2005 - Part 2

"I saw a movie, I saw the saddest film, where everyone got killed, and the crowd went wild."

Movies
2005 was as good a year for films as we've had in a while. Part of that is, I'm sure, my own return to a position of knowledge after a few years away. Working for the Home Entertainment people has put me in a position to catch pretty much every DVD release I want to see, meaning I have a far greater knowledge of what's going on and a much longer list of flicks I'd like to see. That said, I think there was an improvement. One of the reasons I drifted away from cinema in the first place was the sheer number of awful, pointless, soul-destroying films being released, and I can honestly say from the point of view of somebody returning to the scene that the balance of crap/good has shifted slightly and the fat, lazy blockbusters of recent years have...well...improved. You still won't find any on the list below, but suffice to say there were a couple of event movies I actually quite enjoyed.

I wish I could have written more about the year that was, but time has once again gotten away from me. Here are five favourite flicks from 2005 (No time for fresh reviews, so I'm afraid it's quick thoughts for two of the films and reviews I wrote last year for the other three). I have now cleared my desk of all projects save for THE NOVEL, so I'll be back later in the week with some more topical scribblings. Until then, enjoy...

1. The Assassination Of Richard Nixon: I've been waiting for this one for a while. Anybody that knows me at all well will be aware that I have something of a fascination with politics in America in the late sixties and early seventies. In addition to that, I'm of the opinion that Sean Penn may well be the most misunderstood and underrated actor of his generation. I'm not sure what I expected from this film, but I know I expected it to be good.

So...is it about politics in America in the late sixties and early seventies? A little, but not really. There is certainly a sociopolitical theme, but to be honest, the film could have been set in the present day and still had the same resonance. More than anything else, it's a character study. The story is seen entirely through the eyes of the protagonist, Sam Bicke, and as such, it becomes a tale of the American Dream as he perceives it through an essentially decent nature and an anger at what he sees as the dishonesty and greed of the 'bullies' that run things, personified in this case by the president, Richard Nixon.

Beautifully directed by co-writer Niels Muller, and with a wonderfully subtle script that contains some excellent dialogue and a couple of scenes that say what it takes some helmers an entire ninety minutes to even hint at, The Assassination Of Richard Nixon is a lesson in the art of strong, concise filmmaking. Even without the great casting and the incredible central performance, this would have been a powerful and interesting film.

But it's the actors that bring the thing to life, in this case Don Cheadle as Bicke's only real friend, Bonny, Naomi Watts as his estranged wife, Marie, and Jack Thompson as Sam's boss. While they are, when you get right down to it, essentially playing the straight roles that so accentuate Bicke's emotional descent, it is the strong character performances from all three (and particulaly Cheadle) that let Penn off the leash and enable him to do what he does best.

Sam Bicke should not be a strong and sympathetic character. On the surface, he is a naive, weak, and stupid man whose ideals - while noble - have no basis in the day-to-day reality going on around him. This is certainly true in the sad and occasionally darkly comic first third of the film, where the character of Bicke is introduced as a manchild struggling to come to terms with the fact that his life is falling apart. There is a beautiful scene early on where Bicke, having seen the plight of the Black Panthers on television, goes to his local office and offers his support, telling the bemused leader that they should change their name to the zebras and double their membership (by including whites). Somehow, even here, you feel sympathy for Bicke. While he is portrayed as something of a fool, he is so earnest and sincere in his manner that you cannot help but feel both amused and somehow sorry for this sad little man so unable to fit in.

But then, as his marriage falls apart and it becomes clear that he will be unable to hold onto his job, as he becomes increasingly obsessed with obtaining a loan from the government to fund a business venture with Bonny (an idea he pitches to the bank in another scene that combines black humour, pathos, and a certain voyeuristic embarrassment to devastating effect), we begin to see the darker side of Bicke's American Dream.

Penn is stunning in the role of Bicke. I was sure that Christian Bale as Trevor Reznick in The Machinist would be the performance of the year. But as The Assassination Of Richard Nixon draws to a conclusion that might seem obvious, and Bicke's anguish, anger, and genuine confusion at what's happening to him set him on a downward spiral towards the denouement that gives the film its title, the worm - as far as the audience is concerned - begins to turn.

The closest comparison I can draw is with Holden Caulfield in Salinger's Catcher In The Rye. An easy character to dislike in the early stages of that story, Caulfield eventually draws our sympathy, our empathy, and a genuine sense of grief at his alienation and loneliness. Bicke is a similar everyman figure, and what makes the ending of this film so difficult to watch is that you know where he's headed. The blithe pragmatism of the other characters that seemed so right at the outset becomes unbearable, and the closer the film comes to closing out its promise, the more genuine and troubling a protagonist Bicke becomes...

I don't want to give away the ending, but I will draw a comparion with another classic piece of literature, that being Orwell's 1984. When the tale of Sam Bicke is told, you'll find yourself looking back to find some kind of redemption, something you missed. That the script recognises this and turns in on itself, showing you what you yourself felt when first introduced to this strange yet unremarkable man, is the final touch. The very last shot will break your heart.

Well directed, beautifully written, and with a showing from Penn that would see him showered with awards in a sane world, this is a film that you absolutely need to see.

2. The Machinist: In which Christian Bale doesn't sleep and is scarifyingly thin. The tale of Trevor Reznick is dark, claustrophobic, but ultimately redeeming, with symbolism aplenty and a masterful turn from an actor who deserves every plaudit he received for this and his franchise-reviving turn as The Dark Knight. Watch The Machinist, then watch Batman Begins, then watch The Machinist again. It'll fuck your head right up.

3. Oldboy: Oh, hey, did somebody call for an incredibly fucked up Korean vengeance flick with all the trimmings? You got it.

Note: If you fear subtitles, run away now.

So this guy, Oh Dae-Su, gets drunk one night and winds up at the police station. Upon his release, he's snatched off the street and locked up for fifteen years for no readily apparent reason. While inside, he writes his life story, whips himself into fantastic shape, and ponders why someone would do this to him.

One day, out of the blue, he is released, given clothes, money, and a cellphone, and told he has five days to discover the reason for his imprisonment. When the time runs out, somebody he loves will die. As Dae-Su's path of vengeance brings him closer to solving this riddle, the secrets of his childhood are revealed, along with the identity of a nemesis who is only just getting started...

Well, shit, I don't know quite where to begin. Hardcore Asian cinema has a whole different set of rules, traditions, and motives to your common American or European fare, and if you haven't been exposed to them on a slightly more watered-down level (Like John Woo or Takashi Shimizu) then this will fuck you up. I guarantee it. You'll be like, "Wha? Fu? Oh, Christ, that's GROSS!" And that'll just be the bit when some guy loses most of his teeth to a claw hammer...

But I urge you to strap in and give this film a try, if only because I thought it was fucking great and have come here purely to recommend it to you. Chan-wook Park's direction is, at times, utterly sublime (though at others just plain confusing), and Min-sik's performance as the borderline insane Dae-su (he refers to himself as 'The Monster') is both deeply disturbing and blackly hilarious. There's quite a lot about Oldboy that will leave you scratching your head right up to the final scenes and possibly beyond. It's a bizarre story, to say the least, with heavy references to hypnotism, incest, and - of course - violence. But it's a story that will drag you in and have you gritting your teeth as Park drags you from soft-focus flashbacks to the brutal, gritty present-day, never once letting on at how the thing will turn out until he finally delivers the knockout blow that I, for one, wasn't expecting at all. Powerful stuff.

A little more on that violence, if I may. This is not the stylised choreography of more conventional films. If you don't have a strong stomach, there is stuff here that will probably freak you out. I'm a gorehound of some standing, and have watched quite comfortably many people getting their internal organs ripped out or limbs hacksawed off or whatever. But there is one scene in Oldboy that had me watching from between my fingers and almost moaning in horror. I won't tell you what it is, but believe me, that takes some doing. There is, however, a positive point to be made. The violence in this film is very, very real. In fact, there is one lengthy fight scene where Dae-su takes on a gang of cronies in a corridor. It is, for me, one of the best scenes of its type I've ever seen, for the simple fact that a) it's a clumsy brawl with people falling over and throwing shit at each other and yelling, exactly like a real fight, and b) it portrays Dae-su not as a peerless superman, but as an almost subhuman monster out for vengeance and fighting for his life. It's one guy taking on about ten, and it's utterly convincing. I don't think I've ever seen that done before.

Anyway, this is by no means a perfect film, and it can be hard going. But if I guarantee you anything, it's that Oldboy will stay with you for quite a while after the credits roll.

4. Stander: South Africa in the late seventies and early eighties was not a happy place to be, especially if you were black. Andre Stander was not, but when his role as a captain in the police force led to him shooting an unarmed black protester during a riot, he began to question himself, his colleagues, and the system he was a tool of. Refusing to take part in riot duty following the shooting, Stander found himself left to desk-duty, his promising career on hold. Frustrated and alone in Johannesburg when a riot took the vast majority of the police officers out of the city, Stander committed an opportunistic bank robbery in order to prove his point that, in South Africa, a white man could get away with anything. He subsequently became one of the most famous criminals in South African history...

I guess I should take this opportunity to apologise to Mr. Tom Jane. While I stand by comments here and elsewhere regarding The Punisher and the excruciating Dreamcatcher, I find myself having to retract my opinion that Jane couldn't act his way out of a paper bag. The most riveting thing in a movie that has quite a lot going for it is his outstanding performance in the central role. Jane brings charisma, presence, and a real feeling of soul to the enigmatic Stander, sculpting a fascinating anti-hero and carrying the story on his shoulders without appearing to break a sweat. It really is a towering performace from the man, and I find myself wondering just how he managed to be so shit in so many of his other films.

Stander is a heist movie with a political heart, and while those politics aren't subtle, the audience never feels preached to. Where the intellectual side of things does rear its head, it's almost always in the interests of strengthening the characters or driving the plot forward. In that sense, Stander is pretty much flab-free. Considering the era and the weighty issues involved, it's a fine thing to find the point shown and not told. The philosophy never gets in the way of the criminal fun had by the three men who came to be known as The Stander Gang, nor the confusion and integrity of Andre himself. It merely lurks in the background, content to occasionally remind us that it's there through dialogue or Stander's struggle with the demons he inherited when he shot an unarmed man.

It's nicely directed, too. The movie has a grainy, washed-out look that captures both the time and the place with a minimum of fuss, and where director Bronwen Hughes (Forces Of Nature, believe it or not) chooses to turn on the style, it's unobtrusive and far more likely to draw a smile than a snarl. The beauty in this approach is that it really brings the focus onto Jane (and to a lesser extent his co-stars). My only complaint in this department (and about the whole movie) is that some of the earlier scenes feel rushed. Where some of the background is compressed, a sense of confusion is created that never really abates until the antics of The Stander gang become the focus of the film and everything slows down.

But that's a minor quibble, to be honest. I didn't have much in the way of expectations when I sat down to watch this film, and finding myself exposed to a flick that's entertaining, engaging, and finds itself on the receiving end of a Michael-flavoured recommendation was a very pleasant surprise. Fuck Ocean's Twelve. If you want to rent a film that has character, style, meaning, and all the cooler-than-thou set-pieces you'll ever need, give Stander a try. If nothing else, you'll at least get to see young Master Jane prove me very, very wrong.

5. Ong-Bak: Cool as fuck martial arts flick with a flimsy excuse for a plot unleashing the mighty Tony Jaa on an unsuspecting world. This is the perfect antidote for anybody getting just a wee bit tired of beautifully shot wire-work, with Jaa, as graceful as he is brutal, doing all his own stunts, my personal favourite being kicking a goon in the head while his legs are on fire. If you have any kind of inclination toward this kind of action, you need to get hold of a copy of Ong-Bak immediately. It'll rock your world.