NZIFF Film Review: "Dior and I" (2014).

"He has a new vision. They have eight weeks to create it." This is Dior and I. This documentary film written and directed by Frédéric Tcheng. The film brings the viewer inside the storied world of the Christian Dior fashion house with a privileged, behind-the-scenes look at the creation of Raf Simons' first haute couture collection as its new artistic director-a true labor of love created by a dedicated group of collaborators. Melding the everyday, pressure-filled components of fashion with mysterious echoes from the iconic brand's past, the film is also a colorful homage to the seamstresses who serve Simons' vision.

Since his birth on January 12, 1968, Raf Jan Simons has gone on to become a world renowned Belgian fashion designer, who began his career in furniture design. In 1995, Simons launched his own menswear label. He went on to become the creative director at Jil Sander (2005-12), Christian Dior (2012-15) and Calvin Klein (2016-18). In early April 2020, he is the co-creative director of Prada, in partnership with Miuccia Prada. In April 2012, it was announced that Simons would replace John Galliano as creative director at the helm of Dior, ending a period of transition after Galliano's dismissal from the role. However, he did not design the menswear collections, as fellow Belgian designer Kris van Assche remained as Dior Homme creative director. Simons' first collection for Haute Couture Fall-Winter 2012 was well-received as the designer focused on the 1950s by playing with some of Christian Dior’s famous silhouettes: the A line and the H line, and the Bar jacket. In late October 2015, Simons resigned from his post as the Creative Director of Womenswear for Christian Dior following a three and a half year stint at the brand. In a statement the designer stated "It is a decision based entirely and equally on my desire to focus on other interests in my life, including my own brand, and passions that drive me outside my work." The departure was reportedly amicable and no replacement was immediately named.

Fantastic fun. It's full of energy and zing, just like its subject, although, just like its subject, it also feels less than truthful somehow. Simons was a fashion-industry icon and taste-maker for decades, working at Sander and then Dior in an era when magazine publishing was as corporate as painting, filmmaking and music. This pleasurable documentary is jammed packed with images from magazines, photoshoots and newsreels of an amazing chapter in an amazing chapter, but also lots of footage of the life Simons imagined he had too. The film is more of an energetic and affectionate sketch than a revealing portrait of this oversized personality, but one has to wonder if the man who celebrated glittering surfaces would have wanted it any other way. What makes this such a joy to watch is not just the timeline of fashion highlights, but Simons' unique perspective on life. His life, and his work, transcended what we think of as "fashion." The film celebrates a unique and uniquely determined man.

Simon says Dior and I receives:

Also, see my reviews for Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel and Jodorowsky's Dune.

NZIFF Film Review: "Jodorowsky's Dune" (2013).

For my third entry for the NZIFF, I have watched the fascinating documentary on one of the most infamous and legendary unmade film projects Jodorowsky's Dune. The poster’s tagline “The greatest science fiction movie never made” is what this American documentary film, directed by Frank Pavich, is all about. The film explores Chilean-French cult film director Alejandro Jodorowsky's ambitious but ultimately unsuccessful and doomed attempt to adapt and film Frank Herbert's 1965 seminal science fiction novel Dune in the mid-1970s.

Dune is a 1965 epic science fiction novel by Frank Herbert. It won the Hugo Award in 1966, and the inaugural Nebula Award for Best Novel. Set in the distant future amidst a feudal interstellar society in which noble houses, in control of individual planets, owe allegiance to the Padishah Emperor, Dune tells the story of young Paul Atreides, whose noble family accepts the stewardship of the desert planet Arrakis. As this planet is the only source of the "spice" melange, the most important and valuable substance in the universe, control of Arrakis is a coveted — and dangerous — undertaking. The story explores the multi-layered interactions of politics, religion, ecology, technology, and human emotion, as the forces of the empire confront each other in a struggle for the control of Arrakis and its "spice"

In 1973, film producer Arthur P. Jacobs optioned the film rights to Dune but died before a film could be developed. The option was then taken over two years later by director Alejandro Jodorowsky, who proceeded to approach, among others, Virgin Records, with the prog rock groups Tangerine Dream, Gong and Mike Oldfield before settling on Pink Floydand Magma for some of the music, artists H. R. Giger. Chris Foss and Jean Giraud for set and character design, Dan O'Bannon for special effects, and Salvador Dalí, Orson Welles, Gloria Swanson, David Carradine, Mick Jagger and others for the cast. Herbert traveled to Europe in 1976 to find that $2 million of the $9.5 million budget had already been spent in pre-production, and that Jodorowsky's script would result in a 14-hour film ("It was the size of a phonebook", Herbert later recalled). Jodorowsky took creative liberties with the source material, but Herbert said that he and Jodorowsky had an amicable relationship. The script was sent to all major film studios. "It was a great undertaking to do the script," Jodorosky says in the film. "It's very, it's like Proust, I compare it to great literature." However, the project ultimately stalled for financial reasons. The film rights lapsed until 1982, when they were purchased by Italian filmmaker Dino De Laurentiis, who eventually released the 1984 film Dune, directed by David Lynch. A segment explores how Jodorowsky's script was inspirational in later film productions, such as in scenes for the epic space opera Star Wars (1977), Contact (1997) or Prometheus (2012). 

A remarkable behind-the-scenes look at a movie that wasn't, Jodorowsky’s Dune is an incisive, entertaining document of the difficulties inherent in the moviemaking process. Sadly, the film offers a bittersweet reminder of what might have been and, most of all, what could have been. It offers a fascinating look at a lost sci-fi legend. It's the best documentary of the year!

Simon says Jodorowsky’s Dune receives:

Also, see my NZIFF review for Leviathan (Левиафан).

NZIFF Film Review: "Leviathan" ("Левиафан") (2014).

From the director of Elena comes Leviathan (Левиафан). This Russian drama film directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev and written by Zvyagintsev and Oleg Negin. Kolya lives in a small fishing town near the stunning Barents Sea in Northern Russia. He owns an auto-repair shop that stands right next to the house where he lives with his young wife Lilya and his son Roma from a previous marriage. The town's corrupt mayor Vadim Shelevyat is determined to take away his business, his house, as well as his land. First the Mayor tries buying off Kolya, but Kolya unflinchingly fights as hard as he can so as not to lose everything he owns including the beauty that has surrounded him from the day he was born. Facing resistance, the mayor starts being more aggressive.

When Zvyagintsev was filming his segment of New York, I Love You (2008) in the United States, he was told the story of Marvin Heemeyer from Granby, Colorado. Heemeyer was a welder who owned an automobile muffler repair shop and had a conflict with the town authorities that allowed the construction of a cement manufacturing plant next to his shop in 2001. After his appeals over the decision failed, an outraged Heemeyer armored his bulldozer and used it in 2004 to demolish a number of Granby buildings, including the Town Hall, and shot himself before he could be captured. He was amazed by this story and wanted initially to make his film in the US, but then changed his mind. Zvyagintsev and Negin took loose inspiraton from the biblical stories of Job from Uz and King Ahab of Samaria and Heinrich von Kleist's novella Michael Kohlhaas. By August 2013, Aleksei Serebryakov, Roman Madyanov, Vladimir Vdovichenkov, Elena Lyadova, Anna Ukolova, Igor Savochkin and Margarita Shubina were cast. At the same time, principal photography commenced and wrapped in October. Filming took place in Kirovsk, Monchegorsk, Olenegorsk, near Murmansk on the Kola Peninsula, as well as Teriberka on the Barents Sea coast.

The film stars Serebryakov, Madyanov, Vdovichenkov, Lyadova, Ukolova, Savochkin and Shubina. The cast takes us into the mind of people who have been pushed by life into an uncomfortable corner where they have to choose between different kinds of choices. That makes a very solid, intense drama.

A riveting domestic thriller, an elegantly crafted glimpse into modern Russian life that speaks volumes while barely saying a word. A class clash potboiler, it's a simple but deliciously hypnotic narrative about wealth and the queer way it tends to push people out of their comfort zones. A chilly noir about the beaten paths and icy ruts of Russian life in the capital, post-Communism. In a land of schemers, the film suggests, the urban cloisters of Moscow's elite are as self-sealing as the lowly masses' stifling Soviet-era flats. It may seem slow and lugubrious but it draws you into these complex, contradictory lives the way a spider lures a fly into a web.

Simon says Leviathan (Левиафан) receives:

Also, see my NZIFF review for Under the Skin.

NZIFF Film Review: "Under the Skin" (2013).

For my second entry for the NZIFF, I have watched the visually haunting and uncompromising thriller Under the Skin. Robbie Collin, of The Telegraph, said "This astonishing film will leave you at once entranced and terrified..." Which is exactly what this British-American science fiction art film, directed by Jonathan Glazer, somewhat delivers. It was adapted by Glazer and Walter Campbell as a loose adaptation of Michel Faber's 2000 novel of the same name. Set in northern Scotland, it traces an extraterrestrial who, manifesting in human form, as a mysterious woman drives around the Scottish countryside and seduces lonely men in the evening hours. Whom later she drugs and delivers to her home planet. Events lead her to begin a process of self-discovery.

Under the Skin is a 2000 surrealist novel by Michel Faber. The novel, which was Faber's debut, was shortlisted for the 2000 Whitbread Award. Director Jonathan Glazer decided to adapt Michel Faber's novel Under the Skin after finishing his debut film Sexy Beast (2001), but work did not begin until he had finished his second film, Birth (2004). He and cowriter Walter Campbell initially produced a script about two aliens disguised as farmers, with Brad Pitt cast as the husband, but progress was slow. Glazer eventually decided to make a film that represented an alien perspective of the human world and focused only on the female character.

The film stars Scarlett Johansson as the alien seductress who preys on men in Scotland. Johansson gave a powerful performance, but I fear that her entire performance would be diminished without the enthralling imagery to underscore it. Most of the characters were played by non-actors; many of the scenes where Johansson's character picks up men were unscripted conversations with men on the street filmed with hidden cameras. Glazer said the men were "talked through what extremes they would have to go to if they agreed to take part in the film once they understood what we were doing." For the man with neurofibromatosis, Glazer did not want to use prosthetics; to cast the role, the production team contacted the charity Changing Faces, which supports people with facial disfigurements. The role went to Adam Pearson, who had worked in television production; his suggestions about how Johansson's character could lure his character were used in the script.

In Under the Skin, Johansson is splendid as the inhuman heroine, but it is always Mr. Glazer's film, which is even technically more interesting than his last work. Among other devices, Glazer constantly uses what I assume to be a live hidden camera to capture and distort the narrative and character relationships within scenes, so that the disconnection between lives, and between people and environment, becomes an actual, literal fact. However, the film seems to be pornographic because of how it dehumanized the victims while highlighting the sufferings of Johansson. Ultimately, Glazer is a bad pornographer. In the end, the most ambitious effects were based on the alienating effect of Johansson’s character towards the audience, making it a poor choice for a film. It is also a film that doesn't exactly get under my skin, just on my nerves.

Simon says Under the Skin receives:

Also, see my NZIFF review for The Double.

NZIFF Film Review: "Joe" (2013).

"... You look at me like I can make a move. What are you thinking when you look at me like that? Don't you care? I don't know who I am, but I know what keeps me alive is restraint. Keeps me out of jail. Keeps me from hurting people. A mark of some fucked-up faith that there's a reason. A reason for all of this. A reason in most moments I shouldn't do what I wanna do. I do as I'm told. These men who bust their asses work like dogs - and I believe in them - but every day they hurt. They get old, they peel back... There's no frontier anymore. And I watch that boy, and I see someone who's... nothing like me, but... he's a child folks left behind. And he's on a fence, balanced right there." This is Joe. This crime drama film directed by David Gordon Green, adapted by Gary Hawkins, and based on the 1991 novel of the same name by Larry Brown. The rough-hewn boss of a lumber crew courts trouble when he steps in to protect the youngest member of his team from an abusive father.

The film stars Nicolas Cage and Tye Sheridan. Both Cage and Sheridan gave striking performances where both of them fulfilled a pseudo father and son surrogates to each other. Its complex tact won't be for everybody, but there is satisfaction in the nuanced, often-pleasing performances from Cage and Sheridan as they slowly reveal their characters to both the audience and each other. These two grow on you. Ironically, despite his reported financial difficulties, Cage turned down The Expendables 3 (2014) and Killing Season (2013) to do this film. Cage described his performance as naked saying that Joe character is very close to him and he didn't need to act.

Along with Prince Avalanche (2011), Joe is a step back in the right direction for director David Gordon Green as it shambles amiably along with a pair of artfully low-key performances from Nicolas Cage and Tye Sheridan. It's an intimate two-hander with lots of dialogue, drama and poignant revelations, set against a backdrop of rugged woodland beauty. With beautiful and interesting cinematography, the film manages to put you out in the middle of nowhere with Alvin and Lance and their dysfunctional relationship. It feels as though Gordon Green was never entirely sure what type of film he wanted to make, and so it remains something of an enigma; interesting and engaging, if never quite fulfilling. The film has the pristine integrity of a movie that knows exactly what it wants to be - and doesn't worry whether many or any will be eager to jump aboard. There's some terrific stuff going on here, its minimalist bent and gorgeous photography combining to form a quietly immense drama that should age very well. An eminently amicable piece of work. One of the most intriguing and thoughtful American films of the year.

Simon says Joe Receives:

Also, see my review for Price Avalanche.

NZIFF Film Review: "The Double" (2014).

For my first entry for the NZIFF, I have watched the dark and quirky modernization of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's The Double. “’There aren't too many like you. Are there Simon?’ ‘I'd like to think I'm pretty unique.’” Which is not exactly what you’d expect from this British black comedy film written and directed by Richard Ayoade and it is based on the novella The Double by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. It is about a clerk in a government agency who is driven nearly to breakdown after finding out his unenviable life has been usurped and took a turn for the horrific with the arrival by his doppelgänger - a exact physical double and his opposite - confident, charismatic and seductive with women.

The Double (Двойник, Dvoynik) is a novella written by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. It was first published on January 30, 1846 in the Fatherland Notes. It was subsequently revised and republished by Dostoevsky in 1866. Looking at the novel backwards, it can be viewed as Dostoevsky's innovation on Gogol. Looking at it forwards, it can be often read as a psychosocial version of his later ethical-psychological works. These two readings, together, position the novella at a critical juncture in Dostoevsky's writing at which he was still synthesizing what preceded him but also adding in elements of his own. One such element was that Dostoevsky switched the focus from Gogol's social perspective in which the main characters are viewed and interpreted socially to a psychological context that gives the characters more emotional depth and internal motivation. When interpreting the work itself, one can notice there are three major thematic ideas. First, is that Golyadkin simply goes insane, probably with schizophrenia. This view is supported by much of the text, particularly Golyadkin's innumerable hallucinations. Second, is that of Golyadkin's search for identity. One critic wrote that the novella's main idea is that "'the human will in its search for total freedom of expression becomes a self-destructive impulse.’" This individualistic focus is often contextualized by scholars who emphasize that Golyadkin's identity is crushed by the bureaucracy and stifling society he lives in. Joseph Frank, for instance, claimed that Golyadkin's personality was destroyed by the crushing society he lives in.

The film stars Jesse Eisenberg, Mia Wasikowska, Wallace Shawn, Noah Taylor and James Fox. The performances in this film were superbly performed, combining both humor and drama beautifully. Credits go off to the two main stars, especially to Jesse Eisenberg. In his best work since The Social Network (2010), Eisenberg portrays the polarized personalities of Simon and James with such ease. The story basically rests on his shoulders as we follow him on his descent into madness. In between the fast-paced dialogue and front-lit shots there is also a very complex story that leaves the ending open to interpretation.

Thanks to a strong performance from Jessie Eisenberg and smart, quirky direction from Richard Ayoade, The Double hits the mark as a smart, quirky and uncommonly brilliant adaption of Dostoyevsky's classic. And just as the great Vladimar Nabokov said of the novella, I too will simply call it "a work of art."

Simon says The Double receives:

Also, see my NZIFF review for To the Wonder.

Film Review: "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" (2014).

"War has... already begun. Ape started war. And human... Human will not forgive. You must go... before fighting begins." Which is what is going down in this second installment in the Planet of the Apes reboot franchise, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Directed by Matt Reeves. It is the eighth film in the franchise, and is the sequel to the 2011 film Rise of the Planet of the Apes. The film follows a growing nation of genetically evolved apes led by Caesar when they are threatened by a band of human survivors of the devastating virus unleashed a decade earlier. They reach a fragile peace, but it proves short-lived, as both sides are brought to the brink of a war that will determine who will emerge as Earth's dominant species.

After the release of Rise of the Planet of the Apes, director Rupert Wyatt commented on possible sequels: "I think we're ending with certain questions, which is quite exciting. To me, I can think of all sorts of sequels to this film, but this is just the beginning." Screenwriter and producer Rick Jaffa also stated that Rise featured several clues as to future sequels: "I hope that we're building a platform for future films. We're trying to plant a lot of the seeds for a lot of the things you are talking about in terms of the different apes and so forth." In an interview recorded after the release of Rise, Wyatt stated, "We want to grow and evolve, in the films that will [hopefully] come after this, to the '68 original." Wyatt also stated that he wants it to take place eight years after Rise, as a whole new ape generation can be born, and explore the dynamics of Caesar and Koba's relationship. According to screenwriter Rick Jaffa, a version of the spaceship from the 1968 Planet of the Apes under the name Icarus was in Rise as a deliberate hint to a possible sequel. In November 2011, Andy Serkis was the first to be announced as having closed a deal for a sequel to Rise. On May 15, 2012, it was announced Scott Z. Burns had been hired to do rewrites on the original screenplay by Rise writers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver. On May 31, 2012, 20th Century Fox announced that the sequel, now titled Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, was scheduled for release on May 23, 2014. On September 17, 2012, there were reports that director Wyatt was considering leaving the sequel due to his concern that a May 2014 release date would not give him enough time to make the film properly. On October 1, Cloverfield (2008) director Matt Reeves was confirmed as his replacement. In December 2012, after the departure of director Wyatt, James Franco speculated he will not be returning for the sequel, saying, "Now Rupert's not a part of it so I don't know. My guess is I won't be in it. Nobody's talked to me since Rupert left." In February 2013, actors Gary Oldman, Jason Clarke, and Kodi Smit-McPhee were cast in lead roles and the sequel set 15 years after the events from the first film. In March 2013, actress Keri Russell was cast in a role. That same month, Judy Greer was cast as Cornelia, a female chimp and love interest for Caesar. Toby Kebbell, Enrique Murciano and Kirk Acevedo joined the cast during filming. On May 15, 2013, Jocko Sims was cast in a supporting role of military operative Werner. Filming began in April 2013 around the town of Campbell River, British Columbia. Filming continued in New Orleans lasting from May 2013 to July 2013. 

The film stars Andy Serkis, Gary Oldman, Jason Clarke, and Keri Russell. The performances in this film were all superbly portrayed. Everybody brought their A game to this film. Which in itself is not an easy task. But the true credits goes to those extraordinary performers portraying the simian characters. Especially to Andy Serkis. His performance was electrifying. Reminiscent to Al Pacino’s performance in The Godfather trilogy. Like his character, he has matured into becoming the leading figure of both on-screen and off-screen. As Matt Reeves said at the 2013 Comic-Con, "In the original films, you wanted to be an ape. In "Rise", you were an ape. You saw through the eyes of Caesar." And that is what Serkis has done. He throws himself completely in this role. We as the audience are able to understand the emotions and the character of Caesar even though he is not a human character. And he was mesmerizing in every scene. That, to me, is a performance that is Oscar-worthy!

Dark, complex and unforgettable, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes succeeds not just as an entertaining science fiction film, but as a richly thrilling cinematic saga. It is a haunting film that leaps beyond its origins and becomes an engrossing tragedy. Like what The Dark Knight (2008) did for the comic-book genre, it redefines the possibilities of the science fiction genre. The film goes much deeper than its predecessor, with a deft script that refuses to scrutinize its hero with popular psychology, instead pulling the viewer in with an examination of Caesar's psyche. The filmmakers move the film away from science fiction cinema and closer to being a genuine work of art, with Reeve's sophisticated direction and the gritty reality of Michael Seresin’s cinematography helping to create a universe that has something raw and elemental within this franchise. Pitched at the divide between art and industry, poetry and entertainment, it goes darker and deeper than any Hollywood movie of its genre kind. Reeves has delivered the most accomplished, mature and the most technically impressive work to his career. The film is nothing short of brilliant. In the annals of sequels, the film is what The Empire Strikes Back (1980) was to Star Wars (1977) - it's that much better. To conclude, the film is a haunting and visionary piece of cinema. The film displays evident patience and intelligence to the filmmaking all over, as well as an engagement with genuine ideas about diplomacy, deterrence, law and leadership. It is not just a good genre movie or a good summer movie. It's a great movie, full-stop, and one of the year's very best movies so far.

Simon says Dawn of the Planet of the Apes receives:

Also, see my review for Rise of the Planet of the Apes.