Hey folks, Harry here... this is more good news from Berlin... confirmation of how great BEFORE SUNSET is and a review telling us of a new Miike treasure in ONE MISSED CALL. Warms the heart to know goodness is somewhere out there while we despair at the dreary selection we're given in the meanwhile. Here ya go...
Hey Harry,
So the Berlinale has come to a close, and I thought I would chime in with some reviews of the two films I saw on the final day- Takashi Miike's ONE MISSED CALL, and Richard Linklater's BEFORE SUNSET.
ONE MISSED CALL
A quick plot synopsis for ya: A group of friends is out to dinner shooting the bull when one of the girl's cell phone's rings with a ring tone she's never heard before. The girl doesn't get to it in time (hence the phone to display 'one missed call'), and she doesn't recognize the number, but whoever called left a message. Strange thing is the message is dated two days in the future, and once she listens to the message it gets even stranger- It's her own voice followed by a blood curdling scream. She doesn't pay it too much mind, figuring it's someone playing a joke on her, but when she ends up dead two days later (by getting thrown in front of an oncoming train) at the exact same time as the message was dated, well then needless to say her friends are a little freaked out. You then find out that right after she died another one of the friends got the same type of call, and a day later he bites the dust. Seconds after his death a third member of their group gets the same type of call... see a pattern forming?
I have to admit, at first i just wasn't feeling this film. There was little or no character development for any of the friends, and the plot had one too many echoes of 'The Ring'. But about a half an hour into the film things kick in to high gear, and I enjoyed a helluva lot more.
You see, when the third friend gets the call the formula breaks a bit. The strange 'cell phone deaths' have attracted national attention, and this prompts the third girl to be asked (more like 'forced' actually) to go on live TV at the time of her 'ffore casted death, and have an exorcism performed on her by their resident expert. All of Japan are glued to their TV sets, and Miike does a great job of building the tension. I really dug the thought of really confronting what's going on. I mean is this girl really gonna die on live television? Are the supernatural ooccurrencesin films like this confined to empty houses and dark woods, or does whatever is responsible for these killings have the balls to axe this chick in front of Japan. Once this scene is over the perspective of the film switches back to our main players, and never really addresses the country at large again, but it was really cool to see it handled this way, even if it doesn't have the biggest impact on the ! film as a whole.
The rest of the film is unraveling the mystery behind the calls, and from here on it really seems to almost be a different movie. The first half is mostly watching people getting picked off one by one, and wondering who's next, but the second half slows things down a bit (in a good way), and gets a lot creepier. But like I said, by the time the film is over you almost feel like you saw two different movies. I don't want you to think it's a negative thing, because it really isn't, but I'm not the only one who noticed it after the screening, so it's definitely there.
The directing, cinematography was well done. The music did a good job of keeping you on the edge, and the sound effects were damn good. The theater had a good sound system, and the film definitely took advantage of it. Things were happening all around you with a few good loud jump moments thrown in. The acting was pretty typical, there were no stand-out performances or anything. Strictly by the numbers. The computer, and traditional, effects on the other hand were great. There is some gore, but it's handled well. Nothing is over done, or gory for gore's sake, but their not afraid to show it either.
In the end it won me over. After the rocky start I was starting to get disappointed, but I walked out enjoying it. It does have it's problems though- most of the characters are weak and underdeveloped, the plot is a bit too similar to the Ring throughout, and the explanation for some things are a tad on the weak side, but it definitely delivers in the creep department (The two guys sitting next to me had their hands over their eyes for the last twenty minutes, funny as hell). The atmosphere is great in the second half, and the live TV scene I mentioned was great. If your a fan of Japanese horror, or Takashi Miike then you'll dig it I'm sure (for the record I'm a fan of both), it just may not be the most original film you see this year.
BEFORE SUNSET
I won't go heavy into the plot, because I know it's been printed here, and other places many a time, but just for introduction's sake...
It's ten years after Jesse and Celine's first meeting in Before Sunrise. This time in Paris where Jesse is on the last leg of his European book tour, and who should show up at his signing but Celine.
Simply put, if you are a fan of Before Sunrise then you are a fan of Before Sunset, because it is every bit as good as the original. It's not a cheesy cash in sequel, or a sequel made because they thought it would be a gas to get these characters back together. Instead it's a continuation of the story because now, ten years later, there's a lot more to say. Not just about the characters and the changes they've gone through, but the world in general. It doesn't get preachy or anything, i just mean that I think ten years on Linklater, Hawke, and Delpy were ready to go again, and have a lot on their minds.
It's amazing how you just slip into the characters again. Jesse mentions at one point that the first film felt like two months ago, and he's absolutely right. In the beginning there's questions to answer- Did either of them show up in Vienna six months later? And plenty of reminiscence, but things eventually turn to what their current situations are, and the little observations they have about the world at large.
The romance is absolutely still there, things have changed, but you still fell that pull between them, and the romantic in you can't help but come out. Linklater's writing and Hawke & Delpy's ad-libbing is fantastic (again). Everything just feels absolutely natural. Something from the first film that also returns here is the flow. The conversation effortlessly moves from subject to subject just as our characters move around Paris from place to place in a continuous motion. The camera tracks for long takes smoothly navigating through the back streets. Paris was perfectly captured, my wife and I have had the opportunity to walk the streets of Paris together, and that is exactly what it's like.
Again, this isn't a needless sequel. No gimmicks, or beating of a dead horse. Just great writing, and great acting, full of romance and truisms picked right from your brain.
All in all the Berlinale was fantastic, and I don't think I could have picked two films any more different for the final day, but it made for some damn good movie watching. Here's looking forward to a good year for cinema.
Till next time, Basara
