Tag: Javier Bardem

Dune: Part Two

GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★★1/2Dune: Part Two

Directed by: Denis Villeneuve

Based on the Novel by: Frank Herbert

Screenplay Written by: Denis Villeneuve, Jon Spaihts

Produced by: Mary Parent, Cale Boyter, Denis Villeneuve, Tanya Lapointe and Patrick McCormick

Executive Producers: Joshua Grode, Jon Spaihts, Thomas Tull, Herbert W. Gains, Brian Herbert, Byron Merritt, Kim Herbert, Richard P. Rubinstein and John Harrison.

Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Dave Bautista, Christopher Walken, Léa Seydoux, Souheila Yacoub, Stellan Skarsgård and Javier Bardem.

‘Power over spice is power over all.’

This is the mantra of the Harkonnens and the basis of the political intrigue in the Dune series.

It’s now the year 10,091.

Princess Irulan (Florence Pugh), the daughter of The Emperor (Christopher Walken) creates a voice memo, introducing Dune: Part Two, where the entire House of Atreides have been wiped out over-night. No warning, no survivors.  Except a few.

The Harkonnens now control the harvesting of spice with the ever-present influence of the Bene Gesserit.

The extent of the Bene Gesserits’ power becoming more apparent as the prophecy of the son, known by the Fremens as Lisan al Gaib, gains momentum.

It’s Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) they believe to be the Bene Gesserit’s son, the Mahdi of the Fremen whom they believe will lead them to paradise.

An ideal originally conjured by the Bene Gesserit and encouraged by Paul Atreides’ mother, Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) as her pregnancy continues and her daughter grows in her belly.

Paul doesn’t fail in his fulfillment as he adapts to the desert and Fremen way of life with the help of Chani (Zendaya).

Even though he’s an outsider, Chani grows to love him – he’s different to the other outsiders.  He’s sincere.

My initial thought at the end of Dune: Part One of, I hope it doesn’t get cheesy, was unwarranted because despite the glimmers of light between Paul and Chani, this is a dark journey filled with moments like the sucking of water out of the dead and… Almost dead.

The Harkonnens’ are particularly brutal, the young nephew of The Baron (Stellan Skarsgård), Feyd-Rautha (Austin Butler), is known by the Bene Gesserit as psychotic but manageable.

It’s a fight for survival as the Fremans sabotage the spice harvesters with the help of Paul, each success building his reputation as the Lisan al Gaib, confirming Stilgar’s (Javier Bardem) faith.  Stilagar gives him his Freman name, Paul Muad’Dib.

The build of belief catches fire, fierce stories spread about Lisan al Gaib, ‘Our resources are limited.’  Paul explains.  ‘Fear is all we have.’

Nothing can live down south without faith.  And now, instead of friends, Paul has followers.

There’s A LOT to unpack here, but at its foundation, Dune: Part Two has a heavy layer of religion and how religion is used to gain power – the ultimate power: to control the harvest of spice.

Parts of the story were glossed over, like the return of Gurney Halleck (Josh Brolin).  And it’s easy to get lost in the intricacies of the story and characters, but there is absolutely never a dull moment in this film (editor: Joe Walker).

This is a vastly entertaining journey, ‘you will see the beauty and the horror,’ all in the dance of shadows over rock, the disappearance of a mother’s face into shadow after seeing her son forever changed – there’s black and white film used to portray the stark and evil of the Harkonnens alongside the red desert and solar eclipse (director of photography: Greig Fraser), flying black suits and pit fighters with black horns like insidious devils (costume designer: Jacqueline West).

All to the beat of a thumper that blends the desert and call of the worms with the beat of intrigue and violence in the capital (composer: Hans Zimmer).

This is a brutally entertaining film that lives up to the hype and is absolutely worth seeing on the big screen.

Better than Part One which is a big call because Part One was brilliant (winning six Academy Awards) and I’m guessing everyone will walk out of the cinema asking, when’s the release of Part Three?

 

Everybody Knows (Todos Lo Saben)

Rated: MEverybody Knows

Directed and Written by: Asghar Farhadi

Sound: Daniel Fontrodona, Gabriel Gutiérrez, Bruno Tarrière

Composer: Javier Limón

Produced by: Alexandre Mallet-Guy and Álvaro Longoria

Starring: Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz, Ricardo Darín, Carla Campra.

Even as it delves deeply into the convoluted ties of love that bind a family and a community, and the underlying tensions roiling beneath the surface, this film is above all a taut psychological drama and an exquisite slow burn mystery.

‘Laura is a woman with a secret, and suddenly she finds herself faced with a crisis,’ says Penelope Cruz of her character.

Laura has returned to a small village in her native Spain to attend her sister’s nuptials, bringing with her Diego, her young  son, and Irene (Carla Campra), her beautiful but wild sixteen year old daughter, while her husband remains in Buenos Aires to attend to business. Before their car even reaches its destination, Irene sets the village boys agog and she is soon hooning around the countryside on a trail bike with a smitten local boy in tow. Laura’s extended family is a jovial, rumbustious and permissive clan, at once completely modern but with an abiding sense of its long history and changing fortunes.

When Irene falls asleep in the middle of the wedding festivities it is initially put down to the effects of jetlag and mischief, since she has been sneaking cigarettes and illicit sips of wine all evening. It is only when Laura finally turns in for the night that she discovers that Irene’s bed is empty. In her daughter’s place is an ominous pile of newspaper clippings about a long ago abduction where the lifeless body of the victim was pulled from a well.

One of the criticisms often levelled at mysteries and thrillers is that character development is sacrificed at the expense of plot. Not in this case. According to screenwriting lore, the deep truths at the heart of a character are only revealed under duress, and here the pressure is tremendous as the moral dilemmas multiply and the thumbscrews tighten.

Fifteen years on from the time Iranian director Asghar Farhadi originally conceived the idea, Everybody Knows has been lovingly produced. The subtitles are effortless to read and the sound design subtly underpins the drama. As Laura and her former lover Paco (Javier Bardem) set out in an unseasonal downpour to search for the missing girl, the wipers in Paco’s four wheel drive beat a heavy tattoo echoing the thrumming rain and the collective heartbeat of occupants.

The cinematography and mise-en-scène have also been skilfully designed, with the outer landscape closely mirroring the inner. Lush greens and the golden hues of early summer give way to autumn’s stubble and dust, while the graceful sandstone buildings of the plaza cede to the crumbling ruins that dot the surrounding countryside. Paco in particular is closely identified with the land through his cherished vineyard, and his transformation over the course of the ordeal is remarkable. Indeed, the entire cast have turned in compelling performances.

While this film is a beautifully nuanced portrait of characters under extraordinary pressure, it is also a tightly scripted mystery, where the boisterous and joyful wedding party gradually comes to learn that the perpetrators must be from among them: ‘Watch everyone you know, carefully.’

Mother!

MA 15+Mother!

Directed by: Darren Aronofsky

Produced by: Darren Aronofsky, Scott Franklin, Ari Handel

Written by: Darren Aronofsky

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris, Michelle Pfeiffer.

Like an introvert’s worst nightmare, Mother! invades the personal space of wife/mother (Jennifer Lawrence) sharing an isolated house with her writer husband/Him (Javier Bardem), who disregards her safety and security, allowing strangers (man/woman (Ed Harris/Michelle
Pfeiffer)) into their home.

From the beginning of the film, there’s mystery surrounding the couple.  Living in the family home of Him that was once destroyed by fire – his wife rebuilds as he struggles to write

The house itself is shown as a living entity that absorbs the emotions of mother, as her world is slowly destroyed.

But the film goes deeper than mere loss of control – there’s religious overtones and narcissism, heart-break, sickness and the sense that the entire world has gone crazy, adding to her loss and further annihilation as her husband steps away to come back only to step away again.

Writing and directing, Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan (2010), Noah (2014), Requiem for a Dream (2000)) has given us something surreal where certain elements will illuminate to some whereas other threads will resonate with others.Mother!

It’s a complicated storyline and I think the success lies with Aronofsky writing and directing.  In comparison, the script of the hugely successful, Black Swan was far more straightforward, his direction adding that otherworldly thread, yet, here he’s been given control over his own writing, allowing a further exploration into the surreal.

Strong performances from the cast allow Aronofsky to delve deep into the strange as the characters are believable: a husband seeming to love and understand, yet, still allowing the nightmare to happen translated through the performances of Lawrence and Bardem.

The subtleties of the male and female need to give and take shift between the husband and wife as priority is given to the strangers invading the house to satisfy the dark and twisted desire of Him.Mother!

Mother! is unique and disturbing and thought-provoking and surprisingly insightful into the female psyche.  The want to be alone with a partner and not having to share the sacred space is just one of the themes that struck a chord.

Psychological horrors/mysteries don’t always satisfy the audience with a conclusion. Yet, I felt Mother! gave some sort of ending, tying off most of the loose pieces.

Through all that strangeness and confrontation where the audience is taken through the increasing nightmare of mother’s existence, the story manages to come full circle.

So, although not an enjoyable experience I found the film successfully scratched at the surface of our existence.

I’m glad I watched the film as it was certainly worth seeing, once.  You have to see Mother! to believe the bizarre nature of the film.  But not an experience I’ll repeat.

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