OLD

US, 2021, 108 minutes, Colour.

Gael Garcia Bernal, Vicki Krieps, Rufus Sewell, Alex Wolff, Thomasin McKenzie, Abby Lee, Nikki Amurka-Bird, Ken Leung, Eliza Scanlen, Aaron Pierre, Embeth Davidtz, Emun Elliot, Alexa Swinton, Gustaf Hammerstein, Kathleen Chalfont, Francesca Eastwood, Nolan River, Luca Faustino Rodriguez, M. Night Shyamalan.

Directed by M. Night Shyamalan.

We’re all familiar with those lovely exotic beaches, tropical, seen often in television series like Lost, let alone Fantasy Island. And we are familiar with those lovely, exotic beach resorts, tropical, seen more recently in The White Lotus.

And, while this film is actually a day at a resort, a day at an exotic beach, it is not that kind of day at the beach even though that is what all the characters are expecting.

Since this is a film directed by M Night Shyamalan, we know that it is not going to be straightforward. We know that there will have to be twists. We know that there will be touches of horror. (And there is the director himself, doing one of his usual cameos, driving the soon-to-be hapless characters to the beach, standing on a cliff and filming them.)

The screenplay is based on a graphic novel, called Sandcastle. However, given the development of the plot, Old seems a much better title. Mysterious things happen on the beach, anyone going into a cave or thinking of leaving is suddenly propelled back to the shore. And then, wounds start to heal suddenly. Characters appear differently… We can’t vouch for sanity. What is happening? Old!

Perhaps one of the difficulties of the plot is that the central group of characters is not all that sympathetic. Gael Garcia Bernal plays an actuary obsessed with statistics and percentages, a rather stiff character. His wife, Vicki Krieps, is a museum supervisor with a touch of knowledge of excavations. (And, at times, their performances come across as awkwardly dubbed rather than natural.) There is a doctor, Rufus Sewell, accompanied by his mother and with the glamorous wife, Abby Lee. The first couple have two children, aged 11 and six. The doctor and his wife have a daughter aged six. And, rounding out the characters on the beach are a mysterious singer whose girlfriend’s body washes up on the shore and a psychiatrist and her nurse-partner, she prone to severe epileptic fits.

The point of a review of a film like this is that the plot remaining shrouded in mystery so that audiences might be enticed to go to find out what happens. And, there are plenty of surprises, and the addition of a number of actors as the film goes on for characters on the beach.

But, one of the clues given, is that with each of the groups someone has a serious illness.

The screenplay is something like that old mystery story, And Then There Were None… But, of course, not quite!

To be fair, explanations are given (though scientifically questionable) about what happens on the beach. And, to be fair, proper explanations are given about the resort and its treatments of guests.

Some of M. Night Shyamalan’s thrillers have been excellent, especially The Sixth Sense. The Last Airbender and After Earth, not so good. May be Old is somewhere in the middle.

1. Expectations for a film from the director? Plot, twists, touches of horror? Fulfilled?
2. Based on a graphic novel, the title, Sandcastle? Old as a better title?
3. The Hawaiian resort (filmed in the Dominican Republic), the background reminiscent of Lost, White Lotus…? The landscapes, the seascapes, the cliffs, the tunnels, the caves, the beaches, the coral? The luxury of the resort, rooms, meals, swimming? The musical score?
4. Introduction to the family, Guy, his actuary background, straight up-and-down, quoting statistics? Prisca, museums and exhibits, archaeological knowledge? Maddox, aged 11? Trent, aged 6? Arriving, the welcome from the staff, the cocktails, the rooms? The playful attitudes? The audience discerning the tension between husband and wife? The conversations, edge? The loud arguments? The children hearing? Trying for three days? Having found the resort on the Internet?
5. Trent, meeting Idlib, friendship, asking the visitors their names and occupations? The policeman – and his later involvement? Idlib’s codes, the messages, important for the final solution?
6. The woman on the beach, disrobing, swimming out – and her body later found on the shore?
7. The manager and his associate, charming, the invitation to the special beach, the special customers? Finding the doctor and his wife and their daughter, the doctor’s mother? Patricia and Jarin, her epileptic fit? (The film’s director playing the driver of the van and the supervisor of the filming?)
8. Arriving, the beach, the cliffs? Settling down? The family, the children delighted and playing? The contrast with the doctor, on edge, his wife, age, glamour, the daughter? And care for his mother? Patricia, the psychological background, Jarin as a nurse?
9. The ordinary day at the beach? The singer sitting on the beach, Maddox wanting to talk to him? The children and the floating body? The singer identifying her? The doctor and his hostility, race issues, suspicion?
10. Going into the cave, suddenly repelled back on the beach? The various characters and their attempts to get through the cave?
11. The doctor’s mother, feeling ill, recovery and, the change, her death?
12. The recognition that there was somebody sick in each group? Prisca and her tumour? The doctor and his illness? Patricia and the epilepsy?
13. The first discovery of change, the two children and their ageing, and the children continuing to age, to puberty, Kara and her pregnancy, giving birth, the child not surviving? Eventually ageing to 50?
14. The injuries, stab wounds, the doctor fighting the singer, the quick healing of the wounds? The discovery of time and its fast progress, accepting it? The operation for Prisca, the removal of the tumour, its size, her healing, recovering? Patricia and her finally having a fit?
15. The doctor, propensity for violence, staying apart? The singer, his story, illness, his dying?
16. The doctor, part, madness, knives, the conflict with Guy? The doctor’s death? His wife, her illness, hiding in the cave, upset at her daughter’s pregnancy, the death of the baby? In the cave, the threats, her death?
17. Guy, Prisca’s confession, his knowing the truth, their growing old so quickly, his vision blurring, the conflict with the doctor, his dying? Prisca, her grief, her death?
18. The clue with the lights on the cliff, indication of filming, the site of the driver on the top of the cliff? His phoning to the administrator of the resort?
19. Maddox and Trent, older, resigned, finding of Idlib’s coded message, the warning about the coral, swimming out, seeming to be drowned, the observer noting they were drowned?
20. Their survival, arrival back at the resort?
21. The revelation of laboratory, the scientific experimentation, special powers of the cliffs magnetism and ageing? The scientist observing, the delaying of illness, medication, ambitions to heal the world?
22. The detective, contact, investigations, the police arriving, the arrests?
23. Sufficient explanation and twists? The credibility of the plot, science-fiction? And Maddox and Trent returning home at their advanced age?

SNAKE EYES – GI JOE, ORIGINS

2021, 121 minutes, Colour.

Henry Golding, Andrew Koji, Haruka Abe, Peter Mensah, Ursula Corbero, Samara Weaving.

Directed by Robert Schwentke.

Best to familiarise oneself with the Hasbro characters and stories, the previous films, GI Joe, Rise of Cobra and Retaliation, so that one is on the wavelength of what is happening in this rather complicated plot.

While there are sequences in the United States, especially at the Port of Los Angeles at the opening of the film, the main action takes place in Japan, sequences of urban Tokyo and high-rise, countryside sequences at an elaborate Japanese mansion. In fact, it plays more like a Japanese action film than an American production.

As regards Hasbro and GI Joe, the focus this time is on a young boy, bonded with his father, then witnessing his death at the hands of Cobra – only at the end to get to know that his father is one of the GI Joe special squad. The boy has grown up consumed with the desire for revenge on his father’s killer. We first see him as Snake Eyes, an adult playing in vicious cage fights, then approached by a Japanese businessman to work for him, persuading the young man that he will be able to find his father’s killer.

As mentioned, there are the Los Angeles wharves and the young man working in the fish market, smuggling weapons inside the gutted fish for export. He tangles with a bearded young worker who is then threatened by toughs, but defended by the hero, bonding with him, discovering that he is the head of a family household, invited to stay when they arrive in Japan, meeting the grandmother who is head of the clan, a young woman who is the security chief and other staff. He is offered the opportunity to become part of the clan if he successfully meets three challenges.

But, it is much more complicated than that, the hero actually ambiguous in his loyalties, ready to betray if he gets more information about his father’s killer, surviving various challenges (including giant snakes and a pit – which will play an important role, of course, in a final confrontation with the arch-villain)? And, despite a blood pledge, he steals the family jewel which has extraordinary powers of igniting fires which destroy buildings and foes.

And all this offers the opportunity for many, many, fights along the way, fists, swords – and, when it seems too hard, the Indiana Jones’ gun solution. And, there are car chases, bike chases, gymnastics over the cars.

And, since this is a story of origins, the end builds up a conflict between the two alleged friends, Snake Eyes not killing his father’s murderer, trying to become more pure in heart, invited by the GI Joe representative (Samara Weaving), but the hero turned villain choosing to call himself Storm Shadow, both of whom appeared as characters in the previous films.

Mainly for those who like this kind of action show and those who are wondering about the origins of Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow.

THE HOLE IN THE GROUND

Ireland, 2019, 90 minutes, Colour.

Seana Kerslake, James Quinn Markey, James Cosmo.

Directed by Lee Cronin.

A small Irish film. It plays as a psychological study. It plays as psychological breakdown. And it has tones of horror.

Filmed outside Dublin, however the film does not have such an Irish look, rather a Continental look with vast forest and trees, an enormous sinkhole, homes on the outskirts of the town.

This is the story of Sarah, a young mother (Seana Kerslake), seemingly separated from her husband, taking a young son, Christopher (James Quinn Markey) to make a new life in the small town, setting up the house, sending Christopher to school.

Opens with Christopher looking into a distorted mirror, then with his mother, and the mirror occurs as a recurring theme, for the boy, but especially for Sarah, an intense looking at herself.

The on this theme is introduced by Sarah encountering an old woman on the Road and almost crashing into her, an explanation given that she has gone mad thinking that her son was not her son. James Cosmo appears as her elderly husband, trying to explain the situation, especially after she dies and Sarah goes to the wake.

On the one hand, Sarah seems normal enough. On the other hand, she has a wound on her face, she takes pills to help her sleep, she has dreams, and Christopher looks at her in an alienating way. Eventually, she comes to the belief that Christopher is not her son – and there are some nightmarish sequences in the huge sinkhole behind the house, a tunnel, her seeking her son.

Perhaps an inconclusive screenplay. Rather than an atmospheric story.

1. Horror film? Psychological study? Irish setting?
2. The Irish countryside, the roads, the forests and fields, the sinkhole? The house, interiors? Basements? The musical score?
3. The title, the focus on the sinkhole, its vastness? Sarah on the edge, going down, sinking, the underground tunnel? The fact of the sinkhole? Its eerie power?
4. Sarah, her age, the absent husband, the wound on her forehead? With Christopher, his age? The bond between the two? The new town, setting up the house? The domestic sequences?
5. The role of mirrors, the initial distorted mirrors, mirrors in the house, mirrors draped in black for funerals, the final mirrors?
6. The encounter with the old woman on the road, almost crashing? The encounter with her? Seeing her again, blocking the gate? Her husband coming out, taking her away? Sarah and her friends, the story of the old woman, thinking that her son was not really her son? His death? Her psychological state? Her death, the funeral? Des, sympathetic, his explanations, Sarah going to see him, the problem of thinking her son was not her son?
7. Sarah, going to the doctor, pills? Her imagination, dreams, grizzly sequences about the woman and her head, the broken hand? Christopher and the arm-wrestling and her imagination? His disappearance into the forest, bringing her the flowers? The demands on him? Taking to school, his friends? The music, singing in the choir, her imagination, sitting in the hall, his look at her? The increasing pressure on Sarah?
8. Christopher, his age, wanting his father, his toy soldier, the soldiers, the other toys, his love for his mother, bringing her the flowers, disappearing, the noises in the night, his coming to the door…?
9. School, the friends, the meal, the stories? Sarah working at the shop, her friends support?
10. The buildup to the finale, Christopher, disappearance, going to the sinkhole, her drowning, the underground cavern, the skeletons, finding Christopher, taking him, the mirror image of herself and striking her? Taking Christopher?
11. Sarah, her studies, the camera, looking out the window, photographing Christopher? The mirrors?
12. The reality of the narrative, Christopher and his psychological condition, Sarah and her mental conditions, creating the narrative of the wrong child?

THE ICE ROAD

US, 2021, 109 minutes, Colour.

Liam Neeson, Marco Thomas, Benjamin Walker, Amber Midthunder, Laurence Fishburne, Holt McCallany.

Directed by Jonathan Hensleigh.

Yet another action story starring Liam Neeson as the tough hero. During the 2010s, Nicolas Cage and Bruce Willis featured in even more similar films. However, Nicolas Cage communicates a kind of mania. Bruce Willis always has his smirk. Which leaves Liam Neeson as the more straightforward action star, a man who communicates some human sympathy.

This is a film about a mine explosion and cave in, the need for equipment to be hurried to save the men as they have only 30 hours of oxygen left, 26 surviving underground, the finding of truck drivers to drive on highly dangerous roads. Which is where the title comes in. Everything was photographed in the Canadian province of Manitoba, the mine situated in the extreme north, snow and ice country. In different seasons, roads are opened and closed, depending on the layers of ice on the Ice Road. With this kind of scenario, we know what kind of film we are watching.

But the point needs to be made that this is an action adventure rather than a documentary. Some bloggers have been at pains to point out a whole range of inconsistencies in truckie behaviour, management, details of haulage, declaring that this is not the way things are done. This is a kind of complaint that is made by some police when they watch films and television shows, by clergy wanting to point out that this is not the way things happen… For those who share these presuppositions, better not to watch.

However, it needs to be stressed that this is an action adventure, the contriving of crises and dangers, a work of popular fiction to excite the imagination rather than to analyse structures, methods, engineering.

And, at that level, The Ice Road literally keeps us on the move. Liam Neeson plays Mike, an ageing but sympathetic truckie, always concerned about his brother, Gurty (Marcus Thomas quite an engaging performance) who suffers from aphasia, getting the two brothers regularly fired. But, it means they are at hand, Gurty proving that whatever the mental and language disabilities, his ability with his hands and machines is expert (and has plenty of opportunity to illustrate this). The boss at the central station, Laurence Fishburne, also sets out with a truck as does a rather disgruntled young Native American, Tantoo (Amber Midthunder) is let out of jail because she knows the roads will and is a tough truckie.

Everything that could go wrong does go wrong – more even than we might have anticipated. There are engine breakdowns. There is breaking ice. There is tampering with fuel. There is dynamite on board. And, there is an insurance actuary on board (Benjamin Walker) who, we suspect, is not the pen pusher that he seems. It means also that there are quite a number of fights along the way, quite a number of chases, and, just when the end seems to be in sight, an avalanche.

Intercut with all the travel along the Ice Road are the scenes of the men underground, able to tap out messages and receive them, becoming desperate about survival and the oxygen running out.

For a reviewer who has never driven a truck and never will, especially along The Ice Road, this is the kind of action adventure that is entertainingly exhausting, and the reaction is something of an enthusiastic Whew!

1. A Liam Neeson hero action show? His building up his reputation as this kind of screen figure?
2. The locations in Manitoba, the North, the mine, offices and underground, the snow country, mountains, avalanches, the Ice Road, the dangers? Sequences in North Dakota, truck drivers, depots? Winnipeg? The musical score?
3. The introduction to Mike, truck driver and experience, working with Gurty, brothers, Gurty and Aphasia, the effect, not following orders, being fired? Their hopes for buying a rig?
4. The situation in the mine, in North Manitoba, the explosions, the men trapped, 30 hours of air, discussions amongst themselves, Lampard in charge, Cody and his help, the discussion about killing others to save oxygen, the revelation that the men had been paid by the authorities to sabotage the mine? The tapping and the code messages? Hopes?
5. The authorities, the equipment needed, too heavy for helicopters, no landing strip, the need to be taken by truck, length of time, the hazards of the Ice Road? The message for truck drivers, Mike and Gurty going, the qualifications, testing Gurty and his time in fixing equipment? Hired?
6. Jim Goldenrod, at the office, the discussions, hiring Jim and Gurty, Tantoo in prison, her motivations, race issues, Native American, chip against Jim, her knowing the roads, being hired?
7. Varnay, the insurance actuary, his having to be present on the trip, his racist attitudes to “you people”? Travelling with Tantoo? The interactions?
8. The dangers, the hazards with the trucks, the equipment? Setting out, Jim and his breakdown? The attempts to save the rig? His getting his leg tangled, asking Tantoo cut the connection, his death and the loss of the truck? Varnay and his suggestions against Tantoo, tampering with the fuel? Mike interrogating her? Her claim that her brother was in the mine?
9. Travelling over the ice, having to move quickly, the tide following? Mike and his commonsense? Gurty and his support?
10. Varnay and the revelation of his role, the scenes in the office at the mine, the officials in charge, the sabotage? Paying off the miners? Varnay and his having to stop the equipment arriving? To make it seem like accidents?
11. Trapping Mike and Gurty in the back of the truck, their ingenuity in getting out, Varnay setting the explosives, like throwing the explosives?
12. Varnay and Tantoo, his attack on her, travelling with the ring, the plan to create an accident for her death? Her overcoming Varnay, the contact with Mike and Gurty? The pursuit?
13. Varnay out of the truck, the henchmen with the van, motorbikes and skis? Mike and Gurty arriving, the fights, Mike driving, Varnay’s van going over the side, his getting out, the explosives, on the top of the mountain, causing the avalanche? Emptying the fuel from Tantoo’s link? Getting away from the avalanche?
14. Tantoo, driving the truck, fuel running out? The transfer of the fuel by Mike and Gurty? Their getting to the bridge, slippery, the treads, the girders, almost at the end, dragged back, Gurty closing the gate, being crushed?
15. Mike, the confrontation with those pursuing, finally confronting Varnay, the fight on the ice, in the rig, the icebreaking, his death?
16. The authorities, the officials from Ottawa, the story of the mine, the explosion, too late to save the men? And the accidents with the Rigs? The sudden arrival of Mike and Tantoo (and the crash and the branch in the chest and his removing it), the saving of the men, the truth about the setup, the authorities and the reaction, the official and his thanking Mike? The cheque, the brochure about the rig?
17. Three months later, Tantoo and her work, Mike and the new rig…?

PIG

US, 2021, 91 minutes, Colour.

Nicolas Cage, Alex Wolfe, Adam Arkin.

Directed by Michael Sarnoski.

Pig is certainly an arresting title. It may also be off-putting. Which would be a pity because, while there is a pig in the central role, there is so much more in this personal drama.

We are introduced to a rather bedraggled recluse, Robin, living out in the sticks for about 10 years, withdrawn from the world, surviving on basics, going out into the woods searching for truffles, relying on his peak. Robin has great affection for the peak – and is distraught when, early in the film, the pig it is stolen and disappears.

Even that might not be an enticing film opening. But, there is Nicolas cage is Robin, long unwashed hair, the oldest of clothes, living a basic life, in the company of his peak. He does have one outside contact, a young man, A mere (Alex Wolfe) who comes every Thursday to pick up the trouble is to take them to Portland restaurants.

The food motif continues right throughout the film, three chapters with headings describing meals, the discovery of Robin’s past life as a master chef, visits to restaurants and discussions about cooking… And, the final chapter, a particularly fine meal where Robin draws on his chef’s talent.

Which means then that this is a portrait of Robin, one of Nicolas Cage’s most serious and best performances. Robin determines to find his pig and enlists Amir’s help. This involves a number of visits to strange characters in Portland, including a former associate who runs brutal competitions in a basement under the town square, a Motley group of men betting on the capacity for endurance we are willing victims are timed as they are sadistically brutalised. Which happens to Robin, willingly. He was injured in the occasion when the pig was stolen but now he has a bashed face, looking unwashed (and he does go throughout the film without washing his face until the end). He is a vagrant bedraggled victim.

There are quite a number of sequences, seemingly incidental but revealing Robin, especially when he and you go to a fashionable restaurant, encounter the chef who recognises him, claims acquaintance from the past, but Robin, as in many cases, seems to have a photographic memory and unmasks the chef and his humble and inefficient origins.

But, the main drama is Robin’s meeting up with Amir’s father, friends from the past, revelations about their families, the death of wives, Robin and his grief. And, so, the final dinner is meant to be an opportunity, not of vengeance, but of honesty, possibilities for pardon, possibilities for hope.

As Robin goes through this process, his pig stolen, his being brutalised, his having to read-live his past, he is finally able to accept his life’s experience, his wife’s death, and listening to her on a cassette that for 10 years he has not been able to listen to, even as he puts it in the player.

Pig is one of the most interesting films of 2021.

1. The blunt title? Robin and his pig, at home, the bond, searching for the truffles? The home routines? The pig stolen? The search for the pig? Dead, grief? And Robin identifying his relationship with the pig with that of mourning for his dead wife?
2. The Oregon woods, the isolated heart, the forest, the truffles? The heart and the interiors? The visit to the city, offices, restaurants? The musical score?
3. The three chapters for the film, the meals, the final meal for Darius?
4. The film is a portrait of Robin? Nicolas Cage’s performance? His appearance, vagrant, neglected, and washed? His injuries? Continuing through the film as wounded and unwashed? Taciturn personality? 10 years in the woods? His wife, the tape, not listening to it until the end? The revelation that he was a chef, his great reputation?
5. The contact with a mere, the weekly pickup of the truffles? Some contact with people? Yet Robin brusque with a mere? Amir and his father, dependence, alienation?
6. Night, the stealing of the pig, Robin and his search, finding the culprits, their wounding him, his threats – but not seeking revenge?
7. Teaming up with a mere, the visit to the city? Looking at Portland and its views through Robin’s eyes? The brutal encounter, his being wounded? Going to the diner, the waitresses, food?
8. Tracking down Edgar, his knowledge of the illegal fights under the square? The challenge to Edgar, going for the fights, the vicious brutality, the men, the restaurant industry, drugs, the beatings? The timing? Robin, surviving, the money?
9. The visit to the restaurant, the maitre d’, his recognising Robin, his version of his past, Robin and his detailed memory, exposing the man and his inefficiencies from the past?
10. The effect on Amir, accompanying Robin, learning, apprehensive?
11. Amir and his father, the past connection with Robin? Families? Wives? Illnesses and death?
12. The confrontation with Darius, memories, arguments, Darius and his success, money, wanting the pig, wanting the truffles? The news of the peak was dead?
13. Robin and his demands on Darius, getting Amir to get the bottle of wine, preparing the dinner, Darius and eating the meal? Breaking down?
14. The surfacing of the truth, the relationship between the two men, the wives, grief? Robin and his becoming a recluse? Darius and business?
15. The bond between Robin and a mere, the experience for a mere and his learning? Robin returning home, his being able to listen to his wife’s tape?
16. Grief, denial, consequences, confrontation, new awareness, acceptance?

MARLON BRANDO, AN ACTOR NAMED DESIRE

France, 2014, 90 minutes, Colour.

Narrated by Benn Northover.

Directed by Philippe Kohly.

This is very interesting documentary on one of the most celebrated Hollywood stars and film actors of the 20^th century. It is a French production, from a director who has made a significant number of documentaries. The voice-over is in English and the various guests on talking heads all speaking in English.

At a basic level, this is a survey of Marlon Brando’s career. It indicates his seemingly random going to acting school, following a young woman in. It shows his training, the influence of Stella Adler and the Actors Studio and Method, Stanislavski, acting. It indicates his early roles but also celebrates the impact he made on stage, taken under the wing of director, Elia Kazan, for A Streetcar Named Desire. It then moves on to his film career, some powerful scenes, especially of anger from the paraplegic veteran, in The Men. There are many sequences from Streetcar illustrating the power of his performance and presence. There are clips from Viva Zapata, again with Elia Kazan.. Much is made of his performance in Julius Caesar as Marc Anthony, working, successfully, with such stars as James Mason and John Gielgud.

The film also shows his influence in moving from Marc Anthony to The Wild One, the image of the leather clad bikie, the influence on James Dean and Elvis Presley. But, a great deal of attention is given to On the Waterfront, especially Brando’s dismay at Kazan’s naming of names to Senator McCarthy and the witchhunt against communists.

Brando’s unreliability is highlighted by his walking out of The Egyptian but Darryl Zannuck suing him and his having to appear as Napoleon in Desiree. This film’s point of view is that this was his succumbing to Hollywood and indicates his unreliability and decline. However, in showing the premiere of Guys and Dolls in New York, it showed how popular he was, within five years of starting his film career – and that this all overwhelmed him.

Unfortunately, for cineastes, there is no mention of any of his films between Guys and Dolls and 1962, Mutiny on the Bounty, omitting his only directing film, One-Eyed Jack’s.

A great deal of attention is given to his misbehaviour and the sabotaging of Mutiny on the Bounty. There is another gap until The Godfather, referring to a number of films he made in the mid-to-late 1960s as “turkeys”. This is unfortunate since there were quality films and the Turkey appellation applies mainly to the fact that they did not succeed at the box office.

The film goes through the background of his audition, a screen test, Francis Ford Coppola wanting him to be Don Corleone a. There is also an emphasis on his refusal to come to the Oscars and seeming sending the young Native American woman to receive the Oscar. There follows the significance of Last Tango, interviews with Bernardo Bertolucci, sequences, and the indication that so much of the portrait was Brando self-revelation.

Attention is also given to the amount of money paid for him to appear in Superman: the Movie, comments by director, Richard Donner, and the difficulties with Apocalypse now , holding up production because he wanted to discuss his character with Coppola, being persuaded to continue by Vittorio Storaro, the cinematographer, who suggested he be filmed in semi-darkness.

He did not make films during the 1980s because of the court cases concerning his son in the murder accusation. There are some brief mention of further appearances, mainly for money.

Of great interest is the documentary on the psychological dimension. The narrative is quite psychoanalytic. Growing up in Nebraska, absent father, both parents alcoholic, a dependence on his mother but a lifelong feeling that she had betrayed her, reliance on his sisters, moving away to New York, a meandering existence, discovering acting (and perhaps making up for the career of his actress mother). The narrative emphasises his angers and how they erupted in performance as seen in the films of the 1950s.

There is also his womanising, numerous affairs, seduction, disappearance, reappearance. There is the strangeness of his marriage to Anna Kafshi, the birth of his son Christian, issues of custody. There is retreat to Tahiti, his relationships, two more children.

Director, Elia Kazan, narrates a great deal about Brando’s early career on stage and screen, insight into his character. There is also his friend, George Englund, with some frank comments about his friend as does Sonia Lee, a long-time friend. From performance point of view, there are comments by Robert Duvall who appeared with Brando in The Chase and The Godfather. Duval has great admiration, mimics Brando on set and his mumbling, but also mentions his elitist attitudes and narcissism. And Ellie Adler, Stella Adler’s daughter, remarks that he was lazy. As the documentary proceeds, Brando appears more and more as a self-centred person, lazy but controlling, acting on whims, and, to that extent, self-destructive, and a haughty attitude in belittling the film industry and acting.

The murder charge against his son Christian and Brando’s appearance in court (the voice-over wondering whether he was performing or genuine) and the impact of his daughter killing herself had a powerful influence on his life during the 1980s when he certainly put on a great deal of weight (and, joked about this on television).

The film ends with a very telling image, from one of the “turkeys” of the 1960s, Reflections on a Golden Eye, some minutes as Brando’s character looks into a mirror, the camera photographing the mirror, a whole range of facial poses, smiling, self-satisfaction. Quite a telling ending to this intriguing documentary.

EVERYDAY PEOPLE

US, 2004, 90 minutes,

Jordan Gelber, Brigid Barkan, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Sydnee Stewart, Billoah Greene, Victor Pagan, Reg E.Cathy.

Directed by Jim McKay.

Everyday People is well worth seeing. As the title indicates, the characters are all everyday people, or connected with a diner in Brooklyn, Jewish owners, a landmark in the area and available to everyone in the neighbourhood, especially the black population who are comfortable going there.

The action takes place mainly over the one day. Ira, son of the owner, and manager has made a decision under pressure from developers that he should sell the restaurant. He is a sensitive man, especially when he comes under pressure and hostility from the staff when he makes the announcement. His father is far more hard-headed. In talking with some of the staff and bearing the brunt of their hostility, he contacts the developer to indicate that he is changed his mind.

The other characters are principally those working on the staff. There is an old veteran, friend of the father, worried about his position, acting as a host to the visitors. There are several young women, one white who, it emerges, has a child who is of mixed race. She has an encounter with a socially concerned preacher who attacks her about payment and change, later returns, but also stands outside asking donations from passers-by for the education of young black men.

There is also a wealthy young woman who plans to be a poet, seems jealous of the other worker, has a visit from her dominant mother to discuss her future. There is a black young man, his foster mother, white, visits him at the diner along with a foster sister. He is educated, has plans to go to college and is being pressurised by his foster mother to contact his long-lost father. There is a very strong episode where he has a conversation with one of the customers at the diner who has lost his wife, admits to being a bad father, and the two gradually talk to and with one another.

In the kitchen, there is a dishwasher who emerges as a former doctor, alcoholic and drug, addict, getting older, who feels threatened with the loss of his job, clashes with Ira and walks out. There is also a waiter, with a family, aged 58, desperate at losing his job also.

The film also gives attention to the well-dressed and educated agent involved in the sale, also black, who lays down the law to Ira but later has some hesitations and returns to the diner engaging in conversation with a woman sitting at the bar.

1. The title? Ordinary Americans? In Brooklyn? A New York slice of life?
2. The setting, the Brooklyn diner, seen from across the street, the interiors, dining, the kitchen, break areas? Some glimpses into homes, offices? The musical score?
3. New York and diners, their popularity, customers, from the neighbourhood? This diner with Jewish owners? Yet welcoming everyone, the black population at home here? Staff, customers, the age range?
4. A humanitarian film? The range of characters, the details of their lives, interactions, hopes and dreams, possibilities? A sympathetic screenplay?
5. The revelation about development, the sale of the diner, the real estate personalities and their pressures, bigger and more modern restaurants, the threat to the diner even if it survived?
6. Ira, the pressures from his father, his father looking at the situation objectively? The effect on Ira, his telling the staff, their hostile reactions, upset? The effect on him? The staff and their turning against him? The effect on changing his mind, the interview with the agent? The agent and his threats, diminishing the price? Harsh?
7. The agent, well-dressed and dapper, his company and representation? His pride in doing the deal? Ira is recanting, his angry reaction, going home, in his office, rethinking, going to the diner, talking with the woman at the bar, his having to make a decision?
8. The various members of the staff, Arthur, veteran, dapper, with the customers, upset at the news, his own motivations, the discussions with Ira? Conversations with the staff, with the customers? His mulling over the sale during the day?
9. Jolene, her work, revelation of her son, looked after by relatives, mixed race son? Her work at the diner, conversations with the staff, clashes with Erin, Erin jealous? Their arguments? The friendship with Symbol? The man with his campaign, saying he gave her $20, her response, his denouncing her, later return and his change of heart? The effect of the sale, weary, going home?
10. Erin, wanting to be a poet, her work, self-confidence, her verses? Going to the club and her recitation? Wealthy family, her mother’s visit, her mother professional, arguments with Erin? The contact with the firm buying the diner? The clashes with Jolene? Envy? Her future?
11. Symbol, the young black men of the area, his being different? In the diner, his foster mother and her care, his sister and her hanging around the diner? His studies, plans, going to Howard University? The issue of his absent father? Phoning him or not? His foster mother urging him? The effect of the sail? At the bar, John at the bar, Jon wanting conversation, symbol and his attitude, lying about his father, John, desperate, the death of his wife, a failed father, his grief, wanting to talk? Symbols response?
12. The campaigning man, his cause, education, the clash with Jolene, his later return? At on the street, talking with people, the importance of education?
13. Soul, background, doctor, drugs and drink, prison? Washing up in the diner? Age, no prospects, his anger about the sale, attacking Ira, prospects?
14. Victor, waiter, 58, the sale, upset, wife and three children, not knowing how to tell them, his taking the extra meals, the interaction with Ira?
15. The range of the staff, the range of customers? The slice of Brooklyn life?
16. The ending, uncertainty, Ira not wanting to sell, the doubts from the agent, leaving to the audience for their moral and practical judgements?

DINNER WITH FRIENDS

US, 2001, 94 minutes, Colour.

Dennis Quaid, Andie Mc Dowell, Greg Kinnear, Toni Collette.

Directed by Norman Jewison.

Dinner with Friends is based on the 2000 Pulitzer Prize winning played by Donald Margulies who has adapted his play for the television screen. It is one of the many very interesting films made by HBO in the 1990s and the to thousands.

The film retains a great deal of the dialogue from the play as well as the structure, a series of set scenes, in a restaurant, in homes, on a New York street. And the film has a very strong cast who bring the characters alive.

The dinner with friends of the title is the first sequence, at the home of top chefs who are in the public and media eye, who just travelled to Italy and are enthusiastic. Beth arrives but without her husband, Tom. There is tension during the meal until, finally, Beth breaks down and reveals that Tom is having an affair and that their marriage is broken.

This is followed by a scene when Beth arrives home, which are children to bed, Tommy arriving, not having gone to Washington because of the weather. The have strong discussions, Tom asserting himself in the unhappiness in his marriage, death not really listening to him or appreciating him. Beth is upset at his behaviour, his not appreciating her artwork. The screenplay makes the point that this kind of rage actually is sexually arousing as happens with the couple.

There is an interlude set in 1988 in Connecticut, Beth meeting Tom, Gabe and Karen fostering the relationship.

In the latter part of the film, Karen has a lunch with Beth at a restaurant, Beth looking particularly glamorous, indicating that she has relationship now with one of Tom’s colleagues and is not looking back. Karen has a more traditional view and is very cautious. This is compared with Gabe having a meal with Tom, Tom infusing about his new life and relationship and his being appreciated and feeling fulfilled. Gabe is also of a more traditional perspective and wonders whether he can really be a friend to Tom.

The final scene is with Karen and Tom, reflecting on their own lives, Karen recounting a dream and insisting that Tom verbally respond to it, their acknowledging their love for one another.

Dennis Quaid and Andie MacDowell are Gabe and Karen. Greg Kinnear and Toni Collette are Tom and Beth.

The film was directed by numbers Norman Jewison, some light comedy is in the early 60s, then The Cincinnati kid, In the Heat of the Night, The Thomas Crown Affair, Jesus Christ superstar and a strong career until the early to thousands ending with the war crimes film, The Statement.

1. The title? Ironies? Based on the Pulitzer prize-winning play? Emphasis on dialogue, on characters and interactions?
2. The settings, 2001, homes, storms and roads? 1988, Connecticut, vacation? New York restaurant and street sequences? The musical score?
3. The initial dinner, the background to Gabe and Karen, chefs, photo shoots, menus, cooking? Their holiday in Italy? The children? Preparing the dinner, expecting Tom and Beth? Their children upstairs, watching Willy Wonka, complaints, parent intervention? Tom not arriving?
4. The meal, conversation, about the holiday, Beth looking morose, eventually in tears? Telling her story? Gabe, listening, Tom his best friend, some insensitive responses? Karen, Beth as her best friend, upset, believing the worst about Tom?
5. Beth at home, upset, the children, in bed, Tom’s return? The storm? His manner, conversation, clashes, Beth hurt, the rage, the sexual encounter and Tom’s later explanation?
6. The flashback to 1988, the four friends, younger, happy, Tom meeting Beth, the prospects for the future?
7. Tom and eating out with Gabe, Tom’s revelation about himself, his complaint that Ben never listened to him, never affirmed him, his feeling he was not alive? His realisation that he did not want children? That his father influenced his life, the law, relationships? His complaints to Beth – and the scene between them, his belittling her art, her reaction, the discussions about Nancy, travel agent not studious?
8. And Karen and their lunch together, Beth and her appearance, glamorous, the revelation about her relationship, the past with David, the intention to marry? Karen and her shock, suggesting more time to think the issue through? Later wondering about her friendship with Beth?
9. The effect of the conversation on Gabe, more traditional attitudes, expectations, acknowledging ups and downs, yet love, fidelity, getting older, Karen and menopause, the growing alienation from Tom, wondering about his friendship? Tom wanting him to meet Nancy, gave hurrying to the taxi, Tom and Nancy across the street?
10. Tom, audience sympathy, audience understanding? His complaints about his past, ambitions, disappointments?
11. The final sequence, Gabe and Karen, at home, taking each other for granted, the years passing, Karen and her dream, the two couples, both themselves, her wanting Gabe to respond, his ultimately speaking? The experience of the years, yet their love for each other, the final image?

I AM BURT REYNOLDS

US, 2020, 90 minutes, Colour.

Directed by Adrian Buitenhuis.

This is one of the series of portraits of acting celebrities, 6 to 2020, all produced and directed by Adrian Buitenhuis. They generally follow a formula, providing fans with an overview of the career of the celebrity, insights into the celebrity’s background, family influences, relationships. It also highlights the personal struggles.

The device is also to have some celebrity friends as talking heads, making their observations about working with the celebrity, friendships. Wives and former wives are also prominent as well as sons and daughters.

This portrait has some very interesting talking heads, especially actors Jon Voight and Bruce Dern. Jon Voight had a long friendship with Burt Reynolds, beginning with their meeting for rehearsing and filming Deliverance. Jon Voight is very articulate, giving strong background to Burt Reynolds’ approach to Deliverance, performance, clashes, reconciliations, stunt work. And they remained friends for the succeeding decades, Voight speaking very warmly about Reynolds. Reynolds was to appear in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood but was too ill and Bruce Dern took his place. Marilu Henner also appears with commentary. She had been chosen by Reynolds to appear in his television series, Evening Shade.

There are also a number of personal friends, especially those who worked on the Reynolds Ranch, code-managed by Reynolds himself and his father. There is also the director, Adam Rifkin, who wrote a screenplay, The Last Movie Star, for Reynolds who worked on it, with some excerpts shown, very much reflecting Reynolds himself in old age.

Reynolds also had celebrity in the 1970s with his nude photo in Cosmopolitan – and his rather jokey attitude towards it.

Most importantly, Reynolds’ former wife, Loni Anderson, also appears, in footage from their time together, marriage, adoption of Quinton, divorce, custody case. She is articulate in her reflections on Reynolds. There are scenes of their adopted son, Quinton, as a child, happy domestic scenes with his father, and he is also interviewed.

This gives the overall picture of Reynolds himself, his war hero father who was never warm and expressive towards son, his mother, proud and loving but, again, not warm. There is his football career, his early films and action image, the importance of Deliverance in giving him a sense of acting. Somewhat disappointing is the lack of emphasis on the wide range of romantic comedies he filmed during the 1980s. There is an emphasis on his stunt work, he was a registered stuntman, and his friendship with Hal Needham and the Smoky and the Bandit films and Hooper.

Reynolds was the top popular actor for five years. He then moved to television. He also used his ranch as an acting school for aspiring actors. He was plagued by pain, the use of painkillers, the need for rehab experiences to try to normalise his situation.

In the 1990s he was approached by Paul Thomas Anderson to appear in Boogie Nights. He refused for a long time but eventually took the role, his father rather upset, but Reynolds getting an Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actor (Robin Williams winning for Good Will Hunting).

The I Am Series offers short portraits of celebrities, historical footage, film clips, and testimonies from friends and relatives.

DEATH OF ME

US, 2020, 93 minutes, Colour.

Maggie Q, Luke Hemsworth, Alex Essoe, Kelly B.Jones, Kat Ingkarat/

Directed by Darren Lynn Bousman.

Since this is a film about superstitions, magic, black magic, hallucinations, it is a challenge for the audience to follow what is going on. The setting is a resort in Thailand, an American couple finishing their vacation, going to a club, being administered drugs in their drinks, waking up and not remembering what happened, packing their bags and going to the airport. However, they don’t have their passports.

As the couple walk along the beach, hallucinations arise, memories of the husband sexually attacking the wife, his disappearing. Which means that the focus is on the wife, trying to discover what happened, treated kindly by the American manager of the resort and her, seeming, daughter. It leads back to the woman who waited on the couple at the club. In the meantime, there is a threat of a typhoon, a record typhoon.

But, what emerges, is the religious rituals of the Islanders, their seclusion, the choosing of the wife is an emblem, her being pregnant, to be sacrificed to protect the island. (And that is what happens.)

1. Horror and hallucinations? Local Thai traditions and superstitions?
2. The Thai settings, the island, the resort, the pier, boats, taxi rides, the doctor, the mysterious club, settings for the rituals, the beach? The musical score?
3. The title, the focus on Christine? Age, background, tourist, with Neal? The beach, the club, the drinks, the waitress, the consequences, waking, no memories? Bewildered? The video, their drinking, behaviour, Neal and his strangling Christine, marrying her? The marks on her neck? Their attempt to leave, no passports? Returning, meeting Samantha and the little girl, friendly? The doctor?
4. The continuing hallucinations, the horror aspects, Christine and her being sick, vomiting? The discovery of her pregnancy?
5. Neil, character, friendly, the shock of the video, the clashes with Christine, trying to help? The beach, appearing and disappearing? Slashing himself, falling into the water, his death?
6. The explanations, the woman from the diner, the rituals, the processions, paintings looking like Christine? The onset of the typhoon, the first in 200 years?
7. The explanation of the rituals? Ceremonies, sacrifice? Christine, bound, the rituals, her escape, the pursuit? The storm, the deaths, the bodies? Christine included? The final image of her opening her eyes?
8. Western horror? Perspectives on Thai traditions and superstitions?