Kinds of kindness

 

This film is set within a series of reference frames that are different to the ones within which I usually choose to operate, emotionally, psychologically, morally and intellectually. To be honest I really struggled with this film. I stuck it out until the beginning of the third tryptic and then I had to walk.

Without doubt this film is very clever and is as much about the vector of storytelling as it is the story that is told. Maybe it was simply beyond my intellectual grasp. The fact that it carries an 18 certification for violent and extended sexual activity but makes no mention of the physical and psychological violence that is a constant feature of the film, assumes a level of normal that I am not prepared to collude with.

The film is billed as a black comedy. I found nothing remotely comedic in it at all. In the first tryptic I found the portrayal of the need to be controlled and the need to control very disturbing. In the second tryptic the lack of sympathy for the husband was disappointing but as the story develops his behaviour becomes increasingly psychotic although there is always a sense that he is the only one seeing the true reality.

Perhaps I should have stuck it out and maybe the third tryptic unlocks a clear sense of meaning. However I didn't and what I'm left with is a dark exploration of the human need to control others and the human need to gain and express greater self-confidence. It is also about our innate need to be liked and the fear of rejection. Where the kindnesses came in depends on how you define being kind. I found no kindness that I recognised save perhaps in the self-sacrifice of Liz the wife in the second tryptic. There was no facility for saying so far but no further. Everything was always taken to the fullest extreme and perhaps in doing so reveals a side of human potential behaviour that scares me.

The acting performances are very strong. The same troupe playing different characters in the three related tryptics. Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Margaret Qualley, Willem Dafoe, Hong Chau, Mamoudou Athie and Joe Alwyn reappear and deliver very convincing character studies - Plemons picking up best actor at Cannes where it premiered.

I would only advise seeing this if you have three hours to waste and are so thick-skinned that everything that has the potential to wound you simply bounces off. I'm sure it's top class cinema for those who have eyes to see but for me I'm happy I didn't have bad dreams after having seen it. I'll give it 3/10.

One Life

 

This is an important story that needs to be told as some parts of humanity seem to be unable to stop repeating the errors of past generations. The story is about a 29 year-old English stockbroker, Nicky Winton played by Johnny Flynn and also Anthony Hopkins as a 79 year-old Winton. The film flicks between 1938 and 1978. Winton was the son of German-Jewish parents who fled Germany because of rising anti-Jewish sentiments and settled in London. 

Hearing of the plight of refugees and Jews fleeing the advancing Nazis, Winton travels to Prague in Czechoslovakia to see for himself. Winton is so gripped by the desperate plight of the people that he formulates a plan to rescue as many of the children as he can. The children will travel by train with visas to enter Britain and be placed with foster families until they can return home. With bureaucratic hurdles and no resources other than determination, it seems an impossible task.

Winton works through the offices of the British Committee for Refugees from Czechoslovakia who put him in touch with a Prague Rabi who has a list of the most vulnerable and at risk Jewish children attached to his synagogue. Slowly Winton earns the trust of the people and sets about gathering information to enable visa applications to be made. Meanwhile his mother Babette (Helena Bonham Carter) is tasked with tackling the government department processing visa applications which of course with war imminent, is overrun with applicants.

Fifty years on and Winton's house is filled with archive boxes full of photos and papers from the operation which successfully ran eight trains from Prague to London and rescued 669 children whose fate otherwise would certainly have been transportation to Nazi concentration camps. In the bottom drawer of his desk is a briefcase which he at first is unable to even touch, let alone 'deal with' as his wife Greta (Lena Olin) constantly urges him to do. Greta goes away to visit their daughter who is about to produce the first grandchild and this acts a catalyst for Winton to burn all the archive boxes and eventually reveal what is in the briefcase.

I won't spoil anything of how the story unfolds and flicks between the two time periods. This is a compelling story, well told with very good performances especially from Hopkins and  Bonham Carter. Tissues will be needed. For me, the irony of the story is being played out on our TV screens with coverage of the current conflict in Gaza. It is not inconceivable that some of those rescued by Winton could be the grandparents of IDF soldiers currently attacking Palestinian families with children in Rafa. Will we never learn? As a film i'll give it 9/10 - well worth seeing.

Dune 2

 

A saviour who was prophesied, who seemingly dies, then is resurrected and leads the people to paradise - sounds familiar to me. Dune Messiah is of course the next book in Herbert's series and never was the ending of a film left so open as to invite a follow up. Whether it be Herbert's Dune or Asimov's Foundation, organised religion is put under the spotlight and with some Hollywood magic makes the leap to Science Fiction. Perhaps an imagined future feels easier to deal with than an historical past?

Director Denis Villeneuve's barnstorming sequel which he describes as an "epic war movie", is the all-action counterpoint to the first film's more contemplative feel. The relentless nature of the combat scenes reminded me of Lord of the Rings but this time on a beach. If you like fighting on a grand scale, this will sate your appetite. I appreciate that Villeneuve was creating an epic, but did it really need to be 2:45 long? For me passages dragged and the narrative arc was constructed so slowly it was painful as the outcome was never in jeopardy.

The whole film is visually stunning and I imagine the IMAX rendition would be something special. The soundtrack is excellent as it never intrudes but always supports. The acting is powerful with Timothée Chalamet carrying off Paul Muad'Dib Atreides with aplomb and strong performances from Zendaya as Chani, Rebecca Ferguson as Paul's mother Lady Jessica, Javier Bardem as Stilgar, Josh Brolin as Gurney Halleck and Austin Butler as the terrifying psychopath Feyd-Rautha.

The Bene Gesserit Sisterhood are a manipulative order whose goal is to breed the Kwisatz Haderach - a male Bene Gesserit with mental powers that bridge space and time and who would be the saviour of the universe. They have been working on this for millennia by controlling bloodlines through seduction and coercive marriages - always working indirectly, never seeking to rule themselves.

The dark and deceptive Bene Gesserit and the brutally violent leaders of the House of Harkonnen are the balance to Paul Atreides and Chani - even if Atreides is driven by revenge. The original book - which my better half says is is much better than the films - was written in 1965 at the height of the Cold War, so it is no surprise that the ultimate deterrent in this film is the threat of unleashing nuclear weapons.

This film left me with conflicting feelings. Whilst it is a visual feast with very good acting and special effects, the relentless fighting, plotting, at times muddy dialogue and slow plot development detracted from the enjoyment for me. I have to say that I was disappointed and didn't enjoy it as much as Dune 1 and can only award it 6/10.

Chocolat

 

Although I have watched this film many times and have used it as a film to invite theological reflection, it has not yet appeared on this blog! Time to rectify that. I watched it earlier this week with a group of friends from church and I have to say it still holds its own.

Set in a rural community in South West France in 1959, with the aftermath of both world wars continuing to be a lived reality for some of the villagers, this film explores the choices people make about the way they live their life, how they respond to the pressure to conform and the positive power of transformation.

With a strong ensemble cast and five Oscar nominations this film, which was released in 2000, begins on the eve of Lent in a community that almost uniformly does what is expected, most of which is anchored by regular church attendance where Count Reynaud (Alfred Molina) who is also the mayor, welcomes townsfolk to each service. He then takes the seat of honour at the front where he can exert his control on the new young priest who has already had his sermon heavily modified by the Count. 

The Count represents a rigid, harsh and controlling way of following religion in a world where there is only black and white. A statue of the First Count stands looking over the village square outside the church - the Count who expelled protestant Huguenots from the village centuries earlier. All of this presents a less than attractive image of the Catholic Church - but I could think of some churches of other traditions that present an equally uninviting image of the God they worship!

The Count, who is a student of history and is predisposed to maintain inherited values and customs, presents a sad figure who carries the weight of the responsibility of being leader of the community as well as the loss of his wife. His wife is on an "extended Italian tour" but it is clear that she will not be returning. The Count surrounds himself with photographs of her and with crucifixes to bring consolation. All of this makes the Count lacking in joie-de-vivre as he constantly reminds villagers of the behaviour the Church expects of them.

As winter gives way to spring so a strong North wind blows and against the grey of the dull village, Vianne (Juliette Binoche) and her daughter Anouk (Victoire Thivisol), robed in red caped cloaks battle the elements to find lodging and shop they can run. The colourful cloaks strike a strong contrast with the village, a contrast that is to become disruptive and ultimately transformative in a good way.

Vianne, who is half Mayan, is an itinerant evangelist - her Gospel of choice being Chocolate - especially when combined with chilli in ancient Mayan recipes. Chocolate proves to be more than a sexual aphrodisiac as it eventually has the power to re-enliven and re-energise the entire community.

The battle between life-sapping Church and the overbearing Count and Vianne's life-gving chocolate continues throughout the six weeks of Lent. The narrative is punctuated by individual battles of temptation when faced with chocolate, the illness of Vianne's Landlady (Judy Dench) and also the arrival of Irish Romanies, led by Roux (Jonny Depp) who drift in on the river by boat. With each piece or cup of chocolate, Vianne dispenses Choco-wisdom that challenges the dull status quo and which invites people to become a technicolour version of themselves as the true person they were created to be. This is a feel-good film that is life affirming.

On the eve of Easter, the Count sees Caroline (Carry-Ann Moss), his young widowed secretary to whom he is attracted, leaving the Chocolateries. With the chocolaterie's windows shrouded by paper to conceal the big display of new chocolates celebrating new life and Easter, the Count determines to break into the shop and destroy everything. In his frenzied attack on the chocolate, a speck falls on his lip and he tastes it. In an instant, not unlike St Paul's Damascus Road experience, he is converted and gorges himself on chocolate thus breaking the asceticism of his Lenten feast. Exhausted by fasting and battle with Vianne he falls asleep in the shop window where he is found the following morning. Vianne gives him a seltzer drink to revive him. 

As much as the Count is trapped within his self-made prison, so Vianne is trapped by her heritage and itinerant ministry led by the chill North wind. Anouk continually asks if they are going to stay this time rather than having to uproot and move yet again. Vianne carries her Mayan mother's ashes in a vase that during a tussle between her and Anouk becomes broken spilling the contents down the stairs. A contrite Anouk attempts to gather up as much of the ash as possible. This is the beginning of Vianne's own transformative breaking free. When the North wind next visits, Vianne open an upstairs window and casts the ashes into the wind to be blown to the next town to empower someone else to "heal the wounds of friends she hasn't met yet"! 

A repentant and apologetic Count leads the townsfolk into Church for the Easter Sunday celebrations where the Priest preaches from his heart rather than the Count's script and delivers a sermon that places our shared humanity above the following of empty and dead religious rules. Throughout the film, Anouk has narrated the story and as it ends, she describes further tales of life-affirming transformation in the lives and relationships of the villagers - and Roux returns the next summer to be with Vianne and Anouk. And so it seems, everyone lived 'happy ever after' - enjoying each other - and chocolate! 

Although Church features prominently in the film, it is not directly a religious film. However, for those with an eye to see and ears to hear the reading into the story of the power of God through the Holy Spirit to bring positive transformation is in plain sight and sound. The challenge for us is how can be emulate Vianne's life-affirming message. I'll give it 9/10.