Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011) Review

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a film that lacks clarity and structure. A near constant jumping around of time periods and obscurity create a feeling of confusion and, I must confess, made me feel very lost. Remember the 1992 film Unforgiven? That was a film with a subpar script and a subpar story that featured fantastic performances. This film suffers from the same condition. Of course given the caliber of actors in this film (Gary Oldman, John Hurt, Colin Firth, Mark Strong) saying that they give great performances is like saying that chocolate is sweet.

I hate to do this but I can hardly remember a thing about the film and so much trouble following its plot that I am left with either not including a synopsis or copying it from another source. I pride myself on (almost) never having to do this but I want to be fair to it so I will have to take it from IMDB:

"In the early 1970s during the Cold War, the head of British Intelligence, Control (John Hurt), resigns after an operation in Budapest, Hungary goes badly wrong. It transpires that Control believed one of four senior figures in the service was in fact a Russian agent - a mole - and the Hungary operation was an attempt to identify which of them it was. George Smiley (Gary Oldman) had been forced into retirement by the departure of Control, but is asked by a senior government figure to investigate a story told to him by a rogue agent, Ricky Tarr (Tom Hardy), that there was a mole. Smiley considers that the failure of the Hungary operation and the continuing success of Operation Witchcraft (an apparent source of significant Soviet intelligence) confirms this, and takes up the task of finding him. Through the efforts of Peter Guillam (Benedict Cumberbatch), Smiley obtains information that eventually leads him to Jim Prideaux (Mark Strong), the agent at the heart of the Hungary fiasco. He is then able to put together the pieces of the puzzle, which leads him to the identity of the mole and the true intent of Operation Witchcraft."

A major issue is that too many characters are introduced in too rapid a succession. In one single scene we meet every single senior member of the organization and are hardly even able to follow what their names are, for one thing, and what they're purpose is for another. This is a cheap and lazy way to bring in all this information at once and I sat there in the theater scratching my head as I wondered where a character came from and if they had already introduced them and saying, "wait, didn't that guy get shot?"

Unmemorable and confusing Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy leaves much to be desired.

★1/2

 

 

A Separation (2011) Review

A film that can only be described as disappointing, A Separation begins uninterestingly and ends anti-climactically. As I have not seen the other contenders for Best Foreign Language Film I cannot comment on whether or not it deserved the Oscar. All I can do is report on what I didn't like.

Simin (Leila Hatami) wants to leave Iran to try and give her daughter Termah (Sarina Farhadi) a better life. However her husband Nader (Peyman Moadi) can't leave as he has to take care of his father with Alzheimer's. Simin leaves Nader as he refuses to go with her. Termah, in an attempt to bring her parents back together decides to live with her father. Nader hires a young woman named Razieh (Sareh Bayat) to be caregiver for his father. Nader does not know that Razieh is not only pregnant, but also working without her unstable husband's (Shahab Hosseini) permission. Coming home to find his father tied to the bed and Razieh nowhere around, Nader literally throws her out. Later he is charged with murder after she suffers a miscarriage supposedly caused by falling down the stairs.

The film ends with Termah being forced to choose between her parents. While Simin and Nader wait in a hallway for her decision the credits begin to roll. I am not against ambiguous endings when I care about the individuals involved. That's where my biggest issue with the film lies. It was immaterial to me if Simin and Nader get back together or if Razieh is telling the truth or what happens to Nader's father. The only characters I felt any sympathy or empathy for where Termah and Razieh's young daughter. They are unwillingly simply caught up in their issues of their parents. Beyond these two this is no such thing as a likable character.

The film is tedious and dull until we reach the catalyst, which even then is uninteresting. It doesn't so much forget the title of the film as much as it goes off on an irritating tangent from what could have been a film about how Simin and Nader deal with their conflict and the difficult decisions they must make. Perhaps someone who is fluent in the language being spoken would feel more of a connection with the characters.

There is one scene in the film that I enjoyed. It is the scene in which Nader confesses a truth to his daughter. For all you spoiler police don't worry I won't give too much away about it.

Like I said, I can't comment on whether or not it deserved the Oscar until the other films and I won't fault it for the typo-ridden subtitles. I'd rather see "threatening" misspelled several times than hear someone else dub the lines in English.

★★

The Artist (2011) Review

A fantastically phenomenal film that harkens back to the early days of cinema, The Artist tells the story of George Valentin (Jean Dujardin). He is arguably the most admired silent film star of 1927. During the post-premiere of his latest film The Russian Affair he runs into an aspiring young actress/dancer named Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo) which ends up being the springboard to her career. With the advent of the talkies their roles of success are reversed. Peppy becomes Kinograph's new biggest star while George, who rejects and resists the entire idea of talking pictures, fades into oblivion. Peppy attempts to help George as much as she can, even going so far as to convince her producer Al Zimmer (John Goodman) to let George read for a major role. Ultimately it would have to be up to George if he manages to be successful in an era where he doesn't believe audiences are interested in hearing him speak.

The film is the first (mostly) silent film to receive a large release in theaters in over thirty years. I love classic cinema and with that comes a love of silent films. The Artist is as close to extraordinary and perfect a film as it gets. Certainly one of the best films that I have seen in recent years and currently is a leading contender for a spot on my list of my all-time favorite films. There is a massive amount of affection for the films that inspired it and its love of those films is nothing short of brilliant. I must confess that I cannot praise it enough.

The thing about a silent film is that because there is no sound, short of the orchestra, and so your ears hunger for it. There isn't any dialogue actually heard until the last five minutes. In this scene Jean Dujardin says his only two words. Upon being asked by Al Zimmer if he and Peppy can do another take of a considerably complicated dance sequence he replies simply, "With pleasure." When he finally speaks I felt an enormous amount of elation that he does so. It's a wonderful scene where you can celebrate the emotional journey that this character goes through.

Throughout the entire film I got the feeling like I was a member of the audience in 1927. Perhaps it was the aspect ratio of 4:3 which was what was actually used for 35 mm films in the silent film era of cinema. Some films need the aspect ratio of 2:39:1 but The Artist is a film that is made better by the decision of a lower aspect ratio.

I've heard it said that the three most important things for an actor to use are their voice, face and hands. Silent film actors have a particularly larger challenge as they don't have the use of their voice and so they must walk a fine line with their facial expressions and hands. Jean Dujardin's performance fits comfortably with the likes of Lon Chaney, Charles Chaplin, Conrad Veidt and etc. so that you believe that he could have in fact been an actor during that time period. He hams it up if you will just enough without it being gimmicky.

As I said I cannot praise this film enough. It is extraordinary and so much more.

★★★★

 

 

Hugo (2011) Review

A masterful picture made with an exponential love of early and classic cinema. Its wonderful cinematography coupled with an interesting cast of characters in a "keep you guessing" story makes Hugo Martin Scorcese's best film since Goodfellas.

Set in Paris in 1931 Hugo tells the story of a resourceful and imaginative orphan who, upon the death of his father (Jude Law), begins a quest to uncover the secret of an automaton (a mechanical man intended to use a pen and write a message). Convinced the message is from his father Hugo goes at great lengths to repair it. He hides in a railway station and runs the clocks all while avoiding the ever watchful Chief Inspector (Sacha Baron Cohen) Hugo's journey brings him to the attention of a bitter toy-shop owner (Ben Kingsley) after he is caught trying to steal parts for the automaton. The toy-shop owner, Georges Méliès takes Hugo's notebook, which contains notes and drawings on the automaton, from him with the intent of burning it. Hugo follows Georges to his home where he meets Georges goddaughter Isabelle (Chloë Grace Moretz). Hugo and Isabelle follow all the possible clues which eventually lead them to a secret about Méliès.

Hugo is in many ways not a Scorcese film. There are no gangsters and the film is not Rated-R. It does however speak to Scorcese's adoration of film and his belief of protecting the films of the past. It is thoroughly upsetting that half of all films made before 1940 are gone. Hugo is his love letter to cinema and a well-made love letter at that.

Something that I was able to pick up on was the wonderful cinematography and digitally developed backgrounds. The backgrounds and shots of the Paris skyline look like glossier Matte paintings then we've seen previously. This film is all about escaping to the movies and the "not quite reality" look allows us to do just that. Your opinion may differ from mine about artificially created backgrounds but the work done in this film is a wonderful. Indeed the use of lighting and color in the film presents Hugo's relationship to each character. When Hugo is around Méliès there are a lot of blacks and greys and when he later runs into Isabelle the color turns to a hopeful gold. Whatever Hugo's particular feeling is at any given time is reflected in the film's look.

Distinguishably one of the better films of 2011 and most absolutely one of Martin Scorcese's best films he has ever made that presents a message that I unreservedly agree with. Movies and the experience of going to them are "what dreams are made of."

★★★★