TIFF 2012: Capsule Reviews

The Central Park Five
Dirs. Ken Burns, David McMahon, Sarah Burns
*** 

Ken Burns' documentaries have set the standard for in-depth analysis of the idiosyncratic traditions and transformative periods that have defined the socio-cultural history of the American west. But the through line that coarses through all of Burns' work has been the tumultuous, violent history of American racism, specifically the plight of African-Americans and the systemic inequalities that have informed their experience has an ethnic minority. Burns' new film,  The Central Park Five, is a straight-forward, but infuriating examination of what observers might call a modern public lynching; a story of racism set against the Crack epidemic that infected Black neighbourhoods in late 1980s New York City.

Directed alongside David McMahon and Sarah Burns (Ken's daughter), The Central Park Five tells the story of five ethnic NYC youths who were scapegoated by the NYPD and DA's office and subsequently imprisoned for the rape and beating of a Wall Street banker, attacked by a serial rapist while jogging through the city's storied park. Burns and company fashion the story as a product of the paranoid racial hysteria that captured New York in the summer of 1989, with the Crack epidemic reaching a violent climax and a sensationalist media subtly stoking the fire. This is a solid, straightforwardly engaging doc that works as a historical indictment; a reminder of the brutal, uncompromising American bigotry of centuries past and the power of optimism in the face of fear.

The Hunt
Dir. Thomas Vinterberg
*****

Thomas Vinterberg's (The Celebration) The Hunt is a spellbinding Danish drama about the extremes of love and the violent, irrational fear that grips those that love too much. Cannes Best Actor award winner Mads Mikkelsen (best known for playing the blood-crying heavy in 2006's Casino Royale) is emotionally shattering as Lucas, a handsome, masculine, respected Kindergarten worker whom is wrongly accused of a sexual encounter with his best friend and hunting mate's young daughter, sparking a small-town condemnation that spirals into psychological turmoil for Lucas and his teenaged son.

Vinterberg effectively casts no doubt on Lucas' innocence and the terrifyingly identifiable moral ambiguities that inform the paranoid, violent actions of his former friends and co-workers, bringing the viewer almost directly into the main character's shoes. This is a film that inspires frustration and anger in its depiction of group-think mentality as an irrational means of protecting loved ones; a scene inside a Church during a Chrismas Eve service is viscerally affecting as Lucas suffers a complete mental breakdown, set to the chants of his young accuser, surrounded by the townsfolk who have cursed his name. Tough, measured, world-class filmmaking.

Kinshasa Kids
Dir. Marc-Henri Wajnberg
**

An interesting, but frustrating doc/dramatic look at the plight of children living in the Congolese capital, Belgian director Marc-Henri Wajnberg's Kinshasa Kids is hopeful and raw, but lacking in plot and character. Opening on a grueling, real life ceremony that sees young children accused of witchcraft being exorcized of their demons by village witch doctors, the film follows young Jose, a Congolese boy who flees the ceremony and his family to live in Kinshasa, where he falls in with a gang of street-kids who find solace in song and spend their days hustling and stealing, trying to eke out enough money to eat and survive in the dirty, mean streets. The kids, aged somewhere between seven and eleven years old, join forces with Bebson, an eccentric but talented and connected singer / bandleader to start a band that would see them escape the misery and destitution of the slums.

As a naturalist snapshot of life in Kinshasa, Wajnberg's film for the most part is successful, but there just isn't enough substance or plot to keep us emotionally invested in the tribulations of Bebson and the kids, or even fill out its less than 90 minute run time. It's your standard underdog tale of discovering hope in the most unlikely of places, and there are real moments of fun, even joy amidst the misery, with a few crackling musical sequences and funny character quirks (a street-kid that has the moves of Michael Jackson is particularly memorable) but instead of the rousing, uplifting climax we expect, we're left with something of a dramatic slight.

TIFF 2012: Seven Psychopaths / Place Beyond The Pines

Seven Psychopaths 
Dir. Martin McDonagh
**** 

On paper, Seven Psychopaths, the follow up to playwright-turned-filmmaker Martin McDonagh's brilliant feature debut In Bruges seems overstuffed, being that it is essentially a tragi-comic-meta-meditation on the nature of movie violence and real violence. For me though, it was a bloody, subversive blast and arguably the funniest film I have seen thus far in 2012. Reuniting McDonagh with In Bruges lead Colin Farrell as Marty, an aloof, alcoholically driven screenwriter struggling to put words to the page for his latest script, convieniently called "Seven Psychopaths", the film finds buddies Farrell, loose cannon Billy (an unhinged Sam Rockwell) and stoic con-man Hans (Christopher Walken) as they traverse a metaphysical journey on the run from rabid gangster Charles Costello (a hilarious and equally unhinged Woody Harrelson) whose beloved Shih-Tzu Billy and Hans have kidnapped, while simultaneously searching for the right psychopaths for Marty's script.

McDonagh throws in lots of gunplay and his script overflows with witty, quotable quips, flashbacks and hugely likeable characters, despite their homicidal tendiences. But it's in the director's deconstruction of the abnormal but laudable ethics of his murderers that elevates the material from bloody, metaphysical satire into something more subversive. Each character, save for Farrell and the female characters in the film (whom, interestingly enough, are explicitly ackowledged to have been given the dramatic shaft) harbors a twisted backstory that exists to make sly commentary on the futility and deranged reality of violence itself.

A subplot that involves a wonderful turn by Tom Waits as a reformed serial killer-killer - or as he puts it, a "killer that kills people that go around the country killing people" - looking to see his wholly American tales of bloody vigilante justice turned into big screen fodder doesn't actually play into the main narrative arc, but is indicative of the tragic, but hilariously cruel ironies inherent in both In Bruges as well as this film. Here, McDonagh has a decidedly lighter touch, striving for something more palatable but perhaps less cohesive. Regardless, Seven Psychopaths is hugely layered, smart and satisfying entertainment.


The Place Beyond The Pines
Dir. Derek Cianfrance
***1/2 

Derek Cianfrance's latest is a taut, finely measured multi-generation crime saga that crackles with dramatic tension, uniformly excellent performances and a confident visual style to boot. His second film starring Ryan Gosling following Blue Valentine, The Place Beyond The Pines is a story about the fires of passion and violence passed down from fathers to sons and the moral ambiguities that haunt those who rely on the mantra of justice and "doing the right thing." To give away too much about the plot would be to ruin the shock and awe of some of the film's dramatic twists, but here Gosling plays Luke, a talented motorcycle stunt driver who opts to rob banks, desperately trying to provide for a bastard son conceived with Romina (Eva Mendes) in Schenectady, New York. Luke eventually comes crashing head-on with a Schenectady cop by the name of Avery Cross, played by Bradley Cooper. Their lives of both men, as well as the histories of their respective families feel the ripples of their confrontation for decades to come.

Ryan Gosling delivers another iconic performance here, creating a character that pulses with life, love and a dangerous passion that sometimes manifests itself in extreme violence. It's as if his character from last year's Drive was given tattoos, a ripped Metallica t-shirt, hormone injections, set loose in upstate New York and given an actual soul. Cooper too is at his very best, playing a man whose belief in justice strattles the line between idealistic and pragmatic but is forever shattered and ultimately blinded by regret. Also, a supporting turn by the chameleonic Ben Mendelsohn as Luke's accomplice is simply exceptional, cementing his place as one of the most talented rising stars in Hollywood.

This is a film that has already begun dividing critics, but mostly enthralled audiences and prospective buyers at its TIFF world premiere (as it is the most high profile film to enter this year's festival without a distributor). If you read what has been written about the film so far, reaction has swung from utter dismay at the film's treatment of its blue collar characters, accusations of pretention and over-reaching ambition, to staunch praise for its moving performances and willingness to explore the genetics of sin, regret and justice. And while some of the negative criticism is warranted, even the harshest of critics will succumb to the fact that this is a fully realized and emotionally powerful film, as undoubtedly unorthodox as it is in narrative, setting and character. For those that it does connect with, The Place Beyond The Pines will have seared a lasting burn on their hearts, as well as their minds.