Film Review: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Director: Peter Jackson

Cast: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Miranda Otto, Phillippa Boyens, Sean Astin, Viggo Mortensen.

Peter Jackson returns with the final instalment to the groundbreaking The Lord of the Rings trilogy that has inspired and awed a generation of moviegoers more than any franchise since that of Star Wars and Indiana Jones. Adapted from J.R.R Tolkein’s novels, Jackson has created a visual world inhabited by Hobbits, Elves, Dwarves, Men, Wizards and other fantastical creatures. After the world wide success of The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers, fans across the world were anxious for the final film to better what had come before and round of the story in a way that was fitting for the franchise. Jackson has managed to create a film that caps off his trilogy beautifully with this Oscar winning finale, cementing The Lord of the Rings as one of the greatest film series ever made.

We re-join our two unlikely heroes’, Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) and Samwise Gamgee (Sean Astin) as they continue their quest to make it into the heart of Mordor and destroy The One Ring in the firey depths of Mount Doom, while their tour guide Gollum (Andy Serkis) continues with his identity crisis. After the victory at Helms Deep, Gandalf (Ian McKellan), Aragon (Viggo Mortensen), Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) along with the King of Rohan and his army find themselves marching to Gondor’s aid for what will be the battle that decides the fate of Middle Earth, while still managing to take a detour through a spooky mountain despite warnings that people who venture into the mountain never return.

Peter Jackson has achieved something special with this trilogy, achieving such success that hasn’t been seen for some time in the cinema. For three consecutive years he wowed audiences with his visually breathtaking and heart wrenchingly emotional films. For this three-year stretch, The Lord of the Rings was the premier cinema attraction, shifting audience’s gazes to the back end of the year where they can get their fix of Halflings, evil warlords, and a blossoming bromance between an Elf and a Dwarf. Jackson proves that big money blockbusters can still have a heart and a brain, something that has been lacking in the most part from most releases.

The visual spectacle of The Return of the King lives up to the previous two installments; the scale and grandeur of every shot and action set piece are truly breathtaking. A testament to the special effects is how well the films have aged; over 10 years on they still look as good as most special effects heavy productions we are treated to. The beautiful and quaint scenery of the New Zealand countryside offers a perfect counter balance to the dark and menacing events that are unfolding around the characters.

It is easy to overlook the genius of the casting for this trilogy when viewing the third installment, but it is hard to imagine any actor out there being able to do better than the cast involved. Viggo Mortensen’s Aragon carries the franchise squarly on his shoulders and he gets better with each film. The raw emotion portrayed in the character while he struggles to find his place in a world where there is so much hate, all the while battling with himself over what is the best path for him and his love Arwen (Liv Tyler). It’s hard to class anyone as the leads in this franchise, but that mantle probably has to go to Elijah Wood’s slightly whiney and slightly irritating Frodo. Despite Frodo’s irritating nature, Wood does a good job of showing the emotional and physical strain that carrying the ring puts on its owner. Sean Astin’s Sam is vital in keeping the audience on Frodo’s side. Astin is truly brilliant in his role of Frodo’s babysitter, constantly causing the viewers to tear up with his touching motivational speeches to Mr. Frodo.

While the battle of Minas Tirith does not reach the dizzying heights that the battle at Helms Deep reached in The Two Towers, the battle sequence is one of the most impressive set pieces in recent cinema history. The story keeps the audience engaged throughout its near 3-hour running, something that isn’t surprising calling upon past experiences with Middle Earth. Although, the fact that Jackson has managed to make 3 separate 3-hour epics that at no point in the trilogy feel stretched or over long is a special achievement, something Hollywood directors could learn from. Since Jackson is a huge fan of the books and Tolkein in general, we as fans have always been in safe hands with him in the directors chair, his enthusiasm and love for the story is shown in every frame of every scene.

Jack Nicholson famously never saw the end to The Return of the King, claiming that the film has too many endings. While this claim has a certain truth to it (the film could end at 5 different points), this does not take away from the fact every ‘ending’ is there for a purpose and each ‘ending’ is more heart wrenching than the last.

The Lord of the Rings will go down in cinematic history, as one of the greatest film franchises ever to grace the silver screen. The Return of the King is a wonderfully fitting end for such a monumental film series that will define the 2000’s. It is fitting that the Academy recognised the importance of this trilogy to modern day cinema and awarded The Return of the King the Best Picture Academy Award, a fitting end.

Film Review: Super

Director: James Gunn

Cast: Rainn Wilson, Liv Tyler, Nathan Fillion, Ellen Page, Michael Rooker, Kevin Bacon

With the meteoric rise of superhero movies over the last 10 years, that burning question that has been inside all comic book fans ‘why hasn’t anyone put on a mask and fought crime like our favourite heroes’ has finally been brought to the big screen. Kick-Ass came out to huge success, however, Super is the film that granted us with the most unlikely hero The Crimson Bolt. James Gunn (Slither, Guardians of the Galaxy) has managed to create a story about an everyday ‘loser’ who manages to change his life and the people from his hometown by beating criminals up with a monkey wrench. Super manages to be both ultra violent and hilarious like the more famous Kick-Ass, but Gunn instils a beating heart at the centre of his film that creates genuine heart breaking moments, something Kick-Ass fails to do in comparison.

Frank’s (Rainn Wilson) wife, Sarah (Liv Tyler), is a recovering drug addict who is tempted back to her old ways by psychotic drug dealer Jacques (Kevin Bacon). After Sarah leaves Frank for Jacques, Frank has an encounter with God who gives him the idea to fight crime. Frank sets out with his slightly unhinged sidekick Boltie (Ellan Page) to right the wrongs with society and get revenge over the man who stole his wife.

James Gunn judges the tone of his film perfectly; swapping freely between the ultra violence, heart wrenching moments and the nastiness of society. He has created a black comedy that will surely gain ‘cult’ fandom for its outrageous premise to its unforgettable one-liners (“Shut up, crime!”). While Gunn’s film wont be to everyone’s taste, some audiences will struggle to find the humour in bashing a guys skull in for jumping the queue at a movie theatre, but for audiences who are willing to accept the silliness and sometimes hard to watch violence, they will be rewarded with one hilarious film.

The film deals with over used stereotypes that fit in perfectly with the tone of the film. Kevin Bacon’s drug dealer works out of a shady looking club and his henchmen drive big black SUV’s. Bacon’s house is on a huge plot of land secured by gates all the way around, and while its situated in the middle of nowhere, it turns out to be the perfect location for a climactic shootout between gangs and aspiring superhero’s. Frank is an everyday man who goes unnoticed by most, he is a cook at a greasy spoon café in a small town in America. Frank is awkward when it comes to social situations and the only thing he cares about in life is his wife.

Gunn assembles what seems like a perfect cast for his film. Kevin Bacon’s involvement as a small time drug dealer who is an arse is perfectly judged, who brings just the right amount of charisma to the role of a guy who needs to seem appealing to weak-minded people. Liv Tyler’s role is pretty small in terms of screen time, but her character is the driving force behind the plot. She portrays a weak, easily impressionable character nicely whilst being way to hot for us to believe she would end up with Frank. Ellan page is perfectly cast as The Crimson Bolt’s psychotic groupie and sidekick, Boltie. She is unnerving and is the polar opposite to Frank’s methodical way of thinking about things, which brings a nice balance to their relationship. However, it is Rainn Wilson who steals the show here as Frank/The Crimson Bolt. His comic timing and facial expressions are expertly judged. Wilson manages to make us care about his character by portraying a pathetic man, before he unlocks his superhero alter ego. The delivery of his one-liners and catchphrases are hilarious in every way even if his way of tackling crime verges on the absurd, however saying this, you are willing to go with almost anything this film throws at you because of the hilarity of the situations the characters find themselves in.

The emotional centre of the film is subtly included within all the daft dialogue. Where Frank is not entirely relatable to everyone with his psychotic nature mixed with his desire to do good, he does face problems that the ‘everyman’ comes across. The main problem Frank faces is trying to get over his wife leaving him, for a man who genuinely cares and is at a loss without the love of his life is something a lot of people can relate to in some way or another. This emotion is carried throughout the film all the way into the finale. While the film is hugely violent throughout, it is the last 5 minutes that really moves the audience. Gunn judges this perfectly leaving you with a feeling of warmth instead of just remembering the violence, this is key for Super in the way that it distances itself from other films that just concentrate on mindless violence.

While films like Super will never be acclaimed as award winning films, there is definitely a place for them in the market. The silly nature of the content is there for a purpose, to make audiences laugh and to simply have a great time at the cinema. However, these films do tackle real issues, Super looks at crime and society’s nature of turning a blind eye; while Frank shows that one person can stand up and make a difference.

Super is fast paced cinematic fun at its very best, genuine laugh out loud moments and funny catch phrases make this a film that will surely gain cult recognition in years to come. The emotional edge to this film is what sets it apart from other films that try to achieve hilarity through stupidity; this is what makes James Gunn’s film a winner in almost every sense.

Film Review: X-Men: Days of Future Past

Director: Bryan Singer

Cast: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Jennifer Lawrence, Hugh Jackman, Shawn Ashmore, Ellen Page, Nicholas Hoult.

Bryan Singer returns to the director’s chair of the X-Men franchise after handing over the reigns for X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men: First Class and the Wolverine spin offs. Singer returning was always a good sign to fans of X-Men, since his first two films X-Men and X2 are widely renowned as two of the best superhero films that have hit the big screen (this is big praise since the eruption of superhero films that occurred after X2). Singer’s new film is a hugely ambitious project, having both the old cast (Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen and co.) and new cast (Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy and co.) all being involved in a film that covers almost 50 years. The way he structured this films narrative allowed him to erase everything The Last Stand did, which is great news for X-Men fans that still have nightmares about Vinnie Jones’s Juggernaut running through your bedroom wall.

The mutant race is nearing extinction in the future after being hunted and destroyed by Sentinels that can adapt to counter each mutants power. Older Xavier (Stewart) knows there is only one way to save his race, sending Wolverine’s (Jackman) conscious back in time to his younger body in the 70’s to rally the troops (younger Xavier, magneto and Beast) to stop Mystique (Lawrence) from assassinating Bolivar Trask (Peter Dinklage). After Mystique killed Trask in the past, she was captured and experimented on which allowed the scientists to manipulate her DNA to create the Sentinels that can adapt to any power.

Spending 10 years away from anything to do with X-Men seems to have rejuvenated Singer. The series gets back to the dizzying heights that were reached especially with X2 with some mind bending time travel concepts and incredible action set pieces. Singer manages to grab the audiences attention right from the off with a beautifully shot battle sequence involving mutants and seemingly unstoppable Sentinels. The highlight is Blink’s ability to open portals for her and fellow mutants to allow them to dodge Sentinel attacks, this is choreographed brilliantly and rivals Nightcrawler’s opening scene in X2.

This scene however is just an appetiser to what Singer has in store for his audience. The imagination and creativity that is shown during the sequence where young Xavier, Wolverine, Beast and Quicksilver break Magneto out of a plastic prison is a joy to behold. The use of slow motion to show Quicksilver’s incredible speed is impressive and hilarious as he runs around a room full of guards, changing the direction of bullets and generally messing with the guards all whilst listening to his Walkman. The only issue with having this scene early on is, as an audience we are longing for more of Quicksilver throughout the film.

The huge amount of talent on show in this film could have been a problem. When some projects with this level of talent struggle to juggle each actors screen time, Singer manages to balance this aspect pretty well. Of course, you always want to see more of McKellan and Stewart on screen together and are slightly underused, however, the chemistry between McAvoy and Fassbender makes this a small issue as they can carry any film on their own never mind together. Fassbender is his usual trouble causing self as Magneto, playing the role with just enough charm that McKellan brought to the role in previous outings to make him one of the most likeable villains in comic book movie history. While Jennifer Lawrence’s character is key to the plot, her actual screen time isn’t enough for an actress of her caliber. Stealing the show however, is James McAvoy. Every scene he appears in is either breathtaking, heartbreaking or hilarious. One particular scene where he comes face to face with his older self (Stewart) is mesmerising, the tension in the scene adds a huge emotional weight to the story.

The complex plot needed an accomplished writer to create a screenplay that would be both coherent and realise what has gone before in the X-Men universe. Singer took a chance here, opting for Simon Kinberg who had a hand in The Last Stand along with other forgettable projects such as Jumper and This Means War. Singer’s confidence in Kinberg has paid off ten fold with this smart, snappy and mostly comprehensible script. Luckily enough for fans, after the success of Days of Future Past, both Singer and Kinberg have signed up to direct and pen the next instalment X-Men: Apocalypse.

There is something refreshing about Days of Future Past, in an age were superhero films are released three times a year and mostly blur into each other, this is however, a smart blockbuster that entertains throughout. The franchise needed a huge win here after a pretty bleak 10 years since The Last Stand and a win is what they have secured. This new film in the X-Men universe has breathed new life into a property that seemed to be just turning out boring Hollywood fodder to turn a profit. What is more exciting is that Singer is back and he seems to be set to stay for a while in the directors chair which makes comic book nerds everywhere prey that the days of X-Men and X2 are about to return. While Fox have the rights for X-Men, the name and box office takings will probably never be as big as Disney’s Marvel superhero films but there is no denying this film is up there with anything that has been released in the Avengers story arc.

Film Review: Bram Stokers Dracula

Director: Francis Ford Coppola

Cast: Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder, Anthony Hopkins, Keanu Reeves, Sadie Frost, Tom Waits, Richard E. Grant.

Francis Ford Coppola adapts Bram Stoker’s classic 1897 novel Dracula for the big screen with a more than capable cast. With the directors previous projects including Godfather II, Godfather III, Apocalypse Now, this project promised to be the Dracula film audiences have been waiting for since Nosferatu in 1922. Instead Bram Stokers Dracula does nothing more than disappoint with terrible distracting accents and Coppola’s infuriating choice of style over substance.

Jonathan Harker (Reeves) is sent on a business trip to Transylvania to close a housing deal with the mysterious Count Dracula. Dracula chose an immortal life and vowed to wait until his love is returned to him after she committed suicide centuries earlier. After seeing a picture of Harker’s fiancée Mina (Ryder), whose appearance resembles that of Vlad’s former lover; he travels to London to seek out Mina. Whilst in London, the usual neck biting and blood sucking commences. After Harker and co realise something fishy is happening they call in vampire hunter, Van Helsing (Hopkins), to give a helping hand in battling the old vamp.

Coppola assembled a cast for his project that were more than capable of tackling the huge expectation for this film, however, while the cast are poor throughout the main reason this film doesn’t work has to be placed squarely at the directors feet. First of all, Coppola never manages to build the fear and horror that is so evident in the book. This is noticeable early on, when Harker visits Dracula’s castle there is no sense of horror, just a slightly creepy feeling. During these chapters in Bram Stokers novel, the terror that Harker goes through is genuinely chilling but Coppola’s choice to make Dracula so old during these sequences takes away from any fear that Coppola may have been trying to instil. This is a problem throughout the film, when young Dracula (Oldman) appears in London after being rejuvenated by feeding on blood, the film becomes absurd with Oldman’s ridiculous Transylvanian accent and a werewolf sex scene in the rain.

As previously stated, the performances are truly terrible. Worst of all is Keanu Reeves’ portrayal of Jonathan Harker. His posh English accent is laughable throughout which is hugely distracting, as I could never take his character seriously because of how comical he sounded. Winona Ryder is her usual wooden self as Mina and never manages to connect to the audience on any kind of level which in turn leaves us bored and generally not caring about the events that are unfolding around Mina. Gary Oldman in one of his first roles where he isn’t practically just playing himself struggles to make Dracula menacing even when transforming into a werewolf and green smoke (yes, green smoke!). The only saving grace in the performances is that of Tom Waits as Dracula’s insect eating minion Renfield, he is the only truly scary aspect of this supposed horror film. Sadie frost does her best with the horribly written role of Lucy, she brings a bit of charisma to a role that wouldn’t be out of place in a porno.

The special effects used are distracting and simply look awful, from the slow motion decapitations to Dracula in huge big bad bat form. While this is all supposed to look great and impressive it just looks silly and adds to the problem of the film not being able to be taken seriously. The make up again borders the line of horrendous and the constant shots of blood pouring from the undeads mouths is enough to put anyone off their next piece of steak.

Something that Coppola does get right is the aspect of the set design and costuming. Certain sets are a joy to behold; the lunatic asylum is a particular highlight as well as Dracula’s castle. The costuming feels right for the era the film is set, this helps to create some iconic images of the cast throughout the film, in particular when Winona Ryder is on screen with Gary Oldman.

Coppola prefers to focus on making this film spectacular with huge climaxes (which he fails at) instead of focusing on the narrative and making sure everything makes sense and flows. Questions are continuously left unanswered during the film, why does Dracula want the properties in London? What happened to Renfield that caused his insanity? These problems escalate throughout the film until we get to the inevitable showdown between Harker’s posse and the Count himself. By the time we get to this showdown I had already been bored out of my mind and left feeling a little like the undead for almost 2 hours. When the ‘battle’ finally ensues, I couldn’t have cared less of the outcome, never mind understood why everything was happening.

What Coppola has managed to achieve with his film is an overly long, baggy mess that bores more than it excites. He isn’t helped with wooden performances, however his decision to make the biggest film he could rather than trying to connect with his audience is the reason this project ultimately fails. Nosferatu remains the greatest Dracula film ever released, while Coppola manages to make Terence Fisher’s Dracula look like a gothic masterpiece.

Film Review: Edge of Tomorrow

Director: Doug Liman

Cast: Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton, Dragomir Mrsic, Charlotte Riley, Jonas Armstrong, Franz Drameh, Nick Gurry

Doug Liman’s (The Bourne Identity) Edge of Tomorrow could quite possibly be the most unoriginal sci-fi film of the last couple of decades, however, Liman uses this to his advantage and has delivered one of the most entertaining blockbusters you are likely to see in 2014. With obvious nods to Saving Private Ryan with the Normandy Beach battle that influences the majority of the action here, The Matrix and Aliens are big influences to the big technological battles with ‘robotic aliens and most obviously Harold Ramis’s Groundhog Day that supplies the basis of the time loop narrative ‘Edge of Tomorrow’ centres around (‘Source Code’ also could be included for this aspect). Liman uses aspects of these previous films to create something that feels so fresh that we don’t care that we have seen this kind of thing before.

Maj. William Cage (Cruise), a PR guy for the war who is in charge of finding new recruits finds himself being forced into joining the first wave for the assault on the French coast by Brendan Gleeson’s Gen. Brigham (Gleeson seems to be having a ball with this cameo role). After failing miserably in combat, Cage dies due to been covered in a rare aliens (mimics) acidic blood, although as soon as he dies he wakes up the previous day. When Cage realizes this isn’t a dream and that he will live the same events again and again every time he dies, he seeks out the war’s poster girl, Emily Blunt’s Rita (Full Metal Bitch) to train him so they, together, can win the war.

Christopher McQuarrie (The Usual Suspects), along with Jez and John-Henry Butterworth have done an excellent job adapting Hiroshi Sakurazaka’s light novel All You Need is Kill. These highly paid screenwriters have clearly had a ball adapting this, what they bring is a fast paced script that is witty and laugh out loud funny in parts. By far the best sequence in the film comes when a montage of Cruise training, learning and ultimately failing under the guidance of Blunt to then have his brains blown out every time he fails so he can come back and perfect his mistakes. This sequence is impressively put together with quick cuts between each training scene, Cruise being killed and ultimately waking up in the same spot, this is made even funnier with every scream that comes from Cage upon waking up. They use the time loop logic to their advantage, keeping us constantly in the dark. We never know how many times Cage has been in a certain situation, whether its his first time and something will come out of nowhere and end this scene or if he has been there multiple times and knows exactly what he is doing, all of this adds to the tension that is so prominent throughout the film.

Although, Liman must take most credit here, he has turned this script into a wonderful roller coaster that leaves us on the edge of our seat throughout. The director manages the huge budget and doesn’t step into stupidity with the action scenes, this is important in blockbusters nowadays with what I call the Michael Bay effect taking over big budget films. We don’t want to see huge battle sequences that last 30 minutes that ultimately leave us feeling bored, Liman manages to create a heart at the middle of Edge of Tomorrow and this allows us to attach ourselves to the characters an their story. Even the ‘mimics’ look great and genuinely terrifying which helps the action scenes on the beach to keep our attention. Liman needed a strong showing here after the less than impressive Jumper and Fair Game.

I honestly never thought id see the day were I would be praising Tom Cruise in a review, but his performance here deserves some recognition. Refreshingly here, Cruise plays a sniveling spineless coward who faints at the sight of blood and took a PR job during the war so he wouldn’t be subjected to actual combat, he does this brilliantly. Cruise transforms throughout the role, going from coward to eventual hero, again he does this impressively and believably. No matter how good Cruise is here, it is Emily Blunt who steals the show, remenicsent of Sarah Connor in Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Her steely presence and no nonsense attitude towards Cruise helps to avoid what could have been a corny Hollywood romance story between the two, what happens instead is that we see Blunt as more of a mentor to cruise than an actual love interest (although the love aspect is explored to some extent later in the film). Blunt may emerge from ‘Edge of Tomorrow’ as a new female action hero that Hollywood so desperately needs.

Edge of Tomorrow plays cleverly with aspects we would expect from a film of this genre. While it has all the aspects of a sci-fi film, Liman manages to bring a comedy element missing in the genre without taking away from the thrills and tension great sci-fi’s such as Ridley Scott’s Alien needs to work. The time loop narrative has a part here allowing the director to play with scenes in ways that Groundhog Day did so brilliantly. This is were the comedy fits in nicely, the repetition of scenes allows Cruise to nonchalantly dismiss incoming ‘mimics’ in a charismatic style while also giving us the aforementioned training montage that is genuinely hilarious.

Edge of Tomorrow is a blockbuster with a heart. It’s rare that a huge budget movie can allow its audience to relate to the characters on screen and make us genuinely care about them (be honest, who didn’t wish a transformer would have fallen on Shia LeBeouf). What Liman has created is one of the fastest paced, edge of your seat and genuinely fun blockbusters that you’re likely to see throughout 2014. A real triumph.

Film Review: Blue is the Warmest Colour

Director: Abdellatif Kechiche

Cast: Adèle Exarchopoulos, Léa Seydoux, Salim Kechiouche

The extremely controversial, Blue is the Warmest Colour wowed the jury at Cannes to take home the coveted Palme d’Or. After the release, Exarchopoulos and Seydoux blasted director, Abdellatif Kechiche, claiming they were both subjected to bullying from Kechiche and were left intimidated. While this could have cast a dark shadow over a lesser film, Blue is the Warmest Colour shines as beautiful piece of work, bordering the line of masterpiece due to its inventive direction, exquisite acting and beautiful visuals. The film boasts two of the most compelling and committed performances from its two young leads that you are likely to see.

We follow Adèle (Exarchopoulos), an intelligent schoolgirl from Lille who seeks new experiences as well as trying to find her way in life. As we get to know Adèle, through clips of her gobbling down spaghetti with her family to her relationships at school, both friendship and romantic, we get the impression Adèle doesn’t quite know what she wants. Through a brief relationship with a boy at school to a kiss with a girl on the school steps, we see Adèle is deeply confused. Adèle struggles with this confusion throughout the film, especially in the first half trying to balance her feelings for Emma while in a particular scene gets bullied by peers at school for her sexual tendencies.

Adèle finds what she’s looking for when blue haired, bohemian Emma (Seydoux) walks past her in the street. Exarchopoulous exquisitely captures the importance of this moment, almost showing a complete shut down of her senses in the middle of a busy road whilst maintaining a longing look in the direction that Emma exited the frame. From here on in, the film centers on the relationship between these two, capturing the excitement of finding love when everything is new to all the complications of long term relationships.

There is something wonderful about the camerawork and direction of Blue is the Warmest Colour. The feeling of the film is very intimate, close ups and extreme close ups are used more than any other shot throughout the film giving a voyeuristic feel to the whole 3 hour running time. We almost feel that we cannot escape the lives of the two lovers, no matter how tough things may get, we are in this until the end with them. This technique also portrays the forbidden aspect of their relationship to society. This allows us to get to know Adèle and Emma, every emotion effects us in the same way it effects the two leads whether it be ecstasy or heartbreak. From the graphic sex scenes that grabbed so much attention to shots of Adèle floating in the sea, Kechiche allows us to witness and feel every moment of elation as well as the despair a young couple in love would feel, this is what makes the films 3 hours fly by as a wonderful but heartbreaking experience instead of the average brainless 3 hour Michael Bay Hollywood blockbuster.

While Blue is the Warmest Colour boasts incredible direction, camerawork and almost everything else that goes into making a film, this film belongs to its performances. Seydoux, who was already well on her way to stardom before her role as Emma, appearing in Quentin Tarrantino’s Inglorious Basterds and Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood. Her performance here as the artistic, free spirited and openly gay Emma, is sensational. She portrays a character that not only Adèle is attracted to, but we as an audience fall for her care free artistic nature. This is however, Exarchopoulos’s film. The fact she was practically a newcomer to film’s makes her performance just that little bit more remarkable. What she manages to achieve is an extremely intimate and emotional look into the life of Adèle. Exarchopoulos grows up on screen with her character, slowly maturing from a schoolgirl who doesn’t quite know who she is yet to a woman in love. Almost everything she does throughout the film is subtle, and that is a huge part of what makes this performance special, she doesn’t need dialogue to portray her happiness or loneliness, we just feel it. Her performance in the first half of the film shows a young girl hungry and excited about love and where it will take her; the first half of the film is tremendous but it’s the second half where Exarchopoulos delivers a truly heartbreaking portrayal of a young women who’s life is collapsing around her.

The film has been criticised due to the highly graphic, extended lesbian sex scenes, one of which lasts around 7 minutes. The criticism has mostly stated that the scenes in question are not an accurate account of lesbian sex and has been compared to that of a portrayal usually found in porn. Kechiche didn’t only make the sex scenes long; he practically leaves every scene to run longer than we normally would see. This is a stroke of genius, he allows the actresses to act outside of the script, capturing emotions that usually would have been missed. This is another way that the film manages to allow the audience to relate and care about the characters, we feel like we know them somehow and share their feelings.

Blue is the Warmest Colour is excellent throughout, leaving us exhausted from the wide range of emotions we go through with the two leads. The close up camera work depicting every emotion possible leaves us feeling claustrophobic yet emotionally connected with everything going on in the small frame. With two of the best performances I have ever seen, the films 3 hour running time flies by. Blue is the Warmest Colour could go down as one of the most beautiful and heartbreaking love stories ever brought to the big screen.

Film Review: Black Swan (2010)

Director: Darren Aronofsky

Cast: Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel, Barbara Hershey, Winona Ryder.

Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan, nominated for 5 Academy Awards (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Cinematography and Best Film Editing) explores the grim nature of dedication shown by performers, much as he did in The Wrestler. Black Swan delves into the pressures of ballet, portraying the mind to be just as susceptible to weakening as the body is. Aronofsky’s film at times verges on masterpiece, but as the film slowly fades into horror territory, rather than the psychological thriller it promises to be, Black Swan loses a bit of its edge.

Nina (Natalie Portman), a New York ballet dancer who strives for perfection is given the opportunity to play the lead role in her company’s version of Swan Lake. The company’s artistic director Thomas (Vincent Cassel) believes Nina to be perfect for the White Swan, but she must delve deep to unlock her evil twin, the Black Swan. The Black Swan requires more than Nina’s strive for perfection; she will need to find her dark side, spontaneous nature and her sexual side. The film follows Nina as she gradually starts to show her darker side along with her continuing mental illness causing hallucinations and anxiety attacks.

Aronofsky is truly at his artistic best here; the sense of claustrophobia in the more intimate scenes is both distressing and almost unbearable. The brilliance of the shots showing Nina during her performances and rehearsals in the way he shoots it up close and personal rather than from the audience’s point of view is a master stroke. This style resonates with the way Scorsese shot the boxing scenes in Raging Bull, this way of shooting allows us to delve deep into the characters psyche, seeing every twitch and emotion portrayed that adds an intimacy to our relationship with the character.

Black Swan has been wonderfully cast, with all performances hitting the mark spectacularly. First of all, Natalie Portman steps out of her comfort zone in her role as Nina. In many ways Portman’s career can be compared to the White Swan, never having found a role that could release the obvious acting ability she possesses. Her portrayal of frailty is at times shocking and has a real impact upon the viewer, her quite, shy voice is a nice simple touch that reinforces her vulnerability which is key to Nina. Aronofsky’s apparent knack of pulling career best performances from his actors (Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler) is at work again here with Portman’s flawless portrayal of a woman slipping slowly into madness.

Barbara Hershey is excellent in her role as Nina’s nasty, overbearing mother who still shows signs of bitterness over giving up her career as a ballet dancer years earlier, this is reinforced throughout the film as we see her dressed in all black throughout, possibly showing us that she is still mourning her lost career. Company director, Thomas is played perfectly by Vincent Cassel who brings just enough flamboyance not to overshadow just how much of an arsehole his character is. However, it seems as though Aronofsky had the most fun in casting the role of Beth Macintyre, an ageing star who has been thrown from the limelight to be replaced by younger talent. The casting of Winona Ryder is interesting and mischievous, since the characters arc similarly portrays Ryder’s struggles after she was shunned from the limelight. Finally, Mila Kunis brings an air of seductiveness to her role as Lilly, a free spirit who helps Nina unlock her inner demons.

The whole film seems very deliberate in terms of what we see in certain scenes, which gives us a look into the mind of certain characters, in particular, Nina. The scene where we watch Nina’s mum cutting her toenails is one of the more revealing scenes in the entire film. We see Nina’s bedroom is decorated in various pinks along with a small twin bed, stuffed animals and a music box; this all gives us an insight into how naïve and immature Nina is. The fact Nina’s wallpaper is covered in butterflies symbolises the metamorphosis Nina must go through to become the Black Swan. Also, the fact Nina requires her mother to cut her toenails for her gives us the impression of incompetence, whilst also showing the smothering side to her mothers character.

A crucial relationship throughout the film is that of Nina and Lilly. Nina knows Lilly would be perfect for the Black Swan role and this adds to Nina’s emotional turmoil, worrying that she will lose the part to Lilly. Kunis perfectly plays the Black Swan role outside of the company’s production; sexy, instinctive and dangerous, something Nina must learn to embody. Lilly is the catalyst for the deep change that Nina goes through in the second half of the film, she pushes Nina to the edge of her comfort zone which eventually see’s her tip completely into the unknown.

The music to ‘Swan Lake’ has been expertly re-mastered by Aronofsky’s regular collaborator, Clint Mansell (Requiem for a Dream, The Wrestler). What he has achieved is a chilling score that appears throughout the film, showing us the extent to which Swan Lake is taking over Nina’s life. At times the music is played so loudly over scenes it adds to the claustrophobic feeling that gives the impression that everything is engulfing Nina’s mind.

Aronofsky isn’t afraid to take certain aspects of filmmaking from other directors which is a brave trait in itself. There are a lot of parts to Black Swan that definitely aren’t original, however used effectively nonetheless. One particular example of this is during Nina’s body transformations, these scenes scream Cronenberg with her flesh been manipulated to show feathers emerging. Also, cinematographer Matthew Libatique does an excellent job with his use of close up camera movements and showing the glum, gritty side of Manhattan that remind you of Rosemary’s Baby.

As the film starts to slip into the horror genre towards the end of the film, with genuinely scary moments, it slightly loses what makes the rest of the film so interesting. This been said, Aronofsky brings the film back to where it should be with an atmospheric and startling final scene.

Film Review: Fatal Attraction (1987)

Director: Adrian Lyne

Cast: Michael Douglas, Glenn Close, Anne Archer, Ellen Hamilton Latzen, Stuart Pankin, Ellen Foley

Adrian Lyne’s ‘Fatal Attraction’, the second biggest grossing film of 1987 (in the US), is a customary thriller that swaps substance for pure thrills, which ultimately hinges on a star performance from Glenn Close. While ‘Fatal Attraction’ is a fascinating psychological thriller for the most part, the third act almost undoes what great work had been done before it with a highly predictable and lazy conclusion; you can almost feel the pressure from the studio to create a ‘Hollywood’ ending.

The film follows Dan Gallagher (Michael Douglas), a happily married lawyer, whose world is flipped upside down after a chance meeting at a party with an apparently irresistible blonde. When Gallagher’s wife and daughter leave town for the weekend he finds himself having dinner with the aforementioned blonde, Alex Forrest (Glenn Close). After realising Dan is more than willing to be seduced, Alex takes the initiative and sparks a weekend of lustful sex. Afterwards, Dan points out he’s a happily married man and their weekend together was nothing more than “Two adults who saw an opportunity and took advantage of it”, Alex disagrees and turns pathological.

The early stages of the film are wonderfully written by James Dearden, his dialogue is perfectly weighted. The character of Alex is superbly formed within his writing, he expertly turns her from the seductive easy going women we see in the early stages to the jealous, possessive psychopath that will haunt any man who has ever thought of committing adultery, his writing in parts is masterful. In fact, ‘Fatal Attraction’ is masterful in practically all it does throughout, that is until we get to the terribly flawed final act.

The acting performances in this film are something to be marvelled at, two roles in particular are crucial to the films success. Firstly, Anne Archer wonderfully portrays Dan’s wife Beth Gallagher. The fact that Beth is beautiful and appears to be the ideal wife (supportive and nurturing) adds an air of confusion as to why Dan would have an affair in the first place, this is one of the more interesting parts of the film that is never really touched upon. The fact Lyne concentrated on creating a strong and believable marriage is key to the story; it helps to build the tension that is caused by Alex’s psychotic nature. We don’t necessarily care about Dan (after all, he brought the whole thing on himself), but we do care for his family and this allows us to empathize with Dan. Secondly, Glenn Close turns in a spectacularly terrifying and crazed performance as Alex. Alex maintains a steady gaze throughout the film. At first the gaze is seductive and sexy which ultimately lures Dan into her trap, but as the film progresses and Alex slowly turns more psychotic with every scene, the gaze is no longer sexual but terrifying. Micahel Douglas has to play second fiddle to the two female performers; even though he is sufficient in his role he never reaches the heights reached especially by Glenn Close. Douglas is better here than in other similar roles he has played, partly because he is given a part written much more successfully than his role as Nick Curran in Paul Verhoeven’s ‘Basic Instinct’.

What Lyne has created with ‘Fatal Attraction’ is an interesting look at the subject of stalking and psychotic behaviour. Where Hollywood films usually portray the male as the stalker and the female as the victim such as: ‘One Hour Photo’, ‘Fear’ and ‘Scream’. Lyne smartly reverses the roles for his film showing a man with all his physical strength unable to intimidate or overcome a woman hell-bent on ripping his family apart.

The sound in ‘Fatal Attraction’ helps build the unbearable tension more than any other aspect of the film. In particular, the music from ‘Madame Butterfly’ plays a key role in the film. Firstly, the music creates a shared interest between Dan and Alex, with it been both characters favorite opera. Suddenly the music takes on another role, particularly in an exquisitely edited sequence chopping between Dan’s character having fun and Alex sat in seclusion, plotting her next move. The operatic music adds an eerie feel to any scene it is featured in. Sound is also used to build and eerie and tense feel around the final scenes of the film, the sound of the water dripping from the overflowing bathtub is accompanied with the hiss of the kettle downstairs, along with unknown footsteps all contributes to the build up of tension.

The final third of the film unfortunately slips into a melodrama. After spending time building up the foundations of the relationship between Dan and his wife, the film shortchanges the clash between them when Dan has to confess his affair to his wife. This scene should have been a pivotal scene in the context of the film but ultimately we are left feeling unsatisfied. Other aspects of the last act slip into the realms of silliness, especially the scene where Alex kidnaps Dan and Beth’s child and takes her to a fairground before returning her home. This particular scene felt like an afterthought, thrown in to show the threat Alex could be, which the film had already established throughout, making this sequence unnecessary.  The showdown between Beth and Alex during the climax manages to remain heart-stoppingly suspenseful with both actresses really showing of their acting talents. Despite their best efforts though, the scene falls slowly into Hollywood fodder leaving us with the feeling that filmmakers didn’t have to bow down to production companies when it comes to their visions. The original ending that was written and shot for this film was changed after American audiences couldn’t stomach the more downbeat climax. The original ending linked in beautifully with the ‘Madame Butterfly’ motif that was set up early in the film.