French Cinema: Un prophète (A Prophet) film review

Un Prophète directed by Jacques Audiard is an award-winning French crime drama. It won the Grand Prix at Cannes, several César Awards, a Best Foreign Language Film BAFTA, Best Film at the BFI London Film Festival and was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 82nd Academy Awards. Quite the collection of accolades and there is most definietly a reason for that.

Tahar Rahim is exceptional as Malik El Djebena, an incarcerated small-time criminal who ascends up the prison hierarchy. Rahim commands the screen completely even though this was one of his first film roles, and we, the audience, follow his startling metamorphosis step by step.

One of the most visceral scenes comes early in the film, where Malik is tasked with the assassination of Reyeb, a fellow Muslim prison mate, by the all-powerful Corsican mob boss César Luciani (Niels Arestrup). It is a startling scene that is hard to watch but brilliantly depicts Malik’s desperation to survive. As a result of his violent and botched murder, he is thus haunted by the spectre of Reyeb throughout the rest of the film.

Impressively, Un prophète is not exactly an original tale, but its execution and exploration of race make it a compelling entry into the prison drama genre. Due to Malik El Djebena’s French-Algerian heritage, he is able to navigate the diverse cultures of the prison; he straddles the gap between the Corsican mobsters and the Muslims and cultivates his position within both groups to further his position in the prison’s hierarchy.

He also finds time to learn how to read and write through the prison school, arming himself for life outside when his six-year sentence is finally over. His journey is a complex and compelling one, and you feel yourself rooting for him throughout.

A familiar story made brilliant through execution and a star performance by Tahar Rahim, who is easily one of France’s most compelling actors working at the moment.

Russian Cinema - Лето (Leto) Review

Лето (Leto) which means Summer in English is a Russian Biographical Rock’n’Roll Musical set in 1980’s Leningrad in the dying days of the Soviet Union. It’s a love letter, a celebration to an era of dawning hope and rebellious youth which is beautifully captured by director Kirill Serebrennikov.

Leto follows the rise of one of the most iconic rock musicians of 80’s Russia, Viktor Tsoi of rock band Kino and his relationship with fellow musician Mike Naumenko of Zoopark and how they both navigated artistic expression, living in relative poverty and restricted success. The film also cleverly comments on the nature of the biographical film with a character who breaks the fourth wall after certain (unrealistic) moments to insist to the viewer that that event never really happened.

There is a frenetic energy in Serebrennikov’s direction which really shines in the musical interludes which include an aggressive cover of the Talking Heads’ Psycho Killer and a dreamy rendition of Passenger by Iggy Pop. Doodles appear on the screen in these musical interludes to create a mixed media music video like moment that instantly grabs your attention.

Teo Yoo a Korean actor born and raised in Germany steals the spotlight as Viktor Tsai and his understated performance and character evolution holds the film together.

Another moment that feels so creative and fun is when the characters recreate a range of rock’n’roll album covers, the nostalgia it conjures up in this quirky sequence is undeniable.

Leto is available to rent on Mubi

Swiss Cinema - Sarah joue un loup-garou (Sarah Plays a Werewolf) Review

A gripping portrayal of growing up and the dangerous isolation of being a misfit.

Swiss filmmaker Katharina Wyss’ debut is a powerful statement about growing up. Filmed in a 4:3 ratio to give every frame an uneasy claustrophobia we follow Sarah as she tries to connect with those around her. Her family life is bizarre, with not so subtle hints of incest. Sarah’s only outlet is to abandon herself onstage at her theatre group. But like many young imaginative and disturbed people Sarah falls into a dangerous waltz with depression.

Loane Balthasar’s fearless performance as Sarah drives the film and the realism in the direction makes it feel achingly true. Rich opulent colours dominate the colour palette of the film which gives it a sense of excess that veers towards the grotesque, a metaphor for Sarah’s psyche perhaps. Another aspect of the cinematography and style of the film that I enjoyed was he lingering shots on critiques of theatre performances, opera and Nietzsche which is very indie French cinema.

Overall, Sarah joue un loup-garou is a fantastic psychological journey into the mind of a girl on the cusp of womanhood who is too fragile to survive in a harsh and indifferent world.

French Cinema - Un homme idéal (A Perfect Man)

A thrilling almost Faustian tale of success, deceit and murder.

Mathieu Vasseur (Pierre Niney) has always wanted to become a famous writer, the only issue is that he can’t seem to get his work published, there is something he lacks. Talent. So when he happens across the journal of a recently deceased veteran while clearing out a house at his removal company job, he hazards his bets and steals the work.

What follows is a film that doesn’t stop pilling on the twists, and as Mathieu struggles to keep up with the facade he has built for himself his world comes crumbling down around him. It’s the age old saying: be careful what you wish for. A beautiful girlfriend and a lavish lifestyle come at a rather hefty price for Mathieu and throughout the film he tries desperately to hold onto those things, no matter what it takes. Even murder.

Un homme idéal, is a study in the fragility of the masculine identity. Mathieu has built himself up to be a seemingly perfect man (as the title of the film suggests), he is: handsome, intelligent and successful. But, he fears that his Girlfriend will leave him if she finds out he is a fraud. Everything he has done to establish himself has been in the pursuit of this one woman, and this insecurity that stems from the idea that he isn’t enough for her if he peels away all the fakery is what triggers his downfall. It’s brilliant psychological and sociological story telling that questions the unfair expectations put on men to be a certain archetype.

Korean Cinema – 버닝 (Burning) Review

Burning is a taut and thrilling adaptation of one of Murakami’s most intriguing short stories, Barn Burning.

Of course Burning is not a literal retelling of Murakami’s story, it has been tweaked and reworked seeing as it is only a 20 page story and the film is over 2 hours long. These tweaks work so well and contribute to a study of Korean society that feels raw and rather brutal. It’s a classic example of class division, of the psychological harm that jealousy incurs and perhaps obsession.

Burning follows a young man called Jong-su, he works several part time jobs in a struggle to survive in Seoul, one day he meets Hae-mi, an old acquaintance from his hometown and they start seeing each other. Hae-mi goes travelling to Africa and asks Jong-su to look after her cat even though he has just moved back to his family farm in Paju. Jong-su performs his task diligently without ever encountering the cat. When Hae-mi returns from Africa she is accompanied by Ben a young successful man. And thus the tension begins between the two males.

Having Jong-su and Hae-mi come from simple means the sudden appearance of Ben a metropolitan man who drives a Porsche and lives in Gangnam is rather jarring and as an audience we never warm to his character. And he only gets more and more suspicious in his smugness and rather disturbing collection in his bathroom and the revelation that he likes to burn greenhouses. Abandoned greenhouses that take less than 10 minutes to completely disappear. At this point you start to think that he is just a rich boy on a power trip, later however when Hae-mi goes missing it becomes apparent that burning greenhouses is just a metaphor for something far more nefarious…or is it?

That’s the best thing about Lee’s direction, we are never really told anything concrete. Can we completely trust Jong-su, is he not just completely overcome with jealousy, Ben seems to have everything, success, fast cars, a beautiful apartment and a loving family. Is Jong-su imagining the scenario or is Ben really a psychopathic murderer of Women?

It’s a shame that Burning didn’t make it into the nominations for best foreign film for the Academy Awards this year as this is a masterfully conducted thriller. The acting especially by Yoo Ah-in and Steven Yeun is electrifying, they fit so well into their respective roles. The soundtrack heightens tension terrifically and the cinematography feels at moments whimsical and then all of a sudden concise and rigid.

Let me know in the comments section what you thought of the film.