Shaw Brothers Marathon: The Water Margin

The Water Margin (1972, Chang Che)

The topic of scale has not been broached in the Shaw Brothers marathon thus far. Admittedly, with the exception of Come Drink With Me, most of the films analyzed have been characterized by comparatively smaller scales than what one might be encouraged to anticipate from martial arts action adventures. Sets that clearly look like sets and not necessarily large ones at that, costumes that clearly look like dresses which only exist in the world of the movie, medium sized casts, etc. None of these elements are slights against the pictures discussed, only that the indication up until this point has been that Shaw Brothers rarely, if ever, ventured into making truly epic films. Chang Che, evidently enough one of the most prolific directors in the studios famed history, made strides to up ante by a considerable degree with his 1972 film The Water Margin, a film that tries to be epic on almost every platform imaginable including the actors’ credits if one can believe it.

Thoughts on the summer of 2011 and the FFM

The second of two summertime film festivals in Montréal, The World Film Festival, ended last week, and, with Labour Day weekend now over, it is safe to finally close the book on the summer of 2011.

FFM Montréal 2011 : Rue Huvelin

Rue Huvelin (2011, Mounir Maasri)

The release of Mounir Maasri’s Rue Huvelin feels timely considering the recent socio-political uprisings which have led to dramatic regime changes in parts of the Arab world since the start of 2011. Tunisia, Egypt and, about two weeks ago as of the writing of this review, Lybia have all undergone significant change due mainly to the populations’ threshold of tolerance towards their respective dictatorial regimes being smashed. Push came to shove one time too many and it was now the turn of the government’s stranglehold on power to be smashed. Rue Huvelin’s concern may lie with another Arab country, Lebanon, but takes a look at what was happening in the early 1990s. What makes the Lebanon example of civil unrest is the source of the oppression for unlike in the three other countries mentioned above, Lebanon’s problem stems from outside its borders, namely, Syria. With Rue Huvelin, director Maasri elects to show audiences what tensions existed (and still exist today) within Lebanon from the point of view of the vocal university students in the capital Beirut.

Definitive Bond Marathon: Moonraker (1979)

Following the United States’s successful mission to the moon in 1969, space technology developed at a lighting quick pace, with many players very keen on participating. Not all of said contesting parties were state representatives. A multi-billionaire Hugo Drax (Michael Lonsdale), of Drax Industries, was one of the more significant shuttle construction companies at the time, and when one of his top vessels was stolen while on loan to the Americans, MI6 sent 007 (Roger Moore) to investigate the matter.

It was at Drax Industries that 007 met a certain Dr. Holly Goodhead (Lois Chiles), a top scientist and top astronaut working for the corporation. Bond hopped around the world on the trail for increasingly revealing clues as to who stole the space shuttle and why. From California, to Venice, to Brazil and finally...to outer space itself. Two revelations were made as Bond zig-zagged to and fro, the first being that Dr. Goodhead was, in actuality, a CIA operative posing as a scientist with strict orders to investigate any wrong doings at Drax Industries. The second discovery was that Hugo Drax himself was the perpetrator behind the theft (of his own space craft). All his efforts to aid the American space program were but a ruse. His personal vendetta against humanity, as one might say, led him to gather fatally poisonous toxins from plants that would eradicate human life on our planet, the toxins being launched from outer space where he and his selected population of the world’s finest men and women would create a new civilization from within a secretive space station.

FFM Montréal 2011: Sengadal

Sengadal/The Dead Sea (2011, Leema Manimekalai)

With Sengadal, Leema Manimekalai pulls off quite the triple play. For one, she arrives with her feature length debut. Second, she succeeds at filling the dual role of director and actress in the picture. Third, and arguably the most interesting coup, is that she succeeds in creating a near-perfect blend of fiction and fact. While the plot per say is an invention and the people on screen were indeed under Manimekalai’s direction, Sengadal is not only inspired by the real struggles of Sri Lankan fisherman fleeing prosecution in their home country and migrating to India, but most of the actors seen are actual people living in these incredible conditions.

FFM Montréal 2011: Vucut

Vücut/Body (2011, Mustafa Nuri)

What your body means to you and what it means to those around you may be entirely different ideas. Each party will influence one another to a degree, but whose influence shall carry over more, yours, or that of the public? Beware if the pressure of the latter group gains the upper hand, for suddenly your life may be lived not under the conditions you want, but under societal pressures. But where exactly are the boundaries of this pressure and how can one overcome it? It is even possible? The more important question remains: do you respect yourself enough just the way you are? Turkish director Mustafa Nuri unabashedly dives into the delicate, sensitive issue of self image in some provocative ways for his directorial debut, Vucut, which played at the FFM in Montréal.

Definitive Bond Marathon: The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

(Directed by Lewis Gilbert)

Even during a period of détente between the British and Russians, evil lurked in the shadows and posed a threat to the entire world. Following the at first unexplained disappearance of British and Soviet war submarines, 007 (Roger Moore) was called upon to search for a highly sophisticated submarine tracking mechanism, whose plans, stored on microfilm, were apparently located in Egypt. It was there that he made the acquaintance of a Russian secret just as cunning and capable as himself, Anya Amasova (Barbara Bach), aka agent XXX, who was also hot on the trail for the tracking system plans. There time in Egypt was almost cut short when whereupon discovering one of the oddest yet most powerful assassins ever, a behemoth named Jaws (Richard Kiel) equipped with steel teeth. 

Bond and Amasova opted to form a truce for the sake of both their countries, and were aided by additional intelligence which pinpointed to a certain Karl Stromberg (Curd Jürgens), sea life scientist and mastermind behind the impressive Atlantis underwater facility where he performed research, or so he claimed. It was almost too late when 007 and agent XXX became privy to the true nature of Stromberg’s intentions, which involved launching nuclear missiles from his base of operations onto the cities of Moscow and New York, thus propelling those nations into nuclear war and endangering the entire world. Man, the most destructive animal ever to walk the planet, would be dead, with Stromberg living in peace in the aftermath with a newly created civilization. 

Blogging Around

Hello readers,

It's that time of year again! Yup, the weekend I loath the most in the entire year: the final one of August. Can summer not stick around just a little longer? I guess not...

It isn't all bad, mind you. The autumn movie season is fast approaching and will truly be in full swing in just a couple weeks (I say a couple because that lineup for next weekend, Sept 2nd,  looks horrendous) and there are some brilliant festivals occurring over the next few months to keep things pretty hot, and there ain't much hotter than Between the Seats right now!

But today is not about us. Nay, it occurred to us yesterday the previous Blogging Around column dates back quite a while, so it's high time were some paid some dues and respect to fellow film bloggers for their hard work. None of us get paid, but we love it anyways, and, more importantly,  Between the Seats loves you:

FFM Montréal 2011: Brutal Box

Brutal Box (2011, Oscar Rojo)

You can find just about anything on the world-wide internet these days. The eventual and logical result  of this direct access to this near limitless amount information  is that business can be done just as easily on via the web as it ever could traditionally when people had to actually plan meetings and physically relocate themselves to close deals. The savvier money makers know full well that a buck can be made off just any number of perceptively useful and useless products, and while some products are in fact useless, others which can produce impressive profits are quite disturbing. Brutal Box offers viewers a glimpse into the commerce side of the internet’s darker alleyways, like videos of people going on hunger strikes or hoodlums prancing around city streets and picking unsuspecting victims to rob and beat up. It is commerce derived from one of our most embarrassing traits: out fascination with morbidity.

FFM Montréal 2011: Figli delle Stella

Figli delle Stelle/Unlikely Revolutionaries (2010, Lucio Pelligrini)

Given the political climate in Italy right, what with the Berlusconi government constantly receiving the brunt of criticism for its rampant corruption with non-other than Berlusconi himself at the center of attention for all the wrong reasons, the fact that a director would choose to create a film about a gang of local newbie criminals who kidnap a an Italian politician and hold in for ransom may come as a surprise. Politics is an especially ferocious, passionate and controversial sport in Italy, making the choice to film Figli delle Stelle may be seen as a bold one. However, there are a number of significant aspects to the film that can help sway any negative opinion, namely that is sold as a comedy, therefore proposing a more light-hearted view on the political existing political tension. Then again, some will surely decry that politics and kidnapping are no laughing matter, so who knows.