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ALSO RELEASED Five Easy Pieces (15) 98min ●●●●● Have you ever wondered why Americans are so fussy when ordering food? Well one theory is that it all dates back to a key scene in this film – Bob Rafelson’s 1970 character study in which middle-class drifter Bobby, played by Jack Nicholson, orders his breakfast in great detail from waitress Karen Black. Rafelson’s slow, honest, funny and painful study of familial alienation and ennui at a time of war (Vietnam) has been lovingly restored and is well worth revisiting or discovering anew. Filmhouse, Edinburgh, Fri 13–Thu 19 Aug; GFT, Glasgow, Sun 29–Tue 31 Aug. The Last Airbender (PG) 103min ●●●●● Based on the Nickelodeon animated TV series, this live-action feature film, directed by M Night Shyamalan, is set in a world where human civilisation is divided into four nations: Water, Earth, Air and Fire. Visually flashy but incomprehensible and joyless action adventure. Jackson Rathbone and Dev Patel star. See feature, page 112. General release from Fri 13 Aug. Tinkerbell & The Great Fairy Rescue (U) 76min ●●●●● Tinkerbell teams up with a rival to keep a secret from humans. Further adventures of the mischievous fairy for the little ones. Michael Sheen and Lucy Liu are on voice duties. General release from Fri 13 Aug. Marmaduke (U) 88min ●●●●● Crude and unfunny adaptation of popular cartoon strip about the adventures of a clumsy Great Dane dog. Owen Wilson, Emma Stone, pop star Fergie and Kiefer Sutherland do, however, try to invest some fun into proceedings with some good voice work. General release from Wed 18 Aug.
Reviews Film
THRILLER THE SECRET IN THEIR EYES (EL SECRETO DE SUS OJOS) (18) 129min ●●●●●
Everyone expected this year’s Foreign Language Oscar to be a two-horse race. It seemed an obvious contest between Michael Haneke’s mesmerising The White Ribbon and Jacques Audiard’s flinty crime drama A Prophet. The surprise winner, of course, was Juan José Campanella’s The Secret in Their Eyes and it is easy to see why. This Argentine thriller is a richly satisfying piece of storytelling, unashamedly old-fashioned in its film noir look and structure but also steeped in a wider social significance as the central character’s personal quest resonates with echoes of the country’s political past. There are hints of Polanski’s Chinatown, similarities to David Fincher’s Zodiac and affinities with The Lives of Others in what is one of the year’s most beautifully executed films. Ricardo Darín brings some of the world-weary nobility of a Humphrey Bogart to the role of Benjamin Esposito, a recently retired prosecutor in Buenos Aires who has decided to write a book about an unsolved case that has haunted his memory. In 1974, a 23-year-old teacher is
raped and murdered. It is a case he was reluctant to take but one he is unable to refuse after seeing the body and meeting the victim’s husband, Ricardo (Pablo Rago). Rehashing the details for his book also gives Esposito the excuse to meet up with his old boss Irene (Soledad Villamil), who clearly retains a hold on his affections. The events and consequences of the past continue to imprint themselves on the present as Esposito resumes the hunt for the killer. Like the very best of 1940s-style film noir, The Secret
in Their Eyes glides elegantly between different time frames. The pace is fluid, the mystery is always engrossing and there is a real emotional heft to the story as we witness what happens to Esposito and Irene and how it still means so much to the tragic Ricardo. There is also a sense in which the case holds up a mirror to the corruption of the Argentine justice system and the way that has scarred an entire generation.
The Secret in Their Eyes is an exceptional blend of clever whodunit, slow-burning romance and political commentary that gels into one of the finest foreign- language films of the year. Highly recommended. (Allan Hunter) ■ GFT, Glasgow & Filmhouse, Edinburgh from Fri 13 Aug.
DRAMA THE REFUGE (LE REFUGE) (15) 88min ●●●●●
Prolific French director François Ozon makes his best films when directly addressing life and death issues. He fillets the drama from the tender aftershocks of life-changing events like the loss of a partner in Under The Sand (Sous Le Sable), the bittersweet memories of a divorcing couple in 5 X 2 or the discovery of a terminal illness in Time To Leave (Le Temps Qui Reste). The Refuge is a welcome return to form after the strained artificiality of period piece Angel and the oddball whimsy of Ricky, which remains unreleased in Britain.
The Refuge unfolds with elegant, unfussy precision. Ozon eschews easy
sentimentality, favouring painterly framing and a sense of stripped-back simplicity that serves the story rather than drawing attention to the storyteller. Louis (Melvil Poupaud) and Mousse (Isabel Carre) are drug addicts. One night in Paris they overdose on heroin that has been cut with valium. Louis dies but Mousse survives and discovers that she is pregnant. ‘Why didn’t I die too?’ she demands. ‘Good question,’ is the tart response from Louis’ frosty mother. The core of the film is how they negotiate a friendship and a sense of understanding in the absence of the one person who connected them.
The Refuge may sidestep some of the grimmer realities of drug addiction and pregnancy but it remains emotionally involving thanks in part to the lead performances. Isabel Carre was pregnant during the shooting and convincingly captures Mousse’s vulnerability and quiet determination to do what she believes to be right, regardless of society’s conventional expectations. The Refuge is a lyrical tale of death, life and new beginnings told with immense assurance. (Allan Hunter) ■ GFT, Glasgow & Filmhouse, Edinburgh from Fri 13 Aug.
12–19 Aug 2010 THE LIST 113