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The Dark Knight |
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In a nutshell: Smooth flying for moody 'Batman II'
WATCHING UK director Christopher Nolan's second Batman movie feels like you're riding in the Batmobile with shaded windows at night. The viewer is encased in a slick vehicle, with a stylised - rarely sunlit - Gotham outside their window and lots of innocent passers-by and foes at every turn. It's a tad long - but that's probably a prerequisite for folks to actually pay a ticket for a movie in this age of downloading. But beyond that, the film is a beautifully-sculpted piece of comic book work, and the kind that drives on the morbid, cynical fuel, rather than cartoonish gas. Christian Bale revamps the part of Bruce Wayne-caped hero Batman, with his voice weirdly deformed when behind the mask. Like any self-respecting superhero, he's spurned countless imitators, but is misunderstood by the public. By his side are trusty Alfred (Michael Caine), who helps the millionaire conceal his secret but relishes a good "I told you so", and distinguished financial colleague Lucius Fox (an ever-suave Morgan Freeman). By definition, world-weary Batman has love problems too. Bruce Wayne is trying to - albeit in a very passive way - make amends with his spunky childhood friend Rachel (Maggie Gyllenhaal), but she has fallen for the other hero in town, district attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart). To Batman's delight, wholesome Dent has decided to lock up all the city's mobsters, but there's enough male rivalry between the two for Bruce to show up with three models on his arms at the benefit he throws for Dent. It's not just supermodels that line up, though, but enemies, too. Batman tells his confidantes that he's considering handing over cape and superhero status to someone new, a saviour figure like Dent. However, the audience knows from a few details (including Dent's ominous habit of flipping a coin to make decisions), it's not time for the masked hero to hand over the keys to his souped-up vehicle - or to reveal his identity. There's someone more frightening than dumb mobsters sneaking around Gotham... Late actor Heath Ledger's fiendish Joker packs his penultimate performance with nervous mannerisms, a thick New York accent and a psychotic charisma. (Ledger will appear next in another posthumous film, Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus). He looks like the hardest working actor in the film, licking his lips and twitching constantly. Nearly every new acquaintance leads up to his question: "You want to hear how I got these scars?" - followed by a demonstration with his blade. The Joker looks more like a killer from a slasher movie than anything else. Batman is also trailed by Gary Oldman's smooth police lieutenant, James Gordon. In contrast to Ledger's impressive fluxes, Oldman hides behind spectacles and a stoic facial expression. Gordon considers Batman a dangerous vigilante.
Christopher Nolan employs none of the creative flourishes as seen in his films like Memento (2000) or The Prestige (2006). The Dark Knight never feels like it's trying too hard stylistically, or spreading itself too thin, in terms of plot. As such, it remains focussed on Batman's inner battles. Other than its intense violence, there is a general reserve to the film. There are signature "wow" scenes, though, like an explosive visit to a Hong Kong skyscraper, the scene where the Joker crashes a Bruce Wayne party and - of course - a Gotham finale with its abundant cross-cutting. Is it lacking in overall philosophy though? The dialogue in the script written by Nolan and his brother Jonathan doesn't bubble with witty quips or offer guidance for our times. Dent comments: "In a cruel world, the only morality is chance" and a fortune cookie-like remark resurfaces twice: "You either die a hero or you live long enough to become a villain". This is one superhero movie that doesn't peddle optimism or obvious real-world analogies. Maybe it's because it's cruising through murkier, inexplicable territory with night vision. Showing at Aello, Aello Cinemax, Aleka Dimotikos, Aliki, Alsos, Amarillis, Amiko, Anesis, Arcadia, Athinaion, Attikon, Chloe, Cine Argyroupolis, Cine Flisvos, Cine Paris, Etoile, Filothei, Korali Cinemax, Nana Cinemax, Odeon Cosmopolis, Odeon Starcity, Oropos, Ria, Sporting, Ster Cinemas (Ilion and St Eleftherios), Tria Asteria, Village (The Mall, Rendi, Pangrati, Faliro), Village Cool (Mariel and Tymvos)
Fireflies in the Garden (Drama/US/120 minutes)
FAMILY dysfunctionality is the word in this film that travels between past and present, with more noise and fury than drama. The story focuses on the tale of writer Michael (Ryan Reynolds, with Cayden Boyd as his younger self), who grew up with an overbearing, cruel dad Charles (Willem Dafoe), a professor and an ideal mother Lisa (Julia Roberts). Michael, who has an alcoholic wife (Carrie-Anne Moss) returns to a tragedy in his past while writing a book entitled Fireflies in the Garden (in homage to poet Robert Frost). Woven into the mix, are Michael's kid sister (Shannon Lucio) as well as his aunt (Emily Watson) and her family. Trade paper the Hollywood Reporter was unimpressed, noting: "Kids, parents, siblings, an aunt and an estranged wife all bicker and yell, but the noise cancels itself out." Showing at Aigli, Athinaion, Cine Psyhiko, Ecran, Margarita Cinema, Varkiza Just Like Home (Drama/Comedy/97 minutes) A NAKED man appears on the streets of a quiet Danish town one night, and its residents no longer feel safe. This quirky film examines the town's rampant loneliness and shyness, focusing on a handful of equally offbeat characters. Among those gossiping and trying to find love and understanding are a pharmacist (Lars Kaalund), a middle-aged public servant (Bodil Jorgensen), a clothing store owner (Peter Gantzler) and a woman on the run from a religious cult (Mia Lyhne). The Scandinavian light is beautiful, with a hilarious (nude) finale. But overall, the film's a bit on the sleepy side of things. The script was written on a day-by-day basis during shooting. * In Danish (Hjemve) Showing at Microcosmos The Missouri Breaks (Western/US/125 minutes/PG) ARTHUR Penn directed this 1976 Western-with-a-difference featuring Jack Nicholson as horse thief Tom, and Marlon Brando as the hired gun who is called in to protect head rancher's John McLiam's (David Braxton) property. It is set in 1880s Montana and focuses on the brutal side of human nature - with some scenes of real violence against animals. Kathleen Lloyd also stars as the rancher's tough daughter, who of course falls in love with the thief. The film written by screenwriter Thomas McGuane is, as Turner Classic Movies points out on its site, one of the few seminal Westerns of the 1970s. The huge production was impeded at times by the stars' financial and time demands. Showing at Dexameni, Riviera AFR (Pseudo-documentary/Denmark/85 minutes)
A STRANGE young man (director Morten Hartz Kaplers) and real-life Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen are the "stars" of this mock documentary, in which the two figures' relationship is only revealed at the end, when the politician is assassinated. Blending snippets of archival news footage and fictional material, the film is a fascinating study in how reality can be represented and warped. This collage has a gritty, convincing texture, stirring up controversy while tackling issues of intolerance, inequality and violence. * In Danish Showing at Trianon My American Uncle (Classic/France/125 minutes/PG)
ALAIN Resnais' 1980 comedy features Gerard Depardieu as Rene, an upstanding citizen and textile exec whose job is on the line, a power freak politician Jean (Roger Pierre) and an actress named Janine (Nicole Garcia), who is Jean's mistress. Henri Laborit, a real-life doctor whose speciality is developing emotion-controlling drugs, also appears, while being interviewed by Resnais in the film. Mind and body are linked with comedy as all the characters face medical issues and problems of the heart. Time Out writes that Resnais' big accomplishment is to create "a new kind of drama", one that's "a riddle that proves that surrealism lives". * In French (Mon oncle d'Amerique) Showing at Ellinis |
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ATHENS NEWS , 18/07/2008, page: A34
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