THE FOG

US, 2005, 100 minutes, Colour.
Tom Welling, Maggie Gray, Selma Blair, Kenneth Welsh.
Directed by Rupert Wainright.

After a remake of John Carpenter’s Assault on Precinct 13 comes this remake of his 1980 The Fog. Not a must for a remake, but this has been updated to the present with bigger budget (although a less starry cast).

The fog rolls on to an island off the Oregon coast and brings with it mysterious ghosts bent on vengeance on the town and the descendants of the admired founding fathers – who are to be honoured with a statue and dedication ceremony. The truth of the past is gradually revealed. The brutal past is nothing to celebrate. The ghosts have every reason for demanding justice and they wreak a dramatic revenge.

The central characters have every reason to be wary as they are descendants of the founding families. There is no major reason why they should escape (although one does not entirely but sacrifices herself and leaves with the spectres) and why all the rest, including the parish priest, Fr Malone, who knew the secret from this grandfather’s confession but was bound not to reveal it, should be dispatched by grim special effects.

There is an eeriness about the fog and its atmosphere. Director Rupert Wainwright made the millennium religious thriller, Stigmata.

1.The status of the original? John Carpenter’s film-making? The eerie atmosphere? Producer Deborah Hill working on the remake? John Carpenter approving?

2.The quality of the remake, adapted for the 21st century, updated? Modest in budget, cast and effects? Entertainingly eerie?

3.The title, the visualising of the fog, rolling? Audience response to fog?

4.The Oregon setting, the island, the coast, the sea? The 21st century town? The 19th century re-creation? The atmospheric score and mood?

5.The credits, the flashbacks and the puzzle about the ship? The later explanations? The four men in the boat, the burning ship? Seeing the reality – and later discovering the meaning?

6.The 21st century, the island and its people, prosperity, the way of life, the radio station, the fishing expeditions for tourists, the dedication of the statue, the ceremony? The revelation of the force and brutal foundation and its consequences?

7.The themes of sin, original sins, descendants inheriting the consequences? The repercussions for all people? Destruction on the sea, the collapse into the sea, the return from the sea? Nick and his being unsettled? The ship and the ghosts? Watching the ghosts?

8.The ghosts, their wandering, theme of vengeance? The barbarous behaviour towards them? Their revenge? The portrait of Blake, his company? The contract and its being broken? Finally, Elizabeth’s sacrifice to save the town?

9.The venerated fathers of the town, their statue, discussion about who was the visionary? The discovery of the diary? The vicious reality? Father Malone? and the confession, his own torment, unable to reveal the truth? Finally able to and the consequences for him?

10.Nick and Spooner, the expedition, the accident, the anchor? Nick and his relationship with Stevie? Picking up Elizabeth as a hitchhiker? The past relationship? Trying to restore the relationship? The deaths of the people on the boat? The puzzle? With Elizabeth, exploring? Rescuing Stevie and her son? The finale, the fire, heroism, Elizabeth’s going to the ghosts?

11.Stevie, the background of her family, the founding father, her son? Flirting with Nick? Running the radio, her comments, the music she played? The communications with Dan at the bureau, the discussions about the fog and its unexpectedness? Communicating with the people, giving them warnings? Her aunt, watching Jeopardy? Looking after her son? Her being on the shore, burning? Dan dying? The crash and her escape, rescuing her son?

12.Elizabeth, her being away, her return? Nick picking her up, their discussion about the past, their relationship? Her tension with her mother and leaving the house? The effect of New York, the reason for the return, the nature of her dreams? Trying to get the truth with Nick? The accident, the water, finding the diary, going to Father Malone, the cemetery? The video and the discovery that Spooner was telling the truth? The journal, the truth? Her being on the shore? The ghosts? With Nick, the fire, her final self-sacrifice?

13.Spooner and his attitudes, with Nick, with Nick’s cousin and the girls on the boat, the suddenness of their deaths? In hospital, his being under accusation? The video? His surviving? Not being one of the descendants of the founding fathers?

14.Mrs Williams, her attitude in the town, superior? Wealth? Alienation from Elizabeth? The ceremony, the statue? The disturbance of the ceremony, the electricity failing? With Tom Malone, the police? The fiasco of the ceremony? The ghosts returning?

15.The beachcomber, the things that he found on the beach, his fears, people frightened of him?

16.Father Malone, his place in the community, the burden of his knowledge, the guilt, in the cemetery, discussing the diary, his death?

17.The ghosts appeased, peace restored, order and the elimination of vengeance?

CASANOVA

US, 2005, 108 minutes, Colour.
Heath Ledger, Sienna Miller, Jeremy Irons, Oliver Platt, Lena Olin, Omid Djalili, Ken Stott, Helen Mc Crory, Leigh Lawson, Tim Mc Inerny.
Directed by Lasse Halstrom.

Another Casanova film. There have been spoofs, tongue-in-cheek biographies and Fellini’s serious film with Donald Sutherland. Any need for another Casanova movie? On the strengths (or rather on the weakness of this attempt), the answer seems to be no. However, here it is, trying to combine lavish location photography, the recreation of 18th century Venice, and the light touch. The result has tickled the fancy of undemanding moods. But, it does seem sumptuously silly.

Lasse Halstrom has tended to make lighter serious dramas in recent years (Chocolat, Shipping News, An Unfinished Life). Here he has gone for the lighter. Perhaps it’s the screenplay which is a mixture of the satiric and the daft. Perhaps it’s the performances. But, at times, it really is absurd.

Heath Ledger as Casanova. He can do the light touch as in The Brothers Grimm. But, dashing romantic hero? A touch too stolid. Sienna Miller as Francesca Bruni, the Venetian feminist who masquerades (like Portia) as a man at the university and in the courts and writes tracts on women that the Inquisition says are heretical? She is attractive and convincing. Jeremy Irons as a pantomime Inquisitor with the touch of Carry-on? Dear oh dear. Lena Olin (Hallstrom’s wife) and Oliver Platt come off best as keeping the right note between farce and drama.

A final credit is given to the Patriarchate of Venice – but they must not have read the script with the picture of Boccaccio behaviour of cardinals and nuns and Jeremy Iron’s line (that, unfortunately for those who try their best gets the loudest laugh). He replies to a critic, ‘We are the Catholic church, we can do anything’.

1.The tradition of films on Casanova? The serious films, the sex farces and romps, the comedies? This film in the tradition?

2.The sumptuous Venetian settings: décor, costumes, classical music arrangements?

3.The screenplay and the touches of comedy and farce, the serious touches? How witty a screenplay – or sometimes lacking in wit?

4.The flashback and the irony of who was the Casanova doing the reminiscing? The real Casanova, Francesca’s brother, Giovanni?

5.The story of Casanova, the history, the legend, Casanova as a rake, his reputation with women? The support of the Doge? The attacks of the Inquisition?

6.The portrait of Venetian society: the Doge with the farcical aspects? The church and the Inquisition? Bishops and cardinals? Clergy? Families, parents and daughters? The importance of marrying off daughters? The plays in the street illustrating Casanova? The sexual morals of the city? Retribution?

7.The theme of women: having to be at home, arranged marriages, virginity and its status? The contrast with Francesca and her feminism, going to the university in disguise, revealing her disguise to the surprised academics? Her writing of the books? Her nom-de-plume? Her skill at sword-fighting? Strong? Portia-like defending Casanova in the courts?

8.Heath Ledger as Casanova, charismatic or ordinary? Seeing him with the women, derring-do and dashing, with the novice nuns, the convent, his escapes? The pursuit by the Inquisition? Dalfonso and his interrogations? The Doge and his friendliness? The escape from the Inquisition, the Doge telling him to marry? The courting of Victoria? Seeing Francesca at the university, meeting her, his pretending to be Paprizzio? His courting of her, falling in love? The dance? Going up in the hot air balloon? The truth and the descent – after her seeing the advertisement for Paprizzio? Casanova and the comedy of his assistant? The palazzo, getting Paprizzio to rent it? The encounter with Pucci? The arrests and escapes, the duels? The support of the families? His confession about Francesca? Her defending him in court? The memories of the Merchant of Venice? The build-up to the execution, their being on the scaffold, the arrival of the cardinal, the ruse for their escape? The performers? The happy ending and Casanova and Francesca in the carnival?

9.Jeremy Irons as Pucci, pompous and ludicrous? His assistant? His inquisitatorial pursuit of casanova, obsession? His being deceived? The arrests? The torture of Paprizzio? His social standing, the confession, the court case? His anticipation of the hanging, waiting for the cardinal to arrive? His being outwitted by the escape?

10.Francesca, at the university, at home, her writings, fiancé, with Casanova, with Paprizzio, seeing her mother fall in love with Paprizzio? The dance, the balloon, her anger with Casanova? The duels? The court?

11.Victoria and her infatuation, the domination of her father? Giovanni and his wanting to marry her? Her sexual behaviour – especially under the table at the banquet?

12.Andrea, her servant and relying on him? Her relationship with her children? The arranged marriage, meeting Paprizzio, falling in love with him, swooning? His being free to marry her? Paprizzio and his comedy, pomposity, the lard, renting the palazzo, imprisoned and tortured, the end, providing the boat for the escape?

13.The presentation of the clergy, serious-minded, Dalfonso and his acting for the interrogation? The permissive cardinal and the nun? The convent? Pucci’s statement that he could do anything ‘because we are the Catholic church’?

14.Casanova’s mother and Tito, their being disguised as the cardinal, the performance, deceiving Pucci, effecting the escape?

15.The film and its light treatment of the themes – just as the representations of Casanova in the street plays performed in the film?

ROMANZO CRIMINALE (CRIME NOVEL)

Italy, 2005, 152 minutes, Colour.
Kim Rossi Stuart, Anna Mouglalis, Pia Francesco Favino, Claudia Santamaria, Stefano Accorsi, Riccardo Scamacio, Jasmine Trinca.
Directed by Michele Placido.

Romanzo Criminale is based on a novel by Giancarlo de Cataldo who adapted the novel for the screen. It is directed by veteran actor and director Michele Placido.

The film aims to be something of an Italian Godfather. It traces Italian gangsters in Rome from the 1960s to the 1990s. The initial film focuses on a character called The Lebanese (Pier Francesco Favino). He is determined to build up the best gang in Rome, overcoming his more powerful enemies, and trying to build up a group who will eventually succeed him. Eventually, he overreaches himself with megalomania - and is a reader of books about famous dictators.

His successors are different characters. First is Fredo played by Kim Rossi Stuart (The Keys of the House). He is a softer character but becomes ruthless. The other leader, Dandi (Claudio Santamaria), is a more carefree type, careless about his interactions with people. Tracking them through the decades is the intense police commissioner played by Stefano Accorsi.

The film traces the kind of gangster life, crimes, police investigations during those decades. However, it also focuses on the history of Italy at that time, especially the terrorist movements. One of the key episodes in the film is the terrorist bombing of the station in Bologna.

Ultimately, the gangs overreach themselves and destroy themselves, many of the characters ending up in prison.

The film will have a great impact on Italian audiences who have experienced these stories. Non-Italians? will view the episodes and the characters with interest – but as observers from outside.

1.An Italian crime story? The influence of the 70s and the spaghetti gangster films? The influence of The Godfather: a Godfather film without the mythology of criminals and the Mafia or the operatic overtones?

2.The title, the popular crime novel? The visual treatment of this kind of novel? Adapted by the novelist?

3.The film in three parts on the different leadership of the gang, the different focus? But the overall study of the gang, the groupings within the gang?

4.The Rome settings, the 60s to the 80s? The details and realistic look at the city? The suburbs, the streets? The beach and the coast? The mansions? Prisons? Authentic – with the slang used by the characters?

5.The prologue, the children, stealing the car, the crash, the police chase, their taking special nicknames? Grand dying? Ice, Dandi and the Lebanese surviving? The Lebanese saving the other boys? The return to this theme at the end, Grand living, what if everything changed?

6.The section on the Lebanese: his going to prison, the people that he met in prison and later used, the other members of the gang in prison? His grandiose image of himself? His discussion about Roman emperors and reading about them? His plan? Abducting the wealthy businessman, the treatment, the promises, the photos? His killing the man? The money going down and the bargaining, yet their getting the money? His idea about leadership, investing in drugs? The gang and his leadership and the others in the hierarchy? The introduction to the various members of the new gang, criminal types, their different functions? At work, the money, the deals? The issues of dividing the money or not? The interrelationships in the group? Rivalries, tough, the club? The Lebanese and the police? The relationship with Patrizia? The police pursuit, especially Scialoja? The conflict, the jealousy of the other members of the group, the poker game, his being killed? His killer on the run? Ice’s reaction?

7.Ice and his leadership, more quiet, younger? His background? Friendship and loyalty to the Lebanese? His participation in the deals? Interactions with the group, the police? His relationship with his brother, his studies, his drug-taking? The encounter with Roberta, her coaching his brother? The attraction? Her taking him to the church, the Caravaggio painting and its significance, the Madonna reaching out to pilgrims? The interactions with Scialoja? His discussion about confession – and not even confessing to God? The impact of his brother’s death? His being with Roberta, love, not telling her the truth, the possibility of change? The death of the Lebanese and his change of attitude, vengeance, his pursuit of the killers, the achievement? The friendship with Dandi, the tension? With Rat? With Black and the others? His pursuit of the killer? The Bologna episode, the terrorist attack on the railway station, his arrest? The background of the terrorism and the abduction of Aldo Moro in the late 70s? His giving himself up? The confrontation with Scialoja? His going to prison? The group in the prison, Rat?

8.Dandi and his leadership, his life and style, his place in the gang, ruthlessness? Loyalty to the Lebanese and Ice? The encounters with Patrizia, his wanting to own her, control her? Yet her wanting the house for the brothel? The Lebanese supporting her? Dandi’s rivalry with Ice? The decision? Patrizia persuading him not to kill Ice – and his later revelation that he knew what she was doing? The interactions with Scialoja? His prosperity over the years – his death?

9.Scialoja from Bologna, coming to Rome, his manner of investigation, the interrogation of Patrizia, the beginnings of the affair – and the on and off relationship over the years? His attitude, his pursuit? Clues, moles? The Lebanese’s diary? The Bologna episode and the arrests, the interrogations? The irony of his not being killed by Dandi’s order and the intercession of Patrizia? At the end, Ice’s death? The people behind the scenes, the higher authorities, the relationship to national security, the manipulation of terrorism? His being put in his place?

10.Patrizia, the call girl, her clients, the club, her relationship with Dandi, the ownership of the building? Her power over Dandi? The relationship with Scialoja? The fire and his treating her as a lady, as a motivation for trying to save him? Her behaviour, help? Pleading?

11.The contrast with Roberta, the Madonna-like character? Her taking Ice to see the Madonna picture? Meeting Ice, his brother? The relationship? Ice’s escape, going to France, the idyllic time together, her grief at his death? Her own death and her being a victim of gang warfare?

12.Ice, the plan for his escape, Dandi effecting it, the pressure on the doctor, the samples of blood? His going to hospital, going to France, his dying, coming back to kill his enemies, the irony of his being shot in vengeance?

13.Black, the ruthless killer, his participation in the group, the others, the drugs, the clubs?

14.A portrait of young gangsters in Rome, the changes over the decades? The ugliness of the issues? The question of what gave rise to their criminal behaviour, their flourishing, their being used by authorities and linked with terrorism? The film’s message about government and masked intentions and working behind the scenes?

FIND ME GUILTY

US, 2006, 125 minutes, Colour.
Vin Diesel, Ron Silver, Linus Roache, Annabella Sciorra, Peter Dinklage.
Directed by Sidney Lumet.

Sidney Lumet is a veteran director from the Golden Years of Television in the 1950s who made his first feature film, Twelve Angry Men, in 1957 and continued through the decades with some very fine films (Long Day’s Journey Into Night, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, Network, The Verdict, Q and A, Prince of the City). He made Find Me Guilty at age 81.

The film takes him back to a subject that has interested him for decades: crime in New York. He has explored the police, undercover agents, corruption, court cases. These ingredients are all to be found in Find Me Guilty. Basically, this is a courtroom drama and the screenplay has incorporated much of the trial proceedings verbatim. In the 1980s, a group of 76 Mafiosi were arrested and brought to trial together – with a variety of lawyers representing them. One drug dealer, Giacomo DiNorscia?, ‘Jack’, decided to be his own defence despite his complete lack of training and know-how.

But Jack was innately shrewd and could manage an audience capitalising on his ignorance, rushing in, then apologising while, all the time, really charming the jury. He reminded them often that he was not a gangster but a gagster! This made the capo extremely angry, trying to ostracise him. But, Jack’s talent led to his charming most of his co-defendants, a bizarre group of underlings, numbers men and runners. And he drove the prosecuting attorney beserk. On the other hand, while the judge had to warn him so often during the almost two year trial, he came to have a grudging admiration for him. Lumet keeps this interesting and entertaining while, at the same time, it is an appaling travesty of justice.

The surprise of the film is its star, Vin Diesel. We have not been accustomed to seeing him act. He is either fast and furious or some kind of xXx agent or, lately, trying to control children with military style as a pacifier. For his acting, it is best to go back to Saving Private Ryan and Boiler Room. Dieself carries off the peforming Jack with great panache and, rather disconcertingly at first, with hair (though there is a final credit to wigmakers).

Linus Roache is the exasperated prosecutor, Ron Silver the patient judge and Alex Rocco the capo. Annabella Sciorra appears in one scene to great effect as Jack’s wife.

Lumet continues his illuminating movies about crime and the law.

1.The work of Sidney Lumet? Over many decades? From Twelve Angry Men to Find Me Guilty? Court cases, witnesses, judges, juries?

2.The New York settings, the 1980s? The hold of the Mafia? New York and New Jersey? The court settings, the prison, the confined nature of the action of the film? Musical score?

3.The visual style of the court sequences, the points of view, the defendants, the lawyers, the judge? The close-ups and the cutting? The intensity? The musical score?

4.The period: décor, costumes, styles? The musical score and songs: ‘When You’re Smiling’…?

5.The prologue, Jackie and the confrontation by Tony, Jackie’s daughter? The shooting, Jackie wounded, Tony declaring his love? The hospital? The avoidance of police?

6.The context of Rudolph Giuliani and his clean-up? The seventy-six defendants? The context of Jackie, the Hispanic deal? His being caught? Kierney and the meal set-up? Jackie’s visit? The questions? The proposal? Jackie’s refusal to deal?

7.The judge, Ron Silver’s presence and performance? His stances, tolerance, being fair, the issues of contempt of court, his overruling decisions? The fire? Jackie’s reaction? The side bars? Jackie’s mother’s death and his sympathy? The visit to his chambers? The way that he presided over the case?

8.The defence lawyers, the range of lawyers, the differences? Ben Klandis, Peter Dinklage’s presence and performance? No-one referring to his height except to put the stand near the microphone? The seventy-six defendants themselves, at the different tables? Napoli and his performance – collapse, coming into the court on support? Jackie and his attitudes, his wanting to do the defence himself, the judge explaining patiently the difficulties? The attitude of the other lawyers? Of the defendants? Of Nick Calabrese?

9.Kierney and his team, as prosecutors, determined? The history, the deals? The planning? The witnesses and their reliability – or not? His continual gathering of information? The FBI witnesses? His reaction to Jackie’s cross-examination, the comic touches?

10.The jury set-up: the group, the mixed group, their reactions, their positive responses to Jackie’s performance, the end, their verdict?

11.Vin Diesel as Jackie? In himself, the Italian background and culture, his relationship with his wife, the separation, his daughter? With women? The cocaine habit? His cousin Tony, working with him, loyalty? His place in the Mafia hierarchy, in the family? The way that he grew up, childhood friends, childhood loyalties? The church? Prison experience? His bad back, the chair? Sylvester and his treatment in the cell? Kierney and his provoking him, depriving him of comfort, especially of his chair and bed? Difficult to lie down and sleep? Food restrictions? The search of his room and his being bashed, explaining that he had a fall? The truth about his stories, his generosity, love? Decisions? His taking on his own defence, his performance, joke about being a gagster rather than a gangster? His using such phrases as ‘sort of’? the advice, the reaction of the lawyers, of the group? Nick and his disregard of him, contempt, the meals, his being ostracised? The gangster and his heart trouble? Jackie and his jokes, offence, withdrawing? His questions? The Macchiavelli discussion? The FBI agent and his stereotyping Italians? Tony, the homosexual overtones? The FBI response? His reactions, angers? Success? Respect? At the end – and his being found guilty? The others being released? The episode with his wife coming to visit him, the revelation of himself, his relationship? His father’s support, his mother’s death? His daughter in court? The end and his being cheered? The final information about him and his sentence, his death?

12.The range of witnesses, the FBI, the Mafia people, reliable or not, the agents and their judgments? Kierney, his personality, his desperation to win, his team and their reaction?

13.Bella, her visit, the intense interaction between the two? Her love, her being hurt?

14.Jackie’s father, support, the visit? His daughter, her personality, being present at the initial shooting?

15.The scenes of the defendants, their meals together, their discussions, Jackie and his impassioned appeal about pleading, the change of heart, forcing Nick to support them?

16.The jury, the people watching, the jury liking Jackie?

17.The verdict – just, on the basis of the evidence?

18.A character study of the eccentric, of the American justice system? Of the role and influence of the Mafia? The administration of justice?

CANDY

Australia, 2006, 116 minutes, Colour.
Abby Cornish, Heath Ledger, Geoffrey Rush, Noni Hazlehurst, Tony Martin, David Argue, Tom Budge, Tim Mc Kenzie, Tara Morice.
Directed by Neil Armfield.

There have been many striking films about drug addiction in recent years from Drugstore Cowboy through Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas to Requiem for a Dream. These films show the fascination with drugs, the highs and hallucinations, the decisions about going off drugs and the experience of withdrawal. The hallucinations can be both beautiful and terrifying. Withdrawal can be a portrait of horror and pain.

They are all here in Candy. Nothing particularly new (though that should not be a criterion for dismissal as is sometimes the danger). But, the setting is an Australian one, centred in Sydney, and that gives Candy its own individuality and its appeal/communication for an Australian audience. The appeal beyond Australia is in the writing, the direction and performances.

The writing: Luke Davies has collaborated with director, Neil Armfield, to bring his novel to the screen. It is particularly Australian, frank and direct, with moments both of humour and literate style.

The direction: Neil Armfield is best known for his theatre work for several decades. His main work in cinema was a stylised adaptation of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night in the 1980s. He brings a deft hand to his work here. The film looks good and moves well. The withdrawal experience over three days and Candy’s miscarriage and its aftermath are both horrifying and persuasive.

The performances: Armfield has been able to cast four Australian Film Institute Best Acting winners. Abbie Cornish made a strong impression in Somersault (and One Perfect Day). Young, vigorous and attractive, she makes Candy a sympathetic victim of her mother’s hard love as well as acting on whims for starting on drugs and her wilfulness in continuing. Her love for Danny is palpable even though she risks losing him.

On the other hand, the film is Heath Ledger’s as Danny. He is the centre and offers the voiceover. Again, he acts on whim and is wilful – but in a far more laidback and carefree manner. He prefers to while away his life even though he has capacities for more, for more creative and intelligent work. His reaction to the miscarriage is moving.

Then there is Geoffrey Rush as a self-indulgent lecturer, a smiling but ultimately wicked father-figure, complicit in his friends’ destruction. The contrary is strongly to the fore in Noni Hazelhurst’s uptight and controlling mother, dominating her kindly husband (Tony Martin). The sequence where the couple announce Candy’s pregnancy and the mother’s silent vigilance is contrasted with the father’s hugging and passionately weeping gives strong indications of how we are to respond to these characters.

The film is divided into three parts that explain themselves: Heaven, Earth, Hell. But, the film is not without hope. Hell need not be the end.

1.The impact of the film? Films about drugs and addiction? Films about disturbed personalities? The interconnection between disturbance and drugs? Hope and despair? Authentic and real?

2.The Sydney settings, the streets and shops, the ordinary life, homes, the different class areas, the countryside and authenticity? The songs and the lyrics? The score?

3.The structure of the film into: Heaven, Earth, Hell? The ending as eternal damnation – or an escape from Hell?

4.The adaptation from the novel? The language, the poetry, Emily Dickenson and carrying a heart in a heart? The background of literature, science, art? Intelligence – but addiction?

5.The title and the focus on Candy? The focus on Dan and his voice-over? The emotional response to Candy? To Dan?

6.The opening image of the Rotor, the Whirl, movement, speed, people stuck but not falling? The recurring image?

7.Dan and Candy, the strength of the performances? The introduction to them, Dan’s commentary, age, the relationship, the vitality? Love between them? Dreamers? Not willing to face reality? Dan and his use of drugs, his friend and the supply? Candy and her wanting to experiment? In the bath, her collapse, the need for saline solution? The revival – and her saying that it was good and wanting more?

8.Dan and Candy and their life together, squatting, her painting, Dan watching Tarkovsky on SBS, the cryptic crosswords? Living on the dole? Their potential and its not being realised? Wanting more drugs, pawning the ring, the sex with the pawnbroker? Her becoming a hooker? Dan and the possibility of earning money by sex, his discussions with Casper, the resisting to the gay scene? At the toilet, stealing the client’s wallet, using his card, phoning him to get the number? Going to the bank, his performance, the PIN number – and the use of the money for a more upmarket way of life?

9.Casper, Geoffrey Rush’s performance? Dan’s voice-over explaining Casper, the father figure, his lecturing at the university, chemistry, gay and his friend? Having money? Supplying drugs? The university and his brewing heroin, his explanations? The realisation of what was happening, helping Dan? His visit to Casper? Dan desperate? Casper not wanting Dan to die before him? Casper’s own death? A futile life?

10.Candy and Dan and the decision to marry, visiting her parents? The kindly father, the hard mother? The meal, the discussions about money, Dan trying to spin a tale to get money from his father-in-law? Candy and her clashes with her mother, the whipped cream episode? Her making fists at her mother? The wedding ceremony, the joy? The reception, the mother observing? Dan and his taking drugs, Candy joining him? The discussion with the uncle about investment? The moving to the country? The visit of her parents, again the fists, her anger, the outburst again her mother?

11.People’s behaviour at the reception, the family members, the uncle and money, the drugs, Dan going to sleep? The father excusing the situation?

12.Candy being pregnant, her father’s joy, weeping? The mother and her reaction? Their decision to go ‘cold turkey’? The dramatic impact of the three days, their being numbered on the screen, the postures, the pain, the torment? Audiences sharing in the experience? Candy, hospital, the miscarriage? Her wanting to hold the stillborn child? Dan and his wanting to hold the child? Candy sleeping with the baby?

13.The discussions about their addiction, the greater tension, her going back to prostitution? Time passing? Dan living in his fantasy world, letting the world drift by? Her intensity?

14.In the country, their work, the set-up, the skylight? The fiasco of the parents’ visit? Candy and the man from the store? Dan and his working hard? The collapse, the abuse by Candy, her scrawling on the walls? Dan and his dismay when he saw the situation?

15.Candy’s collapse, going to the hospital? The parents, the father and his saying that anything had to go for Candy, even getting drugs? The mother urging them to let Dan go? The characters of the parents, wealth, class? Disappointment in their daughter? Love?

16.Candy’s collapse, in hospital, recuperation, getting out? Dan going to Casper, Casper’s death? Working in the Chinese restaurant?

17.Candy coming to visit, Dan unable to raise the energy to go with her? Their love? Their separation? Their futures? Any future together?

ARMORED CAR ROBBERY

US, 1950, 67 minutes, Black and white.
Charles Mc Graw, Adele Jergens, William Talman, Douglas Fowley, Steve Brodie.
Directed by Richard Fleischer.

Armored Car Robbery is a small-budget, short running time second feature from 1950. It plays very much like a contemporary television episode – the successes of this kind of supporting feature. Director Richard Fleischer also made The Narrow Margin at this time with Charles Mc Graw. It is considered something of a classic. The influence of films and television series like The Naked City is very much in evidence.

The cast is second-drawer, Charles Mc Graw often being a criminal and too familiar a criminal-looking face to be always a convincing policeman. William Talman is the self-confident criminal. Adele Jergens is the femme fatale, blonde style.

Nothing new but an interesting look at a style of film-making around 1950.

1.The impact of this kind of film? Brief, B-budget? The parallel to television episodes of crime series?

2.Los Angeles, the black and white photography, an authentic atmosphere, 1950? Musical score?

3.The title, the focus on the robbery, the planning, the execution? Inevitable mistakes? The pursuit by the police?

4.The set-up: Dave Purvis and his pressure on Benny, the planning of the robbery? Their success in the past? His personality? Benny as a loser, his relationship with his wife and the break-up, her two-timing him with Purvis? The meeting with the men, the discussions of the plan, their initial scepticism, his reputation? The planning? The details of the execution, the build-up, the mistakes? The pursuit by Cordell, the unmasking? The pursuit and the solving of the crime? Purvis as a strong character – yet able to make mistakes?

5.The other members of the group, Benny and the pressure on him, his debts? His wife? Her betrayal? The other members of the gang? Doing their job? Not completely trustworthy, loose lips, mistakes?

6.The picture of Cordell, the police, their work? His assistants? The detection, the follow-through, the pursuit, success?

7.The dancer, her marriage to Benny, her double-crossing him, the relationship with Purvis? The interrogations? Her losing out?

8.The popularity of this kind of film at the time – and the admiration of critics later?

DER ROTE KAKADU (THE RED COCKATOO)

Germany, 2006, 129 minutes, Colour.
Max Riemelt, Jessica Schwarz, Ronald Zehrfeld.
Directed by Dominik Graf.

Many German audiences and many from around the world have found stories of East Germany and the Berlin Wall continually fascinating. This is one of those stories. It has a poignancy because the protagonists in 1961 were barely twenty. When the wall came down and they took stock of how the separation had affected their lives, they were almost fifty. Three decades of their vital years had been affected.

The setting is the few months of the summer of 1961 before the wall went up in August. While it was a police state and citizens mouthed socialist principles and a suspicion of the west, many of the younger generation had never been there, not even to West Berlin. Yet, rock and roll seemed here to stay. The youngsters loved it, danced to it, flocked to bars and clubs. But, the police trampled the records and the record players, beat the students and soon a serious gloom was to settle on the east.

The Red Cockatoo was one of those clubs, a kind of refuge for Siggi, a young man from a country village who is apprenticed as a theatre designer in Dresden, for Wolle a tearaway type who has married the handicapped, Luise, who works in a schnapps factory and is loved by Siggi. There are a number of others in the circle, especially the lead singer in the club band.

As the screen points out continually that there were only fewer and fewer weeks until the Berlin wall went up, we see the young people in love, clashing, in fear, wary of informers, arrested, tried, sentenced and some escaping to the west while others were trapped and never seen again.

While there is a lightheartedness of youth about the story, it is also sad and, in retrospect, audiences now wonder how people tolerated this harsh, unfeeling regime with its sealed borders, its police patrols and where even a book of poems can be the cause of life changing suffering. A film which is interesting, entertaining and saddening.

1.Audience interest in the past of Germany, East Germany, the wall? For German audiences? World audiences? For Berliners? A popular treatment of these themes?

2.The re-creation of 1961, East Germany, the city of Dresden, the scenes in Berlin, East and West? Costumes and décor?

3.The importance of music, the rock ‘n roll, its being forbidden in the GDR? The nightclubs, The Red Cockatoo, the daring of playing the music? The range of music from Jerome Kern to traditional music? The dancing? The music as symbol for East and West?

4.The time indicators, moving steadily towards the building of the wall? Audiences knowing what the results would be? Watching the characters who don’t know?

5.The contrast with life in West Berlin, the shops and the lights, Kurfestendam, the lavish hotels? So many people in East Germany not knowing what this life was like?

6.The checkpoints, the soldiers, stern, with binoculars? Their signals about people returning to the East? The searches? The skills in smuggling? Siggi and his smuggling the money back? Pretending his arm was broken? The police in East Germany, the smashing of the records and the record players, the bashing of the students? The arrests, the interrogations? Spies reporting to the Stasi? The information, the deals, the files? Life in a police state? The socialist goals, people’s loyalty to these goals, but their drab life?

7.Youth in 1961, not yet twenty at that time, twenty-eight years later and their adulthood having passed when the wall came down?

8.The picture of escaptes, opportunities and methods? The 1961 closure of the wall? It going up – and people leaping over the wall at the last moment? The incident with the dog leaping?

9.Siggi’s story: the small-town boy, the farm, his hopes, coming to Dresden, his theatre apprenticeship, his opera-singing aunt and her connections, at home, the meals and their sparseness, at the theatre, the rehearsals, his building the décor and the elephant? The new director, his promises, being accepted for the course? The new director’s advances – and Siggi later using this to blackmail him? Life in the theatre? Supervised by the Stasi?

10.Siggi and his first meeting with Luise, listening to the records, her not being able to dance, the young people dancing silently on the lawn, the records arriving, the police smashing, bashing? The escape? The encounter with Wolle? Luise married to him? Siggi’s infatuation with her, her relationship with her husband? Their all meeting at The Red Cockatoo? Siggi and his infatuation with Luise? Friendship with Wolle? But shocked by Wolle’s promiscuous behaviour, with the singer, with the theatre secretary? Wolle’s cavalier attitude and explanations?

11.The Red Cockatoo: a haven for youth, the manager and his coping, the band and the singer? The songs, rock 'n roll, Elvis Presley? The old tunes? The dancing and excitement? The arrival of the official, the demonstration of the traditional dancing, staid? The authorities, Wolle urinating in the glass and the official drinking – and his later revenge? The Red Cockatoo as a refuge? Suspicions that the singer was a spy? The factory owner’s son turning out to be the spy? The last haven of this kind of life before the sealing off of East Germany?

12.Siggi and his friends, with Wolle and the singer? With the theatre secretary? His own sexual behaviour? But his regard for Luise? Going for a swim with her? His visits to the West, taking the porcelain, selling in the West, smuggling the money back? His being a big spender at the club? Going to the poetry reading – and Wolle’s making noise and hurting Luise? His going to the printer for a quote? Printing the book, no permissions, giving it as a gift to Luise, her putting it in the water, her being sorry, getting the book back? This leading to the police, the arrest, the interrogations, the trial?

13.Luise and her disability, her working in the schnapps factory, married to Wolle? Her making allowances? The attraction towards Siggi, the poetry, inviting him to her reading? Her anger with Wolle? The book, her disbelief? Her finally believing Siggi’s story, helping him to escape, promising to come, her being trapped, her existing as young and only in his memory?

14.Wolle and his being loud, impetuous, sexual partners, married to Luise, jealous of her, ignoring her poetry, his work in the factory? The range of friends? Life at The Red Cockatoo? His sneering at authorities, his arrest, torture? The trial, his running and being shot? The impact of this shooting in disillusioning Luise about East Germany and socialism?

15.The factory owner, the opportunities to go to the West, his son, his being part of the crowd, the truth about his being an informer, his father’s escape and slapping him in West Berlin?

16.The singer, jovial, the band? Their being prohibited from playing?

17.The arrests, Wolle’s challenge, challenging Siggi, Siggi giving himself up, the group and the arrest, the different sentences? Interrogations?

18.The trial, Siggi and his escape? Going to West Berlin, his plans, his work in the hotel, his subsequent life, art – but never seeing Luise again?

19.A memoir of a significant period in East Germany’s history? In unified Germany’s history?

THE MATADOR

US, 2005, 96 minutes, Colour.
Pierce Brosnan, Greg Kinnear, Hope Davis, Adam Scott, Philip Baker Hall, Dylan Baker.
Directed by Richard Shepard.

A glossy, very, tongue-in-cheek black comedy a touch reminiscent of Analyze This and Analyze That. A hitman has a nervous breakdown.

A charmingly disshevilled Pierce Brosnan is a longtime effective hitman. But, he has lost his edge. When he looks through the sights at his targets, he sees himself as a sad child. He misses. He can’t do it.

After an almost botched job in Mexico City, his forgetting his woes in sex and drowning them in drink, we he shares a drink in a bar with a genial Denver man who is in line for a big job. Between jigs and reels, they go to a bullfight where the hitman confesses the truth to the nice man who is disbelieving and non-plussed.

Trips to Europe. More failures. Warnings from his handler. He goes on the run. Where to? Denver. The nice man and his intrigued wife (Greg Kinnear and Hope Davis) take him in. But, there is one more twist.

So, if you want to know what the twist is, you like Pierce Brosnan and Greg Kinnear who genially work of one another, and enjoy international locations (most filmed in Mexico in fact), then the only thing to do is to see this comic amoral film.

1.A serious comedy? Black comedy? Amoral/moral?

2.The glossy style of the film, the locations, the Mexican settings (and Mexico used for other international settings)? The musical score, the Spanish flavour?

3.The title, the images of the matador, the bullfighting sequences? The close-ups of the skills of the matador? The matador meaning killer? The matador having an edge, skilful strokes?

4.A drama about a hit man? A comedy about a hit man? Burnt-out criminals (in the Analyze This vein)? The echoes of Strangers on a Train, two strangers at sport, discussing murders? The hit man on the run? The twists and his being pursued? His not having friends? His having met Danny? Relying on Danny? The issue of morality, Julian and his seeing his child self when attempting to do the killings? The final killing, the twist – freedom?

5.Pierce Brosnan’s style as Julian? The images of himself as a child, not having any background, lying about his marriage? His appearance and clothes, dishevelled? The nervous breakdown? The children in Denver asking him questions, the car exploding? The aftermath of his killings, drinking, sex? His travelling? The relationship with Mr Randy, getting his orders from him? In Europe, Mexico? The overall handler and the meeting with Mr Randy? Suspicions of his losing his edge? Going to Mexico, the targeted woman and killing her? In the bar, the sexual encounters? With Danny, the discussions, his rudeness about Danny’s memory of his son’s death? The continued talk, drinking, need for friendship, the bond between the two? Going to the bullfight and the explanation about matadors? Explaining how he did the killing – and explaining to Danny a case study? Danny’s disbelief? The effect? Julian as middle-aged, burnt out? Missing his targets? The final killing? Proving himself? A wisecracking hit man suffering nervous breakdown?

6.The contrast with Danny and Bean, their nice home in Denver, the possibility of a new job, getting up, the breakfast sequence? Supportive wife? His friend Phil Garrison, their flying to Mexico? The irony of the storm, the tree demolishing the kitchen? The hope for the job, the interviews? Confidence? At the bar, the encounter with Julian, his being hurt and insulted, his making concessions? Going to the bullfight? Their friendship? His disbelief about Julian’s being a hit man? The test case? The irony of the later flashback, the temptation for Danny to eliminate his rival for the job – and Julian telling him he was not that kind of person?

7.Julian arriving at the night, dishevelled, the talk, needing support? Bean and her accepting Julian, fascinated by him, the drinking, wanting to see the gun, listening to the stories? His staying?

8.Wanting Danny to help him, the moral pressure on him? The tickets to Arizona? Danny going? Julian and the set-up for the killing, Danny and his holding the drinks unsteadily, his performing his role – and Julian unable to finish the killing?

9.Julian and Mr Randy, the consultor and his saying that Julian should be eliminated? The irony of the target being the controller? Julian and his self-knowledge? Danny and his self-knowledge? His marriage? Julian and his future?

10.The black comedy? The amoral stance on values? But Julian’s and Danny’s behaviour being measured according to moral standards?

L’IVRESSE DU POUVOIR (COMEDY OF POWER)

France, 2006, 110 minutes, Colour.
Isabelle Huppert, Francois Berliand, Patrick Bruel, Marylyne Canto, Robin Renucci, Thomas Chabrol.
Directed by Claude Chabrol.

Claude Chabrol is, perhaps, the longest surviving French director whose films are always welcomed and who screens regularly at festivals. His first feature film, Le Beau Serge, was released in 1958. Chabrol has almost half a century of significant cinema achievement. (He is the same age as Clint Eastwood.)

Chabrol has specialised in human dramas which have explored French society, French ethics and morals, family life, commitment and betrayals as well as French politics. And, generally, he has done this with his skills honed in so many crime dramas. L’ Ivresse de Pouvoir has been translated as “Comedy of Power” whereas a more accurate and telling translation would be “The Intoxication of Power”.

Chabrol is up-to-date in commenting on powerful corporations, their deals, their perks for bosses, corruption and double standards whether it be French-based companies or US companies like Enron. The film is, therefore, relevant to France but has universal interest.

We see a number of officials from a multination company exploiting their power, their political connections, their brokering deals (with huge commissions that they see as part of the rules of the game) with African nations, as well as their indulging in a luxury lifestyle. They are obviously intoxicated by power.

But, the focus is on the judge who is investigating these men and trying to expose them and bring them down. She also becomes intoxicated with power. The judge is played by Isabelle Huppert (who has worked for Chabrol in seven films over the decades). Isabelle Huppert looks much the same in every film but she has the extraordinary talent for transcending how she appears and creating completely different characters in each film. She can be mousey, she can be devious, she can be imperious. This time, she is both earnest and arrogant in her work (and sees herself as something of a fashion plate as well).

Overall, she is confident. She is extraordinarily direct in her interrogations and puts the fear of God into her enemies. But, will she ultimately succeed? Can she succeed, given the ingrown culture of corruption? A further question, behind the scenes, is how will her success affect her marriage and her love for her husband? And what of her nephew who comes to stay and in whom she can confide? And of the young woman imposed on her as an assistant? And of her judicial superior?

Chabrol likes to raise questions like this. He is skilful at creating rounded characters who are interesting. He is also a confident storyteller as well as an observer of French life and pretensions for almost 50 years. L’Ivresse? de Pouvoir fits will into his CV.

1.The work of Claude Chabrol over fifty years? French dramas? French themes? The world of crime? The world of law, justice? His portrait of French people – and his variations on his themes?

2.A world of interiors, offices, homes, apartments? Very few exteriors? The musical score and its mood?

3.The titles, the French meaning the intoxication of power? The English and a comedy of power – what kind of comedy?

4.The prologue, Humeau and his personality, his office, his staff, the set-ups, his allergy and itch, the CEO, his planning the weekend away, home, mistress, clothes, accounts? His sudden arrest?

5.The situation of the corrupt dealings, the companies, the senator and the political discussions? Overseas and bribes, funds and rake-offs? Corrupt oil business? Business and perks? Prosecution, expose? Moles in the investigator’s office? Ultimately fixing things on the surface – but the same people reorganising themselves? The cynical perspective at the end?

6.The portrait of Jeanne Charmant-Killman? The pun in her name? The image and view of the piranhas? The fish and its tongue? Her age, experience, talent? As a judge? Her personality, her clothes and style, her gloves? Direct in her comments and questions, wry? Working we Benoit, over the time – and the revelation that he was the mole? Her husband, his watching TV, his scientific work and reputation, his reactions to his wife? Tiredness? Tensions in the sexual relationship? Jeanne and her work at night on the computer? Always diligent? Her interviews? Her composure? The files, the search warrants, going into people’s homes? Giving details to the officials? Her inability to talk to Philippe? Her being able to discuss matters with Felix? Her security, the guards? Her having Erika to work with her? The initial tension? Their collaboration? Philippe leaving her, her staying in the hotel? The authorities, the threats, the graffiti? Her discussions with Sibeaud, his safe and her coming in with the warrant? After the past familiarities? The man in charge, discussions, taking her off the case – and her bitter retort about balls? The hospital, Philippe’s suicide attempt? Erika and Felix? The finale? What had she achieved? What could she achieve? Her humiliation? The strong performance by Isabel Huppert?

7.The range of interviewees, Humeau and his fear of prison, his allergy, the deception of his wife, the mistress and her reaction, the money? Holeo and his suave manner, pretending ignorance, using the heart attack to get out of the interview? Voldi, seeing him in discussions with others, his caving in, giving information? Sibeaud becoming the CEO, his not expecting to be interrogated, officials and their lack of expectations from him? His shock and reaction to the judge’s interventions? Their characters, the deals, the consequences?

8.The powers-that-be, the meetings, plush hotels, restaurants, cigars? The senator? The set-up and the discussions about getting rid of the judge? Disconnecting themselves from frauds, denials, lies – and setting up again?

9.The interweaving of Jeanne’s personal life and her relationship with Felix and Philippe with her work? The consequences?

10.Philippe, his love for his wife, the story of the background, her being the daughter of the maid, marrying the wealthy man? The compulsion for her own rise in the legal system? Maintaining her authority? Philippe, being referred to as the judge’s husband? His desperation, her coldness, Felix in the house? His attempted suicide?

11.Felix, the nephew, friends with Philippe and Jeanne, coming to stay, his lifestyle, confidant for Jeanne?

12.Erika, the assistant, suspicions leading to trust? The interviews? Her being appointed to take over the case? The irony of Benoit, his devotion – but yet his giving information to the officials?

13.The French business background, corruption? Not just French but universal? The response to the film depending on audience attitude to big business, perks, corruption? Accepting that this is how things are? In the French scene, international scene?

ANALYZE THIS

US, 1999, 103 minutes, Colour.
Robert De Niro, Billy Crystal, Lisa Kudrow, Chazz Palminteri, Joe Viterelli, Richard C. Castellano, Molly Shannon, Bill Macy, Elizabeth Bracco, Leo Rossi, Tony Bennett.
Directed by Harold Ramis.

For those who don't what a deep and meaningful psychological thriller (as well as those who do), this is the movie. What if...? What if a ruthless Mafia gangster were to have a nervous breakdown, weeping uncontrollably, unable to make the required hits? And what if a popular psychiatrist collided with a Mafia car and gave them his business card for reference? Of course, the gangster could go for therapy.

And he does.

With Robert de Niro doing his gangster turn as well as a please-help-me-or-else turn and with Billy Crystal doing his patter as an increasingly nervous therapist with his unpredictable client, there is a great deal of amusement. And it is helped by a generally witty script and the comic touch of director, Harold Ramis (Groundhog Day). While de Niro gets to play depressed, Crystal has a chance to impersonate the Mafia. So, a good time can be had by all.

1. A popular comedy, clever? Parodies? Wit? Laugh-out-loud comedy?

2. The New York worlds, the Mafia? The world of wealthy psychiatrists? The clash of worlds, the comic effects?

3. Robert De Niro and the Mafia cast, the parody of previous performances?

4. Billy Crystal, the Jewish psychiatrist, listening, advice, the sequences with clients, their issues, his imagination in telling them off, the reality?

5. The reversal of roles, Paul and his analysing Ben, Ben and his having to act as the Mafia conciglieri?

6. The New York feel, the skylines, streets, restaurants, the shadier areas of the city? Musical score? Tony Bennett and the final love song?

7. The story of the dons, the history, the meeting, their styles, the raid, the escapes? The avoidance of meetings – but the new meeting called?

8. Robert De Niro as Paul, the visit to Dominic, going back for the toothpick, Dominic’s death, Paul and his collapse, the panic attacks, his reliance on Jelly? His tears?

9. Ben, his clients, their problems, his treatment of them, Michael listening, his discussions with Michael, the plans for the wedding, meeting Laura? The crash, his anxiety, Jelly reading his card, their not wanting the police?

10. The set-up, Paul talking about his friend, taking over the interview, the offer of three hundred dollars to the non-assertive client and his taking it? Talking with Ben, Ben declaring the truth, Paul thinking he was good, the rapport, the effect, Michael listening in again? Laura and her discovery of what had happened?

11. The holiday in Miami, Laura and the TV interview, Ben and Laura, the night, Jelly coming, their consultation, Paul weeping, his dreams and explanations, his impotence with his girlfriend, Ben challenging him about his wife, macho beliefs? Ben and the questions, the effect, the relief? Laura upset?

12. The wedding, Laura’s parents, her father and his wanting to be called Captain, the threats before Ben walked up the aisle? The ceremony, the transition to what was happening upstairs, the guards, the shooting, Jelly and the shooter, the fall into the pool, the disruption of the wedding? Everybody’s reactions?

13. Ben and the Billy Crystal comedy lines and wit, Paul and the gift of the fountain, its size, the meetings on the Miami beach, their talking, the consultations?

14. Primo, his character, his henchmen, his plans for the takeover, ordering the killings?

15. The FBI, watching Ben, the talk, editing the tape, making out that Paul wanted to kill Ben? The dinner, Ben wired, his taking off the wire? Paul and his reaction, the possibility of killing Ben? Ben and his talk about Paul’s father, his death, the restaurant, the shooting? Primo’s men and the shootout, Ben with the gun?

16. Paul, his family, the meetings, weeping, not going to the arranged meeting?

17. The wedding set up again, the minister, Jelly turning up, hurrying the words, husband and wife, the exit from the ceremony?

18. Paul not going to the meeting, upset, Jelly taking Ben, briefing him, everybody arriving for the meeting, the preparations, lavish, the dons, Ben having to act as the consiglieri, slapping Jelly, the performance, imitating what he had heard, the first thing and the second thing…? His psychoanalysing Primo, the dons agreeing with the diagnosis?

19. Paul, his arrival, the confrontation, the police raid, Ben being shot, the escape?

20. Paul in Sing Sing, Ben and his visits, the consultations, the phone calls? Tony Bennett, the singing, the dance, Laura and Ben finally together? The popularity of the film and its leading