Hey folks, Harry here... and I may be wrong, but I think Il Matto here has had the best luck at picking his films thus far. Seems that his NON-OBVIOUS choices are better more often than naught. That's cool as hell. Really nice to hear about IN THIS WORLD, I'LL SLEEP WHEN I'M DEAD and OSAMA. Can't wait to have an opportunity to see those. Here ya go...
LES TRIPLETTES DE BELLIVILLE
"Les Triplettes de Belliville", directed by Sylvain Chomet, is a wild French animated film, that starts with a little boy (looking like he was drawn by Charles Addams) living with his little clubfooted grandmotherand their dog. She tries to get him interested in something, and finds he likes his bicycle, so she sets out to train him. Flash forward about a dozen years, and she's still training him. He enters the Tour de France, but is kidnapped mid race by some mafiosi, (they always come in threes, a little boss and to hulking thugs, all dressed in one suit), who force him and two other cyclists to race on stationary bikes in front of a back projected race trail, for betting by other gangsters. Meanwhile the Triplettes, tall fraternal sisters who were a big thirties musical act (we see a performance of them, done in early Disney/Fleischer style at the beginning of the film, complete with Django Reinhardt, Josephine Baker losing her bananas, and Fred Astaire), move in with the grandma, get dinner by throwing a grenade into a pond of frogs (whole frog soup, whole frog kebobs, some still alive yum yum). They perform at a club using grandma's refrigerator and newspaper as instuments, and eventually go to save the grandson. There's a lot of cool wackiness. Very enjoyable.
IN THIS WORLD
Michael Winterbottom has done a wide breadth of movies. "In this World" is more "Welcome to Sarajevo", less "24 Hour Party People". He and a crew of two (a sound mand and a cameraman with a small video camera) made a movie about two Afghan refugees living in the million people refugee camp in Pakisatan, a young man and a kid whose familiy paid to have them go through the underground railroad to a better life in London. The film follows them on their journey, which is no piece of cake. The result is one fine movie, which amazing considering the logistics involved. The leads were actuall refugee camp residents (one of whom actually made the trip for real a few month's later). Since they had no passports, the producers had to jump through hoops to to get them into each country along the way. filming in Pakistan, Iran, Italy, France, and Britain. Winter is a real positive humanist, and has made a wonderful documentary like feature.
I'LL SLEEP WHEN I'M DEAD
After "The Croupier" resuscitated Mike Hodges dormant career, he had a chance to make "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead", which he had wanted to do for years, getting Clive Owen, who had starred the that previous film, to star in this one. And while he had seen no resemblance to his 60's hit "Get Carter" in the script, he later realized that there are some similarities in structure. He said he was flattered that a journalist told him that this new film was "Get Carter" as done by John Coltrane. Owens is a former gangster who has given up the life to live in a camper as a logger in Wales, with a beard and long hair. When his brother (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers) commits suicide, he's back to get to the bottom of things. His brother was raped by car dealer Malcolm McDowell (only slightly more sinister than he was in "The Company). This is a film about the frustration of revenge. Charlotte Rampling and Sylvia Syms are along for the ride, along with a lot of great character actors.
OSAMA
"Osama", by Siddiq Barmak, is the first film by an Afghani director since before the Taliban took over, and only about the fortieth Afghani feature ever. Set before the fall of the Taliban, it concerns a twelve year old girl, whose mother, a nurse, loses her job when the hospital is closed. To make money and to provide as an escort so her mother can go out in public without being arrested, her hair is cut and she is put in her dead fathers old clothes, so she can pass as a boy. She gets a job, but is soon taken away by the Taliban, given a turban, and drafted into military school. Can she fool them? Does she want to? Can things get even worse? Barmak, a graduate of the Moscow Film Academy, has the technical ability to get his point across. I really felt for the girl. Not a great film, but a very good one.
Il Matto
