Review: Mother at TKFF

Mother (director, Bong Joon-ho) is a beautifully shot spin on the film-noir genre. Throughout the film one is constantly readjusting their assessment of the main characters. Things start off simple enough though. You have a widow (Kim Hye-ja) living with her son Do-joon (Won-bin) who is in his late twenties and has an intellectual disability that is hard to define. We get the impression early on that his disability is the result of some sort of accident and not one that he was born with. He is childlike and has difficulty remembering things but at times this is punctuated by an almost frightening lucidity. Do-joon hangs around with Jin-tae (Jin-goo) whom his mother refers to as being a 'bad seed'. Jin-tae is a bit rough around the edges but he does genuinely care for Do-joon in his own way. Mother supports herself and Do-joon by selling medicinal herbs from a tiny and impossibly dark shop and also by doing acupuncture without a license. Suddenly one day a beautiful school girl is found brutally murdered with her corpse left dangling over a rooftop railing for all to see. A golf ball with Do-joon's name scribbled on it is found next to the body so he is immediately taken into custody. Of course his difficulty remembering things doesn't help him out in this situation. We want to believe his innocence as he stares into the camera with eyes that another character describes as "... a work of art, like a deer's". Mother goes on a quest to prove Do-joons innocence and she will literally stop at nothing to do so. In the process of her investigation we learn the tragic details of the murdered school girl Ah-jeong's life as she fends for herself whilst taking care of her senile and alcoholic grandmother.

Won-bin is truly excellent as Do-joon. When playing characters that are intellectually disabled actors have a tendency to over do things but Won-bin kept his performance completely believable throughout which was of course integral to the film's overall impact. Kim Hye-ja is also excellent as mother (we never learn her name) who is on the surface a simple and impoverished woman caring for her son but is in actuality more complex than you could ever guess. I also enjoyed Jin-goo's performance as Jin-tae, in particular during the carnival interrogation scene. He added unexpected moments of humour to what was otherwise a very dark film  .

The two main themes of the film are forgetting and remembering and ultimately which do you choose to do and why. The final scene depicts this most accurately and will linger in your mind long after the film is done.

For more info on the Toronto Korean Film Festival 2012 and to purchase tickets, click here.

Review: Moonrise Kingdom

Perhaps as is the custom when viewing the work of a cult director like Wes Anderson there is the temptation to constantly compare new work to previous work and to sometimes erroneously conclude that said director has just rehashed an earlier hit. I think that this deters from the otherwise pure pleasure obtained from watching a Wes Anderson film so my advice, if you haven't already seen Moonrise Kingdom is to simply go, watch and enjoy. Moonrise Kingdom is only similar to Anderson's previous work in that it bears the indelible stamp of his unique aesthetic. Naturally, since each of his films bears his unmistakable signature one can imagine a Wes Anderson universe where a Tenenbaum might leaf through a book by oceanographer Steve Zissou or a Max Fischer might attend school with the offspirng of Suzy Bishop and Sam Shakusky.

Suzy and Sam are outsiders in a tiny town on an island off of the coast of New England. Sam is miserable because he doesn’t have a family whereas Susie is miserable because she does have a family. Both are misunderstood, Sam is constantly referred to as being emotionally disturbed and Susie as being violent (which she is but not without provocation). They meet by chance one day  and fall instantly in love. After secretly sending letters to one another for a year they arrange to runaway together and live in the wilderness using Sam's Khaki Scout skills to survive. An island wide search for the two ensues led Suzy's outraged parents (Frances McDormand and bill Murray), the troupe of Khaki Scouts that Sam deserted and the local police officer (Bruce Willis) who is stern but kind.

The film is filled with those little details that we love Anderson for, fantasy book covers designed just for the film (pictured above), simple but memorable costuming like Susie's DIY beetle and fish hook earrings and quirky but believable interiors (doesn't everyone want a house with a faux lighthouse?). 

 My only disappointment with the film was that there was not very much Tilda Swinton in it but that's just my own personal bias. The young stars, Kara Hayward (Suzy) and Jared Gilman (Sam) were superb and were never less than convincing. I should point out that this was the first film role for both Hayward and Gilman. Judging by their performances in the film I would say that they both have long careers ahead of them.

For Toronto screening times and locations click here.

Review: Dark Shadows

Johnny Depp as the vampire Barnabas Collins

Bella Heathcote as Vickie Winters the new governess with a dark past.

Helena Bonham Carter as the brash and often drunk, Dr.Howard.

The Ghost of Barnabas' fiancée, Josette

Probably best described as a kitsch-noir, Tim Burton's latest film Dark Shadows is based loosely upon the the 1966-71 soap opera of the same title.  Enjoyment of the film is heightened if one keeps in mind that it is meant to be unashamedly kitschy and tongue-in-cheek. Serious devotees of vampire cinema, television and literature may find that it is not serious enough for them (which would be their lose anyway).  Johnny Depp is brilliant as the recently unearthed 200-year-old vampire, Barnabas Collins. Whilst this character is often meant to be a humouros buffoon bumbling through the modern world he has just been thrust into, Depp also manages to bring a great deal of pathos to the role. There really is no other actor that would have been so suited to this screen adaptation of the series. In less skilled hands Barnabas would probably have just been irritating and silly. Eva Green is terrifying as vengeful witch Angelique Bouchard. Although she is supposed to be the villain I couldn't help but feel sorry for her and wonder if Barnabas's past and present treatment of her wasn't more than a little to blame. Helena Bonham Carter plays Dr. Howard, a quack psychiatrist and drunkard. Again as unsavoury as her character was I did feel sorry for her and wonder if she wasn't after all just another one of Barnabas' victims.

Bella Heathcote is excellent as governess Vickie Winters and as Josette. Her unusual Blythe doll good looks made her especially suited to play this character. She doesn't overdo her role as the seemingly innocent girl with a dark past. Her story unfolds gradually and is classic Burton fare.

Chloe Moretz is great as the stroppy teenage daughter (also with a dark secret). My only criticism would be that when she reveals her secret towards the end of the film, CGI was used to convey this and it did not look at all convincing nor did it look bad in a neat kitschy way. My only other criticism of the film would be that I found Depp's fight scenes with Eva Green to be disturbing. I think it was meant to be slapstick but there are times when she is just receiving blow after blow and not hitting back. People around me were laughing but I found these scenes to be too reminiscent of domestic violence to be funny. Their love scene earlier in the film, however, is hilarious.


Overall I would say that Dark Shadows is a return to form and I sincerely hope that Tim Burton will consider doing a sequel.



For Toronto showtimes of Dark Shadows, click  here.