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Love & Mercy (2014)
Faithful telling of the Brian Wilson story with great performances
I first discovered the Pet Sounds album sometime in the mid 90's. I don't think any album before or since then has had quite the same effect on me. I have always listened to a lot of music but there was something about this that immediately told you it was an album apart. When it was released in 1966 it marked a massively ambitious departure with its orchestral approach and heartfelt lyricism combined with an introspective tone and undercurrents of despondency running throughout the record. (The departure from the previous Beach Boys template meant that mostly fans were alienated and it was not a commercial success at the time).
So with my biased unalloyed devotion declared, what then of Love and Mercy the Brian Wilson biopic? This seems to me to be a very faithful telling of the Brian Wilson story. There is no glaring artistic license taken with any of the salient facts of Wilson's life from what I have previously understood, to which I should say- thankfully.
The movies approach is unusual in that the narrative moves back and forth between two different periods of Wilson's life. The first is the period around the mid-sixties leading up to and during the recording of Pet Sounds and then Brian's gradual descent into drug- misuse and mental illness. The second begins in the mid-eighties period at the time that Brian started to emerge from his reclusive state and the malign influence of Dr Eugene Landy his discredited psychotherapist.
While this method of telling Wilson's story may not be to everyone's liking I think it works. By concentrating on these two periods the film makers can delve a little deeper into the subject matter than if say they were to attempt to encompass a wider time-span in his life. An example of this (and probably a highpoint for fans) is the extended time accorded in the movie to the process of Pet Sounds coming together in Studio with Brian in complete control of a large cast of seasoned session musicians.
The performances all round are superb. Of the main players Paul Dano who plays Brian Past lends a brilliant performance to the part of the obsessive and highly sensitive and gifted perfectionist. It helps as well that he bears a striking resemblance to the younger Brian. John Cusack plays the role of Brian Future and he perfectly embodies the damaged and vulnerable elder Brian. Elizabeth Banks imbues the part of Melinda Ledbetter (later Wilson) with strength and instinctive intelligence. Arguably the performance that eclipses them all is the ever superb Paul Giamatti who is near-demonic in his portrayal of Dr Eugene Landy.
Amy (2015)
Revealing account of an endearing and flawed person and gifted musician
Unlike many premature iconic Rock n' Roll star deaths which are greeted with shock, the news of Amy Winehouse's demise in July 2011 came with a grim sense of inevitability. That the daily tabloid fodder of her problems with drink and drugs had long since replaced her extraordinary vocal talent and recording success as the prime generator of all those column inches only added to the sadness felt at that time.
'Amy' is directed by Asif Kapadia previously lauded for Senna the documentary of Ayrton Senna. It provides a fascinating and balanced portrayal of Amy the flawed person and the gifted musician from North London beyond the two dimensional tabloid portrayal which hitherto many casual followers of her life story may only be familiar with. Thankfully it eschews the oft-used "talking heads" approach to documentary making. While numerous insightful interviews were undertaken with childhood friends of Amy, her Manager's, band members, collaborators as well as producers she worked with such as Mark Ronson and Salaam Remi, their contributions appear as voice- overs on the actual footage being shown.
The footage itself consists of archive material including interviews and concert material and more home-produced video recorded by friends of Amy, her first Manager- Nick Shymansky and so on than I had expected. The first scene in 'Amy' is one such home recording showing Amy age 14 in normal enough teenage mode hanging out with her friends when she launches into a stunning rendition of Happy Birthday.
Early on the impression of an endearing personality is created as much of the footage shows her being effortlessly funny and clever, mouthy but vulnerable too. It's also clear that many of her problems that became so manifest later stem from her childhood. Her father's breakup with her Mother clearly had a big effect on her. She suffered from depression for a time and also became bulimic but this appears to have gone unnoticed at the time.
Her talent ensures that success comes quite early but it's clear that Amy was completely ill-suited to fame even prophetically saying in an early interview "I don't think I could handle it, I would probably go mad". One interview also shows a reluctance by her to play the game as she visibly becomes incredulous in the face of an interviewers inane questions.
Hand in hand with the growing fame and her uncertainty around how to handle it comes an increasing reliance on drink and then harder drugs to which she is introduced to by Blake Fielder-Civil her on- again off again boyfriend who she eventually marries in 2007. From there its uncomfortable viewing at times but fascinating also as her every move and mis-step becomes fodder for a vile paparazzi and voracious media who come over as somewhat complicit in her downfall.
I like the fact that the documentary makes plenty of room to show her performances of many of her popular songs such as 'Love is a Losing game' and 'Back to Black'. While these are shown her lyrics are also displayed on screen. These lyrics go a long way to revealing the sadness in Amy's heart and 'Amy' does go a long way towards giving background context to those heartfelt words.
Get Up and Go (2014)
One lead is unlikeable, the other ones a bit weird, doesn't invite enough empathy
Filmed in Dublin, Get up and Go is a low budget affair boasting two of Love/Hate's leading lights in the main roles. Peter Coonan (Alex) and Killian Scott (Coilin) are twenty-something housemates who although seemingly friends for years are two polar opposites. Alex is a wannabe musician who is brash, impulsive and selfish. Coilin is an introverted and awkward romantic type who incongruously is trying to catch a break as a Comedian.
The down-at-heel, impoverished nature of their lives is laid out early on. A depressed looking Coilin waking up in a grimy Dublin flat, goes to the Kitchen to make himself some tea in a pint glass while covered head to toe in his duvet. Meanwhile Alex lies in bed next to his girlfriend over at her place. She announces she is pregnant; he tells her he does not want to be a Daddy at this time but instead wants to proceed with a shared dream he and her had to move to London- with or without her (but definitely not including baby).
Alex's burning need to leave for London that very same day is the narrative device employed here as Coilin, while also declining the offer of going to London with Alex drives him around downtown Dublin as they chase some debts owed and otherwise attempt to borrow the moolah required to meet the fare. Cue many, mostly unfunny encounters with former colleagues, disgruntled employers, detached friends and assorted acquaintances as they go from one place to another.
Unfortunately Get up and Go while striving to be funny doesn't raise enough laughter to be successful in that endeavour. Sure enough, Alex likes to joke around but because he is essentially unlikeable the most I could muster was the occasional titter. On the other hand lovelorn Coilin is played for pathos but because he comes across as plain weird I didn't feel much of an emotional connection with him either. In Coilin's case I think his character may have come to life more with a better back story. As for Alex, right to the end there isn't anything redeemable enough about him that makes me want to root for him.
The most enjoyable part of the movie is in recognising so many of the locations in and around the city of Dublin. It also features music from the likes of Adrian Crowley and Villagers.
The Water Diviner (2014)
Reasonably promising premise which ultimately falls short
Set in 1919 The Water Diviner tells the story of an Australian father of three young men all of whom have enlisted with the ANZAC's in the Gallipoli campaign in World War 1. Subsequent to the battle in which the Allied forces were defeated all three have failed to return home and are now presumed dead. Joshua Connor (Russell Crowe) their father, a Victorian Outback farmer with a gift for divining water makes a promise to his wife to bring them home and heads off on a quest to Gallipoli to find them.
This is the reasonably promising premise laid out in the first 20 minutes of the film. I didn't envisage a swash-buckle fest at this stage; nor is it true to say it becomes this, but the film does veer in that direction once or twice over the ensuing hour and thirty minutes. It seems like a betrayal of the seriousness of the subject matter because of this.
The Water Diviner is relatively entertaining but it falls short of what I was hoping for and I think this is because it neither all-out delivers as a full on ravages of war redemption story or as an all- out high-spirited adventure. Having said that some of the battle- scenes (shot in flashback) are unflinching and are probably the best scenes in the film.
The cinematography is beautiful to the eye but the end effect here is that it feels too sanitised at times. There are other things that rankle as well- a burgeoning love story which comes over as too shoe-horned and heavy handed for my liking and in my view steals the central story of its import. There are two scenes in particular where the viewer is required to make the jump from believing in the power of the diviners hand to believing in altogether more mystical powers or insights divined by the same hand (also to do with powers of location). Another thing to watch out for; the film plays host to a stock character or two- witness the very officious English officer who speaks in stereotypical clipped tones, previously seen in countless other films.
Cobain: Montage of Heck (2015)
Intense portrayal which relies on source material
It's 21 years since Kurt Cobain's death by suicide and his status as a legendary alternative rock figure and totem for a disaffected generation has not dimmed in the intervening period.
Although I had been eagerly awaiting this documentary, at the same time I approached it with a wariness more than half expecting it to be a depressing encounter. Given what I already knew about the mental difficulties and addiction problems Kurt faced during his short life and the eventual sad outcome it was hard to believe that anything of a positive nature could be wrung from seeing this.
This is the first official documentary made about the life of Kurt Cobain. It has been made with the co-operation of his family. His daughter Frances Bean is an executive producer. His parents, sister, wife- Courtney Love, first girlfriend and fellow band member Chris Novoselic (the third band member Dave Grohl is the notable absentee) have all contributed, allowing themselves to be interviewed.
The expectation of access to intimate home videos as well as Kurt's own drawings, writing, outpourings etc and other previously unseen footage bringing with it the possibility of gaining a clearer view on Kurt Cobain's life is probably the thing which will entice most viewers to go see this. This heavy reliance on this intimate source material makes for an intense portrayal of the subject. It's also what makes it a success. It's noticeable how often for instance on screen we are shown up-close, his own words in his hand-writing in the original copybook complete with stains and other words and sentences crossed out. It's the closest place the director can bring us, next to occupying Kurt's mind. Much of the writing is angry and nihilistic but there are lots of lists too- of things to do for example; it all suggests a wildly active mind and one not easy to keep a rein on.
Home videos himself and Courtney produced, both while pregnant with, and then after Frances Bean was born similarly get us up-close and personal. It's excruciating to watch but compelling too- a couple wrapped up in each other but also in their drug dependency. When Frances Bean is born his love for her is touching but then the videos also reveal the declining health as the heroin addiction spirals.
As intense and personal as it is there are no major revelatory insights into the life or death of Kurt Cobain in this documentary. This is not a failing of the documentary as I don't think any revelatory new angles or expositions could have been expected. As well as this the title (taken from the name of a mix-tape Kurt put together) does indicate obfuscation or a lack of clarity or certainty about a picture drawn. So it should be; where a life ends so tragically definitive answers can never be presented and any distillation of his life or death into neat summations is thankfully and rightly avoided.
The documentary tells us the following (which in essence we already know or suppose we know). Kurt was an energetic, intelligent child who became withdrawn and angry as he got older, probably owing largely to his parent's divorce. He was often a lone, self-hating teenager who found a release from his angst in smoking pot and then at a certain age he discovered punk music which lit a torch and he began to teach himself guitar and write music. He was disaffected enough and genius enough to write brilliantly disaffected genius songs. His music struck a chord, Nirvana became huge almost overnight and then he struggled with the idea of being held up as a spokesperson for a generation. Desperately insecure, above all else he craved love and a need for rootedness- a family to belong to. He found this with Courtney Love and later their daughter. He sought refuge in them away from what he saw as a hostile world but tragically he also sought refuge in heroin.
The Last Man on the Moon (2014)
Highly recommended
It seems to me that nowadays we are no longer as attuned to, or turned on by Space Exploration as generations were in times past. It's probably not too much of an exaggeration to say it could be seen by many as 'old hat'. The reasons for this, I speculate, may be variously due to the Un-manned, technically advanced nature of many of today's missions (which has removed the key human interest element from the story) as well as our obsession with matters more material or tangible.
This feature length documentary which I watched today was shown as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival. It harks back to the pioneering age when Space Exploration was front and centre in the public's consciousness and for Americans it's every success was regarded as a source of intense National pride in their Cold-war Space-Race against the Soviet Union. Astronauts were routinely and quite rightly feted as All-American heroes. Here was a time when the various Apollo missions were a Prime-time ratings winner, transfixing an anxious TV-watching public who tuned in on a daily basis for the latest updates knowing as they did the inherent danger involved.
I came to this as a casually interested viewer with, at best a passable knowledge of the history of Space Exploration. Without a doubt my interest has now been piqued. It's a thoroughly enjoyable documentary which deserves to be shown (and seen) on the large screen. Gene Cernan is the hero and focus of this story; he being the last of the 12 men to set foot on the moon. However Gene or any of the other players are not presented as mere cardboard heroes; instead the very real man as well as Astronaut is revealed- there is no excess light shown on Gene the astronaut to the exclusion of Gene the man, husband and Father. For instance sadness and regret at being away from his daughter for extended periods are juxtaposed with the euphoria of being one of the lucky few to know what it really feels like to get your space-boots covered in moondust.
The fact that Gene is now in his 80's as are most of the other Astronauts featured makes it a timely production and it also lends a poignancy and a gravitas to it. Gene comes across as a proud but very grounded man capable of making telling insights and being able to reflect meaningfully on his achievements without ever wearing them haughtily. The contributions from former fellow Astronauts, Mission control commanders and family members by turn combine to create a full and rounded picture of the man. The Last Man on the Moon is very deftly paced and well edited. Its shot through with the most amazing and varied archive footage including everything from amateur home-movies to NASA archived material. When viewed through the prism of today's super-advanced technological times there's a flying-by-the-seat-of-their-pants feel to much of the Mission control and Space footage which I found fascinating. There's a great swinging-sixties soundtrack to boot.
Definitely recommended. One final thought; does anyone else think that Gene Cernan is a ringer for Clint Eastwood?