STAYING VERTICAL: Alain Guiraudie is back once more -- with yet another jaw-dropper

People do the strangest things in the films of Frenchman, Alain Guiraudie, but damned if the guy doesn't make those things somehow work. After The King of Escape and to herald the debut of Stranger by the Lake, the FSLC in 2014 hosted a retrospective of Guiraudie's work which was in itself quite eye-opening. Now comes his latest movie, STAYING VERTICAL (Rester vertical) and it is every bit as bizarre, riveting and entertaining as the rest of his oeuvre. And definitely not for the mainstream crowd.

M. Guiraudie, pictured at right, looks to my eyes remarkably like an older version of his leading man in this new film (played by Damien Bonnard, shown below and further below). The fact that M. Bonnard plays a filmmaker who's having some trouble creating his latest work, simply adds to this connection. The plot of Staying Vertical ricochets all over the place, introducing characters who interact with each, often sexually, in ways that might seem crazy in a film by anyone else. But for Guiraudie pansexuality and polysexuality seem the norm, as does sexuality between folk of all ages, young adult to grandpappy.

And, yes, not only are sex organs on full display here (as is often the case with Guiraudie), you can expect to see the male ones engorged. (M. Bonnard, unless a prosthetic was used, is very well endowed.) And yet there is no trace of the snickering, shocked or shameful here. Sex, as usual with this filmmaker, is to be enjoyed, if often at a cost, especially when all the rest of the equation -- need, desire, jealousy, and the lot -- come into play.

The sex here, bizarre as it sometimes may look, is also more grounded and vital than in the other Guiraudie films I've seen. For instance, the first time we see the leading lady's sex, in voluptuous close-up, she is about to be pleasured orally by Bonnard's character. We soon after see a similar shot, but then -- suddenly -- a newborn emerges from that orifice. (India Hair, above, with rifle, plays this woman, and she she brings a very unusual combination of need, anger and strength to the role.)

There's a new wrinkle here, however: the introduction into Guiraudie's work of a baby and what this infant means to its father, mother, and the world at large. What this poor kid goes through may surprise and shock you -- wolf bait, anyone? -- but his appearance and importance to the film adds immeasurably to the humanity that holds this odd and careening movie together.

Unusual sexual couplings (even one of the medical sort, above), the difficulty of commitment, sheep and wolves, and anal sex as an aid to euthanasia -- all this and more are offered up in the filmmaker's look at what may seem to many viewers, TrustMovies included, as some kind of alternate universe. But it is one that we might gainfully learn from. And, oh, did I mention that this film is sometimes very funny, too? (The headline that appears on a newspaper toward the film's finale is as good as anything the National Enquirer has ever given us.)

All of Guiraudie's movies, I think, are political -- remember: he also gave us, back in 2001, that marvelous The Old Dream That Moves (Ce vieux rêve qui bouge) -- and this one is, too. Yet, if you try to pin it down to some single idea or another, it seems to half evaporate. Morality, creativity, religion, autonomy, the self vs the other: the connections are all here, but what they might mean dances deliciously in front of you and remains just out of reach. Yet the movie's hold on you does not let go.

I would not have missed this film for anything. And I'll want to see it again, down the road. But recommending it? Only if you're willing to drop, at least temporarily, your preconceptions and go with Guiraudie's flow. The rewards are spectacular. But they'll probably come to you piecemeal, and over some time, post-viewing.

From Strand Releasing and running 100 minutes, Staying Vertical opens this Friday, January 20, in New York City at the FSLC's Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center, and at the IFC Center. In Los Angeles, you can see it beginning this Friday at Laemmle's Royal, and (at morning screenings only on Saturday and Sunday: think of it as going to temple or church) at the Playhouse 7 in Pasadena. Eventually, it will arrive on DVD and digital, so if you're not on either coast, hold on.

Get an Oscar nom ready: Desmares & Ekinci's APRIL AND THE EXTRAORDINARY WORLD

Golly -- here's an animated movie that our own Republican Party should embrace wholeheartedly! APRIL AND THE EXTRAORDINARY WORLD tells the tale of an alternate universe in which all science and scientists have disappeared and consequently the world as we know it has evolved quite differently. We're still using coal for eveything energy-wise. Or we were, until it ran out: Now we're using charcoal from burnt trees.

The men who made this delectable bit of steampunk-inspired animation -- Christian Desmares and Franck Ekinci (shown above, with M. Ekinci on the left -- begin their tale around 1900 when certain French scientists are working on a certain pet project for the French royal government, only to have their project gutted and their experiment terminated. Except, of course, it isn't. Because it escapes.

The actual French title of this film is Avril et le monde truqué, which translates into April and the twisted world. But I guess the American distributor's marketing department imagined that our kids just couldn't handle a world that was twisted, so it had to become extraordinary.
Yeah, right.

Still, it's the art that counts, and this April in any kind of world works wonders. The film is the first project to be directed by this talented duo, and I doubt it will be their last.

April/World pits a family of smart scientists, of which our title character is the youngest, against a group of villainous Keystone Kops led by a particularly insistent detective (below) working for the government who dogs the family through thick and thin.

The filmmakers' vision of this dystopian world is full of fun and satire. (Note that, here, the French have their own set of "twin towers," shown three photos up.) All this will not be lost on parents, while kids can simply enjoy the view and the clever, inventive and often surprising story.

There's a little science, a little romance, some savvy chase scenes, the loss (then renewal) of a beloved pet and much, much more. The boys in the audience will get plenty of explosions and war games, while the girls will watch a smart, strong heroine. And everyone will get a kick out of that great talking cat named Darwin (above).

Eventually we leave the steampunk look for the beauty of the jungle (above), where the color palette changes appropriately. Politically, the film provides an interesting take on collaboration-with-the-enemy for the good of society -- pro and con. And ecologically, it is utterly on target. As one character notes toward the exciting finale:

 "Far from humans, nature could survive."

As consistently enjoyable and amusing as the movie is, it actually grows deeper, better and richer as it rolls along. And feminist, too. Who is really in change here turns out to be a blast-and-a-half. April and the Extraordinary World shows us anew what great animation -- via a combination of story, art, style and tone -- can aspire to. And achieve.

The movie, from GKIDS and running 105 minutes, opens  today, March 25, in New York City at the IFC Center), in Los Angeles (at Landmark's NuArt) on April 1, and then expands nationally around the country beginning on April 8.  Note: There are two versions of this film: in French with English subtitles and with English dialog spoken. So make sure you know which version you and the kids are going to see.

Amazon's most popular series so far: Frank Spotnitz's THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE

Give THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE a few points for having a fascinating subject: What might have happened had Germany and Japan won World War II (for whatever reason, Italy and Mussolini are thoroughly left out of the equation). That subject must be credited in large part to the late, great sci-fi writer Philip K. Dick, and his original novel. What show-runner and lead series writer, Frank Spotnitz (shown below) has done is to dumb things down and attenuate them -- for more intelligent audiences, at least -- to something near the breaking point.

Gazes are held far, far too long, the camera lingers on important moments until you'll want to scream, "I get it!" and what appears, in this initial season, at least, is such a drawn-out and rather paltry story that, after ten episodes and around ten hours of time, you could have finished any number of much better novels (or other cable series) in the meantime.

But if you don't mind the very obvious story-telling, along with the kind of coincidence that boggles an intelligent adult's brain, by all means give this show a shot. It has proven the most popular of any of Amazon's cable TV/streaming creations so far -- outdoing even the fine, awards-laden Transparent and the unusual, quietly provocative series, Mozart in the Jungle. But, as we've long been told, there is simply no accounting for (mainstream) taste, so if this is your bowl of cherries, dig in. But be prepared to spit out, regularly and often, the pits.

The story has to do with a resistance effort on America's west coast, controlled by Japan; on the east coast, controlled by Nazi Germany; and in and out of the so-called neutral territory, located in the middle. There is also a series of movies being produced (above) -- by whom and for whom is noticeably unclear -- that purport to show an alternative view of what might have happened, had the Allies won the war, and that maybe show the future, to boot.

"And...?" you might whisper under your breath, as episode after episode piles up, involving various kinds of betrayals in which the good guys/gals and bad guys/gals begin to overlap. How the U.S.A. has been reorganized to fit the Nazi and Japanese desires is certainly interesting in itself, but the direction is so slow and heavy-handed that this leaches out much of the suspense and enjoyment.

The plot machinations may keep you going, however, and the acting is as good as it can be, given the rather ham-handed and slovenly execution. In the lead role, Alexa Davalos (two photos up) makes a spunky and highly-put-upon heroine, while Rupert Evans (at right, above, with DJ Qualls) plays her somewhat-too-whiny boyfriend and Luke Kleintank (below, left) provides a sexy, conflicted, not-quite-hero.

In the actual lead role is the excellent British actor Rufus Sewell (standing, below), who, as the Nazi-in-charge, brings most of the low-key pizazz to the proceedings.

A sub-plot involving a sleazy antiques dealer and his relationship to a wealthy Japanese couple offers some of the more interesting moments. But little comes of this by the first season's end. (That's Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa -- below, right -- as one of the "good" Nipponese.)

As with almost all of these new cable series, there is not an ounce of closure by the finale (the producers obviously hoped for a sequel; given the popularity so far, I think they'll get their wish. Congratulations are in order, I guess, but this is one sequel with which I shall not be bothered.

The Man in the High Castle (the title refers to a much blabbed-about-but-nowhere-to-be-found character involved with those bizarre "alternate universe" movies) streams on Amazon. It's free if you are an Amazon Prime member.

On VOD, an original: Don Swaynos' quirky, jerky (as in full-of-jerks) PICTURES OF SUPERHEROES

One of the odd pleasures of writing about film is that you never know how one good movie may lead you to another. Case in point: Earlier this month, TrustMovies covered and very much enjoyed Bryan Poyser's Austin-based rom-com Love & Air Sex, which, though TM didn't know it at the time, was edited, and very well, by a fellow named Don Swaynos. After that post was published, Mr. Swaynos got in touch with TM, asking if he might want to watch Swaynos' first full-length narrative film, PICTURES OF SUPERHEROES, which only recently made its VODebut. Turns out that Swaynos also edited Pit Stop (click the link and scroll down), another recent film that TM enjoyed quite a bit. So, yes, I agreed: Bring it on, and let's see what transpires.

What transpires is... something else. This is one inspired, bizarre, quirky movie that is filled with, uh, males jerks (hence my rather unusual use of the adjectival form in the headline above) who surround a very put-upon female, the result of which is one original movie. Swaynos, shown at right, has given us one of the most sheerly odd films I've ever seen. And yet it is accessible. Sort of. This "almost accessibility" is what makes the movie so much fun. It is coming from a place of reality, an alternate universe if you will, but a jumping-off point from which most of us can observe and perhaps begin to identify.

Our heroine Marie, quietly but very fetchingly played by Kerri Lendo (above), works as a maid. However, Marie, who has just been fired, appears to have also recently learned that the crew of maids she works with is actually a ring of prostitutes. That she herself has not been included in this ring and has been used only for cleaning purposes is apparently due to her somewhat plain-Jane looks and rather sour attitude.

On this same day of sudden unemployment, Marie is also dumped by her utterly self-involved boyfriend, Phil (Byron Brown, caricatured on the poster at left, with one of his best lines of dialog shown at top).

As Marie goes off to hunt down some new job, she is almost immediately spied by a fellow who of course needs a cleaning woman and so asks/demands/begs Marie to come work for him. Just like that? Exactly. This is a movie, after all, so what's a poor, unemployed, recently dumped damsel to do? You got it.

Marie's "work" leads her to one bizarre character after another -- begin-ning with this new employer, Eric, played like nothing you've will have seen by Shannon McCormack (shown above), moving on to one of Eric's clients, a "money man" (Sonny Carl Davis) intent on reliving a scene from a certain Demi Moore movie. Unfortunately he has the wrong movie.

We also meet Eric's "surprise" roommate Joe (John Merriman, above, right, with Ms Lendo), a sort of big-baby/man who insists that "candy is better than vegetables." There's a meet-the-parents moment that is one for the books, a bizarre kind of "celebrity roast," and a scene in which a character goes homicidal in an almost kindly but bizarre fashion. The movie gives that old saying, "We're all connected" quite new meaning.

But how and why are we connected? After awhile you'll begin to wonder just what Mr. Swaynos is trying to say. Is this movie about the world of work -- or, yikes, Capitalism (be very afraid, Kyle Smith!) -- as it sometimes appears: a reflection of the absolute meaningless-ness of modern living? There is this absolutely strange and wonderful image of  liquids -- coke, coffee -- being poured onto a floor simply to dirty it up. This is repeated often enough to become a kind of major refrain and/or clue.

The film is also about the human need (expressed here mostly by the males) to have life the way we want it, no matter what. The bits of dialog seen on these posters (above and below, and all designed by Pit Stop filmmaker Yen Tan) seem to indicate the primacy of this need, no matter how crazy the result may be.

Is the movie anti-men? The jerks here are all male, for sure, and yet their jerkiness is so thorough that it does not seem to benefit them one whit. The film's title, too, is ironic as hell. Do we want, or ever need "meaning" here? I don't know. But I do know that Pictures of Superheroes is a genuine American independent, not popped from any ready-made-mold that you'll be able to easily reference. It is uber-quirky but also very funny. Which makes it a must-see of sorts.

The movie, from Jollyville Pictures and running just 70 minutes, is available now for purchase or rental via the VOD and streaming sources found here. And although Netflix is not as yet among this group, I hope it will be soon. Or eventually.

Film of the Year (so far): the Romanek/ Garland/Ishiguro NEVER LET ME GO

“You poor creatures.” Is this quiet exclamation not a fitting epitaph for the human race? In NEVER LET ME GO, the maybe-masterpiece that director Mark Romanek (below) and screenwriter Alex Garland have made from the novel by Kazuo Ishiguro, we hear this statement addressed, with profound sadness, to two of the film’s three protagonists. Their antagonist is society itself, of course. Historically, most societies have found a way to make their power system – Capitalist, Communist or Fundamentalist – serve those who hold that power and who thus make certain that the “haves” are well-served by the “have-nots,” usually by positioning a portion of their people into the status of  “other.”

One of (maybe the most important) uses of science-fiction -- of which this novel and its filmed adaptation are examples (they also fit into the categories of "alternate universe" scenarios and dystopian fiction, though is any society not dystopian?) -- is to explain how our own world works (and might work better or worse) by showing us imagined, futuristic worlds. Never Let Me Go achieves all  this and more without ever raising its voice or sporting a special effect. One of its charac-ters raises his voice -- once, early on, as a child, and then later as an adult. This second time provides a despairing heart-rending moment, the likes of which has seldom been seen (or heard) in cinema history. It's that kind of movie. And yet it never insists.

The film follows the lives of two girls (Kathy and Ruth) and a boy (Tommy) from early adolescence to adulthood, giving away the secrets of who these people are only gradually and glancingly. (That's Ella Purnell, above, as young Ruth, and Isobel Meikle-Small, below left, as young Kathy with Charlie Rowe, who plays young Tommy.)

Just as gradually and glancingly as the facts of the situation come to light, so, too, do the filmmakers give us entry into the the minds and emotions of the three, and this, I think, is the key to why the film succeeds so well.  By the time the movie draws to its ineffably fraught conclusion, we have come so far in understanding and empathy that there, at last, lies before us life in all its devastating complexity, pain, sadness and even -- against all sense, considering the awful situation at hand -- joy and love, tinged as both are with the knowledge of how soon we must lose them.

The actors who assume the young-adult and then the fully-adult versions of the children are Cary Mulligan (above, left, from An Education), Keira Knightley, (center, from those "Pirates" movies and The Duchess)  and Andrew Garfield (Boy A and the Red Riding Trilogy).  They are splendid and unforgettable.  Ms Mulligan, in particular, assuming the pivotal role, is a revelation and then some. Her final speech is as moving and profound as anything in the canon. In the supporting cast are Charlotte Rampling (as the headmistress of the school at which our threesome is taught, Natalie Richard as its "art" connoisseur and Sally Hawkins, below, as the teacher who decides to explain their future to the children.

The movie itself is profound. Along the way, you'll be put in mind of everything from countless Holocaust documentaries and narratives to the long, ongoing journey for black, gay and women's civil rights. You may think of the surprisingly fine Torchwood: Children of Earth or M. Night's silly The Village and Michael Bay's sillier The Island, of Logan's Run, Soylent Green and other sci-fi films that address the bizarre ways in which society "solves its problems." And of Blade Runner, of course, and what it means to be human.

This film outdoes them all in its own quiet way.  No explosions nor chases. Hardly a special effect to be seen. (The little lighted bracelets that the kids use to "check in" is as much "sci-fi" effect as we see.) The odd, sort-of mauve, hard-to-describe screen color featured in the credits and that also connects the scenes may remind you of one used in the lovely, little-seen Canadian film Snow Cake. The choice of a color this unusual suggests, I think, what lies in store.

Romanek, Garland and Ishiguro manage to place us, as completely as I have experienced in a movie, into the role of the "other." Yet interestingly enough, most everyone we see here is "white."  (Britain seems to have solved her immigration problem, though I shudder to think how.)  I can't imagine any intelligent and empathetic person -- whether gay, black, woman, Jew, Irishman, Serb, Croat, Italian and all the rest of those "minorities" -- leaving the theater without the echo of "You poor creatures" resounding in their mind and heart and realizing, I hope, that it is in truth "We poor creatures."

Never Let Me Go, from Fox Searchlight, opens this Wednesday, September 15.  In New York City, it will play at the AMC Loew's Lincoln Square 13 and at Landmark's Sunshine Cinema.