basics...
A True Stories documentary about Simeon II, King of Bulgaria for a couple of years before he was toppled and exiled in 1946 aged 9 when the Soviets invaded. 50 years later Simeon unexpectedly returned to Bulgaria and won the 2001 election to serve a term as Prime Minister.
brilliant...
What a fascinating story! I never even heard of this unique part of royal history. The disjointed narrative style of the documentary pieces together the various parts of the tale by interviewing various Bulgarians who remembered Simeon fondly, as well as Communists and the ex-King himself. So through these personal insights we learn of how the young boy king (Tsar) came to the throne so young, and how he was exiled to Egypt with his family. Archive interviews with the young Simeon show him to have been a very level headed businessman, not filled with anger towards his country, seeing himself as a victim of a certain set of circumstances more than anything else. His return to Bulgaria decades later saw him greeted by hoardes of adoring 'fans' eager for him to come back to them, but once in power as PM, a role that was seemingly thrust upon him unbidden as per the monarchy, the dream of Simeon's return turned sour. He found that it was difficult to bring about the social change that Bulgaria so needed in the post-Soviet world and his supporters, including one man with a royal tattoo, became disillusioned. A particularly interesting moment came for Simeon at the British Queen Mother's funeral when he was sat as PM on the world leader's side of Westminster Abbey, across from the other royals - his surname, Saxe-Coburg-Gotha indicates his relation to our own royal family. It's curious to see how fickle the finger of history can be to monarchies when comparing the UK's with Bulgaria's.
but...
The langourous style of the documentary is infuriating at times and cries out for the more conventional tropes of the genre such as captions indicating who speakers are and narration to link the pieces together.
briefly...
A compelling tale of an unconventional monarch told in a novel, albeit slightly annoying, style.
basics...
A curious movie, set in the 1300's, in which monk William of Baskerville (Sean Connery) and his novice Adso (Christian Slater) find themselves in an abbey where a series of murders seems to be linked to a mysterious book.
brilliant...
I've not seen a film quite like The Name of the Rose. It has a serious crime story coupled with comedy from Sir Sean, alongside a host of grotesque supporting turns from the likes of Ron Perlman's hunchback, with a bit of sex and gore thrown in. Oh and there's a great sequence within the labyrinthe passages and MC Escher-like stairways within the abbey. Somehow these disperate elements combine to form an intriguing whole. The mystery works for the most part, although the revelation of how the murders have been committed and why isn't particularly exciting. The film looks pretty stunning, with the German and Italian countryside doing a good job alongside the massive sets to make Rose look gritty, cold and fairly grim. 17 year old Slater looks mighty fine, despite the pudding bowl haircut, in a completely unnecessary seducation scene too.
but...
Connery keeps his Scottish burr, Slater is American, and the other monks spout a variety of European accents. This is a bit jarring, particularly as Shir Shean plays everything with an effortless grin which makes his investigations look all too easy. There were some rather unpleasant effects involving blood and guts too.
briefly...
An oddly likable movie with some neat ideas and authentic-seeming settings, even if the accents are a bit wide ranging.
basics...
Based on an American teen novel, this German, adult movie follows a high school class during project week, when their Autocracy lesson gets out of hand. Rubbishing the idea of another Nazi Germany, the students are manipulated by their teacher, Mr. Wenger (Jürgen Vogel), into adopting a dress code and a new set of values which leads the class to discover that fascism is all too easy to set in motion...
brilliant...
Would this film have such an emotional undercurrent if it was not German made? I doubt it. Germany's painful history, and its people's struggles to assimilate it with the modern day, are an explosive catalyst to the plot of The Wave. And because of the history of fascism, the resultant fallout is all the more scary. I found the film enthralling from beginning to end, and although I'd associate 'thrillers' with action and special effects, The Wave proves that a relatively simple domestic classroom drama can be just as thrilling. The class is full of recognisable types, the hippy chick who stands up to the Wave and won't conform, the bullies who rail against it initially and then don't want to be left out, and the popular, hot jock (Max Riemelt) who can see that all will not end well. And then there's Tim, who's all too open to the power of suggestion and becomes far too enmeshed in the narrative of the Wave. Posing challenging questions - although the students are defacing property outside of class, their school work improves - about the power of the individual versus the mob, The Wave is a masterful piece of filmmaking, with a style and soundtrack that only increases the feeling of growing menance and lack of control.
briefly...
A powerful premise thrillingly executed, The Wave will be a film I'll revisit in the future.
Last weekend we popped to the cinema to see Hanna, a very stylish thriller starring Saorise Ronan as the eponymous 'hero', a teenage girl genetically-modified and trained to become a killer - a bit like Kick-Ass' Hit Girl but without the comic book stylings. The action is more Bourne and toned down a little for a 12A rating, which I still think is a bit low considering what goes on but hey. Hanna is also reminiscent of James Bond's travelogue-like attributes - the movie begins in a presumably Scandanavian snowscape and moves through Morocco, Spain and France to reach Berlin and the whole feels very European in tone, which makes sense as it's a German-UK-US co-production. Starring two Australians (Eric Bana as Hanna's 'father' and Cate Blanchett as baddie Marissa Weigler) and Irish Ronan.
There's a lot to like about Hanna, from the gorgeous scenery, frenetic fight scenes and the performances of all involved. Tom Hollander pops up as a badly dressed mercenary, and Hanna makes friends with a young girl and her family on their camper van trip across Europe who add some humour to the otherwise serious plot. Really it's just a big chase movie, and there's very little that Hanna is trying to say, there doesn't appear to be a message. It's a hugely enjoyable tour de force of filmmaking, with not a CGI robot to be seen. If only all thrillers were as intelligent and visceral as this.
