Category: films

Edmonton Film Society: “Marnie”

On Monday night, I attended an Edmonton Film Society screening of Alfred Hitchcock’s Marnie with Dickson at the Royal Museum of Alberta (the movie passed through his precious litmus test of quality – the user-voted IMDB rating).

Dickson likes to poke fun at the average age of the audience by calling them the “sea of grey,” but personally, I think part of the fun of EFS events (as opposed to renting the classic films) is watching these movies with this particular generation. There is not a drop of pretentiousness in the room; every reaction is absolutely genuine. As demonstrated during a screening of To Catch a Thief last summer, from the laughs to the gasps to the applause at the end, I sometimes feel that this kind of collective viewing experience is what all theatres should offer. That said, the numbers were low yesterday (likely due to the chilly weather), so the room didn’t quite have the critical mass necessary for the desired aural effect.

The plot of Marnie is described perfectly on the EFS website: “a perverse romance between a beautiful, elegant thief [Tippi Hedren as Marnie] who’s blackmailed into marriage by one of her victims [Sean Connery as Mark Rutland].” Perverse indeed – I took offense with Mark’s machismo as he prayed on Marnie’s vulnerability, even to the point of rape. Connery played cocky well, but even Bond didn’t come off as anything but a controlling, manipulative terror.

Hedren was a great casting choice – not classically beautiful but attractive nonetheless, she had an unsettling aura about her that was perfect for the character. Edith Head’s signature gowns draped beautifully on her as well, though even the everyday clothes were lovely to look at – bold colors, high button collars and trapeze silhouettes.

As for the special effects and the score – they were both decidedly over-the-top. Marnie’s pulsating curtain of red visions became redundant over the course of the movie, reaching near-campy levels. The music was shrill, unnecessarily prominent, and by the end, unnervingly grating (the violins!). Perhaps that was the sound designer’s intent, but it took the focus away from the acting.

The ending was welcome, but probably not for the reason Hitchcock originally intended. Still, it was a fun night out, and beat watching a conventional movie at the local multiplex.

Film: “Because I Said So”

Despite reading several overly negative reviews, I was dying to watch Because I Said So. It seems the combined star power of Diane Keaton and Lauren Graham, coupled with my need to watch a saccharine romantic comedy, were too much to overcome.

About an overbearing, controlling mother (Keaton) trying to set up her youngest daughter Milly (played by Mandy Moore) with a “life partner,” the movie wasn’t as bad as I had expected. I didn’t mind the cake gags as much as critics seemed to. Also, the women had an intriguing family dynamic, though were suffocating-ly close to one another. Lastly, there were some good lines (e.g. regarding why Keaton’s Daphne never had an orgasm, “Your father said he didn’t have all day, and he worked nights”). Still, the movie had its obvious weaknesses.

Even worse than last weekend’s Sexy Laundry, I wanted Daphne to just SHUT. UP. So shrill and annoying was her character that I wondered if her bout with laryngitis mid-way through was an eleventh-hour script change (but that would be giving the writers a little too much credit). In addition, the lack of character development was jarring. The only details provided were those that helped the romantic arc along (what happened to Lauren Graham’s baby? Did Piper Perabo’s character have a job?). There was, for example, incredible irony in Daphne’s statement that labeled jazz musicians as heartbreakers, as later on in the movie, the audience is led to believe that Daphne’s sudden love is true on the merit that her new beau is a good grandfather. There was also the usual overt visual symbolism to differentiate between Mr. Right and Mr. Wrong. In this case, it involved Milly’s wavy versus stick-straight hair.

On two shallow notes – Mr. Right, played by Gabriel Macht, was very well cast, and had the perfect amount of earnestness needed for the role. Secondly, I loved Keaton’s entire wardrobe – full skirts, wide belts, and the eclectic-but-put-together outfits suited her beautifully (and I now have a strong affinity for polka dots).

While I wouldn’t highly recommend the movie, it is the only cinematic romance available this Valentine’s Day.

Film: “Their Brothers’ Keeper”

Until March, the University of Alberta International Centre will be holding weekly film screenings to increase awareness about global issues that affect the worldwide community, including human trading, conflict, and disease.

Tonight, I went to watch a film entitled Their Brothers’ Keeper: Orphaned by AIDS:

“Filmed over a seven-month period, Their Brothers’ Keepers goes inside Chazanga Compound, a shantytown in Lusaka, Zambia. The crew focuses on two families headed by children, and their ongoing struggle for food, water, schooling and health care. Local community and aid workers offer support but lack any real resources. Throughout the film, excerpts from speeches by Stephen Lewis, UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, fill in the broader social context.”

In Zambia alone, there are an estimated 850,000 orphans. Those children without any remaining adult relatives, or adult relatives nearby, are forced to support themselves. So mature, strong, and brave these young heads of family are that it was easy to forget that they are still children, robbed of the opportunity to play, to laugh, to go to school and to grow up naturally and away from death. The children filmed showed many signs of resilience, most notably, continuing the tradition of storytelling. While the elder sister of one family was away, her brother of eight years made sure his six and three year old siblings didn’t miss their nightly ritual.

Following the screening, a medical practitioner who has worked in Africa, Dr. Stan Houston, led a question and answer session. He noted that the movie was decidedly optimistic, whereas the general tone at which he spoke betrayed his more realistic viewpoint – that tens of millions more people will die before the global community will act aggressively enough to stop the pandemic.

One of the most interesting audience members was a Registered Nurse who had volunteered in Zambia for a number of years, working with an NGO to assist with ARV (Anti-Retroviral) delivery in rural areas. In her experience, while the drugs may be available for distribution, without the infrastructure and support of public health services, the pills would be rendered ineffective.

Something that came out of the discussion that I wasn’t aware of was the effectiveness of male circumcision to decrease HIV infection. In two separate random trials, the transmission rate was 50% less in circumcised men. Though a few pointed out that encouraging condom use would be easier than mass procedures, it’s still a measure worth knowing about.

I was thoroughly engaged, and look forward to similar events in lieu of International Week, that runs next week from January 29-February 2. I encourage you to attend a session or two.

“High School Musical”

I had heard about High School Musical here and there – a cast member on Jay Leno, a clip on the Family Channel – and I was morbidly curious as to what the hype was all about. So I took the time finally to sit down and watch it yesterday, in full, courtesy of my sister’s DVD.

The storyline is fairly straightforward – a basketball star meets a science champion on summer vacation, connect magically over a forced duet, and à la Grease, discover themselves schoolmates come September. They both want to audition, as a pair, for the school mu-zi-kal, but can’t due to peer pressure, and allegiance to their original callings. And I’m sure you can see where this is leading…

The movie is predictable, overacted, driven by stereotypes and characterized by clichéd moments…but in the end, it won me over. High School Musical never pretends to be anything other than a made for television family movie, and it’s hard to dislike a movie with a good heart at its core and noble intentions.

One song in particular, “Status Quo,” was rather clever. It involved members of several cliques confessing their deepest secrets – a jock’s penchant for baking, a skater’s talent for the cello, a bookworm’s love of hip hop. It kind of made me wish my high school cafeteria broke out into sweeping song and dance numbers more often.

The penultimate performance, “Breaking Free,” the showstopper involving the two leads, is pure pop, and irresistible in its own right. I wish they had eliminated the last number, “We’re All in This Together”, and ended on the more memorable “Breaking Free” instead. It not only screamed of Grease‘s “We Go Together,” with everyone pairing off, but also unnecessarily hammered home the movie’s byline that individual differences should be celebrated. But I guess if I’m looking for subtlety, I shouldn’t be watching the Disney Channel.

Turns out, High School Musical 2: Sing It All or Nothing! is already in the works, to be released some time this year. I may have to watch it just to see if it lives up to the original.

Film: “The Pursuit of Happyness”

After a traditional Christmas morning of opening presents together, my family and I went to watch The Pursuit of Happyness at South Edmonton Common. I saw the commercial for this movie a few weeks ago, and had intentions of watching it sometime this season.

Starring Will Smith and his real-life son Jaden, and inspired by a true story, Pursuit follows Chris Gardner, a San Francisco-based medical supplies salesman. One fateful day after meeting a rich stockbroker on the street, he decides to apply for and accept an unpaid internship with a brokerage firm in an attempt to secure a better future for himself and his son. The movie focuses on his rags-to-riches journey, and in particular, Gardner’s struggle to prove himself amidst the struggle to support his son with very little time and means to do so.

The title comes from a misspelled wall mural next to the Chinatown daycare where Chris dropped his son off every morning, and is one of the many details drawn from the book on which the movie is based.

Overall, I thought the movie did a good job of chronicling the challenges Chris faced – from the breakdown of his relationship with his son’s mother, to the lengthy daily commute between the firm, daycare, and homeless shelter, and most strikingly, the heartbreaking scene where Chris is forced to sleep in a train station restroom. At the same time, the movie was too long – my emotions felt like an overused punching bag – how many times can you realistically empathize with a character before wanting it all to just end? Worse, the concluding payoff was proportionally not worth it; after the rollercoaster ride of over 120 minutes of pain, the director didn’t even allow the audience to celebrate with Chris in his triumph for any longer than five minutes. His jubilation seemed tacked on, an afterthought.

Moreover, the camera was shaky throughout the movie, with far too many close-ups. Though the filmmaker may have wanted a grittier aesthetic more closely aligning itself with the bumpy ride Chris was in for, it made the movie difficult to watch, and not because of the plotline. I also found Chris’ voiceovers unnecessary. The movie was punctuated with “This part of my life is called…” which may or may not be a motif rescued from the book, but to me, they jolted me out of the action on screen.

Will Smith was well cast though. He definitely has the charming, well-spoken quality that Gardner likely personified. But as good as the older Smith was, his son took the cake. In his big screen debut, Jaden exemplified an unassuming, curious, and loving son, a perfect mirror of innocence that any father would try to protect from the harsh realities of the world.

I also appreciated the props from the 80s. Sometimes I think it might be more difficult to dress a set only ten to twenty years removed from the present, as opposed to a period piece set in Victorian England, for example. In this movie, they accomplished the escapism design via interior decoration, wardrobe, and advertising (remember the Campbell’s, “Umm, umm, good” posters?).

So, it turns out happyness = wealth. Well, sort of.

Film: “Black Gold”

After dinner, we watched the documentary Black Gold. From the movie’s website:

“Tadesse Meskela is one man on a mission to save his 74,000 struggling coffee farmers from bankruptcy. As his farmers strive to harvest some of the highest quality coffee beans on the international market, Tadesse travels the world in an attempt to find buyers willing to pay a fair price.”

The film set a global course, from the New York Stock Exchange where international coffee prices are set, to the province of Oromia, Ethiopia, where poverty is pervasive, in part due to the terminally low selling price of coffee, to London where Meskela tries to acquire new purchasers for his collective’s coffee.

I’m not a documentary-junkie, but I did find that there was something missing in the film – it needed a harder edge. Format-wise, there were the expected juxtaposition tactics of extreme destitution against the wealth of developed nations. At the same time, some jump cuts were much too jarring, weakening the effectiveness with the time needed to adjust between locales.

The filmmakers did try to broaden the scope of the problem to include international scapegoats, mentioning an apparently pivotal end of the International Coffee Agreement in 1989, as well as a breakdown of WTO talks between the EU and developing nations in 2003, but overall, this section was much too general. I suppose part of the problem was that the film up to this point had followed Meskela, and without a developed figure present at the conferences, it was difficult to continue the narrative they had worked so hard to construct.

There was one panel of text summarizing how the multinationals (Kraft, Sara Lee, et al.) had turned down requests for interviews. I’m not saying that the filmmakers had to stalk industry representatives or stage a protest in front of company headquarters à la Michael Moore, but there had to be further elaboration. Yes, governments and trade organizations are at fault, but so are the corporations.

Near the end of the movie, the camera tracks Meskela as he searches the aisles of a London supermarket for coffee originating in Oromia. He does find a package, and expresses his hope that consumers on the ground level will begin to investigate the source of coffee, and work to advocate against the injustice faced by third world farmers. I think this point should have been communicated further as well, for example, by interviewing consumers about their awareness of the coffee trade as a whole. I was waiting for the explicit condemnation of those who silently comply with unjust treatment.

So, am I now a hypocrite if I continue to partake in coffee without asking the questions that need to be asked?