Berberian Sound Studio

I thought this was an entirely Italian film but it is U.K.-made and stars Toby Jones.  The synopsis of the movie made it sound very similar to Blow Out, the movie that starred John Travolta as a movie sound effects guy who discovers something sinister. For some reason I thought Berberian was a remake of that movie (although it is not).

It is a period film taking place in the 60s or 70s, when there was a popular Italian film genre called "giallo," where horror is mixed with sex and demonic themes. (Although giallo movies are B-movies many of them are cult classics now here in the U.S.) The film that the people in the movie are working on, seemingly about a girl's school which sits on an ancient witch's coven, has already been made, and the actors are redubbing their voices and sound effects and music are being put in. Gilderoy (Jones) a famed English sound mixer, has been hired to mix the sound elements of this movie.

The film is at first about Gilderoy not "getting" the Italian way of doing things, and then his sanity being tested. It juxtaposes his uptight English manner with the loose and more immoral ways of the Italians.  The actresses are treated as sex objects by the male director and producers. The director brings his dog to the studio, ruining recording sessions. Most of the other staff would rather party. The sound director wants things done his way--loud and crude--rather than making an effort for a more artistic product like Gilderoy and one of the actresses want. Very few of them seem to take this seriously and are just intent on cranking it out.

A lot in the film is suggested and brought up but not explained for the audience and the film ends with a lot of unanswered questions. For instance, the film Gilderoy is working on, Equestrian Vortex, is never seen by us the audience except for a garish title sequence. We are told what is happening in Vortex as one of the characters of Berberian describes the upcoming scene for the sound artists so they can get in the mood to do their work, so we can tell if a demon is in the scene or if one of the schoolgirls are being ravished. Gilderoy also makes his own sound effects, like using a blender to mimic a chainsaw, which plants the seed in our heads that things are not always what they appear to be. Dialogue in Berberian allude to the fact that Gilderoy seems to be pretty well-regarded in the industry, yet he is working on this B-movie--why? The film also plants some ideas about some dark secret in Gilderoy's past which forced him to escape to Italy. Was he involved in a crime? His mother writes him cheery letters about finding a bird's nest and later about these birds being killed. I started to wonder if these were old letters and Gilderoy had been living in Italy for a long time and perhaps the mother was dead, even killed (the letters are not dated).

Gilderoy also begins having lucid nightmares or hallucinations, then about two thirds into the film, Gilderoy seems to be in the movie itself. He is dubbed in Italian, watching himself on screen reacting to the same events he is living. Is he a real person, or is he a character in the movie? Is he mad?

Anna Karenina (2012)

Joe Wright, who directed this new version of Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, has also directed Keira Knightley in two other movies, Pride & Prejudice and Atonement.  The story is about a married Russian worman who is caught up in a passionate love affair, and decides to give up her reputation and her family, including her beloved child for whom she would do anything for.

In this film, Wright uses heightened visual and artistic elements that suggest the characters are characters in a play, i.e. their fate is already written and their choices are not their own. Many of the scenes are visualized as sets on a stage, often revolving and changing as one would experience in a real play as the theatre would switch scenery while the audience continues to view. Often the shots go from indoors to outdoors with a simple removal of a wall.

Free event: The Man Who Would Be King

A film co-starring a favorite, Michael Caine, that I haven't yet seen.  Based on a book by Rudyard Kipling, and as expected takes place in the the far east.  As with some other screenings at the Northbrook library, Reid Schultz is scheduled to lead a discussion after both screenings of the film.

The Man Who Would Be King
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
1:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Northbrook Public Library
1201 Cedar Lane
Northbrook, IL 60062

Free event: There'll Always Be an England

This one sounds like a concert documentary, about the Sex Pistols. As the poster to the right shows, there may be adult content (lyrics?) so viewer discretion advised.

There'll Always Be an England
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
7:00 p.m.
Delilah's
2771 N. Lincoln Avenue

CIFF 2012: The Scapegoat

This is based on a Daphne duMaurier book, a previous film adaptation starred Alec Guinness. I don’t know the lead actor, Matthew Rhys, but I did recognize a few of the actors in the smaller roles. The story is a period piece taking place in the 1950s just when England's Princess Elizabeth is about to be crowned as Queen Elizabeth II. A teacher John is just leaving his post at a boys school—you can tell he is definitely not of the social or economic class of his students’ families. He teaches Greek and it is decided that these old languages are not needed anymore in the modern world, so his post has been eliminated. A bit bitter, he drinks at a hotel bar where he sees a man who amazingly looks exactly like him. He and this other man, Johnny (played also by Rhys), learn a bit about each other and Johnny buys him drinks and they stay the night at the hotel when they get too drunk. When John wakes, he finds his clothes are gone and a personal driver has arrived to take him “home”—Johnny’s home—believing John to be Johnny.

At first John tries to convince people he is not Johnny—they just think he has a bad hangover—until he meets the family. Lady Spence, the mother (Eileen Atkins), is a bedridden matron who does not go out anymore; wife Frances (Alice Orr-Ewing) is one of those sweet wives who loves her husband, not knowing his bad side; brother Paul (Andrew Scott) is trying to hold the family business together, a glassmaking factory; Paul’s wife Nina (Sheridan Smith), whom John finds out has been having an affair with Johnny; Blanche (Jodhi May), the outspoken sister; and Mary Lou, Johnny’s precocious daughter.

Bit by bit he is taken with the Spences, and to a lesser extent he is enjoying the life of a heritaged and monied family; but he also wants to find out why Johnny has forced him into this impersonation. It seems the factory is not doing well, and Johnny had been on a business trip to negotiate a merger; unbeknownst to everyone, the details of the merger are not good for the family or their workers. Johnny has run away and taken this unique opportunity to leave his problems to John to deal with. John is unable to tell the hard truth to the family and the factory workers, so stumbles about trying to find a solution and playing for time. At first he just wants Johnny to retake his life, but as we start to see secrets all around, John slowly sympathizes with the family, even falling in love with the wife Frances. But Johnny has been pretty dastardly and all his actions have caused problems for each member of the family. John’s presence and actions within the family change everything for the better for all the characters.

Half Broken Things

I believe this is a British tv film. A professional housesitter, Jean (Penelope Wilton), takes her final job, as due to her advancing age her employer can no longer afford to insure her for the business. Jean is still a professional, but we see she has inner anger about this.

Her final job is at a country manor while the owners are on a summer holiday, only being allowed to live in a few rooms in the large manor. Although she has been professional in the past, she starts feeling resentful of her situation, both the pending loss of her job as well as resentment of having to always work for rich people who don't tend to value her; when she finds a jar of keys to the other rooms, she takes it upon herself unlock them and to live throughout the house, snooping into things, wearing the owner’s clothes, tearing up their pictures—it’s as if she believes she is owed a better life by the world.

Meanwhile two other characters are introduced. Michael (Daniel Mays), a young man who is in some financial and perhaps criminal trouble, steals some religious objects to sell. He has some experience of antiques so he knows what to steal, and is adept at pretending to be someone he is not. He is nearly caught so goes on the lam. Steph (Sinead Matthews), a very pregnant young woman, escapes an abusive boyfriend and chances on Michael’s sympathies. They both happen on the manor Jean is living at, and she keeps up her fake story of being the owner until Michael susses her out. Once he does though, Jean finds it easier (and convenient) to confide in them, and to let Michael sell the owner’s things so they have money to pay for the upkeep of their living quarters, since she has no budget of her own. The three start living together as a sort of family. But as expected their touch and go existence is jeopardized—Michael is recognized as a thief; Steph steals a baby. Meanwhile, Jean abets this behavior, even justifying it.

Olympic Dreams--Geordie

This is an old film I remember watching on tv many times when I was a kid, and was broadcast in the U.S. under the title "Wee Geordie."  Then when cable got started these old films were never shown anymore and unavailable on VHS/DVD. If made nowadays, it would probably be considered "twee."

The story takes place in Scotland beginning in the 1940s, when Geordie MacTaggart is a little boy. His father is the gameskeeper for the laird or lord of the manor he works at (Alistair Sim). Geordie is small for his age and is picked upon for this reason, despite the support of his friend Jean, a girl who has a secret crush. One day Geordie sees an ad in the newspaper advertising a Charles Atlas kind of bodybuilding program. He sends away for the booklets and for several years, until he is 21, he builds up his body (at this point he is played by the tall strapping actor who played Li'l Abner, Bill Travers). He has also formed a mentor/student relationship with the man whose books he has studied, the muscly Samson (Francis de Wolff).

In the mid-50s, Geordie's father dies and he takes over his job. The laird suggests Geordie not just exercise for health, but pursue something more noble, such as the Scottish sport of throwing things like the caber or the hammer. Geordie reluctantly enters the Highland Games and does poorly at first, but with Jean's romantic support (now played by Norah Gorsen), he wins. The laird and others convince some people from the British Olympic committee to come take a look at him (I guess Scotland was not broken out from Britain back then). Geordie enters the Olympics, is befriended by a Swedish female shotputter who gives him too much attention, and wears a kilt to the opening ceremony.

Free event: Chariots of Fire

I think when I say the words "movie about the Olympics," that Chariots of Fire will be right at the top of the list.  It's a depiction of the historical beginnings of the modern Olympics with lots of suspense, despite not exactly being a "sports" movie. Catch it before the Olympics begin later this month.

Chariots of Fire
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
6:00 p.m.
Harold Washington Library Center
Cindy Pritzker Auditorium
400 S. State Street, Chicago

The Dresser

This movie is based on a play, which is based on the playwright's own experiences of being a dresser to a famous stage actor. It portrays the relationship of a theatrical dresser, Norman (Tom Courtenay), to a stage actor, only addressed as "Sir" in the movie (played by Albert Finney).

The time the story takes place is during World War 2, and the acting troupe go around England to entertain audiences and perhaps give them some respite to the drama of the war outside the theatre.  We see that Norman has been in the job for a very long time, and knows all of Sir's quirks, habits and needs, both physical and emotional.  We also see that Sir is in a mental and physical decline, often forgetting his lines or forgetting where he is, becoming sullen and acting almost like a child that Norman has to coax back to reality and get the play back on track.

Tamara Drewe

A modern adaptation of Far From the Madding Crowd, but a romantic comedy.

Tamara Drewe (Gemma Arterton) returns to her childhood home in the country after her mother's death, intending to clear out the house and sell it. She is a successful magazine gossip type writer, who was teased when young due to her large nose. Now that she has had a nose job, she appears more sexy.

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

This new romantic comedy with elements of drama is based on a book and directed by Lasse Hallstrom.

During the war with Afghanistan, Patricia Maxwell (Kristin Scott Thomas), the British prime minister's press secretary, has to find a feel good story involving the Middle East to deflect negative news reports from the area. She tries to find a fluffy story and comes upon one where a Sheik (Amr Waked) wants to import salmon to put into Yemen waters, since he is avid fly fisher with many estates, including one in Scotland near a river. He is forward-thinking and hopes this Yemeni project will make his country be viewed as more modern and a business prospect for other countries.

Harriet (Emily Blunt), who works at a consulting firm, is in charge of the Sheik's account and so compels government fish expert Fred (Ewan McGregor) to lend his talents and help plan and stock a fishery downstream from a dam the Sheik has built on the Yemen. Fred finds this a wholly useless enterprise, but is strongarmed by his boss and government people to do the project. This further strains his marriage, especially when his wife (Rachel Stirling) makes a business decision without him, and she goes away for a time. This leaves Fred with the opportunity to do the same, so he takes on the fish project.  He gives outrageous demands to Harriet and the government, thinking this will derail the project, but every demand is met and Fred can't help but be impressed.

Meanwhile, Harriet has just met a new guy, a soldier (Tom Mison) who is soon deployed to Afghanistan just when her project is underway. When he is reported MIA, Fred convinces her to join him in the Middle East to help her get her mind off her troubles.

Jackboots on Whitehall

What do you think of the lineup of this movie:

Ewan McGregor
Rosamund Pike
Timothy Spall
Alan Cumming
Dominic West
Tom Wilkinson
Richard E. Grant
Richard Griffiths
Stephen Merchant

Not too bad right? It's a satirical WW2 film with an alternate history where the Nazis have invaded London. Ewan McGregor plays a farmer who is the English equivalent of 4F because his hands are too large.

But wait, this is a stop motion animation film too, with male characters played by GI Joe style dolls and the few girls unfortunately all Barbies or Braatz. The males dolls though are all distinctively human looking and most have a lot of character but the girls are rather bland and undefined beyond the Barbie/Braatz image. (There's a matronly character too and she is more distinguishable from the rest, being an older lady.)  The film's humor is something like a Monty Python movie or what you would find on Comedy Channel's Adult Swim block of shows.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is kind of in the same vein as the rash of ensemble romantic comedies centered around a holiday or those directed by Woody Allen. Each of the actors here get a bit of storyline, some better than others, although none of them are very strongly developed. But they all have something to do with the problems of getting older. The framing story is that a young Indian man (Dev Patel of Slumdog Millionaire) manages his family's crumbling hotel, and has decided to "outsource old age" by catering to seniors in their golden years. Based on a book.

I Hate Valentine's Day!: Hollow Reed

Now that Valentine's day is over, here are a few where love doesn't always go right.

This story shows how a gay man can be a loving father, and how a more "traditional" couple doesn't always have a child's best interest at heart. Martin Donovan plays Martyn, a gay man whose ex wife (Joely Richardson) has custody of their son Oliver. Oliver escapes to his dad's one day with a severe injury to his face that he says was caused by some bullies. Martyn discovers Oliver was home alone with the mom's boyfriend (Jason Flemyng, whom I think is too young for the role). Martyn feels something is odd with the whole situation. When Oliver is injured again, and his story doesn't match his injury, Martyn starts proceedings to get Oliver back into his custody, accusing the boyfriend of abuse, which the ex claims is not true.

Toast

Toast is based on the autobiography by Nigel Slater, a noted British chef. It recounts the formative period in his childhood when he discovered his love of food and cooking.

The film takes place mostly in the 1960s and 70s. In the earlier period, when Nigel was a child (played by Oscar Kennedy), we can see how his diet has been misshapen by his mother’s lack of culinary skills. Perhaps formed by years of not wasting food and the lack of fresh foods during the war years (this is my speculation), coupled by her declining health (she has an asthmatic condition), Nigel’s mother (Victoria Hamilton) has neither the inclination nor the talent to whip up a decent or tasty meal. She consistently boils up things in a can and little more. The title of the film (and the book it is based on) comes from the last ditch effort she makes when a meal turns out wrong—toast is easy to make and hard to mess up. During this period young Nigel is also befriended by a handsome young gardener (Matthew McNulty) who expounds on the wonderful taste of garden-fresh vegetables. But his mother’s bad cooking has not turned Nigel off food, instead he has some battles with his father about refusing to eat badly cooked meals and insists there is a better way.

The Woman in Black

Harry Potter's Daniel Radcliffe stars in this period horror film. He plays a young widower and father, working in an attorney’s office. While his employer sympathizes with his grief of his wife’s death in childbirth(several years now since his son is four years old), he gives Arthur one last chance to buckle down. Arthur is to go through the papers of a client who has died, to make sure there is not another will in existence. When Arthur gets to the client's town, the innkeeper claims he has no room for him and puts him up in the attic, where we see in a prologue his three daughters jumped out the window and killed themselves. Several other children have killed themselves or died in similar creepy and mysterious accidents, which Arthur finds out in time. He is befriended by a wealthy couple (Ciaran Hinds, Janet McTeer) who have also lost a child, whom the wife claims possesses her and speaks through her.

Butterfly Kiss

This bleak road film is directed by Michael Winterbottom.

In England, Eunice (Amanda Plummer) wanders the highways looking for "Judith" and happens upon gas station clerk Miriam (Saskia Reeves) instead. Although Eunice acts openly unbalanced, Miriam for some reason is taken with her personality.

The film is told in flashback as Miriam is relating things in some sort of interview. Eunice overtakes Miriam's life, but after the initial shock of Eunice revealing her murderous nature, Miriam wants to follow. The two are reminiscent of other volatile couples, Bonnie and Clyde, Thelma and Lousie, Aileen Wornos and Selby, Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate. It is apparent that one is the leader and one is the sheep.

Heartlands

This film stars Brit Michael Sheen in a type of character he was playing earlier in his career. Colin, a shabby shopowner (Sheen), is in a state of arrested development. Darts is all Colin is good at, and he worships a well-known dart champion. He doesn’t know his wife is having an affair with a friend, who in a fit of jealousy throws Colin off their dart team. So Colin goes off on his motorcycle to the championship himself in an effort to get his wife back. On his trip he meets a cheap, blowhard barowner (Mark Addy), a backpacking couple (Mark Strong and Phillipa Peak), and a Girl Guides leader (Celia Imrie).

Finally Colin reaches Blackpool, where the wife’s boyfriend gets his comeuppance. She wants to come back to Colin though, now tired of her boyfriend’s treatment of her.

The Whisperers

This British film from 1967 focuses on an old woman (Edith Evans) living alone. She thinks she hears voices and also imagines she is due for an inheritance and has other fantasies about her life that the local police humor her on.

Her petty criminal son comes to visit but really comes to hide some money from a criminal venture. When she finds the money, she believes it is the inheritance and is later taken advantage of when she talks too much of coming into some money. A kindly social worker locates her husband, who had abandoned her long ago, and convinces him to return but this is short lived.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

I keep typing "Taylor" when referring to this film. My fingers just don't want to hit the I!  It is based on a John Le Carre novel of the same name.

George Smiley (Oldman), a retired spy, has been asked to return to investigate on the downlow, a long-hidden and high up mole in the Circle, the British spy ring Smiley used to work for. (They were the precursor to MI5.) The four suspects are played by Toby Jones, Colin Firth, Ciaran Hinds and David Dencik, and each seems to be hiding something.