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  • Martin Eden: BRWC LFF Review

    Martin Eden: BRWC LFF Review

    Martin Eden: BRWC LFF Review. By Patrick Coyle-Simmons.

    Martin Eden is a 2019 Italian-French historical romance drama film directed by Pietro Marcello, loosely based on the 1909 novel of the same name by Jack London. It follows an uneducated sailor, traveling through Europe who begins to yearn for more in life following a meeting with a young, upper-class girl. As he finds himself thrown into the world of high society, while still living in his sister’s apartment with her family, Martin Eden (Luca Marinelli) finds a passion for writing as he attempts to court the young woman, Elena (Jessica Cressy) while also trying to move his way up the social class structure.

    Set against a politically charged backdrop of divided social classes and political systems in the form of socialism and capitalism, Martin must discover who he is and where he fits into the world. 

    Truth be told, I am not the most avid or experienced foreign film fan, though I do try to take in as many as I can, so when given the opportunity to review this film, I jumped at the chance. Immediately one of the most striking aspects of the film is the cinematography. The first image the film exposes to the audience is a crisp shot of Martin as he records a message seemingly setting the tone of the film, before it cuts to archival footage, echoing the opening of Roman Polanski’s The Pianist.

    The strangest part about the use of archival footage is that while it does establish that the film is set within the 20th Century, it never actually states or addresses what time period it is set in, which makes the time jump later on in the film even more jarring. 

    The aforementioned cinematography is one of the two biggest positives Martin Eden has to offer, with a rich color palette, some gorgeous on-location filming, both adding a great sense of realism to the overall piece. The (only) other positive thing I have to say about the film is the performances. Both Luca Mmarienelli and Jessica Cressy give truly wonderful performances as Martin and Elena respectively. Despite the language barrier for myself, an American who only knows English and a sprinkle of Spanish, both performances felt entirely authentic through every scene. Director Pietro Marcello’s passion for this piece can be felt in the way it is staged, shot, and acted, but even with that, the film struggles to leave an impact of being anything above average. 

    The biggest issue with this film, and it is a big one, is its pacing. The first act starts so strong and then, only after about 20 minutes seems to fall off a cliff and never fully recovers. The most recent comparison to this would have to be another 2019 film, one of my least favorites of the year and another literature adaptation; The Goldfinch. Both feature solid enough starts before losing all steam and dragging for the rest of their runtimes, though The Goldfinch suffers significantly more than Martin Eden.

    This all feels like it was avoidable with this film as well had the semi-constant stream of archival footage being interspersed with the actual film been cut down or cut out altogether, save for the bits in the opening used to try and establish a time period. These sections of the film often time take away rather than add any sense of narrative purpose, even taking the viewer out of the film entirely.

    Earlier on in the film there is a sequence that shows pre-existing footage of a boat sailing before cutting to close-ups of sailors, however the color contrast is off and makes for some very otherworldly visuals, despite Martin being a sailor who is used to the life at sea with men like these. 

    While not the worst film of 2019, Martin Eden does not come close to reaching its full potential. Filled with two great performances from Luca Mmarienelli and Jessica Cressy, aesthetically-pleasing cinematography, and a few interesting ideas, the film is dragged down by a lack of focus, significant pacing issues, and some very strange editing choices. 

  • Child Stars: Where Are They Now?

    Child Stars: Where Are They Now?

    Child Stars: Where Are They Now? By Laurie Wood.

    It’s not an easy job being a child star. Often noted for long hours and reduced education which can have a serious impact on that child’s future outlook. Similarily to music one-hit-wonders, child stars often find themselves on the big screen at a young age, but this is only temporary as they struggle to continue fame going through puberty and hitting adult life.

    Although some child stars make it through to Hollywood such as Drew Barrymore, Lindsay Lohan and Leonardo Dicaprio, others are not so successful. Let’s take a look at memory lane and the less fortunate child star successes.

    MARA WILSON
    Mara Wilson is probably best known for acting in the films Mrs Doubtfire (1993), Miracle on 34th Street (1994) and Matilda (1996), but since then, her screentime drastically reduced. On expressing why acting became distant after filming Matilda, Mara explained the struggle to be cast for parts while going through puberty. In an interview with Npr she explains, I didn’t look 10 anymore. I wasn’t as cute anymore because I looked halfway between a child and an adult – People didn’t know what to do with me, and I knew it, and I felt it, and it really hurt.

    Upon retiring from acting Mara explored another passion of hers in writing and in 2013, she released a book titled: Where Am I Now?: True Stories of Girlhood and Accidental Fame.

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    JAKE LLOYD
    Jake Lloyd is best known for playing Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace (1999) and playing alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger in Jingle All The Way (1996). Since the 90s, he played a few small parts voice acting in several Star Wars games along with a small acting gig in the 2005 film, Madison, which didn’t go down very well at the box office. Since then any news about Jake appearing on the screen became quiet.

    Fast-forward to 2015 the papers announced Jake had been arrested for leading the police on a high-speed chase. He was sent to prison until 2016 and now little is known of his presence. 

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    THORA BIRCH
    Thora Birch is well remembered for acting alongside Better Midler in the Halloween hit, Hocus Pocus (1993). 6 years later, managing to transition into adult acting, Thora managed to bag another role which would send her into the limelight in the mesmerising film, American Beauty (1999). Sure enough, she expressed how the success of American Beauty made her become a harsh self-critique and in an interview with Vice said, It felt like I was on the cusp of something – The standard bar went a little bit too insanely through the roof on my part.

    Thora grabbed a main role in the film Ghost World (2001) alongside Scarlette Johansson, however, her fame since slowed as reports stated that her father who was also her manager, kept getting into arguments with her co-stars, leading to Thora not being cast or fired.

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    HALEY JOEL OSMENT
    Haley Joel Osment is definitely a memorable child actor, his cuteness coined with an odd sense of maturity when delivering lines made him an easy actor to cast. Best known for The Sixth Sense (1999) (which got him nominated for an Oscar at 11 years old), he played other roles in hit films including Artifical Intelligence (2001) and a small part in Forrest Gump (2004).

    Haley is not so much involved in Hollywood blockbusters any more though he continues to work on-screen and has acted in the films Sex Ed (2014), Tusk (2014), Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (2016), various TV series including playing Damien in Teachers (2017 – 2019), and has voiced various characters in the Kingdom of Hearts games.

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    TINA MAJORINO
    Tina Majorino was a little child star success in the 90s, acting in the films Andre (1994), Corrina, Corrina (1994) and Waterworld (1995). But since then, Tina disappeared from our screens, that was until she played in the cult classic Napoleon Dynamite (2004), which left film fans asking, “where have I seen her before?”.

    Tina played a few roles in a couple series and was the main protagonist in the singer’s P!nk music video for “Fuckin’ Perfect” in 2011. Since, Tina continues to work on screen though primarily sticking to acting in various TV series, most recently Scropian (2017 – 2018).

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    MACAULAY CULKIN
    It seems everyone knows who Macaulay Culkin is. Of course, he starred in the Christmas classic Home Alone (1990) and then again in the successful sequel, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992). Macaulay didn’t seem to last long in the spotlight, claiming he suffered mental abuse from his father which led him to leave Hollywood. It wasn’t until 2004 where Macaulay hit the headlines but all for the wrong reasons, possession of drugs.

    In 2012, various images of a skinny, un-well looking Macaulay surfaced on the internet thus enhancing rumours about drug-abuse. Although steering clear from the Hollywood spotlight, Macaulay continues to run a podcast called “Bunny Ears” and often updates his Instagram account.

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    JONATHAN LIPNICKI
    Although his name may not ring a bell, Jonathan had a brief stint with film-fame starring in Stuart Little (1999) and The Little Vampire (2000). During filming later films, Jonathan explained how the Paparazzi made his life hell and found his on-screen life was having a negative impact when trying to create friends in real life.

    Jonathan arguably never picked up another hit acting part but has kept busy in various film shorts and TV series.

    Child Stars: Where Are They Now? By Laurie Wood. Follow me @LaurieWoodUK for film, cats and social media!

  • Connect: Review

    Connect: Review

    By Fergus Henderson. In the opening moments of Marilyn Edmond’s directorial debut Connect, an unidentified man wills himself off the side of a cliff in North Berwick. For anyone familiar with the tragic suicide of east coaster Scott Hutchison (of Frightened Rabbit) this image will cast a haunting pall over the film, lending it a raw resonance. Even though Connect is mainly a modest, sober, and sweet story of male mental health, the full darkness of its subject matter lies under its surface.

    As the opening scene’s repercussions echo through the town, they seem to hit our protagonist Brian (Kevin Guthrie) the hardest. Brian is a quietly depressed young man who works a dull Home Hardware job, and as our introduction to him makes clear, he has been thinking of taking his own life for a while. 

    He masks his deep sadness with the kind of performative masculine stoicism that many will immediately recognise. He struggles to communicate with his mum, his dad is the classic Scottish “alright son” emotionally closed off pub patron, and his sister has her own priorities, having just given birth. It isn’t long before Brian makes his own attempt, only to be rescued at the last moment by benevolent, mysterious stranger Jeff (Stephen McCole). It is Jeff’s gruff but sincere support that finally steers Brian onto a better path, and to redemptive romance with young mum Sam (Siobhan Reilly). 

    Whilst Connect’s middle section, post-Jeff, does pitch itself as more of a standard television drama in which Brian deals with the trials and vicissitudes of a fully engaged life, as well as Sam’s alcoholic ex-husband Simon (performed with deceptive texture by Neil Leiper), the film has an ace up its sleeve that I won’t get into. 

    What I can say is that the film never loses sight of the seriousness of its subject matter, nor does it present male depression as a simple or easily fixed issue. As Jeff emphasises, becoming okay with yourself is a profoundly long process. Similarly the film wisely avoids drawing any analogues between Brian’s depression and his sister’s post-natal depression – whilst they may be able to help each other, they are both experiencing uniquely different struggles. The gulf that depression has created between Brian and the rest of the world is always close to consuming him.

    Because the film is primarily a character study carried by Kevin Guthrie’s soulful, understated performance, and because it tells an intimate tale, director Edmond has made Connect an understated film. This means that when it works, it works very well, and when it doesn’t, the weaknesses (both Sam’s character and the film’s late-in-the-game critique of social media are a little slight) feel less impactful. 

    It is perhaps a shame that the film’s production is modest enough to feel a little low-stakes, a little television drama. It is hard to imagine Connect ever having a commercial release. Nevertheless, it is a disarmingly powerful drama, directed with empathy and restraint, centring on an outstanding performance by Kevin Guthrie. Most importantly it is that rare thing, a film that fully understands and respects its subject matter, and for that it deserves to be seen. It could help a lot of people.

    Connect hits cinemas 25th October.

  • The Waiter: Review

    The Waiter: Review

    By Matt Keay.

    Renos (Aris Servetalis) is a quiet, reserved, lonely professional waiter in Athens. He spends his days at work, subserviently tending to the patrons of the restaurant he has been employed at for many years.

    His nights, an ordered routine of uniform, washing, ironing and preparing for another day at work. He sees his neighbours in the apartment block he calls home infrequently, and even then it almost seems a surprise to him that they even exist.

    One night, a man he doesn’t recognise (named ‘The Blond’, played by Yannis Stankoglou) lets himself into the apartment opposite Renos’, which until then had been occupied by a man called Milan. Renos thinks it strange when ‘The Blond’ claims that he is feeding Milan’s cat while he is away on a trip. He thinks it even stranger when he finds Milan dead in the dumpster outside the building.

    What follows is essentially a Greek weird-wave neo-noir, which wasn’t a sub-genre I thought I needed, but writer/director Steve Krikris’ first feature is an assured and carefully manufactured debut, brimming with potential. The meticulous ways in which shots are composed mirrors Renos’ sensibilities very effectively.

    The tale is as old as cinema itself; a man whose orderly life is disrupted by a fateful decision, and there is nothing new, narratively speaking, about ‘The Waiter’. However, Krikris’ measured direction and DP Giorgos Karvelas’ claustrophobic cinematography elevate the simple tale to in many ways a breathless peek into the ramifications of a bored man secretly happy he’s finally feeling something.

    The character types in this observational study are already well established in cinematic history, but the performances from the central performances are altogether so mysterious and surprising, that the narrative, coupled with the inherent griminess of almost every environment in the film, results in a entirely seductive and enlightening stab at a genre so well-tread its heels are worn to the skin.

    A scene about a third of the way through involves Renos being served a meat-heavy meal of osso bucco and beef bourguignon by The Blond’ perfectly encapsulates the atmosphere Krikris crafts. It is uncomfortable, grim, and hard to swallow. Renos, however, endures it, and acquiesces somewhat happily to ‘The Blond’s requests. He is a man who is desperate for something new, something different, something exciting. 

    ‘The Waiter’ is neither new or different, but Krikris’ talent is exciting. If this film is anything to go by, we should be keeping an eye on his progress.

  • Beanpole: BRWC LFF Review

    Beanpole: BRWC LFF Review

    By Fergus Henderson. Russia’s national cinema is paradoxically infamous for both its chilly austerity and its wild expressivity. When it comes to making solemn cinematic allegories for its spiritual state, Russia sometimes seem unmatched. Recent examples like Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Loveless and Kirill Serebrennikov’s The Student have levelled extraordinary yet thematically apposite critiques of the country’s spiritual destitution, both reducing brave viewers to emotional wrecks.

    Enter newcomer Kantemir Balagov, whose second feature Beanpole adopts the same allegorical approach to comment on his country’s past (and so present). The big difference here is that the aforementioned filmmakers are in their 50s. Balagov is only 28 years old. That his second film at 28 is Russia’s Oscar submission is incredible. But does his film live up to the hype?

    The answer is elusive. The story is set in the ravaged remains of post-war Leningrad, a city where all the dogs have been eaten and people are jumping in front of trams. Young veteran Iya (eponymous Beanpole, played by Viktoria Miroshnichenko) is working as a nurse. She suffers from bouts of PTSD-induced temporary paralysis, a disorder that, in the first of many cruelly drawn out scenes, causes her to smother her friend Masha’s son. What follows is hard to define, except to say that it follows an escalating emotional (il) logic as Masha (Vasilisa Perelygina) demands that Iya mother her next child. 

    Balagov sets this psychodrama against the tumult of a country in absolute turmoil, and thus is able to justifiably suggest (if not fully realise) larger spiritual and political themes. These themes emerge as images and motifs of dialogue that Balagov seems to have glommed onto, motifs of birth after death, mercy and violence, purpose from chaos. 

    As the film progresses, however, one starts to feel as if trying to parse what Balagov is saying is actually a fool’s errand. Beanpole is a film of non-verbal action, peopled with characters so enigmatic as to verge on the oblique. Whilst Balagov appears keen to present us with a Big Statement Film, the film he would be more passionate about making is gnashing to emerge, and that film is somewhat at odds with the historical and worthy one he appears obliged to have made.  

    In its best moments, Beanpole lets itself go completely wild. At its best it is indulging in the sexual psychodrama that churns quietly below the surface. The disturbing, confusing relationship between Iya and Masha contains echoes of the parasitic co-dependency and sublimated lust of Persona’s Alma and Elisabet. Masha’s ferocity as she rampages through the film’s latter half provides a thrilling counterpoint to Iya’s inscrutability. Both are mannered, weird performances. If only Balagov could trust himself enough to drop the pretences towards naturalism and embrace this broiling freakiness. It’s this freakiness that seems to be the true heart of the film, and yet it’s sadly stifled. One feels as if this might be due to the expectations of someone involved in the film’s production. 

    Balagov’s main strength is also his biggest weakness, which is the audacity and risk taking of his youth. This is vigorous, formally bold film making, the kind a younger artist might make in the process of trying to cement their identity and reputation. There are many moments where his close-range camera and the extremity of emotion are like fireworks on the screen. There are, unfortunately, many moments where this approach becomes winsome and arbitrary.

    Likewise, the more lurid and sexually violent elements of the film are captured with showboating cinematography- involving itself too much in the onscreen brutality to be either detached or bearing witness. It eventually begins to feel, at best, insensitively pretentious and, at worst, like Balagov creepily indulging in lowbrow instincts he would never admit to. In a film whose sensitivity is developed enough for a scene of silent euthanasia to be a stand out, there is little to justify such nasty elements.

    Without a doubt Beanpole is a lovingly crafted, well put together film. Everyone involved has poured big energy into this weird, sad film, and it is an enlivened and enervating thing. It is filled with bold image making and left-field thinking that is always wonderful to look at. Perelygina and Miroshnichenko provide some of the most muscular, intense performances of recent memory.

    If Beanpole doesn’t meet its own lofty goals, it is because those goals are not fully realised. If Balagov can refine his more brutal and left-field instincts, and learn a little more discipline and humility, he very well make a film to place among his country’s hefty canon.