Day: February 4, 2014

LFM Reviews Viktoria @ The 2014 Sundance Film Festival

From "Viktoria."

By Joe Bendel. She drinks Coca-Cola and uses a Statue of Liberty cigarette lighter. Obviously, Boryana’s heart is not in Bulgaria’s glorious effort to build Socialism. It is in Venice. Unfortunately, her unplanned pregnancy will stymie her secret immigration plans. It is one reason why a Cold War rages between mother and daughter in Maya Vitkova’s Viktoria, which screened at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival.

Life in late 1970’s Bulgaria is pretty depressed and dehumanized. Even a trip to the OBGYN is a humiliating experience, conducted in an examination room with windows open for any passerby to observe. Boryana previously used traditional methods to induce miscarriage (a lot of jumping and the like), but to no avail this time.

In addition to putting the nix on Venice, the infant Viktoria perversely becomes a propaganda tool for the state. Not only was she born on Victory Day, she has no navel. Therefore, she is a portent of the new Socialist man of the future. No longer must women take time away from their labor for the sake of childbirth, because babies like Viktoria will surely be incubated outside their mothers.

When it comes to entitled little monsters, none can match a Communist princess. A personal favorite of Bulgarian Party secretary Todor Zhivkov, Viktoria is chauffeured to school each day, where she is given carte blanche to bully her teachers and peers alike. She even has a red phone connection direct to Zhivkov. Then one day in 1989, she becomes an ordinary kid, who nobody likes.

Despite the surreal interludes and mild magical realism, Viktoria conveys a vivid you-are-there sense of life under Communism. There is a ring of truth to it, precisely because of the absurdity. Young Viktoria’s special midriff make-up also looks quite realistic. However, the post-1989 narrative largely loses both its bite and its focus. It seems like it takes Vitkova forty minutes to never really figure out how to end it all. Still, considering the running time is over two and a half hours, there is a good feature’s length of material that works.

From "Viktoria."

While the third act might have problems, it is hardly the fault of Kalina Vitkova, who is hauntingly expressive as the twentysomething Viktoria. Likewise, her younger sister Daria is a remarkable force as the imperious and then chastened grade school Viktoria. Yet, it is Irmena Chichikova’s Borynana who will really get under viewers’ skin, depicting a persona forced into itself by circumstances and a totalitarian state.

For the most part, the sexually frank Viktoria has the vibe of a more Spartan Unbearable Lightness of Being, with trippy flights of fantasy thrown in to convey the characters inner angst. Highly recommended, it is a challenging film in terms of subject and style, but it is worth grappling with, especially its more consistent initial two hours. The first Bulgarian film selected by the Sundance Film Festival, Viktoria turned out to be a sleeper at Park City, so it is certain to have a long life ahead on the international festival circuit.

LFM GRADE: A-

Posted on February 4th, 2014 at 12:43am.

LFM Reviews Wajda’s Man of Iron, Presented by Martin Scorsese

By Joe Bendel. It is the first and arguably the only true sequel to win the Palme D’Or, but it has far wider historical significance than mere festival laurels. Picking up exactly where Andrzej Wajda’s Man of Marble left off, it depicts the heady days of Solidarity’s initial victories with documentary-like immediacy—and even boasts Lech Wałęsa appearing briefly as himself. Wajda’s Man of Iron is a true masterpiece that fittingly opens Martin Scorsese Presents: Masterpieces of Polish Cinema this Wednesday at the Walter Reade Theater.

Sadly, Iron almost immediately undercuts the exhilarating ending of Marble. It had seemed Agnieszka, a muckraking journalist in training, would finally reveal the true fate of Mateusz Birkut, a former labor hero of state propaganda conspicuously scrubbed from public records, with the help of his son, Maciej Tomczyk. Oh but not so fast, say her superiors at the television station.

It turns out the acorn has not fallen far from the tree in the case of the modest, self-effacing Tomczyk. Following Birkut’s example, he has become a leader in the budding Solidarity movement, largely modeled on Wałęsa, Wajda’s Man of Hope. Although muzzled by the Party, he and Agnieszka have fallen in love. Alas, she is not there to appreciate Tomczyk’’s increasing prominence as a democracy activist. As an independent journalist living in a police state, she is exactly where Thoreau would say she should be.

In accordance with the historical record, Solidarity calls a strike in the Gdansk shipyards in response to the punitive dismissal of Anna Walentynowicz (who also briefly appears as herself), but their protests are embraced far more widely by the general public than they ever expected. Recognizing the seismic shift in the zeitgeist, leaders like Tomczyk and Wałęsa pivot away from  small ball agenda items to big picture demands. Caught flatfooted, the Communist Party resorts to dirty tricks.  Enter the sheepish Winkel. A former independent journalist from Agnieszka’s circle, he has sold out to the powers that be. Yet, given his history, the Party expects him to win back his former colleagues’ confidence, only to betray them once again with a report exposing whatever scandal he can muster on Tomczyk.

There is a lot going on in Iron, but it can be readily appreciated simply as a document of Solidarity’s unprecedented 1980 breakthroughs. However, it is an even richer experience for viewers who have seen Marble. Try to imagine a sequel to Citizen Kane equally accomplished as the original, in which William Alland turns his attention to a long lost son of Charles Foster Kane, at the behest of the Pulitzers, and you will have a vague idea of Iron’s full significance.

From "Man of Iron."

While she necessarily has far less screen time given the circumstances of her character, the truly heroic Krystyna Janda (truly devastating in the duly banned The Interrogation) returns as Agnieszka, fortifying the film with integrity in each of her scenes. Arguably, Jerzy Radziwilowicz surpasses his work as Birkut in Marble, playing the quiet but forceful Tomczyk with richer nuance. Yet, Marian Opania ultimately stands alone defining Iron as the acutely tragic Winkel, showing the audience just how hard it is to regain a soul sold cheap. It is an extraordinarily powerful performance, precisely because it comes from such an unlikely figure.

Man of Iron is a great way to start a stellar film series, personally curated by Scorsese. Obviously, he is an expert in just about everything film related, but the editorial consideration he brought to bear on the Masterpieces of Polish Cinema collection is impeccable. Fully restored with newly translated subtitles, Man of Iron is highly recommended to anyone who cares about cinema. It kicks off the series this Wednesday (2/5) at the Walter Reade Theater.

LFM GRADE: A

Posted on February 4th, 2014 at 12:40am.

Vengeance is Shohei Imamura: LFM Reviews Black Rain

By Joe Bendel. These days, fifty-five is a relatively young age to pass, especially for a former pop idol. For the family and fans of Yoshiko Tanaka, it would be a tragic case of symmetry. Justly lauded for her role as a “hibakusha” Hiroshima survivor, Tanaka succumbed to cancer in 2011. Although not exactly the sort of wrong-side-of-the-tracks noir that made his early reputation, Shohei Imamura’s Black Rain made a fitting capstone to the Asia Society’s Vengeance is Imamura retrospective when it screened this past weekend.

Yasuko was not in Hiroshima proper when the bomb was dropped, so she should be unaffected by “the flash.” However, she was caught in the “black rain” during the immediate aftermath. Despite her beauty, that is enough for most parents to put the nix on inquiries from her marriage broker.

Frankly, her matchmaking woes are more painful for her uncle Shigematsu Shizuma and his wife Shigeko. They had taken their niece into their home for safe keeping during the waning days of the war, promising to arrange her betrothal. Her potential old maid status grieves them personally and represents a potentially loss of face with their family and ancestors. Yet, as Yasuko’s prospects dim, she becomes increasingly devoted to the ailing Shizumas.

Imamura served an early apprenticeship with Yasujiro Ozu, so it is not so surprising to see his mentor’s influence imprinted on Rain. Like many of Ozu’s signature films, which focus on fathers and daughters or uncles and nieces, Rain is defined by the relationship between Yasuko and old man Shizuma. The way their bond steadily deepens is absolutely beautiful and agonizing to behold.

From "Black Rain."

As Yasuko, Tanaka is exquisitely beautiful, profoundly moving, and in retrospect, sadly eerie. Likewise, Kazuo Kitamura is a wonderfully complex figure of strength and pathos. Their screen rapport is real and affecting.

Rain is also impressive on a technical level, vividly recreating the chaos and destruction of Hiroshima. Nevertheless, it is a far cry from an Irwin Allen picture. It is also worlds removed from Ridley Scott’s Black Rain, which was also partly set in Japan and released in the same year. However, it makes much of the criticism leveled at The Wind Rises look largely misplaced. While Miyazaki’s animated feature addresses the repressive tactics of the militarist government’s secret police, Black Rain presents the Japanese war experience entirely in terms of passive victimhood. Yet, its overt anti-nuclear sentiments earn it a pass. Regardless, Black Rain is a mature and engrossing work from a master filmmaker. Highly recommended, it concludes the Vengeance is Imamura series tonight (2/1) at the Asia Society.

LFM GRADE: A-

Posted on February 4th, 2014 at 12:36am.

Talking Through the Apocalypse: LFM Reviews After the Dark

By Joe Bendel. In most lifeboat scenarios, it is women and children first. That is not necessarily the case for the hypotheticals one philosophy class will grapple with. Logic will be the first thing thrown over the side in John Huddles’ After the Dark, which opens this Friday in select theaters.

The elite philosophy class of Jakarta’s western school for wealthy expats is a little put out having to do work on the final day of class, but Mr. Zimit is playing hardball with their grades. They will each draw a profession from his box and then vote on who gets a place in the bomb shelter. There are twenty of them and enough air and provisions in the bunker for ten.

As their “thought experiments” play out, we see the survivors interacting, like rats trapped in a cage, but since they are all just jawing back in their Jakarta classroom, where is all this melodrama coming from? It gets rather puzzling at times as when, for obvious reasons of jealousy, Zimit decrees James, the just-getting-by boyfriend of his prized pupil Petra, shall hence forth be gay. To be true to himself, James subsequently starts sleeping with the class’s token gay Adonis in bunker world. That drives Petra into the bunker-arms of Zimit, which in turn disturbs James because he always had a bad feeling about that guy. Frankly, it would be much more interesting to see how that could possibly come out in a classroom conversation than to sit through the dramatic representation.

Dark’s basic premise is intriguing, but the execution is a logical shipwreck, starting at the top with Mr. Zimit. Supposedly he wants his students to think like philosophers, but it is more like he is training them to be actuaries. You’re a gelato maker—sorry not much earnings potential there. In a running gag, Zimit summarily executes the poor shmuck stuck being the poet before selection even begins, because he so obviously lacks utility. Really, that is what a philosophy teacher thinks of poetry? I put it to you Mr. Zimit, any philosophy instructor who neglects the age old philosophic study of aesthetics is a substandard teacher who therefore must relinquish his role in deciding who will live and who will die.

Regardless, Sophie Lowe is surprisingly good as Petra, the sensitive smartie. The whole class is ridiculously attractive, but the girls generally sound more convincingly like members of a gifted-and-talented class than the meathead guys. Yet, the film’s real trump card is the Indonesian locales who add a distinctively surreal wtf-ness that helps forestall all the questions regarding logical inconsistencies.

Have you ever woken up at night with what feels like a brilliant idea, but thought otherwise once you read your scribbled notes in the morning? That probably happened to Huddles, except he still thought it was a fine notion and proceeded to film it. There is a germ of something here, but he should have given his subconscious more time to kick it around. However, Russian audiences evidently disagreed, making it a surprise box office champion over several studio films, which is impressive considering its relatively sympathetic gay character probably makes it illegal under Putin’s “homosexual propaganda” law. A head-scratcher all the way around, After the Dark releases in select theaters and on VOD this Friday (2/7).

LFM GRADE: C

Posted on February 4th, 2014 at 12:33am.