1+1= 3

3
Directed by Tom Tykwer 2010


After twenty years of living together, not living together, thinking about kids, not having them, working, loving, sleeping, living, Hannah and Simon arrive at an impassé in their relationship, they both realize, simultaneously and secretly (from each other) that they are no longer satisfied, that their life together has become nothing more than habit.

Hannah starts having sexual fantasies during a medical conference by Dr. Adam Brom, whom she later keeps bumping into at various public places. At this time Simon is diagnosed with a cancer tumor which will require treatment, as his mother is also diagnosed with terminal cancer. A short time later Simon's mother dies and after saying his last goodbye to her he is stricken by an incredible pain and rushes to see his doctor. He is told they need to remove one of his testicles immediately and start him on chemotherapy. Before and during the procedure Adam tries calling Hannah who is busy on a day out with Adam that concludes with the two of them sleeping together.

Life goes on; as Hannah takes care of a convalescing Simon she is suddenly struck by a thought, the possibility of having a child.
During a night at the public pool Simon meets Adam and after a friendly swimming race they end up having a much more intimate moment in the locker rooms. The event sends Simon into an abyss of emotional confusion which later evolves into a continuing relationship with Adam.

The secret affair, both Hannah and Simon, have with Adam revitalizes their relationship and they decide to finally get married. Regardless, they both continue having a very fulfilling bond with Adam. When Hannah becomes pregnant (with twins) a confrontation arises, creating a turning point in the lives of all three of them.

Tom Tykwer creates a very mature work without losing any of his playful style in the process. In a way “3” seems like an adult version of his more juvenile Run, Lola, Run (1998). As Lola presented three different possibilities of life for its main characters, conversely, ”3” presents three characters that converge onto one life and are forced to make a decision. Out of the three, Adam is the only one who is stable and mature, after a divorce and a kid he is finally sure of himself, of what he wants and how he lives his life, acting without any qualms about his actions. He is in love with both Hannah and Simon.

As Bowie’s Space Oddity (heard three times on the soundtrack) warns us, with “3” we should be prepared to leave all security and venture on a journey into the unknown.

Like life itself “3” is tragicomical, staging all possible events of the human experience (love, illness, death, sex, new life) and showing how all of these can pull people closer or, sometimes, separate those experiencing them.

Tykwer resolves the story in a beautiful fairy tale like manner emphasizing that sometimes to be happy you have to “say goodbye to your deterministic understanding of biology”.

Piss puddle of greed.

The Rum Diary
Dir. Bruce Robinson 2011
Paul Kemp, Johnny Depp, in what is increasingly becoming a rare good role, is an alcoholic writer in search of a voice, who decides to work as a freelance journalist and lands a job at at a local newspaper in Puerto Rico. Once there, he finds out the inner workings of the system towards the exploitation of a country in the name of the American dream.

As a serviceable writer, Kemp attracts the attention of investors who convince him to work for them in a little public opinion shifting towards the construction of new hotels on an adjoining island. The developer, Sanderson, as played by Aaron Eckhart, is despicable slime. Kemp ultimately decides that he will, not only, not be an accomplice to them but he will actually try to stop them.

Bruce Robinson’s adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson’s novel is an overlooked gem. It is obvious that the subject matter, unflattering to America and its dream, is in part a reason why the movie disappeared from screens and is nowhere to be found on any best of lists (but last year’s deplorable The Tourist was nominated for a Gloden Globe). This is a movie which will probably be re assessed in a couple of years and will find its rightful place as a perfect companion piece to Terry Gilliams’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

The semi autobiographic tale of Hunter S. Thompson may be at times much embellished from the reality of his life in Puerto Rico but it works and gets its point across. As Lotterman (the newspaper publisher) says about the writer that Kemp is substituting “He was raped to death”, it is a clear illustration of what America was and is constantly doing in many countries across the world. When Kemp realizes what Sanderson and his investors are planning, he denounces the American Dream as a “piss pudlle of greed” and quotes Oscar Wilde “they know the price of everything and the value of nothing”. At this point he decides to do something to stop the bastards through the use of ink and fury and recruits the help of the completely drowned in alcohol, Moburg (another great driftless soul role by Giovanni Rivissi) and his roommate and coworker Sala (Michael Rispoli ), this film’s answer to Fear and Loathing’s Dr. Gonzo.

Regardless of the outcome Kemp is determined to continue his battle (as H.S. Thompson was) through the power of ink and truth. And as long as there are brave fools still fighting against the bastards, hope lives on.

Heart of cinema.

Hugo
Directed by Martin Scorsese



Every director has at least one great movie in him, some have a masterpiece, few have a couple of them. Scorsese has proven throughout his career that he has more than enough serviceable films. This time he pours his love of cinema to create a great one.

I have never particularly liked Scorsese, I’ve always thought that even though his films are perfectly crafted they lack something. Hugo lacks nothing, it is a beautiful love letter to filmmaking and film pioneers, specifically George Melies, father of the special effects and fantasy films. And who better to use as main character in a movie devoted to the magic of cinema than the great dream weaver, Melies, the magician.

It is obvious Scorsese identified himself completely with the title character, his meticulous craftsmanship, his love of cinema and his mission to save filmmakers and films from being forgotten or lost forever, makes Hugo not just a mirror image but an autobiography.

Through masterful technique Scorsese makes 3D an organic element that actually enhances the experience rather than hinders its enjoyment. Story wise Hugo starts slow and it takes its time to get somewhere but when it finally does the wait really pays off.

The joy of the film is even greater for cinephiles since, Hugo is full to the brim of cinematic quotes and references, from slapstick, to Harold Lloyd to Hitchcock, even a re imagining of the Lumiere brothers’ “Arrival of a train at La Ciotat”.

Regardless, you don’t need to be a cinephile and get all the references to enjoy and appreciate the film. It’s main theme about broken souls and heartshaped keys is the core of the story. A person that is not fulfilling its life mission is akin to a broken machine that needs repairing. Just as Hugo repairs the automaton he also repairs Melies’ and his own soul in the process.

Life can sometimes throw at us events that may break us, let’s try to maintain a well oiled mechanism to avoid the future need of repairs, so we can keep functioning to fulfill our own mission.

Not quite the dragon.

The Girl with the Dragon tattoo
Directed by David Fincher

From the title credits sequence I knew what I had gotten myself into. A nineties style music video to a cover of Led Zeppelin’s Immigrant Song by Trent Reznor and company. Why?

Maybe I should have walked out right there, Fincher’s Dragon Tatoo is, more than a new adaptation of Stieg Larson’s bestseller, a completely unnecessary, by the numbers, remake of Niels Arden Oplev’s 2009 superior film. Let’s keep in mind that these constant remakes are meant for American audiences that are too lazy to read subtitles.

While the original film’s acting, subdued direction, and mainly Noomi Rapace created a sense of believability for the amazing events portrayed, with Fincher we get all the trappings of Hollywood, fake accents, artificial acting, unbelievably pretty main characters, and big budget excess that give the film an all around artificiality. Some sequences that stand out as examples of this needless show off are Lisbeth’s subway fight and escape, which turns out as an Indiana Jones stunt, and an over the top explosion with avenger style close up to a gun in hand with flames in the background (because there has to be a big explosion).

If we believed Noomi Rapace’s Lisbeth Salander from the original, this time we get very forced acting from Roonie Mara, and it is difficult to avoid the comparison between the two actresses. The standardized beauty of Mara is no match for the much more unusual and foreign looking Rapace, which adds to Lisbeth’s status as an outcast in Swedish society.

Content wise we get the same story and despite the over the top liberties of Fincher, the real shocking aspects of the story are minimized. The violence, sexual and otherwise, is less shocking than in the original. All in all, the credit still goes to Stieg Larson who weaved a tale of misers, evil reptilian people out to destroy; the seemingly never ending Nazi threat still living amongst us, hiding in the shadows and acting like “normal” people.

The only aspect that could be seen as an improvement on the original is the technical execution, Fincher’s version is more cinematic and the cinematography really pushes the sense of the freezing arctic weather on the viewer. But just that is not really worth wasting two and a half hours to rewatch a bad cover version of a song you already know and love. If you are curious I would recommend to rent the original trilogy and spend an evening with Lisbeth Salander. You’ll need to read subtitles but you’ll get the real thing.

Best of 2011

2011 was a good cinematic year, we got films by Polanski, Almodóvar, Malick and von Trier, as well as some amazing surprises.

Here’s my best of the year list.

The Tree of Life. Terrence Malick offered a masterpiece that encompassed the whole existence of the universe from beginning to end with a view at a family microcosm representing the nature and grace dichotomy of life.

Melancholia. Lars von Trier gave us his version of the end of the world and how a person who is detached and completely immersed in depression is the only one who can face the end valiantly, helping those around her in the process.

Drive. Nicolas Winding Refn creates a brilliant retread of the redemption of a gunman, à la Jean Pierre Melville/Sergio Leone, filtered through an eighties lens.

Carnage. Polanski shows up again this year, with a portrait of human relations, squeezing the life out of his actors, and giving a master class on how to make a movie without the need of not much else.

La piel que habito. Almodóvar's pseudo adaptation of Mygalle is more a remake/mashup of Les yeux sans visage and a bevy of other classic horror films. He steals like an artist to demonstrate he can tackle any genre with the same degree of mastery.

The Artist. Michel Hazanavicius' ode to cinema proves that good filmmaking does not need 3D, special effects, color, nor even sound, just good old fashioned writing and acting.

Midnight in Paris. Woody Allen creates a love letter to Paris and its artistic mystique and seals it in a lovely romantic fantasy.

Beginners. Mike Mills teach us how to live and love again. Reinvent yourself up to your last minute.

Le Havre. Aki Kaurismaki applies his trademark deadpan comedy to create an emotional fable that champions human decency in the face of inhuman laws.

The Rum Diary. Bruce Robinson pits an unlikely crusader against the system. Johnny Depp is back in form for his homage to Hunter S. Thompson.

Rango. Gore Verbinski makes good use of his Pirates clout with this immensely entertaining film that references cinema, myth and a hero’s journey through a very funny and exciting adventure ride for young and old.

Lastly, a film that, to many, should never be mentioned in the company of the above.

Sucker Punch. Zack Snyder's somewhat original idea, an indictment of fanboy fantasies, disguised as female empowerment. A call to create your own reality, break the chains and finally become who you are. Not a bad idea for 2012.

Others worthy of note:

Our Idiot Brother, 50/50, Salvando al Soldado Pérez, Super, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Mientras Duermes, The Adventures of Tintin and The Muppets.