Modus Anomali (2012)

Directed by: Joko Anwar
Country: Indonesia

Review: “Modus Anomali” is a perfect example of a great idea wasted by its execution. It tried to disorient and induce paranoia with its claustrophobic scenes and almost experimental approach, but revealed a sort of amateurism both in direction and acting. The story begins with a man asking for help after having escaped from being buried alive in a secluded forest. He seemed to be searching for his own identity and family, but after a while we get to know that the reality was very different from what appeared to be. Despite the surprising conclusion evidenced by the plot, the struggle to find some comprehensive guideline among the incoherent signs and situations, led me to exasperation. The visual aspect didn't help, when unattractive dark plans were used to show the overnight manhunt, creating an almost imperceptible environment that couldn't be less scary. The film plays more with disturbing sounds, attempting to pass a sensation of being lost in the immensity of a forest. Once in a while, these sounds are interrupted by screams and questions thrown in the air in order to increase thrill. Imaginative Joko Anwar didn’t reveal enough skills as director as showed as a writer. Hardly frightful and impaired by Rio Dewanto's awful performance, “Modus Anomali” proved to be obtuse in many ways.

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Violeta Went To Heaven (2011)

Directed by: Andrés Wood
Country: Chile / Argentina / Brazil

Review: “Violeta Went to Heaven” is a penetrating biopic about Chilean songwriter, folklorist, and visual artist, Violeta Parra. Some events and important songs may have been left off, but the film gives a solid idea of Violeta’s work, personality, beliefs, and struggles. The cadence is captivating and the structure goes back and forth in time, focusing her unhappy childhood, the first steps on music and the interest in old songs from her culture, the successful years of recognition and acceptance, the passionate and unstable relationship with the Swiss musician Gilbert Favre, and finally her decline years when her artistic tent (also used for political activism) became increasingly without audience. Violeta ended up poor and lonely, but always faithful to her beliefs. The story was reconstructed in an intelligible way, showing the impulsive personality, resolute temper, and creative genius of this iconic woman, who always preferred the poor to rich, and the sincerity to cynicism. The plaintive yet powerful songs had a big influence in the way I felt the movie, especially “El Gavilan”, which motivated uncommon sensations along the poignant final moments. Some softening was detected somewhere in the middle, but this film deserves to be seen for what it represents and for Francisca Gavilán’s incredible performance.

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The Grandmaster (2013)

Directed by: Wong Kar-Wai
Country: China / Hong Kong / France

Review: Cult filmmaker Wong Kar-Wai is back, bringing with him Tony Leung and Ziyi Zhang as stars. We cannot find many movies with the elegance and passion of “In The Mood For Love”, but “The Grandmaster” brings to our mind some of its best moments, adopting the same poetic approach to depict another impossible love. The novelty here is the addition of some action through martial arts, since the story was inspired in Yip Man’s life, the kung-fu master who would come to teach the legendary Bruce Lee. The film covers three different periods: 1930’s Foshan in China where he was recognized as a master, the difficult life in Hong Kong after the Japanese invasion, and finally from 1952 till his death in 1972. We also get to know the sad fate of Gong Er, a master's daughter who became secretly in love with Yip Man after a challenging fight. Kar-Wai’s camera work remains very strong where the richness of the plans and aesthetical care were crucial to catch our eye. To tell the truth, the visual aspect was much stronger than the story itself, which despite being interesting didn’t reveal the mystique of previous adventures. “The Grandmaster”, not being a masterpiece, is a sumptuous accomplishment that puts together a dissimulated love, revenge, sacrifice, and martial arts in the form of floating dances (preferably in the rain).

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Dreams For Sale (2012)

Directed by: Miwa Nishikawa
Country: Japan

Review: “Dreams For Sale” is nothing more than a dark tale about money and greediness. The story follows a strange couple, Kanya and Satoko, who lost their successful restaurant in a fire, deciding to work in a solution to extort money for a new one. The plan emerged by chance when Kanya brought home a large amount of money after a one-night stand with a drunken woman he met in the subway. After making her husband confess what had happened, Satoko got to know that the woman who has given the money was vulnerable and deprived of her true love. Since then, they decided that Kanya will seduce and scam women who got lonely, desperate for love, or even sick. As the scams were happening, we were able to gather more information about the personality of these two crooks. Kanya revealed to have a heart, often feeling badly and regretting his behavior, but was never able to stop. Satoko, in the other hand, showed her cruelty, tenacity, and indifference regarding the victims. The tale itself intends to show something meaningful and the character studies are well conceived, but the film has its faults. It was extremely long; I wouldn’t be exaggerating if said that at least 30 minutes should be cut off. Other negative aspect was the silly side presented in some moments, leaving us between the gravity of the emotions and a sort of misplaced comedy.

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The Hunt (2012)

Directed by: Thomas Vinterberg
Country: Denmark

Review: After the immediate success of “The Celebration” in 98, Thomas Vinterberg has been lost in mediocre plots. Finally, with the gripping “The Hunt”, he shows once again what he is capable of. The story, written by Vinterberg and Tobias Lindholm (“R”, “A Hijacking”), depicts two hellish months in the life of Lucas, a divorced daycare worker who is struggling for his son’s custody. The troubles start when a little girl, who also happens to be the daughter of his best friend, tells the daycare director that Lucas showed his penis. When the director called him, he seems not to give much importance to the case or even try to defend himself. This scene intentionally aims to bewilder us. In a blink of an eye, Lucas loses his job, is abandoned by his new girlfriend, becomes threatened in many ways, and ends desperately alone. The film is filled with tension and is done in such way that the doubt persists till the end. It was incredible how many times I convinced myself that Lucas was innocent, but then some behavior or conversation made me go back again in my opinion. Mads Mikkelsen and the young Annika Wedderkop had first-rate performances, while the direction was very effective and determined. The heaviness of the matter was handled thoughtfully, provoking a variety of intense emotions, and making “The Hunt” one of the most gratifying experiences of 2013 so far.

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Starbuck (2011)

Directed by: Ken Scott
Country: Canada

Review: With “Starbuck”, parenthood never got so drastic repercussions on the screen. David Wozniak (Patrick Huard) is a common meat delivery guy who works for his family company. Being constantly threatened by a pair of thugs from whom he received a loan, David really struggles to straighten up his life, especially after hear from his girlfriend that she was pregnant. But the real shocking news came when he received a letter saying that he was the father of 533 children, 142 of whom wanted to know who their biological father was. This was a consequence of several years donating sperm. “Starbuck” was the second feature film directed by Canadian Ken Scott, who is already working on another similar project entitled “The Delivery Man”. It was considered the most popular Canadian film at Vancouver Film Festival, revealing to be more touching than funny, and more carefree than serious. The plot took advantage of David’s “special” children (those who presented evident abilities, features, or handicaps) to create gentle and bizarre moments, which not always had the best outcome. Providing a sufficient portion of entertainment, “Starbuck” is easy watching, even if not totally satisfying with its episodic sentimental manipulations and a romantic side that turned out to be flat.

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The Sapphires (2012)

Directed by: Wayne Blair
Country: Australia

Review: “The Sapphires” brings to the screen the rhythm of soul music in times of war, just as “Good Morning Vietnam” did a few years ago, although without the breathtaking effect. It also addresses racial problems in 1960’s Australia, where the aboriginals were practically ignored by the ruling white people. The story follows four talented aboriginal girls who were selected to sing in Vietnam for US soldiers. Once there, they will find a Saigon very receptive to their show, but not everything will run as planned. The internal conflicts will appear and the threats of war will cause damages. However, these two aspects revealed to be secondary compared with the discovery of love. Chris O’Dowd had an agreeable performance as goodhearted drunk manager, and certainly he wasn’t the reason why this film didn’t excel. The main reason was the overexploitation of the same romances and sentimental maneuvers, seen so many times before, to tell a story that never gave rise to great excitement. Admirers of catchy musicals may feel the rhythm beating in their hearts, while the aficionados of mild dramas shall be satisfied with the plot's denouement. But in my eyes, if the musical side was successful, the drama fell in banality through its second-hand approach and often misrepresentation of reality.

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The Third Half (2012)

Directed by: Darko Mitrevski
Country: Macedonia / others

Review: “The Third Half” combines soccer, romance and war in the same package. Having been inspired on true events, it follows a similar approach used by the Serbian “Montevideo, God Bless You” from 2010, and suffers from the same commercial appeal and standardized narrative. Even trying to avoid an evident sentimentalism, the background music is there to remind us its good dramatic intentions. The plot presents three distinct sides. The romantic side is centered on the persistent love between Kosta, the striker of FC Macedonia, and Rebecca Cohen, the daughter of a rich Jewish banker. The sportive side is completely sunk in misrepresentation of the real facts; contradicting the movie, FC Macedonia didn’t win the final game against Bulgarian team Levski and was placed in second. The war side dealt with the German occupancy and should have represented the strongest aspect in the story; it gave particular emphasis on Spitz, the coach of the team, who didn’t escape to Nazis in the circumstances described here and wasn't German but rather Hungarian. In my point of view the plot didn’t gained anything by manipulating the real story, which just served to increase speculation. Considering the adopted approach, and polemics aside, “The Third Half” as cinematic experience just revealed a huge ambition and the inability to stir emotions or create much enthusiasm.

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In The House (2012)

Directed by: François Ozon
Country: France

Review: With “In The House”, François Ozon still couldn’t get close to the excellence revealed in “Under The Sand” or “Swimming Pool”, yet this was his most refreshing work lately; a creative story about voyeurism, obsession, and manipulation, which also manipulates the viewer somehow. The story follows Germain, a High School teacher who is increasingly disappointed with his students. However, 16 year-old Claude will stir his curiosity with an essay about a classmate named Rapha Artole and his mother Esther. Since that moment, Germain encouraged him to continue writing, gaining an eagerness to know more about the family in question and even giving suggestions to reconstruct the story in a more appealing way. For that, Claude would have to continue going to Artole’s home and be creative. The true challenge here was to know if his detailed descriptions were real or imagination. Germain’s wife was also an interesting character. While helping to decipher Claude’s personality, she became suspicious about her husband’s involvement with him. A few turn of events were a bit strained for my taste, however the film showed a beneficial funny side, having the ability to provoke us with its inventiveness and bitter end. It can't compete with "Rear Window" or "Peeping Tom", but it may rouse some voyeuristic instincts.

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