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Archive for Academy Award

1 + 1 = 1/2

Jul11

The Iron Lady and W.E. have more in common than being 2011 films about 20th Century Britain. Both are well done historical biographies, and both have 21st Century “box stories” that attempt to frame the historical action. The frame story itself has been around for centuries (from 1001 Arabian Nights to The Name of the Wind) but traditionally it’s brief and occupies only a small percentage of the work. In these films, we have something different.

The Iron Lady is technically a biopic about British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and includes one hell of a soul stealing performance by Meryl Streep. If you compare photos or videos of the real Thatcher to Ms. Streep playing the role, the resemblance is just eerie. And Thatcher is certainly a film-worthy figure: first female Prime Minster, in office for over a decade, fiercely opinionated, highly conservative, and pivotal in 20th Century British history. But the filmmakers didn’t feel this was enough. Perhaps they thought audiences couldn’t ground themselves in a life begun during remote WWII, and stretching across the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s, but needed something contemporary to hang their hats on. The film focuses on octogenarian Thatcher, a bit senile, mostly alone in her house, imagining her dead husband. Again, Streep brings her brilliant talents to the table, but I can’t help but think the film would have been 100x better having this be 6% of the story as opposed to 60%. After all, the really interesting thing about Thatcher is the iron part, the force of will that empowered a blonde grocer’s daughter from midcentury England to climb her way up old boy British politics until she became the most powerful woman in the world.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlBr-3aDTHg]

I’m convinced some Hollywood hivemind voice of doubt whispered in the filmaker’s ears, “audiences don’t go in for a historical biopic,” it said, “you have to work in a contemporary angle.” The result is a lot of boring scenes with old lady Thatcher in bed and nary any real coverage of her complex career. The personality comes through, but not any of the history.

Films are short and you’d be hard pressed to slam a life as complex as Thatcher’s into two hours. One of the best biopics of all time, Ghandi, took over three, and while amazing, it’s certainly a major compression of the great man’s life and character. When you spend one and a half of those hours with the old lady in her house frock, forget it.

Not so different is W.E., a film supposedly about another important British political turn, the abdication of King Edward VII to marry American divorce Wallis Simpson. The personalities involved are a little more banal, and certainly more self-serving, but there is enough to this story, playing out primarily in 1936, to overflow two hours. But these filmmakers also didn’t think it was enough. They construct a fictional and purportedly parallel story about a contemporary woman in a loveless marriage who is obsessed with the royal couple. Again it dominates perhaps two thirds of the screen time.

Ultimately, the box story in this film is more successful than in The Iron Lady, perhaps only because attractive Abbie Cornish gets out of the house more than octogenarian Thatcher. Still, the parallels between the modern story and that of the prince and his lover are about as obvious as the onions on a BigMac.

Why does Hollywood handicap itself so? Why not just tell the story? I can’t help but think it’s one of those weird hivemind things, the kind that compels them to make two lombada movies or two Snow White films, or that makes publishers think my teen book is for 11 year-olds because it has a male protagonist and action.

Go figure.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NpXKkK_AiQ]

For more Film reviews, click here.

By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Movies
Tagged as: Abbie Cornish, Academy Award, Britain, Iron Lady, Margaret Thatcher, Meryl Streep, One Thousand and One Nights, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Streep, Thatcher, The Iron Lady, W.E., Wallis Simpson

Black Swan

May31

Title: Black Swan

Director/Stars: Natalie Portman (Actor), Mila Kunis (Actor), Darren Aronofsky (Director)

Genre: Drama

Read: May 18, 2011

Summary: Psycho Thriller, Qu’est-ce que c’est

ANY CHARACTER HERE

Reviews for two Natalie Portman movies in a row! She was wasted in the previous Thor, but shows off some serious chops here. This is clearly in a different league altogether.

Directory Darren Aronofsky fuses stylistic traits from his ultra surreal films (Pi, Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain) with the more documentary style The Wrestler into this psychological thriller. While oblique in terms of what’s actually happening, it’s positively crystal clear in comparison to that earlier trio. Also, dark as it is, it’s by no means as unrelentingly depressing as Requiem. Can we say “ass to ass” anyone?

First the components. The music’s awesome. I love Swan Lake as a composition. The acting is even better. Natalie, Mila, Vincent Cassel, and Barbara Hershey all stand out. The film is deliberately underwritten, standing on the strength of its style, acting, and direction. For whatever reason, Darren Aronofsky loves walking shots where the camera is anchored low behind the shoulders of the protagonist, or right in front of their chest. Both The Wrestler and Requiem are filled with these. Black Swan has even more. Rest assured, it’s a stylish looking film.

Now as to the overall effect. I enjoyed it, but this certainly isn’t a fast film. It’s more pretty, with a kind of savage quality, much like the ballet itself. Thematically, I take the entire fantastic/horror element to be purely the reflection of ballerina Nina’s internal state of mind. Even her entire feud with Mila’s Lily is in her own head. There is perhaps a more literal fantastic interpretation, but I feel the case for the psychological is much stronger. This is the opposite of say, Pan’s Labyrinth where while again both psychological and mythological interpretations are possible, I prefer the fantastic.

In any case, it’s a unique film. Not at all the typical Hollywood fare — but then nothing Aronofsky has done is.

By: agavin
Comments (4)
Posted in: Movies
Tagged as: Academy Award, Barbara Hershey, Black Swan, Darren Aronofsky, Mila Kunis, Natalie Portman, Pi (film), Psychological thriller, Requiem for a Dream, Vincent Cassel, Wrestler
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