What’s Good: April 09

So far 2009 has been pretty barren as far as new releases go.  Paul Blart: Mall Cop and Taken have been the top grossers,  Watchmen baffled uninitiated audiences and people seem to be digging to 3D.  I haven’t been able to get to as many films as I’d like but of those I’ve seen in recent weeks here are a couple I think are worth checking out.

Hunger

Hunger chronicles the protests that took place in 1981 at the Maze prison in Britain as IRA prisoners attempted the gain political prisoner status.  Amidst already horrendous conditions prisoners smear the cell walls with feces from floor to ceiling, refuse to bathe- resulting in forced cleaning sessions with a brillo-pad like broom – and, the films ultimate focus, stage a hunger strike led by Bobby Sands (Michale Fassbender).  This is no Slumdog Millionaire.

Films that graphically depict extreme cruelty are nothing new, but I can’t remember ever seeing one that has prompted me to use the word beautiful.  Director Steve McQueen (yes that’s his name and yes it’s a total coincidence) allows the events to play out with very little dialogue primarily relying on visual story-telling, bringing to mind the likes of Terence Malick, which is so assured for a first time director it’s scary.  In one sequence a prison guard, knuckles freshly bloodied for reasons unknown, silently smokes a cigarette as snow gently falls around him.  The scene lasts a good 3-4 minutes, does not elaborate, and is mesmerizing.  This is suitable microcosm for the visually incongruous film that is filled with images that are simultaneously alluring and repulsive.

The sparsely scripted style is sustained throughout save for a sequence in the middle where Sands tells a visiting priest (Liam Cunningham) about his plans for the hunger strike.  Acted with compelling restraint, the two debate his political and personal motivations over a 20-25 minute conversation that is, incredibly, largely captured in one take.  Filmed in a mid shot from the side the men are harshly back-lit, emphasizing Sands swirling cigarette smoke and silhouetting them in a glowing blue outline.   The scene is the only one in the film that features dialogue and feels more like an arresting one-act play.  This is sharp contrast provides perspective  to the rest of McQueen’s film where disturbing acts are witnessed but never talked about.

The final act follows Sands’ ultimate sacrifice which is frighteningly realized by Michael Fassbender’s inspired physical performance that goes beyond losing weight for a role.  The disturbing scenes, which once again play out with little dialogue, see Sand’s body deteriorate all the way to the end.   McQueen adds some haunting touches by interspersing unexplained visions of childhood memories or perhaps just hallucinations, that release Sands mind, and the audiences, from his tortured body.

It’s film you’re not likely to want to rush out and see again.  But it is one you’ll definitely be hearing from when 2009 top ten lists start rolling out.  After seeing this, Steve McQueen is now a huge flag on my radar, not to mention his magnetic and ferociously committed leading man.

Goodbye Solo

As you may remember my favorite film of 2008 was Wendy and Lucy, a film about a down on her luck Michelle Williams and her dog where nothing happens and your heart gets ripped out.  The director of that film, Kelly Reichart, along with the director of Goodbye Solo Ramin Bahrani are starting to turn this minimalist style into something of a tiny movement which has annoyingly been dubbed, neo-neo realism.  Don’t worry, this isn’t film snob fest 2009.

Solo (Souleymane Sy Savane) a jolly Senegalese cab driver in Winston-Salem North Carolina who you are literally in love with 3 seconds into the film engages William (Red West), a craggy hard-nosed southerner, and takes particular concern when he suspects William’s request to be driven to a cliff in the middle of nowhere is an attempt to end his life. William tolerates Solo’s aggressive, or perhaps oblivious, attempts to be his friend making it seem inevitable that the two are a pair of unlikely kindred spirits.

Though the premise is ripe for sentimentality Bahrani keeps the viewer off balance as things don’t fall into the places we expect them to.  And as we, along with Solo, try to decipher what’s going on with the reclusive William the characters burrow deep under our skin.  There is little dialogue and little need for it.  An exchange of closeups towards the films end communicates more to the audience any words ever could.

Most of the film’s actors are non-professional, as is often the norm with these types of films, and there is rarely a false note.  West has some film roles to his credit but is perhaps best remembered as a buddy of Elvis.  Here, his William is at once sympathetic and contemptuous as he quietly simmers with regret.  But it is Souleymane Sy Savane as Solo who serves as the heart beat of the film.  His defiant optimism is so contagious that it turns a somber premise into a story that induces far more grins than frowns.

Interlaced with a quiet beauty, whether it be a swaying tree branch or the bags under William’s eyes, Bahrani has made a film that, while cinematically minimal, is emotionally massive.

For those of you looking for a more commerical good time at the mulitplex (no judgements here) check out Monsters vs Aliens.  Make sure you see it in IMAX 3D, I know it’s $17 but the visuals are quite impressive.  You could also can’t go wrong with Paul Rudd in I Love you, Man.  Not quite as strong as Knocked Up or even last fall’s Role Models but even an average entry from these guys is always a good time.  And if none of that sounds good to you, don’t worry.  Summer begins with Wolverine in only a few weeks, (I’m both serious and joking).