[for kids: ***]
DIRECTED BY Tim Story
STARRING Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, Michael Chiklis
US 2007 92 mins.
CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER **
DIRECTED BY Zhang Yimou
STARRING Chow Yun-Fat, Gong Li, Jay Chou
In Chinese, with Greek subtitles.
China 2006 113 mins.
What exactly are family films? If it’s just a euphemism for kids’ movies, then Fantastic Four 2: Rise of the Silver Surfer certainly qualifies – which is actually fine by me but tends to annoy the fanboys, those comic-book fans who grew up with Fantastic Four comics and view them with the reverence my old Literature teacher used to reserve for Proust and Tolstoy. They congregate on websites like Ain’t It Cool News, where a chap named ‘Memflix’ recently offered a melancholy evisceration of FF2: “The director Tim Story and his band of screenwriters have once again broken the hearts of FF fans all over. They have no respect. They have no understanding on [sic] what makes the ‘Fantastic Four’ story work, or any story for that matter … Any self-respecting Silver Surfer fan would scream! It is horrible.” In conclusion, wrote Memflix, “‘Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer’ is a disrespectful, sleight of hand circus show devoid of any elements that make a movie a movie.”
Alas, it turned out ‘Memflix’ was actually a projectionist at a theatre that ran trade screenings (which was how he’d managed to see the film early), and the studio were so enraged by his treachery they tracked him down and got him fired from his job, which in turn produced howls of outrage from his mates in the fanboy community. It was all very dramatic – much more dramatic than the movie, which is … well, it’s a nice little movie. A very nice little movie. Especially if you’re 12 years old.
That’s not meant as a putdown. It doesn’t seem wrong or demeaning that a comic-book movie should be aimed primarily at 12-year-olds; indeed, it’s quite healthy. Much as I like the three Spider-Mans, their emotional intensity often seems divorced from the fact that we’re talking about a guy in a Spider suit. The first Fantastic Four went for a light-hearted tone and this sequel does the same, especially when it comes to creative uses for its heroes’ superpowers. Mister Fantastic’s stretchy limbs come in handy when he’s trying to stick his bag in the overhead locker on a plane, or pick up a book from the other side of the room (he also uses them to illustrate the Big Bang to a pair of willing disco-chicks). Similarly, Invisible Woman’s ability to create invisible force-fields also proves useful when she spots an unsightly zit on her forehead just as she’s about to go out. As for the Human Torch, one can only imagine how awesome that would be – from killing cockroaches at six feet to cooking TV dinners without a microwave.
The film bubbles along quite pleasantly and innocuously – even younger kids should be okay, though they might be puzzled when The Thing is asked how he gets it on with his new girlfriend – before succumbing to special-effects bloat in the final stretch. There’s even occasional stuff for the grown-ups, notably a torture scene that’s a little too designed to Make a Statement on current events. The Silver Surfer is interrogated by a CIA thug who admits there are certain things he can’t do because they infringe human rights; fortunately, he adds with undisguised glee, “you’re not human!”. Mostly, however, emotional subtext is kept to a minimum – though it’s a pleasing irony when the Torch, who looks down slightly on the other Three, finds his arrogance backfiring when his cells mutate (or something) and he’s shut out of the family altogether.
Did I say ‘family’? Yes – because the Fantastic Four are a quasi-family, with Torch as the obnoxious teenager and Thing as a kind of eccentric uncle. That’s another sense in which FF2 is a ‘family film’ – and the same might be said of Curse of the Golden Flower, though the Imperial family in this Chinese drama are a bit too dysfunctional for kiddie consumption. The Emperor (Chow Yun-Fat) is paranoid, and trying to destroy the Empress (Gong Li) by slipping a poison in her drink that’ll slowly rot her mind. Son No. 1 is plagued by feelings of inadequacy, as well as lust for the Empress (his stepmother) which he channels into an affair with a servant-girl. Son No. 2 lurks on the fringes, devoted to the Empress (his mother) and thinking about the succession, while Son No. 3 just feels unloved and unappreciated by parents and siblings. To quote that unnamed Victorian matron: “How different from the home life of our own dear Queen!”.
The director is Zhang Yimou who once made Raise the Red Lantern (1991), a much better film about malign intrigues in a rich man’s household. Alas, the aforementioned poison – the one that makes its drinker slowly and progressively more cretinous – could also serve as a metaphor for Zhang’s own career, because he’s slowly lost interest in people and turned into a gaudy spectacle-maker (his next project is directing the Opening Ceremony at next year’s Beijing Olympics). That was fine in martial-arts actioners like Hero (2002) and House of Flying Daggers (2004), but it gets in the way of the Shakespearean family drama here – though the film does look great, in a kitschy way. Red of blood mingles with yellow of chrysanthemum, human patterns (seen from above) run or march through vast, Tiananmen-like spaces, and the Imperial Palace is multi-coloured to the point of psychedelia.
Is there a point? I couldn’t find one, except the moralistic sight of a family riven by jealousy and paranoia, plus the tabloid thrill of Royal-watching – and perhaps a pleasure in period paraphernalia, carpets and goblets and corseted breasts. By the time the abseiling ninjas turn up, and the sky fills with volleys of arrows and lances for the climactic battle set-piece, it hardly matters; Curse of the Golden Flower has become dehumanized, down to the actors’ artificial performances. When Zhang peers down at hundreds of soldiers toppling in battle – his camera way up in the heavens, so they look like dancers in a Busby Berkeley musical – he’s as magisterial (and irresponsible) as one of those 19th-century Crimean War generals, retiring to a hillside just before battle the better to watch his troops being slaughtered. Fun for all the family! Or not, as the case may be.
NEW DVD RELEASES
Here’s our regular look at the more interesting titles released on DVD in the US and UK over the past few weeks. Some may be available to rent from local video clubs, or you can always order over the Internet: dozens of suppliers, but http://www.amazon.com (for US) and http://www.play.com (for UK) are among the most reliable, if not necessarily the cheapest. Prices quoted don’t include shipping. Note that US discs are ‘Region 1’, and require a multi-region player.
NEW FILMS
THE PAINTED VEIL: Acclaimed romantic drama, based on Somerset Maugham, starring Edward Norton and Naomi Watts. No information on extras. [US]
LINDA LINDA LINDA: High-school girls form a rock band in this Japanese crowd-pleaser, a favourite at festivals worldwide. Extras include film-critic commentary. [US]
COMEDY OF POWER: The latest from director Claude Chabrol, master of mystery and psychodrama – a tale of corporate corruption, with the great Isabelle Huppert. No real extras. [US]
PERFUME: THE STORY OF A MURDERER: Outrageous drama from Patrick Susskind’s bestseller in a 2-disc edition, though extras aren’t that impressive (mostly a couple of featurettes). Still worth seeing. [UK]
OLD FILMS
ARMY OF SHADOWS (1969): Jean-Pierre Melville’s melancholy classic of the French Resistance came out in the UK last year – but here’s a superior package, a 2-disc editi
on from the Criterion Collection. Copious extras range from film-critic commentary to ‘Le Journal de la Resistance’, a rare short documentary shot on the front lines during the last days of the German Occupation in France. Essential. [US]
VENGEANCE IS MINE (1979): More from Criterion, a perverse and surprising serial-killer drama from Japanese director Shohei Imamura. Extras include a booklet on the film, including writings by Imamura himself. [US]
BECKET (1964): Richard Burton and Peter O’Toole as Thomas Becket and King Henry II in handsome historical, much acclaimed in its day (it won 12 Oscar nominations). Lavish extras include a commentary by Mr. O’Toole himself! [US]
THE FILMS OF ALEJANDRO JODOROWSKY: Genius or madman? Or both? After years in copyright hell, here’s the chance to experience the controversial work of this Mexican midnight-movie maven, notably ‘El Topo’ (1971) and ‘The Holy Mountain’ (1973). Both are also available separately, extras including deleted scenes and interviews with the man himself. [US/UK]
TO CATCH A THIEF (Special Collector’s Edition) (1955): Light-hearted, minor Hitchcock in a restored transfer (hence the “Special Edition”) with decent extras, mostly featurettes plus a commentary by fellow director Peter Bogdanovich. [US]
LE JOUR SE LEVE (1939): Classic of poetic fatalism finally hits DVD outside France (though collectors may prefer to wait for a better package). Jean Gabin is a killer, holed-up in his flat awaiting the inevitable arrival of the police – but why did he do it? No extras. [UK]
NIGHT OF THE EAGLE (1962): Creepy British horror about witchcraft in a medical school. Released by Optimum in a “Horror Classics” collection alongside ‘Circus of Horrors’ (1960). [UK]
THE THIRD PART OF THE NIGHT (1971): “Visionary, apocalyptic tale set in occupied Poland during WW2”, from director Andrezj Zulawski – and if you ever saw his deeply weird ‘Possession’ you’ll know to expect the unexpected. A rarity, first time on DVD. [UK]
TYRONE POWER: THE SWASHBUCKLER BOX SET: Every old-time star seems to be getting a DVD box-set, but Power’s adventure yarns seem a bit creaky nowadays; highlights include ‘Blood and Sand’ (1941) and ‘Prince of Foxes’ (1949). Extras include newsreel footage of Power’s wedding and a featurette on his leading ladies. [US]
CHINESE CLASSICS SERIES: Hardcore film fans had been celebrating the release of 8 Chinese classics from Cinema Epoch – including ‘Springtime in a Small Town’ (1948), often voted the best Chinese film of all time – at least till they saw the DVDs, which are apparently very disappointing (fuzzy transfers, etc). If you want them anyway, other titles include ‘Daybreak’ (1933) and ‘Song at Midnight’ (1937). [US]
