|
Bit 1
|
Looking back over the movies from the 8th Brisbane International
Film Festival that I've reviewed so far, it seems to me a certain bias for
English-language films not too far removed from the mainstream has somehow
crept in.
|
|---|
|
Bit 2
|
This could have a number of explanations: perhaps the Festival has gone more
for the predictable crowd-pleasers this year (the number of French or
Canadian productions screened, many of which were amongst my favourites in
previous years, has certainly decreased this time around), or perhaps my
tastes have simply become less adventurous. Perhaps, though, and just
perhaps, there is indeed a greater number of intelligent movies coming out
of Hollywood and its satellite industries at the moment, as a backlash from
the Armageddons and Godzillas of past years.
|
|---|
|
Bit 3
|
My main feature on Thursday, Playing by Heart, could certainly be
cited to back up this claim. It's far from being empty of proven formulas
or predictable situations, to be sure, but the material here is treated with
such care and attention that the film becomes more than the sum of its
parts. And 'parts' is the operative word here: in the tradition of such
films as Robert Altman's Shortcuts or the excellent French release
Il y a des Jours ... et des Lunes by Claude Lelouch, Playing by
Heart introduces a large number of apparently unrelated characters who,
by the end of the movie, are all seen to be interrelated in some way. All
of their stories play around the central themes of love, life, and death,
yet the script thankfully avoids any overly saccharine or manipulative treatment.
|
|---|
|
Bit 4
|
This care also extends to acting and direction: director Willard Carroll is
able to coax some remarkable performances out of his star-studded cast.
Most notable amongst them is perhaps Ryan Phillippe, who proves he is
capable of more than acting out the rich-brat roles he's been typecast in
recently -- Phillippe, as the enigmatic Keenan who steadfastly refuses the
determined advances of Joan (Angelina Jolie, also in great form here),
delivers a measured and mature performance. Similar -- and perhaps as
surprising -- in its maturity is the performance of Sean Connery, who also
breaks out from his mold of roles written for The Actor Formerly Known as
Bond, and is placed, for the first time in a long while, in a believable,
compatible-age screen marriage. The chemistry between him and the wonderful
Gena Rowlands is tangible, and Connery is not afraid to let his tough-guy
image slip enough to portray a loving husband with more than one threat to
his marriage, and even to be self-effacingly silly in one all too brief
scene.
|
|---|
|
Bit 5
|
Probably closest to her usual image as cellphone-enhanced voice of
reason is Gillian Anderson, whose Meredith, a successful stage director with
a deep-seated distrust of men, will certainly appeal to fans of "the
thinking man's strumpet" Dana Scully. That's hardly
a criticism, though: in its unaffected simpleness, Meredith's story is one
of the highlights of the film. And amongst
fine efforts all round, a final mention should also go to
Dennis Quaid, as a man apparently with a different compassion-seeking
story to tell at every bar or nightclub he's going to, yet unable to deal
with the true problems in his life.
|
|---|
|
Bit 6
|
Much as I'm loath to add yet another Hollywood film to my list of BIFF
notables, then, I can't help but recommend Playing by Heart.
(And that's got nothing to do with the fact that there are also some
surprising Progressive Rock links to this film: B.L.U.E. trumpeter Chris
Botti is featured on the soundtrack, while oddly enough Spock's Beard's
keyboardist Ryo Okumoto appears in a band seen playing in the final scenes
of the movie...)
|
|---|
|
Bit 7
|
Turning away from Hollywood, finally, another notable BIFF feature was the
Taiwanese/Japanese co-production Flowers of Shanghai, set in the
'flower houses' -- expensive brothels
(though places of courtship rather than sex) -- of the British sectors of
Shanghai in the late 19th century. I use the term 'set in' advisedly: the
film takes place entirely within the flower houses, opulently furnished
places lit by candlelight where daylight never seems to penetrate; through
incredibly long camera shots, sweeping over and circling the action, of which the film
consists almost in its entirety, the movie captures the peaceful, stylish and
enclosed atmosphere of these settings excellently. The constant circling
also seems to underline the position of the 'flower girls'
themselves, who are to some extent trapped in the houses as personal
possessions of their owners, and who try to find various ways to buy
themselves out, or be sold into lucrative marriages.
|
|---|
|
Bit 8
|
A third form of enclosure is provided by the strict rules of the etiquette
of this age, rules which govern the conduct of both the girls and their
suitors, and which give rise to a complex structure of personal politics
between them. It is these rules which provide the central plot elements for
the film, and here lies perhaps its greatest weakness: in the face of the
complexity of the web of relations and the highly stylised language used
between the central characters, it is sometimes difficult to keep up with
what is actually taking place. Put very simply, this is the story of Wang
(Tony Leung), one of the suitors, and Crimson (Michiko Hada), his favourite
girl, who has recently found out he has been seeing another flower girl;
much argument, however beautifully couched in elaborate language,
ensues.
|
|---|
|
Bit 9
|
Ultimately, though, the story
itself remains one of the weaker points of this movie: like the viewer, it
is overwhelmed by the gorgeous and elaborate recreation of an age gone by,
and the excellent cinematography by Mark Lee. Flowers of Shanghai
works not so much as a narrative-based movie, but as an opulent portrait of
an era where form and style were used to hide some very powerful rules.
|
|---|
| |
Bit 10
|
Details
Playing by Heart, by Hyperion, 1998.
Director/Writer: Willard Carroll.
Cinematographer: Vilmos Zsigmond.
Editor: Pietro Scalia.
Cast: Sean Connery, Gena Rowlands, Gillian Anderson, Ryan Philippe,
Angelina Jolie, Madeleine Stowe, Dennis Quaid, Anthony Edwards, Jay Mohr, Ellen Burstyn, Nastassja Kinski, Jon Stewart, Patricia Clarkson.
Flowers of Shanghai, by Shochiku, 1998.
Director: Hou Hsiao-hsien.
Writer: Chu Tien-Wen.
Cinematographer: Mark Lee.
Editor: Liao Ching-Song.
Cast: Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Michiko Hada, Carina Lau, Michelle Reis, Jack Kao, Annie Shizuka Inoh.
|
|---|
| |
Bit 11
|
Citation reference for this article
MLA style:
Axel Bruns. "Acting One's Age: 'Playing by Heart'/'Flowers of Shanghai' (BIFF #3)." M/C Reviews 5 Aug. 1999.
[your date of access] <http://www.uq.edu.au/mc/reviews/screen/heart.html>.
Chicago style:
Axel Bruns, "Acting One's Age: 'Playing by Heart'/'Flowers of Shanghai' (BIFF #3)," M/C Reviews 5 Aug. 1999,
<http://www.uq.edu.au/mc/reviews/screen/heart.html> ([your date of access]).
APA style:
Axel Bruns. (1999) Acting one's age: 'Playing by Heart'/'Flowers of Shanghai' (BIFF #3). M/C Reviews 5 Aug. 1999.
<http://www.uq.edu.au/mc/reviews/screen/heart.html> ([your date of access]).
|
|---|
|
|
![[image]](http://movies.yahoo.com/images/movies/guide/01814101.jpg)