Milad Alami's THE CHARMER: unfurling a mystery about character and motivation

Can a movie succeed almost solely by keeping hidden from the audience the real motives of its main character? Not the actions: Those are apparent. But the why of those actions, not so much. Further, what if the motives in question are unclear even to the character himself? Or perhaps they began as clear -- but then changed?

All these questions may surface in your mind as you mull over the events and particularly the conclusion of THE CHARMER, the new Danish/Swedish co-production directed and co-written (with Ingeborg Topsøe) by Milad Alami, a young-ish filmmaker who was born in Iran, grew up in Sweden and now lives in Denmark -- and who, TrustMovies would imagine, knows quite a lot about being a Middle-Eastern immigrant to Scandinavia.

Mr. Alami, pictured at left, has created a rather unusual character here. What we know about his anti-hero, Esmail (played by Ardalan Esmaili, shown above and below), is that this man is in Denmark legally, but only for a very short time longer (according to the Danish social worker who is helping him), so he should probably resign himself to being sent back to Iran.

Yet Esmail is (and has been for some time now) fucking his way through an array of eligible (and sometimes, it turns out, ineligible) Danish women, in hopes of finding one who will marry him and this give him "legality." Things are not working out, however. As his current "squeeze" informs him, while ending their relationship, he consistently comes on too strong and tries too hard.

Clearly, he does both. In almost every scene, Esmail seems unsure and agitated, nervous and ill at ease. While he is attractive enough on the surface, though nothing all that special, were it not for his evidently amazing sexual prowess, which we both see and hear about, it would be a bit difficult to understand why this guy is so "prized." Real charm demands ease and affability, neither of which appears to be chief among Esmail's repertoire -- and grows even less so as his deportation approaches.

The movie returns again and again to the bar he frequents where he evidently meets most of his women, and where one particular man insists on talking to him repeatedly. ("I'm not gay," Esmail explains; "I'm not either," the fellow assures him.) Alami opens his film with the sounds of lovemaking, and then a very short conversation between the lovers, after which the woman does something extremely unexpected. We know nothing of who these people are, but the event, of course, will come home to roost later on.

Along the way Esmail meets, befriends and eventually takes quite a shine to a young Iranian-Danish woman (Soho Rezanejad, above, right, and below) and her mother, who was a famous singer in her native country. Mom and daughter, too, are quite impressed with our charmer.

All these elements jostle for position in the tale -- which has been conceived and executed in a bizarrely manipulative manner -- and eventually they play out to some sort of conclusion, even as poor Esmail falls further apart. There are surprises, and we learn things -- sort of. And, yes, there are some possible motives we see (or imagine). Turns out, I'm afraid, that our Esmail is either not a very bright fellow at all, or he is (maybe, rather, was) supremely sleazy.

And so, to answer the question about the movie's success, posed in my initial paragraph above, the answer -- for me at least -- is no. The Charmer is never uninteresting as it moves quietly along. But it is, finally -- due to its refusal to commit enough actual "character" to its central character -- nowhere near what I'd call fulfilling.

From Film Movement and running 102 minutes, the movie has its U.S. theatrical premiere this Wednesday, December 5, in New York City at Film Forum. Other playdates/cities do not seem to be forthcoming (or have already occurred: click here and scroll down to see the list ), so if you're not in NYC, wait for streaming or the DVD. 

Scandinavian soap suds, served up in style: Hannes Holm's funny/sad A MAN CALLED OVE

A mainstream/art-house crowd-pleaser nonpareil, A MAN CALLED OVE, adapted (from the international best-seller by Fredrik Backman) and directed by Hannes Holm (shown below), is certainly this year's guilty pleasure. And guilt will be a by-product of viewing. Not having read the book, I can't say whether or not it is as manipulative as is this movie -- which, yes, left me in tears, even as I kicked myself in the ass for being such a patsy. The film withholds important information about its protagonist and his deceased wife for what seems like eons, and although it initially presents its hero as the world's worst curmudgeon, it takes far too little time before he is revealed as -- no? yes! -- an adorable old teddy bear, after all.

So far, so typical. But the story here is extremely incident-prone and consequently pretty interesting, while the performances from the four leads are terrific, going a very long way towards pulling us in and refusing to release us until we've experienced every last giggle, snort and tear. And oh, boy -- do we ever.

The quartet of actors who do so much toward making the movie special is led by star, Rolf Lassgård (above, and so good as TV's original Wallander). This actor nails every last moment and emotion quite beautifully. He's a consistent pleasure to watch in action.

As his younger self, Filip Berg (above) is near-perfect as the socially inept earlier version who has lost both his mother, as a child, and his father, later, to untimely deaths.

Ida Engvoll (above) is the pert and precious wife of Ove, and she makes the most of her many flashback scenes.

But it is Iranian actress Bahar Pars (above) who completes the picture from so many angles, as Ove's new Persian neighbor who befriends him and, despite his several protestations, changes his life in precise and enjoyable increments. Two subplots (about rescuing first a suddenly homeless gay young man, and then a paralyzed neighbor about to be placed in a rest home) are handled far too quickly and easily to be believed.

Things move along, flashing back and forth in time, as expected, until the moving (and also expected) finale and denouement, handled with the same straight-ahead style and suds as the rest of the film. Those who've already read that novel will flock to the film, probably bringing along a few friends and/or spouses who can handle English subtitles, and who will no doubt leave the theater surprisingly satisfied and murmuring, "Hey, this was good!"

From Music Box Films, in Swedish with English subtitles, and running 116 minutes, the movie opens simultaneously this Friday, September 30, in New York City (at the Angelika Film Center and the Paris Theatre), Los Angeles (at Laemmle's Royal), Minneapolis, Seattle and at several theaters in the greater Chicago area. Over the weeks to come it will open throughout the rest of the country. Here in Florida, you can catch it, come October 21, in Sarasota (at the Burns Court), and on October 28 in the Miami area at the Tower Theater and the AMC Sunset Place; in Fort Lauderdale at the Gateway Theatre and the AMC Aventura; in Boca Raton at the Living Room Theater; and at The Movies of Delray and The Movies of Lake Worth. To see all currently scheduled playdates, with theaters and cities listed, click here -- and then scroll midway down the screen to click on THEATERS in the task bar.

Swedish Oscar Bait, 2014: Ruben Östlund's crystalline and unsettling FORCE MAJEURE

One of the most interesting films of this past year and, in its way, one of the most daring explorations of "manhood" and its discontents, FORCE MAJEURE, the new Swedish film from Ruben Östlund (as well as that country's submission for this year's Best Foreign Language Film), is a brilliantly conceived look at the male imperative as seen from inside and out, subjectively, objectively, and just about every which way.

And yet, blissfully for the inveterate moviegoer, Östlund's film (the moviemaker is shown at right) is never didactic; it shows rather than tells, and neither is it judgmental. It allows us to really watch and consider and be pushed and pulled back and forth as we identify with husband, wife, friends and children, even hotel employees -- as we try to come to terms with what has happened and what this means. Is what happened a "deal-breaker," or is the behavior that follows the event what matters more? Can anything -- after this kind of moment occurs -- count at all?

The central event takes place early on, and if you've seen the not-very-good film by Julia Loktev, The Loneliest Planet, you'll know what that events entails. Loktev's movie failed because of its refusal to explore, not just the event itself, but even simple characterization of those involved in it. Force Majeure explores it all, even as it entertains us spectacularly well by being intelligent, specific, encompassing and even quite a bit of fun.

I'd rather not give away details here; you deserve to discover and ponder them for yourself. Suffice it to say that the film's husband (a sterling job from Johannes Kuhnke, above, left) while on a family vacation at a resort in the French Alps, does something pivotal about which he must come to terms if he is to save his marriage and most probably himself.

How he does this -- with the help (and sometime hindrance) of wife, friends, kids -- is the meat of Force Majeure, and it makes a tasty, nourishing meal. Writer/director Östlund has a way with both words and pictures, keeping us spellbound and off-kilter from his first scene (above) -- in which a photographer at the resort in which the family is staying takes photo after photo of our crew -- to the final moments in which we see characters simply walking. But, oh, what energy is felt here!

The character of the wife slowly comes to the fore as the movie unfurls, and Lisa Loven Kongsli (above, left) does a crack job of deciphering her, while allowing us to gradually understand the woman. Male and female "roles" are explored here about as well as I've seen done in decades of film-going.

Subsidiary roles are performed beautifully, too, especially dad's best friend, played by Kristofer Hivju (above) and his a-bit-too-young girlfriend (Fanni Metelius). In a relatively (considering the events here) easy-going, believable manner, our current and rather long-standing ideas about manhood are held up to view and possibly challenged. But the filmmaker doesn't unduly push us in any direction, which is one of the beauties of this movie.

The conclusion(s) audiences will themselves arrive at may differ, but I doubt there will be be much disagreement regarding the strengths of Force Majeure -- which is one, major, satisfying movie. From Magnolia Pictures and running 118 minutes, it opens today, Friday, October 24, in New York City at the Angelika Film Center and Lincoln Plaza Cinema. The following Friday, October 31, it hits another dozen cities (in L.A., it plays at several Laemmle theaters), and will continue its nationwide opening in cities across the country in the weeks and months to come. Click here to all currently scheduled playdates.

Erik Poppe's 1,000 TIMES GOOD NIGHT tackles art, death, sacrifice, family, career and more....

...and the best thing about this movie is that it does not cheat or trivialize any of the subjects it touches. That the film deals especially with what we might call terrorist bombings (while the bombers themselves would undoubtedly call it freedom fighting) makes 1,000 TIMES GOOD NIGHT an especially fraught experience. When it is good, which is often, it is superb, and even at the times in which the movie lessens, it is never less than worthwhile. It is also one of the most serious and moving films about sacrifice that I have ever seen.

The Norwegian filmmaker, Erik Poppe (shown at right), a few years back gave us the excellent Troubled Water, and his new film is a fine follow-up. It stars the nearly always terrific Juliette Binoche as Rebecca, a famous war photographer and a woman considered among the best in her field who loves and understands her work and what it means and why she does it about as well as she possibly can. That she is married and has two children, whom she sees too seldom, is the point upon which the movie turns. Her husband, played by the hot and talented Danish actor, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (in the second and third photo below, and at bottom, left), has determined, after the shocking event that begins the film, that his wife must finally choose between her family and the ever-possibly-fatal career she pursues.

Mr. Poppe allows us to view Rebecca in the midst of the most dangerous parts of her work, and we see that she does it very well. She does not love it, exactly; rather, she experiences it as a necessity to help this dangerous world in which we live.

We can also understand the feelings of her family members. There are no villains here, not even -- and this is the film's most miraculous effect -- those people with bombs planted on their person, ready to make the ultimate sacrifice. (I could have done without the candle-lit balloon lift off, below, but that's a minor quibble.)

In order to bring mom and elder daughter closer together, a trip to Africa (don't worry, they are told: It's a safe location) is planned. The result of this brings the film to its climax and proper close. Nothing goes quite as planned, but neither do things dissolve. Rather, the events that happen seem appropriate and important, and the decisions made are reached via genuinely felt and understood experience.

I think Mr. Poppe is one of our better directors -- interested in what is happening in our world and why, and what is to be done about it. If possible. He gets fine performances from his entire cast (Ms Binoche is, as always, sterling), and best of all, he addresses our world honestly, effectively, and without rancor or any of the feel-good cheating that is the hallmark of so many of our movies.

1,000 Times Good Night -- a Norway/Ireland/Sweden co-production released here by Film Movement -- opens theatrically this Friday, October 24, in New York City at the Quad Cinema and in Los Angeles at Laemmle's Royal, among other major cities now, and in the weeks to come. You can view the entire list of currently scheduled playdates, with cities and theaters, by clicking here and then scrolling down.

Note: At NYC's Quad Cinema, director Erik Poppe will be present for a Q&A following the 7:30 show on Friday 10/24. In L.A., at the Royal theater, director of photography John Christian Rosenlund will participate in a Q&A at after the 7 PM screening on Friday, October 24, while the film's director/co-screenwriter Eric Poppe will participate in a Q&A after the 7 PM screening on Wednesday, October 29.

GIRL WITH DRAGON TATTOO arrives on-screen: year's best serial killer movie?

Granted, 2010 is young. Still, it's difficult to imagine a serial killer film any better, in many ways, than THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO (Män som hatar kvinnor), adapted by Nikolaj Arcel and Rasmus Heisterberg from the novel by the late journalist/novelist Stieg Larsson and directed by Niels Arden Oplev (shown below).  Taut, fraught and fascinatingly dense, the movie offers two of the most riveting performances to be found in this genre in a long while, both of which go far in making the film the success that it is.

Not having read the original novel, I can't say how closely the movie version adheres, only that it works -- and well.  Beginning like a house afire, it never lets up, although to be honest, its best moments by far fill the first half. Afterwards, though it never descends to the maladroit, The GWTDT becomes closer to pedestrian as it moves along,  offering up far too many genre cliches -- the rich and nasty family full of suspects (three photos below), naughty Nazis, the cliff-hanger climax, and -- ah, yes -- the villain who's down but not quite out.  Also, it's two-and-one-half hours long.

The movie's beginning is near perfect, as we are introduced to the two main characters: an enterprising journalist (above, right) suddenly made to seem a fraud and a young girl (below, right) on some kind of "parole" who must kowtow to her "guardian" (below, left). Fast-moving, giving us just enough time to ingest the necessary information, it sees to it that we're rooting for our twosome in no time, though we -- and one of them, in fact -- don't immediately understand their connection to each other.

There's a scene early on in the subway in which our heroine is menaced by a group of young thugs that could stand as a testament to director Oplev's talent. No wilting wallflower, the girl fights back fast and hard, and we're with her all the way.  The scene could go on longer, and it could be a lot meaner, too, giving vent to our sense of vigilante justice  Instead, it reaches its crescendo and then properly abates, offering us the information we need, plus a thrill or two, without ever going over the top in terms of violence.  Oplev informs and entertains but never becomes repetitive, boring or unduly exploitative.

Serial killer films -- particularly those that deal with young, abused women as victims -- are always exploitative by their very nature and often difficult to watch.  This one is no different, better or worse in that regard.  Being entertained by stories of young women mutilated and murdered has long lost its caché for some of us, no matter how stylishly handled or properly paced the director does it.  At least here, we are spared most of the in-the-moment violence but certainly not the visual or verbal after-effects.

The leading actors are all one could want for these two characters. In the title role Noomi Rapace (above left) is aces: strong, dark and mean, with just enough sadness and vulnerability to make up for her anger and violence.  As the journalist, Michael Nyquist (above, right) matches her moment for moment, mood for mood.  He's hard, too -- he's a guy, after all -- even so, he's softer than she.  They make a great pair, and when they finally begin working together to solve a decades-old mystery, the motor kicks in on all cylinders and keep gunning along -- until we realize, late in the game with some surprise, that it is powering a vehicle on its way to, uh-oh, the same old place.  (That's the trouble with so many of these thrillers: The mystery is much more fun & inventive than its solution.)

The players who support Ms Rapace and Mr. Nyquist are all fine, too, with Lena Endre (left), Peter Andersson (he's that "guardian" pictured above), Sven Bertil-Taube and Peter Haber especially noteworthy.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo opens in theaters across the country on Friday, March 19, with further openings to follows in the weeks to come.  You can check all playdates, cities and theaters here.