March 2018 film review part 1

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON (2004) D- David Fincher
A baby is born with the face of an old man. Horrified, the father snatches it and leaves it on an orphanage’s doorstep. As he grows up, his face gradually begins to look more youthful. A fulcrum point is reached in his thirties, when his face looks right for his chronological age. But then, curiously, as he grows older his face begins to look younger and younger. As he hits his forties he goes backpacking in Nepal; by his sixties he has entered his awkward adolescence . Finally, becoming shorter and shorter, he becomes a babe-in-arms. Through it all, he conducts a strange, off/on relationship with a beauful woman (Cate Blanchett).
          Based on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s famous short story, this is a fine attempt to bring that remarkable tale to the screen and won Brad Pitt an Oscar for his outstanding performance, though whether this short story warrants a 150 minute epic is open to question. But the director’s skill is undeniable and the film remains watchable throughout.

HARMONIUM (2016) D- Koji Fukada
A mother and her emotionally shut-off husband bring up their child in a Tokyo suburb when the father invites an ex-con friend to come and live with them. The new guest rapidly establishes a rapport with the daughter and teaches her the rudiments of the harmonium. Mum isn’t sure about her new house-guest, but puts up with it. Slowly it emerges that father too has a shady past, and that his friend may have taken the fall for a crime they both committed.
             In some ways this film reminded me of the French classic Boudu Saved From Drowning, in the way a guest is invited in and gradually comes to dominate the family, and the atmosphere created in this film, as in the earlier film, is incredibly moving and powerful.
             One of those few movies to come out of Japan which offers deep insights into Japanese domestic life.

CITY OF TINY LIGHTS (2016) D- Pete Travis
A low-life private dic bites off more than he can chew when he investigates a disappearance, stumbling into the world of Islamic politics as well as uncovering ghosts from his own past.
            Riz Ahmed is one of the hottest properties in the world right now. Aclaimed actor, rapper and activist, Time magazine put him on their cover as one of 100 most influential people in the world - all this at under 30. Dontcha hate people who are that talented and successful? I know I do. Seriously, despite all this success, this movie doesn’t actually work. It can’t make up its mind what it wants to be; fictional autobiog, hard-bitten noir, political intrigue. And the result is an uncertain melange of plot and style. Oh well, Riz, you can’t win ‘em all, just most of them. I’m sure you’ll do better next time.

A FANTASTIC WOMAN (2017) D- Sebastian Lelio
In Santiago, Chile, a male-to-female trans woman is with her male lover one night when he drops dead just after completing the act of love. Tricky. The poor girl doesn’t know how tricky until the man’s family show up and seem to regard her as some kind of sub-human monster. She is barred from attending her lover’s funeral and told to vacate their shared apartment forthwith. Somehow she manages to pursue her career as a singer.
           This film is a revelation. If you ever wondered what sort of problem transgender people deal with in the modern world you need look no further than this superb movie which shows, with stunning insight and clarity, that they face, really, the same sort of problems as gays did half a century ago: misunderstanding, fear, and deep, deep hatred.
           Absolutely brilliant. Seek it out and be moved,