Jour de Fête (Jacques Tati, 1958)

I have fond memories of watching my first Tati film, Play Time, so I was definitely looking forward to seeing what this skilled comic director would deliver this time around in Jour de Fête.

The film centres on a local French postman, Francois (played of course by Tati), who delivers the mail to a small town on his bicycle each day. When a travelling fair visits the town, they show a film about the American postal service, which is just ridiculously advanced. For instance, mailmen jump out of helicopters and planes and ride on motorbikes through rings of fire to deliver their mail. There’s even a segment about the “sexiest mailman” competition and we see topless postman parading on a stage. It is quite amusing and seemed to me like a sarcastic parody of the American “larger than life” Hollywood attitude, where everything is full of action and the mailmen are heroes who have special training on order to be able to deliver the mail to the citizens of America. It also seems to suggest an over-reliance on technology within society − a theme which is continued in many of Tati’s other films, such as Play Time.

Anyway, so Francois sees part of the screening of this film about American mailmen and not surprisingly the townspeople and even he himself, feel that his bicycle method is feeble compared to their American counterparts. So the rest of the film sees Francois attempting to be more efficient and modern when delivering the mail, such as learning how to jump on and off the bike without having to stop the bike.

A story like this sets up the film for a lot of slapstick humour and that’s what we get largely because of Tati’s lanky character, who reminds me of an earlier version of Mr Bean. The start of the film is ok but the arrival of the postman takes it to a new level of entertainment − he injects the humour into the film. A slightly naïve, harmless, clumsy guy, the postman makes some funny expressions. One of my favourite scenes is when the postman “leads” the teams of people getting ready for the fair. His little “ooooooh” at the end just made me laugh out loud − similarly to when I was watching Play Time. Another clever moment was near the beginning of the film, when a guy and girl (who had been giving each other looks) stand in front of one another in silence but from inside the cinema we hear the voices from the film saying things like, “I love you”, etc, and having these off-screen dialogue match what supposedly the couple in front of us are thinking. A minor detail that I also liked was the bees that you can always hear buzzing whenever the postman or someone else rides along a particular road. I was amused that there was this continuity − the postman swats away the bees then later another character passes the same road and does the same thing, adding some physical humour to the story. I really admired the inventiveness of the postman, who at one point, grabs some stationary and letters from the office then when he is on his bike, which is jammed into the back of a truck and stuck there so it moves with the truck. He then sits on the bike and takes out his stationary, using the back of the truck as a desk where he stamps letters in an effort to be more efficient with the mail delivery. Interestingly, at the beginning of the film, we see a grandma walking through the town − she appears throughout and acts as a sort of narrator, providing commentary on what is happening in the background. Strangely. though she is kind of omnipresent, she appears invisible to the other characters, or at least no one replies to her comments, and it isn’t until later in the film when the postman himself travels with her. I also liked the last scene where a boy is walking toward the camera and the truck which is transporting one of the rides from the fair, and as the truck speeds up we see him gradually get left further behind. I think that was a nice finish, marking the ending of this fair and of the fun of the film.

While I did enjoy the film, I felt it started to lag a little in the middle when the postman is drunk at night − coupled with the lack of lighting, I was not as engaged in that scene. Speaking of, it’s worth mentioning how this film was quite technologically advanced for its time. It was filmed with two different cameras − a black-and-white one and a new, more experiential colour camera. The film ended up being developed in black-and-white with some hand-coloured additions by Tati and 1995, the new technology allowed colour restoration.

3.5/5

Chinatown (Roman Polanski, 1974)

Quite an engaging and mysterious film. It’s about Jack Nicholson who plays a private investigator Gittes, hired to help couples find out if their spouse is cheating. In this one case, involving a Mr Mulwray (chief engineer for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power), Gittes becomes entangled and consumed in what we see is an increasingly complex story. I was quite shocked when we find out Mr Mulwray is dead (eventually we find out he was drowned) and immediately became suspicious of his wife. I was again shocked, though in a more physical way, when we hear the bullet shots when Gittes is in the orange groves − they literally made me jump!

I can understand why this film has been praised for its scriptwriting and won so many awards because it absorbs this audience in a psychological, thrilling tale, and unlike many other Hollywood films, the audience doesn’t always have the upper hand or an all-knowing status − we want to find out information just as much as the characters do. This film really made me think about what the audience is positioned to feel toward and about the characters. At first, it may seem like we should be almost frowning upon the private investigator’s practice, an idea emphasised with that sly joker face of Nicholson’s. Nevertheless, as the story progresses, our sympathies start to lie with him and he becomes the only one we can trust − he pretty much becomes a victim. Strange connection but reminds me of a quote from Pirates of the Caribbean, where Jack Sparrow says something like “a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest”. but we never know if Gittes is really in control or if he’s just a pawn in someone else’s larger plan.

The film really let Polanski’s darkness shine through (excuse the pun) with the sister/daughter situation. Speaking of, Polanski has a cameo has a character who slices Gittes’ nose − so not dark at all! The suspense also builds up really well near the end. Interesting use of Chinatown as some sort of strange, mysterious place − I think having such a mystifying setting really adds another layer to this film.

4/5

Sleepy Hollow (Tim Burton, 1999)

I remember the first time I watched this film I was not really a fan of horror films yet. I hadn’t seen many mostly because I didn’t want to be scared, I wanted a film that would entertain. (Whereas, nowadays I'm really open to everything!) But this film definitely made an impression on me − it was thrilling yet the way the elements of the film were put together really intrigued me. For instance, you have the appropriately haunted-looking Sleepy Hollow hamlet, which is the site of the murdering headless horseman. The place is just filled with fog and everything looks cold, dark and dreary. Have to also commend director Tim Burton, who just excels working with this atmosphere and environment in his films, such as Sweeney Todd, which this film really reminds me of.

Combined with the nature of the landscape, which is a common feature of horror films, Sleepy Hollow also has a lack of warmth in its characters. We have the bumbling, faint-hearted, scientifically-minded Inspector Ichabod Crane, the film’s protagonist (played by the talented Johnny Depp), who is really the only person we can relate to or even trust. Although, unlike a typical “hero” figure, he has a number of obvious flaws which in effect make him more real I suppose. There is also Katrina Van Tassel (Christina Ricci) who becomes his love interest but she is a mysterious and magical character. She keeps the audience guessing as to her intentions − sometimes she seems to be involved in the evil activities that haunt the town and in other instances she is a pure, innocent girl. Then we have her father and various other prominent people in the town, whose behaviour leads the audience to suspect one of them as being involved with the headless horseman’s killings. Satisfyingly, we find out that Katrina’s stepmother is in control of the horseman and behind the decapitations. She sneaks past our suspicious throughout the film, which manages to draw our suspense well. The film is based on a novel by Washington Irving so not surprisingly, there was enough material and mystery in the plot to keep me engaged in what turns out to be a nice gory story essentially about revenge.

4.5/5

Robert De Niro filming in Melbourne

Robert De Niro has arrived in Melbourne and is staying in town for 10 days to shoot his role in the film The Killer Elite.

Here's an article and photos from the set as reported on The Age.

Co-stars Jason Statham and Clive Owen were in Melbourne a few months ago to film their parts.

Shrek Forever After (Mike Mitchell, 2010)

As I Shrek fan I was looking forward to seeing what they would come up with in the fourth film, and not surprisingly, I wasn’t expecting to be blown away, given the many exhausted film franchises still being pushed into the box office. But I’m glad to say the latest Shrek was actually entertaining − there was still many jokes to be had and a pretty decent storyline.

Basically this film revolves around daddy Shrek (who is having some sort of mid-life crisis) who makes a deal with the evil Rumpelstiltskin that gives him a day as a ‘normal’ ogre but ultimately leaves him having to win Fiona’s affections again, as the deal messes with Shrek’s past. Kind of long-winded to explain but reflects the character of Rumpelstiltskin himself, who is all about details, minor clauses and manipulating people into signing contracts that ultimately backfire (beware of the fine print!).

The film sees the return of all our favourite characters and we see how their lives would have turned out if Rumpelstiltskin was in charge of the land Far Far Away. The always cute Puss is without boots, having retired and become a very plump little cat. He’s with Fiona, who makes the most of her tom-boy character as the leader of the underground ogre revolution (yes, for once we see other ogres in the film). Meanwhile, Donkey is unmarried and has no recollection of his companionship with Shrek but his generous, albeit slightly naïve personality has him once again develop friendship with the ogre. Plus, you have the delicious Gingerbread Man, Three Little Pigs, Pinocchio and many other fairytale creatures back for some more entertainment. Meanwhile, this film introduces the characters of Rumpelstiltskin, the Pied Piper (or should I say, Bounty Hunter!) and many evil witches who provide some amusing moments in the film. Interestingly, this film is one which relies on previously established fairytales and puts them in a new light, with the addition of Shrek and his close friends (Fiona and Donkey). So rather than inventing new characters, I think the script writers had the more challenging task of taking well-known story characters and giving them depth and making them fit into the Shrek films − and I think it’s worked. Overall, it was worth watching the final chapter of the film series which I think has now become a fairytale of its own.

4.5/5