Archive Analysis: "Memento" and "Mission: Impossible 3"

Zach's Favorite Film #6

Memento

Directed by: Chris Nolan
Starring: Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano
Rated: R for violence, language, and some drug content

How would one live if he couldn’t remember what happened five minutes before? This is what the Chris Nolan (Dark Knight, Prestige, Inception) film Memento deals with; how does your memory shape the meaning and perception of your life. The film (which has some incredibly foul language - beware) follows Leonard (a fabulous Guy Pearce), a man who suffers from extreme short-term memory loss. In order to remember daily details (people, places, things), Leonard take photos, write notes, and tattoo facts of anything he should remember. However, Leonard isn’t only interested in just living life, he is tracking down the person who not only caused his injury, but who also murdered his wife. It’s like a Sherlock Holmes mystery, only the protagonist can’t remember the clues he’s already discovered. In order to simulate this and make us feel what Leonard is going through, Nolan cuts the chronology of the events, moving the story backwards and forwards simultaneously until the climax of the movie connects the two stories together in the end (or middle chronologically) of the movie. Confusing? Absolutely, but more so genius. Nolan defines creativity, giving us an interesting story, interesting storytelling, and interesting themes, as well. Without spoiling the ending, Leonard is a man motivated, not by revenge, justice, or any other virtue, but by meaning. At the end, he says that he has to believe that his actions “still have meaning, even if I can’t remember them.” What keeps Leonard (and most of existential America) going is the notion that we must have meaning for our actions, even if it’s self-determined meaning. Nolan wisely, however, depicts that meaning as falling short for all it’s characters, including Leonard. While not necessarily giving us the biblical alternative, at least the discussion is raised; memory, as important as it is, is something we can do without. Meaning isn’t, and Leonard doesn’t need photos or tattoos to understand that. It’s what makes him human.

And, for fun, here's one of my favorite lines from Memento:

Mission: Impossible 3

Directed by: J.J. Abrams
Starring: Tom Cruise, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Michelle Monaghan
Rated: PG-13 for intense sequences of frenetic violence and menace, disturbing images, and some sensuality.

J.J. Abrams (creator of Lost and the new Star Trek film) has a way of pointing old franchises in the right direction. The third Mission: Impossible film is a great example. While the first film was hardly anything close to being great, the second one (directed by action-junkie John Woo) was just plain ridiculous, giving us more explosions than a Michael Bay film and more impossibilities than we have time to note. Abrams returns the action to some form of reality, without losing the action and excitement that Woo tried to add. He gives us emotional ties to the story (such as the heart-stopping opening scene), a vivid range of colors, some great heist-like scenes, and even one of the best villains I’ve seen in an action movie in a long time, played by Phillip Seymour Hoffman. While certainly far from being a perfect film (or even completely believable) M:I3 is a fun movie, relatively clean, and you don’t have to lose your sense of reality or your film reputation to say it.

Movie Review: "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" (Swedish Film)

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
(Swedish Film)

Directed by: Niels Arden Oplev
Starring: Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace
Rated: R for disturbing violent content including rape, grisly images, sexual material, nudity and language

An old proverb says “two wrongs never make a right.” Obviously Stieg Larsson never read that proverb, or else his novel (and the subsequent movie adaptation) The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo would have been drastically different. This book, the first in his posthumous series, has taken the world by storm, already been converted into a Swedish film, and has led to an American adaptation, which is to be directed by David Fincher. The Swedish film (which was recently released on DVD here) is a brutally harsh and grim look at the world and how depraved mankind can fall. It follows Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) a reporter who has fallen from grace, who is hired to investigate a murder, even though it took place more than forty years earlier. To do this, Mikael teams up with the pierced and tattooed punk Lisbeth Salander (an excellent performance by Noomi Rapace) a fascinating female character, who is one of the best researchers and hackers in the world, and harbors no love for rapists and murderers. The movie is an exciting, heart-pounding mystery film, filled with plenty of twists and turns. However, it’s so blatantly heavy and harsh, one becomes familiar with their fast-forward button. It’s a heavy rated R film (like Gone Baby Gone or Last King of Scotland) and you can’t push that aside. This isn’t always bad, since (without spoiling anything) the film deals with people who have become enslaved to grotesque and monstrous sins, some of which are problems in today’s world that, I believe, need to be addressed in films and art. However, that doesn’t mean we have to see everything, either.

The film also fails in its response to this evil. Lisbeth has a key moment where, in a discussion with Mikael, says that not everyone is a victim; some people are just evil. A wise sentiment, especially in today’s society where no one is responsible for their actions. However, Lisbeth’s response to that is to make these evil men suffer, outside the law, channeling her own wickedness to hurt, mutilate, and kill them. While one can understand her actions, it’s incredibly hypocritical; she is not a victim, either; she’s a rapist and murderer, too. And, although her victims are individuals who are far more evil than her, it can’t be separated from the fact that what she is doing is wrong. In a movie that depicts such profound, disgusting wickedness, one is left dissatisfied at calling those who are less-evil as heroes; I would rather have someone good.

Movie Review: "To Save a Life"

To Save a Life

Directed by: Brian Baugh
Starring: Randy Wayne, Deja Kreutzberg, Joshua Weigel
Rated: PG-13 for mature thematic elements involving teen suicide, teen drinking,
some drug content, disturbing images and sexuality

Whenever we hear the genre of Christian movies, we always think of campy movies with ridiculous stories and cheesy acting that push some morality or message in a preachy way (see any of the Christiano brothers’ films.) While some are surprised by this criticism, I still feel that some of the best Christian films to date were made by non-Christians (Amazing Grace, Chariots of Fire.) However, the high school drama To Save a Life may change some of my critique of the genre.

To Save a Life starts by making a good quality film. While the cinematography and editing in most Christian films is nauseating, To Save a Life takes some Hollywood veterans to tell its story, making sure that the story isn’t lost simply by bad filmmaking. It also is completely honest in its depiction; this high school story has depictions of beer pong, cussing, pot-smoking and premarital sex. While some Christian films won’t even say these words in their movies (see Pamela’s Prayer), To Save a Life deals with them in a way, not to titillate its audience, but to depict the world that we live in, warts and all. This helps people not only take the movie seriously, but also actually deal with issues, since it’s honest enough to deal with them without a certain snobbery or judgmental attitude. It also pushes the meaning behind life, moral issues and a relationship with Christ rather than just the exterior morality that most Christian films camp on. The film wisely doesn’t say “you need to become a Christian” but, instead, asks “what is your life about and what gives it meaning?” Then it depicts how all other roads are fleeting. A wise distinction.

Not all is perfect with To Save a Life; it’s your typical high-school film, filled with enough problems to make an entire season of 7^th Heaven. Because of this, the pace of the film is rapid, often rushing from one scene of social problems to the next without proper time to deal with any of them well. Because of this, the script is occasionally too blunt for it’s own good, and the ending borders on the ridiculous. That having been said, it’s no worse than other Hollywood high school genre films, such as A Walk to Remember or John Tucker Must Die. And, unlike the others, To Save a Life actually says something worth saying. It’s not a perfect film, but any film that makes people (especially unbelievers) question the meaning and purpose behind life is a success. It doesn’t paint “religion” as the answer, and it certainly shows that a relationship with God doesn’t “fix” all your problems (take note Kendrick brothers.) But it does show the value of living a life worth living and the beauty of how a relationship with God changes everything. To Save a Life isn’t the greatest Christian film ever made, but it’s a step in the right direction.

Archive Analysis: "Blood Diamond" and "Children of Men"

Zach's Favorite Film #7

Blood Diamond

Directed by: Edward Zwick
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Djimon Hounsou, Jennifer Connelly, Michael Sheen
Rated: R for strong violence and language

Edward Murrow once noticed that if television (and I will throw in film) does little more than entertain, than all that we have created was flashing lights in a box. The beauty of good cinema is when is brings to light aspects of life that change us. A great example is the Edward Zwick film Blood Diamond, a riveting tale about diamond smuggling, human trafficking, and the difficulties of the African nations. The film follows south African smuggler Danny Archer (a brilliant performance by Leonardo DiCaprio) who is teams up with a refugee Solomon Vandy (a equally brilliant Djimon Hounsou) who knows where a large diamond is hidden in the hills of Africa. Archer promises Vandy that, if they recover the diamond, he will reunite Vandy with his family. The story is a dramatic and exciting one, depicting many different aspects and responses to the situation in Africa, and leaving us westerners stunned at the sheer brutality of their world. Yet, despite its solid storytelling, Zwick does so to move and motivate us, to stand against conflict-zone diamonds, human trafficking, and other social problems. Through Zwick’s storytelling we realize that we are more than bystanders watching this story unfold; we have the ability and calling to be fighting against these issues. That is the beauty of Blood Diamond: it not only entertains us, it also changes us.

Children of Men

Directed by: Alfonso Cuaron
Starring: Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Michael Caine
Rated:R for strong violence, language, some drug use and brief nudity

Alfonso Cuaron’s film Children of Men is a bleak, disturbing picture of how the world would look if humanity lost the ability to reproduce. As simple of an act as it is, it does affect the way we live and act. While this stunning look brings many things to light that we simply take for granted, Cuaron does so in an exciting and dramatic sort, and gives us some of the longest, most complicated shots in film. But, despite it’s rough exterior, Children of Men truly depicts the value of humanity. And, once we begin to fully realize this, how far we will go to save it. With it’s harsh and disturbing reality, Children of Men paints a moving picture of the beauty of humanity and hope.