Mark's Movie Marks

2011 in MovieMusic

noreply@blogger.com (Mark) — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 01:22:00 +0000

It was quite a year for films, and with great films come (usually) great film scores. After spending hundreds of hours throughout 2011 and the past couple of months roaming around London and Malta with film scores bursting out of my earphones, I have compiled a list of what I think are the particular highlights, to help you navigate the endless available CDs, and maybe pick out a few gorgeous tracks from iTunes or Amazon. Whilst I still love the physical feel of the CD and the smell and detail of the liner notes, it is very true that digital downloads are very handy for those scores which might not be a great album or CD, but have one or two standout pieces worth paying for.

The Greats

John Williams came out of semi-retirement to score Spielberg's two films this year (The Adventures of Tintin and War Horse), both of which got nominated for Best Score, and the latter being probably the best score of the year.
Hans Zimmer started the year off with a fun Rango score, and then did three sequels on autopilot - Pirates 4, Kung Fu Panda 2, Sherlock Holmes 2.
Danny Elfman had a quiet year, but wrote a fun, sporty score for a film that hardly anyone saw - Real Steel. He also contributed some music to Gus Van Sant's Restless, which unfortunately remains unreleased.
Thomas Newman was very busy, providing great (but fairly typical) scores for The Iron Lady, The Help, The Debt and The Adjustement Bureau.
Alan Silvestri provided one of the year's best old-school heroic themes for Captain America: The First Avenger.
Patrick Doyle scored two unusual films for him - a superhero film (Thor) and a dramatic action film (Rise of the Planet of the Apes)
Howard Shore returned to form with one of the year's best scores for one of the year's best films - Hugo, as well as providing a Wagner-influenced score for A Dangerous Method.
The hottest composer of the past few years, Alexandre Desplat, was busy as usual. He ended the Harry Potter story on a high, scored The Ides of March, and provided lots of gorgeous pieces for The Tree of Life, many of which were eventually unused. He also scored Best Picture nominee Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, and contributed a few themes to My Week With Marilyn.
James Newton Howard had a green start to the year with The Green Hornet and The Green Lantern, neither of which were very memorable. He provided some great adaptations of Elton John classics for Gnomeo & Juliet, and has a track of saccharine music on the Larry Crowne soundtrack. Thankfully, his score for Water for Elephants got a proper release, and is a wonderful score.
Michael Giacchino provided one of the year's best - a nostalgic, emotional score for the nostalgic, emotional Super 8. He also provided a new take on the classic Mission: Impossible theme for the 4th film in that series.
Ennio Morricone, who is very understandably taking it easy nowadays, scored an Italian TV film Come Un Delfino.

The Departed

One of the best film composers ever, John Barry, died on 30th January 2011. His last film score was for Enigma, in 2001. it's impossible to do credit to his fantastic body of work in a paragraph, so you might want to listen to the one-hour musical tribute I hosted back in February last year.

http://www.mixcloud.com/Camillu/the-music-of-john-barry-7th-feb-2011-11/

The Newcomer

Ludovic Bource came out of obscurity to provide a great, obviously prominent score for The Artist, which has won many awards and will probably win the Oscar tonight. The director chose to use Bernard Herrmann's famous music from Vertigo in the climactic scene, but the rest of the film owes a lot to Bource's magic.

The Little Screen

I also included two wonderful TV scores that arrived in 2011 - Carter Burwell scored the miniseries Mildred Pierce, and Ramin Djawadi composed the already famous theme for Game of Thrones.

The Bands

The Chemical Brothers scored Hanna.
Basement Jaxx members scored Attack the Block.
Rodrigo y Gabriela contributed to 2 scores this year - The Pirates of the Caribbean sequel and Puss in Boots.
Trent Reznor (from Nine Inch Nails) and Atticus Ross followed up their acclaimed score for The Social Network with a similarly atmospheric, but less listenable score for The Girl in the Dragon Tattoo.

The Oscars

All 9 Best Picture nominees are included, except for Midnight in Paris (no original music released, as usual for Woody Allen's films).

All 5 Best Score nominees are included - War Horse, Tintin, The Artist, Hugo and Tinker, Tailor. The Artist will most probably win tonight, although I really hope War Horse or Hugo do instead. Still, for once all 5 nominees are very good scores this year.

The Best Song nominee from The Muppets is included. The other nominated song is from Rio, which is represented by a score track.

The Experts

If you want the opinion of a group of people who probably know much more about film scores than the members of the Academy (and more than I do), you can have a look at the annual nominations and awards for 2011 by the IFMCA (The International Film Music Critics Association) - http://filmmusiccritics.org/

The Best MovieMusic of 2011:

The Adjustment Bureau - The Ripples Must Be Endless [End Title] (Thomas Newman)

The Adventures of Tintin - Snowy's Theme & The Adventure Continues (John Williams)

Anonymous - The Other One (Thomas Wander & Harald Kloser)

The Artist - Overture & George Valentin* (Ludovic Bource)

Attack the Block - Moses the Hero (Steven Price, Kevin Buxton & Simon Ratcliffe)

Battle: Los Angeles - Hymn (Brian Tyler)

Captain America: The First Avenger - Captain America March* (Alan Silvestri)

Come un Delfino - I Ragazzi Del Sole (Ennio Morricone)

A Dangerous Method - Burghozli (Howard Shore)

The Debt - End Title (Thomas Newman)

The Descendants - Hapuna Sunset (Charles Michael Brotman) - not original score

Drive - Bride of Deluxe* (Cliff Martinez)

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close - Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (Alexandre Desplat)

Game of Thrones (TV) - Main Title* (Ramin Djawadi)

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - While Waiting (Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross)

The Greatest Miracle - Prelude* (Mark McKenzie)

Hanna - Hanna's Theme (The Chemical Brothers)

Happy Feet Two - Opening Medley (Various Artists)

Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows Part 2 - Lily's Theme*, Dragon Flight, Courtyard Apocalypse & The Resurrection Stone (Alexandre Desplat)

The Help - Aibilene & Ain't You Tired [End Title] (Thomas Newman)

Hugo - The Thief (Howard Shore)

The Ides of March - The Candidate (Alexandre Desplat)

In Time - Main Theme [Orchestral] (Craig Armstrong)

The Iron Lady - Grocer's Daughter & Steady the Buffs (Thomas Newman)

Jane Eyre - Yes! (Dario Marianelli)

Kung Fu Panda 2 - My Fist Hungers for Justice (Hans Zimmer & John Powell)

La Piel Que Habito [The Skin I Live In] - Los Vestidos Desgarrados (Alberto Iglesias)

Mildred Pierce (TV) - End Titles (Carter Burwell)

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol - Light The Fuse (Michael Giacchino & Lalo Schifrin)

Moneyball - More (Mychael Danna)

The Muppets - Man or Muppet (Various Artists)

My Week with Marilyn - Such Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of (Conrad Pope)

One Day - We Had Today (Rachel Portman)

Paul - Goodbye [It's a Little Awkward] (David Arnold)

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides - Angelica (Hans Zimmer feat. Rodrigo y Gabriela)

Puss in Boots - The Puss Suite (Henry Jackman feat. Rodrigo y Gabriela)

Rango - Rango Suite* (Hans Zimmer)

Real Steel - Final Round (Danny Elfman)

Rio - Flying (John Powell)

Rise of the Planet of the Apes - Caesar's Home (Patrick Doyle)

The Rum Diary - Rum Diary* (Christopher Young)

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows - The End? (Hans Zimmer)

Soul Surfer - Bethany's Wave* (Marco Beltrami)

Super 8 - Super 8 & Letting Go* (Michael Giacchino)

Thor - Thor Kills the Destroyer & Can You See Jane? (Patrick Doyle)

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy - George Smiley (Alberto Iglesias)

Transformers: Dark of the Moon - Sentinel Prime (Steve Jablonsky)

The Tree of Life - River (Alexandre Desplat)

Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1 - The Kingdom Where Nobody Dies, A Nova Vida & Bella Reborn (Carter Burwell)

W.E. - Duchess of Windsor & Letters (Abel Korzeniowski)

War Horse - Dartmoor, 1912* (John Williams)

Water for Elephants - The Circus Sets Up (James Newton Howard)

X-Men: First Class - First Class & Magneto (Henry Jackman)

Your Highness - Isabel the Strong (Steve Jablonsky)

*my favourite tracks of the year

Enjoy! There's lots more where those came from, so if you like a particular track, you might want to check out the entire score.

January at the Movies

noreply@blogger.com (Mark) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 16:52:00 +0000

This article was first published on 01/01/12 in VIDA magazine.
Release dates are subject to change. All films released locally by KRS Film Distributors Ltd.

film of the month:

War Horse

Steven Spielberg made a much-welcomed return to the director’s chair last month, with a first for him - an animated film - but his usual style of adventure and awe. Now he’s back again, and this time with another two of his areas of expertise - war, and heart-wrenching emotion. War Horse is a beautiful tale of a boy who grows to love the horse he cares for, only to see him whisked off to serve in World War I. Although too young to enlist as a soldier himself, the boy eventually sets off on an impossible mission to find his horse and bring him safely home.

The original children’s book was brought to life in spectacular fashion as a piece of stunning theatre (if you’re in London, I strongly recommend it), which uses uncannily realistic puppetry to bring the equine stars to life. Now it’s getting the big screen treatment, and you can bet that Spielberg’s version will be just as moving. Benedict Cumberbatch (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), Emily Watson (Punch-Drunk Love), Tom Hiddleston (Thor) and David Thewlis (Harry Potter) star, although they will probably be outdone by the stars on four legs and the British countryside.

Richard Curtis, who does comedy and romance so well (Four Weddings, Love Actually, Blackadder) has adapted the screenplay, and Spielberg-regular John Williams will be providing the score. Not that the story needs much more emotion, but Williams usually manages to add a layer, or five. Whether you like Spielberg’s adult fare or his childlike awe, this should do the trick.

also released this month:

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

I was recently in a London hospital waiting room, hoping that a tutorial hadn’t been cancelled, when my ears pricked up and I eavesdropped slightly. Two very prim and proper British ladies next to me were having a matter-of-fact debate about whether Daniel Craig would make a good Mikael Blomkvist in the new adaptation of the book. They proceeded to analyse most of the main characters, and an uninformed listener might have thought they were discussing a 70s soap opera on the BBC, not a twisted and often shocking crime thriller from Sweden. But such is the reach of the late Stieg Larsson’s Millenium trilogy, that mums everywhere can hold very strong opinions about the infamous Lisbeth Salander and her tortured past. The Swedes rightly got to the books first, and made three very good films out of them. Now it’s the Americans’ turn. I groaned at first, but with David Fincher at the helm, and what is so far unanimous acclaim for Rooney Mara’s performance as the petite but ruthless heroine, this is looking better by the minute. Rounding off the cast is Christopher Plummer as Henrik Vanger, Stellan Skarsgård as Martin Vanger and Robin Wright as Erika Berger. David Fincher does dark and twisted wonderfully (Se7en, Zodiac) and he even managed to make the birth of facebook a riveting thriller. This should be brilliant.

Immortals

If you’ve ever seen a film or music video by Tarsem Singh, you probably remember it. His visual style is quite unique, and he is more than willing to sacrifice story and flow just to make every shot worthy of a fancy frame. The Cell looked so great that J.Lo wasn’t the best-looking prop in it, and The Fall started off with a masterpiece prologue before diving into colour and looking gorgeous throughout. So he seems like a good fit for more tales of Greek gods and muscly heroes, since 300 was similarly spectacular and artsy. This film looks like an obvious offshoot of that Spartan tale, and we can expect a lot more shiny abdominals and slow-motion spear-throwing. Let’s hope there a plot in there somewhere.

My Week With Marilyn

Like many stars who died young, Marilyn Monroe has been immortalised at her peak, which is why decades later she casts a spell over people who were born decades after her demise. But, unlike many of the pin-up blondes of today, she was famous for more than just her looks (and her line of perfume, etc.) - she was an acclaimed actress who starred with the best. This nostalgia trip looks back at her encounter with the acting institution that is Sir Laurence Olivier (played by Kenneth Branagh), whilst filming in the UK. A young assistant gets to show Marilyn around the British isles, and quickly discovers the extent of her allure. Michelle Williams (Blue Valentine) is receiving heaps of praise for her portrayal of the blonde bombshell, and the film looks to be the best one about her yet.

The Iron Lady

If you’re not convinced by Michelle Williams’ portrayal of Marilyn Monroe, you can pop into the adjacent screen and watch the master at work. Soon after disappearing inside the character of Julia Child, Meryl Streep has now transformed herself once again and is Margaret Thatcher. Her acting, her voice and the hair and makeup make it quite uncanny to even see the film posters, and that’s usually enough of a guarantee that you will immerse into the film plot and forget you’re watching a performance. Directed by Phyllida Lloyd (Mamma Mia!) the film focuses on the run-up to the Falklands war in the early 80s, and is the first big-screen portrayal of the larger-than-life prime minister who still polarizes the public today.

J. Edgar

And rounding off this month’s trio of impersonations, Leonardo DiCaprio takes on a less well-known figure, J. Edgar Hoover. Hoover set up and built the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) across the Atlantic, and is the man credited with making it the crime-fighting powerhouse that it is today. Directed by Clint Eastwood, the film also starts Armie Hammer (The Social Network), Josh Lucas (A Beautiful Mind), Judi Dench (Iris) and Naomi Watts (King Kong). The script is by Dustin Lance Black, who shot to fame after penning the Oscar-winning Milk a couple of years ago.

The Darkest Hour

Timur Bekmambetov may not ring as many bells as, say, Steven Spielberg, but he’s only just making the transition from Russia to Hollywood, and the syllable count isn’t in his favour. After a couple of acclaimed films in his homeland, he brought his stylish action to the film Wanted, which had numerous sequences that you couldn’t dream up if you were the least sober person at Woodstock. He now turns his mix of action and spectacle to the subject of hostile aliens, and this film centres around five young heroes tries to survive an invasion of Moscow. To make things interesting, you can’t see the aliens.

Christmas at the Movies

noreply@blogger.com (Mark) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 16:21:00 +0000

This article was first published on 01/12/11 in VIDA magazine.
Release dates are subject to change. All films released locally by KRS Film Distributors Ltd.

film of the month:

Hugo

Every festive season, magical family films compete for our attention during the holidays. There’s usually one or two with a clear seasonal theme, but often anything spectacular and family-friendly will do the trick. Whether it’s hobbits on quests, children keeping burglars at bay, or green Grinches trying to ruin Christmas, many a box-office hit has made it’s grand entry thanks to that special December feeling.

Martin Scorsese films do not usually fit that bill. One of the most celebrated and respected directors alive, he usually makes visceral and thrilling films that you don’t get to enjoy until you’ve left sixth form. And if you’re not good with bloody violence, maybe not at all. But like many great artists, he tries his hand at different genres, just like he did with the historical biopic The Aviator a few years back. This time, he’s decided to embrace both children’s fiction and 3D filmmaking, in what is being hailed as a glorious fairytale.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret was published back in 2007 by children’s author Brian Selznick. Scorsese acquired the rights, and the screenplay was written by John Logan, who is the man behind such gems as Gladiator, The Aviator and Rango (and who penned the next Bond film). The story is set in 1930s Paris, with the titular character being an orphan who lives in a world of steam engines and clockwork toys, hidden away in a train station. With regard to the 3D, this is apparently no gimmicky afterthought conversion, but rather a full-bodied attempt by Scorsese to use the medium and weave it into his fantasy storytelling.

Asa Butterfield, who had a haunting main role in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, is Hugo. Also responding to Scorsese’s casting call are Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat), Ben Kingsley (Elegy), Jude Law (Closer), Chloë Grace Moretz (Kick-Ass), Christopher Lee (The Lord of the Rings) and Emily Mortimer (Shutter Island). This looks like one of those films that can appeal to those of all ages and all tastes in film. It will be fascinating to see how the man behind so many crime and thriller classics can adapt himself to the childlike and magical, and the early response from abroad suggests he’s done so with class.

also released this month:

New Year’s Eve

If you watched Valentine’s Day last year, think of this as the sequel. Same formula - more big names than you would find at the Oscars, each with a small plot that all falls magically into place for the big moment. Love Actually set the high standards for this sort of film, but unfortunately Valentine’s Day sacrificed detail and emotion to try and fit in more people. With a cast list too long to go through, let’s hope this doesn’t do the same mistake. If you want to get festive and see what the likes of Robert DeNiro, Halle Berry, Jon Bon Jovi, Michelle Pfeiffer, the newly single Asthon Kutcher (and many, many more) get up to at the stroke of midnight, this might be fun.

Machine Gun Preacher

Gerald Butler (300) stars as American biker Sam Childers, who gave up his drinking ways when he embraced religion, and now is an active protector of orphans in Sudan. I guess how much you enjoy this depends on whether you go for the preaching or for the machine guns.

Puss in Boots

A spin-off from the now-concluded Shrek storyline, this is all about the feisty ginger cat getting his own back-story and moment in the limelight. Sort of like Wolverine, but with smaller claws. Antonio Banderas is of course at hand to add the sultry accent that makes Puss such a kitty-charmer, and Salma Hayek voices one of the adversaries he encounters. Despite the groans that many elicit when such spin-offs are announced, this one is getting good reviews, mostly in the fun department.

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

The first Sherlock Holmes film was incredibly fun, despite what the Arthur Conan Doyle purists might have thought. Guy Ritchie’s dark but crisp directing was a perfect fit for old London and Robert Downey Jr.’s aloof excellence brought Holmes to life in style. So here’s a second helping, and once again Jude Law is dragged along as the reluctant but essential Watson. Rachel McAdams (Midnight in Paris) also returns, and the new additions include Noomi Rapace (the Swedish Lisbeth Salander) and the inimitable Stephen Fry.

Anonymous

If you thought the Conan Doyle purists were angry, wait till the bard ones see this. A fictional re-imagining of English history, this film stakes the claim that Will Shakespeare didn’t write a single word of his works. Despite the solid cast (including Vanessa Redgrave, Derek Jacobi and Rhys Ifans), many are up in arms claiming this is the most silly film Roland Emmerich ever directed. And this is the man who gave us 2012.

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol

Despite the up and downs of Tom Cruise’s popularity, there’s no denying that these films are usually fun, in a Bond vs. MacGyver kind of way. But after the excellent first one, the second had too much slow-motion and Cruise self-love, and the third was tarnished by one of the most far-fetched endings ever. So they took a break, but the franchise is now back, and the first promising sign was director Brad Bird (The Incredibles, Ratatouille and The Iron Giant) behind the camera. Ving Rhames (Pulp Fiction) and Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead) are back in the team, and new additions include Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker). The plot, should you choose to accept it, involves a bubbling war between USA and Russia.

Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked

Just when you thought they couldn’t come up with a more painful title than ‘The Squeakquel’, they did. Your kids might be excited to see more of our high-pitched friends, but you might want to take them to see Hugo first, for their sake and yours.

November at the Movies

noreply@blogger.com (Mark) — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 16:39:00 +0000

This article was first published on 01/11/11 in VIDA magazine.
Release dates are subject to change. All films released locally by KRS Film Distributors Ltd.

film of the month:

The Ides of March

George Clooney is not just a pleasant leading man with nicely-chiselled features. Amongst other things, he’s been trying his hand at directing for the past decade, and his 2005 film Good Night, and Good Luck, which he directed, starred in and co-wrote, is a flawless little gem that has class written all over it. He’s now returning to the political arena with another film in which he also stars, this time as an American presidential candidate.

As the presidential hopeful builds momentum and seems destined for the White House, his campaign is being run by a junior, but very talented, campaign manager (Ryan Gosling, who seems to be in everything nowadays, and was particularly good in the recent Crazy Stupid Love and Drive). Offers start to come in, as I’m sure they do in real life, of shows of support in return for favours later on. But the candidate tries to stick to his principles, and the campaign manager isn’t sure which side to stay on.

Rounding off the impressive cast are Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote, Magnolia), Marisa Tomei (My Cousin Vinny, The Wrestler), Paul Giamatti (Sideways, Cinderella Man) and Jeffrey Wright (Casino Royale, Syriana). With the media-heavy Obama campaign fresh in our minds, it’s easy to imagine Clooney in the role, and this time we get to see what goes on behind the scenes. With a title like this, I guess we can safely assume there will be a certain amount of back-stabbing.

also released this month:

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1

Yes, that is the actual title. Since the Harry Potter final film split seemed to work nicely, this other fantasy franchise decided to hop on the money train too. So the fourth and final book in the werewolves vs. vampires love story will be fleshed out into two films. This is great news for Twilight fans, I imagine. The chapter kicks off with a wedding, but it turns out that marriages between humans and the undead aren’t such a good idea after all. Needless to say, this is only for those who have watched (and enjoyed) the previous three films.

The Rum Diary

Johnny Depp continues to mix staple, blockbuster roles (such as the cash behemoth he heads as Jack Sparrow) with smaller, more intriguing films. One of his weirdest trips was the drug-fuelled haze of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, based on the book by Hunter S. Thompson, which was a perfect fit for the eccentric talents of director Terry Gilliam, and Depp. This new film is an adaptation of another book by the same author, and this time takes us to Puerto Rico, where an American journalist immerses himself fully into the local craziness, aided significantly by the joys of rum. This should be fun.

Happy Feet 2

Happy Feet was an icy-cool breath of fresh air, that came out of nowhere and was one of the most original, and enjoyable, animated films of recent years. But despite what appeared to be a fluffy, jukebox-style first half, it also dared to delve deeper, and had a few disturbing and thought-provoking moments later on. Thankfully, the sequel is still the work of George Miller (who was also the man behind Babe), so hopefully it won’t descend into cheap sequel-itis. Elijah Wood (you know, Frodo) returns as Mumble the penguin, although he’s now all grown-up and doing some parenting of his own. Also reprising their vocal roles are Robin Williams and Hugo Weaving, and joining the arctic fun are Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Pink, and Modern Family’s Sofia Vergara.

Tower Heist

I love heist films, and this one’s a comedy too. Director Brent Ratner has successfully juggled crime and comedy in the past with the Rush Hour films, and this time he has an incredible cast at his disposal - Ben Stiller (Tropic Thunder), Casey Affleck (Gone Baby Gone), Matthew Broderick (Godzilla), Alan Alda (M*A*S*H, 30 Rock), Tea Leoni (Spanglish) and Gabourey Sidibe (Precious). And adding some veteran mania to the comedy is Eddie Murphy, who might be hoping this film gives his comedy career a bump in time for next year’s Oscars, which it looks like he will be hosting.

Straw Dogs

This is an apparently faithful remake of the disturbing 1971 film, about a young couple who drop everything and go to live in an idyllic house in the woods. They start to be harassed and taunted by workmen and neighbours, with things eventually getting very out of hand. James Marsden (Enchanted, Superman Returns) and Kate Bosworth (Blue Crush, Superman Returns) reprise the roles originally played by Dustin Hoffman and Susan George. The original film was infamous for a few graphic scenes, so this might not be for everyone.

Contagion

Disaster movies are fun. Those standard shots of newscasters announcing the tragedy, presidents calling for calm, and (this one is obligatory) people slowly getting out of their cars in standstill traffic, make for great cinema, with us viewers obviously rooting for the human race. And amongst all disasters, outbreaks are often the most chilling, since we have been subjected to similar, but thankfully better-controlled, epidemics in the past few years. No matter how scary an alien looks, it can’t cause as much paranoia and panic as an invisible virus that you could pick up by touching a door handle. Steven Soderbergh directs, and the ensemble cast consists of Marion Cottilard, Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow and Kate Winslet. It’s not every day we see a Best Actress winner be killed off in a film - but with three to choose from here, it’s safe to say we will.

October at the Movies

noreply@blogger.com (Mark) — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 11:23:00 +0000

This article was first published on 01/10/11 in VIDA magazine.
Release dates are subject to change. All films released locally by KRS Film Distributors Ltd.

film of the month:

The Adventures of Tintin

Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg are, to put it mildly, quite big names in the world of cinema - the former having gone from interesting but small projects to the hugely successful The Lord of the Rings trilogy and beyond, and the latter being the man behind over three decades of blockbusters and some of the most famous films ever made. So the prospect of them joining forces on a project is very promising, and is bound to draw attention.

That project is the big-screen adaptation of the long-running and very popular Tintin comics - a Belgian series that ran for most of the 20th Century and was eventually translated extensively to reach a worldwide audience. Even to someone who has never read the comics before (such as yours truly), the image of Tintin, with his gravity-defying hairstyle and canine sidekick, is an instantly recognisable one. Spielberg and Jackson seem to be eager fans of the boy’s adventures, and this film is the first of a projected three.

The slightly controversial motion-capture animation style was chosen as the best way to portray the comics - the same melding of acting and animation that made The Polar Express, Beowulf and A Christmas Carol look very spectacular but rather creepy. Thankfully, the images and footage we’ve seen so far indicate that this time around the accent is more on making the characters look like the original cartoons, rather than too realistic, whilst still making use of the expressions and performance of the actors in the motion-capture suits.

Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot, King Kong) is the titular character, and motion-capture veteran Andy Serkis (The Lord of the Rings, King Kong, Rise of the Planet of the Apes), is Captain Haddock. Daniel Craig, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost also star. Being a Spielberg-directed affair, the film also marks the much-welcomed return of John Williams to the film score scene, after a period of semi-retirement interrupted only for the Indiana Jones sequel three years ago. So we can expect great music, we can expect adventure, and since they had tonnes of individual comics to choose from, I’m pretty sure we can expect a great story.

also released this month:

Johnny English Reborn

British Agent Johnny English fumbled onto the big screen around eight years ago with the wonderful tagline “He knows no fear. He knows no danger. He knows nothing.” Combining the famous idiotic antics of Rowan Atkinson’s Mr. Bean character with the modern world of spies and the secret service, the film was more or less a British version of the Get Smart TV series that Mel Brooks created in the 60s, and which also made in onto the big screen recently. Despite a mixed critical reception, Johnny English was a big hit this side of the Atlantic, so here is the inevitable sequel. With more gadgets, more espionage, and the same bumbling idiot at the centre, this should provide a predictable but enjoyable dose of slapstick entertainment.

The Three Musketeers

Here’s another classic story that filmmakers never tire of adapting, and apparently audiences never tire of watching. It seems only yesterday that we had the version with the Sting/Bryan Adams/Rod Stewart song, but that was a distant 1993, and since then we also had the loose adaptation The Musketeer in 2001. This new imagining has a line-up with makes the bad guys looks distinctly more interesting than the musketeers - with Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds) and Orlando Bloom (Kingdom of Heaven) lurking in dark corners and sporting suitably-pointy facial hair; and Milla Jovovich (The Fifth Element) as the deceptive Milady. Fresh-faced newcomer Logan Lerman, who had the title role in the Percy Jackson film, earns his spurs as D’Artagnan, and the most recognisable of the three musketeers themselves is probably Matthew Macfadyen (Frost/Nixon, Pride and Prejudice). Jovovich’s husband Paul W.S. Anderson, who had a promising start to his career (Event Horizon) but who is now mostly known as the man behind the endless Resident Evil series, is in the director’s chair, which suggests that this may be a darker and more action-oriented take on Dumas’ classic tale.

Footloose

There were at least four big dance films in the 80s, which combined a handful of catchy anthems with a young cast and lots of dancing to make feel-good films that were very popular. Footloose, which came after Fame and Flashdance, but before the huge Dirty Dancing, was the first starring role for Kevin Bacon, and his iconic and rebellious role will now be handed over to Kenny Wormald, who so far is known for his dancing but not for his acting. Dennis Quaid (The Day After Tomorrow) and Andie MacDowell (Groundhog Day) star as the uptight parents of one of the town’s hottest girls, who are against street-dancing and lobby to have it banned. Of course, true love and the power of dance will win out in the end, and everyone will live happily ever after, etc.. I just hope they somehow manage to keep ‘Holding Out For a Hero’ in the soundtrack.

The Lion King 3D

Any excuse to watch The Lion King again is fine by me, and any chance to see it on the big screen should be jumped at. Nearly two decades after Hakuna Matata became a household expression, Simba and friends have been given a 3D makeover, and we are being given a chance to rediscover one of Disney’s best-loved classics. That stampede scene should look pretty impressive.

The Debt

This month’s brainiest film is a political thriller that jumps between the 60s and the 90s to tell the story of Mossad agents on the trail of a Nazi war-criminal. It’s a remake of a well-received Israeli film from a few years ago, and is directed by John Madden, of Shakespeare in Love fame. Helen Mirren (The Queen) stars, along with Sam Worthington (Avatar), Jessica Chastain (The Tree of Life), Tom Wilkinson (Michael Clayton) and Ciarán Hinds, who previously starred in the great Mossad thriller Munich.

Screen Themes - Music for Happy Endings

noreply@blogger.com (Mark) — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 09:00:00 +0000

The Grand Finale of my year of Screen Themes - the music that ends films on an uplifting note.

Music for Happy Endings // 19th Sept 2011 // #34 by Screenthemes // Markcamilleri on Mixcloud

Screen Themes - MovieMusic Travels 4

noreply@blogger.com (Mark) — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 20:30:00 +0000

For our last trip around the globe, we sample some gorgeous film scores from five different continents - including three of the most famous capital cities in the world, as well as a few exotic jungles and beaches.

MovieMusic Travels 4 // 12th Sept 2011 // #33 by Screenthemes // Markcamilleri on Mixcloud

Screen Themes - Music for Middle-earth

noreply@blogger.com (Mark) — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 09:40:00 +0000

Three excellent films, three excellent scores. Peter Jackson and Howard Shore raised the bar very high at the start of this century. Nearly a decade later, nothing else has come even close.

Music for Middle-earth // 5th Sept 2011 // #32 by Screenthemes // Markcamilleri on Mixcloud

The End of a Fanboy Era

noreply@blogger.com (Mark) — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 11:46:00 +0000

This article was first published on 01/09/11 in VIDA magazine.

This summer, as I walked out of the cinema with the Harry Potter credits music still running through my head, I couldn’t help but feel that a large chunk of my youth, which started back in 1999 during a midnight screening of The Phantom Menace, had come to a close.

For those of us who had their late teens or their twenties during the past decade or so, the development of movie franchise ‘fandom’ has been very interesting to watch and, if so inclined, take part in. Over the course of twelve years and fourteen films, the Star Wars, Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter franchises have managed to make their new releases into events which make otherwise-sane people queue up at midnight and discuss intricate plot details on online forums, while the filmmakers count their millions. Against the backdrop of the internet explosion, it has been a rapidly evolving marketing machine, but one that I was more than happy to be a consumer of.

Back in the late 90s, before YouTube, facebook or ‘sharing’, the fevered anticipation for the Star Wars prequels still managed to spread like wildfire online. Apple’s much-loved iTunes film trailers were still a mundane Quicktime website, which was congested like never before when the first teaser and then trailer were released online, to unprecedented views and response. Online film trailers are now everywhere, but back then Phantom Menace managed to set the ball rolling in spectacular fashion, and I for one gladly waited an entire night for my moribund dial-up connection to download the highest-resolution version. As it turned out, the trailers would be possibly better than the actual film, but those are just details when the hype is so huge.

Meet me at midnight

The screenings were the next trend. Previously reserved for B-movies and late night entertainment, the witching hour suddenly became the best way to launch an event movie in style. The reasoning was simple - if the film studio has set a strict release date, why not watch it at 00:01 in the morning, to save you a few more hours of waiting? Thankfully, Malta caught on very quickly. Although Star Wars Episode I was released in most of Europe nearly 3 months later than the US (something that would be unthinkable today), the eager local fans still got a midnight screening on Malta’s largest screen, complete with Darth Maul and Darth Vader duelling on stage before the show began. I was initially slightly embarrassed to attend, and had to walk home afterwards (driving lessons were still in progress), but it was worth every minute. The packed cinema included everything from packs of unsightly males in matching t-shirts, to two of my lecturers and even the occasional attractive lass, and the excitement was palpable. So palpable, in fact, that we were more than willing to forgive the film’s huge faults, and return in similar style for the sequels three and six years later. I’ll never forget the magical hush as the words ‘A Long Time Ago, in a Galaxy Far, Far Away’ were projected onto the screen and my entire field of vision. It was well worth the walk.

Besides the other Star Wars prequels, midnight screenings and cinema marathons soon became de rigueur for the Lord of the Rings films, Harry Potter (both book and film launches), and any other event movie that the distributors thought was viable enough. Part of the fun was obviously knowing that you’re surrounded by fellow fans, but the rush to be the first to see it also played a major role.

Snobbery

Like most things in life, preferences varied. Personal favouritism tussled with objective criticism of the films to make some fans take sides. I had no problem at all mustering an army for the Return of the King midnight screening, but most of my friends abandoned me two years later for the last of the Star Wars films. And Harry Potter seems to have been the preferred domain of the younger crowd, and I for one was perfectly happy to read the books months and years after their release, and then see the films at my own pace. But all three franchises had a comparably impressive hold on generations X and Y. Looking back, it seems indubitable that LOTR far surpassed the other two in terms of film quality, with the three films being both amazing adaptations of the treasured books, and films accessible to a very wide audience. Which is why, like many of my friends, I suggested it to my parents, but would never dream of sitting them down in front of Attack of the Clones.

Harry Potter has also proved to be a sharp adaptation job, also benefiting from one of the most impressive casts ever assembled, and the collaboration of the author. I suspect that if I were a decade younger I would have devoured them with greater zeal. But still, I enjoyed every one of them, and for an entire decade they were something to look forward to. Star Wars reigns supreme because of the indelible legacy left by the original trilogy, although despite George Lucas’ flaccid direction the three new films did manage to steadily improve, and were still a feast for the senses.

Another level

Of course, just like participation was optional, so was the level of involvement. Not everyone likes to remain spoiler-free until D-day, and then discuss and dissect films at length online. Not everyone needs to wear a wizard costume to the midnight screening. And thankfully not everyone chooses to name their son Anakin. I chanced upon the world premiere of the final Harry Potter film recently, in Trafalgar and Leicester Squares. I rather enjoyed it, although for me and many others it simply involved walking around the perimeter fence, trying to catch a glimpse of a star or two, and taking a couple of photos. Others had chosen to camp in the rain from two days earlier to get a good spot, and I saw mothers leaving the enclosure consoling teenage girls as they bawled their eyes out and stared at smudged signatures on their hand. To each his own, I guess. Midnight screenings might seem like insanity to many, and tattoos of the Millennium Falcon might seem like insanity to me. But that’s one of the beauties of fandom - you pick your level of involvement, depending on how interested you are (and how much time you have on your hands).

So now what?

Despite the glittering conclusions of the above three sagas, there are obviously many other ways for us to spend our time (and money). The fantasy genre, breathed back into life by Frodo and friends, is alive and very well, with numerous films following in Return of the King’s wake. None have been as good, so far, although the ongoing Game of Thrones TV series should keep appetites sated for quite a while, considering the great source material. Attempts at kindling new franchises, such as the Narnia series and the Inheritance cycle (Eragon), fell rather short of the mark. Twilight is raking in millions, despite scathing reviews of all the films, but their target audience is very narrow (and I am obviously not part of it). Science-fiction is of course constant, but again, not even a brilliant reboot of the Star Trek franchise possessed the necessary magic and sense of history to equal the scale of the Force. Plus, what’s the fun without lightsabers?

Other genres and franchises have fan bases of their own, and I for one look forward eagerly to the final chapter in Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, which has been quite unprecedented in terms of critical acclaim and fan appreciation. But I doubt that any superhero film, or any other film of huge proportions such as Avatar, could ever compete with something like middle-earth, because of the huge amount of detail that creators such as Tolkien and Lucas have put into creating their universe. Which is why you can find Master degrees in Tolkien literature, and countless novels set in the Star Wars expanded universe.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not tolling any death bells yet. As Hollywood obviously knows very well, where there’s money to be made and pocket-money to exploit, film franchises will find a way to re-invent themselves. Until then, we also have many tangential projects to keep us occupied. Lucas has clearly stated that he won’t make any more prequels or sequels, which is probably a good thing. But the rebels and the empire live on in video games, an animated TV series, and a possible live-action TV series that has been hinted at. J. K. Rowling has an intriguing online Potter project in the pipeline, although she has clearly stated that no more stories will be written about the bespectacled boy. Peter Jackson is filming The Hobbit at this very moment, which is great news for LOTR fans, although I can’t seem to get too excited about it yet. Of course, that will all change once I see the first teaser trailer.

Films released this month:

CONAN THE BARBARIAN - the film that made Schwarzenegger a star gets remade, with just as much muscles and probably more gore.

FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS - Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis star as a couple of attractive friends who fool around but agree never to get romantically involved. Yeah right.

TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY - classy cast, classy spy novel, classy period setting - this looks great.

JANE EYRE - classics are called such for a reason, which might explain why this one is made into a film every ten minutes or so.

THE CHANGE-UP - Two male friends. One’s house is littered with nappies, the other with thongs. They swap bodies for some adult comedy.

KILLER ELITE - Jason Statham, Clive Owen and Robert DeNiro, plus guns, action and intrigue.

COLOMBIANA - Zoe Saldana starts as a sexy assassin with vengeance on her mind. Nikita meets Kill Bill.

Release dates are subject to change. All films released locally by KRS Film Distirbutors Ltd.

Screen Themes - Music for Champions

noreply@blogger.com (Mark) — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 21:54:00 +0000

Crossing the finish-line or scoring the winning goal never sounded so good.

Music for Champions // 29th Aug 2011 // #31 by Screenthemes // Markcamilleri on Mixcloud

Screen Themes - MovieMusic Travels 3

noreply@blogger.com (Mark) — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 11:03:00 +0000

More exotic locations, more great film music! With a special Russian treat to finish things off.

MovieMusic Travels 3 // 22nd Aug 2011 // #30 by Screenthemes // Markcamilleri on Mixcloud

Screen Themes - Bond Music

noreply@blogger.com (Mark) — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 19:51:00 +0000

The enduring James Bond series has consistently great music - but not just the theme songs. Here are some highlights for the often unsung (literally) film scores, which are just as memorable.

Bond Music // 8th Aug 2011 // #29 by Screenthemes // Markcamilleri on Mixcloud

Screen Themes - Music for Manly Men

noreply@blogger.com (Mark) — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 09:41:00 +0000

Macho MovieMusic for some of the best use of anabolic steroids we've ever seen on screen.

Music for Manly Men // 1st Aug 2011 // #28 by Screenthemes // Markcamilleri on Mixcloud

Screen Themes - Fun Moviemusic

noreply@blogger.com (Mark) — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 10:13:00 +0000

From Spider-pigs to Oompa-Loompas, and from Ghosts and Gremlins to big green Ogres, this is probably the silliest Screen Themes show to date.

Fun MovieMusic! // 25th July 2011 // #27 by Screenthemes // Markcamilleri on Mixcloud

Screen Themes - Music for Sci-Fi

noreply@blogger.com (Mark) — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 21:57:00 +0000

We've covered Aliens and we've covered Star Wars, but there's loads more memorable science-fiction scores to choose from.

Music for Sci-Fi // 18th July 2011 // #26 by Screenthemes // Markcamilleri on Mixcloud

Screen Themes - More Beautiful Sad MovieMusic

noreply@blogger.com (Mark) — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 00:13:00 +0000

It's a pre-recorded show this week. A whole hour of uninterrupted musical mastery. This is movie music that is slightly sad, but very, very beautiful.

More Beautiful Sad MovieMusic // 27th June 2011 // #25 by Screenthemes // Markcamilleri on Mixcloud

Screen Themes - Music for the Frontline

noreply@blogger.com (Mark) — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 11:23:00 +0000

War is horrible. But War movies are often excellent, and so are their scores.

Music for the Frontline // 20th June 2011 // #24 by Screenthemes // Markcamilleri on Mixcloud

Screen Themes - Music for a Galaxy Far, Far Away

noreply@blogger.com (Mark) — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 11:20:00 +0000

This week, Screen Themes celebrates and dissects the classic Star Wars scores. Few better scores were ever composed.

Music for a Galaxy Far, Far Away // 13th June 2011 // #23 by Screenthemes // Markcamilleri on Mixcloud

Screen Themes - Beautiful Sad MovieMusic

noreply@blogger.com (Mark) — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 09:49:00 +0000

This week's show - achingly beautiful music for those heart-wrenching scenes we all love to endure.

Beautiful Sad MovieMusic // 6th June 2011 // #22 by Screenthemes // Markcamilleri on Mixcloud

Screen Themes - MovieMusic Travels 2

noreply@blogger.com (Mark) — Tue, 31 May 2011 22:41:00 +0000

More marvelous movie music from all over the map. Make sure you pack warm clothes this time.

MovieMusic Travels 2 // 30th May 2011 // #21 by Screenthemes // Markcamilleri on Mixcloud

Screen Themes - Music for Way Out West

noreply@blogger.com (Mark) — Wed, 25 May 2011 13:07:00 +0000

Sweeping vistas, spectacular sunsets, death-defying stunts, runaway stagecoaches.... Of course Western film scores sound great!

Music for Way Out West // 23rd May 2011 // #20 by Screenthemes // Markcamilleri on Mixcloud

Screen Themes - Music for Cops & Criminals

noreply@blogger.com (Mark) — Thu, 19 May 2011 00:57:00 +0000

Some say crime doesn't pay. But at least it often sounds great.

Music For Cops & Criminals // 16th May 2011 // #19 by Screenthemes // Markcamilleri on Mixcloud

Screen Themes - MovieMusic Travels

noreply@blogger.com (Mark) — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 10:26:00 +0000

The last show before the Easter break, this hour of music from the four corners of the globe showcases some of the exotic locations and diverse instruments that cinema has to offer. This is some truly stunning music. Hope you enjoy it!

Moviemusic Travels // 28th March 2011 // #18 by Screenthemes // Markcamilleri on Mixcloud

Spectacular, Spectacular - Baz Luhrmann and the Carnivalesque

noreply@blogger.com (Mark) — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 12:39:00 +0000

This is a guest post by my wonderful sister, Marie-Therese Camilleri.

Laughter, colour, revelry and chaos. Clowns, fools and grotesque exaggeration. Such are the sights and sounds of a carnival, a Feast of Fools. The way Bakhtin infuses this liberal atmosphere into a particular literary form is what lies at the heart of his Carnivalesque. Like the carnivals themselves, the Carnivalesque is about breaking oppressive forms of thought, leading to emancipation of the human spirit in literature and, eventually, in many other art forms including music, fashion and film.

While there have been a small number of films made to specifically and intentionally portray all the elements of the Carnivalesque, there are a select few which incorporate these elements subtly and effectively to blend into a particular mainstream genre. Probably the most well-known of these films are those by the acclaimed Australian director, producer and screenwriter Mark Anthony “Baz” Luhrmann. His first three films, known as the “Red Curtain Trilogy”, are all seen to incorporate elements of the Carnivalesque, more subtly in the first film Strictly Ballroom, released in 1992, and more recognizably in William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet (1996) and Moulin Rouge! (2001).

In each of the three films, we are told the story through an established and insistent thematic device. In Moulin Rouge! this is music, in Romeo + Juliet it is poetry and in Strictly Ballroom it is dance. All three films are built around a theatre motif, and it is for this reason that they are dubbed the “Red Curtain Trilogy”. Luhrmann’s idea was to represent the end, or the ‘curtain call’, of the older methods of entertainment: musical theatre, verse drama and classical dance, and merge them with the modern styles which have now overshadowed them. With the thematic device in place, Luhrmann engages his directorial style in which, perhaps better than any other filmmaker, he manages to capture the Carnivalesque elements of the surreal, inverted world of his characters without crossing the line into burlesque.

In all three films, there are a number of Carnivalesque elements which contribute to the overall effect. Some are subtle, some more aggressive, and some utterly disconcerting. What ties them all together, however, is the editing. Luhrmann’s most recognisable trait is his knack for fast-paced editing, using all kinds of camera angles and techniques. His screenplay is full of fast-forwarding, zooming-in and the camera slamming in and out, creating dizzying montages. By taking an exaggerated and unrealistic approach to the ordinary components of filmmaking, the director demands the audience’s attention simply because such techniques are foreign to them. Dance, song, light, music and colour accentuate the rambunctious camera work and speedy editing. The audience is immediately dropped into a Carnivalesque world of musical and visual mayhem, and feel much like a foreigner would feel after having walked into the world of a full-blown carnival.

Romeo + Juliet is based on what is probably the most popular and well-known of all Shakespeare’s plays. With so many versions of the play already released on film over the years, each reaching new heights in the name of originality, it was valiant of Luhrmann to even take on the challenge, let alone take it to a level most directors would never dream of. Due to the play’s popularity, he was very much aware that the majority of his audience would walk in to the cinema thinking they knew what to expect. In order to counter this, he used his soon-to-be trademark technique immediately, creating one of the most memorable montage scenes of his career. The opening montage sets the scene of Verona Beach. The frenetic shots of the dominating Capulet and Montague skyscrapers intercut with images of newspaper headlines, the towering statue of Jesus and scenes that look like a war zone make the start of the film visually astonishing and intellectually confusing. The audience is disarmed, stripped of any preconceptions, and we are made to watch the well-known play afresh.

Luhrmann’s signature montages are also a common feature in Moulin Rouge! The opening scenes again establish the scene, and we get our first look at the famous nightclub. We meet the owner of the cabaret, Harold Zidler, and before we know it, we’re immersed in the hallucinogenic whirl of cancan skirts, red lips and top hats. As our protagonist, Christian, says in the opening scenes, this is the place where “the rich and powerful came to play with the young and beautiful creatures of the underworld”. These words accentuate the exotic mystique that surrounds the club. There is an obvious sensuousness that in the audience’s mind is meant to define life in the Parisian night club in the 1900s. The strong element of play, as well as raucous, sensuous characters, creates the carnival images one would expect to see in a spectacle. However, although there is a very strong theatre motif throughout the film, we are subconsciously aware that life in the night club is a delicate balance of real life and performance. It sits on a borderline between reality and art. This is a strong element of the Carnivalesque – there is little acknowledged distinction between the actors and the spectators. The audience become enthralled with life inside the Moulin Rouge, however why that is may not be that obvious. This attractiveness is another important feature of the Carnivalesque: There are no laws but the laws of the Moulin Rouge. Anyone who enters the club is subject only to the wild and carefree way of life for the entire night. The situation is the same during carnival – real life goes on hold. There is no life outside the carnival life, only raw emotion, seduction and titillation.

Perhaps the most disquieting feature seen in all the films is the laughter motif. When watching the films, you’re sure to see a loud and flamboyant face fill the screen, belting out a long, monstrous laugh. Luhrmann might enhance the laugh’s effect by dragging it out in slow motion, or moving in to an extreme close up. The faces are usually caked in make-up, instantly drawing your attention to the carnival theme, as in Mercutio’s case during the Capulet ball in Romeo + Juliet or with the immense number of sleazy dancers spinning towards the screen in Moulin Rouge! Bakhtin wrote about carnival laughter, calling it the ‘laughter of all the people’.[1] Carnival laugher is ambivalent: at once happy and celebratory but also jeering and deriding. Laughter is a large component of the spectacle scenes in all the films. In Strictly Ballroom, the laughs are part of the performance, exaggerated, false and appearing as almost manic, but in both the Capulet ball scene in Romeo + Juliet and the scenes of night-time frenzy in Moulin Rouge!, the characters themselves are jesting and animal, wrapped up in the Carnivalesque atmosphere full of rogues and fools, unable to contain their frenzied emotions.

Bakhtin’s Carnivalesque is most evidently manifested in the individual characters themselves. The supporting cast of Strictly Ballroom are a ridiculous bunch for whom dance is everything and winning the only option. It’s from the cast’s overdramatic displays of emotion that the film gets it’s wicked, crazy humour.

Moulin Rouge! goes a step further, presenting possibly the most diverse supporting cast in a single film. We are introduced to Harold Zidler, the larger-than-life club owner with a figure and hairstyle to match. His bright orange hair and handlebar moustache do little to distort the wacky looks thrown from his darting eyes, and we can think of nobody better to manage the club and sell his courtesans. Known as the Diamond Dogs, these cancan dancers dominate the screen in a wild flurry of vivid debauchery and an extravagant array of sequins, feathers and fabulous costumes. Another character in the film is based on the great Post-Impressionist artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Luhrmann accentuated the artist’s eccentric features, making a caricature of him to add to the general emphasis on the surreal. Christian’s crew also includes Audrey, a transsexual playwright; a skittish and completely bald pianist named Satie and an incredibly talented Argentinean actor with an unfortunate case of narcolepsy. Needless to say, these characters are no coincidence. They bring the film to life, walking the fine line between reality and fantasy.

The garish showiness of the Capulet ball in Romeo + Juliet embellishes the Carnivalesque features of the characters and draws attention to their significance which up until then may not have been so obvious. By means of costumes and the carnival atmosphere, Luhrmann is able to emphasize the contrast between the rivalled families. While the Montague boys don silly Viking outfits, and Benvolio a humble friar’s habit, Tybalt is dressed as the devil himself, and his cousins as skeletons. The message is clear: the Montagues just want to have fun, while the Capulets are foreshadowed as the evildoers of the film. During this scene, Mercutio is the life of the party, dressed up to the nines in a flashy drag outfit complete with a wig and heels. He is established as the most fun-loving character in the film, which makes his murder all the more terrible. Also during the ball scene we see Paris, the most establishment-minded character, in his immaculate gear of an enthusiastic astronaut. Juliet’s father is reminiscent of Caesar in purple robes, which complement his tyrannical nature, while his wife wears a gaudy Cleopatra outfit, which suggests her longing for tragic grandeur. It is through Luhrmann’s specific choice of costume that the nature of each character is made so vividly clear. This is interesting, seeing as how costumes are normally associated with hiding one’s flaws, one’s characteristics. People usually enjoy dressing up just to be able to act without consequence. Rather than allowing the characters to be someone different for a night, Luhrmann employs the Carnival motif to draw attention to their qualities.

A particularly important feature of a Carnival is forcefully present in all three of the ‘Red Curtain’ films, and this is the suspension of all hierarchical precedence. Bakhtin clearly describes a carnival as being different from official feasts, where everyone was expected to display their ranks and merits and to stick to their assigned role and place according to their position. On the contrary, during the Carnival, all revellers were considered equal. There were no divisions of caste, age, profession or property.

Such freedom and equality is an ideal longed for by many characters in countless films, however the link between the ideal situation and the reality of the situation during carnival can be noted throughout all of the Red Curtain Trilogy. Our “star cross’d lovers” in Romeo + Juliet illustrate this point in the most explicit way possible. Whether due to their undying love for each other or for their refusal to conform to the rules set by their families and society, their actions and choices throughout the film are clearly insubordinate – all the way to their tragic suicides. Similarly, but much more subtly, Strictly Ballroom sees Scott and Fran undermine all convention to follow their dreams, resulting in their toppling of the established board of judges. Satine’s love for Christian in Moulin Rouge! leads her to revolt against all the rules she has had to conform to throughout her life. She challenges the man who controlled her life and undermines the only person who can give her the job of her dreams.

Resistance and rebellion are very common themes seen in a vast number of films; however Luhrmann brought something extra in backing these themes with the Carnivalesque motif. It may be said that among all the exaggeration and flamboyance, the protagonists felt all the more reason to resist the hierarchical constraints that they struggled against. One might venture to say that Luhrmann set all the elements of the Carnivalesque in place except for this one, in order to give his protagonists a reason to strive towards achieving an ideal situation, an ideal world which one would experience during the carnival.

The Carnivalesque disturbance of the establishment was taken on more directly by Luhrmann himself during the production of Romeo + Juliet. A number of disrespectful elements are scattered throughout the film, including a joke played at the expense of the revered Globe Theatre which is depicted as a dodgy pool hall. Luhrmann also makes fun of the audience’s obeisance to Shakespeare. Even after completely disarming them of expectations in the opening montage, he goes on to pepper the film with signifiers from a number of other plays, such as the shop sign which says “The Merchant of Verona Beach” and a billboard stating “Such Stuff as Dreams Are Made On”.

On a more serious note, however, Luhrmann ridicules religion through his mise-en-scène. The enormous cathedral statue dominates the landscape of Verona beach, and both families and the society they live in are undoubtedly Catholic in their beliefs. Yet adultery, violence, drugs and revenge are a part of everyday life on the beach. Luhrmann expertly juxtaposes this with the abundant religious displays, highlighting the hypocrisy of the situation.

Even in this, Luhrmann maintains the other elements of the Carnivalesque. The surreal element is ever-present. The Catholicism depicted is one which the audience will not be able to recognize. Hawaiian shirts covered in religious images, a priest with a large tattoo on his back, neon-lit crosses inside the cathedral and choral versions of Prince pop songs as an accompaniment to mass are all exaggerated versions of reality, taking it to the extreme, just like everything else in the carnival world.

Of all the elements of the Carnivalesque, the most predominant would probably be that of images related to the body. Ever exaggerated, images of the human body associated with consumption of food and drink as well as with sexual life play an important role in creating the carnival atmosphere. Such images form part of what is known as grotesque realism, in which ‘the carnal, the comic and the cosmic all coincide in a revolution’.[2] The body and all that it does materially are regarded as something universal, belonging to all humans and therefore something positive. The most common themes of such images of bodily life are growth, fertility and abundance, and these themes are also manifested in the films in question.

In both Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge! Luhrmann creates a world for his audience to walk into and understand without need for explanation. In the Capulet ball scene, we are shown a Bacchanalian feast full of grotesque imagery which is only excessively enhanced by the effects of Romeo’s drug-use. The same goes for the dizzying scenes of grotesque decadence during a night at the Moulin Rouge, with the camera focusing on the drunken and sweaty faces of the men alongside the bountiful curves and figures of the dancers.

The films, just like Carnival itself, are a bombardment of images and sounds, an assault of the senses. Unabashed in their excesses of sensation, they celebrate the Carnivalesque amid passionate dances, bawdy, beautiful courtesans and doomed romances. They are set in highly theatrical, almost fantasy worlds brimming with grotesque realism. They are fanciful feasts for the eyes, just as Luhrmann intended.

Endnotes

[1] Morris, Pam, The Bakhtin Reader (Hodder Education 1997), p. 200. [2] Mark M. Hennelly, Jr., Victorian Literature and Culture 30.1 (2002), p. 368 [accessed 11 January 2011].

References:

Mark M. Hennelly, Jr., Victorian Literature and Culture 30.1 (2002), pp. 365-381 [accessed 11 January 2011]. Pam Morris, The Bakhtin Reader: Selected Writings of Bakhtin, Medvedev, Voloshinov (Hodder Education 1997). Vera Zubarev, "Nature vs. civilization: a review article of films by Luhrmann" The Free Library (2009). . [accessed 11 February 2011]. Kenneth S. Rothwell, A History of Shakespeare on Screen: A Century of Film and Television (Cambridge University Press 2001). Jennifer L. Martin, “Tights vs. Tattoos: Filmic Interpretations of "Romeo and Juliet", The English Journal, 92.1, (2002), pp. 41-46 [accessed 11 February 2011]

Screen Themes - Music for Aliens

noreply@blogger.com (Mark) — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 23:14:00 +0000

Want to hear some music that's out of this world?

Music For Aliens // 21st March 2011 // #17 by Screenthemes // Markcamilleri on Mixcloud