Reviews
EPIC
BANG RAJAN
(18) 113min
eremrer Agra DVD retarlr OOOO
Made rn 2000. Bang Rajah rs the borderline mythical tale of the suppressed Sramese vrllage that contrnually resisted the advances of the Burmese Army in 1765. The debut frlm of Thai frlrnrnaker Thanrt thnukul (who has srnce gone on to rnternatronal success wrth Art of the Devrl), Bang Ra/an rs at heart a siege movre pitched somewhere between Zulu and Zurlrnr's The Desert of the Tartars.
With its Western subtext and resrstance to CGI. rt takes time to gather momentum. But the wart rs worthwhile as the frlm burlds towards a dramatrc conclusron Wrth the Village's vrgrlante leader and barbershop owner Iookalrke Nar Jan (convrncrngly played by Jaran Ngamdee) leadrng the final charge in a brutal yet fateful bloodbath. Supported by more extras than you could swmg a broad sword at. thrs rs a Currous yet engrossmg hybrid reflection on farth, phrlosophy, propaganda and defrance.
(Srmon Dehanyl
MARTIAL ARTS COMEDY CHINESE ODYSSEY 2002 (U) 86min
(Tartan DVD Retarll
CO.
A gleefully puerrle exerCrse rn false identrtres and personal fates. thrs Wong Kar- war-produced tale sees Tony Leung as a forlorn lower-order who finds hrmself strangely
ALL DVDS WERE WERE REVIEWED ON A SYSTEM SUPPLIED AND INSTALLED BY LOUD 8: CLEAR
fascinated b, a ,rrm ’;
man .vho looks susprcrousl, like a ‘.‘/()ltt£)tt. And sure enough. that rs .‘xhat stir.- turns out to be: a prrncess lFEt‘, Wondr frustrated vxrth life rn the Forbidden Crty The frln~ hardly sells us the idea that she's a man. and much of the humour comes from leung's inabrlrty to see what's lll front of him. But Jeff Lau's movre is |(>\'It1(_;ly shot. and the actors so enchanting. that rf you've a yen for absurd rnartral arts comedies thrs should pass muster. Mrnrrnal extras. rTony McKrbbrnr
PXRLRIMLNIA'.
THE GARDEN (15) 88min
(Artrfrcral Eye DVD retarli O...
rrnan
Released for the frrst trme on DVD. artrst Derek Jarman’s 1990 frlm was arguably hrs frankest and most surreal work. An allegorical tale that explores the personal rsSues and lrnks between Chrrstranrty and homosexual reprOSSIon. rt is a consematron of perfectly executed It—BClttthtthS including 16mm and step frame anrmatron on both locatron rprrncrpally around Jarman's bleak home environ rn the Shadow of Dungeness Power Statronr and studro set. An almost
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‘7. fl1|‘~r‘1.thf:,‘.'.f)lr\ frritt‘ the of Britain's trim-st ext renn‘ental frln‘rr‘akers.
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THE VERY BEST OF GOODBYE AGAIN
(15) 80min COO. rfiranada Ventures l td DVD retall~
While some may consrder the 880:; Not ()li/t. But Also serres as bezng the superror body of cornrc work. thrs collection honed from the 1968 ATV successor undoubtedly stands rts ground, not only in the astute obsenatrons of the day but as a classic document of the craft dexelopment of two diverse yet hugely talented performers. Includrng Cook's prototype docrrstyle satrre ‘Hermrn Herran Reports' sketch. the sound FX pastrche of therr Sherlock Holmes skit and 'The Scarlet Rrrnpernel'. thrs collection hrghlrghts Cook's ability to master the off-camera ‘look'. wrth Moore hrntrng at future actrng prowess. A trdy and timely release. rSrmon Dehanyr
IN Tl RVIHN'
SCIENCE LAID BEAR
Jools Stone goes in search of inventor TROY HURTUBISE, the eccentric subject of PROJECT GRIZZLY.
When Peter Lynch’s documentary, Project Grizzly, was first released nine years ago it made an overnight star of Troy Hurtubise, a then unknown, self-taught and self-funded bear scientist. He has since won a Noble prize, developed an international profile as a touring lecturer and intrigued everyone from Prince Charles to NASA and MIT. But, on the eve of its DVD reissue, Hurtubise seethes with contempt at the very mention of the film, branding it ‘a complete rip-oft crock of shit‘, on account of it lacking any new material or scientific content. ‘I was promised three minutes of science to explain why the suits were built,’ he explains. ‘They didn’t do it.’ Hurtubise is as unpredictable as his quarry, however, also proclaiming the film ‘a work of genius’.
With a demeanour halfway between a Tarantino character and South Park's Jim Bob, it’s easy to see why Hurtubise has become misperceived as, in his words, ‘some funny little hick that built a spacesuit so he could go wrestle bears in the bushes’.
He seems far too embittered by the experience of going bankrupt for a film that ridicules him by removing the scientific context in which he was working, to appreciate its comic value. His no-nonsense everyday heroism, passion, commitment (he still spends 21 hours a day in his lab) and the awe and affection he has for his research subjects all come across vividly.
To set the record straight, Hurtubise has a book, The Heart of Wilderness, due out through his website, www.projecttroy.com, in a few months’ time, accompanied by a DVD comprising 20 hours of unseen footage. It charts seven years of projects such as a stealth detection device that sees through walls and the God Light, which he claims can cure cancer and Parkinson’s disease.
Despite his achievements, the film has clearly undermined his public image, and he’s emphatic that his missions were driven by research and not about simply ‘playing cowboy'.
‘l’m a bear behavioural specialist. I built that suit to study bears close up, to do aggression tests, submission tests, to get the first footage of a newly born grizzly cub in the wild. Everyone knows if you’re studying sharks you gotta be in a cage or you’re dead,’ he says. ‘I don’t give a fuck what the government thinks of me, I don‘t give a shit what God thinks of me and I couldn’t care less what you think about me.’
I Pro/ect Grrzz/y «Revolver; rs out new to buy on DVD and wr// be revrewed on thrs cage the next issue.
("3- Loud
$21 OCIeor
31 Mar-14 Apr 2005 THE LIST ‘9