gilbert seah

Film Review: VALERIAN AND THE CITY OF A THOUSAND PLANETS (France 2017) ****

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 valerian.jpgA dark force threatens Alpha, a vast metropolis and home to species from a thousand planets. Special operatives Valerian and Laureline must race to identify the marauding menace and safeguard not just Alpha, but the future of the universe.

Director: Luc Besson
Writers: Pierre Christin (comic book), Jean-Claude Mézières (comic book)
Stars: Dane DeHaan, Cara Delevingne, Clive Owen

Review by Gilbert Seah

 
VALERIAN AND THE CITY OF A THOUSAND PLANETS is the new widely anticipated French science fiction action film written and directed by Luc Besson best known for THE FIFTH ELEMENT and LUCY. The film, based on the French science fiction comics series Valérian and Laureline, written by Pierre Christin and illustrated by Jean-Claude Mézières is to date the most expensive French film ever made at a price rage of $197 million euros. To break-even it has to make $350 million worldwide. It is a big a risk as James Cameron’s AVATAR but the film is stunning in its visuals and imagination and comes highly recommended for Besson’s vision and delivery of this space opus to the big screen. It be best seen in 3D and on the biggest screen possible.

The film opens with an alien species on a distant planet. They speak a different language and lead a different lifestyle, in tune with nature giving their planet back what they receive from it. This is reminiscent of the blue AVATAR creatures in the James Cameron’s film. An apocalypse happens and their planet is destroyed. On the other side of the Universe, a dark force threatens Alpha, a vast metropolis and home to species from a thousand planets. Special operatives Valerian and Laureline must race to identify the marauding menace and safeguard not just Alpha, but the future of the universe. Nothing makes much sense in the film’s first half, but writer/director Besson keeps the audience’s curiosity strong. It is during the second half that the story comes together, becoming more of a conventional film with the fight between good and evil, with Valerian and Laureline being the space fighters and peace keepers working for ‘the government’.

But it is not the story that will astonish the audiences. The visionary action sequences consisting of computer generated landscapes and creatures of all shapes and sizes will mesmerize. The best of these are three information selling beaked liked creatures who speak both simultaneously but separately forming sentences that are hilarious and brilliant. The capture of the jellyfish on the mammoth sea creature providing some genuine action and thrills and the butterfly bait fishing are inspirational set pieces. Another memorable scene has Laureine wearing a huge hat with the top of her head exposed only to find her brains about to be eaten by an Alien Emperor, the way Chinese used eat monkey brains as a delicacy before the practice was banned.

Much negative reviews have been posted of the lead actor’s Dane DeHaan’s performance as Major Valerian. DeHaan is a young 31-year old American actor with some Dutch background, hence his Dutch surname, who has proven himself able to carry a lead role in the recent but badly received A CURE FOR WELLNESS. In that film DeHaan demonstrated a different kind of hero, a vulnerable one, as in this one, full of character flaws like impulsive decision making, unlike other space action heroes like hans Solo or Luke Skywalker. His partner, co-fighter for good against evil and love interest, Lareline is played by Cara Delevingne who emits sexiness and charisma. They do exhibit good chemistry on screen, and her speech on love at the film’s end though cliched, works. Supporting performances by Clive Owen as the villain and Ethan Hawke are also impressive.
Rihanna plays an alien dancer who performs a Sally Bowles in CABARET type dance forms one of the film’s best musical dance numbers – amazing and unforgettable combined with special computer effects. Music is by Alexandre Desplat.

For all its flaws, Besson’s brilliantly conceived film still scores top marks as a futuristic space action adventure. Much better than THE FIFTH ELEMENT and the new STAR WARS film series.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XawbuBCj-Fo
 

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Film Review: CHASING CORAL (USA 2017) ***

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CHASING CORAL.jpgCoral reefs around the world are vanishing at an unprecedented rate. A team of divers, photographers and scientists set out on a thrilling ocean adventure to discover why and to reveal the underwater mystery to the world.

Director: Jeff Orlowski
Writers: Davis Coombe, Vickie Curtis
Stars: Andrew Ackerman, Pim Bongaerts, Neal Cantin
Review by Gilbert Seah
 
Opening Friday July 14th on Netflix and in a few few cinemas (if one can be found in your city), is a Netflix original documentary, and one that is worthwhile to take a look at, in terms of education and importance of the consequences of global warming.

Those familiar with filmmaker Jeff Orlowski will remember his Emmy Award winning documentary CHASING ICE that demonstrated the disappearance of ice on the planet’s surface over time due to climate global warming. This new documentary CHASING CORAL traces the death of corals around the world, again due to global warming. The film is timely arriving at the same time as Al Gore’s sequel to AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH and when President Donald Trump opted out of the G20 climate accord.

CHASING CORAL is both a horror story and a feel good film. Director Orlowski who co-wrote the film follows the standard format for this kind of documentary. The problem is stated, and emphasized throughout the film, then shows the facts on film with the hard and tireless work put in by those involved. He then shows where the problem is headed and what one can do about it. Experts are interviewed to underline the key points in the film.

CHASING CORAL also turns out to be entertaining through the many stunning photographed shots of corals with fish and other creatures that survive on it. Though the complicated cameras are shown, most of the technical details are just lightly touched. All the audience is told is that it is a very tedious and difficult process with turns out very frustrating for the time involved.

Coral reefs around the world are vanishing at an unprecedented rate. A team of divers, photographers and scientists set out on a thrilling ocean adventure to discover why and to reveal the underwater mystery to the world.

The film takes the audiences to various coral reefs around the world. Photographs are shown of dying reefs, bleached white from as far as Thailand, the Florida Keys in the U.S. and the Philippines. The most famous reef of all, The Great Barrier Ref on the east coast of Australia is where the film spends most of the time on. The most horrific fact revealed is that 29% of the corals in the northern part has died in the one year of 2016. The world has also lost 50 % of all the coral life in the past 30 years. A presentation of the fact is shown with spectators wiping tears from their eyes. It is a devastating fact. The reefs feed the ocean life and with that gone, the forests and eventually man will perish through the destruction of the Eco-system.

It i weird that despite all the warnings Orlowski has sounded during his film, he ends it on a positive note saying the emission of carbon fuels are already cut down and that many cities around the world are already doing their part. The U.S. is not on the list of countries doing their part.

Trailer: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v= b6fHA9R2cKI

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Film Review: TO THE BONE ( USA 2017)

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to the boneA young woman is dealing with anorexia. She meets an unconventional doctor who challenges her to face her condition and embrace life.

Director: Marti Noxon
Writer: Marti Noxon
Stars: Lily Collins, Keanu Reeves, Leslie Bibb

Review by Gilbert Seah
 
The credits both opening and closing proudly announces TO THE BONE a film about anorexia, the eating disorder a Netflix original movie. It has been proclaimed that Netflix gets to make films studios are scared to make. This definitely holds true for this depressing, unglamorous project on a subject suffering from anorexia and shunned by her family. But TO THE BONE is so bad that one wonders if the studios could foresee the fact.

One would expect more from director Noxon and lead star Lili Collins who both suffer from the disorder. But the film glamourizes the illness in the way Collins looks so beautiful in every scene and everything she does appears ok and everyone else especially her stepmother is wrong. But unforgivable is the fact that the film is a really boring exercise from start to end. It does not help with the weird ending in which her real mother, Susan (Lili Taylor) feeds her milk from a baby bottle and a fantasy scene in which Ellen she’s herself nude on the ground, presumably dead.

It is hard to judge Collin’s performance when the film is this awful. Taylor does the best she can and Keanu Reeves has the odd role as Ellen’s charismatic doctor who is supposed to a do wonders with his unconventional methods. “I’m not going to treat you if you do not want to live!” He tells Ellen the first time he interviews her.

The story follows teenager Ellen who has dropped out of college. Her stepmother, Judy who lives with her real dad wants her to be cured from her anorexia. But Judy is shown as a very intolerant and bad mother, always criticizing poor Ellen and downright silly, making silly assumptions that Ellen and her stepsister always laugh about. So, Ellen is convinced to go to this medical facility led by Dr. William Beckam (Reeves). There is nothing in the film that shows him to be revolutionary in his treatment. His insistence of telling Ellen’s inner voice to ‘ f*** soft is laughable if not downright unbelievable. The facility consists of an assortment of skinny patients that are there to make Ellen look good. The subplot of Ellen having a romantic fling with the one boy, Luke (Alex Sharp), who wants to be a singer/dancer leads nowhere.

The film at least looks crisp and clear, especially with the desert landscape at the end, courtesy of cinematographer Richard Wong. Music is decent with an original song near the end.

But the film teaches nothing about anorexia nor does it offer any real insight on the people suffering from it. The least the script could have done is provide some medical information on the subject. The film also inserts unnecessary new age material. Ellen’s mother is a lesbian. In one scene, she praises her own breakdown saying people should have them to learn from them. Susan also puts a Ellen in a tent with no electricity with kerosene lamps for light and a bedpan if one need to go do their stuff. Ellen (or Eli, since she changes her name half way through the film for no proper reason) has not come out of life any smarter and neither has the audience.

Trailer: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=705yRfs6Dbs

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Film Review: RESTLESS CREATURE: WENDY WHELAN (USA 2017) **

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RESTLESS CREATURE WENDY WHELANDocumentary on the great American Ballerina Wendy Whelan.

Directors: Linda Saffire, Adam Schlesinger
Star: Wendy Whelan

Review by Gilbert Seah

The RESTLESS CREATURE of the film title stands for the title of the ballet, ballerina and NYC Ballet Company’s principal dancer, Wendy Whelan is performing or it could stand for her restless character as well, one that would never give up dancing. “If I don’t dance, I’d rather die,” Whelan says at one point during an interview in the film.

The film definitely centres on Whelan and she has a lot to say in it. It is a world of ballet and discipline, dance torture to the body and decadence. Perfectly sculptured bodies everywhere! This is not the world that most people are familiar with. The same saying applies to the film. It is strictly for ballet and dance aficionados. Those not in that world will hardly sympathize with Whelan’s complaints. And she can be quite the cry baby, going on and on about herself.

The film is all about Whelan. The film traces her dancing as a very young girl in her hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, then as a teenager on her own in New York and, finally, as a rising ballerina with the company. At the time of the making of the documentary Whelan is in her 40’s. She is dancing still and competing with dancers half her age. Her body cannot take it. In fact no body can be put to such strenuous exertion. Whelan is finally feeling it and her doctors and therapists are advising her to give her body a rest. But she wants to do this last dance.

Linda Saffire and Adam Schlesinger’s documentary looks good on the surface with candid interviews with Whelan and her contemporaries. But upon closer examination, the film just skims the surface on nits subject. Where are her parents from? Nothing is mentioned of her personal life. Does she ever have a boyfriend or girlfriend for that matter? The directors also make no attempt at trying to have the audience connect with their subject. They lay out Whelan bare, warts and all hoping that that the audience feels for her. Whether they succeed depends on the person concerned, but it does not work for me. I find it hard to feel for a person, talented or gifted though they may be, who is so involved in their own world, also is constantly praising themselves and not considering the rest of the world

Whelan has got all her attention and glory and it is time for her to give the younger dancers a chance at the stage. The film also does not really show her dancing at her prime. The film does contain a few show of her performances like “La Sonnambula” and “Symphony in Three Movements by George Balanchine and The Cage by Jerome Robbins. There should be more of Whelan’s performances that demonstrate how hard ballet is for the body. The climax of the film shows Whelan’s performance of RESTLESS CREATURE.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZOWVFr5yg0
 

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Film Review: WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES (USA 2017)

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WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APESAfter the apes suffer unimaginable losses, Caesar wrestles with his darker instincts and begins his own mythic quest to avenge his kind.

Director: Matt Reeves
Writers: Mark Bomback, Matt Reeves
Stars: Andy Serkis, Woody Harrelson, Steve Zahn

Review by Gilbert Seah
 
The original PLANET OF THE APES films were camp and occasionally goofy. They were never taken that seriously. The first featured Charlton Heston stripped naked so that the audience could see his bare buttocks and ended with him cursing God after discovering the Stature of Liberty half buried in the sand.

This followed with BENEATH THE PLANT OF THE APES where subterranean creatures were battling the apes that ending with Earth blowing up. What next? ESCAPE FROM, CONQUEST and the most ridiculous BATTLE FOR which ended the series.

The series reboot began similarly with PLANET OF THE APES flowed by RISE and DAWN OF and now WAR FOR. The primary difference is that the reboot series is serious fodder. The camp and fun is gone. What is left is a serious man vs. ape and the fight for what is right, things that also can get quite ridiculous. When things get ridiculous, the series will end.

The plot takes place two years after the events of DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES. Caesar (Andy Serkis) and his apes have been embroiled in a war against humans. As the ape population decreases, Caesar wrestles with his darker instincts (isn’t the film serious enough?) in order to avenge his fallen companions. The encounter with the apes and humans puts them into the ultimate confrontation, to determine the fate of the Earth. But the plot is not as simple as it sounds. It also involves a mad colonel (Woody Harrelson) a kind of Marlon Brando character from APOCALYPSE NOW. (There is a poster with the words APEPOCALYPSE NOW, as if the similarity is not already evident.)

The actual war involves two factions of human beings – one led by the colonel who believes that sick human begin should be totally destroyed and the other the rest of the world who believe that the sick can be cured. The apes are caught in between. The problem with all this is the oversimplified plot. What about the other nations of the world like he Chinese, Indians etc. Also, the number of apes can never outnumber the number of humans, though the excuse given is the virus that eliminated most of the human population.

Caesar leads the apes out of the jungle to the new land like Moses in the Bible’s old Testament. The analogy is so obvious and makes the film even more serious for the fact. To the filmmakers’ credit, the film has excellent production values and looks absolutely stunning on film.

So what is the attraction of the PLANET OF THE APES films? Someone once told me he wanted to go see it because he was so obsessed with seeing apes riding horses with rifles slung round their backs. The question is whether the fascination will hold after 4 or 5 similar films. WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES is the 4th of the reboot series and cost a whopping a amount of money with a running time of 140 minutes. Perhaps enough is enough!

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=UEP1Mk6Un98

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Film Review: THE LITTLE HOURS (USA 2017)

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the little hoursA young servant fleeing from his master takes refuge at a convent full of emotionally unstable nuns in the Middle Ages. Introduced as a deaf blind man, he must fight to hold his cover as the nuns try to resist temptation.

Director: Jeff Baena
Writer: Jeff Baena
Stars: Alison Brie, Dave Franco, Kate Micucci

Review by Gilbert Seah

THE LITTLE HOURS is a naughty sex comedy based on The Decameron
by Giovanni Boccaccio, written and directed by Jeff Baena who reportedly did some studies in Medieval History.

The story involves a young servant, Massetto (Dave Franco) fleeing from his master (Nick Offerman) after been discovered frolicking with his wife. He takes refuge at a convent full of nuns by pretending to be a deaf mute at the advice of Father Tommasso (John C. Reilly). The nuns led by Sister Marea (Molly Shannon) are no innocent creatures of God and prayer. The film concentrates on three of these ‘mean nuns’ Sister Alessandra (Alison Brie, Dave Franco’s real-life wife), Sister Fernanda (Aubrey Plaza) and the most naive of all, Sister Ginerva (Kate Micucci) who eventually turns out to be the worst of the lot.
The humour is lame at best. It seems as if the script is grabbing at last straws at being funny. Take the dialogue of a nun at confession out of a scene from nowhere: Father, I have sinned. Yesterday, I took out a whole turnip and ate it without sharing with the sisters…” to which she is told to stop being greedy.

It does not help the narrative that there is no strong lead character but multiple characters including three nuns, the Father and the supposedly deaf-mute. The film appears to aimlessly move along with any goal, message or purpose.

The film is clearly not a harmless sex comedy for it contains some nasty parts. One is a graphic description of torture methods that thankfully are not shown on screen. The sex scenes are too erotic (including a lesbian and threesome segment) for comfort with too much nudity for a commercial film. It is not surprising that the film was chosen and premiered at Sundance in the Midnight Madness Section, implying that all is possible and that audiences can be shocked.

For a film that puts in so much effort into location, look and period atmosphere all the characters speak in modern American accent. Dialogue like “Get the f*** out of here, don’t f***ing tap to me,” are common, even though the ‘f’ word was clearly never used in those times.

The film occasionally has the feel of a Monty Python film. The most identical scene is the one in the castle where two soldiers stand guard of Massetto’s cell.

Aubrey Plaza, most memorable as the bikini clad girl Robert De Niro drops his ice-cream on, plays a naughty Sister Fernanda who also serves as producer of the movie.

Director Baena attempts to pick up the film’s pace with a climatic rescue of Massetto from the castle prison by the three sisters. The decoy of a tortoise with a candle on its shell is a possible metaphor for the story’s pace.
For all THE LITTLE HOURS is worth, the film appears like an alternative remake of MEAN GIRLS set in a convent in the Decameron Tales era. But with less plot and unfortunately less humour.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dc_wqGyXCs8

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Film Review: A GHOST STORY (USA 2017) **

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A GHOST STORYIn this singular exploration of legacy, love, loss, and the enormity of existence, a recently deceased, white-sheeted ghost returns to his suburban home to try to reconnect with his bereft wife.

Director: David Lowery
Writer: David Lowery
Stars: Casey Affleck, Rooney Mara, McColm Cephas Jr.

Review by Gilbert Seah
 
If a film is weird enough, it makes matters worse if the filmmaker makes the film even weirder. This is the case with David Lowery’s ghost story drama – an extremely difficult to follow, confusing yet the simple storied film.

Lowery is well known for having directed Disney’s PETE’S DRAGON, now doing his minimalist project, something I guess he always wanted to do.

The story follows a couple who is referred to in the film’s notes simply as C and M. C is the male (Casey Effleck) and M is the female (Rooney Mara). When the film begins, the couple are are in a suburban home about to sell their house. They are quiet, indicating perhaps though director Lowery never makes it certain, that they need more communication. They talk about a piano with M shown dragging it out to the front of the house for garbage collection.

The next scene has C in a morgue. He is next shown in a sheet with two cut out holes as eyes. C is apparently a ghost though no reason is offered. Another ghost in a sheet with two cut out holes appear later on in the. Film. Again, it makes no sense whatsoever.

The film goes on. Moving on at slower than a snail’s space, Lowery tests the audience’s patience to no end. The music is eerie, dialogue kept at a minimum. People move in and out of the house as C occasionally scares people in the house by throwing cutlery.

As if matters cannot get worse, the film shifts back and then forwards in time towards the last third of the film. There is also a scene where a bulldozer suddenly demolishes the walls of the house.

The ghost can disappear, as is assumed when the sheet crumples to the ground. It can therefore move on to heaven or better things? No one is sure.

The film contains lots of long takes – especially long takes of close ups, something not too often seen in films. An example is the re-visited poignant scene in bed where C and M face each other in bed, kiss and fall asleep. The first time the scene is performed, it lasts a full 5 minutes. There are again other scenes this slow moving.

Performance-wise, nothing much is required from Mara nor Effleck. This is a director’s piece not the actors. All the actors are required to do is brood and brood, and maybe put a sheet over themselves. Needless to say, there are no special effects required in this ghost story.

A GHOST STORY is not badly made. It is well executed, well performed and a nice mystery from start to finish, challenging the audience. It is a haunting ghost story, but not a scary one, though the art house concept will scare commercial audiences away. Many critics at the screening loved A GHOST STORY but I am not a fan.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_3NMtxeyfk

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Film Review: BABY STEPS (USA 2015) ***

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baby stepsDanny, a Taiwanese-American man, and his partner Tate long to have a baby, but the complex world of international surrogacy is further complicated by Danny’s well-meaning but extremely meddlesome Ma who wants to control every aspect of the process all the way from Taipei…

Director: Barney Cheng
Writers: Barney Cheng (screenplay), Barney Cheng
Stars: Tzi Ma, Michael Adam Hamilton, Jason Stuart

 Review by Gilbert Seah

When gay films first started appearing on the screen, they dished out fresh topics like coming out, cross cultural gay relationships, partying, drug use, gay biographies, cruising, sex change, gay marriage and rent boys. New ideas for a gay film are running out. BABY STEPS deals with an Asian mother meddling into her son’s gay relationship in her never ending quest for a perfect grandchild.

The film is written, directed by and co-stars Barney Cheng as the Taiwanese American, Danny in an Asian-Caucasian gay couple relationship. The mother is played by Grace Guei, who starred in Ang Lee’s famous THE WEDDING BANQUET. BABY STEPS adds the modern spin on surrogacy. Mother and son travel the world including Taipei, Bangkok, Mumbai and Los Angeles to search for a surrogate mother. It is a gay story told for the first time, from a gay mother’s point of view.

Cheng knows the poignant moments in the life of a typical gay couple and milks them shamelessly. Scenes like the reunion after a trail separation and showering together are examples which he puts on screen to strengthen the audience’s conception of the strength of the relationship.

Cheng’s humour is mildly funny with hardly any laugh out loud moments.

Actress Grace Guei, reported in the press notes to be the Taiwanese version of Meryl Streep (not going to argue this), though not bad in her role is not given much to do much except to sulk and look sympathetic for all the meddling she has done. Cheng’s character uses the word ‘okay’ mixed with his mandarin dialogue, once too many times. Cheng might be remembered or his role in Woody Allen’s HOLLYWOOD ENDING. Michael Adam Hamilton passes as his pretty boy boyfriend, always all smiles and catering too much to the Asian needs.

The film could have concentrated more on the coming-of-age of the couple’s relationship, instead of always assuming that everything will be ok. The film at least considers other substantial issues like the emotions and fears of the surrogate mother. Danny’s mother, typical of gay mothers is still ashamed to come out to her friends other gay son – another important issue dealt here. In BABY STEPS, these topics offer a fresh look on cross-cultural gay relationships.

Though BABY STEPS makes no great strides in the progress of gay films, it does leave a mark. The film suffers from an over-sentimental melodramatic ending.
Small films like BABY STEPS with a smaller target gay audience usually complete a successful LGBT festival run before going to the various VOD platforms. If the films are really lucky, they might earn a limited theatrical release. For BABY STEPS, it opened in Taiwan on Mother’s Day 2015, and was part of a national discussion on LGBT rights that helped propel Taiwan to legalize same-sex marriage in May 2017. Of worldwide significance, the U.S. State Department has hosted U.S. embassy screenings of BABY STEPS throughout Asia, including China, Mongolia, and Myanmar – to share the American value of LGBT equality around the globe. BABY STEPS will release digitally in the U.S. and Canada on August 15th via Gravitas Ventures.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rhESwlKQgE

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Film Review: NOT MY DAY (Nicht Mein Tag) (Germany 2014) ***

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not my day
Bank teller Till Reiners’ life is torn out of a rut by a series of offbeat coincidences, which ultimately lead him to find himself and realize: His life isn’t so bad after all…

Director: Peter Thorwarth
Writers: Stefan Holtz, Ralf Husmann (novel)
Stars: Moritz Bleibtreu, Axel Stein, Jasmin Gerat

Review by Gilbert Seah
 
Those quick to dismiss this straight to VOD platform German action comedy will miss this quiet gem of a box-office hit in its own country. Though the incidents in the story have been used in other films before, director Thorwarth still injects a certain freshness to their execution, so that all ends up good in this very entertaining comedy.

The film is part road trip part buddy buddy and part romantic comedy film centring on two mismatched characters. The film begins with what appears to be a bank job with a guy stuck in the building when police arrive. Director Thorwath tells what has happened that has has to this state of affairs.

It all begins when a disgruntled bank client Nappo (Moritz Bleibtreu) expresses his anger at waiting his turn while the bank officer, Till (Axel Stein) openly talks about a retirement party for one of the tellers. In his office, Nappo is denied a loan. In the next scene Till is shown having a lengthy argument wit his wife on the office phone about silly stuff like vacation time. Unknowing to Till, the bank is being robbed by a masked man. When the getaway driver takes off, the bank robber takes Till hostage. Taking off his mask, the robber is revealed to be Nappo who forces Till to drive him out of town. Thus begins the road trip of the two mis-matched characters.

If all this sounds a bit mundane, Thorwarth executes the above with grand flare. What works particularly is the contrasting chemistry of the two. Till follows rules while Nappu breaks them. Though they have opposite tastes in music they do share a comical sing-along in one of the film’s best scenes. Till is bespectacled, strumming his guitar while Nappo is screaming out the words: “yeah, yeah!” It is a meaningful scene which hits the truth in which people who can share the likes of an identical song can immediately bond.

The film also plays for romantic comedy with Till’s marriage to his wife, Miriam. They don’t have sex as she is aways back late from work trying to make it in the design business. Till, as he says, makes the money to pay the bills by doing a job he says he hates. They hope to rekindle the fire of their relationship, oddly enough from a vacation that they cannot coordinate in terms of time.

When Till thinks his wife is cheating on him, Nappo’s hilarious advise is: “Snap out of it! There are other chicks in town.” This is how Nappo convinces Till to do a job for money. The caper leads to a climatic car chase in Amsterdam at night with cars crashing into the canals.

What distinguishes this film from making it so engaging, is that director Thorwarth allows the audience to identify with all the film’s characters, from Till, Nappo and even the wife. They are shown as real characters especially, when the square Till finally throws caution out the window and goes ultimately crazy, at one point taking down a gang of Albanian gangsters.

If this comedy is your cup of tea, Milky Way also has released on major VOD platforms on July 11th, a part of their ‘comedies a la carte’ collection:
– DYKE HARD (Directed by: Bitte Anderson, Comedy, Sweden, 90 mins)
– LOVE AT FIRST CHILD (Directed by: Anne Giaferri, Comedy, France, 91mins)
– ONE MAN AND HIS COW (Directed by: Mohamed Hamidi, Comedy, France, 91 mins)
WINWIN (Directed by: Daniel Hoesl, Comedy, Austria, 84 mins)
Trailer: https://vimeo.com/97813230

Also, Free logline submissions. The Writing Festival network averages over 95,000 unique visitors a day.
Great way to get your story out: http://www.wildsound.ca/logline.html

Deadlines to Submit your Screenplay, Novel, Story, or Poem to the festival:http://www.wildsound.ca

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Film Review: THE BLACK PRINCE (UK/India/USA 2017) **

festreviews 2017 movies, movie, Movie Review, Uncategorized , , , , , ,

Deadlines to Submit your Screenplay, Novel, Story, or Poem to the festival: http://www.wildsound.ca

THE BLACK PRINCE.jpg‘The Black Prince’ is a story of Queen Victoria and the Last King of Punjab, Maharajah Duleep Singh. His character as it evolves, torn between two cultures and facing constant dilemmas as a result. His relationship with Queen Victoria will be the most impactful relationship in the film, the Queen representing the English culture he was drawn into.

Director: Kavi Raz
Writer: Kavi Raz
Stars: Jason Flemyng, Amanda Root, Shabana Azmi

Review by Gilbert Seah

 A lavish production, the true tragic story of the Maharaja of Punjab entitled THE BLACK PRINCE was launched at Cannes this year at a glitzy event at the Indian Pavilion. But the film was not shown but its trailer together with interview opportunities with its star Satinder Sartaaj a famous singer/poet making his transition to big screen acting. The film finally arrives, but unfortunately the film is not what is expected from Cannes.

THE BLACK PRINCE is a story of the last king of Punjab, Maharajah Duleep Singh (Satinder Sartaaj) and Queen Victoria (Amanda Root). The film follows Maharaja Duleep Singh, first placed on the throne at the age of 5, after the death of his father. In 1849, Punjab was annexed to British India. The young prince was removed from the throne and eventually sent off to England. His attempts to return to India and reclaim his kingdom were thwarted by the British. He ended up a pauper, dying alone in a Paris hotel in 1893.

It is difficult to see the reason a film based on the failure of a man trying to regain his thrown got made, except perhaps to show the evil the British had done in the past, which the film emphasizes once too many a time, like an old racist grandparent nagging a grandchild of the evil of a particular culture. The film is not only a downer but also monotonously boring and badly executed.

There were a number of film critics that walked out of the press screening and a number that kept walking in and out to the toilet. It was indeed difficult to keep still during the long 120 minutes of the film’s running time. Apparently the film’s first cut was 4 hours.

There are a lot of things wrong with the film as evident in a number of scenes. In one where Duleep’s first wife struggles to tell him not to give up his English heritage, the camera focuses on Duleep’s reactions instead of her facial expressions. The two should be closer together in the argument and the camera should not show both of them, focusing one face to another but rather show more close-ups for emotional tension. The wife in the next segment is shown backing up her husband and then in the next, against him once again. Duleep’s son (one of them) suddenly appears in one scene condemning his father’s actions to the British Empire. The annoying soundtrack coaching the audience when and how to feel what does not help either.

The Maharajah also sports one of the worst haircuts ever seen on the screen EVER – a bald head with long hair streaming down the bottom half of his head. If there is anything this film is to remembered for, it is this haircut.

The dialogue at times, when meant to be serious comes across as laughable. Take for example Duleep’s big speech: “We will stick our daggers into their hearts and we will take back our Kingdom!” The film also does not explain where Duleep gets all his money to finance his trips and to travel to Paris, France whenever his heart desires.

All good intentions aside to tell the true story of a Prince whose throne was stolen from him, THE BLACK PRINCE is one dull history lesson. For all that it’s worth, the film displays impressive production values. Shot in Punjabi and English.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2TTXSPVn8c

Also, Free logline submissions. The Writing Festival network averages over 95,000 unique visitors a day.
Great way to get your story out: http://www.wildsound.ca/logline.html

Deadlines to Submit your Screenplay, Novel, Story, or Poem to the festival:http://www.wildsound.ca

Watch recent Writing Festival Videos. At least 15 winning videos a month:http://www.wildsoundfestival.com