Art/criticism/truth/crime combine in Giuseppe Capotondi's THE BURNT ORANGE HERESY

You may recall the name Giuseppe Capotondi from the crackerjack mystery, The Double Hour, released in the USA back in 2011. Signore Capotondi is back this year with another (sort-of) mystery entitled THE BURNT ORANGE HERESY, which, though not as extraordinary as his earlier film, still provides a lot of surprise, sophistication and fun -- especially if you enjoy movies about art, including a critique of the approaching-nonsensical criticism often written about it.

The filmmaker, shown at left, could not have cast his new film any better, had he a billion-dollar budget to waste. His quartet of performers does an extraordinary job creating full-bodied characters that alternately amuse, surprise, move and entertain us within the brief time  -- just 98 minutes -- that the movie lasts.

That cast includes the increasingly impressive Claes Bang (shown at left, below, and further below, of the recent Dracula series, as well as another very good film about art, The Square), who plays James Figueras, a relatively famous art critic whom we first meet rehearsing for and soon after giving one of his popular talks about the subject.

Into his audience, made up it appears of mostly and probably wealthy seniors, comes a very pretty young woman, Berenice (Elizabeth Debicki, at right, above and below) who remains after the "show" to spar a bit with the speaker and then ends up in bed with him.

Soon after, the two are on their way to Lake Como to meet with a famous and wealthy art collector named Cassidy, who has set up for the art critic a rare-to-impossible interview with a famous and reclusive artist named Jerome Debney.

Now, the rich collector is played by none other than Mick Jagger (above), and what a delight it is to see him acting on screen once again. You will think, 'Why doesn't he do this more often?!' and follow that with, "Well, of course: He doesn't have to; he's Mick Jagger.'  But, damn, he is good.

As the famous artist, we have no less than Donald Sutherland, giving another of his lately low-key and close to perfect performances, so you see what I mean about this great cast. As for the film's plot, it is one of those What's really going on here -- and why? explorations. Which is just fine until, toward the end, the movie takes quite a turn for the nasty.

This is jarring, to say the least, but it is not, TrustMovies thinks, the deal-breaker you might suspect because everything that happens has, in one sense, been prepared via the themes already opened and explored: art, avarice, power and, yes, the patriarchy.

Mr. Bang does a bang-up job in all respects, whether boning up his audience on art or simply boning his lady friend. He's sexy, charming and edgy -- continuing to take his place as perhaps the most prominent homme fatal of our time. Ms Debicki, lovely as always, is here even more vulnerable than she often is.

The excellent screenplay and dialog by Scott B. Smith (from the novel by Charles Willeford) is smart, subtle and sophisticated. By the finale of this artful little movie, you may find yourself with a lot of very mixed feelings. But you'll have been entertained and maybe knocked for a loop or two.

From Sony Pictures Classics, The Burnt Orange Heresy -- regarding that title, which doubles as the name of one of the artist's works, it is, notes the painter himself, "a bone tossed to the critics. They can wear themselves out chewing on it" -- opened last week in a few cities and will hit many more in the weeks to come. Here in South Florida, it will arrive on Friday, March 20, in Miami at the Coral Gables Art Cinema, and in Palm  Beach county at the Cinemark Boytnon Beach and Cinemark Palace, the  Regal Shadowood, the Living Room Theaters and the Movies of Delray. Wherever you live, click here to learn if the film is (or will be) playing at a theater or two near you.

Blu-ray debut for Robert Altman's lesser-known but first-class film, KANSAS CITY

I remember seeing KANSAS CITY at the time of its original theatrical release (1996) and enjoying it a lot. Yet viewing it again, in a glorious new Blu-ray transfer from Arrow Academy, it seems not simply very good but up there with its director and co-writer Robert Altman's best films.

So why is this remarkable movie so little know or even much talked about anymore? I suspect it has to do with how little, style-wise, the movie resembles so much of the other work for which Altman, shown at right, is now most remembered. By style, I mean in particular this filmmaker's much vaunted use of over-lapping dialog, together with the so-much-going-on visuals that have you scanning the screen, ever alert to what to watch and to whom to listen as the movie moves ahead.

No. This film, by conventional standards of Altman's work (if the word conventional can even be used here), seems almost traditional. Aside from a clever opening taking place in two time frames that soon come together (as well as coming clear), the film moves forward with the plot unfurling and characters developing, just as in so many more standard movies.

What sets Kansas City apart --  in addition to the first-rate set and production design, cinematography and all other technical aspects -- are the themes Altman so often pursued, especially the ways in which power congregates and corrupts, no matter the race or class represented.

The movie begins with a kidnapping of one woman by another, the reason for which only slowly comes clear. These women are played by Jennifer Jason Leigh (above, as Blondie) and Miranda Richardson (below, as Carolyn), each of whom is as good here as she has ever been. Their story is front and center, and their characters are wonderfully written (by Altman and his four-time collaborator Frank Barhydt) and beautifully acted by the two women, whose relationship grows oddly closer as the film progresses.

Simultaneously, Kansas City is a love story -- fueled by Blondie's love for her guy, a good-looking nitwit named Johnny, played with brainless charm by Dermot Mulroney, below -- and a non-love story in terms of the relationship-of-convenience between Carolyn and her husband, an ex-politician now working for President Roosevelt (Michael Murphy). The tale unfurls on and around election day, as the local Democratic candidate is jammed through via everything from voter fraud to cavalier murder.

Blondie's Johnny has stupidly planned a robbery of a rich gambler that goes awry but brings in the man who own the gambling house (a nifty Harry Belafonte, below, essaying a role unusual for him). How all these plot strands bounce off each other, finally coming together in a manner that is shocking, horrible, inevitable and completely understandable. It will leave you satisfied and musing, I think, on exactly the subjects Altman wants you to be considering, even as you are impressed all over again with what this great filmmaker could accomplish.

Kansas City is a violent film, but never unduly so, with that violence ranging from the merely casual to the grizzly. Yet it all seems appropriate to the period, the locale, and the situations, while the writer/director's take on race in particular is strong and true for this time and place.

In addition to all of the above, Kansas City boasts some wonderful music -- jazz of the day played right and real -- taking place in the club owned by the Belafonte character. As critic Geoff Andrew tells us in the excellent, newly-filmed appreciation of the movie that is a part of the Bonus Features on the disc, this was perhaps the most personal of all of Altman's work, in so many ways, and the filmmaker's attention to detail in every aspect comes through quite beautifully.

TrustMovies believes this new Blu-ray release will help place Kansas City much higher in the canon of Mr. Altman's oeuvre. It should attract both his die-hard fans for a re-look, while garnering a bunch of new ones, too.

From Arrow Video, distributed here in the USA via MVD Visual/MVD Entertainment Group, the film made its Blu-ray debut last week -- for purchase (and I hope, somewhere, rental).

July's Sunday Corner with Lee Liberman: GENTLEMAN JACK, a jaunty tale of Independence

“ If you have a problem with who I am, 

your quarrel is with my creator.” 

 --Mayor Pete Buttigieg

This is the story of Anne Lister (1791-1840) of the Yorkshire Village of Halifax, dubbed ‘Gentleman Jack’ after her death, the first lesbian known to ‘marry.’ Her neighbors gossiped that “she likes the ladies” but disapproval of her mannish affect was overcome by Anne’s charisma and strength of character. This when sex between men was illegal and lesbianism not a ‘thing’ -- life circumstance led some women to have companions but absent sexual penetration it was not thought transgressive. 

Sally Wainwright (at right) of Last Tango in Halifax and Happy Valley, the HBO/ BBC1 series creator and screenwriter, grew up in Yorkshire near the Lister family seat, Shibden Hall. Wainwright told this story using Anne’s own words, because while Anne strode her world, she was also writing a massive 24-27 volume diary of 4-5 million words (accounts vary) describing in copious detail her business dealings and social views. As for her romances — she wrote about that in code. In the 1890’s her descendent, John Lister, and an antiquarian colleague of his, deciphered enough code to be wowed by its incendiary content. Lister walled up the diaries in Shibden Hall to preserve them and also protect himself (he was gay) in the era when Oscar Wilde was on trial for homosexuality. (Below, archival portrait of Anne Lister and a diary page.)

Silence descended for near a century over Anne Lister and her diaries until Helena Whitbread of Halifax came along in the 1980’s. When Whitbread discovered the Anne Lister trove she began a multi-year project to decipher the coded parts. Three books followed with a biography in the works.  Another biography accompanies the HBO/BBC1 series, written by Anne Choma with a forward by Sally Wainwright. With her prodigious screen-writing talent, Wainwright has brought this entirely entertaining and amazing tale to life at a time public opinion is welcoming. 

The series star, Suranne Jones, is a multi-credited actress (see her fine WWI series, The Crimson Field, Amazon Prime, that lacks in flash what it has in depth and deserved more chapters than it got). Jones is so arresting as Lister that Sophie Rundle as Anne’s lover has been somewhat overlooked by critics. Rundle plays a scrappy gang moll in Peaky Blinders but here she amazes as an ingenue. Her Ann Walker is close to camp, a bird and-doll-like femme whose skirts sway, cheeks go pink, and curls tremble in the presence of her idol — clever, strong Anne Lister. But Ann is mentally frail; she frets about gossip and has terrifying dreams of public torture and ridicule — she thinks she should take Mr. Ainsworth, her pushy suitor. (Ainsworth is played by Brendan Patricks, Mary Crawley’s hapless admirer, Evelyn Napier, on Downton Abbey).

The first chapter introduces us to the domestic Halifax scene of 1832. Anne has just inherited Shibden Hall from her uncle, a wise judge of her competence and the likelihood she would not marry and convey the family estate to a husband. Anne sets about bringing the Tudor family seat (built 1420, occupied by Listers since 1615) up to her standards. Much of the filming is done in and around Shibden Hall, shown below, now a public tour site and park.

Anne's helpless elderly aunt and father (who soldiered at the Battle of Lexington in 1775) and jealous younger sister, Marian, a funny, droll Gemma Whelan (GOT's Yara Grayjoy, fresh off the Iron Islands) have their doubts as Anne boldly takes charge of management, but feel relief more. (Below, l Anne, sister Marian; front, Gemma Jones as Aunt Anne Lister and Timothy West as Jeremy Lister, Anne’s father.)

We are introduced to the tribulations of her tenants, such as the good-hearted Tom Sowden (Tom Lewis, below center) who kills his savagely-violent father in despair and turns him over to the pigs. 

There’s drama in her household staff ( Shibden staffer, below, John Booth, played by Thomas Howes, Downton Abbey footman, William) and ongoing tangle with a pair of mercenary Halifax brothers, the Rawsons, who have been stealing coal from her property. Anne will sink her own well and find them out.

The tone of ‘Gentleman Jack’ is set by a jaunty tune. In fact this story does not yield to labeling — it is comedy, satire, drama, and sexy romance rolled into one rollicking delight, and just renewed for a second series.

In the main we follow Anne’s search for partnership she felt was her due, in spite of terrible disappointments (her lovers marrying men). As Ann Walker crumbles tearfully under the weight of gossip (“I would rather die than have people know what we do”), Anne Lister goes all in to make her case:

“...Between men it is illegal, a criminal act. Between women it isn’t...we can’t be hanged for it. But if it were...well then, I would have to put my neck in the noose because I love only the fairer sex...I was born like this... If I was to lie with a man, surely that would be unnatural, surely that would be against God who made us.....” (There are reports of women being put to death in the Middle Ages for sex using dildo’s, which violated the transgression against penetration.)

Anne’s faith was bound up in her sexual identity. “Why should I compromise myself to lie with another man’s wife ... I would become a liar, a cheat, and a fornicator, and that is not what I want. And that is why our present connection without a more solemn tie for me is wrong. I want you to become my wife...according to God’s holy ordinance.....”

 Many troubles unfold before Anne and Ann solemnify their secret bond, but as this story was being filmed, a plaque ringed in rainbow was affixed to the 12th century church where the two took the sacrament together, signifying their commitment.

The above post was written by our 

monthly correspondent Lee Liberman

From Paraguay, THE HEIRESSES: Marcelo Martinessi's first full-length film is a rich and moving character/situation study

It is unusual enough to view a movie from Paraguay, but when that movie is also a first full-length film from an unknown director that turns out to be not only thoroughly involving but first-class in every respect, this is grounds for rejoicing. So it is with THE HEIRESSES (Las herederas), written and directed by Marcelo Martinessi.

Señor Martinessi (shown at right) has managed to combine themes involving class, change, entitlement, old money vs new, relationships, power, control and prison (of various sorts), all the while providing a study of character and situation that is really quite close to perfection. It has been a long while since I've seen a first film this well done in all areas -- on both sides of the camera.

The tale told is of two women -- Chela and Chiquita -- each from a wealthy (formerly, at least) family who have been lovers/partners for decades but have come upon hard times, due to which they are now forced to sell many of their most precious belongings.

As essayed by Margarita Irun (shown above, who plays Chiquita) and especially Ana Brun (below, left, as Chela), who has the more important role, these women resonate hugely. Ms Brun, in what is apparently her debut role, could hardly be better, as she slowly and quietly wraps us in her at first stand-offish but finally almost warm and completely understandable near embrace.

We get to know the two women, as well as their circle of friends and neighbors, especially once Chiquita has been "removed" to some extent from Chela's immediate life. How and why provides one of the film's many interesting plot devices, leading to some very quietly surprising changes along the way.

We get a look a Paraguay's prison system (women's variety, above), as well as a number of glimpses at the elderly, card-playing old-money wealthy (below) and their gossipy, judgmental habits,

and in particular one younger woman, Angy (very well-played by Ana Ivanova, below,  right), to whom Chela has clearly taken a shine. What happens between these two provides a good deal of the small but irrevocable changes that occur throughout the film, many of which involve those that Chela must make in order to grow and survive.

The manner in which Martinessi has laid out this growth and change is calibrated in such a way -- never too obvious but with enough information provided to keep up interested and on our toes -- that his movie proves consistently compelling and finally moving and even, yes, uplifting. Yet in a very minor key.

What we first perceive as a kind of love is eventually understood to be control. How Chela learns to circumvent some of this makes for one of the great, low-key pleasures of this just-beginning movie-going year.

From Distrib Films US and running 97 minutes, The Heiresses opens in its U.S. theatrical premiere this Wednesday, January 16, in New York City at Film Forum. Elsewhere? Well, it's scheduled to play Los Angeles at Laemmle's Royal in early March, but I can't find any other currently scheduled playdates. But it is difficult to imagine that a foreign film this good won't eventually hit major cities around the USA. Keep watch.

Big-time Oscar bait: THE FAVOURITE, Yorgos Lanthimos' most entertaining and accessible film so far, opens in South Florida

We've already seen as number of films this year with a terrific lead performance from a woman -- Kelly MacDonald in Puzzle, Julianne Moore in Bel Canto, Glenn Close in The Wife, to name a few of the best -- but here comes a movie that sports three major, spot-on and Oscar-worthy performances from its leading actresses. Plus, it proves such a fascinating, oddball entertainment for so many reasons that TrustMovies predicts it will be land Oscar nominations in quite a few categories.

THE FAVOURITE (British spelling, folks) is the fifth film from Greek movie-maker Yorgos Lanthimos (shown at right) to garner a theatrical release here in the USA, and it is by light years his most accessible and entertaining. Splendidly cast, top to bottom, it is also his first to concentrate so fully on women. The result has so far proven both mainstream-arthouse box-office and critical gold.

As usual with Lanthimos' work, the actual time frame is somewhat bizarre. If it seems like the present (Dogtooth or The Killing of Sacred Deer), the human behavior on view is from elsewhere -- in the case of the latter film, somewhere in the land of myth. In The Lobster, both time frame and behavior are completely elsewhere. (Alps comes closest to medling period and behavior into a cogent whole.)

The Favourite pulls a reverse twist: Set in England of the early 1700s, during the reign of Anne, Queen of Great Britain, the period details of the sets and costumes look both sumptuous and correct. Yet the dialog -- classy, witty and very smart -- is thoroughly of today, and it is delivered by the entire cast with such panache that it works with nary a hitch. (The screenplay comes via Tony McNamara and Deborah Davis.)

Note, too, the scene of dancing in the court (above) that begins as rather your standard sort before morphing into something closer to the kind of jitterbug/swing moves that were seen during World War II. Yet, instead of jarring us, thanks to the skill of Lanthimos, his cast and crew, this odd duality seems to somehow achieve precisely the correct tone.

The tale told is of Queen Anne (a brilliant job by Olivia Colman, above, of Broadchurch, Tyrannosaur and The Night Manager), a woman of unsteady mind, physical health and emotional state,

and the vying of two of her underlings (Rachel Weisz, above, and Emma Stone, below) for the place at the Queen's side as her favourite.

A war against France is currently raging, which provides some political backdrop and a chance for the lesser males in the story -- particularly the warring politicians Nicholas Hoult (below, center) and James Smith to strut their marginal stuff. Don't mistake my meaning here: The actors are just fine, but their roles are clearly subsidiary to those of the much stronger women.

Who holds the upper hand changes and then changes again, and the feint-and-parry antics of this crew proves consistently surprising and lots of dark fun. (Dark is ever-present in Lanthimos' world, as it seems to be in Greece.)

Interestingly, the most completely sympathetic character in the film is that of Masham, the decent young man played by Joe Alwyn (above, left) who simply has the hots for Ms Stone's character and is used as a disposable stepping stone throughout.

Lanthimos keeps a pretty firm hand and eye on things, but occasionally he can't resist a too-cute camera angle (as two photos up) or the use of something I believe is called a fish-eye lens, above, to produce an odd visual that calls attention to itself but says nothing. Still, this is overall a small price to pay for enjoying such good, dark fun.

History, bunnies (lots of them), poisoned tea and a runaway horse all come into play and help make this two hour movie pretty much fly by. That, and the work of its three very fine actresses, each of whom consistently commands your attention and respect, even sometimes convincing you that her character might just be the caring, humane person she so wants her Queen to admire.

But since this is a warts-and-all (maybe warts-and-little-else) affair in which power must be held so tightly, these strong, smart and heartless women must ever jockey for that power. The three actresses are a wonder to watch. As Ms Stone's character answers, when asked what side she is on concerning a particular dispute, "I am on my side." Well, aren't we all? And don't we end up in prisons mostly of our own making?

From Fox Searchlight and running 119 minutes, The Favourite, after opening on the coasts and elsewhere around the country, hits South Florida today, and is playing pretty much all over Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach County areas.