Harley and the Film Lovers

Harley et la France

Harley, passione de cinema, a tente l’experience en Angleterre.

Suivez quelques unes de ses critiques: http://harley-and-the-film-lovers.tumblr.com/

Long time no writing…

Unfortunately, out of the last films I went to see at the cinema, many did not make much of an impact on my thinking.

Though I confess I was really well-surprised by The Social Network. Despite all the criticism against the Facebook movie, one is having a good moment and enjoys this deep insight into the Harvard closed world. This was more interesting than the Facebook in itself. I found it really compelling, well-directed. Jesse Eisenberg’s performance as Mark Zuckerberg is brilliant as if he was born to play the young billionair.

It felt good to be enthraled into the Cubean music and the NY fifties’ atmospehre in the animation movie Chico and Rita. But the movie definitely lacks in depth and the drawings could have been more compelling.

Thank God summer is over: plenty of great movies to look forward to in the coming months

- Super, a James Gunn’s comedy boasting a cast of Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page, Liv Tyler and Kevin Bacon.

- Cave of Forgotten Dreams, Werner Herzog’s 3D documentary

- Beautiful Boy, by Shawn Ku starring Michael Sheen and Maria Bello

- Black Swan, by Darren Aronofksy

- 127 Hours, by Danny Boyle

 - The Fighter, by David O Russell’s 

 - The Social Networt, by David Fincher, released this week-end in the UK.

 - The Tree of Life, by Terrence Malick. EuropaCorps has confirmed the french release for February 2011. Hopefully the UK will be soon after if not sooner.

to set the tone

Gaspar Noe hypnotises Dalston’s audience with Enter the void

The director of Irreversible is well-known for his boldness in film-making. But with Enter the Void, he pushes his audacity a bit further by ignoring commercial laws or common taste. Gaspard Noe is the shining example of a technically daring director who cares more about creating a fascinating cinematic experience rather than pleasing an intellectual Parisian or Londoner audience.

So after a couple of minutes watching the first scenes of Enter the Void, one wonders how he is going to overcome two and a half hours of digital effects and kaleidoscopic visuals buttressed by a mind-killing electronic musical soundtrack.

Surprisingly enough, the magnetic attraction works perfectly well and one is caught up into a striking and compelling video experience.

Leaving Noe’s experimental style aside, what is Enter the Void all about? Oscar is a young American man trying is own luck in the Tokyo of sex and drugs. As his sister freshly lands in to live with him (after the brutal death of their parents, they promised to never leave each other no matter what…), both of them dive into the merry-go-round of vice and bad company. In this foul environment, Oscar desperately tries to protect his little seductive sister, until his bad acquaintances defeat him in a splash of blood and drugs.

I found Enter the Void visually extremely mesmerizing, “cinematically” interesting, exhausting, infuriating, and story-tellingly boring all at the same time.

As Time Out’s critic Dave Calhoun accurately writes:”But you have to admire Noé’s ballsy vision and loopy execution, and the way he sucks you into this world with such a bold fusion of sound and image. It’s not a massive leap from ‘Avatar’ to ‘Enter the Void’: both care more for style over story, both reflect their maker’s odd world view. Noé, though, has no desire to please. He’d rather repel you. See where it takes you”

If you enjoyed Irreversible, Requiem for a dream and Lost in Tanslation, you’ll probably like the psychedelic Enter the Void then!