Persepolis – Film Review
Persepolis, an animated film showing life in Iran during the Islamic Revolution, and the Iran-Iraq war, is an exceptional film. I would go as far as saying that it is the best film I've seen so far in 2008.
When I heard it was animated, I was a bit reluctant, but this adaptation of Marjane Satrapi's autobiographical novel won me over in every way. It is entertaining, while unassuming. It teaches you more about the overthrowing of the Shah and the Islamic Revolution than any dry text book would. And above all, it is intensely human, and funny and touching.
Maybe it's just me, but it was a bit strange (perhaps even ironic) to watch the re-dubbed English language version. The abundance of American accents for what is a film about Iran, struck me as almost inappropriate, but knowing that this was originally a French film, made it less of a problem. Go figure, I suppose a Persian version is not on the cards. Not anytime soon, anyway...
The bottom line:
Persepolis is highly recommended. Go see it - you'll be glad you did!
5 stars out of 5
The Film ‘Gone Baby Gone’ and the Madeleine McCann Story – Does One Make You Think of the Other?
Does 'Gone Baby Gone' make you think of the Madeleine McCann case, and if so was the studio right to delay the film's release in the UK? Those were the two questions running through my mind, as the opening credits rolled. The answers are: yes, and yes.
Gone Baby Gone was directed by Ben Affleck, and stars his younger brother Casey Affleck, who gives us a believable and sensitive performance as private investigator Patrick Kenzie.
Although the similarities between the fictional Gone Baby Gone plot and the tragic disappearance of Madeleine McCann are limited, UK audiences would find it difficult not to keep linking the two throughout the first hour of the film. The four-year-old light haired girl with her cuddly toy; the similar poses in the "Missing" posters, the mother who is said to have left the girl alone only for a short while, the TV appeals. Even the missing girl's name, Amanda McCready, keeps throwing you back to the Madeleine McCann story.
I have to make it clear that I am not suggesting, even for an instant, that the actual two cases are alike, or that Gerry and Kate McCann are anything like the characters in Gone Baby Gone (they most certainly are not). Only that I have no doubt that film-goers would find it difficult not to connect the two and constantly draw parallels and differences. This is why the decision to delay the release of the film in the UK to 2008 was the sensitive and correct one.
There is one parallel between life and cinema that is worth noting though: It is what the film shows us as the background plot, compared to how it is sensationalised in the media - to the effect that media reports have very little to do with the situation on the ground. No doubt film goers will notice this as well.
And what about the film itself, is it any good in its own right? Well, although critics are mostly gushing, I didn't really like it that much. I got bored at regular intervals, and although Casey Affleck played a believable character, the plot itself was implausible in parts, and a little too TV-drama in others.
I give it 2.5 stars out of 5.
Gone Baby Gone - The Trailer:
Sex And The City Film Review – An uneasy feeling (good, but not great)
A review of the Sex And The City by one of the only men in the audience.
The ladies were all excited, egging each other on, feeling liberated when they came into the cinema. They were still excited when they left, but perhaps a little less. They seemed to be thinking about it, and contemplating what they'd say when asked. They liked it, they enjoyed it. They thought it was good. They laughed, they cried, but there was also something else: they couldn't quite put their finger on it.
If you are a Sex and the city fan, you're going to see the movie anyway, whatever reviewers say. You've been watching the TV show for years and you feel part of the family. The good news is that you'll feel that it was worth your while. It ticks boxes, it has clever scripting, there are highs and lows and emotional moments. There are fashion in-jokes, and nod-nod-wink-wink back-references (including a Cynthia Nixon scene with a lesbian gag).
Some things you may notice while watching the Sex And the City movie:
- There's a lot of product placement.
- Gravity seems to have done some bad things to Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) and Smith (Jason Lewis) who both look like they've aged a lot and lost their glamour. Steve (David Eigenberg) is ten times scruffier than before, while in contrast Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Charlotte (Kristin Davis) and Samantha (Kim Cattrall) all stayed as hot as they were to begin with and, at times, hotter.
- If you're a man (or a woman who's not greatly into fashion), you'll feel that there's too much of 'let's put our heroines in as many outfits as possible and show you lots of brand fashion' - although Sex And the City was always big on fashion, it was never so pronounced, prolonged and in your face. Too prolonged for non-fashionistas. Even though, as a man, I did actually like the TV show, the film told me to my face that I blatantly wasn't the target audience.
The verdict: I enjoyed a lot of it, but got a sense that many in the audience expected an uplifting experience and instead got a bit of an uneasy undertone in the plot. It was almost as if the bitter message was wrapped in the feelgood and cleverness, and therefore wasn't easy to detect - but underneath the surface it bubbled, and nagged you as you watched. In the Sex And The City series, even when bad things happened to the characters, there was always a thread of optimistic 'we're not taking ourselves all that seriously' woven in at the right places. Hard lessons ended in comparisons to shoes and Fendi bags. The movie, in contrast, felt like it was bearing the brunt of the responsibility to be a proper feature. The finality was not feel-good, it was more of a "thank-god it ended well, but actually, is this ending a good one?".
Hey, but you'll go anyway... And if you drag your heterosexual boyfriends with you, be sure they know it isn't meant for them, and that you'll reward them handsomely for going: a nice drill set would do.
Official Sex and The City Movie Trailer: