Far From the Madding Crowd (6/10): Far from The Hunt

"It is difficult for a woman to define her feelings in a language chiefly made by men to express theirs.”

Thomas Vinterberg decided to follow up his critically acclaimed 2012 film, The Hunt, with this adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s classic novel set in Victorian England. It was a sharp change of direction for Vinterberg considering what a great small crafted character study The Hunt was. Far From the Madding Crowd is more focused on the narrative and therefor the characters aren’t explored as well, but the romantic story is still quite engaging. It centers on a strong and independent woman played by Carey Mulligan. Her name is Bathsheba Everdene and despite her humble upbringing she inherits a large amount of farming land from her uncle. She is determined to restore the land’s productivity and in order to do so she hires a sheep farmer named Gabriel (Matthias Schoenaerts) who used to own a small piece of land next to her place. He had borrowed some money to pay for the land and buy some sheep, but after a terrible incident his fortune is reversed and is forced to sell the land back leaving him with nothing. Prior to this reversal of fortune for both Gabriel and Bathsheba, he had proposed to her but she kindly refused claiming she had no intention of marrying. Her strong independent female role isn’t something audiences are used to seeing in films set during this era which made Mulligan’s performance quite special. Once her character settles in her new home, two other suitors show up: William Boldwood (Michael Sheen) a wealthy senior and Francis Troy (Tom Sturridge) a charming Sergeant who she unexpectedly falls for.    

I wasn’t familiar with Hardy’s novel so I can’t say how faithful David Nicholls’ screenplay adaptation is. Unfortunately I found the pacing a bit hurried and the story was jumping from one scene to the next without letting us get to know these characters. From the very opening scene it is clear that Bathsheba and Gabriel belong with each other. Schoenaerts completely steals his scenes and along with Mulligan they are the only two characters who are portrayed as strong and perseverant characters. By the time Sturridge and Sheen show up on screen they have no chance of getting the audience’s sympathy because they are already rooting for Gabriel. Troy takes a villainous turn very early on without much explanation and William is simply a dull and boring character despite his good intentions. Juno Temple has a small supporting role, but her prior relationship with Sturridge was underdeveloped. There is a scene where her character shows up at the wrong church for her wedding day and so Troy is left stranded in the altar, but it wasn’t handled well. There are also several twists and surprises along the way, but they weren’t as shocking as they could’ve been considering these characters weren’t developed well. The film was trying to get from one point to the next in a rather quick pace because the audience is simply expecting the two main characters to get together and nothing else seems to matter. 

Vinterberg’s greatest accomplishment was casting Schoenaerts and Mulligan in the lead roles because they had great chemistry together, but it also turned to be the film’s downfall since it was so strong that we could care less for the other characters. The cinematography was gorgeous and it helped that most of the film was shot outdoors because nature was perfectly captured here by either the sunlight or the heavily charged grey skies. Those were the two main reasons why I ended up enjoying Far From the Madding Crowd despite being disappointed by it. The Hunt was one of my favorite films of 2012, so I had high hopes for the Danish director in this English film, but they weren’t met. Far From the Madding Crowd is powered by its lead performances, but unfortunately the narrative was unnecessarily rushed and that hurt the film.  

My Review: Inside Llewyn Davis (8/10)

"If it was never new, and it never gets old, then it's a folk song."

The Coen brothers have worked together over the past couple of decades delivering some inspiring work. Their films are extremely varied (ranging from dark comedies to westerns or thrillers) and that is why people rank their films so differently according to their own genre preferences. What these films tend to have in common is that they focus on an unfortunate main character (the Coen brothers don't seem to be too interested in successful characters) and they also include a lot of quirky characters. The Coens are also great at writing interesting characters that despite being unpleasant at times still capture our attention,  and they also include a lot of dark and sharp humor. Inside Llewyn Davis is one of those films where we are forced to follow an unpleasant guy in the course of a week and somehow hope he recovers and achieves his goal. This is a film that you probably enjoy more when you think about it once it's over or on a rewatch because it's philosophical and sad, but rewarding none the less if you stick through it. It is also open to many readings and interpretations. You can think of this as being an honest film about someone who doesn't achieve his dreams. We've been saturated with so many films that focus on following our dreams and never giving up on them, but it is rare to see a film focusing on someone who doesn't achieve them. Like Llewyn, we sometimes throw away other possibilities for success because we are too blinded on pursuing our own thing. That is exactly what happens here (and in this way it differs from A Serious Man where the main character suffers misfortune from things that he can't control). Llewyn could've listened and taken good advice, but he's so narcissistic and blinded by his own ambition that he misses several good opportunities. Another way you can read this film, and this is the one that worked best for me, is that Llewyn is learning to cope with the loss of his partner. He was a better singer when he wasn't on his own and now that he has lost his partner he doesn't seem to know what to do next. He is a tortured artist struggling to cope with grief. It's as if the Coens were admitting that they wouldn't know how to make films without each other. They inspire one another and that is where their success relies. Perhaps if something would happen to one of them they would feel like Llewyn, lost and unable to move on. This is just brilliant filmmaking and the Coens prove once again that they are on top of their game.

The film takes place in the course of one week as we follow a struggling folk singer named Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaacs) across Greenwich Village in the winter of 1961. He has recently released a solo album that isn't selling. With no money and no apartment, Llewyn spends his days jumping from couch to couch at friends houses while performing small gigs at local Cafes. One of the places he crashes in is at fellow musicians, Jim (Justin Timberlake) and Jean's (Carey Mulligan) apartment. Llewyn isn't really a guy anyone wants to be around much, but he continues to pursue his dream of becoming a solo artist. In a way he's his own worst enemy as many of the obstacles he faces are his own doing. 

I'm not a fan of depressing films, but somehow the Coens captured my attention through their smart script and beautifully constructed film. The gray cinematography is gorgeous and really sets the melancholic tone of the film. Somehow despite not liking Llewyn, Isaacs manages to portray his character so well that we do root for him and want him to succeed. It's an impressive film that succeeds thanks to Isaacs heartfelt performance. We also get to meet some of the quirky characters that the Coens always include in their films. John Goodman and Garrett Hedlund were the chosen ones this time around and they both added the dark humor in this otherwise sad and melancholic film. The soundtrack is also a lot of fun to listen too and Isaacs has a great voice.

My Review: The Great Gatsby (7/10)

"They were careless people, Tom and Daisy-they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness."

If there was ever a film that could benefit from director Baz Luhrmann's excesses in art direction and visuals then The Great Gatsby is that film. They weren't called the "Roaring 20's" for nothing and boy does Baz really go all the way with the visual spectacle during the first 40 minutes of the film. Many people think Baz's films are a bit pretentious, but I disagree because he is just an ambitious director who knows how important art direction can be in a film. I was one of the few who enjoyed Baz's epic film, Australia, but he is better known for his Academy Award nominated film Moulin Rouge. In The Great Gatsby he takes F. Scott Fitzgerald's famous novel and adapts the familiar story to his highly artistic vision. Fans of the novel might not enjoy the liberties that Baz takes in his adaptation, but since I had never read the story before I had a fun time watching this visually splendid film. The novel has been adapted many times on film before, but this is the first time I got to know about The Great Gatsby and perhaps I was more enamored by the tragic love story because I didn't know what was going to happen. I didn't enjoy the 40 minute build up as much as I did getting to see the narration play out once Gatsby appears on film. The performances from Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan were way above the rest of the cast. I wasn't a big fan of Tobey Maguire here, but he wasn't bad either. The best thing about The Great Gatsby, beside the fabulous characters and narrative that Fitzgerald created, is the artistic direction and costume design that transports us to the Roaring 20's. Some critics believe that the spectacle replaces the heart of the story here, but I actually thought there was a lot of heart to it. 

Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire) narrates the events that took place during the summer of 1922 shortly after he had moved to New York City from the Midwest. It was a time of wealth so he decided to abandon his dreams of becoming a writer in order to work in Wall Street and chase the American dream. He moves into a small house right across the lake from his cousin, Daisy (Carey Mulligan) who is married to one of the richest men in the south, Tom Buchanon (Joel Edgerton). The talk of the city however has to do with the presence of Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio), a new millionaire who throws gigantic parties for everyone. No one happens to know much about him, but Nick's house is right next door to his mansion. Nick befriends Gatsby and thinks very highly of him for the class of person he is; very different from anyone he's met. Gatsby asks Nick to invite his cousin Daisy for tea and soon Nick discovers something interesting about Gatsby's past and his relationship with Daisy. 

I know that novels are usually way better than films so I really want to read Fitzgerald's classic novel now because I was captivated by the story here. It is tragic, but has a lot of heart and I felt that Baz did get to show that in his film despite all the visual spectacles. Leonardo DiCaprio is always really captivating on film and here once again he proves his unique talents as the Great Gatsby. DiCaprio played Romeo in Baz's adaptation of Romeo and Juliet several years ago, but he has really matured now as an actor. Baz incorporated modern music to the 20's era and that may come as a shock to some viewers (seeing everyone dance swing to modern hip hop) but I thought the effect worked well in this movie. Baz really captured the spirit of the era and I think he is a bit underrated as a director. I don't know if I would've enjoyed this film as much if I had read the novel before, but as someone coming into this film without any prior knowledge of Gatsby I was blown away by the story and the characters.

Rating: 7,6/10

My Review: Shame (8/10)

¨We’re not bad people, we just come from a bad place.¨

It is a shame that Shame did not receive more love from the Academy voters last year because it truly is a powerful film with one of the best performances of the year coming from Michael Fassbender. This is the second time that Fassbender teams up with director Steve McQueen after his feature film debut, Hunger. That film opened up a lot of doors for both McQueen and Fassbender who have outdone themselves again with this raw and dark film about a man who is so addicted to sex and porn that he has completely lost touch with human interactions and relationships. On the surface he looks like a very successful man, living on his own in a nice apartment in New York and being congratulated for his work by his boss who enjoys hanging out with him at night and hitting on women. The viewer could assume that this man is very privileged, however from one of the early scenes we see how out of touch Fassbender’s character really is to human interaction when he hits on a girl on a subway who is feeling uncomfortable with his glances. She tries to avoid contact with him showing him her ring and that she’s married, but Fassbender completely misinterprets these signals and follows her, only realizing later that she is not hitting on him but rather running away from him. We later come to understand his character when he tries to go on a normal date with a co-worker and mentions how he doesn’t believe in relationships. Many people probably don’t consider sex an addiction, but McQueen makes a valid point here showing how negative and destructive it can be on a person by making them completely lose their touch on reality and human interaction. It is similar to Hunger in that the main character begins to lose touch with reality, but on a whole different level here. This film is rated NC-17 because of the strong sexual content, but believe me this is not a sexy or romantic film, it really shows you how addictive sex can be and the toll it can take on people when there is no love or relationships involved.

Brandon (Michael Fassbender) seems to have a very successful life living in New York City and meeting a lot of attractive women. He seems to spend all day obsessed with sex however as we see him with prostitutes and looking at porn in his computer. From the very beginning we see how Brandon enjoys his life while delving into this sexual addiction he has. His boss David (James Badge Dale) even warns him that they have found a large amount of pornography on his computer in the office, but concludes that it had to be an intern that was playing a joke on him because it would take a very sick man to have all that filth on a computer at work. He ends up congratulating Brandon on closing a very important deal at the office and they decide to go out and celebrate with the rest of their co-workers. When David tries to hit on a hot looking girl in the bar, we see how Brandon manages to flirt with her without saying a word and ends up sleeping with her. Brandon seems to have a perfect life, he enjoys the control he has over his life and the fact that he doesn’t have to have a serious relationship. However he loses that sense of control when his sister, Sissy (Carey Mulligan) shows up at his apartment and asks him if she could stay with him for a couple of days. They share a very strange relationship, and Sissy seems to come with some baggage of her own, but you can tell that they love each other in a very bizarre way. Nicole Beharie plays Brandon’s co-worker, Marianne, who goes out on a couple of dates with him and is probably the closest thing to a relationship that he has experienced in years.

I already mentioned how well Fassbender and McQueen worked together in this film, but I also have to give credit to Carey Mulligan who gave a very strong performance here as well. She doesn’t get as much screen time as Fassbender, but she holds her own next to his powerful performance. She even has a three minute scene that was shot in one take of her singing her own version of New York New York at a restaurant. She did a wonderful job here as well in this very complicated, dark, and raw human drama. The film plays out really well as this character study and explores sexual addiction in a very different light than most Hollywood films do. This shows you another side to sex and pornography in a very dark light. I think it will play out as a cult film in the same way Requiem for a Dream did. This film delves more on sexual addiction while the other one had to do more with drug addiction. I still can’t believe Fassbender and Mulligan didn’t receive Academy nominations for their strong performances here. This is a very powerful film, but probably not for all considering the dark subject matter.

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My Review: Drive (10/10)

¨If I drive for you, you give me a time and a place. I give you a five-minute window, anything happens in that five minutes and I'm yours no matter what. I don't sit in while you're running it down; I don't carry a gun... I drive. ¨

Drive is probably my favorite film of the year so far. I hadn’t even watched the trailers for this movie so I had no idea what it was about, but what a special surprise I was in for. The movie hooked me from the very opening action scene up to the very end. Yes, the film is slow at times, but it`s also intense and original. This arthouse action movie works in great part thanks to a terrific performance from Ryan Gosling. He keeps on surprising me; he is a hugely talented actor and can excel in any role. This time he proved himself in this action film as the lead man. The reason the movie is so slow at times is because it is character driven, and Gosling`s character is so quiet and laid back; he hardly speaks and the dialogues he has feel real and authentic. The dialogue in this film was brilliant, everything about it made it perfect. I would absolutely watch this movie over and over again because it is just that good. I couldn’t believe the direction the movie was taking. It is one of those action movies that is hard to predict and I loved not anticipating what was going to happen next. Gosling is a star, he is great in this movie and the feel that the movie has is just so amazing. It`s hard to get this overwhelmed by an action film these days because we`ve seemed to have seen it all, but Drive feels fresh and original. It doesn’t focus so much on the action and the heists as much as it does on the characters. Gosling`s character grows increasingly dark over the course of the movie, and so does the violence in this movie. It really has a Tarantino/Cronenberg feel to it (A History of Violence, Pulp Fiction). Drive was amazing, but many people may be put off by all the violence.

The movie focuses on a driver (Ryan Gosling) who`s name is never said in the film; he has a part time job as a Hollywood stunt man specializing in crash scenes, but spends most of the time at a mechanic shop working for Shannon (Bryan Cranston) on some classic cars. Shannon knows that this guy is extremely talented and wants him to become a NASCAR driver, but in order to do so he needs to buy a car first. Shannon decides to make a deal with an old mobster friend named Bernie (Albert Brooks) who gives him the money to buy the car. Bernie also has an associate, Nino (Ron Perlman), a New York Jewish mobster who broke Shannon`s pelvis in the past for trying to overcharge him for a job he had done. Differences settled however they all decide to put their money on the driver, who is a quiet fellow who spends some nights as a wheelman on heist jobs. He is very professional about it. He soon begins a friendship with a neighbor, Irene (Carey Mulligan) and her young son, Benicio (Kaden Leos) and the relationship seems to slowly develop into a romantic one until Irene`s husband, Standard (Oscar Isaac) returns home from prison. Standard promises to leave his past life behind him, but he owes a lot of money to some people back in prison who offered their protection in exchange. Now Standard is forced to accept a heist or else his family will be in great danger. The driver finds out about the threat and decides to help Standard, but something goes wrong in the heist and the movie develops violently from that point forward. 

 

I can`t help but repeating myself when I say this was a great film. Ryan Gosling really gives one of the year`s best performances and his character is really intriguing. Gosling is a smart actor, he knows what roles to accept and he makes the best of them. In Drive he was given a really great script that allowed him to show off his full potential. The character is so central to the film that Gosling basically carries the movie, although the supporting cast was also great. Bryan Cranston, Ron Perlman, and Albert Brooks were great in their roles, and Carey Mulligan also had great chemistry with Gosling. Their relationship felt very real and nothing felt forced. Drive isn’t your typical Hollywood action film, it`s more of an indie film, and a dark one. There is a lot of violence, some strong scenes, so it might not be for everyone. I really enjoyed it and thought it was one of the best arthouse action films I`ve seen in a long time. Last year I was blown away by Affleck`s action film, The Town, but this year Drive manages to surpass it. Gosling`s character reminded me a lot of De Niro en Taxi Driver; he is just that good. The action scenes were also very well choreographed and there were some great driving scenes, although the best thing about the movie was the character driven story. I also enjoyed the soundtrack of the film which felt retro. Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn (known for The Pusher trilogy) did a great job with this film, and Hossein Amini deserves a nomination for his screenplay adaptation of James Sallis`s book. Drive is one of the best films of the year. 

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My Review: Wall Street Money Never Sleeps (6/10)

¨So, does Blue Horseshoe still love Anacott Steel? ¨

This quote was from Charlie Sheen`s cameo in Oliver Stone`s Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, which only served as a reminder of how good the original film was and how distant the sequel is from it. The film began with a lot of promise and I thought there was little anyone could do to mess it up considering Michael Douglas was back with one of his best roles as Gordon Gekko. The problem is that with time and life in prison Gekko has changed and he isn`t that powerful person he once was. The major problem I had with this movie was the ending which I thought was way too soft and it seemed as if Stone sold out to the typical Hollywood ending, which was nothing like the finale in the first part. However this isn`t a bad movie, it just isn`t as good as Wall Street because Gekko isn`t as bad a villain as he was in 1987. If you`ve seen this and haven`t seen the first film then make sure you do because I guarantee you will enjoy Douglas`s Oscar winning role as Gordon in that movie more than in this one. Oliver Stone is known for always bringing the best out of his cast and this movie is no exception. I really enjoyed the supporting cast, especially Frank Langella, Josh Broslin, and Eli Wallach who were really great in every scene they were in. Shia LaBeouf is no Charlie Sheen, but he wasn`t bad in this film either, and one can say Carey Mulligan is a much better actress than what Daryl Hannah was in Wall Street. I know they are different characters, but they are similar players in similar roles. The screenplay was written by Allan Loeb and Stephen Schiff, but it wasn`t as powerful as Weiser`s original screenplay.

The movie begins in 2001 with Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas) being released from a long jail sentence. No one is there to pick him up and it is obvious that things have changed for him over the years. The movie then jumps forward to 2008 and introduces us to Jacob Moore (Shia LaBeouf), a young man who works at a banking institution named Keller Zabel Investments and who is trying to raise money for a fusion research project. His boss is Lewis Zabel (Frank Langella) and he is like a father figure for him because he has taught him everything he knows about being a broker. Zabel gives Jacob a bonus for his work, but at the same time he seems depressed because the company has been losing money due to the financial crisis that has hit everyone. Jacob decides to buy a nice ring with the money given to him and propose to his beautiful girlfriend Winnie (Carey Mulligan) who actually happens to be Gordon`s daughter who has broken all ties with her father after his arrest that led to her brother`s death from drug overdose. Gekko wrote a book during his time in jail and now he finds himself promoting it throughout different colleges. Jacob goes to one of these lectures and tells Gordon that he is planning on marrying his daughter. They begin to hang out secretly and Gekko explains to Jacob what may have caused Zabel to have recently committed suicide. He says that Bretton James (Josh Broslin), a successful broker, began rumors to hurt Zabel`s company and benefit from its demise. Jacob swears he will get his revenge, but the question is whether his relationship with Gordon will affect his relationship with Winnie, and whether or not he can actually trust him.

Gordon Gekko was a true villain in the 80`s although many people actually bought into his philosophy once the movie was released. Now a couple of decades later he is more of in a grey area. The true villain is Bretton James, and I thought that was one of the things that hurt the film, because Gekko made a terrific villain and there was no need to soften him in this film. One of the best scenes in this movie is the lecture that he gives at Jacob`s alma matter about the foreseeable financial crises. It was reminiscent of the speech he gave in the first film about money and greed. That was the highlight of the film, while on the downside you have the washed down Hollywood ending. The film had the potential to be a lot better than it actually was if it focused more on the economic aspect and less on the melodrama and relationships between Gordon and his daughter and Jacob with Winnie. This isn`t a bad movie, but I still recommend the first one over this any day. One thing is certain, Michael Douglas won`t win another Oscar for this version of Gekko.

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