No Face

A film / cinema reviews blog by Daniel Bamford

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Moonrise Kingdom (2012) review

A wonderful symphony of fairy-tale characters, adventure motifs and the banality of adult existence...

Directed By: Wes Anderson Written By: Roman Coppola, Wes Anderson

As my first Wes Anderson film, I found Moonrise Kingdom charming and peculiar; it seemed like a wonderful symphony of fairy-tale characters, adventure motifs and the banality of adult existence. Apparently, that's quite standard for Anderson, with many folks on Criticker pointing to that as his stylistic mark; one even saying that the film was "Wes Anderson Paints By Number[s]".

The tale (with a very impressive structure/syntax) largely focussed on two 12 year olds desperately wanting to be - and be treated as - adults, all set in a world stylised far enough away from our own to be magical. It was neither profound nor poignant, but it was endearing and - often - quite funny. At times, it filled me with light-hearted regret that I didn't live in that world as a young teen. Highly recommended!

Rating: 84% (Tier 9/10)

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He remembers those vanished years. As though looking through a dusty window pane, the past is something he could see, but not touch. And everything he sees is blurred and indistinct.

In The Mood For Love (Wong K. W., 2000)

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The Double Life of Veronique (1991) review

'La Double vie de Véronique' is a strange film that ofttimes demanded a most generous suspension of disbelief - but one that ultimately became a stylish exploration of peculiar sensations and the illogic of emotional impulse.

These sorts of films are a frequent frustration of mine however. I didn't think there was much substance behind the stylish varnish; rather frustratingly vacuous, it became a carte blanche for any and all permissible 'interpretations' to come along, ripe with praise for the Vagueness - and judging from some of the equally vague reviews elsewhere - folks were super happy to oblige the invitation.

I won't pretend to dictate upon others what they can or cannot enjoy - but I struggle to see from where any genuine romantic or emotional evocations could have come. The film was at its strongest as a cobbled together flirt with the unreasonable and impuslive parts of the human personality, but I don't think it forged enough traction with real humanity to make that gesture powerful in a non-trivial way.

I gave it 77% (Tier 7/10)

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Hiroshima mon amour (1959) film review

"Rewarding film with a beautiful, restless mood"

Genres: Romance, Drama, War Country: France, Japan Directed By: Alain Resnais Written By: Marguerite Duras Photography By: Takahashi Michio & Sacha Vierny 

Another marvellous screening gift from the Art Gallery of NSW to the Sydney public, 'Hiroshima mon amour' delicately flirts with the paradoxical relationship between the self and memory. We are the culmination of collected remembered moments, yet we shape and distort them as much as we are able to - feeding a circular liquidity of self identity. Resnais focused upon this via a series of conversations between a visiting French actress and her Hiroshima architect lover.

The early clippings featured in the film resolve into the woman's denial of experience by the final act, and that strange willingness to re-write ourselves when confronted with anything painful is explored elegantly.

Aspects of the film were awkward: the slightly obnoxious postmodern awareness with subsequent unconventionality; and the wooden expression of Okada Eiji (doing his best to speak in French). Overall however - when it focussed on being a film about love and memory - it was a really rewarding film experience with a beautiful, restless mood.

91/100 (Tier 10/10)

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The Cranes Are Flying (1957) film review

- Majestically executed vision of the pain of war for those left at home

Genres: Romance, Drama, War Country: Soviet Union Directed By: Mikhail Kalatozov Written By: Viktor Rozov Photography By: Sergei Urusevsky 

Seeing this for free at the Art Gallery of NSW (thanks funders!) was a real treat. The Cranes are Flying carried itself with a genuine regard for human sensibility - carefully treading the edge of melodrama without falling over. The photography was elegant at all times - especially a marvellous moving shot up through a bomb-destroyed building. With the exception of an awkward family feud angle, it was a majestically executed vision of the pain of war for those left at home.

92% (Tier 10/10)

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Paths of Glory (1957) film review

"Kubrick's first true masterpiece"

Genres: Drama, War Country: USA Directed By: Stanley Kubrick Written By: Stanley Kubrick, Jim Thompson, Calder Willingham, Humphrey Cobb

In many ways I could see this as even better than Strangelove. It looked great for starters; some of the long cuts through the trenches were amazing. It cast a keenly critical glance at the inhumanity of war & power, and did so with increasingly subtle layering - managing to balance between Rousseau and Hobbes philosophies of man's nature so cleverly. It also sits superbly well against 12 Angry Men as 1957's amazing pieces on justice.

"It boasts vigorous and uniformly superb acting, virtuoso camerawork, and elaborate choreography. An indictment of the hierarchy that depersonalizes war, among its most memorable effects is the jarring contrast of its two major locations: a hellish trench and an opulent chateau."

95% (Tier 10/10)

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Humanity & Paper Balloons (1937) Film Review

Incredible film from a lost genius.

Genre: Drama Country: Japan Directed By: Yamanaka Sadao Written By: Mimura Shintarô

Yamanaka truly seems like a lost genius (he died during WWII, many of his early works were lost). In Humanity & Paper Balloons, he has managed the almost impossible: a measured balance between innocent humanist leanings and despairing cruelty. That truly gave this film a sombre poignancy. In fact, I'd even liken it to Italian neorealist cinema that followed a decade later.

Some of the photography was outstanding, and the acting was very natural and much more inspired by American cinema than his fellow Japanese contemporaries. Shinza and Unno were such fascinating characters, caught in an inescapable plight - caught in two terrible positions as the social structures corrupted and turned in on themselves.

A great film that shows how Yamanaka could easily have gone into the Ozu/Kurosawa bracket given more time.

88% (Tier 10/10)

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Saboteur (1942, Hitchcock)

Country: USA Directed By: Alfred Hitchcock Written By: Peter Viertel, Joan Harrison

This has often been criticised as overbearing war propaganda (reasonably so, given the release date), but I don't agree. Cast your mind sharply to the flawed 'American Dream' living of the opulent perpetrators. It's more greyed out than its reputation indicated - which makes things more interesting.

The film was a real mixed bag though; some scenes were photographically beautiful, some were full of silly screenwriting. Mixed bag, but worthwhile. Its pokes at class-bias were not too shabby either.

78% (Tier 7/10)

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In the Mood for Love (2000)

Country: France, Hong Kong Directed By: Kar-Wai Wong Written By: Kar-Wai Wong

Having already seen 2046 (2004), I was well informed on what to expect. "In the Mood for Love" however was absolutely in another class. It was truly brilliant.

The feeling of confinement set against a very sincere longing came across beautifully with a perfectly harmonious marriage of narrative, sound and visual. Cinematographically marvellous; and with a mood almost unmatched across all of film.

98% (Tier 10/10)

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Sansho the Bailiff / Sanshou Dayuu (1954) Moziguchi Kenji 

Staggeringly beautiful and poignant. Often missed is the subtlety behind the seemingly didactic message-pounding. Zushio essentially avenges his suffering on Sansho, banishing him and his family. How much mercy was truly shown?

Instead of drawing a firm line between 'human' and 'beastly' the lines were constantly blurred, and humans seem almost intrinsically brutal and cruel whenever it serves them. A priest sells them into slavery, a priest help Zushio escape. The released slaves do nothing more than destroy what they had worked hard to maintain. Zushio shirks the responsibility and power that could have possibly affected lasting change. Taro acknowledges this: "man only has empathy for that which concerns  him" and the film seems to support that at every turn.

Beautiful tones of grey everywhere, visually and thematically.

96% (Tier 10/10)

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Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974)

Having been previously very under-awed by the supposedly great Peckinpah films, this one was a welcomely contemplative film. It was violent (as all Peckinpah), but counterbalanced by more humanist leanings. Gritty, grimy and unrelentingly downtrodden - but there was a sense of feeling and subtlety that Peckinpah's others had lacked, and that really gave the film the extra edge of emotional value.

The plot events were quite interesting too, and the ending fitted perfectly (unlike that of The Getaway e.g.). It was occasionally rather hard to buy the protagonists motives, but otherwise I felt it was a dramatic and worthwhile Western dive headfirst into the dirt of human desperation.

Rating: 84% (Tier 9/10)

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The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006)

More of a solemn meditation on the impact of life's little moments on both our sadness and joy, than a high-school drama. Quite touching in a melancholic way, and very readily relatable to the little moments in our own life when we might want to try it over. Some picturesque artwork and a good score give it the added qualities to make it one of the most beautiful and poignant animes of the decade.

-- 89%

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The Red Shoes (1948)

Faaaar too much time wasted on ballet and special effects wanking for it to be a great film. The first act was consequently totally boring (unless you happen to be a ballet lover, in which case you might like it from that viewpoint).

The photography was very good, and the Technicolor was surprisingly artistic. The conjoining conflicts between artist/creation/love was very poetic, but it was realised amidst wooden acting and a lot of meaningless scenes.

The layers of story worked on a meta-level: a film, about a ballet, about a fable - all related the same message. Something poststructuralist about it. The film itself carries the same allegory as the ballet that is the subject of the film, the same as the HC. Andersen original. That was pretty cool.

75%

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Re. Kon Satoshi's film "Paprika" (2006): Dreams, desires, narcissism, cinema, fiction, emergent ideas, refrigerators, frogs. All mixed into one. Damned if I could digest it all. I think it should have been tightened and restrained a little in places to really give you breathing space to feel the films essence, rather than having to constantly follow a step behind trying to decipher real from unreal from ununreal. The social commentary also fell flat, compared with Paranoia Agent anyway. No doubt however, a truly great animated feature.

http://www.criticker.com/film/Paprika/rating/dbamford