Rust and Bone (2012, Jacques Audiard)

As uneven as it is unconventional, this love story of two damaged souls finding strength in one another feels like new ground for its director, despite its retreading of past themes.

After delivering his finest film to date with A Prophet - a sprawling and transcendent crime-thriller that won the Grand Prix at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival - expectations were set higher than usual for Jacques Audiard to deliver another tremendous piece of cinema, something he's yet to fail in doing. Following the relationship between a nomadic kickboxing single father (Matthias Schoenaerts) and a recently paralysed Killer Whale trainer (Marion Cotillard), Rust and Bone is a mixed bag of results that remains genuine throughout, never failing to evoke the overwhelming emotions needed to drive the story along.

Alain (Schoenaerts) is a typical protagonist for Audiard; introduced feeding himself and his young son scraps from the tables of others while occupying a train, the two are between homes, Alain between jobs. He finds pay working nights as security guard and eventually through his background in fighting gets drawn into the world of illegal fighting gigs. Sleeping on his sister's sofa he has one foot in a repetitive ( yet legit) societal construct yet the other in the underworld. His eventual meeting with Stéphanie (Cotillard), a woman now wheelchair-bound after a recent accident with the very animal she lived to train,  soon becomes a fascinating relationship of empowerment and frustration.

Audiard and co-writer Thomas Bidegain use this fateful meeting to usher the dynamic of two contrasting personalities as they find solace and pain in one another. The power is often in the court of Alain, whose obliviousness and emotional aloofness  gives him an invincibility of sorts while the more 'aware' of the two, Stéphanie, at first finds strength in her lovers indifferent attitude towards her disability before growing to resent it as her love out matures his. This switching dynamic never fails to spark intrigue in its wavering nature and ambiguity, most notably in Stéphanie's almost fetishistic feeding off Alain's fighting physicality as a surrogate for her own loss, an interesting notion merely hinted at.

For all the raw emotional ferocity and catharsis so wonderfully displayed it can't be helped but feel that Audiard took on more than he could handle. His cinema has always walked a thin line (like his central males so often do) between the anthropological approach of the Dardenne brothers and the explosive visceral machismo of Martin Scorsese. Here, for the first time since 2001's Read My Lips (a film thematically echoed here) have the results been so uneven, with too many aspects being juggled and left ultimately in the air. At points the film doesn't seem sure what direction to take, most evident in a unnecessary plot involving Alain's participation in illegal hidden surveillance in the work place. At this point the film ventures into societal ethics and of economic repercussions that although marls a shift in narrative feels awkwardly contrived next to the stark realism of the piece so far.

Rust and Bone is from start to finish an example of great filmmaking without being a great film in itself, and within it are many great stories that end up unrealised. Despite a sense of confusion at its core, the film's central relationship between Alain and Stéphanie acts as anchor to a film destined to trail off. The performances are spectacular throughout; Schoenaerts excels in making the oblivious brute of Alain an endearing character capable of growing personably as well as in stature. Marion Cotillard reminds just how talented she is after a recent strand of disappointing performances in the US. In her native tongue she is unrivalled as a performer, it just seems that many American directors can't bring out what is so clearly there for the taking. Audiard also shows growth as a director, with this being his most visually developed film to date and one which seems to embrace visual storytelling and musical possibilities more than any of his other films. Alexandre Desplat's score is used with more gusto than before and an unforgettable use of Katy Perry's 'Firework' marks a more adventurous and unconscious choice from one of world cinema's most exciting auteurs.

The Dark Knight Rises (2012, Christopher Nolan)

It's easy to forget just how daring and ambitious Christopher Nolan's recent Batman saga is; partly due to the much documented financial success of the first two instalments and the Oscar-winning turn of the late Heath Ledger as The Joker. Batman Begins and The Dark Knight were both welcomed with open arms by audiences who marvelled at the transcendent nature of these superhero films, with The Joker becoming a staple of modern pop culture and Nolan rising the bar of the blockbuster to previously unseen heights.

Perhaps it's easy to forget how much hung in the balance when Nolan first defied what was 'acceptable' for a super hero film due to just how successful they were. For a genre primarily targeted at a young demographic and one that despite some darker moments remained fun with more than a hint of camp, Nolan transformed a genre and future audience expectations overnight. With a gritty realist approach, complex and non-linear storytelling methods, attention to character, and just enough gadgetry and humour to get away with it, Nolan placed Batman in a world not unlike the crime epics of Martin Scorsese or Michael Mann, managing to create a world where a man dressed as a bat blended in seamlessly, a tall challenge if there ever was one and a challenge succeeded.

This closing chapter to The Dark Knight Trilogy is the most ambitious one in the series and while Nolan's intentions should never be deemed anything less than righteous it certainly makes for the most problematic film in the series. The Dark Knight Rises brings its epic story to a suitable and rewarding end making its 164minute run time worth the effort. However, the film does buckle under the sheer weight of its expansiveness and while never dragging, makes for a rather bloated film full of inconstancy and bumbling weaknesses.

8 years after the bleak closure of The Dark Knight we pick up with Gotham City in a time of peace. Batman has been inactive for all this time after taking the fall for Harvey Dent's crimes and Bruce Wayne still grief stricken from the death of Rachel Dawes haunts the empty rooms of the recently resurrected Wayne Manor like a Howard Hughes or Charles Foster Kane. With a limp and a stick he has shut himself off from all social contact save for his loyal loving butler Alfred (Michael Caine). As we're introduced to this self loathing and depression soaked former hero it's clear not just from the film's title that the only way for Bruce Wayne is up, he just needs a good reason to rise to the occasion. Enter Bane.

Like the opening bank heist which introduced us to The Joker, TDKR treats us to another elaborate heist sequence showing off the intimidating skill of its villain Bane (Tom Hardy). This time the action takes place in the air as Bane and his men place themselves in an arresting position to transport a nuclear physicist from one plane to another while taking down the trained men guarding him. The sequence, though less thrilling than The Joker's heist, is more than impressive with Nolan accomplishing as much of the action in camera as possible and at such dazzling heights. If any of this aerial sequence required heavy use of post-special effects it's certainly impossible to tell, the action feels as if it's happening for real, hardly commonplace within a blockbuster but Nolan has always taken much pride from his cinematic craft and old school sensibility.

The old gang of characters are back with Police Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman), Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), as well as Alfred, but the film has many more players to introduce as well as its main villain. Joseph Gordon Levitt plays rookie idealist cop Blake whose own past draws tragic comparison's to Mr. Wayne's, Marion Cotillard is Miranda Tate - an environmentally interested business woman looking for funding from Wayne Enterprises, and Anne Hathaway is Selina Kyle - a talented thief who looks to liaise with Bane to turn the tables on Gotham's rich elite.

The Dark Knight naturally channelled post-9/11 fears into its story of nihilistic anarchy and TDKR takes this further with Bane now acting as terrorist leader, but in wake of the Wall Street protests and current economic climate the film becomes firmly interested in financial segregation. If Batman Begins owed somewhat to Blade Runner (1982), and TDK to Heat (1995), the only natural comparison to TDKR would be the work of Charles Dickens, in similar way to HBO's The Wire. As Bane's plans to level the stock market go ahead his henchman are planted within the targeted building as cleaners mopping the floors with Bane himself arriving as a motor bike carrier. Selina Kyle's introduction sees her as a planted waitress for a function held at Wayne Manor, with some 'upstairs downstairs' goings on shown through the high life of the party feasting on champagne to the depths of the kitchen as the workers slave away for them, the thematic intentions of the film (as well as Bane's) are made clear early on. If successful, Bane's scheme will level the rich and the disadvantaged will inherit the Earth.

The decision to go with Bane as Batman's nemesis was a wise move as until now the hero had only been outsmarted or simply outnumbered, having an adversary surpass Batman's intellect and psychical prowess makes Bane a truly intimidating force. In one key scene both face each other for the first time, unsurprisingly Bane dominates but the bludgeoning absorbed by Batman is shocking and filmed with  a stark simplicity highlighting Bane's brutal and unpretentious fighting methods. He hits hard but never more than needed and his attack is both severe but precise. As choice of villain Bane is perfect but there  are complications from his character; the brooding giant wears a mask throughout which at times muffles his words making certain low noted dialogue impossible to decipher, when speaking in higher tones his delivery has more clarity. The mask is an unquestionable characteristic due to the character's story in the comics ad graphic novels but TDKR never really explains the importance of this device other than it keeps him from feeling pain. More details are revealed later but after two hours without a good reason of why we can't hear the central villain clearly makes for a rather exasperating experience that one must call into question. Tom Hardy also feels sadly interchangeable in a role almost entirely masked throughout save for quick flashbacks, Bane is a psychical role but one that feels unworthy of Hardy's talents by the end as he's almost just a name on the poster.

The new additions to the cast are mostly impressive with Joseph Gordon Levitt on fine form as Blake, and Marion Cotillard as Miranda - a role at first vacuous but redeems by the end bringing important emotional resonance. But the film's highlight is Anne Hathaway's Selina Kyle who's role alludes to a Catwoman of sorts. As well as physically impressing as the demure yet deadly diva she also has some of the film's best lines and plays dramatics and light comedy without a single misstep.

Unfortunately despite these new characters being of upmost importance to the story and performed majorly well, these additions makes for a lot of elbowing between the new and the old. There just isn't room for everyone here with each character having their time to be awkwardly absent from the film at one point or another. Gary Oldman's understated Gordon has  always impressed until now but barely gets a chance to shine, also Lucius Fox was always the Q to Wayne's Bond but the humour of their camaraderie is cut back with Fox being of no importance or enjoyment as a dramatic devise. The film's major flaw that is only heightened by or caused by the over the overpopulated cast is that it never hits a comfortable stride until the final hour. Of the three films TDKR is the only one that fails to flow at a complacent speed, often feeling clunky as it develops. Despite levelling out somewhat in the final stretch it only exchanges places with deadly plot holes of simple logistics and logic - plot holes I won't venture into for my refusal to enter spoilers.

There are plenty of fault on display in TDKR with gaping holes in plotting and unnecessary scenes in place of important ones omitted. It saddens me to speak at such length about the film's shortcomings but they are too obvious to ignore, the fact that this is undoubtably the weakest film in the trilogy only highlights just how impressive the first two instalments are because TDKR, for all its faults, is a spectacular achievement regardless of its predecessor's status. The decision to bring the drama back to Bruce Wayne for the most part and to ties it back in with the first film expresses an emotional resonance lacking in TDK, Christian Bale impresses more this time than ever before in the series. Despite females being his achilles heel, Nolan and his co-scripting brother Jonathan have crafted a truly memorable character in Selena Kyle, for better or for worse remaining the highpoint of this unsuppressed final film.  The brothers Nolan also bring about closure in the most fulfilling of ways, making it all worth it in the end.

There's no doubt that this final episode of Batman's story will gain somewhat from repeat viewings, but there's little doubt that its fumbling moments will dissipate along with them. TDKR isn't a disappointing finale as it succeeds in the most important area of bringing rewarding closure, though this time Christopher Nolan's ambition is as problematic as it is rewarding.

Contagion (2011, Steven Soderbergh)

In Contagion, the popular disaster movie genre is brought back in an unashamedly unpretentious fashion by director Steven Soderbergh. Armed as usual with an army of A-list names, Soderbergh's B-movie reinvigorates rather than reinvents the tried and tested story of a worldwide epidemic. Its message is a simple one and one we've heard before, but the film succeeds by taking its time and never forgetting (even for a moment) what it sets out to do - making it a low-grabbing success. But is this enough? 


Starting the proceedings is Gwyneth Paltrow talking to, presumably, an ex-boyfriend on her mobile at an airport. She doesn't look her usual stunning self and soon enough we'll find out why. "Day 2" appears on the screen and before long we're following other random people around the world who are clearly disintegrating. The constant barrage of shots showing the germs spreading from person to person is a horrific reminder of how linked we all are, and the unknowing contact we maintain with each other everyday. As the days go on this mystery illness spreads at an alarming rate and it's not long before panic starts manifesting within the general public. This is where Contagion harbours most of its strength; an hour into the film, as the fear starts to grow, the fear mirrors the disease in the extreme rate it multiplies and changes its host for the worst. As the government control the release of information and advice to manipulate the world's emotions, fear becomes not only a weapon and a tool, but a spreading virus. 

These points of insight don't sound very deep, frankly they're not at all, nor is the film trying to act on a higher plain of IQ. Contagion's simplicity however isn't where its weaknesses lie; for a film that boasts an ever ending list of talented performers, it just doesn't have anything for them to do. As the multiple narratives plod on and never once converge, by the end these various stories have barely moved on or had the slightest breath of life pumped through them. 


Soderbergh regular Matt Damon gets the best deal of the bunch as a father who's lost his wife and step son, he and his remaining daughter do their best to survive and do it rather well, the risk is never high enough to care. Marion Cotillard doesn't have much to say or do whilst on screen, but then her epidemiologist character disappears for a painful amount of time following a rather weak kidnapping plot. Kate Winslet suffers the same fate as the others, we don't get to know them so we don't invest, the characters in Contagion are interchangeable to a point. 


The one character who does gets enough time to shine is Jude Law, who although having the most annoying character in the film at least has a personality to feel something for. His battle with the government and health department over their cerebral controlling of information is about as interesting as it gets, with the internet being shown as the future weapon of revealing corruption in high echelons. The internet is a powerful weapon to the common man, but can still be used for better or for worse.

The soundtrack provided by Cliff Martinez provides the perfect apocalyptic soundscape needed whilst giving Soderbergh enough snare to show off his precision editing, and the direction is as economic and unfussy as we've come to expect from such a prolific filmmaker.


Contagion has a simple and direct message that could have ended up feeling more like a public health announcement, but it manages to deliver this well, if at a cost. The script is so bland that even the Hollywood dream team can't raise it up a notch, and while we can forgive it for not saying anything new or profoundly interesting, some thrills would have been nice despite the relatively refreshing show of restraint.

Midnight in Paris (Woody Allen, 2011)

Midnight in Paris is Woody Allen's 41st film, the 75 year old writer/director who manages to release a film each year even to this day still proves he has much to say about human relationships and the way we perceive the world.

Midnight takes on the idea of the 'golden age', a nostalgia we have for the past that seems so much more tantalising and fruitful than the 'decaying' present. It isn't even a debatable subject, we are all guilty of these thoughts, the notion that the past was full of so much integrity and offered so much whereas the time we live in now is diminished in comparison. This film shines a light on the dangerous relationship we can have with glorifying the past beyond the point of safety where it becomes denial.

Owen Wilson leads the show here as Hollywood screenwriter Gil, a man who once visited Paris years ago, fell in love with it but regretfully left it all the same. He is engaged to Inez (Rachel McAdams) and both have tagged along to Paris with Inez's parents as her father is close to securing an important business deal. No one in the film except Gil appreciates Paris for all its beauty and for the history it holds, the rest of the American characters seem to sleepwalk through the cultural offerings of Paris and try to live out their day to day lives best they can as they would have in California. Even the family friend of Paul (played brilliantly by Michael Sheen) who is intellectually brilliant and understands Paris in terms of art and history is pompous, egotistic and as the film puts it pedantic.

Gil has been a successful Hollywood screenwriter for some time but feels unfulfilled artistically through his work only now realising he has neglected a life in literature for too long. Gil feels out of place in the modern world and feels his life missed the boat, that he should have lived during the roaring 20s, an exciting time for American literature that Paris produced so much of. So Gil continues work on his novel (he won't let Inez or anyone read it) and along the way in a fantastic adventure meets some figures of the past who help him find his place in the world and as an artist.

After too much time spent with Paul, Gil decides to leave the rest of the party to it and goes for a walk through the city at night. After much wine and forgetting his way back to the hotel he sits on a step to rest, a clock tower strikes midnight and up pulls a vintage car full of people shouting for Gil to get in and join them, after not much of a struggle Gil gives in and off he goes. He arrives at a party and is soon introduced to both Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald, Gil is taken aback by their names and at first puts it down to a bizarre coincidence but soon realises he's actually talking to the Fitzgeralds. As the night goes on they move location and introduce Gil to one of their friends, Hemingway. This is but one of many trips to 1920s Paris that Gil takes after he leaves his fiance and her family to meet his carriage to the past each night. Gil ends up at the centre of a group of important innovators such as Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso, and Gertrude Stein through them he meets the wonderful Adriana (Marion Cotillard) the mistress of Picasso and who like Gil longs for the past. Through his love for Adrianna he learns of his own mistakes and the illusions of happiness he has created for himself while being helped with his art by the very people who have influenced him from a previous life.

It is in these 1920s scenes that offer the most kicks; seeing F. Scott Fitzgerald say "old sport" just like his infamous Jay Gatsby, seeing the war torn persona of Ernest Hemingway jealous and bitter despite his own greatness. He refuses to read Gil's manuscript because he'll despise whether its awful or brilliant because "writers are competitive". This aspect of Hemingway is well played because famously Hemingway was the mentor of Fitzgerald who grew bitter as his protege received great success which shadowed his own. Seeing Gil meet the great Spanish director Luis Bunuel and giving him the idea for his surrealist satire on the upper class The Exterminating Angel is also hilarious as the idea baffles a young Bunuel who asks over and over "but why can't they leave the room".

(Gil meets a drunk Hemingway)

Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris is as magical as cinema gets and it's no wonder it has received so well. It is one of his lightest films but as with so much of his work gives much to take home afterwards. It has the audacious fantasy elements featured in The Purple Rose of Cairo and to some extent Deconstructing Harry but offers none of the hard hitting moments those films induce. Midnight offers a message of seize the day; to live for your passions that make each day worth living. Nostalgia can be dangerous when taken too far but is a consistent part of human nature. This film shows us how happiness lies where you are not when you are, to situate yourself where you are most connected and to place yourselves around those that understand you. When we meet Gil his life is suffocating him, his 'loved' ones don't understand what makes him happy and they don't much care. Gil hasn't a clue of this either, he longs for the past but fails to realise he's in the right time just in the wrong job, in the wrong country, and with the wrong woman. As the film goes on Gil learns that the present isn't a shadow of the former golden years as long as you share your present with someone who lights it up and makes it golden for you.