levelFILM Film Review - The Debt

Oliver Campbell (Stephen Dorff) has spent a significant amount of the past two years mastering Spanish and ignoring his young family while working on a major land deal in Peru. The local farms are failing and he and his partner childhood friend Ricardo (Alberto Ammann) are buying up the farms for pennies on the dollar. Local businessman Ruben Caravado (Carlos Bardeem) is also busy in the area targeting one specific remote mountain region but one land owner Florintino Gammara  (Amiel Saya) does not trust Caravado or any other potential landlord and refuses to sell. Florintino's son Diego (Melvin Quijada) has lost track of the family llama Chico while gazing at a military helicopter that often flies around the mountain tops. Furious and knowing the importance of the Llama to the teetering farm and herd Florintino orders Diego to find the llama and not return until his task is complete.

In Lima nurse Maria Ruiz (Elsa Olivero) takes care of her sick mother who needs constant supervision at home.  She is having seizures that are getting worse but does not qualify under state rules for the surgery needed to correct her ailment. Maria can move her mother to the front of the line for a fee bit does not have the funds on hand plus she needs the signature of the chief doctor on staff to make the surgery happen.

Writer / Director Barney Elliot creates a straight ahead narrative with enough linear shifts and bends  to build real tension in the production. The main characters do not act to type with many appearing to be of one nature then perform and react differently than expected during key points in the film. Cinematography Bjorn Stalle excels at setting the mood through colour for each location of the shoot. His work is especially notable during the scenes in the Peruvian Mountains using the natural light of the expansive landscape. Stalle contrasts these scenes with the use of mainly muted blues and blacks in the  New York and Lima indoor and outdoor city scenes.

Stephen Dorff provides one of his stronger performances in recent years as Oliver Campbell. The viewer can't be faulted for thinking that this script went through many hands before landing with him but Dorff is seamless as the well groomed slick Wall Street businessman switching easily back and forth between Spanish and English while he dispassionately scoops up farms that the inhabitants have been on the land for generations dating back to when many escaped from slavery.  Carlos Bardem is key performer as Ruben Caravado. He is Oliver's key rival a shrewd local option to the farmers but very tactical shielding a guarded true agenda. Elsa Olivero character Maria is the centre of a strong counterbalance to the financial plot line. She is a caring nurse in an underfunded overcrowded hospital. She is also willing to do whatever it takes to get her mother the surgery she needs including taking extreme risks and making decisions that are unexpected of a career caregiver

The Debt is a tense entertaining financial thriller. The principal cast starts out in recognizable roles but by their choices and actions throughout the piece add depth and complexity to their characters. The settings of Lima, New York and the Peruvian Mountains offer a pleasing contrast to the production and a palate for the superior cinematography work in the film to shine.  It's a film that I can recommend.

*** Out of 4.

The Debt | Barney Elliott | U.S.A. / Spain / Peru | 2015 | 99 Minutes.

Tags: Finance, Land Deal, 60 Million, Farmers, Bonds, Government, Seizures, Affair, Llama, Helicopter, Peru, Lima, Pills, Needles.

Broadgreen Pictures Film Review - The Neon Demon

The cutthroat ultra fiercely competitive world of modeling is the focus of   Nicolas Winding Refn's latest feature film. Refen's film brings the audience backstage , to auditions , parties wile exploring the day to day interaction between individuals usually seen walking down the runway at major designer's collections.

Jesse (Elle Fanning) is the new fresh face in town. She is 16, has no family but is not as doe eyed as she appears on the surface.  She lands a contract with a large L.A. modelling agency headed by Roberta Hoffmann excellently portrayed by Refn regular Christina Hendricks. Who tells Jesse to tell potential employers that she is 19 and not 18 as that would be too on the nose.  Jesse has test pictures taken by a friend (Dean) Karl Glusman who wants more from their relationship. At the shoot she meets  make up artist Ruby (Jena Malone) who can't get past Jesse's perfect skin.  Ruby befriends the new girl in town inviting her to an exclusive party where they meet up with Ruby's other two seasoned model pals Gigi ( Bella Heathote) and Sarah (Abby Lee) who seems to have had apparently had every type of plastic surgery possible and fears being out of the game by the time she turns 21.

Refn takes a writing credit for the film. The narrative presents a different turn on the young girl fresh off the bus to L.A. looking for fame and fortune. Jesse knows what she is, her strengths how to use them as currency and is unapologetic about getting to much too soon. The story pulls out a big chunk from the shallow intellectual puddle that is the world of modelling going to a new depths depicting what participants are willing to do to silence a threat to their livelihood.

Elle Fanning has a lot to do in her role as Jesse. All other characters bounce off her performance. She gets the innocent but cunning balance just right. Fanning stepped into the role that was originally linked to Refn favouritere Carey Mulligan adding her input to Jesse dialogue to authenticate how a 16 year old would act and react. Jena Malone is strong as Jesse best L.A. gal pal Ruby. She knows the industry having seen and worked on many a promising face that have flamed out in the past and recognizes Jesse unique qualities immediately. However its in her other job where she deals with the ultimate mannequins where Ruby truly shines. Look for Desmond Harrington in a small mostly silent role as an uber intense hard to book fashion photographer.

The Neon Demon  presents a new vision on the world of fashion featuring elements that has an alien sci-fi look and feel. The ensemble cast excel in their roles. The production does not shy away from heading to the fringes to make a point. The graphic nature of some of the scenes may not be for some viewers but its a film that will likely lead to repeat views in the theater and beyond.

*** 1/2 Out of 4.

The Neon Demon | Nicholas Winding Refn | France / Denmark / U.S.A. | 2016 | 118 min.

Tags: Modeling, Beauty, Youth, Innocence, Audition, L.A., Make Up, Morgue, Fashion Shoot.    
           

 





     

Blue Infinity Films Film Review - Searching for Paradise

Ace (Chris Young) is a vigilance who believes that his work makes the world a better place as he metaphorically looking to return home.  His assignments are to terminate the worst killers in the world to improve the fate of the species as a whole.  The short opens with Ace towering over a cowering middle aged man whose back story eerily resembles that of Canadian schoolgirl killer Paul Bernardo. Ace dressed completely in black ignores his targets pleas and completes his contract.

Ace's other target is based on Anders Behring author of the 2011 Norway mass murders.  In the piece Adam is presented at two stages in his life. However,  this time our protagonist has an epiphany that makes him question and change his role from a tool of death to one of mercy.

Writer directors Chris Young and Chloe Bellande did extensive research to build the profile of the targets. An event in Chris' life was the spark for the Ace character who does a complete flip of his driving force during the film as he comes to realize that his actions make him no better than the people he is hunting.

Medhat Hanbali's score deserves special mention. The short features stripped down dialogue making the score key in filling in the gaps. Hanbali work shines especially to set the heavy dark tone of ice cold assassin in the opening then at the point of the life force change that overblown bright light and airy.

Searching For Paradise is a lean succinct production that relays on a few key moments to make its point. There is enough of a skeleton her to flesh out a full feature or television production. There are no wasted moments in the 20 minus production. The message is a valuable one yet one that may not be readily received with the recent violent events in spots like Orlando, Paris and Brussels.

*** out of 4

Searching for Paradise | Chris Young / Chloe Bellande | Canada | 2016 | 21 Minutes.

Tags: Hit Man, Serial Killer, Vigilance, Execution, Forgiveness, Dark, Light, Redemption

Magnolia Pictures Film Review - SUNSET SONG

Chris Guthrie (Agyness Deyn) is smart, studious and the top student in her class in rural Scotland.  Her father John (Peter Mullan) is stern, strict and very religious often clashing with his eldest son Will (Jack Greenlees). Her Mother Jean (Daniela Nardini) endures the urges and whims of her husband seemingly spending most of her time in their bedroom either trying to avoid sex or giving birth to more children.

Chris is never seen without a book in her hand or studying by gaslight at the kitchen table. She plans to be a teacher having been accepted to go to school in England when a series of family event changes her plans. Chris becomes responsible for increasing duties and chores at the family farm. The responsibilities continue to grow as her dreams of higher education and a teaching career fade into the countryside.

Director Terence Davies presents a passion project that he's been looking for a chance to shoot for several years.  The story is based on a novel by Lewis Grassic Gibbon that's a staple for any Scottish youth. The subject matter, remote locations and 135 minute run time may give the impression of a difficult watch but the narrative, acting and breathtaking cinematography keep the viewer engaged throughout  the piece.

Cinematographer Michael McDonough deserves special mention. His keen eye to presenting the vast rural terrain is evident from the first frame where Chris is lounging in the tall grass to her heading home from a day of studies with a pal amongst luscious green pastures and firm oak rooted trees. McDonough running visual themes of natural window light and full blue skies racing out to meet the horizon are a high point for the viewer.

Agyness Deryn is just about in every frame of the film as Chris. Her character grows from teen eldest daughter to adult hood in the file. Chris has to deal with many different and changing family relationships against the background of the panoramic but often challenging Scottish highlands with the reality of the Great War looming in the distance. Peter Mullan is professional as always in the role of Father a devout religious hardworking patriarch. Mullan performance is unique combination of of both physical and understated.  Ian Pirie is notable as Chae Strachan. He is a colleague of Father and a constant in Chris' life. Despite his advanced age he is the first in the community to sign up to fight the German's putting incredible pressure on the younger able bodied local men.

Sunset Song provides a comprehensive look at rural life in Northwest Scotland at the time of the First World War.  Adapted from a beloved book Davies and his production team recreate the attire, respect the dominant role for the land and display sentiment of the highlanders towards day to day local affairs side by side with milestone and international events. It's a film that I can recommend

*** Out of 4.  

Sunset Song | Terence Davies |  U.K. / Luxembourg | 2015 | 135 minutes.

Tags: Scotland, Highlands, Farming, Education, The Great War, Religion, Childbirth, Twins, Suicide, 1910's.


   

Magnolia Pictures Film Review - TICKLED

Celebrity and the bizarre is the wheelhouse of New Zealand TV host David Farrier. While surfing the net in the newsroom he happened onto the site for competitive endurance tickling. The videos featured young men in gym gear on a raised mat straddle and surrounding the victim who is lying on his back tied down and ticked by the other players. The participants are clothed and the perks presented to poor young men to participate is great but it's not an activity that they would want to get out to family, work, or friends.

Intrigued Ferrier does some more digging to find out that the company behind the leagues is Jane O'Brien Media. He decides to contact the company to potentially set up and interview and is met with venomous vitriol in a severe attack filled with not readily available. Instead of backing off Ferrier teams up with Dylan Reeve to shoot a documentary about the subject.

As directors Ferrier and Reeve start shooting and gathering information the legal cease and asset letters start coming from the US followed by a visit from representatives from Jane O'Brien Media. The visiting trio play classic good cop, bad copy with the pair, do to want to be filmed leading the production to use alternative methods to get audio and video of their encounters.

The focus shifts to the US for the balance of the film as our protagonists pursue their legal adversaries  and to see the home base for competitive tickling.  The authors locate a former performer who is willing to sit down for an interview in his gym. He tells his story about being up for anything, being a risk taker and participating due to the fact that there were some family money issues. He was first surprised that there were no women present then he was tied down, straddled by other young athletic men and tickled over and under his shirt, on his feet and under his arms. The performer thought nothing of it then his introduction interview video showed up on the online followed by the full venom of the Jane O'Brien Media empire when he asked them to take it down in an attempt to destroy the young man's family,work and social life.

The co-directors continue to unravel the tickling empire their path taking them from Southern California to the East Coast and Midwest of the United States. They meet up with a former casting director that reveals participant zero of the tickling fetish who  started out as a heavy participant on the tickling message boards in the eighties.  The casting director had several telling items still in his possesion to show what happened to him when he crossed the largest tickling enthusiast.

Tickled is a documentary that is less about the fetish and more about the people behind the fetish empire. The co-directors set out to find why the people behind Jane O'Brien Media come out firing in every situation. Why do they have lawyers and private investigators on retention on two sides of the pacific? Why is there so much money involved in a very niche activity? The authors attempt to unspool all of the levels until they get to the core with the aim to confront face to face the people at the top of the pyramid.

**** Out of 4.

Tickled | David Farrier / Dylan Reeve | New Zealand | 2016 | 92 Minutes.

Tags: Documentary, Fetish, Competitive Tickling, Lawsuit, Internet, Identity Theft, Aliases.


Hot Docs Film Festival - Screens Saturday April 30 9:45 PM Bloor Hot Docs Cinema.

                                                        Monday May 2 19:30 Am TIFF Bell Lightbox.

Magnolia Pictures Film Review - LO AND BEHOLD REVERIES OF THE CONNECTED WORLD

The familiar cadence, tone and wit of director Werner Herzog underpins his latest production Lo and Behold Reveries of the Connected World embarks to examine the story of the internet from its first transmission to the present and into the future. The film is commissioned by NetScout a cyber security firm and the director leans to much on interviews from employees of Carnegie Melon but Herzog's playful style dominates the film.

The narrative proceeds step by step divided into distinct chapters.  The first chapter features a series of interviews with internet pioneers opening with a shot of the UCLA campus that is identified as the birthplace of the internet. The camera leads the viewer down a hallway and into a room guided by Leonard Kleinrock who describes the events of October 29th 1969 when the occupants sent a transmission host to host to Stanford but the intended message of Logon cut out at Lo which gives some background of the films title. Pioneer Bob Kahn tell tales of the early days including the original idea that the internet would be used by a small group. The initial user group was so small that  a thin phonebook housed the phone numbers and e-mail addresses of every Internet user.  The pioneers did not think about security, bullying or cyber attacks because anyone who was acting offside could be look up and called. It was not meant to be anonymous.

Another highlight was the discussion surrounding the dark side of the modern Internet. Stemming from the fact that people can find just about any information and post it online. The Catsouras family is interviewed about the tragic death of their daughter Nikki who wandered away from home and wrapped a sports car around a pole. Pictures of the dead girl began to appear online leading to harassment of the family that based on their all black attire for the interview is still affecting them all today.

Another chapter looks at Internet addiction focusing on two residence of a treehouse based rehab centre. The story is the same as with another addition exempt with this one the addict is much more comfortable in the world of the internet as opposed to the real one and slowly and progressively begins to spend more time in the latter than the former. Related is a community in Green Bank West Virginia that has developed in the shadow of a massive telescope that due to its need to be clear of electromagnetic signals on earth is a tech free zone. The residence all share an allergy to tech devices and electronic waves that are so extreme they are highly emotional and haunted when Herzog asks them to describe their life before coming to the Appalachian Mountains.

Finally the narrative turns to the future. The possibility with robotics, the linking of the human brain to the internet.  The future of artificial intelligence and the question of whether or not the internet or machines dream.

Lo and Behold is a multiple chapter expansive study of all parts of the Internet. Colourful characters from the early days, scientists from the present hackers and net cops give their input. A narrower  focus would have served the production better but there is sufficient material and antidotes in the documentary to make it worth the watch.

*** Out of 4.

Lo and Behold | Werner Herzog | USA | 2016 | 98 Minutes.

Tags: Internet, Pioneer, UCLA, Host-to-Host, Protocols, Addiction, Cyber Attack, Green Bank West Virginia.

Hot Docs Film Festival - screens Thursday April 28 9:45 PM TIFF Bell Lightbox 1.

                                                        Friday April 29 1:00 PM  Bloor Hot Docs Cinema.

Magnolia Pictures Film Review - VIVA

Jesus (Hector Medina) works as a hairdresser in Havana.  He has private clients during the day and at night he does hair, makeup and wigs in a stylish drag club. At the club he marvels at the acts on stage believing that he can follow their path. Back at home his childhood friend Cecilia (Laura Aleman) takes advantage of him at every turn. She wants his apartment for her dates and mocks his homosexuality to get a reaction.  Even her grandmother Nita a regular customer warns Jesus to stay clear of her granddaughter.  Jesus has no family. His grandmother and mother have passed while his father might as well have as he left when Jesus was 3 to pursue a boxing career. Money is very tight amongst the locals. Jesus has a client base but they are often short on payment. When things get desperate he heads to the city centre where his friend Don hangs out for a chance to meet tourists looking for a good time.

After getting the opportunity to perform at the club. Jesus is unimpressive at first but slowly gain confidence as a performer. His emotions begun to build as he commands the stage and the room at one of his stronger performances. A  patron brings the show to a sudden stop by striking Jesus. The customer turns out to be his father Angel (Jorge Perugorria).

Director Paddy Breathanach presents a story that is more about a relationship between a father and a son and the setting of Havana than the rise of a performer. The city is prominent in the piece and a major character. Jesus spends most of his day wandering around Havana's lane and alleyways. His apartment is rundown but full of character. Javier and Jesus try to learn more about each other having had no relationship for many years. The former the revered boxer who did time in prison. The latter the hair dresser who never had an interest in girls and had become used to being on his own and fending for himself.

Hector Medina shines as the lead character. He is often vulnerable and desperate, short on money and lacking in confidence.  Medina is at his best when he stands up for himself in battles with his father, Celeste and fights to be himself in the Club. Jorge Perogorria is well cast as Jesus' father Angel. He exudes macho rage and shows the miles of decades of a life on the fringe.  Luis Alberto Garcia is strong as Mama nightclub owner and defacto parent of Jesus. He confronts Angel having dealt with bully's all of his life and fiercely looks out for the best interest of the club.

Viva is a father and son story set in the seedier section of Havana. The title character is the alter ego of a young man conflicted by various emotions and used to fending for himself.  The setting, cast and location work well making a film that is well worth the watch.

*** 1/2  Out of 4.

Viva | Paddy Breathnach | Ireland / Cuba | 2015 |100 Minutes.

Tags: Performer, Boxer, Havana, Drag Queen, Prison, Wigs, Hairdresser, Havana, Father & Son.