16/05/2014 The Film Review

Hello and welcome to the Film Review. To take us through this

week's cinema releases, Mark Kermode. It's a monster week. One of

the release is out this week is Godzilla, the new version. We have A

Touch of Sin, a controversial Chinese film from Zhangke Jia. And

we have The Two Faces of January, from the Patricia Highsmith novel. I

think Godzilla is a good thing. A good thing, but we did have the

version from the late 90s which was terrible. This was directed by

Gareth Edwards who made Monsters, a low`budget film, it cost way less

than a million, he shot it himself, did all the special effect in his

soul, in his bedroom. On the strength of that he got the gig to

relaunch Godzilla. This owes a great depth to the original from 1954, the

original Japanese version which was tied back to worries about nuclear

energy and atomic testing. So we begin with a montage of atomic tests

in the 1950s, which it turns out weren't tests, they were to do with

attempting to destroy something which we see fleetingly. We then

fast forward to a power plant which is struck by a natural disaster,

which seems to have overtones of Fukushima. We have full function?

Yes, we have. But perhaps we should draw it down to be safe. Take us

off`line. Do it, now. Attention all. Sandler, Sandra.

Were turning back, let's go! Oh, God! Are you there? There's been a

breach. We're heading back to the containment cell. Listen to me, you

need to get out of there. There's nothing natural about the disaster

at all. We know this is going to be a creature feature. However, for the

first hour of the movie it is judicious with its uses of

spectacular displays. There is spectacle in the first hour but it's

interested in developing the characters. We then fast forward

again, we get big young son of that couple, he goes looking for his

father in Japan, who is convinced the government are hiding something,

which, of course, they are, but not what he expected. What I liked by

the film is this is made by someone who has a great respect for the

Japanese original. He also has a contempt for the version in the

1990s. The film ties it back to radiation but in a slightly

different way. It's also made by someone who clearly has a Clive

Barker kind of affection for the creatures. There is a real love of

the monsters in this. If you know anything about Godzilla anyway, the

whole thing about scourge or Sega is an interesting part of the

subsequent films. In this case they've gone out of their way to

make even the massive figure of Godzilla, and when you fully see him

in the second hour of the film, it's really, really big! It is also a

sympathetic creature, a creature in which they have worked to make him a

proper character. I would suggest you see it on the biggest, loudest

screen available because necessarily in that third act, character does

fall by the wayside as far as the human characters are concerned. I'm

thinking of the movie poster being updated. Godzilla, it's really,

really big, Mark Kermode. If you are going to make a Godzilla movie you

need to have spectacle. But what Gareth Edwards brings, ie he

understands you have to develop character and story first. Otherwise

it's just CGI, it's just transformers. This is most closer to

Pacific Rim. I liked that very much. A Touch of Sin, a very interesting

look at China. The director has taken four stories from the Japanese

equivalent of Twitter. Sorry, Chinese equivalent. The four stories

of violence which seem to be born out of social unrest. If you take it

as a state of the nation depiction of China, it is a very dyspeptic

picture in which there is consumerist corruption everywhere,

people are out for themselves, people commit terrible, murderous

acts, either because they are driven to vengeance by the circumstances

they find themselves in. One plot is a woman who's put in a terrible

situation in a hostess bar. Another is the man who is enraged by fact

that a privately owned mine is not putting any wealth back into the

community. It tells the story in a way which is infected by genre.

Whereas in the past, the director's works have been neorealist

depictions of social ills. This basically has explosions of blood

and violence that people would prefer to as martial arts movies or

perhaps westerns. Or Tarantino? Whenever you say Tarantino it means

sort of stripped of meaning. What is impressive about A Touch of Sin is

that there is violence, previous fans worried about the direction the

director was taking, but it all means something, it's tied into an

underlying social malaise. I thought it was a fairly affecting film. And

quite a brave film. The Chinese authorities have sat on allowing it

to be released. The director was fading the terrible thing is because

it hasn't been released properly in China, there are pirate copies. It

won the screen play at Cannes film last year. The Two Faces of January.

Greene it's an adaptation of the Patricia Highsmith novel. The

directorial debut of Hossein Amini. As an American tour guide in

Greece, he meets up with a very glamorous couple. You think in the

beginning he is trying to get into their inner circle in order to get

something from them, whether it be money or just advancement or perhaps

it is something darker than that. You want to share some oysters? B he

says it's a bad idea to eat shellfish here. The Greeks have been

doing it for thousands of years. Eat shellfish from some dirty New York

kitchen but not from the sea here, where it's caught right in front of

your eyes. We can't go back to the States because of Chester's business

interests. I'm sure that Rydal doesn't want to hear about your own

situation. What is she saying? Don't rise to it. Millar let's hear what's

on his mind. again. Or what? Viggo Mortensen,

doing some of the most sinister smoking ever. You can see it's an

old`fashioned kind of movie. It's drawn from an old`fashioned sort of

text. Very fine performances, very eye`catching. Not just the beautiful

scenery but you are looking at the faces of the characters, all

wonderfully dressed, fabulous sunglasses and hats. To some extent

it's a little bit surface, it doesn't have the depth of the

talented Mr Ripley, you can see the comparison there. But it is well

done. At the time you are watching it, you are worried about

everybody's motives, are they being fired by lust for money or each

other? Then it's about descent into your own personal, hellish chaos.

It's very well handled and stylish. It is very old`fashioned, but in a

good way. I don't think it has the lasting depth of Talented Mr Ripley.

Your best is Frank. Frank is wonderful, it's inspired by the

shape of Frank Sidebottom's head, but it owes more to the stories of

Captain beef Park and Daniel Johnston. It's an extraordinary

movie that manages to be tragicomic and bittersweet. It starts in an

absurdist mode and then becomes gently more tragic and moving. Many

people I know who seen it cried. Why, because Michael Fassbender is

wearing a hat? Millar because they don't get to see Michael

Fassbender's face! No, because it's a tragic story. Your DVD is one I

would have difficulty pronouncing. Princess Mononoke. `year`old

Godzilla from Japan, then we went to China, now go back to Japan. It is

now available on Blu`ray. The Wind Rises has just come out in cinemas

here. We've all been told it is Hayao Miyazaki 's last film. People

who love his movies are hoping there will be more, perhaps there will. In

the meantime, if you've seen The Wind Rises in the cinema, go back

and look at something like Princess Mononoke, it is wonderful. He is an

extraordinary, visionary film`maker. They do work for young and old

alike. The Wind Rises is kind of an older audience, but Princess

Mononoke is one of those films anyone can watch. There is darkness

in it, a certain degree of violence and blood`letting, but it is a

proper story for all ages. A quick reminder that you will find more

film news and reviews from Mark on his BBC blog. That is it for this

week. Thank you for watching and goodbye.

country. Temperatures climbing up to 23 today, and we will improve on

that in the next day or so. The weekend is looking very warm. The

sun is getting very strong. Planning any barbecues or walks in the Park

this weekend, be careful, the son is very