Issue #1, November 2012
ÂŁ3.99
Cover Story
An Indieview With
Our Top 5
Sleepless Night
Nicolas Winding Refn
Indie Films Of All Time
A thriller from French Direcor Frederic Jardin (It’s French so it must be cool)
The Danish director with a no holds barred philosophy, talks violence, Gosling and Shakespeare
Got nothing to do this weekend?... Well, you do now!
3
21
63
Features A Classic Indie Film ‘Rushmoore’
35
Film Makers Toolbox Get kitted out
51
Fresh Face Terrance Nance
65
Tips For New Film Makers On a budget
81
Film Reviews
Contents
Amour 9 Attenberg 13 I Wish
17
The Kid With A Bike
27
Oslo, August 31st
31
The Raid
39
The Secret Of Arietty
43
The Turin Horse
47
Yossi 55
Documentary Reviews Bookers Place: A Missisipi Story
59
Jiro Dreams Of Sushi
69
High Tech, Low Life
73
The Island President
77
Cover Story
SLEEPLESS NIGHTS Containment thrillers can often be limited by the landscape of their locale, but in the French film “Sleepless Night,” the nightclub where corrupt cop Vincent (Tomer Sisley) races to rescue his son is expansive enough to make it seem like a mini-mall.
words by TODD GILCHRIST
Containment thrillers can often be limited by the landscape of their locale, but in the French film “Sleepless Night,” the nightclub where corrupt cop Vincent (Tomer Sisley) races to rescue his son is expansive enough to make it seem like a mini-mall.
Writer-director Frederic Jardin somehow
The majority of the action in “Sleepless
manages to squeeze every last drop of
Night” is fallout from the botched drug
claustrophobia from the massive, multilevel
heist that opens the film: Vincent and
building, even after he’s filled it wall-to-
his partner Manuel (Laurent Stocker)
wall with clubgoers, diners, socialites, and
successfully steal a duffel bag full of
especially the odd assortment of cops and
cocaine from local mobster Marciano
crooks who all have a stake in Vincent’s
(Serge Riaboukine), but not before one of
future. Although it’s quite deservedly
their victims stabs Vincent and gets away.
scheduled for an American remake via
Even with a notoriously tenacious Internal
the folks at Warner Brothers, “Sleepless
Affairs officer named Lacombe (Julien
Night” is the kind of entertainment that
Boisselier) after them, they’re not worried,
requires little translation to succeed, as
but when Marciano kidnaps Vincent’s son
“its characters and story are so cleanly and cleverly designed”
Thomas (Samy Seghir), Vincent agrees to cut his losses and return the loot. Shortly after he arrives at Maricano’s palatial nightclub, however, Vincent is spotted by
its characters and story are so cleanly and
rookie cop Alex (Dominique Bettenfeld),
cleverly designed that they would work in
who moves his stash and alerts her
virtually any language.
boss, Lacombe.
5
When he returns to his hiding spot to
couple of baddies for their drugs, the stab
best possible way, makes Vincent a more
discoverLacombe and Alex close in on him,
wound he sustains immediately informs us
interesting character. Marciano is at once a
and one of Marciano’s colleagues shows up demanding the drugs, Vincent finds himself in a desperate race to rescue his son and save both of their lives.
“the stab wound he sustains immediately informs us that he’s no superhero”
hotheaded gangster, ruthless and violent, but he’s also got a little bit ofculture, and he seems to sincerely care for his own family, which is actually a little bit of why he kidnaps Thomas: he understands the
“Sleepless Night” is the sort of action
that he’s no superhero, and it continues
motivational value of seeing someone
thriller that’s deceptively simple – at its
to affect him as he encounters more and
you care about endangered. Not onlydoes
most basic it’s about a guy trying to get
more complicationsin what was meant to
this propel the plot forward, it develops
out of a nightclub alive – but director Jardin,
be a fairlyroutine robbery. But more than
Vincent’s character, as he is forced to
along with co-writer Nicholas Saarda, make
that, his very plight – to rescue his son, at
confront his own negligence as a father,
you really, really care about that guy, and
all costs – humanizes him in a way that,
and make appropriate efforts to repair
then populate the rest of the cast with
well, if it doesn’t quite excuse his bad
that relationship – failure to do which
characters who are equally interesting, and
behavior, it at least tempers it with some
might result in the admittedly dramatic
most importantly, whose actions make
degree of relatability.
“failure to do which might result in the admittedly dramatic prospect of death.”
that single-sentence conceit something much more complex. Although the first
Meanwhile, he also has quite a rogue’s
time we see Vincent, he’s sticking up a
gallery of adversaries, each of whom, in the
6
7
prospect of death. On the other hand, there’s Lacombe, who we soon discover is himself crooked, and who plans to doublecross Vincent for his share of the drugs, Thomas’ safety be damned. But while he’s a villain from the pure perspective of the story’s focus on Vincent, Alex manages to provide a counterbalance in that she’s smart, honest and well-intentioned, but in a way that actually makes things worse for everyone involved. Or perhaps more accurately, her efforts up the stakes of Vincent’s efforts to rescue his son, and help steer the plot towards a truly exciting, and meaningful finale. Then, of course, there’s the nightclub itself, which we’re loath to describe as another character in the film, although its layout certainly has more personality than most movie settings. This is true primarily
because
the
rooms,
both
public and private, are at once sprawling and claustrophobic, which allows the filmmakers to stay self-contained but not become repetitive, creating a familiar landscape that slowly reminds us where we are, and where we want to be. But as
“creating a familiar landscape that slowly reminds us where we are, and where we want to be” a whole, “Sleepless Night” is not unlike its central location in that it’s less uniquely designed than just extremely well-crafted, combining a variety of familiar ideas into one cohesive, streamlined and supremely
Cast Vincent Tomer Sisley Jose Marciano Sege Riaboukine Lacombe Julien Boisselier Feydek Joey Starr Manuel Lauren Stocker Yilmaz Birol Unel Vignali Lizzie Brochere Thomas Samy Seghir
effective effort.
Directed by Frederic Jardin
8
17
Cover Story
I Wish Forget all those phoney Oscarbait films – this complex, delicate drama about two young boys living through their parents’ split is the real deal, and deeply satisfying.
One of the year’s best films has arrived quietly, unnoticed by the awardsseason cheerleaders, but with its delicacy and complexity, it puts the Oscar-bait to shame. Hirokazu Koreeda’s I Wish has taken two years to come to the UK.
of families finally disintegrating and allowing everyone involved a painful kind of freedom.
It has been more than worth the wait. Like his earlier movie Still Walking, this is a
“real-life brothers Koki and Ohshirô Maeda, from whom the director gets terrifically natural and relaxed performances.”
deeply considered Japanese family drama in the tradition of Ozu, with echoes of Edward Yang and Tsai Ming-liang – moving, sometimes heartbreakingly sad, often mysterious. The film is about the powerful imperative of family unity, but also about the inevitability, and even desirability,
The original title is Kiseki, or “Miracle”, and a miracle is being longed for by two brothers, around nine or 10 years old: they are Koichi and Ryu, played by real-life brothers Koki and Ohshirô Maeda, from whom the director gets terrifically natural and relaxed performances. Their mum and dad
have broken up; Nozomi (Nene Ohtsuka) has returned to live with her parents and taken a demeaning supermarket job in
18
words by PETER BRADSHAW
her hometown of Kagoshima, within sight of the Sakura-jima volcano, which, with eerie calm, like a figure in a painting, is in a state of silent eruption on the distant skyline. It deposits a fine film of ash over everything, which the city-dwellers must continually clean away. Koreeda does not belabour the metaphorical quality of this volcano, or the Pompei-snapshot of ordinariness he himself records. Meanwhile the father, Kenji, (Jô Odagiri) stays in Osaka, where he pursues the laid-back slacker lifestyle that so infuriated Nozomi, failing to hold down day jobs while in the evenings trying to be a guitarist in a band. The difficult and upsetting thing about this arrangement – never fully discussed by anyone, adult or child – is that the warring parents have taken a child each:
withdrawn, thoughtful Koichi has gone to his mother and grandparents; easygoing and smiley Ryu has gone to live with his
point, their happiness can be restored.
dad. Clearly, this setup is a way the couple have found of signalling to others and to each other that the breakup is temporary; they are taking a break and sharing the childcare burden equally, though without fully considering how the children will feel about it. But as the days and months go by, Koichi can feel the situation hardening into permanence and, talking with his brother on his mobile, hatches a strange and poignant new plan: he has heard that the two newly built bullet train lines create a supernatural energy at the point where the trains whoosh past each other. If the boys can just contrive to skive off school and make a wish at this focal
fascination consists in showing how everyone’s lives are just rolling along – and in showing how there are other lives and other stories developing in parallel to the main event and beginning to mean just as much. One of Koichi’s friends has developed a crush on his teacher and steals her bicycle bell; Koichi’s grandfather, who is trying to market his own brand of sweets, finds a new ally in Koichi himself, who is willing to taste them and share his opinions. One of Ryu’s friends is a child actor getting work on ads and TV shows, and we see her mother, a failed actress, becoming restive and resentful. These narratives are branching out unobtrusively, but with quiet purpose and definition.
“If the boys can just contrive to skive off school and make a wish at this focal point, their happiness can be restored.”
Much
of
the
richness
and
How much weight should we attach to each detail? Who is behaving badly – or behaving significantly? What ought and ought not to be happening? Part of the film’s wisdom resides in declining to take a view. As the
Cast Koichi Koki Maeda Ryunosuke Ohshirô Maeda Nozomi Nene Ohtsuka Kenji Jô Odagiri Directed by Kirokazu Koreeda
19
“Part of the film’s wisdom resides in declining to take a view.” boys’ dad says: “There’s room in this world for wasteful things. Imagine if everything had meaning. You’d choke.” It’s a credo that colours the montage of still images that Koreeda produces just before the end. And when the boys finally meet, the encounter is not as intimate or climactic as Koichi had wanted; or, for them, as significant. Yet there is a resolution, of sorts. Perhaps their mum and dad’s split is temporary after all. But then, so is everything.
“Koreeda has established himself as a supremely intelligent and valuable film-maker” Since his fascinating feature breakthrough, Afterlife, in 1998, Koreeda has established himself as a supremely intelligent and valuable film-maker: I Wish is the moving and deeply satisfying work of a director who just keeps on getting better.
20
An Indieview With
Nicolas Winding Refn “If Shakespeare was alive today he would write about crime, not the royal family.”
words by ERIC KOHN
An Indieview With
Nicolas Winding Refn By the middle of last week, everyone was talking about Lars von Trier. Then another Danish filmmaker came to town and stole some of his thunder: Nicholas Winding Refn, in competition with the ultra-violent Ryan Gosling vehicle “Drive,” premiered his crowdpleasing action pastiche on Thursday and received a 10-minute standing ovation in the Palais. Already set for U.S. distribution through FilmDistrict, “Drive” has the obvious makings of a commercial hit, with Gosling playing a no-nonsense hero out to protect a family from L.A. gangsters. While Gosling sat on the beach nearby, a noticeably relaxed Refn spoke to indieWIRE about his experiences with this project, which is his first shot in America. He also addressed the controversy surrounding fellow Dane von Trier and discussed his next project.
++++++++++++++++BEGIN+++++++++++++
competition films at Cannes. But people were applauding throughout your movie, even during the press screenings.
Compared to your “Pusher” trilogy, your last three films -- “Bronson,” “Valhalla Rising” and now “Drive” -- feel like a trilogy. They have several common themes and stylistic choices. Was this intentional?
Wow. I was so stressed about just making my deadline. I just went on instinct. I finished the movie four weeks ago. Are you happy with the way it turned out?
Yes. They all have one theme in common: They’re all about transformation. It’s a normal evolution of what interests me. The “Pusher” trilogy was specifically about authenticity, but that was those films and filmmaking is a cinematic language, so you should open up to the possibilities of what it can deliver. “Drive” was scheduled at the end of the festival, which is often a bad sign for
23
Very happy. Hey, look: I got to make a film in Hollywood the way I wanted to make it. That’s very rare. Why do you think you got away with it? I think it was the circumstances tbetween Ryan and myself that lent it momentum. So Ryan expressed interest in working with
you from the outset?
make it work.
Yeah. It’s very similar to the way “Bullitt” was made when Steve McQueen wanted Peter Yates to direct it, or when Lee Marvin wanted John Boorman for “Point Blank.”
It does stand apart from what we’re used to seeing in this genre. As far as I know, there’s no skull crushing in “The Fast and the Furious” franchise.
What made you think you would have the freedom to make this movie on your own terms?
Unfortunately, yes. Hollywood is Hollywood. It’ll never change, although it does go through its own transformations. I think that there’s this obsessiveness with making money, which has gotten out of proportion. That’s not a bad thing, necessarily. We are needs to be cheaper movies -- not aesthetically, but financially -- and maybe people should make a few more different kinds of movies. Oddly, this year, the real successes were ones that were made at reasonable prices, like “Black Swan” or “True Grit.”
Well, you shouldn’t think of itas having enough freedom. It’s more like, “What are my obstacles, and how can I utilize them to help me make something different from the last time?And what were your obstacles?I didn’t have any specific obstacles, but I was working in Hollywood, which I know can be a very dangerous place to be, and I was determined to
Would you like to make movies movies on that scale?
24
Sure, but I’m not going to live in America. Do you like working in Denmark? I don’t really make films in Denmark. “Bronson” was shot in Rottingham, “Valhalla Rising” was made in Glasgow and “Drive” was made in Hollywood. I’m making the next one in Bangkok. But Denmark is good when you have a family. The schools are good and the climate is healthy. Once you have that, you have to prioritize. In indieWIRE’s interview with Lars von Trier,
>>>>>>>>>>>>>CONTINUED>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
NicolasWinding Refn Is Known For Directing
when told that you expressed disdain for his infamous Nazi comments, he said, “I’ve known him since he was a kid! Fuck him.” Are you guys still going to be able to get along?
“Pusher”, 1996, Director “Bleeder”, 1999, Director “Fear X”, 2003, Director “Bronson”, 2008, Director “Valhalla Rising”, 2009, Director “Drive”, 2011, Director
Of course we’ll along. But the thing about Lars is that he’s getting old and his comedy routine is a bit tiresome. Have you two spoken since the events of the past few days? No. He spoke with my mother [von Trier’s editor, Anders Refn]. Are you very close? Well, we’re not close, but…(long pause). In a way, Lars is very provincial.
25
What do you mean by that? He’s just a farm boy caught in the big game. He said he would never do a press conference again. How do you feel about the sort of global attention that Cannes invites? It’s an important game to play, but you know what? I believe that at my age, making a movie, and making it good, that’s all that counts. Everything else is the flavor of the hour. Because of the nature of your films, you have a niche appeal with genre fans, rather than wider audiences. I think it’s time to wake up and see that
the future of cinema is being distinguished, unless you make these giant tentpoles, but that’s a completely different way of making films. It’s like making -- with all due respect -- a gigantic commercial. But that can also be very satisfying.
then a lot of violence. I think I can describe all of your movies that way. If Shakespeare was alive today he would write about crime, not the royal family.
But not for you? Well, I would love to try one. It could be a great challenge. Ryan and I have decided to partner up and remake “Logan’s Run” for Warner Bros. What’s next for you? I’m moving to Bangkok in August to make my next film. Kristen Scott Thomas and Luke Evans are attached; it’s called “Only God Forgives.” It has some violence… and
26
----------------------END---------------------
Our Top 5
Indie Films Of All Time
5 4
Memento (2000) The Film: Christopher Nolan’s Stateside calling card about an amnesiac detective (Guy Pearce) piecing together his wife’s murder using tattoos and Polaroids. Indie Cred: Woah, the story is told backwards!
Sex, Lies and Videotape (1989) The Film: Steven Soderbergh’s debut about infidelity, VHS and the possibility that Andie McDowell can act after all. Indie Cred: Soderbergh stormed Sundance and then bagged the Palme D’Or at Cannes, while it provided the Weinstein
Brothers with the hit on which indie would later go mainstream.
63
3
Easy Rider (1969) The Film: Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda hit the roads on a cross-country voyage into the counter-culture. Indie Cred: The proof the kids had been waiting for, that their tunes, their drugs, their stars (including a breakthrough
1
Resevoir Dogs (1992)
Jack Nicholson) were poised to take over.
2
Night Of The Living Dead (1968)
The Film: George A. Romero and a bunch of entrepreneurial mates spent their budget on zombie make-up and entrails, and started chomping. Indie Cred: The template for modern horror – pessimistic, allegorical, gory – has never been hotter. Everybody nowadays, it seems, is writing a zombie screenplay.
The Film: Quentin Tarantino’s debut, the lightning rod that made indie into a cool – and commodifiable – brand. Indie Cred: Through the roof. This is the film that spawned a thousand bedsit posters, persuaded us that putting dialogue onto the soundtrack album was
64
cool, and reminded supposedly has-been stars that there’s always room for a comeback chez Quentin.
NUIT BLANCHE that’s french for SLEEPLESS NIGHT In This Issue An Indieview With
Nicolas Winding Refn
Our Top 5
Indie Films Of All Time