Bla, bla, blood. Or: "Only God Forgives", a review.

Ryan Gosling has finally completed his transition to a star of silent movies. After "Drive", also by director Nicolas Winding Refn, and "The Place Beyond The Pines" he's perfected his shtick by getting rid of other distractions that might be considered elements of acting, including the movement of muscles situated above his neck. (Those below, however, once again get a decent work-out.) But he's in good company here, as his co-stars also are given physical pain as the only visible emotion to work with. Everything else is left to the viewer to imagine, at best, or at worst alluded to. Alluded to by heavy-handed (or to the point: bloody-handed, cut-off-handed, looked-at-handed) symbolism straight out of film school and fixed glazes and glares that stare down the viewer, practically daring him_her to extract some meaning. (Hint: The boy's had a rough childhood and his mom's had a hand in it.) All these prolonged ocular showdowns leave plenty of runtime for the characters to stay silent and lifeless. Why the mysterious head of a police gang takes it up to enact god-like retribution (foregoing the movie title's forgiveness) is left as open as to why women are reduced to be either manipulative dicks (the boy's mother) or prostitutes (the boy's companion and all others). When people do speak, they manage to say very little that's not already an immediate given (except for the boy's mother, who calls the boy's companion a "cum dumpster", because she's classy like that).



Throughout, the film is beautifully set in scene, although each and every shot looks alike (and like Kubrick, except for the out-of-place Lynchean karaoke pieces). While that may fit to the movie's de-li-be-rate pace, it bores increasingly, and by the tenth static take of a hallway whose sides are perfect mirror images of each other one starts to yearn for a little motion to break the monotony. Well-swept and clean-cut is also the movie's neon version of Bangkok, from which people and noise and traffic and real life are notably absent. The only grime one gets to see are innards and blood, and of that so much that suspicions arise Winding Refn weighed up the missing dirt with gore. As in the last third of the otherwise in every way superior "Drive", in which Gosling also starred as a somewhat uncommunicative alpha male, the excessive violence is heavy in style but low in substance. Much of it happens on-screen in a most celebratory fashion, and when it doesn't, vivid sound effects of parting flesh and dripping blood carry the point home without subtlety. Literally sickening, it recalls Gaspar Noé, an impression confirmed by the tribute paid to him in the closing credits.

Nicolas Winding Refn seems set on a course that will not offer anything new in the future. His fans will continue to enjoy the stylized blend of artful (and artificial) pacing, photography and a driving soundtrack (once again excellent) while his critics will take issue with bland characters and the seeming pornography of the violence depicted. However, Ryan Gosling has earlier ("Half Nelson", "Blue Valentine") shown to be capable of more and it's up to him to branch back out and to avoid being type-cast forever. 4/10

Buffy The Bunny Slayer.

Tenderness.

(As always, correctly guessing a movie title nets you a cookie.)

Buffy The Vampire Slayer.

Best of 2012 - The movies.

Once again, a brief look at the movies of the past year, which in fact is going to be briefer than last time - not least because they just haven't been as good (this is especially true if you consider that three of my top five movies have already been released earlier outside Germany). Due to my prolonged stay this year in two developing countries where cinema culture is concerned - Germany and Thailand -, I haven't yet seen some of the films to look promising. We're not talking "The Hobbit" here, but rather "Lincoln", the new "Les Misérables", "Life Of Pi", "The Master", "Beasts Of The Southern Wild" and of course Tarantino's latest effort "Django Unchained", which I'm getting uncharacteristically excited about.

That's why this list isn't close to being any kind of complete and subject to change, as are the ratings. It is, however, in order of preference. The rules: eligible for this list are all movies that were released in Germany this year, which in some cases is earlier than in other countries, and in most cases, later. Fuck you, dubbing culture. Secondly, only full length feature films (meaning no short movies) are considered. Ratings for movies are always given on IMDb's 1-10 scale, where 1 is an utter and unbelievable abomination, 5 sub-average, 6 slightly above average, 7 good, 8 very good, 9 excellent and 10 a masterpiece.

1. Moonrise Kingdom. Our parents' parents were wrong and Wes Anderson knows it. (I don't like the reading of the movie as our parents being wrong as well, not necessarily because they aren't, but because if they are, where does it stop and where does it leave us?) Also, I still like quirky movies. 10/10

2. Shame. Provocative in theme and execution, "Shame" tells the story of an ambitious young businessman who is addicted to sex. When his unstable sister visits, his world carefully constructed around his secret fractures. They share a tormented relationship, and what exactly is causing the tension between them is alluded to, but we're not presented a resolution. The long shots are only the most apparent aspect of the visual style that Steve McQueen already successfully used in "Hunger" and reprises here. That doesn't come as a surprise, since he's relying on the same crew for his second feature. We also meet Michael Fassbender again, whose performance is so crucial for understanding his haunted character. New is Carey Mulligan in perhaps her most difficult role yet, because it's a break from the quiet and considerate young women she usually plays. Also features an excellent score. 9/10 

3. Drive. Everything has been said already about "Drive", but just let me stress how excited the camera work made me: When it literally takes a drive through the supermarket, following Carey Mulligan around shopping, we're taken shotgun and in a scene normally without tension, all the pressure and direction set up by the action scenes and the driving music (I admit to maybe overdoing the theme) before, is kept up. It doesn't matter that characters don't matter, we're preoccupied with the visuals and the style - although, and this is the problem, at one point the film gets sidetracked by itself. After the initial change in tone more violence becomes just that: more violence, with little artistic value. 8/10

4. Poliţist, Adjectiv (Police, Adjective). See full review here. 8/10

5. Oh Boy. This funny little tale of an aging boy loser without perspective strikes a little too close to home to ignore. It goes for the easy laughs, then for the harder ones, hitting you when you wouldn't expect it, and then some. Beneath, it's somber in tone, increasingly so towards the ending, which in its final break seems perhaps even too dark. Tom Schilling is terrific in this, as is almost the whole supporting cast, each in their own way (and there are a lot). An unexpected gem. 8/10

Honourable mentions (no order in these ones): "Vaterlandsverräter" (8/10 - this would have made my top five, but technically, it was released in 2011), "The Flat" (8/10), "Barbara" (8/10), "Die Wand" (8/10), "Work Hard - Play Hard" (8/10), "The Descendants" (8/10), and "Lore" (8/10).

Biggest letdowns (movies I went into expecting much and went out severely disappointed): "The Dark Knight Rises" (5/10, see full review here), "Intouchables" (5/10, what is everyone about?) & "Argo" (7/10, it's fine, really, but far far far from what reviewers and audiences make it sound like).

Murder.

(As always, correctly guessing a movie title nets you a cookie.)

A month of movies: October.

This is the month in which movies we expect much from, such as "Was Bleibt" (trailer) or "Gnade" (German trailer), disappoint, while others, we're talking "Parada" (trailer) and "Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows" (DVD release) now, surprise in the opposite way. And then there's Moonrise Kingdom (trailer), which you need to see, preferably repeatedly. Also do not miss out on "Vaterlandsverräter" (German trailer), and perhaps "Periferic" (trailer), but do give "360" (trailer) a pass. And that is all.

The short -
Go and see: Moonrise Kingdom.
Well worth watching: Vaterlandsverräter.
Also deserving a chance: Parada (The Parade) & Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows (DVD).
Average: Periferic (Outbound) & Was Bleibt (Home For The Weekend).
If you want to see Germans driving SUVs through Northern Norway: Gnade (Mercy).
If you prefer a romanticized India to the real one: Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (DVD).
If you prefer Transformers to Terminator I & II: Terminator Salvation (DVD).
Forget about: 360.

The long -

A month of movies: September.

Let's make this quick: Please, by all means, do yourself a favour and ignore Ted (trailer) even if you like Seth MacFarlane's other productions, watch On The Road (trailer) if you liked the novel (but don't expect a revelation), trust your senses about End Of Watch's trailer and of course, see Take Shelter (trailer).

The short -
Go and see: /
Well worth watching: Take Shelter (DVD).
Average: On The Road.
Forget about: End Of Watch, Ted.

The long -

A month of movies: August.

August might have been the averagest average that ever averaged. I'd advise everyone to steer clear of the last installment of Nolan's Batman, "The Dark Knight Rises" (trailer), but then everyone has either already watched it or will still go to see the mess anyway. And a mess it is, compared with its predecessors and even compared with everything else on offer this month. If you want to see a good action movie, walk past "The Bourne Legacy" (trailer) - an essentially superfluous sequel - and pay heed to the Indonesian "Serbuan Maut" (trailer), which may not be a brain of a film, but technically excellent and unlike the other two, exciting. Other than that, "Tao Jie" (trailer) doubtless is the best movie of this month from an entirely objective point of view (and its festival may count as proof of that), but personally, I took offense at the manipulative quality of its reoccurring emotional appeal. Finally, Woody Allen is insulting his critics in the average "To Rome With Love" (trailer) and Keira Knightley everyone with "Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World" (trailer).

The short -
Go and see: /
Well worth watching: /
Deserving a chance: Serbuan Maut (The Raid).
Average: Tao Jie (A Simple Life), The Bourne Legacy, To Rome With Love.
If you need closure: The Dark Knight Rises.
If you need real closure: Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World.

The long -

Film review: The Dark Knight Rises.

 (this review includes spoilers)

After leaving the "The Dark Knight Rises" completely disappointed, I felt that summarizing what made the movie into a failure so far below the standard of his two predecessors would be difficult, given just how many things were wrong with it. But on closer inspection, brushing aside elements that could be forgiven, ignored or maybe even redeemed by more positive aspects (of which, I might already add at this point, there weren't many), what remained and stood out was the complete lack of believable character motivation. Little of what is done by the film's ensemble can be explained by their personality, by what they are, instead their actions are dictated by Christopher Nolan's requirement to produce a chain reaction of increasingly dramatic scenes.

This is perhaps most apparent in one of the major plot twists towards the end where Miranda Tate, previously a supporting member of the good guys, is revealed as a major villain. It is a twist I did not see coming, true, as I thought it was being set up for another character, but that doesn't make it a good turn-around, for it had no basis in her character or previous actions. Its sole reason for existence was to surprise the viewer. It's an example of the overuse of the surprising plot reversal element which is so often deployed as a superficial surrogate for convincing plot development driven by characters that so often can be found in films of recent years. (For a brilliant counter-example using a staccato of working twists check the 1972 original of "Sleuth" - starring, while we are at it, a Michael Caine at his best instead of in the largely boring roles of the last decade - including the horrible 2007 "Sleuth" remake.) In an attempt to flesh out the background of Miranda Tate by flashbacks we learn that her reason for aiming to destroy Gotham City is basically that Daddy Dearest wanted to do the same. Why she made no move towards that goal in the years before, instead acting as an entrepreneur and the city's benefactor, remains cloudy. Perhaps she wanted to wait and see whether another of Gotham's illustrious array of villains would get to it first.



More problems can be identified, no doubt, and they add up to a careless vision of the world of Batman, which comes as a surprise considering how much work has once again been put by the film's art department and location designers to create a convincing city. Why would Bane, the primary villain of the movie until he's quickly discarded and traded in for Tate in the final minutes, need to acquire Bruce Wayne's fingerprints and assault Wall Street to conduct the transactions that would ruin the billionaire's corporate empire? It seems like a recourse to a 1960's sci-fi view of the future with only giant flashing buttons and a jerky analog computer voice missing from the picture. Why would the criminal mastermind bother to elaborate on his plans in a horrible display of exposition seldom seen since "Star Trek" and "The Lord of the Rings"? And why would Wayne repeatedly fail to mount a wall that looks like an okay exercise for any dedicated free-climber?

Finally, the movie does not only fall flat as a piece of entertainment, but also misses some great chances to relate to our world today and make a statement about it - which is one of the defining features of science-fiction and which has been an important aspect to "The Dark Knight" (although I admittedly made fun of it then). There is a way to do it right, and here the conflict between the rich and the poor of Gotham could have been expanded further, alluding to the real-life background of growing economic disparities and the "Occupy" movement. Turn the clearly evil prisoners we see in the movie into poor and disenfranchised by the "Dent Act" and suddenly the viewers' sympathies will be distributed quite differently. Then make them pull a Reichskristallnacht on the rich and institute mob rule. It'll challenge the filmgoers' expectations and opinions rather than reinforce the well-tested and considerably less well-aged "evil people behave in evil ways, it's like that because other movies have told us so". 5/10

Short Cut #7: "11'09''01 - September 11 (segment 'USA')".

I just learned that Ernest Borgnine, one of the old actors I liked the most, and one of those old actors you are surprised to hear are still alive every year anew, finally died yesterday. An occasion to introduce you to what remains my favourite performance of his, the starring role in Sean Penn's segment of "11'09''01 - September 11" (running at just below eleven minutes), an otherwise mixed bag of a short film collection centered on you might be able to guess what.



 Previous Short Cuts: #1 ("Where Is My Romeo"), #2 ("Bathtub IV"), #3 ("La Vie D'Un Chien"), #4 ("Lucía, Luis Y El Lobo"), #5 ("More"), #6 ("An Occurence At Owl Creek Bridge").

A month of movies: May.

This month, the good comes in two forms: The more or less easy, as in "The Descendants" (trailer), "Tomboy" (trailer) and "Shame" (trailer) and the vastly more difficult, but all the more rewarding "Poliţist, Adjectiv" (trailer) and "Faust" (trailer). The bad is just very simple and on a slippery slope of not good enough ("The Help", trailer), touching not half as funny as intended ("The Dictator", trailer, and "Religulous", trailer, and finally reaching plain horrible ("Immortals", trailer - just why did I see that movie again?).

The short -
Go and see: Shame.
Well worth watching: Poliţist, Adjectiv (Police, Adjective), The Descendants (DVD) & Tomboy.
Also deserving a chance: Faust (DVD).
If you're white and in need of cheering up: The Help (DVD).
Forget about: The Dictator, Religulous (DVD), Immortals (DVD).

The long -

Film review: Poliţist, Adjectiv (Police, Adjective).

Literally half of this film is spent watching Cristi, a policeman investigating a teenager who smokes and shares joints, waiting. Waiting for the object of his observations to move, waiting for a new development in the case, waiting for his co-workers in the police station to do their job. The tedium becomes tedious also to us, our expectation of the pace picking up frustrated again and again. But what better way to showcase the absurdity of bureaucracy, grinding slowly and with little aim, especially when it's as anachronistic as in the Romania depicted here?

When Cristi requires archival information about the suspect he needs to enlist two colleagues for help. One has planned her day around her lunch break, which she intends to extend by meeting her boyfriend, and the second is busy all day supplying IDs to a seemingly endless queue of citizens - who, by the by, appear to be used to the circumstances that leave us bewildered and anxious, as everytime they're on screen they are seen patiently waiting their turn. He practically needs to beg his two co-workers for the assistance they're paid for to give. Hours later, Cristi gets to shuffle through the papers he requested and we witness him writing his report - again, on paper. The computer on his desk is little more than a prop, as is the inspector who shares an office with him: He's never shown doing anything else but reading newspapers.

It's both an accusing and at the same time despairing account of a transitional country that hasn't left its totalitarian background behind yet. When in the end Cristi makes a stand and attempts to convince his superior not to pursue action against the kid's minor trespass - which will land the teenager in jail for several years - he is berated and disparaged for not following the letter of a law that is as outdated as everything else we see. Interestingly, we come to understand that his eventual submission is not only to the old mechanics of total state power, but also to the pressures of the new system: If he didn't comply he were to lose his job. His qualities as a free-thinking and free-willed individual are at best not wanted and at worst implicitly dangerous to the system he's part of. The director Corneliu Porumboiu's Romania is dirty, wet and depressing, the images constantly overlaid with a tint of cold blue. It's a dull place far from the European Union and far from Europe. 8/10

A month of movies: April.

Do yourself a favour and see "Carnage" (trailer) if you want to laugh and cringe and sit still in horror, "Work Hard - Play Hard" (trailer) if you work in a shared office environment, "Drive" (trailer) if you care for style, "Barbara" (trailer) if you'd like to see the other side, "Le Havre" (trailer) if the idea of Kaurismäki in France excites you and "Le Gamin Au Vélo" (trailer) for a revisit to a movie classic. Do yourself the favour and see "The Tree Of Life" (trailer), if you have the patience to sit through thirty minutes of confusion coming in the form of directorial hubris to enjoy two hours of directorial brilliance. Do yourself a favour and watch films, for they can be fucking good.

Oh, and don't bother with "Intouchables" (trailer).

The short -
Go and see: Carnage.
Well worth watching: Barbara, Le Havre (DVD), The Tree Of Life (DVD), Drive, Le Gamin Au Vélo (The Kid With A Bike) & Work Hard - Play Hard.
If you need to reassure yourself in your middle class: Intouchables (The Intouchables).

The long -

A month of movies: March.

If January didn't hold enough George Clooney as George Clooney for you, "The Ides Of March" (trailer) should do the trick. It is amazing how single-sided his œuvre is, and it is even more amazing how much he nevertheless still manages to entertain. In other movies that everyone else has already seen months ago, but yours truly hadn't until now, I present the equally simple (in a different way!) yet equally effective "Midnight In Paris" (trailer), the try-a-little-too-hard "Incendies" (trailer) and the amazing "La Piel Que Habito" (trailer). As far as actually giving you ideas for new films goes, do give the small German production "Kriegerin" (trailer, ignore the awesomely retarded international title) a chance. It is not without flaw, but showcasing some real acting talent in the person of Alina Levshin that with any luck we'll be hearing more from.

The short -
Go and see: La Piel Que Habito (The Skin I Live In) (DVD).
Well worth watching: Midnight In Paris (DVD).
Also deserving a chance: Kriegerin (Combat Girls), Incendies (DVD) & The Ides Of March.

The long -

A month of movies: January.

This month's episode of "Ben very unsurprisingly falls for a perky and well-calculated movie" is featured by "Beginners" (trailer), which everybody else has seen a year ago. On the completely opposing side of the spectrum is the excellent war (not anti-, not pro-, but challenging) documentary "Restrepo" (trailer, which makes it look a lot more light-hearted than it is) that everybody who can stomach it should see before feeling qualified to engage in any kind of serious discussion about the war in Afghanistan. The rest is quickly told: Sean Penn as Robert Smith in "This Must Be The Place" (trailer), George Clooney as George Clooney in "The American" (trailer) and nuclear waste as a future liability in "Into Eternity" (trailer).

The short -
Go and see: Beginners (DVD) & Restrepo (DVD).
Well worth watching: /
Also deserving a chance: Into Eternity & This Must Be The Place.
Average: Trust (DVD).
If you're into George Clooney looking constantly stressed: The American (DVD).

The long -

Walking the right of way.

(As always when I don't tell, you may try and guess what movie the still is from. Prize's a cookie.)

We need new stories.

This broadcast is briefly interrupted by Tumbler content on account of yours truly seeing "Beginners" last week.

The regular schedule will resume shortly.

Best of 2011 - The movies.

This is the post in which I curtly repeat and emphasize my love for cinema and the movies and appraise this year's film companies' output to be pretty fucking good. And I haven't even yet seen "Drive" (January release in Germany), "The Ides Of March" (just released), "Hugo" (February), "Shame" (March), "The Help" (just released), "The Artist" (January), "Beginners" (missed it)...

That's why this list isn't close to being any kind of complete and subject to change, as are the ratings. It is, however, in order of preference. The rules: eligible for this list are all movies that were released in Germany this year, which in some cases is earlier than in other countries, and in most cases, later. Secondly, only full length feature films (meaning no short movies) are considered. Ratings for movies are always given on IMDb's 1-10 scale, where 1 is an utter and unbelievable abomination, 5 sub-average, 6 slightly above average, 7 good, 8 very good, 9 excellent and 10 a masterpiece.

1. Pina. After seeing this beautifully shot hommage to a great of performance, I finally understand what Pina Bausch meant when she said that dancing is a language. In every scene there's so much to decipher and translate from the moves, and a most beautiful rhythm to follow. Wim Wenders was right to choose 3D technology for this project: instead of drawing all attention to itself, it works to enhance the visual experience, especially in those shots on location in the town of Wuppertal, where Bausch founded her dancing theater group. 10/10

2. Jodaeiye Nader Az Simin (Nader & Simin, A Separation). This movie is speaking on a multitude of layers, resulting in a complex, yet not perplexing piece of cinematic art, so excellently brought from script into film that it's a pleasure to be able to enjoy it. Themes covered include social classes, religion, women's position in society, law and security, but instead of overwhelming the viewer with input, it does so with the depiction of a emotionally loaded situation. Because all of this seems, and probably is, very real, it's reminiscent of a documentary. The people are real, their lives are real, and the situation is for the viewer to resolve - or not, as sometimes there aren't solutions and judgement isn't easily placed. 10/10

3. Tyrannosaur. A sad old man, angry at the world and with himself, constantly lashing out against others, meets a woman who would be right to act as he does, but instead is in an endless spiral of receiving blows, deluding herself and forgiving. We witness two brilliant lead performances (as well as a downright intimidating supporting one) that make every aspect of the characters entirely convincing. Coupled with a setting so bleak that everyone's depression and being fed-up with their miserable lives is easily graspable and an excellent soundtrack, we have a winner on our hands. And win it should, in next year's award races. 9/10

4. Black Swan. "Intense" doesn't start to describe it. This tour de force will throw you into your cinema seat and leave you thoroughly upset and agitated. At the height of tension and trance, it ends and I'm still undecided whether that's brilliant, or whether Darren Aronofsky simply is an evil son of a bitch. Natalie Portman is the sole star here, and her amazing performance will make up for the film's few shortcomings, such as the relative flatness of all support characters - there's their monomania and little else. 9/10

5. Unter Schnee (Under Snow). Quite the experience, this film had a tremendous calming effect on me (and almost everyone else at the theater). The intense sound (amplified, but never artificial) and the beautiful pictures combine into an almost eerie sensation of serenity. A movie that you have to let go for. 9/10

Honourable mentions (no order in these ones): "The Guard" (8/10), "Submarine" (8/10), "Blue Valentine" (8/10), "Winter's Bone" (8/10), "Passione" ("Passion", 8/10), "Wer, Wenn Nicht Wir" ("If Not Us, Who?", 9/10), "Another Year" (9/10), and "Was Du Nicht Siehst" ("What You Don't See", 8/10).

Biggest letdowns (movies I went into expecting much and went out severely disappointed): "Loong Boonmee Raleuk Chat" ("Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recount His Past Lives", 4/10) and "Les Amour Imaginaires" ("Heartbeats", 4/10).

A month of movies: December.

People will hate me for this comparison No one reads this anyway, but if you enjoyed "(500) Days Of Summer", treat yourself to this year's perky rom-com "Submarine" (trailer). If you didn't, you should still give the film a chance, especially considering this month's alternatives: Lars von Trier continuing to lose his touch with "Melancholia" (trailer) and Andreas Dresen delivering the well-meant and well-done "Halt Auf Freier Strecke" (German trailer), but with Dresen, "well" is less than it could have been.

The short -
Go and see: /
Well worth watching: Submarine.
Also deserving a chance: Halt Auf Freier Strecke (Stopped On Track).
Average: Melancholia.
If you're into Germans, or alcoholism, or German alcoholics: Portraits Deutscher Alkoholiker.
Forget about: Hanna (DVD).

The long -