Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom: Movie Review

Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom: Movie Review

Cast: Idris Elba, Naomie Harris
Director: Justin Chadwick

Nelson Mandela passed away last year, but this latest was always in the pipeline long before the death.

Based on the autobiography of the same name (Long Walk to Freedom), Luther star Idris Elba is Mandela, as we follow his journey from 1940s crusading lawyer to freedom fighter before his internment on Robben Island and subsequent release.

Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom is the man's story, rather than really being the story of the man.

While Elba manages to channel a lot of the man's charisma and the inflections of the voice - as well as the look of Mandela in later life - the film does little to really ignite the spark of passion of Mandela himself, preferring to follow a more leaden path in the story.

Sure, there are moments when the warts and all portrayal adds a layer that perhaps some have never seen before of Mandela, such as the womanising and disintegration of his first marriage, but even those occasional insights add little to a story that's already been told before.

One of the problems is the way so much ground is covered so quickly that it affects the narrative - for example, when Mandela is imprisoned on Robben Island, he and his fellow prisoners are told by their captors they must wear short trousers and that will never change. Cue the inevitable asking for long trousers, a request which is granted shortly after Mandela has a chat with the boss; no reason is given and viewers are left befuddled.

The problem is the story is very much by the numbers and does exactly what you'd expect while trying to cover way too much ground; while the earnest Elba and the softer Naomie Harris do a lot to carry this with grace, pose and dignity, the issue is that the film never really stirs more within you than you'd expect. Perhaps, if those involved had decided to potentially focus on one point of time and one story untold, it may have been stronger, rather than feeling like it's gone through a checklist of moments to cover.

I'm disappointed to say that I also never felt inspired by the story (though some may leave this feeling that they have been) as Mandela preaches his message of strength through unity as he was galvanised into action. It's certainly not Elba's fault at all - and there's an occasional vein of humour running throughout as well as  some real life scenes and footage being folded into the mix.

But it's curious to note that as the Oscar nominated U2 song plays over a montage of photos of Mandela, those alone do more to stir some passion within than what's passed in the previous 140 minutes. Perhaps some times, the truth itself is stronger than a fiction created on screen.

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Stoker: Blu Ray Review

Stoker: Blu Ray Review

Rating: M
Released by 20th Century Fox Home Ent

This psychological piece draws influence from Hitchcock and is written by Wentworth Miller,who's better known for his lead role as Michael Scofield in Prison Break. It's the story of India Stoker, who, on her 18th birthday finds her life thrown into turmoil by the death of her father. India's been close to her father for years, and the death forces her into spending time with her mother Evelyn (a haughtily distant Nicole Kidman).

Things are further shaken up for India, when her uncle Charlie (a charismatic but creepy Matthew Goode) shows up at the funeral and moves into the home. Evelyn becomes obsessed with him and begins a relationship, but India's unsure of the new arrival but finds her interest piqued when people from around the house start disappearing...

Eerie, uncomfortable, full of great close ups and terrifically atmospheric, the director of Oldboy, Park Chan-wook has created something incredibly riveting and stylish on the big screen with this coming of age thriller, which is distinctly reminiscent of a Hitchcock piece.

It's also unbelievably stylish as well, with India's heightened senses proving to be a major part of the soundscape of the film. Every single sound is amplified and the effect is mesmerising as Chan-wook's taut thriller plays out.

With unusual camera angles and point-of-view precision shots scattered throughout, Chan-wook's made something which is disorientating and engaging. The visual and the audio are expertly used to play to our senses. One shot sees Wasikowska brushing Kidman's orange tresses and that morphs into grass blowing in the breeze - it's an audacious shot which screams style and is bravura film-making.

Matthew Goode makes a charming and psychotic uncle, who mysteriously appears on the scene and who charms both Evelyn and eventually, India. Kidman is distant as the mother trying to reconnect with her daughter and her life; and Mia Wasikowska is withdrawn as the different-from-everyone-else India, who's waking up to the world around her. She's terrific as the lead, and her awakening is an uncomfortable experience which horrifically boils over at the end.

It takes a while to adjust to the characters' distance at the start of the film, (there's nary a hint of humour throughout) but this aloof Addams Family psycho-drama chiller-thriller is unsettling, ethereal and artistic - and quite unmissable. 

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Mood Indigo: Blu Ray Review

Mood Indigo: Blu Ray Review

Rating: M
Released by Vendetta Films

L'ecume des Jours is the latest from acclaimed video director Michel Gondry whose distinctive visual style has its lovers and its haters. Starring Romain Duris as Colin, it's the story of his doomed romance with Audrey Tautou's Chloe. Colin is desperate to meet the love of his life as all his friends are loved up; he loves the food from his cook, whom he lives with (Intouchables' Omar Sy) and his friend Chick (Gad Elmaleh) has also found someone. As he intones: "I demand to fall in love too".

So, when Colin goes to a party and falls head over heels with Audrey Tautou's Chloe, their whirlwind romance kicks in. But problems develop on the honeymoon when Chloe falls sick after inhaling a waterlily seed which grows on her lung - and the romance begins to wither for Chick too.

Initially, Mood Indigo is hardly about plot and more about visuals as it brings the 1947 novel Froth on the Daydream to the screen. In fact, to start off with, it's all too much of a quirkiness overload as all kinds of visuals jump around the place in a manner similar to Peter Gabriel's iconic music video Sledgehammer. Fruit moves all over the place in stop motion frames, and the screen creaks with visual overload as Gondry piles layer upon layer upon layer of quirk - a doorbell rings but instead of staying motionless, it sprouts legs and scuttles like a beetle around the doorframe; a piano when played spouts cocktails as well as notes, there's just no stopping to the endless assault on the eyeballs.

In fact, the initial overload is nearly all too much and quite off putting as the world around Colin begins to grow, but you become accustomed to it or mentally check out. Those who endure the film and its rather free-forming narrative will be rewarded in parts with a tragedy but also a film which frustrates as it attempts to fulfil. The current release has lost 35 minutes from the film festival release, and while there's some discussion among critics as to whether that's any better, the latest cut of Michel Gondry's Mood Indigo feels a lot like two tonally different films harshly jammed together. Mood Indigo starts out bright, breezy and colourful but as the romance between Colin et Chloe starts to flounder, the colour of the film drains, and a reeking decay settles literally and metaphorically over it. The narrative and threads appear to end abruptly and characters suffer fates which materialise out of left-field and leave you feeling cheated as it heads towards its end.

While Mood Indigo, with its quirky visual symphony, is really a film of two halves. Neither are terrible and both have their merits. If anything, this version of Mood Indigo, with its cuts imposed for reasons unknown, represents a tantalising peek into a piece which is surreal, nonsensical and utterly original.

Extras: The Blu Ray contains the original release of the film in its extended form, which makes for more cohesive viewing. Full marks to the Vendetta guys for giving this a release also.

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Much Ado About Nothing: DVD Review

Much Ado About Nothing: DVD Review

Rating: M
Released by Madman Home Ent

Joss Whedon's latest, Much Ado About Nothing sees a gathering of the Whedonverse alumni in a take on Shakespeare's play which has lost none of the subtlety and fizz of the Bard's work.

Keeping the actual text in place, and tweaking only some of the minor details, it still focuses on the quarreling relationship of Benedick and Beatrice (played by Alexis Denisof and Amy Acker) and the relationship of Claudio and Hero amid modern times. Set on a sumptuous estate (Whedon's own) this black and white adaptation is a virtuoso of subtlety and wit. The dialogues between the characters shine with nuances and revel in the language, frolicking in the back and forth of Benedick and Beatrice as well as Nathan Fillion's constable. But there's also some silly visual humour such as when Benedick finds his three friends discussing how Beatrice has fallen for him - those moments of comic capery will delight audiences.

Acker and Denisof are perfectly cast, balancing the moments of lightness and tomfoolery with the seriousness needed by Shakespeare's text; other players circle around them but to be honest, they barely register as highly as this duo. With perhaps the exception of Nathan Fillion.

A Shakespeare to be watched and enjoyed, Much Ado About Nothing is a zesty treat which feels fresh and sparkling.

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Last Vegas: Movie Review

Last Vegas: Movie Review

Cast: Michael Douglas, Robert de Niro, Kevin Kline, Morgan Freeman, Mary Steenburgen, Jerry Ferrara
Director: Jon Turteltaub

Forget the Rat Pack, here comes the OAP Pack

Billy (Douglas), Paddy (de Niro), Archie (Freeman) and Sam (Kline) are old friends since they were kids growing up in the Bronx.

Now in the later years of their life, and with old age causing them various ravages - except for Billy, whose permatanned look shows no signs of him growing up - they all lead separate and distant lives. Paddy is a widower, who refuses to leave his apartment after his sweetheart's death; Archie has been crippled by a minor stroke and his family insist he takes things easy and Sam is a man who's lost his mojo, living in Florida and being slowly killed by the retirement lifestyle.

So, when Billy proposes to his 30-something girlfriend while delivering a friend's eulogy, the group's reunited for the marriage and bachelor party in Vegas. For each of them, it's a chance to regain their youth and live again - but for Billy and Paddy, there's vitriol in the air as a long time simmering tension reaches a head...

Last Vegas is quite simply, The Hangover for the OAP generation - but without the gross out laughs or the extreme debauchery. In their place is a bikini contest and an ongoing gag about a condom and Viagra.

While the quartet have an easy chemistry and a great bond - with Douglas once again showing why he's such a permanent presence on screen, the writing is nothing short of predictable and the gags incredibly lame and easily gentle. And yet, one or two of them elicit laughs - from Kline's character's quick asides (calling Billy a hazelnut) to Freeman's incredible charisma and charm, there's nothing offensive about what transpires on screen.

Sure, the character arcs and predictable denouements can be seen a mile off - from Billy's inevitable realisation and acceptance of his age, to Paddy's gradual acquiescence over Billy's snub; from Sam's realisation that a chance to play away from home is nothing but a sham given he loves his wife to Archie's journey towards taking it easy, these characters will be appreciated by the older generation, looking for some easy and gentle laughs.

Last Vegas delivers every predictable laugh you'd expect, mocking age and the ravages of time and creaking as much as the actor's joints; there's nothing new and original here. In fact, if anything it feels a little old school in many ways - but you know what, this journey to Vegas is worth the trip if you fancy watching some old pros dial it in.

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Red Obsession: DVD Review

Red Obsession: DVD Review

Rating: PG
Released by Roadshow Home Entertainment

From Bordeaux to Beijing, this 74 minute doco takes a look at the wine industry and how it's globally changing.

It's also an exploration of wine-mania, and how the new obsession and money lies in the vintage, the reviews and the lengths chateaux can go to to secure their global position. But it's also a warning message over how consumerism is taking over and how the market's more in trouble due to crashes than before.

Simply narrated by Russell Crowe, this doco has some stunningly well put together images and shots - it captures the joy that a good bottle brings to many but it also drains a little of the life out of the subject. Numerous talking heads talk while saying very little and while the scope of the story is an intriguing premise as it sways towards the Chinese influence, the execution is a little overblown and the piece a little overlong.

It'll serve as porn to anyone with a hankering for a good plonk, but the doco could have done with losing some 20 minutes - it works as a TV piece for those interested but unlike a great doco, it doesn't really inspire those who have no interest or passion for the wine other than with a good meal.

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12 Years a Slave: Movie Review

12 Years A Slave: Movie Review

Cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Sarah Paulson, Brad Pitt, Benedict Cumberbatch, Lupita Nyong'o
Director: Steve McQueen

Lavished with Oscar nominations, SAG awards, PGA awards and Golden Globes, 12 Years A Slave arrives on our screens with expectations and in some quarters, a little dread over its subject matter.

Chiwetel Ejiofor (rightly nominated for glory and deserving of the win should Oscar come a-knocking) plays Solomon Northup, a talented violinist, living in Saratoga, New York in 1841 as a free man, with a wife and family. As his wife and family head away for an annual commitment, Solomon is offered work in Washington which he duly takes. However, after a night of partying with them, he awakes to find himself in chains, renamed and shipped off into slavery.

Northup's first master is a relatively benevolent one, William Ford (played with earnest by Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch) but thanks to the racism on the grounds, he ends up nearly hanged and is sold on to Michael Fassbender's Edwin Epps, a cruel and sadistic man who is prone to breaking his slaves.

Thus begins Northup's quest to survive, his attempts to maintain his dignity and his desperate fight to win back his freedom amid betrayal, unexpected kindness, utterly repugnant cruelty and horrifying attitudes toward fellow human beings.

12 Years A Slave is a totally brutal film - perhaps inevitably so given its true life subject matter and that within five minutes of beginning, our hero is beaten to within an inch of his life by a paddle wielded by a new master.

Its strength though lies in the relative restraint of its film-maker, Steve McQueen and its lead actor, Chiwetel Ejiofor. While McQueen does not flinch from showing every second of the horror with the camera holding firm and forcing you to confront the violence, he shows a remarkably masterful touch at telling a story which gets so dark and sickening, you will find it hard to stomach in places.

Unlike many of his ilk, McQueen does not turn this film into a worthy piece about one of humanity's darkest days, choosing instead to blend together a movie that doesn't flinch from its subject matter, but also doesn't seek to make light of it, dish out platitudes or beset it with sentimental moments in among the bleak story.

Throughout it all, Ejiofor commands the screen, imbuing the real life Northup with a dignity and grace as he tries to survive that is all the more heartbreaking given what he had to endure. A remarkable long shot where Northup is hung out on a plantation leaves nausea in the pit of your stomach, as he scrabbles for air, looks around him and faces a desolate inevitability; but every moment of that horror is understated by Ejiofor and as a result, the audience is in total sympathy with him, aghast that around Northup, people are going about their daily business, untroubled by the life slipping away next to them.

Among the betrayals, the heartfelt pleas from a fellow slave to show her some kindness and kill her, the hardships that Northup endured, Ejiofor remains a presence throughout amid close ups and thanks to the dignity of his portrayal. While you get little insight into his psychological state throughout, his final scenes will reduce you to tears, a cathartic testament to a 2 hour portrayal that has showcased the best of humanity when it's pitted against the very worst.

Juxtaposed to such grandeur is Fassbender's cruel and sadistic Epps, a man who rapes his favourite slave and whose towering monstrousness is a blight on those around him. It's an ugly and repugnant role, which Fassbender commands and taps into something within to leave you utterly hating the man. Thanks to that unrelenting spirit and McQueen's lingering camera which circles around during some whipping sequences, you will find yourself questioning humanity and what we've done, but never find yourself brushing it off with a trite dismissal or tricked by a naively blithe moment deployed by the director to counteract the darkness.

That's really the power of 12 Years A Slave - the sickeningly visceral period piece has a way of inveigling itself under your skin, but has such a pull that it's hard to deny - if there's a more perfect, more powerful and more harrowing or sobering film up for an Academy Award this year, I've yet to see it.

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