A little bit of Paradis

Paradis | October 19, 2009

How do we take evil out of our society?

This is the question raised in A Clockwork Orange, Stanely Kubrick’s surreal look into a violent future. This controversial  1971 movie is based on the novel by Anthony Burgess, and is certainly a contrast to Kubrick’s previous 2001:A Space Odyssey. Walter Carlos provides the synthesized score for this colourful, controversial and striking film, narrated throughout by Alex, the main protagonist.

Malcolm McDowell puts in an excellent performance as the gang leader, revelling in acts of sadistic violence, inspired to commit evil by his love and immersion in the classic Beethoven, in this satirical look at how society deals with these evil doers. The Government, once they apprehend Alex, put him into some rehabilitation programme, to turn him into a good citizen.

Alex DeLarge has a penchant for Beethoven and is the leader of a group of misfits, who’s main occupation in life seems to be fighting, raping and stealing, their evenings start, sitting in bars sipping moloko, which is some kind of milk laced with drugs. This puts them in their violent moods ready for their nightly rampages.

But Alex’s days of rampaging and violence come to and end, when Alex is finally aprehended for a violent murder after being betrayed by his own gang. He is then offered a new radical and untested treatment to try and cure him, called aversion therapy, which makes him physically sick when confronted with thoughts of sex or violence. It is a kind of brainwashing, and Alex agrees to the treatment because he wants to be free of prison. What Alex doesn’t realize though, when he agrees to the programme, is he will lose everything that he ever was, he will have no personality any more, no free will.

This is an extremely violent film, and one needs quite some resolve to watch it, and though I am not happy with some of it’s content, I realize that Kubrick is trying to get across the message of who Alex is, and he certainly does this. Though it is subjective as to whether it needed quite such brutal undertones. I have to also question the Governments ‘violence’ in this plot too. I guess this was the whole point Kubrick was making, whether the Governments answer to, and treatment of Alex was any better than Alex’s own behaviour, and whether the end result was justified.

Incidentally, Nadsat, the hybrid language used in this film is a mix of slang, English and Russian and the title is believed to come from an old cockney English saying, ‘As queer as a clockwork orange’, which means something bizarre on the inside, but harmless. Well, this film is certainly bizarre. Hands up those that have never heard of it? I think A Clockwork Orange, while not being the best thing since sliced bread, is certainly one of the most well known, if only due to it’s infamous nature.

It was originally X rated, and due to it’s strong nature, Kubrick saw fit to withdraw it from the shelves about a year later. Some of the footage was replaced and ‘tidied up’ so it could get it’s R rating in the US, while in the UK the whole uncut version was released to the public in 2000.

So how do we take evil out of our society?
By turning him into a clockwork orange of course. Take away his free will, make him conform and behave in a way that suits society.
Is that a good or bad thing?
I will leave that to you to decide.

Paradis

Category: Films to watch |
Tags: Films

Paradis | October 17, 2009

Rick Deckard prowls the streets of 21st-century Los Angeles. He’s a ‘Blade Runner’ stalking genetically made criminal replicants. His assignment is to retire them. Their crime is, wanting to be human…

Los Angeles in the year 2020, huge neon advertisements illuminate the night sky above the city’s towering skyscrapers. The interiors, however, are murky and dark, the oppressive gloom occasionally relieved by beams of light from a roving spotlight. The majority of Earth’s population has left for Mars with only the misfits left behind to populate the planet. Earth is a very difficult place for humans. It is very under populated, and many homes and apartment buildings are empty or with only a few inhabitants left.

Infiltrating this strange, derelict society are four replicants, laboratory-created creatures who are practically indistinguishable from humans, whose job it is to perform menial tasks in outer space, and who are forbidden, on pain of destruction, to set foot on Earth. These replicants have hi-jacked a space-shuttle by killing its crew and are now in Los Angeles passing themselves off as humans. It is up to supercop Deckard to seek them out and eliminate them before they can eliminate him. The replicant’s want to confront Dr. Tyrell and force him to extend their life span. Since Nexus-6 are considerably stronger, faster and smarter than the average human, the success of this mission might endanger all of mankind.

The leading maker of replicants is Tyrell Co., led by Dr. Tyrell. Its latest model, the Nexus-6, can be distinguished from humans only by a small group of experts. Their brains are so advanced that Nexus-6 replicants think for themselves, and he idea of a rebellion is starting to worry the people. To limit damage from replicants running amok or rebelling, it is now illegal for the Nexus-6 replicants to come to Earth, and their built in life span is only four years.

This is a dark film in two ways, in 2019 AD Los Angeles huge clouds of dust prevent any sunlight getting through. It rains all the time. The entire film is shot in darkness and rain. This takes some getting used to. Deckard who at the start of the film cares for no one, and has a “they are just machines” attitude toward the replicants, falls in love with the replicant Rachel, under the most unlikely of circumstances. Rutger Hauer, a Dutch actor, has appeared in many films, often playing villains. His role as Roy Batty, the Nexus-6 leader of the band of four rebels, is wonderful. Batty is very philosophical, and shows great emotions. The romance between Deckard and Rachel, Dr. Tyrell’s personal assistant, is well done, and by the end the viewer really cares about Rachel and Deckard and their future together.

The story of Blade Runner is familiar to countless fans, it is a cultist film. One that is watched over and over, and each time you learn a little more insight. it is a philosophical film, making you think on many levels. This is director Ridley Scott’s own vision of his sci-fi classic. The ‘director’s cut’ version omits Deckard’s voice over narration, develops in slightly greater detail the romance between Deckard and Rachael and removes the uplifting finale. The result is a heightened emotional impact, a great film made greater. Most intriguing of all is a newly included unicorn vision that suggests Deckard may be a replicant.

Blade Runner, a classic movie, that I think almost everyone has seen. I like most cult films, and Blade Runner is one of the best, and is based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick. It is such an ambiguous film, and open to much debate and speculation.

I love the atmosphere of this cyberpunk film, with the beautiful cityscapes, neon lights, flying cars and the rain! You can almost feel the pollution crawl up your nostrils and pick at your brain. And of course, the lovely Vangelis music. But the bits I really like, are things like the unicorn sequence, the origami figures and Batty, played by Dutch actor, Rutger Hauer.

Oh yes, Batty and his need for humanity, who in the end was more human than any of us. Batty’s speech just before his death, are the most chilling and amazing words;
“I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I saw sea beams glitter in the dark beneath tanhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time… like tears in rain”

And of course, the underlying question that raged for 20 years, was Deckard a replicant? Which Ridley Scott answered in the affirmative after all that time, and finally laid to rest the enigma.

Paradis

Category: Films to watch |
Tags: Blade Runner, Films

Paradis | October 17, 2009

Lost in Translation…
Sofia Coppola directed (and wrote) this wonderfully atmospheric comedy/drama/romance. You would be correct in assuming Sofia Coppola is related to Francis Ford Coppola, she is his daughter. Don’t be put off by the genre of the movie, it isn’t as you would expect. Personally I wouldn’t normally watch many movies of this genre, but I was persuaded, and glad I was…

The basic premise is, an American over-the-hill aging actor is in Tokyo to shoot a drinks commercial, and meets a photographer’s wife, and the platonic friendship that develops from that encounter. Trust me, this isn’t anything sloppy about this movie, and if sordid sex scenes are what you are after, forget it. This is just pure magic, and I apologise to Bill Murrray, I always thought he was a rubbish actor, this movie proves he can actually act. Scarlett Johansson’s performance was also spot on. She is a young fresh new actress, and she isn’t just a pretty face, it looks like she can act too.

The last scene leaves you wondering what they whispered to each other in the busy street, in their goodbye scene. Planned this way, so you, the audience don’t get to hear what they say, leaving it open. I know many people are frustrated at this part, after following the two around for the whole film, suddenly you are shut out from this one private moment, but for me, it seems right and fitting. I don’t want to know what was said, I want to think things for myself.

It was almost as if I were watching Blade Runner in modern Japan.The atmosphere totally soaked into me, total and utter ambience. I was there, sightseeing amongst the city bustle, seeing life as the Japanese live it. I could smell the sushi, and feel the energy of those mad arcade players. The directing was superb, and wasn’t afraid to linger on the scenic shots long after they needed to, adding to that Japanese ‘I was there’ flavour. I loved the karaoke scenes, and Bill Murray’s rendition of the Elvis Costello song, ‘What’s so funny bout peace, love and understanding’ was nice.

This movie has rave reviews everywhere, and was the most highly regarded movie of the year. Shame it has to compete in the Oscars with The Return of the King. Considering, in this movie there is really no story, there are no plot twists, indeed, there isn’t even a real plot, it is an amazing feat that is has turned out so well. Basically we are following and intruding in the lives of two strangers as they form this friendship, and the rest of the time, we are soaking up all that wonderful Japanese atmosphere that is so abundant. This movie is about a mood.

Anyone that ever saw Blade Runner and liked it, will get that same buzz from this. The direction wasn’t afraid to stereotype the Japanese either, every cliche in the book is used. Every opportunity was used to typify their culture, their look and their sometimes, odd ways. The soundtrack was also superb. What more can I say? This was a wonderful, light humoured, poignant and moving tale of a friendship between two strangers in a strange land and I will happily watch it again.

Paradis

Category: Films to watch |
Tags: Films

Paradis | October 17, 2009

Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avary, two writers, wrote several different stories, and then, using witty dialogue, manipulate the stories so that they intertwine and mesh together perfectly, creating a web of events and characters that all play parts of a larger story. The stories themselves are very entertaining. How many other movies have an end at the beginning and the middle as an end?
The film opens with a conversation in a diner, and ends in the same diner, and in between, we have several story threads that, at first, seem unrelated to each other, but the links become clearer as we progress. One of those little stories involve Vincent Vega and Mia Wallace, the wife of Vega’s boss. When Marsellus Wallace leaves town, he asks Vega to look after his wife.  Mia asks Vincent to take her out for the night, and they go to a 1950’s theme restaurant. The dance sequence is my favourite part of the film. The choreography is wonderful and Thurman and Travolta are great together.

However, the night doesn’t all go well. After arriving back home, Mia discovers Vega’s stash of heroin, and uses some, thinking it is cocaine, this leads to her overdosing, and Vega dragging her body to his supplier and getting her an adrenaline shot. Some very funny scenes ensue. The second story involves Vincent and his bible quoting partner Jules, two hitmen on a mission to retrieve a briefcase for their boss. Their scenes together are very well written and provide a lot of humour, as well as shock. The third story revolves around an aging boxer named Butch, and a fixed fight. He is paid, by Mia’s husband, to lose, but Butch decides to show them that he can still fight, and ends up killing the other boxer. The fourth, and shortest, story involves a married criminal couple who decide to hold up a diner.

Director Quentin Tarantino is a genius and his movies always have an entertaining quirkiness to them. Pulp Fiction shows the brilliant direction of Tarantino and how skillful he really is. The technical aspects of the film are a work of art. The editing is some of the best. One of the best edited scenes is when Vincent Vega and Jules Winnfield shoot a guy in a chair. The glow that cuts from shot to shot, reflects the golden glow from the briefcase, and we never did find out what was in that case. This film resurrected John Travolta’s career, but of course, he dragged himself back down again after, and it did great things for Samuel L. Jackson’s career.

What I like about Pulp Fiction is the dialogue. There is a lot of casual conversation that does not advance the plot in any way, it is added, purely for our entertainment. And entertains, it does. The conversation topics that seem mundane are still strangely compelling and fascinating. This is Tarentino at his best. I am not sure he can ever do anything better than this.

Tarantino makes us wait nearly two hours to find out the relevance of that opening diner scene, and at the end you sit and go, ‘ahh, I see now’ Pure genius. Loyalty is what the movie centres on, and I have to wonder if that was symbolic of what was in the briefcase. That bugged me, when they didn’t reveal it. I was so intrigued with that bit. I read somewhere, Pulp Fiction was A verbal car chase using English as the highway. I think that decribes this movie perfectly.

Paradis

Category: Films to watch |
Tags: Films

Paradis | October 13, 2009

On October 2, 1988 a six foot sinister looking bunny rabbit named Frank appears and encourages a sleeping Donnie Darko outside and informs him that the world is going to end in 28 days, oddly enough at Halloween. You know from this moment on, this is different, and you won’t be disappointed…

I don’t know if Richard Kelly was experimenting with drugs or not when he made this Indie movie on a budget of 4.5 million dollars, but the outcome is a great, entertaining and thought provoking movie. Thought provoking enough to have you debating with others that have seen it about what the hell just happened in the last two hours. Even the music adds to the sombre, yet sometimes quirky feel of the story. Richard Kelly, himself said, “I wanted the film to be a piece of social satire that needs to be experienced and digested several times”, well, he certainly acheived his goal. With Donnie Darko, Kelly has given us something original.

The premise; Donnie, a young high school kid living in suburbia who doesn’t fit in, a mentally unstable teenager, and he is known to sleepwalk, so he is not surprised when he wakes up on the local golf course in the morning. Upon returning home, he learns that a jet engine fell into his bedroom during the night and if he had been in bed he would be dead now. Donnie is a very troubled youngster, and his parents, Rose and Eddie Darko can’t begin to understand why their son is so disturbed and have him going to therapy and taking pills, but it seems Donny may be more lucid than he appears, he gathers information about time travel and time lines, and he starts seeing invisible paths of a person’s movements. This is an odd special effect to see. Donnie is searching for answers, although he doesn’t always know what the questions are. As the apocalyptic date nears, Frank, a giant, 6 foot rabbit regularly visits and encourages Donnie to perform destructive acts with quite surprising outcomes.

Donnie Darko is adventurous and ambitious and isn’t limited to its ideas. Special effects and a constantly foreboding atmosphere enhance the movie greatly. A mix of satire, fantasy and time travel, keeps the movie full of surprises and it’s general oddness is engrossing. It’s a movie that requires a second watching in order to understand it’s complexities. No…make that many viewings. For a large part of the film, I had to wonder whether “Frank” is Donnie’s psychotic mind or whether it was a paranormal thing. It’s set in the 80’s, in a time when being different was not acceptable. A time where we all wore masks of conformity, to blend with the mainstream. A pretence at being in a perfect world, only it wasn’t, and Donnie can see this.

Very hard to categorise, the most unexplainable plot line ever. It’s a combination of fantasy and reality, of an apocalyptic horror movie and a high school comedy, that chronicles Donnie’s life in the last 28 days leading to the apocalypse. Some of the questions that obsess Donnie; is life chaotic or are we at the mercy of fate?, is there a way of escaping this world through some black hole? and this seems to be the ongoing theme of the film.

The film is puzzling yet oddly satisfying, and is one of the best movies I have ever seen, it keeps you in suspense and excitement the whole time and will haunt you for days. A gripping, mysterious movie, and the fact that it was filmed in only 28 days, which was the duration of the story it is really amazing. It’s one of those thinking films, that has you discussing it for a long time afterwards, and the beauty of it is, it involves you, as it is left for you to decide what just happened.

Music; The Killing Moon by Echo And The Bunnyman, opens the film, and a slowed down version of Mad World by Gary Jules ends it. Both are excellent tracks, and fit the film perfectly. 2004 also saw the release of the Director’s cut, where 20 minutes of footage was added in, and some of the music rearanged. For instance, INXS, Never Tear Us Apart, replaced Echo and the Bunnymen’s, The Killing Moon on the Director’s Cut version, though I much prefered the Bunnymen track. It is far darker and fit’s the theme better.

If you liked Good Will Hunting, Catcher in the Rye or Fight Club, then this is right up your street. This is a cult classic. Art house doesn’t get much better.

Paradis

Category: Films to watch |
Tags: Films

Paradis | October 13, 2009

Always Bobby, never Bob…

When Martin Scorsese made ‘No Direction Home: Bob Dylan’ a 225 minute biopic documentary, it was to give the public and fans a ‘warts and all’ look at a quiet, camera shy folk singer, who changed the musical world forever, when he exploded on stage in 1965 with a song, now known as Dylan’s finest moment, called, ‘Like a Rolling Stone’. It is all a long way from a time when Bob Dylan pretended he was the lowly singing artist named Bobby Vee, who was, at that time, an up and coming rock star.

At 225 minutes long, the film could have been far longer, if not for the fact that Scorsese only samples the songs. If you want the full songs, you need to buy the CD soundtrack, which is also well worth having, which covers many of Dylan’s famous songs.

There is plenty to learn in this film, both for the fans and the casual viewer. Although Scorsese has painted a very vivid picture, it shows only a small area of Dylan’s life, detailing the time mainly between 1960-1966, which was a very influential time int he stars life. If Dylan was the King of folk, then surely Joan Baez is the Queen of folk, and surely enough the paths of these two crossed more than once, and Baez was instrumental in making sure that Dylan found fame, allowing him to spotlight on her stage many times in his early career while he was finding his feet.

For instance, it was during this time frame, when Johnny Cash gave Dylan his electric guitar, which changed Dylan’s music forever. Some fans didn’t like it, and when he appeared on stage playing it, they jeered and called him Judas. In fact this is where the film opens, with Dylan playing an electric guitar for the first time, while fans boo him all the way through. But an undetered Dylan continues in his professional way, refusing to be bullied into slipping the folk overcoat on forever.

Dylan stuck with it, and would not be swayed by those few narrow minds, that wanted him to sing the same way forever. You see, Dylan started as a folk singer, and went on to become an idividual, uncagagorized artist, and that’s how he likes it. He doesn’t fit into any genre. He sings the way he likes to sing, and if that makes people unhappy, then that’s their problem, not his. Dylan is his own man, and sings and writes with style and feeling. For him, it is about the words and the music, nothing else. Some of his fans may not have been happy with where Dylan wanted to go, but many , many more were happy. Those that were not happy, kept trying to pull Dylan back to the folk music that started it all, but Dylan was forever moving forward, evolving, and this to me is the key to his continued success.

Dylan is a man that rarely smiles, or appears happy. He comes across as a shy man that wants to be left to make his music, but fans found him and put him up on a pedestal. Does this man have humour inside him? Sure he does, he doesn’t show it much, but if you catch him off guard, it is very much there. In fact, Dylan rarely holds interviews, so this was certainly a rare treat, and surprising, as most of the narrative is done by Dylan himself. Scorsese deserves a pat on the back for manaing to get Dylan to even take part in this film, let alone getting the man to talk for four hours.

There is plenty of previously unseen footage in this film to enjoy, cutting room out takes, backstage footage etc. This isn’t the first Dylan documentary that’s ever been made, the most famous one to date, was called, ‘Don’t look back’ made in 1967. But Scorsese’s film will be the one most noted for it’s honesty and frankness, and of course, Dylan’s running commentary. Asked whether he considers himself the voice of his generation, he replies, ‘I think of myself as a song-and-dance man’ ‘ Dylan once said, ‘Even the president of the United States, sometimes must have to stand naked’

Fans like to debate over why Dylan changed his name from Robert Zimmerman to Bob Dylan, but Dylan insists there really is no mystery involved, Dylan just came to him one day. But no doubt the fans will continue to debate over it for many more years to come yet. Dylan also claims that his songs weren’t about anything or associated with any movement, as most fans seem to think they were, that the meaning changes with the times.

Note this: Scorsese and Dylan never met. Columbia Records and Bob Dylan’s management gave Martin Scorsese access to their vaults, which is something no documentary filmmaker has ever been given by Dylan. That says something about both men.

Director, Scorsese paints a sympathetic and perceptive picture of Dylan, the man who was to influence so many artists over the decades, yet leaves him shrouded in mystery. One can feel a great empathy for Dylan, who’s music will continue to live on indefinitely. This is the definitive documentary about Dylan, a man and his music, a man who knew he was going to be somebody, and it is not to be missed. Wherever you are, whatever you are doing, make sure you find time for this one. This is the holy grail of pop music.

Paradis

Category: Films to watch |
Tags: Dylan, Films