In his new narrative film, COURT, Chaitanya Tamhane explores India's idea of "justice"

The first shock of COURT -- the new Indian film that has its U.S. theatrical premiere this week at New York City's Film Forum -- comes from the riot of color that greets your eyes: rich, varied and beautiful. The we meet one of our main characters, an elderly teacher/performer/poet whom we first encounter in his teaching mode and then performing al fresco a poem about the times in which we live. This is India, but from the sound of things -- what our boy is railing against -- it might as well be right here in the good old US of A. Then the event occurs that sets the movie in motion, as police crack down on what is a remarkably peaceful, even dignified protest, arresting our performer in the process.

Though he finds some humor in the goings-on, the writer/director of Court, Chaitanya Tamhane (pictured at left), whose first full-length film this is, has given us less a satire, I think, than a sadly realistic look at what passes for justice in India today. From the police, who are clearly acting on orders from their superiors (though no higher-ups are named or shown, except perhaps by certain portraits hanging on the wall) to the chief prosecutor to the somewhat lazy and not-very-intelligent judge, it is clear from almost the first that this is a set up and railroaded job.

Yet none of this can be baldly stated -- by either the filmmaker or his besieged hero, the defense attorney (a fine performance by Vivek Gomber, above). Thanks most likely to the country's heritage of colonialism, decorum, along with way too many outdated laws from that British rule, must be preserved.

We learn a few of these laws along with decorum -- the judge (Pradeep Joshi, in background, below) refuses to hear one woman's case because she wears a sleeveless dress to court) -- via the public prosecutor (Geetanjali Kulkarni, above), whose main interest is getting this case over with and her career in higher gear.

The filmmaker takes us away from court as often as he lets us in: investigating the family of the man his client is accused of inducing-into-suicide (yes!) via his political rabble-rousing; into the family life of both the defense and prosecuting attorney; and finally allowing us to meet the wife of the dead man at the center of it all.

The scene in which our hero simply drives the widow and her children to their home speaks volumes about class differences in India. Mr.Tamhane and his cinematographer (Mrinal Desai) often use a stationary camera to capture their scenes, as characters move in and out of the frame very effectively.  (This also allows for the movie's most violent scene to take place -- charmingly and amusingly -- off-camera.)

The filmmaker's initial ending uses that stationary camera again to fine advantage, leaving us -- and Indian justice -- in darkness, while his actual finale offers a little too heavy-handedly a mash-up of a country in which tradition & modernity, magical thinking & science, raw youth & grizzled stupidity constantly lock horns.  And, as in so many of the world's so-called democracies today, power finds a way to stymie protest every time.

Court, from Zeitgeist Films -- in several different languages, including English, all with English subtitles -- and running a long but never boring 116 minutes, opens this Wednesday at NYC's Film Forum and next Friday in Chicago and Santa Fe. In the weeks and month to come, it will play another dozen cities throughout the country. For all currently scheduled playdates, cities and theaters, click here and scroll down.

Note: Geetanjali Kulkarni will appear in person 
at the 7pm show at Film Forum on opening night, 
Wednesday, July 15.

Streaming sleeper: the Johnston/Mason/Boyes ultra-timely thriller, NOT SAFE FOR WORK

How rare is it to discover a suddenly streamable genre movie that's first-rate yet never even received a theatrical release? Very. Which makes NOT SAFE FOR WORK (TrustMovies has finally learned what the Internet acronym NSFW actually means!) pretty much a must-see, especially for fans of sharp, tight, cat-and-mouse thrillers, of which we see damned few good ones anymore.

As directed by the capable-in-many-genres Joe Johnston, (shown at right) from a smart screenplay by Adam Mason and Simon Boyes, this little movie lasts only 74 minutes, yet for most of its running time is one of those eyes-on-a-screen-from-which-you-cannot-look-away endeavors. It's that tight and exciting.

Best of all, this is a film that relies not upon near-constant special effects but is instead concerned with clever plot mechanics, a very good script and smart dialog to whisk it along, abetted by the kind of direction that knows where to put the camera when and how to cut for maximum speed and intelligibility (the editing's by Rick Shaine).

Add to this a situation that puts you in the midst of Big Pharma, a major corporation, the Mafia and a large law firm -- yes, all of our favorite kinds of people, even though one of these turns out to be a red herring -- and you have a recipe for fast-moving, top-notch entertainment. All the more so for the movie's being near-completely unknown to most movie-goers.

Another smart move: making its hero nothing like a superman (he actually does some dumb things along the way) yet proves someone who, when severely tested, can rise to the occasion. As played by the excellent Max Minghella (above, who it is nice to see in a lead role), this guy is fun to be around, never more so than when he's playing for very high stakes.

The heroine is a pretty and bright secretary (Eloise Mumford, above), and the villain a very smooth-talking fellow (played by JJ Feild, below), who gives his character a most interesting spin.

The major supporting roles are played by Christian Clemenson (below), as the boss of the law firm;

Tom Gallop, as Minghella's co-worker (gasping, below) and Alejandro Patino (shown at bottom) as the building's kindly janitor.

Every cast member nails it. As does this juicy little out-of-nowhere movie. The film's ending has evidently proven problematic for some audiences. Too bad. Considering all we know these days, what happens here could hardly be more on the mark.

In retrospect you may have a few logic questions, but while it's moving along, Not Safe for Work is mostly riveting. It's available now via Netflix streaming, Amazon Instant Video, and on DVD.

A juicy Malcolm McDowell in Tim Chey's SUING THE DEVIL: good, Christian schlock

TrustMovies understood even better the bedrock appeal of Christian fundamentalism from the very beginning of the scripture-thumping movie SUING THE DEVIL, when the film's hero, Luke (played by an angry, too-often one-note Bart Bronson), tells us what a terrible year he's had and then wonders aloud, "Why does the good lord let Satan get away with so much?" You'll notice that there is no mention of either Luke, himself, or the rest of us poor humans in his query.  Nope: He and we are off the hook because the responsibility for bad stuff, doncha know, lies solely in the lap of the good lord -- or with that other fellow, down below.

Granted, toward the end of the film, personal responsibility does rear its little head. But like so much else in this silly Aussie/American mish-mash of a movie, it carries only tendentious sermonizing rather than any real weight. Satan -- as played with lip-smacking villainy by one of the world's great lip-smackers, Malcolm McDowell (below) -- is indeed sued by Luke and, for reasons known only to the movie-maker (writer/director Tim Chey, shown at left), decides to make an appearance in court -- bringing with him a battery of the world's finest (and of course sleaziest) lawyers to defend himself. How the court -- its judge, jurors and attendees, not to mention the media -- actually knows this guy is the real Satan is as cursorily handled as everything else in the movie. You either shrug and buy it wholesale, or simply stop watching. The "surprise ending" (I guess you could call it this) reduces the entire affair to pointlessness, in any case.

To give just one example of lazy screenwriting, "Are you really Satan," asks one woman of McDowell, as he approaches the courthouse. He grabs her and twirls her around, as he says, "How about a little dance with Satan?" Well, I ask, why not "How about a little dance with the devil?" Get some variety, not to mention some alliteration, into your screenplay, please.

At another point, Satan yells out, "You're all losers!" and one tends to agree with the guy. Our hero Luke (above) is said to be a genius, but the basis for this assessment is never remotely visible. And when his co-attorney tells him "That was amazing!" after a particularly ludicrous courtroom scene, you'll realize that all this is only working for those already converted. Further, Luke has a "mother" scene in court that is beyond embarrassing in its heavy-handed faux emotions.

In terms of any kind of law, lawyering or judicial believability (that's Ros Gentle, above, as the judge), the movie simply stinks. McDowell does get one good speech at the film's climax, which he delivers with relish. The denouement, however, is just another sermon, and then as previously noted, the ending pulls the rug out from under everything that has taken place. Overall, Suing the Devil deserves a big, fat raspberry.

One further note of interest: Mr McDowell is listed in the credits as the film's producer. This is at least the actor's second brush with fundamentalism in the movies (watch, if you can bear it, The List, for another example). One dearly hopes that this sort of thing will not becomes a habit for this fine actor. Suing the Devil made its nationwide On-Demand debut this week (check your local TV reception provider for details), and it is also available for pre-order via Apple iTunes.

SCN: In Juan Martínez Moreno's A GOOD MAN, the irony lands with a thud

What's the bet that any movie bearing the title
A GOOD MAN is going to be about a guy who's not so hot? The irony is just too irresistible, right? It evidently was for writer/
director Juan Martínez Moreno (shown below), whose film of that name has screened twice already at the FSLC's Span-
ish Cinema Now.


This tale of three law professors stars former heartthrob Tristan Ulloa as the most pivotal of the three, now looking quite buttoned-
down, ready for mid-life and bear-
ing a surprising resemblance to our own Tim Robbins. Ulloa is assisted by Emilio Gutiérrez Caba (two photos below) as his friend, father figure & mentor; Alberto Jiménez as his smart and nasty adversary; & Nathalie Poza (below, left) as his long-suffering wife. Good cast! Each does a creditable job with the material given -- which, to label as second-rate, would be kind.

Moreno's movie begin with a speech given by the Ulloa character which is, shall we say, obvious enough. This is immediately underlined by the response from the Jiménez character, and underlined again by a further response from Señor Caba. Ah-hah: the theme and set-up become clear! While we are happy to note that the filmmaker's highlighting pen is in working order, we begin to pray that it runs out of ink sometime soon. No such luck. Event leads to event, the next more obvious -- and more coincidental -- than the last, until laughter becomes the best response, as happened on several occasions at last night's screening).

If a theme can be found that joins the disparate array of films collected for this year's SCN, it might just be this: How long does it take a country, post- fascist-dictatorship, to arrive at a new kind of dictatorship: that of a consumer-crazed Capitalism in which getting ahead is all and rocking the boat in any form is simply not to be tolerated. We've seen this reflected in different ways by this years' Cell 211, Gordos, Hierro, Mediterran- ean Food (more about this fun film soon), Woman Without Piano and even Stigmata (more about this one soon, too). In any case, I think A Good Man bears out this theory, even if, as a movie, it is no great shakes.

Predictability is the film's greatest sin; a good thriller needs as little of this as possible, but Moreno just piles it up. On the plus side, in addition to the decent acting, is the fine cinematography by Gonzalo F. Berridi (responsible also for this year's excellent The Good News), who makes everything look stylish and appealing, including the seemingly ever-present rain-in-Spain (above). Oh, yes, and the other thing the movie teaches us is how wonderfully versatile can be that most prosaic of garden tools, the trowel
(see Ulloa's hand, below).

There's one more chance to view this new Spanish film: Saturday afternoon, December 12, at 3:15, at the Walter Reade Theater.