FILM | Reviews
HORROR RE-RELEASE WAKE IN FRIGHT (18) 108min ●●●●●
A fearsome treatment of Australian cultural identity, masculinity and violence, long unseen due to the unavailability of a usable print, Wake in Fright has met with renewed praise since being restored from rediscovered negatives and re-released in 2009.
Gary Bond plays John, a young teacher frustrated by his posting to a remote outback town, keen to get back to Sydney to spend Christmas with his girlfriend. But the journey requires a stopover in the mining town of Bundanyabba, where he is quickly, forcibly and disastrously recruited to the perpetual bender that is the local men’s way of life.
Released during the same time period as Straw Dogs and Deliverance, Ted Kotcheff’s 1971 film shares elements with both – intellectualism pitted against brute force, and misdirected sexual energy as a source of madness and violence – but its setting is specific both visually and culturally, and its depiction of the wild outback is searing.
DRAMA THE BOOK THIEF (12A) 131min ●●●●● Brian Percival’s adaptation of Markus Zusak’s global bestseller The Book Thief is, like John Boyne adap The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, a film that unfolds from the German perspective during World War II. Unlike that film, however, The Book Thief is much less potent, despite some very good acting and a couple of genuinely moving moments.
Liesel (Sophie Nélisse) is a German schoolgirl who is sent to live with foster parents Hans Brian West’s cinematography is astonishing, lucid in its
and Rosa (played by Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson) as her nation is gripped by war and the dictates of Hitler’s regime. Intrigued by the only book she has brought with her, Liesel begins to collect (or steal) books whenever the opportunity arises and, encouraged by her stepfather, begins to develop an appreciation for the complexity of the world around her. This extends to harbouring a Jew in their basement, an act that places her new family in great danger.
Percival’s film is at its best and most compelling when exploring the relationship between Liesel and her new parents, during which Rush and Watson excel, tapping into the uncertainty and fear of life in Hitler’s Germany. Rush, in particular, shines as the kindly father-figure whose rational thinking and heartfelt inclination to do what’s right threaten wider repercussions.
The film also features an engaging fledgling romance between Liesel and a young boy named Rudy (memorably played by Nico Liersch). But The Book Thief is much less successful in its depiction of the relationship between Liesel and Max, the Jew her family attempts to save, which feels a little too rushed and even token, while a persistent voiceover from Death (delivered by Roger Allam) feels unnecessary and distracting, ultimately depriving the film of what should otherwise have been a powerful conclusion. (Rob Carnevale) ■ Cineworld Renfrew Street, Glasgow, Sun 23 & Mon 24 Feb as part of Glasgow Film Festival. General release from Wed 26 Feb.
FANTASY ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE (15) 123min ●●●●●
Jim Jarmusch has made a career out of subverting the norms of genre filmmaking. After the divisive The Limits of Control, his latest film (best described as an anti-vampire vampire film) signals a thoroughly enjoyable return to form. Set between the desolate ruins of Detroit and Tangier, it’s both contemporary and epic in scale. Although its premise is pleasingly outlandish, its exploration of how old souls survive in the 21st century is interesting and philosophical. The aptly named Adam (Tom Hiddleston) and Eve (Tilda Swinton) have witnessed the triumphs
and failures of human history, yet they feel increasingly unable to find meaningful connection in a present day world populated by unthinking zombies (human beings).
Much of Jarmusch’s work focuses on ideas of the outsider, but this is perhaps his first film that considers it deeply as a social condition. The tenets of his style (use of dead time, laconic dialogue, deadpan performances) dovetail satisfyingly here; Swinton and Hiddleston both give sublime performances matched by John Hurt’s appearance as the playwright Christopher Marlowe. Being a Jarmusch film, it is also literary, erudite and extremely cool. (Anna Rogers) ■ GFT, Glasgow, Fri 7–Thu 13 Mar.
54 THE LIST 20 Feb–20 Mar 2014
depiction of beauteous landscapes and capturing with fierce clarity the impact of glaring sunlight on an equally glaring hangover. Few films were ever so bright and so dark at once. (Hannah McGill) ■ Limited release from Fri 7 Mar.
WAR STALINGRAD (15) 131min ●●●●●
Russia’s entry to the 2014 Oscar race, Stalingrad is a World War II epic less concerned with history than with a smaller, more personal story: five Russian soldiers caught up in the siege take responsibility for a lone woman. It’s not hard to see the analogy about Saving Mother Russia, but Stalingrad’s attempt to mimic the teamwork heroics of Saving Private Ryan is undermined by a lack of detail.
Director Fedor Bondarchuk lashes the opening sequences with striking CGI, but the set-up of the siege situation is muddled. Things settle down to a more conventional war story as the action focuses on the city square, where Katya (Mariya Smolnikova) meets the soldiers who vow to protect her. Standing in their way is German officer Khan (King Kong’s Thomas Kretschmann). As the use of deadly snipers and rolling tanks escalates, Khan’s determination to smoke out the resistance becomes an obsession.
If you’re familiar with the historical specifics, Stalingrad is a reasonably engrossing war drama. But by ignoring the bigger picture of what the battle meant to both armies, and the importance of the city within WWII operations, Bondarchuk’s bombast misses the point. (Eddie Harrison) ■ General release from Fri 21 Feb.