DVD Review: Mao's Last Dancer (2009)

Released March 4, 2010

The elegant lines of Chi Cao (as Li Cuxin) in Mao's Last Dancer

It's a shame that Mao's Last Dancer has been barely seen outside Australia. Only garnering a release in Germany (oddly) and appearing at a few film festivals, this DVD may be the first chance many have had to see Bruce Beresford’s latest, a broad biopic of ballet-dancer extrodinarre Li Cuxin.

Aside from his dancing exploits, Cuxin became well known because of his 21 hour long detention at the Houston Chinese Consulate in 1981. An exchange student reaching the end of his term, Li had fallen for his adopted capitalist home (not to mention, his pretty girlfriend) and wished to stay. The communist Chinese authorities did not approve.

His story, from a difficult childhood in 1960s China, to his training at the grueling Beijing Dance Academy, to his subsequent stay in the United States, is related in his autobiography which became the basis for Jan Sardi’s (Shine) screenplay.

Dramatic and uplifting, it is an enjoyable but conventional rags-to-riches tale. Beresford is not afraid to tug at the heartstrings or enounciate the blatant themes of race, culture and ambition. But it’s also weak, without the conviction of thoroughly depicting the hardships enforced on him as a child.

That would perhaps have been a better film. As it is the melodrama of Mao’s Last Dancer is painted in broad strokes with touching performances from Joan Chen as Li’s mother Niang, and company director Ben Stevenson (Bruce Greenwood, Star Trek), a soft fatherly figure and champion of his biggest star. Everyone else, including Chi Cao as Li are just servicable, though his dual-language role and superb dancing ability impresses.

Cinematography Peter James gives the Chinese scenes a grimy, grainy quality which contrasts well to the colourful dance sequences. The film’s biggest weakness is the superficial love story between our hero and attractive dancer Elizabeth Mackey (Amanda Schull), which seems to exist solely to allow Li to play marriage card when the communist officials come knocking.

DVD Review: Shrink (2009)

Released February 18, 2010

Kevin Spacey asleep on the job in Shrink

Shrink is a distinctly indie feature with aspirations of being a scathing Hollywood satire. In truth, its jabs at the industry that gave it life are less scathing than familiar and trite – we’ve seen all this before, wittier and more assured, in Robert Altman’s The Player.

From the opening montage set to an ethereal Coldplay clone it’s clear Shrink really wants to be about something, and wants us to know about it.

Henry Carter is the titular psychiatrist, played by Kevin Spacey with his usual magneticisim. When recording his new audio book “Happiness Now!” he says “Happiness is a word for a feeling. Feelings are rarely understood in the moment, they are quickly forgotten and almost always misremembered. And besides, feelings are totally full of shit...”

His misery stems from the recent death of his wife, who committed suicide, and of the frustrating self-obsessive problems of many of his patients. These include an obnoxious movie producer (Dallas Roberts), a sex and alcohol addicted celebrity (an uncredited Robin Williams) and an actress (Saffron Burrows), the most sensible of the three, but who is still struggling with her career and destructive husband.

Carter is awoken from his self-indulgent, pot-smoking slumber by the arrival of Jemma (Keke Palmer), a troubled school student with filmmaker aspirations. Will this be the trigger to make him finally stick his neck out for somebody? In a less conventional film, maybe this wouldn't happen. This is not that film.

The screenplay suffers from its parallel structure – a difficult thing to pull off – which valiantly ties its threads into a big happy knot, but the narrative lacks dramatic drive. A few of the punchlines about Hollywood’s current obsession with vampires ring true, but is it really wise to have not one or two, but three obvious references to The Graduate? (literally, as Jemma observes a revival screening) All it does it remind you of a better movie you could be watching.

Shrink did not garner a theatrical release in Australia, but is now available on DVD. It’s only notable feature is a 22 min interview with Director Jonas Pate and Producer Braxton Pope, who discuss the birth and evolution of the project. Like the film, the video quality of these special features is poor, with aliasing and artefacts in almost every scene.

Diluted by absent direction and a script that resolves everything and nothing, Shrink is occasionally funny but ultimately vapid. By trying too hard to be sincere, you sometimes end up achieving the opposite.

DVD Review: Van Diemen’s Land (2009)

Released January 20, 2010

Convicts face nature - and themselves - in Van Diemen’s Land

Vegetarians be warned: unless you feel vindicated by one man munching on another’s raw flesh, this not the film for you.

Meat eaters, too, might be turned off by this depiction of convicts pushed to the edge in the raw Tasmanian landscape.

Van Diemen’s Land, the debut feature of Australian director Jonathan auf der Heide, tells the true story of the infamous Alexander Pearce (played by co-writer Oscar Redding). We find him having been sent to the Macquarie Harbour Penal Settlement in Tasmania, a sort of outdoor Colditz for dangerous prisoners. Knowing that they are surely to die of starvation, dysentery or the lash, he and seven other prisoners escape into the wilderness.

It’s not long before the scarcity of food weighs on their spirits, the rainforest largely devoid of animals, and they begin to look for more immediate means to satiate their hunger.

Under the pretention of eerie colour-saturated photography, long moody gazes into the empty forests and a self-consciously arty voice over (in Gaelic), Auf Der Heide has ambitions of profundity his script can’t match. Tension is generated in exactly when and how the killings take place, but each character, hidden under impressive beards, is indistinguishable from the next. This, and the unrelentingly bleak tone, make it a bit of a chore.

Undeniably though, it’s well made, in particular, the cinematography by veteran Ellery Ryan.

It’s at its best when it becomes a hypnotic Terence Malik kind of existential, when the morally dubious characters reflect on their actions and their place in the natural order of things, but it doesn't make the film any easier to digest.

The disc contains a good array of features, including a commentary and some insightful docos. Best of them are the three additional self-depreciating featurettes (one has the clapperboard man describe his subtle influence on the actors' performances). These are funny and uniquely Australian. In their more sincere moments, the interviews reveal that this was clearly a project of love for the creative principals. I'd expect good things from Auf Der Heide in the future.

Kung Fu Panda (2008)

Released June 28, 2008

Jack Black is Kung Fu Panda, a fat, clumsy noodle chef with martial arts dreams. While Keanu Reeves might be able to learn kung-fu after seconds of being plugged into a computer, for our Panda, “Po”, things will be more difficult.

By matters of fate and story necessity betrayed by its title, Po is chosen as the new “Dragon Warrior” by the mysterious turtle Oogway, master of the temple perched, as they always are, on the side of a mountain in the ranges of China. Shifu (Dustin Hoffman), who will be his master and trainer, and his five disciples, Tigress, Monkey, Mantis, Viper and Crane, are none too pleased. It’s a sacrilege, they say, that an unglamorous, unprepared and overweight Panda be chosen. Oogway is wise however, and knows that Tai Lung (voiced by Deadwood’s Ian McShane), a misguided student of Shifu, has escaped from prison and is on his way to battle the one destined as the Dragon Warrior. One does not need to extrapolate too far to see where the story is headed.

It doesn’t matter, however – Kung Fu Panda works because of its charm and humour which riffs on old kung-fu movies and the expected conventions but yet still remains, unlike the Shrek films, within its own universe. The visuals, lighting and landscapes are often truly beautiful, and while the characters lack the nuance of those in Ratatouille, the voice cast, which also includes Seth Rogen and Jackie Chan, are fine.

The story is merely a retread of a thousand other children’s films, but its delivered with such verve and exuberance that it’s the story’s inherent strength rather than familiarity that dominates. After all, what child – or adult – does not dream of being a kung fu master?

Defiance (2009)

DVD Released September 2, 2009

Upon its cinematic release, many accused Ed Zwick’s holocaust drama of being unfaithful to the true story of the Bielski brothers and their band of rebellious partisans. Responsible for saving over one thousand Jews from the Nazis, they have been labeled either heroes or “Jewish-communist bandits”, depending on who you ask. As portrayed by Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber and Jamie Bell, Tuvia, Zus and Asael respectively, they sit comfortably in the former category.

That is not to say, however, that decisions always came easily. In this version, after escaping the slaughter of their family, the brothers flee into the woods. With an ever growing band of refugees under their wing, the constant challenges of food, shelter and avoiding capture pressure the brothers' relationship. Dissatisfied with Tuvia’s preference for survival instead of taking the war to the Nazis, Zus leaves to join a neighboring band of Soviet partisans, who are not without their own anti-Semitic prejudices. And the dilemma central to many a holocaust drama emerges – are the characters able to stay whole in the face of so much inhumanity?

These omnipresent issues are often unfortunately drowned out by Zwick’s broad emotional strokes. Despite directing some superb Hollywood dramas such as Glory and The Last Samurai, subtlety is not part of his arsenal. Like those excessive but engaging renditions of historical events, Defiance feels sanitized and simplified.

It’s been glorified too – nowhere in the archives will you find records of their battle with a Wehrmacht tank. The Deux Ex Machina that follows also tells of a screenwriter desperately trying to tie his story into a neat bow. For the real partisans, of course, no such catharsis was forthcoming.

Bedroom Mazurka Uncut (1970)

Max Mikkelsen is a likeable soul, not terribly bright and awkward around women, but harmless enough. He's a teacher at a public school and is in line to become the new headmaster. The only problem is that school tradition dictates the headmaster must have a wife: Max is not only a bachelor, but a virgin and clueless about sex.

This cheesy but amiable Danish sex comedy follows Max's subsequent journey of enlightenment about carnal pleasures. The students of the male-only school see it in their best interest to help Max on his way - Max is much more progressive than his older, more stuffy superiors, and would gladly allow women into the school - and hire a stripper to those ends. When that fails, it's up to the wife and daughter of the outgoing headmaster to teach, the back of the DVD cover states, "their own private lessons in human sexuality".

The surprise about all this is that while it's cheap, poorly acted and is regrettably presented here in a woeful English dub, it is modestly entertaining and decently plotted. That's right, it has a plot. While billed as soft-corn porn, anyone desperately seeking copious sex best look elsewhere, since bar a number of bare-breasted women and a few tame sex scenes, most remained amusingly clothed in late 60s fashions; this is more a Dainish American Pie than Hot Blondes XI.

Only Ole Søltoft as Max gives anything approaching an entertaining performance, the rest range between awful (the wife), eye candy (the daughter) and forgettable (everyone else). Also curious is an unfortunate subplot about rape accusations and the suggestion that deep down it's what all women really desire. It's a strange addition to the story all the more absurd because of the surrounding frivolity.

The picture quality is actually quite decent for a film of this age (and quality) and is presented in anamorphic widescreen, despite the full frame claim on the DVD. Also included is the film trailer and a trailer for Gwendoline (1984) which, with its naked chariot ladies and action-fantasy pretense, looks perfect for an extravagant 80s sex adventure night in, and decidedly more enticing than this passably entertaining slice of 1970s Euro-trash.

How the West Was Won (1962)

DVD Released July 27, 2009

Cinerama was a smash when first unveiled to the public in the early 1950s. Cinemagoers couldn't get enough of the giant curved screen that offered a powerful immersive experience. Shot using a special rig containing three 35mm cameras, the first Cinerama films were a “cinema of attractions” designed to give audiences the rush of a rollercoaster ride or of flying low over snowcapped mountains. It was the IMAX of its day.

Despite its potential, only two narrative films were made using the three strip Cinerama process: The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm and How the West Was Won, both in 1962. Thanks to technological advances, for the first time on this three disc special edition, we are able to watch the film without the strip lines visible, though in certain scenes they have not been completely eliminated. An epic by any definition, How the West Was Won boasts no less than three directors, over a dozen major stars including Jimmy Stewart, Gregory Peck and John Wayne, and some of the most breathtaking scenery of any film.

The film is split into five parts over a fifty year period: “The Rivers”, “The Plains”, “The Civil War”, “The Railroad” and “The Outlaws”, each focusing on members of the Prescott family. The quality of each varies greatly, with those directed by Henry Hathaway (the first two and last) easily the strongest, possibly, as revealed in the extensive documentary about Cinerama on the third disc, because he was most comfortable operating with the cumbersome cameras. George Marshall (“The Railroad), and especially John Ford (“The Civil War”) seem far less at ease and unsure of how to best stage sequences to exploit the technology.

Clearly, a small flat television is not the best way to view this film, but even on a small screen, some of the footage still amazes: a shot inside a wagon as it tumbles down a hill during an Indian attack and a visceral sequence as the camera rises up and over charging horses stand out. Without the opportunity for close-ups, conversation scenes should be awkward, but while choices are more limited, many of the compositions and breadth of visual information are still impressive.


Narratively, if you are willing to ignore the blatant white American flag-waving and the broad strokes of Spencer Tracy's narration, many of the sequences are still engaging. The opening sequence finding one of the Prescott daughters Eve (Carroll Baker) vying for the affections of mountain man Linus Rawlings (the great Jimmy Stewart) is endearing, as is the second, where Cleve Van Halen (Gregory Peck) attempts to woo Lily (Debbie Reynolds, whose singing and dancing pedigree is put to good use) who has just come upon the inheritance of a gold mine. The depth of acting talent is just endless, with other roles filled by Henry Fonda, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb and Eli Wallach.

Bar the Blu-ray release, which contains the option to view the film in a special letterbox format that simulates the Cinerama experience, this special edition is the best way to view this minor classic at home. While not a masterpiece, How the West Was Won is historically important and a worthy addition to any film buff’s library

Watch it on the biggest screen you can find.

The Baader-Meinhof Complex (2009)

DVD Released September 9, 2009

The title of this German historical thriller comes from the embryonic name for the RAF - the Red Army Faction, a band of communist "urban-gorillas" retaliating against the West German government in 1960s and 70s. Born out of the student protest movement, the film depicts their ideological rise and mobilization into something more radical and violent.

Though there are a dozen or more central characters from different "generations" of the RAF, the narrative focuses on the group's founders, Andreas Baader (Moritz Bleibtreu) and Ulrike Meinhof (Martina Gedeck). They and their underlings, thoroughly convinced that their ends justify their drastic means, justify murder by claiming that their fascist and imperialist government is responsible. When one of their own is shot and killed after fleeing from police, they cry of corruption and cold-blooding killings, even though this blame, arguably, should be reflected back upon them. Through this dilemma, Baader-Meinhof succeeds brilliantly in simultaneously making you both on the side of the revolutionaries and of the system they so violently despise.

The films rapid-fire pace is less successful; many events which deserve a film in of themselves come and go in instant and character development becomes lost in the shuffle. It's frequently infuriating that screenwriter Bernd Eichinger, who also wrote the tremendous Der Untergang, crams so much into the film's 150 minutes, sometimes you wish he took the time to build the intricate suspense sequences like in Spielberg's Munich, which is otherwise thematically a close cousin.

Despite this, The Baader-Meinhof Complex, presented excellently on this DVD but with no special features, is fascinating and meticulously crafted.

Send a Bullet (Manda Bala, 2007)

DVD Released July 15, 2009

This Brazilian-American coproduction is a cleverly constructed documentary about the proliferation of violence in the Brazilian city of San Paolo. With a population of over 20 million, the gap between the rich and the poor has incited corruption amongst politicians and kidnappings amongst those less fortunate. We follow a number of stories concurrently - a woman who had both hear ears cut off during a kidnapping and the plastic surgeon who restored them, a wealthy businessmen's tireless efforts protect himself from crime, a corrupt politician who continues to maintain his innocence and a kidnapper who moved from the poorer rural areas of Brazil to San Paolo in search of wealth. These threads are bound by the investigation of a frog farm, something pivotal to those in power but of which no one wishes to speak.

Producer and director Jason Kohn cleverly interweaves this material, employing slick graphics and deft editing to strengthen material which was already inherently powerful. There is barely a shot that relies on a typical setup - even though he most of his interviewees sit beside their interpreters, Kohn shoots them in erratically framed close and medium shots to the tune of pulsating Brazilian pop. Despite most speaking Portuguese, much of the film is edited to be in English, clearly a clever ploy to its target audience.

In an effort to be entertaining, however, Send a Bullet ultimately doesn't bring together its disparate strands into a singular thesis. Yes, the give-and-take of crime and violence between the upper and lower classes is prevalent and a serious issue, but what can be done to improve the situation? Kohn, who has previously worked with Errol Morris, is undoubtedly talented, but here he brings little of his perspective beyond a distinctive visual style. Nonetheless, Send a Bullet is an entertaining documentary that sheds light on a problem likely not known to many outside Brazil.

This madman DVD release contains both a Dolby 2.0 and 5.1 audio track, deleted scenes and an audio commentary by Kohn and fellow producer Jared Goldman.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

For years I swore that I would never see this movie. The very idea of it was frightening enough. I didn't like horror movies, I don't like gore, and a just didn't see the point of subjecting myself to 90 minutes of torture for no concievable purpose. But recently I've been mining the horror classics that had previously been off-limits due to self-censorship. Some of them have been enlightening - the original Halloween is a masterpiece - others (Friday the 13th, for instance) have not. With my gin and tonic in one hand and ice cream in the other (now there's a combination) I eagerly awaited what director Tobe Hooper had in store for me.

Thankfully, he did not disappoint: this is the scariest movie I've ever seen. Like most truly scary movies, it scares you by what it implies more than what it shows. Instead of the later, more gore-centric slasher flicks of the 80s or the recent torture porn trend, little is explicitly shown. What is implied, though, is truly frightening.

Five twenty somethings are travelling cross country in a van and pick up a hitchhiker. He turns out to be a psychopath who relishes knifing his own hand and raves about his work at the nearby slaughterhouse. They sensibly loose him quickly, and head towards a house in the countryside owned by the father of one of the characters. Unfortunately, a nearby house is home to a lunatic family including the iconic chainsaw killer of the title, known as Leatherface. Amazingly well-designed, the house lures many of the characters to their deaths, each scene masterful constructions in building terror. Ultimately, the heroine Sally and her wheelchair-bound brother venture in after them. The chase scenes that follow are some of the best of their type, and remarkably avoid most of the stereotypes that would later become cliches.

While the skill with which it's been put together is undeniable, the material is still inherently replusive - especially in the last fifteen minutes where Sally's screams of impending death are so incessant no amount of technical skill (including a cool Repulsion-style montage of her eye) can disguise it. It was at this point I was thinking, enough already, I don't have to watch fifteen continuous minutes of misogynistic violence for no purpose other than itself. And then Hooper pulls out a cracker of an ending and a brilliant, iconic final shot.

The movie succeeds - and is somewhat refreshing - because it doesn't feel like a "horror" movie. Beginning with a voice-over narration fortelling events to come, it feels like a documentary, and is realistic enough to convice us of its authenticity (though, despite the film's claims, there is no "real" Texas Chainsaw Massacre). Some complain that there is no point to a film like this and that characters only exist to create terror and to be terrified. That may be true, but when its constructed with such skill and provokes such a strong response in the viewer, I can't help but be impressed.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a true classic of the genre.

Appaloosa (2009)

DVD Released July 16, 2009

Like many westerns before it, Ed Harris' second film as director is a study of two men: lawman Virgil Cole (Harris) and his trusted side-man Everett Hitch (Viggo Mortensen). While possessing a close friendship developed over many years, a healthy distance between them is maintained through their differences - Everett is wiser and savvier than his steadfast elder who has knows little of life outside his chosen profession. That is, until Renee Zellweger, as Allie French, arrives.

Virgil finds himself falling for this city girl from the East, dressed in her fancy outfits and able to play smooth tunes on the piano. This is a first for Virgil, it seems, and a distraction from the responsibility of protecting the New Mexico town of Appaloosa from roving criminal Randall Bragg (Jeremy Irons), who is wanted for the murder of the previous town sheriff.

Traditional in structure, and featuring the requisite gunfights, stand-offs and train journeys, the film is refreshing in its lack of urgency, frequently pausing for Virgil and Everett's meditations on life, relationships and gunslinging. Harris is simultaneously imposing and endearing as Virgil, a man who reads Emerson yet stumbles over complicated words. Mortensen, obscured under his wide-brimmed hat, is unflappably cool as always and ready to intervene when Virgil becomes blindly out of his depth.

Adapted from Robert B. Parker's 2005 novel, Appaloosa is neither a well paced thriller like 3:10 to Yuma, nor a revisionist piece like Unforgiven and suffers from being a little too routine. While the narrative wanders in its latter third, it nonetheless impresses through its understated photography and the well realized central relationship.

This superb single-disc DVD contains an excellent array of special features including a commentary track, behind the scenes documentaries and deleted scenes.

The Meerkats (2008)

DVD Released June 30, 2009

Everyone loves meerkats – the cute mongoose, kitten and teddy bear-esque creatures who adorably stand on their hind legs and swivel their heads curiously. Relying heavily on their inherent cuteness, James Honeyborne’s film is ostensibly a documentary about a family of meerkats living in the Kalahari desert in Africa. Instead of relying on a traditional on-screen narrator, this brisk 80 minute film is shot and edited like a Hollywood-narrative production, with point-of-view shots and exciting action – it’s more Richard Donner than David Attenborough.

Our hero is Kolo, a young meerkat who has many lessons to learn about survival in the harsh desert environment. Taking lessons in scouting and hunting from his older brother, they encounter predator and prey, big and small, from lions, zebras and deadly eagles to snakes, scorpions and giant millipedes. By observing the animals over a six-month period, director Honeyborne has managed to edit together a narrative, glued together by the voice-over narration of Paul Newman. Though some of the suspense scenes involving multiple attacks simultaneously seem to have been created in the editing room (and a disclaimer in the credits admits as much), it’s remarkable how cohesive it is given the lack of communication between the director and his cast.

It’s beautifully shot and some of the footage – especially that underground – is a wonder but it doesn’t stand out in comparison to what can be seen in many BBC documentaries. The visuals are nicely accompanied by the score by Sarah Class which is a pleasant and inoffensive mix of pseudo-African rhythms and traditional strings. The DVD offers the choice between Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby 2.0 but no other distinguishing features.

Ultimately The Meerkats is a little too cute for its own good, too intent on turning everything into a little storytelling drama. Sometimes it feels more like The Adventures of Milo & Otis rather than Life of Mammals, only minus the drowning of two dozen little cats.

3/5

Love the Beast (2009)

DVD Released July 14, 2009

If someone had told me in the mid 90s I would be reviewing an Eric Bana directed film about his 1974 Ford XB Falcon Coupe (the Beast of the title) I would most likely have laughed at them, and that’s not just because I was still knee-deep in high-school. Bana’s rise to Hollywood superstardom after years of work as a comedian on Full Frontal and his subsequent critical and commercial success – thanks in part to his excellent choice of projects – now allows him to do whatever he pleases.

His car being close to his heart, he jumped upon the opportunity to make a slight and indulgent film (though I’m assuming he didn’t see it that way) about its restoration and his participation in the Targa rally in Tasmania. Bana, with his mates, a specialist in Melbourne and, presumably, truckloads of cash, sets out to race-fit his big Aussie muscle car and twenty year labour of love by rebuilding it from the ground up. Footage of this process and the subsequent race is interspersed with interviews with car-nuts Jeremy Clarkson and Jay Leno, who are amusing, and Dr. Phil, who is...Dr. Phil.

Like many I assume, my association with cars comes mainly through Top Gear, and so still feel familiar with this obsession and the relationship one is able to form with a car – or indeed any inanimate object. As Clarkson explains, having a somewhat temperamental ride facilitates your rapport with the machine because it’s akin to the unpredictability present in human relationships. Dr. Phil nicely articulates that it’s important to respect these relationships and do justice to them – just as we should do with other people.

Such pronouncements are however, paper thin, and much of the film trawls along slowly in an in an overwrought mixture of family interviews and race footage. It feels more like a very expensive and well produced home movie that Bana would show to his mates. A great document for those involved, but not so interesting to anyone else bar the most ravenous car enthusiast.

The single-disc Region 4 DVD also contains an interview with Bana and an image gallery of his pride and joy (the car, that is).

2/5

Knowing (2009)

DVD Released July 29, 2009

Alex Proyas' new science fiction film was undeservedly panned on its cinematic release. Though I don't champion it like Roger Ebert (who gave it 4/4), Knowing is an ambitious and thought-provoking thriller.

Nicholas Cage, in a predictable performance, plays John Koestler, a Cosmologist who teaches at MIT. Grappling with the argument of free will vs determinism, John dejectedly tells his students that he now believes that there "is no grand meaning, no purpose" and that "shit just happens". His son Caleb (Chandler Canterbury) then uncovers a letter from a student "time-capsule" created fifty years earlier. Most of the letters contain drawings of children's imaginings of the future, but his is a seemingly random array of numbers. John discovers that the numbers may contain within them predictions about certain catastrophic events. Also pivotal is Diana, the daughter of woman who drew the original artwork, played by Aussie Rose Byrne.

I'm loathe to spoil the events and revelations of the plot, even though they themselves provide an ideal platform for discussion and disagreement. They work on their own terms even though the Spielbergian finale is too left-field and didactic in comparison with the nebulous atmosphere created up until that point.

There are not enough intelligent and thoughtful science-fiction movies being made, and Knowing deserves recognition for being as ambitious as it is. But not all of it works, and the dreadfully serious tone comes precariously close to parody. Visually there are some astounding long-takes and visceral action sequences that are effective despite some artificial computer generated effects. As always, it’s the way the effects are used rather than their quality that is most important.

The disc contains a insightful commentary from Proyas, who is clearly invested in the film but sounds bored with the whole commentary process, and inexplicably the trailer for the Dakota Fanning starring Push because...well just because.

Proyas also made Dark City, an underrated cult-classic which shares similar themes. Knowing is not on its level, and suffers more from Proyas’ tendency to make the climax too rushed and simplistic. Nonetheless it’s intriguing and conversation-inducing.

3/5

The Diary of Anne Frank (2008)

DVD Released April 16, 2009

One of the most revered books in 20th century literature, The Diary of Anne Frank is an inspirational yet devastating story. Anne manages to communicate all the joys of youth – the inquisitiveness, the impetuousness, the optimism and the inability to see outside your own frame of reference – despite the atrocities occurring in the world around her. A gifted writer, the tragedy of the story – and one of the many of the Holocaust – is that a young girl with so much hope and potential could be obliterated by the most insidious genocidal regime in history. The great success of this 5-part BBC adaptation is that it lives almost entirely within her world, making the inevitable conclusion all the more powerful.

It’s 1942 and the persecution and deportation of the Jews across mainland Europe is escalating. Anne, 13, her elder sister Margot and her parents, Jews living in Amsterdam, arrange to hide in a secret annex above her father’s old place of business. The secret entrance is hidden behind a large wooden bookcase. They are soon joined by the van Pels family, husband, wife and 16-year old son, Peter, and later by family friend Fritz Pfeffer.

Living in such confined conditions, Anne describes her shifting and frequently strained relationships with her co-inhabitants. Outspoken and confident, she gets on well with her father (Iain Glen) but less so with her more restrained but well-intentioned mother (Black Books and Green Wing’s Tamsin Grieg). She treats Peter with contempt at first, not least because he was able to bring his cat with him and she was not, but later it evolves into something more romantic.

Over the five half-hour episodes we get close to Anne, played by the extraordinary Ellie Kendrick, who narrates the story through frequent voiceovers which are, for once, necessary and justified. By keeping the production minimal, and telling the story in a straightforward and honest manner (it is not afraid to show the more unsavoury practicalities of living in hiding), the characters remain distinctly human. The cast is uniformly fine and believable and each episode remains remarkably contained and compelling despite, or perhaps because of, the characters’ ultimate fate. Adapted by Deborah Moggach and directed by Jon Jones, this mini series is a very worthy interpretation that can sit alongside the plethora of already existing stage and screen versions.

This single-disc presentation, with good audio and visual quality, also contains a documentary about the “Polish Anne Frank”, Rutka Laskier, whose diary about her captivity in the Bedzin Ghetto was only recently released to the public.

4/5

Affinity (2008)

DVD Released May 6, 2009

There seems to be a whole sub-genre of lesbian historical fiction set in repressed Victorian England. Affinity is the second of Sarah Water's novels to be adapted to screen, the first being the sensual BBC mini-series Tipping the Velvet. Unfortunately Affinity is a failure, a low-budget and shoddily produced mess that fails to do justice to the gripping underlying story.

Margaret Prior (Anna Madeley), recovering from her father's death and still living with her overbearing mother, becomes a regular visitor to Millbank Prison and befriends Selina Dawes (Zoe Tapper) a prisoner who has a special connection with the spirit world. She has been imprisoned for harming a young girl during a séance. As a "medium" she is appealing to Margaret, who sees her as an escape from her repressed self. Gradually the connection between them grows into something more obsessive, and possibly more romantic.

It’s inexplicable that despite the hefty screen time devoted to the growing connection between the two women, they remain thinly drawn and one dimensional. The romance is hence unconvincing and merely facilitates the inept plot that only becomes engaging towards the latter stages. This is accompanied throughout by a miserable visual palette and tiresome and pointless shaky camera. You can stop the camera shaking, Tim (Fywell, the director), it’s called a tripod.

The performances by the two leads, at least, are compelling, but it’s small compensation. One wonders what a more accomplished production, with a better script, could have achieved from such strong source material.

This single-disc DVD release is of unremarkable visual quality and contains a good selection of extras including a making-of documentary, deleted scenes and interviews with the principles.

2/5