movies
The Daily Herald Friday, 12.18.2015 5
In ‘Youth’ there's beauty — and the great Michael Caine By Robert Horton Herald Movie Critic
In 2013, the Italian filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino charmed the pants off the world (and copped the foreign-language film Oscar) with his eye-candy opus “The Great Beauty.” The success of that movie gave Sorrentino a shot at an English-language feature. The new one is a very similar film — full of fortune-cookie wisdom, a strong sense of melancholy, and a fair share of Euro-nudity. “Youth” is set mostly at a health resort in Switzerland. Here, a celebrated composer named Fred Ballinger (Michael Caine) is taking his annual break — still mourning the loss of his wife, still determined to stay retired from music. In the amusing opening scene, Ballinger politely but forcefully declines a
knighthood offered by an emissary (Alex Macqueen) from the Queen. He’s over it, and can’t be bothered with any new projects — or, it seems, with any kind of hope for the future. Also at this exclusive spa are Fred’s daughter (Rachel Weisz), who suffers her own trauma while there; a film director (Harvey Keitel) who shares Fred’s late-life sadness; and a serious young actor (Paul Dano, late of “Love & Mercy”) with sympathy for his elders. Sorrentino is only 45, but as in “The Great Beauty,” he displays a strong interest in what it means to grow old. Much of “Youth” is Fred walking around the hills of Switzerland, pondering his past and — by the looks of it — ready to check out of his dull existence. Shy of plot, “Youth” spends its time on
“Youth”★★½
From left, Paul Dano, Harvey Keitel and Michael Caine in "Youth."
observations and curious characters. If you saw “The Great Beauty,” it will come as no surprise that “Youth” is full of gorgeous surfaces and people. Sorrentino is at least as much a designer as director. Seriously, the eyeglasses in this movie
are incredibly cool. I liked Caine’s quiet performance, and he looks great — long white hair, elegant posture. Remember when he was in the “Jaws 4” phase of his career, taking jobs willy-nilly and damaging his reputation? Yeah, that’s all over with.
Listless arthouse treatment mars ‘Danish Girl’ By Robert Horton Herald Movie Critic
There is a longstanding correlation between an actor’s likelihood of winning an Academy Award and the amount of effort visible on screen. That’s why Leonardo DiCaprio is the odds-on favorite this year for “The Revenant” — the poor guy works so hard he looks as though he’s actually breaking bones in the cause. Eddie Redmayne, who won last year for his “Theory of Everything” role as Stephen Hawking, is not taking this challenge lying down. In “The Danish Girl,” Redmayne plays Einar Wegener, a Danish painter who underwent sex reassignment surgery in order to become a woman, the newly christened Lili Elbe. This true story happened in the early years of the 20th century, which makes it prime fodder for the perioddecoration approach of director Tom
Michael Caine is a disenchanted composer spending his annual retreat at a Swiss spa. This new film from “Great Beauty” director Paolo Sorrentino is full of handsome surfaces and fortune-cookie wisdom, but it is a pleasure to watch, and Caine is in great form. With Rachel Weisz, Harvey Keitel. Rating: R, for nudity, subject matter Showing: Guild 45th
Hooper (“The King’s Speech”). The film introduces us to Einar and wife Gerda (Alicia Vikander) at a time when his success as an artist outstrips hers — Gerda can’t get taken seriously by the sexist art establishment. When she asks her husband to fill in for a tardy model in a very feminine pose, we see Einar thrilling to the touch of silk stockings, and it isn’t long before Einar’s dolledup “sister,” Lili, begins appearing in public on Gerda’s arm. The early reels catch some of the uncertainty and riskiness of people figuring out who they are — Gerda as much as Einar/Lili — before an experimental doctor (Sebastian Koch, from “The Lives of Others”) is consulted and the film takes a turn toward the fatally noble. In part “The Danish Girl” grinds down because we spend less time with Gerda, who is at least as
interesting as her tormented spouse. And the eerily composed Vikander — recently seen in “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” and as the android in “Ex Machina” — gives a very modern, thoughtful performance. Redmayne’s sober acting style actually looks a little antique next to hers. The spark she provides grows faint as Hooper slows things down so we can appreciate the injustice to Lili, and the tragedy of being in the wrong body at the wrong time. This enervated approach brings the worst aspects of the prestige arthouse picture to the fore: tasteful design, serious subject, self-congratulating mood. “The Theory of Everything” remembered to make the audience feel good — a manipulative ploy, yes, but at least one with some oomph to it. “The Danish Girl” is content to quietly admire its own importance, and assume you will too.
Keitel struggles with his character, but that’s partly the writing; the subplot involving the film director is the weakest part of the movie. Jane Fonda, by the way, turns up late as an actress considering a part in Keitel’s new project. This is an uneven movie,
but it does offer pleasure: all those handsome surfaces and green hills. If our culture fetishizes youth, this movie at least comes down on the side of experience and age, even as it chronicles the pains of growing old.
“The Danish Girl” ★★ Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne plays an early 20th-century painter who became an early example of a transgender personality. The true story is given an enervated arthouse treatment by “King’s Speech” director Tom Hooper, and the film dries up despite the hard work of Redmayne and Alicia Vikander. Rating: R, for nudity, subject matter Showing: SIFF Cinema Egyptian
Check our website for times. www.theedmondstheater.com
December 18-24
STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS
(PG-13) Fri: 12:00, 3:00, 6:00, 9:00 Sat: 3:00, 6:00, 9:00 Sun: 12:00 (w/captions), 3:00, 6:00 Mon: 12:00 & 7:00 Tue: 4:00 & 7:00 Wed: 1:00, 4:00, 7:00 Thu: 1:00
1367316
The Edmonds Theater • 415 Main St. Edmonds (425) 672-9366 • www.theedmondstheater.com