Weekly reviews #004

Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014) - 6.5 / 10

The sole reason why I went to see this film was Ridley Scott. If there's anyone who has proven himself a master of (semi-)historical epic movies, it's him. From his debut The Duellists to 1492: Conquest of Paradise to his modern classic Gladiator to more recent epics Kingdom of Heaven and Robin Hood, Scott just knows how to visualize stories like this. That doesn't mean all those movies are good movies. As a matter of fact, personally I only like 1492: Conquest of Paradise and Gladiator. But they are entertaining and often nice to watch. Exodus: Gods and Kings isn't any different. Some captivating scenes (like the one where the Egyptian army, lead by Moses and Ramses, attack the Hittite settlement) and a nice adaptation of the generally known biblical tales of Exodus make this a fun movie to watch. Due to the great lack of drama Scott succeeded in preventing to romanticize too much (except for the character of Zipporah), but it can also be seen as a huge flaw: female actors are ridiculously underused. Especially Hiam Abbass, Sigourney Weaver, Tara Fitzgerald and Golshifteh Farahani are barely more than props... There's some irony in that, but at the same time it's a missed opportunity to make a biblical film with strong female characters. While the drama in Exodus: Gods and Kings is low, the semi-historical approach is quite pleasant. Ramses II, Seti I, Tuya and Nefertari are all historical characters, while Moses, Joshua, Zipporah, Bithiah, Miriam and Aaron are all biblical. The mix of both makes Scott's views on the matter quite interesting, both for (moderate) Christians and (moderate) atheists. After seeing the ten plagues semi-rationally explained (including some ecological lessons, which are much more subtle than in Darren Aronofsky's Noah) and God depicted as a vindictive child, I couldn't help but enjoy this movie more than expected.

Timbuktu (2014) - 8.5 / 10

One of the movies that's still in the running for a "Best Foreign Language Film" Oscar nomination, is Timbuktu. Together with the Estonian Mandariinid it's one of my favorites for this year's Academy Awards, but I'm afraid only one of them will make it to the shortlist and neither of them will eventually win the Oscar. Not while movies like Ida, Turist and Leviathan are their competitors (although I think Timbuktu and Mandariinid are better than those three). The thing about Timbuktu that makes it such a beautiful picture, is its, what I presume, authentic representation of Muslims and the different views on Islamic religion. Spoken in a number of languages, from French and English to Arabic and a wide diversity of African languages (Tamasheq, Bambara and Songhay), Timbuktu shows Westerners a part of the world we almost know nothing about. Apart from judgemental and arrogant claims about the (religious) backwardness of many people there, be they Berber or Bedouin, many people here just don't know what to say about the Northern part of Africa. Director Abderrahmane Sissako gives us lots of stuff to talk and think about (for example the use of "jihad" as on the one hand an inner struggle (the greater jihad) and on the other hand an external holy war which is fought by mujahideen - the second jihad being the one we fear and loathe so much in the West). Not only that, but together with his cinematographer Sofian El Fani (La Vie d'Adèle) he manages to provide us with wonderful visual poetry and exceptional sceneries of south-east Mauritania. While it took some getting used to the narrative and the editing, I was full of awe after enjoying this utterly majestic work of art. Highly recommended!

What We Do in the Shadows (2014) - 8.0 / 10

After Housebound we get a second horror movie from New Zealand: What We Do in the Shadows. I must say, after seeing Tracks, The Rover, Charlie's Country, 52 Tuesdays and Predestination (and, to a lesser extent, These Final Hours and Underground: The Julian Assange Story), the Aussie's really began to amaze me. It took them long enough: the brilliant Mary and Max is a 2009 feature (no I didn't forget Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby, which I found quite dull). At the same time the Aussie's make a comeback, New-Zealand starts to throw off its Peter Jackson-shackles and brought Jane Campion back on stage: Top of the Lake blew me away. And now Housebound and What We Do in the Shadows are some of the best horror movies of 2014! If you like the deadpan humor of Flight of the Conchords (and Jemaine Clement) and you're sick of Hollywood vampirism, then this film is definitely worth the watch. Probably the most dry take on bloodsuckers ever seen on screen.

El espinazo del diablo (2001) - 7.0 / 10

Guillermo del Toro's El espinazo del diablo (aka. The Devil's Backbone) is obviously a precursor to El laberinto del fauno (aka. Pan's Labyrinth) in style, content and atmosphere. Nevertheless I think El laberinto del fauno is better on all three of those. That being said, I cannot stress enough that I would really like to see del Toro make more of this. The magical realism and child's perspective are excellent ingredients for timeless movies. By making the historical context more horrific than the actual horror components (ghosts or fauns), del Toro subverted both genres. Horror elements are added for dramatic effect against the horrors of real life (the Spanish Civil War in El espinazo del diablo and Francoist Spain during World War II in El laberinto del fauno). On top of that, when observed from a child's point of view, it all gets even more horrific because of the innocence we associate with young children. Because of that both El espinazo del diablo and El laberinto del fauno are some of the most touching "horror" movies I've ever seen. While del Toro's next film Crimson Peak is a return to his dark fantasy style, we will have to wait and see if it brings back some of these defining qualities that made him a great director.