CULTURE
FILM REVIEW
FILM REVIEW
UP&COMING
Danny Boyle
words | Jonathon Holloway
DIRECTOR OF THE MONTH
Danny Boyle can undoubtedly be described as a travelling film maker. His films have taken us from the drugs dens of Scotland to the Slums of Mumbai, from the deserted streets of London to the canyons of Utah, even stopping for a trip to the sun along the way. Born and raised in Lancashire, from an early age Boyle had a taste for the dramatic and forged his early career directing theatre productions for the Royal Court Theatre and even several productions for the Royal Shakespeare Company. He honed his screen craft working for BBC Northern Ireland where he worked on television programmes such as Inspector Morse. His breakthrough onto the silver screen came with his film directorial debut “Shallow Grave” in 1994, which became the most successful British film of that year. His big break into the mainstream came with his follow-up film, “Trainspotting”, now a cultural icon of British cinema. Boyle’s stylised film making techniques soon grabbed the attention of audiences and critics and his following films gained steady critical praise and commercial success. This climaxed in 2008 when Boyle released “Slumdog Millionaire”, which won 8 Academy Awards including Best Director for himself and grossed over $300 million worldwide. Boyle can also be noted with his focus on the characters in his films, many suiting the bill of a “Character Study”. This meaning that the film focuses on a character in an uncontrollable world, discover the character’s own emotions and motives, rather than focusing on the events happening around the character. This technique allowed Boyle to satisfy his adventurous taste and set his films in all manner of locations. Allowing him to uncover the true nature of the character in any location, from the zombie infested streets of London in “28 Days Later”, to Aron Ralston’s tale of survival in the canyons of Utah, turning even the mundane into the exotic.
VINTAGE
À Bout De Soufflé
PG 1960 Starring:Jean-Paul Belmondo & Jean Seberg The directorial debut of film critic Jean-Luc Godard, À Bout De Soufflé is his first in a line of films which helped found the film movement of “La Nouvelle Vogue” with other fellow French film makers during the 1960s. Petty criminal Michel (Belmondo) kills a policeman after stealing a car and hides out with his American girlfriend Patricia (Seberg) in Paris, triying to convince her to run away with him to Italy. Godard was fascinated by Hollywood and as such the film is rife with references to Classical Hollywood, and in particular the work of Humphrey Bogart and that of American Noir. The structure can be disjointed at times but it remains as a classic of French cinema.
28
Argo
15 Dir. Ben Affleck Starring: Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston & Alan Arkin. Ten years ago you wouldn’t be mistaken to say that Ben Affleck’s career had gone down the toilet, however in recent years his career has once again sky-rocketed. After achieving critical and commercial acclaim with ‘Gone Baby Gone’ in 2006 and the magnificent ‘The Town’ in 2009, Affleck returns to his third directorial feature with ‘Argo’. During the Iranian Revolution of 1979, CIA agent Tony Mendez (Affleck) has to rescue six American embassy staff who escaped from violent revolutionaries. Mendez comes up with a plan to fake the production of a movie called “Argo” in Iran so they can mount the rescue.
The Twilight Saga Breaking Dawn part 2 12A Dir. Bill Condon Starring: Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart & Taylor Lautner.
The fifth and final instalment of the hit vampire series which has so far made over $2.5 billion worldwide is sure to have legions of teenage girls (and some boys) screaming. Based upon ‘Breaking Dawn’, the final book written by author Stephanie Meyer, this last and conclusive instalment sees Bella (Stewart) enjoying her new life as a vampire with Edward’s (Pattinson) vampire clan after the birth of their vampire son. That is until an all powerful clan of vampires decide to take action and launch an attack on Bella and her new family.
End of Watch
Here Comes The Boom
Taking its name from a term used by American police officers used to describe someone who has been killed in the line of duty, the film follows recently celebrated L.A.P.D cops Brian Taylor (Gyllenhaal) and Mike Zavala (Pena) who are marked for death by a drug cartel after they seize and confiscate a small cache of arms and money. Even though the film was made on a minuscule budget it has taken big bucks in America and been popular with audiences and critics alike.
The latest comedy featuring American star Kevin James, features James playing Scott Voss, a bored high school teacher turned UFC fighter. When Voss discovers his school is in financial trouble, threatening his colleagues' jobs and his students' futures, he turns to the world of Mixed Martial Arts after tutoring one of his failing students. With the hope of being paid to lose, Voss tries to raise enough money to save his school.
15 Dir. David Ayer Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal & Michael Pena.
12A Dir. Frank Coraci Starring: Kevin James & Salma Hayek.
Hero
Spirited Away
Set in the Warring States Period of ancient China, a “Nameless” local policeman (Li) visits the King of Qin, claiming he has killed three wanted assassins, Sky (Yen), Flying Snow (Cheung) and Broken Sword (Leung). The film is structured in a flashback as Nameless recalls his story of how he killed the assassins. The fight scenes are wonderfully choreographed with the acrobatic and artful stylisation characteristic of Chinese cinema. This combined with the stunning camera work make this a visually epic and stunning looking film. The beauty of the film, as well as the enthralling plot full of twists and turns leaves little surprise that at the time of release this was the most expensive and highest grossing in Chinese film history.
Hayao Miyazaki’s Oscar winning anime film is one of the most successful Japanese, let alone animation, films of all time. Shy young girl Chihiro (Hiiragi) is moving and becomes trapped in an alternate world filled with spirits and monsters when her parents are changed into pigs by a mysterious witch (Natsuki). Chihiro strives to save her parents while also freeing the spirit world from the tyrannical witch. The animation is detailed yet charming, the distinctive Japanese anime style lending a great sense of character to the films spirit world. It is fantastical and sometimes strange, featuring magic, monsters and ghosts, the story and characters are grounded in humanity which makes the film moving and wonderful to watch.
12A 2002 Starring: Jet Li, Tony Leung, Maggie Cheung & Donnie Yen
PG 2001 Starring: Rumi Hiiragi, Miyu Irino & Mari Natsuki
GUERNSEY’S STYLE MAGAZINE