Foreign Films

Posted by Michelle Strozykowski

I'm looking forward to Hellboy II immensely. First and foremost there's the magnificent Ron Perlman who plays the titular demon. From the strong but forlorn Vincent in the TV show Beauty and the Beast to the sweet natured circus strong man One in Jean-Pierre Jeunet's City of Lost Children, no-one does the alienated, unappreciated hero thing as well as Ron.

Secondly, director Guillermo Del Toro is fast becoming a real favourite (of mine and everyone else's). Since making the first hugely overlooked Hellboy film, Del Toro has received deserved recognition for his fantasy epic Pan's Labyrinth.

Strangely, considering how much I love Hellboy, I was put off watching this critically acclaimed masterpiece for a long time. I somehow managed to utterly convince myself I would hate it. I think my reticence may have had something to do with the clips I'd seen of Ivana Baquero (Ophelia) crawling through muddy insect infested tunnels.

With this initial reluctance in mind, I decided to have a fresh look at Pan's Labyrinth to see if it does indeed manage to overcome the pre-conceptions many of us hold regarding fantasy films attempts at serious drama. Does it in fact live up to the hype? Find out inPan's Labyrinth Film Review.

Posted by Michelle Strozykowski

This weekend I went to see a fantastic piece of theatre called Contains Violence. It took place amongst the deserted roofs and office buildings of Hammersmith, London. We, the audience, sat on a rooftop terrace, wearing headphones, clutching binoculars and spying on proceedings.

Our narrator, actor Simon Kane, walked around the audience with microphone in hand – Jeremy Kyle style – informing us through our headphones that he would tell us what to pay particular attention to. As the play unfolds, it starts to become apparent that his version of the story might not be the absolute truth. The images and sounds we're presented with, the flashbacks and revelations, make for a confusing web of intrigue. To arrive at at a conclusion about what we've witnessed entails living our very own Jimmy Stewart/Rear Window experience. The disparate strands of story require piecing together like a jigsaw.

This Hitchcock inspired performance encouraged me to re-assess the great man himself. It's generally agreed that Jamaica Inn (1939) marks the end of Hitchcock's British films, although his next film Rebecca (1940) remains intrinsically British in character despite being made in America. This is perhaps because both of these films were adaptations of books by Cornish writer Daphne Du Maurier. Rear Window is far more universal in theme. The film centres on the desire to watch other people, whilst remaining unseen by them. It also allows us to witness a crime, without becoming directly involved. Contains Violence shares the same focus, satisfying the voyeuristic mores of cinephiles and theatre-goers alike.

Recently I have also been writing extensively about Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson. Like Hitchcock, Jackson enjoys making cameo appearances in his own films. Check out Peter Jackson – The Early Years for a few pointers on these brief occurrences.

Posted by Michelle Strozykowski

Mexican director Guillermo Del Toro, a firm favourite of your humble foreign films steward, has been announced as Peter Jackson's choice to direct the two proposed new Hobbit films.

Del Toro's track record of intensely evocative art house fantasy such as Pan's Labyrinth, combined with the comic book style action and thrills of Hellboy make him a perfect choice.

Jackson himself will be developing the screenplay, along with fellow Lord of the Rings writers Fran Walsh and Phillipa Boyens.

For more information about Peter Jackson's meteoric rise to fame, and the exciting new projects he's reported to be involved in such as Halo, please read Peter Jackson - The Early Years and Peter Jackson - New and Recent Films. Both articles will be linked to a comprehensive filmography of this amazing director.

Meanwhile, Del Toro's eagerly awaited Hellboy sequel is set to hit (UK) cinema screens in August. See a preview of Hellboy II – The Golden Army here.

Posted by Michelle Strozykowski

Anthony Minghella passed away on March 18th 2008, suffering a fatal haemorrhage after surgery on his neck due to cancer. The greatly admired director of Cold Mountain, The English Patient and The Talented Mr Ripley was 54.

Anthony was held in great esteem, not just as a great director but as a warm, generous, lovely man. Atonement director Joe Wright spoke with consumate fondness about his Godfatherly guidance in the Observer newspaper tribute to Minghella (23/3/08).

“He made me consider very carefully everything I was doing. He'd make me articulate the choices I was making in the script and clarify them. He had tremendous generosity of spirit...”

My personal favourite film of Minghella's was the heart wrenching Truly Madly Deeply. Although this feature debut was made for TV, the standard Minghella achieved with his brilliant writing and directing earned the film a proper cinematic release. A virtually unheard of turn of events.

I was greatly saddened to hear of his death.

Posted by Michelle Strozykowski

Spring is set to bring a number of interesting films to the screen. I'm particularly looking forward to Garth Jenning's Son of Rambow, a film set in the1980s about two young boys who watch a pirate video of Rambo, inspiring them to make their own film, Son of Rambow.

Release date: April 4th (UK).

Mike Leigh's Happy Go Lucky is picking up plenty of awards, especially for lead actress Sally Hawkins. Happy Go Lucky is about a cheerfully optimistic London school teacher who lives life to the full. It was recently previewed on the Film Four channel, and it looks great. Mike Leigh spoke candidly about making the film which, as always, relied on an improvised script. (Much as the French New Wave directors did back in the 50s). He said that having got to know Sally Hawkins while working with her on Vera Drake and All or Nothing, he felt it was time to give her centre stage. Happy Go Lucky also stars the brilliant up and coming young actress Andrea Riseborough, seen recently on British TV Screens in the fabulous Being Human and Party Animals.

Release date: April 18th (UK)

Guillermo Del Toro is up to his old tricks with the spooky looking Spanish horror film The Orphanage. Del Toro is the big name producer behind new director Juan Antonio Bayona. Despite Del Toro's non-directorial role, the film still closely follows his trademark mix of psychological tension and supernatural fantasy. The posters alone are enough to awaken long forgotten nightmares.

Release date: 21st March (UK).

Posted by Michelle Strozykowski

Living in a relatively small town has advantages and disadvantages. On the plus side, it's much cheaper than city living, but on the minus side getting to see the latest movies can be a problem. No Country for Old Men wasn't deemed worthy of a release here, despite its Oscar winning status, and although the local cinema does try to offer a choice, the vast majority of films inevitably tend towards the mainstream, teenage market. When they do get hold of a foreign film or a classic, it's usually only shown once. That's why I made sure I went to see La Vie En Rose, for its singular screening last Wednesday.

One of the best things about the one off Wednesday specials is that they get shown on the posh screen, which has a bar. Obviously the foreign film crowd are thought of as a well behaved bunch, who can be trusted to take beer into the cinema. It's all very civilised. Unfortunately, the normal disregard for small town audiences was in place, leading to my cinema being supplied with the very worst print available. La Vie En Rose was still watchable, but it was in no way enhanced by the presence of a nasty green line running down the screen. Worst of all, the climax to the film was beset by sound problems, giving the impression that Edith Piaf was duetting with a chicken.

Still, shouldn't complain, at least I got to see the film. Even better, on the way out everyone was handed a free ticket, by way of apology. Now I bet that never happens at the Odeon, Leicester Square!

Posted by Michelle Strozykowski

Hello and welcome to the foreign films blog. Feel free to get involved, contribute to the discussion forum or comment on articles - your feedback and opinions are very welcome, so please don't hesitate to contact me.

Awards Season Comes to a Close

This week I've been pondering the outcomes of the annual awardathon love-ins. Many fine foreign films and actors have been rewarded this year, with particularly notable appearances from Daniel Day Lewis, Marion Cotillard and Tilda Swinton. The French actress Marion Cotillard pretty much swept the board, picking up a whole clutch of awards including an Oscar, a Bafta, a Cesar, and a Golden Globe for her portrayal of Edith Piaf in La Vie En Rose. I have to admit, I would never have predicted such a brilliant turn from Cotillard, even though I loved her in Luc Besson's 1998 French action/comedy Taxi.

British actor Daniel Day Lewis gave a moving speech at the SAG awards, dedicating the award for his performance in There Will Be Blood to Heath Ledger. Day Lewis then went on to garner best actor gongs at the Baftas, the Oscars and the Golden Globes. London born actress Tilda Swinton also achieved the triplicate of Bafta, Oscar and Golden Globe for her supporting role in Michael Clayton.

The awards ceremonies have introduced several strong contenders in the foreign films field. Hopefully, they'll begin filtering out to cinemas around the globe at various points this year, so we can all get to see them. The Counterfeiters picked up the Best Foreign Film Oscar, Pan's Labyrinth won BBC4's World Cinema Awards, The Lives of Others got the Bafta and The Elite Squad picked up the Golden Bear at Berlinale. More on these as and when they all become available to view in Britain.