In the Land of Milk and Money

(Kirsten Greco) by Susan Emshwiller, USA

In the Land of Milk and Money is a social satire about how quickly fear can create a mob mentality. It presents a world where a corporation introduces genetically-altered cows that produce milk that, when drunk, causes mothers to kill their children. While scientist Peter Cochran (Chris Coulson), the creator of the formula that alters the genes, races to find a cure, society copes with the crisis by rounding up all mothers and putting them in internment camps. It will take all the efforts of Peter and his pregnant reporter ex-girlfriend Laurie (Kim Gillingham) to save the world!

First-time director Susan Emshwiller took her inspiration from 50s-style science fiction films, and the film has a great campy quality to it. It has a retro feel to the production design, and its quirky musical score enhances the humor and “horror”. The overall premise is clever, and the screenplay is sharply written, but the plot is too thin to sustain a feature-length film. The acting is a bit over-the-top, and the pacing is too slow, but it’s not a bad first try. It may not end up being a big money-maker, but Land does have some interesting things to say about contemporary society.

Little Village (Pueblo Chico)

(Kirsten Greco) by by Fernán Rudnik, Argentina

A dreamlike film with imagery based on the paintings of American Edward Hopper, Little Village is a tale of a town that tries to stand up to forces that want it to change. Little Village has sat on an undeveloped area of Argentinean coastline for many years, watched over by its protective mayor (Lorenzo Quinteros). One day some men arrive, hoping to take over Little Village to develop the area’s prime real estate. When the mayor refuses, the town is cut off from the outside world, with radio contact cut off and supplies withheld. The mayor, his girlfriend Maria (Carla Crespo), and the sailor Antonio (Diego Starosta) must find a way to keep the town while keeping its people from starving.

Director Fernán Rudnik has written that he wanted to “call attention to some events that have occurred, and are still occurring, in [Argentina’s] history – weakening the people to make conquest easy.” The film certainly shows the mayor stubbornly refusing to allow any progress to happen, but doesn’t make a good case for why progress is so bad. Only one person comes to see the mayor to complain about the food shortages – aren’t any of the other villagers concerned? Might some of them welcome progress in a place that the mayor states just got running water in the past few years? Rudnik’s film seemed a bit too simplistic for me, and his very slow pacing and lack of much of a plot didn’t help matters (neither did the poorly-done subtitles). Perhaps some of the themes are lost on non-Argentineans, but I need more convincing to share Rudnik’s sentiments.

The Miracle According to Salome (O Milagre segundo Salomé) 1/2

(Kirsten Greco) by Mario Barroso, Portugal

Cinematographer turned director Mario Barroso presents The Miracle According to Salome, a romance set in Portugal in 1917. Salomé (Ana Bandiera) is a country girl who finds work in the city as a prostitute in one of Lisbon’s best-known brothels. There, she is loved by both the other girls and her clients. Because of her good reputation, she is picked to accompany a wealthy older banker (Nicolau Breyner) for a weekend holiday. He falls in love with her and asks her to live with him at his mansion. But during a party he holds for her to introduce her to society, she falls in love with young, handsome Gabriel (Ricardo Pereira), starting on a path of destruction for them both.

Miracle looks great on the surface: the costumes and sets are gorgeous and extravagant, the cinematography lovely, the actors all beautiful or handsome. But the content of the film, from a book by the same name, is both confusing and a bit shocking. The film’s title comes in part from an assertion that a pivotal event in Portugal’s history – the miracle of Fátima, where three young shepherds see a vision of Mary – is in fact a mistake: the shepherds have actually seen the prostitute Salomé dressed similarly to Mary. Plus, much of the rest of the intrigue in the plot also only makes sense with knowledge of Portugal’s political history (which it is unlikely most international audiences will have). Although the film broke box office records in Portugal, I doubt that it will repeat that miracle elsewhere.

Phileine Says Sorry

(Kirsten Greco) by Robert Jan Westdijk, The Netherlands

The title of this film pretty much gives away the whole point of the plot, which tells you that there isn’t much depth to this Dutch romantic comedy. Phileine (Kim van Kooten) is a confident twenty-something woman only interested in fun. She stays with men until they make her mad or get too emotional on her, then quickly moves on to the next best thing. But when she finally thinks she’s found “the one”, Max (Michiel Huisman), he suddenly informs her he’s moving to New York for a year to study acting. However, when she surprises him there three months later, she discovers the type of acting he’s doing is a pornographic version of Romeo and Juliet.

This film won several awards in the Netherlands, but obviously those award-givers’ taste is very different from mine. No one in the film is likeable – Phileine and her friends treat everyone like dirt – and no one thinks twice about sleeping with anyone and everyone (some of which is shown quite explicitly). The film has an interesting visual style, but Phileine’s periodic talking straight to the camera goes from being clever to getting very old very quickly. By the end, I barely cared whether Phileine ends up saying she’s sorry or not, but I was almost sorry that I made the effort to stay until the end of the film.

Pink Punch (Puños rosas) 1/2

(Kirsten Greco) by Beto Gómez, Mexico/Spain

A look into the underworld of organized crime and its affect on those it comes into contact with, Pink Punch focuses on a young man who dreams of a better life. Jimmy (Rodrigo Oviedo) prepares bodies for display at his father’s funeral home by day and boxes by night. His world changes, however, when he witnesses a contract killing. Then he is thrown in jail for refusing to throw a fight in order to erase his father’s considerable gambling debts. While in jail though, he comes face to face with the perpetrator of the contract killing, crime family second-in-command Germán (José Yenque). Germán takes Jimmy under his wing and manages to spring them both from jail in hopes that both can escape the life of crime in which they both seem trapped.

Punch has some good acting by Oviedo, and the action is presented at a good pace. However, there is nothing new here. This is a Mexico seen many times before in film, with no startling revelations. The plot is confusing at times – trying to figure out who’s on whose side – and some of the events don’t make much sense. Overall, thought it had big ambitions, the film doesn’t pack too much of a punch.

The Purifiers

(Kirsten Greco) by Richard Jobson, Great Britain

A film in the vein of The Matrix and Blade Runner, The Purifiers imagines a future where gangs rule the inner cities, which are divided into zones for each gang. When one man, Moses (Kevin McKidd of Trainspotting), tries to unite the gangs to take over the whole city, it is up to the head of the oldest gang, John (Gordon Alexander), and his gang to stop him – even if they are destroyed in the process.

About the only good things about this film are the martial arts and the music. The fight photography and choreography are excellent; most of the actors are accomplished martial artists and it shows. The kicks and flips are amazing, especially since they were done without wires. But it seems that good acting was sacrificed for good fighting. There is no character development, and most of the acting consists of stares and sneers; the usually-excellent Dominic Monaghan (Merry in The Lord of the Rings) is lost on a small part. There is also very little plot and no real resolution. If you’re looking for truly mindless escape, then this is the film for you; otherwise, save your brain cells for something more meaningful.

Based on a true event in the 60s, Silmido tells the story of 31 death row inmates in South Korea who were recruited by the government to train for a suicide mission to assassinate North Korean dictator Kim Il-Sung. After two years of brutal training on a remote island, the mission is suddenly called off when the South Korean government re-establishes friendlier relations with North Korea. Suddenly, the soldier-inmates are an embarrassment that must be eliminated . . .

Silmido was a huge hit in Korea, and after watching it, you can see why. It is a Hollywood blockbuster-type action drama in the vein of Gladiator or Saving Private Ryan. The camerawork is excellent, the musical score epic, the action scenes heart-pumping, and the acting quite good. But it is the compelling story – with its themes of patriotism, friendship, loyalty, and overcoming adversity – that really sells it. The interaction between the soldiers is very realistic, and the audience really feels for every soldier lost. For a dose of adrenaline coupled with a good message, Silmido is the film to see.

Spooked

(Kirsten Greco) by Geoff Murphy, New Zealand

Based loosely on a true story, Spooked is a conspiracy thriller about second-hand computer dealer Kevin (Christopher Hobbs), who buys some old computers and floppy disks, only to find sensitive bank data on the disks. He thinks he can make a quick buck by offering to sell the disks back to the bank; instead, the bank accuses him of extortion, and he’s suddenly being followed, his phones are tapped, and he gets beat up. Is the bank really involved in a vast conspiracy, or is Kevin just being paranoid? When an investigative reporter (Cliff Curtis of Whale Rider) starts looking into the story, things really get out of hand.

Writer/director Geoff Murphy (Young Guns II, Freejack, second unit director on The Lord of the Rings) got the idea for the story from the book The Paradise Conspiracy by Ian Wishart, which was about a New Zealander who found sensitive bank information on computer disks in 1992 and subsequently died under mysterious circumstances. Using the real incident as a jumping off point, Murphy created this story in part as a commentary on New Zealand’s place in the global political scene. Everyone involved in the film is from New Zealand, and Murphy aimed it at a New Zealand audience. But even we non-Kiwis can appreciate the tight storytelling, good acting, interesting camera angles, and biting humor on display in Spooked.

To Take a Wife

(Kirsten Greco) by Ronit and Shlomi Elkabetz, Israel

To Take a Wife, a semi-autobiographical film by siblings Ronit and Shlomi Elkabetz, tells the story of Vivian and Eliyahu, a couple who have been married for twenty years and have four children, but have completely different personalities, nothing in common, and are miserable. Vivian would like to leave Eliyahu, but her brothers talk her into giving the marriage one more chance, reasoning with her by saying that her husband treats her much better than many other husbands, that a divorce would put shame on the family, and so on. We then get a glimpse of Vivian’s life, where indeed her husband doesn’t shout at her, or hit her, but neither does he appreciate her. Whatever intimacy there was has been replaced by duty and the daily grind of raising four children. But when Vivian is given a second chance at happiness with an old flame who would love her children as his own, she doesn’t go, giving in to duty and remaining with her husband.

This film made a lot more sense to me after reading the press notes, which suggests that the subtleties of cultural and family value differences between the couple – which the filmmakers apparently tried so hard to convey – are somewhat lost on Western audiences. It was difficult watching this Israeli woman who could have taken her children and left her husband, supported herself, and been much happier, but didn’t for some unknown reason having to do with cultural constraints. The acting was good – lead actress Ronit Elkabetz won the best actress award at the 2004 Jerusalem Film Festival – and the film was well-made, but its bleak subject matter just left me frustrated that, even in the 21st century, in many places women’s rights haven’t progressed much.