DAGUERROTYPE finds chiller-master Kiyoshi Kurosawa filming (and fumbling) in French

Some of TrustMovies' favorite chiller films have come from Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa, who has given us, over the years, Cure, Pulse, the recent (and perfectly titled) Creepy, as well as genre-jumping wonders such as Bright Future and Tokyo Sonata. In his latest to reach our shores -- DAGUERROTYPE (known originally as Le secret de la chambre noire) -- the filmmaker is working beyond his usual Asian locations and in the French language (the filming, I believe, was done in Belgium), and as is often case when filmmakers work in a language other than their first -- see Olivier Assayas' Clean or Personal Shopper for further proof, or especially Yorgos Lanthimos' The Killing of  a Sacred Deer, which I will cover whenever its distributor sees fit to open it here in South Florida -- the results can be pretty iffy.

Kurosawa's dialog (the filmmaker is pictured at left) has never been what the viewer remembers best, in any case, as his visuals -- usually as subtle as they are chilling, with masterful camera movement -- pull us in and hold us fast.

This is true again here, too, except this time his film moves exceedingly slowly and is freighted with a plot so utterly manufactured and full of coincidence and nonsensical behavior that we hold on only for those occasional but very impressive visuals. As usual, what Kurosawa chooses not to show us is often as meaningful and impressive as what we actually see.

Not being nearly as familiar with as many Asian actors as I am the western variety, I must say that the filmmaker has assembled a crack cast to perform his little divertissement. His star is that remarkable French actor Tahar Rahim (shown above and below, right), who broke through to international acclaim in 2009's A Prophet, has now amassed 25 movie/TV credits, and in the ten films I've seen has never given less than a sterling performance.

Rahim possesses a remarkably beautiful, sculpted face that expresses much yet seems to do very little in the process. I don't know that he has ever had an unbelievable moment on-screen, and his innate sensuality/sexuality is such that it spills over into everything he does without being at all "pushy." If you have not seen his lovely turn in Heal the Living (now streamable on Netflix), you really must.

His co-star here is the pert and delicate Constance Rousseau, above, whom I've seen a few times previously but never in a role as large as this one. She and Rahim make a fine pair; their chemistry is good, even if their dialog is generally so-so.

The movie's third wheel is that fine Belgian actor Olivier Gourmet, shown above, right, with yes, the great Mathieu Amalric, at left, who does a mere walk-on in the film. Here, as he often does, Gourmet seems to personify a "walking, talking frown." He plays the Rousseau character's unhinged father, an old-fashioned daguerrotype photographer who used to be a hotshot fashion fellow, but upon the death of his wife, seems to have gone round-the-bend. Gourmet has a single scene in which he is allowed to behave and emote a bit, and he's terrific, as ever. Otherwise, he is condemned to that movie hell reserved for actors working with directors of a foreign tongue.

It is Gourmet's hiring of Rahim that sets the would-be plot in motion, as the younger man learns some of the trade of the older, while beginning a relationship with the daughter. Botany and French real estate (along with its burgeoning value) figure into film's later development, and more silliness ensues. Daguerrotype is never in the least frightening nor chilling, even given its many nods to death and ghosts. Further, its love story seems paltry, despite the efforts of its two stars. I admit to being happy to have seen the film, however, if only for a few precious visual moments. It's a rare Kurasawa miss, nonetheless.

The best thing about the film, in fact, would be its lovely poster image (shown at top), which turns out to be cribbed from the still above and then colorized to make a certain point. (That point actually gives away the single surprise this movie has up its sleeve, and even that surprise should be obvious early on to those viewers who have seen more than a handful of films in their life.) From Under the Milky Way, in French with English subtitles and running an unconscionably lengthy two hours and twelve minutes, the movie arrives on VOD nationwide on Tuesday, November 7, on all major platforms including iTunes, Sony, Google Play, Amazon, Microsoft, Vudu, Comcast, Charter, Cox, Vimeo, and various other cable operators. 

The Onetti family's very low-end Argentine giallo, FRANCESCA, hits Blu-ray, DVD & CD

Putting the "lo" in giallo, this bizarre example of how-did-it-ever-get-made-let-alone-released? Italian giallo homage hit home video late last month. TrustMovies is catching up with it only now, and is posting this short review simply to give his readers warning. FRANCESCA is such a poorly-made movie -- flat, tiresome, pretentious and very nearly senseless -- that I can see no reason, even for die-hard giallo fans, to actually view it.

Though it cribs from Dante, that great Italian poet would cringe at how his work has been degraded. Aping the style and look of the 1970s (when giallo reigned supreme), the film was actually made, so far as I can determine, in 2015. I suppose this is an accomplishment of sorts. But the movie's plot is so minimal and dumb -- a bunch of murder victims strung together mostly by silliness -- and the screenplay a total embarrassment (plodding and hugely expository), that its co-writer (with his brother, Nicolás) and director, Luciano Onetti (shown at left) deserves little more than a loud, large raspberry. Granted that giallo is itself a rather low-end genre, but this is ridiculous.

The movie's only interesting moments come at its beginning and end, when the screen seems to literally open up vertically (and close back at the end), as a sliver of light expands slowly into full widescreen. What is on the screen, however, isn't worth that nifty opening/closing effect.

The writing and direction are amateur in the extreme, as are most of the performances. The film is arty-farty, as well. (Piano- playing in leather gloves: has any pianist ever managed that very well?)  The Onetti family -- who contributed to the writing, direction, music and acting -- has a lot to answer for.

Running a thankfully brief 80 minutes and being released by the only-too-appropriately-named Unearthed Films, Francesca comes to home video via the sometimes more discerning MVD Entertainment Group. 

THE WAILING: Na Hong-jin's new everything-but-the-kitchen-sink thriller opens in theaters

What the hell has happened to that very good South Korean movie-maker, Na Hong-jin, between the time of his earlier films -- The Chaser (from 2008, a mostly first-class, if very dark and ugly thrill ride about kidnapping and murder) and The Yellow Sea (from 2010, an even darker but much quieter and more subtle exploration of the entwining of love, need and evil) -- and his latest effort, THE WAILING (Goksung)? I ask because Na's new film is the biggest embarrassment to South Korean cinema I've encountered since I first caught wind of that country's enormous moviemaking prowess around the turn of this past century. Since then, TrustMovies has watched most everything Korean he could find and had time for (including even the recent itty-bitty cable series, DramaWorld).

Even this film's title seems faintly ridiculous, as that wailing can only refer to what will most likely be the audience reaction: "When will this (spectacularly filmed) piece of shit finally end?!" Conflating -- just about as stupidly as possible -- everything from demons and ghosts to a stranger in town, serial murder, a daughter in danger, Christian parable, and so-help-me-god zombies, Mr. Na (shown at left), as both writer and director, seems suddenly taken with the toss-in-everything-including-the-kitchen-sink school of horror filmmaking. Yet there's not an original moment in the entire film.

Perhaps the supernatural thriller is not the proper genre for Na to tackle, as the result is very nearly the polar opposite to what his countryman, Bong Joon-ho, achieved with his own first-class try at a sci-fi thriller, 2014's Snowpiercer.

The biggest difference between the two films is that, in Bong's, we learn enough about almost all the characters to come to care about them; with Na's we learn so little that we can't begin to give a shit what happens to anyone (except maybe one little girl. Barely). The tale Na tells goes on for over two-and-one-half hours, and involves a small country town in which entire families are being murdered -- and by one of their own. What's going on?

The hero is played by that portly Korean "everyman" Kwak Do-won, above, right, and below, who proves as good as he's able to be as the not-terribly-bright policeman whose little daughter (below) comes under the spell of the principal bad guy. Of course, our burly cop is determined to get to the bottom of things -- which will take endless time for him (and endless patience on the part of us viewers).

The most time is spent with a local exorcist, Korean variety (below), who is soon dancing up a storm (the choreography is pretty good here!) trying to get rid of that naughty evil spirit. Toward the finale, he (and we) discover he's been barking up the wrong tree. Or maybe not. Reversals, then further reversals, do not in any way help the film's ridiculous plotting.

A big black dog (below) gets a good scene or two, and the movie is very well photographed (when have you seen a Korean film that was not?). But the South Korean penchant for length, coupled unfortunately to the obvious and repetitive, at last utterly sinks this barrage of blood, guts and heavy-duty disarray.

I can only hope that Mr. Na gets quickly back to what he's good at and leaves this kind of supernatural nonsense to those who know better how to handle it.

From Well Go USA Entertainment and running an unconscionable 156 minutes (yes!), The Wailing opens this Friday, June 3, in cities all across the country. In New York City, it is said to be playing the FSLC, the IFC Center and the AMC Empire 25; in Los Angeles, look for it at Laemmle's Monica Film Center and Playhouse 7 and at the AMC Atlantic Time Square. Here in South Florida? Nowhere at all. (Guess we don't have a large enough Korean population). Elsewhere in the USA? Absolutely. Click here and scroll down to see all currently scheduled playdates with cities and theaters.

Home video debut: THE FOREST answers the question, how dumb can a scary movie be?

From the looks of THE FOREST -- out this coming week on Blu-ray and DVD, after its Digital HD release last month -- this would-be fright film had a relatively high budget. Because some of the movie, at least, appears to have been shot in Japan, and since it supposedly takes place in one of that country's forests, a rather special one to which suicides come to end their days, the bigger budget would seem appropriate. Other than putting its ten million bucks to decent visual usage, however, there's almost nothing else good to say about this nitwit bit of second-rate twaddle.

Written by three people (who still could not manage to come up an even vaguely believable story) and directed by first-time full-length filmmaker Jason Zada (shown at left and clearly in hiding), this is a film in which the lead character, played by Natalie Dormer, below, cannot seem to do a single intelligent thing throughout the entire movie. Warned repeatedly not to do something, she will do exactly that. Every time.

We might accept this kind of behavior once. Twice is a slap in the face. By mid-point in The Forest, you'll be talking back to the screen. If the movie provided many (try any) scares, one might give it a mild pass. Instead it just keep getting sillier, as Ms Dormer, playing a set of identical twins, goes to this forest in search of her missing twin and proceeds to do one stupid thing after another, to the consternation of everyone around her -- but mostly to us viewers.

Those around her include a friendly journalist (Taylor Kinney) above, and a helpful guide (Yukiyoshi Ozawa, below, left). Other than these two, the film is mostly full of would-be scary "spirits" who inhabit the forest and induce newcomers to commit suicide. At least that's what the exposition tells us. What finally happens seems something else entirely and just as dumb as all that has come before.

I would call the movie a complete waste of time, but afterward my spouse and I admitted that we'd rather enjoyed talking back to the screen and marvelling at just how stupid a movie could be. We also get a dose of flashback/hallucination, as below, that takes us into the twins' past but doesn't add much to the story or to our empathy for anyone on view. Instead, it's simply a chance to show a little bloodshed, since the forest itself isn't providing much.

If this sounds like fun, the movie -- from Grammercy Pictures via Universal Studios and running 94 minutes -- hits Blu-ray, DVD this coming Tuesday, April 12 -- for purchase or rental. (It has been available via Digital HD since March 22.)

Richard Gere stars in Andrew Renzi's what's-going-on-here? movie, THE BENEFACTOR

Richard Gere has been around now for forty years, aging from a sexy young leading man into a sexy senior-citizen leading man, working almost constantly and rarely missing a beat. His performances are usually fine, even if some of the films he stars in are not. A few years back he made quite a stir in the movie Arbitrage, one of the early and quite successful ventures into simultaneous theatrical and VOD release that garnered critical acclaim, good box-office and even some awards. For anyone expecting something as exceptional as Arbitrage from Gere's newest film, THE BENEFACTOR, disappointment awaits.

As this movie unfurls (and finally unravels), it becomes less and less clear what writer/director Andrew Renzi had in mind to create, or even what kind of film this actually is: mystery, thriller, family drama, melodrama, character study (maybe all of the above?). Finally, it works as none of these. A two-generation saga of friendship, love, loss, guilt and retribution, the story pops back and forth between those generations, uncovering plot strands but deepening character not one whit.

What we do know is that our "hero," Franny (Mr. Gere, above), has been a very rich man for a very long time. Now he seems to want to spread his largess to the daughter and soon to be son-in-law of his late best friends (whom, yes, he had a hand in the accidental death of).

That daughter is played by Dakota Fanning, above, looking lovely and somewhat lost in this bizarre mess of a movie. The role of her affianced is essayed by up-and-comer Theo James, below, who looks mildly annoyed through much of the film, and who can blame him?

A slow-burning who-is-this-guy-and-what-is-going-on movie, The Benefactor is well into its second half before some real conflict appears and a secret reveals itself.  Gere laughs a lot, but what does this mean? Is it an acting choice? A director's mistake? And while money, as we know so well, cannot buy everything, what it cannot buy in this film seems more than a little ridiculous.

To say more about plot would spoil what little real mystery the movie possesses, so I will only mention that anyone this rich could take care of his "problem" quite easily -- particularly given the society we inhabit here in America today. When the chips are finally down, instead of confronting reality, filmmaker Renzi opts out for feel good. Too bad. This is one silly movie, despite the presence of an attractive cast and Mr. Gere.

From Samuel Goldwyn Films and running 90 minutes, The Benefactor opens this Friday, January 15, in theaters and On-Demand. Consult your local theater listing and/or cable provider for specifics.