Movie Review: The Book Thief (2013)

A coming of age story set against a World War Two backdrop, The Book Thief is earnest, beautiful, and unremarkable.

In Germany of 1938, young Liesel (Sophie Nelisse) is adopted by Hans and Rosa Hubermann (Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson), a couple suffering economically because they refuse to join the Nazi party. Hans is kind and teaches Liesel to read. Rosa is stern, worn down by the responsibilities of keeping the family fed.

Liesel grows up with a love of books and inherits her adopted father's compassion. She develops a friendship with classmate and neighbour Rudy Steiner (Nico Liersch), a budding sprinter. The household tension increases when Hans and Rosa provide refuge to Max, a young Jewish man. Liesel witnesses her neighbourhood change as the war drags on, her reading hobby fuelled by an unlikely bond with Ilsa Hermann (Barbara Auer), the mayor's wife.

An adaptation of the book by Markus Zusak, The Book Thief is filled with honest intentions to present war from a child's viewpoint, and from behind the windows of a German anti-Nazi household as the storm clouds of a global conflict gather then erupt. Director Brian Percival creates luscious visuals within an idyllic small town (really one cobble-stoned street) where everyone knows everyone, and the regime's iron grip is represented by the Nazi flag draped on every building and an increasing number of uniforms and troop-carrying trucks.

But behind the pretty pictures and purity of perspective, Michael Petroni's script struggles to find a narrative thrust. The Book Thief is episodic, Liesel too young to influence meaningful events and generally swept along according to decisions made by others. The book thievery elements become a minor sideshow to the major incidents rocking the town, the war emerging as the most important character, everyone else a relatively meaningless pawn in the unfolding scope of history.

Which is of course true and probably works well in book format, but other than Liesel's growth from a young girl to a less young girl, the movie lacks requisite character arcs to build drama. Narration by a heaven-occupying voice of death is an interesting addition, but only serves to further underline human insignificance.

The performances are uniformly good but all remain close to pre-established single notes. Young Canadian actress Sophie Nelisse conveys appropriate levels of apprehension, wonder, and growing determination in a world gone mad.

Solemn but emotionally staid, The Book Thief steals sporadic moments of satisfaction.



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Movie Review: Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl (2003)

A pirate adventure yarn, Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl is overstuffed and overlong.

In a prologue, young Elizabeth Swann is on a cross-ocean journey to Port Royal when the ship she is on helps rescue young William Turner from a skirmish involving the legendary pirate ship Black Pearl. With William unconscious, Elizabeth takes a rare medallion from around his neck. Years later, Elizabeth (Keira Knightley) is being wooed by Commodore James Norrington (Jack Davenport), but her true love may be the grown-up Turner (Orlando Bloom). Meanwhile, Pirate Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), a free-spirited maverick, washes up without a crew or a ship, looking to seize a new vessel.

Suddenly Port Royal comes under attack from the Black Pearl, commanded by Captain Hector Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) and intent on recovering the lost medallion in order to break a curse of undeath. In the ensuing battle, Sparrow duels with Turner, who is now an expert blacksmith and sword maker. Elizabeth is captured by Barbossa, and when Sparrow learns of Turner's identity and lineage, the two men team up to try and mount a dangerous rescue operation.

Noisy, silly and interminable at 142 minutes, The Black Pearl showcases a laid back Johnny Depp modernizing the pirate persona with a large dose of chill irony. Jack Sparrow's detached mannerisms offer a bare minimum of interest as the rest of the movie slowly sinks under the weight of excess. Directed by Gore Verbinski, Black Pearl was inspired by Disney's theme park ride, and the lack of any cohesive plot elements beyond the most mundane ideas is achingly evident. This is a film all about visuals and attitude, the plot a muddled and distant afterthought.

Black Pearl descends into endless CGI-generated sword fights and other mindless escapades involving hordes of animated skeletons and faceless extras, with the characters bouncing between ship and shore action in pursuit of the next boring set-piece. Elizabeth, Jack and Turner take turns being held captive and then rescued all to serve the next tiresome confrontation between computer-generated figurines. An ancient curse, a medallion treasure and the undead in the moonlight may captivate the eight to twelve year old set, but even they will tire of sitting through two hours and twenty minutes of repetitive flimsiness.

Sparrow is an intriguing character and Depp deserves credit for inventing a new pirate prototype, but too often Sparrow is a sidelined observer in his own movie. He intervenes with a smart move every half hour or so, but overall plenty of blurry mayhem passes him by. Verbinski at least ensures that Black Pearl is often atmospheric and good to look at. But this is clever packaging without content, a cynical asset monetization exercise devoid of soul.

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Movie Review: Frida (2002)

A biopic of Mexican surrealist painter Frida Kahlo, Frida is filled with passion and deeply-felt human emotions. Salma Hayek shines in the central role, but the script does suffer from some wayward targeting.

As a young girl in Mexico, Frida (Hayek) develops a crush on painter, communist and hopeless womanizer Diego Rivera (Alfred Molina). After getting caught up in a severe bus crash, Frida's life hangs in the balance, and she suffers severe injuries to her back and legs. After many months she eventually recovers enough to resume her life, dedicating herself to painting and reconnecting with Diego. They get married, with Frida understanding that Diego can never be faithful, but he promises to at least be loyal to her.

Frida does not hide her bisexual tendencies, and establishes close relationships with Diego's ex-wife Lupe Marín (Valeria Golino) and sultry mutual friend Tina Modotti (Ashley Judd). With Diego's star rising in the art world, the couple enjoy a stint in New York, with Diego winning a commission from Nelson Rockefeller (Edward Norton). But Frida suffers another personal tragedy, and Diego does manage to hurt his wife with his exceptional inability to resist any woman. A bizarre encounter with none other than Leon Trotsky (Geoffrey Rush), now a fugitive from the Russian revolution that he helped to inspire, completes the inspiration for Frida's works of art.

Directed with panache by Julie Taymor, Frida is a singularly engaging film. The Latin lust for life positively jumps off the screen, and even the most secondary of characters display an ardent desire to contribute. The mix of art, politics and sexuality is captured by Taymor in an intoxicating broth, and Frida benefits from an unabashed, proud and outspoken posture. Frida, Diego and their circle have little time for apologies, justifications or requests for permission: they dive into life with purposeful commitment, and the biography buzzes with the energy of people worth knowing.

At just over two hours, the film is packed with incident and never flags as entertainment. Taymor constructs Frida's life around several tragic milestones, starting with the harrowing bus crash, and tracks her evolution from fledgling classical artist to a woman able to capture life's agonies in surreal, grotesque and captivating images. Life throws plenty of challenges Frida's way, and she navigates through them with a headstrong determination to embrace each obstacle and remain in charge, no matter what. With short but plentiful scenes the film builds and maintains momentum consistent with a woman who throws back twice as hard.

The film does steal some focus away from its main character. Although the story is recounted from Frida's perspective and her emotions remain at the core of all events, much of the second half of the film does centre on Diego, and at least as much time is invested in his character development and artistic achievements. His unwillingness to compromise his politics and his inability to refrain from casual sex dominate large segments of screen time, with Frida reduced to victim, observer or both. While her life with Diego clearly influenced Frida's art, the film tilts the balance more towards Diego as the source of inspiration and less on Frida as the artist who drew stimulation from a fascinating man.

Salma Hayek is excellent at every stage of Frida's life, and allows the character's flaws, vulnerabilities, strengths and desires to meld into a complete person. Alfred Molina matches Hayek scene for scene, and although Diego's arc is simpler, Molina is able to demonstrate that an overweight and outspoken frumpy man can exert an inexorable and long-lasting force on women. Antonio Banderas gets a small role as a member of Diego's intellectual circle.

The film's visual aesthetic is frequently inspired by Frida's paintings, and Taymor cleverly weaves the artwork into the narrative scenes without drawing attention to them, allowing the sometimes gruesome beauty to speak for itself. Life inspires art, and Frida is a worthy celebration of a fascinating artist's tumultuous journey.

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The Movies Of Geoffrey Rush

All movies starring Geoffrey Rush and reviewed on the Ace Black Movie Blog are linked below:

Elizabeth (1998)

Shakespeare In Love (1998)

The Tailor Of Panama (2001)

Frida (2002)

Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl (2003)

Intolerable Cruelty (2003)

Munich (2005)

The King's Speech (2010)

The Book Thief (2013)

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The Movie Star Index is here.

Movie Review: Munich (2005)

A brilliantly pessimistic action drama centering on the Middle East conflict between Israel and the Palestinians in the aftermath of the 1972 Olympics, Munich is about the limits of bitter bloodlust.

At the 1972 Munich Olympic Games, Palestinian terrorists belonging to the Black September group storm the Olympic Village, shoot and kill two Israeli athletes and take nine more as hostages. A botched rescue attempt by German authorities ends in tragedy: all the hostages are killed, as well as five of the attackers. Three are taken alive.

In response, Israel activates a death squad to find and eliminate Europe-based Palestinians connected with the Munich plot. Mossad agent Avner Kaufman (Eric Bana), married to a very pregnant Daphna (Ayelet Zurer), is selected to lead the black ops mission, and is given the names of eleven Palestinians to kill. Avner's handler and only subsequent link to the Israeli government is Ephraim (Geoffrey Rush), while his fellow squad members are the supposed explosives expert Robert (Mathieu Kassovitz), the South African Steve (Daniel Craig), the self-designated "cleaner" Carl (Ciarán Hinds), and document forger Hans (Hanns Zischler).

In Paris they connect with the mysterious Louis (Mathieu Amalric), who runs a private syndicate specializing in selling information about agents who do not want to be found, but only to non-governmental buyers. Avner and his group get to work, and start finding and killing their Palestinian targets, although none of the killings are easy, and there are many messes and near misses involving civilians and faulty explosives. Palestinian reprisal killings also escalate, and Avner realizes that his mission is only creating more killers and more victims.

When the killings escalate to a full scale Israeli Defense Forces commando raid on Beirut to eliminate three key targets, Louis' "Papa" (Michael Lonsdale) gets involved, and Avner's cover as an Israeli agent is blown. Every successive mission becomes more difficult, and Avner and his men are soon both the hunters and the hunted.

Adapting the book Vengeance by George Jonas, Steven Spielberg wades into the Middle East conflict, and calls what he sees: a series of revenge and counter-revenge killings that achieve exactly nothing for either side. Every death generates more hurt, more pain, more victims, and more avengers, and moves the conflict further away from any resolution. The hunters become the hunted, the killers are also killed, and the blood-letting only begets more blood-letting, with innocent casualties strewn across history for good measure.

These truths can be difficult to accept for both the Israeli and Palestinian side, and Munich has detractors from every corner. It's easier to lash out and add to the violence rather than sit at the negotiating table and hammer out a peace, and Munich is meant to show both the senselessness of the war path, and the pain inflicted on the foot soldiers who are superficially successful in their missions.

At over 160 minutes, Munich is a relentlessly grim masterpiece about a dirty secret war played out on the sidewalks of Europe's capitals. The film aches with the tension of events and the intense pressure on men one misstep away from death. Spielberg captures the shadowy underworld of Europe in the 1970s, gripped by acts of terror and filled with Israeli and Palestinian agents intermingling among Cold War spies. Deadly games are played across the spectrum from regional to global, enemies making surprising friends with allies of their enemies for geopolitical gains, the double cross as close as the next street corner.

The deeper he goes into his mission, the more certain Avner is that the killings do not come with victory or jubilation. Rather, dread and reprisals accompany his transformation into a soulless death machine, and whether he finally physically dies at the hands of his enemies does not matter: he is dead inside, his life transformed into a living nightmare.

Munich ends with a painfully intense sex scene intercut with the raw, brutal horror of terrorism, the circle of life becoming the circle of death, waiting in vain for the courage required to break the cycle of violence. More than anyone, the soldiers of war know that it is the diplomats who have to win the peace, otherwise the abominations will just continue across the generations. And to make the point, in the final image Spielberg's camera lingers, for a long time, on the twin towers of the World Trade Centre.

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Movie Review: Elizabeth (1998)

Political intrigue in 16th century England, Elizabeth explores the power struggles and romantic complications besetting the early reign of Queen Elizabeth I. The myriad of characters circling the throne create an often confusing narrative, but the film thrives on a steady current of naked ambition.

After the death of King Henry VIII, England is weak and divided along sectarian lines. The ailing Catholic Queen Mary (Kathy Burke) cannot produce an heir, and her advisors, including the power-hungry Duke of Norfolk (Christopher Eccleston), urge her to imprison and kill her half-sister Elizabeth (Cate Blanchett), a Protestant, before she can ascend to the throne. But Mary does expire, and Elizabeth becomes Queen despite having little support within the royal inner circle. Elizabeth's lover is Robert Dudley (Joseph Fiennes), but Court advisor William Cecil (Richard Attenborough) insists that she must marry into European royalty.

In addition to Norfolk, many forces plot to take advantage of the young and inexperienced new Queen. Mary Queen of Scot and her mother Mary of Guise (Fanny Ardant), with the aid of the French, plan to move against England. The Spanish and the French envoys pressure Elizabeth into marrying into their royal families, with Henry Duc d'Anjou (Vincent Cassel) a particularly obnoxious suitor. Pope Pius V (John Gielgud) wants to end Elizabeth's reign once and for all, and sends agent provocateur John Ballard (Daniel Craig) to instigate a betrayal. Only the quietly mysterious Francis Walsingham (Geoffrey Rush), an almost self-appointed advisor to Elizabeth, appears to be actively working to protect her interests.

An old fashioned costume drama, Elizabeth suffers from an overload of characters prancing around the palaces of Europe in full regal dress, conspiring to further their interests. The script by Michael Hirst condenses too much history and packs so many people into the story that the lid cannot snugly fit, and fatigue-by-too-much-plot threatens to overtake the film. The overcrowding comes at the cost of depth, and apart from Elizabeth all of the characters remain hastily drawn sketches with singular intentions, with barely a mention of motive or background.

But the film does succeed as a visual and artistic achievement. Director Shekhar Kapur creates a bustling environment of activity surrounding the royal palaces. There is never a dull moment and never an unoccupied corner, every well-dressed character accompanied by a large entourage of minions, and every palace affording the latest in 16th century amenities as lavish dance and music parties provide temporary distractions from the numerous conspiracies. And when the power brokers of Europe are not busy plotting murders, overthrows and power grabs in their extravagant costumes, they shed their clothes and jump into bed to enjoy physical pleasures, Elizabeth juxtaposing lust for power with uncontrollable carnal desire.

Cate Blanchett rose to international prominence with her turn as Elizabeth, the Australian actress earning a nomination for a Best Actress Academy Award. Blanchett grows with her character, Elizabeth evolving from a friendly and naive girl to a woman with sharp elbows and the fortitude to see off her enemies while dedicating herself to her country. Her performance is filled with understated emotion, Blanchett never surrendering to melodrama, but focusing on the gradually growing strength of personal conviction that every monarch needs to survive.

The supporting actors are swamped by their own numbers, and the impressive cast stands aside as the history of overlapping plots comes rushing through. Rush, Fiennes, Attenborough and Gielgud wave at their characters through shorthand, grim and conspiratorial expressions used as substitutes for serious acting.

Briskly paced and spaciously photographed despite the mostly interior settings, Elizabeth ends with an imaginative blood-letting reminiscent of The Godfather, the Queen keeping the loyal to one side and separating her betrayers from their souls in a cleansing that sets the stage for her golden era. The raining blood before she reigns for good, so to speak.

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Movie Review: The Tailor Of Panama (2001)

A disappointing spy film adaptation of a John Le Carre novel, The Tailor Of Panama tries hard to create a steamy stranger in a strange land vibe, but it is undermined by a hollow centre and a premise that is close to ridiculous.

British intelligence agent Andy Osnard (Pierce Brosnan) operates under diplomatic cover, and after flubbing an assignment is reassigned to Panama. Upon arrival he makes contact with Harry Pendel (Geoffrey Rush), a tailor peddling high quality suits to the ruling class. Pendel has a shady past and money problems but terrific contacts with both the powerful elite of Panama and the shady opposition. Osnard presses him into service to obtain and reveal sensitive information about future plans for the Panama Canal and an emerging underground revolutionary movement.

But Osnard is playing a dangerous game way beyond the normal confines of diplomatic intelligence gathering. He attempts to charm Pendel's wife Louisa (Jamie Lee Curtis) into revealing information that she has access to from her work for the Canal authority, and he keeps the British Embassy staff at bay by seducing Francesca Dean (Catherine McCormack), one of the Ambassador's key assistants. Osnard finally pressures Pendel into revealing plans for upcoming upheaval in the country, setting in motion an international chess game from which only one person will benefit.

Not many characters are likable in The Tailor of Panama, least of all Andy Osnard. Brosnan attempts to bring his ice cool Bond persona into Panama, but in the absence of a suitable villain or a nefarious plot as a counterweight, it's not a fair fight. Taking advantage of less sophisticated locals and run-of-the-mill diplomats may satisfy Osnard's ego, but contributes nothing to an engaging narrative. Rush is more absorbing as the tailor Pendel, but his eagerness to please and the ease with which he is manipulated is unconvincing.

The highly dubious plot developments do not help. Large amounts of international money and military hardware are set in motion based on flimsy and uncorroborated intelligence, and as we now know, only neo-conservatives in the White House with dreams of eternally controlling global oil supplies and avenging assassination plots targeting their daddies can pull that off.

The Tailor Of Panama only has it's setting to fall back on, and director John Boorman tries hard to evoke a seedy Casablanca style mood of foreign intrigue, with Casablanca even being mentioned in one exchange of dialogue. But this is not the 1940's, World War Two isn't raging, Pierce Brosnan is not Humphrey Bogart, and the future of the free world is not at stake. The Tailor Of Panama attempts to put on a power suit, but there is no hiding the intellectual vacuum between its ears.

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Movie Review: The King's Speech (2010)

A period drama that peels one layer of mystique away from the British Royal Family, The King's Speech is a captivating, multi-dimensional period piece, and easily among the best films of 2010.

It's 1925, and Albert, the Duke of York (Colin Firth), is second in line to the British throne. But Albert suffers from a terrible stammer, and embarrasses himself and the nation with every attempted speech. With no traditional doctors able to help, Albert's wife Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter) seeks the help of speech therapist Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush). An Australian with unconventional methods, Logue agrees to treat Albert, but Albert has deep reservations and insists that the treatment focus only on speech mechanics, and not the causes of the stammer.

Albert's father King George V eventually passes away; Albert's brother Edward (Guy Pearce) assumes the throne, but is embroiled in a scandal with divorcee Wallis Simpson. With Albert suddenly much more likely to become King, he needs Lionel's help more than ever, and the two start to delve into the psychological reasons for Albert's stammer.  But they have a serious falling-out when Lionel appears to push Albert to prematurely think of himself as a King, colliding with Albert's feelings of loyalty to his brother.

Edward does abdicate; and Albert is indeed King. He again turns to Lionel for help, and this time the speeches that Albert needs to deliver are not meaningless royal engagements but the words of the leader of the world's greatest Empire. As war flares across Europe and the menace of Nazi Germany needs to be confronted, Lionel guides Albert, now King George VI, as he delivers his first speech of the war, preparing his people and his Empire for the long struggle that lays ahead.

The King's Speech gently but deeply probes several intricate themes. A loveless childhood, stern paternal expectations, and a domineering older brother are not unexpectedly revealed to be the cause of Albert's impediment. The Royal Family only amplified what was the expected method of treating British children in the early 20th century, and the movie asks at what price was the legendary British stiff upper lip earned.

The non-existent opportunities for the Royals to interact with their subjects is another thread running through the movie. How can the Royals be the symbols for people they never talk to?

Most interesting is the role of Albert's wife Elizabeth (later the Queen Mother). She is portrayed as both strong-willed yet kind; determined yet respectful; patient yet persistent; supportive of her husband as he is, yet willing to help him in any way possible; majestically royal yet able to communicate with commoners.  Helena Bonham Carter is superb in portraying the emergence of the modern woman, and The King's Speech wholeheartedly agrees that behind every great man is a much greater woman.

Both Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush deliver memorable performances. Firth as the stammering Albert, Duke of York and later King George VI is magnificent, carrying in his face the shame of the stammer, the pride of the Royals, the agony of a miserable childhood, and at the end the expectations of a nation at war. Rush has a relatively simpler, steadier and sometimes comic role: the Australian speech therapist with unconventional treatments and unshakable belief in his approach, even in the face of royal, religious, and academic scrutiny and doubt. In their scenes together, Firth and Rush capture the stages of a slowly emerging friendship that bridges an enormous gulf in status and wealth, and grows to be strong enough to survive serious mis-steps and doubts.

Director Tom Hooper follows up the excellent The Damned United (2009) by recreating an even earlier era: the Britain of the 1920s and 1930s comes to life in The King's Speech, Hooper surrounding his actors with plenty of fog, early 20th century streetscapes, and royal lavishness.  The film looks as good as the performances deserve.

The King's Speech is ultimately a tribute to the power of good intentions to overcome the significant damage caused by past failures, and the message of optimism that lies within hard-earned friendship is refreshingly daring.

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