The Danish Girl

Tom Hooper directs Eddie Redmayne in his Golden Globe and most likely second Oscar nominated performance as Einar Wegener, a Danish painter who became the first person to undergo ground breaking sexual transformation surgery in the early 1930s to become Lily Elbe, whose life she documented in the renowned memoir Man into Woman published in 1936.

The film features a pair of captivating performances and while the film either fails or succeeds on Redmayne's compelling playing, the film is helped by having such a strong female lead as that portrayed by Alicia Vikander who could well be Oscar nominated herself and would be a fitting reward for such a prolific year as hers bookended by two standout roles in first Ex-Machina and this, a role that could easily have been thrown away or lost when out up against Redmayne, but Bikander more than holds her own in such a difficult role.

However, for all the good work on paper in terms of visual sumptuousness with great credit especially going to the set and production design, location scouts and costume designer Paco Delgado. the film is somewhat let down by a script that takes liberties with historical fact and becomes too hypnotised by an albeit brilliant central performances.  Lili Elbe in truth survived four gender reconstruction surgeries, but here she succumbs after the second due to a lot of blood loss.

This discredits the work by Warnekros (Sebastian Koch) and the script even dismisses the basis for the entire film, by only having Lily mention her diary in passing as a throwaway comment during a discussion with Gerda, it makes us think she must have written quite a lot between two surgeries
when she should be regaining her strength before the next procedure.

 

Also lost is the historical truth that Gerda herself was a lesbian, this is crucially omitted from the screenplay and yet had it been included would have made more sense for Einar to feel this yearn for her hidden gender sexuality if Gerda was having sexual relations in their home and inevitably their bed; whereas we are led to believe Lily was always there beneath the surface just needing to be eked out of Einar by putting on some tights and dresses.

The film nonetheless is another convincing showcase for Redmayne and the strong work of Vikander, who could so easily have been lost in the shadows but instead is rightfully his equal as the poster can attest to.

The Danish Girl is a Working Title production and is a Universal Pictures release and is out now.

99 Homes

Rahim Bahrani, a prominent 21st century auteur in American independent cinema, returns with a post-economic meltdown thriller with 99 Homes starring Andrew Garfield and Michael Shannon.

Garfield plays Dennis Nash, a young builder who is in need of work to pay back the loan to his bank before they foreclose and his family, mother (Laura Dern) and young son have to be evicted. Richard Carver, monstrously played by Michael Shannon, is the man who works for the banks to evict people. Carver then buys the house cheap from the bank fits it up by stealing appliances from other houses and then sells for profit by charging the government for his supposed community services.

Upon confronting one of Carver's employees for a supposed theft, Carver offers Nash work on his labour force which quickly grows into a more substantial role becoming Carver's right hand man as they get close to landing a huge development deal. One that could make Nash rich beyond his wildest dreams.

The film has a lot to say about the tumultuous effect the economic crash had on many people, and with the film being set in 2010 gives it the feel of a historical artefact with America now on the mend.   However, the screenplay falls too quickly into cliche with Nash choosing to get in bed with the devil too quickly due to the allure of financial wealth, and his decision to hide his means of earning from his family is too obvious a plot point with inevitable consequences.

Nash is heading for a fall, yet Bahrami chooses not to show the fall fully; there is no comeuppance for Carver per se, instead the film's conclusion is one lacking fulfilment having invested so much time in these characters.

This is a shame considering Shannon adds Carver to his cavalcade of criminals offering such nuggets of truth as, 'America does not bail out losers' to Nash. And whilst Garfield convincingly emotes and projects, notably in a car park showdown with someone he eras evicted, you get the sense that Nash should be closer to Carver's age than the late 20s age he appears to be.

The film could have been a real ear marker for the economic letdown of America but a combination of directorial decisions let down good work by the cast.

99 Homes is out on DVD and Blu-ray from Monday 18th January - http://po.st/99Amzn

I was given a review disc by Think Jam in exchange for an honest review.

Trailer Talk: Trainwreck

Starring the breakout potential of Amy Schumer, and directed by Judd Apatow, Trainwreck from Universal Pictures looks likely to enjoy the exalted company of The 40 Year Old Virgin/Knocked Up as the summer smash comedy hits.

Schumer has been on a role of late gaining cult status for her stand up material, and this is her first major starring role and the coupling with Apatow promises big things.

Schumer plays a near 30 year old single girl called Amy who has been instructed by her distant father to not believe in monogamy.  This leads to her sleeping with men from week to week with no question of commitment.  This provides ample comic potential in the trailer with various hook-ups and several put-downs, including possibly the funniest thing John Cena (the WWE wrestler) has ever said, when he plays one of Amy's dates.

Amy's character works for a men's magazine and she is instructed to do an expose/interview on a sports injury surgeon Aaron played by Bill Hader.  During the interview, they hit it off and go for a drink which leads to hilarity and then the next morning. Aaron phones Amy hoping to go out again, which leads to the thrust of the second half of the trailer with Amy dithering about what to do as she has never experienced this before leading to a longer than usual conversation with her friend.

While the conversation and dialogue between the pair is funny, it feels a bit unnecessary to have such a protracted segment of the film in the trailer but then there are enough laughs in the trailer to pique your interest without ruining the final outcome.  This is a film that will be seen by many, and promises bundles of laughs in the same way Bridesmaids did.

Like many Apatow films the film will more than likely run over two hours, and it appears that we witness a lot of Amy's missteps with people like John Cena before we and she encounter Bill Hader's character, and it is good to see Hader given this sort of leading man romantic role instead of secondary status.

Trainwreck is scheduled for release in the UK on August 28th from Universal Pictures

Bertrand Bonello Q&A

French director Bertrand Bonello returns with his fifth film, House of Tolerance (L’Apollonide), a languid yet compelling story of a Parisian brothel at the beginning of the 20th Century. Featuring an ensemble cast of female talent, including Hafsia Herzi and Jasmine Trinca, the story rigorously shows daily life in the house – the camaraderie, the anguish and the horrors of serving men in this age-old profession. Below, Bonello reports how the film came to him in a series of dreams, how scared he was working with a dozen women and gives an insight into his next film, a biopic of fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent.  

Q: What interested you about this era? 

A: I started to work on this because I really wanted to do a film with a bunch of young girls. And I didn’t want to do a film that would tell love stories today. So I tried to find a strong image of young girls, and then I came to this image of the girls in brothels in the beginning of the twentieth century. I had read some books and I was very impressed by their strength. So after that I started to do some research, and the second thing that really excited me was not prostitution but the location. The idea of setting up a film in a brothel…for me was a fantastic location for a movie, a fantastic place for cinema. 

Q: It feels very claustrophobic and oppressive inside. Was that the kind of atmosphere you were looking for? 

 A: Yes. For me the fact there is no possibility to go outside, and no windows opened, you’re cut from reality. The outside does not exist. So for me, it was the possibility to make a film that would become more and more mental to the brain! To me, the brothel is like a movie theatre. When you come into a movie theatre, there are no windows, you don’t hear the sound outside and you’re ready for fantasy. 

Q: How did you find working with all these women on set? 

 A: I was a little scared before. It’s twelve girls so you never know! But the casting was nine months, a very long casting, and I was very obsessed with finding good actress I like, but most of all finding the group. So I think I did, and they really got on together very, very well. I felt more like a football manager – though that’s eleven and not twelve! 

Q: Are many of the actresses well known in France?  

A: Only one – Hafsia Herzi, who won the César for the Kechiche film Couscous. And there is another one [Jasmine Trinca] who is Italian and very famous in Italy.  

Q: But there wasn’t any pressure to cast a well-known face in the film? 

A: Not too much, not too much. I accepted to meet some famous actresses, but the distributors agreed that they were not so good for the part. If you have someone too famous, it’s difficult to make a group, because you see just her.  

Q: You use split-screen and contemporary music at times. What was behind your stylistic choices? 

A: There were many things. First of all, I decided not to feel free about everything I wanted to put in the film. One fear when you make a film in one location is that it’s going to be theatrical. So I wanted to give myself the possibility to use all the tools of cinema. Split screen is one of them, and so are the flash-forwards. And for me, the split-screen was…I saw the film very much as a film of prison, and the split screen was like security cameras. This idea that you’re never alone; even in the bathroom there is someone watching you. And the music…it’s soul music from the Sixties. I don’t know why but for me the soul music represents very well the idea I had of this bunch of women in a brothel. Maybe because there is a relationship with slavery, maybe because it’s soul, but really the sound of the girls for me was this music. I don’t have a theory about why, it was just a sensation.  

Q: You also show a contemporary shot of Paris at the end. Why? 

A: Well, it’s a fake documentary – but it’s meant to show foreign students. It’s true that now, most prostitutes are from abroad. First of all, there is one character who is the same, and it shows that it was her destiny to be a prostitute for life. Even a hundred years after, she’s still a prostitute. It’s something about destiny. I like the idea that we showed it this way, because only cinema can do that. The other thing is, for me, I saw the film as a matrix. And how do you get out of a matrix at the end, and back to reality?  

Q: The most powerful image is the facial scar that Madeleine endures. Is it true that this was based on the Victor Hugo novel, L’Homme Qui Rit?  

A: In fact, the film that was made of the novel. It’s a film that was made in the twenties – The Man Who Laughs. It’s a silent film by Paul Leni. I saw that when I was a kid, and the images really stayed very strongly inside of me. When I started to write, three nights in a row I dreamed of this film. I don’t know why. So when I woke up on the fourth morning, I said ‘OK, I’m going to try to put it inside the film to see how it goes.’ And then as soon as I started to write the first sequence I had a skeleton for my film with this character.  

Q: Do you think because you were reading about the subject a lot, that’s why you were dreaming about it? 

A: Ha! Yeah, maybe. And this film of Paul Leni, it’s one my very few strong images from childhood, in terms of film. I saw it again when I was writing, to see if there were some details I could pick up. It’s a heartbreaking film.  

Q: Have you had any problems with censorship with the film?  

A: Not problems. A little bit in Asia. I don’t remember exactly which countries – I think Taiwan and Singapore. But the film also sold well abroad. I didn’t have many problems. I’ve had my problems with my other films, Tiresa and The Pornographer.  

Q: Obviously, you’re showing it exactly as it was, so the nudity is not gratuitous… 

A: Exactly. And at the same time, if you think about the film, there are no real sex scenes. So there’s no real point of using censorship. 

Q: And the men often seem to be clothed, with the women naked around them… 

A: Yes, that’s what I read. Even women, you see the breasts but they are not totally naked. They have so many clothes on them that if you get totally undressed, and dressed again, it takes a long time.  

Q: The women talk very frankly about sex. Why? 

A: I wanted to show that sex is an everyday job. There is nothing sacred about that. It’s just normal. Like if a baker was talking about his bread!  

Q: In England, at least, sex was never talked about then… 

A: In France also. At that time, even married couples, they didn’t see each other naked. They dressed under the sheets. Even in France, people were very shy. I think that’s why brothels existed.  

Q: Did doing the film change your views on prostitution? 

A: Well, it’s difficult to have one truth. It’s a very complicated subject. My opinion is that prostitution always existed and will always exist. So I think it’s worth trying to give these women the best working conditions, in terms of social help and health. It’s too difficult to close your eyes and say ‘I want to forbid prostitution.’ Closing your eyes is not a good solution!  

Q: Are you working on a new film now? 

A: Yes, I’m working on a biopic about the life of Yves Saint Laurent. It’s François Pinault who has got the rights to his life. We are half way through writing the script. And we are starting to do the casting, but I don’t think it will be someone famous.  

Q: What fascinates you about Laurent? 

A: I think he’s unique. I think he’s maybe the only one I can say who is not only a fashion designer, he’s a real artist. And he died of that.

House of Tolerance is released on DVD on Monday 28th May courtesy of Universal Pictures.