Boondock Saints

Directed by: Troy Duffy
1999

Cast:
Sean Patrick Flannery - Conner
Narman Reedus - Murphy
Willem Dafoe – Paul Smecker

Religious zealotry takes on a whole new dimension in this film when two young, Catholic, Irish men take on getting rid of criminals in the name of God. We regularly hear about this today except it is fanatical Muslims killing innocent people. But when it comes right down to it, it is all still killing isn’t it? I can not help bringing this up seeing this movie brings up these sort of thoughts. What you think about what the main characters to says a lot about what you think about justice.
The film starts out fairly innocently enough. The men, Conner and Murphy own little more than the clothes on their back and have deep allegiances to their faith, not to mention the local Irish Bar. So like two good Irishmen they defend the bar from being shut down by the Russian Mafia (those atheists!). A good ‘ole fight ensues and the losing Russians go out in bandages. But their pride is hurt more than their bodies and they come back to visit the two lads to exact their revenge.
Fortunately they get out of this scrap as well. When they are caught, or rather when they walk into the police station of their own accord, they are let go on it being self defense. Nobody misses those dead Russians it turns out.
The two men have what can be called a religious experience and receive what they perceive to be direct orders from God telling them to vanquish all scum from the earth. They start on the local Russian mafia and through a series of happy accidents get rid of most of them. They take on a crude and clumsy sidekick (David Della Rocco) who is more trouble than he’s worth. Together the three of them knock off druggies, rapists, mafiosos and some other pretty bad people, like nobody’s business.
Behind all this, sniffing their trail is an openly gay cop played by William Defoe (what hasn’t he played?) This is perhaps the funniest role I’ve seen him in. While going through investigating the murders he goes from serene to disheveled when the ‘Saints’ as they’re now called are just one step ahead of him.
The choreography is by no means on the level of Scorcese but it isn’t bad. The directory obviously likes using A LOT of camera pans though. Often cuts go from one to the next and the camera never stops moving. I don’t find this distracting but rather it is appropriate to the film. Perhaps what I liked most about it however was that it made you think. In this day and age where Hollywood superheroes with magical powers vanquish evil left and right it was a refreshing change of pace to see some vigilantes with no extra-ordinary gifts (?) behind them take out the trash so to speak. Think what you will, I for one think that killing human life, whether it be in the name of God or not is wrong. For being such adherents to the church these men seem to have forgotten the first commandment: Thou shall not kill. See the movie yourself and you can be the judge.

3 stars

Pan's Labyrinth

(2006)
Directed by: Guillermo del Toro

Cast:
Ivana Baquero - Ofelia
Meribel Virdu - Mercedes
Sergi Lopez - Captain Vidal
Doug Jones - Pan/Pale Man
Ariadna Gil - Carmen Vidal


Reality can be the scariest nightmare of all. It is Spain at the end of the Spanish Civil War. Franco’s regime is determined to eliminate all the remaining rebels. Enter Ofelia a girl of twelve or so who still enjoys fairy tales. She along with her mother are sent by the Captain (who must be the son of Satan himself) to live with him while he is stationed at a Mill in the Spanish wilderness. In particular he wants her to have his baby there.
There is no one Ofelia’s age and the world around her is so deranged that the only way she can probably keep her sanity is to make a fantasy world for herself. Her adventures begin as she meets Pan, an old satyr that lives belowground at the center of a labyrinth. Pan tells her that she is the reincarnated daughter of the king and queen of a magical realm. There are quests she must take however to prove her worthiness. This involves retrieving a key from a hippo-sized toad & getting a knife from an eyeless child- eating monster.
The real monster in this movie is the Captain who has no respect for life whatsoever. When two trappers are thought to be spies he savagely beats one’s face in with a bottle. Then he checks their bags and finds the rabbits. His excuse is they should have been questioned before being brought to his attention. He seems to take great pride in torturing the people he finds as well.
Mercedes the maid and Ofelia’s only friend takes great risk in bringing supplies to the rebels right under the captain’s nose. The rebels also risk death daily to be free from tyranny.
I thought the movie was sad, deeply touching and honest in its portrayal of blind followers and brave rebels. The cinematography was excellent. The play of light and shadow was superb in setting the mood. The story is well told and it is easy for the viewer to sympathize and even empathize with the main character Ofelia. This movie is graphic at times but it all goes to show that real life is no fairy tale.

3 ½ stars

Volver

(2006)*
Directed by Pedro Almodovar

Cast:
Carmen Maura - Abuela Irene
Penelope Cruz - Raimunda
Lola Duenas - Sole
Yohana Cobo - Paula

(Penelope Cruz) & (Lola Duenas) two sisters visit their aunts place they notice some things out of the ordinary. Even though their frail aunt is nearly blind she still bakes for them like a machine and on top of that there is a new exercise bike in her bedroom. When she dies the lady who looks after her swears she heard their dead mother warn her that their aunt had died.
Like any good ghost their mother Irene does come back to take care of unfinished business, but not in spectral form. It is hard to when you didn’t die in the first place. She appears to one of her daughters first & lives with her posing as a Russian.
Meanwhile another event has run its course with Raimunda’s husband Paco (Antonio de la Torre). You see Paco is, to put it lightly, a bit of a pervert and goes after his adopted daughter Paula. She defends herself and accidentally kills him with a knife that looks like it was taken from a Haloween set. Raimunda takes full responsibility for her daughters actions. No one must find out and no one really does.
Later we find out that there is a history of this sort of thing in the family. It is learned that Raimunda’s father raped her and their daughter is Paula. Apparently after this Raimunda and her mother weren’t on good speaking terms as well. As if this wasn’t bad enough (oh yes it gets worse) the father had an extramarital affair with another woman. When Irene has found out them both in a hut she sets fire to it killing both of them. She flees never to be heard from or seen again until she makes an appearance at their aunt’s place , looking after her, baking and of course riding an exercise bike.
But the old adage that you can’t keep skeletons in the closet (or ghosts under the bed in this case) holds true. Lola lets on to Raimunda that their mother is alive and the process of healing and forgiveness can begin.
Raimunda does an especially fine job of acting in her role. Her character is crafty but in a good way. What helps the movie is some of the scenes (particulary where Paco’s body is being hidden) that have an element of dark humor in them. This serves to lighten up the situation. Without them the movie would otherwise seem too serious. What spoils it all is the fact that their mother really is flesh and blood. When Sole and Irene hug for the first time after not seeing each other you almost want Sole to go right through her. Also we never hear Irene say anything to Sole about why she alive and not six feet under. So we find it strange that Sole is so uninterested in asking any questions. The movie didn’t really touch me though. Perhaps I had to be a daughter or mother to feel something. In the end it made me feel as dead as the Irene character should have been.

*In subtitles
2 stars

A Scanner Darkly

Directed By:
Richard Linklater

Based on a book by Philip K. Dick

Keanu Reeves - Fred Arctor
Rory Cochrane - Charles Freck
Robert Downy Jr. – Barris
Wynona Ryder - Donna Hawthorne

A Scanner Darkly is not your usual science fiction film in that it is animated instead of the usual harsh if not cutting edge reality. I for one found it refreshingly different and it seemed to fit the story.

Scanner Darkly is adapted from the prolific science fictions writer Philip K. Dick’s story also by the same title. In it Keanu Reeves plays an undercover agent that tries to catch dealers of Substance D - a hallucagenic drug that causes split personalities. Something like 20 percent of the population is addicted so this agent has his work cut out for him obviously. These agents wear suits that disguise their identities by constantly shifting into new persons. Though I wonder why an old fashioned mask and voice manipulator won’t do. Anyways this agent has Fred Arctor’s house bugged with surveillance cameras to catch him. Now Fred Arctor has two pretty strange and amusing friends that live with him. One is very smart but has no common sense, the other is just dumb. The smart one constantly comes into headquarters to rat on Arctor.

Fred Arctor is addicted to Substance D big time. So much so in fact that his left and right brain hemispheres have “disconnected” and he lives a dual life - as the agent who is watching his house. Since he wears the special suit no one knows it is him. He has to take tests at his work which indicate he is a user. Big surprise. However, his boss has known for quite some time that he was a user but just used him to get to his roommate Barris. So now the agent/Fred Arctor is sent to rehab and eventually is sent to a farm. Below the corn that he sprays grows the deadly blue flower from which the drug is made. Unfortunately Arctor is so catatonic by this time that it really doesn’t register. There is some sick irony in the fact that the rehab corporation is the same one that is growing Substance D.

The hazards of drug use are clear in this movie. Apparently his book was dedicated to those the author knew who had wasted their lives with mind altering drugs. Probably the best performance is done by Barris. He is wonderfully eccentric and seemingly harmless and adds some needed humor to the film. As I’ve said the movie with its shifting colors and unorthodox rendering is very appropriate for the genre and subject. On the flip side it seems strange that no-one asks Arctor what he does during the day - nor do we see him “switch” from one personality to the other. A good rental.

2 stars

The Fountain

(2006)
Directed By:
Darren Aronofsky

Starring:
Hugh Jackman - Tom/Tommy/Dr. Tom Creo
Rachel Weiss - Queen Isabel/Izzi Creo
Ellen Burstyn - Dr. Lillian Guzetti

There is nothing as timeless as love. Nothing could be truer than in this science fiction movie where in the past, present and future three parallel stories are told at once.
In the present Hugh Jackman plays Tom, a cancer researcher/surgeon. He is experimenting on monkeys who have brain tumors to see if anything will help. Out of desperation he uses a bit of tree taken from the Guatemalan Jungles. Miraculously the primate not only recovers but he is better than normal.

At the same time is the story of a conquistadors search for the “tree of life.” Whoever drinks of its sap will live forever. Hugh Jackman takes on this quest from the queen of Spain, also played by Rachel Weisz. In the future we see Hugh Jackman as an astronaut journeying with the “tree of life” to a distant star where his love will be reborn. Whatever the time all three pursue a quest to save the women they love.

The cg effects, particularly of the future Hugh Jackman are quite amazing and simply beautiful. The story itself can be a bit confusing if you try to think too much into it or if you try to think of all three characters as the same like myself. There are reasons to believe that the present day Tom does live into the 26th century and with a leap or too it is conceivable that he is the conquistador, and hence his journey is cyclical. The imagery of circles throughout the film further supports this idea. Hugh Jackman plays his character a bit too theatrically at times for my tastes. You’re not a “X-Man” anymore dude.

2 1/2 stars