benjamin_lappin

Going down as the most expensive film in Finnish history, to date, "Dark Floors" is a horror film with an extremely Lynchian narrative that recounts an ever increasingly decrepit series of "Floors" (ironically enough) in an abandoned hospital, in which our protagonists are trapped. Lead by an autistic daughter and her father, himself disenchanted with the hospitals apparent lack of medical progress with his daughter, make their way into an elevator debating the issue with one of the hospitals nurses. Accompanied by a security guard, a businessman and a seemingly intoxicated tramp the collective soon find the complex abandoned, but they are not alone. Directed by Finnish- born Pete Riski, more known for his television work, "Dark Floors" is filmed in English, using mainly English actors but has the notable inclusion of Finland's arguably most famous group "Lordi" (2006 Eurovision song contest winners) as themselves, i.e. in their on stage monstrous costumes, as the films antagonists, yet for all this razzmatazz the production fails where it is needed most, in convincing the audience.

Any film that has their lead character use the phrase "it's too quiet" is already headed down a dubious path, and this Lordi influenced horror does not break that convention. For all the good ideas that are thrown into the mix there are a handful of ripe clichés alongside and worst of all, anything that is interestingly original isn't fleshed out enough for it to resonate. The concept of the degrading floors is initially highly ominous and does provide a sense of inevitable doom as the audience is aware those trapped in the hospital must progress ever further down in the mire. However, there isn't enough atmosphere created to scare and intimidate the audiences into the unknowing fear, the viewer is aware the journey will become ever more dangerous, as the levels degenerate from shiny white through to hellish black, but I don't think the characters are aware enough of this fact for it to be threatening. Also, the entire film taking place in what is essentially its own time bubble is again a very nice touch, a concept not often used in the horror genre, but the characters don't confront the situation with enough fear and trepidation when they stumble across this fact, they continue about their business far too readily and without enough genuine concern for the idea to mean anything to the audience. These initially good ideas are just left to go to waste, as if the director and/or Mr Lordi (who had many of the ideas used within the film) had these thoughts, but couldn't agree or decide on how to best use them and as such lose their purpose and point.

Yet for all the frustration there are large quantities of comedy, yet not for the reasons the creators would have hoped for. Too much is clichéd, too much is recycled and too much is just simply ridiculous. While the lead is amicably acted by Noah Huntley, the characters are mere cardboard cut outs that have been pasted into the story from other films. We have a lead man doing everything possible to protect his daughter alongside a clunkily developed love interest. Accompanying the "couple" we have the traditional token black man as a hard-nosed security guard, with the nigh on infinite clip for his sidearm, and a weasely disbelieving businessman only on the look out for himself. Worst of all though, unfortunately, is the introduction of the cast of Lordi as the creatures of the night that torment our wandering band of misfits, but not for them appearing as themselves. What makes a horror film scary to the viewing audience is contextualising the fear. "The Shining" is scary because it's a member of your own family hounding you, in "Dawn Of The Dead" it's our fear of each other and the primordial cannibalism and irrational thought patterns the zombies possess, in "Alien" the fear is explained, the creature is rationalised and in "Dark Floors" there is none of that. Perhaps it's unfair to compare this production to these monoliths of the genre but when you do it shows it pales significantly and that it's aggressors feel like nothing more than demented Klingons where you can almost see the zip on the costumes they wear, without a build up of any atmosphere "Lordi" just aren't scary.

It's infuriating because we all cheer for the underdog and hope they do well, you want the smaller productions to say that they can create the same quality of film as "Hollywood" churns out, much in the similar way that George A Romero started out, but it doesn't always materialise. I enjoyed the film and didn't feel as if I had wasted the ninety minutes I had just sat through, but I felt enjoyment on a completely hollow level as if nothing that had occurred mattered or affected me subconsciously, emotionally or critically. I felt the almost Lynchian narrative was a standout plus point, but it fades out into nothingness. Why did it happen? What does it mean? Will they go through this all again? Without even the slightest insight into what will happen the film is simply puzzling for the sake of trying to be arty. Was the entire sequence of events real or was it merely a dream sequence? Had the autistic girl watched the Eurovision Song Contest of 2006 and simply had a highly bizarre nightmare given the stress she was under? Who knows? And unfortunately I fail to work up the energy to even care. "Dark Floors" is an infuriating experience that while ultimately shallow hallmarks potential and at the very least shows a plethora of creative energies from Mr Lordi, who perhaps should look into working solo to fully develop his ideas. It's one that fans of the group or the genre should perhaps pursue but will leave you feeling left in the lurch for not having enough light shed on the situation.

The film writing and directorial debut of Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck "Das Leben der Anderen" (The Lives Of Others) is a German drama set in East Berlin in the last years of Communism in the former German Democratic Republic (GDR). Telling the tale of an artistic couple being continually watched, recorded and filmed by members of the "Stasi", the East German secret police, as he is suspected of creating subversive plays undermining the state and she is lusted after by a highly ranked official. Successfully nominated for the 2007 Academy Award for "Best Foreign Film", "The Lives Of Others" is a highly moral and politically charged film that will demand as much emotion and choice from its audience as it does from its protagonists.

While the directorial cinematography is lush and crisp, with "Donnersmarck" using subtle tones of greys and greens to emphasis the drab, bleak existence in East Germany it is the characterisation within the film that makes this such an engaging and emotional experience. The cast is led superbly by Ulrich Muhe who delivers a stunning performance as "Hauptmann Gerd Wiesler" who is charged with leading the investigation into the alleged deviants. He is backed up exceptionally by Martina Gedeck and Sebastian Koch as "Christa-Maria Sieland" and "Geog Dreyman", respectively, who provide the necessary emotional tension to pull entrap the audience. With all three of these performances, each has to deal with and convey different emotions on their moralistic standpoints, in differing fashions when their whole lives are threatened. Muhe finds himself increasingly involved and engrossed by the drama that is the lives of those he is watching, he finds his unwavering dedication to the Stasi to be brought into question when his reasoning is brought into doubt. Through watching and listening to the idealistic principles of the artistic couple beneath him, doubt slowly creeps into his conscious and he must begin to make a decision as to whether he can continue to justify harming the lives of innocent individuals. Sieland and Dreyman, however, must decide whether they can continue to live their lives as lies, will they sacrifice their artistic freedom to avoid persecution and interference from the state. "The Lives Of Others" skillfully leads us down their respective paths as we watch with hope, fear and trepidation at the choices they make.

What separates "The Lives Of Others" from contemporary dramas of the same styling is the subtlety with which the script has been written and the delivery of those underpinning emotions by the actors. The director builds up immense tension from scenes where very little action is taking place, whether it's Muhe simply listening to a telephone conversation through his headphones or Dreyman hiding a typewriter, Donnersmarck ratchets up the heart rate with such delicate ease. Each of the main protagonists delivers their own unique style of performance to enhance the enclosed feel of the investigation. Gedecks' "Sielands" fall from grace is a harrowing and heart breaking affair, as the demure and regal persona falls to reveal a fractured and pained woman, desperately fighting to save her acting career. Koch's "Dreyman" is almost the reversal of his female counterpart, starting off as somewhat of a shell, kowtowing to his communist masters yet internally yearning to express himself as he would want. His increased risky disposition is taken under the naive belief that the state have not got him under surveillance which of course leaves everything in the confused hands of Wiesler. From cold, hard calculating man who claims "the best way to establish guilt...is non-stop interrogation" to having to question himself as a human being, Wiesler's journey is the keystone which holds the rest in place and Muhe's understated motions of raising an eyebrow here to pursing his lips tell so many stories of his internal strife and is an absolute joy to behold.

"The Lives Of Others" is an exceptional film that is not merely worthy of 2007's "Best Foreign Film" Academy Award but of claims that it is perhaps not simply the greatest film of that year, but of the decade as a whole. It in itself is an absolute joke that this and "Pan's Labyrinth" weren't in the "Best Picture" category regardless of their origins, because the skill with which the director and his cast weave their intricate web and have you riveted as an audience, is an art form to never grow tired of. Donnersmarck's debut is a thoroughly engaging affair that highlights not just European cinema, but cinema as a whole. It is a life affirming experience that will warm your heart and bring a tear to your eye, it will have you utterly entranced for its duration and will leave a mark on your character. The tale of others' lives, their strife, their desires, their wants and their dreams is an experience that will greatly affect yours.

"Un prophete", released in the United Kingdom only this passed week, is an epic crime drama told about a young Arab sent to prison who works, fights and schemes his way to the top of the pecking order in a French prison. Expertly filmed by Jacques Audiard (The Beat That My Heart Skipped), it hallmarks a return to form for contemporary French cinema, headed by a director who has carved himself quite the career, with this being his magnum opus to date.

"Mesrine", a French gangster film released in 2009, was a stylised tale of a mans descent into the criminal underworld, but lacked a certain gravitas when needed to push itself into iconic status. Where "Mesrine" failed, "Un Prophete" has excelled. The cinematography is a gritty affair, told in faded greys and blues managing to highlight the drab and claustrophobic nature of incarceration. Jacques Audiard knows how to captivate his audience, from the opening sequence of our protagonist, Malik El Djebena, being taken to jail, peering out onto the world from behind the police vans bars, to feeling surrounded by the prisons inmates, he makes you feel as trapped as the one we are watching. The notable lack of primary colours, while perhaps unoriginal, is pivotal in hammering home the violence and its impact when it does start. Thankfully, there aren't ridiculously over the top shootouts as there were in "Mesrine", which manages to maintain a sense of realism, a sense of believability which in a film such as this the audience desperately needs to feel.

"Un prophete", however, is decidedly non-"Hollywood" and will have many not used to "European" cinema claiming it to be a dull, overly-long affair, yet it is because of its more languid tendencies, that it resonates more. None of the events in nor outside the prison would matter if Audiard did not develop the characters he has on screen sufficiently enough for us to connect with any of them on any emotional level. In "The Beat That My Heart Skipped" Romain Duris' performance carries what is a good yet occasionally uneven film, so it comes as no surprise that the leading men in "Un Prophete" powerfully command the screen with their presences leaving the viewer in no doubt that Audiard has a gift as a director for bringing out an actors' full talent. Tahar Rahim (Malik El Djebena) and Niels Arestrup (Cesar Luciani) play their leading roles perfectly, both carrying off the naiveté and hauteur respectively required for their ying and yang roles.

There are several themes running throughout "Un Prophete" the most obvious being a subtle social commentary on multiracial interaction in France. There is a keen sense of the director commenting on the strained relationships between the Caucasian French and their Arabic cohabitants, deliberately remarking on the way the Arabic population are deliberately looked down upon as inferior beings. This is brought up on numerous occasions with the Corsicans open distaste for the Arabic inmates but Audiard shows their racial prejudice to be their downfall as the population swells and their faith becomes a binding force, perhaps in itself a call to arms for French politicians to address what is a time bomb in their own country. Another theme is a keen sense of old replacing the new it terms of crime syndicate circles. Luciani is the Godfather of the Corsicans, though is never called as such. His position and means of dictation hallmark Pacino's "Godfather", to a time of crime which in a contemporary setting seems outdated. This point is again made when Malik is asked to be the Godfather of his friend Reyeb's child, yet the terminology is meant in its religious sense as opposed to the mafia one.

"Un Prophete" is a stunningly good film full of crisp, composed, cinematography that moves at a good rate, developing and fleshing out characters while being able to keep the story flowing. Audiard has his audience engrossed from the opening sequence and never lets go, from Malik's "induction" into the Corsican camp through to the protagonist sense of bewilderment and awe on his first flight and visit to a beach, that is almost childlike in its innocence. Unfortunately, "Un Prophete" while making all the right critical noises will never have the same impact on the cinematic masses that films such as "Avatar" are having and is somewhat disheartening, despite its Cannes "Grand Prize de Jury". Purchasing a ticket for the screening I was "warned" the film was subtitled to which I replied "do you have to warn us that it's not in 3D as well?", which may have been a jokingly snide quip but is a sad indictment of the times. Nevertheless, for those that get the opportunity to view this film you will not be disappointing as "Un Prophete" is a powerful production carrying some stellar performances from both cast and director. It is an engrossing crime drama that manages to be both brutal and shocking yet humane and heart warming that will convert even the most ardent disbeliever.