Review: Rust & Bone

Happy father's day! What better way to celebrate than to take a look at a recent film featuring, among other things, a man learning how to be a father? Jacques Audiard's latest film was screened as the Closing film of this year's Love & Anarchy - Helsinki International Film Festival. It is also on the programme of Pimedate ööde filmfestivaal - PÖFF, or the Tallinn International Film Festival, opening tomorrow.

So, as in many of the director's previous movies, Audiard's new protagonist is a man of few words, that is more used to violence than being a normal member of the society. Ali (Matthias Schoenaerts) is a man arriving to Paris to try to make a living supporting his 5-year-old son and staying at his sister's house. The man is struggling to get by, since he isn't too good working at normal jobs, but since he is imposingly large, he gets hired to be a bouncer at a night club.

One night at work he meets Stéphanie (Marion Cotillard), a whale trainer at the local dolphinarium, who also has a tempered violent side. When she gets kicked out of the club, Ali sees her safe back home to his boyfriend. Both sides have a small romantic crush on each other. Stéphanie's boyfriend, however, has had enough of her hard-drinking ways and leaves.

Trying not to spoil too much, but Ali and Stéphanie will eventually become even closer due to a horrific accident that cripples her for life. A major problem, however is that Ali isn't a very emotional individual, and sees no problem screwing around with every woman he encounters. All the while taking care of Stéphanie. The man will eventually learn to take part in brutal underground boxing matches to earn some better money.

For quite a long time, it seems that Audiard is attempting to build a portrait of a true sociopath who is incapable for any feelings whatsoever. Ali doesn't seem to care much for his son, and beats him up for misbehaving. While he connects with Stéphanie on a surface level, can't figure out her deeper feelings for him. But Audiard is a director capable of surprising the audience and by the end it becomes clear Ali does have his sensitive side.

The film's title refers to its themes of disfigurement, while Ali and Stéphanie both have serious personality defects that eventually cause harm to their bodies. He has the willpower and the physical strength, while she has the emotional, even spiritual side. Together they resemble more of a complete person, as evidenced by the scene where Ali takes her swimming by carrying her on his back. But the title may also refer to the emotional side, on how the film's themes may go way beyond of the surface level all the way to the core.

The film also contrasts the human tendency to tame nature and how it problematizes our way to behave. While Stéphanie's attempts to tame a killer whale are futile, she also grows to believe that taming a wild, uncontrollable muscle machine such as Ali is as impossible. But she won't give him, because of the hot, hot sex they're having. Thus she begins to communicate with him only through a very short acronym text message or through body language.

It is a very physical film, shot at times as naturally as to be almost like a nature documentary about the hard knock lives of these people. Audiard is as masterful in compressing everything that needs to be said in just a few sentences as Aki Kaurismäki. One also has to give due to the magnificent actors. Cotillard and Schoenaerts are at career-best form here, taking their abilities for emotional performances and imposing physicality (respectively) to whole new heights.

For those awaiting a clear love story, the film might be too distant, even cold. For those awaiting for the brutally violent boxing matches, they are quite sidelined and only featured in two bigger scenes. But for anyone looking for a good drama that makes one ponder about the human vunerability, and how it affects our own humanity, this is a bullseye.

★★★★

DE ROUILLE ET D'OS
France/Belgium, 2012

Language: French
Director: Jacques Audiard
Screenplay: Jacques Audiard, Thomas Bidegain, Craig Davidson
Cinamatography: Stéphane Fontaine
Starring: Marion Cotillard, Matthias Schoenaerts, Armand Verdure, Céline Sallette, Corinne Masiero

All Cops Are Bastards

Or are they?

One curious theme on this year's festivals is the overflow of gritty crime films which look at the never-ending struggle between the police and thieves, hooligans, gang members, drug trafficers and terrorists. Some have bad policemen working in a morally grey area, while some are just ordinary workers doing the best they can in tough situations. It's not easy to match the smartly built world and explosive action of Tropa de Elite — the go-to modern classic of the genre. But that didn't mean that these films weren't captivating to watch. I already reviewed No Rest For The Wicked from Love & Anarchy, which would also otherwise be included here.

A.C.A.B. - All Cops Are Bastards (Italy/France)
Director: Stefano Sollima
Love & Anarchy - Helsinki International Film Festival 2012

Not that many interesting films come from Italy these days (I wonder if this could be because someone has a monopoly on all media and won't fund movies unless they are made for his own TV networks). Occasionally, when a decent one comes around, it's a news item in itself. When the director is also the son of the legendary Leftist spaghetti western director Sergio Sollima, everyone pays twice as much attention.

Nevertheless, the story of riot cops could perhaps find no better setting than modern Italy. With the economy in shambles thanks in large parts with the insider deals of fat cats, the hot-headed Mediterranean national character, and the large-spread passion for football, makes a riot police force's job more than necessary in a day-to-day basis. Yet as it is often with autorities, these cops are also more than willing to misuse their power, take down people who they don't like and reap other benefits attached to their job. We know from the news that for instance the 2001 Genoa G8 meeting resulted in large-spread police brutality around protesters. The movie challenges the viewer to ponder whether there is truth in the name of the film.

Thus we are also thrust into the world by the viewpoint of a rookie, Adriano (Domenico Diele). An idealistic young cop, he at first idolizes the more experienced members of his new squad. Cobra (Pierfrancesco Favino), Nero (Filippo Nigro) and Mazinga (Marco Giallini) are a tight-knit group that doesn't allow outsiders, and who are used to do things their way without anyone telling them to soften up. Adriano must choose whether to corrupt himself as another force-using aggressive power abuser, or to stand the contempt and wrath of the rest of the group. Or die.

The film depicts the riot police to be sort of the society's garbageman, being sent out to take care of major social and structural problem by hitting angry people on the head. The cops have to endure open hatred, for example in a football match where everything that's available to throw at them, is threwn at them. The film doesn't pick favorites among cops and rioters, but makes it clear on why either of them is working the way they do. The film is a tad too long and obvious, without major surprises. It's also a major draw that the societal critique seen through the eyes of a tough-as-nails police unit was so perfected by Tropa de Elite, that while this covers a bit of a different area, comparisons are inevitable.

★★★

End Of Watch (USA)
Director: David Ayer
Night Visions Maximum Halloween 3012

For a lot more positive portrayal of cops, there's the first feature film of the screenwriter of Training Day, David Ayer, seen (a bit surprisingly) at Night Visions Festival. Brian Taylor (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Mike Zavala (Michael Pena) are policing partners that are also best friends in their civilian lives. As anyone who has listened to their share of west side gangsta rap knows, the restless area around South Central L.A. is ruled by gangs and mexican drug cartels.

We follow the two cops around as they do their best to catch dangerous people around the area, usually who hate cops right down to their bones. In the middle Taylor and Zavala bicker, and talk about their love lives and mundane things. The single Taylor is starting to get involved on a new girl (Anna Kendrick) and their relationship is deepening. But once, on a routine call Taylor and Zavala stumbe upon an old house that hids brutally murdered bodies and major amounts of dope. Reporting on the place makes them heroes, but gets them on the Mexican drug cartel's Most Wanted list.

The film starts out by being based on the material that the cops themselves are shooting, whether for a TV show or whatever the in-story purpose. The actual purpose of Ayer is clear, to depict the police as both ordinary people, who live and laugh and love. And on the other hand, as heroic people who are willing to risk their neck out protecting the innocent, and doing what is morally right. These ideas are manufactured to give resonance on the tragedy about to unfold. It's a bit sad that Ayer cops out (har, har) on the last minute to make the ending a real gut-punch.

There's not much on display here that hadn't been done as good or better in numerous modern quality TV cop shows. Taylor and Zavala are quite well-rounded characters that have their good and bad sides, and are expertly acted out by Gyllenhaal and Pena. It's sad that the script over-emphasizes their heroism, and for instance the scene where they risk their lives rushing into a burning building to rescue children, goes a little over-the-top.

Along the way, the camera as an element within the story is more and more forgotten, we get fewer scenes of the characters talking straight to us, and more clearly directed angles. But the most important element in hand-held camera footage movies, the immersion tho the film's world and characters, has already been achieved.

★★★

Policeman (Ha-shoter, Israel)
Director: Nadav Lapid
Love & Anarchy - Helsinki International Film Festival 2012 

The most innovative police thriller I've seen in a while comes from Israel of all places. It's an action movie without a single action scene. It's also a two-sided movie, telling two vastly different but interlaying stories that comes together in the end. Many of the major scenes are not shown, but left to the audience to deduce. Most people walking in on a cop thriller would probably not expect such an intellectual, almost Haneke-styled approach, but it is very refreshing to see a genre movie thet relies on the intelligence of its audiences.

The first act of the film introduces us to the cops. Most of the time with them is spent at a barbecue with their families, or recreational activities, all smiles and happiness. Once in a while a racist comment pops up which makes it clear the speaker would like to shoot Arabs, but no one bats an eyelid. The cops clearly have rubber-band morality, since even with all the happiness of their family lives they are sex-hungry enough to go pick on random girls they encounter. It's revealed that one of them is having trouble with the higher-ups due to an act of violence on the job that is not specified. But all of them stick together and in the hearing all the other defend the accused. They all are eagerly awaiting for their next assignment, as they are the anti-terrorist assault squad.

The next act features ideological (Jewish) young people getting together to discuss the state of the world, how capitalism is ravaging the society, and their disdain for authorities. The youngsters are nice to help out a man playing guitar in the street corner by busting out some jams. They harbor secret crushes to each other. They seem like well-rounded nice people until it becomes clear that they idolize the Beider-Meinhof Complex. They are planning an act of terrorism, to kidnap several people at a rich woman's wedding and execute them if their radical leftist demands are not met.

In the third act, this plan is carried out, and the scenario followed to the end.

Policeman is an amazingly mature work from a first-time director, Nadav Lapid. The cold approach to major issues emphasizes a world where discussion is rueld out from the get-go and both sides believe the excessive use of force is the only way to get things across. The camera follows around coldly, only getting more dynamic in the very end, which makes the ending even more harrowing. This is a depiction of a society in a cul-de-sac, but it works. As such, it would deserve a less generic english name, though.

★★★★

Night Visions MH12: The Future of Law Enforcement

Just when you thought it was safe to take it easy with festival movies and go early to bed, comes once again the devastator of minds and sleeping rhythms. But this year Night Visions Festival is clearly bigger, faster and stronger than ever before. The greatest genre classics and the most interesting new films come thick and often, so who needs sleep?

This year has also seen its share of incredible guests, the most notable being the legendary directors John waters and Paul Verhoeven, both of whom were nice enough for their fans to switch a few words with me, shake my hand and pose for a picture.

I'm currently preparing for the traditional all-nighter, during which I aim to watch a whopping nine films, from 4PM's End of Watch to the ending film The Seeding of a Ghost, set to start at 8.45 AM. It gives me time to reflect on the two futuristic police satires that served as the opening of the festivities.

RoboCop (1987)
Director: Paul Verhoeven

The warm-up show for the festival was arranged around Paul Verhoeven's visit to plug his book Jesus of Nazareth. Which was all the more fitting to show the uncut original version of his sci-fi action masterpiece for the first time on Finnish screens. Verhoeven calls the film both his "American version" of the life of Jesus, and also his best success while making films in Hollywood.

The futuristic Detroit is a city ruled by rich executives, while regular people live in squalor. Crime rates are through the roof, and the city's small police force can't handle all the heat. That's why they resort to private funding for a new kind of, more effective law enforcement. Yet Dick Jones (Ronny Cox) has cut corners with the design of his robot ED-209, and it kills everyone in its path, whether committing a crime or not. The young opportunist yuppie Bob Morton (Miguel Ferrer) has an idea to create a cyborg, half-man half-machine, to get better results.

Meanwhile, young police officer Alex Murphy (Peter Weller) attempts a massive drug bust on his first day working at a new precinct. But the precinct is ruled by crime boss Clarence Boddicker (Kurtwood Smith) and his gang, who don't like cops. While Murphy's partner Anne Lewis (Nancy Allen) manages to escape relatively unscathed, Murphy is brutally shot to pieces and left fighting for his life. He dies on the operating table, but Morton saves him by adding cybernetic parts to him. He also erases his memory to allow a computer program to take over his thoughts. He becomes RoboCop, the scourge of crime in Detroit and the unemotional law-giver, the ultimate straight man cop.

So the meat of the film is Murphy slowly starting to fight his program and recalling his past life. It is a quest for humanity, and fighting against corporate powers attempting to make a profitable product out of an individual. At the same time the more Murphy regains his consciousness, the more he is willing to step outside the boundaries of law to get brutal revenge on Boddicker, the man who already once killed him.

Verhoeven directs with a firm tongue-in-cheek, as evidenced by the satirical television programmes of the future, that sadly are not that far-fetched from our reality. News anchors gloss over horrible items with a smiling face to make time for commercials that make family time fun out of nuclear war and make a car's huge size (and presumably high gas mileage) it's most alluring attribute. The best satiric touch is the crass, Benny Hill-like comedian Bixby Snyder, enjoyed immensily by the lower class, while being hilariously stale and repetitive even with the few second-long glimpses we witness.

"I'd buy that for a dollar!"

For an action film, Verhoeven's big money scenes are usually over quite quick and very, very violent and bloody. He gleefully shoots various kinds of massacres where one side can't hold their own against and overwhelming enemy. The long camera drives move with almost a robotic fashion. It's funny that the film has so few sets, with three major scenes taking place in abandoned factories (it's not entirely clear whether it's the same factory). These are issues of budgetary limits, but Verhoeven certainly works them for his advantage.

Since in Detroit everything is in ruins, and blue-collar workers are put up against the wall, Verhoeven also finds time to ponder the issues of privatization and strike-driven union activities. His main sympathies lie among the working guys, the cops, yet he also manages to give them a whiff of fascistic following of orders since they are willing to attempt to kill a fellow officer on grounds of a say-so. Verhoeven develops some of the ideas he would later have for Starship Troopers here, including the unisex locker-rooms and showers, though glimpsed only for a second.

By contrast, the upper-class yuppies are as slimy as they come, only caring about upping their own position, cocaine and whores. They have no regard for the smaller pawns and don't care if their aiming for their own goals causes a major strike that allows crime to flourish all across the city. Hell, crime is what makes them money! Verhoeven's satirical ideas of power have grown even fresher by today's neo-liberal climate.

Last but definitely not least, the film is perfectly cast. Allen's Officer Lewis is for once a great strong female lead that gets along while not being sexualized, or having a romantic tie to her partner Murphy. they are just friends, pulling together because if they don't the world gets them. Likewise Weller is excellent as a man torn between the roles of a TV cowboy he's emulating and a feeling human being, a good father and a husband, and later a man who has lost it all, even his memories. he also has the proper chin for the part, as well as a flat, laconic sound of his voice to shout lines like "Your move, creep".

The best however, is Kurtwood Smith in a career-best turn in the most hilariously dickish main villain put to film. Whether he's discussing with accomplishes or taking care of his enemies, he usually does a small asshole move at the same time, like sticking his gun to a glass name plate or dipping his fingers into his business partner's wine glass and sniffing them. His anger, ruthlessness and risregard for human life in general and to all sorts of decency ensure that he goes far even while being too low-class to work with the yuppies rather than behind the curtains.

Bitches leave!

Oh, Verhoeven also can't resist to have a Troma movie sort of toxic waste mutation scene in the movie, for no other reason but to gain laughs for all the gore.

This is a masterpiece. Thank you for your co-operation.

★★★★★

Dredd (2012)
Director: Pete Travis

RoboCop has a certain cartoonish quality to it, even though it wasn't based on any comic book. A high inspiration, however came from the british comic book 2000AD and it's headlining hero Judge Dredd. He is the toughest law-giver in the futuristic Mega-City 1. With five billion people in the densely populated area, crime rates are through the roof. That is why the policing Judges have the privilege to hand out judgements on field. Basically every law-breaker either gets years of isolation in prison cubes, or a death sentence.

While the cheesy Sylvester Stallone vehicle in 1995 pissed on the legacy of the character, it is actually not that bad (or rather, not among the worst) of the 90's Stallone movies. But clearly a rethink was in order, and the new super-violent filmatization finally gives the fans what they want. Karl Urban's leaner, stringier Dredd reminds more of the character in his original late-70's, early-80's adventures than the mountain of muscle from the 90's. He also has the scowl right, but to my taste his voice is quite not tough enough.

In the new, 3D Dredd, our favorite Judge is paired with a rookie Judge Anderson (Olivia Thrilby) to evaluate her, and to determine whether she has what it takes to be a Judge. Anderson has psychic qualities, which has made the higher-ups disregard a few of her previous misgivings. While investigating a triple homicide, Dredd and Anderson get locked up in the huge city complex of Peach Trees. On the top floor lurks the crime boss Ma-Ma (Lena Headey), who rules the entire building. Dredd must fight floor by floor to reach the top and to apprehend the villain or perish. So far, so Raid: Redemption.

Dredd also has a near-future that mostly looks like our modern day. Stallone's Judge Dredd did have quite astonishing city shots, where it seemed Mega-City 1 was crawling with life everywhere. In the concrete behemoths of Dredd, it seems most of the citizens tend to hide in their apartments, and not go out. A bot more dwelling into the city would've done marvels, since all the best Dredd comics tend to have him as just an observer of the odd micro- and macrocosmos of habits, events and phenomena in the gigantic city.

The film is superbly violent, however, particularly a scene early on, where Dredd's bullets pierce hoodlums in super slow-motion. But the best set-pieces are used in the beginning and the climax itself is oddly underwhelming and repeating things already seen. Nevertheless, it's good that the film doesn't take a too big a bite to chew on Dredd's first adventure, like having Judge Death or Judge Child in the film. A single small crime boss suffices very well for now. It's a sad thing this has been somewhat of a flop, so we probably won't get to see any more. Drokk.

★★★ 1/2