Film #8: American Beauty

What's going down?
Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) is living in a suburban hell; he hates his job, his marriage has run dry, his wife is obsessed with advancing her career and he barely speaks to his daughter. His outlook begins to change, however, when he meets his daughter's attractive friend Angela (Mena Suvari) and decides to start working out to impress her. Soon after, he meets Ricky Fitts (Wes Bentley), a teenage drug dealer who rekindles his pot-smoking habit. As Lester begins to restructure his life to the way he enjoys it, his wife and daughter begin to change their own lives... at the cost of their relationships with each other.

Who's in it?
Kevin Spacey leads as Lester Burnham, and it's one of his best (if not his single best) performances. Lester Burnham is not really at all likeable, but thanks to Spacey, we still want him to succeed in his efforts to escape his soulless life. The audience can feel every moment of anger, lust, confusion, and elation as his transformation progresses. Annette Bening plays Lester's wife, Carolyn, who brings some scenes of raw emotional pain to the film, and keeps the proceedings from sinking into comedy. Thora Birch is Jane Burnham, Lester's daughter, in a role that captures the confusion of a teenage misfit perfectly; Jane hates her home life, her father is infatuated with her best friend, and she desperately wants to avoid becoming like her parents. Wes Bentley is the film's most interesting character in the role of Jane's boyfriend, Ricky Fitts, a drug dealer and obsessive videographer with an eye for seeing beauty in the everyday world around him. Bentley gives Ricky an almost inhuman confidence in an understated performance that leaves the audience wishing they knew more about him.

How's the production?
For a debut film, Sam Mendes shows an impressive mastery of filmmaking. There is little in the way of flashy effects or techniques, with Mendes allowing the compelling narrative and interplay between the characters to hold the audience's attention. In an inspired move, Mendes uses rose petals as a symbol of Lester's desire for the teenage Angela. Another potent symbol is found in the video Ricky shoots of a paper bag being blown around by the wind, which becomes a symbol for his view on life, that beauty can be found every day, everywhere around us. The clip is almost hypnotic, drawing the audience's attention and making them think about how much beauty really can be found around them.

The Greatest Scene:
Jane and Angela are talking in Jane's room when they notice Ricky filming them through his window. Angela, who considers Ricky a freak, teases him by posing in the window. Instead of focusing on her, he zooms in past the sex symbol to look at Jane's reflection in a mirror, introducing us to the "look closer" philosophy he uses to find the true beauty in the ugly world around him.

Personal Impressions:
The story of middle-aged, middle-class people trying to escape their boring suburban life has been told many times before, but Sam Mendes manages to tell it in a way that makes what could be a pile of cliches hit the audience hard and forces them to look at the problems and troubles of modern life. Part of the film's power lies in the contrast between the adults and teenagers experiences and views on life; Lester sees himself living in an ugly and boring world where he must make himself stand out, while Ricky accepts that he is only one person in a world filled with hidden beauty. Ultimately, however, they all live in the same world, and its the one we live in every day too. These themes of finding beauty and giving meaning to life allow this film to make the audience think about how they view the world, and may make them stop and, as Ricky does, look closer.

Film #7: Milk

What's going down?
Throughout the 1970's, Harvey Milk was a relentless activist and campaigner for gay rights. This biopic depicts his rise to prominence in San Francisco, how he helped rally and unite the gay community, and how he became the first openly gay man elected to public office in California.

Who's in it?
Sean Penn leads the cast as Harvey Milk, proving himself worthy of the praise he's attracted for being one of the best actors of his generation, whatever he may do in his real life. It's a challenge for anyone to play a historical figure, but Penn makes Milk seem completely and genuinely human, allowing us to experience the triumphs and tragedies of his life as he rises from a closeted 40-year-old to an icon and leader of the national gay rights movement. James Franco is Milk's lover, Scott Smith, who moves with him to San Francisco and helps him open the camera shop that becomes the center of the gay community. Franco plays Scott as a more domestic individual than Milk, tiring of Milk's seemingly endless campaigns for the office of city supervisor. Josh Brolin is Milk's opposition, troubled city supervisor Dan White, who eventually ends Milk's life. Brolin's performance is notable for the subtlety with which he portrays White's gradual slide from confident politician to depression and disgrace.

How's the production?
Gus van Sant conveys a definite seventies atmosphere, with the characters' dress capturing the period and the gay environment perfectly. Van Sant also makes use of video filters and cameras to shoot footage that looks as though it was shot on an old seventies camcorder. Actual historical TV reports and footage of gay rights protests, as well as footage from the documentary The Life and Times of Harvey Milk lend some historical authenticity to the film, which is framed by an audio recording Milk made before his death in which he recounted his rise and present situation.

The Greatest Scene:
While waiting for the results of the vote on Prop 6 (which would ban gays from holding jobs in public schools), Milk is contacted by a young gay man who had called him a year earlier on the verge of committing suicide. The young man tells Milk that he has become involved the gay community in Los Angeles and that the gays have won the vote in LA county. Soon after, voting results begin to pour in, showing a massive, unexpected support for the gay movement. It's the films most joyous moment, representing both a victory for the gay community and a personal victory for the young man.

Personal Impressions:
Gay rights is one of the hottest issues in America right now, and this film helps in highlighting the origins of the gay rights movement. It seems odd today that, as recently as the 1970's, religious dogma was still used as a foundation for legal process. It also shows how far the gay community has come since then in terms of widespread acceptance, even though their battle is far from over. This film manages to successfully spotlight both Harvey Milk's personal struggles and the larger struggle of the gay community. Even though the world lost Harvey Milk in 1978, his legacy lives on to the present day, making this film both a look into the past and a timely story for the present day.

Film #6: Pan's Labyrinth

What's going down?
In fascist-controlled Spain, a young girl named Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) is taken by her mother to live with her new stepfather, a grim, sadistic officer in control of an outpost. As a resistance gathers in the surrounding woods to attack the outpost, Ofelia encounters a mysterious Faun (Doug Jones), who tells her that she is the lost daughter of a Forest King and gives her the chance to return to his kingdom.

Who's in it?
Ivana Baquero leads as Ofelia, and it's quite an extraordinary performance. She manages to convincingly and naturally interact with both humans and creatures of fantasy, lending a sense of wonder and innocence to what is otherwise quite a dark film. Sergi Lopez steps up as the evil Captain Vidal and paints the character perfectly, starting out as a man full of thinly-controlled anger, and emerging as an absolute animal. Maribel Verdu plays the undercover resistance member Mercedes, bravely acting as a mole inside the outpost and standing up to the brutal Vidal. Doug Jones continues his record for donning prosthetics, playing both the Faun (Ofelia's contact to the world of fairies) and the terrifying Pale Man.

How's the production?
Guillermo del Toro's films always have a certain darkly magical atmosphere, and this film captures that essence perfectly. Everything about the film, from the forest setting to the grotesque fantasy creatures that populate it to the themes of innocence and sacrifice are evocative of the fairy tales one expects to find written in old, leather-bound volumes in the back of a library. Del Toro also manages to skillfully blend the contrasting plotlines of the fairy tale and the gritty resistance drama into one cohesive whole - the film would not come together as beautifully as it does if either side of the story were absent. 

The Greatest Scene:
Ofelia's encounter with the Pale Man. She enters his lair knowing that she has limited time to retrieve the object she came for, and that she is facing a creature of terrible evil. When the monster is stirred, she flees from him, only to find that her way back to the human world has sealed. The suspense in this sequence is wire-tight, reportedly causing Stephen King to cringe at the film's premiere.

Personal Impressions:
This was my first experience with an entirely foreign-language film, and the fact that the dialogue is entirely conveyed through subtitles take nothing away from this fantasy masterpiece - if there was ever a question of whether cinema counts as art, this film makes a solid case for the affirmative. Guillermo del Toro brings his trademark style and devotion to what will likely be his magnum opus, a medieval fairy tale reimagined for a modern, adult audience. As for Sergi Lopez... there's a reason that villains are often the most memorable characters in film, and he encapsulates this perfectly; in the final scene he chases Ofelia through the titular labyrinth, and, upon finding her with his newly born son **SPOILER WARNING** pulls out his gun and shoots her in cold blood. Few villains in cinematic history can match his brutality and sadism, and its a performance that won't soon be forgotten.

Film #5: No Country For Old Men

What's going down?
Llewellyn Moss (Josh Brolin) is an average man living in a Texas trailer park. When he stumbles upon the scene of a drug deal gone bad and discovers a briefcase containing two million dollars, he becomes the target of psychotic killer Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem), who is willing to do anything and kill anyone to recover the money.

Who's in it?
Tommy Lee Jones gets top billing as Ed Tom Bell, an aging sheriff who questions what drives men to commit the acts of violence he witnesses. His ruminations provide the film's philosophical focal point. Josh Brolin is Llewellyn Moss, an ordinary man who sets off a chain of violence he never fully comprehends... until it's too late. The film, however, truly belongs to Javier Bardem, who turns Anton Chigurh into the most intimidating film villain since Hannibal Lecter. In his very first scene, Chigurh murders a cop by strangling him with his own handcuffs, an expression of crazed ecstasy on his face. It's indicative of what's to follow, as Chigurh indiscriminately kills his way toward the stolen money. Woody Harrelson also appears as cocky mercenary Carson Wells, hired to take out Chigurh.

How's the production?
The Coen Brothers handle this film like an old-school western. It doesn't feel like a modern film; it's much more timeless than most of this decade's films.  The Texas settings manage to avoid being associated with a particular era, thus adding to the timelessness of the piece. The script treads some of the same territory as Fargo, with its philosophical questions of what drives men to commit atrocities in the name of money. The entire film is excellently composed, with every shot working to advance the plot; nothing is added unnecessarily.

The Greatest Scene:
Two scenes that help define Anton Chigurh's character. In the first, a gas station attendant, not realizing at first the dangerousness of his customer, finds his fate - life or death - riding on a flip of Chigurh's coin. The dialogue elevates the tension of the scene almost to breaking point, as the audience, but not the attendant, already know what Chigurh is capable of. In the second, and injured Chigurh blows up a car to create a distraction so he can steal medical supplies from a pharmacy. He takes the goods back to his hotel room and proceeds to remove the bullets from his leg and stitch himself back up. The scene only helps to establish Chigurh's methodical, detached take on his own pain, as well as that of others.

Personal Impressions:
They don't make movies like they used to... okay, they do, and this is a prime example. The Texas setting, the running-after-money plot, and Tommy Lee Jones' lawman character all evoke classic westerns... Jones is the white hat, Bardem is the black hat, and Brolin is the not-quite-heroic gunslinger. Rather than the blockbuster action film take on violence, where little regard is payed to the consequences of the on-screen destruction, the Coens spotlight the devastation, emotional and physical, caused to the survivors of the film's events. Javier Bardem is superb in the role of Chigurh, crafting a killer completely remorseless and unpredictable. Tommy Lee Jones also shines as his character realizes that he may not be able to fulfill his mission of maintaining the law forever. The abrupt ending also seems to fit the film - in real life, there are very rarely clean endings; the characters' lives will go on after they have seen each other for the last time.