In the Mood for Vengeance

Sometimes, I get interested in a film-maker through an actor.
It has been the case for Nicolas Winding Refn, who I discovered thanks to my passion for Mads Mikkelsen. Besides the Pusher trilogy, the two made together a very strange film called Valhalla Rising. On paper, Winding Refn doesn’t have much to please me. His cinema is famous for being extremely violent and I’m famous for being extremely irritated by violence on screen. But, as it is often the case in this life, sometimes we like things we are not supposed or we don’t expect to like. 

Nicolas Winding Refn and Mads Mikkelsen on the set of Valhalla Rising

I guess his cinema attracts me because it’s made of opposites: his movies are almost silent or too filled with words, the main characters are real heroes or complete losers and the most romantic scenes can be immediately followed by the most violent ones (Drive's elevator scene docet). Violence in Winding Refn movies is never cold, though. This is why I think it’s bearable. It is always driven by emotions, it’s coming from the evident flaws of human beings, and very often it’s perpetrated on awful kind of people to get justice (well, ok, I admit it: it’s a very primitive kind of justice). 

Also, I have to confess I really enjoy Winding Refn’s interviews: he is always very funny, interesting, confused, and completely crazy. Apparently, he is teetotal, colour blind and dyslexic. As a bonus, his father is the editor of Breaking the Waves by Lars Von Trier.  There are enough elements to become a fan, as far as I’m concerned. 

Nicolas Winding Refn

Winding Refn became a mainstream film-maker just a couple of years ago via the movie Drive, where Ryan Gosling found his consecration as an actor. Having particularly liked to work together, the two decided to team up for another movie, which has been selected for the competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival: Only God Forgives. Since Drive became kind of an iconic movie, many were waiting for their new collaboration. I have the feeling, from what I wrote in many critics these days, that people have been disappointed by it, but I didn’t. 

Nicolas Winding Refn and Ryan Gosling on the set of Only God Forgives

In fact, the thing I liked about Only God Forgives, is that it is the absolute anti-Drive. 

So, if you want to see Drive 2, well, forget about it. While the guy played by Gosling in Drive was a powerful one, in this one he’s powerless and sexually impotent (as it was the case for Mikkelsen in Pusher 2). Julian is supposed to run a drug dealing business (the movie is set in Bangkok) but he isn’t tough enough. He is subjugated by his eldest brother and, when this one is massacred for having raped and killed a 16 years old girl, Julian is not able to take care of his vengeance, as his (lovely!) mother asks him to. And last, but not least, he also has an enormous Oedipus complex: the guy is a complete disaster, I assure you. 
The only thing the driver and Julian has in common, is that they are not very talkative kind of guys. I read that Gosling and Winding Refn are dreaming of making a silent movie together, one day, and I hope that day will be soon.

Ryan Gosling as Julian

And while in Drive the music was a super important element of the movie, with a bunch of songs that stayed in the collective imagination, in Only God Forgives the music is obscure, obsessive, and the only hits are the pathetic, melodic Thai songs performed in karaoke restaurants by the real hero of the story: Chang. This man is a retired policeman, a wizard of the sword, a silent guru and a merciless avenger, whose presence (real and unreal) will haunt Julian for the whole movie. 

Vithaya Pansringarm as Chang

The other star of the movie is my favourite character: Crystal, probably the most awful mother on screen ever, played in an exceptional way by a very intelligent actress, Kristin Scott-Thomas. Usually hired to embody sophisticated, ultra-bourgeois, complex women, Winding Refn had the brilliant idea to transform her in a monstrous creature, a modern Medea dressed in Versace (the resemblance with Donatella Versace is actually pretty scary), a real bitch, able to waste his son’s life in the space of a couple of sentences (the dinner scene is absolutely to die for). 

Kristin Scott-Thomas as Crystal

The movie builds up very slowly, obliging the audience to hold back the rhythm, to quit defences, and be ready to enter into the story and into this dark, gloomy, ultra-violent world. You can take it or you can leave it, but if you are patient enough, you'll be rewarded by many unforgettable scenes (oh, the Thai child in the weelchair!).

Filmed in a spectacular way, Winding Refn confirmed his talent for an astonishing mise-en-scène, somewhere between Scorsese and Lynch with a twist (in this Far-East location) of Wong Kar-Wai. 
But if the Hong-Kong film-maker was in the mood for love, it is clear that the Danish one is more in the mood for vengeance. 

Si salvi chi può!

Jagten

Nel 1995, i registi Danesi Lars Von Trier e Thomas Vinterberg (39 e 26 anni, all'epoca), redigono e firmano a Copenhagen il manifesto cinematografico conosciuto sotto il nome di Dogma 95.
Di solito, i movimenti cinematografici vengono riconosciuti in corso di attuazione o più facilmente dopo qualche tempo: la Nouvella Vague francese, il Neo Realismo italiano, il Cinema Novo brasiliano, il Free Cinema inglese, sono diventati categorie soltanto dopo che un gruppo di opere aveva chiaramente manifestato lo stesso stile, lo stesso tipo di storie, lo stesso modo di girarle. Von Trier e Vinterberg, invece, decidono di fare esattamente l’opposto. Scrivono alcune regole e proclamano che qualsiasi regista al mondo voglia mettersi a fare film secondo quelle regole, sarà considerato un regista Dogma. L’idea alla base del manifesto era essenzialmente quella di promuovere un cinema più “puro”: via gli effetti speciali, via gli investimenti miliardari, via l’ego smisurato dell’artista (il nome del regista non deve mai comparire, tanto per dirne una). Il loro decalogo, per la verità, è al limite dell’estremo: no a luci artificiali, no a scenografie, no all’uso della musica. Non c’è da stupirsi se il Dogma viene ben presto soprannominato “Voto di Castità”. Per quanto assurdo tutto questo possa sembrare, il manifesto nei suoi 10 anni di vita (nel 2005 è stato infatti ufficialmente “chiuso”), ha prodotto un po’ dappertutto nel mondo una manciata di film molto interessanti, e anche un paio di piccoli capolavori.

Lars Von Trier e Thomas Vinterberg ai tempi del Dogma

Il primo film Dogma, ad esempio, è stato anche l’esordio di Vinterberg: Festen, film sommerso da una marea di premi ed enorme successo di critica e pubblico. Personalmente, Festen a parte, io ho adorato alcuni film dogma considerati minori, come Mifune di Søren Kragh-Jacobsen e Italian for Beginners di Lone Scherfig, due chicche che vi consiglio di recuperare.

Vinterberg, colto alla sprovvista dal successo planetario di Festen, ha fatto fatica a proseguire con una decente carriera cinematografica. Quest’anno, è ritornato al Festival di Cannes con la sua ultima opera: Jagten (La Caccia), riscuotendo di nuovo un gran successo e portandosi a casa uno dei premi più importanti (e finora secondo me anche l’unico sensato dato dalla giuria), quello a Mads Mikkelsen (lo ADORO!) come miglior interprete maschile.
La settimana scorsa, in un’anteprima speciale al Cinéma des Cinéastes (il film uscirà in Francia il 14 Novembre e in Italia il 23 Novembre), Vinterberg ha incontrato il pubblico parigino per discutere del film.

La storia: Lucas, un quarantenne appena uscito da un doloroso divorzio, sta cercando di rifarsi una vita. Le cose sembrano andargli abbastanza bene: ha accettato un nuovo lavoro come aiuto-insegnante in una scuola materna, suo figlio Marcus sta per andare a vivere con lui e Lucas sembra anche aver trovato una nuova compagna. Questa serenità è però destinata ad essere spazzata via in breve tempo: Klara, una bambina di cinque anni (nonché figlia del suo miglior amico), confessa alla direttrice della scuola di aver subito attenzioni di natura sessuale da parte di Lucas. La direttrice, sconvolta da quello che ha appena sentito, mette immediatamente in moto la macchina infernale che rischierà di schiacciare la vita dell'uomo, del tutto innocente.

Come ha giustamente fatto notare Vinterberg durante la discussione seguita al film, Jagten è l’anti-Festen assoluto. In Festen, dei bambini innocenti erano costretti a subire le attenzioni morbose di un adulto (il padre), che la faceva franca fino alla famosa festa in cui il figlio si decide a raccontare tutto di fronte agli altri componenti della famiglia. In Jagten il problema è opposto: un uomo adulto viene accusato da una bambina di aver compiuto degli atti osceni, e deve passare attraverso le prove più dure per riuscire a dimostrare agli altri la propria innocenza. Il tema è ovviamente molto delicato, e Vinterberg dimostra un gran coraggio nel “mostrare” due aspetti davvero poco rappresentati al cinema: il fatto che i bambini possano e sappiano mentire, e il fatto che anche nei primissimi anni di vita possiamo provare un sentimento simile all’innamoramento nei confronti di soggetti adulti. Klara è chiaramente affascinata da Lucas ed è proprio di fronte al suo rifiuto (in quanto adulto responsabile) verso alcuni comportamenti inattesi della bambina, che quest’ultima reagirà “contro di lui”.

 

Costruito in maniera lineare e molto rigorosa, Jagten fa crescere la tensione a poco a poco, generando un sentimento di oppressione e ingiustizia che permea la pellicola in maniera costante ma dilagante. Lo spettatore, sapendo dell'innocenza di Lucas, soffre con lui, ed è inevitabilmente portato ad una grande identificazione con il protagonista, perché tutti potremmo essere vittima di un simile errore, e chi sarebbe pronto a crederci, contro la parola innocente di un bambino? Quali amici resteranno al nostro fianco? Chi continuerà ad amarci dei nostri familiari? Chi avrà ancora fiducia in noi? Senza mai dare giudizi morali, ma anzi facendo ben capire i drammi e i dubbi nascosti dietro ciascuno dei personaggi, Jagten impressiona per forza stilistica e capacità di non abbandonarsi mai a facili vie d'uscita o scorciatoie sentimentali. La sceneggiatura è solidissima, certo, ma qui come al solito gli attori fanno la differenza. Intanto, chi ha trovato una bambina di 5 anni così brava a recitare? Mentre su Mikkelsen, che volete che vi dica, per me è uno dei più bravi attori in circolazione. Se qualcuno di voi ha familiarità con il cinema di un altro grande regista danese, Nicolas Winding Refn, sa di cosa sto parlando: dalla trilogia Pusher al delirio Valhalla Rising, Mikkelsen dimostra una versatilità ed una capacità di cambiare registro di rara potenza. Qui è tutto in sottrazione, con rare esplosioni di rabbia che lasciano senza fiato. Semplicemente eccezionale.
Vinterberg, ritrovata la sua vena più personale, ritornato - se posso osare - più "dogmatico", dà vita ad un film dal quale non si esce indenni (magnifica, lo vedrete, la scena finale!). Non sono stupita che abbia citato come primo riferimento per il film Fanny e Alexander di Ingmar Bergman. 
Perché nella vita, si sa, dovendo avere dei modelli, tanto vale puntare in alto! 

Drive

Something is rotten in the State of California, and if it is a Danish guy to declare it, you should believe him, especially if his name is Nicolas Winding Refn.

The no-name hero of his movie Drive lives in LA and works as a stuntman during the day and as a getaway driver of crimes at night. And he is very good at what he does. All the rest, it’s a mystery: no family, no friends, and apparently no past life. He is a solitary and silent man. One day, he meets by chance Irene, a young neighbour, and her little children Benicio, and his existence is transformed. When Irene’s husband comes back home from jail, it is easy for the driver to accept of being involved in a dangerous hold-up: it is just by doing so that the criminals, to whom Irene’s husband owes money, will leave the woman and her son alone. Useless to say, things will be a bit more complicated than expected…

This is the movie of the consecration for Winding Refn, a Danish angry young man (he was born in Copenhagen in 1970) who is considered one of the most original and interesting talents of European cinema. He built his reputation through tough and personal movies like the trilogy Pusher, the chilling thriller Fear X and two movies of stylized violence like Bronson and Valhalla Rising, often using as his alter ego the more-than-amazing Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen. Awarded of the Best Director Prize at the last Cannes Film Festival, Drive is surely less uncompromising and more mainstream than all his other movies, but it is by far the most enjoyable one. 

For somebody who doesn’t have a driving licence (apparently he failed the test 8 times), Winding Refn has an incredible ability of showing the beauty and the thrilling sensation you can feel seated at a four wheels. American cinema is packed with spectacular and often unbelievable scenes of car racings, but the ones filmed here have a more subtle and simple taste. The filmmaker doesn’t want to show off; he just wants us to enter into the driver’s universe in a smooth but gripping way. I really like the silent characters of Winding Refn cinema: like the One-Eye of Valhalla Rising, the driver lives his life more through images than through words. He is watching carefully what’s going on, often a mystical witness of the absurdity of life, inhabited by a wisdom that puts him on a different level. As many silent, charismatic and solitary heroes of American cinema (Clint Eastwood, are you there?), the driver played so wonderfully by Ryan Gosling has the astonishing quality of being redeemed by love but haunted by violence.

To the surprise of many, I will dare to define Drive as an incredibly romantic movie. In this sense, the elevator scene is the most beautiful and pivotal one: in an elegant, almost old-style slow motion, the man turns to kiss Irene, suddenly illuminated by a perfect light, and his arm protects her from the presence of a third presence in the elevator. The person is a criminal, and after few seconds he will be knocked down by the animal and brutal violence of the same man. The representation of violence in Winding Refn movies, clearly influenced by the cinema of Martin Scorsese, Brian De Palma and Michael Mann, has Kitanesque’s nuances: is rapid, merciless and stylish (with forks, instead of chopsticks, in the eyes). Another essential element of Drive is the music, in various moments invading the screen like a real form of life, expressing things like a dialogue would do.

And then the cast: I already declared my love for Ryan Gosling in my post about Blue Valentine (http://leblogdezazie.blogspot.com/2011/04/new-york-trilogy-blue-valentine.html), so I don’t have much to add on this. His career choices are simply perfect. The other brilliant presence in the movie is the one of Bryan Cranston, the cherished actor of the TV series Breaking Bad, who masterfully built his character in just few scenes. Also the villains are not bad: Albert Brooks and Ron Perlman are scary and magnetic in the right way. On the female side, Christina Hendricks (the Joan of Mad Men) has a too short role to say something interesting about her, while I have to make here a declaration, and not a loving one, about Carey Mulligan: I can’t stand her. Since the very first time I saw her on screen I asked myself why this girl is considered a good actress. She pretends to be deep but she is not, she pretends to have a complete range of expressions but she doesn’t, she wants to look smart but she just looks unbearable. Her way of acting is unbelievably boring, and I mean, she is not even stunningly gorgeous (quite the opposite, as a matter of fact). Why is she on a silver screen? Maybe I am missing the point, but can somebody explained me why is she becoming so famous and why is she working with such good film-makers? All this remains a mystery to me.  
Should I finally make up my mind and get the driving license I never even tried to have?
I asked myself at the end of the movie. Well, if Ryan Gosling is giving private driving lessons, I promise: I will serioulsy think about that...