FILM REVIEWS:
COLETTE AND JUSTINE (France/Belgium 2022) ***
Directed by Alain Kassada
COLETTE AND JUSTINE are the grandparents of the doc’s director, Alain Kassanda.
Born in Kinshasa and living in Paris, Kassanda embodies the classic immigrant dual identity: in the Democratic Republic of Congo, he is seen as French, while in France he is seen as Congolese. Determined to understand the colonial legacy from which he comes, Kassanda convinces his grandparents— Colette and Justin— to sit for a series of interviews. Together, they watch old news footage, remember a visit from the Belgian king, and recall what life was like as part of the nascent Black bourgeoisie who served the colonial administration. Colette and Justin begin with one man’s search to understand himself and his roots. But ultimately it is an evocative, poetic and thoughtful meditation on the intersection of political and family history and the multi-generational destructive reach of colonialism.
Alain Kassanda's debut film begins as a self-examination. How well does he know his grandparents? What does he know about his native Congo, which was partly imposed on his identity by colonizer Belgium? And what does he know about himself with that? In Colette et Justin, he travels through time and his personal family history, and he also beautifully brings the history of postcolonial Congo to life. He lets his grandparents look back on their lives, from their youth and first meeting to a complex political period. The Congo's first independent years pass by as a layered history, in which good and evil intertwine and Justin is assigned an important role.
Mixed with interviews with the grandparents, old photos and a few archive footage, director Kassanda creates a fascinating document of the history of a Kingdom seldom seen and hardly known that is both educational, informative and entertaining.
A segment is spent showing archive footage of the King of Belgium, visiting the town where the grandmother lives. The King is celebrated, and everyone cheers him on in his car. The grandmother says on camera that it was a grand occasion and she brought his mother, small as she was, to see the King.
Besides this happier segment, there are a few disturbing ones, including one where a black child is locked in an animal cage as observed by two other white children.
As in most colonizations, the colonized respect the colonists despite any abuse. The white man is often seen as superior and the master, probably because of the wealth and privilege that the poorer folk can see.
The doc plays like a history lesson, but a history lesson of a foreign land, which in this case is the Congo. Though one might argue that life at present and in the past has nothing of interest to the present in North America, it can be argued that many keen observations can be studied, for example in the root of racism and prejudice. Besides, the doc is also a very interesting one, as there is much that can be learned and observed from the past of the Congo.
For one, many are unfamiliar with the Congo. The Democratic Republic of the Congo, also known as the DR Congo, the DRC, or Congo-Kinshasa, is a country in Central Africa. By land area, the Congo is the second-largest country in Africa and the 11th-largest in the world. With a population of around 109 million, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the most populous Francophone country in the world. The national capital and largest city are Kinshasa, which is also the economic centre.
COLETTE AND JUSTINE arrives on DVD, Amazon Prime Video, and Vimeo On Demand on October 22, 2024. The DVD release includes director Alain Kassanda's earlier short film Trouble Sleep.
Trailer:
CONCLAVE (UK/USA 2024) ***** Top 10
Directed by Edward Berger
Director Berger delivers another stunning and compelling drama CONCLAVE after his much-heralded Oscar Winner ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT. The CONCLAVE is the process where a new Pontiff is elected by the cardinals after one dies. It is an elaborate process as Berger illustrates. Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) oversees the proceedings, assuming that the contest will come down to a battle between the reactionary, openly racist Cardinal Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto) and the liberal progressive Cardinal Bellini (Stanley Tucci). And matters soon turn complicated as rumours circulate, secrets emerge, and acts of sabotage are undertaken.
Adapted by Peter Straughan (GOLDFINCH) from the Robert Harris much-acclaimed novel, and shot by cinematographer Stéphane Fontaine (the Vatican is displayed in all its grandeur and unwelcomeness), the film is a masterwork of drama and irrelevance. The ultimate choice of the new Pope comes as an unexpected twist at the end. Performances are top-notch all the way around. The musical score by Volker Bertlemann is necessarily intense, to the point of almost overdoing it. One of the Top 10 Films at TIFF.
Trailer:
HANGDOG (USA 2023) ***
Directed by Matt Cascella
The term hangdog is an adjective that means shamefaced, guilty, browbeaten, defeated, or intimidated. It can be used to describe the protagonist, Walt in the film, a person who is having a hangdog expression or looking including characteristics of contrite, sheepish, ashamed, crestfallen, and wretched. Assured and confident, Walt is not. From the film’s opening scene in which a couple wakes up in bed with their cuddly pooch, the dialogue that follows indicates a slight comedy and a couple’s relationship. And with a dog involved. The scene follows when Wendy proposes marriage to Walt while he is naked in the shower just to get things off her chest, as he says. There is trouble in paradise and perhaps the relationship should once more be examined. This is the core of the story behind HANGDOG.
The catalyst of the story is the dog Walt is looking after, which gets stolen while Walt ties him up at a pole. He is distraught and unable to tell his girl what has happened. As she is retiring soon, there is the race of the time to recover the pooch. He finds the culprit and takes action.
The story is set in Portland, few films do, so it is good to learn a bit about Portland as well. Portland, Oregon’s largest city, sits on the Columbia and Willamette rivers, in the shadow of snow-capped Mount Hood. It’s known for its parks, bridges and bicycle paths, as well as for its eco-friendliness and its microbreweries and coffeehouses. Iconic Washington Park encompasses sites from the formal Japanese Garden to the Oregon Zoo and its railway. The city hosts thriving art, theatre and music scenes. The script uses the most out of the setting. There are scenes with the dog walking by the beach. Walt also has dreams of being an artist and perhaps owning his own studio in his garage. The film also shows various sights around Portland,
Walt is a fish out of water in his own skin. He’s now also a fish out of water in Portland, Maine, having recently moved with his girlfriend, Wendy (Kelly O’Sullivan, GHOSTLIGHT, SAINT FRANCIS), to be closer to her parents. Without a job or a plan, and with a new dog competing for Wendy’s affection, Walt has reached peak anxiety.
In their debut narrative feature, husband-and-wife creative team Matt Cascella (Director and Editor) and Jen Cordery (Writer) capture the idiosyncrasies of the ‘little’ people of the city. There is the nosy neighbour that would invite a neighbour over for a beer and the mother-and-son family of thieves among others.
Desmin Borges is quite the delight in the title role of the hapless hero who has fate against him too many times. He is not too handsome and can be considered attractive in a goofy way. He carries the entire film on his shoulders with his girl playing secondary.
HANGDOG is a charming bittersweet relationship comedy about two imperfect beings who work at what they have to make things work.
HANGDOG opens on Digital Nationwide on October 25 and is also available to rent/purchase across all major platforms.
Trailer:
HIJACK ’93 (Nigerian 2024) ***
Directed by Robert Peters
HIJACK ’93 is based on a true-life incident that took place some 30 years ago in 1993. A hijack! In an effort to dismantle their military-backed government, four men hijack an airplane, leveraging passengers on board in the name of social change.
HIJACK ’93 is a Nollywood film, complete with Nigerian actors speaking Nigerian or pidgin English. Nollywood, a portmanteau of Nigeria and Hollywood, is a sobriquet that originally referred to the Nigerian film industry. The origin of the term goes back to the early 2000s, as traced in an article in The New York Times. Though the Nigerian Film Industry is substantial. Netflix provides viewers with a taste of Hollywood cinema. HIJACK ’93 is an entertaining enough film, mixing true crime with some thrills, and tongue-in-cheek humour, in a Nigerian setting.
The tongue-in-cheek humour:
“You will take control of the plane and force the pilot to land in Frankfurt. That is where your new lives begin.” these are the instructions given to the 4 young ‘volunteered’ hijackers by the one in command. The group is for the advance of Democracy and the demand is to reinstate the democratic leader that according to the group, belongs to power. And what if it does go according to plan? The answer: Sometimes it takes great risk and great effort.
There is also melodrama in the style of the original AIRPORT movie. Like the pilot played by Dean Martin having an affair with flight attendant Jacqueline Bisset, the pilot of the Nigerian plane is about to be wed to a flight attendant. There are a variety of screams on the plane as well, all this likely added to the film for ‘artistic’ entertainment.
HIJACK’93 is available for streaming on Netflix beginning Friday, October 25th, 2024.
Trailer:
LOUPS-GAROUS (Family Pack) (France 2024) **
Directed by Francois Ozan
Directed by Francois Ozan, not to be confused with Francois Ozon, the Netflix original adventure fantasy family film is based on the card game The Werewolves of Millers Hollow (French: Les Loups-garous de Thiercelieux) created by the French authors Philippe des Pallières and Hervé Marly that can be played with 8 to 47 players. The game is based on the Russian game Mafia. It was nominated for the 2003 Spiel des Jahres award and a trendy game in France.
The film centres on a family, grafter Gilbert (Jean Reno) and the father and mother played Franck Dubosc as Jérôme and Suzanne Clément as Marie with assorted children. Gilbert, who is slowly losing his memory due to old age has found the game in the attic and has been playing the game making up the rules as time goes along. The family sits down to play the game. Whilst playing this mysterious board game the family is transported to a medieval land beset by werewolves.
A few credibility problems in the story. The reason the family is transported to medieval times is largely omitted asa well as returning back to current times.
In the board game, before the game starts, a person will be designated as the game master. That person then randomly gives each player a card, after which each player secretly discovers their identity by looking at the card. All players are divided into two teams: the townsfolk (some of them having special roles) and the werewolves. The townsfolk's aim is to uncover and eliminate all werewolves, while the werewolves' aim is to stay undiscovered and eliminate all townspeople.
In the film which steals the basic concept of the game, the village where the family is time transported to experience a problem. At night werewolves attack the village and kill innocent victims. The villagers are thus fearful of strangers. When the Jerome family suddenly appears in different attire, they are immediately suspected of sorcery. But they do hold superhuman peers, as the players in the game also hold, the powers not immediately known or made known to each. At the same time, the neighbours are holding a medieval carnival and everyone dresses up for the occasion. So when the family is transported to the past, they initially think that they are in the carnival, until the first beheading in which the blood is discovered to be real. This is the only violent part in the family film, though the beheading is shown off-screen.
For a family film, director Ozan’s is strong on messages, though too strong and obvious for one’s liking. The one on the strength of women and how women should stand up when being abused is preached loud and clear in the movie. The women in the old times expect to be beaten, as part of the marriage, The other is the strength of the family.
The film suffers from being quite bland which is expected for a family movie. The special effects are satisfactory at best, though the costumes and set pieces are well done.
LOUPS-GAROUS (Family Pack) opens for streaming on Netflix this week.
Trailer:
VENOM: THE LAST DANCE (USA 2024) **
Directed by Kelly Marcel
Venom is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is a sentient alien symbiote with an amorphous, liquid-like form, who survives by bonding with a host, usually human. This dual-life form receives enhanced powers and usually refers to itself as "Venom". The Venom symbiote's first human host was Spider-Man himself, who eventually discovered its true nefarious nature and separated himself from the creature. The character was portrayed by Tobey Maguire and Topher Grace in Spider-Man 3 (2007), with Tom Hardy primarily portraying the character in Sony's Spider-Man Universe films Venom (2018) and Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021) and once again in this latest film VENOM: TBE LAST DANCE.
VENOM: THE LAST DANCE features the Marvel Comics character and is a sequel to Venom (2018) and Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021), the fifth film in Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU), and the third and final installment of the Venom trilogy. It was written and directed by Kelly Marcel. Tom Hardy stars as Eddie Brock and Venom alongside Chiwetel Ejiofor, Juno Temple, Rhys Ifans, Stephen Graham, Peggy Lu, Clark Backo and Alanna Ubach. In the film, Eddie and Venom are on the run from both of their worlds. The story is by both Marcel and Tom Hardy, and it is quite simplistic, involving the world and even the Universe about to be destroyed and nothing much else. After all, the simple plot is helped by the fact that Eddie Brock is alone with no family or girlfriend.
The super action hero flick suffers from a weak narrative, leading the film towards relying on special effects and action set pieces, though not too bad while tending to get boring after a while. Tom Hardy as Brock with his wisecracking humour is the best thing in the film which thankfully lasts less than 2 hours.
The highlight of the film is the impromptu dance between Eddie Brock and Mrs. Chen. Out of the blue, Brock sees Mrs. Chen playing in a Las Vegas casino. They go into an elaborate dance in an inspired crazy sequence that can be watched more than once. But also accompanying this are a few over-the-tip ridiculous scenes like the beginning where the villain monster growls and groans about taking vengeance on his offspring and destroying the Universe.
VENOM: THE LAST DANCE opens in theatres on October 25th, Given the record of the last two VENOM films and the lack of a blockbuster in the recent few weeks.s the film should make a killing at the box office.
Trailer:
