The Theory of Everything

James Marsh (2014)

'The Theory of Everything' is James Marsh's biopic of scientific genius Stephen Hawking. Eddie Redmayne plays Hawking as we learn about his early days at university, his diagnosis of motor neuron disease, and the rise to his now iconic status. Marsh's direction is very good and he uses many point of view shots to create a huge sense of empathy for the main character. Marsh uses stunning visual effects in order to express Hawking's inner feelings and torment whilst highlighting his genius. The choice of music is also uplifting and echoes the key themes throughout the film.

The screenplay is a really interesting piece of work and tells the story in a funny yet intriguing way. However, it does seem to lack a certain something as it tries to alter the source material in order to create some very conventional scenes.

The performances in 'The Theory of Everything' are truly exceptional. Eddie Redmayne plays Stephen Hawking in a transformational and moving manner. You can barely recognise him as he highlights his illness with complete sincerity and plausibility. Felicity Jones plays his wife, Jane Wilde. I thought her role would be a simple one as she would work off of the powerhouse performance from Redmayne but the way she shows her strength and compassion is very moving and she does an excellent job.

Overall, 'The Theory of Everything' is a fascinating film about a genius as he deals with his dibilitating illness. The maturity of everyone involved in this make it a remarkable movie. My final rating is 4 stars.

Boyhood

Richard Linklater (2014)

Richard Linklater's 'Boyhood' is a brilliant film about life and the struggle to find meaning. It follows a family through a twelve year period as they endure situations and tackle obstacles together. The main technical aspect of the film is a very controversial and memorable one as Linklater hired his main actors and continued to follow them for twelve years thus adding to the realism of the feature adding much poignancy to the themes. The overall direction can be considered very naturalistic and simple but there are wonderful shots of natural environments such as the beautiful river that Mason and his father visit representing the beauty of life whilst underlining the insignificance of man's role in the world.

The screenplay is a touching study of the meaning of life. There is a great balance of humour and heart-rending dialogue throughout the film. At 165 minutes, the movie is a long one but the pacing was perfect and captivating that I hardly noted the film's duration. The characters each have profound dialogue in which they discuss the journey of which they (and we) are going through and question the reasoning of difficult events.

The performances in 'Boyhood' are exceptional. Mason (Ellar Coltrane) starts off as relatively inexperienced and under-developed but matures as the film progresses adding substance to his character's arch. This performance is supported by the excellent Patricia Arquette who plays the mother. Arquette manages to portray the mother perfectly as she undergoes traumatic events that shape her family's life.

Overall, I feel that 'Boyhood' is a technically brilliant achievement in film-making. Not only is the process fascinating in terms of the methods used to create the film but it is also a fascinating investigation into time. My final rating is 4.5 stars.

Whiplash

Damien Chazelle (2014)

When I sat down to watch this film, I didn't know what to expect. I am not usually a fan of films about musicians but this was a brilliant and tense masterpiece. The story is of a very ambitious boy named Andrew (played by Miles Teller) who is a music student in New York. He aspires to be noticed by a prestigious music teacher named Fletcher (played by J.K. Simmons). As his wish starts becoming a reality, he realises the brutality of this teacher who continually pushes him with questionable methods. Damien Chazelle's direction is almost of a tense boxing or war action drama in that it constantly uses the music of the drumming to build the tension whilst using violent and sharp editing whilst the jazz band play.

Chazelle's screenplay is very well written. It is filled with humour, tension and heartbreak. The way in which Fletcher switches during Andrew's first lesson is expertly done. Fletcher relentlessly insults Andrew in a very shocking way which really creates a huge sense of sympathy for Andrew's character as he struggles to respond. The insulting dialogue is very similar to Stanley Kubrick's 'Full Metal Jacket' in that it is both humourous and disturbingly distressing.

The performances in this film are remarkable. Miles Teller is a relative newcomer but takes to this character with so much depth and understanding. The drumming scenes look like incredible and torturous workouts and Teller really shows the pain and agony his character is going through to reach his dream. The chemistry between the two central characters is flawless. J.K. Simmons is perfect as the abusive music teacher. Simmons manages to combine Fletcher's distinguished persona with his terrifying unpredictability. Simmons reminds me of his character in Valve's 'Portal 2' in which he continuously spouts insults at the player in a darkly hilarious way.

Overall, 'Whiplash' is a fascinating study of passion, ambition and love. The film asks questions about the morality of getting one's dreams and the acceptable methods of acquiring them. Full of amazing performances all around, and created with such intensity and spirit, my final rating for this film is 4.5 stars.

Birdman: or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

Alejandro González Iñárritu (2014)

This film tells the story of an over-the-hill actor called Riggan Thomson (brilliantly portrayed by Michael Keaton) who was once the star of a superhero blockbuster franchise known as 'Birdman'. We are shown his journey into making a Broadway production starting with the initial rehearsals and read-throughs. What follows is a brilliant exploration of celebrity culture in an intriguing and satirical way.

'Birdman' could essentially be looked at as one continuous long shot. The camera constantly weaves around the actors and action and so the audience are completely immersed into the perspectives of the various characters (mostly Riggan's). The opening shot plays like a scene in Paul Thomas Anderson's 'Boogie Nights' as it delightfully establishes the narrative in a fluid and polished style whilst introducing the cast and their entertaining interchanges during a rehearsal with hilarious consequences. 

The editing throughout the picture is almost flawless when moving from scene to scene and has a dizzying effect much like Gasper Noé's 'Irreversible'. 'Birdman' also boasts some marvellous special effects throughout such as when Riggan (Keaton) is alone and being taunted by his egotistical alter-ego. The film shows up typical blockbuster action movies by asking the audience what they want and giving it to them in a manner which embraces the excitement and epic-ness of the genre whilst also poking fun of the conventions.

The music that accompanies the film is very scarce in a lot of places adding emphasis to the dialogue and situations arising but, in some cases, an erratic and improvisational drum riff can be heard (occasionally accompanied with the drummer on the set) which completely adds to the eccentricity and spontaneity of the movie.

The screenplay is very intricately written and contains many profound philosophical speeches about art, celebrity and criticism. There are monologues and debates by characters in which they discuss the core beliefs of the film such as Riggan's speech during his performance of his Raymond Carver play "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love".

The whole narrative of the film is very intriguing and interesting. There is a perfect blend of comedy and poignancy. There are a lot of twists and ambiguity throughout the film which could be analysed and interpreted for a long time.

Michael Keaton is fantastic as the protagonist and gives a performance that would have given his career a huge revival (his squeal is my highlight of the film). The parallels with the character's career and that of Keaton's could not have been a mistake and gives the performance that much more edge. Edward Norton plays the method actor from hell (Mike Shiner). He is annoying, snobbish and smug and played brilliantly by Norton who excels in the vileness and pomposity of the character.

The film is very much about actors. The self obsessive nature of acting is definitely highlighted by the two central performances but there is also a cast that really help to deliver the film's meaning such as Emma Stone, Zach Galifianakis, Andrea Riseborough and Naomi Watts.

Overall, 'Birdman' is a fantastic film. It is filled with pathos and profound imagery whilst keeping the viewer thoroughly entertained throughout. I feel it thoroughly deserves all of the award nominations that it is receiving and my final rating is an average of 4.5 stars.

Dead Man's Shoes

Shane Meadows (2004)

‘Dead Man’s Shoes’ is the fourth full-length feature film directed and written by Shane Meadows in 2004. Starring Paddy Considine, it tells the story of an ex-soldier who returns home to a small town in the Midlands seeking revenge on a group of thugs who have terrorised his younger brother. The film, at first, embraces the ultimate act of revenge with dark humour and disturbing violence, but soon turns out to criticise what effect vengeance has on the protagonist.

The film questions the role of masculinity in British working-class society by having very different male stereotypes thrown together in a very isolated environment. Not only does the film make a statement about gender roles, but more importantly, it tackles the issue of honour and justice. The audience’s allegiances sway dramatically throughout the film as Richard (Considine) becomes more brutal in his execution styles. A similar British film that challenges the audience’s perception of who is right is Stanley Kubrick’s ‘A Clockwork Orange’.

On simple viewing of this film, you could say that it is a revenge slasher-flick with plenty of gore; however, I feel that this film is a powerful piece of cinema that is a statement for the immorality of British society and the ideologies it imposes but it also uses Uttoxeter to show the corruption of human nature.

Memento

Christopher Nolan (2000)

‘Memento’ is director Christopher Nolan’s tribute to classic film noir tales of revenge and mystery. By adding a new twist to traditional conventions, Nolan is able to consume and grip the viewer throughout the entire film and for years after. The aspect that differentiates this neo-noir from its competitors today is its jumbled and complex narrative which continually moves backwards in time. The viewers first see the main character complete his revenge murder (a triumphant scene we usually associate with the ending of film noirs). We then begin to see events unfold backwards and the reason for this becomes clear.

Leonard Shelby (Guy Pearce) and his wife are attacked in their home. His wife is murdered but Guy Pearce is left with a brain condition that disables him from creating anymore short-term memory. Constantly being reminded of the horror of the situation, he is relentlessly spurred on to get his revenge on his wife’s killer. As the viewer progresses through the film, they begin to feel more and more like Lenny. The audience have no idea of what has happened prior to the scene currently showing and so we are left feeling the same confusion as our protagonist. To cope with his condition, he maintains a system of notes, photographs, and tattoos to record information about himself and others, including his wife's killer. He is aided in his investigation by "Teddy" (Joe Pantoliano) and Natalie (Carrie-Anne Moss), neither of whom he can really trust (both of the latter actors starred together in ‘The Matrix (1999)’ in which Pantoliano was not to be trusted, disorientating the informed viewer more).

The film's events unfold in two separate, alternating narratives—one in colour, and the other in black and white. Leonard's investigation is depicted in five-minute colour sequences that are in reverse chronological order, however, the short black and white scenes are shown in chronological order and show Leonard on the phone to a mysterious stranger having a conversation that the viewers cannot understand (these sequences are more direct references to the film noir genre that Christopher Nolan is embracing). This style of directing makes the audience completely empathise with Leonard’s situation as you never know more than he does, but also it creates huge comedic and emotional moments which rely heavily on the notion of dramatic irony.

With Nolan’s use of handheld camera work, an overtone of pink colouring, and sharp editing (the only transition effects in use are occasional fade outs) the viewer is made to feel disorientated and is therefore able to empathise more with Leonard’s character. The original idea was a short story by Nolan’s brother, Jonathan who also helped with the screenplay. The dialogue in the film is its best feature with its insightful, powerful and heart-wrenching speeches about the nature of memory. As we learn how we rely upon memory for our sense of reality, we begin to question reality itself.  The idea of faith and constant references to the bible can make the entire film a metaphor for people’s faith in Christianity or any other religion at that.