Katyn - Film Review

Surely Polish cinema's finest and most distinguished filmmaker, trailblazing and Oscar winning director Andrzej Wajda here turns his attention rather close to home with a historical piece regarding the Katyn Massacre of 1940.

The incident, the mass execution of roughly 20,000 Polish army officers in the titular forest, is covered with a rather unexpected angle, shrouding the actual atrocity in mystery and focussing on its ramifications over the course of the following five years, in particular the burden of unknowing carried by two families.

It starts in 1939, with Poland attacked from both sides by German and Russian armies exploiting their mutual non-aggression pact. After being forced into surrender, the military's officer corps is rounded up by Soviet forces, taken as POWs ready to be transitted to Eastern gulags. Anna (Maja Ostaszewska) is the wife of one of said men, Andrzej (Artur Zmijewski), and after a desperare farewell, has to watch him being taken by train out of the country. In the same shipment of prisoners is his friend Jerzy (Andrzej Chyra) and a senior General (Jan Englert) with his own worried family left behind.

With the Soviets and Germans now in control of the country, Anna and her daughter (Wiktoria Gasiewska) face an uncertain fate, endangered by Anna's status as an Officer's wife, and attempt to dodge the attention of the occupation while awaiting news of Andrzej. All hope is lost following the revelation that a mass grave filled with Polish POWs has been discovered in the Katyn forest, and the released Jerzy bringing news that Andrzej is seemingly one of the dead. As the years pass, and the nature of the occupation mutating, the blame for the crime is pinned on the Germans, despite the apparently blatant part played by the Soviets, and efforts are made by the survivors to establish just what happened in the woods that fateful morning.

One of the things that makes Katyn stand out from similar efforts, aside from it shedding light on an oddly unheard of incident, is that it takes a different view of the matter. Wajda, who's own father was killed in the massacre, instead pays heed to the uncertainty over the victims (the unreliable Katyn list), to the loved ones of those killed, and to the cover up instigated by the Soviet Union's secret police. The maddening nature of the Russian occupation's unaccountability for the deaths is a keystone of the story, and the effects of the denial on the population are undeniable.

As such, the film's big moment, the actual mass murder itself, is only shown and illuminated in gut wrenching, flesh crawling style at the very end, the final revelation as proof seemingly emerges and the prospect of justice seems far closer than ever before. That closure is granted to Anna, who has spent five years simply not knowing what to believe, provides a human conclusion to the story.

While Katyn is a noble and occasionally powerful film, enfused with a strong sense of purpose and moral equity, its main flaw is that for much of the running time, it tries to do too much in too little time, nearly tarnishing the impact of the conclusion, and the dichtonomy of the piece. While Wajda's directing is excellent, music clinical and acting (particularly from We're All Christs star Andrzej Chyra, and Maja Ostaszewska) first rate, the film's uneven pacing becomes a problem during the bumpy middle, and the introduction of new characters is an awkwardly handled process, with the likes of Magdalena Cielecka's Agnieszka stepping into the plot with no real introduction or apparent reason, and then moving out again in baffling circumstances. The small, poignant role of Anna's nephew Tadeusz (Antoni Pawlicki), an eager young student torn between family honour and his education within the occupation, is a brief but highly effective exception.

With this, Wajda is clearly striving to go beyond the norms of such war horror fare and open the door on the equally insidious house of cards upon which the dishonest Soviet occupation mounted their lies about the incident, and also by bringing into play the other side of the tragedy, the loss felt by those left behind by the appaling act. While at times he succeeds, and certainly raises awareness of the darkest of dark moments within the 20th Century, an occasional lack of focus means that Katyn falls short of its targets, and doesn't quite reach the heights it really should.

Certainly effective filmmaking, it doesn't quite live up to its own billing, and such can be viewed as flawed rather than ill-judged, good instead of great.


8/10

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - Film Review

Taking John Le Carre's classic spy mystery thriller and turning it into a cogent feature film was always going to be a troublesome task, especially considering the cult status of the preceding Alec Guinness mini-series. But Swedish director Tomas Alfredson approaches the material with a combination of reverence and fullhearted determination.

Following a disastarous operation in Budapest which results in the death of one of their operatives, the British Intelligence Service (The Circus as they are known) react by firing their head honcho 'Control' (John Hurt) and his right hand man George Smiley (Gary Oldman), who both promptly retire. Not long after, information emerges that there is a mole working for the Russians within the Circus, and Smiley is asked to identify the double agent.

Setting up his covert assignment, Smiley inlists the help of junior spy Peter Guillam (Benedict Cumberbatch) , and sets about monitoring and investigating his former colleagues. He narrows his search down to the codenamed, titular heads of the organisation: Bill Hadley - 'Tinker' (Colin Firth), Percy Alleline - 'Tailor' (Toby Jones), Roy Bland - 'Soldier' (Ciaran Hinds) and Toby Hesterhase - 'Poor Man' (David Dencik). Along the way he encounters double crossing, double bluffs and shock revelations as the suspicions fluctuate and the finger of accusation criss crosses.

Considering the esteem in which the source material is held, it's no great surprise to see just how much quality the ensemble possesses here. In terms of talent, it is a star studded line up for quite an understated piece. And Alfredson, never bowed by the material, does wonderfuly well to harness everything and keep it together. Attention is payed to the right people at the right time, with the film's use of flashbacks never jarring enough to distract you from events. Everybody gets their moment in the sun, and nobody is set out as a sacred cow or a dead cert at any point, with every strong reaction framed as a potential sign of guilt.

While the labyrinthe plot, which not only involves the main 'hunt for the Ruskie lover' focus but also international diplomacy and deliberately convuluted background schemes involving Russian activity in the red sea, is complex, the film doesn't simply dive into dry, talky expositional investigation. Scenes that come to pass are unbearably tense, and some of the story's most effective moments are emotional ones, as we get glimmers (in Smiley's case) or personal strife as well some moving, tragic, deeply personal tales.

The best of these go to Mark Strong's Jim Prideaux, a loyal agent who is dumped on the scrap heap, teaching at a boy's school and living in a miserable caravan, and also to Tom Hardy's Ricki Tarr, a frontline operative who loses sight of professional discretion when he falls for the wife of the Russian diplomat he's tracking, with potentially fatal results. These segments, ultimately vital to the plot in a manner perhaps unclear for long stretches, are played beautifuly and written lovingly, while also serving as a well placed indictment of the shadow men that the film portrays.

Of what is seen of the home lives of the characters, the word 'shambolic' springs to mind. Smiley, immaculate professionally, is troubled by his straying wife and forces his feelings and self below the surface, hidden behind a veneer of calm and composure behind the large spectacles. A maze of deep bonds and hidden secrets pass from agent to agent, suggestions of more than meets the eye, but scant confirmation. The exception is Tarr, a young and cocky, but tough and knowing, figure who has no qualms about baring his soul even as he scampers from hiding hole to darkened room, a hunted man.

It's the depth that exists so viscerally in Tinker Tailor that makes it so compelling. On paper, little is revealed about any of the players in the game, even the protagonist. Yet in practice, brought to life by a set of actors at the top of their game, each have their own story and their own personality, even when it isn't in written form. From top to bottom, the film is stuffed with top drawer performers, from Firth and Toby Jones to Hardy, Cumberbatch and even Kathy Burke and Stephen Graham in smaller roles. Special credit must be given to Mark Strong, who is given the chance to display prominent vulnerability and tragic conflict as Jim Prideaux. His menial, depressing existence is steeped in loneliness, only moved by his bond with a outcast young boy he teaches, another Bill. It is touching yet, in its conclusion, ultimately sad.

But of course, the master of the show is Gary Oldman, an actor of incredible talent rarely given the centre of focus. There isn't a better actor in the industry for chameleon-like performance, and here he is at the top of his game. As soon as he appears, he promptly disappears into Smiley, inhabiting him seemlessly, with every telling adjustment of his jacket or thoughtful, dubious stare. It is as far as you can get from a 'big performance', and all the better for it. This is a three dimensional character, brought wonderfuly to life, subtle and understated, quiet and reserved. Though almost twenty minutes elapse before he speaks, you can almost hear his voice already, such is the projection. His long overdue Oscar nod is justified on the basis of his turn here.

For all that Tinker Tailor is a compelling, not to mention at times rivetting, thriller whodunnit, it takes a step up from what could have been simply entertaining but showing ferocious intelligence, not just in terms of plot but also in terms of people. With a full house of class act performances, led at the top by an acting collussus at his own peak, and one of the finer adaptations of recent times, the film really is stand out. And, it seems, much extra value comes in when he realise its repeat value. John Le Carre must surely be very satisfied.


9/10

The Guard - Film Review

A novel slant on the 'fish out of water cop' story, one that focusses on the bumpkin defacto partner and plays out as a bantering, rambling dialogue laden black comedy amidst a back story of drug trafficking and duress, The Guard is a fresh, surprising slice of fun from John Michael McDonagh.

On the sleepy, largely Gaellic speaking West coast of Ireland, local Garda (Policeman) Gerry Boyle (Brendan Gleeson) goes about his dull, dysfunctional days like a Bad Lieutenant played for laughs, more interested in procuring some drink and drug for lonely nights and fancy dress hookers for his day off than he is locking down crime scenes. His mother (Fionnula Flanagan) has just been put in a home, and a new recruit (Rory Keenan) is getting on his nerves. And then the narcotics ring shows up.

Boyle, the laconic fool it seems, is thrust upon FBI Agent Wendell Everett (Don Cheadle) as the Fed attempts to track down the gang, and the cringe worthy clashing of cultures commences. Meanwhile, the bad guys themselves (played by Liam Cunningham, Mark Strong and David Wilmot) go about bribing of killing any of the local law enforcement who threaten their operation, bringing them to Boyle's door. Inconvenient for him, since he just wants to be left alone.

As you may well expect from McDonagh (brother of In Bruges' maker Martin), though the plot sounds plenty heavy and crime thriller based, The Guard rarely ventures into serious territory, and even then the exposure to the audience is minimal. This is a comedy, ultimately, though one based on an only slightly altered realm of reality where everyone has hysterical conversations and musings. Drug dealers rack their brains for philosophical quotes, local kids are experts on federal agencies, it's all par to the course.

With a couple of notable, and merited exceptions, the hilarity of the film comes from it's dialogue, full of recurring jokes, double take bafflement and inappropriate casualness, not to mention misconstrued racial slurs and ignorant assumptions. Though Boyle is seen by many as the idiot of the piece, his disdainful approach to life puts him in better stead than the men with guns who seem themselves as better. When it comes to plotting, the film takes an approach which is somewhere between western and noir only for long enough to satirise both, and then get back to
its eccentric heart.

Continuing his long overdue ascension from Hollywood supporting character actor supremo into unconventional leading man, Brendan Gleeson is wonderful here as Boyle, a bizarre and unruly, yet somehow amiable, protagonist who drives the film's shambling story. Though he is on paper unpleasant and morally bankrupt, in practice he is a genial oddball who constantly surprises by being highly effective in his job, at least in the long run.

Gleeson is given great comic foil by Don Cheadle, Hollywood A-picture actor who deliberately stands out like a sore thumb, sent to a comparative back water where the view on Americans is dim, and casual racism is prevelant though not especially malicious. Though Cheadle has to spend much of the film's duration in a perpetual state of bemusement, he still manages to bring a rounded character to Everett, a humanity which could easily have been done without. Iniatially dumbfounded by Boyle from the start, he slowly grows to appreciate his unlikely partner's outlook and enjoy his company. As a double act, unlikely though it is, they are perfect.

The villainous trio of Cunningham, Strong and Wilmot enjoy themselves as the drug traffickers, humourously self aware and often pretentious about their role in proceedings. There's also some nice supporting work from Flanagan, Katarina Cas and Dominique McElligot in hugely varying roles.

But the real joy of The Guard is its attitude, taking a traditional crime story and treating it with very wry, very Irish, humour and giving it real heart in the process, sweary and drink filled though it may be, happy to play into stereotypes and occasionally trapsing into the realms of Coen-esque farce. As a comedy, it succeeds wonderfuly, boasting an intricate and intelligently funny script, but it has more charm and brains than a laugh inducing vehicle. Tongue may firmly be in cheek, but eyebrow is crooked ironically.

As Gerry Boyle says, "That's for me to know, and you to find out".


9/10

Suicide Room - Film Review

For his first foray into cinema, writer-director Jan Komasa taps into adolescent plight with everything from social networking obsession to sexual confusion and self harm, right on to virtual escapism and macabre ritual bonding.

In Suicide Room (Sala Samobojcow) we follow young Dominik (Jakub Gierszal), a relatively popular rich kid on the verge of finishing high school, life priveleged and care free. That is, until a traumatic and angst ridden incident with a fellow male student leaves him a social pariah and laughing stock. Experiencing a mini-breakdown, he runs the full gambit of emotions and exiles himself to solitary confinement in his bedroom.

During one of his episodes of despair, he by chance meets a mysterious girl online, an internet addict named Sylwia (Roma Gasiorowska-Zurawska) who introduces him to an avatar based role playing game called the Suicide Room, frequented by disillusioned and dangerously grim minded souls. Through this forum, and via web cam conversations, Dominik forms a strong emotional tie with Sylwia, and also begins to alter his perception of life, becoming more insular and yet more anarchic too, self destruction fuelled by perverse kinship. Meanwhile, Dominik's parents (Agata Kuleszka and Krzysztof Pieczynski) find themselves dealing with the crisis neither is prepared for, as they fail to comprehend their son's downfall.

Komosa, showing audacious confidence for a filmmaker previously only known for TV movies and shorts, here reigns in what sounds like a bleak, modest tale and instead blows it up into a multi-spectral tragedy that in places borders on modern sattire. Not only is Dominik's meltdown extremely visceral, but the seductive power of the suicide room is played out with attentive care, putting us into the mind of the teenage protagonist. The ideals are suitably contradictory, yet played straight, never highlighted as key marks of the confusion and alienation.

While Dominik's harsh, pain ridden journey is of course the film's focus, a healthy amount of attention is paid to the parents subplot. Rather than being cliched, overwrought do gooders, they are self obssessed business first types who cannot get their head around their son's behaviour, so sure that throwing money at him during his whole life is emotionally sufficient. When he falls apart, they don't know how to handle the situation, either by action or words, and act as enablers to their son's rebellion while protecting their own image. Ego and social ladder climbing plays a part in much of the film's characters.

Pretty searing in its delving look into the affluent subcultures of the well off young and older alike, Suicide Room treats the patrons of the titular community with sensitivity and empathy, indulging their attitudes and viewpoints. This is particularly true of Sylwia, an enigmatic and alluring, yet tragic figure hidden in darkness or behind a 3D character, and is played down to a tee by Gasiorowska, a stand out.

Though Dominik is far from a sympathetic lead, who is frankly an asshole before his inward fall, the source of the good will towards him from the audience is purely down to a powerful, utterly commited turn from Jakub Gierszal. He winds his way through the spectrum of emotions, from smug and arrogant smarm to dishevelled, screaming wreck, never once hamming it. Much of his angst and desperation is truly hard to sit through, for all the right reasons.

The spry pacing and momentum Komosa brings is both exciting and engaging, and his story bars no holds. Yet, for all it's downer beats and painful sentiment, Suicide Room doesn't simply tug at heart strings and play it's own visual violin. It's a sad story, undoubtedly, but not a depressing film, which is quite something. And for all it's bordering, it's a pretty simple one too, about growing pains and identity crisis. Something anyone who was once young (which should probably be everyone) should no doubt appreciate.

8/10

The Dark Knight Rises - Preview

When Gotham is ashes, you have my permission to die.

It's a cinematic event as much as it's the big, new shiny adrenaline pumping ride, and such is the hype and anticipation posed by Rises that fans pour over every small detail, cram into IMAX screens to catch it's trailers, and debate endlessly about everything from hidden villains to deaths, to backstories. And although release is still over six months away, there is a palpable sense of significance.
The final chapter in the Nolanverse Batman trilogy, the Dark Knight Saga as it is now officially called, will be a big deal.

And in an attempt to appraise those without the investigative obssession of the fanatics, here I have tried to collate everything you need to know about the film everyone has taken notice of.

See The Dark Knight Rises Official Trailer

See The Dark Knight Rises Teaser Trailer


The Story

-We have started the fire...
-The fire rises.

It is eight years after the Joker's reign of terror and Harvey Dent's descent into madness. Peace has lasted, Gotham free from the clutches of chaos and destruction.

But that tranquil peace is shattered by an impending storm, at the front of which is terrorist/mercenary Bane (Tom Hardy).

Arriving with a bang, the bombing of a football game, and leading his own militia of fanatic loyalists, Bane conducts a revolution as he exposes the corruption of those who govern, causing the people of Gotham to rise. While Commissioner Jim Gordon's (Gary Oldman) GPD are overwhelmed by the fighting in the streets, the caped crusader picks up his cowl once more for his grimmest battle yet. It seems, however, that he may have help in the form of another vigilante, of a feline vareity...

The Details

- Now is not the time for fear. That comes later.

Bale, Oldman, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman and Nestor Carbonell (as Mayor Garcia) all reprise their roles, while aside from Tom Hardy the other new faces are Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle/Catwoman, Joseph Gordon Levitt as John Blake and Matthew Modine as Nixon, both Gotham Police Department officers, and Marion Cotillard as Wayne Enterprises executive Miranda Tate. Interestingly, Josh Pence, who provided body double work for the Winklevoss brothers in The Social Network, will star as 'Young Ra's Al Ghul', suggesting the use of flashbacks ala Batman Begins.

Meanwhile, James Newton Howard has dropped out of co-composing duties, so Hans Zimmer will be working solo on the score, at least for the most part. Hundreds of film fans will appear in the film, or more specifically their voices will. Zimmer enlisted a chorus of competition winners to put together the Bane chant of "de-shay, de-shay, bah-shah-rah, bah-shah-rah".

The script has been co-penned by the Nolan brothers, Christopher and Jonathan, and Wally Pfister will once again turn his brilliant visual eye to the cinematography, which will contain far more IMAX work than was present in the previous film. Aesthetically, Gotham and the set pieces that take place in it will never look better. Filming has taken place in various locations, from New York (for a spookily familiar sounding Wall Street riot) to the Highlands of Scotland.

The Characters

The dark knight is naturally the focus of the battle ahead, both physically and spirtually as he comes to terms with his existence while using every inch of strength he has to tackle his foe. But he is not alone in his fight, and will have some help at least.

He will also have some truly deadly enemies...

Bruce Wayne/Batman

-The Batman has to come back.
-What if he doesn't exist anymore?
-He must....he must...

Eight years is a long time, and though it's not clear what pointy ears has been doing during that plot hiatus, it's pretty certain it's not been a particularly happy time. Bruce Wayne is in bad shape, and the Batman is a distant memory for most.

When war comes to Gotham, in the form of Bane, Bruce is completely unprepared for the ferocious attack.

He's back at home in the rebuilt Gotham manor with his mentor/surrogate father/scribe/friend Alfred (Michael Caine), and still putting on the playboy act as a deception. But it's unlikely his identity will remain secret for much longer...


Bane

-Nobody cared who I was until I put on the mask.

The big bad, in so many ways.

A dangerous mercenary and terrorist, boasting both incredible physical strength and audacious intelligence, Bane has turned his attention to Gotham, and plans to tear it down by the seams. He is a brutal, ferocious monster of a man.

Unlike previous incarnations, Bane does not gain his powers from the mask, but instead anaesthetic for the pain he suffers constantly, the results of a traumatic injury earlier in his life. As of yet, the nature of this, or much of anything about his backstory, is unknown.


Commissioner Jim Gordon

-The mayor's gonna dump him in the spring.
-But he's a hero.
-A WAR hero. This is peace time.

The good cop, the shepherd, Gordon is in very serious trouble. On the verge of losing his position, he is the first line of defense as Bane's spreading fire strikes the city, and is one of the first to fall. Ailing in his hospital bed, he begs and prays for Batman to return and to save them all from the rising evil.

Selena Kyle/Catwoman

-There's a storm coming, Mr Wayne...

Alluring and dangerous, Ms Kyle speaks the words of a revolutionary and stalks the streets as a feline. The dangerous foreshadowing of her warning to Bruce at a masquerade ball fills the hero with concern, and marks her as a possible advesary, or ally.

As is the case with much of the Batman backcatalogue, it is hard to tell whether the lady is a goodie or a baddie, and in the tradition of precedent, will likely fall somewhere in between, and anti-hero anti-villain. She may help Bruce escape imprisonment, and will be seen straddling the batpod with lustre.

Possibly a successor, possibly a soulmate.

John Blake and Miranda Tate


The wild cards of the story, with doubtlessly significant purpose, are GPD officer John Blake, assigned to special duties under Gordon, and Miranda Tate, an executive at Wayne Enterprises who takes special, perhaps romantic interest in Bruce.

It is hard to tell at this stage whether they are crouching dragons or simply straightforward characters free from the open air of comic book history.

The Others

Alfred, the pillar in Bruce Wayne's life is still undertaking his own mission to protect him, but is beset by worry and concern, convinced he has failed. Lucius Fox will continue to help Batman's quest, on the technological front, but with the caped crusader's true identity being sought, Fox is in a more dangerous position than ever before.

Nixon is a high flying cop working under Jim Gordon, who finds himself on the front lines as the rising is initiated, while Holly Robinson (Juno Temple) is a close friend and potential follower to Selena Kyle.

What to Expect

-Deshay, deshay! Bashara, bashara!
-What does that mean?
-Rise.

Given the scale of the story, it's not exactly a surprise that the film will contain some truly huge event set pieces and ambitious action, as well as undoubted emotional strife and huge characterisations.

The film's prologue introduces us to Bane, and in some style. The antagonist allows himself to be captured by the CIA, and then stages a daring, audacious mid-air escape, capturing a scientist in the process. This, like the released bank robbery opening from The Dark Knight, gives us maximum thrills and through actions and well chosen words lets us get to know the villain quickly. It's quite a first impression.

Much of the rest regarding the plot and events is gleaned from the trailers or second hand info from the crew or witnesses to on-set filming. A football pitch will be destroyed during a game by explosives set by Bane and his men, getting everyone's attention. Afterward, Bane will introduce himself to the crowd, call on the citizens of Gotham to rise, and introduce an as yet unidentified figure who is "the tool of [their] liberation". Later, or perhaps before, he will reveal the secret behind the events of the previous film, announce Harvey Dent's killing spree and expose Gordon and his ilk for their lies.

During the film we will also see Batman in daylight for the first time, taking on Bane hand to hand in the midst of a mass riot, and will be introduced to what appears to be a tumbler (new saga Batmobile) that is capable of flight. Gordon will be hospitalised, left hopeless and despairing, and Bruce Wayne will be unmasked and locked up by Bane. As part of his master plan, the arch-nemesis will also release convicts from Gotham's prison and give them weapons to spread chaos. Scenes of the city's elite being attacked and dragged out of their mansions will feature. And, naturally, we will see the legend end.

Theories & Speculation

-Why do we fall, Bruce? So we can learn to pick ourselves up.

As you would expect, the rumour mill is going into overdrive, as are the imaginations of many an armchair filmmaker.

The very presence of any incarnation of Ra's Al Ghul suggests that the League of Shadows, the first film's antagonists, will return here in some form. It has been suggested that Bane is in fact working for them, as his mission is to turn Gotham to ashes, very similar to the intention Ra's had before he was killed. It is also believed in some quarters that Miranda Tate is in fact Talia Al Ghul, daughter of Ra's. And to top all that off, Liam Neeson has reportedly been seen on set.

Another suspicion, far less likely, is that John Blake will turn out to Robin, despite Nolan's insistence that the famous sidekick has no place in his trilogy. Being more pragmatic, it would be a fair compromise to suggest he could well turn out to be a successor. After all, why would such big name actors like Marion Cotillard and Joseph Gordon-Levitt appear in insignificant roles?

But the biggy concerns Batman, and his fate. This film, and this final conflict, resolves the saga, and it will not be followed up. In the comics, Bane is most famous for 'breaking the bat', or more accurately breaking his back. It has been speculated that the man seen in the trailer walking with a cane is in fact Bruce Wayne, left crippled by his first battle with the masked collossus. Will Bane prove too strong? Will this trilogy end with Wayne, and his alter ego? That possible death has been mooted, and is entirely possible.

The End

After all, it would bring the story to a full arc, and present the final, unwinable battle as Bruce becomes only Batman, and then falls as his symbol rises, holding back the flames as he does.

On July 20th, we'll all find out.

If you make yourself more than just a man, if you devote yourself to an ideal, you become something else entirely.
A legend, Mr. Wayne...

Kill List - Film Review

The follow up to his 2009 crime family drama Up Terrace, Ben Wheatley here delivers what could tentatively be described as his mangum opus, a dark and disturbing thriller that is one part gritty crime story, other Wicker Man style horror, with plenitful mood whiplashes and foreboding.

Jay (Neil Maskell) is a former soldier and private contractor turned professional assassin, out of action for eight months following a traumatic job in Kiev which left him psychologically and physically damaged. When the money runs out due to his sabbatical, he is put under pressure by his knowing, glamourous wife Shel (MyAnna Buring), and young son Sam (Harry Simpson), to get back into the business, in part because his hot tub needs an expensive fix. Following a dinner party gone wrong, in spectacular style, Jay gives in and saddles up with best mate and fellow hitman Gal (Michael Smiley) on a new, seemingly simple contract; kill three men, none of them armed or particularly dangeous.

But in the tradition of such pitch black noir, things are simply not so straightforward. Alarm bells sound immediately as their client (Struan Rodger) seals the deal in blood, literally. Gal's date to the party Fiona (Emma Fryer) pops up suspiciously, both as a new friend of Jay's family and as a mysterious figure in his dreams. As their mission begins, amidst much banter and bravado from the two anti-heroes, more and more warning signs becoming audible, as Jay goes off-road, undone by curiosity about his marks, leading them both down a garden path of depravity and hideously violent retribution. The swirling madness around the pair grows in intensity, becoming deeply personal, hugely worrying, and ultimately insane.

The reason Kill List has such an impact is because it vehemently refuses to set its stall out from the start, instead just hints at the dark road ahead through lingering musical beats and thoughtful camera angles. We open with a domestic argument over bills and toilet roll, hinting rather than revealing at the unusual lifestyle of the central family. Jay is shown to be a caring father and decent husband, but one frustrated and pent up. Shel is portrayed as a loving mother and loyal wife, one who is simply strained by financial problems and Jay's malaise, driven to emotional phone calls to her mother in Swedish which Jay cannot understand. Small details like this, and honest characterisations that are never forced, make these people genuine from the off.

This authentic, almost mundane trait comes into its own with the introduction of Gal. The pair are great fun, with huge levels of bromance chemistry born from their time in the army and beyond, and they smirk at their dual wisecracks, thrive off their witty exchanges born out of years of familiarity. The naturalistic approach is enhanced by much of the dialogue in these scenes being improvised by Maskell and Smiley. That's not to say it's all just potty talk for minutes at a time, as scenes are levened by spectacular set pieces (such as Jay's growing fury at a Christian support group at a restaraunt), and shocking revelations. The film has two moral cores, that being Jay's family as his anchor, and Gal's friendship as his bond.

So the level of shocking is enhanced when things begin to get dark, and very very dark at that, quite suddenly. After a baffling first hit, in which their victim seems overjoyed and thanks his killers, the second dredges up more questions, and answers best left unseen by them breaking into the man's lockup and making a horrific discovery which sees Jay lead the crusade into psychotic punishment, beyond the call. It's a mistake, one that catches up with him. The violence in the film is in some parts routine, but when emotion is brought in becomes horrific and disturbing, every agony stricken moment of a hammer attack felt by the viewer. Sickening as it is, it's also entirely neccessary. Partly to make a point over the profession, also to give us a harrowing look into Jay's black heart that allows his occupation.

The film's final third, almost incomprehensible at times but never failing to engross, lays bare the film's themes and, perhaps, its purpose. Watched literally, it is a shocking, astonishing and deeply unsettling conclusion to a story which had built up to a nightmarish fever pitch, one which doesn't throw out answers and instead takes a whole new level of crazed horror because of the resolutions it doesn't provide.

However, seen metaphorically, it takes on a searing, infused moral parable, by means using character study and down and dirty Ken Loach style character base to let us connect to the players, and then bringing them into a twisted fairy tale of the depraved. Reminscent of the expression "the road to evil is paved with good intentions", Jay's ultimate fate is at the end of the road he started down when he abandoned professional antipathy and instead became a violent vigilante, and even before then by killing people anonymously in order to provide for his family. Much of the chaos that insues is down to his warped psyche, and his willingness to cave in skulls or destroy kneecaps. In the process of losing his soul truly, he loses everything around him. A phrase resonates, unheard or spoken, throughout: heart of darkness.

It's this kind of discussion which the film provokes, something you would never anticipate from reading the blurbs or DVD case plot summary, and why it lingers in the memory so vividly, and why it demands to be watched. Having pottered in the background as minor charaters in films of varying quality in the past, Neil Maskell delivers as the film's lead, a clenched ball of fury also capable of showing a caring, loving side, a 60/40 of dark and light, complex and at times highly intimidating, exactly as you would imagine a man of his ilk.

Rising star MyAnna Buring also brings depth to wife Shel, a role which in inferior hands would likely have been shrill. She manages to make her character a vivid tapestry of various emotions, many of them untouched but suggested by a withering stare of snarky comment. To most films of this ilk or set up, she is a plot device used to force the protagonist into action. In Kill List, she is a three dimensional character with real motives and feelings, living and breathing through the screen. The arguments between the characters, particularly during the virtuoso dinner party scene, are both great spectacles and dauntingly realistic.

And Northern Irish comedian Michael Smiley (best known for playing Tyres in Spaced) really delivers in a serious role, although his charisma and charm comes from Gal's comic traits, his funny one liners and wry humour. But his amiablity and trustworthiness is palpable, and he is the film's most likeable character, a dissolved voice of reason who happens to murder people for cash. Such is the skewed morality of the film.

If there's only one thing you can say of Kill List, it has to be its impact. It hits hard and low, astonishing and pulversing, shocking you to the core. This is a film that defies expectations and never lets you drop your guard, always ready to twist breakneck one way, then slam back the other. You feel every punch, every shot, every moment of pure horror and suspense. Described by one soundbite as "a cult classic in the making", this is indeed a film that is likely to build up a devoted fanbase, and much adulation in the process. Whether you understand it, or come to terms with its ending, is not so black and white, appropriately so.

9/10

Let The Right One In - Film Review

Swedish media really came into its element during the 2000s, what with the success of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (remake by David Fincher in cinemas now), and the surprise international interest in tv series Wallander (remade in English with Kenneth Branagah). And, the subject of yet another redo (which lost the point), is Tomas Alfredson's peculiar, heavily symbolic 2008 drama/horror hybrid, Let the Right One In.

The story concerns troubled, bullied young boy Oskar (Kade Hedebrant), the product of divorced parents, his father being an alcoholic, who has an unseemly interest in murder. One lonely night, he meets new neighbour Eli (Lina Leandersson), an odd girl with a suspicious lifestyle choices and an aversion to the biting winter cold. Tentatively, the pair become friends, and the strong willed, almost benevolent Eli provides submissive Oskar with a stronger core of courage to stand up to his tormentors, and a brighter outlook on life. However, the closer they become, the clearer her quirks her, to the point it is obvious she is not a normal human girl.

One of the glowing positives about Alfredson's film, penned by the original book's author, John Ajvide Lindqvist, is that I'm able to describe the plot with some clarity without mentioning the fact that the Eli's affliction is being a vampire. While countless dross of recent years has used this phenomenon as it's main selling point in the wave of money making Twilight led creative stagnancy, LTROI uses it as a means, and isn't afraid to display the ugly side of the mythological archetype.

While the subplot revolving around the community's disturbed detective work to find the vampire, following the death of a local (Mikael Rahm) connected to an earlier killing spree by Eli's carer Hakan (Per Ragnar), who was collecting blood for his master, focusses entirely on this plot device, it acts almost as a story compromise, neccessary to avoid the viewer becoming too distracted by the meshing of fantasy with realistic, matter of fact framing. Although even this drives home the piece's themes of stigma and victimisation. But the film's heart is very much a coming of age parable, a character driven emotional love story that needs the unreality of mythical creatures to make it's point.


As such, the friendship between Oskar and Eli is vitally played out in avoidance of cliched child's behaviour, and after a slow, cautious start, they begin to get to grips with each other and develop a humorous interest in their respective habits and quirks, growing to the point that Eli loathes her vampirism for posing a threat to their romance. Young Hedebrant and Leandersson manage to bring strong, subtle energies to their roles as equally unique and unconventional adolescents on the fringes of cultural belonging. Simply, they only have each other, and both of the young actors are able to project this feeling throughout, without having to resort to typical child actor methods of gaining sympathy. There are no temper tantrums, bellowed retorts or emotional unyielding and manipulation, it all feels genuine and special.

Which is why the film works so well, and is so memorable, because it's played perfectly by Alfredson (who has admitted he doesn't care for vampires). The film never loses sight of its purpose and message, refuses to fall into the same crowd pandering horror margins which the 2010 reimagining by Micahel Reeves did. In actual fact, the story is barely horror at all, even though the violence is disturbing and grotesque, a vital cog in displaying Eli's perpetual torture. It's really just a story of empowerment through new friendship, which happens to feature a horror-based creature.

The result may bore some, who cannot abide the slow, patient pace and character centred dynamic when they were led to believe this was some cult classic Scandanavian horror bloodbath extraordinaire, rather than a touching emotional piece about two misfits and how they find the strength to endure through their friendship. A dark fairy tale, in effect, which is mounted as a realistic character piece. It's this honest slant which gives Let the Right One In such power, and makes it a must watch.

8/10

We're All Christs - Film Review

After my previous foray into Polish cinema, in the form of Your Name is Justine, bore fruit, naturally it makes sense to go in again. And it's funny what diamonds in the rough you can find when you choose to embrace subtitles.

Wszyscy Jestesmy Chrystusami, or 'We're All Christs', is a bizzare and completely oddball life journey film from Marek Koterski, which looks at alcoholism, religuous symbolism and maintenance man esque guardian angels with never anything less than the mood after seventeen vodkas.

Using a chronologically non-linear format, not to mention numerous digressions into fourth wall breaking narrative trysts, the film tells the story of Adam (Andrzej Chyra as a younger man, Marek Kondrat as an older man) a hopelessly drunken tutor at a Warsaw university, specialising in culture and Christian iconography. An alcoholic, Adam struggles in later years to come to terms with his bizzare life that pretty much alienates him from everyone, in particular his son Sylwek (Michal Koterski). The film is framed by their ongoing conversation, in which they discuss how they remember Sylwek's dysfunctional childhood, utterly defiled by Adam's drinking.

Over the course of his life, Adam figuratively puts all his loved ones on the cross, making them his Jesus by ensuring they pay for his sins, while he makes excuses, misremembers key moments and generally refuses to recognise the reckoning coming, or the efforts made by afore-mentioned angel to steer him down the right path. Instead he ventures down to his local, the bar onboard an anchored barge, and swaps rational explanations with his fellow barflys, who are similarly wary of taking responsibility. Then, the transition, with Adam going from 33 to 55 in the blink of an eye, his son fully grown and struggling through college, acquiring some of his father's more addictive personality traits. Suddenly the whimsy is rather tragic.

Although Koterski clearly has a humourous sensibility, and make no mistake, there are some genuinely hilarious scenes and wonderfully witty dialogue exchanges in We're All Christs (highlights include Adam's botched suicide attempt and his experience of a gypsy rabbit dinner), there's clearly a very serious subject being broached here and it's handled superbly, that being the destructive nature of alcohol on the family, and it's long lasting effects. Rather than going for a cringingly familiar gritty route, Koterski's off-beat and surreal approach means the message is warm but also cutting, amiable but effective.

The aside to Jesus Christ, which provides the source of the film's name and almost all of it's own symbolism, is actually a means to an end and a pretty good metaphor for a socially less divine theme, the punishment of others by the punishing of self. Though never a bad person, Adam is killing his loved ones, so although he may see himself as carrying the cross, they are forced to alongside him. It's a neat analogy, and not as weighty on film as it sounds on paper. If such a thing as religuously charged satire didn't exist before, it does now.

And the two Adams, Chyra and Kondrat, both shine with lovely and soulful performances, both vulnerable, poignant yet comically astute and charming. Chyra in particular, as the younger incarnation, is highly entertaining, and the support don't let anyone down. It's quite an insular piece, with a character limit and many (including Adam's wife and mother) not even having names. The film is sharply and intelligently edited, resulting in plenty of Gilligan Cuts and quick beated cuts, fades, and scene interruptions. It gives the movie a distinctive tone and mood, never trying to make you feel sad, but perhaps sometimes managing it anyway, like a drunken man's funny story.

If unique, truly funny, bizzare and poignant shaggy dog story telling is your thing, the chances are you'll probably find a place in your heart for this wonderful little film, one that has with it's slapstick and ironic wit a pumping, feeling heart. Just don't praise it too loudly, or in too many numbers, of they'll probably remake the bloody thing.

9/10

For Your Consideration: Films You've Never Heard Of

One of my great passtimes is looking for golden nuggets of forgotten film excellence, basically doing some motion picture scouting for those wanting for new viewing material. When it comes to writing my reviews, and picking a film to run my writing hands over, I much prefer something little heard of, whether it be low budget British grime, indie flick or just plain old forgotten about or mis-sold cult property.

There's something very satisfying about finding a movie that you love, but that nobody else seems to be familiar with, and even more satisfying passing on the message. So with that in mind, here's a shortlist of films I recommend that I've dug up from the gaps between the pavement. Not literally, of course. That would be absurd.

I'm hoping to make this a recurring, though not regular, feature, so keep your eyes open for links and your ear to the ground.

London to Brighton

Short on running time and pound signs, Paul Andrew Williams' compact and modest thriller takes a dreary if unremorseful look at the black holes of British soceity, mainly prostitution and the exploitation of children, and picks out a fairly simple story of a girl and an older girl.

Street walker Kelly (Lorraine Stanley) and twelve year old Joanne (Georgie Groome) are in flight from an unseen, traumatic incident, with the former sprouting a monster of a shiner. Their escape is the train journey of the title. While the pair, who it turns out barely know each other, try to get some money together and gather their wits, they are being hunted down by some unscupulous shady guys. Namely, powerful gangster Stuart Allen (Jason Flemying lookalike Sam Spruell), and Kelly's pimp Derek (Eddie Marsan lookalike Johnny Harris). So while we get to see our heroic pair form a close bond, we also learn more about what has them as quarry, through flashback. It's all rather gritty.

It may not be life affirming, but this modest little piece is a decent story well presented with a matter of fact approach that's not original (the British film industry has been churning such chum out by the gallon of late), but is highly effective. Don't expect Guy Ritchie flash in the pan meets Thelma and Louise, this is a tale that is rooted deeply in reality, as drab and pessimistic as it may be. The twists and turns are left until the finale, and here it's a case of shocks rather than swings. A fairly ambitious effort, there is definitely a resonant effect left behind by the homeliness of the film's heart, the relationship between our heroines. It's a nice, sweet notion which has you hoping for a resolution which involves their survival.

Brick

Less of a sleeper and more of a cult classic is Rian Johnson's Brick, which is perhaps one of the most daringly imaginative and original 'gimmick' features of the 2000's, and one of the most enjoyable on a number of levels.

The gimmick is that it's a Dashiel Hammett style noir-mystery-crime-thriller, complete with dialogue and camera focus, which is set in a 21st century American high school, complete with students playing the parts of weary PI's, drug barons and muscle for hire. Brendan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is the protagonist, a Phillip Marlowe archetype concealing strength and street smart behind a geeky, introvert exterior, who is trying to locate his ex-girlfriend Emily (Emilie De Ravin) after a disturbing phone call, and ends up becoming imbroiled in a narcotics ring run by 'older boy' The Pin (Lukas Haas). Double-crossing and winding, twisting turns commence, filled with an emotional heart.

Because of its vary nature, Brick is never going to appeal to the masses, who will either be confused by its format or baffled by its beautifully written script, full of ironic humour and superlative wordplay. But the real diamond of the flick is just how seamlessly it works, and it very quickly ceasing to entertain by virtue of its hubris, and instead wraps you in by its own virtues. Rian Johnson must have had one hell of a tough ride ever getting such a bizzare creation greenlit by anyone, but he redeems this with something which should not in a million years work, but somehow does. On top of this, we get the joy of seeing Gordon-Levitt graduate from Third Rock child stardom into proper, distinguished film acting. Anyone familiar with Nolanverse will no doubt agree this alone makes Brick worthwhile. The fact it's such a satisfying, stimulating and coveted film is what makes it so damn loved though.

The Wind That
Shakes The Barley

Love him or hate him, Ken Loach is a pillar of British filmmaking, and his filmography from Kes onwards is always a great indicator of its standard in quality. Never one to compromise on his unflinching style, and having absolutely no aspirations towards Hollywood despite its siren calls, his own breed of voyeur style directing will always be the industry, not just a part of it, and its a sign of his ambitions and intent that his most exotic film only takes him across the Irish sea.

Quite a mouthful of a title, The Wind That Shakes the Barley depicts the beginning of the struggles in Ireland, the freedom fighting cause picked up by the little men under the shackles of British occupation, and essentially forming the birth of the IRA and the eventual independence the country gained from the crown. We follow, in far from glamorous rabble rousing and heroic framing, two brothers who play a significant part and provide a rivetting, poignant tale. They are Damien (Cillian Murphy) and Teddy O'Sullivan (Padraic Delaney), the former a young doctor who is scheduled to practice in London, the latter already an established member of a Republican cell. When things kick off, tensions between the British army and the locals boiling over, it starts a slow and palpable march towards full blown battle.

And while we see the rise of the two, along with their fellow fighters (including Liam Cunningham and Laurence Barry), from armed aggressors into figureheads, the film never gets carried away with Braveheart style bravado and hero worship. They are never portrayed as anything other than ordinary folks swayed by principle into a spreading fire of action, and the film never loses touch with it's ultimate sentiment and point, keeping a balanced and neutral moral perspective. That's not to say it isn't moving, but it's the quasi-reality that provides this, not heart string pulling. Murphy and Delaney put on acting masterclasses, with Murphy in particular providing a wonderful arcing character study that is the backbone of the grand story, and an indicator of his extraordinary and underappreciated talents. Gorgeously photgraphed and mounted, showing the genuine beauty of Ireland as a facet for the tale, TWTStB can be described as sweeping but not epic, as stunning but not spectacular, and as emotionally involving but not provocative. The staples of any Ken Loach film, but tied into a far greater vision.

Buffalo Soldiers

Aussie Gregor Jordan's film, which he adapted from Robert O'Connor's book, is one of those films that suffered from it's mishandling, and again is an example of a cult film instead of a generally appreciated one. The reasons were political, namely the film's 'unpatriotic' sentiment and unfavourable attitude towards the US military, quite a clash considering it was initially to be released just after September 11th, 2001. Obscurity beckoned, despite a great cast and intriguing premise.

It's 1989, West Germany, and the Berlin Wall is about to fall. At an American garrison, Ray Elwood (Hollywood enigma Joaquin Phoenix) is bored, morally loose and eager to get his hands on some green. Having used his connections, being that he is adjutant to the base commander Colonel Berman (Ed Harris, playing wonderfully against type), he establishes a drug ring within the GIs, but his life of ill-gotten gains and luxury is put on the wire by the arrival of new enforcer Sergeant Lee (Scott Glenn), and in particular jeoprady is his scheme to sell a shipment of 'lost and found' weapons to local gangsters. But he still finds time to woo his new enemy's daughter, Robyn (Anna Paquin).

Immorality is the name of the game in the seductive Buffalo soldiers, as we have an anti-hero seemingly without a good cause, soldiers more intent on getting high than vigilant, and disciplinarian honchos cast as villains. But that's part of the film's charm, because above all else it's a richly black comedy that mines its humour from subtle character movement and Coen-esque farce. There are no sacred cows here, and clearly Jordan doesn't care a great deal who you root for, which is just as well. While Phoenix revels in a rare charismatic character, Harris has fun as an incompetant officer, and Glenn is menacing and borderline psychotic. It's great to see established names playing with their images, and that alone should sell the film. But there's also a noir-ish double crossing plot and general explosions. It's a highly entertaining and enjoyable flick, if one without moral fibre. Watch out for the stone tankers scene.

Dead Man's Shoes

Although This Is England proved to be a big hitter, and a highly popular effort, the rest of Shane Meadows' modest back catalogue more often than not gets little in the way of widespread interest. Which is a real travesty, because aside from the black mark of the messy and disorganised Once Upon a Time in the Midlands, it provides a selection of top notch, down and dirty excellence.

The pick is this, a sleepy town set rendition of Death Wish. Former squaddie Richard (Paddy Considine, who wrote the script) returns to his deadbeat hometown on a mission. He intends to get even with the local drugdealing thugs, led by Sonny (Gary Stretch), who terrorised his mentally challenged brother Anthony (Toby Kebbell) while he was away. But what starts out as a series of vicious pranks, intending to put the gang on edge, slowly begins to mutate into dark and grisly violence as the unhinged Richard shows his true colours, and in turn we learn the full implications of what happened to incite his blood vengeance.

Starting out as a low key drama, Dead Man's Shoes really earns its points with a disturbing escalation into horror thriller, giving the film's violence a powerful punch as it springs out of almost nowhere. We rarely see Richard when he is going about his mission, rather get to know him through quiet interludes where he reminsces with his brother about better, poignant times. Screen time is shared as we get a very intimate perspective of the bad guys as they fall apart, stricken by fear and very real confusion over the hunt they are now on the brunt of. The climax to this, which includes a brilliantly executed acid trip sequence, is shocking and brutal, but provides the impetus for the film's real conclusion, a far quieter and more foreboding sequence that hammers home the twisted creature that Richard has come. For this, we have Paddy Considine, ever superb but truly magnificent here, intimidating yet unsettling yet sympathetic and very human. Toby Kebbell, in his breakthrough role, and former showman boxer Gary Stretch also impress, as do the non-professionals portraying the gang members. The raw realism, provided by improvisation and subtle reactions, is what gives the film an edge over other, similar films. It's very unoriginal, but its slant really is, and in the long run is a truly memorable film.

Narc

Joe Carnahan's small, taut thriller makes its intent clear from the start, opening with a searing and disturbing drug addled chase which culminates in the killing of a junkie, and in the cross fire the accidental shooting of a pregnant woman. Whatever you might say about the chaotic Smokin Aces, or the blockbuster A-Team adaptation, these few minutes justify the director's status.

The rest of Narc follows the same brutal and unfliching approach, as suspended narcotics detective Nick Tellis (Jason Patric) reluctantly agrees to assist in the cold case investigation of an undercover cop's murder. The only person still determined to keep the case going, bloody mindedly so, is the dead man's partner, rogue ball of fury Henry Oak (Ray Liotta), and the pair form an uneasy partnership as they revisit the case and begin to make breakthroughs that a paint a dark and disturbing picture of what happened one rainy morning.

With claustraphobic camera angles, poorly lit rooms and Cliff Martinez's low rumbling score throughout, Narc builds an ominous atmosphere as it reaches for its rivetting conclusions and horrifying twists. The tempered sense of mutated justice and cruel priorities gives momentum to Oak's tragic quest, one that Tellis is wrapped up in to the point of smothering. The brutality of the world they inhabit is palpable in the walls, with crime scenes sickening places and the Detroit winter blanketing their efforts in a pall of symbolic half-light. Often wasted in inferior roles, Liotta is dynamic as Oak, a virtuosos performance that is his most memorable and worthy since Goodfellas. Patric holds his own, as do the cast of limited screen time supporting characters. While it perhaps goes for a gambit too far in it's sad and ambiguous finale, Narc burns onto your memory it's blistering energy like a dark star. How it is so often ignored is a real mystery.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - Film Review

Given that David Fincher's big Hollywood remake is pending, and will no doubt receive the attention that his reputation merits, it seems both relevant and fitting to go back and re-examine and evaluate the 2009 Swedish original, a masterclass from Niels Arden Oplev.

Based on the novel by the late Steig Larsson, the film follows two characters, disgraced Millenium reporter Mikael 'Kalle' Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) and introvert, punk hacker Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) as they form an unlikely duo and attempt to solve a murder that has gone unresolved for forty years.

We meet Blomkvist as he is being sentenced to a prison term for libelous claims made against an industrial tycoon in his newspaper. He is certain he has been set up, a view shared by others, including another wealthmonger, ageing business head Henrik Vanger (Sven Bertil-Taube), who's family live on a secluded snowy island. In 1966, his niece and spiritual daughter Harriet disappeared without a trace, presumed dead. Still restless over the matter, and convinced her death was at the hands of one of his family members, he offers Blomkvist a healthy sum to crack the case.

He is not alone in his investigation for long. Lisbeth, who had previously been hired to collate information on Blomkvist, continues to hack his computer and finds information about his new project. Unable to resist the mystery, she does some case work of her own, solves a long baffling riddle, and joins forces with the plucky journalist. Together, they begin to find links to a series of pseudo religuous killings from many years before, which seemingly tie in with their case, and become endangered as the murderer turns out to be closer than they know.

Although its elaborate mystery thriller aspect is highly enjoyable, albeit one that at times seems like a grittier, darker Agatha Christie romp, it's in the subtext that TGWTDT finds its real hammering thrust and knife edge. Set against a backdrop that includes power infused corruption and degradation, dangerous political slants and the concept of the hurt and the givers of pain, the story takes a deeper, edgier pedestal. It makes an almost casual reference to the pro-Nazi collaboration that took place in the thirties and forties, a taboo in Sweden, and has no qualms about displaying the worst areas humans have to show for themselves. Torture, suffering and rape.

Make no mistake, the film pulls no punches. Many of the characters are presented as sadistic horror shows, particularly when it comes to their treatment of females. Considering that the book's original title is The Men Who Hate Women, that shouldn't come as a great surprise, and it's almost anti-man slant is accenuated in particular by Lisbeth, the victim of abuse as a child and later exploited sexually, and horrifically, by her parole officer. That she is able to get even on that count, and hold her own in others, suggests that the film not only covers the festering nature of being the victim, but also the empowerment of fighting back.

Which is why Lisbeth, the titular character and hero of the story in spirit, is the film's most famous export. She is a singularly minded, aloof young woman beset on all sides by threats of all kinds, who wears her gothic attire and rebellious appearance with spite rather than pride, completely alien to the idea of opening up, or of seeing a man as anything other than an opportunistic pig. In so much media, this archetype fails miserably, coming across as cartoonish. Luckily, Oplev has the revelatory Noomi Rapace to rely on, and its no great surprise that the actress is on her way to big things internationally. Her Lisbeth is searing, incendiary, alluring and fascinating.

Michael Nyqvist plays Blomqvist as a wry old cynic, unconventional and at times eccentric if not world weary and wary. The chemistry between he and Lisbeth is palpable but not overcooked, and they make a great double act, with her often taking the masculine traits of the relationship. There are plenty of examples of role-reversal here, both figurative and literal, with this being one of the more subtle examples. He is interminably the good man, the freedom fighting writer and sneak, his weapons compassion and understanding. But there is also a vulnerability about him, much like Lisbeth, and although she wears hers on her shoulder (or intricate body art), his is conveyed by a hang dog expression and tentative sentimentality.

It's appropriate that the book is named after such a small, narratively insignificant detail, because in many ways the plot of the film only exists as a way to convey its themes. The art is in the details and background, not the emboldened foreground. That's not to say that the main story is not gripping and exciting, because it is. Well structured and intelligent, its engrossing and follows its ultimate point to the tip.

Oplev doesn't only excel here, he also mounts the picture beautifully, with plenty of symbolic imagery and gorgeous cinematography. Snowy, wintertime Sweden looks both unbearably cold and starkly attractive to look at from the warmth of your living room. The script is both fairly faithful and strongly independent, and for all its bleakness there are the occasional well timed placements of warmth and humour. Jacob Groth's dissonant soundtrack fuels the fire of expectation, and the editing keeps a quick pace despite it's long running time. You also have strong performances, including Bjorn Granath as a veteran police officer, Marika Lagercrantz and Peter Haber as more approachable members of the Vanger family, and all of the above. If there is any flaw in this film, it isn't technical.

It's still to be seen whether Fincher can even do justice to this film, let alone top it, and watching it again begs the question of whether such a remake is required. Do people really have such a problem with subtitles? Do they really find it so hard to empathise with a character who isn't of their race? Regardless, this original holds a certain uniqueness and independence that will always stand it in good stead, and ensure it doesn't fade from memory within the shadow of the re-do. While on the surface The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo hits heights as a murder mystery, its real heart and breathing soul is a white hot epicentre of depraved humanity and retribution, named for a small detail and famed for its shock moment. Appropriate, really.

9/10

Drive - Film Review

Highly anticipated, with a low throbbing buzz of hype around it, Nicolas Winding Refn's dark thriller delves into some rather unexpected territory during a format which is far more predictable, creating a film hybrid of hypnotic calibre.

The film follows the nameless, backstory-less driver (Ryan Gosling), a mechanic and film stuntman who operates as a getaway specialist for extra cash, but otherwise leads a lonely, singular existence, not alive until he is behind the wheel. After meeting single mother neighbour Irene (Carey Mulligan), he begins to feel something more, but then his new found happiness is shattered by the violent arrival in his life of mobsters clamouring for money in a scheme he never understands, but is forced into bringing the sharp end to.

Gosling's driver is a mysterious man, rarely speaking and with low volumes, who comes into his element when escorting bank robbers out of danger, or in restoring old cars for his boss and closest friend Shannon (Bryan Cranston, building a new career after his success in Breaking Bad), one of the few people who seems to understand him. When he meets Irene, an unsatisfied but defiantly upbeat worker and mother, there is suddenly a spark in him, and he seems more human as he grows to know her and her son Benicio (Kaden Leos). Despite this, he has a darkness about him, a scary side that is kindled when Irene's husband Standard (Oscar Isaac) is released from prison, and subsequently falls foul of old prison mates, putting his family in mortal danger. Naturally, the driver steps in, becoming intangled in a web of deceit in his efforts to protect the new livelihood he has discovered, and unleashing his dangerous potential.

Drive is a very curious film, and the crux of this falls on Refn, who's fingerprints are all over it in a way that is less ego directing and more visual stamp. It's clear from reading the plot summary how the film is originally scripted as a run of the mill action thriller, albeit with some mystery elements to it bordering on modern noir. But the conspiring dark force is pushed firmly into the background by Refn, with the elaborate scheme made almost unintelligble to the point that it is clearly not meant to be the focus, and even deliberately inaccessible. The gangsters, represented by Albert Brooks and Ron Perlman, are showcased as pretty flawed people with labyrinth schemes and deadly methods, hardly evil geniuses. Instead, Refn focusses on the characters and the quiet moments, using the violent confrontations within the second half as a show of contrast towards the quiet, dreamlike phase of the first.

In doing this, he takes a creative choice similar to Peter Weir's Witness, in that the relationship between the driver and Irene, the story's fulcrum, is completely deconstructed. Instead of getting sappy dialogue and long winded verbal expression of feelings, there is barely any dialogue between the two, instead reliance is put on Gosling and Mulligan to show their emotions towards each other visually. The result is some quiet beautiful moments, comprising longing looks and staring into one another's eyes, testing each other's intentions and desires.

This is of huge benefit to Gosling especially, who provides a superb performance as the nameless driver. There are incredible depths to the character, who on the surface appears to hold no personality traits aside from his love of cars, and no past aside from hints made by Shannon. But although this does make the audience demand more information, it also provides it in a very subtle sense, with his occasionally child-like demeanour, an odd vulnerability, and propensity for retributive action suggest a powerful trauma from his past, a dark side to his history. Carey Mulligan, already a highly sought after actress after her breakthrough in An Education, acts almost as a totem to the driver's story, but still brings an energy, weary yet hopeful, which is alluring. The other actors, in compact parts, hit the right buttons.

As mentioned, there is a distinct turn for deep foreboding halfway through, when things begin to go downhill, following a botched pawn shop robbery that is shrouded in ambiguity. The music begins to pierce rather than soothe, changing the tone from serene surreality to fierce savagery, while Gosling's increasing choked down rage manifests itself physically, not verbally. When things kick off, the violence is both stylised and extreme, sharply at odds with what came before. That much of it is meated out by the driver indicates just how things have changed, and the unleashing of this animal rage is doubly shocking and depressing. You can tell this is a man who has been supressing such animal instincts for some time, and it is tragic that the neccessity to employ them again will mean he cannot have the happiness he seeks. The bitter irony in that by protecting what he holds dearest, he cannot obtain it, as it gets further and further from his reach with each sacrificial step.

After his efforts in the searing Bronson earned him such acclaim, Refn clearly revels in bringing his own slant to somebody else's script (one adapted from James Sallis's book of the same name), approaching the story with a different angle which makes a tired old story highly refreshing and, dare I say it, original. You're unlikely to have seen something like Drive before, and probably won't again until the Dane's next film. Every angle is thoughtfully chosen, while his control over light and sound is meticulous and affecting, bringing a distinctive atmosphere to the piece. Nothing in Drive is shot by normal standard, it always looks different in some way, while the more action based scenes are enthralling without using cliched methods. There's an undercurrent of dirty, grimy realism here, tempered by eloquent, surreal presentation. It's clear that this is a typical thriller directed by an art house filmmaker.

While Gosling simmers and impresses, and everyone is in uniformly good form, the real star of Drive is it's director, full of confidence and surging passion for his first Hollywood project, and creating a distinctive and memorable film which really shouldn't be as downright effective as it is. If you want to see something different, this is your ticket, never too far from conventional but always, beat for beat, it's own animal.

9/10