You pretty much know what you’re going to see when you buy a ticket for a studio film these days. And that’s just how the studios want it. They do their best to take all the surprise out of most films. With millions at stake, the majors feel safer making something easily relatable to an audience -- sequels, remakes, comic book movies. To be daring, they make movies based on books. Ironically, when a studio does stick its neck out and releases something totally original, it often cleans up at the boxoffice. This summer’s case in point -- Inception. In a month, it has grossed over $227 million at the U.S. boxoffice.
And then there are the independent films. What I find so appealing about them is that you never know what you’re going to get. Sure, they’re not all good. But it’s a rare one that lacks originality. Every independent film holds a sense of discovery. Studios strive for homogeneous fare. Indie films thrive on being unique.
Nothing makes my point better than three independent films I had the opportunity to see recently. Each stands out wonderfully in its own way.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Animal Kingdom
I’ve been a fan of Australian movies since the days of Peter Weir’s The Last Wave and George Miller’s Mad Max. So I was immediately intrigued by David Michod’s drama of a crime family from Down Under.
No matter how dysfunctional you think your family may be, you’ll have a new appreciation for your clan after getting to know the drug-dealing, bank-robbing Codys. David Michod, who wrote and directed Animal Kingdom, introduces us to them through the eyes of its youngest member “J” (James Frencheville). Just a teenager, he moves in with his grandmother after his mother dies of a heroin overdose. J never really knew his family that well before. As he begins to realize their lawless, ruthless way, I started to think that J’s mother might have been the sanest member of the group.
Head of the Cody household is the sweet, but sinister grandma Janine (Jacki Weaver). Talk about a momma grizzly! On the surface, Janine is all hugs and kisses. But just threaten one of her boys and she’ll have you marked for elimination in a heartbeat. Equally unstable are her four boys -- Pope (Ben Mendelsohn), Baz (Joel Edgerton), Craig (Sullivan Stapleton) and Darren (Luke Ford) -- each in his own deliciously deranged way.
Through a voiceover during the opening sequence, J remarks that “crooks always come undone.” That’s exactly what happens during the course of Animal Kingdom. And like watching a train wreck, you can’t turn away. Initially, I felt that Animal Kingdom would be reminiscent of Goodfellas. But it doesn’t quite have the kinetic energy or charisma of Scorsese’s classic. It is violent, but avoids the excessive and gratuitous violence of the films in this genre. Instead, Animal Kingdom builds its tension through complex characterizations and strong storytelling, making its resolution ultimately more profoundly tragic.
A winner of the Grand Jury Prize World Cinema at Sundance last January, Animal Kingdom enjoys a limited release in selected theaters starting this Friday.
And now for something completely different... a war film that takes places completely inside a tank. Claustrophobic? Yes! Riveting? Absolutely!
Out in theaters last Friday, this intense drama by writer-director Samuel Maoz is set in 1982 at the start of the first Lebanon War. We’re thrust into the action as a lone Israeli tank prepares to roll into Lebanon to accompany a platoon of foot soldiers on a seemingly routine mission. Our four man crew -- Shmulik the gunner (Yoav Donat), Assi the commander (Itay Tiran), Hertzl the loader (Oshri Cohen) and Yigal the driver (Michael Moshonov) -- are young and green. Combat experience is not in abundance. As they enter a hostile village and clean up after an air bombing raid, this tank crew’s mission evolves into a set of extraordinary circumstances. As it does, each member gets a crash course in the horrors of war.
Born in Tel Aviv, Maoz wrote Lebanon based on his experiences as a 20-year-old soldier in the conflict. It is an amazing piece of filmmaking. We feel the grit, the grime, the sweat, the smell of that tank. The tension is even more unbearable because of the small confines. When we do see the action outside, it is through the tank’s viewfinder. This also serves to intensify the action. A machine gun-wielding Lebanese makes a suicide car run at the tank. An innocent woman caught in the crossfire as she desperately looks for her baby suffers the indignity of being stripped naked after her clothes catch fire. An enemy surface missile is fired point blank at the tank. The impact is heightened by the isolation. Though everything is happening literally inches away, there is nothing that can be done about any of it.
Lebanon won the Golden Lion at the 2009 Venice Film Festival.
Lebanon
Animal Kingdom
The Dry Land
This is also a war film, but with a completely different take. Instead of starting at the beginning of the conflict, The Dry Land, written and directed by Ryan Piers Williams, focuses on the aftermath and long term effect war has on its participants.
James (Ryan O’Nan) is returning home to his small, dusty West Texas town after a tour of duty in Iraq. Though greeted with open arms by his wife Sara (America Ferrera) and best friend Michael (Jason Ritter), James is unable to leave the battle behind. Even visits to his mother (Melissa Leo) and a job from his father-in-law (Benito Martinez) can’t stop the turmoil inside. But what’s bothering James isn’t the memories, it’s the lack of them.
To find answers, James embarks on a road trip to Walter Reed to visit Henry (Diego Klattenhoff), a platoon buddy who is now a double amputee because of the war. Along the way, he stops and sways another comrade-in-arms, Raymond (Wilmer Valderrama), to come with him. Raymond is battling a different set of struggles trying to adjust to civilian life. As we get to know these three veterans, the thing that becomes clear is that there are really no winners in war.
Williams creates an emotionally charged film as he explores the impact of war and how its casualties just don’t occur on the battlefield. Beautifully acted with strong performances across the board, The Dry Land is currently playing around the country in limited release.
You’ll notice that one person wrote and directed each of these. Each also has a strong, distinctive vision of the story it wants to tell. And all are terrific examples of why indie films are so worthwhile.
