Volume 04, Number 24
Movies
Movie News
By Bill Hersey
If you like prehistoric adventures, then you have a real treat to look forward to next spring. Director Roland Emmerich, known for his epic films Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow, has moved his focus back in time to direct a prehistoric epic, 10,000 B.C.
Warner Brothers recently invited Roland to Japan for a press conference buffet. He showed super-exciting trailers, discussed the making of the film and answered questions from the media. At the beginning of the conference the director gave a short message in Japanese, adding in English, “I worked on that all night and I still had to read it. You may not believe it, but I’m shy and always terrified at events like this.”
Roland first got the idea of doing the film 15 years ago, when he saw an American documentary on prehistoric animals and people. He worked on the script idea with a composer friend and waited for new cinematic techniques to develop, so that he would be able to attain the highest visual standards for the film. Roland went on to emphasize that 10,000 B.C. was neither a history lesson nor a documentary, but a film showing the development of mankind over thousands of years.
Shooting the film took Roland, the crew and the cast around the world with locations in New Zealand, South Africa, Thailand and England. Roland sought perfection, and at times took ten hours to shoot just one frame. “It was all worth it—the beauty, variety and scope of things, especially the variety of human faces. [It was] amazing,” said Roland.
Producer Michael Winier talked about the shooting conditions they had to deal with. “It was all outside. There was snow in New Zealand, rain in the Lost Valley near Capetown, fog, sandstorms, etc. You name it, we had it!”]
Overall, it was a dynamic promo for what looks to be a winning film. I’m really looking forward to this one.
Movie Review - The Namesake
by William Casper
Directed by Mira Nair (Vanity Fair) and based on the novel by Jhumpa Lahiri, The Namesake tells the story of an Indian family, comprising Ashoke (Irrfan Khan), Ashima (Tabu) and their son Gogol (Kal Penn). It follows their 30-year journey from 1970s Calcutta to New York City and all the assimilation, triumphs and disasters along the way.
At times the narrative feels a little overcrowded— 30 years in two hours is always going to be a push. However, fans of the popular novel should not be disappointed as the story is told with genuine care and depicted with technical excellence.
The story starts in Calcutta sometime in the 1970s. Ashoke and Ashima get married (the marriage is arranged; they have never met). Soon after the wedding they move to New York City, where they start their new lives together in a completely new environment.
Shortly thereafter Ashima gives birth to a son and, unlike in India (where a child can be named years after the birth), the parents have to decide on a name for the baby before they can leave hospital. They choose Gogol, after Ashoke’s favourite writer.
Several years later Gogol (now going by the name of Nick) is an all-American boy angry with his parents for giving him a name he hates. ‘Nick’ rejects much of his parents’ traditions and embraces American life wholeheartedly— especially his white American girlfriend Maxine (played by Jacinda Barrett). From here the second half of the fi lm focuses on Nick/Gogol’s voyage of self-discovery, although his parents are never very far from the action.
Although this kind of East-West culture clash is not particularly original, The Namesake handles the topic very well, exhibiting a level of understanding never fully realized by other fi lms in this genre. This end is helped considerably by the excellent performances of the three leads (Kal Penn is particularly good) and by the sensitivity of Sooni Taraporevala’s adaptation of the book.
The Namesake will open in Tokyo on Dec. 22 and will provide a very welcome break from hectic holiday preparations.
Review of 2007
by M. Halliday
As another year flies by, a few final thoughts on the finer films that graced the silver screen this year. 2007 was a good year for performances by women—particularly those who are, shall we say, of ‘a certain age'.
Dame Judi Dench was in turns heartbreaking and terrifying as the lonely, bitter teacher desperate to win the friendship of Cate Blanchett (excellent as usual) in Richard Eyre's edgy Notes on a Scandal. Marvelous as Dame Judi was, there was one performance that even she would probably bow to: that of Helen Mirren as the Queen. To say that Helen Mirren is majestic in The Queen is perhaps the year's most overly-used cliché in the movie world. However, it is appropriate. Stephen Frears' wellmade and strangely moving film portrays the relationship between HRH Queen Elizabeth II and Tony Blair during the time of Princess Diana's death. Mirren's performance is superb and utterly convincing, ditto to Michael Sheen's role as Tony Blair.
Angelina Jolie excelled herself as Daniel Pearl's pregnant wife Marianne in A Mighty Heart, the mighty heartbreaking story of Pearl's kidnap and murder in Pakistan.
There were some impressive performances this year by male actors as well, although none more so than Forrest Whitaker's as Idi Amin in Kevin MacDonald's The Last King of Scotland.
For those seeking somewhat lighter fare there was The Simpsons Movie. TV's sharpest cartoon survived the step up to the big screen, delivering more laughs in the first five minutes than most ‘comedies' serve up in two hours. For younger viewers Hollywood and Disney, continuing their fixation with rodents, served up a real treat with Ratatouille. This film featured excellent animation, humor that could be appreciated by both kids and adults and, for once, lacked the kind of heavy-handed cod morality that spoils so much of Disney's output.
Finally, a spiritual science fiction story lumbered with an awful Armageddon-like subplot may seem like an odd choice for a film of the year. Yet Danny Boyle's Sunshine, scripted by Alex Garland, somehow transcended its parts and was a beautiful, thoughtful film that haunts for many a day after. Like Boyle's 28 Days Later, this film featured Cillian Murphy, the most interesting young actor in films today.
Happy Holidays