Thursday, November 26, 2009

Requiem








When it comes to rating movies, how should a film like Requiem be treated? Taken as entertainment, it is horrible- the viewer waits, sickened by the inevitable conclusion, but when it comes it is still like a poke in the gut. It is horrific, yet not horror, and shouldn't be advertised as 'scary' in any conventional sense.

But it strikes me as brave how directer Hans-Christian Schmid delivers his story- sharp and gimmickless. His viewpoint is clear- the girl was mentally sick. Nothing other than ignorance and her own mind conspired against her. Whether this notion would have helped anything remains distant.

But the film doesn't need vomit or swiveling heads, shocks or hallucinations. It has Sandra Huller. Fully absorbed in her role, Sandra furiously portrays Michaela Klinglar, a character based apparently, on a real German girl named Annalise Michaels, who lived in 1970's Germany.
Michaela, as many young people would, hopes to leave her parents for college, and eventually, a career in teaching. She announces she will be leaving for university. She seems healthy and capable enough, but her mother speaks quietly and archaically of her illness and it's eventually effect on her future.

Michaela lives with three people- her parents and a younger sibling. Her mother coldly talks of her daughter's limitations in way that radiates cruelty, not care. New clothes that show Michaela's figure are promptly thrown away in the night for being trampy. Even when her mother presents a gift, a tension lies in the air.

The girl's father secretly resents serving as his daughter's shield. But her mother relents, and she is given a chance to try a life of classes and socialization. The family is religious, as is Michaela, but at her school, belief in a higher power has gone out of style. Her mention of God is met by snickers. An at first aloof old classmate hangs around with her, as long as religion and self-help are not brought up, even with earnest intentions.

When Michaela first begins to suffer seizures, black-outs, and hallucinations, she manages to cover up the incidents. Her requests for help from a priest invoke less-than-helpful response. She begins going out with a boy who promises when asked to stand by her, foolishly ignoring the conditions.

When her parents do discover her degeneration, they make the tragic decision to involve the church in her rehabilitation. While her streches of coherency become rarer, she becomes a spiritual guinea pig for exorcisms and is denied the psychiatric care she so desperately needs.

Two films have been made involving the case of Anneliese Michels, the other being a Hollywood courtroom thriller titled The Exorcism of Emily Rose, which concentrates on the supernatural aspects of the case.

Schmid has no use for the superstition of the latter, but at times his stance becomes all-too-clear, involving overwrought scenes with a harsh priest, as with an earnest member of the church whose cure for insanity is a good round of bible study.

Even as Requiem falters, Sandra Huller's intense performance, conveying the hope for normalcy and pain of rejection and illness almost single-handedly keeps the viewer's interest. Some say the docu-style filming is boring, but I say it is a courageous attempt to strip Annalise's story to the basics, dropping the shocks and visualized nightmares that distract from the reality of the situation.

For more information on Anneliese Michels, check out this link (Spoilers!)




















Tuesday, November 17, 2009

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas



The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is about a regular kid -- not a child prodigy, nt particularly wise beyond his years. The only thing that separates him from the willfully blind adults who surround him is that he has not yet learned to hate. The film never depicts him as a hero, at least an intentional one, just a kid who acts like any other would act, innocently unknowing of the expectations and prejudices of those around him.

The protagonist, a blue-eyed, brown-haired eight-year-old named Bruno (Asa Butterfield), is living in a stage were fantasy and reality remain merged. He resides with his family in Germany, with his older sister, soldier dad, and mom. He tries to find fun as best he can, with no help from his sibling, who is the simpering lapchild type, engaged in a misguided coming-of-age, decorating her walls with appreciation for her country and throwing aside her dolls.

After he has lived comfortably with his family, Bruno learns that they are to move away, closer to the new job. His father has earned a promotion. This is supposed too be good news, but isn't for Bruno -- he wants his old house and friends and doesn't want his life changed. Worse, he has no say about the matter and is moved to a base where men in gray pass him stiffly, talking to his father.

There are no children he can see, until he stumbles quite by accident on a farm occupied by underwashed, underfed people. He is encouraged to stay away, as his father tells him the people are not humans and shouldn't be treated as such. But they seem human enough to him, especially Schmeul, a boy his age who catches his attention. They meet, laugh at each other's names, and promise to visit more.

In a different situation, the friendship would be considered harmless, and Bruno would be able to freely play with the boy before his return. The fact that he is living in Auschwitz puts a damper on that ideal. Schmeul is treated as a flea-ridden cat -- don't bother to get attached to him, he'll be gone soon enough. But love for his fatherland has not impressed itself in Bruno's mind yet, and he ignores the others' warnings, pleased to have another child to interact with.

This film is based on a young adult novel by John Boyne, described as a 'fable' by the author. It contains telling details of the Holocaust, but from a child's eye view -- yellow stars and fences are interspersed with the normal thoughts of a kid: toys, friends, and irritating siblings. It is a small but powerful story, meant to send a message with only as much information as we need. The rest we know for ourselves.

For basically first-time actors, the young boys who play Bruno and Schmeul do fairly well. However, I was annoyed by the skips and jumps in Butterfield's performance. He slips naturally into scenes of fantasy and play, but when the story becomes more intense, he seems slightly confused about how to react to the script, which hampers the believability somewhat. He generally did a good job, however, and one shouldn't want him to progress too quickly, to avoid a Culkin-ish speed-up of maturity.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is quiet and infused with a moral ambiguity. Bruno doesn't view his father as a monster even as he begins to know more. Even his mother doesn't seem completely aware of the situation, and although she's knows of the prisoners, it still comes as a shock when she figures out what the torrent of smoke streaming into the air is.

Also, it contains the most shocking and unexpected ending since The Life Before Her Eyes. Although the adults turn away, reminding themselves of their good fortune that they are not within the barbed fence, they are forced, in the most horrendous way possible, to look back. Everybody finds their inner humanity, and no one wins.








Friday, November 6, 2009

Matilda



If you have read any of the works of British childrens' author Roald Dahl, you will know one thing his stories lack is sap- which has endeared them to some grown-ups but struck others as unsuitable kid material- although his books may be whimsical their sense of humor is also short, sharp, and often at the expense of others.

"Matilda," directed by Danny De Vito and based on the popular Roald Dahl novel, is a satire of cluelessly cruel parents too absorbed in their own lives to take notice of their children's gifts, remarkable as they might be. In doing this, he introduces us to one the most ridiculously fractured families in kid movie history- the Wormwoods.

The director plays Harry, a hack car salesman who cons people by filling seemingly good automobiles with saw dust (that may not work in the real world, but never mind.) Mom Zinnia (Rhea Perlman, De Vito's real wife) is shrill, nasty-tempered, and completely engrossed in leaving home to play Bingo. Their offspring are Mike and Matilda.

Matilda (Mara WIlson,) the youngest is the focus of the story, and so she should be considering Mike is following in his dad's footsteps as a loud-mouthed ignoramus. Matilda as been virtually abandoned since birth, and left to roam at her own devices. Since she was a young child she has loved books.

As books in the Wormwood house are in short supply, she took time at Bingo games to cross streets to the library- a great feat for a toddler. learning vocabulary at an alarmingly quick rate, Matilda becomes bored with the mundane life her parents expect her to have.

The doltish pair take offense that young Matilda would rather read than watch game shows on the telly day after day. The seem in fear that their daughter may surpass them in intelligence- a feat, honestly, not hard to accomplish. Finally they ship her off to school, where she proves her intellect is far beyond any child (and teacher) at her school.

There she meets Miss Honey (Embeth Davitz,) A teacher as splendid as her name and one of the film's only positive adult characters, who takes an interest in finding material suiting Matilda's growing desire to learn. She also makes her first friend. School begins to become the place she yearns for, bracing for some happy activities after a day with her cruel and indifferent parents.

Everything at school would be great- except that all the children and the teachers live in fear of the sadistic, kid-hating brute of a headmistress, Mrs. Trunchbull (Pam Ferris.) How sadistic? Picture Dolores Umbridge stripped of any even artificial sweetness, and you've got the Trunchbull (in fact, the actual Potter connection is that Ferris played Harry's inflating aunt in the third film)

Matilda, fueled by Miss Honey's love for her and her wishes for a better life, precedes to try to end the Trunchbull's reign of terror. Her having put her superior intellect forward in a series of pranks on her parents, she decides to find a way to drive out the headmistress for good. Aiding her are telekinetic powers, which she hones to use to her advantage.

Unrealistic, perhaps? Well, this film takes a back seat on realism. Take the Chokey for example. When a child fails to live up to Miss Trunchbull's standards, she encloses them in a porta-potty sized room with walls adorned by broken glass and nails, forcing them to stay standing for an unspecified amount of time. While one would think this sort of behavior would end in a social services visit for sure, the kids keep quiet, knowing their parents would dismiss such wild tales.

For Miss Trunchbull's horrible torment, it seems lucky Matilda only unleashed her powers for a series of vicious pranks, tricks, and general comeuppance, rather go Carrie on the people who have done her wrong (a film I haven't seen, but who hasn't heard of it?) Wilson, as Matilda, is appealing, and Ferris played such a ridiculously horrid cow of a character that I felt compelled to make sure she wasn't as hideous in life (she wasn't.)

Obviously, "Matilda" has a short supply of subtlety to begin with, but certain parts that added to the enjoyment of the book. Matilda's brother, Mike, was not entirely dreadful in the literary version, whereas here he has been morphed into a complete bullying jerk. Also, the ending has a clever touch (concerning Matilda's telekinesis) that has been rubbed away to cater to the audience.

"Matilda," though too bizarre for some families, is a lot of fun, and a great movie for kids who are sick of the same old pitiful rehashes dropped for the mass public (Transformers 2 and Air Buddies, anyone?) Anybody with a slightly morbid sense of humor will enjoy this kid-geared fantasy/ back comedy which has no intention of playing nice (Rated PG.)