TALES FROM THE GOLDEN AGE hits theaters at last; five Romanian short films

When TrustMovies first saw the Romanian omnibus movie, TALES FROM THE GOLDEN AGE, it was nineteen months ago and the film had no definite U.S.distribution arranged, so it's a treat to be able to welcome it into theaters today, via IFC Films. Sporting what must surely be a winner in the Ironic Film Title competition, the movie -- set in Romania during the halcyon days of President Nicolae Ceauşescu and his wife Elena -- takes the form of five short tales or "legends," all written by Christian Mungiu (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days).

Each has been directed by one of these five filmmakers -- Hanno Höfer, Razvan Marculescu, Constantin Popescu, Ioana Uricaru and one by Mungiu himself, but I am sorry to say I don't know who directed which. However, since Mr. Mungiu (shown below) wrote all of them and was in change of one segment, I'll credit him first -- but not only.

According to Variety, the producers wanted to keep the identities of who-directed-what a secret. Well, OK, but credit is still due. Fortunately, every one of these "tales" is terrific. Each segment offers a typical situation from the good old Commie days when you could count on things not working, each in its own special way. The tales include The Official Visit, in which top party brass is said to be paying a visit to a little town that tries so hard to be prepared, with the expected results that literally fly off in their own merry manner.

The Party Photographer (above) is a deadpan hilarious spoof of retouched photography and a visit to the Romanian Prez  from France's Valéry Giscard d'Estaing. The Chicken Driver (see below) is not a coward; he's simply driving poultry cross country in a sweet, sad tale of a decent guy trapped by circumstance.

The Greedy Policeman (see photo with pig, at top) -- the funniest of the bunch, in which we watch everyone from kids to grown-ups use each other badly -- takes place at Christmas, as Uncle Fane has promised to bring some pork for the holiday meal. The final episode is titled The Air Sellers, though The Empty Bottle Sellers would have been closer to the point. All about making money in Romania, this one's romantic, funny and dark -- and stars a young actress (shown in the photo below) we're certain to be seeing again soon.

Tales from the Golden Age, opens today at Manhattan's IFC Center .As with so many IFC Films, you might have the chance to see it via VOD, starting, uh,.... damned if I can figure this out. We expect the big studios to occasionally "dump" a movie. But one of our most important providers of independent films doing this, too? Not nice.

Jeff Prosserman's new doc CHASING MADOFF will make you angry, very angry

Shockingly enough, CHASING MADOFF is a more important film, even, than Inside Job. Not a better film, mind you -- Charles Ferguson knows what's he doing very well -- but a movie that is more timely, clearly focused and so anger-provoking that I think the American public (should it bother to see the film, of course) might actually be able to get its mind far enough around what has happened to work itself into a frenzy and finally demand some action from our so-called leaders.

Writer/director/
producer Jeff Prosserman (at left) chooses some pretty intensive, melodramatic graphics to begin his film -- blood, money, an apocalyptic fire -- but it turns out these are all appropriate in their way. (One player here comes to a bloody, suicidal end, and I am not talking about Madoff's son.) But Prosserman also piles on some would-be suspense at question-able times: For all his sleazy, criminal activity Madoff was never known to be a violent man, out for blood.

Yet our hero, the documentary's leading man Harry Markopolos, evidently felt his and his family's lives were in danger. Perhaps from the extended members of the Madoff business family that made up this vast and particularly nasty conspiracy but certainly not from Bernie or his own extended family.  And make no mistake, the Madoff ponzi scheme was indeed a conspiracy, entered into by major American and international businesses and, it would seem, our own government, that protected it for far too long and, as usual, at the expense of investors, rather than those who took their investments.

If you followed the Madoff debacle (Bernie is shown above) at all, you will have heard of Mr. Markopolos and how he tried, for nearly a decade, to alert the proper authorties to the fraud going on. What you will learn from this riveting movie is how he did this, what happened, who helped (and hindered) him and why. His team is made up of some very interesting, even charismatic people, and his antagonists turn out to come from an unexpected venue. In fact, the SEC make probably the most hissable villains in any film this decade. By the end of these fast-moving 91 minutes, as angry as you may be at Mr. Madoff, you'll probably be ready to change the film's title to Chasing The SEC. Oh, wait: That'll be the sequel, once we thow out the current crop of sleazy politicians and vote in a new crowd. Oh, wait some more: That'll never happen until all the voters, rather than only the rich and coporate, can elect their representatives.

Chasing Madoff, from the Cohen Media Group, opens today in New York and elsewhere around the country. For a complete listing of theaters and playdates, click on the Cohen link above, then click on the film itself and then on THEATERS AND PLAYDATES.

Rowan Joffe's updated adaptation of Graham Greene's BRIGHTON ROCK

The sound of a foghorn begins the new version of BRIGHTON ROCK. This is followed by the shot of a searchlight, the sea, and a seedy hotel (maybe it's an apartment house?). These initial sounds and images (cinematography by John Mathieson), as well as the film's pitch-perfect but not overly-showy editing (by Joe Walker of Hunger and The Escapist) grab us forcefully and have us thinking that perhaps there's something pretty special going on. There's not. Though, just as with those images and editing, there are enough odd moments in performance and film-making to make you sit up, take notice and then fall into an annoyed snit because, really, the movie never delivers.

The deliverer ought to have been Rowan Joffe, at right (son of Roland Joffé and writer of such disparate good films as Last Resort and 28 Weeks Later), who, in his updating as adapter and director of a :classic Graham Greene novel from its 1930s setting to 1969, has made his film more modern than is perhaps good for it and yet not modern enough. Characterizations and events seem too arbitrary, odd and vicious for the 30s, and yet the melodrama -- and, whew, it is ever!-- remains too silly and unbelievable for a time period as eventful and changing as 1969.

In terms of characterization from both the adapter and his actors, we must do far too much piecing together of what these people are really feeling. Then, when we do, we don't particularly believe in it. This is true of the character played by rising star Andrea Riseborough (above), whose naive young girl begins  to look, well, just a little slow.

Ms Riseborough still wins us over, finally, as does her co-rising star Sam Riley (above), decked out on the posted at top, it would seem, to look like a DiCaprio clone just released from Shutter Island. Mr. Riley, so good in Control, here plays an overwrought, scarfaced gangster boy who slowly pulls the legs off a spider to the accompaniment of "She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not." He moves powerfully from moments tender to those terror-filled and near-nutty, but a real character eludes him. When a  policeman refers to his "scrawny neck," you want to laugh: This kid looks like a young, bull-necked Oliver Reed in training. Pale, pasty and fleshy, he also strike a pose reminiscent of Alain Delon as Rocco

The plot hinges upon murder, perhaps accidental, and its retribution, and is put spinning with one of those coincidences dearly loved by filmmakers and sometimes even by audiences. Helen Mirren and John Hurt (above) are wasted in call-indnly actor to emerge from this mess; nothing doing. The only actor to emerge victorious is everyone's favorite "Caesar," Andy Serkis, playing the rime lord Colleoni. Serkis has good, juiciy fun with his role, and with him, the movie comes to brief life.

Who are all these people, and how much power -- from the criminals to the flunkies to the bystanders -- do they actually possess? This important question haunts the movie because no one, neither the characters nor the filmmaker, seems to know. Ths is, at first, confusing, and finally just annoying. For a would-be crime thriller, it is deadly. Maybe, you think, those with the power simply choose not to use it. Or maybe, it's just Graham Greene, who had a major "god" problem that dragged some of his work into religious soap-opera territory. Certainly this film's "miracle" ending comes off as one of the looniest in memory.

In 1947, I'm told, a better version of the novel was released. On  the questionable strength of this new film, I'd like to see it. Brighton Rock, via IFC FIlms opens today in New York and L.A., with a national rollout to follow -- plus the usual VOD opportunities from IFC, which begin for this film on August 31.

Peretzes/Schisgal's OUR IDIOT BROTHER: Paul Rudd & ensemble shine in sweet film

"It's a sweet little movie" probably sounds like the kiss of death for a small independent film. That's unfair in this case because, for all its raunch  (there's a lot of it) and unpleasant family dynamics, OUR IDIOT BROTHER also delivers a wealth of good humor, charm, excellent performances from its ensemble cast, and another terrific one from the movie's linchpin Paul Rudd. What a smart and appealing actor this guy is!

The movie's opening is loose, easy and genuine, and the scene between Rudd's character, Ned, and a local policeman is just about perfect in terms of acting and writing, while this initial give-and-take lays out Rudd's character to a tee. Whatever else happens in the film, this scene acts as a touchstone for who Ned is (as well as a very canny use of police entrapment).

Directed by Jesse Perretz (shown at left) and written by David Schisgall and Evgenia Peretz, the film details a truckload of extremely passive-aggressive family antics and how the lead character of our "brother" impacts on this. In the process, family "values" get a good working over. (There is actually a fine example of active-aggressive in the movie, too. She is played by Kathryn Hahn, shown above, and she gives the film an extra energy jolt of anger whenever she appears -- which is just often to wake up the movie's pleasant demeanor.

Ned's sisters are played by a bevy of talented and smart beauties: Elizabeth Banks (above, left), Zooey Deschanel and Emily Mortimer (above, right), and their significant others, are played respectively by Adam Scott, Rashida Jones and Steve Coogan (below). Ensembles don't come much more talented than this, and each actor brings home the bacon.

With all the characters heavily into denial -- including brother Ned to some extent -- it takes awhile to sort it all out. (Not too long, though: the film runs only 90 minutes).  In the process, we learn, yet again, that all is finally right with the world and there's a lid for every pot. While this discovery is hardly new and clearly not true, the filmmakers make it seem so, and getting there proves great, good fun. Mr. Rudd adds yet another fine role to his resume -- in fact, along with his great work in the under-seen (Two Days), this is one of his best.

Our Idiot Brother opens on Friday, August 26. Click here, here or here to see where the film is playing and perhaps procure tickets.

      

TrustMovies is taking a hiatus -- as he gets his knee replaced and learns to walk again

Well, that's what comes of being 70 and very tall. As I have had this experience once before, eight years ago, with the other knee, I sort of know what to expect.  But as I don't know for certain that I will have access to the Internet during the next two weeks, from either the hospital or the rehab center after the operation, I'll have to post whenever I get the opportunity.

In the upcoming week I am supposed to cover Brighton Rock, Circumstance, Our Idiot Brother, Special Treatment and Tucker & Dale vs Evil, so I dearly hope that I will not let these movies down (though one of them, at least, let me down). I am thinking -- while remembering that last knee replacement -- that watching, pondering and then writing about these films might help keep the post-operative pain at bay. We shall see....  (And I will post again just as soon as I am able.)

Images courtesy of the site Total Knee Replacement: Photos. 

Sorry if this is a tad too graphic. But I find it interesting. And, as I was conked out for the first operation, and will be again for the second, I am happy to now be able to see just what happened.  

Gosh -- ain't the Internet grand? 

It puts you in touch with so many things!

THE LAST CIRCUS -- Álex de la Iglesia's latest surprise -- opens in New York City

With THE LAST CIRCUS (Balada triste de trompeta), writer/
director Álex de la Iglesia is working at the absolute peak of his powers so far. This is not to say that the guy doesn't have a ways yet to go: As usual, his movie's over the top -- it has to be, given what is going on -- but it is also, as usual, too long. Yet it is so compelling, thought-provoking, riveting and entertaining that you're likely to forgive it its trespasses right on the spot.

When I first saw this film -- at last year's Spanish Cinema Now series via the Film Society of Lincoln Center, I was impressed. Seeing it again last week, it seemed every bit as strong. Maybe stronger. As a metaphor for a put-upon (if not downright masochistic) Spain under Franco, it is disturbingly provocative. From the first scene, in the late 1930s, when soldiers (above) break into a circus as it is performing and insist that the male performers take up immediate arms, we feel "anti-military."  But these are not Franco's troops; they're the army of the Republic: the good guys. Not so fast, de la Iglesia is telling us, and by the time his movie reaches its fevered climax, just about everybody has egg -- not to mention blood -- on his face.

This engaging filmmaker/provocateur (shown at left) -- Day of the Beast, Perdita Durango (aka Dance With the Devil), La Comunidad, Dying of Laughter, The Perfect Crime -- enjoys forcing us to confront some dearly-held notions that's he has turned upside down (here it's our take on the Spanish Civil War) and then played out (and out and out: there's that length problem again) until we cry uncle. His penultimate film, The Oxford Murders (well worth seeing and now streaming via Netflix) seems at first oddball for de la Iglesias because it is so cerebral. But even in its intelligence, it manages to go over the top (and into too-lengthy territory) before hurtling us to the brink of brilliance and insanity.

The Last Circus begins with a scene of enormous shock quotient, done with amazing skill: You'll hardly be able to take a breath for the fast few minutes, so fast and furious do events, bullets and bodies fly. (Machete waving has rarely seemed such fun.) From here, we skip ahead in time and are introduced to three characters who remain with us throughout the film, growing, changing and keeping our mouths agape.

This threesome is played by Carlos Areces (shown above), Antonio de la Torre (at right, center -- from last year's SCN film Gordos and many more of our favorite Spanish movies) and Caroline Bang (below, swinging). I don't think I am giving away the store when I say that you can view them, respec-tively, as the Repub-lican left (passive variety, for awhile), the Fascist right, and Spain herself. That's if you want to do the "symbols" thing, and as The Last Circus is definitely an anti-war movie, go ahead. Yet it is also such an eye-poppingly wonderful piece of visual art and a humdinger of a story, feel free to consider those symbols at a later date.

I could go on (and on -- just like de la Iglesias) about this terrific, visual knock-out of a movie, but as Magnolia Pictures has picked it up for U.S. distribution and is releasing it today, I'll just say: See it. In New York City, it has opened at the Cinema Village. To see other playdates, cities and theaters across the country, simply click here.

Mona Achache's THE HEDGEHOG, with Josiane Balasko, proves a mainstream-arthouse must-see; Q&A with the actress

THE HEDGEHOG -- a must-see movie for the foreign film crowd that delights in unusual tales and situations, along with rich characterization -- has been adapted and directed from the popular Muriel Barbery novel and stars French treasure Josiane Balasko as a dumpy concierge of a high-end building filled with rich twits, one smart little girl, and an exotic new Asian tenant. Filmed with elegance and savvy by Mona Achache (the fledgling, full-length filmmaker is shown below), the movie is a classy, literate, mainstream dream that gives you everything: laughs, tears, charm and -- best of all --  the unexpected.  Whatever the rest of us critics have to say, I would call this one, based on the extraordinary word-of-mouth I expect to see building, a shoo-in for foreign film/ mainstream-arthouse popularity.

When the movie made its New York debut nearly two years ago (during the 2009 Rendez-vous with French Cinema festival), I said pretty much what appears in the above paragraph, so today, I'll elaborate, having viewed the film a second time and enjoyed it just as thoroughly as the first. One thing I did not mention earlier -- along with all the charm, laughter, tears and surprise -- is what a very good story Ms Barbery tells (whose novel I have not read), and how Ms Achache has managed to distill it into just 98 attention-grabbing minutes.

First of all, there's a little girl -- a very smart one -- who has had it up-to-here with her ditzy family. This could be yet another in the long procession of clever, adorable little movie-heroines who... grate. But thanks to a marvelously intelligent and real performacne by Garance Le Guillermic (above), that "rubbing-you-the-wrong-way" factor is just about zero.

Real French film buffs will need no introduction to the movie's star, who gives another in a long line of fine performances. Josiane Balasko (shown above) is, deservedly, a national treasure on the other side of the Atlantic, but because she's no hot, sexy "looker" in the mode of most female "stars" that make any dent in in the U.S. consciousness, she's known here, if at all, only to those of us who follow French film more closely. Often very funny (she got her start -- see interview below -- doing comic cabaret), she's equally able to  break your heart or scare and/or depress you. (I wish her film Hanging Offense (Cette femme-là) would get a belated release in the USA.) In The Hedgehog, as the concierge of the building, she plays a widow who expects little from life and who slowly -- but quite truthfully -- begins to open up, with a little prodding from friends and circumstance.

The other key role is played by Japanese actor Togo Igawa, who, with nearly 90 performances to his credit, -- including everything from Topsy Turvy to Eyes Wide Shut and TV series from Torchwood and Primeval to Chancer and The IT Crowd -- you will surely recognize. The is his best role in a very long while, and he makes the most of it -- bringing to life his quiet, gracious character beautifully.

Other French stalwarts such as Anne Brochet (shown below, left), Ariane Ascaride (shown above, right, with Ms Balasko) and Gisèle Casadesus make appearances, too -- all handled by Ms Achache with economy, flair and control. That a first-time filmmaker should be given a property this big and important speaks surprisngly well for the French film industry and its producers, and especially, of course, for the filmmaker herself.

The Hedgehog, from NeoClassics Films Ltd., opens today here in New York (at the Lincoln Plaza Cinema and the Angelika Film Center) and California (in L.A., Pasadena, Encino and Irvine). Click here, then scroll down to see all playdates, cities and theaters (around 50 of 'em!) scheduled over the next few months.

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Josiane Balasko is every bit as down-to-earth, real and ready to answer questions as you might expect. We met with her and a translator (used mostly for the occasional idiom in play) at the Cassa Hotel, just off Fifth Avenue during her short stay here last month. In the following exchange, TrustMovies appears in boldface, and Ms Balasko in standard type.

I have beeen a fan of yours since, well, it seems like forever. I’ve think I’ve been a fan since before I even knew who you were. I would see you on screen, and then I’d think, “Oh—It’s her again!"  (Josiane laughs heartily – and what a laugh she has!) You know, you have been something of a staple at our yearly Rendez-vous with French Cinema.

(The translator explains the word "staple" to Ms Balasko, who shakes her head, yes.)

First question: Since you have been in this industry as actor, writer, director, even producer – right?

Yes

Well, how is a first-time director like Mona Achache able to do a movie as important as The Hedgehog – that’s something that probably wouldn’t happen here.

The director has two shorts before this, and she tried, for a long time, to do this movie. First she convince the producer. “I want to be the director, I want to be the director!” and finally she was allowed to meet the author of the novel. And finally, she convince even her!

It’s a good thing, too, since she did such a good job, as did you, and all the actors.

Yes, everybody got the right face.

That is pretty rare for a first film.

Yes, I know. (We all laugh)

Now, you still act, much more than your write or direct. The last film you wrote and directed, I believe, was Client, which we saw over here, mostly via VOD, as French Gigolo. Very good, very funny, very French, very clever. We loved it.

Yes. Good!

That was last year, right?

No, I think it was three, four years ago already.

Oh – well, we only got it here last year, I guess. Wow—four years: Do you have something new coming up?

Yes, next year. I am writing it now, and I will film next year.

But you probably don’t want to talk it about it now?

Well, it is not finished, so… no.

If you had your “druthers” -- wait a minute, I’d best not use that word -- if you could do what ever you wanted to do in the world, would you be acting, directing or writing more – or just mixing it up the way you do.

The same. Just more of it. I wish I had more than one life!

Don’t we all?! I think that this is something we feel more acutely as we grow older. Here's a question your career made me want to answer: As an actor, what is it like to play the same character in different movies, as you have done in Cette femme-là (which we called Hanging Offense) and La Clef (The Key)?

from Hanging Offense (Cette femme-là)

Well, this was not exactly the same characters, even though they have the same name, are the same person, and have the same professions.

Hmmm… Is The Key(La Clef) darker or not as dark as Hanging Offense.

It is not as dark.

Ah-- that would make a big difference.

This director, Guillaume Nicloux, he had his own music, you know. He does not really direct actors so much.

He leaves you on your own?

Not really on your own. He lets you find the music of your character.

Of all your films, that one has stayed with me in odd ways.

from The Key (Le Clef)

Nicloux, you know, he writes very dark. And that shoot you know, it was so cold and so difficult to do.

Lets talk abut something sunny then: With the Les Bronzes series, that was another instance of your playing the same character?

Yes, and we made one film right after the other, but then, after some years, we made the third film. It was like old friends getting together again after a very long time. These were very popular movies – ten million people went to see them in France.

What does it cost to go to a movie in France?

Probably the same as in Amercia – with the currency difference.

So you are happy bouncing around from directing to acting to writing and producing?

Yes I am happy. And I also do theater, too. And I love to do all these things. It depends on the idea. When I find a good idea, in any form, then I want to do it.

How often do you do legitimate theater?

Maybe every four or five years. And then, when I do it, it may last from four to five months.

So that is a real chunk out of your life. Did you begin your career in legitimate theater, or in film or TV?

No, we start in something like... (she consults with the translator) cabaret, where you can do small sketches, like comedy, and in smaller venues.

Ah. Do you ever do anything like that again, now?

No.

It would probably be mobbed by your fans, right?

(She shrugs and smiles.)

What is your take on the current political situation in France? Is it getting more right-wing or are the French able to keep that down?

I think this is like... a threat – but something that is not going to happen. It will come to nothing. You have this here, too, no?

I think it is worse in our country. And I know that you are not a politician, but do you think that the Euro will stay as the currency of all Europe, or will each country go back to its original currency?

I think we will continue with the Euro because otherwise it would be very unstable.

The European community could fail as a community.  Is there anything you would like to talk about that journalists never ask you. Here’s your chance. (She and her translator both laugh).

(As she thinks about this, I ask) I understand from your publicist that you are married to an American Indian – and that it was same man – the actor who played the Indian in Client?

Yes, yes.

from French Gigolo (Cliente)

Do you both come back here to the US often?

Yes, he more often than me. But I come as often as I want. I come as a tourist. I now know Flint Michigan because George, my husband (shown above, right), is from Flint.

Wow: Did he work for General Motors?

No, but his father did. It was very different back then, he tells me. The company then provided so much for its employees.

Things were very different back then. We call that time very paternalistic. But the western world does not seem that way anymore. (Josiane shakes her head in agreement) Was The Hedgehog a hit in France?

Yes it was. Not a huge hit but quite successful.

It seems to me that this movie could become a big arthouse hit over here. It’s touching without being sappy, funny without being a sitcom, and it offers a really wonderful array of characters.

Some people were angry at me for what happened at the end. “Why did you have to … ?” they ask me. (We’re giving away no spoilers here)

But that is how the book did it, too, right?

Yes. But the book was more, perhaps, philosophical.

We chat a bit more before bidding adieu to this wonderful performer, whose next film, next year, we’ll look forward to seeing.

(Unless stated otherwise, all the photos above are from The Hedgehog, courtesy of NeoClassics Films Ltd.