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Senin, 30 Desember 2013

Cannes Review: ‘Nothing Bad Can Happen’

nothing bad can happen

Be careful who you pray for. That’s a potential takeaway from “Nothing Bad Can Happen,” the first feature from German film director Katrin Gebbe. This bleak and somewhat sadistic picture is the type of movie that unfolds like a slow car wreck. You know something bad is going to happen, you just aren’t sure what, or how, and when it eventually happens it is repulsive and yet you still can’t turn away. Upon reflection, however, there are moments of beauty, making the whole enterprise a tad difficult to wrap your head around.

We open with young Tore (Julius Feldmeier) emerging from the water. This extremely skinny (and somewhat “simple”-looking) kid is a newly baptized member of a self-proclaimed group of Jesus Freaks. They are rowdy and tattooed and hang around in public spaces behaving like any other normal group of kids until something calls to them. In Tore’s case, it’s a minivan with a troubled engine. He lays hands upon it, prays and, glory be to God, it’s running again. The skeptic behind the wheel, Benno (Sascha Gersak), is grateful for the help, but hesitant to agree it was the work of the Lord. When Tore invites him to a Jesus Freaks gathering, it seems like it’s the last we’ll see of him, but this isn’t the case.

Benno shows up at the prayer meeting/thrash-rock concert just in time to catch Tore have an epileptic seizure. While Tore seems convinced it is the Holy Ghost making himself acquainted, he still takes up Benno’s offer to crash at his pad. Soon we meet his wife and two kids – a sullen teenage girl and a moppety son.

Also Check Out: The 10 Best Films of the 2013 Cannes Film Festival

Something about the family, however, seems a bit. . .off. You notice it immediately in the glances from the plain looking wife (Astrid, played by Annika Kuhl) and freshly nubile daughter (Sanny, played by Swantje Kohlhof.) There are snipey comments directed toward Benno. (Their home and its ragged garden is at least partially government-assisted.) After a trip to an amusement park and some awkward birthday gift-giving, we learn that Benno is not the kids’ biological father, but Mom’s new boyfriend.

Benno has a pretty short fuse and after an angry confrontation Tore heads back to his group house. When he discovers that his roommate takes the rules of chastity none too seriously he’s back on the streets again. His personal faith is unbroken, but he has nowhere to turn but back to Benno and his family.

There are some story beats that are more or less predictable – Tore and Sanny grow close (their scene of intimacy is the best in the entire film) and then Tore uncovers some dark secrets about Benno.

I take back what I just said. The best scene in the movie – and the one people will talk about when this is more widely seen – involves Benno, Astrid, Tore and a plateful of force-fed rotten chicken. As saintly Tore stays with the family longer, the cruelty of the adults increases, and it isn’t just Benno that gets involved. Whereas the beginning of the film is elliptical with the transgressions, the end goes all-in for revulsion.

“Nothing Bad Can Happen” is divided into three chapters: Faith, Love and Hope. (Amusing, as Ulrich Seidl’s “Paradise” trilogy has the same titles as well, just in a different order.) As Tore makes his way toward his inevitable Redeemer role, we realize he can only do it by renouncing a part of his faith. Not the part that wouldn’t turn the other cheek, but the part that is convinced he is in communion with the divine. The moment he admits to doctors he is an epileptic reminded me a great deal of Hillary Swank’s confession of having a sexual identity crisis in “Boys Don’t Cry.”

“Nothing Bad Can Happen” is not action packed. It is even something of a “rough sit,” as the lingo goes. It does, however, seep in. Snatches of scenes played out it my mind days after the film ended, and while I may not be entirely certain I enjoyed the film, I get what the filmmaker was going for. There’s some good, tonal stuff going on here and Katrin Gebbe is definitely one to keep an eye on.

SCORE: 7.0 / 10

Categories: Reviews

Tags: Cannes 2013, Cannes film festival, Jordan hoffman, Nothing bad can happen, Review

Rabu, 27 November 2013

Review: ‘Much Ado About Nothing’

Much Ado About Nothing

This review was originally published on September 9, 2012 as part of Film.com’s coverage of the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival.

I come verily from a festival in the North, where recorded playlets are in great number, as is the quaffing of ale and general merriment!

On display, a modernized tale of an oft-recounted comic history, the tale of Beatrice and Benedick, a pair too proud to admit their bounteous love, and Claudio and Hero, who share a bond so pure and true that villainous Don John schemes to separate them. Will this foe murther the children of cupid’s arrow? Zounds! Zounds, I say!

Oh, excuse me. I always wind up talking like this for a while after seeing a Shakespeare adaptation. Which is weird because, I don’t know about you, whenever I watch one (and I’ve seen most) for the first twenty minutes or so I am absolutely and completely lost. The actors may as well be speaking Na’vi, but slowly the ear catches the rhythms of the prose and you find yourself chuckling at centuries-old quips like a Lord of the manor.

Luckily, I’ve seen Kenneth Branagh’s version of “Much Ado About Nothing” so I had some familiarity with the plot and wasn’t too lost for Joss Whedon’s take on the classic, a low budget black-and-white number. Offered up as karmic balance for his billion-dollar superhero enterprise “The Avengers” from this summer, this tiny friends-and-family production has the vibe of a project done on weekends and after school. That’s no knock. It is vibrant and bubbly and just clever enough to engage people who wouldn’t normally watch a black-and-white micro-budget Shakespeare adaptation without any big movie stars.

That some of these people are little known outside the Whedonverse is a crime. Amy Acker is positively fetching as Beatrice, the feisty and smart woman who matches wits with Alexis Denisof’s Benedick. As someone who rarely attends legitimate theater, I can only compare her performance to Emma Thompson’s Beatrice in Branagh’s “Ado,” so she had massive shoes to fill. Acker doesn’t approach the role in quite as broad of a manner; she trumpets her zings without getting daffy, assured in her skin but unaware of the destruction left in her wake.

Acker may as well have come straight down from the screen and torn the heart straight from my rib cage. Her conservative dresses, wide eyes and the hint of an overbite are the type of good looks that aren’t quite in line with what Hollywood thinks is a 10, but in real life (and, I suppose, the Whedonverse), they are what light up every room and inspire heart attacks in all who come within speaking distance.

Whedon’s “Much Ado” pretty much plays it straight. Set in a wealthy suburban home and its well-landscaped back yard, there are only a few anachronistic gags (one involving a cupcake) or updates to the text. Ballads in the original are jazzy piano tunes now, and noble Knight Dogberry is a doofy rent-a-cop here (Nathan Fillion).

High school English teachers can rejoice that they have some new ammunition to get kids into Shakespeare (look! it’s Agent Coulson talkin’ funny talk!) while elitists can think they’re all hip and now by watching a modernized version. And Whedon fans? They’ll gush over this like Claudio writing a gooey love sonnet to Hero. I can’t wait for the shippers’ fan fic.

SCORE: 7.5 / 10

Categories: Reviews

Tags: Alexis denisof, Amy acker, Ashley Johnson, Clark Gregg, Fran Kranz, Joss whedon, Much Ado About Nothing, Nathan fillion, Sean maher, Shakespeare, Toronto International Film Festival

Rabu, 10 April 2013

SXSW Q&A: Joss Whedon and His Cast Make ‘Much Ado About Nothing’

One of the most anticipated events of all of SXSW was undoubtedly the US premiere of Joss Whedon’s “Much Ado About Nothing”, the screening of which was immediately followed by an hour-long Q&A with the entire cast save for Sean Maher, Riki Lindhome, and Reed Diamond. The line for the screening was the festival’s longest (at least until “Spring Breakers” blew the roof off of the Paramount Theatre last night), and chairs had to be brought in to line the sides of the auditorium, accommodating as many audience members as possible. And it was all worth it: The movie is fantastic, perhaps the most accessible Shakespeare I’ve ever seen – and this ain’t my first Shakesprodeo (see what I did there?). The panel that followed was lively and filled with little nuggets of wit and wisdom. Below, we’ve shared our 10 favorite things that we learned from Whedon and his friends.


1. You Don’t Say No To Joss Whedon


Both Alexis Denisof and Nathan Fillion were nervous about tackling Shakespeare, but they both subscribe to the belief that if Joss Whedon asks you do something, you do it. Fillion even came close to dropping out completely until Whedon’s wise words kept him attached. When Whedon reached out to Nick Kocher and Brian McElhaney to inquire as to whether they would fly themselves out to work on his movie for very little pay, they didn’t even hesitate. As Kocher put it, “Of course we came out – what do you think we do all day?!”


2. Wanna Work With Joss Whedon? It Could Happen


Over and over, situations came up where Joss discovered someone and incorporated them into the Whedonverse. Danny Kaminsky was hired as Joss’ assistant for “The Avengers”, and they worked so well together that Danny ended up becoming the editor and co-producer of “Much Ado”, thus “winning the best lottery of all time” (Kaminsky’s words, though I share the sentiment). Similarly, Jillian Morgese, who makes her feature debut in the film, was discovered by Joss after working on “The Avengers” in a minor PA/Extra role. He was taken by her as she “ran around looking scared”, and found her particular brand of ingenue to be exactly right for Hero, so he asked her to audition. Kocher and McElhaney were cast because Whedon is a huge fan of their sketch comedy group BriTanicK. Now, with their foot in the door, all of these people are here to stay. Moregese even went so far as to say that they had all become like family, something none of them would have thought possible just a couple years ago. The cherry on top? Rather than have any old extras, Whedon specifically brought in film students to fill out the main party scene.


3. Skype Auditions Are Really A Thing!


Whedon’s hunch about Morgese was proved correct when she auditioned for him over Skype and immediately got the role, no in-person callback required.


4. The House That Kai Built


It’s been widely discussed that the film was shot in Whedon’s house over 12 days. What hasn’t been circulating as much is the fact that his wife Kai, also a producer on the film,  is an architect by trade, and actually designed their entire home from the ground up. As soon as it was completed, they thought to themselves, “Okay, what are we going to shoot here?” Though their dream finally came true with “Much Ado,” Whedon wishes they had used even more rooms and incorporated a steady cam to fully capture the flow of the space and do it justice. Spoiler alert: Joss Whedon lives in a really nice house.


Also check out: Our review of “Much Ado About Nothing”


5. The Kenneth Brannagh Much Ado About Nothing Did Play A Tiny Tiny Role


Though Whedon is a huge fan of the Brannagh version of “Much Ado”, he purposefully did not rewatch it before starting work so as to avoid either emulating or running away from it. But he did keep thinking about Patrick Doyle’s memorable score from the film, so much so that during Alexis Denisof and Amy Acker’s first filmed kiss — the moment their lips touched — the climax of Doyle’s score immediately filled Whedon’s head, confirming for him that this was working.


6. Joss Whedon Has Never Seen Lost


He noted, “You either make TV or watch TV.”


7. Even With Shakespeare, There’s Room For Improv


Although the text itself was immoveable, Whedon encouraged his actors to follow their instincts and improv physically, resulting in fantastic bit after fantastic bit. Especially keep an eye out for Nathan Fillion, Tom Lenk and a gag involving car keys.


8. The Sexiest Thing Whedon Has Ever Done


“Including having sex!” exclaimed Whedon after moderator Adam B. Vary offered his two cents on the sexuality present in the film. While “Much Ado” features multiple sex scenes that are obviously not present in the text, they don’t feel the least bit gratuitous, and in fact do a great deal to contribute to the darker tone Whedon imbued in this adaptation. He found that so many of the developments in “Much Ado” are actually kind of creepy – a guy really thinks of a plan to deceive someone based on the fact that he is confident he could get a girl to dress up in some other chick’s clothes IN this other chick’s bedroom and sleep with him?! That’s messed up. So Whedon embraced the play’s subtext and in doing so, takes the play to exciting new places.


9. Nathan Fillion Has Found The Perfect Way To Describe Shakespearean Text


“It’s just flowery and a little bit like yoda!” Correct.


10. You Don’t Need Professional Shakespeare Experience To Rock Shakespeare


You wouldn’t know it from watching the movie, but only two or three members of the large cast have actually performed Shakespeare professionally. For the most part, Whedon approached the film from an angle of “Why can’t we do this too?”, rather than being so reverent with breath marks and original meaning that it wouldn’t translate to today’s audience. Many moments almost subvert the text, but in a way that actually enhances and proves the timelessness of Shakespeare’s work, rather than demeans it. Whedon truly proves that Shakespeare can still be brilliant through a wholly modern lens.

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Tags: Alexis denisof, Amy acker, Interview, Joss whedon, Much Ado About Nothing, Nathan fillion, Q&A, SXSW, Sxsw 2013, The avengers