The Descendant must decide

Matt King (George Clooney) is a lawyer living in Hawaii, a descendant of the Aloha State’s royal bloodline stemming from the union in the 1840s between a missionary's businessman son and a native Polynesian princess. In fact, Matt is the sole executor of the family trust which owns a vast plot of land worth billions of dollars. All the family members, various cousins scattered over the islands, have agreed to cash in and now just need Matt to play his role and negotiate the sale. There is some urgency, since in seven years a change in legislation means that the sale will no longer be possible.

The film starts with Matt having to cope with the fact that his wife, Elizabeth (Patricia Hastie), is now in a coma following a water-skiing accident. Elizabeth has been enjoying the Hawaiian life whilst Matt (who hasn't been on a surfboard for 15 years) has been busy earning the family crust. Matt has been neglectful of his family and can barely control his two daughters: 17-year-old Alexandra (Shailene Woodley) and 10-year-old Scottie (Amara Miller). Matt has a strained relationship with both daughters, but Alexandra reveals that Elizabeth has been unfaithful and in fact was about to ask for a divorce when the accident happened. Elizabeth’s doctor then explains that she will not recover.

This film by Alexander Payne is about how Matt copes with this intense situation, his anger at his comatose wife, his frustration at trying to rebuild his relationships with his daughters, and helping friends and family to say their good-byes to Elizabeth. Her living will requires that he have her support system switched off in these circumstances. There is truly convincing acting from Shailene Woodley and Amara Miller to compliment Clooney’s masterful portrayal of Matt and Alexandra’s tag along boyfriend Sid (played by Nick Krause), who is both precocious and insightful (as it turns out), provides some of the humour.

The Artist - a must see

In the late nineteen-twenties a newspaper publishes a picture of heart-throb silent screen star George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) being kissed by Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo). The young aspiring Peppy has yet to embark on her career in the new "talkies" but in a touching subsequent encounter in George's dressing room, he gives her a gift.  It is the idea of how to make herself memorable and stand out from the other actresses: quite simply, that she should always wear a beauty spot. This is a love story, powered by the ambition and gratitude of Peppy, overcoming the pride George.

George refuses to adapt to the new talkies medium and this soon puts him into decline, losing his wife, wealth and self-esteem. Peppy, now wealthy but living alone in her giant mansion, does not forget him and ... well you'll have to watch this brilliant film to find out what happens.

Whilst deploying all the modern techniques of modern cinema production: camera angles, editing and production, this film cleverly exploits the recursive device of being produced in square aspect ratio black and white silent movie format. Reminding us how powerful and expressive silent movies can be, this emphasises Georges dilemma: why do we need the talkies when the silent movie offers all that is needed. The story is told for the most part from the facial expressions of the actors with a whit and elegance far more sophisticated than the standards of the 1920, it must be said, but the constraints of the medium do not prevent the heart-warming story from bursting through with an impact that defies the budgets of so many modern films.

I suspect that this film is not the start of a new genre but will never-the-less be remembered alongside many seminal cinematographic experiments.

In a Better World

With a comprehendable story, superb cinematography, brilliant acting and a deep moral message, this film should not be missed. Avoiding use of any of the familiar film cliches and with everyone behaving as you might expect, "In a Better World" examines human conflict and violence from a supremely balanced and mature perspective. You are eased into understanding how people react the way they do, based on their experience and background - how in one environment (wealthy Denmark) the rules subtly differ from another harsher place (Sudan). So often we see what we believe to be extreme situations in our own comparatively safe western culture, we forget what life can be like for others. The simple device of contrasting conflict in Sudan with that of two Danish school boys, powerfully allows us to unpick the motives and feelings of the participants. In one case a local war lord will cut open the bellies of young pregnant women in order to settle a bet as to the sex of their children. In reality the conflicts created by a school bully and the mildly violent dominance of a protective father pale into insignificance by comparison, but the violence in both the Sudan and Denmark stem from the same flaws in human nature. In a better world we could all live peacefully, but in the meantime the world plays out its bitter story.

Death by Humiliation

"In Memory of Myself" (2007) is based on a 1960 novel by Furio Monicelli, "The Perfect Jesuit" and is Saverio Costanzo's second film (his first film, Private, set in Palestine, won festival prizes). Monicelli experienced the novitiate directly, so this film carries the chance of authenticity. Set in the Basilica di San Giorgio Maggiore on the Venetian island of San Giorgio, you enter a world the Catholic Church has devised for the selection of priests. Denied any personal relationships (fellow novices are trained to report private conversations) and humiliated in group sessions, it is surprising that any novices make it through the gruelling and austere process. "You are here to test the order and the order will test you" One incumbent is dying, but only allowed occasional visits from his family. Another is found banging his head against a wall in the middle of the night; he amongst others realise that this life, after all, is not for them, and leaves.
We see the novitiate through the eyes of Andrea (curiously Basilica di San Giorgio Maggiore was designed by Andrea Palladio in the 16^th century). Andrea is tested to the extreme. "Who am I," exclaims Andrea tearfully in the chapel. "Why am I here?" The homily rota is changed, Andrea must produce his homily the next day and works all night to achieve this. Fellow novices decry his offering as lacking in love, insufficiently humble. Will Andrea leave as others have done, or will his conversion to a selfless state be completed?
As a piece of cinema, this work is unique, memorable, challenging and rewarding. The sound track itself provokes extreme contrasts between the mood of the music and the sombre timelessness of the monastery atmosphere. As an insight into Jesuit life, I suspect you will not find better. As a two hour journey away from normal life, it was an unforgettable experience.

Superman Returns (2006)

The original SUPERMAN and SUPERMAN II films of 1978 and 1980 were spectacular at the time for their special effects and heralded the Super Hero genre. Superman Returns (2006) updates the brand to our modern expectations of production quality, but is disjoint from the sequence. Events in Superman III and Superman IV are ignored and my disbelief received little encouragement to be suspended from the arrival of flat screen TVs and mobile phones only a few years after we had been in the 1930's comic book world of Metropolis. Brandon Routh was cast, I suspect, for his likeness to Christopher Reeve rather than for any charisma although Kate Bosworth fared well as a chirpy Lois Lane. In all perfectly serviceable cinema but it only reminds me of the original series rather than adding to it. No surprise, then that that Warner Bros. have the Superman franchise on hold.