Crowe Weaving

"Before love comes trust. Before trust comes...Proof."

Long before Russell Crowe was a tough gladiator or a salty sea captain, and long before Hugo Weaving was a wise Elven king or flashy drag queen, they played friends caught in a strange love triangle in a film from 1991 called Proof. Weaving's character, Martin, is a single, educated man who lives alone and has a passion for photography. He's also blind. Crowe plays a likable young busboy named Andy whom Martin befriends one evening outside the restaurant where Andy works. All would be well but for Martin's housekeeper Celia (Genevieve Picot) who harbors a rather unhealthy obsession for her seeing-impaired employer. A blind photographer as a lead character sounds like a trite art house conceit or a bad joke, but writer/director Jocelyn Moorhouse has a salient point to make with the character who has a legitimate and believable reason for photographing things he can't see which becomes apparent as the story unfolds.

The film is brilliant, and at times, darkly comic in its look at trust, love and obsession. It's also one of the few examples I've ever seen in cinema of a near perfect unrequited love triangle. Martin loathes his housekeeper Celia, who desires him, but he keeps her around so he can pity her instead of her pitying him as he later explains to Andy. Martin becomes quite fond of Andy but Andy has an unspoken attraction to Celia. Celia is jealous of Martin's new "little friend" Andy, but is quite aware of his attraction to her. The story is executed with subtlety, intelligence and a wry since of humor with each character fully formed and there motives quite clear. There are no good or bad guys necessarily and even Celia, who is clearly the antagonist, elicits some compassion in the end. 

Weaving is fantastic as the fiercely independent, introspective Martin who is almost the polar opposite of his upbeat character in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. Initially, he seems a cold and uncaring person, but as the story unfolds, he becomes understandable, human and even likable. Crowe's busboy Andy is also a far cry from the characters he played in LA Confidential or Romper Stomper. In Proof, Crowe is at his most charming, likable and natural. Andy is portrayed as a nice, but somewhat naive, slacker who is a little in over is head when it comes to dealing with neurotic people like Martin and Celia. Andy's not dumb, but his two new friends are whip smart and not above using Andy to torment each other. Genevieve Picot should have been blown off the screen by these two future cinema icons, but surprisingly, she gives the juiciest and most nuanced performance. She somehow manages to be believably bitchy, sexy, plain-looking, acerbic, sad, frightening, beautiful and funny in the role of Celia. Janet Maslin compared her favorably to Glenda Jackson, but I think Picot is actually funnier in a dark way and more interesting.

The writing and performances are enough to make this a great movie, but Moorhouse's direction and the original music by Not Drowning, Waving, kick it up another notch. There's a great backwards tracking shot of Weaving's character, early on, walking down an ally with the camera angled up to show his head and shoulders framed against the cloudy sky. Moorhouse makes several clever or wry statements like this with her camera work throughout the film that just add to the superb quality. The photograph's taken by Martin were similarly clever, but just out of whack enough to appear to have been shot by a blind photographer. The award winning soundtrack for the film was done by Not Drowning, Waving and is a little reminiscent of Tangerine Dream only less electronically based with more percussion and wind instruments to give it a driving but still melodious beat. It adds a very unique tone and feel to the film.

For those who are not already fans of Crowe and Weaving, this film, and their performances will certainly push them in that direction. It will also cause some puzzlement on why Moorhouse and Picot haven't become international household names as well. Moorhouse did go on to direct a few films, but nothing approaching the quality and wit of Proof.

Score 9/10

God is Love and Versa Visa

"If we could just...love... each other, as much as we say we love Him, I 'spect there wouldn't be the bother in the world there is."

-Eva Le Gallienne as Grandma Pearl

in Resurrection

Francois Rabelais once said, "Nature abhors a vacuum." I think the same can be said of mankind in a metaphysical since. We hate ambiguity, especially when it involves the big mysteries of life. We have a hard time accepting the wonders of the universe at face value and seem to feel the need to assign meaning or assume knowledge. Should anyone or anything get in the way of our knowing the unknowable (or pretending to), they tend to get crucified.

In the 1980 film Resurrection, Edna Mae McCauley (Ellen Burstyn) is a transplanted mid-westerner  living with her husband in California when tragedy strikes. Edna Mae suffers a near-death accident and decides to return home with her father (Roberts Blossom) to recuperate on their rural Kansas farm. Soon after her homecoming, she discovers she has acquired the power to heal and is encouraged by her grandmother to use it to help the community. Of course, a few people have a problem with Edna Mae's miraculous power and just can't accept her mysterious blessing at face value.

After watching a pristine version of the movie on Netflix Instant, I was surprised and confused that the tag words used to describe the film were "supernatural" and "fantasy".  The story, characters and settings feel so authentic, that the movie doesn't seem to have any fantastical elements although the description is, in fact, very accurate. Scenes, such as Edna Mae and her cousin Kathy (Lois Smith) catching up on the local gossip, ring very true and feel quite natural. The distant relationship between Edna Mae and her father also feels very real especially Blossoms' portrayal of the stoic, loveless widower/father. Ellen Burstyn absolutely owns the 'every-woman' role and is superb in this film playing someone, who while not a saint, is a very decent, caring and moral person. Her performance anchors the film and really tugs at the heart without ever being sentimental. I found myself tearing up several times as Burstyn struggled to recover from her tragedy and then began healing those around her. Burstyn is supported by some first-rate character actors like Roberts Blossom, Richard Farnsworth, Lois Smith, Sam Shepard, Jeffrey DeMunn and stage actress Eva Le Gallienne. Both Burstyn and Le Gallienne were nominated for Oscars for the film, but the rest of the cast is incredibly praiseworthy.

Oscar nominated writer, Lewis John Carlino, who wrote the screenplays for such films as The Mechanic,  Crazy Joe, The Sailor Who Fell From Grace with the Sea, The Great Santini, and one of my all-time favorite TV movies, Where Have All the People Gone? wrote Resurrection and imbued it with a mid-western tone, sensibility and melancholy. It could have gone overboard in so many ways, but there's a nice subtle restraint to the writing that keeps it out of the melodramatic and/or maudlin territories.
Canadian director Daniel Petrie, who has a wildly diverse resume, has piloted some of my favorite sleeper films including Buster and Billie, Fort Apache The Bronx, The Bay Boy and Rocket Gibraltor, but is probably best know for A Raisin in the Sun with Sydney Poitier. He mixes some nice outdoor footage (with Texas standing in for Kansas) as much as possible to emphasize the vast expansiveness and loneliness of the mid-west.
Lastly, French composer Maurice Jarre, who has worked on over 150 films including Eyes Without a Face, Witness, Doctor Zhivago and The Tin Drum provides the oft etherial music for Resurrection, and although it's not nearly as memorable as some of his other work, it's still quite serviceable.
If I have any complaint about the film, it's in the cinematography from DoP Mario Tosi, whose work always seems to be uninspired, drab and colorless. There were great opportunity's for some vista and landscape shots that were photographed poorly. There were some similarly wasted opportunities in Buster and Billie which featured some nice rural southern locations that were also shot haphazardly. Unfortunately, the cheap looking cinematography gives the film a made-for-TV look. It may be the reason the film's never had a proper DVD release even though it garnered many awards and much critical acclaim.

Overall, Resurrection is an uplifting film that doesn't get preachy but nevertheless delivers its message through engaging performances and a heartwarming, if somewhat sad story. It's an unforgettable and surprisingly moving film that makes me yearn to move back to the mid-west. Although quite different in story, in many ways the film reminded me of David Lynch's The Straight Story and would make an excellent companion piece about middle America.

Score 8.5/10

Tank Boy

"When you're wounded an' left on Afghanistan's plains
An the women come out to cut up your remains
Jus' roll to your rifle an' blow out your brains
An' go to your Gawd like a soldier." 

-Rudyard Kipling 

"Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it."

-Winston Churchill

Sorry in advance for this, but before I get to the movie review, a little history lesson is in order...

I was just finishing up my first semester in college in late December of 1979 when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in support of its unpopular communist regime. Opposition tribal groups within Afghanistan, known as the Mujahideen, banded together to fight the invading Russian army. The US  provided assistance to these groups through the Pakistani intelligence services in a program called "Operation Cyclone". The Mujahideen were also aided by foreign Muslims from around the world, the so-called Afghan-Arabs, one of whom, Osama bin Laden would form Maktab al-Khidamat, aka the Afghan Services Bureau, with Abdullah Azzam. Branches of this organization were created around the world, including 33 in the US to help fund the opposition forces in Afghanistan. Osama bin Laden would eventually split off from Maktab al-Khidamat and form al Qaeda. 


And as Paul Harvey would say "...now you know the rest of the story."

Right off the bat, I have to say I love this film, but I have to address the elephant in the living room up front that could take some out of it immediately. Now I don't know if it was director Kevin Reynold's decision in The Beast of War to have an American cast play the Soviet tank crew, and to have them speak perfect, accent-less American English, but it does give the film a weird prescience considering it was made in 1988 thirteen years before the American invasion. Unintentionally highlighting the very American-ness of the crew even more is Cuban-born, Steven Bauer's solid performance as a tribal khan who speaks a very believable Pashto. Why have authentic sounding Mujahideen portrayals complete with subtitles, but not realistic Russians? I can only think of two reasons, one is for a purely marketing reason (but then why have any character speak another language?), or maybe there was an artistic statement behind it. Afghanistan was considered the Soviet Union's Vietnam. Was Reynolds making this point using American actors? Or maybe he's just clairvoyant. Seems a bit of a stretch, but in the end, it really didn't prove that much of a distraction for me, but I can see how it could take people out of the film, not to mention that America has since entered Afghanistan which really adds some irony to the casting. But if the cast doesn't take the viewer out, the other aspects of the film will certainly attract and hold attention.

Synopsis - A lone Soviet T-55 tank gets lost in Afghanistan after destroying a village. A small group of Afghans pursue it to exact retribution.

The simplicity of the story, the breakneck pacing and the plot twists really drive this movie and keep me on the edge of my seat like few films can. Peter Boyle, a frequent editor for director Kevin Reynolds,  ticks between story and character like a well calibrated metronome, never lingering too long with characters or fatiguing the viewer with non-stop action. There's just enough of the characters to care and then just enough action to keep up the suspense and move the story along briskly. It's surprising how many films can't achieve this balance, but The Beast of War executes it very well. So well in fact, this is one of the rare movies that I can't stop watching once I start.

Credit the script as well which not only has the cat and mouse aspects, but tension within both the opposing groups, plus a strong anti-war, pro-tolerance message. It's hard to believe a film as action oriented and suspenseful is based on a play, but it was (Nanawatai by William Mastrosimone), and some of the character dialogue and related themes of mercy, revenge and idealism do peak through on several occasions especially in conversations between the protagonist tank driver Koverchenko and Afghan ally Samad. Blind nationalism is also embodied in the tank commander, played by the excellent George Dzundza, who makes Patton look like a hippy. At times the themes get delivered a little too heavy-handedly as when Koverchenko asks the tank commander "How is it we're the Nazis this time?". Overall though, the message doesn't get in the way of what is a top-notch action/revenge tale.

Other strong attributes of the film are the soundtrack, by Mark Isham, which alternates between haunting and pulse-pounding, the Israeli geography which provides an excellent stand-in for Afghanistan's Kandahar region and Dale Dye's on-point military assistance and advice which always brings verisimilitude to any given war film he's involved in. Also, director Reynolds did some superior work camera-wise which really enhanced the suspense and helped bring clarity to the proceedings.

As for the flaws of the film, well, I guess that depends on how you feel about Jason Patric. I thought he was quite serviceable in this, but he is off-putting to some. Speaking of off-putting, Stephen Baldwin (blech) does have a small role as a cowardly member of the tank crew, but is mercifully limited in screen-time and importance. In short, he is quite easily ignored. As mentioned, Dzundza and Steven Bauer are both quite good in their roles, as is Chaim Girafi who plays Bauer's bad-ass, scavenger cousin Moustafa. Again, if you can get past some of the casting decisions, it's a very good, suspenseful action movie. 

Badal!

Score 7.5/10

House of Angels Trilogy

Thornton Wilder, William Saroyan and John Steinbeck all eloquently wrote about small town life and characters but never touched on the fundamental attribute of small towns, which is that they're xenophobic beyond belief. Maybe not so much now, with that crazy internet contraption bringing entertainment, culture and social interaction to even the tiniest berg, and in essence, chasing away that deep-seeded fear of the unknown outside world that seems to permeate every small town. However, back in prehistoric, er, I mean pre-internet times, strangers arriving in any small town were about as welcome as adults visiting a Children of the Corn Sunday school. I know, I used to live in a small Swedish burg that was strangely enough located in central California. I can say from experience, the welcome wagon didn't exactly come barreling down the street when someone new rolled into town. You'd think in a dull, placid, small town environment, the arrival of young, mysterious, provocative strangers would be a warmly welcomed diversion. You'd think.
It's a big reason why Änglagård is one of my top twenty films of all time, as it absolutely nails the secrets, lies and fears that run rampant in small towns among their denizens. I can't express just how much I identify with this film and its themes. Some may perceive it as nothing more than a frothy bit of charming fun, which it most certainly is. However, the underlying observations are brilliantly spot-on concerning small town life and attitudes. And although the two follow up sequels lack the spark and perceptiveness of the first, I was nevertheless happy to follow the continuing story of the entertaining, and in some cases, lovable characters.

Änglagård

Made in Sweden by English filmmaker Colin Nutley in 1992, Änglagård (House of Angels), tells the tale of the quiet, sleepy town of Yxared in rural Sweden that is thrown into tumult by the arrival of the beautiful granddaughter of one of its recently deceased citizens. Fanny, who rides into town on the back of her friend Zac's hog, shows up just in time to make an unintended big splash at her grandfather's funeral. Initially, no one in town knows who the sexy blond woman and her rather imposing, black leather clad companion are. But as it becomes clear, things begin to spin out of control. The funeral crashing scene at the outset of Änglagård becomes almost a running gag throughout the trilogy, but never works as well as in its initial appearance. Fanny, as played by the luminous Helena Bergström, is the focus of the story and brings a wonderful, effervescent, sexy quality that is downright irresistible. Most of the men in the town are charmed by her immediately much to the chagrin of their women. Zac, played with a stoic bemusement by Rikard Wolff, is Fanny's near life-long friend, companion and business partner. With his tall, angular appearance, dark dress, deep baritone voice and laid-back demeanor, he is the perfect compliment for Fanny. As Fanny flitters about like a hummingbird on speed, Zac calmly follows in her wake smiling at the ruckuses she creates. The main antagonist of the story is the richest farmer in town, Axel Flogfält played by Sven Wollter, who covets the property just inherited by Fanny. When Axel makes a somewhat condescending offer to buy the property from Fanny, who had already stated she was going to sell it off as soon as possible, she capriciously changes her mind and the war is on. Stuck in the middle is Axel's wife Rut, who harbors a long held secret about Fanny;  Axel's son Märten, who has a crush on Fanny; the good-natured local vicar Henning who acts as a reluctant referee and delivers a great sermon about tolerance later in the film; and eccentric old brothers Gottfrid and Ivar whom Fanny forcibly and humorously befriends early on.

As I've previously said, the tone of the film is light and sweet, which may cause some to dismiss it as a fluffy, if heartfelt, comedy. Thematically though, the film delivers strong messages about xenophobia, secrets and forgiveness that really pack an emotional punch coming from characters that become quite lovable over the course of the movie. Every time I view this film, it's like meeting up with old friends again. The acting seems very natural and improvised with the characters not overly written. The cinematography by Jens Fischer (son of Gunnar Fischer - Bergman's frequent cinematographer) is excellent with incredibly beautiful shots of the countryside in particular. Fischer's work actually improves in the two follow ups, but it is still pretty amazing in this one. The music by Björn Isfält and Göran Martling is also superb featuring a strong mix of classical and modern. I couldn't help but smile at the scene where the vicar is driving along and rocking out to an ABBA song on the radio. Colin Nutley, who both wrote and directed the entire Änglagård trilogy, captures small town life, characters and their quirkiness like no one else and does it with a sweet playfulness that never looks down on the town's denizens but rather celebrates their oddness. At the same time, he never shies away from the darker aspects of the small town personality such as the suspicion of strangers and the fear of breaking routine. Score 8.5/10

Änglagård 2 (1994)

The first film of the trilogy is by far the strongest due mostly to how well integrated all the components are mixed, particularly story and character. In the second part of the trilogy, Änglagård - Andra sommaren (House of Angels - The Second Summer), Nutley makes a serious misstep story-wise by having several of the characters leave the small town and come to America right in the middle of the film. This is a near disaster in terms of pacing, story, characters and especially tone which really gets thrown out of whack. There's somewhat of a save at the end when the characters return to the village, but everything about the trip to the states feels contrived and unbelievable. Even the transition itself was jarring to the point that I initially believed it to be a dream or fantasy sequence. Another glaring problem is that the character of Axel has pretty much been neutralized in the antagonist's role. In fact, there's only a minor unresolved subplot from the first film involving Axel's son to keep any kind of tension going. Oddly, this plot point is not even addressed until the third film. I have to wonder if the second film was rushed into production without any kind of a fully formed story as much of it felt forced. Despite the presence of these near fatal flaws, almost all the other components that made the first film so enjoyable are present in the second. The look is surprisingly superior to the first, the music is now fully orchestral, almost all the beloved characters (and the actors who portrayed them) are back, and there are some humorous call-backs to the first movie. All in all, The Second Summer is a flawed if technically well crafted film. It's so well made that it's worth a look on those merits alone, and I still enjoyed seeing these characters again even if the story didn't quite cut it. Score 6/10

Änglagård 3 (2010)

I was trying to think of a movie series that has had a longer hiatus between the second and third sequels than this trilogy. Then I realized Godfather 3 was made sixteen years after the second one, eighteen years after the first, just like the Änglagård movies! Fortunately, the last film in this trilogy Änglagård - Tredje gången gillt is better than the second one, but it's also the darkest and most poignant of the three. Again, this film had some humorous call backs that elicited a smile from me, and the cinematography was once again top-notch, but the characters and tone changed so much due to the passage  of time, it was hard to think of this film as a follow up. It's like trying to reconnect with people after a sixteen year absence when you just left their younger versions yesterday. A strong sense of melancholy and sadness pervades the movie right from the start with the passage of a major character. Fanny, her daughter Molly, and Zac have settled down in the city. Molly finds out about a long kept secret that has been withheld from certain characters throughout the trilogy and convinces her mother and Zac to travel back to Yxared. Fanny then attempts to reconnect and reconcile with the town. Where the second film seemed to have lost its way thematically speaking, the third brings back messages of trust, tolerance and forgiveness. It's still a far cry from what the first film achieved, and the tone is a bit of a bummer, but is does bring a sense of resolution to the trilogy. Score 6.5/10 

Both the second and third Änglagård films lean heavily on the first in terms of character background and story so its vital that the first film be viewed in order to understand the subsequent sequels. After viewing the original, it is almost impossible to avoid watching the sequels as the characters are so entertaining, likable, and for me, familiar. Trilogy score 7/10 

A Cutty Sark giallo

Don't get me wrong, I like Mario Bava's giallo films, especially Blood and Black Lace, but the way in which other directors are ignored in the genre pre-Argento, you'd think Bava was the only game in town if you wanted to enjoy a lurid Italian mystery prior to 1970. Such is not the case however as some of my favorite gialli were made prior to the genre gaining world-wide popularity. Fulci's One on Top of the Other (Perversion Story), released in 1969, is a nice blend of Hitchcock-style, double identity mystery with a healthy dose of European eroticism courtesy of Marisa Mell. Massimo Dallamano's unique psychological giallo, A Black Veil for Lisa, was released in 1968 and stars John Mills as an obsessively jealous husband with a too hot and too young wife played by Luciana Paluzzi. But one of the earliest non-Bava giallo movies was Ernesto Gastaldi's Libido from 1965. A minor gem filmed in B & W that rarely gets the attention it deserves especially considering it's Giancarlo Giannini's first film and one of the few films Gastaldi participated in as both as writer and director.

The film begins with a young boy wandering into his parent's bedroom only to discover his father has just choked out a tied up, scantily clad lover. His father subsequently leaps off a convenient cliff next to the house and is never found. It doesn't take Freud, who is quoted in the opening, to deduce that the kid is going to have some issues with sex and death due to this experience. Years later, the now grown man, Christian, played by an incredibly young Giancarlo Giannini, returns to his estate for the first time since the murder to claim his inheritance. He is accompanied by his wife Helene (Dominique Boschero), who is sexy, but serious; his lawyer/guardian Paul (Luciano Pigozzi) and Paul's wife, Brigitte (Mara Maryl), who is sexy, and anything but serious. Brigitte is easily my favorite character as she's clearly a trophy wife and doesn't try to pretend she's anything but. In one of the lighter moments of the film, she brazenly whips off her blouse to show her 'Hello Kitty'-type bikini (subtle!)

Far from being just the ditzy comic relief, she also proves intricate to the plot in a believable way. The tension between her and the other wife also provides some humorously catty moments as Brigitte commits numerous faux pas throughout the story. Maryl, who is the real life wife of Gastaldi and wrote the story on which the screenplay is based, clearly snagged the best character for herself and excels in the role far beyond the stereotypical platinum blond.

Being strictly a four actor ensemble piece, Luciano Pigozzi actually had a significant role and his character was a little more subtle and unpredictable than what he usually plays. As Christian's long time friend, guardian and lawyer, the character of Paul is a bit of a dark horse whose motives should be clear, but he seems to be hiding something from the start. I found the pairing of Paul and Brigitte interesting in that Paul's character would typically be a p-whipped, milquetoast which Paul clearly is not. But that doesn't mean he isn't interested in his young wife...

Giannini's character Christian is more than a little uptight, despite his denials, about coming home to where the tragedy occurred. He just wants to claim the estate, sell it, and get on with his life. Of course, it does not turn out that simple for him as strange things begin to occur that apparently only his character is aware. As in Black Belly of the Tarantula, I thought Giannini was a little stiff and uncomfortable. However, his tightness actually works in Libido as his character is supposed to be freaked out but trying to hide it.

Dominique Boschero's Helene character appears to be an intelligent, devoted, worried and overly protective wife. She's almost the perfect flip-side and foil for Brigitte, but gets along with the guardian, Paul and respects how he's taken care of her husband over the years. Helene initially appears to be a stick-in-the-mud buzz-kill, but becomes somewhat more likable as the story progresses. Boschero would go on to do a number of gialli including Who Saw Her Die and All the Colors of the Dark, but I always thought this role was one of her best and most interesting.

The story itself is carefully scripted as to not give out too much information too soon. So much so in fact, the first time I watched the film, I didn't know if I was viewing a horror film, mystery, thriller or some combination. It really doesn't become clear until the last 15 minutes or so, and up to that point, I suspected everybody of everything. The ending turns out very solid, rewarding and worth the wait.

Two things I find strange though are that Gastaldi didn't go on to direct more features and why Libido doesn't get more love. The film is rock solid, and though it misses being a classic, it is a strong entry into the genre with excellent B & W cinematography, able direction, decent acting and Gastaldi's own superior screenplay. I can only think of two possible answers to why the film didn't and still doesn't get more attention (including a proper release on DVD). The first explanation is it suffers for having been made so early in the giallo cycle. Had it come out 5 or 6 years later, I think the audience would have been in place for it and could have appreciated it. It's not lurid or sleazy as subsequent gialli, but it it one of the better written and smarter ones. The second reason for the film not becoming successful? They drank the wrong brand of booze:

Score 7.5/10

Kiwi Smash Dogs

Recently, when I looked up the definition of "eclectic" in Mirriam-Webster, I found the following curious entry -

Definition of ECLECTIC

1

: selecting what appears to be best in various doctrines, methods, or styles

2

: composed of elements drawn from various sources; also :

OK, the dictionary didn't really have a picture of Roger Donaldson under the word eclectic, but it should have. The films he makes run the gamut in plot, from non-fiction political thrillers like Marie and Thirteen Days, to crime dramas like The Getaway (1994) and The Bank Job, to a comedy like Cadillac Man, to a horror film like Species, to a disaster film like Dante's Peak, to a children's movie like Nutcase, to a historical epic like The Bounty, to a wanna-be bartender story like Cocktail. One thing Donaldson can never be accused of is repeating himself. And despite the variety, there is a consistency in quality to Donaldson's work due in no small part to the top-notch acting talent he always manages to secure - Cruise, Statham, Hopkins, Spacek, Rourke, Madsen, Gibson, Olivier to name drop just a few of the A-listers that have been in his films. He is obviously an actor's director. Another common denominator among Donaldson's movies is that they never bore. I certainly admire some more than others, but the pacing and characters of his films always keep me involved. Even the best directors drop an unwatchable clunker occasionally, but Donaldson has yet to make a film I wouldn't view again. In fact, if I could take only one director's canon to a desert island, it would be Donaldson's.

Which brings me to The Roger Donaldson Collection on DVD. The bad news is the collection contains only two of Donaldson's 16 releases. The good news is they are two of his best, including one of my all-time favorites. How good are they? Sleeping Dogs (1977) singlehandedly resuscitated the New Zealand film industry which hadn't seen a movie release since 1962. It was also the first kiwi film to ever secure a release in the States. And if Sleeping Dogs jump started the New Zealand movie industry, Smash Palace absolutely turbo-charged it, bringing worldwide critical praise and putting the country on the map in terms of quality cinema forever after.

Sleeping Dogs is a low-key political thriller about about an everyman, named Smith, whose marriage has just ended. At the start of the story, Smith unhappily leaves home but soon finds a secluded island and gets permission to stay there from a local Maori character who appears to be the owner. Smith proceeds to enjoy his idyllic lifestyle until one day when he is drawn unwillingly into the country's political maelstrom which has been engineered by a corrupt regime.

The film speaks quite well on how easy a democratic government can turn totalitarian by bargaining the public's freedom away with the promise of safety and stability. Although the Machiavellian maneuvers employed early by the conservative government are very familiar, they are nevertheless chilling and effective. All the time I was re-watching the film, I couldn't help but think of the American government's manipulations during the last decade and the trade of power for safety that was made with the public. Needless to say it's a prescient film, but doesn't beat one over the head a la 1984 or other politically dystopian classics. The lead character of Smith, who is played brilliantly by Sam Neill in only his third film, wants no part of the political strife in his country, on either side, and is beyond apathetic to the point of hostile. However, he ultimately is left with no choice but to choose sides even though neither is appealing.

Neill is the perfect choice of actor for the lead as he always seems to carry a somewhat innocent and naive quality to the characters he portrays. And despite playing a somewhat selfish, self-centered man, Neill is likable enough to hold interest and care about what becomes of him. Warren Oates effectively plays one of the villains of the piece, an American colonel who has come to New Zealand with his troops to help fight the anti-goverment insurgency. His understated, presumptive, yet seemingly friendly bad guy is all the more frightening. The scenery of New Zealand acts as another character and provides a nice paradise counter-point to all the political friction and violence taking place. Despite it's low budget, the film is quite ambitious and Donaldson really makes his points quite effectively. I was very surprised at how much this film holds up as it still has a raw, edgy and modern-day quality 35 years after its making.

Score 7.5/10

Smash Palace is a film that does not sound good on paper. According to the 'making of' doc on the DVD, even Donaldson's friends were trying to deter him from making the film after seeing the script. Then again, no one then knew that the secret kiwi weapon known as Bruno Lawrence would be starring in the film. As much as I like Donaldson, I love Lawrence and will watch him in any film no matter how bad. Yes, even Battletruck. 

Before his untimely passing in 1995, Lawrence had built up an impressive resume of films set almost exclusively in New Zealand or Australia, several of which are all-time favorites of mine, including The Quiet Earth, an intelligent, post-apocalyptic movie, and Goodbye Pork Pie, a fun and quirky kiwi comedy. However Lawrence's best performance, bar none, is as Al Shaw in Smash Palace.

Al is the owner of the titular auto junkyard and a part-time race car driver. He's involved in a slowly decaying marriage with Jacqui, a former school teacher who is portrayed by Anna Maria Monticelli. They have a young daughter named Georgie, played by Greer Robson. Jacqui longs to get out of the junkyard and begs Al to sell which he stubbornly refuses to do. Al's stubbornness will eventually prove his undoing as he steadfastly refuses to accept the reality of his dissolving marriage. As it becomes ever more apparent that Jacqui is determined to leave Al, Al becomes more desperate and irrational.
It's a story that has been told countless times, but what makes this version so strong is the performances and sheer believability of the characters. Al is kind of a jerk, but not so much that you don't feel sympathy for him. Jacqui is a little unreasonable, but that's easily understandable as she feels trapped in her junkyard life. There really isn't any character at fault initially, but neither spouse is paying attention to the other which causes the situation to escalate to the point that one makes an incredibly bad decision from which there is no returning unscathed.

Bruno Lawrence was said to be Jack Nicholson's favorite actor and it's easy to see why. Lawrence has a no-holds-barred acting approach, but a quiet intensity, that is absolutely captivating. His raspy voice and kiwi accent are utterly disarming. Even when he's playing someone less than likable, like Al Shaw, he still has a magnetic quality that keeps the viewer invested. But that's not to imply Lawrence carries the movie by himself. Anna Maria Monticelli is a solid foil as Jacqui and Greer Robson is excellent as the daughter, whom I never caught doing any stage-y kid type acting. Robson has more than a few critical scenes and she pulls them off beautifully whether alone or acting off the adults.
Besides getting fantastic performances from his actors, Donaldson executes more than a few well-placed directorial flourishes. At the beginning and end of the film, there are two very clever mis-directions (both involving automobiles) that take place which really bumped the film up a notch for me. Also there are some great aerial shots, one involving the junkyard early, one in a ravine, that are superb. The pace of the film is near perfect as I never felt it stall at any given point, even though the story unfolds rather slowly, the characters are never dull and keep it moving briskly.
So in summary, despite the rather conventional story, the setting is unusual, the performances are outstanding, the characters are riveting and the direction is excellent. I must have seen the film a dozen times since its release and it's never grown stale. Highest recommendation.

Score 8.5/10

Vampire fatigue?

Every time I hear someone crying "vampire fatigue" concerning the multitude of films that have been released in the past few years involving the creatures of the night, I laugh maniacally whilst moving Stake Land, Thirst and Vampire Girl vs Frankenstein Girl ever further up my rental queue. However, even though I'm a super-fan of vampire movies, I understand the need to see, not only something of quality, but a film that is somehow unique to the genre and breaks the mold or reinvigorates it in some fashion. So instead of a movie that trots out the same old tired goth cliches of bats, castles and crucifixes, I picked three horror films to review that are set in quite unusual places with leads who are quite separate and distinct from the average vampire. The Vampire's Ghost, Blood & Donuts and Tremendo amanecer (Tremendous Sunset) all break traditional genre convention in one way or another and avoid dull predictability in the end. The three films are also wildly different from one another in plot, theme, style and tone. So when it comes to fighting vampire fatigue, just say 'Viva la difference, viva la vampire!'

Lesley Selander's 1945 black & white movie, The Vampire's Ghost, is a modest, low-budget flick from Republic that features the African jungle as the unusual location in which its story is told. In lesser hands, the film could have been a campy disaster, but with a good, character driven script co-written by Leigh Brackett, solid cinematography by Robert Pittack and Bud Thackery and a strong lead performance by John Abbott, the film comes off as almost Lewton-esque.
Abbott, a long time studio contract player with over sixty films to his credit before switching to television, is probably best known for his role as Ayleborne, the spokesman for the Organians in the original Star Trek episode Errand of Mercy. His large expressive eyes, morose hang-dog face and indeterminate accent made him perfect for exotic, foreign heavy roles. In The Vampire's Ghost, Abbott plays Webb Fallon, a local tavern owner in an African coastal town. His character of Fallon initially seems very cool and able to handle himself - much like Rick from Casablanca. At the outset, Fallon seems very much like a good guy. There's no hand-wringing or mustache twisting by his character to tip his hand, although he does put the hypno-whammy on a sore loser sailor by doing the 'big eyes' at him. When Fallon is introduced to newcomers, Roy (Charles Gordon) and Julie (Peggy Stewart) by the local clergyman, Father Gilchrist, he offers to help Roy who is looking into a series of murders that have taken place nearby. They become friends, but as strange things keep occurring, the local tribesman become suspicious of Fallon and he, in turn, starts to show interest of the non-platonic kind in Julie.
The first half of the film was quite interesting with seeming good-guy Fallon saving Roy's life, and Roy saving Fallon's. The latter half becomes more conventional and slows down a bit as Julie becomes the prize in a tug of war between the two men. Still, at 55 minutes, the film doesn't have much time to waste and gets to the point pretty briskly. The atmosphere was great despite being shot entirely on a sound stage. The native drums, which I usually find annoying in most jungle pictures, actually worked quite well here as they were kept low but constant and helped a lot in setting the mood. The acting was OK for the most part with Abbott really doing a fine job with his character in particular. Thankfully, unlike what's portrayed on the film poster, Abbott's character never sprouts fangs or does anything ridiculously vampy that would take the viewer out of the film. It's a good performance by an underrated actor, and along with the jungle setting, makes the film most enjoyable.

Score 7/10

If you ate a handful of 'shrooms and went to see a grown-up version of Twilight, I imagine you'd experience something like Holly Dale's 1995 horror/comedy Blood & Donuts. Gordon Currie stars as Boya, an awkward, shy vampire who has literally been in a bag somewhere in Toronto since 1969. When a golfer's errant tee shot awakens Boya, he stumbles out to a cab driven by an over-friendly, accent-impaired guy named Earl (Louis Ferreira) and they head for the cemetery where Boya has stashed all his possessions. Eventually, Boya comes across a local donut shop where he meets Molly the waitress, played by uber-browed Helene Clarkson and promptly falls for her. Of course complications arise as Boya's old flame shows up, cabbie Earl is pursued by thugs and their boss has to explain "The Bowling Shoe Rule" which delineates the difference between a mark and a smudge. The dialogue in the film is generally smile-inducing, especially David Cronenberg's crime boss, Stephen, who says at one point, "Am I employing retards? I have nothing against retards in general, I just can't afford to employ them." His deadpan delivery is perfect.

Fiona Reid as Boya's ex is also entertaining and a rather poignantly pathetic character as she has kept on aging during their 25 year separation and is more than a little resentful of the fact. 

The pace of the film is somewhat slow, but this does allow time to admire the surprisingly sharp and colorful camera work from Atom Egoyan's regular cinematographer, Paul Sarossy. Holly Dale adds to the stylishness with some slow understated moves and the occasional dutch angle. The music is vampire-themed, but eclectic with artists like Concrete Blonde, who perform Bloodletting, to The Platters who do Twilight Time. Also, the original music by Nash the Slash is quite good.

Horror and comedy is a doubly tricky combination, but I thought Dale succeeded very nicely in pulling it off while keeping a steady, even tone throughout the duration of the film. The movie skates right up to the surreal and silly, but rarely crosses over to ridiculous. It's definitely not for everyone, especially the impatient, but it's a quality, one-of-a-kind work out of Canada.

Additional note: There's a throwaway scene at the end of the credits that's worth waiting around for.

Score 7.5/10

The DVD cover to Gustavo Postiglione's Tremendo amanecer is more than a bit misleading as the film is very much a modern day story set in Buenos Aires. There aren't a lot of bats, bell towers or other gothic imagery to speak of in the movie. The one (possible) vampire is a club owner named Dante (Coki Debernardi). As the film opens, we see Dante soliciting a prostitute to cut her and drink her blood. Much like Romero's Martin, it is unclear if this character is nuts or an actual vampire. I really like when this kind of ambiguity is employed in a vampire flick as it adds a whole other dimension to the film and character. Right after Dante's dealing with the prostitute, we meet Ramirez (Gustavo Guirado), a corrupt detective who is strong arming the streetwalkers for a cut of their earnings. When vampire-style murders begin occurring, Ramirez is pressured to break the case. Far from responding positively, Ramirez resents the pressure and mocks his boss. Both Dante and Ramirez are quite interesting characters and hold the film together. Dante's character is far from the vampiric norm as he likes to perform music at his club at night and watch videos of people frolicking in the daylight while at home. He often dreams of an old black and white film that features himself and a beautiful young woman. We eventually learn that this is Dante's long lost love who has vowed to return to him someday. One day, while watching the home videos, Dante sees a woman who is identical to the one in his dreams. He becomes determined to win her love again.

One of the more clever aspects to the story is that the bartender at Dante's club is an old friend of Ramirez. At several points in the story, Dante will be coming or going from the club while the barman talks to Ramirez, and even introduces the two to each other. A darkly comic element is subsequently introduced into the story with the appearance of Homero (Gabriel Goity), a church sponsored vampire hunter who is assigned to help Ramirez who is non-plussed, bemused and a little annoyed by his new partner.

Writer/director Gustavo Postiglione weaves these elements together seamlessly with an ending that is somewhat circuitous and completely satisfying. The story is the strongest element of the film followed closely by the tortured character of Dante who early on, and to his credit, seeks psychiatric help for the "curse" he believes he's been placed under. Like Boya in Blood and Donuts, Dante doesn't really want to hurt anyone unless it's out of sense of self-preservation but is feeling an ever deepening depression. His days spent watching other people's home movies really adds to the pathos created. I loved the fact that the detective was a corrupt douche who really didn't care that much about catching the killer. It was so refreshing after seeing so many goody-good, Van Helsing types wear the white hat.

The big downside to the film, and it could be a deal-breaker to some, is the cheap shot on video look that the director tried to compensate for with even cheaper digital effects like blurring, adding color and moving the camera around needlessly. I rode the video storm out and was glad I did, but the film would have approached excellent territory without the gimmicks. Everything else was solid considering what was no doubt a tiny budget. The acting was decent and the music was surprisingly good and effective.

Score 7.5/10

If I had to recommend just one of these three films, I'd have to reluctantly go with Tremendo amanecer even though Blood and Donuts buries it in the visual esthetics department. The story is just so strong and the characters so unusual, I know I'll be revisiting Tremendo amanecer long before the other two films.