Paterson

Hot on the heels of a great word of mouth throughout the festival circuit this year, Jim Jarmusch's most accessible film in ages appears in the UK release by Soda Pictures on Friday 25th November.

Paterson stars Adam Driver as the eponymous main protagonist who lives in a city of the same name in New Jersey. Paterson is a bus driver who lives with his girlfriend, Laura (Golshifteh Farahani) and their English bulldog, Marvin.

Paterson is a city rich in cultural history of America, it is where Lou Costello (of Abbott and Costello lore) was born and their are near neighbours such as Iggy Pop (long time friend of Jarmusch) and renowned poets William Carlos Williams. Paterson, himself, is a would be poet and on his bus journeys throughout the day he listens to passengers and during his lunch break he sits at the famous Passaic Falls.

Using a trope familiar from those who have seen Amy (Asif Kapadia), we see what Paterson writes as he puts it to page. The use of Driver's bass voiceover is effectively used as he recites it as if he is reading, when it is fully formed we hear a more confident rendition.  The poems featured are by real-life Ron Padgett, who swam in circles along with Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac.

Paterson is a unique soul in a small city - he is observant taking in the landscape as he walks from the bus factory to home, as many creative souls he listens to what is around him and not afraid to have conversations. Paterson does not have a mobile phone, he feels it is would be a leash and a burden on his creative freedom.

Critics may well say that Paterson yearns for a by-gone era of creativity, however, Jarmusch is making a comment on the power of individuality and freedom. Paterson was in the army so he has spent a portion of his adult life being ordered what to do, wanting that freedom to do what he wants to do is supported by his girlfriend, Laura.

Laura, herself, is a creative soul one who wants to be a country singer, can cook amazing cupcakes and has an eye for interior design.  Their relationship is one of immense support and companionship, they praise each other and are there for each other.  Critics again, might point at Laura as a manifestation of the post WW2 perfect housewife - cooks, house proud, domestic - which is not exactly an advancement of feminism in this the 21st century.

Yet perhaps in this difficult time in the country's history with a tumultuous political landscape and race relations; Jarmusch has created a film that is part time capsule and can show America how life can be without the advancement of technology, Paterson (the city) itself seems a bit out of time or frozen with the necessity of bus travel, black and white cinema and a bar without television; yet there is an idealised depiction of community with comfortable race relations, something for America to currently aspire to itself, and that something marvellous can grow out of the unlikeliest environments.

Whilst the film is a meditation piece it nevertheless does hold your attention and features from Driver, a quite charming and soulful performance of an individual with a burning desire to write and be loved whilst given equal love in return.

Paterson is in selected cinemas from Soda Pictures on Friday 25th November.

Difret

Produced by Angelina Jolie and directed by Zeresanay Mehari, Difret empowering dramatic film from Ethiopia won the World Cinema Audience Award at Sundance 2014.

Three hours outside of Addis Ababa, a bright 14-year-old girl is on her way home from school when men on horses swoop in and kidnap her. The brave Hirut (Tizita Hagere) grabs a rifle and tries to escape, but ends up shooting her would-be husband. In her village, the practice of abduction into marriage is common and one of Ethiopia’s oldest traditions.

 

Meaza Ashenafi (Meron Getnet), an empowered and tenacious young lawyer, arrives from the city to represent Hirut and argue that she acted in self-defense. Meaza boldly embarks on a collision course between enforcing civil authority and abiding by customary law, risking the ongoing work of her women’s legal-aid practice to save Hirut’s life.

Based on a real-life story, this film goes beneath the layer of polite social customs to explore an aggressively rooted patriarchy that perpetuates inhospitable conditions for women in Ethiopia and portrays the complexity of a country’s transformation toward equal rights, featuring the courageous generation that dares to own it.

The film due to the strong subject matter may have wavered through the conviction of the oppressive state of gender politics in Africa.  However, thanks to the two amazing central performances by Hagere and Gernat, the film not only is a brilliant portrayal of women in Africa but also one with a powerful statement and comment to make.

Due to the influence of Jolie perhaps, the film has a real sheen and look that you would not commonly associate with African productions due to the technological restrictions sometimes placed upon them.  However, the evolution of digital technology means there is no such restriction in the production quality with frequent dollies and moving camerawork placing us in the shoes of the character, as opposed to merely observing the action as a bystander or casual observer. It follows in the footsteps of such work as Life, Above All a South African film that again told the story of a young woman in a harsh world.

The need to make a comment in this world of inequality and the boundaries of rules and law breaking are expressly portrayed with clarity, precision and level headedness from the male director Mehari, who looks like a director to watch out for in years to come.

The film is a triumph and a convincing piece of work that deserves a larger audience not just for the message but that world cinema can supply acting to match that of western powerhouses.

Difret is released from Soda Pictures on Friday 6th March.

Kumiko the Treasure Hunter

Directed by the Zellner brothers and produced by Alexander Payne, this original and slightly off the wall production follows the titular heroine, Kumiko, played by Oscar nominer Rinko Kikuchi.

Kumiko is a depressed 27 year old living in Tokyo, Japan who is not happy with her life lot in life. A loner by necessity, who hates her work, is intimidated by her peers, her boss and her overpowering mother who we only hear by way of phone conversations. Kumiko is in need of a release and a salvation, her outlook is changed by the appearance of a videotape of an American independent film that she takes to be real.

The film is the Coen brothers famous film Fargo and Kumiko believes that the money buried at the film's end by Steve Buscemi's character is real and she can find it.  This semblance of not knowing what is fact and fiction is indicative of other Japanese films where mythology is lauded and equally feared as depicted in the Ringu films.

After finally quitting her employment, Kumiko heads for Minnesota to set out on her treasure hunt where she encounters people who are aware of Fargo and the cult that has built up around the film.  One policeman is especially helpful to Kumiko in spite of the language barrier, and yet Kumiko's hunt inevitably will encounter a dead end.

The production credit of Payne and his writing partner Jim Taylor, is important to his oeuvre of travelling films or pictures where lead characters go on an actual journey both physically and metaphorically.  Think of Jack Nicholson's character in About Schmidt where he goes cross country or Bruce Dern in Nebraska more recently.

Kumiko, though, shares more with Dern's character in that he cannot seem to be able to distinguish reality from fantasy. Dern believed that he won the lottery and travels to get his supposed winnings.  On that journey his son Will Forte accompanies him as a mere moral support rather than truth sayer. Kumiko has no companion unless you count the helpful policeman, yet this is indicative of societal changes and filmic responses to the handling of mental fragility.  Hark back to Harvey starring James Stewart or even Donnie Darko where Jake Gyllenhaal's eponymous character shared with Stewart the belief that a seven foot rabbit told him what to do.

Whilst Donnie Darko was a political swipe at the mistreatment of adolescent mental issues and Harvey asked maybe the crazy one is the smartest person, what those characters had in abundance in the eye of the audience was empathy.  Kumiko whilst wide eyed, and perhaps if American could be termed adorkable, here she is what she is - an introvert without any semblance of normality in her loneliness.

While Kikuchi does valiant work with a part that requires her to be in every scene of the film without vanity.  The hope for a positive outcome does not come to fruition and instead becomes a vain construct of happiness inside a deluded mind where the journey is not as rewarding for us as it is for our heroine.  This is a shame as the Zellner's show a real proficiency to their work in terms of shot composition with artistic flair and striking the right tone without judging Kumiko completely.

Kumiko the Treasure Hunter is out on Friday 20th February from Soda Pictures.

Trailer Talk: Kumiko The Treasure Hunter

Soda Pictures are pleased to release the trailer for the forthcoming Kumiko The Treasure Hunter starring Academy Award nominee Rinko Kikuchi as the eponymous heroine of the film.

Kumiko is a disillusioned soul in a city of 35 million people.  She works in a dead end job that makes her unhappy and unappreciated, has a nagging mother and successful peers.

Yet while living alone she watches a copy of an American independent film.  Night after night she watches the film for clues as to where the stash of money in the film has been buried, with the belief that the film is a real document. So begins Kumiko's journey to America to find her treasure in this beguiling and equally bizarre tale.

Written and directed by the Zellner Brothers and produced by Alexander Payne (a director not adverse to films about journeys); the film looks like one of those rare breakout independent films due to the original content, eccentric lead performances and brilliant screenplay.

Kumiko the Treasure Hunter is released in UK cinemas on Friday 20th February from Soda Pictures

Time for The Turning preview

Soda Pictures is pleased to release the trailer and poster for The Turning, a unique cinematic experience from Australia. Based upon the best selling short story selection by Tim Winton, ten separate tales from extraordinary filmmakers including David Wenham, Mia Wasikowska and Warwick Thornton.

The Turning explores the impact of past on present, how the seemingly random incidents that change and shape us can never be escaped or let go of. All of the stories are bound together by recurring themes; the passing of time, regret, addiction and obsession.

Featuring the best in Australian actors from Cate Blanchett to Rose Byrne and Hugo Weaving to Richard Roxburgh, The Turning is released on February 6th in selected cinemas.

www.sodapictures.com

Electricity

 

After having reviewed the trailer, it was my pleasure to watch and review this new British film Electricity by director Bryn Higgins, and featuring a star making performance by former super model Agyness Deyn.

Deyn plays Lily, a small town girl who works on the seafront arcade but suffers from epilepsy, which causes her to have severe blackouts. She is a popular girl and friendly with the police constable who takes her home after her most recent episode.  The story moves to London, when Lily gains advice that her absent brother, Mikey, is alive and well in the Big Smoke. The pair were close when younger before they were split up and put into care.As Lily steps off the train at Kings Cross, she is full of that same ambition, and then promptly mugged and beaten up. 

Obviously in this day and age it is easier for Lily to go to London than it was for those angry young men of the kitchen sink, but what she finds is a scary world full of people as afflicted as her due to social constraints (homelessness) or sexual identity, the relationship with a lesbian is delicately portrayed when it could have been titilating.

The reason the tone is so thoughtful is the restrained direction of Higgins who saves his visual flair for Lily's internal attacks when we get the floating and hallucinogenic point of view camerawork; yet the most credit goes to Deyn who gives a performance not only of unexpected surprise but fulfilled potential.

Having quit the runway for the filmic red carpet, Deyn has appeared in several British flicks like Pusher, here the opportunity to bite her teeth into a role of real substance instead of objectified women in roles of lap dancer or prostitute.

Deyn herself is a working class girl from Rossendale, Lancashire who made good, so her connection to Lily is apparent and it is refreshing to see a beautiful woman portray herself and her character in such unflattering positions, such as when Lily has an episode and has urinated herself.  The little trait of always having clean underwear in her bag in case is a credit to her research in preparation for the role.

The film is built around Deyn's performance and it is a shame that the adapted screenplay by Joe Fisher based on the novel by Ray Robinson did not have the belief the performance warranted, not helped by those same characters conflicted by sexual identity, the lesbian who lets her live with her free of charge. This is London right?

Yet go see Deyn in a very convincing performance, one this writer hopes gains award attention in the new year,  and to think Deyn has had no formal acting training. In the words of Noel Gallagher, another Northerner like Deyn, 'She's Electric'

Electricity is out in Friday 12th December on a limited release from Soda Pictures.

Electricity - Trailer preview

Soda Pictures is proud to release a new UK trailer for the forthcoming release of Electricity directed by Bryn Higgins and starring Agyness Deyn, in a breakthrough role.

 

Based on the novel by Ray Robinson, Deyn plays Lily a young woman from Lancashire who whilst on medication for her epilepsy experiences a wealth of hallucinations when looking for her long lost brother in London, in a modern twist on Alice in Wonderland.

The trailer starts with Deyn walking along a sea-front promenade with the camera cutting between close-ups and point of view shots of Alice as she stumbles whilst walking. Then we flit from other characters, when we first encounter that who we know to be her brother, the trailer does not make that so clear. She asks, 'Does he think of me?' meaning we think this is a romantic tryst she wishes to rekindle. Another man tells her to forget about the past.

Borrowing from the visual strength of Kieran Evans' startling Kelly + Victor - a criminally underrated film - Electricity will be helped by what looks to be a mind-blowing lead performance by former model Deyn, who has a role where she is in every shot of the film.  Her strength and also her vulnerability in the role will lead to many plaudits for her. Here is hoping the film can create a spark with an audience.

Electricity is out from Soda Pictures on Friday 12th December

Teenage

 

Released on Friday on general release, following its appearance at the 2013 London Film Festival, Teenage is a documentary that uses archive footage to tell the story of the birth of youth and the creation of the term, 'teenager'.

Jon Savage, the author of Teenage: The Creation of Youth Culture (1875-1945) first published in 2007 to critical acclaim co-wrote the film, which uses archive footage from those years and looks upon the youth movements of significant events.  These include the creation of the Boy Scouts and how the voice of this disillusioned youth (voiced by Ben Whishaw) says how the military exercise of the Scouts in the first decade of the 20th century helped build the boys into men ready for the Great War of 1914-18.

Other events are the creation of the Hitler Youth, whom Der Führer believed was the future for which he was doing so much and in Savage's eyes the Swing age of the 1930s where it had its own language, fashion and iconography.  This was a forebearer for the mods, punks and even cultural phenomenon like the fandom of the Beatles and the Bay City Rollers.

Savage notes that all; 'Pop culture often starts with frenzied youth' and in the baby boom period girls found a way to extend the independence that was garnered to them during the war years.  Much is made of females running factories and businesses whilst the men were in Europe fighting, so this freedom was extended to their children, especially the girls.

And in this post-war world with the birth of  the teenager, a word that was not the public consciousness until those years, you saw young adults/teenagers having their own income, purchasing their own goods.  This is in stark contrast to the years of working in a mill or coal mine for 13 hours a day with blisters virtually as a slave.

Expertly edited and wonderfully curated by director Matt Wolf, who lovingly renders Savage's vision from the page to the screen upholding the notion that 'those who get the youth get the future'.

Teenage is out on Friday 24th January and is released by Soda Pictures.
Watch the trailer here

Oslo, August 31st

A gripping, stylish film from Joachim Trier revolving around 24 hours in the life of Anders, a recovering drug addict who has been given special leave from the rehabilitation centre for a job interview in the city of Oslo.  On his day out, he re-visits old friends who he knew before he went into rehab and whose prejudices towards him still exist.

Instead of the more cinematic favoured roadtrip, this is more of a walking tour of Oslo, as we follow Anders as he meets Thomas - an old friend who used to party with him, in his family abode with wife and two children - where they have an extensive discussion of life and remaining ambitions and Battlefied on Playstation.  As he meets more friends, we see him attempt to resist the urge and temptation to fall off the wagon.

His job interview is virtually a non-existing part of the plot and the least memorable dialogue scene, as Anders own prejudice to being a junkie haunts him.

Throughout the film, there is a wonderful use of sound as a marker of place and goings-on; the scene where Anders just sits in a cafe listening and ear-wigging to other patrons conversations is exhiliarating and technically marvellous, it harks back to the credit sequence of invisible narrators talking about memories of Oslo.

Anders Danielsen Lie, plays Anders, and is a leading performance of sheer naturalism - part rebel, part loner - a whirling dervish of nauseas and trauma.  We make quite a connection with Anders, who insistently states he does not want pity, which is all the more remarkable considering his shocking final act of the film that leaves you feeling both reflective and angry.

The Scandanavian way of film-making seems to be a permanent model of restraint and purpose, Trier (in his second feature following Reprise) here is quite deliberate in his direction allowing the character of Anders to be both leader and navigator; giving him the responsibility to lead the narrative and not let events force their hand.  This keeping of the cards close to his chest is methodial and the lead performance is ptiched perfectly for this outcome. 

Another clever stroke is Trier framing Anders in doorways and archways - an attempt to contain him yet also heighten his isolation from society as a lone figure and individual, tellingly the last shocking act of Anders is done in long shot as we look on from the end of a corridor through a doorway, a voyeuristic viewing for us and considering we have been so up close and personal throughout why are refused one last look?

However, this is a professional polished film shot superbly and with an excellent soundtrack reflecting the isolated youth of Norway - that was so shockingly exposed and disturbed for real in August of this year.

Oslo, August 31st will be distributed by Soda Pictures on November 11th nationwide.

Norwegian Wood DVD review

Starring Rinko Kikuchi and Kenichi Matsuyama as the lovelorn Naoko and Watanabe from Haruki Marukami's eponymous novel is a slow burner of a film about depressed youths with radical sensibilites but within a classical template of melodrama.  Whilst the film is brilliantly conceived and shot by a technically gifted cast and crew, providing a real shot in the arm for Japanese cinema, the problem with adapting a famous modern novel to the screen with a ready made audience in place, will ultimately leave fans of Marukami's novel wondering what went wrong.

Watanabe (Kenichi Matsuyama) and Naoko (Rinko Kikuchi) cannot let go of the past and instead allow it to define themselves and their future. Their mutual passion is part of their malaise rather than an escape. Watanabe’s other love interest, Midori (Kiko Mizuhara), could be the answer to his problems but he’s so tied to the past he treats her interest with caution.

Lee Ping-bin brings a real sensuality to the films cinematography, however the blue tinge used for sex scenes and the frigidness of other scenes seem to distance the audience from proceedings.  Leaving the actors to wander through some scenes; one sex scene early on in the film serves no dramatic purpose other than to show them having sex.

A musical score supplied by Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead deviates from swooning mood pieces to orchestral pieces with full blown guitars - the score works well as a means to explain the differing feelings of euphoria and anguish between these angst-riddled characters.

Performed with sterling diligence by the the young actors, the most notable is the performance from Rink Kikuchi as Naoko - heartbroken and vunerable.

In the end, the film whilst faithful to the book becomes a victim of its own stylisation and imagery - a matter of style over substance, but is that a problem of the adaptation or the fault of the source material; a book deemed unadaptable for the silver screen.  We have the adaptation, but die-hard fans may be unimpressed, whilst this is a shot in the arm for Japanese cinema in that they know they can make this sort of film now.

Norwegian Wood is released on DVD from Soda Pictures on 4th July 2011