SIFF the Penultimate
Jun. 8th, 2010 10:39 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tiggymalvern
Three more films for my almost-last entry of SIFF 2010 - the latest Jackie Chan film, a drama about gay Neo-Nazis and an Icelandic thriller.
Little Big Soldier is the latest Hong Kong film from Jackie Chan. During China's warring states period, one army ambushes another, and the result is a massacre for both sides. Among the few survivors are an Old Soldier from Liang, who played dead to avoid experiencing it for real, and a young general from the opposing side. The old soldier captures the injured general, and plans to take him back to Liang for the reward - a farm of his own, and a way out of the conscripted army. Along the way, they are pursued by Wei soldiers, and large numbers of brigands, robbers and hungry peasants who have turned to thieving.
Little Big Soldier is a pet project of Chan's, one that he had been trying to get made for twenty years. He had originally intended the role of the young general for himself, but with the passing of the decades, Chan is now the Old Soldier, and I honestly can't imagine it any other way. Chan's brand of humour is perfect for the somewhat bumbling reluctant soldier, who wants a simple life and has no desire to get involved in other people's wars. The arrogant general wouldn't have suited him so well.
Chan's character prefers to run away rather than fight, so there is less action in this film than would be typical for a Chan outing. The fight sequences that are present are generally short, but typically entertaining. The film has some beautiful cinematography set among stunning landscapes, and also some genuine bloody violence in the battle scenes. I personally felt this film wanted to be longer - particularly in the first third or so, there are many cuts that feel too abrupt. A ten second scene where someone says exactly what they need to forward the plot, then jump on to the next one, and it feels very rushed. An extra 10 or 15 minutes to take it closer to a two hour running time would have allowed for a more natural flow, and more appreciation of some of those awe-inspiring locations. But despite this early irritation, this is easily the best Chan film I've seen in years. The characters and the story have a depth that isn't often associated with him, and the film is genuinely moving as well as comic. I scored it 4/5. The SO, who agrees with my assessment of the edits but is more forgiving, scored it 5. Currently I can find no info an a US or UK release date for this film :-(
Brotherhood. Lars is a Danish soldier whose chance at promotion is scuppered when two of his subordinates report that he made passes at them. Whether the allegations are true or not isn't the point - if his men don't like and respect him, he isn't a good choice of leader. Disillusioned, Lars leaves the army entirely and falls in with a group of Neo-Nazis in his home town. An attraction develops between Lars and another member of the group, Jimmy, but their relationship is soured by the knowledge of what will happen if the rest of the group find out.
I find the start of this film a little implausible, because of the speed with which Lars integrates himself into the group. I get that he's isolated and looking for another group to belong to after the army, and if his initial reaction to the neo-Nazis hadn't been so vehemently scathing it would have made more sense. As it is, he seems to do a complete U-turn in a very short time. But once you've swallowed that part, the relationship between the two men develops convincingly and enjoyably. There's some good lighting in some of these scenes, particularly the night swimming and the initial sex scene (some still shots from that would make nice photos). Much of this film is small-scale, with many quiet scenes of the two men, which some people might consider slow. With this premise, though, you know it's going to get messy, but there's a surprise in there still to catch you. 3/5
Reykjavik-Rotterdam definitely gets the award for the least inspired title of this film festival, but it's a pretty decent thriller. Kristofer is on parole after a stint in jail for smuggling booze, and struggling to keep his family with his low-paid job. His brother-in-law is part of the same smuggling ring Kristofer used to work for, and when he gets into trouble, Kristofer decides to make one last run to solve both their problems. But there's more going on than Kristofer knows about, with double-crosses and personal vendettas turning a straightforward run into a disaster.
I went to see this film with the knowledge that it's already been picked up for an American remake. Hollywood has a history of spotting a great foreign-language film and then remaking it badly, so I had high hopes for this original version. It's difficult to say too much about a film like this without starting to give away plot, but there are twists and turns enough that, while you will see some of them coming a mile off, others are completely out of left field and leave you wondering what the writer was smoking! These latter add the moments of humour to an otherwise very bleak, tense film. It was very well made, but I didn't really get emotionally involved with the characters, so I scored it 4/5. Maybe I would have liked it more if I hadn't had to suffer two talkers sitting behind me. Yes I did tell them to STFU part way through, but it didn't contribute anything positive to my mood, or my ability to lose myself in the film.
Little Big Soldier is the latest Hong Kong film from Jackie Chan. During China's warring states period, one army ambushes another, and the result is a massacre for both sides. Among the few survivors are an Old Soldier from Liang, who played dead to avoid experiencing it for real, and a young general from the opposing side. The old soldier captures the injured general, and plans to take him back to Liang for the reward - a farm of his own, and a way out of the conscripted army. Along the way, they are pursued by Wei soldiers, and large numbers of brigands, robbers and hungry peasants who have turned to thieving.
Little Big Soldier is a pet project of Chan's, one that he had been trying to get made for twenty years. He had originally intended the role of the young general for himself, but with the passing of the decades, Chan is now the Old Soldier, and I honestly can't imagine it any other way. Chan's brand of humour is perfect for the somewhat bumbling reluctant soldier, who wants a simple life and has no desire to get involved in other people's wars. The arrogant general wouldn't have suited him so well.
Chan's character prefers to run away rather than fight, so there is less action in this film than would be typical for a Chan outing. The fight sequences that are present are generally short, but typically entertaining. The film has some beautiful cinematography set among stunning landscapes, and also some genuine bloody violence in the battle scenes. I personally felt this film wanted to be longer - particularly in the first third or so, there are many cuts that feel too abrupt. A ten second scene where someone says exactly what they need to forward the plot, then jump on to the next one, and it feels very rushed. An extra 10 or 15 minutes to take it closer to a two hour running time would have allowed for a more natural flow, and more appreciation of some of those awe-inspiring locations. But despite this early irritation, this is easily the best Chan film I've seen in years. The characters and the story have a depth that isn't often associated with him, and the film is genuinely moving as well as comic. I scored it 4/5. The SO, who agrees with my assessment of the edits but is more forgiving, scored it 5. Currently I can find no info an a US or UK release date for this film :-(
Brotherhood. Lars is a Danish soldier whose chance at promotion is scuppered when two of his subordinates report that he made passes at them. Whether the allegations are true or not isn't the point - if his men don't like and respect him, he isn't a good choice of leader. Disillusioned, Lars leaves the army entirely and falls in with a group of Neo-Nazis in his home town. An attraction develops between Lars and another member of the group, Jimmy, but their relationship is soured by the knowledge of what will happen if the rest of the group find out.
I find the start of this film a little implausible, because of the speed with which Lars integrates himself into the group. I get that he's isolated and looking for another group to belong to after the army, and if his initial reaction to the neo-Nazis hadn't been so vehemently scathing it would have made more sense. As it is, he seems to do a complete U-turn in a very short time. But once you've swallowed that part, the relationship between the two men develops convincingly and enjoyably. There's some good lighting in some of these scenes, particularly the night swimming and the initial sex scene (some still shots from that would make nice photos). Much of this film is small-scale, with many quiet scenes of the two men, which some people might consider slow. With this premise, though, you know it's going to get messy, but there's a surprise in there still to catch you. 3/5
Reykjavik-Rotterdam definitely gets the award for the least inspired title of this film festival, but it's a pretty decent thriller. Kristofer is on parole after a stint in jail for smuggling booze, and struggling to keep his family with his low-paid job. His brother-in-law is part of the same smuggling ring Kristofer used to work for, and when he gets into trouble, Kristofer decides to make one last run to solve both their problems. But there's more going on than Kristofer knows about, with double-crosses and personal vendettas turning a straightforward run into a disaster.
I went to see this film with the knowledge that it's already been picked up for an American remake. Hollywood has a history of spotting a great foreign-language film and then remaking it badly, so I had high hopes for this original version. It's difficult to say too much about a film like this without starting to give away plot, but there are twists and turns enough that, while you will see some of them coming a mile off, others are completely out of left field and leave you wondering what the writer was smoking! These latter add the moments of humour to an otherwise very bleak, tense film. It was very well made, but I didn't really get emotionally involved with the characters, so I scored it 4/5. Maybe I would have liked it more if I hadn't had to suffer two talkers sitting behind me. Yes I did tell them to STFU part way through, but it didn't contribute anything positive to my mood, or my ability to lose myself in the film.
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Date: 2010-06-10 01:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-10 06:17 am (UTC)