Locke

Dir: Steven Knight
2014 (1hr25mins)

As far as films go these days, this one is fairly stripped-down: but for the opening 5mins, the entire film takes place within car - and if that wasn't enough to turn off most audiences, it features just one actor (on the screen anyhow). Credit to Tom Hardy, then, that the film comes off as well as it does. He commands the screen with a performance that, with practically no backstory to aid him, is able to fashion the kind character and life that is not only real, but worth caring about: no small feat, given the already-mentioned constraints and, as though these were not enough, a rather short running time, too (1hr25mins).

The reviews for the film have been glowing. They should be. Some of these have referred to the film as an experiment, and maybe it is. The challenge, if that's how we want to look at it, seems to be threefold: (1) can you create a compelling story with very little - if any - backstory? (2) Can you hold the attention and interest of the audience by limiting the screentime to (i) a single actor; (ii) a single setting? (3) Can the audience take anything away from the film given challenges 1 & 2? The answer is an overwhelming "Yes," thanks, as I've already mentioned, to Mr. Hardy. Some critics have encouraged viewers to check out the film for just that reason: to see that experiments of this can be pulled off. To suggest, however, that this is the reason for seeing the film - as opposed, say, to merely one of several - would do it an immense disservice. For one, it would do much to turn the attention away from where it really succeeds: in showing how little we as an audience need in the way of cues to engage the story and life of the characters we give our attention to. That is to say, if a story is acted in a compelling fashion, and rendered with the appropriate care by the director and her staff, then there's little else we, as viewers, need to find ourselves enrapt.  That "Locke" succeeds in this respect is its real credit. And that is the reason we should see it.

4 / 5 stars : Recommended

Ease of viewing:Moderate (Pacing)
Tone:
Contemplative, Moody
Mood:
Atmospheric
Notables (Technical):
Acting
Thematic flags:
None
Time of day to watch:Late Evening

Gomorra

Dir: Matteo Garrone
2008 (137 mins)

Review forthcoming.





3 / 5 stars

Opening Night

Dir: John Cassavetes
1977 (144 mins)

Review forthcoming.





4.5 / 5 stars

Rendez-Vous

Dir: André Téchiné
1985 (82 mins)

Review forthcoming.





3.5 / 5 stars

He Liu (The River)

Dir: Tsai Ming-Liang
1997 (1hr55mins)

The film is nearly as difficult to place as it is to describe, a fact that owes much to the approach and editing style Tsai Ming-Liang adopts to tell his stories. Yet, there is nothing 'loose' in his method. On the contrary, the film is whole, appropriately tying the opening chance encounter between two former friends (lovers?) to the tragic sequence of events that follow it. In this sense it is coherent, and so far as the story is concerned, hardly difficult to follow. Yet, we find few words pronounced, and a myriad glances exchanged that could essentially imply anything. To some, this is a fateful pronouncement - a sign that little is to be found in a film, save a few vacant glances. To me, Ming-Liang's style and form, aided tremendously by his ability to draw strong performances from his actors, permits the film (and its closing twist in particular) its power. It is the absence of tangible connections throughout life, missing even in those instances where sufficient resolutions hint themselves, that lend the added pain to everyday angst. Sometimes one may find themselves desiring to end it all for want of preventing yet another recurrence of the painful cycle. The difficulty any director encounters in capturing these moments is in their ambiguity. Depict the wound to vividly, and the director risks shocking the audience. Verbalize it, and they risk presuming such an expression is first possible, and secondly, hazard the chance of lending the picture far too 'talky' an air. It is in his gifted execution that Ming-Liang stands out. All in all, if either the approach to, or the themes themselves interest you, Tsai Ming-Liang's film touches the void between hope and the everyday better than many a film.

Along more formal lines, admirers of cinematography will be well-pleased with the remarkable use of tones in his lighting. Other notables include the careful use of sound and editing.

4.0 / 5 stars : Recommended *

Ease of viewing:
*Caution: Difficult (Pacing, Themes)
Tone:
Grim
Mood:
Atmospheric
Notables (Technical):
Lighting , editing
Thematic flags:
Adult themes
Time of day to watch:
Late morning , Early afternoon, Late Evening

Other films by Tsai Ming-Liang:
The Wayward Cloud (2005)
Goodbye Dragon Inn (2003) (3.5/5 stars)
What Time is it There? (2001) review forthcoming
The Hole (1998)
Vive L'Amour (1994)
Rebels of the a Neon God (1992) review forthcoming

Entre Les Murs (The Class)

Dir: Laurent Cantet
2008 (2hrs8mins)

The honesty with which this film is made, and acted, opens spaces far beyond its classroom confines. Using this depth, 'The Class' is a fine demonstration of what human vulnerability and fallibility ought to remind all of us: that we err. The inability of certain characters to realize this or, if they do, ignore it, is where the film begins to demand a response from us as an audience. That it does so, as other commentators have mentioned, without explicating the relationship between the effects and their causes, is noteworthy. To this end, we find ourselves 'interested' without a traditional story or plot to guide us. Sure, certain hints of a possible course or 'end' for a few of the students and teachers are provided, but, none are resolved.

By doing so, Cantet places the viewer in a familiarized story (teacher-student journeys of self-discovery) while also failing to "pin" (as many lesser directors often do) the problems/developments on any one set of roots or 'facts'. By approaching the topic this way, Cantet has demonstrated, without much flair, why it is films like this will be remembered: because we invest ourselves in people, and less how or why they are the way they are, or how neatly plots and stories resolve themselves in films. Some of these kids reflect (if not directly) real children with problems, or forgotten children in public school systems. Sure the circumstances of what brought them there demands attention, but it's not that which draws our concern. We see the human first, as they are currently suffering, currently inattentive, presently dropping behind. It's the human face Cantet draws his camera upon, and effectively begs us to realize we are neither vacant nor abstract expressions.

4.0 / 5 stars : Recommended

Ease of viewing:
Easy
Tone / Mood:
Earnest , reflective
Time of day to watch:
Late morning, Evening

Other films by Santet:
Heading South (2005)
Time Out (2001) review forthcoming
Human Resources (1999)