The utter hopelessness of today's China: Vivian Qu's noir melodrama ANGELS WEAR WHITE

I'm not sure from where the title of this very dark and unsettling Asian-noir melodrama comes from, but the only even partial white worn in ANGELS WEAR WHITE, the new film from writer/director Vivian Qu (shown below), comes at the film's beginning, as a couple of young schoolgirls check into a seaside hotel, accompanied by an older man who seems just a tad suspicious. After that, we have to wait until the finale of this popular-at-festivals film to finally give us an all-white dress worn by its lead actress, the very good Vicky Chen, who ends this film in an oddball scene that

combines coincidence with a feel-good climax which can be interpreted, I suspect, in several ways: as an escape (but to where?), as the filmmaker's need to give us something positive at last, or perhaps as the old died-and-gone-to-heaven number in which our heroine is now one of those titular "angels."

In any case, how you react to this finale -- which includes, by the way, a marvelous and surprising use of one of Hollywood's most enduring icons -- will probably determine your approval rating for Angels Wear White.

The film tells the tale of the two little girls (above), together with their "keeper," all of whom are checked into that hotel by Mia, an only slightly older girl who, without proper identity papers, is working illegally at the hotel and soon becomes privy to a very bad event that happens there.

The first thing you may notice here, something that continues and only grows worse throughout the movie, is how venal and crooked is almost everyone we see. If Ms Qu is not saying that corruption is a -- probably the -- way of life in China, I'd be very surprised. One can't help but wonder how a film like this got by the Chinese censors. (I'm very glad it did, however.)

As usual, the more powerful are the people shown, the more corrupt and impossible-to-counter they are. This makes cops, top to bottom, the worst of the lot, with the medical profession not too far behind. Women, particularly young girls, are at the bottom of the power chain. Not to say that Ms Qu does not indict women, too. The little girl we get to know best here, Wen, has a mother (below, left) you would gladly rid the girl of, had you the chance.

In the heroics department are just two people, a female lawyer (played by Shi Ke, shown below) who stays on top of the abuse case in the center of the film, along with Wen's up-till-now mostly absentee father, Geng Le (above, right), whom we first imagine to be just another male "rotter" but who slowly takes on surprising depth and emotional strength at the movie moves along.

By the roiling and powerful climax, you'll want to take a semi-automatic to both the police and the hospital doctors. And yet what shortly precedes and then follows this seems sheer folly in terms of filmmaking. When a certain character turns out to be have been badly beaten (instead of being outright murdered, which would make much more sense, given the society we've seen here) and then a short time later appears bruise-free so that she can dress in white (like those titular angels) and give us a feel-good finale, you will wonder if Ms Qu has capitulated to Hollywood -- and not simply because of how she presents that movie-star icon at film's end.

The performances are A-1, especially from the three young girls, as well as that of Ms Shi as the lady lawyer and Mr. Le as Wen's dad. And the director's use of background shots -- as, above, with various wedding photos being taken near the beachside hotel -- speaks volumes about appearance vs reality in Chinese culture. Angels Wear White has much to recommend it. I just wish it had a little more.

From KimStim, in Chinese and with English subtitles and running 107 minutes, the movie opens this Friday, May 4, in New York City at The Metrograph, and on May 18 in Los Angeles at Laemmle's Music Hall 3.

Rape and its aftermath in the Arab world's said-to-be most democratic country: Kaouther Ben Hania's BEAUTY AND THE DOGS

The first thing TrustMovies did after viewing BEAUTY AND THE DOGS -- the Tunisian-set narrative film (based on a real incident) from filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania -- was to find out more about the tiny North African country of Tunisia, which is said by Wikipedia to be considered the only full democracy in the Arab world. How that "democracy" is seen by Ms Ben Hania (shown below), however, indicates that her country has a long way to go regarding the rights of women and the persistence of abuse by the police.

Beauty and the Dogs is also said to have been filmed in discrete sections, each of which was done in a single "take." While this is unusual, still, entire movies have actually been filmed in one take: Russian Ark and Valzer, to name two. This  decision and its execution does lend the film both immediacy and a kind of improvisational quality that adds to its veracity.

Regarding that veracity, however, some understanding of the history, culture and character of Tunisia might also help matters.

My spouse opined, during the course of the film, that this young woman, as well as the male friend who helps her, would have been long dead by now at the hands of the police (some of whom are shown above). That thought did crop up in my mind, too, but Tunisia is not Egypt nor Saudi Arabia. Democratic standards are at least higher there, and while the police can get away with a lot -- quite a lot, as you will come to observe --  there apparently is a limit.

The tale told here is one of a quite beautiful and bountiful 21-year-old student, Mariam (played by the impressive and talented newcomer, Mariam Al Ferjani (above and below), who has organized a dance party with the help of her friends, and hopes to have a good time and maybe meet a young man she sees hanging out around the dance floor (Ghanem Zrelli, below). She does meet this fellow, Youssef, but suddenly we're in scene number two, and the pair appear to be running for their lives. What has happened?

The answer to that sets the tone and provides remainder of this very dark and pretty ugly story, the various pieces of which fall into place, as we watch Mariam and Youssef try to negotiate the ordeal of post-rape procedure in Tunisia. This involves private vs public hospitals, the willingness (or not) of medical professionals to do their job, and most of all -- of course -- it involves the police who are, in this case, more than a little involved by being both the assailants and the supposed instruments for justice.

These guardians of society threaten, cajole, blackmail, lie, play the good-cop/bad-cop game, and oh, so much more  (my favorite is their don't-you-love-your-country scam), as they attempt to get our girl to drop the charges. Mariam's perseverance proves at times almost too much, and yet Ms All Ferjani's performance is so good -- so full of fear, anger, shock, energy and strength that she sometimes single-handedly carries you along. Tunisia is clearly still bound by its traditional Muslim past (Mariam's connection to her father runs strongly and consistently through the film), and the writer/director makes clear how much tradition matters and how her country is in a transitional phase.

I rather wish, however, that the filmmaker has not left out some really key scenes (the rape is one of these; another concerns what happened at a pivotal moment when Mariam needs to escape. Instead of learning how she managed to do this, we simply movie to the next discrete chapter, in which the threat has evidently evaporated.

Overall, though, Beatuy and the Dogs is a pretty riveting, stimulating movie. It should have you wishing Tunisia well in its continuing climb toward democracy -- even as so many western nations, including our own, seem to be moving in the opposite direction.

From Oscilloscope Films, in Arabic with English subtitles and running 100 minutes, the movie opens today, Friday, March 23, in Los Angeles (at the Landmark NuArt) and New York City (the Landmark 57th), and will then hit cities across the country over the weeks to come. Here in South Florida it will play the Bill Cosford Cinema in Miami, beginning April 13. To view all upcoming playdates, cities and theaters, click here and then scroll down. 

DVDebut for Antonino D'Ambrosio's hero cop documentary, FRANK SERPICO

The idea that anyone -- back in 1973 when the film Serpico first appeared, or now, some 45 years later, with the DVD release of the new documentary, FRANK SERPICO, about that New York City cop-turned-whistleblower --- could question whether Frank Serpico was a hero or a "rat" (as so many of his fellow cops, a lot of whom were corrupt, on-the-take sleaze-bags, would call him then and still do today), offers a clear perspective as to why the United States of America continues to struggle so mightily for anything approaching justice and parity for its citizens.

While the earlier film, directed with his usual grit and realism by the late Sidney Lumet, was terrifically entertaining and timely (and remains so today), the new documentary written, produced and directed by Antonino D'Ambrosio (shown at left), proves a surprising and often fascinating addition to the Serpico story.

Mr. D'Ambosio's name seemed somewhat familiar to TrustMovies, so I checked my past posts to find I'd reviewed an earlier film of his, another documentary concerned with American justice entitled Let Fury Have the Hour (click the link for the review).

I'm happy to report that the filmmaker's new documentary is a considerably more cogent and focused piece of work.

Beginning with a scene in which Mr. Serpico (shown above, back in the 70s, and below more currently) explains how, as a police officer, he had to arrest prostitutes and how much he detested that kind of work, the documentary then moves to American history and our country's anti-Italian prejudice, Serpico's own family history, including his grandfather and father, from both of whom he seems to have inherited much of his moral compass.

This fellow proves quite a low-key but very compelling host and raconteur, and D'Ambrosio's filmic style, perhaps deliberately in keeping with that of his subject, is measured and quiet, never glossy nor hyped. Together, filmmaker and subject make for an excellent combination that never needs to plead for our trust but instead gets it quite naturally.

We hear from a number of Serpico's partners and friends (one of these is shown above) from the old days, including the partner he had on the day he was shot in the head -- an event that remains as suspicious now as it seemed at the time, since this man had made it his mission to try to bring to light, top to bottom, the corruption that was endemic throughout the New York City Police Department.

This shooting takes place midway through the film and its aftermath, which is, in a sense, still going on, takes up the remainder of the movie. We learn how Serpico, once he got out of the hospital, managed to get the police report regarding his shooting, which showed that, instead of the police themselves reporting one of their own being felled, the call to the police actually came from a civilian. That's how much the cops cared about saving the life of this man.

Then we see a little of the famous Knapp Commission, in which NYC police corruption was investigated, and to which Serpico provided much of the background and evidence. We hear (and see now) from his then-lawyer, Ramsey Clark (above, left).

Over a drink, we're privy to a meeting between him and his ex-partner in which that partner accuses Serpico of only going after cops as the bad guys but not their bosses.  "How would you do that?" Frank asks him. "I don't know. I didn't even try," comes the abashed response. We see and hear a lot about the negative response to Serpico's whistleblowing, and how the police want to paint it all as "us against them." But, as Ramsey Clark points out, that is incorrect because in reality, "It's only us." Or it should be. Funny how power and corruption always divide things.

There's some time, too, devoted to afterward, as our cop moves first to a farm in Northern Holland, and then finally to a home in upstate New York. D'Ambrosio ends his documentary with a huge rallying cry for justice and honesty now. The event that closes the film, together with the last line of dialog spoken, makes for a memorable humdinger of a finale.

From Sundance Selects and IFC Films, Frank Serpico hits the street on DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, March 13 -- for purchase and/or rental.

Forget Islamic terrorism: Egyptian life is plenty awful in Tarik Saleh's NILE HILTON INCIDENT

Corruption is endemic and epidemic, top tier to bottom, in THE NILE HILTON INCIDENT, and if what we see in this dismaying, depressing movie is even halfway true, that corruption is destroying whatever is left of the country of Egypt. All this begins, movie-wise, with the police and a particular cop named Noredin (played by that excellent twin-titled Lebanese-born/Swedish-raised actor, Fares Fares), who not only takes bribes as a matter of course but actually steals a wad of money from the wallet of a recently murdered chanteuse about as easily as you or I would drink our morning coffee.

As written and directed by Tarik Saleh, shown at left, the film is set back a few years, just after a certain student was beaten to death by police, thus giving rise to what was soon to become Egypt's version of Arab Spring and those amazing street protests in Cairo's Tahrir Square. As this incident-filled film proceeds, we meet everyone from high-level police officers and their underlings to some classy prostitutes and their pimps, Sudanese hotel workers, a mammothly wealthy real estate mogul and a very funny taxi driver able to turn his beliefs and allegiances 180 degrees -- at a moment's notice. Trust is nowhere to be found, and when it appears, it's good for maybe five minutes max.

Yes, this film is depressing and distressing, offering not a chance in hell for any kind of justice for just about anyone we meet. Most don't deserve it, this is true, and the few who do are the ones with the least chance of every seeing it in action.

Yet The Nile Hotel Incident moves fast enough to keep us alert and trying to puzzle it all out. And while there is a tad too much coincidence, there is also such a firm capture of time, place and character that it is not difficult to stick with the movie.

In fact, its string of killings, with the murderer's connections kept secret until nearly the finale, is so brutal and unnerving (never shown in close-up, however, so we're spared being voyeurs at a slaughter) that the revelation of the killer's place in the scheme of things so thoroughly implicates the highest levels of power that all hope is immediately abandoned.

The movie's close takes place as the Tahrir Square demonstrations reach their zenith, even as our anti-hero Noredin is beaten to a pulp in the middle of it all. Finally, The Nile Hilton Incident delivers a good, solid peek into why that particular Arab Spring never would or could lead to anything real. After all, when everyone and everything is corrupt, to whom is one supposed to turn for help?

Is the movie simply dealing in cheap cynicism? I suspect not. This is what a country becomes when it has endured decades and decades of dictatorship and corruption. Look at Russia for another example. And Israel as a more recent newcomer to the group. My spouse asked me, as the end credits rolled, "Now, doesn't this make you more grateful for America?" Only marginally. And at the rate we're going, under the sleazy leaders (and their underlings) we keep choosing, it's just a matter of time.

From Strand Releasing and running 107 minutes, the movie opens in New York City tomorrow, August 11, at the Lincoln Plaza Cinema and Quad Cinema, and in the Los Angeles area on Friday, September 1, at Laemmle's Monica Film Center and Playhouse 7. Another 20 or so cities/theaters are in the offing. Click here and scroll down to see them all.

DVDebut: Dirty cops reign in THE SEVEN FIVE, Tiller Russell's alarming-but-entertaining doc about a Brooklyn precinct in the 1980s

How do you become a dirty cop? According to Michael Dowd, the dirtiest of THE SEVEN FIVE, the documentary (making its DVD debut this coming Tuesday) about the New York Police Department's 75th Precinct, located in Brooklyn, the key can be found in the very training of the new recruits -- when they learn that to be a "good cop" means never ratting out a fellow offier, no matter what that officer has said or done. Maybe this sort of training has changed some since Dowd's day, but I rather doubt it. Couple that training to character traits present in people like Dowd and his partner, Kenneth Eurell, and you've got a recipe for crime and corrruption that goes from stealing drugs and cash to what the current Black Lives Matter movement has been railing against.

Tiller Russell's documentary (the filmmaker is shown at right) spills out the story of the corruption within the 75th Precinct in a manner that is very nearly as entertaining as it is disturbing. As far as halfway or more into the movie, you may experience, as did I, a queasy feeling that the film is practically saluting Michael Dowd for being so fucking clever and fun in all the ways he manages to make himself rich at the expense of everyone from us taxpayers to the drug dealers he both works for and steals from.

Mr. Dowd -- shown above, in his salad days (said salad was sprinkled with cocaine rather than parmesan cheese) and below, in felon-wear -- indeed proves an entertaining and informative narrator. As do a few other folk, including his partner, Mr Eurell (shown back in the day in the penultimate photo, below), along with a noted drug dealer named Adam Diaz. (Since many of these poeple are -- or were -- lawbreakers, you'll wonder just where they are now -- and why. Do stick around for the end credits, during which you'll learn much of what you wanted to know.)

At one point during the hearings devoted to the "work" of The Seven Five, a public official asks Dowd , "Whom did you consider to be your employer: the NY City Police Department or the drug traffickers?" And the man does admit he made a ton more money off the drugs than from his salary. When a cop gets shot and killed in the line of duty, and our boys go all sad and sentimental, you may want to toss in the towel. Hang on.

Things do change, and once Internal Affairs and a little betrayal enter the picture, the darkening that any thinking person will have been demanding finally sets in. Russell's desire to weave all this together -- the various narratives, incidents, characters and interviews -- entails some first-rate editing, and co-editors Chad Beck and James Carroll are more than up to the task.

So why are dirty cops so loathesome and yet so important? Dirty politicians are worse (almost all of them are dirty these days because they acccept campaign donations and then serve the money that elected them rather than the people they're supposed to be serving), but dirty cops hit us on a more personal level. betraying everything that police are supposed to stand for. "To protect and serve" becomes "protect each other and serve only oneself." In a way, you could hardly ask for a more fitting example of what our country continues to become: a populace and its leaders dedicated to making a fast buck by any means necessary and screw everybody else. Donald Trump for President, anyone?

The Seven Five, from IFC Films and running rather long for a documentary (104 minutes), becomes available on DVD this coming Tuesday, September 15. 

Streaming "must" -- Sally Wainwright's HAPPY VALLEY offers British television at its best

In these days of long, long maxi-series (Grand Hotel lasted something like 42 episodes), what a surprise and joy to come upon a real mini-series of six hour-long episodes that provide something very much like what sitting down to read a good novel entails. Here are rich characterizations, a driving plot fueled by several smart strands and a roster of real characters, with performances that rise to this very high occasion. HAPPY VALLEY is the name of the series, as well as the town in which it takes place.

The creation of a woman named Sally Wainwright (shown at right), Happy Valley, because it is a kind of police procedural -- the main character is a police sergeant named Catherine Cawood, played in award-winning style by Sarah Lancashire, shown on poster, above, and in the shot below -- you will of course want to take that title with a bushel of irony. The beauty of this series is that so many things in it work both ways.

Yes, Happy Valley is a hotbed of criminal activity, depending on where you are and whom you're with. At the same time, this place seems like it would be a wonderful little community in which to live -- where so many of its people are kind, thoughtful and caring. The final shot at the end of the series in fact, brings this duality home in spades, as we see the same shot we've seen previously -- but now with a greater, deeper understanding of what kind of community this really is, as well as what it could be, if only our police sergeant had her way.

The crime -- a kidnapping -- that takes center stage here derives almost accidentally from a conversation between boss and employee about a raise in wages that would help pay for a child's education. So much of what happens here come from the characters' lack of understanding that actions always have consequences -- now or later, intended or unintended -- and so must be better thought out prior to taking that action.

Over and over we see come home to roost results that might have been so easily avoided. All this gives the series real weight, yet it moves quickly and surely toward its outcome(s). Another theme of the series is how power in high places corrupts -- finally tampering with the ability of the lower-level police force to do its job. The series handles this theme beautifully -- allowing us to see only shards of the corrupting power yet enough to understand and feel how it is helping to destroy the community.

A series like this one is so much better than the recent BBC endeavor Broadchurch (now running here in the USA in its remake format of Gracepoint) because its characters are much more real, the plotting is tighter, and the the writing is not crammed full of characters and events too quirky for their own (and the series') good. Ms Wainwright probes depths in Happy Valley -- of event and character -- unheard of in Broadchurch, which relied to often on cliche and shorthand to develop its people and plot.

You'll remember the characters of Happy Valley, good ones and bad, for a long time, I think  And as evil and unconscionable is the series' special villain (played exceedingly well by James Norton, above, left, with the also excellent Adam Long), even he manages to move us, surprisingly at times.

But it is finally the work of Ms Lancashire, who allows us to see more deeply into her character as the episodes continue, that cinches the deal. This is superlative acting -- as well as writing and directing -- taking us into the byways of a small community like few other series have managed.

Happy Valley conflates the police procedural with the "family" film, the charming country town with its rancid underbelly, and in the process gives us something very close to the whole picture. You can stream the series, a Netflix exclusive, now. It is absolutely not to be missed.