NYFF52 Review: Mr. Turner (2014)

by Tony Dayoub


A tour-de-force performance by character actor Timothy Spall brightens the otherwise languid Mr. Turner, director Mike Leigh's biopic of English painter J.M.W. Turner. Although filled with terrific performances from recurring members of Leigh's acting troupe, Mr. Turner revels a mite too long in the gorgeous landscapes that inspired Turner (as shot by cinematographer Dick Pope). At times, it allows one to consider the effect such vistas had on Turner's art. Often, though, the movie borders on the ponderous and only Spall's earthy grumbles and snorts keep us tethered to the movie's titular subject.

Movie Review: Happy-Go-Lucky - Hawkins and Leigh Are Walking on Sunshine

Happy-Go-Lucky is a new comedy by the usually darkly sober realist, Mike Leigh (Secrets and Lies). The film, about a refreshingly happy schoolteacher named Poppy (Sally Hawkins) is curious in how unconventionally it creates story tension. Rather than internalize it within its main character, it externalizes it by contrasting Poppy's unrelenting good-natured spirit with a society plagued by cynicism. When we first meet Poppy, she is riding her bike through town while the film credits roll. She smiles a lot, waving at people we're certain she doesn't even know. She stops, locking her bike against a guardrail, and visits a children's bookstore. She tries striking up a conversation with the store clerk, who doesn't respond. She continues to try, while the befuddled clerk tries to figure out, as do we, what is wrong with this lady. She soon leaves the store, never giving in to the clerk's ill mood, only to find that her bike has been stolen. While most of us would lose our cool then, Poppy laughs about how she "never got the chance to say goodbye", and looks at it as an opportunity to learn to drive. Poppy's driving instructor, Scott (Eddie Marsan), is her antithesis, a dour conspiracy theorist that believes the world is run by Lucifer's agents, and that people of color are the devil's footsoldiers. It is in his scenes with her, that we are able to fully appreciate how difficult it is to sustain the happiness that she promotes. Scott is obsessive, bitter, devoutly religious, and a product of an unhappy childhood, we soon learn. As we see Poppy at her job, spying one boy bullying others, we connect the boy with Scott, realizing that Poppy is perfectly positioned to be someone who can actually change the future by professing her philosophy. While some may wonder whether this character may start to grate after 2 hours, Leigh is brilliantly able to get us past Poppy's surface to the person within. In one key scene in the film, Poppy encounters a homeless man. The man (Stanley Townsend) is an imposing bear, with a gentle demeanor that speaks in non-sequiturs. The scene is unusual because of the dark surroundings Poppy has ventured into, and for a moment, the viewer feels dislocated. It is as if the she is now in another of Leigh's darker films. The threat of this gentle bear suddenly losing his head and attacking Poppy is implied throughout, as he stands a little too close to her, changes directions often while he paces near her. It is then that one realizes how brave it is of Poppy to be so happy in a society where the danger of violence, physical or psychological, is always so close. And what a brave performance by Hawkins (Layer Cake). The role is easily one that could become a trap for an actor. She would be correct in fearing typecasting as a result of her strong performance in this role. But the complexity she brings to the performance, especially when she finally confronts Scott about his growing fearful intensity, is such that I think it will bring her Oscar accolades. Happy-Go-Lucky is playing at the 46th New York Film Festival, at 6:15 p.m. tonight, and noon tomorrow, at the Ziegfeld Theatre, 141 West 54th Street, New York, NY 10019, (212) 307-1862 Photo Credit: Simon Mein/ Courtesy of Miramax Films / Film Society of Lincoln Center

NYFF Day 1 - Notes on Happy-Go-Lucky and Voy a Explotar

by Tony Dayoub



NEW YORK - Today is opening night of the 46th New York Film Festival. Tonight's film is Laurent Cantet's Entre les murs, winner of the Palme D'Or at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. It is definitely an auspicious premiere for one of the most important film festivals in America. Tickets are sold out, but you might still squeak in if you can brave the rain in the no-show line.


I caught a screening of the latest by Mike Leigh (Topsy-Turvy), Happy-Go-Lucky, featuring a fascinating performance by Sally Hawkins (Vera Drake). Her character, Poppy, is a rare one in cinema, an unfailingly happy and optimistic one. Despite all manner of obstacles modern society presents her with, she unswervingly manages to keep her spirits up. While at first, this may seem difficult to sustain in a film - after all, drama is about conflict - Leigh takes a character without internal tension, and externalizes it instead. The conflict is created by Poppy's optimism and the disparity it creates with her circle of friends, family, and in fact society itself. I highly recommend you catch this one in one of its two weekend showings, and I'll have a detailed review of it up by tomorrow morning.

Voy a Explotar is a Spanish language film by Mexican director Gerardo Naranjo. My feelings are mixed on this one. I like the two young non-actors that Naranjo cast as the leads, Juan Pablo de Santiago and Maria Deschamps. Deschamps in particular shows an introspective quality that goes beyond what inexperienced performers usually are capable of. Naranjo lets them down by telling a story that is distractingly uneven in tone. The movie's two young paramours hide from the world because of their anarchic desires to rebel. Against what? Everything, pretty much. But the broad manner in which their parents are treated by the filmmaker leaves the viewer unsure as to what exactly is trying to be said. My review of this one will be up on Sunday, in time for its first show that night.

Below is a schedule of the events through Sunday. More information can be found at the festival's web site.

EVENT TITLES
NYFF – Festival main slate film
OSH – NYFF Sidebar: In the Realm of Oshima
SE – Festival special event

SCREENING LOCATIONS
ZT – Ziegfeld Theatre, 54th St. between 6th and 7th Avenues
AFH – Avery Fisher Hall, Broadway and 65th Street
WRT – Walter Reade Theater, 65th St. between Amsterdam and Broadway, upper level
KP – Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse, 65th St. between Amsterdam and Broadway, 10th Floor

Friday, Sept. 268:00 OPENING NIGHT: The Class, 128m (NYFF/AFH)
9:00 OPENING NIGHT: The Class (NYFF/ZT)

Saturday, Sept. 2711:00am Cruel Story of Youth, 96m (OSH/WRT)
12:00 Hunger, 96m (NYFF/ZT)
1:00 PANEL: Film Criticism in Crisis? (SE/WRT)
3:00 24 City, 112m (NYFF/ZT)
3:00 A Town of Love and Hope, 62m, with Diary of a Yunbogi Boy, 24m (OSH/WRT)
4:45 Night and Fog in Japan, 107m (OSH/WRT)
6:15 Happy-Go-Lucky, 118m (NYFF/ZT)
7:00 Diary of a Shinjuku Thief, 94m (OSH/WRT)
9:00 Pleasures of the Flesh, 90m (OSH/WRT)
9:30 Wendy and Lucy, 80m, with Cry Me a River, 19m (NYFF/ZT)
midnight In the Realm of the Senses, 110m (OSH/WRT)

Sunday, Sept. 2812:00 Happy-Go-Lucky (NYFF/ZT)
12:30 The Man Who Left His Will on Film, 94m (OSH/WRT)
2:30 The Sun’s Burial, 87m (OSH/WRT)
3:15 Wendy and Lucy, with Cry Me a River (NYFF/ZT)
4:00 HBO FILMS DIALOGUES: Jia Zhangke (SE/KP)
4:30 Empire of Passion, 106m (OSH/WRT)
6:15 Hunger (NYFF/ZT)
6:45 Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, 122m (OSH/WRT)
9:00 I’m Gonna Explode, 106m, with This is Her, 12m (NYFF/ZT)
9:15 Taboo, 100m (OSH/WRT)

Happy-Go-Lucky Photo Credit: Simon Mein/ Courtesy of Miramax Films / Film Society of Lincoln Center

Voy a Explotar Photo Credit: Canana / Film Society of Lincoln Center

NYFF Update

by Tony Dayoub



I apologize for being absent from these pages these past few days, but I've been coordinating my trip to New York for the film festival, which starts tomorrow. As some of you know, Denise and I have a 2-year-old son, and we're expecting another one in early November. So leaving her alone was not really an option. My mom graciously agreed to fly in and help (who am I kidding.... she'd give anything to spend time with her grandson). So in addition to coordinating all my activities in NYC, I was busy leaving everything ready for the rest of my family.


Unfortunately, this also means I won't be able to catch every movie at the festival, since I had to limit my time up there to 8 days. As you saw in the post last week, what a wonderful line-up they have this year. So I'm endeavoring to concentrate on films that my site would normally focus on, and hope to include some surprises.

Here's a list of some films I'll hopefully get into:

Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler
Clint Eastwood's Changeling
Mike Leigh's Happy-Go-Lucky
Steven Soderbergh's Che
Wong Kar Wai's Ashes of Time Redux

Of course, these are the notable ones from mainstream directors, I also hope to bring you some other lesser known but no less important film coverage in the days ahead. There's a panel entitled Film Criticism in Crisis? that I will be covering, and a sidebar on Japanese director Nagisa Oshima that should also prove interesting.

The coverage should include some atypical weekend posts, as well as multiple daily posts. Otherwise, you might see the odd non-festival review pop up should there be any down-time for me. There should be plenty of coverage to see here in the next two weeks, so keep coming to the site often.

Gotta get to the airport. See you soon.