2013 has brought with it a lot of things, both good and bad. But in this particular post I’ll be focusing on the film-related highlights that I’ve experienced over the past twelve months, from a mini adventure in London that included my first ever podcast appearance to a wine-soaked preview screening of Gravity at the newly converted IMAX cinema in Glasgow. I’ve interviewed idols, attended film festivals, and even walked a red carpet. Continue reading “2013 In Film: A Summary”
Pedro Almodóvar, one of Spain’s most internationally acclaimed directors (he’s won two Academy Awards to date), returns to familiar territory with I’m So Excited, his first out-and-out comedy since Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown was released some twenty three years ago. Gone are the somewhat sombre explorations of dark, labyrinthine subjects found within his recent crop of Continue reading “Review: I’m So Excited (2013)”
I was first introduced to Spanish actor turned director Gael García Bernal through Bad Education. I had already watched – and subsequently fell in love with – All About My Mother and was inspired to watch Pedro Almodóvar’s other films by my then film teacher Claire Doyle, the first of which ended up being Bad Education. And, as if by magic, my love for Gael was born. He had the talent, the look (boyish charm mixed with rugged handsomeness) and the, erm, body. And, for what it’s worth (quite a lot, ashamedly) he looks amazing in drag. Continue reading “The Delirious Beauty Of Gael García Bernal”
Writer, producer and director Pedro Almodóvar is arguably the most well-known and well-regarded Spanish filmmaker in the country’s colourful history. With eighteen feature films under his belt, and another currently in post-production, Almodovar has gone from strength to strength in his 30-odd year career, creating films that not only entertain, but also educate and captivate. Continue reading “Six Of The Best: Pedro Almodóvar”
In a move that will make many happy, myself included, Penélope Cruz has signed on to star in Pedro Almodóvar’s next film The Brief Lovers, Deadline has reported. This will mark the first time the duo have worked together since Broken Embraces, which was released three year’s ago.
Cruz will star opposite Cecilia Roth, Lola Dueñas, Raúl Arévalo, José María Yazpik and Javier Cámara in what is being described as a “very fresh and brazen Continue reading “Penélope Cruz Reunites With Pedro Almodóvar For The Brief Lovers”
Cecilia Roth, Lola Dueñas, Raúl Arévalo, José María Yazpik and Javier Cámara are set to star in The Brief Lovers, an all-out comedy from Spanish filmmaker extraordinaire Pedro Almodóvar.
Roth, Dueñas and Cámara have all worked with Almodóvar before on previous projects (All About My Mother, Volver and Talk To Her, respectively), while Arévalo and Yazpik are newcomers to the writer and directors trademark Continue reading “Pedro Almodóvar Assembles Excellent Cast For The Brief Lovers”
In the middle of last year, I – a budding cinephile – made the decision to become a film writer. A month or two after this rather out-of-the-blue decision, I successfully applied to write for (according to up-to-date Wikio stats) the UK’s top film website HeyUGuys. Subsequently, I created my own blog, Centrefolds & Empty Screens: a sanctum for me to convey my love of cinema through reviews and other, more personal posts. However, it wasn’t until this year that I grew more confident in myself (though that’s not saying much as I still often doubt my abilities) and started to gain recognition from Continue reading “2011: A Film Bloggers Retrospective”
Pedro Almodóvar is a world-renowned cinematic master at interlacing a multitude of plot threads and themes into a discernable and absorbing piece of filmmaking with a seemingly blasé attitude. His latest film, The Skin I Live In, personifies that applaudable ability further.
The Skin I Live In is a gloriously twisted and inherently psychological take on Thierry Jonquet’s short story Mygale: an almost Frankensteinian-esque fable centering on one’s ability to harbour wicked control through science. It tells the story of Robert Ledgard (Antonio Banderas, who was always Almodóvar’s first choice), a highly successful plastic surgeon who, after a Continue reading “Review: The Skin I Live In (2011)”
Synopsis: Heartbeats centers on two close friends, Francis (Xavier Dolan) and Marie (Monia Chokri), who find themselves fighting for the affections of the same striking young man (Neils Schneider). The more intimate the trio becomes, the more unattainable the object of their infatuation seems, sending the friends’ obsession into overdrive.
Heartbeats’ narrative may be a simple one, but it’s matched cleverly by the overindulgence in hyper-stylised aesthetic. This achieves Dolan’s overall purpose through the use of tricks and gimmicks – such as slow-motion, an intense pallet and musical motifs – controlling the viewer’s experience and capturing the superficiality of Marie and Francis’ banal obsession with Nicolas.
His self-asserting directing style is a lot like that of Pedro Almodóvar, Gus Van Sant and Wong Kar-wai – idolising both the vivacity of woman as well as the inherent beauty of men, blurring the boundaries of sexuality in the process. He does this with laid-back, lingering cinematography and striking set designs, making use of vivid colours to represent many of the themes explored within the context of the narrative. Some may think of it as style over substance, but the way in which Dolan shapes his characters and their reactions to one another shows that this is simply isn’t the case.
Through his emphatic writing, Dolan fashions a classic ménage à trois tale about the trials and tribulations of love, obsession and jealousy, often exquisitely echoing two fairly recent examples: Alfonso Cuarón’s Y Tu Mamá También and John Cameron Mitchell’s Shortbus. Heartbeats is a simple story about how, due to our exceedingly high expectations, we let ourselves down by making brash, off the cuff decisions that never work out. Dolan’s understanding of such a complex and indefinable subject shows him as a talent with a belief and knowledge of worldly ideals miles beyond his tender age.
Performance wise, the three leads are near flawless. Chokri brings a welcome level of wit and comprehension to Maria, which is beautifully undercut by her obvious flaws, most noteworthy her naivety towards romance. Dolan, as expected, plays Francis as a straight up pretty boy with a severe lack of self-confidence and an inability to read people’s emotions. Schneider, to his merit, keeps Nicolas undeniably enchanting throughout. He may be the foil to Maria and Francis’ life-long friendship, and the object of both their obsessions, but he’s oblivious to the pain and destruction he’s causing. To some degree, this makes up for his deplorable carelessness.
This is all supported by a particularly brilliant and ecclectic soundtrack, featuring songs such as Dalida’s Bang Bang, Fever Ray’s Keep the Streets Empty for Me and The Kills’ Pass This On. Not only do these songs work incredibly well together, but they also add a new level of depth to the film, speaking louder than words themselves at times when dialogue isn’t possible.
Heartbeats is a remarkable, joyous, captivating, intricately stylised and extraordinarily well pieced together piece of cinema from a budding multi-faceted talent.
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Synopsis: Hubert (Xavier Dolan), 16-year-old closeted homosexual, can’t stand his mother, Chantale (Anne Dorval). Everything about her irritates him, from her vulgar behaviour to her bad taste in wardrobe. But when he criticises her, she feigns indifference. One day he announces his decision to leave home, to go to live with his best friend Antonin (François Arnaud). She gives in, but a few days later, when she finds out from Antonin’s mother that the two boys are lovers, she changes her mind. Hubert is furious and runs away. He stays with a teacher who is sympathetic to his dilemma, but Chantale, tired of this ongoing war, turns to the boy’s father to see if he can reason with their son.
I Killed My Mother, actor/director Xavier Dolan’s widely praised directorial debut, is, in simple terms, a portrait of the complex bond between a young man and his deplorable mother. Dolan’s pivotal adulation for cinema is clearly reflected through his filmmaking style, and the way he borrows tricks – slow motion and penetrating camera angles – used by filmmakers he is clearly trying to emulate – Gus Van Sant, Gregg Akari and Pedro Almodóvar are three names that leap to mind. However, instead of blatantly copying these techniques, he adapts and weaves them into his own brand of storytelling, making them very much his own style and reflection of his own creativity.
He uses the camera and frame positioning to beautifully emphasise the separation of mother and son, which, considering he’s also the films central character, is not only an incredible achievement for a first time director, but also a mind-blowing one for someone so young and inexperienced. The camera, which is almost entirely locked into medium shot or extreme close up, never lets the characters out-of-sight, and sublimely captures the angst and emotionally shutdown nature of their lives. In addition, the film is beautifully scored by Nicholas Savard-L’Herbier with sounds that seamlessly compliment the tone and emotional distortion of the exceptionally constructed and procured scenes.
The script, also a product of the multi-talented Dolan, is well-paced, insightful and unexpectedly packed full of dark humour. The dialogue is forthright and unpredictable, which makes it even more believable, as if coming straight from Dolan’s childhood. The relationship between mother and son, though authentic for the most part, is made slightly less so by the constant arguments and shouting matches they share. Thankfully, then, the indisputable tension is broken up by a candid monologue by Hubert, flashbacks to his idyllic childhood and once treasured relationship between mother and son, and a brilliantly conceived and executed illustration of homosexuality. For the most part, it’s a tremendous balance, even if it does start to feel a little too organised and pretentious towards the end.
The performances across the board are top-notch. Both Dolan and Dorval deliver astonishingly lifelike performances as Hubert and Chantale respectively. Dolan conveys the teenage angst terrifically, while Dorval balances Chantale’s clueless yet caring nature to truly wondrous avail, bearing much of her taut emotion in her eyes. Arnaud, Suzanne Clément and Niels Schneider, who fill out the more substantial supporting roles, each deliver equally fraught, imperative turns.
I Killed My Mother is, quite explicitly, a remarkable portrait of the tempestuous relationship between a mother and a son. Not only does Dolan display a strong cinematic eye and technical expertise beyond his tender years, but also the maturity to write a deeply resonant, almost semi-biographical, coming-of-age tale.
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