The Blue Room Review (starring Mathieu Amalric)

Wow... some films take a while to make it from the festival circuit to cinemas. Some films take a while... Some films take over two years. I give you The Blue Room. I saw this at Cannes in 2014 and it seems to be getting a limited release in the UK in September 2016. Probably not a great sign, but hey at least it's getting a release!

Here's a snippet of my review:

Triple threat actor, writer, director Mathieu Amalric explores infidelity, obsession and a tragic desire that turns from lust into violence in his latest film, The Blue Room. While the star gives a worthy performance, the story is slight and adds little to what could possiblly be called a sub-genre of ' secret-affair-turns-nasty' films.

Starting in a hotel room where lovers Julien and Esther are having a lusty, erotic and passionate affair behind the backs of their respective partners, The Blue Room then skips in its chronology between the romance and its later repercussions. These repercussions include Amalric’s Julien questioned in custody and standing trial for a crime that remains a mystery for much of the running time. Julien has a wife and daughter at home while Esther has a sick husband in her own life but both are more interested in their frequent forays into the blue room for lovemaking so intense, it even involves biting that draws blood... kinky!

Like the sound of this? Want to read the rest of my review? Head over to Tastic Film where you can read the full story on what I thought of The Blue Room.

Check out the trailer:

More reviews from I Love That Film:

Remainder

Tale of Tales

The Measure of a Man

Mon Roi

Green Room

Son of Saul

Louder Than Bombs

Tale of Tales Review: Three Stories For the Price of One!

Do you really need three stories for the price of one?  Tale of Tales thinks so. I wouldn't mind, but apart from being set in the same world, these three have nothing to do with each other. Pulp Fiction this ain't. This film is completely mad, but not in the most satisfying of ways. Here's the synopsis bit of my review:

Based on a 17th century collection of tales by Italian author Giambattista Basile, the film features three different storylines, not all as engaging as each other and never tied together in any satisfactory way. First up, Salma Hayek and John C. Reilly take centre stage as the king and queen of a dusty kingdom where all the entertainers in the land can’t keep the queen from desiring a baby. After a visit from a mysterious hooded figure who offers them the chance of creating offspring, Reilly’s devoted king steps up to the plate and boldly goes to kill off a sea monster in order for his wife to be able to eat the heart and thus, magically conceive. Needless to say, things are never this simple and things soon turn awry.

Meanwhile, Vincent Cassel is a lecherous king who has seemingly used up all the women in his nearby kingdom and is looking for more playmates to be debauched with. After hearing a lone beauty singing beneath his castle walls, he ventures out to find the owner of such a sweet voice. Little does he know, the voice belongs to one of a pair of ugly old crone sisters who may or may not have found their way here after auditioning for Cinderella. Not wanting the king to see them in their decrepit state, they hide behind the door of their home but the king is nothing if not persistent. Then things get really weird.

Finally, Toby Jones is yet another king, whose only daughter he dotes on until the day he discovers he has a talented flea who has taken a shine to him. While the flea grows into his beloved pet, his teen daughter wants to find a prince, but gets more than she bargained for when her father makes a dubious choice by giving her to an ogre.

If you want to read what I really thought of all this, head to Tastic Film now to read my full review of Tale of Tales from the Cannes Film Festival.

Here's the trailer:



More recent reviews from I Love That Film:

The Measure of a Man

The Conjuring 2

Mon Roi

Green Room

Son of Saul

Louder Than Bombs

Hardcore Henry

The Measure of a Man Review

The film that won Vincent Lindon the Best Actor award at Cannes in 2015 is finally released in UK cinemas this weekend. The Measure of a Man is a challenging watch, but worth the effort. Here's a snippet of my review:

Last year in Cannes, it was Marion Cotillard and the Dardennes brothers examining contemporary workplace relations in Two Days, One Night. That razor sharp, but repetitive critique of the ills of modern corporate practices is bested this year by The Measure of a Man which finds its unemployed protagonist facing a moral dilemma when he finds a new job working in shop security.

We meet 51 year old Thierry mid conversation at the job centre, frustrated by the pointless course he has recently wasted his time completing in order to find that there are no jobs waiting for him at the end of it. Along with his wife, Thierry has a disabled son who he wants to put through further education. Money is tight, and after meeting with his bank manager, Thierry grows increasingly desperate to find employment. After rejections, humiliation and disappointment, he finds work in surveillance and security at a supermarket. But when required to spy on his fellow workers, Thierry may be pushed to act in opposition to his morals.

To read more of my review of The Measure of a Man, head to Tastic Film now.

Here's the trailer:



More recent reviews from I Love That Film:

The Conjuring 2

Mon Roi

Green Room

Son of Saul

Louder Than Bombs

Hardcore Henry

My King / Mon Roi Review ( Starring Vincent Cassel)

There is a creeping sense of familiarity when watching Mon Roi, a drama that examines the complexity of the relationship between a husband and wife over ten years. Luckily though, Mon Roi never feels like ten years to watch, and in detailing the ups and downs of a modern marriage, it demands attention throughout. You can always depend on Vincent Cassel for a terrific performance and Mon Roi may just be one of his best yet, even to those with extraordinarily high expectations of the actor.

Mon Roi tells the story of the turbulent relationship of Tony (Emmanuelle Bercot) and Georgio (Vincent Cassel), as Tony reminisces on the high and lows of her marriage while recuperating at a physiotherapy facility with a broken leg. The pair meet (in flashbacks) after Tony has already freed herself from one previous marriage, and Georgio’s charm and charisma win her over easily. Much to her brother’s vocal disapproval, Tony and Georgio fall madly in love, marry and have a child together. While in the present, Tony makes slow progress in getting her leg working again, she looks back at what went wrong in her marriage and reflects on the love she may still feel for Georgio.

Mon Roi means My King and it is an apt title for this story of one woman’s inability to move on from the problematic love of her life. Tony can be a frustrating character for not being able to see Georgio for what he truly is, and for constantly ending up back in his bed, even after it is clear he is an arch manipulator. The strength of Mon Roi lies in making Tony sympathetic throughout, even if she does make some poor decisions. Her love for Georgio is unquestionable and to writer and director Maiwenn’s credit, it is almost completely convincing that Tony would keep coming back for more from Georgio.

Vincent Cassel’s perfect performance is fearless in its deconstruction of this character. Cassel excels at the beginning of the film, showing exactly why Tony would fall in love with Georgio. He is funny, successful and devoted to Tony; that is until one of his exes slits her wrists and cracks start to develop in their relationship. Cracks become fissures and soon, with a baby on the way, the compatibility of these once joyful lovers is called seriously into question.

Cutting back and forth between the past and present makes Mon Roi a well-paced and involving drama at just over two hours in length. The scenes of Tony having physical therapy are quick and concise, until later in the film when she develops some friendships with the other patients with leg injuries. Director Maiwenn flits through the relationship; it’s like having a peek inside Tony’s memories as she attempts to heal her leg and her heart. Watching these characters grow, and more worryingly, repeat their same previous mistakes again and again is never a chore. The concern for the child growing up between them is felt more keenly as the film progresses, especially as it becomes clearer just how calculating and cold Georgio can be. It’s impressive that Cassel manages to keep his character from being utterly and irreparably infuriating.

The flawed characters make Mon Roi very convincing. This is a relationship plucked straight from the real world and by the conclusion, Maiwenn's story has a brief but potent tug at the heart strings. In a final scene of the film, her direction, the cinematography and Emmanuelle Bercot’s terrific performance culminate in a heart wrenching moment of clarity. The message is clear; you cannot choose who you fall in love with, though life could be so much simpler if only there was an off-switch for these feelings. It’s not an outstanding film but it packs an emotional punch without resorting to tragedy.

Watch the trailer:

 

Son of Saul Review

Son of Saul, the best film I saw at Cannes 2015, is out in UK cinemas today. It's relentlessly grim, but an unforgettable watch. If you can find a cinema near you playing it over the next few months, I highly recommend it. It's not going to be as big as Captain America: Civil War, but it deserves your attention!

Here's a snippet from my review:

The gas chambers, the incinerators and the sickening machinery of genocide are all vividly dissected in Son of Saul as viewers are plunged into the midst of Hitler’s Final Solution at work. Audiences are dragged along on the gut wrenching journey of one man, a tiny cog in this machine of mass slaughter. For those who think they’ve seen all the horror that holocaust films can muster, Son of Saul scrapes new depths of despair in its harrowing depiction of the inner workings of Auschwitz in 1944.

We follow title character Saul, a Hungarian prisoner working as a member of the Sonderkommando at an Auschwitz crematorium. His job is to herd his fellow Jews to the gas chambers, where he then scrubs away the evidence of their deaths, before removing the bodies and plundering their belongings for the Nazis. But when the seemingly desensitised Saul finds the body of a boy he takes to be his son, he suddenly finds a way to grasp at some small sense of redemption in amongst all the senseless killing. He makes it his mission to save the boy’s corpse from cremation, and to find a rabbi who can recite the Kaddish prayer as he buries his child. Even as those around him plan rebellion in order to stand a chance at survival, Saul sticks rigidly to his plan to find a way to give the boy a proper burial.

You can check out the rest of my review at Tastic Film here.

Here's the trailer:



More from Cannes 2015

Louder Than Bombs Review

Despite being set up in the opening scene as the main character, Jesse Eisenberg takes a back seat, allowing relatively unknown talent Devin Druid to shine in Joachim Trier's bittersweet drama Louder Than Bombs. Eisenberg is on solid, if not exceptional form as a son who returns to the family home to find his father and younger brother still in a complete mess after the death of his mother. He injects moments of welcome humour into what could have been a stifling exploration of grief in the modern world.

College lecturer Jonah (Eisenberg) has recently become a father himself and is feeling the weight of responsibility when he is called home to sort through some of his mother's belongings. His father Gene (Gabriel Byrne) hasn't managed to sort through the undeveloped photos that his late conflict photographer wife took before she passed, and now a gallery is hoping to put together an exhibition of her final work. Jonah's younger brother Conrad is unaware of the exact circumstances surrounding his mother's untimely death in a car crash. With a revealing article about to expose the truth about her 'accident', Jonah and Gene must decide whether they should tell the disturbed boy about his mother’s depression before it becomes public knowledge.

Dealing with grief and the fallout from a death in the family runs the risk of piling on clichés and treading ground that has already been amply trodden on by many filmmakers in the past. Even with its familiar troubled teen at the centre of the story, Louder Than Bombs manages to be heard above the clamour of similarly themed stories. This is largely due to terrific performances from its trio of male leads and some perceptive exploration of what it means to live in a time where everything is mediated, and it is increasingly difficult to find meaning in life.

Conrad sits in his darkened room, immersed in violent and fantastical videogames where he can become any character he likes, or kill people at will. He is withdrawn and surly, and his father has no idea how to communicate with him. The sadness of this relationship and the catastrophic ways that Gene tries to learn more about his son are tempered by some extremely comical moments. With Jonah helping him to come out of his shell, Conrad blossoms into the film’s raw exposed heart.

Despite bursts of voiceover from a number of different characters, as well as a complex chronology that contains flashbacks within flashbacks, it is really Conrad’s point of view in which we see the world through. His heart on sleeve writings and curious dancing behind not-so-closed doors make him utterly endearing, even if he does spit in a teacher’s face in one scene. Memories and dreams of his mother have a powerful hold on his mind, but it is his fragmented view of the world that resonates most. Like the flashes of his mother’s photos that we occasionally see on screen, or the YouTube videos he consumes daily, Conrad is lost in a disjointed reality, a reality reflected in the inventive structure of the film.

Getting under the skin of a few of its characters is daring, but could easily be accused of a lack of focus. However, Louder Than Bombs has a decent stab at examining not only three generations of men, but also the woman who affected their lives in profound ways. All of the film’s flawed characters deliver moments of heart and humour, but as distressed teen Conrad, it is Devin Druid who deserves the most praise for his exceptional performance.

Watch the trailer:

Disorder Review

To critics at Cannes that were growing weary of long-winded art films that move at a snail’s pace, Disorder may have felt like a bit of a breath of fresh air. Throbbing with an electronic beat from the start, and not getting too bogged down by exploring it’s hero’s post-traumatic stress disorder, Alice Winocour’s film is a simple thriller that mounts the tension from its opening scenes and keeps audiences gripped throughout. It’s unlikely to win any awards, but it’s a welcome chance to get comfortable on the edge of your seat for just over an hour and a half. 

Matthias Schoenaerts plays Vincent, a soldier who returns from Afghanistan to be medically assessed due to his nosebleeds, hallucinations and other symptoms of acute anxiety. Taking a security job at wealthy Lebanese businessman Whalid’s mansion, Vincent soon finds himself becoming embroiled in the lives of his client’s family. Knowing Vincent won’t be going back to fight again, his friend Denis offers him the seemingly simple task of looking after Whalid’s wife Jessie (Diane Kruger) and son Ali, while the businessman takes a potentially dangerous trip. Becoming alerted to some dodgy dealings before Whalid leaves, Vincent’s already burgeoning anxiety turns to full blown paranoia as he strives to protect the family from a potentially dangerous threat.

It’s not paranoia if they’re really after you and so it goes for Vincent as he finds himself putting his temper and flair for violence to good use during Disorder. It’s a slow build up, and Winocour is keen to make viewer’s doubt Vincent’s mind state in the first half of the film. Is he imagining threats around every corner, or is he just highly attuned to sense danger after his time serving in Afghanistan. While this is all explored rather pointedly in the early scenes with Vincent necking an assortment of pills and suffering from a range of noticeable tics, it takes a back seat as the action amps up for a home invasion set piece at the film’s climax. Once it becomes clear that Vincent has every right to be on edge, Disorder strays into formulaic thriller territory but still throbs with energy.

Before this, we have to make do with Vincent and Jessie playing family as Vincent discovers his heart is intact, even if his mind is a little fractured. While taking care of Jessie and Ali, Vincent starts to take the absent father’s role and the hint of a romance starts to develop between the couple. Schoenaerts is cementing his reputation as another heartthrob with real talent behind his chiselled features and impressive physical presence. While the chaste romance is kept just barely simmering, it is the earlier moments where Vincent shows signs of trauma that allow Schoenaerts to really impress. He’s a credible romantic lead, but when he springs into action, he is impossible to take your eyes off.

Meanwhile Kruger gets the most minimal role imaginable, trapped in an extremely tired and typical worrying wife role and given little to do except look pretty. It’s a shame as Vincent comes across as a fairly complex character but Kruger is under served here by the writers. That said, she is certainly eye catching and while strutting around the beautiful mansion she lives in, she does a convincing job of fitting into her lush surroundings as the gorgeous trophy wife. 

While the screenplay is nothing too original, the film looks and sounds excellent. The production design manages to make the mansion where most of the film is set both claustrophobic and wonderfully lavish. More importantly the score from French techno artist Gesaffelstein is inventive, energetic and perfectly captures the overactive and disturbed mind of Vincent. Aided immeasurably by its sound design, Disorder pulsates in order to get the blood pumping.

Those wishing to see Schoenaerts juggle machismo and sensitivity will enjoy the star’s performance here. As far as story, Hollywood has done this kind of thing a thousand times before and often better. However, while the writing may be nothing hugely special, as a director, Alice Winocour will probably be heading to Hollywood soon with a calling card as effectively entertaining as this. 

Watch the trailer: