TERMINAL: NEON NOIR

Film directors seem to find themselves making the choice of offering flash over substance in films these days. There have been a large number of films lately that offer a decent story but seem more concerned with the look of the film than anything else. GHOST IN THE SHELL is one and ATOMIC BLONDE felt like another. Both were entertaining enough but seemed more intent on the appearance of the sets and feel of the film than the story. TERMINAL feels that way most of the time but ends with a bang.

The film opens in a dark city much like what film fans will recall from Sin City and its sequel. The streets are grimy, the sky feels thick and the only illumination comes from the various multi-colored neon signs that rise alongside the buildings. We see someone going into a confessional which turns out to be a front for a crime boss. She makes him an offer, if she can take out her competition before the end of the night he will give her all his killing contracts. He agrees and off we go.

The first character we actually see is a man waiting on a train in a station. His wait is interrupted by the station night manager (Mike Myers) doing his cleaning rounds who tells him it will be a while till the next train and suggest he go to the diner to wait which he does.

Accosted by two punks with an unarmed pistol he talks them out of robbing him and continues to the diner. There he’s greeted by a waitress named Annie (Margot Robbie). As the pair converse after he lets his coffee go cold we find out that he is a terminally ill teacher named Bill (Simon Pegg). The pair begin a conversation runs back and forth at breakneck speed until Annie begins talking to him about committing suicide.

Cut to our second coinciding story. A pair of hitmen Vince (Dexter Fletcher) and Alfred (Max Irons) are waiting for word from Mr. Franklyn about an assignment he has for them. They’re doing so at the same diner Bill was in though at a different point in time. Vince, the leader of the two, is abrasive and crude while Alfred thinks of himself as a more subtle person. Both react to Annie quite differently. Word finally reaches them with instructions to go to a club, The Rabbit Hole. Once there they discover that Annie also works there as a stripper and follow her into another room to receive the directions they’ve been waiting for.

The story moves back and forth between these two with plenty of great visuals on hand and solid performances by all on hand are on display. What seems to be lacking at first is a cohesive plot to follow. It feels disjointed at best and far too art film minded at worst. I’d almost given up on the film when about halfway through things started to change. By the end I was glad I stayed with it. It brought things together and provided a very satisfying end that took me off guard.

The film is no doubt being promoted with images of Robbie after two roles that have garnered her much attention, that of Harley Quinn in SUICIDE SQUAD and as Tonya Harding in I TONYA. Both offered flawed characters with the first being completely mad and the second scarred mentally by her upbringing. With this film offering her a quirky character as well I’m hoping she backs off this sort in the future before finding herself in a rut.

Pegg has always been a favorite of mine since the films he made with Edgar Wright. He delivers here again with a character plagues with a nicotine cough and dying who’s trying to decide just what to do next. The back and forth wordplay exchanges he has with Robbie are well done and enjoyable, even at the points where you wonder to yourself what exactly is going on.

Fletcher and Irons left little impression on me. Both feel like cardboard cutouts with little depth to either and no background story to make them interesting. They’re here to move the story forward but little more. There is a reason for them but it felt limited. The same holds true for the station manager that Myers plays but something here is different than with the two hitmen.

In the end I can say that visually the film was wonderful to look at and I’m not just talking about Robbie. The feel and as I said in the title of this piece, the feeling of a neon noir makes it as much a character as those doing the acting. The acting is straight forward and the plot twist at the end is enough to please most film fans. It’s different and definitely not for everyone but if you’re willing to give it a try and stick with it you might enjoy it.

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THE VIRGIN SPRING: CAN ART BE MADE FROM TRAGEDY?

Years ago when I first saw THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT I’d read that it was loosely based on the 1960 Ingmar Bergman film THE VIRGIN SPRING. For one reason or another I’d never been able to see that movie though so just how loosely I never knew. That was one of the sad things about there being no video at one time and later that video stores didn’t carry many films considered “art films” in small towns. So when I saw Criterion was releasing the film I was anxious to finely have the opportunity to see it.

The movie features Max Von Sydow as Christian Per Töre, a landowner in medieval Sweden who has converted to Christianity with his wife Märeta (Birgitta Valberg). They have a young daughter named Karin who we see early on is indulged being the apple of her father’s eye. Living in the same house is Ingeri (Gunnel Lindblom), a peasant serf of the family who resents them and has a reputation that has left her pregnant.

With a holy day coming Karin is assigned the task of taking candles to the nearby church. Anxious to go she dresses in her finest clothes and asks that Ingeri accompany her. With hate in her eyes Ingeri goes along until they reach a stream before entering the nearby forest. Afraid for some reason she remains behind with the man who owns mill at the stream. When he attempts to assault her she runs after the long gone Karin.

As she makes her way through the forest Karin comes across three herdsmen, brothers, and offers to share her lunch with them. They lead her to a field and as lunch progresses she senses danger from the three. Before she can escape them they’re on her and rape her. When she tries to run afterward, one clubs her to death. As this all happens Ingeri watches from the wood, never helping. The men steal the fine clothes Karin was wearing and leave her behind in the woods.

Back at the homestead Christian and his wife worry about their young daughter when she doesn’t return, but not overly so. She’s stayed in town before. As it grows dark the three herdsmen show at the house completely unaware that this is the home of Karin. They’re invited in and provided a meal and shelter with the potential of work. During the night however Märeta finds her daughter’s clothing among their things. Ingeri returns and tells them what happened. Events are set in motion from that point that will forever change them all.

Most people will have already known the story of this film with it being over 50 years old now but I decided not to reveal the final portion of the film. That’s difficult to do because some of the most striking images are contained there. If you watch the film on the Criterion edition you’ll see what I mean and also hear in the extras some of the things I can’t quite refer to here.

The story is stark and brutal but there’s no other way to depict what occurs. That this much was shown (though no real skin makes it to the screen) in 1960 is stunning in itself. But the brutal act of rape is on display and the murder after while quick is also heightened by the way the body is ransacked and left totally exposed to the world. It’s upsetting and yet at the same time not nearly as much so as later films depicting the same act have been. LAST HOUSE that I referenced earlier or even the rape in DEATH WISH are much more upsetting. But the naïve attitude of Karin and her soft beauty make it an unbearable act in this film. What comes later at the hands of a grieving father is equally disturbing and yet done in such a manner as to truly be considered artistic.

The movie in its entirety itself is gorgeous. Cinematographer Sven Nykvist did an amazing job with the stark black and white photography shown here. This was the first film he did with Bergman and they collaborated on many more after. The clarity of the Criterion version here is amazing. As an example a scene early on of Ingeri that’s backlit shows the fine strands of stray hair completely visible in the picture. And being shot in black and white actually helps the movie rather than hinder it.

To be honest this is the first film by Bergman I’ve had the opportunity to watch. The only reason I can explain for that as someone who loves all things film is that I’ve never had access to any of his films, even taking classes in film. I’d always heard his films were somber affairs and judging from this one I couldn’t argue that. I’d need to see more to believe or deny that. When he began making films of a more serious nature Woody Allen said that Bergman was a big influence on him. I can see that in some sense but again, without seeing more wouldn’t begin to say that’s correct or not.

Criterion has offered the film here with the respect that it deserves beginning with a 2k digital restoration of the film that as I said earlier is amazing. In addition to that they’ve included several extras worthy of mention. Those include an audio commentary by Bergman scholar Birgitta Steene, an introduction by Ang Lee from 2005 describing the influence the film had on him, an audio recording of a 1975 American Film Institute seminar by Bergman, an alternate English dubbed soundtrack for those who don’t favor subtitles and a booklet featuring essays by film scholar Peter Cowie and screenwriter Ulla Isaksson and the medieval ballad on which the film is based.

Criterion has done a bang up job on this release and it’s nice knowing that such a copy exists for those who wish to explore the movie and the films of Bergman. This will be edition that fans will want to add to their collection. Film students would bode well to pick this up too. And movie lovers might want to give this a watch to discover Bergman.

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THE ENDLESS: WHAT’S OUT THERE?

It’s not often that a movie can tell an original story. Most movies are derivatives of one story or another or the usual themes found in most genres. But once in a while a movie comes along that offers something different. THE ENDLESS is one of those movies.

Brothers Justin (Justin Benson) and Aaron Smith (Aaron Moorhead) are escapees from what Justin described as a death cult ten years ago. Doing their best to get by and barely making ends meet they continue to see a counselor about deprogramming. Tapes continue to make their way to the brother’s home and the latest one Aaron watches shows a girl he had a crush on, Anna (Callie Hernandez) telling them goodbye. Justin sees this as the final death toll, that the group is going to commit suicide together. Aaron just wants to go back one more time to find out what’s happening. Justin, hoping to get closure for his brother agrees.

The pair arrive and find the people they left behind happy, content and pretty much looking exactly like they did ten years prior. Aaron, too young to remember doesn’t see it but Justin does. The group doesn’t treat them like outcasts and invites them to stay overnight to see how things are going. Each person in the group has their own thing that separates them from the others. Aaron begins to wonder if this was such a bad place after all.

Around the campfire that night the group walks off to do something they call “The Struggle”. One of them walks off into the darkness holding onto the end of a thick rope. One of them picks up the nearby end and tries to pull it towards the campfire, succeeding. They offer it to Aaron who fails at first but tries a second time using a fishing knot he learned years ago. He succeeds as well. He talks Justin into trying too but Justin is yanked off his feet and his hand cut by the rope.

As the pair continue to walk around and see what’s happening they can’t find fault in much. And yet something seems off. One noticeable thing is the rising of two moons which the leader of the cult explains is like the Aurora Borealis, an illusion caused by the layers of the atmosphere. But there are little clues, blips in vision, that both brothers see that make at least Justin uneasy.

Eventually Aaron says that he wants to stay. Justin says it’s his choice but he can’t bring himself to do so. Taking a path to leave he finds a character we’ve seen walking quickly through the camp over and over again. But he also finds something else, the secret of the camp, the cult and what is actually going on. The question is does he still have time to solve the problem and return to save Aaron.

The film is a slow burn, one that offers enough clues to keep you guessing without actually revealing anything. It moves along at its own pace but once it gets going in the latter half it picks up speed and the interest of the viewer as well. When all is finally revealed it is a satisfactory ending which far too many movies like this never offer.

The actors here are none that I’ve seen before and that may help the film in the long run. A familiar or star performer in a lead role here would have detracted from the story rather than move it along. The look of the film is difficult to describe. I’d like to say low budget but it isn’t the film stock or choice of shots that make it so. It’s the coloring more than anything, that dingy looking dusty dirt road look and feel that permeates every scene with the exception of those shot at night. I think this was intentional though, providing something different and less artificial, adding a sense that this is real to the film.

The end result is a satisfying movie that fans of science fiction or the unusual will enjoy. My guess is that few will know what is coming at the end of the film, that final revelation, until it actually happens. For me that’s a plus. I’ve seen far too many movies where while I enjoyed them I could tell the ending long before it took place. That didn’t happen here. So jump on board, follow the brothers and have a good night watching something a bit different. My guess is you’ll enjoy the ride.

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