FILMS .... with Tim Milfull
Boy (M)
Director: Taika Waititi
Stars: James Rolleston, Taika Waititi, Te Aho Aho Eketone-Whitu, Ricky Lee Waipuka-Russell
Rating: 4/5
88-minutes, now screening
Nearly a decade ago, New Zealand actor Taika Waititi wrote and directed his second short film, the Oscar-nominated Two Cars, One Night which had a pretty simple premise: two kids are left to wait outside the local pub one night while their parents tie one on inside.
The film went on to win awards across Europe and the USA, and Waititi wrote and directed a few episodes of Flight of the Conchords, and the deceptively funny Eagle vs Shark. Earlier this year, Waititi revisited the story from Two Cars, One Night, fleshing it out into a feature, and highlighting the performances of some very talented actors.
The eponymous Boy (James Rolleston) is a cheerful eleven-year-old living with a clan of brothers and sisters with their grandmother in a little beachside hamlet on the North Island of New Zealand. Boy delights in inventing stories, alternately tormenting and adoring his younger brother, Rocky (Te Aho Aho Eketone-Whitu), nursing a flame for the voluptuous – and ruthlessly indifferent – Chardonnay (RickyLee Waipuka-Russell), and fantasising about the latest adventure of his absent father, Alamein (Taika Waititi).
When Grandma is called away to look after a sick relative, the kids are left to tend for themselves, and Alamein and his mates return to the house after a stint in jail. While his dad is little more than an adult child whose mood swings are unpredictable and unnerving, Boy relishes the chance to reconnect with the hero of his dreams.
But Alamein has ulterior motives and, surprisingly, young Rocky is the only one who can really see through all the false bonhomie.
Apparently Waititi’s film is one of the most successful films in New Zealand box office history, and for good reason – this is beautiful, affectionate, and occasionally dark film-making that features some extraordinary performances from Rolleston, Waititi and Eketone-Whitu.
A real seat-gripper on debut
The Disappearance of Alice Creed (TBA)
Director: J Blakeson
Stars: Mmartin Compston, Eddie Marsan, Gemma Atherton
Rating: 4/5
98-minutes, now screening
I first remember seeing Martin Compston in Ken Loach’s Sweet Sixteen, a typically gritty Scottish film about a teenager struggling to keep his head above water in a home plagued by drugs and domestic violence.
In The Disappearance of Alice Creed, Compston is eight years older, playing the nervous Danny, and once again seemingly out of his depth. In a very effective 10-minute opening montage – completely free of dialogue – we see Danny and his mate, Vic (Eddie Marsan) preparing for, and enacting a kidnapping. Their victim is Alice (Gemma Atherton of Tess of the D’Urbervilles and Lost in Austen fame), and the ransom for her release set in the millions of pounds.
I’ll avoid revealing too many details about the remainder of the film, as there are several dramatic and very effective twists throughout; suffice to say that all is not what it may seem. Vic is a methodical, intelligent, and occasionally frightening operator who has Danny completely in his thrall, while Alice is much tougher than her kidnappers might have expected.
Normally relegated to the background in supporting roles, Eddie Marsan has a chance to stretch his legs here as Vic, and the result is shocking – the man has a palpable screen presence that has me looking forward to more lead performances from the actor.
This debut feature from writer-director J Blakeson is an exciting sign of a new talent, especially given his excellent direction of cinematographer, Philipp Blaubach and editor Mark Eckersley. The Disappearance of Alice Creed will have you gripping your seat for nearly all of its ninety-eight minutes.
THE BINGE
A dead-set Zombie alert!
Hopscotch Films is releasing two films about the undead in September, and both have their merits. La Horde (pictured above) – from first-time directors, Yannick Dahan and Benjamin Rocher – is an unusual story about vengeance and survival, set in the suburbs of Paris.
Character names are really not that important here ... a rogue squad of detectives set out to avenge the assassination of their colleague, and while they take on the well-armed dealers, the world outside collapses into undead chaos. Cue the lurching and the flesh-tearing and screaming, and one of the most unnerving last stands I’ve ever seen.
Zombies of Mass Destruction from writer-director, Kevin Hamedani is a little more tongue-in-cheek, featuring some clever social commentary about bigotry directed at gay and Muslim characters, and
the perils of living in a small village on an island in the middle of a lake. Featuring a lot of silliness, and some pretty frightening sequences, ZMD is well worth a look. Also worth checking out is Breck Eisner’s remake of The Crazies, originally helmed in 1973 by undead guru, George A. Romero, who has an executive producer credit on the new version of the story about a mid-western town overtaken by a nerve gas that turns its victims into psychopathic murderers.
Deadwood star, Timothy Olyphant plays the local sheriff forced to rescue his pregnant wife (Radha Mitchell) from the nameless authorities cleansing the town of lunatics. This one had me squirming in terror several times.
Finally, if you’re looking for something a little less stressful, Jean Dujardin returns to the screen as French super agent OSS-117 in Lost in Rio, a ridiculous sequel to OSS-117: Cairo – Nest of Spies.
The deadpan doofus spy has been charged with apprehending a Nazi on the run in Brazil, and the Latin shenanigans are often very bloody funny.
