Reviews by members of the AWC Film Group of films slated to open in Hamburg in June 2004

 

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter und der Gefangene von Azkaban) 1/2

(Osanna V) Opening June 3, 2004

Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint return in the lead roles for the third Harry Potter adventure, while newcomers to this episode include Emma Thompson and Gary Oldman. A new director, Alfonso Cuarón (Y Tu Mama Tambien, Great Expectations), has taken over, giving the whole setting a darker, gothic feel.

Once again, the young wizard Harry Potter and his friends Ron Weasley and Hermoine Granger are on the Hogwarts Express heading for the famous school of wizardry. Suddenly the train stops and an icy wind blows through the aisles. Dementors, the guardians of the dreaded prison of Azkaban, have boarded the train looking for an escaped prisoner – Sirius Black (Oldman). Fear descends wherever they pass. Harry discovers that Sirius Black was in Azkaban for being a servant of Lord Voldemort, and that it was he who betrayed Harry’s parents, resulting in their death. Now, everything seems to indicate that Sirius is out to get Harry, so Dementors have been sent to guard Hogwarts. Under the circumstances, life at the school has taken on a sombre tone, further darkened by the chilling predictions of Professor Trelawney (Thompson), teacher of Divination.

In this third year, the youngsters are allowed to visit the village nearby, but Harry failed to get the necessary written permission from his uncle to do so. However, with a magic map given to him by the Weasley twins whereby he can see the location of and avoid anyone within the school, and with the aid of his invisibility cloak, he is able to make clandestine visits to the village himself. There he discovers things that he may have been happier not learning about, but events are now carrying him along to a final confrontation with Sirius. Yet things are not always as they seem and at Hogwarts even less so….

The third Harry Potter movie sequel has taken on a more mature mood. The leads are now young teenagers, noticeably more comfortable in their roles, and the director has made some clear choices for change. There is a movement away from the strict, English boarding school atmosphere, towards a more relaxed, modern approach, whereby the youths wear jeans and sweatshirts unless actually attending classes. On the other hand, the school itself – in particular the exterior – is more fantastical, even a little spooky. The film is quite dark, which probably explains that youngsters between 6 and 12 can only see it in the company of adults.

 

Old, New, Borrowed & Blue (alt, neu, geliehen & blau)

(Shelly S) Opening June 3, 2004

It is traditional when getting married to wear something old, new, borrowed, and blue. It is also important to inform your family members that you are getting married. Katrine Sidse Babett Knudsen) can’t bring herself to tell her sister Mette (Lotte Andersen) of her marriage plans with Jonas (Søren Byder). Mette entered a mental institute due to the loss of a love: Thomsen (Bjorn Kjellman), who disappeared to Kenya. Unbeknownst to Mette he reappears before the wedding to spend the night and next day with Katrine. In 36 hours they have found an old dog (named Fiat 128 for their car), blue pills, a new hairdo, and a borrowed wedding dress. Katrine’s girl friends have become tipsy with champagne on her doorstep while waiting for her return. Jonas is more than tipsy at his bachelor party.

This crazy Danish comedy was filmed according to Dogma 95 guidelines, i.e., a hand-held camera, music originating from “real” sources, filmed in chronological order, etc. The filmmaker Natasha Arthy has created a lively movie about some serious, down-to-earth issues (e.g, following your heart and being HIV positive) with a positive sense of humor that is never boring, just hectic. (Becky T and Adele R also both gave this film four stars at the Hamburg film festival.)

 

The Road to Memphis

(Becky T) Opening June 3, 2004

The United States Senate declared 2003 The Year of the Blues. The kick-off party was a benefit concert featuring all the old Blues greats, as well as many young singers covering classic Blues songs, on February 7, 2003, at Radio City Music Hall in New York. The film of the concert, Lightning in a Bottle, showed at this year’s Berlinale. (Click here to see the review by Becky T in the Music Makes Movies article from the April 2004 Currents 54th Berlinale Special Issue.) Martin Scorsese suggested that seven directors should each make a film about how the Blues evolved from parochial folk tunes to a universal language. German director Wim Wenders took him up on that (click here to see the review of The Soul of a Man). The Road to Memphis by Richard Pearce is the second in this series of Blues films to come to Hamburg. Pearce accompanies probably the most successful Blues singer, B.B. (short for Beale Street Blues Boy) King, on his return to the W. C. Handy awards in Memphis, the cradle of Blues in the U.S. We see Beale Street when it belonged to Black Americans. Now it is a tourist trap and “white”. We also board the tour bus of Bobby Rush as he plays the Chitlin circuits or black clubs throughout the South. Sam Phillips recorded black music in Sun Studios for four years, before his legendary recording with Elvis Presley, one of the first white singers to build his career on the Blues. Ike Turner is more than just a has-been consort of Tina – he is also an excellent musician and his Rocket 88 was one of the first rock and roll songs to come from the Blues. This film features live interviews with musicians who might not be around very much longer (Sam Phillips died in 2003 and Rosco Gordon in 2002 in Queens where he had been working in a laundry for the last 20 years) as well as priceless clips from archives. We learn about the turnaround from all black audiences to the present, where these stars play to 95% white audiences. American Dylan Vaughn, a successful musician and composer living in Hamburg, said, “This film makes me homesick.”

 

Der Wixxer

(Becky T) Opening June 3, 2004

A successful black and white film in the 60s was Der Hexer. It was a detective story based on the original English The Ringer, published in 1926. The author was Edgar Wallace (1875-1932). He wrote 170 such stories and almost all of them were filmed. I learned German by watching constant repeats on German TV. So, it isn’t surprising that a group of German stand-up comedians, such as Bastian Pastewka, Olli Dittrich (who have appeared live in Hamburg’s St. Pauli theater), Oliver Kalkofe and Anke Engelke, should join forces to make a parody of Der Hexer. Der Wixxer really means Der Wichser, and I’ll let you look that up in the dictionary yourself. I enjoyed this film because I have seen so many of the originals and could appreciate the jokes. Not so, the German press, which proclaimed it a flop. Our fellow club member, Aranka M, who has also been around long enough to be familiar with this, agreed with the critics and suggests that short skits based on the topic would be funnier.

 

The Punisher 1/2

(Kirsten G) Opening June 10, 2004

The newest comic book to be brought to the big screen is The Punisher, a character that debuted in 1974 as a supporting character in The Amazing Spider-Man and was soon starring in his own series. As the film explains, The Punisher is really Frank Castle (Tom Jane of Dreamcatcher and HBO’s 61*), a former Delta Force Op and FBI special agent who is about to retire. But on his final assignment, things get out of control and a young man, Bobby Saint, is inadvertently killed. Unfortunately, Saint is the son of wealthy corrupt businessman Howard Saint (John Travolta), who vows revenge on those responsible. Once he discovers Castle is involved, he sends a team to eliminate Castle and his family. Castle survives but has nothing left to live for except avenging his family’s death.

The Punisher is different from most comic book heroes in that he has no superpowers – only his intelligence and combat experience. This could make for a very human drama, but instead first-time director Jonathan Hensleigh (the successful screenwriter of The Rock, Armageddon, and Die Hard: With a Vengeance) chooses to focus on the spectacle, not the emotions, of comic book revenge. The violence in the film is extreme and graphic, and some of the plot points are so unbelievable that my screening audience laughed. I could forgive implausible scenes in other comic book films like X-Men and Spider-Man because their characters have superpowers (and thus suspending disbelief is required), but The Punisher has no such crutch to fall back on. Still, the film keeps your attention, and for female audience members, the ample views of Tom Jane’s well-toned torso almost make the film worth watching just for that. But in the end, sitting through The Punisher feels a little too much like undeserved punishment.

Reconstruction

(Becky T) Opening June 10, 2004

A man and a woman meet and go back to the woman’s hotel room, which has just been vacated by her husband. He isn’t sure whether he has lost his memory or perhaps his girl friend has tricked him into believing that he has amnesia. Maybe the girl doesn’t really exist. Maybe the man is just a figment of the husband’s imagination, a part of the novel he is writing. (We saw this option already in Swimming Pool.) Although this Danish film by Christoffer Boe won best first film in Cannes 2003, the slow plot and grainy film quality might cause you to give up quickly instead of puzzling over the meaning of multiple interpretations. Local Hamburg critics are writing rave reviews, but I didn’t get it. Both young actors, Maria Bonnevie (who plays a double role) and Nikolaj Lie Kaas, discussed their film here during the 2003 Hamburg film festival and we can hope to see them again, in perhaps something not so vague.

Spider

(Becky T) Opening June 10, 2004

Dennis Cleg (Ralph Fiennes) returns home to nothing after being released from psychiatric care. He is alone with memories of his childhood which have to do with his father betraying his mother and his mother’s violent death. Miranda Richardson plays both the mother and the girl friend. His mind is so confused that these memories may be fact or fiction. He spends long hours walking dark streets or stringing webs of string in his room. This morose, complicated film by David Cronenberg requires concentration and not everyone will think it worth the effort. Spider is late coming to Hamburg; it was already in video at The First Videothek months ago.

The Station Agent

(Coppelia H-B) Opening June 10, 2004

“Dwarves are just simple, boring people,“ says Finbar (Peter Dinklage), the star of the movie that won three prizes at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival – Best Film, Best Actress (Patricia Clarkson) and Best Screenplay (Tom McCarthy). Fin is a stoic, quiet, simple-minded person who also happens to be a dwarf and, thus, has had to suffer through stares and looks and obnoxious comments from people his whole life. His passion is trains, and he moves to Newfoundland, N.J., where he has inherited an old train depot. It is common knowledge that all dwarfs retire at an early age and thus he proceeds to live a life of walking the right of way and train spotting. His quiet existence, however, is interrupted by the entry of Joe Oramas (Bobby Cannavale) and Olivia Harris (Clarkson). Joe is a Cuban-American extrovert who is absolutely full of life and questions and talks incessantly. He is genuinely curious about Fin as a person and oblivious to Fin’s need for time alone. Joe decides to follow him around. Fin ultimately accepts and teaches him about train watching and walking the right of way. Olivia is an artist who has moved away from Princeton because she can no longer stand the stares of others thinking, “Oh, there is the poor mother who lost her child.” Separated from her husband, she lives a solitary, chaotic life, where she paints or takes pills to numb the pain. She is literally thrown across the path of Fin and is captivated by him. It is only a matter of time before she too joins the boys in their train outings and learns about the train world. In her generosity, she gives Fin a camera so he can go train chasing, which appears to be an exhilarating activity.

This is an endearing story of how three people from totally different walks of life come together and find a way to be there for each other. It is in each of their solitudes that friendship is born. Fin and Patricia have such depth of character that although they don‘t say much, you truly feel them. The gist of the story is that although we all have our problems to carry, what is important in life is to feel connected to other human beings in order to share life’s moments, whether they are good or bad. It is the human touch and the contact of caring between individuals that really counts in the end.

 

Before Sunset

Opening June 17, 2004

Click here to see the review by Mary W in the Made in the USA article from the April 2004 Currents 54th Berlinale Special Issue.

 

 

Raising Helen (Liebe auf Umwegen)

(Kirsten G) Opening June 17, 2004

Garry Marshall knows his way around romantic comedies, having directed such classics as Pretty Woman and Runaway Bride, so there are high hopes for his latest film, Raising Helen. Helen is Helen Harris (Kate Hudson), the youngest of three sisters, living her dream: working at a top modeling agency in New York City during the day and rubbing noses with the elite at night. But one day, everything changes, and she finds herself caring for her 15- and 5-year old nieces and 10-year-old nephew. The situation brings some unwanted changes – a move to Queens and a job closer to home – but Helen also finds out new things about herself with the help of Pastor Dan (John Corbett) and Helen’s super mom sister Jenny (Joan Cusack).

Raising Helen rides on Hudson’s performance (as she is in almost every scene), and she does the best she can with weak material. Corbett’s character is appealing but bland, and the kids are cute but stereotypical. In fact, the only person who manages to break out of the mold is Cusack, who gives real depth to her rather thankless role. There were some very funny parts and some very sad ones, but in general the film didn’t delve very deep. I found the tone a bit too preachy (what’s so bad about a successful single life in New York City if it makes you happy?) and the content a bit too melodramatic, but though the film didn’t raise any issues that haven’t been covered before, it was entertaining overall.

 

Against the Ropes (Die Promoterin)

(Osanna V) Opening June 24, 2004

Meg Ryan stars in a movie directed by Charles S. Dutton and inspired by the life of a true character – Jackie Kallen.

Jackie Kallen (Ryan) has grown up surrounded by the world of boxing, understanding and loving the sport even better than many men. But it is a man’s world and Jackie looks destined to be nothing more than secretary to the Cleveland Coliseum’s director Irving Abel (Joe Cortese). Of course, Abel would never acknowledge that it is Jackie who holds his whole show together and that her expertise in everything related to boxing is more than equal to his own.

One day, however, everything changes. Feeling completely put down by arrogant boxing promoter Sam LaRocca (Tony Shalhoub), Jackie takes on his provocative challenge: to manage boxer Devon Greene. Unfortunately, LaRocca knows something that Jackie doesn’t, namely, that Greene is a drug addict. She soon realises that the arrangement is going nowhere, but during a visit to Greene’s home crosses paths with Luther Shaw (Omar Epps) as he slugs his way through a fist fight. She immediately recognises his potential and convinces him to give championship boxing a go. A time of great dedication, discipline and effort begins for both Jackie and Luther, as well as former trainer Felix Reynolds (Charles S. Dutton), who accepts to take on one last challenge.

The interesting thing about boxing movies is that they can manage to make one feel sympathetic towards a sport where people are basically bashing each other up. Against the Ropes follows a relatively classic line, with the type of developments one would expect from a scripted movie. Consequently, it’s hard to know to what degree it follows Jackie Kallen’s true story. However, Meg Ryan is good in quite a different type of role from the gentle, romantic comedy characters she usually plays, and Tony Shalhoub also does a very convincing mean guy.

 

Mambo Italiano

(Becky T) Opening June 24, 2004

In Montreal’s Italian immigrant community there is only one thing worse than leaving your parents’ home unmarried and that is leaving to live with your gay lover. Angelo Barberini (Luke Kirby) sets up housekeeping with his friend Nino (Peter Miller), while his parents and sister struggle to save face at home. The rest of the film deals with the problem in a variety of clichés. Nino wishes to play down the situation as he is a cop and cops aren’t gay. Two Italian mothers expect that the right girl will “cure” their gay sons. They also henpeck old bachelors. Vivacious Aunt Jolanda enjoys life and comes to a bad end. Angelo says, “Talking without listening is an Italian tradition.” He works for a hot line for gays who call in with similar fixations of explaining to their parents who they really are. And so it goes: a humorous film similar to My Big Fat Greek Wedding recommended for viewers six years and older, although small children will probably find the film too silly. It would be interesting to know how autobiographical the film is, since Angelo wants to be a script writer, just like Steve Galluccio who wrote the original play. This is director Emilie Gaudreault’s first film. Both young men have been successful in Canadian theater and television. Mambo Italiano was first shown during Hamburg’s Gay Pride Week in June before being released in local cinemas.

 

Zatoichi (Der Blinde Samurai)

(Becky T) Opening June 24, 2004

Blind Zatoichi wanders the countryside, earning his living as gambler and masseur. He settles in a small village at the home of O-Umes, an elderly auntie who lets him chop wood for room and board. The villagers live in fear of the evil Ginzo gang and their boss Kuchinawa who terrorizes them. Obviously a hero must materialize and it is Zatoichi, who is cleverer, stronger, and much more interesting than Superman, Spider Man, and Van Helsing rolled into one. Helped by his simple sidekick Shinkichi, he clears away the mean (mostly bald) samurais. His greatest adversary is Ronin Hattori, a talented fighter who, like Ferdinand the bull, would rather sit under the cork tree and smell the flowers, but is forced to hire out as a killer in order to support his sick wife. Also in the village are two beautiful geishas, in reality siblings O-Sei and O-Kinu, seeking revenge for the murder of their parents. Director Takeshi Kitano plays Zatoichi and stands out as the only actor with white hair in a crew cut. Contrary to all his previous films such as Hana Bi, Brother, and Dolls, this time he has directed a ready-made legend in a historical setting, which has been filmed many times before. He promptly won best director at the last Venice film festival. There is good swordplay and lots of blood, but anything gruesome is left to your imagination. The violence is interspersed with humor to the point of slapstick such as a raving idiot and a transvestite geisha. In my press showing the critics sat through all the credits, which nobody could read in Japanese, simply because the music was so mesmerizing, as it was throughout the film. Just the surprise Riverdance-in-wooden-clogs-ending is worth the price of a ticket. This is a good opportunity to compare a highly recommended, “real” Japanese film with recent Hollywood pseudo Japanese offerings such as Kill Bill, Lost in Translation, and The Last Samurai.

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