INTERVIEW: ROOSTER'S BREAKFAST, WINDOWS ON EUROPE FILM FESTIVAL

Rooster’s Breakfast is a Slovenian romantic comedy\drama directed by Marko Nabersnik adapted by the novel by Feri Lainšček. The film is Slovenia’s most acclaimed and commercially successful movies of all time.

 

Plot

We meet Đuro (played by Primož Bezjak) as he is being laid off from his work as a mechanic. Duro is however referred to Master auto-mechanic Gajaš's (played by Vlado Novak) who’s shop is in the idealic town of Prekmurje (region of Eastern Slovenia). Duro is hired as an apprentice and soon is mingling with Gajas’s eccentric friends who love to come to Gajas’ shop to gamble, drink and listen to music. Soon however, Duro meets Bronja (played by Pia Zemljjc), the beautiful wife of the neighbourhood mob boss Lepec (played by Dario Varga) where wackiness ensues!

 

Awards

The film won 5 awards at the 10th Festival of Slovenian Film: Audience Award For The Best Picture (Marko Naberšnik), Vesna For Best Directing (Marko Naberšnik), Vesna For Best Screenplay (Marko Naberšnik), Vesna For Best Actor (Vlado Novak) and Stop Magazine Award for best actor/actress (Pia Zemljič).

 

It is also the Slovenian candidate for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film nomination. In year 2009 film won CWB Critics Award at the 4th Annual South East European Film Festival, Los Angeles. 

 

Interview

 

Mr Marko Nabersnik was kind enough to answer a few questions about the film.

 

The Movie Club - Thank you for the opportunity to discuss Rooster’s Breakfast with The Movie Club. What was involved in the process of adapting the novel to the script? 

 

Marko Nabersnik - The film is based on the Slovenian bestselling novel with the same title. Its author is Feri Lainšček, one of the most acclaimed Slovenian writers. I adopted the novel with his help and with the help of Scripthouse Berlin and its script doctor Franz Rodenkirchen. In the book there is a much wider story about the private life of the character you saw in the movie. I only concentrated on the love story of a young couple and the romantic obsession of the main character, the old garage owner Gajaš, who is admiring the famous singer Severina. Of course, this is love at first sight which can not come true.

 

The Movie ClubWhy was the movie not set in modern times? How has Slovenia gone through significant social changes since this time?

 

Marko Nabersnik - The novel was written in 1997 and I did not change the time period the story takes place in. One of the reasons is also that in the 90’s we were not in European Union yet and  memories of communistic regime of Yugoslavia were still much more alive. And these are also memories which the main character Gajaš is influenced by. And because the story is set a little bit in the past the movie looks nostalgic, which people in Slovenia liked very much.

 

The Movie ClubWhat was it like working with the main cast? Had you worked with them before?

 

Marko Nabersnik - I worked with some of the actors. Pia Zemljič, who is playing the lead woman role, was also my classmate at the Film Academy in Slovenia. I worked with Primož Bezjak too. But the other cast is set up from the most acclaimed Slovenian actors. Vlado Novak, the main character for example played more than 100 theater roles, had a feature film introduced in Cannes (Artificial Paradise from director Karpo Godina) and I was honored that they accepted the offer to play in my first movie. And I think everybody can see how good Vlado Novak, the main character and leading actor, is. He gave a real push to the story and film.

 

The Movie ClubWhat were your previous works? What is your next project going to be and are you currently working on anything?

 

Marko Nabersnik - I finished the Film Academy in 2002. I have worked on more than 500 live TV shows in the entertainment industry since that time. In 2007 I finished my first feature film Rooster’s Breakfast and its box office success and successful distribution in the countries of former Yugoslavia brought me to the next film. My new film is Shanghai Gypsy. The shooting of the new film was finished in 2011. Now I am in sound postproduction. With the budget of 3,5 million US dollars Shanghai Gypsy is the most expensive Slovenian film of all times. The story is based on the successful novel Untouchables (again by Feri Lainšček) which won numerous awards and was nominated for Europe Book prize in 2008. The novel is also translated in English and you can purchase it on Amazon.

 

The story of the film Shanghai Gypsy is a love story. The main protagonists are members of gypsy family Mirga. The story about four generations is narrated by Lutvija Belmondo Mirga. Lutvija is also the central character of the film, a gypsy king, who decided to establish his own gypsy village. He names it Shanghai. Belmondo makes a living on smuggling and his power and influence grow large. He even gets local police and politicians on his side and that helps him to become untouchable for law. But with the downfall of Yugoslavia, smuggling of goods is being replaced by smuggling of the arms. Though lucrative, the business starts to threaten Belmondo’s personal life and he finds himself at the crossroads. Will he protect his own family or is he going to sacrifice his personal happiness for business ambitions?

 

The Movie ClubWhat is it like to enjoy Rooster’s Breakfast’s great success?

 

Marko Nabersnik - The success of the film had a good influence on my current career. I got the actual project Shanghai Gypsy and because the Rooster’s Breakfast was Slovenian Nominee for Foreign Language Oscar in 2008, it got some international contacts and the next film I am planning will be made completely out of Slovenia. There was a big teenage comedy hit called Going Our Way (from director Miha Hočevar) in Slovenia last year. That comedy got even bigger box office success than my film. Rooster’s Breakfast is now placed second. As you can see, Slovenian films are popular in my country and I am happy that you, and hopefully the audience of the Windows on Europe Film Festival liked the film too.

 

The Movie Club - I'm sure audiences will! Again, many thanks for the opportunity to discuss Rooster’s Breakfast with The movie club. Congratulations on the film and we wish you the best with your future projects!

 

Rooster’s Breakfast is screening as part of the Windows on Europe Film Festival at Monday 13 Feb at 7pm at Dendy Cinemas, Canberra. 

 

For more information on Rooster’s Breakfast visit:

 

 

For more information on Shanghai Gypsy visit:

 

 

Luke McWilliams, Feb 2012

INTERVIEW: KOLORADO KID, WINDOWS ON EUROPE FILM FESTIVAL

Kolorado Kid is a Hungarian movie directed by Anras B. Vagvolgyi.

 

In the summer of 1959 Béla Kreuzer (played by Zsolt Nagy), a loader and gambler, is handcuffed and arrested. He is placed in detention and at first thinks it is because of his dubious activities on the racecourse. It soon becomes apparent however, that the reason of his incarceration is due to his participation in the 1956 Hungarian revolution, where wackiness ensues!

 

Mr Anras B. Vagvolgyi was kind enough to answer a few questions about the film.

 

The Movie Club - Thank you for the opportunity to discuss Kolorado Kid with The Movie Club. Could you please tell us a little about yourself and your filmography. 

 

I studied sociology in Hungary and Britain in the 1980s. At the time of the transition here I was pretty active, and has been one of the founders, later the editor of a weekly called Magyar Narancs, which reportedly has changed the language of the print press in Hungary and was a kinda fresh voice of the media here, won Pulitzer Price, etc.

 

In the mid-90s I was awarded with a Lucius W. Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University, where I took the film class lead by internationally renowned Yugoslav director Dusan Makavejev. (His Australian pic, The Coca Cola Kid the - with Grata Schachi and Eric Roberts - probably might have an effect on me in finding out the title of my movie.) I made a short in NY and a doc in Detroit during this year. Later I made a bunch of docs, some in the States, one in Hong Kong, another one in South Africa. I was assistant to LA-based Hungarian director Gyula Gazdag for a doc on Allen Ginsberg. I worked with Bela Tarr on his movie Werckmeister Harmonies and with old master Miklos Jancso in one of his late pictures. I've written a number of scripts and Kolorado Kid was the first to be shot.

  

The Movie Club - Is the Hungarian revolution a great interest of yours? What made you want to tell this story? 

 

I think in the history of the 20th century the 1956 revolution was the positive event in Hungarian history which was spectacular enough for movies. Also, I was born into the regime which followed it. And this regime was based on betrayal.

 

A very good elder friend of mine, the writer Istvan Eorsi was a political prisoner from his age of 25 in the aftermath of the revolution and his book (Reminiscences of the Good Old Times) on his prison years has a great effect on my film (he was a leading figure of the political and cultural opposition in the Communist years). His son, Laszlo Eorsi is a historian specialized on the stories of the guerilla groups of Budapest in 1956. He approached me with a series of reports of a jail mole: this was the jumping board of the script.

 

I like the film noir genre pretty much, and thought this genre would fit the storyline well, with the tension that no noir could have been made in Hungary in the 50s - that era was for "socialist realism" and comedies. Kolorado Kid is a multiple and cumulative betrayal story, sort of paradigm of my Hungary at the time, the place I was born into.

 

The Movie Club - Would you say this movie is against the death penalty?

 

I myself am very much against death penalty and about 300 death penalties occurred in Hungary in the aftermath of the revolution. I think this movie of course is against death penalty in general, but particularly it is against betrayal and moral relativism. 

 

The Movie Club - What was it like working with your main cast? Was there any improvisation on set? How long did shooting go for?

 

Well, the story of making this film is a troubled one, recent politics and shortcomings in funding belated the process. We had 35 days of shooting between 2006 and 2008. I think a film like this in France or Germany would go for the double of our period for shooting, and in the US probably this film would have been shot in 90 days. We had a script, which has changed sometimes and there were rewritings, but in general we stuck to the script. I liked to work with the actors/actresses, no complaints. Same with DOP, art director, sound etc. 

 

The Movie Club - What are your current/future projects? 

 

I do preparation for a low budget thriller, a much bigger budget feature with the title "1989", I have feature animation project (about filmmaking and radical politics in Japan). I used to live in Tokyo more ten years ago - in the1970s. The last year and a half I shot a doc on a guy who's from Budapest, but is the singer of the most famous and scandalous black metal band in Norway. I think, these are enough for the next five years. 

 

The Movie Club - Again, many thanks for the opportunity to discuss Kolorado Kid with the movie club. Congratulations on the film and we wish you the best with your future projects!

Kolorado Kid is screening as part of the Windows on Europe Film Festival at 7:PM, 15 Feb 2012, at Dendy Cinemas, Canberra.

 

Luke McWilliams, Feb 2012

 

INTERVIEW: FORBIDDEN FRUIT, WINDOWS ON EUROPE FILM FESTIVAL

Forbidden Fruit is a Finnish drama directed by Dome Karukoski.

 

We meet two teenage girls from a Conservative Laestadian community who travel to Helsinki, where they meet other people of their age. Here, they learn about a lifestyle that differs greatly from the girls' religious way of life, where wackiness ensues!

 

Mr Dome Karukoski and actors Marjut Maristo and Amanda Pilk were kind enough to answer a few questions about the film.

 

The Movie Club - Thank you for the opportunity to discuss Forbidden Fruit with The Movie Club. Could you please tell us a little about yourselves including your filmographies.

 

Dome Karukoski, 34 - Won over 30 international awards and is the director of the box-office film Lapland Odyssey which showed at the Canberra int. filmi festival 2011. My father is an American actor and my mother a Finnish journalist.

 

Marjut Maristo, 26 - Is studying in the university of Helsinki to become a teacher. She started working on films as an amateur and has also done some theater after receiving main roles in films like Forbidden Fruit and The Home Of Dark Butterflies. Marjut is currently in Barcelona continuing her studies, but still wants to do films now and then. Was awarded for her role in Forbidden Fruit in festivals in Vienna, Mons Belgium and Zerkalo film festival, Russia.

 

Amanda Pilke, 20 made her name by acting in the big series "The Eastern Front" that tells stories of a small village in eastern Finland. Amanda has now received numerous roles in films by first rank directors like Dome Karukoski (Forbidden Fruit, Aku Louhimies and Antti Jokinen).Amanda has received numerous awards for her role in Forbidden Fruit in Mons Belgium, Festroia Portugal and the the best supporting actress award in the Finnish film awards Jussi's.

 

 

The Movie Club -  Are differing religions of great interest to you? What made you want to make this story?

 

Dome: I met a girl that was the real life "Rachel". She had left her church of Conservative Laestadians. After she left, her father disowed her. He told her that she was not part of the family anymore and that she was not allowed to meet her siblings. She was the most complicated girl I had met. She was the launching point for me to make the film. At the same time Aleksi Bardy, the screenwriter of the film was interested on making a film of the "biblical Finland". -An area up north in Finland where a lot of Lutheran sects are very strong.

 

The Movie Club - The recent American movie Martha Marcy May Marlene follows a young girl who escapes a cult and finds it difficult to assimilate into regular life. With the young characters leaving to 'taste the forbidden fruit', was there any temptation to enhance the differences between living a relatively standard Finnish life and the lives led by apostolic Lutheran families? What methods helped the actors to convey these differences?

 

Amanda&Marjut - We made a pact with Dome and some of the other actors that for four months before the film shoot, we would abide to strict rules like the Conservative Laestadians do. We didn't watch TV, listen to pop music, use any alcohol, curse or even dance, which is also forbidden for the sect. Instead of not having sex, we ate no candy. It would've been quite difficult to explain to our spouses that we are not allowed to have sex for four months. Leaving away candy was a good alternative for that.

 

The Movie Club - What was it like working on set? Had the main cast and director worked together before? 

 

Dome - I worked with Marjut in the Home of Dark Butterflies and that worked well. It was my first time to work with Amanda. We became like siblings with the girls.

 

Marjut&Amanda - The same. We became like siblings with Dome. The most frightful thing for us was to jump from a 6-meter cliff into water. We were so afraid and almost didn't want to do it. Dome and some other crew members jumped in first to encourage us. So we did it!!! It was a leap of faith:)

 

We miss the crew and the jump.

 

  

The Movie Club - What are your current/future projects? 

 

Marjut - I will study in Barcelona for a few moments. I might do some theater in the summer. But no movies yet.

 

Amanda -  My newest film "Vuosaari" by the multiawarded Aku Loukimies is premiering in Finland now. I play a girl that wants to become famous with any cost. I'm also shooting a film with Hollywood director Antti Jokinen. This one is in Finland and Estonia and it's based on the famous novel "The Purge". It will premiere in the fall of 2012.

 

Dome - I have several projects on development stage. One is about racism, one about the modeling world and one is about the most biggest warhero of Finlanf Carl Gustaf Mannerheim. I don't yet know which one I'll do first. That solution will be made by those who finance films...

 

The Movie Club - Again, many thanks for the opportunity to discuss Forbidden Fruit the movie club. Congratulations on the film and we wish you the best with your future projects!

Forbidden Fruit is screening as part of the Windows on Europe Film Festival at Dendy Cinemas, Canberra.

 

Luke McWilliams, Feb 2012 

 

 

PODCAST-EPISODE 6, SEASON 3

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Join Luke McWilliams and Katy Haynes as they review movies from the Windows on Europe Film Festival:

PODCAST-EPISODE 5, SEASON 3

Join Luke McWilliams and Katy Haynes as they review new to cinema releases;

PODCAST-EPISODE 4, SEASON 3

Join Luke McWilliams and Katy Haynes as they review new to cinema releases;

Katy also shares a favourite movie, the cult-classic The Princess Bride 

Special Guest: Marisa Martin from Enemies of Reality Media.

 

The Descendants Review

The Descendants is a dramedy based on the novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings directed by Alexander Payne. It uses authentic Hawaiian music, and was filmed on location in Hawaii, notably Honolulu and around Hanalei Bay.

 

Plot

We meet a woman as she is happily jet-skiing on a Hawwain beach. We then flash to her husband Matt King (played by George Clooney) who is a lawyer, father of two daughters and the sole trustee of a beautiful and large plot of land on the island of Kaua'i. Matt has to decide what he wishes to do with the land as the family trust will soon expire. Before Matt and his many family members formally decide on a deal to sell the land, Matt learns of a boating accident involving his wife Elizabeth, where wackiness ensues!

 

Review:

The Descendants is the long awaited movie from the director of SideWays, a movie that explored the relationship between two middle-aged males at one of life’s cross-roads, nestled in the beautiful Napa Vally winery region. Here, we are in Hawaii, and the environment, atmosphere and ambience is palpable. You can feel the heat of the breeze, smell of the ocean and completely understand its inhabitants’ cruisy way of life as dictated by the surrounding environment, much like the Australian tropics.

Reportedly, George Clooney wanted to play the role of 'Jack' in Sideways, however Payne turned him down, saying that he wanted someone lesser known for the role, Thomas Haden Church, best known for his role in television’s Ned and Stacey at the time. Here George Clooney gets his chance, and headlines with a relaxed, scruffy, quiet, gentle type of character, which is most notably his flaw.

This time around however, George is accompanied by a trio of young actors who more than make up for this character trait, none-more so than his on-screen daughter Shailene Woodley. At first glance Matt’s daughter’s (including Amara Miller) and his eldest daughter’s dim-witted beach dude friend (played by Nick Krause) are quite straight forward spoilt little brats who unravel during the film to show well-rounded characters whose true selves do give way during this horrible crisis.

The tone of the movie is interesting: amongst a very serious and morbid plot device, the director does not shy away from the fact that George’s wife, and mother to his children, is extremely morally flawed and is unglamorously hospitalized, looking like a corpse in front of her friends and family. George’s mission to make sure all of her family and friends receive the opportunity to say good-bye, amongst pressure from his extended family to sell the plot of land to the ire of residents, lays a ground-work for effortless characterization (no head-bopping here!) which, amongst a grim background, is funny in the delivery due to the way the characters are: a family that, despite all of their history and gripes, do actually love one another and who do look out for, and after, each other, when they are needed the most.

 

Rating  

I give The Descendants 4.5 ukuleles out of 5. Fully deserving of its Golden Globe successes (best film, best actor)!

 

                                                                          Luke McWilliams, January 2012

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo Review

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a thriller directed by David Fincher of Fight Club, last year’s The Social Network and…..ahem…..Alien 3 fame, and is an adaptation of the Stieg Larsson's Swedish novel.

 

Plot 

We meet Mikael Blomkvist (played by Daniel Craig), who is an investigative journalist and co-owner of Millennium magazine. Blomkvist  has just lost a libel case against businessman Hans-Erik Wennerström leaving his professional reputation in ruins and facing bankruptcy.

Fortunately Blomkvist is contacted by Henrik Vanger who wishes to hire Blomkvist to solve the 40-year old cold murder of his niece. Eventually Blomkvist finds he needs the assistance of a researcher. Enter the very researcher who performed an extremely thorough background check on him, a young girl called Lisbeth Salander (played by Rooney Mara), who has a dragon tattoo on her back, where wackiness ensues!

 

Review

I am a huge fan of the Millenium Trilogy, as is already covered on The Movie Club here. I saw the Swedish movie version, and was so blown away by its ambience (cold, isolated cabin-in-the-woods, with only books, laptops and endless supply of coffee for company), characters (creepy suspects) and Agatha Christie closed-room murder mystery that I immediately bought the book and read it cover to cover. From there, I couldn’t stop myself from reading the next book before the movie sequel came out. I only got through the first part of The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest before the movie came out, and need to actually finish it off.

Part of me doesn’t want to. Stieg Larsson unfortunately died suddenly after he delivered the manuscripts of his Millennium series to his publisher. Even though the published books form a trilogy, Stieg’s unfortunate passing puts an end to his series, as there is rumored to be four other manuscripts in debatable completion. Ironically, under Swedish law, his de-facto partner has no legal rights to his property, instead his estranged father and brother have the rights to the manuscripts, and it would be up to them as to whether-or-not further adventures of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and Blomkvist will see the light of day, in either novel, television or movie medium.

Larsson was an investigative journalist who witnessed the shocking gang rape of a 15 year old girl named Lisbeth. Perhaps through his Millennium series he was trying to pay amends to the incredible guilt he felt at not doing anything to help her. By naming his heroine thusly, and giving her a horrible fate, Larsson uses the Lisbeth character to thwart not only violence against herself, but to other women within Swedish society (victims of sex trafficking), ultimately escalating to a political arena.

The Swedish television mini-series of the Millennium trilogy were cut to film-running time and distributed internationally as a film trilogy. The first chapter was the most cinematic, with the second two installments being helmed by new directors and were given a contemporary, gritty look.

With this American adaptation of the novel (NOT a remake of the Swedish movies), master filmmaker David Fincher is at the helm. His images are beautiful and chilling. Fight Club was perfect, lacing surrealism into a commentary against male identity amongst a material world, Se7en was a gothic, savage tale of sin and redemption, and The Social Network was a tour-de-force of the building of an empire while, simultaneously and ironically, crumbling of close relationships, shot in a dark, isolating Harvard University environment, with soft-focus only pulling their faces into focus.

This new outing for The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo wisely keeps Fincher’s production team from The Social Network, especially Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross who won an Oscar for their soundtrack for Network and at time of writing, also won a Golden Globe for their efforts here. Roony Mara who delivered a very small, but powerfully significant role in Network IS Lisbeth Salander. Gaining the part amongst rich competition including Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson,Roony makes the role her own, and we are convinced of such in her very first scene: extremely anti-social,her aggressive body language, distracted but direct manner, and her bold language nails the character.

Daniel Craig is an immense improvement on the Swedish interpretation of Blomkvist, playing against his Bond persona, Craig is a crushed man, saying as much as he packs up and goes to live in an unforgivable location to perform an impossible task that is doomed to failure: a man who welcomes banishment and punishment as consequences for his inattention to detail. All characters are played extremely well, due to the pitch-perfect casting.

The cinematography is what we have come to expect from Mr Fincher: flowing cameras that open up landscapes and then just as easily lead us through rooms. As gorgeous as the tones are, the blacks are very black, with incredible detail to come in the Blue Ray Release.

This is a adaptation of the book which dedicates  more time to the relationship between Blomkvist, Lisbeth and Blomkvists lover Erika Berger (played by Robin Wright). Those who love the books will spot the small differences however, especially in terms of the deduction used to solve the mystery, Lisbeth’s morality, and the extended relationship she shares with Blomkvist. 

These are minor quibbles, made to add a director’s flavour and to open up the material to a wider audience. As soon as Fincher’s Girl starts, we can already see that this is HIS interpretation, as the screen is filled with pulsating black oil and tar, forming images foreshadowing the Millennium trilogy to come, amongst a screeching reinterpretation of a Led Zepplin song.  The sequence is almost a perversion of a Bond intro, telling us all and nothing about what is to come. And when it does come, it is pure Fincher; tighter and faster than the Swedish interpretation, with different emphasises on certain events as opposed to the Swedish counterpart. It is great that one can enjoy The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo in all media, as they stand, live and breath on their own, peppered with different perspectives that add to the mix. 

 

Rating

The first is always going to be my favourite as it is my introduction to the Millenium trilogy. As I cannot un-watch it now, I perhaps unfairly give Fincher’s Girl - 4.5 tattoos out of 5. Although Tattoo only garnered a modest success, the next two chapters have been green-lit to be filmed back-to-back. I hope Fincher stays to direct the remainder to keep his flavour throughout this new interpretation!

 

                                                                       Luke McWilliams, January 2012

PODCAST EPISODE 3, SEASON 3

Join Luke McWilliams and Katy Haynes as they review new to cinema releases;

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo; and

The Descendants

Luke has a look at a cult favourite, The Breakfast Club

 

 

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows Review

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is a British-American action mystery adventure directed by Guy Ritchie and produced by uber producer Joel Silver of the Matrix Trilogy and the Lethal Weapon series fame to name just a few, and is the sequel to the 2009 movie Sherlock Holmes, based on the characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Plot 

We met Irene Adler (played by Rachel McAdams) of the first film in 1891, who is to deliver a letter to her nefarious employer, a Professor Moriarty (played by Mad Men’s Jared Harris) only to have Holmes (played by Robert Downey Jr.) spoil her plans.

Flash to our dynamic duo where Holmes is explaining to Watson (played by Jude Law) that he is currently investigating a series of seemingly unrelated crimes and business deals that is connected to Moriarty. Holmes chooses to meet with the letter’s original recipient, the gypsy Simza (played by the original girl with the dragon tattoo Noomi Rapace) during Watson’s stag night where wackiness ensues!

 Review

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is darker than the original in look and tone, with a relatively more realistic, if not plausible, plot. Where the first Guy Ritchie Sherlock Holmes was an adventure movie with comic-book staging and effects, Shadows is a touch more menacing, especially in its depictions of violence.

That being said it is still a great piece of fun. The action sequences are great, aided by brilliant cinematography which uses an evolution of ‘bullet-time’ and Ritchie's modus-operandi from his Lock-Stock days, to speed up and slow down the action in beautifully framed scenes with magnificent detail. It is also fantastic to ‘see’ Holmes’ detection method. Here, Holmes is constantly observing his surroundings and weighing up the pros-and cons of possible future actions, playing his hand in his head on the fly, referencing lessons from Sun Tzu’su’s  The Art of War as opposed to his literary arm-chair detective counterpart. Here is a man who is both blessed and cursed with the ability of this method, never being able to turn it off. It is also interesting to see that this ‘talent’, or mental illness, is starting to rub off onto his partner in crime-solving, Watson. 

The Guy Ritchie Sherlock Holmes series is one for those who grew up with Sherlock and already has a back-catalogue of Holmes’ ways. This current film series deals with the relationship of Holmes and Watson in its fading days as opposed from the origins of the pair or their hey-day. If you are fresh to the mix, and yes, there may be many, you may wonder why and how Sherlock can get away with what he does, much like last week’s Tintin. Originally, Holmes was an amateur crime solver, with police coming to meet with him to explain the case that had them puzzled. For a price, Holmes would solve the crime with his method, and the police would get the credit. Only when a crime needed more details would Sherlock even leave his apartment at 21 Baker Street to gather more clues, something that thrilled him! This relationship with the police lead to him being a controversial figure, but one that had a certain leeway and agreement with the local police force.

Shadows’ plot is based on the Sherlock Holmes story, The Final Problem, but a lot of creative latitude has been used. As with Tintin, the script borrows here-and-there from the original text to create something new. Although this may irritate purists, it also gives them a new adventure to enjoy too, instead of re-treading years of books, movies and television series plots.

Robert Downy Jrs Sherlock is an absolute: a committed bachelor, much like James Bond circa 1800, whose only real purpose in life is to solve crimes with his almost scientific method. RDJ plays Sherlock intelligently with wit, great humour and a hint of parody, although his scenes with Moriaty are rightly laced with fear and caution.

Whereas one may have expected Sherlock’s arch-enemy to stick to the shadows until a later outing, much like Emperor Palpatine of the Star Wars series, he is completely revealed in the opening of Shadows, and is played chillingly by Jared Harris. It is pleasing that rumours of a bigger star were not correct (Brad Pitt’s name was thrown around), as Jared encompasses the role well, playing Moriaty as an evil academic, as interested in defeating Holmes as Holmes is in the same. A perpetual chess game, much like the X-men’s Magneto and Professor Xavier, serves as an apt metaphor of these men’s relationship to each other, and also of their methods of deduction.

Shadows is a great action movie, with very big stakes, much like the original. Where Nooni Rapace has very little to do, Jude Law was born to play Watson, and who else would you get to play Sherlock’s know-it-all brother than Stephen Fry of QI fame. However I am more of a fan of the current Sherlock television series which encompasses the character, and his adventures, more authentically, albeit in a modern context. A simple murder (or two) is all that is required for Sherlock and his hetero-life partner to spring into action, all with the local police vying for, and profiting from, his actions.

Unfairly, I may be too entrenched with the Basil Rathbone archetypical Sherlock performance to ever believe RDJ’s and Ritchies Bohemiam Sherlock to be the real deal, no matter how well it is played. That being said, like Batman Begins and Casino Royale, it is fantastic that such an original interpretation made its way into a blockbuster, especially in the increasingly risk-adverse Hollywood environment, where the bottom dollar is king over art and originality.

Rating 

Undoubtedly you will enjoy this new outing of Sherlock. Its exciting, bombastic and the leads are doing something which is quite rare in movies nowadays: having fun! I’m looking forward to the many adventures sure to come! 4.5 out of 5 whodunnits!


                  Luke McWilliams, January 2012