Tag: 2012

Review: Ice Age 4 – Continental Drift

A frenetic experience for the little ones, the fourth entry in the popular franchise may leave everyone else out in the cold.

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Director: Steve Martino, Mike Thurmeier

Writers: Michael Berg, Jason Fuchs, Mike Reiss

Runtime: 94 minutes

Starring: Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary, Queen Latifah, Seann William Scott, Josh Peck, Keke Palmer, Chris Wedge, Peter Dinklage, Jennifer Lopez, Drake, Nicki Minaj

Distributor: Fox

Country: US

Rating (?): Rental For Sure (★★)

More info

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The original Ice Age was released back in 2002, a year when Disney struggled to find an audience for Treasure Planet, DreamWorks followed up the almighty Shrek with Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron and Pixar was between pictures. Into this void came upstarts Blue Sky Studios, spinning a celebrity-heavy tale set in prehistoric times. Blue Sky have been in the Ice Age business ever since, by way of Robots (2005), Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who! (2008) and Rio (2011), and Ice Age 4: Continental Drift marks the third sequel for the fading franchise.

Picking up several years after Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009), Scrat still hasn’t caught that acorn, and the results of his pursuit have literally torn the world apart. As the continents begin to drift, woolly mammoth Manny (Ray Romano) is separated from his wife Ellie (Queen Latifah) and rebellious daughter Peaches (Keke Palmer). Manny must once again join forces with sloth Sid (John Leguizamo) and sabre-tooth cat Diego (Denis Leary) to try to get back home, while battling prehistoric ape Captain Gutt (Peter Dinklage) and his gang of pirates.

The embattled animals have faced the world freezing, followed by global warming and the most frightening beast of all: anachronistic dinosaurs. Now they are forced to face another world shattering cataclysm, as the cold hard truth of monotony rears its ugly head. Falling back on the familiar ‘Ice Age Junior’ trope yields a directionless first act, dominated by Peaches and her yearning to break free of an overbearing dad. Indeed, this mostly goes nowhere until the final act, when an unlikely hero emerges. For the most part, the film veers from location to location, held together by the flimsy premise of ice pirates, but loses most of its charm in the process. The addition of the pirates adds a whole slew of new characters, but that just means less time is spent with the core group, and that has always been where the heart of the series is.

The animation is crisp, and the variety of locations allows for something more than the endless white of snow and ice, and this is undoubtedly the best looking entry in the series to date. Every hair is lovingly rendered, making for a stark contrast to the almost antiquated simplicity of the first entry. The film is at its visual best during the sub-plot of Scrat, but if we feel as though we have seen this all before, it’s because we have: the 2010 “short film” Scrat’s Continental Crack-Up serves as the opening sequence to this film, and the rest of the gags were seen as extended trailers in front of films over the course of the blockbuster season. It’s a disappointing and directionless entry that might have just enough laughs for the little ones, but never leaves shallow waters.

Ice Age 4: Continental Drift is released in Australia on 28 June 2012 from Fox. It is released in the US on 13 July 2012.

If you do see Ice Age 4: Continental Drift, get there early to see the terrific short Maggie Simpson in The Longest Daycare.

June 27, 2012
Review: Ted

The barrage of crude humour might be more than some can bear, but there’s a cuddly heart at the centre of this plush offering from Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane.

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Director: Seth MacFarlane

Writers: Seth MacFarlane, Alec Sulkin, Wellesley Wild

Runtime: 106 minutes

Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Seth MacFarlane, Mila Kunis, Giovanni Ribisi

Distributor: Universal

Country: US

Rating (?): Better Than Average Bear (★★★½)

More info

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After stealing the animated prime-time crown from the likes of The Simpsons and South Park, Seth MacFarlane‘s Family Guy was one of the few shows in history to get cancelled only to come back stronger than ever. Parlaying his multi-Emmy Award winning success into American Dad and Family Guy spin-off The Cleveland Show, creator MacFarlane tries his hand at directing a feature film with a wholly original creation, albeit born of the same comedic protoplasm as his television work.

After making a childhood wish for his teddy bear to come to life, the adult John Bennett (Mark Wahlberg) remains best friends with the ‘grown up’ Ted (voiced by Seth MacFarlane). However, as John’s relationship with girlfriend Lori (Mila Kunis) gets serious, tension mounts between the trio, with Lori feeling that Ted’s slacker ways are holding John back. It doesn’t help that the shifty Donny (Giovanni Ribisi) wants the talking bear all to himself.

As with his television outings, MacFarlane and his co-writers (Family Guy veterans Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild) use a loosely structured plot as an excuse to hurl an almost never-ending succession of gags at the audience, and this is just part of the charm of Ted. Narratively, we have been here before, with these two stoners needing to find some meaning in their life in the face of big bad society, and of course, this is done with a decent amount of references to 1980s cult-classic Flash Gordon. Yet Ted, both the character and the film, is undeniably charming, and the superior cast that accompanies the lovingly rendered CG bear bring their best to the material.

Wahlberg continues to prove his impeccable comedy chops, finding the same groove that he did with I Heart Huckabees (2004) and The Other Guys (2010) and reveling in his native Boston accent. At one point, Wahlberg rattles off a series of over forty “white trash names” with the same straight-laced sincerity he gives his Oscar-nominated roles, adding to the believability of this fantastical tale. Kunis is mostly perfunctory, serving largely as a minor antagonist, but the major villain in Ribisi is slimy and hilarious. His uncomfortable dance sequence will go down as one of the most memorable of the year, even amid a sea of cameos and rapid-fire one-liners.

Yet Ted is the centre of this story, and MacFarlance has infused him with Teddy Ruxpin cuteness and Peter Griffin sass. There are times when the story is sacrificed in favour of being “outrageous”, but it is all in the name of comedy. Ted is a fairy tale, and while it may be a long sketch wrapped up in a potty-mouthed wrapper, it is hard not to want to cuddle up with your thunder buddy at the end of this.

Ted is released in Australia on 5 July 2012 from Universal. It hits US cinemas on 29 June 2012.

June 26, 2012
Review: Maggie Simpson in The Longest Daycare

The first short film from The Simpsons harks back to the golden age of the show, and unexpectedly gives new life to an often overlooked member of the family.

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Director: David Silverman

Runtime: 5 minutes

Distributor: Fox

Country: US

Rating (?): Highly Recommended (★★★★)

More info

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After twenty-three years on the air, The Simpsons is far from being the fresh show it once was. This is partly due to new challengers to the animated crown, including the much edgier Family Guy and a whole suite of Adult Swim titles, but largely due to the inability of any show to sustain its quality as it forges on into its third decade in our homes. These days, The Simpsons is best taken in small doses, which is where this new theatrical short comes in. Playing in front of Ice Age 4: Continental Drift, the first of what we hope is a series of theatrical shorts reminds us of why we love animation and indeed, why cinema is magic.

The Longest Daycare sees Marge Simpson returning to the Ayn Rand School for Tots, last seen back in the 1992 episode “A Streetcar Named Marge”, to drop Maggie off for a few hours. After going through an intense security screening, it is determined that Maggie is of average intelligence and will not be joining the kids in the idyllic gifted room. Instead, she is plonked down with her nemesis Baby Gerald, better known as the ‘Unibrow Baby’. Gerald takes great pleasure in squashing butterflies, so when Maggie spies a caterpillar ready to cocoon, she goes to great lengths to protect it.

Veteran Simpsons director, and helmer of the 2007 full-length The Simpsons Movie, David Silverman has used the twin arts of animation and 3D to create a short silent classic. Without a single line of dialogue over its four-and-a-half minutes, we go on an epic odyssey with one of the family’s least outspoken characters. Maggie stories don’t often get much light in the television show, simply because she is difficult to sustain over 20 minutes, but in the abbreviated format of the short film, Maggie becomes the cinema star she was always destined to be. Like the silent movies of yesteryear, 2011’s The Artist notwithstanding, Silverman recognises the inherent comedy in action rather than words. The focus on a single character is reminiscent of the classic Disney or Looney Toons shorts, and we hope this means more Maggie, Homer or even Bart ‘toons to come.

The animation is beautiful, with butterflies a focus of the narrative. The fluid movements are noticeably more nuanced and richer than their television counterparts, making us wish for a second theatrical outing for our favourite yellow people. This is also the first time we have seen The Simpsons in 3D, with the 2007 feature proudly being in glorious 2D. The added dimension seamlessly ads depth to a previously flat world, although with The Simpsons there is usually so much going on it wouldn’t matter what dimension it is in. Go in, laugh hard and welcome a new age of The Simpsons! It might be worth the price of admission into Ice Age alone.

Maggie Simpson in The Longest Daycare is released with Ice Age 4: Continental Drift in Australia on 28 June 2012 from Fox. It is released in the US on 13 July 2012.

June 25, 2012
SFF 2012 Review: Jeff, Who Lives at Home

The brothers Duplass look for the signs and hit all the right markers in this charming and funny taken on life beginning at thirty.

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Director: Jay Duplass, Mark Duplass

Writer(s): Jay Duplass, Mark Duplass

Runtime: 83 minutes

Starring: Jason Segel, Ed Helms, Susan Sarandon, Judy Greer

Festival: Sydney Film Festival 2012

Distributor: Paramount

Country: US

Rating (?): Better Than Average Bear (★★★½)

More info

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There has been a gradual shift in coming of age films over the last few decades, with the genre no longer the domain of love-struck teens and children of impoverished backgrounds. Perhaps indicative of a generation of people who don’t have to make major life decisions until they are entering their fourth decade of existence, but the films have increasingly become the playground of middle-class thirty-somethings experiencing early mid-life crises. A marker of a generation who never had to grow up through any major social disaster, Jeff, Who Lives at Home is a character study formed in this mindset, but also a showcase for some fine acting talent.

Brothers Jay and Mark Duplass, who have become de facto ambassadors of the emerging “Mumblecore” aesthetic through films such as Cyrus, bring their stylistic leanings to more mainstream fare. Jeff (Jason Segel), as the title would imply, is a 30-something year old man who still lives in his mother Sharon’s (Susan Sarandon) basement. Obsessed with the M. Night Shyamalan film Signs (2002), Jeff waits for the universe to send him a message, which he believes he finds when he receives a wrong number phone call for ‘Kevin’. Meanwhile, Sharon deals with a potential secret admirer at work, and Jeff’s brother Pat (Ed Helms) goes through his own mid-life crisis with the purchase of a Porsche, and problems with his wife Linda (Judy Greer).

For a style of film that is known for its lo-fi, laid-back attitude, the Duplass brothers manage to infuse their film with an unexplained energy that carries it to its illogical, magical conclusion. This is mostly Segel’s film, and while the roles he has written for himself have begun to fall into a comfortable rhythm (especially The Five Year Engagement), the Duplass siblings recognise how adorkable he is to audiences. Described as a “Sasquatch” in the film, the film takes full advantage of his giant teddy bear charm, allowing audiences to suspend disbelief for some of the more obvious emotionally manipulative elements of the screenplay. He may be considered the social outcast by his family, but like Jesse Peretz’s Our Idiot Brother (2011), he sees more truth than the allegedly ‘adult’ characters.

Susan Sarandon effortlessly slips into this world, her uptight worries about her flirtatious co-worker/stalker suggestive of the upbringing Jeff and Pat must have had. Similarly, Helms sticks out like a sore thumb, but that’s kind of the point. He’s arrogant, blinkered to his wife’s unhappiness and scornful of Jeff’s philosophy, but Jeff, Who Lives at Home is about his enlightenment just as much as it is Jeff’s. It’s ultra-twee in parts, and even those who go with the flow might have trouble with some of the incredible coincidences that lead to the climax, but this gentle musing on life is a reminder to stop and smell the roses.

Jeff, Who Lives at Home played at the Sydney Film Festival in June 2012. It’s currently available on DVD and Blu-ray in the US.

June 22, 2012
SFF 2012 Review: The Angels’ Share

Ken Loach finds light at the end of the barrel in an often hilarious and surprisingly warm take on the heist genre.

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Director: Ken Loach

Writer(s): Paul Laverty

Runtime: 101 minutes

Starring: Gary Maitland, Jasmin Riggins, John Henshaw, Paul Brannigan, Roger Allam, Siobhan Reilly, William Ruane

Festival: Sydney Film Festival 2012

Distributor: TBA

Country: UK

Rating (?): Highly Recommended (★★★★)

More info

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Veteran filmmaker Ken Loach isn’t known for his lighthearted films. His characteristically slate grey realism has explored class and other social issues over his forty something years in the business. This is not to say that his films have been without levity, but the shifts in tone tend to be of the comic-tragic type. Which is why The Angels’ Share, arriving on the back of a Prix du Jury win at Cannes this year, begins appropriately enough with a beleaguered life on its last chance. His path to a new hope comes from a completely unexpected place, and as such, the comedy can be found within genuine situations and characters.

Once again reuniting with Scottish lawyer turned screenwriter Paul Laverty, the latest of about a dozen collaborations between the dream team, Loach and Laverty’s almost-lost cause is Robbie, played by newcomer Paul Brannigan. After narrowly avoiding a prison sentence, despite a history of violent crimes, expectant father Robbie is sent to community service. His girlfriend Leonie (Siobhan Reilly) goes into labour, but he finds it difficult to escape the cycle of violence. Kindly community service manager Harry (John Henshaw) takes a shine to Robbie, sharing with him his passion for whisky. Harry takes Robbie and his co-workers – Mo (Jasmin Riggins), Rhino (William Ruane) and Albert (Gary Maitland) – on a field-trip to the distillery, where Robbie is revealed to have a nose for the product. So begins a grand plan to change their fates.

The so-called “Angels’ share” refers to the unexplained alcohol that disappears during the distillation process. After meeting collector Thaddeus (Roger Allam), Robbie’s fascination leads him to wanting his own share of the profits. Thus what begins as a bleak forecast set against the downtrodden social strata in Scotland, rapidly shifts to a heist film, one where the stakes are the very futures of these men and women. The transition in direction is like a ray of white hope that shoots through the centre of the picture, setting itself apart from the slick distant cousins of the Oceans Eleven films. As the group sets off on their journey, The Proclaimers “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” serves as an unofficial anthem. It might be goofy and obvious, but Loach and Laverty are making no secret here of the positive vibes they are striving for.

The cast of largely non-professional actors are endearing, not immediately, but it is striking how quickly they work their way into our comfort zones. Many of the troubles of the first half of the film are almost conveniently forgotten once the caper takes flight, but this too is indicative of the upbeat central message. Sitting somewhere between Ealing Studios comedies and The Full Monty, the politics might be light, but they are no less clear: sometimes all people need is a second chance, and something to strive for. That alone is like a shot in the arm, or better yet, a shot of whisky.

The Angels’ Share played at the Sydney Film Festival in June 2012.

June 21, 2012
Review: Snow White and the Huntsman

Borrowing from virtually every fantasy film of the last thirty years, Rupert Sanders’ debut is the lesser of the Snow White films out this year.

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Director: Rupert Sanders

Writer(s): Evan Daugherty, John Lee Hancock, Hossein Amini

Runtime: 127 minutes

Starring: Kristen Stewart, Chris Hemsworth, Charlize Theron, Ian McShane, Bob Hoskins, Nick Frost, Eddie Marsden, Ray Winstone, Toby Jones

Distributor: Universal

Country: US

Rating (?): Rental For Sure (★★)

More info

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It’s a Hollywood certainty that serendipity comes in twos, from the great Iron Eagle/Top Gun face-off of ’86 through to the Deep Impact/Armageddon explosiveness of 1998. With the current box office caché in the realms of fantasy and swordplay, it was only a matter of time before fairy tales became all the rage again. Following Tarsem Singh’s Mirror Mirror by only a matter of months, and the Walt Disney animated classic Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs by a mere 75 years, commercial director Rupert Sanders attempts to take this simple morality tale and spin it into an action epic.

Grimm’s tales were always fairly dark, but Snow White and the Huntsman takes it up a notch, standing in stark contrast to the brightly lit Mirror Mirror. This Snow White (Kristen Stewart) has been imprisoned in a tower since the beautiful and wicked Ravenna (Charlize Theron) murdered her father and took the crown for herself. The land has become impoverished and decayed, but when Snow White escapes from her prison and into the dark woods, the Queen realises that she is the key to her eternal youth and power. She sends the one man who knows his way around the enchanted forests: Eric (Chris Hemsworth), a drunken Huntsman lamenting his dead wife.

The three screenwriters on Snow White and the Huntsman – Evan Daugherty, John Lee Hancock and Hossein Amini – have some decent credentials between them, not least of which is Amini’s Drive for Nicolas Winding Refn. Yet even they can’t seem to come to any agreement on a narrative direction. Cherry-picking from The NeverEnding Story, the Chronicles of Narnia and a bit of Tolkien for good measure, Sanders tries to tack on a mighty battle to what should be a fairly straight story. Sanders inexperience with features is evident in the clumsy shooting of almost every action sequence, a series of close-ups that obscures the bigger picture and anything else that might be happening. This disturbing trend in modern action pervades the film, with Sanders aping style without the corresponding knowledge of how to execute it.

Not helping much are the thinly drawn characters, and Stewart’s limited range can only do so much with such meek food to feed it. The attempt to give a modern twist to the ill-fated heroine, but the emo-friendly Stewart doesn’t have the presence to command an army. Hemsworth and Theron are far more compelling, but both are reduced to shouting matches and mugging the camera in place of real emotion. Some strengths lie in the introduction of the seven dwarfs, who include digitally shrunken versions of Ian McShane, Bob Hoskins, Nick Frost, Eddie Marsden, Ray Winstone and Toby Jones in their number. A feature could have been struck around this goldmine of talent, but instead they are relegated to supporting players at best, and comic relief at worst. It also bears asking: on what planet Stewart is considered “fairer” than Theron?

The film is otherwise beautifully dressed, with the lavish costumes by the multiple Oscar-winning Colleen Atwood. The mirror on the wall is also one of the most innovative to date, and the creature effects are impressive. Yet despite this surface sheen, of all the Snow White films this year, Snow White and the Huntsman is not the fairest of them all, lacking the fun and sparkle of its competitor and in dire need of some direction.

Snow White and the Huntsman is released in Australia on 20 June 2012 from Universal.

June 21, 2012
SFF 2012 Review: Side By Side

An insightful and candid investigation into the film versus digital debate, one with no clear winners but a lots of strong opinions from industry heavyweights.

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Director: Chris Kenneally

Writer(s): Chris Kenneally

Runtime: 99 minutes

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Lena Dunham, Greta Gerwig, Richard Linklater, George Lucas, David Lynch, Donald McAlpine, Christopher Nolan, Wally Pfister, Robert Rodriguez, Martin Scorsese, Steven Soderbergh, Lars Von Trier

Festival: Sydney Film Festival 2012

Distributor: TBA

Country: US

Rating (?): Highly Recommended (★★★★)

More info

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By the 1990s, the consumerisation and improved workflows associated with digital video heralded it as something of a democratic liberation for emerging filmmakers. While earlier debates on the format could easily be solved by its visible inferiority to film, developments in digital cinema have polarised the industry. The question is increasingly not one of whether filmmakers should convert to digital, but when they should. Spinning out of this is the broader idea of whether something should be done just because it can, and what impact does digitisation have for the longevity of the medium. Under the guidance of documentarian Chris Kenneally, actor and producer Keanu Reeves talks to some of the biggest names in film to find out what the current state of play is.

Side By Side demonstrates that the argument is at its height, and despite technical arguments for digital’s superiority, many of the players react on gut instinct. One of film’s biggest proponents in the film camp is blockbuster director Christopher Nolan, who together with regular cinematographer Wally Pfister, make a strong case for the “feel” of film and why they see it as the superior format. Big players George Lucas and James Cameron naturally declare film “dead”, with film no longer able to keep up with the vision of their productions.

By taking these arguments and placing them side by side, it’s evident that not everybody is excited by the switch to digital, even though it represents a new way of telling stories for people. David Lynch, in some of the more unintentionally hilarious moments in the film, tells Keanu not to quote him, but he’s probably through with film due to the immediacy of digital. For Robert Rodriguez, it’s about creating worlds he could never achieve on film, such as with Sin City. Lena Dunham, indie filmmaker and star of TV’s Girls, argues that she never would have attempted to make Tiny Furniture if she hadn’t had access to rough and ready technology like the Canon 5D consumer level cameras.

The strengths of the documentary lie in its impartiality (to a point), allowing an impressive ensemble of filmmakers to discuss their choices. Steven Soderbergh, actress Greta Gerwig, Richard Linklater, Andy and Lana Wachowski, Australian cinematographer Donald McAlpine, Vilmos Zsigmond and Lars Von Trier are just some of the names that Kenneally has assembled, and for the most part they are allowed to be frank and passionately honest about their thoughts on the digital revolution. Coupled with some hand info-graphics and set visits to explain how this will change the way films are made, Reeves’ access to this level of talent, and his own involvement in the interviews, makes for far more provocative discussions than one would expect.

Side By Side doesn’t come to any startling conclusions, but it offers up a series of arguments. While Steven Soderbergh suggests that he wants to call up film and tell it that he’s met someone else, Martin Scorsese, the person to refer to for all things, is more pragmatic: “The issue is it’s different. How is it different, and how do you use it to tell a story? It’s up to the filmmaker”.

Side By Side played at the Sydney Film Festival in June 2012.

June 20, 2012
SFF 2012 Review: Our Homeland

The fallout from a darker chapter of Japanese-Korean relations is explored in an intimate drama about a family torn apart by borders.

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Director: Yang Yong-Hi

Writer(s): Yang Yong-Hi

Runtime: 82 minutes

Starring: Sakura Ando, Arata, Yang Ik-June

Festival: Sydney Film Festival 2012

Distributor: TBA

Country: Japan

Rating (?): Worth A Look (★★★)

More info

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From 1959, the North Korean government implemented a policy of repatriation of Korean nationals living in Japan, promising them freedom from oppression and a better way of life. Welcomed by the US ambassador to Japan at the time, Douglas MacArthur II, who saw the ethnic minority of Koreans in Japan as “communists” and “criminals”, the policy officially lasted for over two decades. Those who went to North Korea could not expect to return, and even recently only small groups of Japanese were allowed to leave North Korea for temporary visits. Osaka born Yang Yong-Hi, a second-generation North Korean Japanese woman, has been frank about her dual identity in the documentary Dear Pyongyang (2005), and the time she spent with her family in North Korea in Sona, the Other Myself (2010).

In Our Homeland, Son-Ho (Arata) is permitted to return to Japan to visit his family for the first time in twenty-five years to receive three months of medical treatment. Son-Ho took some poor family advice to repatriate to North Korea when he was sixteen, and his return is only the result of his family’s lengthy efforts in the local Korean-Japanese Association. Accompanied by the ever-present Mr. Yang (Yang Ik-June), ensuring that his ‘Comrade’ does not succumb to the perils of the West, Son-Ho struggles to reconnect with his sister Rie (Sakura Ando) and his family, knowing he can never fully be a part of their lives.

Just as Son-Ho can never be fully comfortable with his impermanent life in Japan, viewers of Our Homeland can never fully settle into its soap-like rhythm. Son-Ho himself shuffles through the film almost wordlessly, with much of the dramatic tension existing between Rie and Mr. Yang. Indeed, this is very much Sakura Ando’s film, a stand-in for Rie perhaps, as the film rapidly shifts its focus from Son-Ho to Rie. As a result, it is difficult to get a handle on who the emotional tent-pole of the film is, and Mr. Yang becomes by far the most interesting character. When not tailing the family, we catch glimpses of him enjoying women dancing on television, but he never publicly drops his facade.

Often drearily shot, to convey the impending sadness that awaits this party-faithful family, there is an emotional distance that exists within Our Homeland. This is equally true of the family themselves, but what Yang does manage to achieve is a great deal of unspoken emotion within this small window in time. When it finally does explode, it is brief and also contained. Ultimately, this illuminates a very real issue that still exists for many families, with North Korean unwilling to provide the exact number and names of Japanese still surviving in the country.

Our Homeland played at the Sydney Film Festival in June 2012.

June 19, 2012
SFF 2012 Review: Valley of Saints

One of the winners of the Alfred P. Sloan Prize at Sundance, Musa Syeed’s transition to features is an insightful and often tender film set against the harsh realities of northern India.

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Director: Musa Syeed

Writer(s): Musa Syeed

Runtime: 82 minutes

Starring: Gulzar Bhat, Neelofar Hamid, Afzal Sofi

Festival: Sydney Film Festival 2012

Distributor: TBA

Country: India, US

Rating (?): Highly Recommended (★★★★)

More info

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The beautiful Dal Lake provides the backdrop for Musa Syeed’s first narrative feature , having previously delivered non-fiction documentaries. Syeed, whose parents both hail from Kashmir, uses the land where his mother and father first met to portray an unconventional love story amidst great political turmoil. The dichotomy of this delicate ecosystem of the lake as contrasted with the delicate political balance in northern India is a straightforward one, but Sayeed allows himself and his audience the time to soak in the surrounds and make Dal Lake home for however brief a time.

Gulzar (Gulzar Bhat) is a boatman on the Lake, who spends his days taking tourists to see the various sights around the region. Sick of a life of near poverty in a shack with his uncle, he plans to flee the area with his friend Afzal (Afzal Sofi). However, their plans are interrupted when the nearby city of Srinagar is put under military curfew, leaving them with only the lake as their arena. Gulzar’s neighbour asks him to look after guests on his houseboat, which introduces him to a young Kashmiri-American woman Asifa (Neelofar Hamid), studying the pollution in the lake. As a tentative romance blossoms, tension arises between the two friends.

Drawing on his documentary background, Syeed makes the most of the natural surroundings to shoot this visually stunning and often quite tranquil film. His romance of sorts is not a conventional one, or at least one that Western audiences will not be familiar with. Gulzar and Asifa, played by non-professional actors, rarely spend any moments alone together, and there is a sense of inevitability to Gulzar’s destiny. Indeed, this romance doesn’t come close to being requited, rather being one of mutual fascination, partly sparked by the setting they inhabit. At any moment, the violence that keeps them on the lack threatens to interrupt their lives.

There is a rare intimacy to Valley of Saints that can only be achieved through Syeed’s rare combination of documentary closeness and refreshingly honest actors who seem to grow together as we watch them. This is true of the two male leads as much as it is of the romantic coupling. The unexpected inclusion of the environmental message emphasises just how fragile the balance is in this part of the world, when the life-giving water is polluted by those using it as their source of livelihood , illuminating just what can happen when the status quo is threatened. Indeed, Syeed has managed to subtly weave this same message through the romantic and political elements as well, so that Valley of Saints is a deceptively simple and pretty film masquerading as much more.

Valley of Saints played at the Sydney Film Festival in June 2012.

June 18, 2012
Review: Brave

Beautifully animated, Pixar’s first female protagonist lacks a clear antagonist, and struggles to find the right pace for its first steps into princess territory.

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Director: Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman

Writers: Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman, Steve Purcell, Irene Mecchi

Runtime: 95 minutes

Starring: Kelly Macdonald, Emma Thompson, Billy Connolly

Distributor: Disney

Country: US

Rating (?): Worth A Look (★★★)

More info

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Since Disney bought Pixar back in 2006, the pioneers in digital animation have done a fantastic job in maintaining their own identity, and with the exception of the Cars films, have continued their flawless record for producing entertainment that delights all ages. Yet one area they have never matched Disney with is the creation female leads, something the House of Mouse has been interested in since their very first films. The Princess and the Frog and Tangled, Disney’s two most recent original creations, have delivered strong female roles, and Pixar is making a very conscious statement with Brave. Ironically, it winds up feeling like an imitator of the Disney style, rather than an industry leader.

Brave‘s screenplay comes with a good pedigree, and includes co-directors Mark Andrews (Spider-man), Brenda Chapman (Beauty and the Beast), Irene Mecchi (The Lion King) and the off-beat Steve Purcell (Sam & Max) added for good measure. From this team comes Merida (voiced by Kelly Macdonald), a young Scottish princess who has always been more interested in archery than her royal obligations. Her father, the mighty bear fighting King Fergus (Billy Connolly), encourages this boisterousness, but her mother Elinor (Emma Thompson) struggles to get her to behave like a “proper lady”. When the various leaders of the kingdom compete for Merida’s hand in marriage, she takes grasps her own fate, and ultimately unleashes a curse that literally threatens to change the destiny of everyone.

What is immediately striking for most of Brave is its glacial pacing, and this less-than-frenetic speed is change in direction for the typically rapid-fire medium. Much of this comes from the lack of a clear antagonist for Merida, short of her own pride and the legend of a largely unseen bear. Merida herself is vastly underwritten, an amalgam of rebellious teen with little more than plaintive cries of “Mum!” every few minutes. She serves as the story’s central figure, but commands little more presence than simply being the character who appears most frequently. Indeed, much of the first act feels more like a pilot for a television series, setting up a series of characters that don’t pay off later.

The introduction of Merida’s toddler triplet siblings adds little to the thin story, short of a series of food related gags that signal a series of short films that will inevitably turn up on one of Disney’s other outlets. That many of these people are actually Scottish clichés, particularly the various chieftains and their sons being reduced to a series of kilt jokes and “wee nekked babies”, simply adds insult to injury. The disappointment of this slow setup continues as the second half of the film is rushed to a conclusion, aping Disney’s own Tangled and more specifically the lesser-seen Brother Bear (2003) in the process. Indeed, it could be argued that Brave owes as much to that film as it does Scottish legend.

Yet this is undoubtedly one of the most beautifully animated Pixar films to date, and it will be easy to overlook many of the plot deficiencies for the gaping holes that all the jaw-dropping will induce. Every film seems to push the boundaries of a particular set of animated physics, and with Brave it is human hair that’s been taken to the next level. The effortless movement of the characters is far more naturalistic than we have ever seen before, and Scotland’s landscapes have provided inspiration for stunning backdrops that rival any other to date.

At its heart, and there is still a great deal of it in Brave, Pixar tackles the mother-daughter relationship reasonably well in the final acts. However, it is far too little too late, having never properly established Merida in the first place. For all of this family friendliness, this might also be one of Pixar’s scariest films to date, especially as bears clash is a wordless brawl that sidelines everybody else. Brave is by no means a low-point for Pixar, but despite legitimate rivals in DreamWorks and Disney itself, it feels like their most complacent effort to date.

Brave is released on 21 June 2012 in Australia from Disney. It is released in the US on 22 June 2012.

June 18, 2012