Movie Review: In Darkness

I read a short plot review of this movie in the New York Magazine earlier this year and was determined to go and see it... Of course, that never happened, a common occurrence in my life, so I ended up buying it on DVD and watching it the other night. Directed by Agnieszka Holland (Europa, Europa) and Katarzyna Adamik, In Darkness is an adaptation of a true story. During World War 2, in the city of Lvov (Polish at the time, Ukrainian today), Polish plumber and petty thief Leopold Socha, works in the underground sewer tunnels and knows them off by heart. When he discovers a group of Jews who are trapped in the ghetto and who intend to hide in the tunnels from the Nazis and their Ukrainian helpers, he makes a deal with them - with their money they can buy his help and silence. During the liquidation of the ghetto Socha hides the Jews in an isolated area of the tunnels and brings them food and water. What starts off to be a mere business transaction between Socha and the Jews becomes a story of survival and tolerance amidst a world of violence, death and oppression.

The dialogue is mainly in Polish, with some German, Ukrainian, Yiddish and Russian thrown in here and there, and this is definitely not a movie of euphemisms. Holland doesn't hold back when portraying the absolute horrors of the war, and honesty is one of the main themes running through the storyline. Once the money runs out, Socha is incapable of letting "his" Jews die alone in the sewers and makes their survival his personal mission, even when faced with the dangers of being caught and executed. I found it a little difficult in the beginning to differentiate all of the characters in the tunnels, but it becomes easier after the groups are separated and the plot focuses on a smaller group of strongly played survivors. My favourites were definitely Socha, Mundek and Klara, who constantly have to battle their own fears and emotions in order to remain strong for the others.

Definitely one to watch if you are into movies about human nature at its best and worst; not if you can't deal with watching violent death scenes.

More information:
Agnieszka Holland on Wikipedia

Contagion - movie review

I saw the trailer for this twice and was really REALLY excited about seeing the movie. Mass hysteria, contagious disease, Gwyneth Paltrow dying in the first few scenes? I was looking for a movie a la 28 Days Later, or even Book of Eli, where humanity is seen at its worse and also, ultimately at its best. Having Gwyneth Paltrow (ok, her character) die in the first few scenes was just an added bonus. It would have been even cooler if Chris Martin had joined her too...

All in all it really doesn't live up to the hype. I was very much underwhelmed to be honest. Nobody really stands out, even if the cast is chock full of superstars (Kate Winslet, Jude Law with a weird tooth, Laurence Fishburne, Marion Cotillard), and I found myself laughing at the silliness of some parts. Basically what was really annoying was that the film was trying to be a little controversial, but failed because it couldn't bring itself to actually convincingly portray what they really wanted to do: show that pharmaceutical companies actually control so much of what happens in this world today.
Bloody hell - if you want to make a point then just DO IT. Don't pretend and then back off. Grr.

Me Without You - movie review

I LOVE coming of age movies. Especially ones that are about two best friends who grow up together and who do fun things, like, you know, go to goth parties, and hang out in squats with punks. NOTHING like what I did growing up at all of course. I never went to a goth party, or hung out with punks in squats, or did any kind of illegal underage drinking or hash smoking, EVER.
I just love stories that you can relate to. We all had one best friend who knew everything about us, who was always there, through thick and thin, and who we would have massive fights with and make up with two minutes later.
Because of all of the above I am really surprised I had never seen, or even heard of, Me Without You before. A British film, based in the Isle of Wight and Brighton in the late 70's through to the early 2000's, the movie depicts the friendship between Holly (Michelle Williams) and Marina (Ana Friel), next door neighbours and best friends, and the things they go to together. I loved Holly, and identified with her much more than I did with Marina. Holly is the quiet, understated, literary one, while Marina is the wild, messed up, somewhat toxic friend.

Anyway, I enjoyed it. A lot. Especially when I heard the first chords of Tim Buckley's Strange Feeling during one scene. A movie with Tim Buckley on the soundtrack can never be a bad movie!

For anyone who enjoyed the following: An Education, Wish You Were Here, 10 Things I Hate About You, Almost Famous, The Breakfast Club...

I love Michelle Williams - she never fails to be completely enchanting in any role that she takes on.

This week's movie list 09/06/11

I don't own Cable TV anymore, haven't for months. I'm always adding random movies to my Netflix Instant queue, and now that I finally have more time on my hands I'm actually able to sit down watch some of them... Or even make it to the cinema!

Here goes for this week (and they aren't all recommendations):

1). Rise of the Planet of the Apes: I saw this one at the cinema last night, and was surprised at how much I actually enjoyed it. And how human it is... Definitely recommend it.
And remember: don't go around adopting baby chimps and leaving them exposed to braincell rebuilding drugs. You may end up with some highly intelligent chimp issues on your hands...
On another note: am I the only woman in the world who is not entirely enamoured by James Franco?

2). Love and Other Drugs: I watched about 20 minutes of this and was grinding my teeth in irritating. Both Anne Hathaway and Jake Gyllenhaal play two of the most obnoxiously annoying characters. I switched it off, so if it does get better further along, then so be it. I couldn't wait it out. Sorry.

3). Winter's Bone: Oh it's bleak. Believe the hype - it's bleak from the first minute til the last. But it's GOOD. Did any of you ever read the Heaven series by Virginia Andrews? That's what I was reminded of when I watched Winter's Bone. Except for the moonshine has been replaced by meth, otherwise the same type of deep America, rural, fucked up life. I already want to see Jennifer Lawrence in more roles - she's great.

4). Army of Crime (L'armee du crime): wonderful French movie, based on the story of a group of Communist resistants during World War 2. Led by the Armenian poet Missak Manouchian, the group of French Jews, Armenian refugees and Italian and Spanish Communists plot attacks against the Nazis in France... The film and the direction are just so French, I don't know how else to explain it. There's is always some type of beauty, power and strong emotion in each shot, even in the torture scenes.
A gem.

5). Glorious 39: I don't know about this one... Set in England in 1939 the story tells of a mystery within a rich family, focusing on the life of one of the daughters, Anne, and the mystery she seems to be unraveling. The plot is all a little far-fetched in my opinion, but I couldn't stop watching it. In any case, the costumes were pretty amazing - I need to get a red polka dot dress made in the same style as the one Anne is wearing in the first scenes.
I love Bill Nighy (he plays the father).