The Ape, d. Jesper Ganslandt

MONKEY BUSINESS WAS A MESS

Perhaps last minute decisions on choosing what film to see at around 22:15 can have its mistakes, I definitely found that when my cousin and I decided to watch this atrocious film.

Reading the film festival programme’s synopsis of The Ape (Swedish Apan) I felt it was going to be a rather interesting experimental film directed by Swedish born director Jesper Ganslandt. The film originally came out in 2009 and the film uses an unconventional method where the lead actor, Olle Sarri, wasn't allowed to read the script. Instead he was led to locations and instructed before the filming of each scene, unaware of the full plot until filming was completed.

The Ape has been shown in numerous Film Festivals globally, mainly first at the Venice Film Festival and the Vanguard section of the Toronto Film Festival. Now at the Durban Film Festival it makes it way to the Suncoast cinemas. The film starts off with a middle aged driving instructor named Krister who wakes up on bathroom floor one morning, bloodied and disoriented. The camera follows him as he goes about his day as if nothing has happened and gradually descends into a madness that causes a dark truth to emerge.

The plot synopsis of course makes the film interesting, but its not executed well; the entire film is done in a 1st person shooter game type style, might as well just play Doom rather than watch this horrible nausiating film. The acting is clueless as Olle Sarri’s character walks around town aimlessly, screaming here and there; in fact writing this review makes me dizzy. Just don’t watch it!

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The Attack of the Indian Werewolf, d. Masood Boomgaard

A HAIRY HORROR THAT WILL MAKE YOU HOWL WITH LAUGHTER

Sunday Tribune column writer, Masood Boomgard, presents a uniquely Durban spicy film which hits the screens at the cinema of the Elizabeth Sneddon. Although it may not be a work of art it does expose a lot of truths about the Indian community in Durban.

My expectations were met. I did not go into the cinema expecting a smash hit, box office success that revolutionises cinema history, but a fun filled stupid adventure that parodies the werewolf genre- well that's exactly what I got.

Starring Neville Pillay (a comedian for stand up shows and East Coast Radio jock) as Brandon a timid, hardworking clerk in an electronics store, the story revolves around a strange transformation of said character into a ginger coloured werewolf after he eats a bad beans bunny chow from Johnny’s (found here in our very own Durban)... the curry was mixed with an ancient bean called a jahdoo bean.

Packed with laughs The Attack of the Indian Werewolf involves characters every Indian family can identify with. Also, cleverly starting off with the indentured labourers in the sugar cane farms in Stanger, young Indians can get to know their cultural and traditional backgrounds.

But the film remains very clumsy and the acting just wasn't up to scratch. For me personally, the film fails to top any of the films at the Durban International Film Festival, but I don't think it was ever intended to. So, with that said, and taking into account the raucous laughter that erupted around me during the screening, I think it's safe to say that the director met his goal of producing a humorous-indian-werewolf-horror. Hmmm... that's got a ring to it, I think that a new genre is born.

Watch exclusive interviews with lead actor, Neville Pillay and director Massod Boomgaard at the film's premiere, right here, on Coza TV>>

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The Concert, d. Radu Mihaileanu

FUSION OF TWO TASTES

Thirty years ago, Andrei Simoniovich Filipov, the renowned conductor of the Bolshoi orchestra, was fired for hiring Jewish musicians. Now a mere cleaning man at the Bolshoi, he learns by accident that the Châtelet Theatre in Paris invites the Bolshoi orchestra to play there. He decides to gather together his former musicians and to perform in Paris in the place of the current Bolshoi orchestra.

As a solo violin player to accompany his old Jewish or Gypsy musicians he wants Anne-Marie Jacquet, a young virtuoso. If they all overcome the hardships ahead this very special concert will be a triumph.

The Concert is a wickedly absurd satire and a poignant commentary on lifer under soviet rule with one of cinema’s most moving and satisfying emotional pay off in years. Its expression of music and emotion is held in a beautiful scene later on in the film when Andrei conducts his orchestra of misfits to become great musicians, with great flashbacks of a violinist in the Soviet rule and cutting back to the orchestra in La Théâtre du Châtelet, Tchaikovsky’s concerto is played the way it should be. A beautiful and amazing film.

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Dogtooth, d. Giorgis Lanthimos

ISOLATION CAN LEAD TO PROBLEMS

Dogtooth is directed by Giorgis Lanthimos, a Greek born director who has been compared to the likes of Werner Herzog and Stanley Kubrick and draws inspiration from Bresson and Cassavetes.

His new film is undeniably strange, in fact it was so strange that I swore out loud, “What the @#$!” in the cinema when the actress who played the mother character in the film came to the Q&A of the evening.

In the end, I was pleasantly surprised by the film - in fact I thoroughly enjoyed it. The film is about a family who have kept their children trained to be oblivious of the outside world, a sort of deranged version of The Truman Show.

The film goes on to explain that the parents had a created a sort of cult: They kept their children locked away, forbidden from participation in social activities and prevented from gaining any sort of general knowledge of the world. Due to having no relationship with other people, the children turn their sexual needs for each other and the film explores incest and bisexuality in the most perverse way.

It is definitely for a selected audience.

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Harry Brown, d. Daniel Barber

USING A “CAINE” TO STOP VIOLENCE

Academy Award Winner Daniel Barber, known for his short film, The Tonto Woman (2008), brings us a thrilling story of vengeance for victims of crime and corruption as his first debut.

Starring the great Michael Caine in the lead role, the film gets off to a startling start and simmers down to a satisfying end. It’s about an ex-marine who, after the death of his wife, resigns to a life of solace in his London apartment in an increasingly crime ridden public housing complex.

Ignoring the violence and drug dealing around him, Harry Brown’s friend (David Bradley- known for his role as Argus Filch in the Harry Potter series) is killed. Becoming a vigilante pensioner, he makes sure justice is served.

The brutality of some of the characters was slightly disturbing, particularly a drug overdosed skeletal paedophile (played perfectly by Sean Harris). At some points rather unsettling, Michael Caine’s fiery and powerful performance makes the film a uniquely different thriller drama.

A must see.

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The Killer Inside Me, d. Michael Winterbottom

CASEY AFFLECK TAKES GRIM MEASURES

Michael Winterbottom directs this brutal tale of a man descending into madness and through that madness becoming a killer.

With a low budget, the film relies heavily on the acting abilities of Casey Affleck, who manages to give the movie a certain "vibe". The film is based on the noir novel of the same name by cult writer Jim Thompson. It takes us into the life of a small town lawman, Deputy Sheriff Lou Ford (played by Affleck). Good looking, charming and unassuming, Ford’s life has evolved into an ongoing stream of problems involving women and the law.

Difficult to watch, and at some points very uncomfortable, The Killer inside Me takes us literally into the mind of Lou Ford and every moment that he’s on screen, your skin crawls. Casey Affleck has stunned me as always. I believed him an unappreciated worthless actor in comedies and dramas, but this film definitely changed his entire career around. The other thing I suggest you keep aware of is his eyes. Probably given green contacts, the camera tends to focus on Casey’s eyes and it portrays the insanity of this character rather explicitly.

Masterfully directed and with a definte macabre production design, The Killer Inside Me is a unique psychological thriller that underlines the human emotions which can catalyse a disastrous descent into insanity.

The cast includes Jessica Alba, Ned Beatty, Kate Hudson, Bill Pullman and Liam Aiken.

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State of Violence, d. Khalo Matabhane

REVENGE IS A DISH BEST SERVED COLD, NOT LUKEWARM

The opening night slot of the 31st Durban International Film Festival was awarded to this new film by Khalo Matabhane, which had an interesting premise.

The film stars Tsotsi actor Presley Chweneyagae who takes part as Boy-Boy, brother to Bobedi (Fana Mokoena) who plays a character nicknamed Terror. He loses his wife after a vicious attack from a criminal who turns out to be an enemy from his haunting past.

Bent on revenge, Bobedi sets off on a hunt to find his wife’s murderer.

The film addresses some of the heartfelt trouble of people from the townships in South Africa, for example the frequent use of “necklacing" as a form of vigilante justice during the Apartheid era. Through a series of flashbacks the film recounts how Bobedi, as a child, sets alight a criminal's "necklace" (an oil soaked tyre worn around the neck). The acting unfortunately falls flat and the emotion is not driven by the actors.

The story takes a long time to develop and eventually turned out to be rather mediocre.

Coza TV has an exclusive interview with director Khalo Matabhane and lead actors Presley Chweneyagae and Fana Mokoena - check it out now!

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Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll, d. Mat Whitecross

TITLE SAYS IT ALL

Academy award maestro behind the CGI spectacle and iconic character Gollum, from the cult classic Lord of the Rings, Andy Serkis now turns to a more, well, mature role.

Ian Dury a British punk rocker with luck far from his side, battles with the demons of alcohol, relationships and his rock and roll career.

Based on the true story of the man who revolutionised the pop sensation in England of the 70’s, Ian Dury inherited polio as a child and was left by his father in a school for crippled students living an abnormal life. Dury still fought his way up the ladder, never giving up.

The film’s style is what makes the film what it is, if it wasn’t for its zany colourful and almost cartoony moments, the film would be another deadbeat biopic. Here with its undertones of seriousness and overcoats of humour, the film’s presentation is very well received, rating it in my book as one of the best biopics of the century.

It also has references to Stanley Kubrick’s “A Clockwork Orange” and Spartacus which in fact was one of Dury’s inspirations for a song, called Spasticus Articulus.

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The Time that Remains, d. Elia Suleiman

NO TIME FOR WAR, LIVE YOUR LIFE

This film sports an interesting dark comedy feel, with a unique visual style that combines vivid images and quirky actions with dialogue integrating undertones of serious issues of the Palestine War of 1980. Directed by Israeli director Elia Suleiman who directed his debut feature in 1998, Chronicles of a Disappearance (which grabbed the best First Film Prize at the Venice Film Festival), here we live the story of two men: Elia and his father.

It begins in the present day, with Elia returning home after many years. Whilst travelling in a taxi, a storm confuses the driver and he gets lost. During the course of the film the audience is shown how the transformation of the Gaza strip due to rapid devlopment led to many people becoming disoriented in a place they once knew very well. The beginning symbolizes this very change and confusion: the taxi driver asks repeatedly where he is and what is going on.

The comedy spans six decades of political absurdity, truly proving that the war was a waste of time.

Unfortunately the main character played by Elia Suleiman is silent throughout the film and sticks his head out and hunches with a blank insipid expression on his face. Perhaps throughout the years of war, as a child he grew silent and became recluse, but I’m guessing already.

The film feels disjointed at some points and often tedious and boring; but it picks up again and you are left puzzled in the end, asking the question... was that really good or really bad?

Well, as a film critic, I have to make it my job to reach a final conclusion, and this is it: the film has enough strong points to be worth watching.

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The White Ribbon, d. Michael Haneke

WHITE ISN'T ALWAYS INNOCENT

Directed by Funny Games creator, Michael Haneke, renowned worldwide as one of Germany’s greatest directors, this film features an intriguing plot about the dominance of man and religion over society and woman. Set beautifully in the grim black and white world of pre-WWII Germany, the film depicts a series of mysterious and increasingly vicious cruelties which appear to be ritual punishment.

The film starts with an accident of a doctor who travels to a little village in Germany. His horse trips on a wire in a garden and he is severely injured. Throughout the film many secrets are revealed about the characters as the plot unfolds.

The Baron and his wife are having a complicated marriage; the pastor suspects his son and daughter are behind the accident that caused the Doctor to be injured and a horrible act of violence shadows over the village. The village church feels jeopardized and tries to take command over the situation and it all turns sour.

The film‘s storyline is brilliantly executed and is held together by sterling performances and a cinematography which shows the most immaculate attention to detail found in the sets and costumes.

The common notion of a white ribbon is that it is supposed to symbolize peace, innocence and loyalty when worn by the pastor’s children, and the irony lies with the actions of the children, which are anything but that. This is what makes the film an Oscar worthy delight.

The film has grabbed many awards at film festivals in many countries and it has grabbed the Best Foreign Film at the Academy Awards, the BAFTA's and the Golden Globe.

A must see.

Sanjeev Singh of VideoVision Entertainment talks about the distribution of The White Ribbon in South Africa at the Durban International Film Festival - watch the exclusive Coza TV interview here>>

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