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| It’s monkey magic |
KING KONG Directed by Peter Jackson
Certificate 12A
AT three hours long – one hour in 1930s New York, one on
Skull Island and another back in New York with the big monkey –
director Peter Jackson’s remake of the classic is labour of
love (which went $30 million over budget) which could have benefited
from a trim here and there.
Nevertheless, this epic attempt at remaking a much-loved and actually
extremely good original is a success all around but not for the
reasons you may expect. Of course, the scene setting – Naomi
Watts as an out-of-work but proud actress ending up with sleazy
determined film producer Jack Black – is essential to the understanding
of the story.
Adrien Brody co-stars as the film’s male ethical centre, a
writer with whom Watts falls in love but who isn’t, as much
as he may try, not the savage beast who wins her heart.
Unexpectedly, it is not the special effects that dominate, although
the presence of terrible phallic monsters with teeth, horrible cockroaches
and herds of dinosaurs required extensive computer generation.
The story is that of love and understanding between a woman and
a huge silverback gorilla.
What makes Kong moving – and it is moving – is the sense
of the primal man-woman relationship. Kong may have ape-napped his
beauty, having been brought to the island to film the mysterious
beast, but she falls in love with him because he protects her, risking
his life in an exciting fight between three T-Rexes. Ray Harryhausen
would be proud.
The money spent on making Kong emote makes the scenes between him
and his beauty more poignant than thought possible. Using Andy Serkis,
who gave life to Gollum in Peter Jackson’s Lord Of The Rings
trilogy, as the physical mould for Kong’s movements was a stroke
of genius.
This is not the story of a woman falling in love with a man, it
is an audience falling in love with two characters, one of which
just so happens to be an enormous ape.
A truce in the trenches
MERRY CHRISTMAS Directed by Christian Carion
Certificate 12A
WITH the Scots and French on one side, the Germans on the other,
there’s a small wedge of no man’s land that provides the
backdrop for this extensively researched story based on true events.
A German/UK/French production this is a touching, traditionally
told true tale of a truce condensed from reality on the western
front in World War I in 1914.
Director Christian Carion’s tight rein on emotions makes the
impact even more vividly felt.
A celebrated opera singer on the German side (Benno Furmann) is
thought to have volunteered for the front when it is revealed he
was conscripted along with others but his singing is the vocal catalyst
for all sides to come forward and meet for a few moments of peace.
Spurred on by the Royal Scots Pipers, headed by Gary Lewis, soon
all the warring parties are trading chocolate and booze, playing
football and showing each other pictures of their wives. There is,
of course, hell to pay when the generals discover this terrible
breach of combat and the drama that unfolds is heartbreaking but
not overplayed. What the gift of Merry Christmas is that vision
of men unified, the oft-told story of how we are all alike.
It is the way it is told – subtle, easy and naturally unfolding
which makes it a strong feature film.
No wonder it received a standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival.
Also showing
The Family Stone
Meet The PC Parents At Christmas could be the working title for
this comedy of ideological clashes starring Sarah Jessica Parker,
Dermot Mulroney, Luke Wilson and Diane Keaton. The Stones are an
extremely groovy family who are not going to find ultra-establishment
Parker’s marriage to Mulroney terribly amusing. Parker is brilliant
in her role as the neurotic bride-to-be.
Lassie
A gorgeous new version of the book Lassie Come Home stars John Lynch
and Samantha Morton as a couple so poor that they must sell the
family dog.
The trouble is, Lassie keeps coming back until she’s moved
to Scotland where things take a more interesting turn. Director
Charles Sturridge keeps an eye on the class divide in this beautifully
shot new classic replete with a soundtrack that will have you sniffing
back the tears.
This could begin a run on Collie pups this holiday season.
Ultranova
Bouli Lanners‚ debut film is a dry comedy set in Belgium where
a dead-end job has put its hooks into protagonist Dmitri, making
him and his peers reflect on life through expected mind games. These
are characters who apply meaning to things which perhaps have none
in reality – but that’s the whole point.
This is a pensive, thoughtful look at life in a non-glamorous setting.
Expect no answers.
Pick of the indies
Screaming Masterpiece
With a population of just over a quarter of a million, Iceland wouldn’t
seem to be the setting for a thriving music scene. Writer and documentarist
Ari Alexander’s strangely monickered feature – a title
which is never satisfactorily explained – is at first a standard
mix of interviews, footage of live performances and many many helicopter
shots of the bleak Icelandic terrain.
Although packed to the rafters with detail and texture, the question
Alexander asks – why is music happening here, in this place?
– is not actually answered. What Screaming Masterpiece does
succeed in doing is to enlighten and enliven the ordinary cinemagoer’s
knowledge of an otherwise possibly unknown musical entity. While
most of us know Bjork, only musical nerdy types are likely to know
the pleasures of Sigur Ros.
The music also benefits from the Viking tradition of storytelling
which means the songs are not necessarily about love. There is the
wonderful electro-band Mum along with punk band Ouarashi and rock
Nilfisk. The emphasis here is the wonder and breadth of Iceland’s
scene rather than the quality of it. Holiday note: if you need some
musical suggestions for the aficionado on your gift, this will give
you plenty of ideas.
• Curzon Soho
Call 020 7734 2255. |
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Don't waste your finest on relatives
DO you enjoy or endure Christmas? It isn’t only that we’re
bullied into spending money we haven’t got.
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