On MYSTERIES OF LISBON
No 2011 film has impressed me quite as deeply as Raul Ruiz's MYSTERIES OF LISBON, an immense period epic concerned with memory, identity, and narrative. Story begets story in a four hour-long chain of incident, largely revolving around sexual sin and its fallout. While the story itself is quite old-fashioned, the filmmaking is nevertheless decidedly contemporary, continually exploring the effect point of view has on story. MYSTERIES ends in the only possible way it can, refusing definite resolution, but instead offering a last look into the past. The moment suggests that even with all its entanglements, secrets, and tragedies, the chain of events of human interaction creates a space where love--in this case, the love of and for a mother--can come into being.
On THE TREE OF LIFE
THE TREE OF LIFE is not so unlike MYSTERIES OF LISBON; the two films share similar concerns and have some similar motifs (particularly in the way the films conclude with images of mothers), as well as a decidedly strong Christian influence. THE TREE OF LIFE achieves its most transcendent moments when it centers on childhood, adolescence, and adult disillusionment, investing all these common moments with a rich, vital spirituality (in no small part thanks to the contributions of cinematographer Emanuel Luzbecki). But Malick too often strains towards more obvious displays of cosmic significance, trafficking in overblown visual metaphors, and the broader narrative of cosmic redemption is too vaguely sketched to challenge or inspire.
On MELANCHOLIA
Of all the films I've seen this year, none seem more unjustly praised than MELANCHOLIA, a tedious wallow in misery. Von Trier has an undeniable talent for striking imagery, as the glossy opening sequence demonstrates, but little worthy thought. A more tangible sense of the characters might have invested the film with some powerful emotion, but Von Trier's handling of his story is both too scattershot and too removed to effectively register the characters' despair. His nihilism is less deeply-felt than it is purely cynical.
On DRIVE
DRIVE is all swagger and adrenaline, powered by Nicolas Winding Refn's sense that anger is a kind of inexplicable, cosmic force (kudos for Michael Leary pointing out that element of Winding Refn's filmography over at Arts&Faith). That counts for something, as does Refn's Michael Mann-esque grasp of alienation and loneliness in Los Angeles. But the story's simplicity keeps DRIVE from being anything more than a slick exercise in genre conventions. In interviews, Refn suggested he wanted to treat the story as a fairytale, but he apparently forgot that the best fairytales are only deceptively simple, distilling tremendous insight into a single, striking episode.
On HUGO
No filmmaker working today is quite as enjoyable to listen to as Martin Scorsese, who is so contagiously jovial and passionate in all his discussions about film. It comes as little surprise, then, that the strongest moments of HUGO occur when the film leaves the forced attempts at childlike wonder and whimsy behind and gives itself over to displays of unadulterated cinephilia. As with the rest of Scorsese's work this decade, HUGO is terribly inconsistent, but nevertheless offers enough intriguing moments to be worthwhile.
4 comments:
Funny we tend to agree a little more these days, and over all things, Melancholia. Sad to see my guy slip up, but I have to say the ending (the final few seconds) was pretty phenomenal. Drive I pretty much wanted to forget the minute I left the theater. It just didn't resonate with me at all... Funny, too, that while I agree with your comments on The Tree of Life, it will probably end up as my favorite film of 2011.
The beginning and ending of MELANCHOLIA are aesthetically striking. He's fine when he's making music videos for Wagner. It's when he actually has characters running around and talking that he slips up. Bergman was able to instill even his bleakest, most despairing films with genuine human feeling. This feels like an exercise.
Given many of the films I've seen this year, THE TREE OF LIFE seems like a decent "Best Of" pic in comparison to many of the Oscar hopefuls. As much as I may want MYSTERIES OF LISBON to sweep the awards this year, that's just not gonna happen, and never was a real possibility.
Of course, I still have far too many films to see this year to reach a conclusion about its best efforts.
And I gotta say, it is nice to be on the same wavelength for once.
"DRIVE is all swagger and adrenaline"
No offense but I can't think of a more inappropriate summary of that tedious snore fest of wooden acting and zero emotion. Maybe this summarizes the secound half of the film when it becomes a tiresome blood bath. I was expecting something something like Bullet but coupled with the pseudo-80's techno music and sterile acting, DRIVE felt like Michael Mann's table scraps.
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