Art and politics make a potent blend in 'The Cordillera of Dreams' (March 5th and 6th at the Cleveland Cinematheque)

[THE CORDILLERA OF DREAMS screens Thursday March 5^th at 6:30 pm and Friday March 6^th at 9:40pm.]

Review by Bob Ignizio

Director Patricio Guzman fled Chile, the country of his birth, in the mid-seventies to escape the brutal Pinochet dictatorship. He remains an expatriate to this date. But although he no longer lives there, he keeps returning to make films, seeking to understand his country and the lasting impact Pinochet continues to exert even after death.

Starting with 2010’s NOSTALGIA FOR THE LIGHT, Guzman has made a series of films exploring the intersection of Chile’s past and present. He has done this by focusing on various regions, beginning with the Atacama Desert in NOSTALGIA, moving south to Patagonia in 2015’s THE PEARL BUTTON, and now focusing on the Andes mountain region in his latest film, THE CORDILLERA OF DREAMS.

'Atlantics' is both deep and eerie

[ATLANTICS screens Thursday December 12^th at 8:35pm and Friday December 13^th at 7:00 pm at the Cleveland Cinematheque.

ATLANTICS (Atlantique) tells the story of Ada (Mame Bineta Sane), a young woman living in Dakar, Senegal. She is in love with Souleiman (Ibrahima Traoré), one of the construction workers erecting a luxury skyscraper on the seacoast, but is betrothed to the less personable but more financially stable Omar (Babacar Sylla). It would seem Ada has a decision to make, but the choice is taken out of her hands.

Soulemain and the rest of the workers haven’t been paid in 3 months. Hoping to find better prospects, they head out to sea. Ada doesn’t find out until after the fact, and is understandably upset. But with her nuptials fast approaching, she can’t exactly talk about her feelings openly, even when it begins to seem likely that Souleiman and the others have died at sea.

'Heavy Trip' Serves Up Brutal Laughs

[HEAVY TRIP is currently available for rent or purchase on DVD, Blu Ray, and digital formats. Note - dialogue is in Finnish, Norwegian, and some English with subtitles, so if that's an issue for you consider yourself warned.]

Despite their brutal music and intimidating appearance, the twenty-something metalheads who will eventually adopt the collective moniker Impaled Rektum are an affable, and to a large degree, nerdy, bunch. They’ve been playing together for 12 years as HEAVY TRIP opens, and after a particularly good practice the band’s devil-may-care drummer Jynkky (Antti Heikkinen) suggests they finally take the plunge and book a show.

But the band’s most serious member, bass player Pasi (Max Ovaska), quickly puts the kibosh on that idea. He says they can’t play out until they write some songs of their own. Lead vocalist Turo (Johannes Holopainen) is more than happy to back Pasi up, but the real reason he doesn’t want to go on stage has more to do with his shyness than a lack of original material. And since guitar player Lotvonen (Samuli Jaskio) can’t come up with any riffs that haven’t already been used by other bands, it would seem the group won’t be leaving their basement rehearsal space anytime soon.

Movie Review: 'The Girl Who Played With Fire' burns brightly

This is the second film based on the best selling “Millenium Trilogy” series of novels by the late Steig Larsson.  The main character is brilliant computer hacker Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace), who despite her petite frame is more than capable of kicking some serious ass.  Lisbeth had one hell of a screwed up childhood.  As a result, she displays little or no outward emotion, although she is loyal to those she cares about.  Admittedly, it’s a pretty short list:  Michael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist), publisher of the news magazine Millenium from which the trilogy takes its name, and party girl Miriam Wu (Yasmine Garbi).  The bisexual Lisbeth has slept with both of them, but doesn’t allow either to truly get close to her. 

Lisbeth returns to Sweden to tie up a few loose ends from the last film only to find herself framed for the murder of a journalist and his girlfriend.  Soon she’s embroiled in a plot involving white slavery and prostitution, dark family secrets, and an almost superhuman henchman who acts as enforcer for the disfigured master criminal at the root of all this evil.  It’s kind of like a more believable version of an Edgar Wallace Krimi from the sixties (look it up).   Certainly this is a more action oriented film than its predecessor, with plenty of fights, car chases, and escapes from burning buildings. 

As with the first film, The Girl Who Played With Fire deals very explicitly with misogyny.  The movie pulls no punches in depicting this theme, and there are undoubtedly scenes that will make some viewers uncomfortable.  You could almost compare this with a rape/revenge movie like I Spit on Your Grave, albeit one with more on its mind than mere exploitation. 

Director Daniel Alfredson has crafted a smart, stylish, and exciting thriller with The Girl Who Played With Fire.  It takes some dark detours, but remains entertaining without cheapening its more serious themes.  And perhaps most importantly for a series film, I was left chomping at the bit to find out what happens to Lisbeth next.

The film is subtitled, so if you’re one of those sad human beings who refuse to watch subtitled movies I guess you’ll just have to wait for the American remake (David Fincher is signed to direct).  I like Fincher, but given the constraints of the Hollywood system I just don’t see how his version can possibly be as good.  And for damn sure no one is going to hold a candle to Noomi Rapace’s portrayal of Lisbeth.  So my advice is suck it up and read a few lines of dialogue.  4 out of 4 stars. 

'The Human Centipede' gets a leg up on the competition.

Dr. Heiter (Dieter Laser) is a retired German surgeon who used to specialize in separating Siamese twins.  But retirement can get boring, so it’s good to have a hobby.  Dr. Heiter’s hobby is trying to surgically connect three people together, mouth to anus.  Why would anyone want to do this?  I don’t know.  Why were Bela Lugosi and George Zucco always trying to transplant human brains into the bodies of gorillas in those poverty row horror flicks from the thirties?  Because they were mad, that’s why.  And without a doubt, Dr. Laser is bat-shit crazy, too.  No further explanation is needed, or given.

No doubt some will be so put off by the basic concept that it won’t matter how well executed the film is.  That said, writer/producer/director Tom Six shows a great deal of restraint.  The most disgusting and depraved ideas put forth in his script are suggested rather than shown.  Because of that restraint, when Six does show the audience something nasty, it’s all the more effective. 

Six also creates a disconcertingly beautiful look for his film.  Rather than follow the dark and dingy lead of extreme horror films like Saw and Hostel, The Human Centipede utilizes a palette of crisp, bright pastels, mostly greens and blues.  Much of the film takes place in the warm, sunlit outdoors, creating a strange but effective contrast between the pleasant setting and the twisted activities going on.

Much credit should also be given to the actors.  Ashley Williams and Ashlyn Yennie begin the film as stereotypically annoying party girls.  In a traditional slasher flick, they’re the kind of characters you’d be rooting for the killer to dispatch.  Here, they’re given the opportunity to become more sympathetic and human once they’ve been taken (way) out of their comfort zones.  Williams especially manages to convey a great deal with just her eyes and the occasional gesture.  Akihiro Kitamura is also quite good as the man chosen to be the head of the centipede.  And all the actors deserve a round of applause for putting up with the physical difficulties of playing a human centipede.  It’s certainly not a position I’d want to spend too much time in because, let’s face it, accidental farts do happen.

As for Laser, his Dr. Heiter joins the ranks of the greatest movie mad scientists of all time.  He manages to maintain an aura of dangerous menace throughout, even when providing moments of black humor.  Sure, he’s cartoonish and over the top, but that’s what you want in a good mad doctor.  My favorite parts of his performance are when he gets frustrated by his creation’s refusal to behave, or his annoyance at interlopers disturbing his experiments.  I was reminded of Gunnar Hansen’s Leatherface displaying similar frustration with the teens that keep showing up uninvited at his house in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.

What I really appreciated about this film is the fact that Six had a kooky idea, wrote his script, and then made exactly the movie he wanted to make.  That’s a rarity not just in horror, but in all movies in this age where everything gets run by an army of suits in pre-production, and then tampered with some more after test screenings.  Whatever else you can say about this movie, it is the unfiltered vision of its maker.  I found that vision refreshingly original and, oddly enough, kind of fun.  It’s also disgusting and disturbing, and a couple of scenes made even this jaded horror fan wince.  But isn’t that what a horror movie is supposed to do?  3 out of 4 stars.