From AICN's Europe offices comes three different reviews of the new Coen Bros. film O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? plus one on DANCER IN THE DARK. Father Geek will turn you over to Edgard in Paris now because I must leave for the Tarantino Film Fest down at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema tonight to witness overlooked Italian Epic Adventures. Harry, Moriarty, and I will be seeing THE HUNS and THE GIANT OF METROPOLIS, plus some fun filmic surprises while eating pizza drenched in rich, creamy Alfredo sauce, spicy roasted pepper sandwiches, and guzzling deep ruby red wines, or sparkly Italian fruit sodas, or very, very dark, steaming triple espressos with some tasty almond crusted cheesecake on the side...
Bonjour everyone... Lucky Edgard here... Lucky because I just saw the latest Coen movie... You see, in France new movies are released on Wednesdays (don't ask why, it's like that). Today among other films, I had a lot of films to choose from... NUTTY PROFESSOR 2 (yeah, right...); PICKING UP THE PIECES (yes, that one with Woody Allen and - briefly it appears - Sharon Stone... the trailer makes me wonder : is this total crap or just a weird ufo kind of film); NURSE BETTY (aaah... Renee...) and - surprise - O'BROTHER WHERE ART THOU ? (actually here it's just called O'BROTHER)... No need to say more, I did not hesitate and ran to see Clooney & Co... But before giving my two cents, I will let Mark, another lucky fellow who got to see the film in Edinburgh... so here it is:
MARK'S REVIEW
MARK'S REVIEW
Perhaps it is easier to enjoy a movie when you are in a good mood. Admittedly having been generously provided by an associate with a free meal and couple of fine pints of Stella Artois in my local public house the Pitfirane Arms Hotel in Crossford Fife I was indeed in fine fettle when I went to see O' Brother Where Art Thou? at the Edinburgh Film Festival. However, even on the blackest day I am convinced that I would come out raving about George Clooney and the Coens' new movie.
O Brother is a hillbilly epic set in 1930's Mississippi and stars George Clooney, John Turturro and Tim Blake Nelson as three escaped convicts on the run from the law while also searching from the hidden loot from a heist that Clooney claims led to his imprisonment. At this point I suppose it is expected that I mention that it is based upon Homer's The Odyssey which tells the story of Odysseus' return to his native Greece after the Trojan War. Now if you think that's strange bear in mind that Rocky IV pinched its plot and structure from Homers The Illiad... allegedly While The Odyssey is a journey through Greek mythology, O Brother is a nostalgic journey through American Culture with the Coens doffing their caps to American icons such as Baby Face Nelson, the Marx Brothers and Robert Johnson's Crossroads amongst others.
While the Coen brothers' last film The Big Lebowski was mildly amusing it was rather short on the laughs front, however, there is no way that the same complaint could be levied at their latest effort. In fact the atmosphere in the theatre was more like that you would encounter at one of your better stand-up comedians that you would expect in the cinema and its finish was met with some rousing applause unusual indeed for us usually reserved and staid Scots.
George Clooney looks like a down-on-his-luck Clark Gable who has a fetish for hair pomade and his willingness not to take himself seriously leads to him being immensely likable for a change. He is brilliantly supported by Turturro and Nelson who reminded me of the main characters in The Catcher in the Rye. Holly Hunter is her usual reliable self and some might say that John Goodman puts on a movie stealing performance, although for me that honour would go to an underwater dog which was reminiscent of the flying cow in Twister... Go see the film and you will know what I mean.
Seriously, go see it - trust me, you won't regret it. It even brought a smile to the wife's face.
Mark
EDGARD'S REVIEW
First let's put things straight: I LOVE THAT FILM!!! After the mixed reactions from Cannes, I have to admit I was a bit afraid because a Coen movie NEVER let me down before... Now I feel reassured, O'BROTHER totally deserved his place with THE BIG LEBOWSKI, FARGO, THE HUDSUCKER PROXY (I love that one too), MILLER'S CROSSING, ARIZONA JUNIOR and the rest....
No need to go into the story again as Mark did it before. I will just go through all the things I liked. The best thing about this film here is that "southern" feeling... exactly like in FARGO you could feel the Minnessota winter, here everything is literally rhythmned by the Mississippi state... Great music... Wonderful images (thank you Roger Deakins)... a slow pace (and slow doesn't mean boring, it's just things take time to happen but you never feel bored, you just go along)... For me, one of the most beautifully shot Coen films was until now MILLER'S CROSSING... but this one certainly goes even further in the beauty... it's pure eye candy.
Second is - as always with the Coen's - the actors. George Clooney must receive something here... I mean that guy survived BATMAN & ROBIN!! Give him credit... it seems that since the Schumathing fiasco Clooney has been trying to apologize to us by making great films... don't stop George!! Of course it's him who has all the best lines, but his general attitude is really really great. The rest of the cast is perfect. Turturro and Goodman are again at their best with the Coen's. I personally discovered here Tim Blake Nelson and it's a great discovery... Hope to see him more in the future. Only Holly Hunter is a bit wasted, she has not much to do... but again in the Odyssey Penelope spends her time waiting so....
Third great thing is this unique mix between craziness and magic you only find in a Coen film. Animals lovers you will be hurt here: an underwater dog, a crushed toad and... well that poor cow... it will make you laugh... then you have these musical scenes... these odd characters... That's what I love in a Coen film: each one is as different from the others as possible, still you can recognise a Coen film very easily... They can surprise you while making you feel... "home"! It's very simple, for me the Coen brothers explain better than anyone else in the film business why "magic" and "movie" are two concepts very similar...
My only little negative comment - if I have to give one - is about the "political storyline" (around the governor played by Charles Durning): it's a bit useless and not as funny as the rest... only his last scene really makes sense... but again it's a minor flaw...
I think someone on this site wrote once: "in a perfect world, every movie should be directed by the Coen brothers..." Well, whoever you are, today I totally agree with you !
Do not forget to send us your reviews at euroaicn@yahoo.com
From Ozymandias... more reviews:
Hey guys,
Finally my man Santa comes up with a big, fat present for me! He's been corresponding with me for the last couple of months about this and that and we've both been at the same previews (he thinks he knows what I really look like but alas this particular Santa doesn't know whether I've been naughty or nice!) I'll let the big fat guy in the red suit have his say......
Hey guys,
Finally my man Santa comes up with a big, fat present for me! He's been corresponding with me for the last couple of months about this and that and we've both been at the same previews (he thinks he knows what I really look like but alas this particular Santa doesn't know whether I've been naughty or nice!) I'll let the big fat guy in the red suit have his say......
Oz,
You probably have enough on your plate, but here are two reviews, for DANCER IN THE DARK and O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU?
DANCER IN THE DARK has gotten more mixed reviews than anything in my (admittedly short-term) memory. Won the Palme d'Or, Best Actress for Bjork at Cannes, got a standing ovation AND received boos and hisses at that screening.
When I saw it last week, there was a man two rows down who was so choked with emotion I thought he was going to cry, and a girl sitting two behind who laughed through the last half of the film.
But I'm here with the truth. You can trust me. I keep lists of nice people. And I'm Irish.
I'll keep this quick, because DANCER IN THE DARK left me in a decidedly strange mood. I walked out of it into the warm sunshine, stared at the ground and went: "Well. what now?" Which means nothing to you. So how about this:
Remember BRAZIL? Great, wasn't it?
Now think of the last five minutes. The chair and that HUGE, scary fucking room, and Jonathan Pryce's gentle humming...
Remember?
Now take that feeling and extend it to two hours, stick a load of holes in the side, shove it in a film canister and call it DANCER IN THE DARK. It's set in a weird sixties America, was filmed in Sweden and made ENTIRELY on digital. Bjork is (near as I can make out) the "Dancer" of the title. She's a Czechoslovakian immigrant working every hour in the day to save up money for her son's eye operation. She loves the big American musicals, loves dancing, but... she's going blind.
Not a huge barrel of laughs, you're thinking. Well, you're on the right track. Watching it (and if the shaking camera in BLAIR WITCH made you queasy, you might consider giving this a miss) I had this bizarre image of Lars Von Trier as this monstrous gargoyle, laughing to himself: "MUH-HAH HAH. WATCH AS I PULL ON THE AUDIENCE'S PITIFUL HEARTSTRINGS LIKE A HARP!"
You'll sit there going "Oh God... she's going blind, her landlord's a desperate cop in serious debt, Peter Stormare's in love with her. What else can possibly go wrong for the poor thing?"
And then the first musical sequence starts, and you FORGET ALL THAT. This isn't really a musical in the old MGM sense, but more like the flights of fancy in WALTER MITTY. Bjork's character hears these beautiful rhythms in the world around her, and dances off into these wonderful fantasy sequences that seem very much at odds with the tenets of the Dogma 95 manifesto.
It's not a particularly easy film to watch, but it is a memorable one. The soundtrack is astonishing, and if there is any justice in the world, it should sell a truckload. As far as I can make out, it's not available yet, save on import from Japan. If anyone does know, please spread the word.
DANCER IN THE DARK seems a little overlong. It could have ended half-an-hour earlier, sparing us (amongst other things) of a dance sequence set on Death Row. The strangest thing about it is, I can fully understand why someone would either love or despise it.
Show me someone who thought O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? was going to be a bad film and I'll show you a big fat falsehood-sodden liar who ain't getting anything nice this Christmas. Anyone who puts forward the opinion that the Coen brothers are anything other than cinematic GODS is liable to be taunted and booed until my throat is hoarse.
At Cannes, this got a "muted reaction" from the critics. The audience loved it, of course, but the critics were sitting in the "muted" seats and weren't leaving.
And anyone reading this is going to go see O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU?
Simple as that. The Coen's have... (deep breath)... NEVER MADE A BAD FILM. That inner dialogue you're running through your mind - "But THE HUDSUCKER PROXY was lacking something." - PIPE DOWN, Rub-a-dub. the Coen's most dismal "failures" are among the most delightful things you've seen on-screen for the last fifteen years. And if you're a film fan, you're a Coen brothers fan. I could tell you that the whole film is one long close-up of George Clooney's naval hair, and you'd go see it.
But. and here's the but - what's your favourite Coen film? There are two distinct camps, and I'll loosely group them under the FARGO and RAISING ARIZONA flags. black than black humour, intricate plot, terrific characters, as opposed to mad-cap visual comedy, brilliant one-liners, terrific characters.
So it's not a great differentiation, and you'll argue that THE BIG LEBOWSKI was an out and out comedy with an intricate Raymond Chandler plot, or that THE HUDSUCKER PROXY opens with a suicide, but - Jesus Christ, I'm not perfect! You PROBABLY get my drift.
Now me, I prefer when Joel and Ethan Coen dip into deeper, darker waters. I love the way their writing style takes the story on completely unpredictable plot holes. I love - well, enough of what I love.
O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? is (and I'm pretty sure about this) the first time they've adapted someone else's work. Admittedly, this is THE ODYSSEY, and their take on George Clooney's Everett Ulysses McGill's quest across the American South during the Depression is anything but conventional. And it's terrific.
But. The But again. O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? has an incredible charm to it, a sense of warmth that will leave you stumbling out of the cinema with a ridiculous sloppy grin on your face. which is why the darker moments (the choreographed Klan dance, the cold-blooded Sheriff pursuing the three convicts) feel ever so slightly out of place. Holly Hunter and George Clooney's numerous children sprout up in the last act, and you know in your heart, DEEP DOWN IN YOUR SOUL, what'll happen.
And I love being surprised.
This quibble is SO MINOR when compared with the sheer brilliance of O BROTHER. that I feel ashamed for having wrote it. In fact, I'll delete it right now. Ah feck it, I can't be bothered. Not that it matters what I was going to say.
You're going to see this anyway.
Santa says: Be Good, Because I Know Where You Live.
