Movie Review: A Little Chaos (2015)

by Tony Dayoub


Kate Winslet adds another to her already long list of costume dramas with A Little Chaos, the second film directed by actor Alan Rickman. Winslet plays Madame Sabine de Barra, an anachronistically liberated gardener hired by Monsieur André le Nôtre (Matthias Schoenaerts), landscaper to King Louis IV (Rickman). De Barra is to work on an outdoor ballroom at the King's gardens in Versailles. Her independence first perturbs Le Nôtre and his male contractors. But eventually his bewilderment gives way to curiosity and then romantic fascination with the confident gardener. Her sureness in herself eventually impresses even the king himself.

NYFF51 Review: The Invisible Woman (2013)

by Tony Dayoub

Ralph Fiennes' second directorial effort, The Invisible Woman is an adaptation of Claire Tomalin's book of the same name, which detailed the long hidden love affair between author Charles Dickens and Ellen "Nelly" Ternan. Considerably younger than Dickens (played by Fiennes), Nelly (Felicity Jones) was an actress from a family of actors who the movie posits may have begun the relationship as a bit of a moon-eyed groupie. Dickens was already renowned for his works and his appearance was well known to many a Londoner. This makes for the film's best instances showing the at times negative aspects of fame Dickens—who enjoyed the adulation—had to contend with as he carried out his dalliance. No doubt this facet of the story was the easiest point of identification for the congenial and celebrated Fiennes.

Movie Review: Fair Game (2010)

by Tony Dayoub

Any depressed Democrats still weepy over yesterday's election results by week's end can get a lift watching Doug Liman's liberal feel-good movie, Fair Game, which opens this Friday. While nowhere near a propaganda piece as a film I reviewed back in March, Green Zone (coincidentally directed by Liman's successor in the Bourne series, Paul Greengrass), it still has tinges of simplistic "Leftie good, Rightie bad" sentiments which do a disservice to what, based on the facts alone, should be a rather simple open-and-shut indictment of the Bush Administration and the cloud of malfeasance which hung over their entry into the Iraq War.

NYFF Day 5 - Notes on A Corte do Norte and Summer Hours (L'Heure d'été)

by Tony Dayoub



Today, I saw the visually sumptuous Portuguese language film, A Corte do Norte, by João Botelho. It stars the incomparably beautiful Ana Moreira in an intergenerational family drama where she plays five different women. The cinematography by João Ribeiro is a chiaroscuro delight of vivid colors set against dark backgrounds.


The film itself left me a little cold. With flashbacks and flashforwards further confused by Moreira's multiple roles, it was a little hard to follow what was going on. Judging by the press conference after the film, Moreira and Botelho seemed a little perplexed themselves. Botelho says he adapted it pretty faithfully from a famous Portuguese novel by Agustina Bessa Luis. But he admits having to eject some of the philosophical undercurrent to simplify the plot. Moreira said she had to turn to Botelho often in order to get clarification regarding the differences between each of her characters. The languid pace of the film adds a hypnotic effect to the wonderful visuals. But something was definitely lost in the translation.

I also caught a great new film by Olivier Assayas (Irma Vep), Summer Hours (L'Heure d'été). This was a truly moving and witty film about family, art, heirlooms, and the sentimental values attached to them. I'll have a more extensive review of the film up before it screens tomorrow.

Below is a schedule of tonight's festival events. 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

SCREENING LOCATIONS
ZT – Ziegfeld Theatre, 54th St. between 6th and 7th Avenues
WRT – Walter Reade Theater, 65th St. between Amsterdam and Broadway, upper level

Tuesday, Sept. 30
4:30 The Sun’s Burial (OSH/WRT)
6:00 Tony Manero, with Love You More (NYFF/ZT)
6:20 The Catch (OSH/WRT)
8:30 Night and Fog in Japan (OSH/WRT)
9:15 The Northern Land/A Corte do Norte, with Surprise! (NYFF/ZT)

A Corte do Norte is playing at the 46th New York Film Festival, at 9:15 p.m. tonight only, at the Ziegfeld Theatre, 141 West 54th Street, New York, NY 10019, (212) 307-1862

A Corte do Norte Photo Credit: FF Filmes Fundo / Film Society of Lincoln Center

L'Heure d'été Photo Credit: IFC Films / Fortissimo Films / Film Society of Lincoln Center

Seventies Cinema Revival: Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan

by Tony Dayoub



Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan (1972) is the unwieldy title of this Shaw Brothers film. Its unusually frank depiction of lesbianism in a martial arts film is what elevates this into a minor cult classic.


I've been sitting on this one for a while, not because I didn't like it. In fact, I loved this movie. My reluctance is due to the fact that I'm not well-versed in the martial arts genre outside of some Bruce Lee films. However, I just had to recommend this one because of the pure enjoyment I experienced when watching it.

It takes its time getting started, setting a somber mood with its snowy first scene where a constable investigates a murder of a prominent man in the community. The last person seen with him was the beautiful courtesan, Ainu (Lily Ho). In the subsequent flashback, a much younger Ainu is kidnapped and delivered to a brothel run by Lady Chun (Betty Pei Ti). Determined to break her into submission, Lady Chun allows Ainu to be raped by some important customers, a group of men that hold significant positions of power in the local establishment. The madam's strong attraction to Ainu's rebellious spirit soon becomes a physical one. Chun mentors Ainu in martial arts. Ainu secretly promises to avenge herself, starting with the murder from the beginning of the film. As she hunts each man down, Ainu finds her feelings for Chun becoming complicated, as she nurtures an apparent erotic interest for Chun as well.

Director Chu Yuan executes the fight scenes with a deft sense of mise-en-scène that is sorely lacking in today's badly edited action sequences. The placement of each participant in every action scene is clear. Design elements important in establishing a sense of time and place are always paid the attention due to them. Pay attention to these, in this clip of the film's opening, where they stand apart from the more frequent action in the latter half of the film.



Another surprising aspect to look for is the complexity in the female relationship. I was expecting that, in this traditionally exploitative genre, the affair between the Ainu and the Lady Chun would be depicted lustily. In fact, probably due in no small part to the taboos of the times (and specifically Hong Kong society), the homosexuality is treated sensitively. Though the scenes of intimacy between them are shot in good taste, they still manage to hold erotic power, even today.


It is also interesting to note that as the movie heads towards its conclusion, it becomes more and more difficult to tell Chun and Ainu apart. As Ainu's thirst for vengeance starts asserting its hold over her, the similarities to the equally corrupt Chun become more evident.

Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan is a fascinating and sensitive look at female-to-female relationships in an otherwise traditionally male-oriented action genre. The movie is also - at just 87 minutes - a lean, mean, revenge thriller. It is worth your time seeking this film out.

DVD Review: Elizabeth: The Golden Age - Brightness Uncovers Its Flaws

by Tony Dayoub

New on DVD this week, Elizabeth: The Golden Age lacks the rough, violent heart of the first Elizabeth. The first one had a darkness creeping in on the edges of both the story and the cinematography that evoked the intrigue of the Godfather films. Shekhar Kapur's sequel shuns the darkness in favor of the light, obviously illustrating the progress made since the dark ages of the first film's setting. However, save for Cate Blanchett's performance as Elizabeth I, it only serves to uncover the film's flaws.