Here, Then (Mao Mao, 2012)

Here, Then finally gets a UK release this month thanks to world cinema distributor Second Run. An almost impenetrable study of the disenfranchisement of youth, Here, Then is a film in the tradition of Mao's compatriots Jia Zhanghe and other purveyors of slow cinema - which rewards patience and an analytical appreciation of cinema. 

In a remote Chinese village lies a lost generation of youngsters, each patiently waiting for their fate to roll around the corner and send them in the right direction, yet they are eternally disillusioned.

Mao uses long takes thanks to the cinematography of Liu Ai Guo weaving these seemingly unrelated narrative strands into one sparse realm of alienation. Detached from both the action and the characters on screen, Mao Mao continues a recent trend in Chinese cinema of creating films which deftly enter the oblique ponderous space of our subconscious, allowing us to consider each action as we attempt to delve into the roots of this character's anxieties. 

This is most apparent when the director chooses to portray a rape scene in all of its gory glory.  From the outset the young female is resistant to the attack, yet slowly she gives in and the man has his way with her - yet why is this scene shown other than it being an example of the ugliness of these young people and the coldness of their actions.

Perhaps Mao is attempting to make a statement on the disillusionment of this lost generation and the current state of ennui within the large youth population of China.  All we learn is how empty these character's lives are and how little they have going for them.

That may sound dispiriting, yet Mao shoots with a real confidence and slight touch that is both chilling and professional.

Here, Then is out now on DVD from Second Run DVD

Casa de Lava

The erstwhile Portugese director, Pedro Costa's second feature length film Casa de Lava is released by Second Run DVD today.

Marianna (Ines de Medeiros) is a nurse who escorts a comatose Leao (Isaach de Bankole) from Portugal to his homeland of the Cape Verde Islands.  When they arrive, she is practically dumped by the helicopter pilots who leave her to return to an undisclosed war.  They eventually get moved to a hospital, but no-one will claim Leao stating that no-one knows him.  

While Leao lays asleep Marianna wanders around the volcanic island, slowly becoming mesmerised by the people and the sights.  Most notably she revels at an all-night party, yet moments of fear remain from the presence of rabid dogs.

This film is still expressive of a director finding his feet and attempting to make his voice heard above the crowd.  Like most European auteurs, Costa has an observant camera that allows action to take place in the frame and not pursuing a reaction although his films do sometimes harness documentary sensibilities in their overall outcome.

Costa was abandoned himself as a child, so the yearning for a nuclear family is apparent in the traits of his characters, who he uses as versions of himself - they are searching for a home or a settled place.  Marianna is a lost soul, lost in the sense that she is far from home and in a strange land; Leao is also lost in the sense that he has not been found by anyone who can claim him, and so both are of no fixed abode or location - Costa would return to these traits of loneliness and alienation in his masterpiece Colassal Youth (2006)

Marianna is another of the strong female characters who are independent in spirit and conviction.  As a nurse, she knows nothing about the people she treats, the week on the Casa de Lava allows her eyes to be opened.  Her independent spirit is helped by having her wear this red vibrant dress signifying both fire and warmth - these little touches by Costa marks him out as a keen observer of people, much like his fellow countryman Manuel de Oliveria.

There are moments of melodrama you would anticipate in European auteur cinema, yet this is not over-reached due to the placing of Marianna/Leao in a strange land.  By stumbling into a place of purgatory, people are most scared of dying and the unknown hence the tentative treatment towards strangers yet the natives are seemingly accepting of their lot in life.

The use of landscape and environment is so richly established it becomes a character in its own right as well as a notable narrative device; the human characters act like they do because of the location and vice versa.

Casa de Lava (1994) is released on DVD by Second Run Films today, Monday 24th September and on the disc there are many features; a new HD master of the film especially for this release; an interview with the director discussing the film; an interview with cinematographer Emmanuel Machuel and a new essay by renowned film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum.

www.secondrundvd.com

Liverpool

I remember when I went to the London Film Festival in 2009, and there was a lot of talk about a small film from Argentina called Liverpool.  I remember being a little struck by the title seeing as it is the hometown of my mother and wanting to see it, yet being unable to.

I always remember the title and now thanks to Second Run DVD, (who specialise in auteur cinema from third world countries and directors who fail to get home entertainment release) Lisandro Alonso's fourth feature film is gaining a DVD release in the UK having failed to garner a distributor in this country.

In the same vein of his previous work, it follows a lonely soul on a journey of discovery.  In this case, a sailor, Farrel, leaves his ship and begins a lengthy journey to wintry Tierra del Fuego’s interior, to an isolated village and family that he hasn’t seen in years. We gradually piece together his relationship with the people and community he finds there on a journey that looks familiar to him. From the opening sequences on Farrel’s ship, to the spectacular harshness of his destination, Alonso is meticulous in mapping the sights and sounds of the landscape and Farrel’s personal journey into the past.

Alonso's influences of film are far reaching from that of fellow Argentinian and South American luminaries to that of the mythology of American cinema and the cowboy in the Westerns. 

Alonso can be noted as nothing but courageous in his narrative storytelling, in a film where you are asked to invest a lot of time with one character Alonso does this amazingly brash about turn in the story as our focus must switch to someone else.  As the previous character exits, it reminded me of Alan Ladd as Shane in the synonymous film who walks off into the sunset, seemingly never to return - the mythology and convention of the western can be seen in the small town, the wanderer as a lonesome figure and the journey as a rite of passage and possible redemption (as with John Wayne in The Searchers).

Whilst it is a trying experience at times due to the facet of slow cinema in which this piece of cinema can sit next to the work Bela Tarr; it is nonetheless a rewarding watch should you stick with it.

The DVD is presented in a brand new director-approved anamorphic digital transfer and also includes Untitled (Letter for Serra) / Sin título (Carta para Serra) – a new short film by
Lisandro Alonso, available for the first time anywhere on DVD.

The work of Lisandro Alonso is part of Slow Cinema Weekend as part of the AV Festival in Newcastle, Liverpool is screening on Sunday 11th March

Liverpool is released on DVD from Second Run for £12.99 and is 82 minutes long with Spanish subtitles