Light House Film Club

Director: Hou Hsiao Hsien

Cert: PG

Time: 1 hr 53 mins

If you like your films with a fast paced narrative then this will not be your cup of tea.  That said it is none the worse for its gentle paced view of life in Paris.

Juliet Binoche plays Suzanne, an unusually blond single mother, who finds herself in that spinning plates life of holding down of full time job as a puppeteer whilst at the same time trying her best to raise a six year old son. Throw in the ongoing frustration of battling with her ex over the domestic finances and you have a not uncommon slice of contemporary life.  And this is what we get, even down to seemingly insignificant scenes involving a conversation with the removal men who have just been employed to move a piano up two flights of stairs. Really. 

In effect very little happens but what does is so beautifully portrayed, through both the lens and the music, that one cannot help but be drawn into their life. Hou Hsiao Hsien’s first film outside Asia is a fitting homage to Albert Lamorisse on whose French short, The Red Balloon, this film is based.

3/5

CA

Director: Noah Baumbach

Cert: 15

Time: 1 hr 33 mins

This is not an endearing film. Unless that is, you hanker after characters whose sole modus operandi is to outdo and belittle one another. And in this game of verbal sparring it is Margot (Margot Kidman) who is the more repellent. Vindictive, untrustworthy, scheming and deeply neurotic she utters not a kind word during 90 minutes of what is described as a funny and heartwarming story, but which sadly fails to meet either of those claims.

The tale starts as a sort of reconciliation between Margot and her sister Pauline (Jennifer Jason Leigh). The two have been estranged for some time but it is Pauline’s invitation to attend her wedding that has thawed the ice.  However, no sooner are the sisters back together than the sheen of good will evaporates and it is not long before we can see why they have spent so little time together. And from that point on it is an unremitting tale of frustration, conflict and dysfunction during which the longed for wedding becomes an ever diminishing prospect.

There were only four of us in the theatre and as the credits rolled I said to the couple sitting in front of me “What did you make of that then ? “  We just giggled as if to say bizarre.

2/5

CA

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson

Cert: 15

Time: 2 hrs 38 mins

In choosing to watch this film my decision had been motivated more out of a desire to see how well Daniel Day Lewis filled the lead role than to endure two and a half hours worth of what I anticipated would be an unpleasant tale.  And now that I have seen it I can confirm that Day Lewis is fully deserving of his best actor Oscar and the story, is indeed an unpleasant one.  

Daniel Plainfield (Day Lewis) is an oilman, whom we meet at the start of the great American oil rush. The tale then takes us on a sweeping journey of skullduggery and money making during which Plainfield rides rough shod over anyone prepared to stand in his way and particularly the residents of the town of New Boston, California.  He is the sort of man who can’t look you in the eye when he shakes your hand, because he knows his methods are suspect and he has much to hide.  And as the oil flows and his wealth increases so does it corrupt, turning Plainfield into an evil man with a mind that is even prepared to destroy the bond that exists between father and son.

I think it was Oscar Wilde who coined the phrase “He knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.”  Nowhere is that more apparent than here, in this powerful and unflinching film.

4/5

CA

Director: Jason Reitman

Cert: 12a

Time: 1 hr 36 mins

The problem with watching art house movies is that many of them seek to convey a serious message the majority of which lean to the poignant and sad.  Juno breaks that mould in that it is poignant but happy and is easily the most original comedy that I have seen since last year’s Little Miss Sunshine.

Written by the exotically named Diablo Cody, the story follows Juno (Ellen Page) as a teenager who becomes pregnant.  Not an obvious topic for humour, the film is full of sharp dialogue as we follow Juno’s efforts to find adoptive parents for her unborn child. Thinking she has found the perfect set of parents; an affluent suburban couple longing to adopt, Juno soon realizes that things are not always as straight forward as they appear. But in reaching a satisfactory resolution she demonstrates both understanding and maturity beyond her years.  

Cody’s excellent script, for which she won an Oscar, is wonderfully brought to life by Ellen Page who is perfectly cast in the role of a sassy teenager.  This is an excellent film with plenty of laughs and for once a feel good ending.

Rating: 4/5
CA