themiddletwenty Reviews

Morvern Callar (2002)

Ultimately flawed, but with some good ideas

[5/10 · 18 November 2002]

For me, the most notable thing about this film was the scarcity of dialogue. It is a brave move on the director's part for sure, but for a film that tells a story of personal awakening (of sorts), the infrequent speech means we can never be sure of what Morvern is thinking or feeling. We don't get much help from the camera either - the film is exquisitely shot, but many of the scenes have a confrontational, tense and opaque sense of aesthetics - there is not enough variation in feel to tell the story of someone who changes their life completely.

My reading of Morvern Callar (as a film and a character) is of a woman who escapes from a humdrum, ugly life. Through personal awakening, art and good fortune, she comes to embrace a more bohemian and expansive existence. In short, she learns to live.

It's a big story and a big theme - yet we never really understand how and why Morvern comes to change her entire outlook on life. Neither do we hear enough from her to mitigate the more unpleasant sides of her character - her frequent (and occasionally sociopathic) lack of emotional response, her selfish excess, her deliberate mistreating of her friend. I suspect she is supposed to be a hero of sorts, but she could equally be an anti-hero or even something in between. We just never find out enough about her - in her words, anyone else's words or the director's shooting of her.

I'm glad that the film has made me consider questions like this, and as an intellectual exercise it's therefore quite enjoyable. As entertainment, as statement or as spectacle however, it's quite badly flawed.

All or Nothing (2002)

A Cheap Holiday In Other People's Misery

[3/10 · 21 October 2002]

I really like some of Mike Leigh's films - 'Nuts In May' and 'Abigail's Party' are classics. Sadly, although the themes of insightful portrayal into class-ridden British society are present, 'All Or Nothing' lacks any of the vitality or wit of the earlier films. As is well-documented, the film centres on the lives of three similar families living on a wretched council estate in London. The estate is a grim urban wasteland that could reasonably be mistaken for a run-down area of Poland. Their family relationships are broken and unhappy; their love lives abject failures; what work they do is soul-destroying and banal; sex is violent and dirty. Nothing ever relieves the misery, save the occasional wry laugh in the face of it all. And, as if the themes, setting and plot don't ram home the message hard enough, the film is soundtracked by a constant weeping of violins and woodwind. Be in no doubt: this film tells us to Pity The Working Classes. Yet this film is made by, marketed to, acted by and watched by middle class people. They only show this at arthouse cinemas. This film simply caricatures people in order to give the angst-ridden middle classes a chance to feel a little more authentic. Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols once sang of 'a cheap holiday in other people's misery'. That's what this film is.

The Big Swap (1998)

irritating

[11 March 2002]

I only watched five minutes of this video. I found the characters so annoying I wanted to smash up my TV set and throw my video out of the window. Fortunately I just turned it off instead.

The characters were shallow, irritating, grinning middle class imbeciles not because they were well-drawn to be those things but because they were the feeble creations of this straight-to-video disaster.

Completely unfair criticism, I know, but I thought it might help anyone else who finds Friends unwatchable to avoid watching this.

Hard Eight (1996)

I have to disagree with you all!

[5 March 2001]

Sorry to say, but I thought this was a stinker! I'm a BIG BIG fan of Boogie Nights and checked this movie out because I was so impressed with PTA's directing in that movie.

However, Sydney/Hard Eight really failed to live up to my expectations. Firstly, I really liked the obvious Scorsese/Tarantino references and steals in Boogie Nights e.g. the long opening steadycam shot. It felt in Boogie Nights like PTA had soaked up and understood his influences and was using them in an original way. However, this movie felt to me like PTA was too heavily influenced by Tarantino and hadn't found a style of his own yet. For example, Samuel L. Jackson's speech in the hotel room with Sydney is laughable! The dialogue is clearly trying to imitate Tarantino's fast, witty, colloquial style but falls a long, long way short. Certain camera shots are also highly reminiscent of Pulp Fiction (e.g. in the casino bars), as are Samuel L. Jackson's clothes and Sydney's dark suit amongst a long list I could give if I had time.

In addition to Tarantino, the film is also overly indebted to Scorsese (who was obviously a heavy influence on Tarantino too). Sydney's character is a cheap and simplistic copy of Eddie in The Colour of Money, as in fact is the whole premise of the film. Scorsese's Casino springs to mind too.

There's nothing wrong with wearing your influences on your sleeve - as Quentin T does to great effect. It's just that I don't think PTA has got them under control here. It sometimes feels like he puts stuff in because he thinks it would fit the QT-influenced style rather than because it really works in the film. For example, the scene in the motel room (I'm trying to avoid spoiling it here) with John and Clementine which requires Sydney's help is completely pointless. Those of you who have seen it, ask yourselves whether your understanding of the film would be any less if that whole scene had been cut. My answer is no. It was a great idea and I was sure there were going to be repurcussions but there weren't. The whole episode just fizzled out and was ultimately a waste of time. The ending of the film wouldn't necessarily have been any different if PTA had chopped that whole thirty minutes out.

However, I did find the film really interesting as it enabled me to see how PTA's style has developed. And I'm a big fan of the genre so I liked it anyway. But I'm glad PTA has gone on to make some other, brilliant films