Freaked

Dir: Alex Winter, Tom Stern

1993

*****

Something terrible happened in the early 90s. Studios, who would quite happily let established directors piss money up the walls, suddenly lost their bottle. You have to look at the Coppola’s of the game, who over-ran on projects and made many a studio executive’s heart weak. They made a few masterpieces for sure, but their work ethic made studios nervous because it lost them money. It’s always about the money, which is understandable, but more and more studios couldn’t see beyond the money. Now I am surprised that 20th Century Fox went for the film quite as much as they did. Alex Winter and Tom Stern pitched the idea to 20th Century Fox and Joe Roth, the head of the studio at that time, loved the idea and offered the two a twelve million dollar deal to direct it, despite the fact that neither of them had any experience directing a major Hollywood film and had never even shot on 35mm film before. Freaked, originally called Hideous Mutant Freekz, was conceived around the time Winter and Stern had directed 1988's Bar-B-Que Movie, a short film starring and featuring the music of rock band Butthole Surfers. Winter, Stern and Surfers frontman Gibby Haynes began work on the first draft of the script, envisioning it as an obscene, ultra-violent horror film once again featuring the Butthole Surfers, costing around $100,000. The idea was, as Alex Winter put it, "Beach Blanket Bingo meets The Evil Dead". The two fished the script around to various studios for years, but to no avail. Following the end of production on Stern and Winter's MTV sketch comedy show The Idiot Box, staff writer Tim Burns was recruited to join the two in a number of rewrites. The film was completely revisioned, dropping the aspect of the Butthole Surfers entirely and turning it into a full comedy in the vein of the Monty Python and MAD Magazine-inspired humour that was present in The Idiot Box. Joe Roth loved it but signed them up on the condition that the film had to be rewritten and toned down to fit a PG-13 rating; therefore, most of the profanity was written out of the final draft to fit MPAA standards. Within a month of being picked up, the film began production. However, during filming, Joe Roth was fired as studio head by Rupert Murdoch and replaced with Peter Chernin, who didn't like the film nor the fact that twelve million dollars was being invested in it. It was perhaps a little premature of Roth to release a line of action figures, a novelization and, most notably, a comic book released by Hamilton Comics that was drawn before most of the casting was completed, so none of its characters looked anything like their real-life counterparts. Chernin cut the film's post-production budget, thus forcing a lot of the soundtrack (including a demo song that Iggy Pop had recorded for the closing credits) and special effects to be greatly cut down or eliminated altogether. The film's title was changed, as well, from the poorly received "Hideous Mutant Freekz" to the supposedly more accessible "Freaked", a title neither Winter nor Stern much cared for. After several poor test screenings, Fox chose to pull the film from a nationwide release and cut its advertising budget, leaving no money for commercials or newspaper ads. Despite initial positive critical response, the film opened in October 1993 on only two screens, making a mere $6,957 in its first weekend. It quickly dropped out of theatres, making less than $30,000 and becoming a box-office failure. It doesn’t take a genius to see that by trying to save money, the studio ended up loosing way more than they had to. The whole concept of test screening is utterly ridiculous. The film is amazing, a cult classic, although so few people have seen it it still isn’t the cult classic it deserves to be acknowledged as. It’s everything I love about the 90s. It begins with Skye Daley (Brooke Shields) as she is interviewing beloved former child star Ricky Coogin (Alex Winter). Rather bluntly, Skye asks how Ricky so quickly went from one of America's sweethearts to a name that makes children scream in terror. Ricky, completely in silhouette, begins his story. Ricky is shown accepting an endorsement contract from slimy mega-corporation E.E.S. (Everything Except Shoes) to promote "Zygrot 24", a toxic fertilizer, in South America. Although hesitant at first, the greedy, self-centered Coogin caves in after their sleazy CEO (William Sadler) offers him $5,000,000. Ricky travels immediately to the South American town of "Santa Flan" with his buddy Ernie (Michael Stoyanov). During their flight, the duo have a run-in with Ricky's 12-year old number one fan Stuey Gluck (Alex Zuckerman). Stuey begs Rick not to promote Zygrot 24 only to accidentally fall out of the plane. Once Ricky and Ernie arrive in Santa Flan, they cross paths with an angry group protesting Zygrot 24 and Ricky. In the group is environmentalist Julie (Megan Ward), who Ricky is instantly smitten with. The two con Julie into thinking they're also environmentalists (Ricky posing as a highly injured accident victim, his face covered in bandages) and she agrees to join them on a trip to another protest. However, she soon finds out their true identities and the three are stuck with each other for the rest of the drive. They decide to take a detour to see Freek Land, a local freak show only to wind up in the clutches of demented proprietor and mad scientist Elijah C. Skuggs (Randy Quaid) and his henchman, Toad (Jaime Cardriche). Utilizing his "Testy Freeks Machine", he merges Julie and Ernie into a single body and turns Ricky into a hideous green mutation. As Elijah has run out of Zygrot, only half of Ricky's body is mutated. Ricky meets the other freaks, including Ortiz the Dog Boy (an uncredited Keanu Reeves) Worm (Derek McGrath) a giant arthropod, Cowboy (John Hawkes) a literal anthropomorphic cow, the Bearded Lady (Mr. T in a dress) and Sockhead (Bobcat Goldthwait), who has a sock puppet for a head. Ricky has trouble adjusting to his new life as a freak, though he opens up when some of the other freaks recount how they were captured and disfigured by Elijah. During his first performance, Ricky foregoes his act (which inexplicably had him dressing like a caveman) and with some suggestions from Worm he performs a Shakespearean monologue which captivates the audience. Spotting his agent in the crowd, Ricky jumps off the stage hoping to be rescued, but flies into a murderous rage when the agent makes fun of him. Ricky tears his agent's head off and the crowd runs screaming into the night, with Elijah simply noting "that's what I call entertainment." The next day Ricky discovers to his horror that he is seeing a floating specter of Stuey. He angrily shoes Stuey's astral form away, but Cowboy states that only a pair of soulmates can have such a strong telepathic bond. After multiple failed attempts to sell the story to newspapers Stuey manages to sell Ricky's story to the Weekly World News, who will print anything, but ends up being captured by a group of shady businessmen that work for E.E.S. Ricky tries to escape by stealing the outfit of a milkman, only to be captured by Skuggs's gun-toting Rastafarian eyeball henchmen (literally giant eyeballs with Rastafarian accents and headwear) and brought before Elijah. Skuggs tells Ricky he plans to have him fully mutated into a blood-thirsty monster who will kill all the other freaks at the next show. On his way back to the freaks shed, he runs into the other freaks also making an escape attempt, and also dressed as milkmen. Ricky butts heads with Ortiz and the two fight until Ortiz is distracted by a squirrel and runs off, the Rasta eyeballs in pursuit. With Ortiz gone Ricky is named the new Freaks leader. Ricky and the freaks break into Skugg's lab to create a serum that will complete Ricky's mutation and have him kill Skuggs instead of the freaks. Ricky accidentally leaves the concoction in the lab, but finds a bag of tasty macaroons which the freaks enjoy. Ricky eventually finds out that Elijah's Zygrot suppliers are none other than E.E.S., who arrive at Freek Land with a shipment of Zygrot 24 and an imprisoned Stuey Gluck. As they discuss their plans to mutate the world's population into an race of E.E.S workers and consumers, Stuey follows a telepathic tip from Rick and manages to escape, grabbing the coffee can of mutation goo left behind by Ricky along the way. On the night of the show, Stuey appears with the batch of Zygrot only to have an annoyed biker dump it onto him, which turns him into a grotesque seven-foot monster. Stuey kills the biker and prepares to storm the stage and save Ricky. The Rasta eyeballs attempt to kill Stuey but he kicks dust into their eyes, blinding them. Toad tries to swallow Stuey only for Julie and Ernie to throw an M80 onto Toad's tongue which he swallows and promptly explodes. In response, Elijah infects Ricky with his own Zygrot, turning him into an equally grotesque seven-foot monster. As Ricky and Stuey battle to the death onstage, Elijah notices the E.E.S. executives trying to steal his equipment. Elijah stops them by soaking them with a Zygrot bazooka, mutating and merging them all into a giant, fleshy shoe. Right before Ricky is about to destroy Stuey, Cowboy reminds him that Stuey is his soulmate. A wave of compassion comes over him, and he gives Stuey a hug. Enraged, Elijah unsuccessfully tries to fight Ricky, who bashes him in the head, breaking his spine. Skuggs tries to get Ricky not to kill him by offering him the antidote for his mutation, telling him it was a time-delayed serum baked into a batch of macaroons. Ricky comments that he skimped on the sugar and punches Skuggs, sending him flying into the vat of Zygrot 24. An FBI task force arrives to save Ricky after having learned of Stuey's article. Skuggs suddenly reemerges from the Vat, having taken the form of Skye Daley. The FBI task force guns Skuggs/Skye down.Back at the interview, it's revealed that Ricky had turned back to normal (along with most of the other freaks, except for Worm, who hates Macaroons). They are then joined by Ortiz who has finally caught the squirrel and Stuey, still a giant super-freak. Skye comments on Elijah mutating to look like her, and Ricky realizes that Skye actually is Elijah. Skuggs lunges after Ricky with a machete, only to be gunned down by the now normal Julie. As she embraces Ricky, Skye rises again, this time to be gunned down by Ernie. Ricky and Julie kiss and everyone waves farewell to the audience until the film ends on a frozen shot of Skuggs once again rising up to attack Ricky. It was the ultimate film to me back in 1993. It had Bill & Ted, it had Brooke Shields, it had MR T!!! It is amazing John Hawkes had such a shining career after this. William Sadler, from Bill & Ted, was great and this was probably my favourite Randy Quaid performance of all time. I also think Bobcat Goldthwait’s Sockhead is the greatest character of all time and should have had his own film. Add to that the great music and the amazing special effects from the three best effects companies of the day: Tony Gardner's company Alterian, Inc., Steve Johnson's XFX, Inc., and Screaming Mad George's Studio and what you are left with is possibly the greatest example of early 90s counter-culture. This would have been a classic had it been given a proper release. The irony is that it would be a better known film had it been as bad as the studio thought it was. Films like Troll 2 are now official cult classics because they’re known as ‘best worst’ but Freaked doesn’t fall into that category. Freaked is the best, it’s just that not enough people know it.

Down to the Bone

Dir: Debra Granik

2004

****

I have to say I feel a little sorry for Debra Granik. Her 2004 feature debut should have put her on the map, and it did to some degree, but it will be remembered most for Vera Farmiga’s utterly compelling performance. Her 2010 follow up Winter’s Bone drew huge amounts of praise but again, it was the making of Jennifer Lawrence, rather than herself. I like to think people know her now after the brilliant Leave No Trace but who knows, either way, she’s a phenomenal director who deserves more credit. Visual flare aside, what really makes her a great director is her generosity and the way she allows each actor to flourish. This is why people remember the performances and the actors, rather than her, and its that kind of integrity that the industry needs more of. I’ve never directed a film, so that might sound condescending, but it annoys me because I think artists such as Granik are woefully overlooked, even though they make great film after great film. Down to the Bone tells the tale of Irene Morrison (Vera Farmiga), a working class mother of two boys, who lives in Upstate New York and works as a supermarket cashier. We learn early on that she is keeping a cocaine addiction a secret from her family. Much of the film is fly on the wall family stuff; her eldest son pesters her to buy him a pet snake for his birthday; her husband builds them a second bathroom; the marriage is largely sexless etc. On the night of Halloween, Irene takes her kids trick-or-treating and, at one of the houses they visit, she meets Bob (Hugh Dillon), a nurse, and there is a connection. The next day, Irene takes the kids to a reptile shop to buy a snake, but finds that they don't have enough money for one. While her boys wait in the car, Irene visits her dealer, asking him for another fix, but he refuses since she hasn't been paying for the last couple of weeks. At work, Irene contemplates taking money from the cash register. She then goes back to her dealer with Ben's birthday money given to her from her mother-in-law, but the dealer refuses to take it. We follow her day to day life as she juggles normal life with a clear craving for drugs. At a support meeting about cravings, she meets fellow addict Lucy (Caridad de la Luz), and befriends her. While at the facility, Irene again encounters Bob. Before she leaves, Bob visits with a book that helped him during his quitting phase, and offers her his support. At Irene's first Narcotics Anonymous meeting, a man celebrates one year of abstinence. In the following weeks, Irene finds it difficult to stay clean when her friends use drugs around her. One day at work, she is called into the manager's office. She is told her usual fast work has slowed and she admits her past drug, proclaiming it was the drugs that helped her work so quickly. Her honesty costs her and she is subsequently fired. Lucy suggests they start a cleaning business in order to gain money, to which Irene agrees. On the way to her next NA meeting, Irene offers to give Bob a ride and the pair begin an affair. Bob then takes her to a snake breeder so she can purchase one for Ben. The night the two become intimate, Bob excuses himself to the bathroom. Irene then walks in to find him shooting up. Furious at his hypocrisy, she argues with him, kicks him out but ends up using his drugs and the pair later reconcile. After taking drugs in Bob's car one night, the two are pulled over by the police. They are both arrested and detained when an officer finds a drug burner on the dashboard and a half-ounce of heroin. A lawyer briefs Irene on her best sentencing option: if she pleads guilty, she must commit to 50 individual counselling sessions, 100 group counselling sessions, and 250 NA meetings a year; he informs her that if she screws up, she'll be sentenced to several years incarceration in a state prison. When she arrives home, she admits her affair to Steve, who tells her to move out. Lucy gives her a place to crash, although she's angry with Irene for flaking out on a job. Irene eventually finds herself a house and gets some custody of her kids. After another of Irene's Narcotics meetings, Bob shows up to apologize for getting her caught up in his mess and subsequently avoiding her calls. Irene forgives him and he begins to stay at her house. Meanwhile, Bob is using, but intends to start going to support meetings again. His dealer tries to persuade him to sell some pills, but he refuses. Irene realizes he's been getting high by combining his prescribed methadone and other drugs, and as a result could endanger her kids; she confronts him and silently asks him to leave – the first step, we hope, of her full recovery. It’s a very gritty and realistic drama that shows that there is no glamour to drug addiction and many addicts lead normal lives. Addiction ruins families and relationships and makes bad people of good folk, and this is what Done to the Bone shows perfectly. Stark and powerful, as it should be.

Lemon Tree

Dir: Eran Riklis

2008

*****

Director Eran Riklis had covered personal relationships between Arabs and Middle Eastern Jews in his previous films The Syrian Bride and Cup Final, achieving widespread success in Israel as well as with international audiences. It’s safe to say expectations for his next film were high but when dealing with a story like Lemon Tree, he was always going to upset someone. I think it is an extraordinary film but even though Riklis says its not about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it clearly is and he shouldn’t shy away from the fact. That said, the end message is universal. The story begins when the Israeli Defense Minister Israel Navon (Doron Tavory) moves to a house on the border between Israel and the West Bank, with the building sitting on the Israeli side just next to the dividing line. The Israeli Secret Service views the neighboring lemon grove of Salma Zidane (Hiam Abbass), a Palestinian widow whose family has cared for the area for generations, as a threat to the minister and his wife. The security forces soon set up a guard post and a fence around the grove. They then obtain an order to uproot the lemon trees. Salma feels isolated given that her son has moved to Washington, D.C. and her daughters are now married. The local village elder Abu Kamal (Makram Khoury) advises her to give in, but Salma decides to work with the young lawyer Ziad Daud (Ali Suliman). They take their case all the way to the Supreme Court. All the while Mira Navon (Rona Lipaz-Michael), the minister's wife, sympathizes with Salma as she watches her from over the fence. The court case receives notable media attention, and Mira gives a news interview that her husband regrets. Mira believes that the Israeli military overreacted, and she also shares Salma's sense of personal loneliness. Although they never speak, a complex human bond develops between the two women. As the Palestinian cause is dismissed, Mira decides to leave her husband and a stark concrete wall is built between Salma's land and the Defense Minister's house. A final camera shot reveals the lemon trees have all been pruned. It’s about as devastating a final moment of a film can be. Riklis has said that he designed the film to be essentially apolitical, focusing on character development rather than exploring the issues of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. He has said that he created a 'fairy tale quality' to the film in which the audience can sympathize with all of the people featured in it. He stated that "I wanted to populate this film with a lot of faces and give each character their own moment of grace, even when, on the surface, it's one of the 'bad guys,' so to speak.. ... This film does address the ugly side of occupation perhaps, yet no blood is spilled.” A fictional representation of the Israeli West Bank barrier punctuates the film throughout. While he has a point, the uprooting of the lemon trees feels almost as bad as a death. Your opinion of the film really depends upon your views but I think the viewer should reflect upon the fact that Riklis is Israeli himself. Those who criticised the film the loudest upon its release also claimed the film was too "fem-centric", as well as anti-Israeli and pro-Palestinian. I think that speaks volumes. The truth is, the plot was based on a real life incident. Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz moved to the border within Israel and the occupied territories and security forces began cutting down the lemon trees beside his house, arguing that it could be used by terrorists as a hiding place. The Palestinian family who owned the trees sued the minister and took the case all the way to the Israeli Supreme Court. They lost, and their trees had to be cut down. Riklis watched a news report about the case online before developing the story further in a fictional setting. It really does make all criticism and accusations of it being anti-Israeli quite absurd, it is essentially a true story. Riklis forges into areas other Israeli filmmakers won't venture and I’m glad he does. Salma and Mira are fictional characters but there are thousands of Salmas and Miras in the middle east, this film is for them. Unsurprisingly, the film did well in Palestine but not so well in Israel. The conflict will go on for a long time, hopefully the Salmas and the Miras will one day be able to communicate and live together, and hopefully there will be some lemons left for them both to enjoy. One day this will be a film people watch in history lessons and they will struggle to understand how the world can be this way, that day can’t come soon enough. Thankfully we have artists and film makers like Riklis who are bold enough to communicate with both sides at risk to himself and his career.

Les combattants (AKA Love at First Fight)

Dir: Thomas Cailley

2014

****

Les Combattants, or Love at First Fight as it is also known, is a touching and rather unexpectedly sweet tale or romance when opposites don’t, and then do attract. I don’t like to generalize but I find that the French always manage to produce a sweeter kind of romance film, ones where the quirky, while very much there, never distract from the chemistry of the couple in question. Les Combattants literally translates as ‘The Fighters’, which goes some way in telling the audience that this isn’t going to be your typical boy meets girl scenario. It is neither conventional or predictable, but it is rather wonderful. The ‘boy’ in this ‘boy meets girl’ tale is Arnaud (Kévin Azaïs), a carpenter in business with his far more enthusiastic brother. He’s easy going, relaxed, mild-mannered..docile even. He takes life in his stride, carpentry doesn’t really seem for him but while he might wonder if he is meant for other things, he certainly isn’t looking. That said, he would never let down his brother. In the opening scene, he and his brother Manu are informed of the passing of their father and the pair set about making a coffin for him, only to be told home-made coffins are not allowed at burials. While visiting a couple who are interested in having a pergola built in their garden, Arnaud is distracted by their daughter Madeleine (Adèle Haenel). Madeleine is strange, determined and almost nihilistic. She is obsessed with mastering the art of extreme survival skill and spends hours holding her breath in her parent’s pool. She is determined to be ready for the end of the world, should it be on the immediate horizon. The pair clash immediately, Arnaud is intrigued but confused by Madeleine’s attitude and Madeleine doesn’t seem to give a damn about anything but her own survival achievements. It is clear however that both are unsure of their futures, while their ways may feel quirky and even a little extreme, they are very much typical teenagers approaching adulthood. Arnaud is strangely drawn to Madeleine and Madeleine does not push him away. When Madeleine declares that she is joining the French Army, Arnaud takes everyone by surprise and joins up too. Madeleine then becomes annoyed, even more so when Arnaud does well in training while she struggles at the bottom of the class. Over time Madeleine realises that her dream is lost, Arnaud is clearly attracted to her but how could she possibly be with someone who only highlights her failures. The behaviour of the two characters is strange but the script is written so beautifully, you realise that actually this is the evolution of what would become a romantic relationship. I’ve never joined the army for love, but I did some strange things in my teenage years, mostly in the pursuit of love. The film then takes a wonderful path of awakening when the pair decide to run away from the camp to live in the woods. There, they flourish, as does their love for each other. Finally Madeleine is surviving how she imagined, catching her own food and sleeping under the stars. It is only when she eats a piece of uncooked squirrel does it all come crashing down. Falling desperately ill, Arnaud carries the unconscious Madeleine to the nearest village, only to discover that it has been evacuated. With ash falling from the sky, it feels that this could actually be the end of the world. It isn’t of course. A nearby fire has caused the village to be evacuated and the pair are found by the army. One wonders whether it was one of their fires that caused it. At the hospital Madeleine realises that she has failed in her mission to become a survival expert, worse than that she was saved by someone with no interest in the subject, a boy no less. However, he could never have saved her without the training he had no interest in and in the forest all they needed was each other, thus, all you really need is love. It’s subtle and quite wonderful. Thomas Cailley’s direction is wonderful, thanks to him and the brilliant performances from Adèle Haenel and Kévin Azaïs, it really did feel like witnessing true young love. You can’t fight it. To find the balance of romantic and quirky is hard, most rom-com are awful because they get either one of both counts wrong but here Cailley gets it spot on, thanks also to his co-writer Claude Le Pape’s excellent screenplay.

Beyond the Hills

Dir: Cristian Mungiu

2012

****

It is quite amazing just how Cristian Mungiu’s 2012 film Beyond the Hills is so subtle but still manages to go for the jugular. The film takes an intelligent swipe at the Romanian Orthodox church and it is interesting to know that the popular musical The Book of Mormon was released around the same time. I find comparing them quite interesting, as they are both worlds apart in structure and tone but they somehow pull off the same trick – one using laughter and the other using tragedy – but both showing the ridiculousness of some religious practices. The story follows two orphaned young women, Voichița and Alina. Alina has come to visit the Romanian Orthodox convent during Lent, where Voichița now lives. Alina had been working in Germany, and it transpires that the two girls were previously roommates at a children's home and had shared a physical relationship. The monastery is led by a 30-year-old Priest who speaks ill of declining faith in Western Europe, citing same-sex marriage, and forbids anyone outside of the faith from entering. He inquires about Alina to Voichița, who tells him Alina irregularly attends church and does not go to confession. They soon urge Alina to begin confessing, especially if she intends to stay. Alina clearly wants to rekindle her relationship with Voichița, but Voichița tells her they must be cautious given it is Lent. Voichița seems tempted, especially when sex is offered but her new way of life has changed her and she makes it her mission to ‘save’ her friend. Both friends try to ‘save’ each other in their own ways but they have grown too far apart. Some time later after Alina has left the convent, Voichița seeks her out, and when she finds her she tells her she is now a nun, that she has chosen to be with God so she will never be alone, and her love of Alina is different from before. Voichița convinces her to return with her to the convent, but Alina asks Voichița that they escape together. Their relationship is clearly deep-rooted and once more they try to save one another. After Voichița refuses, Alina attempts to jump down a well, but is restrained by the nuns and taken to the hospital. There, doctors restrain Alina to prevent her self-harm, after which they send her back to the convent to assist with recovery. There, the nuns read to Alina about sin. Alina begins a ‘Black Fast’, but when the Priest learns of this when Alina is not at the table, they see Alina is attempting to enter the altar to make a wish to the icon they have there. The Priest admits the icon exists, but says entering the altar is a severe sin, and tells the nuns the Devil is in Alina and the convent. Alina is clearly suffering a breakdown as she feels she has lost her friend, partner and lover. Alina remains tied down to a board with chains and towels. The nuns witness a worsening in her condition and take her back to the hospital. There, the hospital staff find Alina is dead on arrival, and observe the wounds on her wrists and ankles from the restraints. The staff tells the nuns this constitutes homicide and threatens to call the police and media. An officer investigates the convent. Seeing the board Alina was tied to, the officer interprets it as a cross. The officer also says forcible restraint leading to death is a homicide. The Priest denies criminal intent, saying the restraints were to prevent self-harm, and invoking the analogy of a parent's right to force children to take medicine, though the officer replies Alina was not a child and the Priest was not her guardian. The nuns also cite Alina's strength as mysterious, but Voichița says Alina studied martial arts. The police take the Priest and the nuns who tied up Alina away, with Voichița choosing to go with them. The screenplay was inspired by two novels by the writer Tatiana Niculescu Bran, documenting the Tanacu exorcism, in which a young member of a monastery in Moldavia died in 2005 after an exorcism ritual. Mungiu was inspired to make the film after seeing the stage version in New York while promoting 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days in 2007. It’s a darker film than Mungiu’s previous work, concentrating on the classic idea of there being two sides to every story. To me this was an atheist film but to someone religious it could mean something else, it basically explores the presence of God and the absence of God, depending on the viewer’s faith. There is a level of ambiguity about it, with all the talk of god, it is really the question of the devil that is at play. I also think that how mental illness is still looked at by many religions is an important subject to explore. The contrast in tone throughout the film is quite unexpected but rather effective. The subjective conclusion was very satisfying, very much a ‘life continues as normal’ outside the happenings of a convent where even the tiniest of events can become exacerbated. Grim and enlightening with a slice of lemon – classic Cristian Mungiu.

Me and You (Io e te)

Dir: Bernardo Bertolucci

2012

***

I found it difficult to watch Me and You and not wonder how this was a film by the same man who bought us such greats such as The Conformist, Last Tango in Paris, 1900 and The Last Emperor. I wasn’t a huge fan of 2003’s The Dreamers either but I had hoped that the last nine years was enough time to give his next project some real thought. I liked the concept, I just think it was totally wasted. It’s a sad looking swansong, that’s for sure. The story is simple: young Lorenzo (Jacopo Olmo Antinori) has difficulties communicating and relating to others – although I don’t think he autistic or anything – he just prefers his own company and his own thoughts. When his class goes to the mountains for a week on a skiing trip, Lorenzo secretly settles in the basement of his apartment building, pocketing the trip’s fee to spend on provisions. However, his happy solitude is interrupted with an unexpected appearance of a strange girl called Olivia (Tea Falco), who turns out to be his half-sister. Olivia, from his father’s first marriage, is nine years older than him and he hasn’t seen in a long time. She asks if his parents are at home, and he pretends not to know, thinking his parents might have asked her to investigate. A short while later he hears someone trying to open the lock to the basement and Olivia enters, looking for something in a box of her old things. She doesn’t find it and leaves in desperation. In the middle of the night she returns, knocking on the window and asking Lorenzo if she can stay the night. At first he refuses categorically, but when she threatens to tell everyone he is there, he backs down. This turns out to be useful, since his mother calls again, more insistent than ever that she needs to speak to a teacher, and he persuades Olivia to pretend to be one. It turns out, though, that Olivia has become a drug addict and is suffering from withdrawal from heroin, and this is why she’s in a desperate situation. She asks him for some sleeping pills. The only place he can think of getting them is from his grandmother (Veronica Lazar) who is dying in hospital. He visits her and finds the pills in her handbag, but ends up spending much longer at the hospital than intended when his grandmother wakes up and asks him to tell her a story. Once back in the basement, Lorenzo finds Olivia passed out, almost dead. During his absence she has rummaged through all the boxes and found and taken some sleeping pills. She sleeps solidly for three days. By the end of the week, the relationship between Lorenzo and Olivia has changed from hostility to complicity, since they both feel rejected by society, both have secrets, and both feel understood, without judgement, by the other. Olivia promises not to use drugs anymore and they both promise to stay in touch. On the last morning Lorenzo awakes to find a note Olivia has left, reminding him of their mutual promise. I don’t want to speak ill of Bernardo Bertolucci, he was a great director and I really admire that he made Me and You so late in his career, especially in relatively bad health, but I don’t think there was enough of him in the story. His greatest films are the ones where he has thrown himself into the picture, this film feels like someone else’s, Niccolò Ammaniti’s. I actually think that the two leads give great performances and the direction itself is adequate, I just don’t think the film worked as a whole. I think I would have preferred more static shots, with the odd contrasting moving sequence. The dialogue was also lacking, indeed, a really good script could have lifted the film no end. I did like the interjection of music and I could really relate to it at times, I just couldn’t connect with the characters. I think it all happened a little too fast and as well performed as Olivia was, I’m not sure I ever truly believed she existed. I think the difference between the original script and what was actually filmed was the biggest let down. I feel that a bold conclusion was softened for a wider audience, a decision that I feel backfired spectacularly. It’s a firework without ignition, it’s all there ready to explode but nothing ends up lighting it and even if a light was found, towards the end the wick becomes far to damp to ignite anyway. I’m being perhaps overly harsh, but this is the great Bernardo Bertolucci, it should have been a masterpiece. Like I said, it’s tragic that this was to be his last film and it’s not without its magic, it just makes me sad on several different levels is all.

Of Gods and Men

Dir: Xavier Beauvois

2010

****

Xavier Beauvois’ 2010 drama Of Gods and Men tells the tragic true story of The Monks of Tibhirine. In 1996, seven French Trappist monks from the monastery of Tibhirine, Algeria, were kidnapped and found beheaded. The Armed Islamic Group of Algeria claimed full responsibility for the incident. However, according to documents from French secret services, it is possible that the killings were a mistake carried out by the Algerian army during a rescue attempt. The film is in part an adaptation of John W. Kiser's 2002 book The Monks of Tibhirine: Faith, Love, and Terror in Algeria. The film opens with a quotation from the Book of Psalms, Psalm 82:6–7: "I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High. But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes." We then follow the monks' peaceful routine of prayer which is repeated throughout the film. The character development is strong as we follow the monks as they eat and talk together while providing medical assistance to the local community. Their interaction with the community is soon interrupted however by the threat of an Islamic fundamentalist group. When their elected leader, Christian (Lambert Wilson), declines the protection of the corrupt civil authority, the monks divide among themselves on the question of whether to stay or flee Algeria. Before a decision is reached, a group of fundamentalists, led by Ali Fayattia, enters the monks' compound in force on Christmas Eve and demands their doctor and his medical supplies. Christian refuses their requests and cites the Quran as proof of the monks' goodwill. With a mixture of surprise and respect, Fayattia leaves the compound and grants it his protection until his capture, torture and death at the hands of government forces. Despite the growing danger, the monks come to consensus on the moral importance of maintaining their committed lives with, and ministry to, the local population, even when faced with violence and death. Ultimately, the terrorists seize most of the monks during a nighttime raid and hold them hostage. As the captive monks trudge a snowy path towards a grim fate, the film concludes with the spiritual testament of Prior Christian de Chergé, bravely written in the face of death. The surviving two monks of Tibhirine left Algeria and traveled to a Trappist monastery near Midelt in Morocco. The murdered monks were Dom Christian de Chergé, Brother Luc (born Paul Dochier), Father Christophe (Lebreton), Brother Michel (Fleury), Father Bruno (born Christian Lemarchand), Father Célestin (Ringeard), and Brother Paul (Favre-Miville). The film project was initiated by Etienne Comar in 2006, when the tenth anniversary of the incident made it a topic again in French media. Comar, a film producer by profession and a Catholic, had been fascinated by the monks since the earliest news of the abduction, but felt that their death had overshadowed what he thought was really interesting - why they had decided to stay in Algeria despite the ongoing Algerian Civil War. Comar contacted Xavier Beauvois in 2008 after having written a draft, and together they continued to work on the screenplay. The two researched, met with theologians, and during a break Beauvois chose to live for six days at the Tamié Abbey in Savoie – something he later requested the actors who played the monks to do before filming begun. Some inspiration was taken from writings by two of the Tibhirine monks, Christian de Chergé and Christophe Lebreton. Franco-American monastic consultant Henry Quinson was asked to correct and add historical and liturgical content for further authenticity. The script was later sent to relatives of the deceased monks, most of whom reacted positively to the project. The financing coincided with the revelation of the Algerian army's possible involvement in the incident, which once again sparked an interest for the story from media and the public. Xavier Beauvois clearly made every attempt at telling the story with the utmost respect and handled the story with great care. As preparation for their roles, François Polgar, the former assistant director of the choir of the Paris Opera, former director of Le Chœur de Radio France and director of The Paris Boys Choir, trained the actors who were to play monks for a month in the Cistercian and Gregorian chants. The cast is impressive and represents the crème de la crème of French cinema. Each actor spent a week living as a monk at the Tamié Abbey. The actors used different approaches to their individual roles. Lambert Wilson primarily used Christian de Chergé's writings to develop a subjective perception of the monk's personality. Xavier Maly, a non-Catholic, prepared himself by praying every day for a month. Jean-Marie Frin based his interpretation partially on a home video from Paul Favre-Miville's vow. Michael Lonsdale on the other hand preferred to rely on instinct, and did not prepare much at all. Each technique worked and the characters felt real and their conversations and their prayer are totally believable. The attention to detail is astonishing. The main filming location was the Benedictine monastery of Toumliline, which had stood unused and unattended for more than forty years. The film team, under production designer Michel Barthélémy, renovated the monastery so it would resemble the location of the actual events. Quinson who had assisted with the screenplay was also present on the set as an adviser. Attention was paid to extras' clothing and Arabic intonation so that they would look and sound Algerian and not Moroccan. I love that nothing is done for artistic effect and that there is no emotional manipulation. It’s an emotional film for sure but it is handled tactfully and tastefully. It’s still a mystery what actually happened to the Monks but it really isn’t the point of the story, what made them stay is and is what gives us inspiration and food for thought, and Beauvois and his fellow film makers couldn’t have conveyed this any more perfectly than they did.