Flick of The Day: Django Unchained

Ah, Quentin Tarantino, what genre will he bring his usual mix of exploitation cinema, sharp dialogue and stylised violence to next? Such is the question we have asked ourselves every few years since he burst onto the scene in 1992 with Reservoir Dogs.  His best film remains 1994's Pulp Fiction, a walk on the dark side of the Los Angeles underworld. Since then we have had Tarantino does Kung Fu, Tarantino does Exploitation and Tarantino does World War 2 with varying degrees of success. All of them had their moments of greatness but so often the director's sense of style has overburdened the film's storyline. It becomes too much.  His latest opus is a slavery themed western and is perhaps his best film in over a decade. It is perhaps the perfect match between genre and director.

In 1858 on a dark and cold Texas night, a group of chained slaves are wandering through the darkness after their new owners. Into this scene steps Dr King Schultz played by the excellent Christoph Waltz, a German ex-dentist and bounty hunter on the trail of three n'er do wells named the Brittle Brothers. One of the slaves is in a position to help the good doctor as he can put a face to the names on his list. This slave is Django, played by Jamie Foxx. After our first bout of brutal violence, Django falls into the hands of Dr King and together they set off after their bounty. A bond soon develops between the two and on their travels Django reveals that he has been separated from his wife, Broomhilda. Having captured the evil Brittles, they vow to work together to save Broomhilda from the evil clutches of Calvin Candie, her new master and owner of the Candyland plantation played with wilful abandon by Leonardo DiCaprio.

The spaghetti western as envisioned by masters like Sergio Leone, is a genre close to my heart and is obvious from the opening frame that Tarantino both loves and understands the mechanics of such films. They are an epic battle between the irredeemably bad and the indisputably good. In our case, the good are Django and King Schultz while the bad are undoubtedly Calvin and his evil house servant Stephen, a fine turn from an unrecognisable Samuel L. Jackson. Another telling trait of the Italian westerns made by Leone & Co from the 1960's onward were that they very much approached the old west from a revisionist position, it was a dark, bloody and lawless place full of bad men. This is definitely something which Django Unchained plays up. While at times beautifully shot and filled with gorgeous scenery, this is ultimately a brutal tale of revenge and Tarantino as is his wont doesn't shield us from this violence.

Much has been made of both the level of violence and its supposed effect on society and indeed that somehow the film belittles the horrors of slavery through its copious use of the N word. I fail to see how it does anything other than shove the sheer terror that was slavery in the antebellum south into our faces and says look this is how it was. It is brutal and feels terribly real all the same.

The western and Tarantino are a perfect match because his usual excesses feel at home here and they never grate as they might in a different genre. This is above all an enjoyable film and it wears its running time well without overstaying its welcome. A definite must see.

Flick of The Day: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Very often great art is not recognised as such until long after the artist has passed on. There are innumerable tales of the great and good that end with "and he died penniless". Thankfully cinema is one of those forms where your art will live on to be remembered for good or ill. Perhaps Michael Bay should remember this next time he decides to inflict a Transformers film on an unsuspecting public. Director of today's flick of the day, Sergio Leone is one whose reputation has only grown since his death in 1989, perhaps due to the small body of work he left behind, each of which is a true classic. From his "Man With No Name" trilogy which concluded with today's flick to his Mexican revolution epic A Fistful of Dynamite which we previously reviewed here to his final film, the gigantic Once Upon a Time in America, his work was bold, epic and entertaining.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo in Blu-ray Packaging)

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly is the final and best instalment of Leone's first foray into the Western genre. As with the previous films A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More, Clint Eastwood is once again the mysterious enigmatic stranger. As with each of Leone's film's, it is bigger and grander then the last. Eastwood is the good of the title and along with Eli Wallach as the loudmouth and ugly Tuco and the irredeemably bad Lee Van Cleef are in search of stolen Confederate gold during the ugly depths of the Civil War. In an epic journey across country, they cheat and double cross each other before a final showdown at a graveyard, justly lauded as one of the great finales in modern cinema. 

Each film Leone directed had a habit of being grander and more epic in scale then his previous efforts and as a time went on took longer to create. He spent at least a decade working on his final film and was rumoured to be developing a film based around Stalingrad, perhaps too large a canvas for any director. This need for grandeur is present in today's film with a number of large-scale set pieces that give the film a much more substantial feel then previous efforts including an extended sequence at a civil war battle taking place on either side of a river, with a network of trenches and huge numbers of extras, it is on a scale that even today has the power to make an audience go "Wow".

Of course spectacle is nothing without a great story and actors to carry it. Leone then is very lucky to have Eastwood in perhaps his most iconic role outside of Dirty Harry and perfect as the taciturn loner that the audience immediately identifies with. It helps of course that Wallach and Van Cleef offer such great foils, with Van Cleef's Angel Eyes one of the great screen villains. 

Blondie: [counting Angel Eyes' men] One, two, three, four, five, and six. Six, the perfect number.   Angel Eyes: I thought three was the perfect number. 

Blondie: I've got six more bullets in my gun.

The film is violent, even by today's standards but the dry wit of Eastwood's Blondie and the oafishness of Wallach's Tuco leaven proceedings and give the violence a dark humour which I believe is probably at the root of its continued popularity nearly 45 years after its release.

Leone is one of the all time greats and this is one of his best work's. Backed by a fine cast and another memorable Ennio Morricone score, it is dark, humorous and action filled adventure in an old west that never really existed except for in the mind of a group of gifted Italian film-makers. A great film.

Flick of The Day: All The Pretty Horses

The first thing that must be said about this film is that it is not a great adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's novel, leaving far too much of his rich prose out of the tale it tells, that said such is the quality of McCarthy's work that it would be almost impossible to fashion a film under 3 hours in length if you were to really adapt the novel truthfully. So it proved for film-maker Billy Bob Thornton, who's first cut of the film ran somewhere between 3 and 4 hours in length. Producer Harvey Weinstein forced Thornton to eventually cut this down to the sub 2 hour running time it was released with. This protracted editing led many critics to hate the film before they had seen it and it was eviscerated both critically and commercially, grossing only $15m of its estimated $50m production costs. That said, the film is far better then those figures would imply.

All the Pretty Horses

Matt Damon is John Grady Cole, a sixteen year old cowboy from Texas who upon the death of his grandfather decides to head south of the border with his best friend, Lacey Rawlins. They head to Meciso in search of adventure and the kind of cowboy lifestyle that has disappeared from Texas by 1949. In Mexico, they soon befriend a young boy named Jimmy Blevins who has a stolen horse and little else to his name. There is more to Blevins then meets the eye but the pair choose to take him at face value. After a run in with the law,  John and Lacey get work on a ranch for a wealthy landowner, where John quickly falls in love with the ranchers daughter, Alejandra played by the beautiful Penelope Cruz. Before long, their adventures with Blevins catch up with them and they find themselves in a brutal prison. John ultimately tries to move heaven and earth to get back to Alejandra.

Billy Bob Thornton has created a film that is visually stunning, with some gorgeous wide shots of the wild landscape that spans the border between Texas and Mexico. He shows a real understanding for zeitgeist in which the story is set, however there is one major jarring flaw and it is do with the editing. It is obvious throughout that this is a four hour film that has been cut to two hours, all of the scenes particularly those on the ranch and in the prison have a truncated feel, as if we are missing out on a whole lot of detail. Too many fadeouts and short scenes. This is a terrible shame because what is there is of the first order and once can't help but feel there is a modern classic sitting on the cutting room floor.

Matt Damon gives the kind of measured performance we have becomes accustomed to seeing over the years, capturing the heartbreak of his experiences in Mexico. He and Henry Thomas are aided in their performances by a fine script. 

Doña Alfonsa: In the end, Mr. Cole...we all get cured of our sentiments. Those whom life doesn't cure...death will.

In the end, the film is a reverential elegy to a time that has long since past. It captures a true sense of what the west and does so solidly if unspectacularly. Whether you are a fan or not of Cormac McCarthy's work, this is a film well worth seeing for it is a great story, with strong leads to carry it through. It is just a shame it is not all it could have been.

Flick of The Day: True Grit

It is the rarest of things, a sequel that is superior to its original. Godfather Part II is the most obvious one to come to mind but then that is the continuation of a tale rather then a new chapter. Today's film is not so much a remake as a re-imagining of the 1969 classic which won John Wayne his solitary Oscar. Ethan & Joel Coen returned to the source material of Charles Portis novel though there are enough similarities to warrant a comparison with the John Wayne version.

The film is narrated by the adult Mattie Ross, as she tells the tale of how her father was murdered by the layabout Tom Chaney and how she set off to seek retribution as her 14 year old self, played by the newcomer and precocious talent Hailee Steinfeld. She hires the meanest marshal in the territories, Reuben J Cogburn and together they fall in with a Texas Ranger named LaBoeuf and set off into the wilderness in search of Chaney. Jeff Bridges takes up the role of Cogburn, which John Wayne had made his own and creates his own character out of it. His is more broken down by life and an incurable love of whiskey but retains the honour and toughness which Wayne brought to the role. It is a very fine performance. Special mention must also go to Matt Damon, who far outstrips Glen Campbell's performance in the original. LaBoeuf is arrogant and the quintessential Texan with brash spurs and chaps yet still retains a likeability which counter balances the gruff Cogburn.

Josh Brolin plays the feckless and psychotic Tom Chaney with a menacing idiocy. While all of the main performances are of the highest order, the script is one of the Coens best efforts. It retains some of the levity of the novel while giving the story a grittiness consistent with a modern appraisal of the old west. 

"Rooster Cogburn: We'll sleep here and follow in the morning.
Mattie Ross: But we promised to bury the poor soul inside!
Rooster Cogburn: Ground's too hard. Them men wanted a decent burial, they should have got themselves killed in summer"

The cinematography of Roger Deakins recalls some of the classic Westerns with its grand vistas and harsh lighting of the sparse landscape. The further they venture from society and into the wilderness, the more barren the landscape becomes and Deakins camera captures every inch.

In summary, this is a fine film which stands on its own apart from the original and breathes new life into a great tale, giving it a more fitting ending then the 1969 version. This is not to criticize the original but the ending seems more fitting to that which has come before it. I recommend you see this film, is well worth a trip to the cinema.

Flick of The Day: The Searchers

The Western is a genre we have yet to touch on. Largely out of fashion now, it can easily be forgotten how once upon a time in Hollywood it was the genre.From the silent era to the demise of the old studio system,  westerns were produced  in the hundreds every year and it attracted some of the best acting and directing talent of the time. Names like John Sturges, Howard Hawks, William Wyler and above all others John Ford. If Ford is the greatest director of the western genre, then perhaps his greatest film is The Searchers.

The Searchers [Blu-ray]

Starring the inimitable John Wayne and what Western could be said to complete without his presence, as Ethan Edwards an ageing former confederate soldier who returns home to his brothers farmstead three years after the end of the Civil War. He is still clad in his uniform with a bag of Yankee gold and no explanation as to where he has been since the end of the war as we first meet him. An obvious loner, Ethan is no sooner in the embrace of his family then he is pulled away in a posse put together by the local Texas Ranger played by Ford regular Ward Bond to chase after a raiding party of Comanche Indians. Of course when they are away, the Comanche attack a number of homes including that of Ethan's brother. The eerie scenes at the homestead at dusk as the family begin to realise that the Indians are out there are a particular high point. Even today they have the power to frighten. Ethan and the Posse return home to find the family massacred and his two nieces kidnapped. So begins an epic 5 year journey as Ethan and his brother's adopted son Martin Pawley, travel across the frontier and on into Mexico in search of the girls.

One of the reasons why Westerns have largely disappeared from our screens is that with the onset of the '60s counter-culture, they became to be seen as uncool and passée.While Wayne and Ford's personal politics were most definitely at odds with the ethos of the 1960s, the role of Ethan is one of the first screen antiheroes that became so popular in later years. Dirty Harry, Han Solo and Leone's Man With No Name owe their existence to Wayne's portrayal of Ethan. He is driven more by his hatred of Comanche then of any deep feeling for the girls. He is single minded in his need to find them and get revenge. It is madness not heroism. It is John Wayne's finest performance bar none. This is not passée, this is epic.

John Ford's direction is also noteworthy. The scenes showing the raw natural beauty of Monument Valley are extremely lush and beautiful, photographed in Technicolour VistaVision. His direction was never overly fussy or technical, something John Wayne often attested too but he knew how to frame a shot just right, perfect enough to get that wow reaction from an audience. Another important aspect to Ford's vision of the film is surely the overt references to racism and miscegenation as regards the Indians at a time when America was beginning to tear itself apart with racial tension. Ethan, despite his hatred of the Indians, is well versed in their language, customs and culture. It is a conflict and something that is never resolved.

So, what more is there to say? It is the best western ever made starring two of the great artists of American cinema. When Orson Welles was once asked to name his 3 favourite directors, he replied:

"John Ford, John Ford, John Ford"

Flick of The Day: A Fisftul of Dynamite /Giu La Testa

Sergio Leone is probably best known for his contribution to the spaghetti western genre, particularly the "Man With No Name" Trilogy starring Clint Eastwood and it would be easy to pigeon hole him as a director of Westerns, but that would be to overlook the rest of his films, for he was quite possibly one of the finest film-makers of all time. Today's film is Leone's take on the Mexican Revolution of 1913 which is alternatively titled as  "Duck You Sucker!" or "Once Upon a Time... The Revolution".

Duck, You Sucker (aka A Fistful of Dynamite) (2-Disc Collector's Edition)

Juan Miranda, a truly amazing performance from Rod Steiger, is a Mexican bandit who leads a family of bandits marauding along the highways and trails of Mexico and dreams of one day breaking into the Bank at Mesa Verde. He eventually meets Sean Mallory, in a typically strong performance from James Coburn, an Irish revolutionary on the run from the British and with a dark secret in his past. Sean and Juan become sucked into the revolution that is raging around them, Juan as a  peasant is an unwilling participant:

"I know what I am talking about when I am talking about the revolutions. The people who read the books go to the people who can't read the books, the poor people, and say, "We have to have a change." So, the poor people make the change, ah? And then, the people who read the books, they all sit around the big polished tables, and they talk and talk and talk and eat and eat and eat, eh? But what has happened to the poor people? They're dead! That's your revolution. Shhh... So, please, don't tell me about revolutions!"

This film very much represents Leone's disillusionment with the revolutions of the 1960's and the failure to lead to a better life for the poorer in society. It is a bitter message at its heart. In fact the film opens with a a particularly biting scene aboard a stagecoach but I couldn't possibly spoil it by describing it in any detail only to note that it involves the wealthy describing their opinions of the poor.

This is just one of a number of grandstanding scenes by Leone. The above is one such scene, a long tracking shot moving across a sugar refinery where a massacre is taking place, as the camera pans we see the true extent of the massacre. Apart from being a technically superb film, there is a great story at its heart as Sean ad Juan the reluctant revolutionaries gradually become more involved in the war effort and also develop a close friendship, both seeing something of themselves in the other.

We also eventually find out the secret of Sean's past in flashbacks to his life in Ireland, which were surprisingly actually filmed in Ireland. The ending when it comes is not unexpected but heartbreaking all the same aided by one of the best scores Ennio Morricone wrote for a Leone film.

While not a success upon its release in 1972, this film has been reappraised in recent years as the true gem which it is. You must see this film.