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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 12 September 2002

Blue won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival and earned 3 Golden Globe nominations, White won the Silver Berlin Bear at the Berlin Film Festival, but it’s Red that most people will be familiar with, if at all.  Red was nominated for 3 Academy Awards (including best director and best screenplay) and appears on the Internet Movie Database as the 161st most popular film of all time.

With the world at his feet Kieslowski suddenly announced his retirement from filmmaking.  His rest was short-lived as he suffered a cardiac arrest and passed away in March 1996.  All the more surprising is to see his name appear during the opening credits as a writer of Heaven.  Yes, before he died, Kieslowski wrote one final script which has taken six years to make it into production.

Directed by creative German director Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run), Heaven begins magnificently.  Cate Blanchett is Philippa Paccard, a school teacher with a vendetta against a high profile business executive, Marco Vendice, who is selling drugs to her 13-year-old students.  After repeated requests for help to the police, she takes the law into her own hands and plants a makeshift bomb in a rubbish bin in Vendice’s office.

Unfortunately, the bin is emptied moments before detonation and instead of Vendice meeting a quick demise, a cleaner, a father and two innocent children are killed.  Arrested soon after, Philippa is remorseful when being interrogated.  She knows she deserves to be punished for her wrongs but still holds an immense desire to destroy Vendice.

An opportunity arises when the young interpreter in the interrogation room, Filippo (Ribisi), falls instantly in love with Philippa.  His younger brother is taught by Philippa and Filippo hears nothing but good stories and knows she is a decent woman.  He devises a cunning plan to break Philippa out of jail so they can elope and foolishly he believes they will live happily ever after.

The wonderful opening hour is softened by a yawning finish.  After the breakout, the film wanders all over the place.  It becomes a tacky, strange love story and chemistry between Ribisi and Blanchett is hard to find.  Everytime the film looks set to end, it carries on a little further with more frivolous romance.  Blanchett is the standout of the cast but Ribisi is solid in an unusual role for him.

The direction from Tykwer is the primary reason to see Heaven.  The camera work is magnificent.  Tykwer moves his cameras slowly to appreciate more of the surroundings in a very artistic way.  Towards the closing, he uses helicopter flyovers with little-to-no sound to again show his mastery of the craft.

It’s refreshing to see every audience in the world except the United States have the opportunity to taste Heaven.  The film isn’t scheduled for release in the States until the first week of October and only this week is showing to many leading U.S. critics at the Toronto Film Festival.  Before being released in Oz, Heaven has already played in Austria, Russia, Sweden, Israel, The Philippines, Norway, Belgium, Mexico and the United Kingdom.  If nothing else, the film is one final chance to pay homage to the great work of Krzysztof Kieslowski.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 29 August 2002

As the unlikely hero, Ben Affleck is Jack Ryan, a regular guy who happened to write a well researched article about a Russian politician, Alexander Nemerov.  When the current Russian President dies of a heart-attack, Nemerov is appointed leaving the CIA back in the States anxious for information about the new leader.  Ryan is called in and acts under the wing of presidential adviser William Cabot (Freeman).

The two go to Russia to greet Nemerov.  They also inspect a nuclear facility to ensure the government is complying with the treaty to dismantle a large percentage of their nuclear arsenal.  Newcomer Ryan notes that several scientists are missing and Cabot uses field agent John Clark (Schreiber) to investigate further.

On arriving back in America, both Ryan and Cabot release a serious situation is building.  A nuclear weapon which was lost in a 1973 plane crash has fallen into the hands of terrorists.  They are using scientists to reconfigure the bomb.  Sneaking it into America they plan on instigating a full-scale war between the United States and Russia.  It seems only Ryan can save the day.

To the film’s credit, it held my attention all the way through and the final 45 minutes is particularly riveting.  Having been based on a popular novel, there was always going to be plenty of material but I think the cinematic adaptation focuses on the wrong elements.  For example, Affleck has a love interest played by Bridget Moynahan.  She is useless, a complete distraction and adds nothing whatsoever.  The dialogue they share brought back memories of the soppy mushiness I remember Affleck uttering with Liv Tyler in Armageddon.

A key moment in the film occurs in Baltimore at the Superbowl.  Without spoiling it (for those who haven’t seen the trailer), I was stunned at the way the film focussed more on the actions of Ryan and the President (played by James Cromwell) rather than the aftermath of the event.  I can confirm several parts of the film were watered down following the September 11 bombings.  This is just stupid and again highlights the fact that Americans have trouble facing reality.  As a result, the film didn’t pack the punch that it should.

Still, I had fun watching Affleck run all over the place trying to save the world (i.e. America).  There are cheesy lines and overused clichés but most can be overlooked in the situation.  In the last two major films based on Tom Clancy novels, Clear And Present Games and Patriot Games, Harrison Ford had the role of Jack Ryan.  I guess Affleck was the studio’s attempt to have the series appeal to a younger audience but he doesn’t have the serious disposition that Ford brought to the role.  The script gives Affleck too much opportunity to act lightheartedly.

With the right amount of coke and popcorn, there is nothing to fear about The Sum Of All Fears.  Then again, there’s not much worth writing about either.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 05 September 2002

On arriving in the quiet town, Will is greeted by the starstruck local detective Ellie Burr (Swank).  She has idolised his work and even wrote her thesis on his investigation of a series of famous L.A. murders.  Will’s knowledge quickly exposes the inexperience of the Nightmute police force.  Within 24 hours, he’s profiled the killer and set a cunning trap that could lure him out of hiding.

Working to perfection, the killer appears at the expected location but in a thick fog, he escapes.  Hunting him through the mist, Will shoots who he thinks is the suspect only to find he has shot and killed his own partner.  It is at this point where this otherwise simple thriller steps to a higher level.  Perceptions can be everything and whilst it was a legitimate accident, Will knows that this with a motive, this will look deliberate.

In a state of shock and panic, he tells everyone it was the unidentified suspect that shot his partner and using his expertise, crafts a quick cover-up.  There’s only one catch.  Will gets a phone call from writer Walter Finch (Williams) who confesses the crime but has an ace up his sleeve.  He saw Will kill his partner and has the evidence to prove it.  He promises to keep quiet if Will pins the crime on the innocent, but suspected, boyfriend of the victim.  And the plot only gets deeper...

Like another great Al Pacino film, Heat, Insomnia is the kind of film that keeps building and building.  There are no lulls but a steady increase in tension all the way through.  As I hinted at earlier, it begins simply enough but fresh layers are exposed and the line between black and white becomes very blurry.  Unlike most serial killer movies, it’s hard to identify who is the hero and who is the villain.

It’s a wonderful setting.  Being set during the summertime in Alaska, there is no night and Will cannot adjust.  He cannot sleep and with his insomnia increasing, his biggest adversary appears not to be Walter Finch but rather his own mind which is deteriorating from night after night of lost sleep.  It’s just another exciting element that will keep you entranced.  Trivia buffs will also note that Will’s surname, Dormer, is a play on the French and Spanish verb “dormir” which means “to sleep”.

The film is followed by much hype as it is director Christopher Nolan’s follow-up film to the cult hit Memento which starred Guy Pearce.  Unlike his previous film, Nolan didn’t write the screenplay for Insomnia.   It’s actually a remake of a Norwegian film of the same name made in 1997.  I haven’t seen the original but Nolan’s English adaptation is wonderfully filmed and capitalises on great acting, great editing and great music.  He’s one of the best in the business today.

Singling out Al Pacino, his performance is impressive.  I’m not sure if he “got into” his character by not sleep himself but you could see the changes in his appearances and feel the changes in his mind as each day passed.  It’s a great role and he’s well supported by a surprisingly good Hilary Swank who, in her first major role since her Oscar-winning turn in Boys Don’t Cry, dispels any nay-sayers.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 29 August 2002

The white men live in the town’s centre with the Aboriginals living in an outpost not far outside it.  Neither group has respect for the other and there’s much animosity between the senior folk.  Blacky (Phillips) is a white teenager who is best friends with an Aborigine, Dumby (Carroll).  They play together on the local aussie rules football team and show none of the racism that their childish parents do.

A series of events will soon split the already divided town.  Following the AFL grand final, the presentations are held to reward the best players on the team.  When the top award is announced, everyone expects Dumby to be a shoe-in - he kicked heaps of goals in the finals and is being targeted by leading AFL clubs.  However, the man-of-the-match prize goes to the son of the coach, who just so happens to be white and in a fit of fury he will do something that will stupid.  To add fuel to the fire, Blacky is seen being intimate with an Aboriginal girl named Clarence (Flanagan) and his racist father is furious.  There’s a lot of rage in the air and few people will be spared the effects of the tumultuous happenings that follow.

The film’s opening is dull and needs more substance and humour.  The is no fault amongst the performances but first time writer-director, Paul Goldman shows his inexperience.  The signs are there though that he will develop into a solid director and in fact both Dennis Hopper and Melanie Griffith have signed on to feature in his second film, The Night We Called It A Day.  The aussie rules scenes could have been more exciting.  If they hope to screen the film overseas, I would have preferred to see the sport feature more prominently.

Racism has been explored in many recent Australian films and the question needs to be asked whether this offers a fresh perspective.  The answer is a clear no.  I am surprised though to see some people within Aboriginal circles criticise the film for portraying them badly.  It is only a story and I don’t think it shows either party in a positive light.

Void of much emotion, supporting character Pickles (played by Tom Budge) steals the show with his psychotic sense of humour.  That scene at the AFL game where he makes sheep noises to his opponent is a classic and probably the only part of the film I’ll remember in a months time.  To put it bluntly, the film follows too many cinematic “rules” and needed more originality and flair.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 05 September 2002

I went looking for the film’s official website but there isn’t one.  I guess the makers are doing everything they can to conceal their identify from the thousands of people who will see this film and then harass them asking for their money and time back.  That’s what I planned on doing anyway.

There’s about eight characters who get together and try to summon dead spirits with a Ouija board.  All in fun, they conjure up something very scary, which they later learn to be a powerful demon.  The only way the demon can return to its world is to kill those that brought him into this one and so the film goes from there...  Some get killed off early but others make it into the closing scenes for the final battle.

I knew none of the cast except for Lukas Haas, who is a prominent supporting actor in the United States.  I knew none of the crew.  Period.  It’s all a very lame production made straight out of a Hollywood textbook with every cliché imaginable.  Insulting really.

Only a handful of people were brave enough to take on this film.  I’ve never once walked out on a film but this is about as close as I’ve come.  I spent the last half-hour talking with the friend next to me about how bad a film could possibly be.  Boy it felt good to be out of there.  Long Time Dead may be the name of the film but it’s also how one would feel to be watching it.