Despicable Me

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This is the first CGI film from Universal Pictures and Illusion Entertainment, and some members of the diverse audience, particularly parents all too familiar with the DreamWorks sequence of the boy fishing on a crescent moon, may be finding themselves a little weary of the numerous animations we’ve had thrown at our screens this year. Toy Story 3 and Shrek Forever After are two that come to mind, although arguably Despicable Me has deviated from this etiquette of talking animals and objects, and instead Chris Renaud has focused on the impact of human emotion, which compared to his work on Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009), he and Coffin have enabled a stronger connection between the film and its older viewers.

The voice artistry of Gru, played by Steve Carell is imposing despite a compelling Russian accent, which at times can be a little confusing not only to the children in the audience. The physical movements of Gru, the way he emphasises his words with his hands and expresses surprise on his face is familiar to that of Carell’s character Andy Stitzer in The 40 Year Old Virgin, making his humour recognised by those who admire him. From the start the audience are acquainted with Gru’s inappropriate behaviour, as he lovingly blows up a balloon in the shape of a dog for an upset boy, and proceeds to burst it with a pin. Who would expect any less? After all, Gru has got some catching up to do to number one super villain Vector, geeky and intelligent, voiced by How I Met Your Mother’s Jason Segel. To do this Gru intends to steal the moon; a “one up” on Vector’s monstrous but successful act of taking one of the Egyptian pyramids, by adopting and using three very delightful girls, Margo (Miranda Cosgrove), Edith (Dana Gaier) and Agnes (Elsie Fisher).

This is no protagonist versus antagonist narrative, this is evil versus annoying. The character of Vector may have equipped more weaponry than Gru, but his smugness and unpredictable excitement is like that of a child, which is probably why the children found him so entertaining. His status compared to Gru is expressed through the interior of his house, his modernised pad has a shark swimming under the lounge floor and he has a button for just about everything. The film is vibrant, bursting with colour, and Gru’s house may be the dullest, most Gothic, in the neighbourhood regardless of his alligator sofa, but the three young girls bring life and emotion. In one sentimental scene Gru’s family tree is shown to us, with the addition of some very imaginative drawings of the girls, diminishing those feelings of betrayal, misery and revenge that are every villain’s cup of tea. Nevertheless, Despicable Me is not all smiley faces and rainbows, as the audience watch Gru visit what appears to be a normal bank and in fact uses eye recognition technology to enter the Bank of Evil (formerly Lehman Brothers).

This reference highlights that there is adult humour, also emphasised by Gru’s witty one liners and his small yellow minions, who also become part of the girls’ lives, such as joining in with a tea party and a sequence during the end credits as they test the boundaries of 3D cinema. Dr Nefario (Russell Brand), who doesn’t hold the sophistication and slickness of Q from the James Bond films, but has elderly enthusiasm that warms your hearts, and Gru’s mother (Julie Andrews) who takes on an ignorant approach when it comes to Gru’s work, both add moral strength to the plot. The tense relationship between mother and son is shown in a number of flashbacks, as a little long nosed Gru tells his mother he “wants to be the first person to walk on the moon”.

On the other hand, the relationship between Gru and his girls’ progresses as they visit a fun fair together. Agnes’ performance is not the only thing that stands out here – the 3D experience is definitely worth crediting. The sequence where they ride on one of the rollercoasters was spectacular, and felt as though the audience should have been on a simulator alongside it, however this is only one of the memorable scenes in 3D, and I can’t help but feel we have been spoilt by Pixar and DreamWork’s animation as of late. Elsie Fisher really stands out as adorable Agnes in this scene; Fisher has had a lack of experience in the film industry, but she characterises Agnes as adventurous and loveable, a personality trait that is often admired in young children. Singing herself to sleep about unicorns, asking for “bedtime kisses” and stories, and her joy when Gru wins her a unicorn toy, exclaiming “It’s so fluffy!” are three fantastic examples of her heart-warming ability to capture the audience’s affection. It is obvious as soon as the girls enter Gru’s life that they are melting his cold heart, and it won’t be long before they melt yours too in this family comedy.

The World Cinema Awards 2010

World Cinema. A module that has popped up in my second year of university, and without a doubt is highly engaging. It has expanded my view on cinema, as I have watched a variety of films from Hong Kong to France, Spain and India. World Cinema has allowed us as an audience to gain an international perspective, and a lot more films have become available to us through DVD and mass distribution. It has often been found that American and European cinema is more familiar to us, and as Dudley Andrew has suggested in his article An Atlas of World Cinema (2004), we have become accustomed to the Euro-American narrative and ideologies that we don't tend to travel or become aware of other cultures and their films.

Presented by Jonathan Ross, with some shockingly bold facial hair and who I personally have missed since the Friday Night with Jonathan Ross days, the programme is hosted from the BFI and shows a number of films contending for the film of the year award. There is also a World Cinema Achievement Award given to a worthy director. I am going to be having a look through the nominated films on the show, and discussing the show itself.


I am Love

Scottish actress Tilda Swinton (The White Witch from Narnia) takes on the leading role as Emma Recchi, a mother of three and part of a wealthy family who are going through changing times. The themes of the film focus around passion and desire as you can see in the poster, Swinton's stunning red dress parts her from the rest of the cast and reflects her dangerous nature. As director Luca Guadagnino says in the show, "the idea of the film came from the idea of a lonely woman in a beautiful house". The film reflects the complexity of affairs, and revolves around the themes of hands and food, the delicateness of making food and the love of it. Ross describes it as intoxicating, and with such an exhilarating soundtrack to heighten the tense and romantic mood, I am Love seems to be a charming and sophisticated romantic drama.


Let The Right One In

From director Tomas Alfredson comes the Swedish original of Let Me In (2010) about a young boy who finds friendship in a strange girl named Eli who turns out to be a vampire. The film is unlike some of the vampire films we have had recently has such as The Twilight Saga, because it follows typical vampire traditions, such as inviting a vampire into your home. This act also relates to another theme in the film of letting someone into your life, and the companionship that grows. Young Oskar dreams of hurting his tormentors, and in one scene during the show, he is seen stabbing a tree to release his anger and illustrates his solitary lifestyle. Oskar is soon faced with a choice as he discovers Eli's killing nature, and the film is truly a love story focusing on the two main characters. Alfredson has described the character of Eli as the 'dark side' of Oskar as he overcomes his fears and gains strength over the bullies.

Waltz With Bashir

Israeli film director Ari Folman uses this almost comic animated style film to interview veterans of the 1982 invasion of Lebanon to reconstruct his memories of the time he served in that conflict. There are images of massacre and the story indicates the suppressed memories of the violence at the time. Folman argues in person that the massacre could have been prevented if the government and generals had not hesitated in acting to stop it. Ross says that the images in the film caused an uproar due to the refrences related to the Holocaust, and that the animation gives the film it's uniqueness. The interviews were either first hand accounts, or given to actors to read. It is the first animated documentary, and I personally love the visual style Folman has incorporated as it makes it more appealing to a wider audience.



The White Ribbon

"When you were little, your mother sometimes tied a ribbon in your hair or around your arm. Its white colour was to remind you of innocence and purity."
A series of accidents and disturbing attacks begin to arise in a small village in the North of Germany in the years before World War I. It is believed that the children are possibly responsible for the mysteries going on in the village, and through the character of Anni we get closer to the children of the film and become surrounded by the motifs of morality and death. The film is narrated by the local school teacher who reflects on those times, and director Michael Haneke says that he wants to "question that claim of truth" which is the reason for using commentary. Similar to Waltz With Bashir, this is a film about someone's memory and how things may have been. Haneke did not want this to be a film about Germany, and says that a British audience can relate it to England, and so on.


A Prophet

Jacques Audiard's A Prophet is a film about finding your identity and making your story. Malik El Djebena is sent to a French prison where everyone is divided into groups, but he stands alone, making him vulnerable to everyone in the prison. The Corsicans are the most influential group in the prison, and Malik soon becomes accustomed to their vulgar and brutal orders. When Malik leaves prison, he is faced with the guilt and company of his murdered victims, despite this he carries on serving the mafia and carrying out orders. The film providea a unique emotional experience of a nobody becoming someone, and the tense environment often found in prisons.

The World Cinema Achievement Award was given to Bernardo Bertolucci who began writing poems when he was younger to be like his father, but at the age of sixteen decided that he liked movies. Writer of The Conformist (1970) and Last Tango In Paris (1972), after which he felt like he could write any kind of film, he then wrote 1900 (1976), The Last Emperor (1987), The Sheltering Sky (1990) and The Dreamers (2003).

I won't tell you the winner of the Film of the Year award, you can find out for yourself here http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00v9g9b/BBC_Four_World_Cinema_Award_2010/ and I hope you find the films mentioned interesting if you get the chance to watch them!

The Town

You can take the man out of Boston, but you can’t take Boston out of the man. Doug MacRay (Ben Affleck) is looking to escape the ideologies that surround him in the bank robbery capital of America, Charlestown. This is no doubt a narrative we have seen repeated in crime dramas many times; the criminal with a forbidden love, existing in a community that lives and breathes for violence and the ways their fathers taught them. Based on the novel Prince of Thieves by Chuck Hogan, The Town features all the elements of a decent criminal mind – the driver, Albert ‘Gloansy’ Magloan (Slaine), the psychotic weapons handler and best friend, James ‘Jem’ Coughlin (Jeremy Renner), the architect, Doug MacRay (Affleck) and the man who calls the shots, florist Fergus ‘Fergie’ Colm (Pete Postlethwaite).

As the film begins the audience are a witness to a key bank robbery, involving quick pans and close up shots of hostages; it is so fast paced there isn’t a moment to blink. Affleck’s attention to detail is impressive; the bleaching of everything they’ve touched, putting the hostages’ phones in water, blowing up the last vehicle they use. The transition from the CCTV footage observing them in silence back to screams blaring and the intense action is startling, but in an effective way that draws the audience closer to the situation. Affleck’s focus on hostage bank manager Claire Keesey (Rebecca Hall) is the mere start of the intimate shots he shares with her, in and out of the adventurous masks, as MacRay eventually states he wants to “put this whole fuckin’ town in my rear view”.

Affleck’s character is very likeable, as shown by his Pearl Harbour (2001) days where he shows his ability to be romantic, however this could be seen as an influence on his new, harder character. As Claire is forced to open the safe of her bank, she struggles and shakes and loses concentration, initiating MacRay to step out of his intimidating character and steady her hand and as he instructs “Take your time”. Hall reflects an oblivious and sympathetic victim which makes the film more sentimental, she is nothing but vulnerable, but as convention should go, she soon toughens up. The emotional scenes incorporated into the film occasionally feel drawn-out and a little feigned, and you’ll be lucky if you can actually hear them as dialogue was sometimes impossible to understand due to some unconvincing Boston accents.

The chases are electrifying and intense, as the audience are drawn through narrow roads Affleck captures the getaway from numerous high and low angles, the shaky camera technique almost reflecting the problems constantly going around MacRay’s head and the emotional walls that are restraining him in Boston. Slow motion action produces more satisfying explosions throughout, but the black and white flashbacks that Affleck has roughly placed within the film make the narrative appear tacky. The beautiful scenery of Boston captured in bird’s eye view is used frequently to fill in gaps between narratives, making the audience wonder whether Affleck has really excelled from Gone Baby Gone (2007). He hasn’t got it all wrong though, Ben Affleck still knows how to make an audience laugh in strained moments, and in one favourable scene we watch our criminal friends exit their vehicle straight in front of a police car and a policeman who stares in bewilderment, in this moment of dark humour.

The focus on ‘one last job’ is found in a variety of films; it’s the finale, the climax, the decider of how the story closes, it influenced the fate of Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) in Inception (2010). The last and third job of The Town is located in Fenway Park, and by this point we are starting to suspect the pressure on FBI agent Adam Frawley (Mad Men’s Jon Hamm) as the atmosphere escalates and he pursues the men himself with a shotgun. Hamm seizes the opportunity to illustrate a protagonist similar to his Mad Men character Don Draper, and keeps the determination of his team pushing through against the tenderness of the film.

The Town is a mature crime thriller and very conventional with its themes, similar to Ben Affleck’s first directorial hit Gone Baby Gone, again set in Boston. It is primarily about a destructive community of broken men reflecting upon their past. We are staring into the lives of families who have bonded through their weapons and loyalties. Affleck as director allows his cast to shine; Jeremy Renner’s reckless and cocky character from The Hurt Locker (2008) exceeds expectations once again as fierce and stubborn best friend Jem. He has an ability to manipulate MacRay in a way that the audience actually encourages the bad guy to get away from Boston. Gossip Girl’s Blake Lively echoes Helene McCready (Amy Ryan) from Gone Baby Gone as a single mother and Jem’s brother who turns to drugs and is involved with MacRay “all her life”. The audience are the only ones who know MacRay’s secrets, and as we are lead to a powerful moment of discovery between the characters, MacRay draws closer to grasping a better life for himself, in front and behind the camera.