Film Reviews
COMEDY/DRAMA UNMADE BEDS (15) 96min ●●●●● DRAMA/ROMANCE ME AND ORSON WELLES (12A) 113min ●●●●●
The distance between insanity and genius is measured only by success. Nobody is greater testament to that than broadcaster, actor and director Orson Welles, who ended his days bloated, impoverished and doing voiceover work on advertisements for any toxic product with the promotional budget to employ him. Filmmakers of more mediocre, less incendiary talents have long been fascinated with Welles. He’s appeared as an incidental character in Ed Wood (Vincent D’Onofrio but voice dubbed by Maurice laMarche), The Cradle Will Rock (Angus MacFadyen), Fade to Black (Danny Huston) and The Simpsons (LaMarche).
Me and Orson Welles returns, like The Cradle Will Rock, to the creation of the monster that Welles became. Set over the space of one week, the film’s time frame is guided by the rehearsals and first night of the Mercury Theatre’s legendary production of Ceasar, directed by Welles in 1937. In to this theatrical bear pit enters young artisan Richard (Zac Efron) who lands himself the role of Lucius. Between Welles’ explosions and sexy assistant Sonja (Clare Danes) it’s going to be a week he won’t forget in a hurry.
Richard Linklater’s likeably frothy behind-the-scenes drama has a lot to commend it, from Christian McKay’s pitch perfect performance as Welles to screenwriter Holly Gent Palmo’s assertions that this was the real birth of modern theatre. That the film doesn’t ultimately work is a structural problem, with outsider protagonist Richard’s situation failing to convince in any way. Still, the performances for the most part are good and the period detail is fantastic. (Paul Dale) ■ General release from Fri 4 Dec. See preview page 48.
DRAMA DISGRACE (15) 118min ●●●●● A white, middle-aged professor of literature at a Cape Town university, David Lurie (John Malkovich) is forced to leave his job, following an affair with a mixed-race student (Antoinette Engel). At the disciplinary hearing the divorced academic refuses to offer any apologies for his actions, defiantly pleading guilty to all the charges. He takes refuge in visiting his lesbian daughter Lucy (Jessica Haines), who ekes out a living on a remote farm in the Eastern Cape, assisted by a black worker Petrus (Eriq Ebouaney). David’s hopes of peaceful seclusion are shattered however by a brutal attack on both him and Lucy, which she does not want to report to the police.
Written and directed by Argentinean filmmaker Alexis Dos Santos, Unmade Beds unfolds against the backdrop of the East End of London’s modern day bohemian scene. It’s a world of rent- free accommodation in generously equipped warehouse squats, regular parties and gigs, and plentiful opportunities for sexual experimentation and creative expression. Dos Santos interweaves the elliptical stories of two twenty-ish European arrivals to this universe, whose paths eventually cross. There’s the diminutive, tousle-haired Spaniard Axel (Fernando Tielve), who’s trying to track down his long-lost English father. And there’s the brunette Belgian Vera (Déborah François), a bookseller nursing a broken heart, who is embarking on tentative relationship with a Danish expat (Michiel Huisman) whose name she refuses to learn.
Adapted by the husband-and-wife team of director Steve Jacobs and This could have been a recipe for
screenwriter Anna Maria Monticelli from JM Coetzee’s acclaimed novel, Disgrace presents a suitably stark vision of post-apartheid South Africa, albeit one propelled by a series of dramatic contrasts: city and countryside, young and old, teacher and student, parent and child, black and white, male and female, rich and poor, aggression and submission. Indeed one of the notable strengths here is the impressive widescreen composition, which captures the monumental quality of the forbidding rural landscapes. And the way that the human characters, both in life and death, treat dogs turns out to be one of the story’s guiding metaphors. Despite the actor’s shaky South African accent, Malkovich’s David is a
compelling blend of intellectual arrogance, predatory instinct and physical vulnerability, and there’s a fine supporting performance from Ebouaney, as the cunning, inscrutable Petrus. What’s particularly welcome is that the filmmakers haven’t attempted to turn the source material into a liberal, feel-good parable. Their dispassionate Disgrace suggests that deeply held feelings of guilt, resentment, rage and retribution, which stretch across South African society, will remain profound barriers to genuine reconciliation. (Tom Dawson) ■ Selected release from Fri 11 Dec.
self-indulgence, but Dos Santos succeeds in crafting a surprisingly tender film, which channels the romantic spirit and formal playfulness of Wong Kar-wai and the French New Wave. Beautifully shot by cinematographer Jacob Ihre on HD video and Super 8mm, Unmade Beds artfully deploys images, editing and voiceovers to convey the confusions and yearnings of its characters as they struggle to connect. Music too is crucial in this process and the contributions of the likes of Tindersticks, Black Moustache and Good Shoes make for one of 2009’s finest soundtracks. (Tom Dawson) ■ Cameo, Edinburgh and selected release from Fri 11 Dec. See profile.
HORROR/THRILLER CARRIERS (15) 84min ●●●●●
Having hit fame as Captain Kirk in JJ Abrams’ sprightly reboot of Star Trek, Chris Pine’s role as Brian explains the cinema release of Carriers, a low-budget horror- thriller largely filmed in New Mexico.
Set after a pandemic has turned most of the world’s population into dribbling
piles of flesh, Carriers is hampered by a po-faced opening monologue that outlines the rules for surviving the apocalypse, sorely lacking the antic humour which sparked the similar opening scene of Zombieland. Working on a smaller scale and budget, Carriers focuses on Brian and three other teenagers and their attempt to drive across country to New Mexico’s Turtle Beach in the hope of sitting out the ravages of the pandemic. Despite being derivative of the 28 Days Later . . . genre, directors Alex and David Pastor do conjure up a few impressively bleak images, from the forlorn doctor studiously executing a ward full of children to Brian’s willful destruction of a deserted golf resort. The editing is undoubtedly choppy and the pay-off weak, but the Pastors deserve credit for delivering a passable B-movie variation on an over-familiar theme. (Eddie Harrison) ■ General release from Fri 11 Dec.
50 THE LIST 3–17 Dec 2009