Harry here with that booze hound, that guggler Canadian Alcohol... I am, of course, referring to Capone. While turning that nose of his red, he's come up with two more reviews of films of high interest to cinephiles... Without further ado, let's hop to it then...
Hey, Harry. Capone in Chicago here. I…must…find time…for sleep…before flying to Austin…tomorrow. Oh well, here's a couple more reviews to suck on until I arrive.
GOSFORD PARK
I’m going to make this real easy for movie studios who want to use a quote from my review of GOSFORD PARK: “It’s Robert Altman meets Agatha Christie meets “Upstairs/Downstairs.” That pretty much covers this latest from Altman, which is far and away a return to form for him and is his most confident work since SHORT CUTS.
Set in the early 1930s, GOSFORD PARK takes place on a vast English estate over a weekend shooting party. Many of Britain’s elite arrive at the estate as the film opens, and nearly all of the guests bring with them a staff of valets, footmen, and maids. The estate itself has a large collection of servants and an entire cooking staff. In true Altman fashion, as each guest arrives we immediately learn something about them based solely on how they treat the help, and we follow the “Above Stairs” upper class guests to their rooms and the “Below Stairs” servants to the servants areas, which exist hidden away in the bowels of the estate. Also in the Altman tradition, characters are constantly talking over each other, and often there are two conversations going on at the same time. But Altman, perhaps better than any other director, knows exactly how to steer the viewer through the complex web of relationships, and has created an amazing tale of class and culture, with a little murder thrown in just to keep things interesting.
Allow me just to list some names: Michael Gambon, Maggie Smith, Kristin Scott Thomas, Charles Dance, Jeremy Northam, James Wilby, Stephen Fry, Alan Bates, Helen Mirren, Eileen Atkins, Richard E. Grant, Derek Jacobi, Emily Watson, Sophie Thompson, Kelly MacDonald, Clive Owen. No this isn’t the line up for the British Actors Hall of Fame. This is part of the cast list of GOSFORD PARK. I guarantee, even if you don’t recognize all the names, you’ll know the faces if you’ve ever accidentally gone by a PBS station in the past 20 years. It actually took me a good 30 minutes just to close my jaw from the sheer volume of great actors in this film. Throw in Americans Bob Balaban and Ryan Phillippe, and you’ve got one of those casts where you think “If this movie isn’t great, there is no higher power.”
Fortunately GOSFORD PARK confirms the existence of a higher power, and his name is Robert Altman. An actual story doesn’t even set in until about two-thirds of the way into the film, when one of the characters is murdered. I wrongly assumed that the investigation of the murder and discovery of the murderer wouldn’t be of much importance to the plot, but I was wrong. Although the police investigation is treated by the upper classes as something of a nuisance, the revelation of the who the murderer is one of the best scenes of the entire film. But I’m getting ahead of myself. The most interesting part of the film is the way in reveals how servants are considered a gossip pipeline for their employers. Despite the fact that they are supposed to be discreet, that’s almost never the case. And why should they be? The employers speak openly in front of them about very sensitive matters as if they weren’t there. Although the servants are usually treated as non-people, they are also a valuable resource for the upper classes. We learn lessons in the service trade, that there is even a strata among the servants. If you work for a baron, you get seated higher at the table when you eat; the kitchen staff is by far the lowest rung on the servant ladder. When a valet walks into a room when a meal is being served, all hell breaks loose. Altman has taken care to let us know exactly who is beholden to who, who owns who, who hates who (or is it Whom?), who is secretly feeding funds to who. It’s utterly fascinating.
The only flaw I found in the film has to do with the detectives that come in to investigate the murder (Stephen Fry and Ron WEbster). They’re basically clowns and not very funny ones at that. It’s a minor criticism since they’re barely in the film. Other than that, GOSFORD PARK is flawless, entertaining, and informative. Even if it doesn’t do gangbuster business, it places Altman back in the place is esteem he so richly deserves, and it’s a much needed step in helping me forget READY-TO-WEAR and DR. T AND THE WOMEN. In most cities outside of New York and L.A., GOSFORD PARK opens in early January.
BANGKOK DANGEROUS
Leave to Hong Kong filmmakers to supply the Western world with its regular dose of bullets, blood, and gray matter. BANGKOK DANGEROUS is a hyper-stylized gangster opus whose opening titles are literally etched in blood. Relative newcomers Oxide and Danny Pang (twin brothers) co-direct this fast-paced, extra-loud tale of a deaf-mute hit man named Kong. In a series of flashbacks, we see Kong recruited and trained by another assassin, Jo, who eventually becomes his best friend. Jo is dating a stripper who typically brings Kong his assignments and payments for his various jobs. BANGKOK DANGEROUS is a little short on story, but its visuals almost make up for this shortcoming.
Most of the action here is John Woo-style gun play, but with a difference centering on the bullet wounds. In many cases, you see flesh and bones and brain shoot from the wound. It looks very real. There’s a head shot at the end of this film that is unlike any I have ever seen. Kong is an efficient killer; he’s not sliding 30 yards across a slick floor while shooting two guns at once. He comes in, kills, and gets out. He’s also a very sweet guy, who attracts the attention of a young woman working as a drug clerk. The two fall for each other until she gets an inkling of what he does for a living.
BANGKOK DANGEROUS is an all-out assault on your ears, eyes, and head. Some may find this attack annoying; I found it hypnotic. It opens in Chicago on December 14.
