The Big Screen – Films Down Under

I got to watch only two movies on the big screen, during my travels in Australia. Here are couple of my quick critiques.

Logan Lerman & Brad Pitt, in a scene from FURY (2014)

Fury in Adelaide
On the 6th of November 2014, I got to watch Fury (2014) at the Palace Cinema in Adelaide, Australia (See my post Holidaying in South Australia).

A very unique fictional insight into the last year of the actual second World War. The audience gets to spend one long day with Brad Pitt, Logan Lerman, Shia LaBeouf and their crew, mostly confined into a war tank. The movie starts off by showing us the credits in an indirect, more naturalistic, manner, with the word ‘Fury’ painted on the shaft of the Tank.

Towards the final days of the war, in April 1945 (the war ended in September 1945), a new young recruit, Norman Ellison (Logan Lerman) joins the crew of the tank named ‘Fury’, commanded by Don Collier, a.k.a. ‘Wardaddy’ (Brad Pitt). In a blink of an eye, the inexperienced, young and innocent, Norman is thrown into the chaos of war.

The movie is very beautifully and realistically filmed, as if filmed in real-time, with a video camera planted inside a war tank. The ‘Tiger 131’ tank used in the film was a genuine ‘Tiger I’ tank, and that too the only operating one in the world. It was loaned by ‘The Bovington Tank Museum’, in the United Kingdom, for the film.

The characters may seem a bit clichéd, as we’ve seen a number of films based on WWII since the actual war itself. But this does go beyond to show various sadistic homicidal characters, who aren’t the enemy, but on the good side, the side that brought an end to the gruelling war. Americans. Even they are shown as being heartless and insensitive themselves. Contradicting to that we see a German soldier who actually saves the young American, Norman’s life, in the movie. After all they were human too and acting on orders. Without painting a Good or Bad picture directly in Black and White, we see an ambiguity of various shades of grey within the American characters, including Wardaddy. Contrasting to the almost inhumane crew, Norman’s naïvety is as fresh and clean as a bar of lime based soap for the filthy crew. The inexperienced Norman obviously doesn’t fit in.

The perfect movie sequence (as mentioned by another blogger, Righteous Cinema, with whom I agree with) is the nerve wrecking scene with the two innocent German women, and the nasty filthy crew members of ‘Fury’ harassing them. Of course, it’s implied, that one of the women gets screwed by young Norman (or rather is made love to), consensually from both parties. Most probably that idea was a necessity, more cinematically, to calm the audience in a tense movie, rather than for Norman to get laid. It’s after this implied sex, that the rest of the gang of ‘Fury’, except for Wardaddy, applaud Norman’s manhood, and degradingly treat the two women, objectifying them. A sequence where we, the audience, feels disgust towards the American soldiers, who’ve supposedly come to save the country from a brutal war, instead behaving like animals and treating innocent victims of war as their own rightful property to use and abuse as they feel like. It could also be a hint on current American soldiers based in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria (though they aren’t engaged in battle anymore). Of course this doesn’t depict every single American soldier, current or back in the day. This is just a generalisation of what any human being of any country at war is capable of. As at the same time we see a kind hearted, humanitarian, personality, in young Norman. And a man principals who doesn’t condone their animalistic behaviour towards the women, through Wardaddy.

Norman’s kindness and purity, contrasting to the rest of crew, touches one’s heart. We feel really sorry for this out of place youngster. Yet we see him turn from an innocent, unwilling to commit murder, into braver soldier, who ends up crazily shooting at the enemy war tanks. Towards the end it does feel a tad silly, when the enemy comes marching in, and Wardaddy refuses to leave his, immobilised, old tank, and the little group tries to fight off hundreds and hundreds of men of opposition. Yet it’s so brilliantly filmed that it felt as if it were based on a true story about a young mans experiences on his first day at war.

It might not seem like a perfect film, but what film is that great to perfection without a single flaw. Thus my rating is still a 10/10 for Excellence in story telling. This was my first experience of Logan Lerman on the Big Screen. Have been a fan of his, since I watched Meet Bill (2007) almost six years ago, on DVD. And have watched so many films of his on DVD. Prior to Meet Bill, I had seen quite a few films of his as child star, but I didn’t know him back them, nor did I realise all those films had the same child artiste in them.

Fury, amongst the best of 2014. Excellent !!!!! 10/10!!!!!    

Matthew McConaughey explores the icy deserted lanscape, in a frozen alien planet, in the poster of INTERSTELLAR (2014)

Interstellar @ Chatswood
I watched Interstellar (2014) at the Hoyts,  in Chatswood’s Westfield (Chatswood is a suburb in Sydney’s Northshore), Australia, on the 10th of November, 2014 (See my post Holidaying in Australia (NSW)).

Interstellar (2014) is as visually a spectacular viewing, as it is thoughtful and intellectually stimulating. One of the best fictitious Science-fiction films set in Space since Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). Christopher Nolan, a genius in filmmaking, has brought out something exceptional out here. Like it’s Kubrick predecessor, Nolan has brought out a fictional story set in space, that explores far beyond the reaches of time and space, than man could ever imagine possible. Beyond the universe of black holes, and through the wormholes, combining together special effects artistry with intellect, as previously only Kubrick had brought about. Why do I specifically keep calling it a fictitious flick set in space, ‘cause it’s not a necessity that a movie on Space exploration be just a fabrication of a directors imagination. Apollo 13 (1995) was a near excellent movie experience, set in space, and based on a true incident.

2001: A Space Odyssey was a surreal masterpiece of the science fiction genre, set in space. I specifically state ‘set in space’, for there are rare great science-fiction and surreal films like, Metropolis (1927), A Clockwork Orange (1971) and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), to name a few, that are not set in space. Post 2001: A Space Odyssey, only the animated Wall-E (2008) and Gravity (2013) came up to it’s standard of being an exceptional fictitious film, set in space.

Christopher Nolan has brought out some excellently intellectual cinematic experiences, when he started out, with films like Following (1998) and Memento (2000). And the near excellent, The Prestige (2006). But when the CGI bug hit him, he seems to be serving up the masses, rather than the cerebral usage classes. I wasn’t a fan of his ‘Batman’ films, except for his second instalment, The Dark Knight (2008), which was pretty good, especially thanks to Heath Ledger’s (posthumously) Oscar winning performance as the ‘Joker’. The only other recent movie of Nolan’s, that I want to watch, and am still waiting to do so, is the psychologically driven, Inception (2010).

I don’t want to really mention the story of Interstellar here, ‘cause it’s better to just go in and experience and try to understand the film. It has some really interesting characters played by Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Michael Caine, David Gyasi, Jessica Chastain, Matt Damon, Casey Affleck, Wes Bentley and Topher Grace. It’s a pity Chastain’s character hardly has much time to develop as Murph, especially since her character development transpires more as the younger Murph, played by little Mackenzie Foy. Same with her brother Tom, played by Timothée Chalamet (as the teenage version), and later by Casey Affleck. But Tom’s development isn’t as much of a necessity as is Murph’s. Nor is there much of relevance when it comes to characters played by Wes Bentley and Topher Grace. But the person’s whose talent seems most wasted in the film, is the negative shaded character played by Matt Damon. Nolan could have directed a lesser known personality, who can still act well of course, than waste somebody who’s capable of delivering so much more to a project.

None the less the film is an exceptional experience both visually and psychologically. British theoretical physicist and cosmologist, Stephen Hawking, would be proud. I really wonder what Stephen Hawking’s would have to say about this flick.

Definitely the best space age and futuristic film to come out in recent years. And no doubt a director’s movie. I predict an Oscar nomination coming Nolan’s way. Christopher Nolan should at least get an Oscar nomination, if not necessarily a win, for this movie.

Interstellar, the best science fiction film of 2014. Excellent !!!!! 10/10!!!!!  

Nuwan Sen’s Film Sense
Nuwan Sen’s War Film Sense
Nuwan Sen and Science Fiction  

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