Rowan Sullivan

481

Hunt for the Wilderpeople

Image resultFilm Difficulty Ranking: 1

Hunt for the Wilderpeople is a classic comedy. This film from New Zealand is like a Little Miss Sunshine, an indie gem that you’d be missing out on if you didn’t watch it. Fronted by Sam Neill (Jurassic Park) and newcomer Julian Dennison, who is unforgettable. Do yourself a favour – go have a laugh and watch this movie.

Why Watch Hunt for the Wilderpeople?
  • You like a good laugh
  • To learn how to survive in the ‘bush’
  • For a few homages to Lord of the Rings
  • You want to find out how director Taika Waititi followed up What We Do In The Shadows
  • #rickybaker
The Breakdown

Hunt for the Wilderpeople starts with some beautiful helicopter shots of the New Zealand landscape (think Lord of the Rings). After the landscape shots we follow a police car driving along a trail into the forest. In the back sits a chubby kid in colourful baggy clothing. They stop outside a wooden house in the middle of nowhere and a homely looking older woman gives the young kid a big hug. The social security leave this ‘dangerous’ kid with this woman and leave.

Hunt for the Wilderpeople is a film which is made by the characters. There are some classic one-liners that you’ll love. (I’ll only spoil their impact if I write them here). Also, there’s a lot of characters too silly to find in other movies such as Psycho Sam. Plus, you’ll be singing about Ricky Baker when the credits start rolling.

The director also parodies scenes from other films to add to the comedic value. What is a parody?

A parody is an imitation of the style of a particular writer, artist, or genre with deliberate exaggeration for comic effect.

In this film Waititi recreates a scene from Lord of the Rings in which Frodo and the hobbits hide under a tree trunk as a black rider stops and rides on past them. As per the definition above, Waititi deliberately exaggerates the imitation for comedic effect. I also got a kick out of the little homage to Lord of the Rings. There are plenty of other examples of this in the film so see if you can spot them and the film they are parodying.

Well, I really wish I could have done this film justice but I’m just going to have to settle for the hope that you aren’t put off by this review and go watch it regardless. If you can’t be asked to pay for the cinema, then watch one of Waititi’s other films, What We Do In the Shadows on Netflix instead.

 

482

Omar

Film Difficulty Ranking: 2

Omar reminded me of a Shakesperian-esque epic. He fights for love and carries the patriotism of Palestine, but for what? Think of a Mexican drug-war thriller like Heli, Miss Bala, or even a film like Zero Dark Thirty shot from the other side and you will be getting close to the kind of film that Omar is. There’s no drugs in Omar, but there is one man fighting for normality whilst dealing with the expectation that he must fight for his people.

Why Watch Omar?
  • Learn a little bit about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from a Palestinian.
  • Romantic love vs. Patriotism – which would you choose?
  • It was nominated for an Academy Award!
  • It was even screened at the United Nations = must be important!
The Breakdown

Omar starts with a man standing by a large concrete wall watching cars pass by. As soon as the cars on the road disappear he climbs up a long rope attached to the concrete wall. As he reaches the top gun shots fly by him and he drops down quickly on the other side. He made it but his hands are bloodied from the rope burns. He disappears into the streets to dodge any potential chasers.

The tension in Omar is always present. You never know when Omar is going to be chased. He never has complete freedom as the Israeli police are always watching his and everybody else’s actions. Right from the start, the great big West Bank Wall obstructs his freedom of passage from the place he lives to where his girlfriend goes to school. Later in the film, as the pressure mounts on Omar, he struggles to actually climb the wall – showing the extra limits on the already limited freedom he already had. This wall, and Omar’s relation to it, symbolise the oppression of Omar and the Palestinian people.

Another thing to watch out for are the billboards and messages that appear in the background of some of the scenes. One of the billboards has a happy looking commercial for something or other with the words ‘Planting Hope’. Other billboards carry similar positive messages which the director has planted in the background to dramatically contrast with the oppressed Palestinians. The Israeli billboards mark the difference between what the Israelis can do and what the Palestinians cannot. Just like the Wall, they are symbols of the lack of freedom for the Palestinian people.

This is an important film for everyone to watch – plus it’s available on Netflix. So, what are you waiting for? Watch this one now!

 

 

483

Ip Man

Film Difficulty Ranking: 2

Ip Man is the honourable Chinese version of a Arnold Schwarzenegger or Sylvester Stallone. He has his own one-liners, develops his own enemies, and has some sweet martial arts moves. Best of all, Ip man isn’t even a fictional character! This Martial Arts treat is definitely worth a watch!

Why Watch Ip Man?
  • You like Martial Arts action (obvious choice).
  • See a possible casting choice for the next Expendables movie?
  • What happened to China in the Second World War? Find out here.
  • For montages like Rocky and some top-notch action scenes.

The films opens with a brief look at Ip Man practising Kung-Fu at home instead of attending a Kung-Fu competition in his local town. Unsatisfied with the quality of the challengers, one of the Kung-Fu leaders goes to visit Ip Man to challenge Ip Man to a secret fight. Ip Man’s wife seems pretty annoyed, but Ip Man assures her “it won’t take long”. Sure enough, Ip Man beats up the top Kung-Fu fighter in town with ease. Someone even ends up seeing the fight and tells the whole town about it to the annoyance of Ip Man and the local Kung-Fu leader.

There are two groups of enemies that Ip Man and his community encounter in this film. First there is a group from the north of China looking for people to bully. Later, there is the Japanese occupiers that suppress the Chinese population during World War Two.

The group from Northern China appear shabby. They are poorly dressed, unshaven, and slurp their noodle soup. As a result, the Southern Chinese seem more civilised and clean in comparison to their Northern neighbours. Maybe this director from Hong Kong still holds some grudges against mainland China in stereotyping these bandits.

Secondly, the Japanese come and disrupt the Southerners way of life. Their occupation is shown in the cinematography of the film, as the wide range of colours in the early part of the movie (reds, greens, browns) are switched for a lot of grey. The film looks more like a black and white movie at some points! The director uses this colour switch to emphasise the hardship and poverty under the Japanese occupation.

In addition to his portrayals of Southern China’s enemies, Director Wilson Yip has a load of incredible action scenes. The speed of the fights and clarity of the actors moves are truly awesome. It is like watching a beautiful ballet. Just pay attention to the fights as it must have taken a lot of takes and rehearsing to get all these moves perfect.

If you’re into action and/or martial arts, give this one a watch!

484

Agora

Film Difficulty Ranking: 1

Agora is an epic. It’s The Imitation Game meets Gladiator – there’s celebration of an unknown heroine with plenty of Roman drama to keep you stuck in your seats. There is religion, violence, and philosophy. Plus for all you subtitle haters this ones for you, it’s all in English with great performances from Rachel Weisz and Oscar Isaac (before he was famous) to go with it!

Why Watch Agora?
  • Do you hate slavery, sexism, racism and/or violence? Then watch this film!
  • Wondering where all the female leads are in Ancient epics? Well there’s one here!
  • To time travel back to Roman controlled Egypt!
  • For a romantic flute solo.

Agora opens with the Earth and the stars. From the stars, we descend to earth to enter one of Hypatia’s lectures in 4th century Egypt. She is conducting a lecture on the centre solar system. One wily student suggests that the Earth is not the centre of the universe, to which one of the Christians takes offence, for how can the Earth, the kingdom of God, not be at the centre.

Whilst you might not find this description truly gripping, I promise these opening set the scene for some BIG confrontations!!

Without spoiling too much, Director Alejandro Amenabar exploit mass movement to emphasise the battle scenes. The large casts during the battle scenes show power in ways that 20 people could not. When this massive cast starts moving, there is even more dramatic effect. Seen from above (aerial shots), we see masses of people running from one end of the screen to the other. The mass movement of these large casts emphasises the violence and mercilessness of the perpetrators in a way that a smaller cast could not replicate.

The aerial shots also play another part in the film. A few times the aerial shots of the streets in Egypt zoom out to the country, and then zoom further away showing the earth among the stars. This sequence is also shown in reverse, zooming into Egypt from the Earth and stars, before zooming in to see the streets of Alexandria. As well as being visually impressive, these sequences point out the insignificance of the battles of humanity relative to the universe. All throughout, the Earth remains unchanged as do the stars surrounding us. This supports the directors bias for our astrologer/philosopher Hypatia whose life is dedicated towards our understanding of the universe. (or maybe I’m just seeing it through my own tinted glasses).

Anyway, I strongly recommend this film for those with any interest in the rise of religion or the Roman Empire in Egypt. You should also watch this film to see a woman celebrated for her academic research. Over 1,500 years later, we still haven’t reached true equality.

“You don’t question what you believe… I must”

 

485

It’s Such A Beautiful Day

Film Difficulty Ranking: 2

I have to admit, I had never heard of Don Hertzfeldt or It’s Such A Beautiful Day before I saw this film recommended on MUBI. But, for all of those sceptical about the artistic quality of animation (do these people still exist?) this one is a must watch. Combining hand-drawings with philosophy musings, I am looking forward to watching more from this obviously talented director.

Why Watch It’s Such A Beautiful Day?
  • It’s in English – no subtitle allergic excuses here.
  • Evidence that even you could animate – all you need is a pencil and a camera.
  • To see the darkly funny life of Bill.
  • Animation at it’s most innovative and interesting.

It’s A Beautiful Day opens with a shot looking up at trees swaying in the breeze and clouds passing by. A narrative starts, introducing us to Bill, a stick-figure man, walking down the street. Bill recognises someone approaching him, but cannot remember his name. As they get closer, he still can’t find a name to match this familiar face. As they pass he jumbles his greeting, saying “how’s up?” and keeps walking. They awkwardly look around at the same time but keeping walking away from each other. Bill never saw him again.

Ahh! I’ve tried to give you a sample of the opening scene of this film but the comedy doesn’t translate too well. So go watch the film! Pretty sure it’s on Netflix!

This film is different from other animations, and other films for that matter, in that it has a narrator for the whole movie. Someone else is commentating on Bill’s life, which made me feel like an obvious observer, unlike the immersive “I feel like I’m there with them” approach. However, don’t be put off by this, as it really works for this film. The humour is amplified by our third person perspective as we can identify with Bill for the funny moments, and not be too immersed in the film to identify with Bill in the darker moments (allowing the dark comedy to exist).

The split screen elements are kind of cool too. The whole film is shot through little windows into Bill’s life (you’ll see what I mean when you start watching it). The windows represent Bill’s world; his hopes and happiness and his fears and worries. The windows expand with hope and happiness, and contract and split up when Bill faces problems. Outside art also makes appearances to exacerbate both his happiness and his negative emotions. In this way, Hertzfeldt effectively portrays the emotional ups and downs of a stick figure – creative guy!

My favourite scene was of Bill sitting on a bus as rain pours. He is framed in a centre window with four windows in each corner of the screen with different pictures of rain falling. The music reaches an emotional crescendo in this scene and really helps us feel Bill’s emotions. (Amazingly powerful considering Bill is just a little stick-figure).

I’d recommend this film to any fan of animation and any fan of listening and watching ordinary lives with a handful of philosophical thought. I hope that you, like I will be planning to watch some more Hertzfeldt after viewing this one!