cartel are (over)played by Paterson Joseph, Matt Lucas and Matthew Baynton and the pantomime villain force is extremely strong with these three.

The 'greedy may beat the needy' but little Willy has some chums on his side in the shape of Noodle (Calah Lane), Abacus Crunch (Jim Carter), and various other inmates of Scrubbit's wash-house. While there's no sign of any Veruca Salts or Augustus Gloops, Noodle, with her selfless altruism, acts as a Charlie Bucket substitute. Standout cameos from Rowan Atkinson and, especially, Hugh Grant add value to the film. King and Farnaby pack the dialogue with clever chunks, especially in the song lyrics. The songs were written by Neil Hannon and they're a treat. He's the rakish nerd from The Divine Comedy and The Duckworth Lewis Method, who also wrote the themes for Father Ted and the IT Crowd. 

Now then, I saw Wonka with my nine-year-old lad and he loved every minute of it. For me though, this is a colourful delight, tempered by sentimentality. There's nothing necessarily inventive in the story but if you're willing to give yourself over to the sweets, the immediate sugar rush will leave a smile on your face. 

Wonka opens everywhere in Aus on Dec 14th.

See also:

The already mentioned Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (directed by Mel Stuart, 1971) is a must-see if you haven't yet. And it was a fun little trip picking all the alumni from Brit comedy (Peep Show, Horrible Histories, Yonderland, Snuff Box, etc) but Matthew Baynton is responsible for one of the funniest scenes I've ever seen in The Wrong Mans (directed by Jim Field Smith, 2013). I have it.

(Film stills and trailer ©Warner Brothers, 2023)