Outside the Prodigal Idiots

     Our fourth installment of the 2010 rewind series brings Algeria's Oscar nominee, an unusual documentary about a transsexual and her estranged brother, and an animated feature about redemption that will give you wings...

  Outside the Law - The story of three brothers and the roles that they play in the early twentieth century fight for Algerian independence from France, Outside the Law earned Algeria a nomination for Best Foreign Language film at the 83rd Academy Awards.  Director Rachid Bouchareb had previously been nominated for the 2006 film Days of Glory which I regret to say I have not seen.  Taken on its own merit, "Law" is something of an old fashioned sprawling family epic, one that highlights a culture and a people that have received relatively little exposure in world cinema.  For this alone, the film is to be admired.
     However, it is also a tale well told and a capably handled production.  The three lead actors in particular are to be commended.  The brothers are all such distinct personalities, yet their onscreen chemistry never lets you doubt the common history and bond that they share.
     Jamel Debbouze plays the youngest brother Said, who could be said to be the pragmatist of the trio.  He lives outside of the law in service of personal profit, trying to build a bubble of security for himself and his own with a small empire of endeavors that range from promoting boxers to running prostitutes.  Debbouze plays him with a smarmy charm that never quite comes across as slimy.  Of course, one could make the argument that characterizing a pimp in such a sympathetic light ignores his exploitation of women. I prefer to see him as a truly well rounded personality, complete with both despicable and noble qualities.
    Nobility is the very spirit of eldest sibling Abdelkader, played by actor Sami Bouajila, but he can be the most ruthless of them all in the service of a cause that he perceives as noble.  He is a man who is comfortable with ideals, but not so much with interpersonal relations and emotion.  Bouajila portrays him, in fact, as something of a cold fish when not immersed in the passionate fight for Algerian independence.  As an activist, however, he is bold, charismatic, powerfully spoken, and inspirational.
     Roschdy Zem plays the middle brother, Messaoud.  He has the gentlest and simplest nature of the three, and is the last one to become an outlaw.  He is also a complex figure whose nature is rife with contradictory elements. He can be an absolute physical monster of a man in defense of what is his, a decorated soldier long before he joins his elder brother in the Resistance.  He is the most sympathetic of the three, as played by Mr. Zem, and the most tragic.  In the end, his loyalty to his family and his people is his Achilles' heel. Physically, he is by far the most formidable member of his brood.  In his heart, he is the most vulnerable.
     As you can easily see from this basic rundown of the main players, the story is far from short on conflict on multiple internal and external levels.  Watching how the brothers change in response to circumstance and each other makes for a complex and captivating tale of war and brotherhood that I can only criticize for an occasional slide into melodrama...4 of out 5 stars.

  Idiots and Angels...Writer/director/producer/animator Bill Plympton is generally considered to be one of the most talented and exciting makers of animated film around.  His short films have won awards at Cannes and nominations from the Academy.  His feature films don't lack for critical laurels, either. Despite this, your ignorant little Froggy had not seen ONE Plympton original until I watched Idiots and Angels for this rewind series.
     I can see, even at first exposure, what all the fuss is about.  Idiots and Angels was a highly original piece of work, with a strong story line that didn't condescend to its audience. While certainly not aimed at children, the script does make excellent use of elements common to children's tales.  Taken at its most simple elements, it is an allegory of redemption.  The characters are largely allegorical in nature and the story draws clear lines between good and evil while still allowing for the existence of both within each individual.
      The animation is strongly influenced by the Film Noire school in tone and style.  The images are not designed to achieve the "hyper-realism" of modern computer generated graphics, but use a simple, representative approach to character and scenic design.  I'm not sure (being shamefully unexposed to Plympton's other films) if this is simply the animator's constant style or if it was tailored specifically to Idiots and Angels, but it complemented the allegorical slant of the movie perfectly.  The transitions between scenes were particularly brilliant, morphing one focal object into another as the background shifted almost imperceptibly.behind them.
      If you enjoy watching unique and creative approaches to animated story telling, this picture should be a must see.  It has less musical numbers or fart jokes than most animated Oscar nominee have (none, actually) but it does have something far more difficult to come by in today's world of market testing and target audiences...MAGIC...4 1/2 of 5 stars.

  Prodigal Sons - My opinion shifted several times during the course of this offbeat documentary from director Kimberly Reed.  It begins as a simple story about Ms. Reed's first trip back to her home town after transitioning from her old identity as Paul McKerrow many years before.  I grew a little weary during the first thirty minutes of the film, which don't really cover much new ground in terms of LGBT acceptance issues in biological families.  But this is just the beginning, and explorations on the themes of gender, identity, acceptance, and the nature of family are only broached at this point.
    The most grating thing about the picture's first act (and indeed, the whole picture) is the onscreen presence and personality of the film maker's older adopted brother Marc.  Yet Marc's abrasive nature serves the film well, because it sets the viewer up to write him off as the voice of ignorant intolerance that hinders the progress of our valiant hero.  In the second act (which is mostly Marc's story), you see that Marc's fears and the emotional distance he maintains are brought about largely by his own insecurities and indefinite sense of personal identity.
     By forcing the viewer back and forth between perspectives, the film maker calls attention to the subjective nature of perception. Like a fun house mirror, life often shows us an image that is warped enough to appear as something "other" when it is really just our own reflection.  As much as I came to admire the documentary that this film grew (somewhat accidentally, it appears) into, I still felt that the first act was a needlessly drawn out example of a scenario we have seen numerous times before, presented in a manner that has become somewhat dull with repetition...4 out of 5 stars.

Lore of the Warm Dead Man

     Today we are covering the rare modern western, a zombie rom-com (no, really) & a drama about abandoned children...who also happen to be Nazis.  I couldn't make this stuff up...

  Lore - This is the second feature film from director Cate Shortland, but she already shows signs of a being a director with a confident and insightful eye.  Little touches like the cuts between shots in the opening hop-scotch sequence make a convincing argument that we may be witnessing the rise of an important new voice in international cinema.  She also co-wrote the script with TV writer Robin Mukherjee and it is a truly novel concept: a road movie in which the "heroes" are the abandoned children of Nazi war criminals left to fend for themselves and try to stay out of prison.
     The entire production is actually handled quite well. The costumes (Stephanie Bieker), production and sound design are all excellent.  Special praise must be heaped upon editor Veronika Jenet and cinematographer Adam Arkapaw.  Without their creative expertise sequences like the aforementioned "hop-scotch" bit or the "bonfire sequence" would never have been possible.  The film is heavy on mood and atmosphere, and is very effective in that respect.
     The ensemble cast of mostly children is also phenomenal, led by Lore herself, Saskia Rodndahl.  The young lady shows a remarkable maturity as an actress, conveying volumes with a look, a gesture, or a moderate change in her posture.  Amazingly, this is the actress's debut performance, but she has four other films already finished or in the works.  She truly shines brightest playing opposite either Ursina Lardi (who plays Lore's mother) or Kai-Peter Malina (who plays the love interest, Thomas).  Her interactions with both characters are so charged with fiery passion completely held in check by complex mixed feelings.  Both of her co-stars match her smoldering calm with equal eerie intensity and the result is some really fine acting.
     Needless to say, I highly recommend this Australian Foreign Language Film submission to last year's Oscars which just released in the U.S. on DVD this month...4 1/2 of 5 stars.

  Warm Bodies - So, you know I watch a lot of very cerebral movies here at TheMovieFrog, but sometimes my brain needs a rest.  Sometimes I need something like....Zombies In Love. Honestly, this was pretty much my thought process as I selected writer/director Jonathen Lavine's horror rom-com for my 2013 viewing list.
     I can't say that the film was exactly a step in the right direction from 50/50, the young auteur's last effort.  Warm Bodies was full of cheap laughs, predictable twists, and a plot that was more loaded with holes than the lawn at a high end country club.  There also weren't any star making performances like the one from JG Levitt in Mr. Lavine's last film.
     In fact, Warm Bodies WASN'T a very good picture...but I still kind of enjoyed it...but it just wasn't very good...but I kind of liked it...but it was NOT very good...let's just call it my first truly guilty (maybe guilt RIDDEN) pleasure of the year and leave it at that...3 out of 5 stars.

  Dead Man's Burden - Fortunately (or not), I do not feel nearly so conflicted about the last film in today's post which is the writing/directing debut from producer Jared Moshe.  Many say that the Western is a dead genre.  Purists have groaned at deconstructions such as Django Unchained in recent years, and I am quite happy to inform them that Dead Man's Burden is no such film.  It is a fairly traditional tale of the Old West.  I am not so happy to have to tell them that it is not a very good one.
     The problems begin with the script.  From the first frames of the film it is easy to imagine the foreseeable symmetry that is destined to conclude it.  The rest is just filling in the blanks, which the writer does with stock characters, even stock conversations.
     Even the gun fights seem to lack tension.  This may be owing to the original score by H. Scott Salinas whose gut wrenching melodramatic movements seem more well suited to a Lifetime Original movie than a taught thriller.  Mired by such sticky sweet sentimentality, it is difficult to pull much tension out of the film aurally.
     I would like to say that the performances save the day, but they do not.  Most of the cast is purely forgettable, while Clare Bowen actually embarrasses herself somewhat in the role of Martha.  Only Barlow Jacobs (who has great, piercing eyes) is able to transcend the material somewhat in the role of Wade, but it is not nearly enough to salvage this half baked story which leaves the Western genre in the same coma that it found it in...sigh...2 out of 5 stars.

  Related articles:  Arantino Explained (The T is Invisible) (Django Unchained review)

Chasing Mama's Hive

     Today's offerings include a shameless message movie...or two...and a better than average horror flick produced my the genre's modern maestro...

  In The Hive - I originally considered including this film in my 2012 viewing schedule because it was the late Malcolm Clarke Duncan's final film and kept it on the list because I absolutely love actress Loretta Devine.  She lives up to her name as usual, and Mr. Duncan does respectable work, but this is a horrible B-grade message movie that could have been a made for TV after school special apart from the acting talent involved. By message movie I mean that the plot was made to suit the moral rather than allowing the film's thematic implications to grow from (or at least compliment) the story.  Please don't allow this to make you believe that I don't care about the plight of inner city youth, I just don't enjoy it when a film maker tries to manipulate my emotions on any topic in such a shameless and clumsy manner.
     I'm not sure why writing Glitter would have influenced anyone to produce another screenplay from writer Cheryl L West, nor why someone whose finger is usually more on the pulse of entertainment as Robert L Townsend's is to choose this as a directing project.  I DO know that (unfortunately) there are not enough quality roles available for actors like Devine and Duncan for them to pass something like this up.  It's too late for anyone to give Mr. Duncan another role that allows him to shine the way that he did in The Green Mile, but please, please, PLEASE can someone give Ms. Devine a project worthy of her talents.  This sure wasn't it, although she does redeem the film SOMEWHAT...2 out of 5 stars.

  Mama - Guillermo del Toro is one of the great masters of the horror genre.  The man knows how to set a scene for suspense.  He executive produced this film, and the newest director to benefit from his mentoring (Andres Muschietti, who also co-wrote the script) seems to have something of his flair and eye.  There is a marvelous scene where you see the younger sister wrestling with someone on the other end of the blanket who you are led to believe is her older sibling...until she comes around a corner and  removes her glasses with great deliberateness before entering the bedroom with her head down.  As she shuts the door behind her, we see the younger girl fly across the ceiling dragged by the still half concealed blanket.  Magical.
     That being said, Mama is no masterpiece, although it has its moments.  It does have a fairly original concept and some genuine scares.  The girls are pretty creepy in their feral condition and things don't work out exactly as you would expect.  In fact, the film ends in a way that runs very contrary to the usual formula for scary movies that feature children prominently.
     The real problem with the film is the uneven quality of acting to be found.  One the one end, you have Jessica Chastain.  Anyone who reads TheMovieFrog with any regularity knows how I feel about the young actress already and she is as magnetic and flawless as always.  The role certainly isn't the most deeply nuanced she has ever been given by any stretch, but she elevates the material in exactly the way I have come to expect.  Meghan Charpentier (who plays the older sister, Victoria) is best known for playing younger versions of Amanda Seyfried, but I think she may have a bright career ahead of her.  There were some really nice, quiet little touches to her performance.  On the other end of the spectrum, you have Nikolaj Coster (who plays the uncle) giving line readings that were cardboard enough to qualify for immediate recycling.  The younger sister was played by Isabelle Nelisse whose performance quality varied.  She was marvelous at playing the feral young beast.  As she grew progressively civilized her line delivery began to be easy to imagine soliciting camp groans once the picture has aged enough that the FX become laughable.
     Of course, looking at the film in 2013, it is still likely to be far better than most of the horror pictures coming out this year.  The young director's attention to detail and Chastain's genre transcending acting chops create a watchable story you are unlikely to regret giving a watch...3 1/2 out of 5 stars.

  Chasing Ice - At one point environmental photographer James Balog, who stars in this documentary, says something to the effect that if he could just get the pictures of the climate change that he has witnessed watching glaciers in the last two decades to the public, they would tell the story themselves.  This is certainly true up to a point.  The photographs are devastating and Mr. Balog's work in creating them is nothing short of heroic.  I would imagine that they must elicit an emotional response and command a lot of attention from anyone who has not been conditioned to ignore anything on the topic.
     On the other hand, documentary film maker Jeff Orlowski shows a lazy directorial hand in this debut effort, doing very little in the way of story telling aside from what the pictures can handle on their own.  What could have been an intriguing story with a little bit more of a human element to it became a little sterile and a little bit of a hollow message movie, saved only by how moving the photos are.
     The Oscar nominated Original Song "Before My Time" was the reason that the film entered my radar in the first place and was my personal favorite out of last year's nominees.  As performed by Scarlet Johannssen, it is haunting and beautiful...3 1/2 of 5 stars.

Barney's Lebanese Invention

     The third set of 2010 Rewind Series reviews presents us with a mystery/drama in which everyone's favorite lovable schlub gets a little less lovable, a drama about the struggles of immigrants with adorable kids & the best movie ever set almost entirely in the interior of a tank.  That said...

  Lebanon - When I first heard about this film I had my reservations despite the near universal critical acclaim that it was receiving.  I just didn't see how one could place an entire movie in such a limited setting and not end up stifling the storytelling process.  Boy, was I wrong!  I never imagined so much drama and character development could occur in such a confined space.  Many critics have likened the film to the classic German movie Das Boot (The Boat) but to my shame I have not seen it.  It reminded me a bit of The Hurt Locker, only with claustrophobia.
     Israel has really been establishing itself as an important new voice on the international cinematic scene in the last decade. Among other accolades, the nation has earned Oscar nods for Best Foreign Language film four out of the last six years. The introduction of writer/director Samuel Maoz is certainly another notch in their belt.  Lebanon is the film maker's first narrative feature, having previously made the 2000 documentary Total Eclipse.  You would never know it, as his sense of pacing is impeccable and his ability to overcome the limitations of the situation seems evident of a much more experienced hand.
     The picture also boasts a very strong ensemble cast of mostly untried young actors.  The sound work is fantastic.  Credit for the overall quality of production must also be given to cinematographer Giora Bejach, who used both lensing and composition to impressive and creative effect.  Easily the sweetest fruit that the Rewind Series has yielded thus far...5 out of 5 stars.

  Children of Invention - This little indie drama about the challenges that face Asian-American immigrants won a slew of accolades at small film festivals for its director Tze Chun.  It has three competent lead performances.  It sheds light on issues that are important to many people who often lack a voice in the popular media.  It is a well constructed story filled with believably motivated characters.  It features antics from some REALLY cute and talented child actors.  Despite all these facts, it just fell a little flat for me.
     There are a few main factors that resulted in my feeling this way.  First, the supporting cast is a little weak, particularly the cops, who need mustachios to twirl in the interrogation scenes.  Second, actress Cindy Cheung does a great job in the lead role of Elaine, but the character is almost too much of an innocent yet capable super mom to be credible.  Third (and this is really the big one) the film just never took off tonally. Small family dramas of this nature need a slow but deliberate build to a palpable emotional climax that this movie never achieved.  Still, entertaining enough...3 1/2 of 5 stars.

  Barney's Version - This Oscar nominee for Best Make-Up was not the first film from director Richard J. Lewis, although he is certainly better known for his extensive work in the television medium.  The film did not QUITE work, but I would not lay the blame on Mr. Lewis.  He actually appears to be quite talented as an actor's director pulling some great turns out of his cast, notably Minnie Driver, Dustin Hoffman, Rachelle Lefevre, Scott Speedman & Saul Rubinek.  The criminally under-appreciated, but immensely talented young actress Rosamund Pike threatens to steal the film from its formidable star. If her character were not just a tad too unbelievably perfect she might have.  Of course, maybe the point is that she was perfect for Barney, and this story IS Barney's version.
     Many, I fear, will fail to connect with this film in much the same way that many failed to connect with Jason Reitman's 2011 film Young Adult.  Like Charlize Theron's character in that film, Barney is not terribly likable.  I would imagine that many would find this especially disconcerting when such a role is filled by an actor who is normally cast in lovable Everyman parts like Paul Giamatti.  This wasn't my problem with the film, however, the Everyman should not be perfect.  Good people have irritating quirks and aspects to them, and the most charismatic of figures can be rotten at the core.  I personally found Giamatti's work in this film to be marvelously layered and Barney to be a refreshingly believable movie character in many ways.
     Where the film failed for me was in basic plot and narrative structure. Michael Koyves script functions very well as a dramedy, and seems to be one throughout most of the film.  However, he fails to ever really give resolution to this narrative arc, instead letting it trail off into nothingness ten minutes before the picture ends.  Instead, Barney's Version resolves as if it had been a mystery all along.  Thinking back, the first five minutes set it up that way, but the body of the film had an entirely different tone.  As such, the mystery aspect never really built up enough suspense to make that narrative climax satisfying or exciting.  I REALLY wanted to like this film more, but it REALLY ended weakly...3 1/2 of 5 stars.
   
  Related articles: Another Young Project (Young Adult review)

Struck by the Rabbi's Color

     Yeah, I know, this is the part where I usually give you cute little teasers about the three films I'm going to be reviewing.  Today's post, however, is special because it is our first At Home Viewing article that includes 2013 releases, specifically Upstream Color and Struck By Lightning.  We are not, however, quite done with the 2012 films as I have about twenty left to do. Today they are represented by the animated feature The Rabbi's Cat.  Might as well get under way...

  Upstream Color - This is the second feature from writer/director/star Shane Carruth.  I have not seen his first film, Primer, but after checking out this movie, I'm more than a little interested.  Upstream Color is, quite simply, the most creative and original science fiction movie that I have seen in a long time (at least since Inception).  I don't ever say this lightly but I was quite literally blown away.  I went into the film with very few expectations one way or another (the picture is still quite obscure, flying under most movie goer's radars).  This is probably to the film's advantage because it is said air of mystery and uncertainty that is the film's greatest strength.  To that end, I am not going to give away any more of the plot than is absolutely needed.
     Upstream Color is not for the impatient or easily frustrated.  The plot is quite literally baffling in the film's first half.  It is the sort of film that you need to just let wash over you for a time until the pieces finally begin to come together.  Even when you have seen the whole film once, chances are that it will not all make sense.  I admit to re-watching it a couple of times myself almost immediately.  Of course, this means that I can say without reservation that this is definitely a feature that highly rewards multiple viewings.
     Besides its ambiguity, the only other real complaint that I've read about the film is the acting performance of director Shane Carruth.  I, however, found both he and Amy Seimetz's lead performances to be fantastic. They both come across as listless and emotionally disconnected, but there is a very good reason for this.  Just trust me.  I actually found that both of them gave multi-layered performances, letting you see glimpses of their more humanizing emotions seeping out through the cracks of their general disorientation.  Andrew Sensenig is also delightfully creepy in a supporting role and Thiago Martins absolutely terrified me in the first half hour.
     I guess at this point I don't really have to say that I HIGHLY recommend this picture.  Besides surely being one of the best written films of a year that is just getting started, and being very well acted, the cinematography is absolutely gorgeous.  You can once again thank the multi-talented (and multi-hat-wearing) Mr. Carruth, who also composed the original music and had a hand in the editing.  He instantly goes to the front of the class of exciting new auteurs with Brit Marling and Benh Zeitlen.  I cannot think of a more perfect low budget science fiction flick...5 of 5 stars.

  Struck By Lightning - This marks Emmy winning actor Chris Colfer's (best known for playing Kurt on the television show Glee) debut writing credit on a feature film. I have really enjoyed Mr. Colfer's work on Glee, especially the way in which his character has helped to change public perceptions of young gay men.  As such, I was very hopeful that this film would be just as much of a delight, whether it addressed similar themes or not.  Unfortunately, I cannot say that it was.  It was actually a rather flawed effort which failed to really go anywhere or say very much of anything.
     It tells the story of an ambitious young high school student who is trying desperately to effect his escape from the small town he feels is hampering his growth.  Or was that Ferris Bueller's Day Off? Rushmore? No, no...Election. Get it? Subplots include his relationships with his estranged parents.  His mother is a pill popping head case who acts as if she couldn't care less about him while his father is absent and plays no part in his life whatsoever.  Both of these relationships provide rich potential for development, but were never given enough time or focus to evolve into anything that would provide growth or insight to either the characters or the viewer.  Carson (Colfer) starts a literary magazine to try and improve his college chances and blackmails other prominent members of the student body into participating.  We never really see his plan's success or see him face consequences for his unscrupulous methods.  Some effort is made to insinuate that the students involved might have learned something about themselves through the process of writing, but this thematic thread doesn't go far enough, and sort of trail off into nothingness.
     Mr. Colfer also stars in the film, and I think that he may have been thinking more as an actor than as a writer during the process of conceptualizing his script.  Carson (his character), besides being bitter and witty, is left as sort of an everyman, the straight man (or voice of reason if you want to get really technical in a literary way) in a field of extreme personalities.  I can only assume that this was done to demonstrate that the actor possesses range well the flamboyant exuberance central to his characterization of Kurt on the show that made him famous.  This does not serve the plot as well as it could have, but it REALLY does a disservice to the young artist as an actor.  Mr. Colfer has tremendous talent, but it is as a CHARACTER actor.  This is not to say that he must always be relegated to supporting status, but standard everyman type leading characters are a waste of his rare gift for quirkiness and going over the top.
     The best things about this film are the performances of SOME members of the supporting cast.  Allison Janney is captivating as always even when delivering slightly stilted dialogue as Carson's mother.  Polly Bergan is likewise delightful as his dementia ridden grandmother, although we have certainly seen her play somewhat similar roles in the past.  Sarah Hyland (best known as the youngest daughter on Modern Family) does a respectable job although she, too, is cast to rather familiar type.  Allie Grant (who played young lesbian plus size model Isabelle Hodes on the first several seasons of Weeds) probably stretches herself the most as the uptight yearbook editor.
      Late in the film, Mr. Colfer tries to tie in some sort of metaphoric subtext about bitterness and "personal rain clouds".  Like most of the other threads of the script, this one comes off as frayed.  I do hope that Mr. Colfer gets another shot with another screenplay (or at least another leading film role) because I feel that he has a lot more to offer than just one great role on one good TV show.  Next time, however, I hope he gives himself a more interesting character that stretches his bag of tricks in some way besides being less obviously homosexual. I also hope that he takes a little more time with his other characters and situations so as to avoid quick and easy stereotypes.  Maybe even a story outside of the overly dramatized and over played struggles of American high school students...3 of 5 stars.

  The Rabbi's Cat - Typically, European animated films are quite different from their American counterparts in several key ways.  They tend to be aimed more at the entertainment of both adults and children (you know, like Pixar in the old days only more so).  They rely a lot less on musical interludes delivered in the style of a Broadway play (if at all).  The cast of characters in no way seem to have been designed with an action figure line already planned out.  They involve a little more thought (and wit) than cuteness (and fart jokes).  The biggest difference, however, is that Foreign 'toons seem to be written in a far more literary style, at least attempting to develop something a little more thematically complex than a one sentence moral presented in a far more clumsy and obvious way than Aesop ever did.  The higher meanings behind last year's Animated nominees, for example, could be summed up like this:
                                1. Don't be ruled by fate, but don't forget who you are.
                                2. Sometimes weird is good and even necessary.
                                3. If you set out to do the impossible you may succeed, but it will be an empty victory if your motivations are not rooted in love. (Which ain't half bad and is why Frankenweenie should have won)
                                4. Don't be ruled by fate, but don't forget who you are. (This would have been good advice to both the parent studio and its subsidiary.  Maybe if they'd paid attention to their own platitudes they wouldn't have both made the same cartoon last year.)
                                5. It's funny when stupid clumsy pirates get hurt. (Sorry Aardman, but this was such a make-up nod for nominating three films that were nowhere near as good Arthur Christmas for the 84th Oscars.)
     Which brings us, at long last, to The Rabbi's Cat.  It is not an "adults only" type of animated story.  It doesn't indulge in the sort of lusty sensuality (not to mention excessive overindulgence in alcohol) of Chico and Rita.  It IS, however, the most thematically ambitious piece of 100% animated film making that I have ever seen.  Race relations, the quality of truth, religious tolerance, the nature of faith, love (in a world beyond fairy tales) and tradition versus innovation are all topics that have been skillfully woven into the tapestry of this tale.  I cannot stress enough how refreshing it is that these serious subjects of thought emerged  organically from the interaction of the characters and events.  The Rabbi's Cat is no message movie, nor does it attempt to give pat or easy answers to the questions it raises.
     The picture is based upon the graphic novel of the same name by French actor/writer/director Joann Sfar.
Of course, he had help on the directing side of things from Antoine Delesvaux, and on the writing side from Sandrina Jardel.  I incorrectly assumed that having created the original story was Mr.Sfar's only qualification for these positions, but he actually had previous directing experience on Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life (which I have never seen).  The translation from printed medium to dramatic representation was accomplished with sensibilities that show deft awareness pertaining to the requirements of the medium.
     I do have a couple of reservations about the film, however.  While I usually abhor dubbed translations on Foreign Language Films, I actually prefer them to subtitles (which this film implemented) when the film in question is animated.  In live action movies, the dubbing of (usually inferior) English interpretations of the lines detracts far too much from the power of the actors' performances.  In a cartoon, where every element besides the voice is supplied artificially, it is difficult to pull much depth of feeling from the words if you do not understand them. It is something of a lesson about how essential facial expressions and body language are to our perceptions of not only the craft of acting, but all observations of human expression.  At any rate, The Rabbi's Cat went with subtitles which is far too distracting from the animation itself, as it requires that you look at it to appreciate it.
     The only other complaint that I can muster is that the film ended a little too abruptly for my tastes.  While I understand that the thematic questions raised in this picture are far too expansive and elusive to enable neat and easy solutions over the course of one feature length cartoon.  Trying to wrap them up in the finale would have been disastrous.  The problem lies in the fact that even the plot lines seemed to just sort of rush through a denouma and end, without resolving any of the characters' plots.  Still, you have to give Mr. Sfar points for courage and chutzpah...4 of 5 stars.
     

Daddy's Evil Plan

     And the second installment of the 2010 rewind series finds me covering an Italian true crime thriller, a romantic dramedy of errors, and a tribute to the best worst Dad ever.  Today's selection is really about some LITTLE films that most of you were probably completely unaware of.  I hear echoes of a time JUST before TheMovieFrog was set loose...

  Angel of Evil - The Salamander actually caught this on Netflix Instant Play and insisted that I make it a part of the rewind series so I decided to check it out.  It is the first film that I have seen from Italian director Michele Placido but it reminds me very much of the French crime thrillers I have seen in recent years such as Headhunters and particularly the Mesrine films.  Highly stylized violence with a charming but reprehensible leading man that still packs more surprises than your average American action flick.
     I am likewise unfamiliar with the career of leading man Kim Rossi Stuart, who plays the infamous outlaw Renato Vallanzasca with cockiness and vulnerability.  The actor has the charisma to pull off that most precious of characters: the one you love to hate.  He refers to himself in the third person and you loathe him for it, but then he almost gets killed and you ache at the thought of no longer getting pleasure from detesting him.  It is a fine performance, which only suffers by inevitable comparisons to both Vincent Cassell as Mesrine and Edgar Ramirez as Carlos the Jackal, both in movies released around the same time.
     Which is really my one complaint with the film overall.  It's just not QUITE as good as those other flicks.  I enjoyed it but it felt a little like watching an American remake of a great European picture often does, something in the formula seemed a little hinky.  Maybe the problem is that Italian acting and film making styles are rather demonstrative and in a film where the lead character has such a naturally bombastic personality a guiding hand that takes a little more time with the subtleties is more in order...3 1/2 of 5 stars.

  Plan B - The debut feature from out German writer/director Marco Berger has disproved my previous impression that Wolfe releasing dealt strictly in lesbian themed films.  Apparently they distribute films about gay men as well.  In this picture, one man (Bruno) decides to try and get his ex-girlfriend back by seducing her new lover Pablo, who is rumored to be bisexual.  Of course, over the course of the story the men fall in love with each other for real, etc., etc.
     As I'm sure you can guess from just that briefest of synopsis, the film has three primary weaknesses.  The first is that the plot is such a hackneyed, contrived thing.  Obviously.  The second is that the film is totally predictable, and unspools exactly as anyone who has watched very many "gay" movies will expect it to.  The third is that the primary character's motivations are so petty, and his methods so deplorable, that it is difficult to garner much sympathy for him or his rather unbelievably discovered emotions.
     Fortunately, most of the little details are a bit more acceptable.  The script takes this improbable situation and injects it with so many vivid, valid details that you almost begin to believe it.  Bruno and Pablo's overall journey is ludicrous, but the little steps that they take along the way are nicely handled.
     The film's other saving grace is that the primary actors Manuel Vignau (Bruno) and Lucas Ferraro (Pablo) both do decent jobs with their roles and there is a LITTLE sizzle to their onscreen chemistry.  They are both best when they play towards awkwardness, maybe because the premise itself is so clumsy.  I wasn't angry about the time I lost watching Plan B, but I'm not coming back if they make a Plan C...3 of 5 stars.

  Daddy Longlegs (aka Go Get Some Rosemary) - This largely autobiographical film from the Safdie brothers tore up the independent film circuit in 2010 although the chances are probably quite good that you've never heard of it before.  Star Ronald Bromstein won the Breakthrough Award at the Gothams.  The film itself was given the Cassavetes Award at the Independent Spirits.  All of this despite the fact that it looks not so much like a low-budget film, but a no-budget film.  In fact, the whole thing might have been shot on a Super 8 camera the brothers found in their parents attic (just a wild guess).  So why did people like it so much?
     Well, two reasons.  First, the script tells a small scale story very, very well. It is basically a character study, one that delves into a very extreme character.  Rather than try to neatly sum up a personality with so many disparate sides, it gives you episodes in the course of a life.  Many of these seem so contradictory that it is hard to believe that they are all about the same person.  Slowly, laboriously, you begin to understand the man as a whole.
     Of course, this sort of tale would never work without a strong central performance, and Ronald Bromstein gives just that.  He never seems to judge or condone Lenny, he just is Lenny.  We may be shocked at Lenny, even appalled by Lenny, but we can never bring ourselves to hate Lenny.  Both lovable and infuriating, Mr. Bromstein's performance allows you to put yourself emotionally into the shoes of Lenny's children with regards to how you perceive him.  Which is, of course, seems to be the Safdie's intention in this backhanded tribute to their father...4 of 5 stars.

  Related articles:  Monsieur Cat-Hunter (Headhunters review)