The Duke of Burgundy, Spring and 600 Miles - NZFF Review

The Duke of Burgundy, Spring and 600 Miles - NZFF Review

To find a thread connecting all of these titles is to cast a long bow, but suffice to say that all three play with expectations and provide intriguing fare for those willing to invest at the festival.

The Duke of Burgundy, from director of Berberian Sound Studio Peter Strickland, sees the highs and lows of a dominant and her submissive relationship explored - and produces something intoxicating and almost dream-like throughout.

Borgen star Sidse Babett Knudsen and Chiara D'Anna star as the lovers here, but the film's not interested in producing material to shy away from, preferring instead to concentrate on the intricacies of relationships and exploring how long term situations potentially alienate those within.

Encased in this proposition is a wealth of imagery, of style and a repetition of sequences that lead you to question your place in viewing all of this. It all has a habit of  going nowhere very stylishly and slickly, but the psychological burn builds to an inevitable climax. Its fetish feel  - aloof and occasionally cold – makes it a film to wallow in and to let the rhythms of the story wash over you.

It's almost hypnotic, trance-like and quite endearing in a weird way. Both Knudsen and D'Anna rarely interact with others on a one-to-one basis and the claustrophobia of what builds within feels very natural, real and absolutely stifling.

Strickland's lost none of his eye for the stark imagery and sound - particularly a sequence where lepidoptery comes to the fore as an audience listens to a lecture. With the sounds of butterflies amplified through speakers and a camera panning across the audience who are in their very thrall, it's a perfect allegory for the very sophisticated The Duke of Burgundy; it keeps you captivated from beginning to end, with disorientating trips along the way.

Talking of trips, 600 Miles sees Tim Roth's ATF agent kidnapped in a road movie that subverts from the very beginning.

This Mexican directed movie starts off with a kid in a gunshop discussing the finer details of weaponry, clearly looking to make a purchase, but quickly abandoning the store with his bottle squarely having been lost. The gun-running intentions are clear, but it's only when Roth's suitably grizzled agent ends up on the scene that the gunpowder in this keg is clearly given the light it needs.

As a bond grows between the kidnapper and his victim, 600 Millias feels very much like a succession of day in the life pieces; it provides a dramatic counterpart to the festival's Cartel Land, though curiously it's not quite as incendiary as its true life compadre.

Spring may have one of the most generic titles in the festival programme, but don't let that put you off this - going into this one blind without the benefit of the blurb served me brilliantly giving me a genuine "What was that?" moment that jolted me out of the viewing malaise that I feared was setting in.

Lou Taylor Pucci is drifter Evan whose life is upended by the death of his mother. Heading into a tailspin and realising he's about to self-destruct, Evan heads to Bologna on a whim. Attaching himself to a couple of holiday makers, he divorces himself from their stereotypical holidaymakers abroad boorishness and falls in with the mysterious Louise (an enigmatic Nadia Hilker).

A romance begins between the pair, but along the way, not all is as it appears...and chemistry proves to be a double edged-sword

With the idyll of Bologna in the background and the relatively languid pace of writer-directors Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead settled in, the whiplash moment of this Before Sunrise style romance comes at just the right moment, fuelling a fire that's hard to quell before the tricky denouement tries to seal the deal.

Both the young leads are mesmerising, gelling wonderfully together, capturing the frailty of lives which have been battered and yet engendering a hope eternal in love; but while the film's ultimate reveal may be polarising, I, for one, appreciated it on another level because of how my expectations were subverted. Granted. I wasn't fully on board with the film's raison d'etre, but I was swept away with how it played out. It's best not to read too much about Spring before going in (even the programme reveals too much), and afterwards, you'll understand why I was coy about this romance and why it's so much more than its awful title suggests.

NZFF Q&A - David Stubbs, director of Belief

NZFF Q&A - David Stubbs, director of Belief

Tell us about your film at the film festival

“Belief" is my first theatrical feature film, and I’m very proud to have it premiere at this years NZIFF.

Belief is a documentary about the events that led to the tragic death of Janet Moses in a makutu lifting ceremony that went horribly wrong.

Believing that 22-year-old Janet had fallen under the spell of a Makutu, or Maori curse, her whanau both surround her in a circle of love, and subject the young mother to four days and four nights of water cleansing in an effort to rid her of evil.  So great was their belief in Makutu, that it became their truth.

Belief intertwines key interviews and dramatic narrative to lure the viewer into the twisted reality of the last few days of Janet Moses’ life.

Tell us the best moment you had making this film

There have been lots of little highs and lows on this production.  Securing a great cast was a big day.  The final day of shooting was a mixture of elation and exhaustion.  But for me, the best moments have come during the editing process when I’ve seen all the hard work come together.  We screened a work-in-progress cut of the film earlier this year and I watched the audience as they watched the film.  Seeing the looks on their faces - seeing them totally engaging with the story.  That was a real joy.

Tell us the worst moment – and the one thing you left out of this film

Making a film like this is pretty scary undertaking.  And here was I taking my cast and crew with me. There were plenty of sleepless nights
Yes, having to leave things out is always hard.  There are a couple of really interesting side-stories that didn’t make the final cut.  One was a little bit of background on the Wainuiomata community.  I love Wainui and I know it sometimes gets a bad rap, so I wanted to show how this is undeserved.


Tell us what this film means to you – and why people should see it.
You might think you know the story of what happened to Janet… or how it happened.  But it is so much sadder and more complicated than you can possibly imagine.  What would you do if someone you loved was behaving the way Janet was - and if your beliefs and your experience told you it was a spiritual attack?   This film looks at the power of love and the power of fear.  Two things that we can all fall victim to.

Tell us what films you want to see at the festival.

The Lobster sounds like a perfect festival flick.  Also docks the Wolfpack and Sven Parnell/Costa Botes’  “An Act of Kindness”.

Just Cause 3 E3 trailer is released

‘OFFICIAL E3 PLAYTHROUGH’ & INTERACTIVE ‘CHOOSE YOUR OWN CHAOS’ YOUTUBE TRAILER, RELEASED TODAY.

Hi all,

Following an incredibly successful E3 for JUST CAUSE 3 – with 10 award wins and over 20 nominations - Square Enix and Avalanche Studios are proud to share the new ‘OFFICIAL E3 PLAYTHROUGH’ trailer.

The island republic of Medici is the ultimate sandbox. With Rico’s new abilities and countless weapons and vehicles, there’s an infinite amount of possibilities around every corner. Each obstacle presents countless options for an explosive outcome – how creative can you be with Rico’s vast arsenal of equipment?

"At E3, we wanted to show our fans a sneak peek into the sheer volume of creative choices they will have access to in the game," said Christofer Sundberg, Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer at Avalanche Studios, "Today, we're excited to share the fun with the rest of our Just Cause fans around the world."

In addition to this, we’re also sharing the multi-path, ‘CHOOSE YOUR OWN CHAOS’ trailer from the E3 show floor – an expanded version of the ‘OFFICIAL E3 PLAYTHROUGH’ allowing you to choose how the action unfolds at key moments. 

Get ready to ‘Set the World on Fire’ on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and high-end Windows PC on December 1^st 2015.

Finders Keepers: NZFF Review

Finders Keepers: NZFF Review

The American dream, 15 minutes of fame and a foot all feature heavily in Finders Keepers.

This Incredibly Strange but completely true documentary spins the story of John Wood, a good-ole-boy from Maiden NC who lost his leg - and father - when their plane came down. But while John lost his pa, he decided not to lose his paw, preferring to keep the mummified remain in a smoker in a storage unit. However, when he failed to make the payments on the storage locker, the contents were auctioned off to the highest bidder - and this just happened to be Wood's nemesis, Shannon Wishnant.

Initially sparking a 911 call, Wishnant soon fired up an interest in the foot which he found in a smoker as he refused to return it to its rightful owner, invoking the ancient rights of Finders Keepers - and provoking years of divide and resentment to build as international interest in this American Foot Locker piqued.

But where this doco manages to triumph is in cataloguing a growing discord between the two and grounding it in human relatable characters. This could well be your neighbour you fall out with over noise, rather than a stereotyped over-the-top cartoonish caricature; giving Shannon and John a realism and keeping them steeped in it, keeps you invested in the story.

The story flips on a dime, but the overall feeling of this unashamedly feel good and yet also sad doco is one of warmth. The insight into the human condition is a fascinating one, America's predilection for 15 minutes of fame is richly mined while contrasting one man's sadness. Both John and Shannon have moments where you feel their attitudes are justified and the film-makers respectfully don't make fools out of their subjects. Certainly, Shannon's journey is one that packs in the melancholy - his eventual destination is one that leaves you feeling sympathy and empathy while questioning why on earth he's pursued it. John's a little more easy to understand but his estrangement from his family is nothing short of sad.

Finders Keepers is a feast of fucked-up,a foot, 15 minutes of fame and feelings - it's a rare beast for the Incredibly Strange to have concocted such a mix of emotions on the conclusion of a screening, but it's extremely welcome.

Put your best foot forward and see this.

Ant-Man: Film Review

Ant-Man: Film Review

Cast: Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Corey Stoll, Evangeline Lilly
Director: Peyton Reed

It's fair to say that as the Marvel Universe expanded its horizons, those running it really did start to lose track of what made the earlier movies so great - character and a degree of intimacy.

Particularly in the last Avengers movie, which concluded in a soulless retread formulaic finale that was redolent of many before, relied on a MacGuffin and that was so steeped in angst, all the joie de vivre threatened to be crushed forever.

So, it's a joy to report that, despite a lack of ant-icipation, Ant-man takes Marvel back to its origins, with a flick that feels like a set- up / origins piece that was so prevalent of Phase One and one that is an utter blast in the cinema due to its simple plot.

Those unfamiliar with the incredible shrinking man needn't feel left out. 

It's the story of down-on-his-luck Scott Lang (a brilliantly vulnerable yet timed to comic perfection Paul Rudd), an ex-con with a moral code who just wants to do right by his daughter Cassie after getting out of jail. 

But Lang is singled out by Doctor Hank Pym (Michael Douglas back on form and looking wearied enough to suggest an age and lifetime in the role prior to where we join the movie) to be the recipient of his shrinking super-suit and help Pym ensure that the current CEO of the Pym Industries Darren Cross (Corey Stoll in a relatively thankless role as the rather average and cartoon villain of the piece) doesn't use the tech for the wrong reasons and let it fall into the wrong hands.

Ant-Man is refreshingly small scale and, for the most part, all the better for it.

Sure, it's entrenched in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it never feels fully bound by its conventions, ongoing storylines or bogged down by the Infinity Gems saga. 

There are nods to the world around and an acknowledgement of the events in Age of Ultron (even Pym has a wariness about the Avengers getting their hands on their tech) but this is flick is more about the story of fathers and their legacies, rather than super-sized and angsty heroes coming together to save the day.

Ant-Man is at pains to put its redemption lessons and daddy issues front and centre of the film, with a mantra of the ordinary man being a hero squarely at the fore. Lang's told by his ex-wife at one point that his daughter thinks he's "her hero - so just be the person she already thinks you are"; Pym himself talks a lot about how he failed his daughter Hope (a worryingly sidelined Evangeline Lilly) and Cross is angry that his mentor Pym never fully trusted him or embraced him.

But it's the fact that Marvel's embraced these issues and looked more to address the intimacy of the films that's not proved an insignifc-ant contribution to the overall effect.

Granted, there are some pretty impressive visuals that revel in their Honey I Shrunk the Kids and Planet of the Giants aesthetics, thanks to Pena's performance, there's a crackling line of comedy that buzzes all the way through (and clearly has Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish's DNA all over it) but there is never anything that wanders too far from the emotional edge that's clearly running through this ant's mandibles. And it's all wonderfully executed by Yes-Man director Peyton Reed.

It's not all perfect though - Stoll is never a full-on threat as the bad guy and the Marvel truck has gone back a few steps in its treatment and execution of women in this piece. Lilly deserved more of a presence in this first film (even if a mid-credits coda seems to promise more ahead) and is sidelined; it's once again a boy's world in this superior heist flick. And it has to be said the appearance of the wider world intrudes into this film - a mid-film sequence and even the post-credits moment feels like Marvel's going back to easy old habits, which is unwelcome after what's just transpired.

Ultimately, thanks to a massively charming Rudd and the lighter touch of the script, Ant-Man is entertaining fare, a welcome diversion from the darker edges and continual set-ups that have become the norm for these films and shorn of the ongoing mythology. 

Ant-Man is light, inventive, frothy and above all, fun - this caper has refreshed the Marvel cinematic offering and it's to be hoped that this formula won't be lost in future.

Rating:

Welcome To Leith / Censored Voices - NZFF Review

Welcome To Leith / Censored Voices - NZFF Review

Two different but nonetheless shocking voices link both Welcome To Leith and Censored Voices at the New Zealand International Film Festival, but serve to remind us that the horrors of the past remain inextricably linked to the behaviour of the present.

In the deeply uncomfortable Welcome To Leith, white supremacist Craig Cobb's push to turn a small community in North Dakota into an all white enclave yields viewing results that make you fear for humanity.

Despite the locals' protestations and alerts from the anti-racist watchdog the Southern Poverty Law Centre, this Cobb cancer takes root within, trading on the ignorance of neighbours who know little of his intentions. Trading on the ethos of keeping themselves to themselves, Leith soon found itself a hotbed of discord and discomfort as the true nature of Cobb's plans come to fruition.

It may be in line with America's belief in freedom, but directors Michael Beach Nichols and Christopher K Walker imbue this piece with a dread feeling that will sicken any decent human being to their core. Shots of swastika flags being erected as Cobb and co buy up land achieve the maximum effect of shocking viewers and frustrating them in equal measure - it's an over-riding feeling of powerlessness of the authorities in Leith as they skirt around the human rights issues which cloak Cobb's group in protection that astound, pushing principles to the edge that form the basis of this piece.

But it's an over-riding feeling of astonishment that Leith's citizens rally to the cause and the directors do little to influence the action, merely cataloguing events as they happen that leads you to question what exactly is going wrong in America. Perhaps it's the fact that directors have brought a balanced approach to the piece that makes it as devastating as it is - both sides are given time and equal measure on screen.

Anyone wanting to do further research after this will be delivered a further gut punch as the internet charts the rise of hatred in Cobb; Welcome to Leith achieves the award of being the most shocking thing I've seen at the festival this year - and certainly seeing a young kid goaded to what word he knows that begins with N as he toys with birthday cake and his father struggles to hide is pride is an image I won't forget in a long time.

Elsewhere, the true disembodied horrors of a war by those who perpetrated it are given form in Censored Voices, an affectingly powerful doco that centres around the 1967 Six Day war in Israel.

Former soldiers, with years under their belt after the conflict, sit and re-listen to recorded testimony of how they felt in the aftermath of the brief and brutal conflict. The Israeli army censored the recordings, but this film from Mor Loushy collects them together for the first time, opening not only a window into the past, but cracking open the souls of those who return and suffer from the true horror of what they witnessed and inflicted on others.

In a world when first person shooters are rife in computer games, or where our digital avatars revel in the bloody killing of others, the simple shocking truth of a conflict is gloriously exposed. One soldier tells of how when being confronted with the enemy, he felt like he was shooting dolls in an amusement arcade, and each shot left him feeling pleased. As Loushy then uses shots of downed troops and victims of the conflict straight after, you can't help but question the risking sickening feeling in your stomach.

Footage from the time, comments like "We're not murderers, but in the war, we became murderers" are nothing short of haunting; but as the soldiers watch the reel-to-reel tapes unfold, their stony vistas reveal nothing of their thoughts years on. It proves to be a growing frustration until Loushy unveils a powerful final denouement that gives us the insight we've been waiting for.

Unflinching and unsettling, both Censored Voices and Welcome To Leith prove the simplest, well-told docos remain the most effective - both offer windows into worlds we'd rather not peek into, but both show the various paradigms of the human condition remain in play - for better or for worse.

Suicide Squad Comic Con trailer drops in HD

Suicide Squad Comic Con trailer drops in HD 

Coming in 2016, starring Will Smith, Jared Leto and Margot Robbie, Suicide Squad already looks to be one of the hottest films of the year.

 After the Comic Con trailer at the weekend, Warners has released a full HD version of the clip for you to enjoy.