Change Your Image
connorjm
Reviews
War of the Worlds (2005)
Spielberg's unique touch, *contains spoilers*
War of the Worlds is uniquely Spielberg. He is one of few directors who could make alien invasion so visually stunning but he is also the only director who could turn such a catastrophic global event into a household melodrama.
This film is at its best when it explores the impact of such a tragic event upon the helpless victims. The scene in which Ray Ferrier (Cruise) and his two kids are mobbed as they drive towards the ferry and the subsequent scene in which masses of people lead a desperate scramble to get on the ferry are truly dark and explore the survivalist instincts exhibited by people in the face of sheer hopelessness.
But this doesn't last and ultimately the invasion seems far from terrifying as it becomes a means by which bungling dad Ray can rediscover his parental touch and 'grow' as a person. When you add to this a cringeworthy appearance by Tim Robbins, seemingly reprising the village idiot character he created for Mystic River, War of the Worlds just descends into the absurd.
The underlying sense of calm throughout the movie, despite the havoc and chaos all around is capped off when Ray and daughter Rachel (annoyingly portrayed by latest movie brat Dakota Fanning) arrive in a seemingly undisturbed Boston street to be greeted by Ray's ex-wife and her family. They emerge from a perfect townhouse totally unperturbed, as if they had merely been watching all the events unfold alongside us and that there never had been any real danger in the first place.
This all adds a great sense of anti-climax to an already thoroughly disappointing movie. Morgan Freeman's voice-over is typically life-affirming and acts as a laughable clearing up device after a terribly abrupt ending. It seems that once Spielberg had finished creating his aliens, the movie became a secondary thought, an annoyance to be dealt with. Had he kept focus on the invasion and the terrifying effects of such an unfathomable event, there may have been a movie here but as it stands, there is just a collection of cheap visual thrills and not a lot else.
Moolaadé (2003)
Another gem from an African icon
One of legendary Senagalese director Ousmane Sembene's defining films. A fascinating study of the clash between pragmatic modern thinking and staunch religious traditionalism in Senegal. The film focuses on the controversial procedure of 'purification', in which young girls are forced to undergo genital mutilation to supposedly make them better, more faithful, wives in the future. When six young girls flee the process, four of them seek refuge with a well-known woman, Collé (Fatoumata Coulibaly), who is viewed with suspicion in the community for her stubborn refusal to adhere to all the societal 'norms'. Collé offers the girls protection (moolaadé), a spell which can only be broken if she herself utters the words which will end the moolaadé. Collé herself had refused to let her daughter be 'purified' and her actions prove to be inflammatory, causing the elders to become increasingly nervy about her failure to conform. As their control mechanism is slowly eroded they lash out and the community takes on alarming animalistic tendencies. Although the film ends in a rather idealistic fashion, Sembene's work is both moving and engaging. His stance on the core debate is clear but the views of the various community members are not so. In this way he is able to explore ideas of male hegemony while simultaneously studying the difficulties faced by the patriarch in striving towards accepted constructions of masculinity. Sembene understands the quirks of this society and his representations of these offer both light relief and food for thought. Ultimately the film swings back to the debate at its core - the battle between old and new. The modern approach is symbolised by the women's radios (and the knowledge acquired from them) and by the chief's French-educated son, who becomes the first to turn his back on the male elders. Religious traditionalism manifests itself through a ruthless and outdated male hegemony and it is clear that Sembene sees feminism as a crucial means by which modernisation can be achieved. His film provides an insight into an under-represented part of the world. It is a beautifully told story which offers a multi-layered yet concise analysis of ongoing issues which are relevant to us all.
The Last Horror Movie (2003)
The philosophy of murder *possible spoilers*
I saw this film when it was screened as part of the 2004 Commonwealth Film Festival in Manchester. Having read its description in the festival catalogue, I must say I was prepared for a film with a fair few flaws. It was said that the film challenged our reasons for enjoying the consumption of horror on screen, yet most of the spiel I had heard before watching the film had been about its ultraviolent nature. This led me to believe I was facing the prospect of another righteous condemnation of the consumption of violence by a film which itself reveled in those images. Whilst a large number of people I have spoken to thoroughly enjoyed Natural Born Killers, Stone's attempt to satirize the media's peddling and our consumption of violence did not sit well with me. Stone had spent the majority of the film presenting a heavily stylized view of the acts of Mickey and Mallory, himself indulging in the portrayals of violence he strove to condemn.
However, the Last Horror Movie offers an utterly different prospect to this standard fayre. It lacks the sheer comic effect of much of Man Bites Dog, instead it is a gritty black comedy, something uniquely British. The scene in which Max cooks a family meal (you'll see what I mean when you watch it) makes you totally unsure of whether you should laugh or be horrified. Kevin Howarth is superb as Max, portraying him at once as pompous, emotional, cold-blooded and logical. Rather than offering a mere surface questioning of our consumption of violence, Max challenges our own instincts and desires. One particularly effective scene sees Max commit a murder off camera and then ask the viewer if they were at all intrigued to know what had been going on and of course, I was!
The film explores the extent to which we can relate to Max, the extent to which we all contain certain animalistic, brutal tendencies. The film also successfully challenges our perceptions over the value of life; is a miserable life worth living, do we value one particular life over another? During one of Max's monologues to camera, he questions whether we would sell our TV to save a life in Africa and if not, then why should we object to his acts. This piece works particularly well and challenges sensationalist reactions to high-profile murder cases as opposed to the general apathy towards the death which ravages the Third World.
Not only does this film offer substantial food for thought, it is ultimately entertaining. Not only does it offer some delightfully dark comic moments but it is also superbly structured. Julian Richards did an outstanding job to keep the final sting in the tail of this film concealed right up until it happens. Although Man Bites Dog used a similar documentary style, this style is used here as part of another plot, a greater plan, not merely for the sake of documenting a journey.
After the showing of this film, I had the pleasure of meeting Kevin Howarth and he made a crucial point about British cinema. Not enough of our films are truly independent, our industry is still supported by Hollywood money. Britain offers some of the best film technicians in the world but they are being employed and used by Hollywood for the latest blockbusters. He suggested that we need to take control of our own resources and make films that are truly independent, films which will challenge, but still entertain, the viewer. Britain has fallen into a trend of making quaint provincial films, films that either romanticize our quaint upper classes or the equally quaint working classes - they have no grounding in reality and merely pander to the desires of Hollywood, who want us to make quaint, romantic films for passive consumption. The Last Horror Movie offers a true example of the potential for a different type of British cinema, true artistic expression of attitudes and approaches which are uniquely British.