September book and film review

BOOKS

THE COTTON PICKERS, by B Traven. An itinerant American labourer looks for, and finds, a variety of low-paid jobs in 1930s Mexico, and learns much about the exploitation of the working class in the process. The first of Traven's Mexican novels, and all the essential elements of his books are already in place: an acute social conscience, a lively wit and endearing characters. Worthwhile reading.

THE SAVAGE DETECTIVES, by Roberto Bolano. A motley collection of "visceral poets" in Mexico City hang out, get drunk, fuck and write deathless verse. Then they get mixed up with a whore who is being threatened by her pimp and decide to skip town. They also decide to combine their road trip with a search for the woman poet who founded the visceral poetry movement some thirty years earlier..

Written as a series of interviews with the main players, who (though this is never made explicit) are asked the question: "what can you tell us about the visceral poets?" What follows is an extraordinary collection of personal accounts, some standing alone, while others, Rashomon style, offer a variety of versions of the same event. The overall effect is astounding. Not since reading Ulysses four years ago have I been so totally overwhelmed by a book so innovative, stylish, funny and brilliant. Genius is an overused word these days I know, but it's one I tend to sprinkle very sparingly. However it is definitely deserved here. The book is not easy to read, but like Joyce's masterwork, it rewards magnificently. Here is a tiny fragment which despite its brevity conveys something of the book's atmosphere. It comes early on, where the book opens by "quoting" from a young poet's diary:
December 23
Nothing happened today. And if anything did, I'd rather not talk about it, because I didn't understand it.
Here's another quote, this time from the account of Joaquin Font, a man who has been confined to a lunatic asylum, though his utterances sometimes seem more sane than many of his compadres on the outside:
Then, humbled and confused, and in a burst of utter Mexicanness, I knew we were ruled by fate and that we would all drown in the storm, and I  knew that only the cleverest, myself certainly not included, would stay afloat much longer.

One of the greatest novels I've ever read.

FILMS

STATION WEST (1948) D- Sidney Lanfield. A gold shipment goes missing; its guardians murdered. A drifter (ex-juvenile lead Dick Powell) arrives in town: no one suspects he's working undercover to bring down the bad guys. He is soon distracted by the feminine whiles of the saloon owner, the luscious Jane Greer. But is she all she seems? Basically a remake of Destry Rides Again, but lacking the sheer verve of that great western. Not bad though.

IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE (2000) D- Wong Kar Wei. In the overcrowded and claustrophobic atmosphere of  1960s Hong Kong, a young couple do their best to retain their dignity amidst the squalor. But then the wife begins to suspect her husband of harbouring a paramour. Oddly, the husband living next door is beginning to fear the same thing about his wife... Visually beautiful and  very moving, it is especially notable for the series of stunning chiamsung dresses worn by the female lead, Maggie Cheung. These dresses, skin-tight, with high necks and all exquisitely printed, grace the film from first frame to last. The wonder is, living in a space no bigger than a large cupboard, she can find anywhere to hang them all up.

SERENITY (2005) D- Joss Whedon. In a star system far, far away, a group of rebels try to stay out of the reach of a heartless government. Then they take on an unusual cargo: a genetically modified girl, whose special powers include psychic ability and a 14th dan black belt in kicking ass...
When Gene Roddenberry approached Paramount with his idea for Star Trek, he pitched it as a sort of "Wagon Train in Space", a series of self contained episodes with a central theme allowing for character development. Joss Whedon must have had an almost identical pitch prepared for his TV series Firefly. His CV was certainly impressive: he was coming off the back of the popular and critically acclaimed Buffie the Vampire Slayer. He got the backing, but the series failed to catch fire with the viewing public and the series was cancelled after only 11 episodes. Which brings us to his feature film, designed to give those people who did love Firefly a chance to enjoy it again on the big screen. It still didn't work though. Joss cried for a while, then it all came right again when he was given the job of directing Avengers Assemble, one of the biggest blockbusters of all time. Good for him.

THE THREE STOOGES (2012) D- Bobby and Peter Farrelly. A trio of muttonheads are dumped on the doorstep of a convent, and grow up to be warm-hearted idiots who, when the convent is threatened with closure, join forces to save it from the evil developers. I was prepared not to like this much, but oddly I did kind of enjoy it, if only for its irrepressible enthusiasm for reconstructing the great comedy trio of the 40s and 50s. Those I loved unconditionally as a twelve-year-old, would wheeze with laughter at their zany antics, especially the rib-tickling brutality of Moe, the Stooges spiritual leader. Speaking of this, one of the high points is the dead-pan warning given at the close of the movie by the directors, who warn viewers against actually poking anyone in the eye (which Moe does to almost everyone throughout the whole movie) as it actually is a pretty dangerous thing to do.
So, now we know.

THE VALLEY (OBSCURED BY CLOUDS) 1972) D- Barbet Schroeder. The pretty young wife of a diplomat decides to venture into the heart of Papua New Guinea in search of bird of paradise feathers. In so doing, she goes on a strange and mystical journey into her own psyche (you couldn't make this up, right?) and awakens her own burgeoning sexuality into the bargain. This sort of "journey of self discovery" thing was very trendy around the dawn of the 1970s, and unfortunately this movie shows its age most revealingly, right down to the soundtrack by Pink Floyd. I really should have seen this film 40 years ago, because now...

ROSETTA (1999) D- The Dederene brothers. Rosetta's life isn't easy. She's got a job paying below the minimum wage, and then has to go home to her alcoholic mum who lives in a rundown trailer park.... You'd think her life couldn't get any worse, but it does... A powerful, well made film which was actually instrumental in changing the law in Belgium to prevent the exploitation of minors in work. Disturbing stuff. And the star, Emily Dequenne, shines so very brightly.

THE GATEKEEPERS (documentary- 2012) D- Dror Moreh. The Gatekeepers in question are the Shin Bet, the Israeli equivalent of the FBI. It is hard to believe any of the players would ever agree to talk on camera, but that's exactly what the director, Dror Moreh, was somehow able to achieve. The result is an incredibly revealing portrait of a secret organisation of immense power and resources, charged with protecting the foundling nation, and prepared to go to pretty much any length to do so. Their remit includes targeted assassinations of Hamas leaders (some of which took out a number of innocent civilians in the process), mounting extensive networks of informers in the occupied territories, and finally the protection of its leaders, something which went so catastrophically wrong when the prime minister Rabin was murdered right under their noses. The members of Shin Bet come over as the sort of ruthless, efficient secret agents you come across in James Bond books and whom you wouldn't want to cross- ever. The film deservedly won the Oscar for best documentary last year.

THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN (2009) D- Andre Techine. A young woman loses her job and interviews for another without success. Then she takes up with a promising wrestler who turns out to be a drug dealer. No sooner than they hook up, he gets busted. In a moment of "reactive madness" she fabricates a tale of being racially abused. Her friends appeal to her to come clean, risking the ire of the whole community. Will she do the right thing? Interesting tale starring the ubiquitous Emily Decquenne, who as usual distinguishes any film she appears in.

A MIDWINTER'S TALE (1995) W-D- Kenneth Branagh. A bunch of rep stalwarts are brought together for a production of Hamlet. This disparate group, after a shaky start, finally pulls together. Around this time, Kenneth Branagh was the wunderkind of all things British and theatrical, and I'm sure had none of the difficulties bringing the production together that we see on the screen. There are some good cameo performances, especially that of Richard Briars, but the whole fails to convince. Me, at any rate.

SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK (2012) D- David O Russell. A young man (the estimable Bradley Cooper) with alcohol and personality "issues" is released from rehab and struggles to find his way in a world he never made. Then he meets Jennifer Lawrence, and things start to look up. Or do they? 'Cause she's every bit as odd as he is...
Really terrific piece of film making, with strong performances all round, especially the incomparable Bob de Niro as the hero's dad (is that why his son's so weird?) Possibly the best film to come out of Hollywood last year.