FILM REVIEW: THE CIRCLE By: Faiz No comments

A scene from The Circle.

 

Round and round history blows

By Ed Rampell

Switzerland's Official Submission for Best Foreign Language Film at the 87^th Academy Awards, Swiss co-writer/director Stefan Haupt’s The Circle (Der Kreis) is a fact-based, strong drama about the struggle for gay rights in Switzerland.

The film’s title refers to an actual gay self-help organization that arose in 1930s Zurich, founded by the renowned St. Gallen-born actor Karl Meir (who used the pseudonym “Rolf” and is portrayed onscreen by an avuncular Stephan Witschi). The group’s activities included publishing a multi-lingual magazine called The Circle and operating a gay bar which provided a regular meeting place and venue for annual costume balls which took place during the 1950s (when most of the story is set), attended by up to 800 gay men who traveled from all around Europe to dress up and dance.

At the heart of The Circle is a true life love story between teacher Ernest Ostertag (Matthias Hungerbuhler) and cross dressing performer Robi Rapp (Sven Schelker). Throughout Haupt’s film the narrative is intercut (or, some might say, “disrupted”) by contemporary interviews with the actual Ostertag and Rapp, talking heads who are now elderly gentlemen. The departure from feature format to documentary style was due to financial constraints, according to helmer Haupt. Some may find Haupt’s mixture of techniques to be jarring while other viewers will presumably think it enhances this gay liberation saga’s veracity.

During The Circle the organization experiences ups and downs, as do Ostertag and Rapp and their relationship. The long term romance of the educator and drag artist, through thick and thin, appears to be admirable and is reminiscent of the love between John Lithgow and Alfred Molina’s characters in the recent feature, Love is Strange, as well as 1978’s La Cage aux Follesand its 1996 Hollywood version The Birdcage, starring Robin Williams, Nathan Lane and Gene Hackman.

The Circle also calls to mind a great pro-gay play presented in 2011 at L.A.’s Blank Theatre called The Temperamentals. In that drama American gay rights pioneer Harry Hay is also shown to have been a card carrying, dues paying Communist Party member. Similarly, in The Circle motorcycle riding Felix (played by Anatole Taubman, who has matinee idol looks) is a hothead pushing for equality and a Marxist, whose confrontational tactics clash with those of the more moderate, older Rolf.

As The Circle was “the Mother of European gay organizations," why did it thrive for decades in Switzerland? Because this Alpine nation is a bastion of neutrality and democracy that was never conquered by Hitler’s hordes. Of course, that doesn’t mean this Swiss pro-gay group didn’t run into its fair share of, shall we say, circle jerks.

The people of The Circle endured many hardships, including a few homophobic-inspired murders that went unpunished (sound familiar?). But, at least, history went on to be kinder to our star couple when Ostertag and Rapp became the first gay married couple in Switzerland.

             

 

FILM REVIEW: WILD By: Faiz No comments

Cheryl Strayed (Reese Witherspoon) in Wild.

Strayed on the path

By John Esther

Things are tough for Cheryl Strayed (Reese Witherspoon).  A smart, well-read and married person, Strayed falls into a spiral of heroin use and random sexual encounters after her mother, Bobbi (Laura Dern), dies of cancer at the age of 45.

Knowing, accepting somewhere in the back of her mind and the front of books that this behavior is no good, Strayed decides to clean up her act, find herself, challenger her being, etc., by walking the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT).

Stretching over 1,100 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border to British Columbia, Canada, making the journey is no small feat. But Strayed decided to do it solo. While she did not exactly walk the entire distance, Strayed made it from one end to the other, on her own without a man to guide her -- although Strayed does meet a few nice men (as well as a few menacing ones) along the way.

Directed by Jean-Marc Vallee (Dallas Buyers Club) and written by Nick Hornsby (About a Boy), Wild is surprisingly a very entertaining film. Filled with drama, some good jokes -- including a very funny conversation about hobos -- and strong performances by Witherspoon (who seems to be on a small role this year) and Dern, Wild is an unabashedly feminist film. Some people say Strayed was crazy walking in the woods alone as a woman, suggesting she belonged at home in the city. As if home and the city are necessarily safe havens for women.

The film does have have two noticeable flaws.  One is the CGI Fox who seems to meet up with Strayed at certain points. It looks very fake (and we already have one fake Fox in America -- Bu dump chhh). The other shortcoming, though maybe less apparent, is the casting insofar as the genetic makeup of the actor playing Strayed (Witherspoon) could hardly come from the actors playing her mother (Dern) and father (Jason Newell). In other words, if this mother and father had a girl it would not resemble this daughter.

Oh, the film does have its share of blatantly obvious product placements, too. But I guess you have to raise the money for a film about an independent woman somewhere.

Also worth mentioning is the varied soundtrack. Clearly the highlight -- at least in terms of smarts -- is First Aid Kit's cover of R.E.M.'s "Walk Unafraid." Somebody did his or her research. The soundtrack also includes Portishead, and select, albeit unoriginal, Leonard Cohen songs. The rest of the soundtrack is pretty, softcore aural junk.

But those are minor quibbles. Wild runs a little under a brisk two hours, offering some beautiful elements of the California trail along with one woman's inspiring DIY courage, redemption and salvation.

You may want to go hiking afterward.

FILM REVIEW: PIONEER By: Faiz No comments

Mike (Wes Bentley) and Knut (André Eriksen) in Pioneer.

You can go Norway

By Miranda Inganni

After a deadly accident on the sea bed, a Norwegian diver intent on completing his risky deep sea mission encounters intrigue and subterfuge in Erik Skoldbjærg’s latest release, Pioneer.

In the early 1980s, scientists discover a huge oil field in the North Sea off the coast of Norway. The only trick is figuring out how to build the pipelines deep below. Enter the Americans, who have much greater experience and resources when it comes to such matters. The governments of both countries know there is the potential to make a great sum of money. But at what cost?

Petter (Aksel Hennie) and his brother, Knut (André Eriksen), are sent on a test dive down to 360 meters below the ocean’s surface with anther crew member, Jørgen (David A. Jørgensen). Tragedy strikes and one of them is killed. Petter is convinced that his breathing gas line was cut, causing him to briefly blackout and ultimately do the damage that killed his fellow diver. But how can he prove it when it becomes clear that there is a coverup?

Both the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate and the American company, Deep Sea Diving (who they are working alongside, but not necessarily with), try to deflect the investigation. There is huge money to be made and neither company wants their name to be sullied nor to be found at fault.

As Petter tries to discover the truth about what happened at the bottom of the sea, dead bodies keep piling up. Will Petter discover the truth and try to right some of the wrongs, or will he be drowned by the greedy corporations and their minions?

Co-starring Wes Bentley (recently seen in The Hunger Games), Stephen Lang, and Jonathan LaPaglia as the American team; and Jørgen Langhelle, Ane Dahl Torp and Stephanie Sigman helping to round out the Norwegian players, Pioneer features some great acting. Additionally, cinematographer Jallo Faber captures the claustrophobia and bleak hopefulness  of deep sea diving (the penultimate shot is fantastic).

 

However, I could have done with a lot less of the Darth Vader-esque underwater breathing. We get it. Petter is isolated, cold, and completely dependent on artificial apparatus to stay alive., but the score by Air is annoyingly (but successfully!) complementary.

 

Lastly, the organization who winds up with the oil at the film is particularly, politically telling, considering Norway's current status as one of the best places, if not the best, place in the world to live. (Thanks to Norway's "welfare state" of high taxes Norwegians have the second-highest level of satisfaction with their standards of living. It also has the largest government surplus in the world. Norway's per capita GDP is $57,000 a year. It is ranked number one in the world for the best place to grow old. It also has the highest gender equality in the economy. And, perhaps most importantly, Norway now has the highest Human Development Index.)

STAGE REVIEW: TRAIN TO ZAKOPANE By: Faiz No comments

Semyon (Mike Falkow) and Katia (Tanna Frederick) in Train to Zakopane.

Nursing the hatred

By Ed Rampell

Before the world premiere of Train To Zakopane, playwright Henry Jaglom briefly introduced the drama. The noted indie filmmaker of such films as Eating and Festival in Cannes stated that the play was based on a true story his father had told him. South African surfer-turned-thespian Mike Falkow portrays the protagonist based on Jaglom`s dad, here named Semyon Sapir, in this tale set in 1928 Poland.

Act I is set on the titular train, as Semyon beats the crowd and joins a sleeper inhabited by three other passengers. Among them is the priest Father Alexandrov (Stephen Howard) and the young blonde virginal Polish beauty, Katia Wampusyk (Tanna Frederick, a regular in Jaglom's recent films). Katia is a delightful traveling companion -- excellent for one, shall we say, personality quirk and flaw: Wampusyk is a vicious anti-Semite.

Like most Jew haters her bigotry is based on a sheer ignorance Wampusyk believes is the gospel truth, which Father Alexandrov basically seconds the motion. Among other things, the Polish nurse proclaims she can spot a Jew from a mile away. Semyon debate the points, with no success. So, to teach her a lesson, Semyon -- who is reluctantly smitten by his fellow commuter -- hides the fact that he is himself Jewish and romantically pursues Wampusyk.

In Act II the two youthful lovebirds disembark at the eponymous Zakopane, a resort town in southern Poland where Wampusyk had previously worked as a nurse at an important clinic for typhoid victims. Romance ensues at an upscale hotel, as Semyon continues to hide his Jewish background from his lovely, if prejudiced, lover.

Train To Zakopane makes the powerful point that prior to the Nazis coming to power in Germany, the Poles were Europe`s – no, the world`s -- worst anti-Semites. Is this true? I don`t know, but it`s food for thought.

In any case, Train To Zakopane is probably one of the most hard hitting plays about bigotry to appear onstage in ages. Among other things, the drama ponders the notion of hiding one`s identity as a survival mechanism. In addition to Semyon`s deception, fellow passenger Nadia Selmeczy (Cathy Arden), and actress, and her brother, Nahum Gruenbaum (Jeff Elam), a doctor, are self-denying Jews who conceal their heritage. As the old saying goes, “To get along you have to go along.”

Train To Zakopane is a bit talky like, well, a Jaglom film, but it`s well-directed by Gary Imhoff, who has previously directed other Jaglom works for the theater. The drama is also well-acted; Falkow has that 1930s/1940s matinee idol appeal, with the looks and mannerisms of the suave, continental Paul Henreid and Franchot Tone, which is ideal for this period piece. Frederick manages to conjure up a character who is, at the same time, paradoxically hateful and yet so loving. Set designer Chris Stone effectively and literally sets the scene with his train and then resort hotel scenery.

This tale of strangers on a train is a thought provoking, poignant plea for tolerance. The plight of Jews in 1928 Poland, with the rise of the Nazis lurking and looming in the background, is strong stuff.(Once Hitler invaded Poland in 1939, it was out of the frying pan and literally into the fire for Poland and Europe`s Jews.) Jaglom`s play also made this Jewish reviewer reflect that that old bromide “Misery ennobles those who suffer” is a lie. If anything, misery loves company. Instead of learning from our tragic past, full of man`s inhumanity to man, just consider the ongoing pain of cosmic proportions that ultra-extremist, militaristic Zionists continue to inflict upon today`s wretched of the Earth: The Palestinians.

Will they ever learn?

 

Train To Zakopane runs through March 29  at Edgemar Center for the Arts, 2437 Main St., Santa Monica, CA, 90405. Reservations: 310-392-7327; www.edgemarcenter.org.