Set in the filmmakers hometown of Memphis. Tennessee. it examines a love triangle between a domineering toutherri record producer Alan .larne', (Rip Tornr. his much younger Muscovrte girlfriend l aura (Dina Kor/un from The l act Resort). and the patriarch", grown up academic son Michael (Darren Burrows). whose own wrfe has Just become pregnant
In the hands of other talents. this premise might have become the stuff of domestic melodrama. but Sachs favours a low key. impressionistic approach to his direction. observmg the crediny flawed characters Within their daily envrronments. This is a film of snatched conversations and fragments of scenes. wrth the shadowy Interiors; of Alan and Laura’s house Crucial in establishing the mood of emotional alienation.
'l have a beautiful life, I don't have the right to (:oiiiplain’. says Laura of her maternally cosseted exrstence wrth her good ole' boy partner. yet 40 Shades of Blue subtly reveals the churning feelings of solitude, fragility and hurt (hence the title) beneath her ice queen facade: it's significant that the camera first picks her out shopping alone for cosmetics in an anonymous mall. Like the Dardennes' l 't‘nlant. Forty Shades of Blue makes us care for somebody we might initially dismiss as unworthy of our sympathy. Wonderfully acted by Kor/un and Tom. and accompanied by a plangent score from Dickon Hinchclrffe. this has an ambling charm. which lingers in the mind. (Tom Dawson)
I GFT Glasgow from Fri 21 Thu 27 Jul only. See interwew, page 43.
ROMANCE ANGEL-A (15) 87min 0.
A romantic table of self—acceptance shot in black and white taking place on the sumptuous streets of Paris. The iconic locations even give the fabulous former model Rie
Rasmusson a run for her money in the looks department Pie plays the (:DOlTlelOl.‘ Angel A who Our anti herr iv tire iJamer [Jebbou/ei meets r.’ a bridge he has dearde to throw 'rrmself off Andre is a petty criminal down on his luck He owes money to gariris’ers and they want him to pay His rte though i‘. manger: by Angel A When their dOLible SUr’JdO attempt turns into a rather far fetched how do~you-dO. the unlikely duo spend the rest of the movre sorting out the mess Andre has got into. eventually falling in love on the surpriSingly empty streets of the capital.
Ange/A is a remarkable change in direction for director Luc Besson. who. since his marvellous The Big Blue has tended to favour brash. all, action and extremely COlOurful affairs Haylng proved a dab hand at unlikely romantic connections in l eon. it's a surprise that he opts to use so many cliched moments in Angel-A: the term ‘opposites attract' is taking to the extreme. The couple wander around spouting inane conversation and every so often they enter a building where an action sequence takes place. whereby AngelA shows Andre how his life ceiild be. It's very predictable and the message that one should be true to oneself gets lost somewhere in the Seine. Definitely not one of Besson's best. (Kaleem Aftab)
I F/lnihouse. Edinburgh from Fri 28 Jul. See intervrew, page 46.
FARCE ElgE ART OF BREAKING
(15) 78min .0
Not to be confused wrth the much hyped Jennifer Aniston/Vince Vaughan star vehicle The Break Up. this is an energetic if unmemorable adaptation of the 1894 Georges Feydeau farce A Fly in the Ointment by the French director Michel Devrlle and his screenwriter wrfe Rosalinde.
A comic saga of slamming doors. rrrrstaken identities and sexual gymnastics. it unfolds in the late 19th century milieu of PariSIah high— society. where Lucette (Emmanuelle Beart) is a celebrated diva in love wrth the caddrsh BOIS D'Enghein (Charles Berlrng). He has omitted to tell hrs paramour that he agreed to marry the young daughter of a Widowed
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bareness rDominioue Blane. with chaos ensuing when Lumtte is asked to sing at the wedding
The Devilfe's stress the material's theatrical origins hence the interior period settings. the frequent min.v shots. the ddClttrSSt‘:~ 'o «jaineia. the frenetic entrances and exits. and the rhyming dialogue There are enjoyably excessive performances from the cast. but given the lack of tona ..t'lt‘iy. thi- ns; whiting; time (if' at» .l reliw‘ (Tr in D«f.VSOlT I l l/lll/iOllSt'. l w 1" HM) (2’7 .l'.,r' r irtit
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Wed (76 and
Garfield 2: A Tail of Two Kitties
(U) 80min 0. Excrucrating sequel to the excruciating first film. This time out the bewrlderrng 80s phenomenon cat begins hrs very own British |nvasron. wreaking havoc on Hollywood's ViSion of the UK (re Big Ben. Buckingham Palace. Scotland Yard and some English castles. Proof if rt was needed that not everything Bill Murray (mice of Garfield) touches turns to gold. For very small children only. General release from Fri 27 Jul. Renaissance (15) 105min
COO ImpreSSive looking SD futuristic thriller wrth a black and white render which never quite gets gorng. Paris 2054. Ilona Tassuerv (Romola Garai). a young and brilliant researcher is Violently kidnapped. Avalon. a grant multinational corporation and her employer. wants her found. Dellenbach (Jonathan Pryce). Avalon's CEO. has requested that Officer Karas (Daniel Craig). a hostage retrieval specralist and the most controversial cop in the force. be in charge of the case. Clearly influenced by the graphic novels of Frank Miller. this is an interesting oddity. Also stars Ian Holm. General release from Fri 28 Jul.
Stay Alive (15) 86min 0 Promrsrng-sounding but ultimately totally underwhelming ‘teens in trouble' horror. This pop culturealaden fright fest takes the legend of Countess Elizabeth Bathory of Hungary and relocates rt in pre—Katrina New Orleans. The Wong and a lot of the acting from the y0ung cast (including Cinematic valium Frankie Munrz) is way off. General release from Fri 28 Jul.
Name Sophie Okonedo Born 1 January 1969. London. England.
Background Of Nigerian and European Jewrsh ancestry. Okonedo is a veteran of British TV and stage. She trained at RADA. making her film acting debut in Isaac Julien's Young Soul Rebels. Her stage work has included appearances wrth the Young Vic. The Royal Court. the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre. She has appeared in numerous popular televisron series. including Clocking Off. Her film career has included Michael Winterbottom's Go Now. Stephen Frears' Dirty Pretty Things and. most recently, Aeon Flux wrth Charlize Theron and the British junior James Bond blockbuster Stormbreaker. Scr fi drama The Martian Child wrth John Cusack and comedy Scenes of a Sexual Nature. 8 comedy about relationships. which also stars Ewan McGregor, are already in the bag and will be released soon. What’s she up to now? Havrng just returned from Thailand where she has been filming an all-star TV film about the Tsunami. called The Aftermath. She's currently in discussion about two films — multi strand thriller drama Black Water Transit and Black Panther love drama Stringbean and Marcus possibly co-starring Mos Def. She also wants to be in an episode of Dr Who because that would make her ‘God at my daughter's school'.
What she says about having a game plan “Journalists always ask me about my “big agenda'. but you know. unless you are Tom Cruise it's much more arbitrary than that. Work comes along. you turn it down. then you are out of money so you do this and that. I mean I don't sit around thinking “mmm now I really should go and work with Ingrid Bergman.“ Interesting Fact Okenodo has recently been in two films with Ewan McGregor and yet has never met him - in both films she worked on different days.
I Stormbreaker is on general release from Fri 21 Jul. See review, page 45.
20 Jul—3 Aug 2006 WE LIST 47