The Tower
I have this distinct childhood memory of being at a friend’s house late one night because my parents had been away somewhere and would be picking me up. After all the other kids had gone to bed, I stayed up to wait for my olds, whilst the adults watched The Towering Inferno (1974). That film scared the shit out of me. I have the most vivid memory of going home with my parents when they finally arrived, convinced that we were all going to die as our towering one story house was sure to be engulfed in some form of inferno. And even more vividly, I recall that my parents bought me back a gift from wherever it was they had been, and it was a pair of pyjamas. I can tell you nothing about these pyjamas, except that on the tag in big red letters were the words “Fire Retardant”. After double checking with mum that didn’t mean they were prone to spontaneous combustion, I was able to rest easy in the knowledge that my brand spanking new pyjamas would protect me from the looming and inevitable inferno.
I tell that longwinded and potentially meaningless anecdote to give you all a glimpse into my psyche as I checked out The Tower (2012), a South Korean flick that claims to meld the aforementioned Towering Inferno with Die Hard (1988). The second half of that claim appears to hinge 100% on the fact that the action takes place on Christmas Eve. Unfortunately, The Tower chooses to make you wait a little for your skyscraper set carnage. First of all, it goes through about a half hour of telemovie standard motions. All of the various characters, who will no doubt find themselves 100 stories up later in the film, are introduced in a stock standard way. There is the dude who has just moved into the apartment block, the guy who tells his kid to come see him after school (bad move buddy), the lady at work he has a crush on and of course the rookie fire-fighter. Basically cliché after cliché. It’s all stock music, hammy acting and a script that lends itself to such performances.
But that is all fine, because if you are sucked in by the DVD cover of this film (as I was), then all you really care about is the carnage. And after the tepid first half hour, this film brings it in a satisfactory manner. It might catch you a little off-guard though. I for one was shocked when something went wrong in the scene where there are frickin helicopters flying around in between frickin skyscrapers with frickin fireworks goin off. No potential for carnage here I said to myself. How wrong I was. The meeting of helicopter and skyscraper in an extended scene is highly satisfying. There is massive carnage and a huge amount of fire that looks really stark on screen. Helping the fire to spread is the fact, as already established by the film in its telemovie exposition phase, that the sprinkler system in the building is busted. From here on out, the film does what the DVD cover had promised and it does it pretty darn well.
Overall, the film is not too intense. With one or two exceptions, you basically know who is going to live and who will perish. These initial sequences immediately following the helicopter incident, are the film’s most intense however. Especially effecting are the really quite realistic scenes of the panicked masses trying to evacuate. The scene where a bunch of people are literally cooked alive in an elevator is also pretty tough to stomach. Like all good films of the skyscraper ablaze subgenre, there are some cracking little set-pieces. I only have to mention that one involves a ‘gondola’ on the exterior of the building, and the other a sky-bridge between two huge skyscrapers, and you know the kind of awesomeness that will be involved. The film is very assuredly made. It is really well shot and especially early on there is some quite clever stuff done with slow-mo, surely the most tired of all visual techniques. Another favourite aspect of the visual side of the film for me was the repeated external shot of the building ablaze. This shot was a reoccurring one and it was a very cool way for the viewer to be able to track the level of destruction being wrought on the building and the change in circumstances of the people inside.
If you can manage to sit through the decidedly average first half hour of this, you will be rewarded with the tasty morsel of some really well realised skyscraper destruction. Essentially, if the idea of a well made film about a skyscraper ablaze appeals to you, then The Tower is well worth your time. If you are not keen for a film fitting that description, then I am deeply disappointed in you.
Verdict: Stubby of Reschs
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Save Your Legs
I have to admit that when I first saw the trailer for the Aussie comedy Save Your Legs (2012) my expectations were pretty low. The tale of an amateur cricket team on tour in India had cliché and cringefest written all over it.
The end result is a fair bit better than my pre-judged opinion. Sure there is a bunch of cliché and the odd cringe. But the whole thing is charming enough, thanks mainly to the cast, that I was able to forgive those sins, chill out and just enjoy this pretty mild comedy. The film follows the Abbotsford Anglers, a hack D grade cricket side, who talk themselves into a fully sponsored tour of India. It focuses on the entire team, but especially the trials of three of the players. Teddy played by Stephen Curry is a cricket obsessive. One of those weekend battlers in all sports who take the game far too seriously and absolutely live for the game. Alongside him are his best mates, Rick played by Brendan Cowell (also on screenwriting duties here) and Stavros played by Damon Gameau, both of whom are not quite so cricket obsessed and have other things on their mind. Buying peach suits, preparing for impending nuptials and getting absolutely stoned out of their mind chief amongst them.
You can see where the conflict will come from in the film as this band of misfits bungle their way around the cricket fields of India. Teddy takes things far too seriously, whilst Rick and Stavros generally dick around and have a great time whilst taking things nowhere near seriously enough. Along the way, the film does dip into the clichés that I feared it would, with ‘Delhi-belly’ jokes and numerous weed based shenanigans. But the whole thing overall is just so fine and easy to watch that I didn’t particularly mind. The film is very much helped by the fact that it was shot in India. Like The Waiting City (2009), another Australian film shot in India, this choice is an easy way to give the film a real jolt of atmosphere and sense of place. Many of the cast will be familiar to Aussie viewers, not so much people from outside Australia. Stephen Curry, still most famous for his role in the iconic Aussie comedy The Castle (1997) seems a good dude and comes across as very genuine onscreen. Brendan Cowell continues to craft out a niche as the laconic ‘best mate’, something he does very well and brings the laughs. The rest of the cast is strong as well, Damon Gameau is good as Cowell’s partner in crime, while David Lyons who was so good in Cactus (2008) is unfortunately given far too little screen time.
Save Your Legs will most likely not top your year end list, even if you restricted yourself to just Aussie or comedy films. But it is a decent slice of fun. The cast are really excellent and the locations are pretty spectacular as well. Just so nice and easy to watch.
Verdict: Stubby of Reschs
High Noon
If 24 was a classic Western – and it really should be – it would most likely be High Noon (1952). The clock rules in High Noon, slowly ticking down to an archetypal Western showdown between the law and the baddies.
The film is all set in one day, which happens to be the wedding day of local Marshal Will Kane and Amy Fowler, played by Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly respectively. The Marshal is retiring from his job into a more peaceful new life with his Quaker missus. Their happy day is ruined by the return of the fiendish Frank Miller, who Will had put in jail some time earlier but has just been pardoned. After abandoning an attempt to flee, to the disgust of his wife, Will returns to town in order to confront his nemesis when he gets off the train. The rest of the film is devoted to an almost real-time countdown for the train to arrive, as Will tries to get a crew together to support him in standing up to the thugs, wading through a sea of small town politicking to do so. Unfortunately though he seems desperately low on support from the townspeople. The film is an interesting mix of classical and innovative approaches to the genre. The final showdown between the foes is pretty standard in the realm of iconic Western. The tense but slow-burn build up, which in many ways is extended bouts of diplomacy is not so standard. A different psychology is at play to most Westerns I have seen with much less of a focus on action. Similarly the scenery consists of predominately agricultural land and the town rather than the open, sweeping John Ford style American plains and valleys.
Running down the list of the cast of this film, it would have to be close to the greatest cast ever put together for a Western – Grace Kelly, Lon Chaney Jr., Lee Van Cleef and Gary Cooper. They are all in good form here as well, especially Kelly and Cooper as the (un)happy newlyweds. Both of them are helped by the fact that there are some really interesting elements to their characters. Kelly’s Amy has a fervent belief in her religion and the pacifism that it entails which is examined on a number of occasions in the film. On the other hand, Cooper’s Will is not just a whitewashed, perfect hero. He loses his cool, hits people, doesn’t seem to have all that many friends in town and could most certainly treat his new wife a whole lot better. Directed by Fred Zinnemann the film is astutely shot. Much of the action takes place either indoors or in the confines of the town, so it is shot much tighter than most Westerns. It is opened up a little by the use of some funky camera angles, such as a close-up of a wagon wheel as the wagon bounces along at great speed.
I really enjoyed High Noon, it manages to blend the iconography of the Western with a pretty original approach to the storytelling. It is not one of my absolute favourite Westerns, but if you have any interest in the genre, then this is one you probably want to tick off.
Verdict: Stubby of Reschs
Progress: 89/1001
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Creature from the Black Lagoon
Earlier today, I completed my first live tweet film review, of Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954). I think it went well, but I am sure I will continue to refine my approach with these things. For example I decided to start hashtagging the tweets a reasonable amount into the film.
I thought I would share the tweet review here as well. Simply because a lot of you may not have twitter or have been online when I was reviewing the film. Plus I have been posting my reviews of all of the Universal Horror films on here, so didn’t want this one to miss out.
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Silent Film Week: The Golem
The Golem (1920) is actually the third in a series of German films chronicling the Jewish folk character, though this is a prequel to the two previous films. Those two are considered ‘lost films’ however, so this is the rendering of the tale that most will think of if you are discussing a silent version.
The film sees the Jewish community of a city threatened with exile due to, among other things, their “magic”. In order to remedy this, the elders in the community bring back to life The Golem, as a saviour of their people. The character is in some ways an ironically Christ-like one. Obviously any film that has a Jewish community threatened is going to have a certain level of resonance, even one that preceded World War II by close to two decades. But it is impossible to watch the film except through that prism, which I think does imbue the film with a level of power. The film chronicles the struggle of the rabbis and their Golem to win their right to stay in the city through intimidation and various other means. One of the issues that I had with the film is that it was not always entirely clear what was happening. Neither it is entirely obscure, I just feel that in terms of coherence, the narrative could have been a little sharper. The film does weave a lot of magic into the narrative, with astrology giving a rabbi the first hint of trouble looming, as well as the Frankenstein-esque animating of The Golem from inanimate materials. The film also moves along at a really fast pace, the viewer is bombarded with plot developments and action, which is a little different to many silent films which traditionally took a more measured approach to pacing.
Paul Wegener, who in addition to playing The Golem, directed & wrote the film
Without a doubt though the greatest technical achievement of The Golem is The Golem character itself. Even during its creation, the design and effects really are wondrous to behold. The close-ups of hands, working the clay like material that he is brought to life from look amazing. Not to mention the fact that when The Golem comes alive, he looks incredible. It is an iconic look and I would not have been surprised if James Whale and Boris Karloff took some inspiration from the figure when coming up with their Frankenstein (1931). If there was a 1940s American remake, Karloff would definitely have gotten the gig. The film more broadly does feel somewhat akin to the sensibility that Universal brought to the horror genre, as well as its more obvious connection to German Expressionism. Paul Wegener in the role of The Golem, makes this character just as iconic in appearance and rigid movement as Karloff would do numerous times in the decades that followed. The movement in particular is unsettlingly deliberate but also it is confronting because there is no way to know what the character is going to do next. The relationship between The Golem and his creator does take on an even more overt Frankenstein feel late in the film with the creation suddenly not particularly wanting to be switched off as his creator has the power to do. Thematically the later parts of the film do take on an intriguing turn, veering into the sci-fi esque notions of Shelley’s original novel and even suggesting some of the ideas that Philip K. Dick would later explore in his iconic writing.
Wegener in character
Aside from the central figure, the other technical aspects of the film are a marvel given its vintage. The sets are reminiscent of Melies, who James discussed in yesterday’s post. They brilliantly convey a world that whilst grounded strictly in reality, is frequently witness to the fantastical. The lighting as well is really strong in the film and combines with the set design to create intensely strong imagery. I have to admit that my knowledge of Jewish folklore or even the history of the Jewish people more broadly is slight. So from that perspective it is difficult for me to entirely process the perspective that the film comes from. We see anti-Semitism from the local Christians who are the ones trying to rid the city of the Jews. Here the audience is clearly supposed to side with the Jews who are being so unfairly slighted. This part of the film feels like possibly a piece of Jewish propaganda or just a creative rendering of reality. But some later parts of the film can feel almost genuinely anti-Semitic, with an intense focus on the shifty reliance on magic amongst the Jewish leadership.
The Golem is pretty incredible stuff. The effects and ‘world’ that is created is pretty incredible to see over 90 years later. The narrative is slight and the ending rather absurd, which prevents it from reaching incredible heights. But it is still a very enjoyable film and one that all movie buffs should check out.
Verdict: Stubby of Reschs
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