1.30pm: Secretary
Another packed screening for a weekday afternoon - I ended up getting the second-to-last ticket in Odeon West End 1, and had to sit almost at the end of the front row, with my eyeline virtually parallel to the screen. What's making people so desperate to see a small-scale American indie film? I have a horrible feeling it's to do with the hints of S&M in the plot. The secretary of the title is Lee Holloway (Maggie Gyllenhaal), a young girl who's just making her way back into society following a period away - she's had a long and disturbing history of cutting herself to take her mind off family problems. She learns to type, and accepts a secretarial role with lawyer E Edward Grey (James Spader). Soon, she discovers why his office has a 'Secretary Wanted' sign permanently displayed out front, as his own personal habits come to light. Luckily, they seem to dovetail quite nicely with hers...
You don't see as many upbeat, whimsical, feelgood movies about sado-masochism as you used to, do you? And part of the joy of Secretary is realising that that's what it is. The tone takes a little getting used to, as you're constantly on edge waiting for the other shoe to drop and things to get nasty: but it never happens. The consensual nature of their relationship makes it easier to handle, while touching on the sub/dom nature of boss/secretary relationships generally. Spader is as cutely creepy as ever, and gets to add another masturbation scene to his CV: but it's Gyllenhaal who really shines here, making her character utterly sympathetic even when she's making decisions that leave you yelling at the screen. Director Steven Shainberg should be looked out for in the future on this evidence.
I should mention the pre-film introduction by producers Andrew Fierberg and Amy Hobby (to answer The Cineaste's question below). In a passing reference to recent events around the film Ken Park, Fierberg was pleased to announce that Metro Tartan have picked up the UK rights for Secretary. "We had dinner with Hamish last night, and we're still in the festival today, so I think we'll be okay..."
3.30pm: The Other Side Of The Bed
Pedro (Guillermo Toledo) has just been dumped by Paula (Natalia Verbeke). Distraught, he turns to his best friends Javier (Ernesto Alterio) and Sonia (Paz Vega) for comfort. Which is a bad idea, because he doesn't know that it's Javier he's been dumped for. And Javier's been meaning to give Sonia the elbow to clear the decks for this move, but can't quite bring himself to do it. And then it gets complicated.
I frequently rave about the fun to be had from Spanish comedy movies in these festival reviews, but it's been a rather poor year for them. Miguel Albaladejo's new film Rencor didn't even make it to the LFF this year, despite my threats of the trouble I'd cause if he didn't get a British distribution deal. (The closest connection we get is a cameo appearance of his relative Geli Albaladejo in this film.) Still, in the absence of an Albaladejo movie, this will make a damn fine substitute. With all the bed-hopping, misunderstanding, lies and confusion, it's really nothing more than a bedroom farce of the old school. But it's informative to compare it with the English version of the form, which is inevitably driven by all the characters being terrified of sex: whereas in the Spanish version, the plot is driven by everyone liking sex far too much. (Except for homosexual sex, of course: if there's one qualm I have about this movie, it's the core of homophobia that runs through it like Barrymore's fist through a builder.)
The best way to take The Other Side Of The Bed is as a full-on satire of Latin machismo - all the men are idiots who think with their dicks, while all the women are completely in control throughout. It's made all the more watchable by everyone looking fabulous, enhanced by some perkily bright photography. And I haven't even mentioned the songs yet: a big musical production number every ten minutes, making the whole thing feel like a Bollywood romance only with much more nudity. Directed by Emilio Martínez Lázaro, this film was responsible for the biggest and loudest laughs I've had so far this festival, and retained that honour until, um, six hours later...
6.00pm: Welcome To Collinwood
Cosimo (Luis Guzman) has been thrown into the nick for a botched car theft. While there, he meets up with a lifer who reveals to him a plan for the ultimate fool-proof robbery. Through a complicated series of betrayals this plan eventually ends up in the hands of a motley crowd of small-time crooks, who include Cosimo's girlfriend Rosalind (Patricia Clarkson), single parent Riley (William H Macy) and Serbian boxer Pero (Sam Rockwell). And if you thought Cosimo was incompetent, you should see this lot.
The debut feature by brothers Anthony and Joseph Russo takes the plot of the Italian comedy Big Deal On Madonna Street and transplants it to Cleveland, giving the crew an interesting ethnic mix in the process. With the help of producers Steven Soderbergh and George Clooney, they've assembled a cast of some of the best second-string character actors in the business: aside from the names above, we also get Jennifer Esposito as the girl who's the key to their theft, and Clooney himself cameoing as a paraplegic safecracker. They're all in fine form here, and are good enough to keep you laughing at all the gags, even the ones you can see coming a mile off. Because plot isn't the issue here, just the pleasure of seeing every possible flaw in an apparently perfect plan being revealed one at a time. And if you're part of an audience who's willing to go along for the ride, that's quite a bit of pleasure indeed. It's also nice to see a comedy that wraps everything up in a brisk 82 minutes, and doesn't feel the need for additional padding.
(Quick digression here before we move on: within the past few days I've seen Full Frontal, Punch Drunk Love and Welcome To Collinwood. In each case, the title of the film isn't shown at the start, and only appears during the end credit roll. Has this suddenly become fashionable, or something? And why?)
9.00pm: A Chinese Odyssey 2002
Dragon (Tony Leung Chiu Wai) and Phoenix (Vicky Zhao) are a brother and sister with a tempestuous relationship, which is only made worse by the sudden arrival of the Emperor's sister, Princess Wushuang (Faye Wong). The Princess is on the run and disguised as a man, leading to wholesale chaos as she falls in love with Dragon while Phoenix falls in love with her. The Emperor (Chang Chen) goes off in search of his sister, and just cranks up the hormonal tension even more. Gender confusion, wire-fu fights and loopy anachronisms are the result.
We've already had two very funny films today, but this one tops them both effortlessly, and may even be my favourite film of the festival so far. Which feels strange to me, as this is just your typical Cantonese comedy - bashed out quickly to catch a local audience at Chinese New Year, with no real ambitions towards international success or even a shelf life beyond two months. There are hundreds of these things around, and a site like DDD House could sell you DVDs of them for very little money. However, Chinese Odyssey has quite a few things that set it apart from the usual hack work of the genre.
The internationally-renowned director Wong Kar-Wai is on board as producer, but the real creative force behind the film is writer/director Jeff Lau (who's also responsible for the 1994 Chinese Odyssey of which this is a remake). Lau manages to cram his script with so many gags that it'll play anywhere. There are some jokes that will only make sense to anyone living within a ten-mile radius of Kowloon, but if you sit tight through those you'll be quickly rewarded with a reference to a Hollywood movie (the idea of a Pulp Fiction homage in the middle of a Ming Dynasty tale is particularly charming), a perfectly-timed bit of visual slapstick, or an unexpected post-modern interlude (like the multiple conflicting voiceovers in a couple of scenes). For those of you who've had experience of serious Asian cinema, there's also the delight of seeing a world-class actor like Tony Leung (a regular collaborator with Wong Kar-Wai) making a complete knob of himself and loving every second of it. Its chances of a cinema release outside of Hong Kong are probably nil, but the DVD's already available from DDD House: so what are you waiting for?
Notes From Spank's Pals
Secretary
The Cineaste - I turned up just before the early-afternoon start time for this film, and people were queuing for returns. The OWE1 nearly full! Heck, there are a lot of unemployed wastrels around London. I took my seat just as some bod finished talking about the structure of the film and the slant of its humour, so I wasn’t sure if it was director Steven Shainberg or not. [It wasn't, see above - Spank] Whatever, Shainberg has given a very clever and amusing (and slightly quirky) take on man meets woman in the office. We start with a little bit of background to Lee (Maggie Gyllenhaal) who has been an inmate in a mental institution. She is released on the same day as her sister’s wedding, and her dysfunctional family are unable to give her appropriate support or attention. Her dad is struggling against alcoholism, and her sister and brother are too engrossed in their own worlds to give her anything more than token interest. She starts developing unhealthy habits very quickly.
Then, to her astonishment, she secures employment as a secretary to a one-man firm of lawyers. Her employer turns out to be even more mentally unbalanced than she is - an obsessive control freak, emotionally constipated, and with quite a malicious side to his character as well. The film then develops as the two main protagonists get to grips with each other, their own shortcomings, and how to deal with them. The whole spectacle could have been clichéd and cringy, but it was quite the opposite - it was fresh and original as a story, and engaging as a spectacle. Little twists to the plot kept me wondering till the end how exactly it would end, and also some additional subplots became integrated quite well - Lee is developing a romance with a local lad, but begins to find herself fantasizing about her boss - oh how to reconcile these situations?
The acting of the film was really impressive and was a major factor in the film’s impressive look. The end was perhaps a little bit forced and trite (because we know that after Lee’s employment with Edward Grey, Solicitor, Things Will Never Be The Same Again), but that’s just a small point and overall it was a bold and enjoyable film.
Suddenly
The Cineaste - So, another Argentinian film….. if the current ratio of films continues like this the LFF should be sponsored by the Argentinian Commission for Cultural and Economic Development …..errr, well on second thoughts, perhaps not.
I’ll start by saying a little bit about director Diego Lerman’s post-screening Q & A. He didn’t regard it so much as a road movie (often described as such), although he didn’t mind what kind of film people thought it was. He talked about a major change of script to accommodate an elderly lady following the death of his own grandmother. He explained his decision to shoot in black and white to give it a more “gritty” feel (which I thought worked really well). And he spoke fluently and enthusiastically in English for some time, notwithstanding a temperamental mike which sometimes worked, and sometimes didn’t. All this and he’s still only 26.
The pic starts with a look at Marcia. She’s fat and unattractive, and works as a sales assistant in an underwear shop. Then, one day, while walking along the street in Buenos Aires, she’s accosted by two girls (are they lesbian? they may or may not be) and propositioned by them. Shocked but intrigued, and easily persuaded, Marcia is sweet-talked into going on a journey with them. To where, they don’t know, and why they know not either. They hitch a lift off a truck driver after stopping in a sleazy all-night café, and end up in another major Argentinian city (Rosario? - it was mentioned, I forget which one). But here lives the grandmother of one of the girls, and it transpires that she was a reason for the destination of their journey. They stop at her house, and a gentle series of family and other issues unravel. We meet the timid (male) lodger of the grandparent, and her other female lodger as well. And they all get to know a little bit more about each other, with not much dialogue, some interesting scenes, and shrewd perceptions. Character development was not substantial, some scenes were gritty, some amusing, plot development was straightforward, but interestingly done, little bit of lesbian sex. Take your pick. Diego Lerman is a talented director and this was a very commendable debut effort.
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