Child 44 (5/10): Anti-Soviet Propaganda in case a new Cold War breaks out.

"There is no murder in paradise.”

Another of my most anticipated films of the year that failed to live up to my expectations. I usually tend to look forward to films based solely on the director, but this time I was excited about the cast: Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman, Jason Clarke, and Noomi Rapace. Child 44 is an adaptation of Tom Rob Smith’s best selling novel directed by Daniel Espinosa (Safe House) set in Stalin-era Soviet Union. Of course it is easily going to be labelled as anti-Soviet propaganda considering it is based on a novel written by a British author and directed by a Swedish director. The screenwriter, Richard Price (The Color of Money), is American and despite being set in Russia no one in the cast is Russian. Child 44 feels like one of those movies that came out during the Cold War trying to prove to the Western world how awful the Soviet communist regime was. You have British and Swedish actors playing Russian characters, but speaking in English with Russian accents because it wouldn’t be as accessible to us if they had them speaking Russian. I’m not a fan of this style of film making and would much rather them stick with the original language, but we probably would miss out on seeing such a talented cast like this if that were so. The accent issue isn’t the greatest problem with this film however, the tone of the movie is inconsistent and there are several tonal shifts that simply make the story drag at times. Child 44 is 135 minutes long and you feel every minute of it. 

Tom Hardy is Leo Demidov, a Soviet military police officer who was adopted at an early age after the death of his parents. By chance he became a war hero thanks to a picture taken of him waving the Soviet flag over Berlin after their victory. Now in the early 50’s he has an important rank working in Moscow as a military officer married to Raisa (Noomi Rapace) and he enjoys sharing the story of how they met with his fellow officers. He’s idealistic and pursues anyone who is against the Stalin regime labelled as traitors. When a young boy is found dead near a train station the officials dismiss the cause of death as simply an accident, but it is evident that the kid was brutally murdered. But of course under the Soviet regime there can’t be any murders because they’re supposedly living in a perfect society. The kid happened to be the son of one of Leo’s friends, Alexei (Fares Fares), and so he begins having his doubts about the cause of death. However that doesn’t go well with Major Kuzmin (Vincent Cassel) who warns him to leave it at that. After successfully capturing a traitor named Anatoly (Jason Clarke), the officers get a list of names of other suspects from him. Raisa happens to be on that list and Leo is asked to testify against his wife and bring her in, which seemed to be a way of testing his commitment to the regime. He refuses to turn her in and is disgraced, demoted, and exiled to a small town near Moscow to serve under General Mikhail Nesterov (Gary Oldman). When another child victim is found there in similar conditions, Leo convinces Mikhail to look into it and they secretly begin investigating the case.

The premise of the story is very interesting, but unfortunately this period piece takes its time to introduce each character. I’ve read that the first cut of the film was over 5 hours long and you can tell here that it hasn’t been edited in the best way because there are several tonal shifts throughout the film. Price was given the almost impossible task of adapting the screenplay of this novel without trying to leave any of the subplots out. There are several elements of the story that could’ve been ignored and which would’ve allowed for a much better pacing, but unfortunately every time the thrills began to draw me back to the story they introduced another narrative arc that drowned the pacing once again. If the film focused exclusively on the search for this mysterious serial killer it could’ve been a strong thriller because the performances in this film were all solid. Tom Hardy is great in his role and he alone almost makes the film worth recommending. Gary Oldman, Joel Kinnaman, Noomi Rapace, Fares Fares, Paddy Considine, Vincent Cassel are all convincing as well, but they don’t get as much screen time and some of their narrative arcs aren’t as interesting.        

My Review: Trance (5/10)

"The choice is yours. Do you want to remember or do you want to forget?"

I choose to forget all about Trance because I was really disappointed by this Danny Boyle film. It isn't a terrible movie, but it is Boyle's worst film since 1997's A Life Less Ordinary. After making some great films like 28 Days Later, Sunshine, and Slumdog Millionaire this film felt way out of his league. He was probably too busy planning the Olympic ceremonies and didn't give much dedication to this project which had a lot of style but no story. One of the reasons I didn't like this film is because I felt all the twists were kind of bland and they got tedious after a while. I felt kind of like the same way I felt with Now You See Me where they use hypnosis as an excuse to justify the twists and mix dreams with reality. The film didn't make much sense and some twists really didn't work for me. It is a shame because I did like the cast and thought they gave some strong performances despite the weak and lazy script written by Joe Ahearne and John Hodge. Trance had its moments, but it was all generic material that we've seen before, and the over stylized scenes weren't enough for me to recommend this film. I felt like there was no substance to this movie and I was completely detached to everything that was going on.

The film is narrated by Simon (James McAvoy), an art auctioner of very expensive and classical art pierces. During one of the auctions a heist takes place and he takes a blow to the head from Franck (Vincent Cassel), one of the four thieves involved in the heist. When he wakes up from the head injury he can't remember what happened, but apparently he hid the painting that the thieves were looking for. Franck and his crew torture Simon, who apparently was in on the heist as well, in order for him to tell them what he did with the painting, but it's useless because he really can't remember. That is where Elizabeth (Rosario Dawson) comes is. She's a hypnotherapist who begins treating Simon in order for him to remember where he hid the lost painting. The film is full of twists and double crossings but it is best to go into the movie knowing as little as possible.

Trance may stand out from other movies of the genre thanks to its style and cinematography, but what it has in style it lacks in substance. The twists didn't work for me either and in a thriller like this it is a must. The film began with promise but ultimately I didn't like the direction it began to take halfway through the movie. The cast in this film was pretty solid. McAvoy was great as usual and his breakdown was really believable on screen. Dawson was beautiful and sort of plays the femme fatale here to perfection. Cassel was also pretty good although his character didn't have much substance to him. Ultimately the film suffers from a weak script and an overdose of twists and turns that become tedious and a little unbelievable after a while. Skip this movie!

My Review: Black Swan (9/10)

¨It`s about a girl who gets turned into a swan and she needs love to break the spell, but her prince falls for the wrong girl, so she kills herself.¨

If there is any justice in the world then Natalie Portman should win the Oscar for her leading role as Nina. She has to win; her performance in Black Swan is by far the best of the year. She is just incredible in this film and the transformation her character experiences in order to become the Black Swan is just amazing. I can`t think of any other performance from any actress this year that can compare to this one because the entire movie revolves around her. The rest of the characters are all secondary, she is the only lead and star of the film. I just hope Natalie Portman didn`t have to go through all the psychological torture that her character had to go through in order to become the black swan. I would`ve never thought that a film about ballerinas could be so gruesome, raw, and full of psychological and sexual tension. This is the scariest film I`ve seen this year, and the only person who can pull off a movie like this is Darren Aronofsky. In order to direct a film of this caliber, one has to be completely submersed and passionate about the project, and Aronofsky has always proven he`s totally dedicated to his work (Pi, Requiem for a Dream, and The Wrestler were all great and difficult films to make). Black Swan is a different kind of movie and probably will divide audiences because it isn`t a film for everyone, but if I have to compare it to any of Aronofsky`s previous films I would say it resembles The Wrestler. Mickey Rourke resurrected his career in that film playing a washed up wrestler. He had his glory days, he was passionate about his profession and didn`t know how to let go. Natalie Portman plays a ballerina in Black Swan, she`s also passionate about her craft and completely dedicated to it. Both of these characters lives revolve around their profession, Mickey is at the exit point of his career, while Natalie is just now trying to make it to the top of hers.  As different as these professions may seem, the physical and psychological pressure to succeed is the same.

Nina (Portman) is about to get the role of her dreams: Being both the white and the black swan from an adaptation of Tchaikovsky`s ballet ¨Swan Lake.¨ She has been working endlessly for an opportunity like this and when director, Thomas (Vincent Cassel), considers her as the new lead she doesn`t want to miss her shot. He has decided that it is time to find a new prima ballerina since Beth (Winona Ryder) is getting old and her career is coming to an end. Nina is one of his best and most dedicated dancers. He knows that she would make an excellent white swan due to her perfect form and technique, but she doesn`t seem to have what it takes to become the black swan. In order for the transformation to take place, Thomas insists that she loosen up and let her feelings guide her. A new ballerina named Lily (Mila Kunis) shows up and suddenly becomes a threat for Nina because she is so free and confident, everything the black swan should be. Her technique isn`t as good as Nina`s, but she sees her as a threat nonetheless and at the same time she also becomes fascinated with her. Lily represents everything that Nina has repressed her entire life, she seems to be the opposite of her and that is exactly what she needs in order to become the black swan. Nina begins to lose herself in the role, and the fine line between reality and fantasy becomes blurry.

One character I didn`t mention in the plot is Nina`s mother (played by Barbara Hershey), who is really scary and over controlling. She has definitely played a big role in Nina`s life and shaped her character. Nina is a very insecure perfectionist, but she won`t let anything stop her from getting the lead role. She begins to push herself so hard into trying to become the black swan that her life begins to get out of control. The entire cast is great in this film, but Portman steals the show. The psychological torture she goes through is perfectly captured by Aronofsky. The score is amazing and plays a huge role in building the suspense and tension as well as the cinematography of the film. Every shot is just perfectly executed. I couldn`t help but cringe every time I saw those extreme close ups of the ballerinas feet, of their nails being cut, and so on. If I ever have a daughter it`s really going to make me think twice before letting her take ballet classes. Aronofsky has completely changed my perception about ballerinas. Black Swan is a really bizarre, but great film. I recommend seeing it in the theater because the sound and cinematography in this film is just amazing. It’s one of those movies in which larger and louder can make a huge difference in the viewing experience. Aronofsky is completely in control of his craft and delivers a terrific film. This is my favorite film of his so far.

  

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