Secret Agent Gal Movie Reviews

The Robber: Bourne-like drama chases thoughtful thrills - 4.5 stars

 
 
A record-breaking marathon runner (Andreas Lust) chases his endorphin rush to extremes in The Robber, Benjamin Heisenberg’s real-life drama with Jason Bourne's heart. It's now streaming online.

The rush of marathon competition and victory would thrill most of us. Quiet, intense Johann Rettenberger (Lust) robs banks. He’s hooked on the thrill of a double life. Winning championships seems like his day job. Daring heists are his true passion.

This is a chase film and cinematic exploration of movement, darkness and light. The runner hones his crimes as carefully as his cardio training. Like Robert De Niro’s Neil McCauley in Heat, Rettenberger is compelled to pull off big heists. Like McCauley, he vows never to return to prison.

More myth than character, Rettenberger lives on the edge, fully alive. He has little use for the money. Wearing a Ronald Reagan mask, the real crook (Johann Kastenberger) robbed up to three banks a day, earning the nickname Pumpgun Ronnie.

The Robber is based on Martin Prinz’s novel On the Run, which tells how the marathoner terrorized Austrian banks in the 1980s. Prinz co-wrote the screenplay with Heisenberg.

Rettenberger loves solitude. He has no family ties or real friendships. This is his fatal flaw and his fascination.

The love of Erika (Franziska Weisz) entices Johann. In spite of herself, she is mesmerized by criminal life. The two see a crime movie on their first date. Erika gushes over a shootout scene. Johann smiles knowingly to himself.

Erika and Johann knew each other in childhood. Even then he was stealing treats from her mother. She offers Johann in an extra room in her flat. One day she finds a cache of bills stuffed under his bed. Johann discovers Erika sitting on the carpet in his room, wearing the bank robber’s mask, her eyes teary.

 
 

Lust (Revanche) fascinates even in a spare story with little dialogue. Cinematographer Reinhold Vorschneider evokes chase and race scenes with Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner fascination. The low-budget film achieves great suspense. In one scene, Rettenberger leaps out of a window at police headquarters and flees.

The characters shape shift as Vorschneider films dark scenes with tremendous depth, color and visual interest. As Johann and Erika make love, the two come alive with the tentative commitment of those on the run.

Exquisite images abound. There’s a surge of runners before dawn, headlamps bobbing. Later, police flashlights close in as Rettenberger takes refuge in a dark forest.

Dialogue is another great treat in The Robber. “Jealous?” Erika asks Johann. “For a second,” he answers. “That’s nice,” she replies.

In a plot twist, Johann veers into violence. The runner’s face and whole body congeal when his parole officer (Markus Schleinzer) dogs him after a championship. This sets off the trophy-bearing Rettenberger.

Carefully crafted and executed, The Robber is a fine film that could have benefited from deeper character development. At least Heisenberg has given us more food for thought than the famous Bourne films.

The Social Network's Andrew Garfield is set to star in an American remake of The Robber, according to Filmofilia.

Clutching desperately to love and freedom, the anti-hero fascinated me until the film’s end under gray skies on the autobahn. Sony has purchased the rights for an American remake.

If you like The Robber, you might enjoy: The Tree of Life; Missing Pieces; The Debt.

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The Robber     2010  /  NR (violence, sex)  /  1 hour, 28 mins

Cast Overview:  Andreas Lust, Franziska Weisz, Florian Wotruba, Johann Bednar, Markus Schleinzer, Peter Vilnai, Max Edelbacher

Director:  Benjamin Heisenberg

Genre:  Drama, Crime, Sports, Biopic

Languages:  German with English subtitles

 

 

Sarah's Key: Kristen Scott Thomas stars in Holocaust drama ****

 
 

An American journalist living in Paris (Kristen Scott Thomas) is obsessed with a Holocaust story. Sarah's Key is a thrilling search for truth about France’s role in the Holocaust seen through the eyes of 10-year-old Sarah (Melusine Mayance). The film is based on Tatiana de Rosnay’s novel.

French director Gilles Paquet-Brenner’s film exposes the Vel’ d’Hiv Roundup during World War II. Many moviegoers will learn about the incident for the first time here.

In the roundup, thousands of Jews living in Paris’ Marais neighborhood were forced into a sports stadium, torn away from family members, and shipped to concentration camps. Julia Jarmond (Thomas) convinces her editor to let her write a 10-page article documenting the 60^th anniversary of the roundup.

Two parallel stories unfold. Julia pursues leads and interviews witnesses. She discovers that she is personally connected to the Starzinski family, Polish Jews living in Paris during the German occupation.

 

Sarah Starzinski’s story is told in flashbacks. Police arrive one day. Sarah dashes to protect her young brother Michel. She locks him in a closet for safekeeping, sure that she will return soon. Days pass in the crowded stadium. Panic and disease spread. Desperate to return and rescue Michel, Sarah falls ill.

Under Nazi order, French police arrested 13,000 Jews in July 1942. The prisoners were forced into the Velodrome d’Hiver, an indoor bicycle racing track. With no access to running water or toilets, they slept in their seats or on concrete floors. Families were separated and herded into trains bound for French internment camps.

Thomas (The English Patient; I’ve Loved You So Long) and Mayance play off each other beautifully with moving character studies. Past and present feel immediate and urgent. Thomas is intent and driven as she speaks both French and American English. Her brilliance shines despite a script that often emphasizes the obvious. Mayance is a talent to watch, lively and convincing here.

Julia learns that Sarah escaped from the Beaune-la-Rolande camp in Loiret. She tracks down a farm couple (Niels Arestrup and Dominique Frot) who sheltered the girl from Nazi soldiers. The mystery of Sarah’s life deepens as Julia locates her surviving relatives, including William (Aidan Quinn).

Julia travels abroad to pursue the story. She argues with her French husband Bertrand (Frederic Pierrot) and reassures her teenage daughter Zoe (Karina Hin). In one of the film’s contrived moments, Julia learns that the Starzinski’s apartment was acquired by Bertrand’s family in 1942.

The director relates a powerful chapter of history. Tellingly, it is a French soldier who helps Sarah escape from the camp.

In real life (and beyond the scope of Sarah’s Key), other roundups followed. Prisoners were eventually deported to Auschwitz. In 1959, fire destroyed much of the Vel’ d’Hiver. Apartments and a Ministry of the Interior building stand on the site today.

Julia’s part was over-written and weighs down the narrative. Emphasis on Julia’s pregnancy and failing marriage is distracting. The epilogue feels too neat and becomes trite. Yet Sarah’s Key brings history to life with personal revelation. Paquet-Brenner has made a daring, important film.

If you like Sarah’s Key, you might enjoy:  Winter in Wartime; Of Gods and Men; The King’s Speech.

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Sarah’s Key     2010  /  PG-13  /  1 hour, 45 min

Cast Overview:  Kristin Scott Thomas, Melusine Mayance, Niels Arestrup, Frederic Pierrot, Michel Duchaussoy, Dominique Frot, Gisele Casadesus, Aidan Quinn

Director:  Gilles Paquet-Brenner

Genre:  Drama, History, Books on Film

Languages:  English, French and German with English subtitles

 

The Trip: British comedians battle egos over dinner ****1/2

 

British comedians Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon battle in a rollicking road trip through northern England in The Trip. Michael Winterbottom’s comedy is a lighthearted adventure that meditates on family, career and what really matters.

The Trip is irresistible as divorcee Steve convinces family man Rob to join him for a week-long road trip to visit England’s best restaurants in Yorkshire and The Lake District. Steve is writing celebrity restaurant reviews for The Observer, who will pick up their tab.

Coogan and Brydon (who also matched wits in Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story) share great chemistry. Before we know it we’re hooked on where they’re going, what they’re eating and which actor they’ll send up next. The film engages our imaginations despite a bare-bones plot (Steve has a decision to make).

Laugh-out-loud adventurous and easygoing, this is a thoughtful comedy more sophisticated than the average mockumentary. It’s all improv, originally shot as a BBC mini-series. Winterbottom and editors Mags Arnold and Paul Monaghan earn high praise for adapting it to the big screen.

Fame is fickle for the friendly rivals, who compete in real life. Coogan (24 Hour Party People) has pursued Hollywood roles (Around the World in 80 Days) with less acclaim. Brydon enjoys great popularity in England. He’s renowned for one routine seen here: “Help me! I’m a small man stuck in a box!”

Coogan fusses and fumes. He’s pulled in several directions as he phones his elusive girlfriend Mischa (Margo Stilley), his American agent (Kerry Shale) and his wayward son. Hurting, he mimics Brydon’s “small man” in the mirror.

 
 

Meanwhile Brydon coasts along, confident. The banter turns philosophical as they sing and play “what if." Coogan drives. The Trip is fanciful and endearing when compared with darker, moodier Sideways (2004).

Scrumptious and beautifully designed cuisine becomes the focal point as the insults roll. We glimpse behind-the-scenes food preparation in some of England’s best restaurants. Scallops, duck, pigeon and micro greens are served. The two visit Hipping Hall, L’Enclume and The Yorke Arms.

At their most side-splitting, Coogan and Brydon compete with dueling impressions of famous Brits like Michael Caine, Sean Connery, Anthony Hopkins and Richard Burton. Woody Allen, Robert De Niro and Al Pacino are mimicked. Observing Best Actor Colin Firth’s success, the two ponder just how far they would go to win an Oscar.

The funnymen meet literary tradition when they visit Dove Cottage where William Wordsworth lived. Touring Samuel Coleridge’s home nearby, they recall his opium addiction. “I’d rather have moments of genius than a lifetime of mediocrity,” Brydon declares.

Northern England is beautifully filmed, mirroring the travelers’ psyches with rolling hills, meadows and ancient limestone outcroppings. Man’s eternal quest ranges from primordial to modern days.

There’s a quiet, reflective moment when Coogan arrives at a limestone bluff. He savors the awesome landscape and its natural sounds. Although it's soon interrupted, the moment is like a deep breath. That intimacy between man and nature is rarely captured on film.

Coogan sows his wild oats, seducing several ladies during their overnight stays. He calls himself a British Don Quixote. “Women are my windmills. I tilt at them,” he quips.

At an old cemetery Coogan delivers Brydon’s eulogy, but quickly leaves before his friend can reciprocate. On their way home, they visit Coogan’s parents. It’s a heartwarming interlude, but one that the son is eager to flee.

Being human can be funny, sad, frustrating and occasionally transcendent. The Trip is an allegory for life that honors England and creative artists everywhere. Assuming a modest place in history, Coogan and Brydon take life – and themselves – lightly.

If you like The Trip, you might enjoy: Midnight in Paris; Barney’s Version; Cedar Rapids.

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The Trip     2010  /  NR  /  1 hour, 51 min

Cast Overview:  Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon, Claire Keelan, Margo Stilley, Rebecca Johnson, Dolya Gavanski, Kerry Shale

Director:  Michael Winterbottom

Genre:  Mockumentary, Comedy

 

Snow Flower never blooms in women's friendship tale 2.5/5

 

A woman’s bound foot is a knarled mass of black and blue. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan reveals this metaphor for women’s suffering. Bound feet were called “golden lilies” in ancient China. The soft bones of young feet were broken, making girls highly prized as wives. “Only through pain will you find beauty,” Snow Flower is told. Misery is just beginning for two pairs of friends in this uneven drama.

Snow Flower reveals Chinese tradition and modernity with respect. It’s filled with beautiful scenery and costuming. Still it never captures the depth that women’s friendships must have had then and now. The laotong – “old sames” who enter an arranged friendship and vow eternal devotion – hobble on impossibly tiny, misshapen feet. They communicate in a secret language called nu shu, writing messages in the folds of silk fans.

Unnecessarily complicating Amy See’s novel of the same name, director Wayne Wang (Chan Is Missing; The Joy Luck Club; Maid in Manhattan) adds a second set of friends in modern day Shanghai. He then forces a comparison between modern and ancient friends. Attempting to cover too much ground, the movie jumps back and forth in time. Finally the historic tale is more developed and intriguing.

 

Bingbing Li plays Lily, a bank executive. Gianna Jun stars as Sophia, a writer. As soon as we meet the two best friends forever, we are transported to 19^th century Hunan province. There, Li and Jun play Nina and Snow Flower respectively. The film cuts quickly back and forth to various points in the parallel stories.

Nina and Snow Flower enter arranged marriages and have children. Snow Flower’s husband (Jiang Wu) beats her, but she will not leave him. Typhus wipes out family members. Bands of rebels invade villages.

Under Shanghai’s modern, dim cityscape, Sophia rides her bike in traffic. She collides with a taxi. As Sophia clings to life in a hospital bed, Lily investigates her friend, hoping to find why they have drifted apart. Lily visits a modern art exhibit about foot binding. Images of disfigured feet line a wall. A pop art sign declares: (N)EVER BIND.

When Wang experiments with different cameras for the two eras, this adds to the unevenness. The comparison between past and present is strained.

Good acting by all cannot overcome the film’s awkward structure. In a distracting thread, Hugh Jackman appears briefly as Arthur, Sophia’s Australian lover and club owner. It isn’t the best role for talented Jackman, although he does sing in Mandarin.  

The eroticism of two women deeply devoted to each other is only hinted at in long looks and a near-kiss. Perhaps Wang believed it was not necessary to include lesbian love here. Acknowledging the characters’ desires more openly would have helped illumine these relationships.

Snow Flower ends too neatly with a message that misses the point. These suffering women don’t yet love themselves. True empowerment comes from within.

If you like Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, you might enjoy:  Queen to Play; Incendies; Mother and Child.

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Snow Flower and the Secret Fan     2011  /  PG-13  /  1 hour, 40 min

Cast Overview:  Gianna Jun, Bingbing Li, Vivian Wu, Jiang Wu, Russell Wong, Archie Kao and Hugh Jackman

Director:  Wayne Wang

Genre:  Drama, Foreign Film, Movies Based on the Book

Languages:  Chinese and English with English subtitles

 

 

A Better Life ****1/2

 
 

A gang-bound son explores honor with his illegal dad in Chris Weitz’s drama A Better Life. In a rare drama told from the blue collar perspective, Demian Bichir is outstanding as Carlos Galindo, a Mexican illegal in East Los Angeles.

The best actors convey much with their eyes, facial expressions and movements. Bichir (Che; Weeds) paints desperation, patience, wisdom and confusion. From these contradictions emerges a decent and hard-working gardener who lives in the United States illegally. Frequent close-ups of Bichir propel the drama.

In his day-in-the-life existence, Carlos works long hours and sleeps on the couch. He shares a few minutes of quality time with his son Luis (Jose Julian). The man lives to work, scarcely realizing when it’s Saturday. Carlos wears the same jacket throughout the movie, but he is clean. Their meals aren’t homemade, but they are filling. Luis’ mother is gone, but it’s not until late in the film that her absence is explained.

Luis shows growing interest in the gang members he meets at school. His girlfriend Ruthie (Chelsea Rendon) is related to a few of them. Since his father has little money for Luis’ needs, the gangs’ wealth and social standing are enticing. An early death in the streets is sure to come with that wealth. Weitz portrays the gang members as human and even cautious about recruiting Luis.

Julian gives an excellent, understated performance, especially during a scene in a police station where his future seems inevitable. When Luis gets suspended it’s “no biggie,” he tells his father. The boy considers making a wrong choice for the right reasons just as his father did.  

Weitz shows an America of the affluent who are happy to look the other way and employ reasonably priced yard workers (who happen to be uninsured). Carlos and Luis seem invisible in society-at-large. In one scene Carlos rides home from work, surveying many cultures and ages mingling on the L.A. sidewalks. His sense of belonging and his isolation are palpable.

 
 

Contemporary American features often show immigrants in moral struggles.  Ben Kingsley gave a powerhouse performance as an Iranian suburbanite in House of Sand and Fog. In The Godfather, Part II, Robert De Niro plays Vito Corleone, a Sicilian immigrant in New York City’s Little Italy. Ramin Bahrani expertly explores moral complexity. In Man Push Cart, a former rock star from Pakistan becomes a coffee cart vendor in New York City. In Goodbye Solo, a Senegalese immigrant attempts to dissuade an old man intent on jumping to his death.

Prosperity drives these characters. Carlos’ turning point comes when his friend insists that he buy a truck which he cannot afford. Carlos doesn’t even have a driver’s license. A truck is a necessity though. Without it, he must wait for hours in a crowd to compete for day jobs. Carlos finally appeals to his sister, who raids her family’s savings on his promise to make good, succeed and repay her someday.

When the truck is stolen, honor and future are at stake. In one very uneasy scene, Carlos gazes mutely at a police officer, unable to ask for help. The emergency gives father and son a chance to bond. How Carlos pursues the thief demonstrates a gentle fairness. Gabriel Chavarria plays Ramon.

A Better Life is a pleasant surprise coming from Weitz, who is known for mediocre The Twilight Saga: New Moon. Weitz also directed About a Boy with his brother Paul.

The film’s predictable ending gives a sense of “huddled masses,” a seemingly endless stream of people who head to America to improve their chances and their children’s opportunities. Eric Eason wrote the script based on a story by Roger L. Simon.

The socio-political story is simplified here. Weitz sidesteps hot button issues including controversial state measures to punish Mexican illegals. That is not necessarily a bad thing, but Weitz could have reached for even more in this film. Certainly his cast was capable of handling it.

If you like A Better Life, you might enjoy:  Goodbye Solo; Man Push Cart; Welcome.

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A Better Life    2011  /  PG-13  /  1 hour, 38 min

Cast Overview:  Demian Bichir, Jose Julian, Dolores Heredia, Joaquin Cosio, Chelsea Rendon, Nancy Lenehan, Tim Griffin, Gabriel Chavarria

Director:  Chris Weitz

Genre:  Drama

 

Queen to Play *****

 

A sensual encounter over a chessboard inspires a hotel chambermaid to shine in Queen to Play, a soulful dramedy where a working class woman transcends personal and social limits.

When Helene (Sandrine Bonnaire) spies a couple (Jennifer Beals and Dominic Gould) playing chess on the balcony of a room she is cleaning, she cannot look away. Their connection is intimate and playful. Obviously in love, they match wits hungrily. Playing chess is a continuation of their lovemaking. Helene is hooked.

As travelers with fascinating lives visit the lovely island of Corsica, Helene has watched them. Can the quiet, modest wife and mother conjure adventures of her own? She begins to explore chess. The beauty of the carved wooden pieces, the strategy behind the moves and the power of the Queen fascinate her. Chess becomes Helene’s inspiration and path to empowerment in Caroline Bottaro’s impressive feature film debut.

Resolved to embrace more of life, Helene buys her husband Ange (Francis Renaud) an electronic chess board for his birthday. The problem is he doesn’t play. “Maybe you will learn,” she suggests. Hard-working Ange is too tired to listen to his wife. When Helene wears a silk negligee to bed, he doesn’t even notice.

Sleepless Helene plays chess in the middle of the night. As she plans her moves, she sees new possibilities in life. Then she reaches a plateau. She now needs a coach to help her master the game.

People talk. When reclusive American widower Dr. Kroger (Kevin Kline) agrees to teach chess to his part-time house cleaner, Helene spends more and more time at his home. She returns home late, leaving Ange and her 15-year-old Lisa (Alexandra Gentil) to prepare their own dinner.

Neighborhood gossip reaches Ange. Suspecting the worst, he follows Helene to Kroger’s home.  What he spies through the window stuns him.

Helene is not having an affair, but she is sharing her mind and spirit. Ange reels with resentment. Life imitates chess as Helene and Ange begin to redefine their relationship. They think, consider and move differently, especially in an encounter at the kitchen table.

Bottaro’s chess-like plot and character growth fascinate. In an emblematic scene, Helene comes to life as she mops the hotel floor, becoming the Queen on a huge chessboard. The film observes class and feminism delicately, never losing personal relevance and vibrancy. Watching her mother take risks, Lisa finds new respect for her.

 

Bonnaire (Vagabond) achieves sensitive ardor in an exquisite performance. She plays perfectly off Oscar winner Kevin Kline in his first French-speaking role. As Kroger becomes Helene’s mentor and friend, Kline bristles with wry humor, masculinity and unpredictability. Chess, like anything else, reveals insight into self and others.

Telepathy grows between teacher and student. In an intriguing scene, Kroger and Helene play a sly, verbal game of chess. With just the hint of a caress, the two appreciate each other as man and woman.

Helene wins game after game, so Kroger encourages her to enter a local amateur tournament. The professor remains involved and irascible. “When you take a risk you may lose,” he tells her. “When you don’t take a risk you always lose.”

With undertones of feminism, Queen to Play never preaches. Bottaro keeps it real and honest. The filmmaker co-wrote the script with Caroline May.

As Helene learns to believe in herself, she finds her true voice. Queen to Play is based on Bertina Henrichs’ novel La Joueuse d’echec (The Chess Player).

If you like Queen to Play, you might enjoy: An Education; Shopgirl; Mademoiselle Chambon.

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Queen to Play    2009  /  NR  /  1 hour, 36 min

Cast Overview:  Sandrine Bonnaire, Kevin Kline, Francis Renaud, Jennifer Beals, Dominic Gould, Valerie Lagrange, Alexandra Gentil

Director:  Caroline Bottaro

Genre:  Drama, Dramedy, Foreign Film

Language: French with English subtitles

The Names of Love ***1/2

 

In a tribute to Woody Allen The Names of Love (Le Nom des Gens) stars a “political whore” who seduces one man at a time to create social change. Director Michel Leclerc’s dark romantic comedy stars Sara Forestier.

Forestier won a Cesar (France’s Oscar) as bawdy Baya in this Annie Hall-like take on love and identity. Baya is the daughter of an Alergian immigrant (Zinedine Soualem) who pours his heart into his paintings, and a former French radical (Carole Franck). Her half-Arab roots are her secret pride. An avid left-winger, she’s out to convert one “fascist” at a time.

Forestier traipses nude as Baya plies her body like a perky, bombastic tool. Wardrobe malfunction moments are oddly amusing and over-the-top. In a memorable performance, Forestier flits bird-like from one lover to the next. Baya was seduced by her piano teacher at age 12.  Since then, she’s never been the same.

Jacques Gamblin stars as straight-arrow Arthur Martin, Baya’s newest love interest. Arthur is a veterinarian who performs necropsies on dead animals. He cautions citizens to guard against the H5N1 virus. Baya bursts into the sound studio in protest while he’s speaking on a radio show.

Arthur’s French Catholic father (Jacques Boudet) runs a nuclear power plant and fought in Algeria. His mother (Michele Moretti) suppresses her Jewish identity and Auschwitz memories. The truth often bursts out, especially when she loses her papers one day.

Arthur travels back in time, but fails to change his parents’ decision to name him Arthur Martin. They masked his half-Jewish heritage by naming him after a line of washing machines. Deadpan Arthur is efficient and reliable, just like the appliances. Everyone he meets says so.  

 

The Names of Love plumbs identity while it weaves dark comedy around two taboos, childhood sexual abuse and The Holocaust. The film's mood is reflective, sad and occasionally amusing.

Arthur’s inner teen appears to chat with him about Baya. The adult wants to capture her free spirit for his own, but wonders whether it’s possible or even wise. Arthur’s dead grandparents return, urging him to remember them. In one scene, the son delightfully reimagines his mother’s past as she rides in her father’s taxi.

When Arthur introduces his parents to Baya, their dinner party erupts into near mayhem. Suppressing herself is not Baya’s strong suit. When her parents arrive for dessert, interesting complications arise.

Leclerc, who co-wrote the screenplay with his partner Baya Kasmi, mentions Woody Allen in the dialogue as he adapts the famed director’s “free love” style.

Watching the film can be challenging. White subtitles sometimes appear on a white background. Certain scenes are blurred for effect in a distracting manner.

A cameo by Arthur’s idol Lionel Jospin, a former French prime minister and Socialist presidential candidate, is featured.

The treatment of immigrants and non-Christians in modern-day France was also explored poignantly and tenderly in the romantic drama Welcome.

Baya and Arthur consider the future. How safe is it to be oneself in any culture or country? “We’re half-breeds,” Baya declares. “The day there’s nothing but half-breeds is the day there’ll be peace.”

If you like The Names of Love, you might enjoy: Midnight in Paris; Barney’s Version; 35 Shots of Rum; Welcome.

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The Names of Love (Le Nom des Gens)    2010  /  R  /  1 hour, 42 min

Cast Overview:  Sara Forestier, Jacques Gamblin, Carole Franck, Zinadine Soualem, Michele Moretti, Jacques Boudet

Director:  Michel Leclerc

Genre:  Romantic Comedy, Dark Comedy, Foreign Film

Language:  French with English subtitles

 

The Double Hour ****

 

When a hotel maid sees a guest leap to her death, her own identity fractures in the romantic thriller The Double Hour (La Doppia Ora). Giuseppe Capotondi's first feature film flashes back and forward with shadowy twists and genuine passions that dovetail perfectly.

Known for his music videos, Capotondi expertly crafts intrigue in the tradition of Hitchcock, Scorsese and Polanski. He’s a director to watch as he joins a new generation of psychological thrill-weavers including the Coen brothers, Christopher Nolan, Juan Jose Campanella and David Fincher.

A robbery. A coma. An old priest. A red bedspread. The action unfolds in Turin, Italy, yet it’s already happened. The future is uncertain – or is it? The director creates a landscape of furtive glances, secrets, lies and surprises. Vivid recollections may be real – or not. There is violence, but the film does not rely on it. Suspense is based firmly on direction, acting and editing. By the final scene, it all makes sense.

Russian actress Ksenia Rappoport achingly portrays Sonia, the hotel maid who goes speed-dating to forget the grisly suicide she witnessed. Guido (Filippo Timi of Vincere), a widowed, former cop now running security at a secluded mansion, is the last man she meets that night. He’s handsome, soft-spoken and honest, a far cry from the others. The two continue their conversation in an evening stroll along the riverfront. Both Rappoport and Timi won awards at the 2009 Venice Film Festival for their stirring, enigmatic performances.

 

A double hour, Guido tells Sonia, is the moment when hour and minute are identical. When a digital clock at the opulent mansion displays 23:23, Guido praises that magical time when wishes can be made and granted. As the plot unravels, several double hours mark turning points for the pair.

Capotondi cleverly manipulates man-made and naturalistic details to build suspense. Guido shows Sonia the long-distance mic that he uses to detect intruders. He has recorded afternoons of bird song at the estate too. Guido offers to create a relaxing, sensuous DVD just for Sonia.

Lending fascination are Antonia Truppo as Sonia’s co-worker and friend Margherita; Giorgio Colangeli as the old priest; Gaetano Bruno as the thug Riccardo, and Michele Di Mauro as persistent detective Dante.

The Double Hour was filmed on location in Carmagnola, Turin and the Piedmont region of Italy.

Outstanding writing by the team of Alessandro Fabbri, Ludovica Rampoldi and Stefano Sardo makes The Double Hour a modest gem where everyday life holds drama and yearning. Guido Notari contributes superb editing.

If you like The Double Hour, you might enjoy:  Shutter Island; The Ghost Writer; The Secret in Their Eyes.

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The Double Hour     2009  /  NR  /  2 hours, 18 min

Cast Overview:  Ksenia Rappoport, Filippo Timi, Antonia Truppo, Gaetano Bruno, Fausto Russo Alesi, Michele Di Mauro, Lucia Poli, Giorgio Colangeli

Director:  Giuseppe Capotondi

Genre:  Thriller, Crime Thriller, Romance, Mystery, Foreign Film

Language: Italian with English subtitles

Trollhunter *****

 

Troll!  When tourists disappear and trees topple, a feisty band of film students seeks the facts. Legend has it that trolls rule the northern wilds of Norway. Those stories can’t be anything more than just fairy tales – right? André Øvredal’s send-up of the crusty creatures Trollhunter delivers giddy thrills.

Much like The Blair Witch Project with the scope of Jurassic Park, the folklore-inspired expose stars solitary trollhunter Hans (comedian Otto Jespersen) and the cheeky students who follow him. With an enigmatic slash across his face, intense Hans lives in a smelly trailer festooned with furry tails. Deep gashes pierce his SUV, which has been retrofitted with metal teeth and huge spotlights.

The trollhunter speeds off each night without warning. He must know something about the disappearances, the Volda College students believe. “Get lost!” he warns Thomas (Glenn Erland Tosterud).

The gang persists. “Do you think Michael Moore gave up after the first try?” Thomas asks. People have the right to know what’s behind the accidents, insists soundwoman Johanna (Johanna Morck). Cameraman Kalle (Tomas Alf Larsen) appears late during a critical moment. Blaming bears and tornadoes, the government and mainstream media seem clueless.

A government conspiracy is uncovered. The Wildlife Board has known about trolls all along, but denies their existence. The head of the ultra-secret Troll Security Service Finn Haugen (Hans Morten Hansen) hires a crew of Polish painters (led by Robert Stoltenberg) to plant false evidence at accident scenes.

Comedians Jespersen, Tosterud, Hansen and Stoltenberg elevate Trollhunter's dark comedy and interesting character development. Norway’s Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg appears in a cameo at the film’s conclusion.

With deadpan sincerity, Jespersen portrays a man attuned to freaky nature who strives to do right. Hans walks a fine line between protecting citizens and treating the mammals humanely. He confesses that he once led a murderous government mission against the trolls. Now he’s relieved that someone will document their existence.

Hans has one major weapon to combat rampaging trolls. Bright UV light makes them calcify, causing them to explode or turn to stone. “I’m not brave,” he tells Thomas. “This is dirty work.”

The lively, low budget adventure was featured at Sundance 2011. Writer-director Øvredal told Io9 that Hans’ character was partly inspired by Robert Shaw’s Quint in Jaws. 

Tall as trees, trolls can live for over a thousand years. Not too bright, they eat rocks and smell like troll stench. They’re a far cry from the homely-cute trinkets with orange or green hair. Tosserlad can sprout up to nine heads to lure lady trolls. A three-headed giant sends the hunter and initially skeptical trio scrambling.

Trolls turn furious when they smell the blood of a Christian. For this reason Hans insists that only non-believers can tag along. This detail has some historical basis. When Christianity took hold in Norway during the 13th century, people stopped believing in and worshipping trolls.

 

A rabid Ringlefinch takes the bait on a bridge, flinging Hans aloft like a plaything. Luckily the group comes to his rescue. A veterinarian later confirms that the troll was diseased. Hans fills out the government requisite Slayed Troll Form.

When power lines are ripped down around Mountain King territory, Hans and the gang travel far north to investigate. A massive, renegade Jotnar stalks them. Supersized like the Abominable Snow Monster from TV’s Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, this troll may be the most ferocious of all. Just then the Wildlife Board shows up.

Deliciously suspenseful, Trollhunter features production design by Martin Gant and sound design by Baard Haugan Ingebretsen. Impressive CGI and seamless visual effects are supervised by Øystein Larsen. Big set pieces and fearsome sound evoke the best of the Hollywood creature features.

Cinematographer Hallvard Braein achieves relatively steady handheld camerawork amidst beautiful valleys, forests, mountains and fjords. Film locations included Vaatedalen, Juten Heiman, and Sogn og Fjordane. 

Menace or national treasure? It seems trolls want to eat, reproduce and roam in peace. The pathos of the trolls will impress animal lovers even while mock bear carcasses and live goat bait may disturb some.

If you like Trollhunter, you might enjoy:  Insidious; Apollo 18; Splice.

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Trollhunter     2010  /  NR  /    1 hour, 33 min

Cast Overview:  Otto Jespersen, Glenn Erland Tosterud, Hans Morten Hansen, Johanna Morck, Tomas Alf Larsen, Knut Naerum, Robert Stoltenberg, Torunn Lodemel Stokkeland, Marte Brauteset

Director:  André Øvredal

Genre:  Mockumentary, Horror, Foreign Film

Language: Norwegian with English subtitles

 

13 Assassins *****

 

A ritual suicide opens the taut action thriller 13 Assassins. A man disembowels himself to draw attention to a barbaric killer who has been terrorizing the region. Who will be brave enough to take him on? Takashi Miike directs this stirring tale about the way of the samurai.

Lord Naritsugu (Goro Inagaki as a sadist with no conscience), is the Shogun’s half brother who’s about to assume more power.  Naritsugu rapes and kills for pleasure, hacking up bodies like a petulant child. He slaughters not just men, but whole families. With uncanny calmness he slices a husband in front of his wife. A severed head rolls across the floor.

A council of elders convenes and strategy is plotted. Bucking tradition, they summon a samurai leader to intervene and bring about peace. Shinzaemon Shimada (calmly authoritative Koji Yakusho of Shall We Dance?) is called out of retirement. A messenger finds him fishing, lost in contemplation and one with nature. There’s a sense of renewed purpose when the widower agrees to take up his sword again. He recruits a team of samurai to help him.

It was 1844, the end of Japan’s Edo period, a relatively peaceful time when samurai activities were strictly regulated. The waning samurai era is captured in gloomy, dark tones while 13 Assassins pays homage to the honor, daring and discipline of the men eager to sacrifice their lives for a noble cause. The limits of the samurai code, especially its unbreakable code of obedience to a master, are made clear.

Melding art and pop, Miike (Audition; Ichi the Killer; The Bird People in China) is a prolific director who has made 50 feature films over 20 years. This remake of Eiichi Kudo’s 1963 original is loosely based on historic events. Screenwriter Daisuke Tengan crafts outstanding dialogue and action.

Striving to recruit a worthy team, Shinzaemon visits a brothel to enlist his wayward nephew Shinrokuro (rising star Takayuki Yamada). Also joining the mission is handsome master warrior Hirayama (Tsuyoshi Ihara), and explosive experts Horii (Koen Kondo) and Higuchi (Yuma Ishigaki).

Staving off an attack from Naritsugu’s supporters, the group enters the deep forest to ambush him. Along the way they rescue Koyata (Yusuke Iseya), a forest hunter who had been left for dead suspended from a tree. Koyata scoffs at the arrogance of the samurai even as he admires the fighters and itches to join them in combat.

Shinzaemon must match wits with his old sparring partner Hanbei (Masachika Ichimura), Naritsugu’s lead samurai. Even though Hanbei detests his master’s crimes, he follows him without question. Shinzaemon regards his old friend as a fish to catch. He employs kensho, seeing nature without duality, to understand his opponent and himself.

As the 13 men ambush Naritsugu’s well-trained army of 200 in a mountain village, the 45-minute-long battle becomes a macabre dance. An excruciating, intimate bloodbath plays out with occasional lulls. Catching the enemy off guard succeeds. Naritsugu is strangely unafraid, even titillated by the slaughter of his own men. Blood flows and heads roll with grisly realism and subtle, effective CGI.

“Your samurai brawls are crazy cool!” Koyata exclaims. “This is no brawl!” answers a warrior. Koyata is a comical, tree-hugging David hurling rocks at Goliath. He relishes the excitement yet sees folly in the intense killing spree. Iseya recalls Toshiro Mifune’s character in Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai.

 

Dignified camerawork by Nobuyasu Kita, lovely costumes by Kazuhiro Sawataishi and a rousing musical score from long-time Miike collaborator Koji Endo help make 13 Assassins a genre classic.

Tragedy is inevitable as the film ends with a playfully metaphysical reaffirmation of life. Influenced by the Rinzai school of Zen Buddhism, the samurai code remains relevant today with its loyalty, devotion, duty, respect and self-sacrifice.

If you like 13 Assassins, you might enjoy:  Unknown; War & Military Movies.

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13 Assassins     2010  /  R  /    2 hours, 6 min

Cast Overview:  Koji Yakusho, Takayuki Yamada, Yusuke Iseya, Goro Inagaki, Masachika Ichimura, Mikijiro Hira, Hiroki Matsukata, Ikki Sawamura

Director:  Takashi Miike

Genre:  Action, Foreign Film

Language: Japanese with English subtitles