V for Vendetta

One of the best, most thrilling, movies I have seen for some time. A great story of rebellion against an oppressive regime. Controversial for the parallels drawn with our times. As someone who grew up in apartheid South Africa, I have always appreciated that there is a fine line between a terrorist and freedom fighter. But, despite his penchant for blowing things up, it would be very hard to condemn V as a terrorist and, in reality, given the ugliness and brutality of the regime which he is opposing, there is not much grey area in this movie. Its a convincing and gripping tale. I never thought I would feel like cheering to see the Houses of Parliament blown to smithereens. Hugo Weaving does an unbelievably good job with the character of V, given that he wears an inflexible mask for the entire film. The supporting actors are all very strong. Its good to see Stephen Fry looking so well, at least until he falls foul of the evil Chancellor. This is far better work from the Wachowski brothers than the Matrix. And three cheers for another movie set in London.

Match Point

This is a clever story from Woody Allen and its beautifully made, with fine performances, particularly from the always dazzling Scarlett Johansson. Its engrossing all the way through. I always enjoy seeing a film shot in London and England. The locations are familiar to me and always seem more interesting and colourful than the American backdrop to which we have become so accustomed. With all this in its favour, I would have expected to enjoy Match Point more than I did. It left me feeling curiously flat. Without wishing to spoil the ending, I have to admit that I did not like it. I wanted to see some just desserts served up, even if it was punishment for just being the worst of the really bad bunch of characters that this movie portrays. Still, perhaps being slightly dissatisfied with the ending in fact indicates a better movie, more aligned to real life.

Crash

Finally, I’ve seen this year’s Best Film Oscar winner. My conclusion is that it was well deserved. Crash is utterly absorbing and brilliant in the way we are drawn into the characters’ lives after only a few minutes of screen time. These are all strong performances. Don Cheadle and Matt Dillon have the richest roles and are both excellent. Brendan Fraser’s role is less demanding, but he is one of my favourite under-rated actors and I am always pleased to see him take on something worthwhile. This is the most honest portrayal of race relations I have seen. For once people say things that they say in real life, rather than words that have had the Hollywood political correctness ruler run over them. I feel sympathy for all the characters, but least of all for the Iranian, whose problems stem largely from his not having bothered to learn the language of his adopting country. His reactions are also the most radical and unjustifiable.

Capote

Philip Seymour Hoffman most certainly earned his Oscar for this portrayal of Capote. It is a stunningly detailed and quietly powerful performance, depicting the intense impact that writing In Cold Blood had on the writer. This is a fascinating insight into how an author may become caught up, changed and in Capote’s case, morally compromised, by the story he is researching. The story of these horrific killings gets under your skin. I am still haunted by the scene where Capote inspects the bodies of the murdered family in their coffins, the heads covered with bright strips of cotton. In focussing on this critical six year period of Capote’s life, the film is more successful in conveying what really made him tick than the traditional biopic that tries to span an entire life from beginning to end.

Brokeback Mountain

The controversy surrounding the gay aspect of this movie is masking, particularly for those who have not seen it, or see it from a prejudiced point of view, its powerful universal theme. This movie could just as easily be about two women, a man and a woman from different faiths, or even an accountant who failed to fulfil his life-long ambition of being a film critic. It is essentially about the tragedy of denying your life’s great passion. The two leads, Jake Gyllenhaal and especially Heath Ledger (go Aussie!) provide meticulously crafted performances, managing to convey a great deal of emotion with very few words. Ang Lee adds another dimension to his already astonishing range as a director (Hulk, Sense and Sensibility, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, etc). The film is beautiful to look at and the ageing of the characters is done with uncommon subtlety and realism. A worthy Oscar contender.

War of the Worlds (2005 vs.1953)

I’ve just watched the DVD of Steven Spielberg’s version of War of the Worlds, back-to-back with the 1953 original. I like Spielberg’s version and so I’m not going to wax nostalgically about how much better the original was. Spielberg managed to make an old and well-worn story fresh and scary again which is quite an achievement. The original was a fine movie for its time. The DVD version is particularly good looking, the colour and the detail are great, in fact so good that you can clearly see the wires holding up the alien ships, but this didn’t distract from my enjoyment. More distracting was some of the dated dialogue. A great inclusion on the original DVD is the complete Mercury Theatre radio show narrated by Orson Welles in 1938. Its easy to imagine how this show could have caused panic on its first broadcast, as, if you missed the first few minutes, there was little to give it away as anything but real.

Jarhead

Jarhead is the next stage in the evolution of the war movie. As such the Marines depicted here make even the most drugged-out characters of Apocalypse Now, Platoon, Full Metal Jacket and all the other Vietnam classics look like well balanced, model citizens. The Jarheads are trained past the point of obsession and bored beyond belief. The movie is entirely about the detail of the Marine’s daily lives and not at all about the politics or even the mechanics of the war. Like the Marines have to, the movie accepts that they are there and gets on with telling the story. It’s an exceptionally honest portrayal and anyone who has had any involvement with the military will recognise much of the madness involved. There are some funny moments and moments of madness and the bleakest despair. Jake Gyllenhaal is terrific and Sam Mendes has been one of my favourite directors since American Beauty. The scenes among the burning oil wells are surreal and must stand out as one of Cinema’s most vivid depictions of hell on earth.