Month: March 2013

By Joe Bendel. The Renoirs were no ordinary family. Yet not even they were spared the horrors of WWI. At least the great painter’s middle son could convalesce amid the splendor of his family’s Riviera home. The future French auteur will meet his father’s last great model during his fateful homecoming in Gilles Bourdos’s Renoir, which opens this Friday in New York.

Referred to Renoir for potential modeling work, Andrée “Dédée” Heuschling finds an estate frozen in a state of near paradise, staffed by a veritable harem of her predecessors, doting on the arthritic artist. However, old man Renoir does not rest easy. He still mourns his late wife, while he waits for word of his two eldest sons injured on the battlefront. Yet Heuschling has the perfect Renoir look, inspiring him to begin painting outdoor nude studies once again. She also makes quite the impression on the Impressionist’s son Jean when he returns home on medical leave.

Based on the narrative biography of Jacques Renoir (Pierre-Auguste’s great-grandson and Jean’s great-nephew), Boudros’s film initially appears to be about the artist in his twilight years, but steadily shifts its focus to Jean, the future cinematic artist as a young man. Of course, Heuschling links father and son, eventually serving as muse to both.

Throughout Renoir, Boudros elevates fine art and evocative atmosphere high above messy dramatics. The resulting experience is quite a bit like taking an afternoon nap in the French countryside. It is quite luxurious, but there is not much to tell afterward. Nonetheless, Boudros crafts an elegant period production – even enlisting Guy Ribes, a convicted forger fresh out of the big house, to recreate Renoir’s style and method.

While Heuschling’s coquettish character deliberately remains something of cipher throughout Renoir, cinematographer Mark Ping Bing Lee’s lens absolutely loves Christa Théret, as do Ribes’ canvasses. Audiences will certainly understand the “Renoir look” from her photogenic turn. Vincent Rottiers largely carries the dramatic load as Jean Renoir, creating a convincing portrait of a somewhat confused young man trying to find his way in the world. Yet Michel Bouquet, the crafty old veteran thesp, eventually steals the film back for Pierre-Auguste with some wonderfully subtle but touching scenes of a father coming to terms with his sons. However, Thomas Doret (from the Dardenne Brothers’ The Kid with a Bike) never really gets to stretch beyond the surly wild child as Renoir’s youngest son, Claude (a.k.a. Coco).

Renoir is the sort of quiet but impeccably graceful film French cinema lovers swoon over. The combination of Renoir’s art, the lush natural beauty, Théret’s figure, and even a spot of hot jazz are wonderfully seductive. Recommended for Francophiles and admirers of Impressionism, Renoir opens this Friday (3/29) in New York at the Lincoln Plaza Cinema.

LFM GRADE: B+

Posted on March 25th, 2013 at 9:46am.

By Joe Bendel. Technically, Sabrina and Dorcy’s families both came from the same continent. Yet, for all practical purposes, they are a universe apart. The couple intends to marry just the same, whether or not their families approve in Rachid Djaïdani’s surprisingly witty Rengaine (a.k.a. Hold Back), which screens tomorrow during this year’s New Directors/New Films, co-presented by MoMA and the Film Society of Lincoln Center.

The son of Christian Africans, Dorcy is a struggling actor. Frankly, he does not seem to be very good at it, but at least he is trying. Sabrina has fallen in love with him nonetheless, but her forty—that’s right four-zero—Algerian immigrant brothers do not approve. At least that is true of the eldest, Slimane, who presumes to speak for the rest of his siblings.

Alarmed by Sabrina’s romantic transgression, Slimane proceeds to mobilize his brothers – but to their credit, some think he is just being a controlling jerk. However, probably a good two thirds are either inclined to agree with him or can be easily cowed by the self-appointed guardian of traditional Muslim values. Frankly, most of the latter are rather sketchy characters who might have stepped out of Le Pen campaign commercials. In contrast, the brothers who are more integrated into French society argue Slimane should mind his own business—and he has plenty to mind. Ironically the elder brother is engaged in his own romantic relationship with an alternative cabaret singer, who happens to be Jewish.

Filmed over a nine year stretch, the not quite eighty minute Rengaine was definitely a labor of love for French Algerian-Sudanese novelist Djaïdani, who clearly identifies with his lead characters and their various situations. The film has a whole lot of rough edges, yet that really is a large part of its charm. While some bits amount to little more than false starts, other scenes are wickedly droll and resound with the ring of truth.

As Dorcy, Stéphane Soo Mongo (whose credits include an episode of The Sopranos) is quite convincing as a terrible actor, which actually constitutes a nice bit of acting. He also gets most of the film’s laughs with his satirical misadventures in Parisian hipsterdom. Sabrina Hamida effectively expresses her namesake’s frustrations and outrages, but it is not as meaty a role as that of her two primary male co-stars. Indeed, Slimane Dazi (another of the cast’s few established professionals, recognizable from films like Free Men and A Prophet) really lowers the boom as Brother Slimane. Memorably world weary and conflicted, he takes the film to some dark places, including a riveting confrontation with the final brother.

Rengaine is short and messy, but unusually energetic. It is also unflinchingly honest in depicting the various forms of racism and intolerance within the immigrant Algerian Muslim community. Djaiani does not let Dorcy’s family off the hook either, but the Slimane’s hypocritical freakout is the film’s dramatic driver. Featuring a knock-out performance from Dazi and a stylish and stylistically diverse soundtrack, Rengaine is adventurous but well satisfying art cinema. Recommended for French film patrons, it screens this Sunday (3/24) at MoMA.

LFM GRADE: B+

Posted on March 23rd, 2013 at 11:50am.

By Joe Bendel. Rashid engages in all sorts of activities at odds with his Islamic faith. He drinks, deals drugs, and beds girls in his housing estate. Yet, his younger brother Mo idolizes him for it all. However, when “Rash” finally gets in touch with his true nature, his sibling turns against him hard in Sally El Hosaini’s My Brother the Devil, which opens tomorrow in New York.

Rash is a small time Hackney gangster with a growing rep. To Mo, that is very cool. To his credit, though, Rash is dead set against his little brother following in his footsteps. On this much he agrees with their traditional Egyptian immigrant parents. When Rash takes over the route of his late running mate, he starts making regular deliveries to Sayyid, a successful hipster photographer. Feeling a connection, Sayyid makes a pass at Rash, who initially reacts rather badly. However, he soon returns.

Naturally, there is a lot of outside drama going on just as Rash starts wrestling with his sexuality. His gang is dead-set on retribution and they want Rash to do the dirty work. Yet, when Mo discovers Rash’s secret, matters really come to a head.

A trenchant social observer, El Hosaini attributes Mo’s homophobic freak-out both to his Muslim upbringing and to the macho prejudices of the thug life he aspires to join. It is chillingly telling when he finds it easier to claim Rash has become a terrorist than admit to his friends that his brother might be gay.

El Hosaini coaxes some completely natural feeling performances from her mostly neophyte cast. James Floyd is particularly dynamic and forceful as Rash. Yet, one wishes she had been a bit more adventurous in her approach to the material. One can hear echoes of Boyz n the Hood and subsequent urban dramas throughout the film, most definitely including the omnipresent rap soundtrack. Granted, the British import is coming from a similar socio-economic place, but there is still a formulaic predictability to her fraternal morality play.

Nonetheless, El Hosaini’s consistent honesty is commendable. Devil never alibis or walks back the prejudice it depicts, implying that these are deeply held sentiments in Rash’s community – rather than the manifestation of inadequate youth programs.

Yes, viewers will probably know where Devil is headed each step of the way. Yet, the unromanticized portrait of urban violence and intolerance is relatively fresh and forthright. Bolstered by Floyd’s bold performance, My Brother the Devil is worth considering for those whose tastes run towards gritty social issue dramas. It opens tomorrow (3/22) in New York at the Landmark Sunshine.

LFM GRADE: B-

Posted on March 21st, 2013 at 11:27am.

By Joe Bendel. You would think paranoia would run deep amongst identical twins. That whole doppelganger possibility is just unnerving. One existentially morose pediatrician does indeed assume his twin’s life under suitably shady circumstances in Ana Piterbarg’s Everybody has a Plan, which opens this Friday in New York.

Frankly, Agustín has no reason to be so miserable. He has a thriving practice in Buenos Aires and an intelligent professional wife. They are on the brink of adopting an infant, but it is safe to say she is far more enthusiastic than he. In fact, he rather precipitously puts the kibosh on their plans, falling into a depressive stupor shortly thereafter. However, relief arrives in the unlikeliest form when his prodigal twin Pedro unexpectedly pays a visit. Terminally ill, the deadbeat brother wants a final favor from Agustín.

Following the grass-is-greener line of reasoning, Agustín takes Pedro’s place in the hardscrabble Tigre Delta, but he did not exactly do his due diligence. Before long, Agustín learns that in addition to beekeeping, he is also now a part-time member of a ruthless gang of kidnappers. Still, it is not all bad. In fact, he quickly develops a relationship with Rosa, the young woman who helps tend his hives.

Piterbarg really puts the “slow” in “slow burner.” She drenches the noir-ish morality tale in swampy atmosphere, but her pacing would generously be described as languid. Daniel Fanego provides a genuine sense of menace as the sociopathic ringleader, Adrián, but our anti-hero is far more inclined to rumination than action. Fortunately, brooding and seething are definitely well within Viggo Mortensen’s power zone. He keeps audiences vested and focused, despite the film’s determination to takes its sweet time. However, the question remains, does his morally problematic Agustín qualify as an “evil twin?”

Having lived in Argentina and Venezuela during his early years, co-producer Mortensen is clearly comfortable with the language and setting. PresumablyPiterbarg was aiming for a rustic suspense vibe somewhat in the tradition of Night of the Hunter, but the result is closer to contemporary Latin American art cinema – deeply rooted in its environment, but privileging character and tone above plot and dialogue. Stylish but often maddeningly reserved, Everybody has a Plan is recommended mostly for diehard fans of Mortensen and Argentine cinema when it opens this Friday (3/22) in New York at the Angelika Film Center and the AMC Empire.

LFM GRADE: C+

Posted on March 20th, 2013 at 9:57am.

By Joe Bendel. These candidates will not debate, but there will be plenty of dirty campaigning. Yes, we have seen organized crime “elections” before, classic ones in fact. However, in this case, a crafty old copper plans to be the secret hanging chad. He will play a high stakes game in hopes of influencing the Goldmoon syndicate’s succession in Park Hoon-jung’s New World, which opens this Friday in New York.

We know Choi Min-sik is a serious hardnose, because he was in Oldboy, I Saw the Devil, and Nameless Gangster. Indeed, we can tell his Detective Kang does not have a lot of qualms about cutting corners right from the start, but he will soon raise Machiavellian ruthlessness to an art form. Years ago, Kang placed Lee Ja-sung, a green police recruit, super-deep undercover with Goldmoon. Since then, the corporate alliance of criminal clans has become so powerful the police only hope to contain it. The untimely rubbing out of their chairman presents a golden opportunity. The strategically placed Lee will influence the ensuing leadership struggle to benefit Kang’s favored contender, but only Kang and his easily manipulated superior know the details of Operation New World.

Even Lee is not privy to the identity of Kang’s candidate, but he generally assumes it will be Jung Chung, the violently erratic head of his clan. Lee chafes under Jung Chung, openly resenting his immaturity and condescension. Nonetheless, since they are both ethnic Chinese, the prospective chairman completely trusts his lieutenant—at least for now.

Together with last year’s Nameless Gangster, Choi delivers a heck of a gangster epic one-two punch. He again commands the screen with his rumpled middle-aged intensity. While his work as Kang is somewhat understated compared to his turn in Devil (also written by Park), he still brings a sinister charisma that makes the movie. By the same token, Lee Jung-jae matches him step for step as Lee, tapping into all kinds of angry, paranoid inner turmoil. Yet neither is as disconcerting as Hwang Jun-min’s nearly feral Jung Chung.

It is possible some viewers might guess New World’s big twist, but the circuitous route it takes to get there is devilishly clever and grimly logical. Park keeps the tension cranked up and when it is time for a big gangster brawl he pulls out all the stops. The elevator scene alone is worth the price of admission.

Sometimes you see an Asian crime film so wickedly entertaining, you know Hollywood will not be able to resist producing an inferior remake. That is the kind of badness we are talking about here. For fans of the gangster genre, New World is this year’s must see. Recommended for patrons of smart mob dramas who are not afraid of a spot of violence, New World opens this Friday (3/22) in New York at the AMC Empire.

LFM GRADE: A

Posted on March 19th, 2013 at 1:31pm.