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Labels: Amy Brenneman, Annette Bening, Brittany Robertson, Carla Gallo, David Morse, film, movie trailer, Naomi Watts, Samuel L. Jackson

As cruel as this film is and as hard as it is to watch it should be noted that Haneke, unlike the over-rated Oliver Stone and his Natural Born Killers (which takes on the same topics), avoids showing violence whenever possible. He has a remarkable low amount of onscreen violence and there's little gore. Heneke turns his camera away from the "money shots" at the last moment to avoid the salacious film making he's criticizing. He plays on the threat of violence and the reaction to those threats. Of course, it is in many ways harder to watch someone suffer their fear than to see them delivered from it via a beating, stabbing, shooting, etc. This is particularly true of the mortified adolescent son.

I see what Haneke is doing here, and I strongly agree with his overall point. The problem with delivering the message in this way is that it ends up feeding the beast. The film doesn't elevate itself above it's content and this being the case, it will only serve to harm those watching it. Those who would get the message don't need to see it delivered in such a blunt fashion. Those who are not inclined to see the message will only get a rush from seeing all the cruelty.


Related Reviews:
Naomi Watts movies
Eastern Promises (2007)
I "Heart" "Huckabees (2004)


Other Critic's Reviews:
Rightwing Film Geek
Matte Havoc

Labels: film, movie review, Naomi Watts, Tim Roth

First of all, Clive Owen and Naomi Watts have to be two of the most boring actors working today. Sure they're nice to look at but the lack of screen presence between the two is striking. On top of this Owen is still doing his slouchy, linty mumbler routine. Listen Clive, iron your clothes, shave your face and pronunciate.

The film centers on an evil international bank that controls things behind the scenes and is running arms, killing people and doing all sorts of dastardly deeds. Uh...I'm not very sophisticated but isn't it taken for granted that when leftists whimper and shake their rattles about the corrupt "international bankers" that they are using code language for Jews? Its not just me right, this is what they mean right?

Doesn't that kinda put the plot of this movie in a different light?





Screenwriter: Eric Singer
Director: Tom Tykwer (Perfume: The Story of a Murderer)
Actors: Clive Owen (Children of Men), Naomi Watts (Funny Games), Armin Mueller-Stahl (Eastern Promises) and Jack McGee (21)

Labels: Clive Owen, film, movie trailer, Naomi Watts

Short Review: There is exactly one too many naked men in this film – that is to say there’s a naked man in this film.

This is a brutal film and not for the queasy. The film opens with a gory throat slashing and then moves directly to a pregnant woman hemorrhaging at a convenience store. If this seems like a harsh way to open a film you can stop reading now, this isn’t the film for you.

The film showcases a family of Russian mobsters operating in London. Anna, a midwife (Naomi “how can someone so pretty be so boring” Watts) looks over a baby after the baby’s anonymous mother dies. Having only the mother’s diary (which is written in Russian) for identification, Anna decides to have a local Russian immigrant restaurateur translate the book. Unbeknownst to Anna, the restaurateur (Armin Mueller Stahl) is the head of a crime family and the dead girl is one of his sex slaves. Anna is quickly pulled into the web of the mobsters which includes the stoic Nikolai (Viggo Mortensen). If you don't think this sounds like a compelling narrative, you’d be right. The story is rather flat, but the lack of a fantastic arc to the story lends more credibility to the piece in a certain way. This is a mob movie with all of the contrivances removed. Since it is devoid of stylized assassinations and gangland battles, we are left with a stark character piece that is all too willing to show the bad side of those involved.

Mortensen (Hidalgo) is the real treasure in the film and he commands over the other performances. His Nikolai is an intensely interesting yet utterly despicable character. This performance is a clear candidate for a best actor nod and deservedly so. The man is willing to make risky moves in his career. Following the Lord of the Rings Trilogy it is certain he could have written his own ticket and gone the usual Hollywood route. Mortensen has chosen a different path and followed with more complicated roles that reveal an actor more interested in making intelligent works than popcorn fluff.

This film reteams director David Cronenberg (Scanners, The Fly) and Mortensen. Much like their previous effort, A History of Violence, this film studies violent characters and the morally confused universes they inhabit. This piece is filled with harsh scenes of cruel people doing cruel things to one another. Many feel that violence in film is inherently a bad thing. In particular people despise the acts like the ones found in this movie which seem to fail to provide a clear moral denunciation of the violence. I disagree with this view provided there is context and meaning to the violence. The violence in the film is not stylized nor is it cinema friendly. There’s a sense of dreadful inevitability to every horrifying act. The criminals are predators and they do what predators are inclined to do – hunt, destroy and consume. When a man is murdered by an opposing mob family or when a woman is introduced into sexual slavery, it is treated as a natural act no different than the killing of a weak elk by a lion. Those who live by the sword die by the sword so those involved should be shocked when their time comes. Cronenberg orchestrates the adult content to full effect. An example of this is the movie’s most striking scene where Mortensen’s character Nikolai is attacked in a steam bath. Nikolai and his two assassins slash at each other with knives, wrestle and fight. During this Mortensen is completely naked. His full frontal nudity is difficult to view not only because…well…Aragon’s personal hobbit is on display – but because his nudity, in light of viciousness of the attack, serves to bring an uncomfortable vulnerability to the scene. Many will be disgusted by the violence and frank sexual content. Some will claim the adult content is unneeded or at least too casual. I’d argue that the seemingly gratuitous nature of the sex and violence replicates how gratuitous they are when performed in real life. In an age when Hollywood is all too willing to show girls being tortured to death on screen (Hostel, Saw II, Wolf Creek) without a meaningful moral structure condemning the acts, seeing a piece treating violence in such an honest fashion is almost a relief.

Again, this is a very harsh movie. The blunt view of violence and criminality will be too much for many audiences and makes this a hard film to fully recommend. If you are able to handle the rough stuff, you’ll find this an intelligent and striking film. If you have any concerns about the content at all you’re probably best served by simply skipping this one. It’s a good film but it’s not worth it if you have problems with raw material.



Cautions: Blood, gore, violence, frank sexual acts, there's tons to be cautious about here.

Worldview: In a way this film paints a valuable look at what sin can and will do when left to fester. Morality, when discarded, is a difficult thing to regain and impossible to hold when one doesn't turn from their sin. At one point Nikolai claims he died when he committed his first crime as a kid - he was right. Those who fail to cast their sins aside are the living dead and will find no peace.



Related Reviews:
Viggo Mortensen movies
G.I. Jane (1997)
History of Violence (2005)


Other Critic's Reviews:
The Critical Critics
A Nutshell Review

Labels: film, mob, movie review, Naomi Watts, Viggo Mortensen, Vincent Cassel

Labels: mob, movie trailer, Naomi Watts, Viggo Mortensen, Vincent Cassel