End of Watch

End of Watch is like lifting a rock in the grass that briefly exposes the underworld of low life creatures that have been secretly thriving under everyone’s noses. It’s a serious gripping cop drama shown in 360 degree video cam footage that’s a mix of TV’s popular reality show ‘Cops’ and the 1988 Dennis Hopper film Colors. 

Totally uncensored, this movie pulls no punches as we are shown the daily routine of two young hot shot police rookies patrolling the streets of the most dangerous neighborhoods in South Central L.A.’s gang lands. Not since the movie Colors, with Sean Penn and Robert Duvall 24 years ago, have we seen a film that depicts the shocking violence witnessed daily by regular LAPD cops as they battle gang warfare, drug cartels and inter-departmental politics. 

Shot completely from the perspective of police video cam footage, End of Watch is well suited to this style of film-making as we are all familiar with the reality TV shows that feature police dash cam footage of high speed car chases and shootouts between cops and criminals. The action is shot on the run in first person view through the back alleys and streets of the hood and edited together from multiple cameras. Visually, it’s almost like a real life version of the video game Grand Theft Auto.

Filmmakers are getting wise and savvy to the idea of using small easy to conceal digital video camcorders as a way of adding a much more compelling and realistic touch to the story they’re telling. End of Watch uses the same visual technique used in Cloverfield (2008) to tell a much more immersive version of the movie Colors (1988), giving this film a more intimate and uninhibited view of the on-the-ground reality of law enforcement. It makes for a very unique and powerful experience but beware, this film is quite graphic and can be disturbing at times.

What makes End of Watch even more engaging and drives the story, is how it delves into the private lives and issues facing police partners and their families. The performances by Jake Gyllenhaal, recently seen in Source Code (2011), and Michael Peña, who was excellent in Battle: Los Angeles (2011), are absolutely convincing and spot on as the rookie partners just bursting at the seams with heroic energy.  Their close bond and chemistry is what hooks us into these characters who have a playful camaraderie and passion for getting into trouble. With every call they receive we get the sense that they are walking into a deadly situation. 

Director David Ayer, who started out as a script doctor, grew up in South Central L.A. and knows this territory intimately. He was the screen writer on Training Day (2001) with Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke and in this film it’s evident that he put a lot of effort into giving the movie a feeling of complete authenticity.

The subject matter and the way it’s filmed may not appeal to everyone but I was pulled in by its energy and realism, not to mention the wonderful performances. It’s a surprisingly powerful film that’s well worth seeing.

JP

Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope

‘A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away….’ With these words an epic movie franchise was launched that would change the film industry as we know it. Yes, it’s no exaggeration, Star Wars (1977) not only changed so many people’s lives but also the landscape of what was possible in film. It changed the way movies are made and marketed as well as the way we watch films today.

For me, my first attraction to the power of films started 35 years ago with Star Wars. Up until then I had only a passing interest in films but after the exhilarating experience of seeing a fully realized world that could exist somewhere out in the galaxy, my imagination soared with possibilities.

By now the story of Luke Skywalker is familiar to everyone. A farm boy living on a remote desert planet in the outer reaches of the known galaxy with his aunt and uncle discovers his potential to exceed the life he was given by tapping into the power of the Force.

Inspired by his love of comic books and Saturday matinee adventure serials like Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers and the Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Mars adventures of John Carter, George Lucas devised a Science Fiction fantasy fairy tale that would combine everything he loved about pulp serials as a kid growing up.

When Luke stumbles across a hidden message one day while cleaning some newly acquired service robots, it turns out to be a plea for help from a recently captured princess, who is battling an authoritarian Galactic government, to an old retired warrior general living in isolation on Luke’s home planet.

The story is told from the point of view of two robots R2-D2 and C-3PO, who we follow as they come in contact with various odd characters on their journey and who eventually form an intrepid group of unlikely heroes. Lucas also likes stories about people who are too small or insignificant to pose any threat but by sheer will and determination accomplish the impossible.

Enchanted by the holographic image of the princess, Luke decides to find out more about the intended recipient, Obi-wan Kenobi, who supposedly lives somewhere in the area but is soon told by his stern uncle to forget the matter and to erase the robot’s memory. The small astromech droid R2-D2, who is carrying the princess’ message, however, has a mission of his own and escapes during the night to find the former warrior general of the legendary Jedi Knights. Luke and R2’s robot partner C-3PO must go after the runaway droid the next morning before his uncle discovers what has happened and they eventually meet up with the strong willed little droid and the elderly hermit warrior living somewhere beyond the desert dunes.

George Lucas said that his movies are all about breaking free of our own self-imposed limits. The heroes in his films all deal with confinement in some form, whether self-imposed or by an oppressive regime, and finding the courage and faith within themselves to overcome those limitations and break free of the bonds to step into a whole new world of possibilities. This positive message at the heart of Star Wars is for young people but appeals to the young at heart of all ages.

While taking refuge in Obi-wan’s desert dwelling from the ferocious Tusken Raiders or Sand People who roam these parts, R2-D2 reveals the princess’s full message. It seems that the troublesome little droid is carrying important plans to a secret doomsday weapon that the iron fisted Empire is planning to use against her people to stop the rebellion that’s growing against the corrupt regime. These vital plans along with the robots must be delivered to her father on her home world of Alderaan. Unfortunately Obi-wan Kenobi is much too old to carry out such an important mission on his own and asks Luke to help him. Luke wants to help but won’t abandon his aunt and uncle who need him on the farm. While Luke gives Obi-wan and the two droids a ride to the nearest space port where they can find passage to Alderaan, the group comes across a site of carnage and learn that the evil Empire, looking for the stolen plans, are responsible. Luke quickly heads home figuring that his aunt and uncle are in danger only to discover that he is too late to save them from a similar attack.

Before Star Wars, the Science Fiction genre was made up of low budget, sensationalist B movies about alien invasions like War of the Worlds (1953), Them! (1954), and It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958) that occasionally saw attempts to elevate it beyond its cheap thrills spectacle with films like The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and Planet of the Apes (1968). Star Wars changed all that with its universal coming of age story line, realistic effects, a used lived-in look of other-worldly places that were filmed in real locations, a passing of knowledge from one generation to the next and a story of rebellion against oppression that has lost none of its relevance.

Back at Luke’s desert home, he is shocked by the attack on his family. Now personally affected by the tyranny of the Empire, Luke vows to help Obi-wan Kenobi deliver the plans and help the rebellion any way he can. At the nearest space port cantina filled with space aliens from other worlds, they find a skeptical pilot, Han Solo and his Wookie co-pilot Chewbacca, who will take them to Alderaan. After traveling through hyperspace at light speed they discover that the Empire has already done the unthinkable and used its doomsday weapon, known as the Death Star, to destroy the entire planet. Before they can escape, the huge weapon, which is the size of a small moon, has already caught their small space vessel, known as the Millennium Falcon, in a tractor beam and is pulling them in.

Many people have characterized the Star Wars films as having a retro-futuristic style. In other words, the world of Star Wars and everything in it has a somewhat familiar look so that you know what it is, but with a futuristic twist so that it looks strange enough to be from another world. By mixing vintage with modern elements and putting everything through a wear and tear process giving it a realistic used look, George Lucas added that extra level of reality that this world had existed for a long time. This was unheard of in prior science fiction films where everything looked shiny and clean and gave the impression that it had just been created for the film. Other filmmakers started incorporating this so-called ‘used universe’ look and it’s now a common element in every science fiction film.

 

On board the Death Star, the group manages to escape detection by hiding in the Falcon’s storage compartments. Obi-wan Kenobi contrives a plan to go into the massive bowls of the space station and turn off the tractor beam from the inside. Then, once he returns, they will be able fly out of the station without being pulled back in. While he goes off to look for the tractor beam controls, Luke makes a startling discovery. The princess is also being held inside the massive station and is scheduled to be executed. Luke and Han with the help of Chewbacca quickly devise a plan to rescue the princess from her detention cell and hopefully be back in time to meet up with Obi-wan and escape the Death Star, all the while making sure that R2-D2 who is carrying the secret plans to the Death Star does not fall into the wrong hands.

Star Wars was the first film that successfully encompassed and gathered together everything that was cool about Science Fiction into one hot rod of a movie. This had never been done before in such an immersive way. So many new and old ideas and elements came together in such a way that it all made sense and seemed perfectly logical.

Of course Luke’s plans don’t quite go as he had hoped and what follows is one of the most exciting, fun and romantic sequences ever to be put on film as spunky princess meets rogue scoundrel, arch villain meets his old warrior master and two loveable robots find ways to evade detection while helping our heroes. It all comes together in an inspiring climactic space battle showdown with laser zapping star fighters flying over the Death Star battle station as it approaches ever closer to annihilating the rebel’s hidden base.

George Lucas drew from World War II flying combat footage for one of Star Wars most exciting sequences that gave it an unforgettable climax. World War II dog-fighting footage taken from actual fighter plane cockpits was another reason George wanted to make Star Wars. He thought that putting that kind of visually dynamic action into an outer space setting would be thrilling to watch.

Star Wars gave birth to many new concepts like light sabers, the Force, Jedi Knights, the Death Star, and added many old ones with a new twist; Robots R2D2 and C-3PO as a comic relief duo in the tradition of Laurel and Hardy, repulsorlift floating crafts as the main form of land transportation, holograms as the main form of communication, weapons and space ships that fire laser bolts, space ships that sound like and are as individually unique as cars are in our world, a universe populated by aliens and humans working side by side, a slave class of robots that come in all sizes and shapes, and the scariest, darkest villain ever created; Darth Vader.

Star Wars took sound design to a whole new level and won 7 Oscars including a special Oscar for sound designer Ben Burt. John Williams created one of the all-time best and most popular films scores ever recorded.

This was the first film I remember having to see multiple times. It was a film that no one saw just once. Everyone who saw it went back again and again.

Since Star Wars the Sci-fi genre has never been the same and led to such classic Sci-fi films as Alien (1979), Blade Runner (1982), Independence Day (1996), Men in Black (1997), Starship Troopers (1997), Titan A.E. (2000), Treasure Planet (2002), Avatar (2009) and Tron: Legacy (2010).

JP

Mumbai Cha Raja (Mumbai's King)

This movie was introduced as a new kind of film coming out of Mumbai that’s totally unlike the popular Bollywood musicals the city is known for. Mumbai’s King (2012) is more in the tradition of the social realist style of Satyajit Ray’s films.

It was a privileged to have seen this mesmerizing film at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) where it played to an enthralled audience. This is filmmaker Manjeet Singh’s debut feature film as writer, director and producer who was at the screening to answer questions about the film and I had a chance to talk with him.

Based on the director’s childhood memories, Mumbai’s King is a coming of age tale shot completely from the point of view of children living in the vibrant streets of a Mumbai slum with high rises looming in the background. Much of the film shows the comradeship between two adolescent boys, Rahul, and his balloon selling best friend, Arbaaz, as they skulk about trying to come up with ways to make money and play pranks while stealing food from local vendors.

 

What impressed me most about this film, right from the beginning, was the stunning intimate imagery of the steamy smoke filled alley ways and recesses where kids bathe and play in garbage filled rivers that flow through the deep underbelly of the slums, and where the city’s dregs collect and builds up into mounds of waste. The movie explodes with an abundance of vivid life that spills out in a haze of sounds, music and color evoking, at times, the visual style of Slumdog Millionaire (2008) and City of God (2002).

Set during the Ganesh Festival, the story focuses on Rahul whose drunken father abuses him and his mother and their infant son. Rahul runs away from home one night while defending his mother and spends nights on the streets for fear of his father’s violent temper. During the day while Rahul and Arbaaz follow a girl he has fallen in love with through the streets of the slum, they conspire to get revenge on his father by ambushing him one night and giving him a beating.

The non-professional actors are actual kids from the area where the movie was shot and their characters are based on their own lives and the events they experienced. Much of the dialogue was improvised and created on the fly by the slum kids who have a great chemistry on screen.

Filmed with small digital cameras and using a minimal crew the filmmakers were able to capture authentic uninhibited performances in the most intimate settings. I knew instantly from seeing the images that this film had to be made by someone with personal knowledge of this environment.

The movie culminates in a suspenseful chase through a gathering of festival revelers celebrating the birthday of Lord Ganesh when the father is spotted by the boys and they put their plan for revenge into action. Rahul’s infant brother is lost in the chaos as the mother also joins the chase when she spots her runaway son and attempts to follow him. 

  

Manjeet Singh is a talented new voice emerging from India. His honest vision of the poverty that surrounds the burgeoning city of Mumbai may not be appealing to middle class Indian audiences who are usually averse to anything that doesn’t show their country in the most positive light. But this filmmaker has poured his soul into making a serious film that faithfully and powerfully depicts the genuine atmosphere and issues of a significant segment of the population living in less than ideal conditions. It deserves to be seen by a wide audience and I hope that more filmmakers will follow this trend to move the film industry in India towards a more open and truthful style that reflects the extraordinary lives of real people no matter what their social status.

JP           

The Intouchables

Based on the true adventures of two unlikely people, Philippe and Driss, from opposite ends of society, who seem to have nothing in common and would never be in the same room together, find themselves in an unusually strong friendship.

You’ve got to hand it to the French; they know how to make socially relevant films with lots of heart and humor. This one is another fun loving gem that hits all the right notes while dealing with serious issues but without any sentimentality. A surprise hit in Europe, it’s one of the funniest and most moving films of the year.

The story focuses on two people both with big problems but in very different circumstances. Philippe, a wealthy middle aged aristocrat living in a mansion with many servants and  confined to a wheel chair after an accident leaves him totally paralyzed from the neck down, is looking to hire a full time care giver. Driss, on the other hand, is a charming young out of work Senegalese ex-con man from the poor side of town just released from jail. 

In order to get government assistance, Driss must prove that he is attempting to find employment. He cons his way into applying for the job of the wealthy man’s care giver without any qualifications and without any expectations of landing the job. What happens next is a bit of a Prince and the Pauper story as we see the world of the privileged through the eyes of one of the most under privileged in Paris, France. 

 

One of the things these two do seem to have in common is their love of music, although their tastes are very different and the soundtrack has a fabulous mix of classical and contemporary music.

The rich Philippe decides to challenge this unqualified wild card and allows him try the job believing he won’t last and also because he cannot tolerate being treated with pity and figures that this uncivilized brute has no concept of sympathy. But what he doesn’t count on is just how much heart and compassion this man possesses.

I love how this movie pokes fun at issues of the disabled and of the stifling stuffiness of high society and the upper class. Philippe’s disability represents the constrained inward cerebral oppression of emotions, whereas Driss wears his heart on his sleeve and represents the uncontrolled outward freedom of expressions. The one expresses himself only inwardly and the other outwardly making for some excellent chemistry between the two. Both men have qualities that the other doesn’t understand but exposure to those very qualities is what teaches them what they need to be happy and enriches both their lives.

The performances are absolutely first rate; completely honest and convincing. Omar Sy, who plays Driss, won the César award for best actor in France which is the equivalent of the Oscar in the US. He won in the same year that Jean Dujardin, another French actor, won the Oscar for best actor in The Artist (2011).

Don’t pass up the chance to see this wonderful thought provoking film. It will be well worth your time and money. One of the highest grossing films in France and Europe, this movie is a truly enriching experience.

  

I also recommend you find and watch these other wonderful recent French comedies with similar social themes: The Women on the 6^th Floor (2011) and The Names of Love (2011).

JP