Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – DVD Review

Film
It’s the Cold War and there’s a mole in the circus (the upper echelon of MI6). It is up to Gary Oldman’s Smiley to sniff out the mole and look miserable doing so.

The most understated film about spies you will ever see. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy doesn’t focus on dramatic chase scenes or explosions; this is a film about men mistrusting other men as they sit around in smoke-filled offices sharing suspicious glances. This is a British film of incredibly high calibre; from the acting of Oldman, Firth, Cumberbatch, Hurt, Strong, Hardy, Jones and friends to the fantastically textured production design. Tinker oozes class from its every pore.

The plot may not be the easiest to follow, and the final reveal of the mole comes with little satisfaction, but there is no doubt that this is a special film including a career defining performance from Gary Oldman. Why not spend a few pennies and class up your dangerously teetering stack of DVDs? If you need more convincing read the full review from last September.

Extras
For a change I’m not going to rant about the lack of extras on a DVD, everyone let out a sigh of relief. This DVD comes with a commentary from Gary Oldman and director Tomas Alfredson, some deleted scenes and a thirty minute interview with John le Carré, author of the original novel (as if you didn’t know). It’s not exactly a treasure trove of extras but as this is a film mostly made up of people talking in rooms (love it) there’s not much for a behind the scenes documentary to reveal.

Summary
Slow burning spy thriller of the finest British quality well worth owning on DVD.

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy has been out on DVD and Blu-ray for ages, I’m just incredibly lazy.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy DVD provided by BBCShop.com

Out Now – 15th March 2012

Sondheim’s Company (selected cinemas, one night only)
For one night only various cinemas are showing a pre-recorded live performance of the Tony award-winning musical, Sondheim’s Company. With a cast including Neil Patrick Harris, Christina Hendricks, Stephen Colbert and Martha Plimpton this is a very tempting proposition.

Four Horsemen (limited release)
“Four Horsemen is the debut feature from director Ross Ashcroft which reveals the fundamental flaws in the economic system which have brought our civilization to the brink of disaster. 23 leading thinkers – frustrated at the failure of their respective disciplines – break their silence to explain how the world really works.” Fingers crossed they figure out how to fix everything.

The Other Side of Sleep (limited release)
A sleepwalker finds herself in a field next to a dead woman. As her waking and sleeping realities begin to blur she finds herself drawn the the family of the dead woman, all the while feeling as through someone is watching her every move.

Michael – Review

Michael lives a simple life. Michael has a dull office job. Michael has no wife or children. Michael has a mother and sister who he sees infrequently. Michael has a few friends but prefers his own company. Michael has a 10-year-old boy locked in his basement.

Written and directed by first-time filmmaker Markus Schleinzer Michael is a bold debut. Composed of mostly static shots, and in the claustrophobic aspect ratio of 1.66:1, Schleinzer’s camera work is never flashy or intrusive instead happier to sit and observe. This sums up his approach to the film in general as the film never truly offers an opinion of Michael (Michael Fuith) and his captive (Markus Schleinzer) opting instead to present all aspects of Michael’s life in a clinical fashion and leave it up to the audiences natural revulsion to do the rest.

With minimal dialogue and a preference for slow-building scenes the tension is almost unbearable. Just watching kidnapper and kidnappee sit down for dinner in the opening scene, cutlery scraping on plates as they eat in silence, was a stressful experience. Schleinzer never makes us watch the worst of Michael’s abuse, leaving those moments we don’t see in the basement up to us to fight not to imagine.

What we see instead is a lonely man and a trapped child with a relationship not totally dissimilar to that between father and son. Micheal and the boy share some almost tender moments together when decorating a tree or solving a jigsaw puzzle. Briefly you could forget that the boy is there under duress, but you don’t forget for long.

There are a few twists and turns in Michael‘s final act and by the end I had my hand clasped to my mouth; I was so tense I could have screamed. Superbly made and a tough watch Michael is a harrowing film which can make the monstrous seem mundane. Recommended with caution; be sure you know what film you are going to see.

In Darkness – Review

Directed by acclaimed Polish filmmaker Agnieszka Holland In Darkness is set in Nazi occupied Poland as the resident Jews are hounded out of the ghetto of the city of Lvov. Keen to avoid imprisonment or death a group of Jews decide to hide where the Nazis won’t think to look, deep within the sewers of Lvov. Sewer inspector Leopold (Robert Wieckiewicz) seemingly has no loyalties; he is happy to scavenge what he can from the wreckage of the ghetto, yet when he finds the Jews hiding in his sewer Leopold does not immediately hand them in to the Nazis for a reward. Instead Leopold charges the Jews a daily rate for keeping their secret, helping them find their way through the sewers, and to provide food so that they do not starve down amongst the sewage. What starts as a financial arrangement slowly develops into something deeper as Leopold loses loved ones and risks everything he has to keep “his Jews” safe from persecution.

Any film dealing with the holocaust is not going to be a cheery one, and In Darkness with its death and destruction above ground and cowering refugees below is no exception. Above ground the outdoor scenes are shot with a harsh stark light, everything is cold and hard; fallen bodies in the opening scenes are blindingly white and the segregated city is mostly rubble filled with abandoned possessions and children’s toys. Death is everywhere. Below the ground everything is damp and dark, you can almost smell the sewage the persecuted Jews are forced to wade through and live alongside. The only light below the ground comes from torches or candles, a sharp contrast to the bright exposure above. Over time the sewers seem almost cosy in comparison to the atrocity filled world on the surface – you can see why the Jews would prefer to live in filth than amongst Nazis.

In a film with such unrelenting bleakness there is a real need for something positive to keep you engaged and from simply feeling depressed, and this is where Leopold and his Jews comes in. At the film’s start neither is particularly likeable; Leopold is a selfish man out to get what he can and the Jews are a wonderfully diverse bunch of characters with their own mixture of vices and virtues. As their relationship deepens the two sides come to care for and depend on each other. In Darkness is at its core a blossoming love story between a single man and the group of people who depend on him. Once you start to root for everyone involved, and Leopold starts to risk exposure to keep the group safe, you realise that the film has slowly drawn you in and with that you’re hooked.

There’s something all the more convincing about a film with great actors, none of whom you recognise. Brad Pitt will always be Brad Pitt while Robert Wieckiewicz could well have actually been Leopold the sewer inspector for all I know. The actors are uniformly brilliant and their performances all ring true. I was constantly worried that any number of the characters would die at any moment and when the death came I felt each one. In Darkness is a dark film set during a terrible time in our world’s history but the film does have its lighter moments too – there’s a reason the word “uplifting” is writ large on the poster.

In Darkness is a powerful, dark and ultimately beautiful film. It starts off cold and bleak, death all around and no one seeming to want to help anyone else without the promise of financial gain. By the end of the film it was clear that I’d been watching a love story, not one between two individuals, but one between a man and the collection of Jews he was trying to keep safe. A word of caution – the film is well over two hours long and I felt every minute, be prepared for plenty of reading too as this is a holocaust film in the original languages (at least four) used in Poland at the time. In short the film is great but also long and Polish so be careful.

In Darkness is on limited release on 16th March 2012.

Out Now – 9th March 2012

John Carter
Disney try their hand at making Avatar with the story of John Carter, a former soldier who must fight to save a princess on Mars, a planet populated by giant creatures.

The Raven
Fictional account of the final days of Edgar Allen Poe as he investigates a series of murders inspired by his writings. Considering that the synopsis includes the words “the final days”, I imagine things don’t end well for Poe.

Bel Ami
Essentially a fantasy come true for middle-aged Twilight fans as Robert Pattinson plays a young man in Paris rising to power by sleeping with a series of older women.

Cleanskin
Sean Bean plays a “secret service agent faced with the task of pursuing and eliminating a suicide bomber and his terrorist cell”. Liam Neeson must have been busy.

The Decoy Bride (limited release)
David Tennant and Kelly Macdonald lower themselves with a mediocre romantic comedy involving a decoy bride, an accidental marriage and some dodgy accents.

Trishna (limited release)
Imagine Tess of the d’Urbervilles, a tragic tale of love, loss and betrayal (from what I remember of the ITV adaptation), set in India and directed by Michael Winterbottom. I’d be able to tell you what it was like if I was better disciplined and hadn’t gotten distracted by other things all week.

Payback Season (limited release)
“If the payment stops, the football stops…” Possibly the most obscure synopsis I’ve ever read. They lost me at “football”.

Ordet (limited release)
Two hour Danish film from 1955 exploring faith, prayer and miracles. Good luck.

Hard Boiled Sweets (limited release)
“No soft centres.” Looks like the synopsis for Payback Season has been beaten!

A Man’s Story (limited release)
Documentary about fashion designer Ozwald Boateng, whoever that is.

The Bechdel Test

In an interview with TIME, Natalie Portman described the type of women she wants to portray on screen but instead continues to receive an incredible number of offers for roles that mostly fall in either the “virgin” or “whore” category*. So with this in mind and in honour of International Women’s Day, we at Mild Concern decided to put the films we see through The Bechdel Test.

For those who haven’t come across it before, The Bechdel Test is a way of measuring the presence of women in film, whose lives do not revolve around men, and is named after comic artist Alison Bechdel who created the concept.

In order to pass The Bechdel Test, a film must:

1. Have two named female characters…
2. Who talk to each other…
3. About something other than a man/men.

There is far more information about it on TV Tropes. For the sake of argument “talk” means “have a conversation”, i.e. both women have to say something specifically addressing each other.

We will be keeping up a running tally of all the films that we’ve seen and reviewed, in order to assess the current state of things and to check for ourselves whether or not the film industry recognises that women exist as separate entities to men. Or alternatively, to see if we’re making a fuss about nothing. Feel free to argue with us in the comments.

It is important to note that this is not a test of feminism or equality (Sucker Punch passes after all) but more a way of highlighting the inherent biases in the film industry and the lack of diversity in roles for women. For the sake of comparison we have also conducted the Reverse Bechdel Test, which applies the rules to male characters.

This is very much a work in progress and we’ll keep updating this post with reviews from our archives and add the films that we see in the future. Before we get to the films, here’s a summary of the things we have learnt so far:

• Out of 21 films so far assessed, 6 pass the test.
• If you have sisters as main characters in the film, you’re probably going to pass: see Martha Marcy May Marlene, The Descendants, Strawberry Fields, etc.
• If, when you do a search for images of an actress in a film, you can only find stills of her topless, this is probably a bad sign. I’m looking at you Chronicle.
• We are still yet to find a definitive Reverse Fail, although This Means War came very close.

Pass

Fail

Now is Good – Trailer

In no way am I posting this trailer simply because I have failed to watch and review Trishna every night this week so far. Not in the slightest.

[flashvideo file=wp-content/uploads/Now_is_Good_Trailer.flv /]

Now is Good stars Dakota Fanning as Tessa, a teenager diagnosed with leukaemia who is determined to make the most of her remaining life by compiling a list of experiences she doesn’t want to miss out on. This is a film about grief, fear, seizing the day, and falling in love with your attractive neighbour Adam.

If this sounds familiar you’re probably thinking of the Gus Van Sant film from last year called Restless. This starred Mia Wasikowska as a terminally ill girl who falls in love with a nice young man. The main difference appears to be that Now is Good will be 50% less irritating due to its lack of silly hats, Japanese kamikaze pilot ghosts, and young people gate crashing funerals.

Now is Good is also British (hurrah), written by Ol Parker (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel writer), and stars Paddy Considine (brilliant), Olivia Williams (amazing) and Kaya Scodelario (hot*). Bring it on.

Now is Good will arrive in UK cinemas on 25th May.

*Sorry Kat/women everywhere

Robert B. Sherman 1925 – 2012

19th December 1925 – 5th March 2012

“Supercalafajalistickespeealadojus”

At his best:

At his most terrifying:

All New People – Theatre Review

I’ve been putting off reviewing Zach Braff’s debut play All New People for a week now, scared to put into words just how underwhelmed it made me feel. All New People is a single act play set in a beach house in the middle of winter on Long Beach Island, New Jersey. Charlie (Zach Braff) is taking advantage of the isolation in order to commit suicide but is interrupted by an English real estate agent (Eve Myles), a drug dealing fireman (Paul Hilton) and a high-class prostitute (Susannah Fielding).

From this set-up the four characters spend ninety minutes discussing life, the universe, and everything as they try to convince Charlie that life is worth living whilst revealing their own tragic backstories. Each character is given a brief filmed flashback, projected onto the stage, which shows a shocking event from their past. Sadly these felt a little unnecessary as details came out in dialogue later on and seeing recognisable British actors like Amanda Redman doing their best American drawl took me out of the play.

On the whole the acting was without fault, Braff in particular should be commended for not giving himself the spotlight the entire time; he did write the play after all. Instead Braff made the most of his rants and ensured that even when in the background he was subtly drawing attention his way. Eve Myles (of Torchwood fame) was better than I had expected but got off to a rough start as her attempts at “wacky comedy” came off as a little try-hard.

Sadly the play as a whole didn’t really hold together well. The four characters all seemed to have been designed to be as quirky as possible, the backstories we were waiting to discover were of little consequence when they were revealed. Myles’ character in particular had such a bizarre history that felt wholly out of place in the play, and considering the subject matter involved (which I will avoid mentioning) felt a little cheap and crass when mentioned in such a passing manner.

All New People‘s worst crime is being easily forgettable and inconsequential, sorry Zach. All New People is on at the Duke of York’s Theatre until 28th April and tickets are available online but your money would be much better spent buying Garden State on DVD.

Out Now – 2nd March 2012

Wanderlust
Jennifer Aniston and Paul Rudd are a couple struggling with their finances after losing their jobs. Naturally they then join a hippy commune and we can all enjoy the roflcopter this inspires. You’ve got to love topical humour; bloody hippies eh?

This Means War
Tom Hardy and Chris Pine are two CIA operatives fighting for the love of Reese Witherspoon in an action comedy described by Stephen as a “hoot”. This week I am using my pointless photoshopping to highlight the pointless photoshopping on the UK poster for This Means War – they were so lazy they used the same body for both male leads. I’m amazed Witherspoon’s red dress isn’t being worn underneath the same pinstripe suit.

Project X
Three teens try to throw the ultimate house party and it all goes horribly right. Drugs! Drink! Boobs! Flames! Gnome! Dwarf! Music! Pool! Dog abuse! Swearing! An escalating disaster without depth, plot or character!

Hunky Dory
Minnie Driver is a drama teacher in 1976. To inspire her students she puts on a musical production of The Tempest using popular music to tell the story. If it’s not Return to the Forbidden Planet, I’m not watching.

Khodorkovsky (limited release)
I present a brilliantly confusing synopsis from IMDb courtesy of Anonymous, “Khodorkovsky, the richest Russian, challenges President Putin. A fight of the titans begins. Putin warns him. But Khodorkovsky comes back to Russia knowing that he will be imprisoned, once he returns. When I heard about it, I asked myself: why didn’t he stay in exile with a couple of billions? Why did he do that? A personal journey to Khodorkovsky.” Why did he do that?

Carancho (limited release)
Romantic Argentinian drama; a love story between a doctor and an ambulance chasing lawyer.

Michael (limited release)
Any film about the five months in which a paedophile keeps a 10-year-old boy locked in his basement is hard to describe as a must see, but from what I’ve heard this film about the five months in which a paedophile keeps a 10-year-old boy locked in his basement is a must see.

If Not Us, Who? (limited release)
German drama spanning the 1940s and 1960s dealing with lots of heavy political issues. No wonder then that the single plot keyword offered up on IMDb is “Male Frontal Nudity”. God bless IMDb, categorising films in all manner of ways since 1990.

Blank City (limited release)
A documentary of New York City art, music, and film from the late 1970s and 1980s.