Τρίτη 10 Δεκεμβρίου 2013

Frances Ha (2012)

Directed by Noah Baumbach
Written by Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig (screenplay)
With Greta Gerwig, Mickey Sumner, Adam Driver
USA, 86 min

In noisy and busy New York a lot of young people are struggling for a better life. One of them is Frances. She doesn’t really have an apartment since her temporary job in a dance firm is not really offering her a decent salary and as she declares being a dancer, she is actually a struggling one trying to stand out.

“Frances Ha” is the silent surprise of last year. An independent American production with a pretty black & white photography, young actors and most of all a freshly point of view of how young people are these days. Even if it is based on New York with its neuroticism borrowed by Woody Allen’s remarks and movies, the film speaks for everyone. For all the struggles every person, who experiences the western society’s “diseases”, deals with.

The film of Noah Baumbach is inspired by the French Nouvelle Vague and the characteristic Woody Allen vibe of “Manhattan” and “Annie Hall”. In its content, the awkwardly designed character of Frances always has a talent of bringing unintended questions and blurred (but truthful), life and love, statements.

She lives with her best friend, Sophie, who she considers as her soul mate. They share an apartment together and a wonderful life – almost in a childish way - but when Sophie decides to move elsewhere with someone else, the deep disappointment in Frances’s face is more than evident in herself and her own life. It somehow makes her realize and think over her own life purpose and how she would be able to survive in hectic New York.

The later crisis between them will almost force her to face this big blank wall of self reflection. This eventually will result into reinventing her own goals and plans, to actually confront her own self.

Life for Frances is something she needs to endure, but her own existence and well – being depends mostly on other people. She is social and quite extrovert, but she shares a quite rare intimacy only with the people she chooses, or better to say, with the people who really don’t bother judging her bold and nervy social behavior.

The clean and abrupt – almost tidy – editing of the movie gives away Baumbach’s random direction attitude. It feels like he put together all his frames and shots somehow unintended. This procedure’s honesty is an element missing from other contemporary Americans. It is marvelous and so beautiful to see how his direction’s simplicity, even though is not completely new or innovative, helps him recreate through his own perspective.

Frances drifts around New York, she imposes herself into other people’s lives, she tells exactly what she thinks and is so genuine that you cannot do anything but admire and secretly envy her freedom of character. But she is also sensitive and talented, maybe not made for the big lights and major dance performances, but her style and life values are there permanently to remind her – and us – that we need to keep up and promote our own dreams any way possible.

Nothing that others – or society and the media – enforces us to do should happen. Success is an overestimated situation that can destroy as easy as it can build human lives. The point is to live and experience through feelings. But the other, more valuable hidden point is what you produce in this world to actually have a meaning for some people, even if you can count them in one hand.

This is what “Frances Ha” is about. It is for the small, not of great significance, lives of people who are actually very important, even more important than the already seemingly important ones.


The essence of this film is completed through these lines:
"I want this one moment. It’s what I want in a relationship…It’s that thing when you’re with someone and you love them, and they know it, and they love you and you know it but it’s a party and you’re both talking to other people and you’re laughing and shining and you look across the room and catch each other’s eyes, but not because you’re possessive or it’s precisely sexual, but because that is your person in this life."


Τρίτη 19 Νοεμβρίου 2013

My week in movies #1

Last week I decided, since time is a precious thing in my life and I don’t have much of it, to write down small reviews of all the movies I have watched - instead of detailed film critiques - in a period of like 10 days. These are some of the movies I watched and, as you can see, are from various genres, times and directors. 

This list can also be used as a small guide if you are wondering what to watch every night!

The small reviews below are from my Letterbox profile 





In the first movie minions were the true revelation. With their characteristic non-language they return in "Despicable Me 2" claiming more time and spotlight. “Despicable Me 2” is spreading jokes that are not so childish but actually extremely funny for everyone.

With love as the main theme in this sequel, Gru finds himself trapped between his girls and this new undercover job that he was offered. Finally, after a lot of thought he will accept and he will try to discover which villain stole this powerful mutation liquid that turns everyone into monsters.

Smart, sweet and still hilarious, "Despicable Me 2" is quite a delight to watch. It's perfect for a relaxing night; a night which with some minions on your side can prove more than amazing. 





This movie reveals with great way how some youngsters want to define themselves through their parents’ non action. They are bold and gorgeous, but their beauty contradicts their greedy lust for life. Their reckless behavior results to destructive results.

A big social statement for teenage behavior, especially in the 50s-60s era. It is rebellious like its own protagonists, who carelessly cannot realize the importance of their actions and who are constantly being neglected and left in their fate by their own parents. 

Iconic James Dean you will live forever. 





Such a masterpiece of horror and mystery. As in all Hitchcock's movies we - the audience - are one step ahead in the plot, but here we walk into the dark secrets of Uncle Charlie's past, almost along with Charlotte 'Charlie' Newton, his young niece. So intense. You cannot miss a shot. I want to watch it again and again. 





What a magnificent performance given by Denzel Washington. This story of corruption and control, so violently given, shows some of our basic instincts. Yes, the strongest survives, but also the smartest. In a world full of drugs and cruelty, blood and guns in the streets, does police have a role of maintaining order or a role of taking everything under control no matter the outcome? In this cruel world we need to consider if we are going to fight against this brutality with our hearts, our ethics and morals or with our own violent, nasty instincts. 





A movie I have never heard of before came and surprised me completely. Through amazing performances by its cast (Oh yes, including Harvey) and the leading extraordinary James Stewart, "Harvey" tells the story of a man and its imaginary (?) 6 feet tall rabbit friend and how together they change people one by one.

His politeness affects everyone around him, even though his older sister is trying to lock him up in a mental institution. Through his odd behavior, the insanity of others comes slowly to the surface, proving that he is the sanest of them all. Touching and truthful, 'Harvey' has a lot of meanings, letting each viewer to discover and decode them in their own way.

Τρίτη 5 Νοεμβρίου 2013

The sessions (2012)

The sessions (2012)
Director: Ben Lewin
Writer: Ben Lewin, Mark O'Brien (article)
With: John Hawkes, Helen Hunt, William H. Macy
Duration: USA
Production: 95’

One of the words that pop up in your head watching this movie is heartbreaking honesty.

Characterized as the Festival Hit of the year, “The Sessions” made an impression on the crowd for its obvious - almost unintentionally looking - naivety. It had gained an Oscar nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role for the indeed extraordinary Helen Hunt and some more Festival awards with most important that of Sundance (Audience Award and Special Jury Prize).

Based on the article of Mark O'Brien, the same person we see on screen, the same unique character that suffered from polio at age of 6 and used an iron lung until his death, the true, inspiring story of a man who wanted to experience life in its full extent. A man who was craving for real love, for true feelings of affection and wanted to know everything about the magic of making love.

Mark is living a peaceful life at his house. He has a special lady to clean him up, help him shop his vintage shirts and feed him. After not feeling comfortable with his latest assistant, he goes on a hunt of finding the perfect candidate. Through this process he realizes how much he wants to seize being a virgin.  How much he truly wants to experience sexual intercourse, aka having sex.

He is a devoted Catholic and with the ethical guide of his priest he decides to take this journey and hire a sex surrogate. The priest, such an amusing character given by William H. Macy, is his listener, his way of making amends with God himself, but most of all is his true friend who watches a grown disabled man with a pure heart to wish for something so natural and normal. He deletes any kind of religious boundaries and manages to advise him as a true friend.

After he already decided to act upon his decision to have sex and feel real love, he contacts his therapist who introduces him to Cheryl Cohen-Greene, a professional sex surrogate who has a normal, conventional life. The relationship they create will change them both. To his journey towards manhood, Mark discovers how he can love, how he can express himself and his tortured body.

And then except Helen Hunt, you get an astonishing performance by John Hawkes. His facial expressions of a simple, honest, full of humor disabled man transfer the uniqueness of this true story into our own eyes as we watch his life transforming into the beautiful experience it can be. By fulfilling only this simple wish, which for any other is something so “easy to get”, he is finally the person who always wanted to be – complete. Complete with love, sex, emotions, moments, happiness and life, no matter the difficulties. 

The simplicity that accompanies The Sessions’ direction by Ben Lewin can be shown in the clean shots of his characters. The colorful universe Mark lives in, even if for some can provoke pity, Lewin manages to convey exactly the opposite. He makes you feel proud and admire Mark for his integrity, his way of thinking, his romance, his own extraordinary life.

The talent of Mark deleting any kind of awkwardness and taboo concerning sex and its content is also the director’s talent not to make it look weird in any context. Mark and his character win everyone over with his innocence, his ignorance, his unlikeness. He is sweet and so unpredictable beautiful, a beauty that comes from inside and glows on the outside. What if he is marked by the “disabled” tag, the people and their lives he touched with his simplicity are living proof that tags and people don’t match.  


Mark’s story is a constant lesson to all of us who seek perfection and happiness in a life that is most of all beautiful and interesting just the way it is. 

Τετάρτη 23 Οκτωβρίου 2013

Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959)

Director: Alain Resnais
Writer:  Marguerite Duras
With: Emmanuelle Riva, Eiji Okada, Stella Dassas
Duration: 90’
Production: France, Japan

Elle is a French actress shooting a movie in Hiroshima. She meets Lui, a married Japanese architect. Together they share their opinions about the war, about life and love, until all of their past is being unraveled.

This movie and its story have a strong sentimental base. At the beginning the war pictures and the words that accompany them are breathtaking. We are being introduced to a couple that met in Hiroshima. The details of their relationship and their background are being slowly revealed.

First everything is about the war. As the story goes the focus changes and goes to the couple’s past, particularly Elle’s past. Then, she will slowly expose herself to buried memories and feelings. The strong and confident French actress will become a scared little girl and nothing can save her. She is exposed to love, sentiments, and strong feelings. Slowly she will remember that once she did fell all these again. The turbulence that the past provokes makes her act in complete denial of the present.

The constant denial of Elle’s lover depicts the general denial of such a destructive war that makes your heart doom. The power of her own story is so magnificent that deletes somehow the struggle of their departure (she has to go back to France to her husband, he is married in Hiroshima).

Several images scattered create the essence of memories tried to be forgotten through the years, the alcohol though, manages to withdraw them from the oblivion darkness to the realistic surface of the present. He listens carefully as the moments of grief and despair she recalls appear, pretending to be the lover she lost once and for all.

All these information she reveals, do expose why she has lived what she has lived, but not in any case justify the actions of her surroundings towards her. Her betrayal is so powerful her own parents lock her in this basement; she is being constantly humiliated for this unfortunate – but so fortunate for her still – affair with the German soldier during the Nazi occupation.

She loved him with all of her human senses. She never regrets her love for him and now this Japanese man makes her relive this strength in her soul. He makes her remember the true love she once experienced and so tragically lost. She is deadly afraid that all these will happen again. Scared and alone she starts drifting through Hiroshima, trying to settle her thoughts, trying to put her own feelings in order.

He is following her, trying to convince her to stay with him, but she – like a dog experiencing a traumatic incident – believes that such a strong love will result to her “imprisonment” again. The loss, the emptiness, the grief of losing a lover were so intense, she never wants to live it again. The unclear ending proves not only that the destinations does not even matter, but also that strong feelings can overcome any type of fear ever existed in one’s mind and soul.


Yes she probably stayed, we don’t know for how long, we will never know, but at least she managed to talk about this traumatic experience, to let it out, there exposed, ready to be judged or dismissed. She managed to somehow accept it deep in her heart, without accusing or regretting, but only sharing it, reliving it and finally discarding it to permanent oblivion

Κυριακή 6 Οκτωβρίου 2013

Blue Jasmine (2013)

Director: Woody Allen     
Script: Woody Allen
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Sally Hawkins, Alec Baldwin, Peter Sarsgaard, Andrew Dice Clay
Duration: 98 min
Production: USA

After an almost destructive last movie (yes I mean “To Rome with love”), where the script and its characters were tasteless like a dessert with no sugar, Woody Allen leaves behind the wondering around in Europe and goes back to good old inspiring America, specifically to San Francisco.

There he introduces us to the wealthy idle Jasmine, or better to say the ex – wealthy but still idle Jasmine. Jasmine comes back from New York, where she lived as a princess, drenched in luxuries, spoiled by her extremely rich husband, to San Francisco. There she will stay with her sister, Ginger, for as long as it takes her to step up on her feet again. Cocky, arrogant and mainly vain, Jasmine will confront all the mistakes of the past, the tragedies she endured and she will finally have to face herself.

Woody Allen (thankfully) managed to come back with a freshly script and a well structured - but so weak - character, that of Jasmine, after a big long disappointed cinematic run through the last years. Here, he takes his neurotic obsessions and transforms them, through Cate Blanchett’s divinity, into a total collapse of the fake life. Jasmine lived for years without caring for what’s inside people, without paying attention to anything else rather than her own social life and vanity. Now everything she loved in her life have gone so tragically wrong that she needs to accept reality and make amends with the past.

She moves in with her younger sister, who is living a modest life with two kids, trying to be happy and satisfied, even if she picks out the wrong guys – as Jasmine gladly points out. Ginger is the complete opposite of Jasmine, however they give to each other – without realizing it – the moral support they both need, even if Jasmine clashes with everything that doesn’t fit in her socially “perfect” world.

Through the magnificence of Blanchett’s acting, Allen manages to show the downfall of a woman who never managed to confront her problems and preferred to look away. In a fake rich life she had everything she needed, fake friends, temporary luxuries and nothing really deep, nothing really satisfying or truly happy.

Through this decaying format of modern life and the emphasis  in the absolute blank in richness, Woody Allen with his known tragicomedy elements, manages to show the true face of today and the ugliness that money really caries. Who needs all the Louis Vuitton if their life is miserable, if the problems are there and you do nothing but keep buying and spending and buying?

The anachronistic storytelling with flashbacks of Jasmine’s previous glamorous life keeps pointing out the fragile nature of the character and how her own inaction has severe consequences in her psychological state. Through tragedy Allen gives comedy and vise versa, showing with his camera, via his unique directing talent, numerous funny and extremely sad situations simultaneously.

The arrogant attitude Jasmine has towards others who she sees as inferiors, as her sister’s boyfriends, is absolutely hilarious. However these are the middle class people who happen to search for the meaning in their lives, even if they don’t own mansions and villas in Cannes, even if their accounts don’t have numerous zeros, even if they happen to live in a poor neighborhood. They have nothing but warmth, love and a constant desire of enjoying life as it is. And Woody Allen seems to know that.


Woody Allen with “Blue Jasmine” is expressing something very specific, trying to show how real life is to all his colleagues, the Hollywood actors, the common people like you and me. So, what do you think, is anyone listening?

Τρίτη 24 Σεπτεμβρίου 2013

The guard (2011)

Direction: John Michael McDonagh
Script: John Michael McDonagh
Acting: Ronan Collins, Brendan Gleeson, Don Cheadle
Production: Ireland
Duration: 96 min

In Ireland the police department works in a slightly different kind of way. Irish Sergeant Gerry Boyle is the living proof. His personality is quite incompatible with the typical social forms. Raised in Ireland by a strong minded, down-to-earth, sweet woman, who is now struggling by a deadly disease, Gerry finds himself in a daily boring situation of dealing with typical criminals.

Gerry and his unconventional character are everything in this film. Not because it emerges the limitless talent of Brendan Gleeson, but mostly because it depicts how sick of his boring police life Gerry is.

Yes Gerry is a good Sergeant, corrupted to the bone but good (don’t ask how this is possible, it is). He appears to be quite smart when it comes to solving cases and crimes, but he is completely antisocial and brutal with the rest of the world. With the Irish temperament thriving throughout the film, McDonagh has given a well structured story of a pure antihero.

The basic element, that from the first shot shows the level this film wants to reach, is the dialogues with countless references in literature, cinema and history (Lars Von Trier, Polanski, Fellini, Nietzsche etc.). The used vocabulary reforms the whole initial feeling by letting you understand that Gerry is no dumb fellow. And either he feels that his job is less important than that of a teacher.

The “fair game” that is being told here feels a little weird, there is no such thing as “fair game” in Ireland, as simple as that. The humorous veil that has covered the whole story has made the action parts and the escalation of the plot quite magnificent. In many basic scenes things are happening, but you don’t even realize them. There is no music to prepare you; there is no introduction to it. You just watch pure action.

You cannot ignore the amazing, full of chromatic contrasts, photography that gives an extra pinch of vibration to the whole result. I won’t forget the music score by Calexico, the American indie rock band that gave this extra ironic element into the plot. Each scene in “The Guard”, we could say, has a political coloration, some comments, some actions are politically charged. Combining all of this together, with the detached, remote I would say, direction of McDonagh, you have a vigorous comedy crime movie.

Gerry is not a common Irish lad, or maybe he is with the impolite sincerity of his character, but what makes him quite extraordinary is his real devotion to the ultimate good. He might be corrupted, he might not respect his supervisors or even his own profession, but he surely knows how to fight till the end with pure guts.

The director here puts clearly on the table the meaning of heroism, but what he actually does in an evocative way, is to recreate and reinvent the term. Gerry is not a typical guy and definitely he is not a typical Sergeant. He knows that his life has reached the swamp, he cannot go further, and he must act.


He redefines himself through his actions. Reckless one might think, because of the way he does it, but in the end he proves not only to be smart to escape his own misery, but also to fool the rest of the people that he was actually dumb. Only the FBI agent Wendell Everett will realize his genius mind and finally respect him, after the innocent rivalry that thrived in between them, and gave an extra comedy stigma. 

Δευτέρα 12 Αυγούστου 2013

Detachment (2011)

Σκηνοθεσία: Tony Kaye
Σενάριο: Carl Lund
Πρωταγωνιστούν:  Adrien Brody, Marcia Gay Harden, Christina Hendricks, James Caan, Lucy Liu, Blythe Danner, Sami Gayle
Παραγωγή: ΗΠΑ
Διάρκεια: 97’

Το παρελθόν συγχέεται απότομα με το παρόν, οι μνήμες ενός τραύματος επανέρχονται επάνω στη συνείδηση και επιτρέπουν τη λύπη να επεκτείνεται με ταχύτητα αρρώστιας στην πραγματικότητα.

Το μότο «η ζωή είναι δύσκολη» αποτελεί ένα από τα διδάγματα της ταινίας. Είναι περίπλοκη, θλιμμένη, τραχιά και μοναχική. Όλοι μας γευόμαστε τη μελαγχολία και τον πόνο, όλοι μας προσπαθούμε να τον αποβάλλουμε με κάθε τρόπο, ενώ πολλοί από εμάς το αγκαλιάζουμε και συνεχίζουμε με αργά και σταθερά βήματα στη ζωή.

Δεν είναι όμως όλοι έτσι. Κάποια συναισθήματα γεμίζουν το μυαλό, ασφυκτιούν τις μέρες και τις νύχτες, αναγουλιάζουν τη γαλήνη. Και οι άνθρωποι αυτοί, οι πιο ευαίσθητοι μα και γενναίοι παίρνουν τις λάθος αποφάσεις – σωστές την κρίσιμη στιγμή της απόγνωσης.

Ο φόβος της αποτυχίας, η εποχή της ψεύτικης ευτυχίας, η αδιαφορία, το άψυχο σεξ, το αβέβαιο μέλλον είναι λίγα από αυτά που στοιχειώνουν τις σύγχρονες ζωές μας, αποπροσανατολίζοντάς μας, με αποτέλεσμα να χάνουμε την αληθινή ουσία.

Μέσα από δύσκολες εικόνες, λόγια βγαλμένα από σελίδες ποιητικές, σκέψεις σκορπισμένες σε μία άδεια αίθουσα, η ταινία αποζητά να προσδιορίσει την σημερινή ψυχοσύνθεση των περισσότερων ανθρώπων και να καταστήσει μία ελεγεία ως προς την αδιαφορία στη ζωή, συγκεκριμένα του κεντρικού ήρωα, η οποία όμως εκδηλώνεται σε όλους τους χαρακτήρες –πρωταγωνιστές.

Όλα όσα γίνονται στα σχολεία όπου δουλεύει ο Henry δεν τον αγγίζουν, περνούν απαρατήρητα, άοσμες και άγευστες καταστάσεις για το κουρασμένο του μυαλό. Και όμως όσο και αν προσπαθεί να αποσπαστεί από την πραγματικότητα που τον περιβάλει, δεν μπορεί να αγνοήσει τη δυστυχία των γύρω του που πηγάζει μέσα από την δική του μελαγχολική οπτική.

Ναι, ίσως όλη αυτή η δυστυχία εάν ερμηνευόταν μέσα από τα μάτια ενός άλλου, πιο αισιόδοξου ατόμου, να τη βλέπαμε και εμείς διαφορετική, πιο ελπιδοφόρα. Τα πλάνα και οι αφηρημένες σκηνές σου δίνουν την εντύπωση ότι προέρχονται μέσα από τα μάτια του Henry, ο οποίος έχει ήδη τα δικά του φαντάσματα να αντιμετωπίσει.

Έχοντας τον άρρωστο παππού του σε ένα γηροκομείο είναι ιδιαίτερα αποξενωμένος από τον ίδιο και την κατάστασή του, κάτι που έχει τις ρίζες του στο τραυματικό του παρελθόν και τη μορφή της μητέρας του.

Ένα βράδυ θα γνωρίσει τυχαία ένα κορίτσι που έχει χάσει το δρόμο του και θα αποφασίσει ασυνείδητα να της προσφέρει λίγο χρόνο από τη δική του ζωή. Η μικρή μένει στους δρόμους, εκδίδοντας τον εαυτό της, μπλέκοντας σε σχέσεις αυτοκαταστροφικές. Ο Henry  της προσφέρει λίγη από την προσοχή που αποζητά, κάνοντας την ασυνείδητα να τον ερωτευτεί.

Η ζωή του Henry όμως είναι κατά βάση η δουλειά του. Ως ένας από τους καλύτερους αντικαταστάτες καθηγητές, έχει μάθει να επισκέπτεται σχολεία για ελάχιστο χρόνο (το πολύ ένα μήνα) προκειμένου να διατηρήσει την τάξη και τη διδασκαλία σε ένα σεβαστό επίπεδο, μέχρι να επιστρέψει ο μόνιμος καθηγητής. Η δουλειά του έχει μάθει να αποστασιοποιείται από οτιδήποτε περιλαμβάνει στοιχειώδη συναισθηματική εμπλοκή, καθιστώντας τον καλύτερο στον τομέα του.

Η τακτική αυτή ακολουθείται από τον Henry και στην προσωπική του ζωή, κάτι που είναι φανερό από την απουσία οποιασδήποτε διαπροσωπικής σχέσης εκτός σχολείου. Το πριν και το γιατί ξεδιπλώνονται σταδιακά, φανερώνοντας μία ταλαιπωρημένη ψυχή, ιδιαίτερα ευαίσθητη και δημιουργική που βαθιά μέσα της αποζητά αυτό το κάτι που θα καταφέρει να προσφέρει στιγμές ισχνής ευτυχίας στις ασφυκτικές του μέρες.

Η νέα του προσωρινή θέση σε ένα από τα πιο «δύσκολα» σχολεία θα ξετρυπώσει τα κρυμμένα συναισθήματα του Henry με τον ίδιο να παλεύει προκειμένου να μην δεθεί. Όμως τα άτομα που γνωρίζει των ωθούν στην κατεύθυνση της αυτό – συνειδητοποίησης. Οι λέξεις και οι πράξεις του μαρτυρούν μία σταδιακή αποσυμπίεση του χαρακτήρα του. Τη διαδρομή από το απόλυτο αδιάφορο προσωπείο που έχει χτίσει απέναντι προς τα πάντα, προς την βήμα προς βήμα διάλυσή αυτού και την συναισθηματική του κατάρρευση. 

Είναι δύσκολη και θλιμμένη η ταινία του Tony Kaye που προκαλεί συναισθήματα πόνου. Σαν να ξεθάβει με ευκολία όλα εκείνα τα τραύματα που κουβαλάμε όλοι μας, όλα εκείνα τα μυστικά που μας τρώνε, όλες τις ιστορίες που έχουν δημιουργήσει τον σημερινό μας εαυτό.

Μέσα στο βαρύ της κλίμα και την μοναξιά των χαρακτήρων είτε είναι μαθητές αδιάφοροι και ευαίσθητοι είτε καθηγητές αντιμέτωποι με καθημερινές ψυχικές προκλήσεις, η ιστορία ξετυλίγει κουβάρια αναμνήσεων, συναισθημάτων και πράξεων που όσο εύκολα τα κατατάσσεις και τα αποκωδικοποιείς, τόσο δύσκολα τα αντιμετωπίζεις.


Η αχτίδα ελπίδας που αναμένεις ίσως και να μην έρθει ποτέ, όμως η στιγμιαία ευτυχία μπορεί και να αλλάξει την κοσμοθεωρία σου. Μέσα από το καταθλιπτικό της καβούκι η ταινία ερμηνεύει την ίδια τη ζωή και τις δυσκολίες της. Γιατί μέσα από τη δυστυχία έχει νόημα η αληθινή ευτυχία

Δευτέρα 15 Ιουλίου 2013

Sin City (2005)

Σκηνοθεσία: Robert Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino, Frank Miller
Σενάριο:  Frank Miller
Παίζουν: Mickey Rourke, Jessica Alba, Bruce Willis, Clive Owen, Benicio Del Toro, Rosario Dawson, Elijah Wood, Michael Clarke Duncan, Alexis Bledel, Rutger Hauer
Παραγωγή: HΠΑ
Διάρκεια: 124’

Την είδα ξανά τυχαία στο άχρηστο κουτί, που όταν θέλει άλλο άχρηστο δεν είναι και κάτι τέτοιες στιγμές εκτιμώ την ύπαρξή του. Την είχα δει χρόνια πριν, μαθήτρια ακόμη, σε DVD, όταν νοικιάζαμε ακόμη DVD, εμείς οι μανιακοί.

Μου είχε αρέσει τόσο πολύ που είχα γεμίσει το μαθητικό μου δωμάτιο με αφίσες των πρωταγωνιστών και την είχα εντυπώσει στη μνήμη μου, ώστε όταν κάποιος με ρωτήσει ποια είναι η αγαπημένη μου ταινία να πω έτσι με έναν αυθορμητισμό, «το Sin City φυσικά!».

Και εάν κάποιος δεν την γνώριζε, ήταν η ευκαιρία μου να αρχίζω να περιγράφω το σκοτεινό της background, τις εικόνες που ξεπηδούν από το κόμικ σαν από ένα απόκοσμο σύμπαν, τα ιδιαίτερα γραφικά και τους χαρακτήρες που ο ένας είναι πιο «αμαρτωλός» από τον άλλον και πάει λέγοντας.

Είναι από τις λίγες ταινίες που μονάχα με μία θέαση εισβάλλει ύπουλα στη μνήμη σου και δύσκολα φεύγει από εκεί. Και επειδή από τότε που την είχα νοικιάσει σε DVD έχουν περάσει από τα χέρια μου εκατοντάδες άλλες ταινίες που διεκδίκησαν μία θέση στη λίστα των αγαπημένων, το Sin City κρατούσε πάντα μία περίοπτη, ολότελα δική του θέση. Είχε κάτι άλλο, κάτι διαφορετικό, κάτι άρρωστα εθιστικό.

Θα ξεκινήσω αφηγηματικά για να συνεχίσω με το περιεχόμενο, αφήνοντας το ερμηνευτικό κομμάτι για το τέλος. Η αφήγηση λοιπόν, χωρίζεται σε τρεις διαφορετικές ιστορίες, τρεις χαρακτήρες παίρνουν τα ηνία του κύριου αφηγητή και μας εισάγουν στον δικό τους κόσμο, τους προβληματισμούς τους και κυρίως τις αμαρτωλές καταστάσεις της πόλης Basin City.

Ο Marv, παραμορφωμένος, μεγαλόσωμος και ευαίσθητος, θα θελήσει να εκδικηθεί την αγάπη της ζωής του, την Goldie, μία ιερόδουλη που θα πέσει θύμα ενός διεστραμμένου νεαρού και του προστατευόμενου του. Ο Dwight έχει σιχαθεί την διαφθορά στην πόλη και αποφασίζει να πάρει το νόμο στα χέρια του. Θα γίνει συνένοχος ενός ξαφνικού εγκλήματος που θα τον παρασύρει σε μία σειρά παράνομων δραστηριοτήτων, μαζί με τη συμμορία των ιεροδούλων και την αρχηγό τους Gail.  

Η τρίτη ιστορία με την οποία ξεκινά και τελειώνει η ταινία είναι αυτή του αστυνομικού Hartigan, ο οποίος θα θέσει σε κίνδυνο τη ζωή και την καριέρα του, προκειμένου να σώσει ένα μικρό κορίτσι από τα χέρια ενός παιδόφιλου. Τοποθετημένη σε δύο διαφορετικά χρονικά πλαίσια, αυτή η ιστορία είναι και ο πυρήνας της «αμαρτωλής πόλης».

Οι τρεις αυτές ιστορίες συνδέονται μεταξύ τους, όχι όμως άρρηκτα. Η μία διαδέχεται την άλλη και όλες μαζί συνθέτουν ένα χρονικό απόλυτης διαφθοράς και διαστροφής, εγκλήματος και βίας σε μία πόλη όπου οι κανόνες υπάρχουν στη σφαίρα του φανταστικού και η δικαιοσύνη είναι κάτι ουτοπικό.

Οι χαρακτήρες που παρακολουθούμε δεν είναι ακριβώς αθώοι, δρουν στα πλαίσια της απόλυτης ανομίας γιατί ακριβώς το περιβάλλον και οι καταστάσεις δεν τους επιτρέπουν κάτι άλλο. Σκέψου τι θα έκανες εάν ήσουν εσύ στη θέση τους. Θα προτιμούσες να κατέληγες νεκρός ή να δρούσες προκειμένου να σώσεις τον εαυτό σου και τους αγαπημένους σου; Αντιπροσωπεύουν τον κλασικό αντιήρωα, που όντας και ο ίδιος αμαρτωλός, θα πράξει μέσα στα όρια της ανομίας για να πετύχει τον απόλυτα ηθικό σκοπό του.

Ο γραφικός κόσμος του Miller ξεπηδά από τις σκοτεινές σελίδες των κόμικς του και ζωντανεύει στη μεγάλη οθόνη με τις σκηνοθετικές οδηγίες του Rodriguez και του Tarantino ως guest director (είναι εμφανές το κομμάτι που σκηνοθέτησε ο Tarantino νομίζω). Ολοκληρωτικά γυρισμένο σε στούντιο, ο σκηνοθέτης δημιούργησε ένα σύμπαν σκοτεινό και βρώμικο μα και τόσο αληθινό που δεν μπορείς παρά να το συγκρίνεις με το τώρα. Είναι - αν μη τι άλλο – μία υπερβολική αποτύπωση ενός παράλληλου σύγχρονου κόσμου τόσο διεφθαρμένου που το έγκλημα είναι η μόνη διέξοδος.

Και ναι γνωρίζεις με σιγουριά πως τέτοια μέρη υπάρχουν στον πλανήτη, πως τέτοιοι άνθρωποι είναι δυστυχώς μία πραγματικότητα που όλοι θα θέλαμε να μην γνωρίζαμε πως υπάρχει. Όμως το να αποφεύγεις το πρόβλημα, δεν το  εξαφανίζεις κιόλας. Η διαφθορά είναι χαρακτηριστικό της ανθρώπινης φύσης.

Η ασπρόμαυρη φωτογραφία που επιμένει να δίνει έμφαση στο κόκκινο χρώμα, είτε είναι το κραγιόν ενός θηλυκού είτε το φόρεμα ενός άλλου, αποφεύγει να αποτυπώσει το κόκκινο του αίματος. Ίσως γιατί δεν θέλει να αλλοιώσει την έννοια του κόκκινου χρώματος, αυτού του πάθους και του έρωτα, των συναισθημάτων και της θηλυκής παρουσίας.

Το κίτρινο χρώμα που κάνει την εμφάνισή του στο τελευταίο μέρος της ταινίας αντιπροσωπεύει κάτι άρρωστο, κάτι άσχημο, την παραμόρφωση του παιδόφιλου που ο Hartigan θεώρησε πως είχε σκοτώσει. Το μαύρο είναι το κυρίαρχο χρώμα (σε ρούχα, μακιγιάζ και σκηνικά) μαζί με το άσπρο που αποτυπώνεται εντονότερα προκειμένου να ενισχύσει την αντίθεση μεταξύ τους.

Τα απότομα zoom ins δίνουν ιδιαίτερη έμφαση στους χαρακτήρες – αφηγητές και οδηγούν τη δράση και τη βία σε ένα επίπεδο σουρεαλισμού. Ο φωτισμός παίζει ιδιαίτερο ρόλο στην σκηνοθεσία και ειδικά σε μία ασπρόμαυρη ταινία. Τα after effects κάνουν τα χαρακτηριστικά των προσώπων και τις κινήσεις των πρωταγωνιστών πιο ζωντανές, τους προσδίδουν μία απόκοσμη γυαλάδα, μία πιο έντονη αντίθεση με τον αληθινό κόσμο.

Κατά τη διάρκεια της ταινίας, όλη η δράση που παρακολουθούμε είναι κάτω από το πέπλο της νύχτας σε ένα απόκοσμο περιβάλλον, σε μπαρ, σε δάση, σε απομονωμένα σπίτια, σε βρώμικα διαμερίσματα, στα σπορ αυτοκίνητα, σε αλάνες και σε κρύους παγωμένους δρόμους. Το σκηνικό είναι εχθρικό όπως και η ίδια η πόλη. Η μόνη σύνδεση με το αληθινό, πιο ρεαλιστικό παρόν είναι η πρώτη και η τελευταία σκηνή. Η πρώτη σε ένα μπαλκόνι ουρανοξύστη και η τελευταία σε ένα νοσοκομείο με ήχους που ξαφνικά σε επαναφέρουν από τον άγριο κόσμο των δρόμων σε μία πιο γνώριμη πραγματικότητα.

Ο ανώνυμος χαρακτήρας του Josh Hartnett είναι η σύνδεση με την πραγματικότητα όπου η βία είναι συγκαλυμμένη. Ο κίνδυνος είναι πιο ρεαλιστικός γιατί δεν είναι τόσο εμφανής όπως στον κόσμο της Basin City. Γοητευτικός πίσω από το προσωπείο του Hartnett, είναι εκεί άγρυπνος και έτοιμος να σε κατασπαράξει, εσύ όμως συνεχίζεις να ζεις τη ζωή σου μέχρι να αποφασίσει να σου αποκαλυφθεί. Τότε όλα είναι πιθανά.

Θα μπορούσαμε να μιλάμε για ώρες για τη σημειωτική εδώ και ίσως να προέκυπταν πολλά ενδιαφέροντα αποτελέσματα, όμως το Sin City θα προτιμούσε να τα αφήναμε ανέπαφα για τους θεατές να τα ανακαλύψουν από μόνοι τους. Την γραφική απεικόνιση της βίας, τα μηνύματα της σύγχρονης διαφθοράς, την διαστρεβλωμένη ηθική και δικαιοσύνη, τους αντιήρωες που τη συντροφεύουν, το ατιμώρητο έγκλημα και τα καταπληκτική ασπρόμαυρη φωτογραφία.


Μία βουτιά στη Sin City και δε θα είσαι ποτέ ο ίδιος. 

Τρίτη 18 Ιουνίου 2013

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Seeking a friend for the end of the world (2012)

Direction: Lorene Scafaria
Script: Lorene Scafaria
Acting: Steve Carell, Keira Knightley, Melanie Lynskey
Production: USA, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia
Duration: 101 min

Following the global movie production wave that makes countless sci-fi movies a year, “Seeking a friend for the end of the world” deals with something different than the end of the world itself. Human beings need to understand and accept their minimal existence in this universe in order to endure and live their last days on Earth with someone they love and not fight the un - fightable.

The story-line follows a 40 year-old married man, Dodge, who after the announcement of the forthcoming asteroid, named “Matilda” that would cause the not reversing end of the world, he finds himself dumped by his wife, three weeks before the upcoming end.

Suddenly all his life flashes in front of his eyes and he discovers that, since there will be no world to live in, he should follow the true desires of his heart, and that is to find his high school love, his first true love.

This idea though, was given to him by his neighbor, Penny, who crushes into his place and realizes that she was withdrawing his mail. There he will find a love letter from his first love that will give him the extra push to do something he would never do before.

The whole atmosphere is about doing what you would never do before, since everybody on earth is aware of the upcoming end. Drugs, sleeping with anyone you like without protection, not following the law, doing heroine on parties are only particles of the outrageous level of freedom that exists three weeks before the asteroid hits Earth.

The movie is trying to show with brutal honesty, how it would really be if a more plausible scenario of an asteroid hitting Earth would occur, instead of some aliens destroying whole cities. The human brain here is presented as a coin; it only has two sides, either you can be depressed and probably kill yourself or be extremely happy and satisfied with the life you have lived, enjoying your last days with people you love.

The truth is it puts you into that thinking box, making you force yourself to imagine what you would do if all this was really happening. And probably you would find yourself wondering about the answer for hours, when the truth is you have absolutely no clue.

Penny, Dodge’s crazy British neighbor has a story of her own. She lives far away from her home and her parents, she has a dead-end relationship, she smokes weed all day and she feels terribly guilty towards Dodge about withholding the letters he should have received. They will start together an adventurous trip based on Penny’s guilt, only to realize at the end that the only thing they both really want is to have a friend for the end of the world.

The first half of this different sci-fi movie is actually really promising, with jokes and lines, situations that cause your curiosity levels to rise. On the second half though, you notice a terrible slowdown of the narration, like the director didn't really have something else to show you. Like the script ended there and they just improvised on set, without even trying to make it less obvious!

The scenario is dry; there is nothing to hold on, except making normal scenes really long just to fill up your time. There are certain ways in cinematography where you can make a good usage of a long scene and transfer the tension or any other feeling you want to transfer. The way Lorene Scafaria does it here makes you want to jump of your seat and scream: “Move on!”

Destroying completely the feeling that gives on the first half, “Seeking a friend for the end of the World” doesn't really offer something more to your thinking brain, except some hackneyed topics, like the importance of love in life. Didn't you know that already?


The movie could have the chance to stand by itself into the pantheon of sci-fi cinema, just by being so simple and romantic, if only it had a completed script. The scientific explanations that have blown people’s minds before in other movies now mean nothing. So in the emergence of different sci-fi cinema, “Seeking a friend for the end of the World” has lost its position.