Rowan Sullivan

481

Grand Piano

Film Difficulty Ranking: 1

I feel like a cheat. This film is technically a Spanish film, but lucky for you, it’s all in English and has a familiar face in Elijah Wood! So no arguments! Grand Piano features some great editing, some great music, and a load of tension. This thriller was what Whiplash director Damian Chazelle was doing before he became famous (he wrote the script for this one).

Why Watch Grand Piano?
  • You’ll be surprised at how tense a piano recital can be.
  • For a classic ‘break a leg’ pun-ending (if you watch it, you’ll see what I mean – no spoilers!)
  • You can’t text and drive, but this guy can text and play piano!
  • Did you like Whiplash? Try this!
The Breakdown

This film opens with some sexy shots of a curvy grand piano in all it’s sleekness. A group of men carry start moving a grand piano out of a big mansion (with a picture of our protagonist Tom with an old man on the side). They carefully move the piano into a removal van for shipping. Meanwhile Tom (our pianist) is on a plane flying into Chicago. He wishes the plane would crash. But his wish is not answered. He cannot escape playing at the concert.

After meeting his wife before the concert, Tom is alone for a lot of his screen-time. He is alone in the changing room whilst everyone else is getting into their positions. He is alone on the walk up to the piano, and he is alone at the piano, which is elevated over the rest of the orchestra. Tom is on an island and the director isolates him in the shots he features in. As a result, we can see his fear of repeating his previous failures. The stakes are also much higher when it’s just you. (The focus on Tom also allows Elijah Wood to have the whole lime-light).

Another effect to look out for is the director’s editing. It makes playing the piano look a lot more exciting than you think. If you want a comparison, go onto YouTube and search for a piano tutorial. Most of the time, it’s just an image of someone’s fingers playing (shot from above), or a side shot of the whole person. Rarely do they get any more exciting than that on YouTube. However, on the big screen, the cutting from Tom’s dancing fingers to his anxious face builds some Hitchcock-esque tension. (The big swivel shots could also be a metaphor for the swivels Tom’s head is going through).

Whilst the plot may not be to the liking of some, I thought it was an entertaining thrill ride. It serves as a perfect example of how to shoot a musician and a perfect option before or after you watch Whiplash. However, this is a Spanish film, so no marks for watching it. Grand Piano is pretty much a Hollywood film so come back and watch something like Embrace of the Serpent for a challenge next week!

 

482

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.

 

483

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!

 

 

484

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!

485

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”