Happy End review

Happy End, the latest film from Michael Haneke (Funny Games, Hidden, Amour) is out now in UK cinemas. My full review of Happy End is at Starburst Magazine here.

And here's a little taster of what you can expect from the film, and my review:

Happy End follows three generations of a successful construction dynasty, but Haneke’s characters are frustrated, bitter and broken right from the first frames of the film.
 
Anne (Isabelle Huppert) oversees the business and deals with the fallout from a construction site accident. Her doctor brother Thomas (Mathieu Kassovitz) is reconnecting with his teenage daughter, who has come to live with the family after Thomas’ ex-wife overdoses. Anne’s aging father Georges (Jean-Louis Trintignant) has stepped away from the business as his health is starting to fail. Anne’s son is drinking too much and appears to be crying out for attention.

It’s a plot full of major events that mostly happen off screen. A car crash, an overdose, a suicide attempt and more are involved but Haneke’s focus is on the quieter moments of relationship drama, including some surprisingly tender moments of inter-generational mutual understanding as well as inevitable conflict.



Read more here. 

Read more reviews from London Film Festival 2017 here.

World Cinema: Messages and Values in City of God and La Haine

To what extent are the messages and values to be found in City and God and La Haine similar or dissimilar?

World cinema films often convey profound messages about the worlds they represent. Often world cinema films will not reach a wider audience than within their own country of origins but others will cross over and thanks to film festivals and often big American distributors (like for example Miramax) will achieve international recognition. These films may sacrifice some of their important social and political messages in order to appeal to a wider and more globalised mass market. City of God and La Haine both maintain strong messages while gaining large audiences across the world and many of these messages are similar across both films.

In both City of God and La Haine, the poorer members of society are segregated from the rich and appear excluded from wealthier parts of the country. In La Haine the message is that the poor ethnic youth of les banlieues feel excluded and hated by the rest of society and they therefore riot every night as an expression of their rage against the society that marginalises them. City of God offers in a similar way many of the same problems. The mostly black inhabitants of the favelas are crammed together in their slums, moved away from the ‘civilised’ cities and the drugs and guns are allowed to proliferate with little interference from the corrupt police. Both in La Haine and City of God, the youths rarely appear to have jobs. Even when Rocket gets a job in a supermarket, he loses it because of his association to the favela and its ‘runts’. Hubert in La Haine only finds money from drug dealing and similarly in City of God, the drug dealers are the ones with the most money, power and best clothes. The youths of both films rarely leave the places they live and when they do the contrast is stark. City of God shows a wide open plan newspaper office and apartment with hot running water in comparison to its crowded, cramped, dirty and dangerous slums whereas La Haine offers a tasteful art gallery where guests are offered champagne and called ‘sir’ in comparison to les banlieues that are grey, crowded and covered in graffiti. In both films the lower class (and often from ethnic minorities) appear excluded and cut off from the wealthier areas of the country and therefore find it harder to find legal employment and safety.

Another message that both films share is that there is a cycle of violence that will continue to go on and on in poor areas if the cycle is never broken. Both films start and end with violence and feature seemingly good, honest and decent men dragged down into violence and despair. La Haine takes its title from its message as stated by Hubert; ‘Hate breeds hate’. At the start of the film it is revealed that a young man has been beaten by the police so badly that he is in a coma. Vinz wants revenge on the police, as many of the other youths in les banlieues do. The police hate the youths for rioting and being violent and the youths hate the police for trying to oppress them and for their own violence. The cycle is destined to repeat forever if somebody does not break it. Similarly in City of God the violence escalates between Carrot and Lil Ze’s rival gangs because members of the gangs continue to kill each other and more and more people get dragged into the gang warfare due to wanting revenge. When Lil Ze is finally killed by the runts (who he gave guns to), it appears they are to be the next generation that will stalk the favelas looking for people to kill and therefore gain more power. The tragedy of both films is that Knockout Ned (who at first refuses to kill) and Hubert (who wants kids to take out their anger on punching bags rather than the police) both end in positions where they feel they have to fight and kill.

A message that comes out to varying degrees in both City of God and La Haine is that the government, police and other institutions are inherently racist, classist and corrupt in many countries around the world. It ties into the earlier message that poor people are ‘swept under the rug’ in these areas where they can almost be forgotten about. The favelas and les banlieues are places where those who have no jobs and have often come from poorer countries can be shoved at a minimum cost to the government and kept out of the sight and minds of the wealthy. The police in both films are also represented as corrupt and racist. In La Haine they have beaten a young Arab man to death in their custody (and this was based on a true story) and later Said and Hubert are taken and tortured by some cops who are ‘training’ a younger officer in the ways to get away with abusing those in their custody without getting caught. In City of God, the police are seen shooting innocent favela dwellers, selling guns to gangs and taking money from dealers. The films seem to say that if the police are not trustworthy and good, then why would the people obey or respect them.

In both City of God and La Haine, the media is seen to play a vital part in perpetuating stereotypes about poor ethnic youths. People in wealthier parts of the country are rarely represented and all they probably often know about the favelas and les banlieues is what they pick up from the newspapers and the television news. La Haine starts with real footage of the riots and the media are constantly relaying the tale of Abdel, the young man beaten up by the police. The media harass the youths when they are minding their own business and try to get them to talk about the riots which they assume they were in. Similarly in City of God, Rocket gets a job at the newspaper because he gets photos of the violent gangster Lil Ze. The journalists are delighted to get a photo of Lil Ze and his gang, guns drawn and looking mean. This image of poorer areas is what sells and what perpetuates stereotypes about young ethnic minority youths. A counter argument is that the media help people to see the injustice and inequality that are rife in their own countries, in these cases, Brazil and France.

There are on the other hand a couple of messages that the two films do not share. In City of God it appears as though hard work, decency and honesty can be rewarded whereas La Haine has a more pessimistic view. Rocket in City of God ends the film with an escape from his life and the favelas. He does not choose guns, drugs, violence and hate and instead gets a job as a photographer suggesting that there may be hope for those who try to stay honest and hardworking. On the other hand in La Haine Hubert who worked so hard to start a gym sees it burnt down by the people he created it for and finally ends the film pointing a gun at a police officer.There is little hope for the youths in La Haine no matter what they do and how hard they try.

Another difference is the representation of drug use and drug dealing in the films. In City of God, cocaine particularly seems to bea cause of major problems in the favelas. In both films, marijuana is smoked and dealt with little problems. In fact Hubert deals to get money for his family and Rocket buys drugs to help him get a girlfriend. However in City of God the introduction of cocaine seems to bring bigger problems like Tiago’s addiction and an increase in gang warfare and the proliferation of guns.

In conclusion, City of God and La Haine share many of the same messages. They are both set in similar worlds and depict poverty and conflict. They revolve around the clash of cultures between the poor and the police and the warfare between gangs. While they are both made by middle class white filmmakers, they both dig beneath stereotypes and attempt to challenge some purely negative representations of poor ethnic minority youths. City of God and La Haine both have powerful messages to convey but City of God has a more mainstream approach by having a somewhat optimistic ending (at least for main character Rocket) whereas La Haine leaves its ending bleak and wide open and ensures that the audience is forced to think about its messages for a long time to come.

More A2 exam answers:

Analysing La Haine

World Cinema: Distinctive Visual Features

World Cinema: Social and Political Context

WJEC A2 Film Studies Exam Practice Section B

A2 Film Studies Exam Practice Section B 

Is Fight Club a film about power and control rather than liberation? (written version)

Is Fight Club a film about power and control rather than liberation? (video version)

Lots more Fight Club links

Mathieu Kassovitz Interview at Filmoria

On Sunday April 14th 2013, I got to meet, interview and shake the hand of the director of one of my all time top 3 films, La Haine. The director is Mathieu Kassovitz (who also made Gothika and Babylon AD but don't hold that against him) and he was in London for a couple of days to promote his film Rebellion.

Rebellion is the true story of an elite counter terrorism unit captained by Philippe Legorjus (Mathieu Kassovitz) sent to Ouvea Island in the French colony of New Caledonia to negotiate the release of 30 kidnapped policemen.

Kassovitz spoke candidly of the challenges of making Rebellion; a task that has taken ten years and also his recent controversial Twitter outburst over his disappointment at some of the responses to the film.

How would you describe Rebellion to anyone who has only heard of La Haine?

As a grown up version of La Haine. Less funny and less welcoming and accessible. But La Haine was about police brutality. This one is about government brutality so it’s a step up but it’s the same kind of energy and the same kind of message.

You seem very comfortable with this position against the mainstream of French politics.

One of the great opportunities of being a director is being able to tell stories and especially the true ones where you only heard one voice and one side of the story and you discover there is something else. Usually of course you can call it a revision of history because all of a sudden what you’ve been told is not what you discover.

There is nothing more fascinating than to be able to express that and to show it to people. That’s what historians are here for and sometimes by being a director you can be a historian. If you do your homework properly and if you take it very seriously, then you become a reporter. The movie becomes like a very important piece of journalism. But the difference is a magazine will get lost next week and a movie is here to stay. 

When you’re saying something and you’re able to revise history or revise point of view or a way of thinking, it’s a great responsibility but it’s also the best thing. You can’t get a bigger kick than that because you’re not only making a movie but you’re also saying something and you’re going to reveal something. That’s very important. Of course I feel very comfortable with that, not just with movies but everyday life, I like that, I like to confront ideas and to shock people so movies are a great vehicle for that.

How has the film been received in France and on the island as it’s a colonial story?

It’s a hard story to deal with for France. I’m invested in that story. I know all about it. But people don’t care. They have other things to do. The story was 20 years ago and 25,000 km away and who gives a shit? This kind of movie requires patience and intelligence. I’m trying to be smart about it and design the movie to get the audience right in the middle of it, in Philippe’s shoes so you can say what would I have done if I was in his shoes? 

It’s a difficult movie to sell and we got the best reviews ever but nobody went to see the film in France because of different reasons. When people are down you don’t want to hear again that the government is lying. You’re like I know; you don’t need to stick my nose in my own shit. I know about it but I don’t want to hear about it all the time. So I get that and people want to laugh and I get that. It’s strange for me because I’ve never had such good reviews and no one went to see the movie. I was really shocked. It’s about our history and I would think for a French audience they would take it and they would say yeah. We’re fighting this because we’re French and that’s what we are. But French people aren’t French anymore. Five years of Sarkozy has killed our spirit. And a year and a half of Ayrault is not bringing it back so we’re not the French people that we were before. I thought we were still the same people but we’re not. 

In a year from now New Caledonia will vote for their independence. I think the movie will be revealed then. But you need to be able to sit down for two hours and just think about what you’re seeing which is not what movies do today. You can’t know if a movie like that will work. I’m a little sad, not for me because I did it, I’m very happy I did it and I’m very happy with the movie. I’m sad for the actors who want to do that kind of movie.

Would you embark on that kind of project again?

I’m burned out right now. 10 years to make a kind of movie like that and no one goes to see it, it’s painful. You’re like why would I put another 10 years of my life into a movie that no one cares about? I will but people ask me how I found that story. You don’t find stories like that, stories find you. The right time, the right moment, you stumble onto something; you got to tell that story. So you need to actually cross paths with such a story. It can be something that you witness in the street. It can be a historical event, it can be whatever but you need to find it. If you don’t find it then you don’t have anything so right now I don’t have the energy to find something like that. I can’t create that inspiration; it has to come to me. Right now I’m working in Hollywood so I’m doing exactly the opposite and I’m resting my brain and building good muscle tone!

How have the Kanaks responded to it?

First of all the movie was censored in New Caledonia. The theatre owners said that they were scared the people would burn the theatre down. So that was a reason not to show the movie and to try to hide it a little longer. 

Did you expect these kinds of responses?

That… no! That was too far. If I had expected that, then I would have made a much harsher movie for the French government. I didn’t show a lot of stuff. I didn’t show torture. I didn’t really show the violence. I didn’t go that far. I wanted to make a movie really balanced so that I wouldn’t have that kind of problem, like censorship or being partisan. But still people say the movie is partisan, you take the side of the Kanak. The story is actually that the French army came and killed people so there are victims, but the military are victims also. You have to really explain why and how it happened but there are no two sides for that story. Some people can be on the side of the military. What I really want to do is make the military and the people that were responsible for that to see the movie and to have a different point of view. I don’t want to shun them; I don’t want to slap them in the face. Even with trying to be as subtle, not as arrogant or mean or hard core as I could be, they can’t accept it. 

How does Philippe feel about the film? How involved was he?

Very much. As soon as I started to work with the Kanak. I started with them in 2001. In 2003 they were like yeah why not [make the film]. Then I got in touch with Philippe and we started to work together. He was very involved. I had to understand what he went through. But the guy is a snake; he’s a cold blooded animal. They are very professional... they can’t let their emotions take over and they have to be really on top of their game. So they don’t communicate that much. Even if he wanted to, he couldn’t really tell me what he felt during that event because it was just happening. He realised a few months later what happened. So he likes the film. The Kanak like the film and he likes the film. I got from both sides the same kind of relationship. Both parties were so involved that they knew exactly what they were going to get.

Do you think there is a more open culture amongst the Kanaks now with being able to talk about the events?

The movie is here. Discussions are up in the air. If they want to talk about it they have a first stone that they can step onto and start to build on that. They needed that. I told them I’m not going to tell your story, I’m not going to tell their story, I’m going to tell the global story and try to be as close to the truth as possible. Your bad actions will be shown and their bad actions will be shown. 

They needed something that they can regroup around and now they have a piece of material they can talk about so it’s very important for them. That’s one of the first things they said that they want to be portrayed in a real way, not a good way or a bad way but what they are and what they’re fighting for. And their reason to live and what they are here for. They’re very proud of that because the movie’s very true to what they are. You can really feel that. I spent so much time with them. I really loved that island and the culture, even if there are a lot of problems and it’s very complicated to deal with. That’s why they let me do it. I really spent time with them. I became one of them. 

It was the same thing with them as I did with La Haine in the projects. I’m not from the projects so I could step in and look at it from a distance. That’s the only way you can have a point of view on something and share it with somebody else. If you were in the projects all the time then you cannot see what is going on because you’re knee deep into it. If you’re a Kanak you cannot really have a judgment about Philippe Legorjus because you’re passion is too much. You need somebody like me that can take a step out, that can stay out of it but can still be invested in it.

What can you say about your angry Twitter reaction to the single César nomination Rebellion received?

I won I think three of them in my career. I never went to get them. Even my first movie called Café au lait I was nominated as an actor. I never went to get it. First of all I think it’s tacky. It’s the tackiest ceremony in the world. It’s boring. I’m not keen being seated next to these people. I’d loved to go to the Oscars because I’d love to be seated next to Francis Ford Coppola and Steven Spielberg, all these amazing directors. But in France, no. I need to admire people I want to sit next to. And I hate competition. I love competition before the movie was released but once the movie is released, I don’t like it.

Didn’t you accuse French cinema of being too enthralled with Hollywood?

I said fuck French cinema. It’s a global thing. Just to say that I don’t really care about having a César or not but when Rebellion was not nominated; I was very, very shocked. It’s not because it’s a good movie or not. The movie didn’t do good in theatres. If the French industry doesn’t support movies like that, you know there’s not another movie like that out that year. It’s not like we had 10 political movies. There’s this one and that’s it. If they don’t support it, they say we don’t care. They gave Césars to the most successful movie of the year. Why would you give the César to a movie that doesn’t need it and which is probably not even the best one? But it’s not about the competition, just to recognize French movies and French cinema is also that. If you don’t need that and you just need comedies, then fuck you! And the other part is just trying to be Americans. But you don’t know how to and you’re just trying to look American, then I’m like what are we? We’re French! Right now we’re not the way we should be. I think Sarkozy killed us, killed the spirit. And Ayrault is not helping. I made Rebellion because I still thought that the French people were feisty. Not anymore. They’re not concerned anymore. They’re not interested. 

I understand that the public didn’t go and see it because I understand it’s a difficult movie to take. People have other things to do and problems so they’d rather laugh and I totally get it. I probably wouldn’t have gone to see it anyway myself. But for the industry not to recognize it, not to support it, I was very, very shocked. I said, that’s it, I’m done. I did what I had to do in France. I gave my best. I think it’s time for me to go somewhere else.

What inspired you to become a filmmaker?

It’s simple... my parents were filmmakers and they were good filmmakers so they taught me the craft and the love for the craft. My father was very ethical about directing movies and he gave me the basics. Stay on schedule, work on a budget, if you can do it for less, do it for less. Problems are solutions. You don’t need money to find solutions. You need to be smart; you need to know your subject. He knew his craft and he just passed it onto me. My mother, the same. If they had been butchers and they would have done it right, I would be killing cows right now in a very good way… without hurting them [laughs]. I would have done what my parents taught me with passion. I was lucky it was movies so I can hang out with beautiful people, no dead cows. 

Why political movies?

I have no fucking idea. Because with my parents it was the sixties, seventies. My father was coming from Hungary. He escaped during the Communist regime. I don’t know. It’s difficult to make movies. You have two choices. Either you make movies because wow I make movies and it’s a fucking great way to make a living or you make movies because you have something to say. That’s where it becomes really interesting because it’s such a powerful and amazing medium to play with. I realised doing this movie when you make a movie like that, that’s it! The movies done and you say what you had to say and it becomes the truth so it’s a great responsibility but it’s also a great honour. I said the truth about that story and that’s going to influence the vote next year. That’s amazing. I’m doing politics at the same time. It’s very difficult to make a movie so it’s better to make it for a purpose other than your bank account.

More interviews at I Love That Film

Box Office of March, Mathieu Kasovitz's Rebellion and Marlow FM slot

My second box office report for Tastic Film has just been published covering the biggest box office hits of the month of March. Check out the box office report here. Family friendly fare unsurprisingly took the lead this month and I'm looking forward to hopefully writing about more horror success stories like the Evil Dead remake in April. It will also be interesting to see how Spring Breakers does with its clear mainstream appeal but also experimental and art house elements.

My review for Mathieu Kassovitz's Rebellion is also up at Filmoria today. I loved the film and am glad to see director Kassovitz back on form. I'm also going to be participating in a roundtable interview with the director on Sunday which is absolutely terrifying but also incredibly exciting. His La Haine is one of my top 3 films of all time so I will have to resist the urge to not just ask him about that and keep questions focused on Rebellion. It probably would not be very professional of me to try and get a photo with him or get him to sign any of my copies of his films but we'll see how it goes! If you have any questions for Mr Kassovitz, then please drop me a comment and I'll try and ask them!

In other exciting news, I've just been given a regular weekly slot on a local radio station called Marlow FM,  to talk about upcoming films. You can listen to Marlow FM here and I should be on soon after 5pm today if you want to check it out. It's very exciting to be on the radio and I'm looking forward to telling the people of Marlow what films to watch out for at the cinema every week.

If you live in London, you can go to a Q&A with Mathieu Kassovitz on Sunday at three different venues. Here are my tweets and links to where you can get tickets. It also means you get to see the film almost a week before general release!

Q&A with #Rebellion and #LaHaine director Mathieu Kassovitz @picturehouses Hackney 2pm Sunday!!! Get tickets here http://www.picturehouses.co.uk/cinema/Hackney_Picturehouse/film/Rebellion/

Q&A Screening #Rebellion director Mathieu Kassovitz @ODEONCinemas  Covent Garden 4pm this Sunday! Get tickets here http://www.odeon.co.uk/fanatic/film_info/m100564/Rebellion_Q_amp_A_With_Mathieu_Kassovitz/

#Rebellion #LaHaine director Mathieu Kassovitz at Cine Lumiere 6pm this Sunday! Get tickets here http://www.institut-francais.org.uk/cine-lumiere/whats-on/new-releases/rebellion/

Any questions for Kassovitz, then let me know!

First Stars on a Film Poster: Rebellion

I've just learned that my four star review for Filmoria is being used on the poster for Mathieu Kassovitz's Rebellion. It's not a big beautiful quote or snippet of my review but the four stars are definitely up there on the poster with Filmoria written proudly beneath them.

Filmoria have had a lot of exposure through film posters and trailers over the last year with our stars popping up on the Sightseers poster and even a quote from Chris Haydon's review being used in the Rust and Bone trailer.

I wish I could say that this was all down to my wonderful reviewing skills but of course this is more to do with the increasing profile of Filmoria which must be becoming a more and more recognizable name and can therefore feature on posters alongside Time Out, Cinevue and Empire magazine.

It’s a great, great honour to not only be writing for Filmoria but also to get my first stars on the poster for a film I am so very happy to be recommending. Rebellion is from the French filmmaker Mathieu Kassovitz whose La Haine I have banged on about endlessly on this blog and ever since I first saw it back in 1996.

Rebellion isn’t out until April 19^th so my review will be online at Filmoria from around April 12^th. I hope you might be tempted to go check it out! My editors at Filmoria are also in talks to get an interview with the man Mathieu Kassovitz himself which I have been offered if it happens and I am available when it gets scheduled.

Needless to say if this interview happens, I’m going to, for want of better words, slightly lose my shit. Not only will I get to meet the director of one of my top three films of all time but I’ll also get to question him all about Rebellion and hopefully manage to throw at least one question in about La Haine.

Please cross your fingers that I get to interview Kassovitz! I'll owe you one if I do!